any man spoil you with Philosophy and vain deceit after the Traditions of men after the Rudiments of the World and not after Christ v. 8. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of Angels c. v. 18. All which expressions do imply that he had just reason to fear and to give them caution in time that while they did yet think that they stood they should take heed lest they fell And this is that which the Apostle aims at in the words of the Text As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in him Receiving Christ Jesus the Lord doth not here relate to his Person but to his Authority and to his Doctrine so the Apostle himself explains it in the next Verse Rooted and built up in him and established in the Faith as ye have been taught Walking in him is an Eastern-way of speaking and supposes both an adhering to that Faith they had then received and living according to it looking on Christ and his Doctrine as their only way to Heaven And as ye had received him so walk ye in him implies that the manner of their receiving Christ and his Doctrine at first was different from that which the false Apostles endeavoured to bring in among them and that they were bound to keep close to that pure and primitive Doctrine which they at first received From hence we may consider a double Obligation lying upon them 1. To keep stedfast to that Faith which they first received without being seduced from it by the Arts of Deceivers who were then busie among them 2. To live according to it by making that Faith the Principle of a Christian Life and so walking in him as they have received him 1. As to the former the Reasonableness of it cannot but appear from the supposition here made viz. that they had received Christ Jesus the Lord. For thereby they declared that they received him as the Christ i. e. as him who was anointed of the Father to teach and instruct his Church and therefore they were bound to adhere to his Doctrine there being no other whom the Father hath sealed and appointed to declare his Will and in him were hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge They received him as Christ Jesus that is they hoped for Redemption thro' his Blood even the forgiveness of sins And if their hopes of Heaven depended upon his Mediation they had the greatest Reason to adhere only to him They received him as Christ Jesus the Lord and therefore they ought to submit to his Authority to obey his Commands and to observe his Institutions and in all Circumstances of Life to keep stedfast to the Doctrine which he delivered But here arises the great Difficulty how they should know by any certain Rule what was the true and genuine Doctrine of Christ which himself delivered For 1. The false Teachers among them pretended to deliver the true Doctrine of Christ as well as the Apostles 2. That which they at first received was no certain Rule For the false Teachers might have been before them And first Possession gives no Title in Religion 3. The Apostle doth not put the whole Trial meerly upon their Judgments or Memories or Capacities viz. What they thought or remembred was at first taught them for the Doctrine of Christ. For it was very possible for them to have mistaken or to have mis-remembred what was at first delivered Nothing can be more weak than to imagine that the Judgments of People in Matters of Faith must be formed according to the skill and excellency of their Teachers For the hearers of Christ himself although he spake as never Man spake yet did very often mistake his meaning And at one time so remarkably that although he took care to rectify their misapprehension yet it is said From that time many of his Disciples went back and walked no more with him So that the highest Infallibility in the Teachers doth not prevent the Possibility or the danger of mistaking in the Hearers And whatsoever any vainly pretend nothing can do it but Transfusing the Spirit of Infallibility into all If we look over the Apostolical Churches while they were under the Care and Conduct of an infallible Spirit yet this did not prevent their running into great Errours and Mistakes as appears by the Account we have of them given by that Spirit which cannot deceive in the Apostolical Writings In the Church of Rome it self even at that time when its Faith was spoken of throughout the World yet there were dissensions and differences there and such as were contrary to the Doctrine which was delivered And St. Paul bids them to mark such which caused them he doth not say it was impossible for them to introduce any thing contrary to the Doctrine which they had learned by Tradition from the Apostles but he not only supposes it very possible but he bids them have a particular Eye to them lest they should be deceived by them The Church of Corinth was planted by Paul and watered by Apollos and there were Disciples of Cephas and of Christ himself And yet in the Midst of so many infallible Teachers they had like to have lost all their Faith as one of them tells them How say some among you there is no Resurrection of the dead And if Christ be not risen then is our Preaching vain and your Faith is also vain Could not they remember to day what was taught them yesterday and so what the Apostles at first preached to them The Churches of Galatia had such an opinion of St. Paul upon his first preaching the Gospel among them that they received him as an Angel of God even as Christ Jesus yet presently after he saith am I therefore become your Enemy because I tell you the Truth What! Of an Angel of God or of one received as Christ Jesus to become their Enemy and that upon the most unjustifiable Account because he told them the Truth But where Truth can make Enemies Errours may easily gain Friends And so we find it was in the Apostolical Churches even under the Conduct and Teaching of the Apostles The Colossians were not yet so far gone but they were in such danger that the Apostle writes this Epistle with great Concernment for them He tells them v. 1. he had a sharp Conflict in his own mind about them They had not yet seen his Face in the Flesh being converted by some sent by him of whom Epaphras is most taken notice of but he was present with them in Spirit v. 5. i. e. He was deeply affected with their Condition for he understood the Designs and Artifices of the Seducers among them He knew what fair and plausible Pretences they had viz. that they went about not to undermine Christianity but to advance it by taking in some Jewish Customs and some Gentile Observances and Modes of Worship
which might easily be accommodated to the Christian Doctrine and so a great deal of the Animosities both of the Jews and Heathens would be removed and Christianity would thereby gain more Friends and meet with fewer Enemies The Apostle finding how necessary it was at this time if possible to keep them stedfast in the Faith 1. He assures them that the Christian Doctrine was of it self so sufficient for the good of Mankind that it needed no Additions either from the Law of Moses or the Philosophy of the Gentiles which might introduce several things with a specious Appearance of Wisdom Humility and Mortification but they ought to be assured that from Christ they had all that was necessary or usefull for Salvation For in him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge 2. That this Doctrine was at first truly delivered to them and they ought to be stedfast in it which is the design of the Text. But they might object that Epaphras was no Apostle of Christ himself and if he were yet there were many Apostles and the false Apostles pretended to be true ones and although St. Paul interposed his Authority yet he was but one and the Judaizers would not yield to it but were ready to suggest that the other Apostles were more favourable to the Jewish Customs than he and therefore it was necessary some more general and common Rule be found out whereby to distinguish the Original and Genuine Doctrine of Christ from that of Pretenders and Seducers The clearing of this is in it self a Matter of great Consequence and not only was to those of that Age but is so in every Age of the Christian Church where the same Question may be put What was the true Primitive Doctrine of Christ and by what means may we come to it which concerns us at this day as well as them And the Answer lay in two particulars which I shall endeavour to clear 1. That which the Apostles did in common deliver to the Churches planted by them was the Genuine Doctrine of Christ. 2. That which they have left in their Writings after it came to be contested which was the true Doctrine of Christ. 1. That which the Apostles did in common deliver to the Churches planted by them For we have all the reason in the World to believe that the Apostles delivered one and the same Faith to all the Churches having the same infallible Spirit to direct them There was no need for them to meet together before their dispersion and to agree upon some common Article of Faith as Ruffinus imagines lest they should differ from each other For how could they differ who had the same Spirit of Truth to lead them into all Truth And we find nothing like a Combination among the Apostles as to Matters of Doctrinâ— And if there had been it would have rendred the Faith they delivered more suspicious in that they durst not trust particular Persons with delivery of it without an antecedent Confederacy among themselves which would have looked like a mistrust of that Promise of the Spirits being fulfilled upon all of them And we find when the Gospels were to be written there was no such meeting together to settle the several Parts of it and yet this was of as much consequence to the Church of God but St. Matthew writes his Gospel in Judoea at the time saith Irenoeus that Peter and Paul preached and founded a Church in Rome St. Mark either at Rome or in Egypt not till after their decease saith the same very Ancient Father St. Luke in Greece after St. Paul planted Churches in Rome and St. John in Asia after all the rest But there was the same Divine Spirit which assisted them all and therefore there was such a concurrence as shewed their veracity but such a variety as shewed there was no Combination But it is observable that none of the Gospels were written till the Doctrine of Christ had been preached by the Apostles in many Places and many Churches were formed and established by them And there were two great Advantages thereby 1. The Unity of the Faith delivered by the Apostles was the more seen because then without the help of a written Rule they so unanimously agreed in the Doctrines they delivered Not as though it were less possible to mistake without it but on the contrary there being a much greater liableness to mistake so Universal a consent was the stronger Argument of a Divine Assistance If there had been any difference in the Doctrines preached by the Apostles there were so many Enemies both of Jews and Infidels and false Apostles who would presently have reproached the Christian Churches with it But no disagreement is ever so much as mention'd as to what the Apostles themselves taught They had one Body one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all Where-ever the Apostles went whether into Scythia Parthia Mesopotamia or any Provinces of the Roman Empire all who were converted by them were baptized into the same Faith which St. Jude calls the Faith once delivered to the Saints But once delivered though by many Persons and in very distant places and so once delivered as the same Faith once delivered is to continue to the World's end For nothing can be made the Faith of Christ which was not always so for that were to lay a new foundation and to make another Covenant than what Christ hath sealed with his Blood But he is the same yesterday to day and for ever The Terms of Salvation can never be altered unless there be a new Saviour and new Apostles and new Teachers But if we go to Heaven by Christ we must go that way that himself hath directed For Men and Angels joining their Powers together cannot save one Soul Christ alone being the Way the Truth and the Life and none can come to the Father but by him This the Apostles very well knew and were therefore carefull to deliver nothing to the Church but what they received from Christ as St. Paul saith of himself For I have received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you Not by way of Tradition from Men but by immediate Divine Revelation for as he saith he was not an Apostle of Men or by Men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father and not long after he saith he neither received the Gospel of Man neither was I taught it but by Revelation of Jesus Christ. There was none of all the first Preachers of the Gospel so liable to the Suspicion of setting up for himself and varying from the rest as St. Paul was For he was none of the Original Number of Apostles and he was a known Persecutor of the Disciples of Christ and sudden Converts are always suspected and Ananias had a Vision to satisfie him and yet he could not tell what to think at first concerning him and the Disciples when they
first heard him were amazed after this he took a course by himself and did not go up to Jerusalem to the College of Apostles there resident but went into Arabia so that if any one might be thought to set up another Doctrine it was he but he was so far from it that he established and confirmed the Truth of what they delivered and was very successfull in his Apostleship in all Places And when there had been some Whispers concerning him as though he proceeded not in the same way with the rest he went up to Jerusalem and there upon full examination James and Cephas and John who were the leading Apostles gave him the Right-hand of Fellowship in token of their full consent in the same Faith 2. The truth of the Gospel was the more plainly discovered All this while the Apostles only preached and delivered their Doctrine to the several Churches by verbal Instructions but after these had been received in the hearts of such Multitudes that there could be no suspicion that a false Representation of Christ's Doctrine or Actions could be received by those Churches then the wise Providence of God took care for Posterity and imploy'd several Persons in distant Places and Times to write the History of our Saviour And there was this advantage to the Church that the Gospels were written no sooner For all the Churches planted by the Apostles were then made Judges whether the Gospels written were agreeable to the Doctrine which the Apostles had taught and if not there would have been just reason to have question'd either the Truth of what had been taught them or what was delivered in the Gospels But when they found the main to be fully consonant to what they had been taught the Testimony of every one of these Churches did shew the concurrence of all the Apostles as to the Doctrine contained in the several Gospels And that which adds to the strength of this Proof is that when the true Gospels were written there were several false and counterfeit Gospels dispersed abroad under the Names of the Apostles themselves As of St. Peter St. Thomas St. Matthias and others as Eusebius informs us and as we have the genuine Acts of the Apostles so there were the pretended Acts of Paul of Andrew and John and the other Apostles How came these to be rejected and the other to be carefully received Here lies the true Advantage of Original Tradition before the written Gospels that by it the several Churches were enabled to pass a true Judgment concerning them when they came to be dispersed among them For they could presently tell whether what they read wer agreeable to what they had heard and received from the Apostles As suppose the Gospel of St. Matthew being published in Judoea were carried into Mesopotamia or Persia where many Christian Churches were very early planted these being throughly instructed by the Apostles in all things relating to the Life Death Resurrection and Doctrine of Christ could presently judge whether St. Matthew's Gospel agreed with what they had heard or not and the like holds as to all the Churches in the Roman Empire So that the consent of the Churches so soon while the Memory of the Apostles Doctrine was so fresh in their minds is in effect the consent of all the Apostles who taught them And this is very different from the case of particular Persons in some Churches who might mistake or forget what was taught for this is a concurrent Testimony of all the Apostolical Churches who could not agree to approve an Errour in the Gospels contrary to the Faith delivered to them And that while some of the Apostles were still living For the other Gospels were received and approved before St. John wrote his The case had been far otherwise if no Gospels had been written in that Age for then it might have been suspected that either the Impressions of the first Teachers were worn out or they had been by degrees alter'd from their first Apprehensions by the cunning craftiness of those who lay in wait to deceive them After the decease of the Apostles the common Tradition of the Apostolical Churches was usefull in these cases 1. To convey down the Authentick Writings of the Apostles or Evangelists which were delivered to any of them 2. To bear Testimony against any pretended Writings which were not first received by the Apostolical Churches to which they were said to be written For there can be no Negative Testimony of more force than that it being improbable to the utmost degree that such a Church should not know or not make known any true Apostolical Writings 3. To overthrow any pretence to a secret Tradition from the Apostles different from what was seen in the Apostolical Writings And to this purpose Irenoeus and Tertullian make very good use of the Tradition of the Apostolical Churches against the pretenders to such a Tradition which those Churches were not acquainted with But they agree that the Apostles committed the same Doctrine to writing which they preached and that it might be a Foundation and Pillar of Faith that this Doctrine was contained in the four Gospels and that the Apostolical Churches did receive them from those who first wrote them and that within the compass of the Apostolical Age. It was therefore most agreeable to the infinite Wisdom of God in providing for a constant Establishment of the Faith of his Church in all Ages neither to permit the Gospels to be written till the Churches were planted nor to be put off to another Generation For then it would have been plausibly objected if these things are true why were they not recorded when there were Persons living who were best able to have either proved or confuted them Then we might have been satisfied one way or other but now the Jews are dead and the Apostles are dead and although there are many left who believe their Doctrine yet this can never reach to the Testimony of those who saw and heard the things themselves or whose Doctrine was attested by those who did so And this is now the mighty Advantage of the Church ever since that the things concerning Christ were written by such Persons With what another kind of Authority do those words command our Assent That which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of Life For the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shew unto you that Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifest unto us that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you then if all the Testimony concerning Christ were to be resolved into those who heard some say that others told them they had it from such who saw those who conversed with them who saw Christ in the Flesh At such a distance the Authority of a Testimony is extremely lessen'd
which is not like a River which grows greater by running but like a mineral Water which loses its strength by being carried too far We find in the time of Papias who lived but in the second Century the Authority of bare Tradition was mightily sunk For Eusebius saith he conversed with the Disciples of our Lord and his Apostles he saith of himself that he went up and down to them to get what he could from them having a greater esteem of what he could learn from them than of what was written And what Advantage did this bring to the Church It brought some idle opinions into reputation saith Eusebius for afterwards they thought it enough to fix them upon Papias But how was it possible for him to mistake Eusebius saith that being a Man of mean capacity he might easily misunderstand the meaning of what was spoken But if Tradition might fail after such a manner so near the Apostle's times then we must be assured of the Capacity as well as Integrity of those of every Age through whom a Tradition passed or else they might deceive or be deceived about it But God was pleased to provide better for the security of our Faith by causing the Gospels to be written either by the Apostles themselves as St. Matthew and St. John or by the Disciples of the chief Apostles while the others were surviving as St. Mark and St. Luke and the latter gives this account of his undertaking to write it viz. That thou mightest know the the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed His instruction was by an Oral Tradition but that it seems wanted something to strengthen and confirm it and that was by St. Luke's writing his Gospel How could they add any assurance to him if all the ground of his certainty were to be taken from Tradition St. Luke thought it necessary then that those things which concerned the Life and Doctrine of Christ should be put into Writing that they might be more certainly convey'd and that while they had the Testimony of those who were Eye-witnesses and Ministers of the Word 2. And so I come to the second Rule of discerning the Primitive Doctrine of Christ viz. The Writings of the Apostles when Matters of Doctrine came to be contested were the infallible Rule whereby they were to judge which was the true and genuine Doctrine of Christ. There are some who pretend that the Apostle's Writings were meerly Accidental and Occasional things but that the main Design was to lodge the great Assurance of thâ— Doctrine of Christ in Tradition from one to another and what they wrote was not to make any Rule of Faith but only to give some good Advice to those Churches they wrote to But I shall now prove that the Writings of the Apostles were intended by the Holy Ghost to be a standing Rule whereby the Church was to judge which was the true and genuine Doctrine of Christ. 1. From the Reasons and Occasions of writing the Books of the New Testament 1. As to the Gospels we must distinguish the General Reason of writing them from the particular Occasions as to the several Gospels The general Reason is to be drawn from the Divine Wisdom which inspired and guided them the particular Occasions relate to the circumstances of writing them The General Reason is that which Irenoeus gives viz. That the Gospel which they had first preached was by the Will of God put into Writing that it might be a Foundation and Pillar of our Faith Not meerly to keep up the Remembranee of it which Feuardentius yields and thereby overthrows the Infallibility of Oral Tradition but that so it may be a certain Rule of Faith to all Ages The Evangelists saith St. Augustin were but Christ's Hands which himself as the Head directed in writing the Gospels and therefore we are to look on the Gospels as his own Hand-writing The Holy Ghost saith he directed the Minds of the Evangelists as to the order and manner of their Writing Which varied according to the particular Occasions but yet were all subservient to the General Reason St. Matthew wrote the first Gospel saith Eusebius to the Jews to whom he had preached because going into other parts he would supply the want of his Presence among them by his Writing What need this if Tradition were a certain and infallible way of conveying the Doctrine of Christ St. Chrysostom saith the Jewish Christians desired him to put into Writing what they had heard him preach Did not they understand the force of Tradition better Or why should St. Matthew put them out of an infallible way The Author of the imperfect Work on St. Matthew saith they desired him to write his Gospel that where-ever they went they might carry an Account of their Faith with them Clemens Alexandrinus saith the occasion of writing St. Mark 's Gospel was that the people were not satisfied with an unwritten delivery of the Holy Doctrine and therefore importuned Mark who was the Disciple of St. Peter that he would leave a Monument of his Doctrine in Writing which St. Peter understanding by Revelation approved and confirmed his Gospel for the use of the Churches Origen saith he wrote it according to St. Peter's directions Epiphanius saith by his Authority Athanasius saith it was dictated by him at Rome It seems that Peter himself did not think fit to leave the Doctrine of Christ to an Oral Tradition even at Rome but Irenoeus thinks it was written after St. Peter's decease who therein differs from the rest and shews how uncertain meer Tradition is Tertullian saith St. Mark 's Gospel was attributed to St. Peter and St. Luke 's to St. Paul St. Jerom mentions the Opinion of some that when St. Paul saith according to my Gospel he means that of St. Luke But St. Luke himself plainly gives an Account of the occasion of his writing St. Ambrose thinks by those who had taken in hand to write of those things which were firmly believed among us he means the Authors of the counterfeit Gospels as that of the Twelve Apostles and St. Matthias But we have no evidence that these were older than St. Luke his meaning is that in those parts where he was there were some who did undertake to give an Account of the Life and Actions of Christ who wanted the Advantages which he had having had great opportunities of knowing circumstances from the Eye-witnesses and therefore he set himself to give an exact Relation of them that not only Theophilus but every one that answers his name might know the certainty of those things wherein they had been instructed But did not they know the certainty of these things by the Apostle's Preaching Yes but the things they heard might slip out of their Memories and to prevent this saith Theophylact St. Luke wrote his Gospel that they might retain these things with greater certainty And words that are
at least to make it more passable in the World and therefore would have introduced into it some Rites of the Jews some Austerities of the Gentiles some ways of Worship which would recommend them to their Adversaries and upon this occasion he writes this Epistle to them to convince them that Christianity alone was far beyond any Mixtures of the Fancies or Traditions of Men and therefore he could give them no better Advice than as they had first received the Doctrine of Christ to continue in it or in the words of the Text As they had received Christ Jesus the Lord so to walk in him The design of what I have said is that although the Gospels and Epistles were written upon particular occasions yet those occasions were so great and considerable and the Assistance of the Holy Ghost did so direct the Hands and Pens of the Evangelists and Apostles in writing them that what they have therein delivered contains a compleat Rule of the true and genuine Faith as it was at first delivered to the Church But against this it is objected that St. Paul himself charged the Thessalonians to stand fast and hold the Traditions which they have been taught either by Word or by his Epistles From whence it appears that there were other Traditions to be held that were not written The force of all this will be taken away if we consider when that Epistle was written viz. one of the first which St. Paul wrote and soon after the former Epistle to the Thessalonians which was some time before St. Luke's Gospel which was first received in the Churches of Greece planted by St. Paul Therefore all the proper Doctrine of Christ himself and all that relates to his Life and Actions were then but Traditions among them and therefore St. Paul had great Reason then to require them to stand fast to the Traditions they had been taught i. e. to the Doctrine of Christ they had received in that manner But it is urged that he mentions before something he had said about Antichrist's coming when he was with them v. 5. If this be allow'd it will be more against than for Tradition For what is become of that Tradition If it be lost then it follows that Tradition is no infallible Way of conveyance and therefore we have more Reason to adhere to a written Word 2. Which leads us to the second Reason from which I designed to prove that there ought to be a written Rule for discerning true primitive Christianity and that is from the notorious unâ—ertainty of meer Tradition I say notorious because there never was any Trial made of it but it failed even when it had the greatest Advantages I might insist upon the Tradition of the first Ages of the World when Men's lives were so long and the Principles of the Natural Religion so few and yet both before and after the Flood Mankind was strangely degenerated from them I might insist on many Instances in the first Ages of the Christian Church so many that scarce one can be produced wherein they pleaded meer Tradition but they were mistaken in it As about the Millennium the Age of Christ the time of Easter on one side or other the communicating Infants For St. Augustin quotes Apostolical Tradition for it But I shall wave all these and only mention a very necessary and important thing which was a long time trusted to Tradition and yet they differ'd so much about it as evidently proved that meer Tradition was no infallible Means of conveyance And that is about the Apostle's Creed which was to be repeated by all that were to be baptized We have many plain Testimonies to prove that this was not to be written but to be conveyed from one to another by an Oral Tradition St. Hierom St. Augustin Ruffinus all affirm it And the Creed was commonly then called the Rule of Faith which shewed that they looked on all the Articles therein contained as the Standard of necessary Points And yet there is a plain and considerable difference in the Ancient Creeds some Articles being in some which were not in others Although we have Reason to believe the necessary Points were at first the same in all Or else the several Churches must have different Rules of Faith The Church of Jerusalem was called the Mother of all Churches by the General Council of Constantinople and in the Creed there delivered to the Catechumens St. Cyril mentions the Eternal Generation of the Son before all Worlds and so doth Eusebius at Coesarea in the Creed which he saith he learnt at his Baptism which was long before the Nicene Creed Cassian makes it a part of that Creed which the Apostles delivered to the Church and was particularly received in the Church of Antioch But no such thing was delivered in the Western Creeds as far as now appears by what St. Augustin Russinus and others say in their Expositions of it St. Jerom writing against the Bishop of Jerusalem urges him with the Creed no doubt that which was received in his own Church and he saith it consisteth of three main Points the Confession of the Trinity the Unity of the Church and the Resurrection of the Flesh. And the Creed of the Church of Aquileia went no farther saith Ruffinus nor some old Copies of the Roman Creed But Marcellus of Ancyra had Eternal Life in his Creed and so had Cyril of Jerusalem so had the African Church in St. Augustin's time so had the Church of Ravenna but not the Church of Turin nor the Gallican Churches if Maximus Taurinensis and Venantius Fortunatus explained all the Articles of their Creeds Ruffinus confesses the Article of Descent into Hell was not in the Roman nor in any of the Eastern Creeds The Creeds of Jerusalem and Aquileia had not the Communion of Saints nor those of Marcellus and Epiphanius The Title of Catholick was not added to the Church in the Creed in St. Augustin's time for the makes it a Periphrasis utique Catholicam from whence probably it came to be added afterwards Ruffinus takes no notice of it and it was not extant in the old Copies of the Roman Creed nor in that of Marcellus Ancyranus These things I mention not in the least to shake the Faith of the Articles of the Apostle's Creed which St. Augustin saith was gathered out of Scriptures and is agreeable to them but to shew what an uncertain way of conveyance meer Oral Tradition is when a thing so easily remembred so constantly used of so much weight and consequence fell into such varieties in the greatest Churches while they were so scrupulous about the writing of it What cause have we then to be thankfull to God that hath taken so much care of his Church as to provide us an infallible written Rule in the Holy Scriptures whereby we certainly know what the true Primitive Christianity was which was
delivered by Christ and his Apostles But here is a great difficulty to be removed as to the written Word How can we be certain we have it if not by Tradition and if Tradition be so uncertain how can we be made certain by it that we have that written Word which the Apostles delivered For might not that fail in this as well as the Creed And then what security can we have for our Faith In Answer to this I shall shew 1. What Advantage things that are written have as to the certainty of conveyance above things meerly committed to Memory and Tradition 2. What Advantage the Scriptures have above any other things committed to Writing as to the certainty of their conveyance 1. As to the Advantage things written have above those committed to Memory and Tradition only Which will appear by these things 1. It was the way God himself made choice of where the Reason for Tradition was stronger I mean as to the Ten Commandments which were short and plain and easie to be remembred and very agreeable to the Sense and General Interest of Mankind yet the Wise God who perfectly understood the Nature of Man would not leave the Ten Commandments to an Oral Tradition but God delivered to Moses Two Tables of Stone written with the Finger of God and on them he wrote the Ten Commandments What a vain and superfluous thing were this if Oral and Practical Tradition were infallible But God 's own pitching upon this way after so long a Trial of Mankind in the other is a Demonstration of the greater certainty of it if we suppose that God aimed at the benefit of Mankind by it 2. When Religion was corrupted among the Jews the only way of restoring it was by a written Book of the Law As we find in the case of Josiah's Reformation which was made by the Book of the Law which was found in the House of the Lord. This was the Rule by which Hilkiah the High-Priest thought it necessary for Josiah to go by and not by any Tradition left among them concerning the Law which God had given by Moses 3. This was that which our Saviour appealed to in all his Disputes search the Scriptures saith he to the Jews not run to your Traditions for those were then very corrupt especially about the Messias as that he was to be a Temporal Prince c. which was then a dangerous and fundamental Mistake and therefore Christ apâ—eals from them to the Scriptures And they are they which testifie of me Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me but if ye believe not his Writings how shall ye believe my Words And our Saviour severely checks the Pharisees for regarding their own Traditions more than the written Law And yet they pretended to an Oral Tradition down from Moses as the Jews do to this day and none are more grosly deceived than they 4. The general Sense and Experience of Mankind agrees herein that all matters of consequence are more certainly preserved by Writings than by meer Words There is no Invention hath been more valued by the wiser Part of Mankind than that of Letters because it is of such excellent use for conveying the sense of our Minds at a distance to others All men have so great a Mistrust either of the capacity or memory or fidelity of others that what they would have done with security they commit to Writing And whatever we truly understand of the Ages before us we are beholden to Writing for it all those memorable Actions and Institutions either of Philosophy or Religion which were not written are long since buried in Oblivion without possibility of a Resurrection But where they have been committed to Writing they are preserved after so many Ages and by it we certainly know the History of the Patriarchs and the strange Revolutions that happened from the beginning of the World By it we converse with the wisest Persons of former times and are able to justifie the Scriptures by the concurrent Testimonies of other Writers By it we are enabled to interpret Prophecies and to make plain their Accomplishments which without it we could never make out Yea by it the Wisdom of those is preserved for the benefit of Mankind who thought fit to write nothing themselves as Socrates and Pythagoras but their Disciples took care in time to write their Doctrines So that we have the general Consent of the wisest Part of Mankind that Writing is a far more certain way of conveyance than meer Tradition 2. And especially in our case where there are so many particular Advantages as to the Holy Scriptures above any other Writings 1. From the special Providence of God with respect to them for since it is agreed by all Christians that these were written by Divine Inspiration it is most reasonable to believe that a more than ordinary care would be taken to preserve them And therefore to suppose any Books of Scripture to be lost which contained any necessary Points of Faith is a great Reflexion on Divine Providence For if God watches over his Church he cannot be supposed to let such Books be lost which were designed for the universal and lasting Benefit of his Church 2. From the mighty Esteem which the Church of God had always for them for they built their Hopes of Heaven upon the Promises contained in them The Book of Scripture was their Evidence for their future Inheritance the Foundation of their Hope and Rule of their Faith their Defence against Assaults and Temptations their Counseller in cases of Difficulty their Support under Troubles and their surest Guide to a happy Eternity and therefore the Primitive Christians chose rather to endure any Torments than basely to betray it and give it up to their Enemies 3. From the early disputes that were about them Which shews that they were no Invention of After-times nor were brought into the World by Stealth and Art for they endured the greatest shock of opposition at first while the Matters of Fact concerning them were the most easily proved And having passed the severe Scrutiny of the first Ages when so many counterfeit Writings were sent abroad the following Ages could have no Reason to call their Authority in question 4. From the general Consent of divided Churches about them It might have pleased God to have kept his Church from those unhappy Breaches which have been in all Parts of the Christian World but the East and the West the North and the South can all bear Testimony to the sad Divisions of Christendom and those of many Ages standing But yet we have this considerable Advantage by them that we can have no Reason to mistrust a conspiracy where the several Bodies are so much divided 5. From the great internal Satisfaction which the Minds of good Men have concerning them and which no other Writing can pretend to give For here we read of the Promise of Divine
is abundance of Noise and Heat and Examples and the Hopes of present Victory and the Shame and Danger of running away which animate Persons in a Day of Battel But it is another kind of Courage which is required to make Men bear up against the Malice and Subtilty of the Devil and of wicked Men for here the Combination is to all appearance much stronger on the worse Side and if we are to judge of Success by Numbers those who promote Vertue and Goodness could never bear up against their Adversaries who were sure to carry it by the Poll. There were among the Heathens some few great Men who endeavour'd to reform the Vices of Mankind But alas What poor Success had they in their Attempts this way Although they wanted neither Wit nor Learning nor Address to carry on this Noble Design such as Socrates at Athens and Epictetus at Rome and some others who lived agreeably to their Doctrine yet how little Effect had both their Precepts and Example on the rest of the People either at Athens or Rome Socrates declared a mighty Resolution rather to die than to say or do any thing unbecoming the Station God placed him in and upon the Prosecution of two malicious Men the prevailing Party were resolved to try the Experiment and took him at his Word After which his Disciples durst not deal so plainly and openly as he had done and the Artifice they were put to lost the force of the best Part of their Philosophy which they so mixed with Numbers and Figures and abstracted Speculations that it became a Mystery instead of a plain Design to reform the Manners of Men. The best and wisest of them seem to have taken more pains to satisfie themselves than to have instructed others or if they did they were some few chosen Disciples whom they initiated with as much Care as they were wont to do in their solemn Mysteries But the Apostles undertook to reform the World as to two things which Mankind are the hardest brought off from and those are Idolatry and Vice And they went plainly and roundly to work which Men can the least bear as we see by the Persecutions they underwent almost in every Place assoon as their Design was understood There was a general Clamour against them as the Disturbers of Mankind as those who turned the World upside down which in some sense was true but not as they meant it with respect to Order and Government But when Men have no mind to be reformed they must have some Terms of Reproach to fasten upon those who go about to do it It being natural for them to put Pictures of Devils on those whom they have a mind to execute And when they endeavour'd to convince them of their Immoralities they were very impatient of which we have a clear Instance in St. Paul's Preaching to Felix concerning Righteousness and Temperance and Judgment to come which were excellent Subjects but they went too near him he was too much concerned to be willing to hear any more of them The Discourse of St. Paul had too much Force in it for him to bear it any longer for it caused such a disorder in his Mind as affected his Body for Felix trembled And then he thought it best to dismiss him to a more convenient Season which never came that we read of Which shews how much more willing Men are to continue in their Faults than to hear them reproved in order to Amendment Am I therefore become your Enemy saith St. Paul because I tell you the Truth No doubt of it For no Truths can be so uneasie and provoking as those which gaul the Consciences of Men. The false Teachers whom St. Paul complains so much of were sensible of the Inconveniencies which follow'd plain Truth and therefore to avoid Persecution they so mixed and adulterated the Doctrine of the true Apostles that it lost its main Force and Efficacy And although by their shifts and compliances with Jews and Gentiles they escaped the hard Usage which others underwent yet the Effect of it was that their Doctrine took no deep rooting in the World For in Origen's time a very inconsiderable Number of their Disciples were left But though the plain Simplicity of the Gospel met with Persecutions on all hands yet by the undaunted Courage of the Preachers of it the more it was opposed the more it prevailed and at last triumphed over its greatest Persecutors 2. These words may be understood with respect to all Christians and so they shew what the Temper and Spirit of Christianity is where it hath its due and proper Effect upon men's minds The Moralists speak much of an excellent Vertue which they call Magnanimity which implies such a Greatness of Mind that it carries a Man on in doing what becomes him without being discouraged by the Fears of what may befall him in it And this our Saviour doth suppose to be so attainable by all his Disciples that he requires it from them Fear not them which can kill the Body but are not able to kill the Soul or Be not afraid of them that kill the Body and after that have no more that they can do i. e. Govern your Fears by the Consideration of another World and not of this But is this possible to be rid of our Fears as to this World It may be some Heroical minds may attain to this or those on whom God bestows the extraordinary Gifts of his Spirit But can any by the common Measures and Assistances of Grace reach to it Fear is a natural and violent Passion which is not easily dissembled much less cured and the weaker any are as to Mind or Body the more they are subject to the Power of it There are some Constitutions by Reason of their dark and confused and melancholy Apprehensions of things can never get out of the Labyrinth of their own Fears And where Suspicions and Jealousies find an easie Entertainment it is not possible to cure such Person 's Fears for they are afraid of all possible things Such I must exclude as labouring under a Disease of Imagination as we do those who are under a Fever And for whose Unreasonable Fears I know no better Cure than there is of Madness which is to bring the Persons to the Use of Reason as well as we can and if Reason doth not cure them nothing else will But let us suppose the Fears reasonable i. e. such as considering the State of the World a prudent Man may justly apprehend is it not possible to master these Fears Not to cure our Apprehension when it is reasonable but to take Care that it do not torment and disquiet our Mind but especially that it do not hinder us from doing our Duty And this is that Spirit of Christian Magnanimity which I design to speak of and to make the Matter as clear as I can I shall 1. Enquire into those things which the Nature of
the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature Therefore our business is to consider whether any such things be contained in that Revelation which we all own and if they be we are bound to believe them although we are not able to comprehend them Now here are two remarkable Characters in these Words by which we may examine these different Hypotheses concerning the way of Salvation by Jesus Christ. I. It is a faithfull saying and therefore must be contained in that Revelation which God hath made concerning our Salvation by Christ. II. It is worthy of all Acceptation i. e. most usefull and beneficial to Mankind Now by these two I shall proceed in the Examination of them I. Which is most agreeable to the revealed Will of God II. Which doth offer fairest for the Benefit and Advantage of Mankind I. Which is most agreeable to the revealed Will of God For that we are sure is the most faithfull saying since Men of Wit and Reason may deceive us but God cannot When the Apostles first preached this Doctrine to the World they were not bound to believe what they affirmed to be a faithfull saying till they gave sufficient Evidence of their Authority from God by the wonderfull Assistance of the Holy Ghost But now this faithfull saying is contained in the Books of the New Testament by which we are to judge of the Truth of all Christian Doctrines And when two different Senses of Places of Scripture are offer'd we are to consider which is most reasonable to be preferr'd And herein we are allow'd to exercise our Reason as much as we please and the more we do so the sooner we shall come to satisfaction in this matter Now according to Reason we may judge that Sense to be preferr'd 1. Which is most plain and easie and agreeable to the most received Sense of Words not that which is forced and intricate or which puts improper and metaphorical Senses upon Words which are commonly taken in other Senses especially when it is no Sacramental thing which in its own Nature is Figurative 2. That which suits most with the Scope and Design not only of the particular Places but of the whole New Testament which is to magnifie God and to depress Man to set forth the infinite Love and Condescention of God in giving his Son to be a Propitiation for our Sins to set up the Worship of one true God in Opposition to Creatures to represent and declare the mighty Advantages Mankind receive by the Sufferings of Christ Jesus 3. That which hath been generally received in the Christian Church to be the Sense of those places For we are certain this was always look on as a matter of great Concernment to all Christians and they had as great Capacity of understanding the Sense of the Apostles and the Primitive Church had greater helps for knowing it than others at so much greater Distance And therefore the Sense is not to be taken from modern Inventions or Criticisms or Pretences to Revelation but that which was at first deliver'd to the Christian Church and hath been since received and embraced by it in the several Ages and hath been most strenuously asserted when it hath met with Opposition as founded on Scripture and the general Consent of the Christian Church 4. That which best agrees with the Characters of those Persons from whom we receive the Christian Faith and those are Christ Jesus and his holy Apostles For if their Authority be lost our Religion is gone and their Authority depends upon their Sincerity and Faithfulness and Care to inform the World aright in matters of so great Importance 1. I begin with the Character which the Apostles give of Christ Jesus himself which is that he was a Person of the greatest Humility and Condescension that he did not assume to himself that which he might justly have done For let the Words of St. Paul be understood either as to the Nature or Dignity of Christ it is certain that they must imply thus much that when Christ Jesus was here on Earth he was not of a vain assuming humour that he did not boast of himself nor magnifie his own Greatness but was contented to be look'd on as other Men although he had at that time far greater and diviner Excellency in him than the World would believe Less than this cannot be made of those Words of the Apostle Who being in the form of God he thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no Reputation and took upon him the form of a Servant Now this being the Character given of him let us consider what he doth affirm concerning himself For although he was far from drawing the People after him by setting forth his own Perfection yet upon just Occasions when the Jews contested with him he did assert such things which must savour of Vanity and Ostentation or else must imply that he was the Eternal Son of God For all Mankind are agreed that the highest Degree of Ambition lies in affecting Divine Honour or for a meer Man to be thought a God How severely did God punish Herod for being pleased with the People's Folly in crying out the Voice of God and not of Man And therefore he could never have born with such positive Assertions and such repeated Defences of his being the Son of God in such a manner as implied his being so from Eternity This in his Disputes with the Jews he affirms several times that he came down from Heaven not in a Metaphorical but in a proper Sense as appears by those words What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before In another Conference he asserted that he was before Abraham Which the Jews so literally understood that without a Metaphor they went about to stone him little imagining that by Abraham the calling of the Gentiles was to be understood But above all is that Expression which he used to the Jews at another Conference I and my Father are one which they understood in such a manner that immediately they took up stones to have stoned him What means all this Rage of the Jews against him What For saying that he had Unity of Consent with his Father No certainly But the Jews misunderstood him Let us suppose it would not our Saviour have immediately explained himself to prevent so dangerous a Misconstruction But he asked them what it was they stoned him for They answered him directly and plainly because that thou being a man makest thy self God This was home to the Purpose And here was the time for him to have denied it if it had not been so But doth he deny it Doth he say it would be Blasphemy in him to own it No but he goes about to defend it and proves it to be no Blasphâ—my for him to say that he was the Son of God i. e. so as to be God as the Jews
it were upon Precipices and therefore had need to look to our standing when we see Persons falling on every side There is no force indeed in our Case because we are in a State of Trial but we live in the midst of Snares and Temptations and Sins which do so easily beset us that we cannot walk one step in our way without Danger and therefore there is continual Reason for Watchfulness But that is not enough For 2. We must add Prayer to our Watchfulness Otherwise our Presumption of our own strength may make us fall God will have us owe our standing to his Assistance which he hath promised to give upon our earnest Prayer to him for it No Duty more proper for us in this State of Temptation no Duty more effectual for obtaining suitable Supplies for our present Necessities where a Man falls by Temptation St. Chrysostom saith it is because he knew not how to Pray For Prayer when duely performed not only diverts and raises and composes the Mind and so breaks the force of a present Temptation but when a close Siege is laid it keeps the Passage open for Supplies from Heaven and brings down those Supports which may enable us so to endure Temptation that when we are tried we may receive the Crown of Life which God hath promised to them that love him SERMON XII Preached at HAMPTON-COURT Before the King and Queen August the 7th 1689. Acts XXVI 8. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the Dead THESE words are part of the Excellent Defence which S. Paul made for himself before King Agrippa and the Roman Governour for embracing the Christian Religion And if it were so desirable a thing to have heard S. Paul Preach as one of the Fathers of the Church thought it when he parallel'd it with seeing Christ in the Flesh it was especially at that time when before so great an Audience and upon so Solemn an occasion he was to give an account of himself touching all the things whereof he was accused of the Jews Ver. 2. There had been a long and implacable Hatred both in the Rulers and People of the Jews against him above any other Apostle having had greater advantages of Education among them and being more remarkably zealous for preaching up that Doctrine which himself had furiously opposed and that upon a Principle of Conscience as he saith Ver. 9. I verily thought with my self that I ought to do many things contrary to the Name of Jesus of Nazareth And such a Conscientious Persecutor would not do that which he accounted the work of the Lord negligently as he shews Ver. 10 11. But that the same Person should on a sudden quit all his Hopes and Expectations among the Jews and not only betake himself to a Sect so much hated and despised as that of Christianity was but to be so active in all places for the promoting it was a thing which did both surprize and enrage them Insomuch that when he came up to Jerusalem a popular Tumult was soon raised against him which had like to have cost him his Life if the Roman Officers had not rescued him from their Fury But after he had made several Defences of himself to the People to the Council to the Roman Governour and found their Rage and Malice against him to continue still when Festus would have sent him to Jerusalem to be tried He appeals to Coesar and during this Appeal when Agrippa came to visit Festus hearing of this remarkable Cause and the vehement Prosecution of it he had a Desire to hear what S. Paul had to plead for himself But before I come to the particular Matter of his Plea in these words there are 2 things observable concerning him 1. That although he knew he could not suffer in a better Cause and had a Prospect of his Sufferings before he went to Jerusalem and went thither with a Resolution to undergo any thing for the sake of Christ yet he quitted no advantages which the Law gave him For when the Officer would have scourged him he pleaded his Freedom as a Roman Citizen and all such were exempted from Scourging by the Porcian and Sempronian Laws And when he found the Design was laid to carry him back to Jerusalem and there to make him a Sacrifice to the Rage of the Jews he makes use of the Privilege of the Roman Laws and before Sentence made his Appeal to Coesar So little did he think it inconsistent with the Christian Doctrine of Suffering to make use of Legal Privileges for his own Defence against unjust Violence 2. That in all his Defences he insisted on the Resurrection as the main Point For although the true Ground of the violent Hatred and Malice of the Jews against him was his constant and zealous Preaching Jesus and the Resurrection as he did at Athens and other places yet those who persecute Men for the sake of Truth always pretend some other Reason for it and nothing is more common and plausible than that of breaking the Laws And the Jews now thought they had this Advantage against S. Paul for they charged him with profaning the Temple by carrying a Gentile into it but the Matter of Fact was mistaken however this served for a popular Pretence against him and that was all they sought for Malice working most mischief under a Disguise And this took presently and spread so suddenly That it is said All the City was moved and the People ran together and they took Paul and drew him out of the Temple When Tertullus pleaded against him he faintly urged his going about to profane the Temple but the main of his Accusation was That he was a Ringleader of the Sect of the Nazarens therefore S. Paul in his Answer in short saith to the other things objected That they could not prove them but as to the Way which they câ—lled Heresie i. e. owning the Doctrine of Christ he was so far from denying it that he professed it before them all And as he declared his Faith freely so he did his Hope too And have hope towards God which they themselves also allow that there shall be a Resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust This was the Point S. Paul reduced all to Touching the Resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day And so here to Agrippa And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the Promise made of God unto our Fathers unto which Promise our twelve Tribes instantly serving God day and night hope to come for which Hopes sake King Agrippa I am accused of the Jews And then immediately follow the words of the Text Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead Wherein we have the Strength of the Apostles Argument to prove the Truth of this
Mysterious Doctrine of the Resurrection although artificially couched by wayâ— of Insinuation and Address 1. It is not a vain thing to suppose it because God had Promised it For no Tradition of Fathers no Conjectures of Philosophers no Power of Nature could be a sufficient Foundation to build such an Article of Faith upon nothing short of the Promise made of God 2. It is not a new thing started by him to disturb and perplex the Minds of Men it was a Promise made to our Fathers i. e. it was involv'd and implied in the great Promise of the Messias and the Happiness to come by him which was not with Respect to this World but the World to come the full and compleat Enjoyment whereof must suppose a Resurrection of the dead 3. It is not an unreasonable thing which appears by S. Paul's putting it to them in such a manner Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead Wherein the Apostle hath shew'd us the true Method of asserting and defending the Mysteries of the Christian Faith viz. not to undertake to demonstrate things by natural Reason which are uncapable of it but first to prove them to be of Divine Revelation and then to shew that there is no Objection from Reason which can make that Revelation incredible And this I shall endeavour to make out as to the Subject here mentioned and that 1. In General with respect to the Doctrine of the Resurrection 2. More particularly 1. As to the Resurrection of Christ 2. As to the Resurrection of the Dead at the great Day 1. In General as to the Doctrine of the Resurrection It is no unreasonable Method of proceeding with Mankind to suppose some general Principles agreed on before we undertake to prove particular Doctrines For when we go about to reason at all we must suppose the Foundations of certainty without which it is to no purpose to undertake to convince any Man of any thing When we prove that there is a God we must suppose something that is without our selves in the Frame of this visible World and from the order of Causes the variety of Effects the nature of successive Beings we justly infer that it could not be always just as it is and therefore it will be produced by a Being Superiour to it whose Power must be Infinite as giving Being to that which had none and disposing things in such a manner as we see them For as nothing can be without a Cause so it is most unreasonable to suppose that which once was not should put it self into Being or a blind and unactive Cause should produce such admirable Effects An infinite Power being then necessarily supposed as to the Production of the World it cannot be unreasonable to apply it to a particular Effect although above the power of natural Causes if it be such a one as is agreeable to the infinite Wisdom of God It is an unreasonable thing to suppose any absurd Doctrine to be true because God's Power is infinite For he doth not imploy his Power but in a way most agreeable to his Wisdom and his Wisdom is discovered in the suitableness of the End and the clearness of Divine Revelation It is as possible for God now to raise the Dead as at the great Day but we have no reason to believe it because it doth not now answer the great End of the Resurrection which is in order to an eternal State Therefore altho' there be an equal Possibility in the thing yet there is not an equal Credibility because this doth by no means come up to the declared Purpose of God's raising the Dead which is of very great moment for Mankind to believe and expect If I could believe it possible for the Body of Christ to be in ten thousand places at the same time which I cannot yet if it were not to attain some great and spiritual End which cannot be carried on another way I have the same reason to think it incredible as I have to believe that God will not imploy his infinite Power as often as a Priest shall think fit by repeating the words of Consecration And we never find in the whole History of Scripture the infinite and miraculous Power of God tied to a certain Form of words and that to no spiritual End viz. either for the Conviction Conversion or Sanctification of Mankind to which other means more proper and agreeable are appointed But in the Case of the Resurrection of the Dead our Saviour hath sufficiently declared the End and Design of it to be such that we may justly suppose that if God will imploy his infinite Power it would be for such a Purpose The hour is coming saith Christ in which all that are in the Graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation Can we imagine the Power of God to be imployed for a more suitable End to the Design of his Providence than this It is not to make them capable of acting over again all that Folly and Vanity and Vice which they live in now it is not meerly to shew his Power over all the scattered Atoms of our Bodies and that he can when he pleases fetch them of their secret Repositories and dispose and unite them so as to make the same Bodies it is not to convince then the unbelieving part of Mankind when they see that effected which they before thought incredible for they who will not believe now upon the Evidence which God hath given so as to prepare themselves for that great Day shall then be forced both to believe and tremble Altho' then we do own that without God's infinite Power we look on the Resurrection as impossible yet this ought to be no disparagement to the Doctrine since the End of it is such as doth so fully agree with the Wisdom and Design of Providence It 's true the ancient Fathers who discoursed much to the Heathens upon the Argument of the Resurrection which they thought one of the most incredible Parts of the Christian Doctrine do make use of many comparisons and Similitudes from natural Causes and Effects But we are not to look on them as strict Proofs but as handsome Illustrations being designed to take off the Scorn and Derision with which the Heathens entertained the Doctrine Thus they speak of a Diurnal Resurrection viz. Of the Day dying into Night and being buried in Darkness and in the Morning springing out of its Grave of Obscurity and Silence with a fresh Glory and Splendour of an Annual Resurrection when the Trees begin to have a new Life in them and the precious Liquor which shoots up into the withered Body and Branches and so brings forth new Leaves and Flowers and Fruit. But after all we know that such a Revolution of Days and Nights and the several Seasons of the
Year depends upon certain and natural Causes viz. the Diurnal and Annual Course of the Sea All that can be proved hence is that things may not always remain in the same State of Darkness and Inactivity but that the same God who hath appointed the Times and Seasons for other things may if he please restore Mankind after a long Night and cold Winter in the Grave to a State of Life and Vigour at the Day of Resurrection The Story of the Phoenix so often mentioned by the Ancients holds well enough against the Authors of it for the Christians had it from the Heathens viz. to prove there is no Absurdity in believing the Possibility that Life may be restored after the Corruption of the Body and that they had no reason to deride Christianity for a Doctrine which themselves owned in their famous Tradition of the Phoenix But when they argued strictly about this Matter they resolved it into the same infinite Power of God whereby he made the World And according to the due order of our Creed we must first believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth before we are to believe the Resurrection of the Body And although the Matters of Faith be not capable of strict Demonstrations yet we have this strong Evidence to convince Mankind of the Credibility of it viz. If they do believe that God made the World and the Bodies of Mankind at first they can have no reason to question his Power to new make them if they do not they must believe something far more absurd than the Doctrine of the Resurrection viz. that this World should make it self and that all things should fall into that admirable Order they are in without the Power and Management of an infinitely Wise Creatour And setting aside the Consideration of infinite Power such Persons ought not to find fault with asserting the Possibility of the Resurrection for why may not the same Particles of Matter in a long Tract of time hit together again to make up the same Body as well as such are at first supposed to have made up not only the visible World but the wonderful Fabrick of any single Body of Mankind Why should it be more incredible that a dead Body should be raised out of its Grave than that the Body of a Man should spring out of the Earth at first from a meer Fermentation of Matter So that the most Atheistical Persons have no reason to reject the Doctrine of the Resurrection as a thing incredible to them But yet there are some Difficulties which deserve to be cleared to remove any Temptations to Infidelity and those relate 1. To the quantity of the Matter to make up such a number of Bodies 2. To the sorting and Distribution of it for the making so many distinct Bodies as were before 1. As to the quantity of Matter not as to the main Body of the Earth out of the dust whereof Man's Body was framed at first but as to that which makes up the Bodies of Men as now they are And I think one Observation is sufficient to clear the Difficulties which relate to this that what passes away from us by insensible Transpiration was once as really a part of our Body as that is most visible and discernible in us now or will be when our Bodies corrupt in the Grave and are turned into Dust. I need not run to the Statick Experiments to prove the vast quantity of Matter belonging to our Bodies which passes continually away from us for there is one thing which sufficiently proves it and no Body can doubt of and that is we find all Persons grow and shoot up till they come to such a Stature and when they are attained to it all the Art and Contrivance and Nourishment they can use cannot make any addition to it To what a prodigious height would Mankind grow if every seven years they should shoot up in Proportion to the first Seven And if those parts which receive Nourishment did not spend themselves all Men when they cease growing upwards must have a vast Bulk For they take in greater Nourishment than when they shot up so fast But we find it otherwise in Mankind and therefore those which were once the real parts of the Body do insensibly go off and spend themselves and others come in their room And those which were the substantial Parts of the same Body are scattered up and down in our Atmosphere being wholly indiscernable by us but yet they are not annihilated nor lost to infinite Wisdom who ranges and disposes those minute Particles of our Bodies in such order that he can command them together as he pleases and so make up the same Body again But this carries me to the second Difficulty 2. As to the sorting and distribution of these dispersed Particles into so many distinct Bodies again It is but a mean Representation of the Possibility of this which the Chymists boast off viz. that they can reduce some Metalline Bodies to their own shapes and natural appearances from those wonderful Disguises they can put them into But from thence we may infer that the infinitely Wise God knows all the secret passages of Nature and every small part of a Body and can trace it through all its Changes and Shapes and bring it back again to unite with the other parts of the same Body The truth is we are mighty Strangers to the invisible Kingdom of Nature we make a shift to talk and reason a little about the Frame and Contexture of gross and visible Bodies but for those innumerable Parts which are out of the reach of our Senses we know they must be and are somewhere but in what Order and Variety we know not But this we know that the most minute parts we can discern by the help of Glasses although they appear rough and deformed to our naked Eyes as the Moss which grows upon the Earth yet when it is more narrowly searched into by the help of Glasses is found to have in it admirable Beauty and Curiosity And it is very observable that the more we look into the Works of Art the less we admire them but the more we search into what we account the most disorderly and confused parts of Nature even the least and most contemptible the more we are surprized with admiration Which shews the infinite Wisdom of the Maker of all things who hath all those things in due Order which seem to us impossible to be sorted or numbred And since God hath declared it to be his Design to raise the Bodies of the Dead we have no reason to question but that he disposes the several parts of them so as none shall be either lost or mislaid The Psalmist speaks of a Book in God's keeping wherein all our Members are written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them And he hath a Book too wherein all the scattered parts