Systems of Divinity which raise great Difficulties in the Minds of those who read or hear talk of them 't is no wonder if Men of Sagacity and Penetration propose some Doubts to Divines Nay according to the Supposition of every Christian Society viz. that all others err in something it cannot be wondr'd at if it be said that Unbelievers offer some Objections to Divines which they can't resolve according to their Hypothesis or which they resolve by contradicting themselves Divines upbraid one another with it Let us therefore suppose that a Man not altogether ignorant observes in the Society in which he was born that the manner after which some Doctrines of the Christian Religion are explain'd is subject to great Difficulties or is altogether false Let us suppose further that the Divines of his Country are very learn'd Men and understand the Christian Religion better than others an Opinion common enough especially among those who never went out of their Country or never read the Books of other Sects When they perceive that the Divines whom they consult satisfy them not or maintain palpable Falsities they conclude from thence that the Religion of their Country is not true and consequently that the Christian Religion is altogether false If it happens that a Man having such Thoughts never reads the Works of other Christians who are free from the Errors he is offended at the more he lives the more he confirms himself in his Opinion because as soon as an Error hath been found out the longer it is thought of the better it is known When Men know nothing better about the Subject in question and have not Penetration and Learning enough to find out Truth of themselves they can hardly forbear doubting of every thing because they presently suspect that the other Parts of Divinity which they have not examin'd are not better and observe that the same Doctrine whereof they have found out the Falsity is accounted as essential as others But let us suppose again that a Man taken up with other Business and who has no time to spare for such an Examination as there are a great many comes to read Books of Controversy written by ingenious Men of both sides he will often perceive that both Parties attack very well and defend themselves ill That Man will conclude from thence and often with Reason that both Parties are in the wrong the more he hears them one after another the more he 'll be convinc'd of it and at last he 'll believe that there is nothing true because he hath not Parts enough to distinguish Truth from Falshood If we add that there are some other external and internal Motives which make him incline to Unbelief as there are but too many that Man will get into a Scepticism almost incurable or into a formal Unbelief out of which he will hardly be able to extricate himself What I have propos'd as Suppositions is really to be found in a great part of Christendom and there are a great many People in Italy France Spain and Germany for I must tell it and I ought not to conceal that I don't follow the particular Opinions which prevail in those Places there is I say an infinite Number of Men in the same case as I have describ'd They see some Opinions manifestly false establish'd in those vast Countries by a publick Authority if they offer any Objections they are pitifully resolv'd and then if they dare reply any thing they are overwhelm'd with Censures and Threatnings not to say that they are sent to the Inquisition and burnt if they grow obstinate Nevertheless Divines maintain those Doctrines tho evidently false with great Heat they make use of all their Wit and Eloquence to prove them Many Lay-men who want not Penetration but know no better think that indeed this is the Christian Religion and because they distinctly apprehend the Falsity of what is said they conclude from thence that Religion is not true Others add to their Meditations the reading of some controversial Book of Roman Catholick and Protestant Authors and they see that the latter altogether destroy the Doctrines of the Church of Rome They rightly conclude from thence that they are false and the utmost Endeavours of their Teachers can't free them from that Opinion On the other hand they often find some Books of Roman Catholick Authors who attack well enough some particular Opinions of certain Protestants and those Protestants are as unlucky in defending their own Opinions as they are successful in assaulting those of the Roman Catholicks They also think that those Protestants are in the wrong and because their Examination reaches not to all the Sects separated from the Church of Rome they confound them one with another and condemn them alike so that at last they perswade themselves that Truth is to be found no where Besides other Motives which may confirm them in those Thoughts and which I have already mention'd they see two things which affect them so much that they retain their Opinions for ever if no better Books come into their Hands or if no body frees them from the Doubts they are in The first is that it clearly appears that 't is the temporal Interest of Divines to maintain those Doctrines Those who assert them with Heat and declame with the greatest Violence against other Christian Societies are preferr'd and get the most considerable Dignities of the Party they are in On the contrary if any one seems to be modest and thinks himself oblig'd in Conscience to be moderate towards those who are call'd Hereticks or Heterodox he must needs be very much favour'd if he be not excluded for ever from all sorts of Employment and ruins not himself In some Places that 's enough to be altogether undone and almost every where if any intimates that he approves not all the Opinions of the Party he is in tho he does it never so modestly they shew him no Pity he must suffer whatever Hatred and Cruelty can do when they are cloth'd with the Pretence of Religion The second thing that confirms Unbelievers in their Disposition is that Divines will be Judges and Parties in controverted Doctrines against the clearest Principles of Equity tho 't is most evident that 't is their Interest to favour one of the Parties Tho their Decisions be never so unreasonable and unsatisfactory they must be submitted to because they look upon them as good and solid Nay if they are to be believ'd the Books of their Adversaries ought-not to be read or those who read them ought to do it with a Design of not approving their Arguments otherwise they must undergo the Condemnation of their Parties Unbelievers who are convinc'd of the Falsity of several particular Doctrines and observe that they are maintain'd out of a worldly Interest and by unjust and violent Means conclude that Divines and consequently all Christians are factious People and Enemies to Truth as well as those who profess the other
upon this Disquisition cannot be counted lost or vainly spent seeing the Matter in Debate is the most important thing in the World and that the Discovery of Truth must at all times necessarily produce Joy Satisfaction and Tranquillity or augment them if enjoy'd already The Second Part. Of the Motives of Incredulity which proceed from the Occasions given Unbelievers to doubt of the Christian Religion or entirely to reject it CHAP. I. That the Truth of the Christian Religion ought not to be call'd in question because some embrace it more from Credulity than Reason Altho as I have already said there is no Unbeliever but is in some blameable Disposition which inclines him to reject the Christian Religion it must be confess'd however that there are many other things whereof they cannot be accus'd but which nevertheless confirm them in these Dispositions 'T is true that it is ill done of them to forsake the Truth upon any Account whatsoever but they are not much less to be blam'd who furnish 'em with the Occasions of doing so I have undertaken to shew the one and the other in this Second Part where granting to Unbelievers that many of them who profess Christianity are in the wrong in several things I shall demonstrate that it no way follows from thence that the Christian Religion is not true and that we ought not to attribute to the first Teachers of it those Faults which we remark at this Day in some of those who call themselves their Disciples The Occasions which the latter give Unbelievers to conceive an ill Opinion of Religion proceed either from the Persons or from the things themselves I shall forthwith examine those which the Persons give and afterwards such as proceed from Things One of the most general and common Scandals which occasions the Obstinacy of Unbelievers is that they see a world of People who are Christians not from Reason and Understanding but from their Education and out of mere Credulity If these had been born in Asia they would without changing their Disposition be Idolaters or Mahometans and as zealously embrace the idle Dreams of the Bramins or the Errors of Mahomet as they believe in Europe that the Christian Religion is true They receive Fables that are manifestly ridiculous with no less Respect than the most certain Histories and they believe not less the most pernicious Doctrines and the most contrary to the Good of Mankind than the holiest and most useful Precepts of the Gospel It is not the Nature of the Objects laid open by the Teachers of Religion to their Understanding which determines these to believe 'em true or to look upon them with Respect but it is the Authority of those who speak to them well or ill-grounded and a certain Credulity carefully cherish'd in their Minds because of the Advantages drawn by some from it as we shall shew in the Sequel Deceiv'd by a faint Resemblance they call their Credulity by the Name of Faith and maintain that those want it who believe not as they do all that is told 'em by their Preachers and consequently that they have not such a Disposition as the Gospel requires of Men seeing it promises Salvation only to those who have Faith If any Person reasons about Religion and says that it can neither be known nor prov'd without Reasoning presently these People who neither know the Proofs nor the Doctrines of it but very confusedly are sure to suspect him of Irreligion especially if he forsakes any of the common Sentiments the Falsity whereof he may have discover'd by his Application and study These People so much perswaded if you believe them of the Truth of Christianity cannot believe many times that a Man who knows how to reason well should embrace it in good earnest and they are alarm'd at the least Examination of it In the mean time the Unbelievers who hear these Discourses and behold this Conduct so visibly repugnant to common Sense laugh at this pretended Faith and draw from it this unhappy Consequence that the Doctrine to be receiv'd so credulously is either false or at least to be extremely suspected Thus the Heathens formerly hearing the Christians say that they needed only to believe in order to be sav'd and not understanding what this meant * Origen cont Cels l. 1 6. laugh'd in like manner at the Christian Religion as if none could receive it but credulous Persons and such as were not capable of reasoning And indeed if it had for a main Principle this Doctrine That People must embrace it without knowing why and that such as should thus believe it should be sav'd If they had maintain'd this I say the Preachers of this Religion might be justly suspected of Imposture and those who receiv'd it without being able to render any Reason be condemn'd as too credulous To speak in such Terms would confound Religion with all sorts of Impostures which are only establish'd upon the Credulity of the People It would likewise open a Door to all the Falshoods that could be told if Belief were all that was requisite for there could be no Reason to receive one thing without Examen no more than another Were this so how could the Christians boast of being certain of the Truth of their Religion and the Falsity of others since the Belief of all Religions would be built upon the same Credulity But 't is false that the Christian Religion requires Assent without Examination or that it is grounded upon a blind Faith It is also false that such as receive it upon those scores can pass for Christians whose Faith is praise-worthy To be certain of the first of these two things we need but consider the Conduct and Discourses of Jesus Christ Had he come into the World without any Character to distinguish him from Impostors who have frequently impos'd upon the Credulous was he to be believ'd merely upon his own Word or had he requir'd any such thing the Jews would have done well to reject him Nay and had he in very deed been sent of God if he did not offer cogent Proofs of it no body could be blam'd for not believing on him for then such as were the most perswaded of the Truth of the Jewish Religion and therefore the best dispos'd to embrace the Doctrine of those Prophets God would be pleas'd to send to them could not without hazard of deceiving themselves acknowledg any Man to be effectually a Prophet who could give them no evident Marks of his Mission Therefore Jesus Christ came arm'd with the Power of working Miracles and he wrought so great a Number if you credit the Evangelists that he infinitely surpass'd all the Prophets who were before him Now this is the Mark which Moses taught the Israelites should discover the true Prophets and Jesus Christ grounded himself upon it when he requir'd Assent to his Doctrine He never desir'd any to believe in him purely upon his Word as it may be seen by
in any thing differ from the Majority Nothing less than all this For the Apostles divide the Controversy as it were and will have both the Parties to have a Condescension for one another They do not enjoin the Jews to eat without scruple the Flesh of those Creatures prohibited in their Law nor do they on the other hand subject the Gentiles to the Superstition of the Jews They only command them Acts 15.29 to abstain from Meats offer'd to Idols and from Blood and from things strangl'd because the Jews were exceedingly offended to see those who believ'd in Jesus Christ and kept Company with the Apostles eat such things whereof they thought the Use forbidden all Mankind They declare that it seem'd good to the Holy Ghost and to them to lay upon them no greater Burden than those necessary things St. Paul after telling the Corinthians that no Man can lay any other Foundation than what is already laid which is Jesus Christ adds 1 Cor. 3.11 c. That if any Man builds upon this Foundation Gold Silver precious Stones that is true Doctrines Wood Hay Stubble that is to say false Doctrines tho not destroying the Foundation the Fire shall try every Man's Work and that if any Man's Work abide he shall receive a Reward but that if any Man's Work shall be burnt he shall indeed suffer Loss but yet shall be sav'd so as by Fire In his Epistle to the Romans where he speaks distinctly of that Controversy decided by the Apostles Rom. 14.1 c. hear what Advice he gives them Him that is weak in the Faith receive but not to doubtful Disputations for one believeth that he may eat all things another who is weak eateth Herbs Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not for God hath received him Who art thou that judgest another Man's Servant To his own Master he standeth or falleth yea he shall be holden up for God is able to make him stand that is to keep him from being led by Weakness into fundamental Errors St. Paul adds several things upon the same Subject which now I shall not relate but all that he says does clearly suppose that we must bear with one another in such things as destroy not the Foundation that is which do not hinder us from putting our Trust in Jesus Christ or keeping his Commandments Now if after all this other Maxims are observ'd in our time they cannot be attributed to the Apostles nor consequently be look'd upon as Doctrines of the Christian Religion Whatever Imputations they may be liable to who violate this Branch of Charity relating to the Erroneous for they give too great Occasions of Reflection yet these disadvantageous Characters cannot stain the Christian Religion It is no way needful for me to prove that according to the Notions of the Gospel the Care of the spiritual Part is incomparably above that of the temporal The whole System of the Christian Religion speaks no other Language and therefore they deserve much more Esteem who endeavour to extirpate Infidelity and Vices than they who defend the temporal Interests of Christianity for the first are infinitely more useful to the Church than the latter Wherefore if some convert the Interest of Religion to that of a Party they must be blam'd and not the Religion which wholly condemns this Practice CHAP. IV. That the Divisions reigning among Christians should not hinder any from believing that the Christian Religion is true WE learn from Ecclesiastical History that from the very Decease of the Apostles nay and during their Lives too the Christians begun to be divided into Parties But it was principally in the second Age that a world of Sects grew up which tore Christianity into pieces after a most scandalous manner and since that time one Sect has constantly succeeded another so that it may be said the Christian Church was never without Divisions What is yet worse is that most of those Sects mutually condemn one another Each of them pretends that there is no Salvation for such as embrace not the Doctrines they teach I need not enter upon Particulars or bring distinct Proofs of these Divisions and Anathemas for they are Matters of Fact but too well known to all the World From hence Unbelievers take an occasion of saying that the Christian Religion is like all others and that if it had come from Heaven as 't is said to do Christians would be better agreed than they are found to be The same God say they who gave it to Men would take care to prevent those Divisions that extremely lessen the Effects of it On the contrary it seems to be the Apple of Discord which no sooner appear'd in the World but it caus'd numberless Divisions They add that this keeps Infidels and such as have been educated in other Religions from embracing it for not knowing which of those Sects it is that teaches the true Christianity and being not in a condition to examine them all they are at a loss how to determine the Affair They ask further of such as write for the Truth of Christianity as I do now which Christian Religion it is we defend whether it be that which the Roman Church professes or that of any of the other Sects that make a separate Body There is not say they any Christianity in general and therefore you must determine for some of the Parties which is it then you have undertaken to defend There are another sort of People whose Conduct is not more prudent than that of the Incredulous and who after another manner abuse the Divisions which reign among Christians They say that not being capable to examine all these different Sentiments they find no Method more sure than implicitly to embrace the Religion of the Country wherein they live since they must needs be of some Party The Incredulous reject all the different Opinions of Christians as equally ungrounded by reason of their Divisions and such as say that without any Examination they believe the Religion of their Country know not well themselves what they profess to believe and are exposed to almost as much Danger of mistaking as the Incredulous for in short to reject all Opinions and to embrace not knowing why the first Opinion that offers it self is much the same thing At bottom the latter are not a greater Honour to Christianity than the first seeing they both of them suppose it destitute of any Marks to distinguish it from Error or Imposture therefore I thought it necessary to examine in this Chapter the Conduct of the one and the other To begin with the Incredulous and to answer their Objections in the same Order that I alledg'd them I absolutely deny that it follows from the Divisions of Christians that the Christian Religion is not divinely reveal'd If the Christians could produce a Promise from the Founder of their Religion assuring them that they should never be divided then the Reasoning of the Incredulous