the matter it self And that what is afterwards to be offered may be the more clearly apprehended and the lines measures principles of Vertue and Grace the more duly stated I shall in this Chapter propose and endeavour to establish several conclusions which as they are of considerable import in themselves so of no less influence to the enlightninâ— of what we have undertaken First then All moral actions become Good â— Bad from their agreeableness or disagreeableâ—ness to some Rule which is as their measâ—â—â— and standard to which being commensurâ—â—â— they appear either equal or unequal As in mâ—â—terial and sensible things we judg of theâ—â— streightness crookedness by their agreeâ—ment or disagreement to a material rulâ— which is the measure of their Rectitude anâ— Obliquity so in things Moral we judg wheâ—ther a thing or action be Good or Evil bâ— their agreement or disagreement to somâ— moral Rule For an Action then to bâ— good or bad it imports two things thâ— entity of the Action the Rule to whicâ— it is commensurate They greatly misâ—take who state the moraâ—lity of an action As Compton doth de bonitate malitiâ humanorum actuum Disp. 89. Sect. 1. N. 4. formally to consist in its being spontaneous voluntary and free for though no action can be Moral that is not free yeâ— its morality doth not lie formally in its freeâ—dom Hence those very Philosophers who made Vertue and Vice to be thingâ— only Arbitrary founded alone in the imaginations of men did nevertheless acknowledg man to be a free agent and that â—iberty is inseparable from every Humane â—ction Freedom intrinsecally belongs to eâ—ery action as it is an human action whereâ—s morality is but partly intrinsecal namely â—s it imports and includes the entity of the â—ction and partly extrinsecal viz. as it deâ—otes the measure by which it is regulated § 2. The second thing we premise is That â—he immediate and formal Rule of Moral â—ood or evil is Law or the constitution of the Rector as to what shall be due I â—â—ant that the fundamental measure of â—ctions unchangeably Good or Evil is 〈◊〉 Divine Nature and of things and â—ctions indifferent and variable the Diâ—â—ne Will But the formal and immeâ—â—ate Rule of both is Law No action 〈◊〉 otherwise Good or Bad than as it is â—â—ther enjoyned or forbidden It is imâ—ossible to conceive any action or omisâ—â—on to be a duty abstracting from obâ—â—gation and it is as impossible to conâ—â—ive obligation secluding Law This â—â—nd's abundantly confirmed by that of â—he Apostle John 1 Epist. chap. 3. ver ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sin is the transgresâ—â—on of the Law An illegality or deviation â—â—om law To which accords that of Paul Rom. 4 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where no Law is there is no transgressioâ— It is a great mistake which yet I find toâ— many guilty of to make either the objecâ— or circumstance of an aâ—ction In hoc hallucinantur Iâ—sâ—ite fâ—re omnes vid. Vâ—sâ— diâ—p 57. Compt. dist 84. Sect. 2. de act Ham. the rule of its Moâ—rality or to constituâ—â— them the measure whâ— we judg an action gooâ— or evil An action is â—ot otherwise Gooâ— or Evil with respect to its circumstances then as cloathed with them it is either prâ—â—hibited or enjoyned It is true the cirâ—cumstances of an action conduce and coâ—â—tribute towards the discerning and defiâ—â—ing when it is forbidden when commanâ—ded when allowed and when disallowed But still the Law permitting and enjoyâ—ning the action in such cases and circumâ—stances disapproving and prohibiting it iâ— other is the proper and immediat Rule oâ— its morality § 3. The Third premise it this that maâ— being created a rational creature was uâ—â—der the Sanction of a law It is a contraâ—diction for man to be such a creature as hâ— is and not to be obliged to love fear anâ— obey God All creatures according tâ— their respective and several natures anâ— necessarily subject to him that made them â—t is impossible that whatever owes its enâ—â—re being to God should not also be in â— suitable subjection to him Man then â—eing a Rational creature must owe God â— rational subjection and on supposition â—hat his being is of such a Species and kind â— necessarily follow 's from the constituâ—â—on of his nature and his Habitude to God as his Maker that he should be acâ—ordingly bound to love reverence and â—â—rve him that made him so this being 〈◊〉 only Reasonable subjection But forâ—â—much as not only Pyrrho Epicurus c. â—f old but Hobbs and some other wild â—theistically disposed persons of late have â—anaged an opposition to all natural Laws â—ontending that all things are in themâ—elves indifferent that Moral Good and Evil result only from mens voluntary reâ—training and limiting of themselves and â—ow that antecedently to the constitutions â—ppointments and custom's of Societies â—here is neither Vertue nor Vice Turpiâ—ude nor Honesty justice nor injustice That there are no laws of Right and Wrong previous to the laws of the Commonwealth but that all men are at liberty to do as they please I say matters standing thus I shall discourse this head a little 〈◊〉 amply That there have been some who eithâ—â— through a supine negligence in not exâ—â—â—cising their faculties or through have defiled and darkned their Reasons by coâ—â—verse with sin have lost the sence 〈◊〉 distinction of Good and evil as well 〈◊〉 memoir's of ancient times as the sad â—â—â—perience of our own do evidently 〈◊〉 Diogenes Laertius in the life of Pyrrho 〈◊〉 us that he denyed any thing to be just unjust 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by nature But that all this were so only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by positive law 〈◊〉 Custom Nec Natura potest justo secernere 〈◊〉 quum There is no difference betwixt what 〈◊〉 call good and what evil by nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Forasmuch as there are different lawes 〈◊〉 different places it thence follows that theâ—◠〈◊〉 nothing in it self honest or dishonest but that according to occasion the same thing may be sometimes the one and sometimes â—he other In Fragmentis Pythagoreorum â—nter opuscula edita a D. Theoph. Gale Seâ—eca as well as others chargeth the same â—pon Epicurus and saith that therein he will dissent from him Ubi dicit nihil esse â—ustum naturâ where Epicurus affirmeth â—hat by nature or natural law there is noâ—hing just and honest And this indeed â—ecessarily follows from Epicurus his disâ—harging God from the Government of the World For if there be no Government â—here is no law and if no law there is neither moral Good nor Evil As Good and Evil are relatives to law so is law the â—elative of Government and all these â—tand and fall together With those already produced doth Mr. Hobbs fully agree Ubi nulla Respublica nihil injustum where there is no Common-wealth there is
Moral Rectitude and Obedience Though the Gospel strengthen the Duties of Morality by new Motives and improve them upon New Principles yet it no where gives us any New Precepts of Moral Goodness It is true Christ once and again particularly in the fifth of Matthew vindicates the Moral Law from the corrupt glosses and flesh-pleasing expositions of the Scribes and Pharisees who had restrained and perverted it from and besides the meaning of the Law and the intent of the Law-giver But he no where superinduceth any New Moral Duty that was not designed in the Sanction of it at first He hath retrived the old Rules of Nature from the evil customs of the World and rebuk'd the false expositions put upon the Decalogue by those who both then and for a considerable time before sat in Moses's Chair But he hath no where made new additions to them by putting his last hand as some men take upon them to say to an imperfect draught And indeed to affirm that the Decalogue was an imperfect and defective edition of the Natural Law is to assert that which no way accords with the design of God's Wisdom and Goodness in giving it For God's intendment in giving the Law of the Ten Commandments being to relieve us against the Darkness of Moral Good and Evil which had seized us by the Fall we must suppose it a sufficient draught of the Original Law of Morality otherwise we must conclude it not proportionable and adequate to the end it was given for which to assert is no less than an impeachment of the divine Sapience Faithfulness and Goodness Nor doth the bringing up such a report upon the Moral Law accord with that account which the Scripture every where gives of it The Law of the Lord is perfect Psal. 19.7 Not onely essentially perfect in respect of its purity and holiness but integrally in respect of its plenitude and fulness As it is in nothing superfluous which it ought not to have neither is it deficient in any thing that it ought to have Thy Commandment is exceeding broad Psal. 119.96 This it could not be if it were not a perfect measure of all Moral Duties Shall I add that the institution of New Moral precepts seems not at all consonant to the design that Christ came upon The Holy Ghost entirely allots the giving of the Law to Moses telling us that the work errand and business of Christ was of another Nature The Law came by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ Joh. 1.17 Christ's work was to bring into further light the Law of Faith and to redeem us from the Curse of the Moral Law not to augment the number of Natural Duties This may suffice to perstringe among others a late Author whose words are that the Decalogue was never intended for a perfect System of the Moral Law That â—e cannot imagine that by thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image is meant Thou shalt not institute Symbolical ceremonies or that by thou shalt not Murther alms and fraternal Correption are enjoyned c. Def. Continuat p. 312. It is likely that he and those of his persuasion would take it ill if I should tell them with whose Heifer they here Plow Therefore I shall irritate no man onely recommend those who desire farther confirmation in this matter to such who have debated the Socinian Controversies Now with respect to Christs having made the Moral Law of the Family of the Christian Religion in the place already assigned it a threefold subordination of that to this is easie to be manifested 1. That it is upon the alone score of the Law of Grace that God will accept any service at the hands of Sinners For though the Law as to the Obligation of it remain still in force and for the substance of it will do so to all Eternity yet that God will accept the service of Sinners is to be wholly attributed to God's transaction with them in the Covenant of Grace by Jesus Christ. 2. It is in the alone vertue of the Law of Faith and God's Mercy and Faithfulness therein displayed and declared that an ability is ministred to us of performing any part of Moral Obedience so as to be accepted with the Lord and afforded ground of expecting a reward thereupon This Grace comes not by Moses The Law as such administers no strength for the performance of what it requires this comes alone by Jesus Christ out of whose fulness we receive Grace for Grace Joh. 1.16 17. 3. Though the Original Law continue both to claym perfect Obedience and to threaten Death in case of the least faileur yet because of the introduction of the Law of grace over it the penalty shall not be executed provided we be sincere Christians flie to the hope set before us Heb. 6.18 Rom. 8.1 Not-withstanding both our manifest faileurs in that Obedience which the Law exacts and its severe denunciation of wrath upon the least sin yet our condition is not left hopeless providing we fulfil the terms of the Law of Grace Secondly The Original Law is brought into subserviency to the Law of Grace in this That though in it self and abstractedly considered it be only shapen to drive us from God and to fill us with thoughts of fear and flight and accordingly that was the effect of it upon Adam as soon as he had sinned yet through the introduction of the Remedying-Law it is become a blessed means in the hand of the Spirit to conduct us to Christ and God through him Hence it is stiled our 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ Gal. 3.24 And Christ is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The end of the Law for Righteousness c. Rom. 10.4 The scope and drift of the Law He to whom the Law guides and conducts Thus the word is used likewise elsewhere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now the end i. e. finis intentionis the scope of the Commandment is Charity 2 Tim. 1.5 And not as Moses who put a vail over his face that the Children could not stedfastly look 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the end of that which is abolished To that which God aym'd at in and by the Mosaick Ceremonies 2 Cor. 3.13 That Righteousness which the Law becoming weak through the flesh cannot confer upon us Rom. 8.3 It conducts and leads us to Christ for the obtaining of This is a blessed subserviency that all that is frightful and perplexing in the Original Law whether the amazing strictness of its precepts or the severe dreadfulness of its denunciations is made contributory and influential to bring us to Christ and to God by him Thirdly Herein also is the Original Law subjected and made subservient to the Law of Grace That Faith in the Messiah is constituted an ingredient in every Moral act in order to its acceptance with God 't is this which mainly gives every action its Moral specification Though the foundation
live soberly to our selves righteously towards our neighbour or answerably to the dependance we have on or the relations we stand in unto God whence it naturally by a kind of necessity comes to pass that they are wholly estranged in their lives from that Sobriety Temperance Justice Equity Devotion Humility Gratitude Meekness c. they should be in the exercise of These men presume themselves into Salvation and claim happiness on the boldness of their belief nor do they apply themselves to conquer heaven otherwise than in the alone virtue of their imagination If they can but arrive at so much impudence as to vote themselves Saints they think that they are acquitted from all care of Vertue and Obedience These are the men who set vertue and grace at odds who frame to themselves a Religion not only empty of but inconsistent with real goodness the unhappy off-spring of those whom the Apostle James encounters Cap. 2. vers 14. to the end The Second is That some having obtained of themselves endeavour to prevail with others to renounce and seclude all infused principles commonly called grace with the subjective influences of the Spirit and to erect in the room thereof acquired habits natural dispositions innate abilities and moral vertues as the whole of that in the strength of which we may live acceptably to God and acquire a fitness and title to immortality and life Moral vertue saith a late Author is not onely the most material and useful part of all Religion but the ultimate end of all its other duties And all true Religion can consist in nothing else but either the practice of vertue it self or the use of those means and instruments that contribute to it Eccles. polit p. 69. All Religion is either vertue it self or some of its instruments and the whole duty of man consists in being vertuous ibid. p. 71. There is nothing beyond the bounds of moral vertue but Chimera's and flying Dragons illusions of fancy impostures of Enthusiasm Idem def continuat p. 338 339. Hence he challengeth any man to give him a notion of grace distinct from morality affirming that if grace be not included in morality that it is at best but a phantasm and an imaginary thing Eccles. polit p. 71. and again that the spirit of God and the grace of Christ when used as distinct from moral abilities performances signify nothing def continuat p. 343. Thus vertue grace are not only made co-incident morality and Religion in its utmost latitude made convertible terms but in the pursuance of these Notions men are acted to vent all manner of contempt against the Spirit of God deriding the inward operations quicknings and influences of the Holy Ghost as Enthusiastick dreams canting phrases the fumes of Religious madness To be born again and to have a new spiritual life is a phantastick jargon unless it only signify to become a new moral man saith the former Author def continuat p. 343 344. All the pretended intercourse betwixt Christ a believing soul in way of discoveries manifestations spiritual refreshments withdrawings dâ—sertions is nothing but the ebbs and tydes of the humours of the body and the meer results of a natural and mechanical Enthusiasm nor otherwise intelligible than by the laws of mechanism as the motion of the heart and the circulation of the blood are ibid. p. 339 340 341 342. Hence to describe conversion by our being united to Christ and ingrafted in him is called a rowling up and down in ambiguous phrases and canting in general expressions of Scripture without any concern for their true sense and meaning ibid. p. 343. The consideration of the inconsistency of these principles with truth the affront offered to the Gospel and dammage done to the souls of men by each of them hath led me to this undertaking On the one hand to separate grace from vertue and to set faith and morality at variance cannot but furnish men Atheistically and irreligiously disposed with occasion of Blaspheming that worthy name by which we are called it being too much the custom of prejudiced disingenuous persons to reflect the scandals which arise either from the doctrines or conversations of professors on that Holy and innocent Religion which they though but hypocritically do profess On the other hand to swallow up the whole of Religion in morality seems a plain renouncing of the Gospel and shapen particularly to befriend men in such a design For if the Gospel be nothing but a restitution of the Religion of Nature as the aforesaid Author affirms def continuat p. 316. And if the Christian institution doth not introduce any new duties distinct from the eternal rules of Morality as is alledged def continuat p. 305. I see not but that whoever would act consistently to these principles he must needs proceed to a plain renunciation of all the instituted duties of the Gospel which is to overturn the whole fabrick of Christianity confine himself to the Decalogue that being a plain and full system of the law of nature and a sufficient transcript of the duties we were obliged to by the rule of Creation Nor supposing that Martin Sidelius was not mistaken in his hypothesis that all Religion consists in morality alone The same opinion with that asserted by a late Author can I censure him for what he thereupon proceeded to namely the renouncing the Gospel Nor doth he deserve the character fastned upon him def continuat p. 313. of a foolish and half-witted fellow upon the account of his deductions they being neither streined nor absurd but clear and natural whatever he demerited upon the score of his premises These among other Considerations having swayed me to this undertaking I would hope that an endeavour of instructing the minds of Men and of contributing to the conduct of their Judgments and Consciences in those things may not be unacceptable and the rather because not onely of some difficulty in setting forth the due lines measures and bounds of Vertue and Grace the describing their mutual Relations and the subordination of the one to the other But because there is very little extant upon the subject at least with respect to the end and in the manner that it is here managed Nor indeed was any thing of this nature thought necessary in a Nation where the Gospel is embraced till the Debates and Discourses of some have of late made it so § 2. To avoid all Ambiguity Darkness and Prevarication it will be needful ere we make any further proceed that we fix the meaning and import of Vertue and Morality Grace and Religion these being the terms of the Question to be Discoursed and Decided nor without a setling the Notion and Conception of these can any thing of this Argument be duly understood Vertue is a term seldome occuring in the Scripture In the Old Testament we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chajil several times rendred by our
is elevated adapted and brought into a disposedness of living to and acting for Him Now this Habitual Grace is twofold Gratia sani hominis and Gratia aegroti the Grace of innocency and the Grace of Recovery The first is stiled by Austin nâ—â—turae sanitas animae sanitas adjutorium robâ—â—ris naturalis The Health of the soul thâ— concreated aid communicated at first to and with our Nature the Second he callâ— Gratia medicinalis medicinale salvatori auxilium Medicinal Grace the Souls cure These two differ no less than health anâ— Physick do This acceptation of Grace iâ— frequent in the Scripture Joh. 1.14 The Word was made flesh and dwelt amonâ— us full of Grace and truth ibid. v. 16. Oâ— his fulness have all we received and Gracâ— for Grace Eph. 4 7. Unto every one of uâ— is given Grace according to the measure oâ— the gift of Christ c. This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Divine Nature whereof we are madâ— partakers 2 Pet. 1.4 The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Image of his Son to which we are preâ—destinated to be conformed Rom. 8.29 The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Image of him that created us Col. 3.10 Thirdly It is used Passively to intimatâ— those actual supplies of ability and strength which from time to time are ministreâ— unto us This Austin calls adjutorium actioâ—nis in contradistinction from the formeâ— which he calls adjutorium possibilitatis This is the import of it 2. Cor. 12.9 â—nd he said unto me my Grace is sufficient 〈◊〉 thee for my strength is made perfect in â—â—akness And Heb. 4.16 Let us thereâ—â—re come boldly unto the throne of Grace 〈◊〉 we may obtain mercy and find Grace to 〈◊〉 in time of need Through this it is 〈◊〉 we are not at any time tempted beyond â—hat we are enabled to encounter and unâ—â—rgo 1 Cor. 10.13 And according 〈◊〉 the proportion of assistance afforded us 〈◊〉 this kind we are more or less vigorous 〈◊〉 duty victorious over temptations enâ—â—rged in our communion with God Fourthly it is made use of to express â—ose acts and operations of ours which proâ—eed both from habitual and actual Grace Col. 4.6 Let your Speech be always 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Grace i. e. Gracious pious â—uch as may appear to be from Grace Col. â— 16 Singing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Grace in â—our heart i. e. after the manner of pious persons Eph. 4.29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it may Minister Grace unto the Hearers i. e. some spiritual advantage And I suppose the Apostle in his using 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Contribution intended not only to declare the freeness of the donation but to intimate the Principle whence 〈◊〉 relieving of others should flow 1 Cor. 1â—3 Whomsoever yee shall approve by 〈◊〉 letters them will I send to bring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your Liberality to Jerusalem 2 Cor. â—6 7. We desire Titus that as he had begâ—â— so he would also finish in you 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same Grace also Therefore as ye 〈◊〉 bound in every thing in faith in utterancâ— and knowledg and in all diligence and 〈◊〉 your love to us see that ye abound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this Grace also Nor is it aâ— exception of any import that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 occuâ— in other Authors expressive only of benevâ—â—lence without relation to a vital reneweâ— principle whence in order to an acceptatioâ— with God it ought to proceed as in thaâ— of Aristole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is charity wheâ— he that hath relieveth him that wants Rheâ— lib. 2. cap. 9. For alas How should they look farther than the Substance of thâ—â— action who as they did not throughly understand the corruption of Nature so they knew nothing aright of the renovation of it But their use of a word or phrase is no ground for the circumscribing and confining the Holy Ghost in the application of them These are all the acceptations of Grace â—hich have any affinity to the present â—ubject I know not whether all this will â—ot be called Gawdy Metaphors childish â—llegories Spiritual Divinity a prating of â—â—rases empty schemes of Speech But â—esides that all these acceptations and disâ—â—nctions have been received by Fathers â—choolmen and Divines of all ages and â—erswasions we have found them also â—arranted by the Holy text so that to imâ—each any one of them is not only to arâ—aign Divines of all sorts but to remonâ—trate to the Scripture it self The Terms â—hen being thus open'd and explain'd The Question to be debated is Whether Moral Vertue be all one with Grace Whether Morality and Holiness be Universally the same thing Or whether the whole of that Obedience which we owe to God be nothing else but the practice of Moral Duties Now the negative is that whereof we undertake the defence and justification in the following Chapters CHAP. II. Several things premised in order to 〈◊〉 decision and the determination of 〈◊〉 question 1. All Moral actions receive thâ— denomination of Good or Bad from their câ—â—â—formity or difformity to some Rule 2. 〈◊〉 alone Rule of Morality is Law 3. Man oâ—â—â—ginally created under the Sanction oâ— Law 4. The nature of that Law with 〈◊〉 manner of its promulgation 5. Man endâ—â—ed at first with strength and ability for 〈◊〉 observance of all the Precepts of it 6. Sâ—â—posing an observation of all the duties mâ—â—â—kind was obliged to by the said Law 〈◊〉 he could have lay'd no claim to immortaâ—â— and â—ife without a superadded stipulatâ—â—â— from God 7. The Law of Creation beiâ—â— ratified into a Covenant God took 〈◊〉 therein to secure his own Glory what evâ—â— should be the event on mans part 8. 〈◊〉 through the fall forfeiting all title to Liâ—â— abode nevertheless under the obligation 〈◊〉 the Law of his Creation 9. Every Law 〈◊〉 Nature is of an unchangeable obligatiâ—â— 10. A twofold mischief with refereâ—â—â—â— to that Law arrested mankind through 〈◊〉 fall 11. Some knowledg of moral Dutiâ—â— and an ability to perform the substance of â—hem still retained 12. The introduction of a remedial Law with the relations and duties which thence emerge 13. The subordination which the Law of Creation is put in to the Law of Grace 14. Our inâ—â—ptitude to the Duties required in the remedial Law and the Nature of it 15. Grace communicated to us to relieve us against this impotency 16. where ever it is wrought it is not onely attended with but it is the principle of all moral Vertue 17. Through the renovation and assistance of Divine Grace such an observation of the commands of God is possible as according to the Law of Faith doth entitle us to Life § 1. HAving in the former Chapter sufficiently explained the terms belonging to the question under consideration we now proceed to make a neerer approach to
acting in reference to these is what we commonly call Moral Vertue And in many of them did some of the Heathen excel It were to be wished that as to Graveness of deportment Amiableness of Conversation Moderation in the pursuit and use of the Creatures Acquiescence in the dispose they were brought into Candor Fidelity Justice c. We who pretend our selves Christians did but equal them And as appears by what Paul asserts of himself The Pharisees were eminent in many of the instances of Morality Hence what he expresseth Phil. 3.5 by being in reference to the Law a Pharisee he stiles v. 6. Being touching the Righteousness of the Law blameless And now I must either contradict the Apostle or take the liberty of differing from a late Author who not onely assumes a confidence wherein none have preceded him of divesting them from all title to Moral Righteousness but attaques withal and that in a very pert and clamorous manner the Wisdom Honesty and Conscience of a Learned man for but presuming to say that the Pharisees were a People Morally Righteous See def continuat p. 350 351. Go thy way saies he for a woful guesser no man living beside thy self could ever have had the ill fortune to pitch upon the Scribes and Pharisees for Moral Philosophers c. This I dare say that on what-ever evidence the Pharisees are condemned in their claim to Moral Righteousness there is the same reason why the Philosophers should be cast also Did the Pharisees paraphrase the Law as regarding only the external act without deriving the Sanction of it to the mind intention and disposition The Heathen Moralists were no less guilty herein than they which made Tertullian say of their Moral Philosophy non exscindit vitia sed abscondit it cutteth not off but covereth vice◠lib. 3. cap. 25. See Rom. 7.7 I bad not known Lust except the Law had said thou shalt not Covet Were the Pharisees defective in the true end of obedience designing instead of Gods glory ostentation and applause The best of the Philosophers were herein also criminal which made Austin say that cupiditas laudis humanae was that quae ad facta compulit miranda Romanos Pride had as much leavened the Spirit and way of the Philosopher as of the Pharisee What-ever grosser vices they abandoned Pride was congenial to them Hence Antisthenes seeing a Vessel wherein Plato's Vomit lay said I see Plato 's bile here but I see not his Pride meaning that his Pride stuck closer to him than to be vomited up Curius though he supped upon roots yet Ambition was his sauce Diogenes in censuring Plato's Pride by trampling on his Carpets discovered his own Did the Pharisees pretend to communion with God Did not the Philosophers the same What else was the meaning of Socrates's Demons Did not the most eminent of them neglect the conduct and guidance of sober reason and addict themselves to Magick and Divination Witness as well Pythagoras as those of the new Academy But to wave the further prosecution of this An ability notwithstanding the fall of discerning some considerable part of our duty and of performing it as to the substance and material part thereof was never gain-sai'd by any who understood whereof he spake and what he affirmed This we also acknowledg to be in it self desireable praise-worthy of wonderful advantage to humane societies and that which seldome misseth its reward in this World However it is always thus far useful to its Authors quod minus puniantur in die judicii that I may use a saying of Augustines lib. 4. contra Julian cap. 3. § 12. Man having brought himself into the condition of weakness and corruption already declared and having by sin lost all title to life in the vertue of the Covenant first made with him yet still continuing under obligation to all the duties of the Law of Nature and obnoxious to the Wrath and Curse of God upon the least faileur God might here have left him and have glorified himself in the same way and method upon the posterity of Adam as he hath done upon the Angels that sinned No property of his nature no word of promise bound him to the contrary The terms of the first Covenant being violated all was devolved upon the Soveraignty of God again If an end was not to have been put to obedience by the immediate destruction and perishing of the Creature yet at the least an end was put to God's acceptance of any Moral service from the seed of Adam and they lay under an utter incapacity of performing any such service as might with respect to the nature and quality of it be accepted with Him Matters being thus God out of his Soveraign pleasure and infinite free Grace proposed a Remedying-Law treating with us upon New terms and giving us a New standing in a Covenant-Grace And herein he engaged his Veracity providing we complyed with the overtures now made us for the pardoning of our sins the delivering us from Wrath to come and the stating us at last in the happy enjoyment of himself Now in the vertue of this transaction there arose New Relations betwixt God and us with new duties thereon So that henceforth the Law of Creation was but one part of the Rule of that obedience we owed to God the condition of the New Covenant making up the other part of it Whoever then shall now state the whole of Religion in Moral duties bids a plain defiance to the Gospel either by telling us that there is no Remedial Law at all or that the terms of it are universally the same with the terms of the Old Covenant Of this complexion are several expressions in a late Author viz. That Religion for the substance of it is the same Now as it was in the state of Innocence For as then the whole duty of man consisted in the practice of all those Moral Vertues that arose from his Natural Relation to God so all that is superinduced upon us since the fall is but helps and contrivances to supply our Natural defects and recover our decayed powers and restore us to a better ability to discharge those duties we stand engaged to by the Law of our Nature and the design of our Creation So that the Christian Institution is not for the substance of it any new Religion but onely a more perfect digest of the eternal Rules of Nature and Right Reason All its additions to the Eternal and Unchangeable Laws of Nature are but onely means and instruments to discover their Obligation Def. Continuat p. 315. That there are Duties to which we stand obliged by the Law of Faith which we were not under the direct immediate Sanction of by the Law of Creation yea the repugnancy of them to our Original state and the habitude we were at first placed in to God shall be afterwards God willing demonstrated cap. 3. § 13. The Relation and habitude of the Original Law to the
of all Moral Duties be laid in the Law of Nature yet the practice of every Duty with respect to acceptance with God since the fall is regulated by that great positive Law of the New Covenant which enjoyns the tendring of all things through the Messiah Now the manner of performance being an essential ingredient into the determination of the Moral quality of an action and the New Covenant determining this as the manner in which every Moral action ought to be performed it naturally follows that Faith in Jesus Christ is become an ingredient into and a part of every Moral Duty § 14. Having intimated the introduction of a remedying-Remedying-Law and the subordination of the Original Law thereunto That which we are next to address to is the unfolding our impotency and inability for the performance of the Duties and Conditions of this Law of Grace We here suppose that the New Covenant hath its terms and conditions as well as the Old Every Covenant of God made with us as with parties Covenanting doth by vertue of the Nature of the thing require some performance or other of us antecedently to our having an interest in and benefit by the promises of that stipulation We take likewise for granted that Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ Act. 20.21 are the terms and conditions of the New Covenant The state and condition of Weakness Alienation and Enmity that we are in to these great Duties of the Gospel is what I intend a little farther to treat First then The terms of the Gospel together with the foundations on which they bear were not discernable by Natural Light They take their alone Rise in the soveraign will and pleasure of God nor is there any medium by which we can know the free determinations of the Divine Will but his own Declaration These things have no foundation in the imagination of any Creature They are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things not possible to be found out by sense or reason It is only Faith on the Word of God that gives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evidence and convincing demonstration of them and that begets an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or confidence and full assurance concerning them Heb. 11.1 Hence it is that the Gospel is so often stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a mystery see Math. 13.11 Rom. 16.25 Eph. 1.9 6.19 1 Cor. 4.1 c. Some take the word to be of a Hebrew Original and to be equivalent to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a secret or a thing hidden others derive it from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nicto clausos oculos habeo Whencesoever we fetch it the unsearchableness and hiddenness of the Gospel is intended in it The New Covenant both in the Doctrines and Duties of it lies in a higher Region than humane Reason in its most daring flight can mount to The matters and concerns of it are omni ingenio altiora out of the reach of Reason to discern till brought nigh by the Revelation of them in the Gospel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The world by all their Natural and Metaphysical Wisdom knew not God viz. as reconciling Sinners to himself by Christ till by the Gospel and the Preaching of it he made it known 1 Cor. 1.21 How should it come under the Apprehensions of men when it lay out of the reach of the Angelical Understanding Eph. 3.10 Unto Principalities and Powers in Heavenly places is made known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God Had it not been for God's revealing it to the Church the Angels themselves had abode in everlasting ignorance of it There are no footsteps of it in the whole Creation nor evidence of it in the works of Providence The Placability of God through Christ is no part of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of that which maybe known of God by the things that are made Alas How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard Rom. 10.14 That sin is pardonable we can only learn it there where we are taught how it is actually pardoned Before we can be sure of the Reconcileableness of God or the remissableness of Sin upon Faith and Repentance We must first be perswaded of one of these three 1. Either that God both can will forgive Sin without any satisfaction But this according to the Amyraldians themselves contradicts that idea of Righteousness Holiness and Justice which we have of God Or 2. That the Sinner himself can make satisfaction but that is repugnant to Natural light as much if not more than the former Or 3. That God hath found out a way of satisfying himself and that either by the death of his Son or by some other means not the first for as much as there is not one Iota of the incarnation death satisfaction c. of Christ in the whole book of Creation and Providence neither the second because notwithstanding the advantages which we through the enjoyments of the Scripture have beyond the Heathen of knowing what could have been and what could not have been we are yet so far from any clear certain grounds of believing the possibility of Salvation in any other way that we are furnished with very momentous arguments to the contrary Besides if I should not not be counted Young Raw Petulant c. I would ask the Disciples of Amyrald whether the works of God do naturally and by a vertue intrinsecal to them declare this Placability of God and Pardonableness of Sin on Faith and Repentance or whether they do it by vertue of a Divine Institution If they affirm the last pray how come the Heathens without a Revelation acquainted with that Institution Where and by whom had God told the world so much If they assert the first which alone carries probability in it Then 1. Adam from his own and his Wifes not being instantly destroyed upon the commission of Sin had sufficient assurance of the Placability of God and pardonableness of Sin previously unto and abstracting from all promulgation of the Covenant of Grace 2. How is it that seeing there are in the Government of the World as manifest instances of God's severity as his Lenity that forgetting all thoughts of the Wrath and Anger of God they should only possess a perswasion of his Mercy and Kindness 3. Suppose that God had preserved the Creation in Being without transacting with Sinners in a Covenant of Grace which I think implies no Contradiction pray what then of the Placableness and Compassion of God could it have taught us In a word all the Notices which the Heathen have or at any time had of the Reconcileableness of God they had it by Tradition from the Church nor do they resolve themselves into any other Original Shall I add in the last place that I never understood the consistency of the Amyraldian Hypothesis either with the Wisdom or Goodness of God A Reconcileableness on terms which according to those we are dealing
of Religion then the New Covenant is nothing but a repetition of the Old Yea there is no such thing as a New Covenant with respect to the Terms of it onely it is so called with respect to the manner of its Promulgation For where the Terms and conditions vary not neither do the Covenants vary 'T is their differing in their Demands that gives them the Denomination of distinct Covenants To assert a coincidency as to the whole preceptive part betwixt the two Covenants is in effect to bid us disclaim a great part of the Bible What tendency some expressions of a late Author have this way I shall refer to the judgment of others As in the State of Innocence the whole Duty of man consisted in the practice of all those Moral Vertues that arose from his Natural Relation to God and man so all that is superinduced upon us since the fall is nothing but helps and contrivances to supply our Natural defects and restore us to better ability to discharge those duties we stand engaged to by the Law of our Nature and the design of our Creation c. def contin p. 315 316. The supposition of sin does not bring in any New Religion but only makes new circumstances and names of old things and requires new helps and advantages to improve our Powers and to encourage our Endeavours And thus is the Law of Grace nothing but a Restitution of the Law of Nature ibid. p. 324. Secondly there are several duties incumbent now upon us which also constitute the chief part of our Christian Obedience that the Decalogue as ' its a transcript of the Law of right Reason or of Nature is perfectly a stranger to For proof of this I shall only insist on Repentance towards God and Faith towards Jesus Christ. I suppose it will be granted by most that Repentance in all the parts and branches of it viz. conviction of sin Contrition for it and conversion to God from it are Duties we are all under the obligation of I said by most because of some expressions in a late Author which I can hardly reconcile with the account which the Scripture gives us of Repentance or with that modesty which we ought to exercise in the things of God The Fathers first preachers of the Christian Faith did not fill peoples heads with scruples about the due degrees of Godly sorrow and the certain symptoms of a through-Humiliation def contin p. 306 307. And a little after They says he meaning the Noncomformists examine the truth and reality of mens conversion by their orderly passage through all the stages of conviction And unless a man be able to give an account of having observed and experienced in himself all their imaginary Rules Methods of Regeneration i. e. conviction and contrition c. they immediately call into question his being a Child of God and affright him with sad stories of having miscarried of Grace and the New-Creature And he is lost and undone for ever unless he begin all the work of conversion anew and he must as it were re-enter into the Womb again pass through all the scenes workings of conviction in which state of formation all new converts must continue the appointed time and when the days are accomplished they may then proceed to the next operation of the Spirit i. e. to get a longing panting and breathing frame of soul upon which follows the proper season of delivery and they may then break loose from the Enclosures of the Spirit of Bondage and creep out from those dark Retirements wherein the Law detain'd them into the light of the Gospel and the liberty of the Spirit of Adoption p. 309 310. However I can justifie the forementioned steps and degrees of Repentance both by Scripture and Reason Now this the Moral Law as 't is a meer summary of the Law of Nature neither know's nor allow's I confess the Law of Creation obliging us to love God with all our Heart Soul and Strength and in all things to approve our selves perfect before him doth by consequence in case of the least faileur oblige us to sorrow And thus men wholly strangers to the renueing grace of the Covenant may repent witness among others Judas as to the act of betraying Christ. But to encourage us thereunto by any promise of acceptance without which no man will ever be found in the due practice of it Heb. 11.6 Or administer help for the performance of it this it neither doth promiseth nor can do or promise For being once violated it know's no other language but the thundring of wrath against the transgressour Now one and the same Covenant can not be capable of two such contrary clauses as denouncing an inevitable curse on whosoever shall not observe the Law in all points and promising mercy to those that repent of the transgressions which the do commit They like may be said of Faith This is the great condition of the Gospel Gal. 3.22 Act. 13.29 Rom. 10.9 One of the principal Duties we are now obliged to 1 Joh. 3.23 Joh. 6.29 Now this as 't is the condition of Gospel-pardon the Law is utterly unacquainted with know's nothing at all of it It is true there is a general Faith terminating on the Existence Authority and Veracity of God which comes under the Sanction of the Law of Creation But Faith as respecting a Mediator and Gods treating with us through him the Law is both ignorant of and at enmity with Gal. 3.12 The Law is not of Faith Rom. 9.32 33. Israel which followed after the Law of Righteousness hath not attained to the Law of Righteousness wherefore because they sought it not by Faith but as it were by the Works of the Law I know not whether it be upon this account because Faith comes not smoothly enough within the compass of being a Moral Vertue that a late Author is pleas'd to scoff at Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ not only by stiling it in mockage the dear darling Article of the Religion of Sinners Def. Contin p. 322. but by representing what the Scripture every-where ascribes to it in such terms of Drollery Scorn and Contempt that I tremble to transcribe them They make says he a grievous noise of the LORD CHRIST tell fine Romances of the secret amours betwixt the believing Soul and the LORD CHRIST and prodigious stories of the miraculous feats of FAITH in the LORD CHRIST Reproof to the Rehears Transpros p. 69. See also Def. Contin p. 135· 140. But while men believe their Bibles they are not to be jeered out of their Duty and Happiness And this is all I shall discourse of the first Instrument of Morality viz. the measure of it and I hope it appears by what hath been offered that the Law of Creation which is the Alon◠Rule of Moral Vertue whether we take it subjectively as it is in Man since the Fall or objectively as it is in the Decalogue
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Faith is the alone Foundation of a Good Work Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. 5. 2. Through the loss of this Image of God and the disorder which necessarily ensues in the Soul thereupon There is in all that we perform antecedently to our being renued to this Image again a prevarication with respect to our true great and ultimate End That the end of an action is under the Sanction of the Law as well as the substance of the Duty I have shown before Chap. 3. § 6. God being our Author is our Ultimate End also It is impossible for God to produce a Creature that is not according to its Nature and Qualifications to be to Him and for Him The lapse not only involved in it disobedience to God as our Soveraign but Apostacy from him both as our Chief Good and in point of seeking his Glory before our own gratification Now till the Divine Image be restored and a rectitude Recovered in our Souls again we never so far return to God as to make our selves and all that we do refer to him as to our End but there is still either some base low or crooked aim in all that we address to Mens Ends will not rise higher than their Principles He that acts only from self will only act for self The object of an action doth materially adapt and qualifie it to the being to Gods glory but it is the Principle and intention of the Agent that makes it formally to be so And though I will not affirm that an explicit intention of Gods glory is either necessary or indeed possible in every individual act yet I say that there ought to be an habitual tendency in the Soul after it in every thing we apply to Though the Traveller do not every step he takes think of the place whither he is going yet his aim is still at it it often revives upon his thoughts Now through a prevarication less or more that is in the actings of every Unregenerate person with reference to his End the utmost of what he doth is but Obedience in an Equivocal sence Their Virtues are but Virtutum similitudines the Counterfeits of Vertues Quicquid boni fit ab â—omine non propter hâ—c fit propter quâ—d fiert debere vera sapientia praecipit et si â—fficio videatur bonum ipso â—on recto fine peccatum est Aug. cont Jul. lib. 4. differ as much from Genuine Virtue quantum distat a veritate mendacium as a Lie doth from Truth Prosp. lib. 3. de vita contempl Hence Vossius tells us out of the Ancients especially Austin that the Vertues of the Heathen Philosophers nomen bonorum operum amittunt si per bonum intelligatur quod est utile ad Vitam aeternam Loose the name of Good Works if they be judged by their Usefulness to the obtaining of Eternal life Hist. Pelag. lib. 3. part 3. Thes. 11.12 § 7. Having treated the defects which occur in the best actions that Natural men can perform and declared their Unacceptableness to God thereupon It remains to be shewn in the next place that there are also some Duties under the Sanction of which we all are which even with respect to the matter of them no man in the meer vertue of Natural Principles can arise to a performance of And of this kind I shall only mention that great Duty incumbent upon us of making to our selves new hearts with what depends thereupon That the Sanctifying of our Natures and the being renued after the Image of God is prescribed to us in way of Duty The Scripture plainly and fully testifies And yet if we consult either the Scripture or our own experience we shall understand how totally unable we are for the discharge and accomplishment of this great Duty Though the New Creature be only an additional to our Natural Being yet as to the Physical production of it it lyes as far out of our sphear as the production of the Soul doth out of that of an organised body Was man meerly passive in the reception of the Image of God impressed upon him at first and is there not greater reason to be persuaded that he is meerly passive in the new production and reception of it Hence to testifie our impotency the Scripture reports us to be dead in Trespasses and Sins Eph. 2.1.5 and that no man can come to Christ unless the Father draw him Joh. 6.44 That we are neither begot again of Blood nor of the will of the Flesh nor of the will of Man Joh. 1.13 We owe not our Regeneration either to the efficacy of others nor to the workings of our own wills Hence the great Work and Duty of circumcising our hearts is expressed by such phrases which if they signifie any thing do import us meerly passive in it Of this complexion are the expressions of our being begotten again Created Quickned c. Did the scattered Atomes of matter frame themselves into the Machine of the Humane Body at first Or do those Rudimental Principles conveyed for the formation of the Faetus in the Womb dispose themselves into that orderly admirable variety of texture which fills us at once with amazement and thankfulness Shall the dispersed particles and corpuscles of dust rendevouse and reassemble themselves into their former frames without the Physical interpose of a forraign Agent If none of these be either true or possible no more is it so that man can convert himself Were we disposed qualified qualified and suited to the accomplishment of this work would God take it out of our hand and rob us of the praise of it Doth He not again and again proclaym us inept and weak for the effecting of it Doth he not intitle himself the Author of it Is not the Holy Spirit purchased by Christ and promised by the Father to this End The Scriptures bearing Testimony to this are innumerable see among others Deut. 30.6 Ezek. 36.26 27. Jer. 31.33 Jam. 1.18 Eph. 2.10 Tit. 3.5 6. Phil. 2.13 c. Now notwithstanding all this to argue for an Ability in us to perform it meerly because it is prescribed us in way of Duty is childish and trifling is it not enough to justifie the prescription of it in way of Duty 1. That such a frame of heart ought to be in us and that the want of it is as much our sin as our misery 2. That being awakened by the consideration of our duty to a perception of our weakness We ought thereupon to sue to God for strength And therefore it is that all precepts to this purpose are attended with answerable promises Finding that thou canst not change thy sensual earthly heart thou art to implore his help who is not only able but willing to relieve and succour thee 3. That God hereby excites us to do what we can and to wait upon him in all those ways and means which he hath promised upon our sincere exercise to make successfull 4.
the same Mint that the former term did and we are beholding to the schools of the Philosophers for it Aristotles books 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gave the principal rise to this word Quintilian denies that there is any Latine word by which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can be expressed lib. 6. cap. 3. But Tully renders them by mores manners Lib de fato and Orat. de lege Agrariâ ad Quirites The Schoolmen brought this exotick phrase as they did many other first into Divinity And it must be acknowledged of most of them that they seem to have traded more in the writings of the philosophers than in the sacred Scriptures and to have taken their measures of the notions and apprehensions of things rather from Aristotle than the Bible You may see this laid open at length both as to matter of fact and the mischievous consequences which have ensued thereupon by that great and incomparable man Dr. Owen De natur ort c. verae Theolog. lib. 1. digress lib. 6. a pag. 509. ad p. 521. However it being now universally taken up and having harboured it self both in the minds and discourses of men it would be in vain for us to contend against it we shall sufficiently approve our selves if we can manifest the just acceptation of it Moral as it relates to vertue is capable at most but of a threefold signification First to denote the conformity of our minds and actions to the whole law of God regulating our practical obedience But this description whether we take our measure from vertue to which it is an adjunct and of which it is predicated or from law which first claiming the Denomination of Moral doth afterwards impart it to certain habits of the mind and its operations is much too large If we determine of the meaning of it by vertue Then for as much as in all true affirmative propositions there must be an identity betwixt the subject and the predicate Moral must relate onely to an observation of these things and a practice of those duties which vertue refer's to namely an observance of what Reason without any superadded declaration can conduct us in and natural endowments and self acquirements inable us to the performance of Nor could the first Authors of this Term mean any more by it being at once strangers to all external Revelation Subjective grace Or if we should choose to decide the import of Moral as it refers to Vertue by taking our measure of its signification from Law as that to which the stile of Moral primarily belongs and by analogy only to habits and operations we shall still find that the foresaid signification of Moral is too wide for according to this method of proceed Moral as referred to vertue can be of no larger extent than Moral as referred to law is Seeing then it were against ordinary sense and the custome of mankind to stile every law of practical obedience moral it is no less irrational to stile the conformity of our minds and actions to those laws by the name of Moral Vertues A Second signification put upon Moral as it hath reference to Vertue is to intimate thereby the observation of the precepts of the Second table of the decalogue and this is the common acceptation of it among practical Divines whereof I judg this to be the reason either because the Philosophers in their writings vulgarly called Ethicks and Morals do principally treat of the duties which men owe to themselves and one another which are likewise the subject of the Second Table or because they discourse of those only with any consistency to reason and commeâ—â—dableness while in the mean time in what soever we owe immediately to God the imaginations are vain and their sentiment dark and ludicrous But this acceptatioâ— of Moral Vertues I take to be as much toâ— narrow as the former was wide nor dâ— any that handle these matters accurately so straiten and restrain them For whether we state the meaning of Moral by its Habitude to Vertue or to that Law which is so denominated We must admit it a greater latitude of signification than meerly to imply Second-Table duties If we judg of its import by its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Vertue we must then allow it the same largeness of sence whâ—ch we allow that namely to declare whatsoever is required of us by the Law of Nature in the Light of Reason and I suppose it will be readily acknowledged that there are some duties which we owe immediately to God and which respect him alone as their object that can be demonstrated by principles drawn from Nature and the foundations and grounds of them discovered in the Light of Reason and by consequence Moral Vertues ought not to be confined to the observation of the precepts of the Second Table Or if we determine the sense of Moral by its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Relation to that law which is so called and with respect to conformity to which the Habit 's and Operations of our minds are afterwards denominated Moral it will with the same evidence follow that the Duties of Morality consist not alone in obeying the commandments of the Second Table forasmuch as the Precepts of the First constitute a part of the Moral Law as well as these of the Second do There is a Third sence which Moral as it belongs to vertue is capable of namely to declare those habits and operations of the mind required by the law of creation And this sence of Moral will prove either stricter or larger according as we take the measure of the term from vertue or from law If we define the meaning of it by its habitude to vertue it will then signify only those duties that we are under the obligation of by the law of creation which we are able to discover by the light of Reason But if we determine the sence of it by that law which is commonly called moral it will then express all those duties either to God or Man which we are obliged to by the rule of creation whether there reside in man in his lapsed state an ability of discerning them by Reason yea or not Now this being the most comprehensive notion of moral vertues or duties of morality that any one who have treated those things with exactness have pitched on and being the largest sence which in any propriety of Speech the Term can be used in I shall be willing to admit this as the true notion and idea of it Morality then consistâ— in an observance of the precepts of the law of our creation that by the alone strength and improvement of our natural abilities whether the particular duties we are under the sanction of by the foresaid law be discoverable by and in the light of Reason yea or not § 5. Besides these moral vertues whereof we have been discoursing and whose nature we have fixed and stated There is frequent
Commandments of God with a performance of the superadded Duties which respect the Mediator is the qualification required in every one that would escape legal Wrath. And if it were not thus the most wicked might lay claim to Pardon and Salvation as well as the most Holy And the Gospel in stead of being an engagement to duty were an indulgence to sin Christ is the Author of Salvation to none but to them who thus obey him Heb. 5.9 And that we may not here deceive our selves and think that we are sincere when we are not I will only mention two things leaving the prosecution of them to practical discourses 1. That to live in the constant allowed neglect of any duty or prosecution of any sin is inconsistent with sincerity 1 Joh. 3.6 10. Rom. 6.12 14 20. 2. There are some sins which the very falling into argues the heart never to have been upright with God 1 Joh. 5.16 17 18. Secondly Improvement in all habits of Grace and degrees of Holiness with endeavours after a most exact strictness are likewise required of us Be ye perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect see 2 Pet. 1.5 6 7 8. 2 Pet. 3.18 2 Cor. 7.1 And though damnation be not denounced here in case of faileur yet hereupon we miss much comfortable communion with God are liable to the withdrawments of the sense of his love and are exposed to what paternal castigations he thinks fit in his Wisdom to inflict Psal. 89.31 32 33. Thirdly There is provision made in the New Covenant for the promotion of our strength and growth if we be not wanting to our selves There is a fulness of Grace in Christ out of which we have ascertainment of supply providing we attend unto the means appointed for the Communication of it An unshaken Faith in the power of God and in the assistance of the Spirit a watching unto prayer with diligence and constancy Meditation of the ugliness of every sin and amiableness of Universal Righteousness c. are exceeding useful hereunto Here mainly lies a Believers Province and the attainment is not onely possible but easie if sloth negligence love of ease indulgence to the flesh superficialness in Duty unbelief of the promises do not preclude and bar us But then we are only to blame our selves not to slander the provisions of the Gospel Fourthly In the vertue of Gods furnishing us with a principle of Grace the heart is immediatly imbued with a sincere Love to God and becomes habitually inclined to walk in his Laws Obedience is connatural to the New principle And though through remains of indwelling sin and the souls hearkning to temptations we be not so uniform in our Obedience nor at all times alike disposed to Holy exercises yet partly from the struglings and workings of the vital seed it self and partly through the supplies ministred by the Spirit according to our exigences we are so far secured that we shall not disannul the Covenant see 1 Joh. 3.9 Jer. 32.42 1 Cor. 10.13 1 Pet. 1.5 So that now upon the whole Christs yoke is an easie yoke Math. 11.30 nor are his Commandments grievous 1 Joh. 5.3 CHAP. III. 1 The Question reassumed Two Great Instruments of Duty The measure regulating it and the principle in the strength of which it is performed The first of these discoursed in this chap. 2. All that Relates to Religion belongs either to Faith or Obedience so far as Natural Light is defective in being the measure of that so far is it defective in being the measure of this 3. All Obedience refers either to Worship or Manners Natural Light not the measure of Religious Worship 4. An inquiry into the Original of Sacrifices not derived from the Light of Nature nor taken up by Humane Agreement their foundation on a divine Institution justified at length 5. Manners either Regulated by Moral Laws or by Positive Natural Light no Rule of positive Duties 6. As it's subjective in Man not a sufficient Rule of Moral ones 7. Considered as objective in the Decalogue only an adequate Rule of Moral performances not of Instituted Religion § 1. I Cannot think that I have digressed from the subject which I have undertaken while I have been discoursing Principles which have so great an influence as well upon the due Understanding as the right deciding of it These being then proposed and confirmed in the former Chapter We are now not only at leisure but somewhat better prepared for the prosecuting the assertion at first delivered viz. That Morality doth not comprehend the whole of practical Religion nor do'th all the Obedience we owe to God consist in Moral Vertue For the clearer stating and determining of this it must be observed that there are two great Instruments of Duty the measure Regulating it which we call Law and the Principle in the strength of which it is to be performed which we call Power That directs and instructs us about it this adapts and qualifies us to the performance of it By the first we are furnished with the means of knowing it and by the second with strength to discharge it Both these were at first concreated with subjective in our Natures There resided in us Originally not only an ability of mind of discerning the whole of our Duty which the Law of Creation exacted of us but a sufficient power to fulfil it Whether since the Fall we abide qualified as to either of these is yet farther to be debated The first we shall Discuss in this Chapter having designed the following for the examination of the other We have already demonstrated the Law of Creation commonly called the Law of Nature to be the alone Rule and measure of Moral Vertue This is granted by a late Author The practice of Vertue saith he consists in living suitably to the Dictates of Reason and Nature Eccl. Polit. p. 68. Now the Law of Nature may be considered either as 't is Subjective in man or as 't is Objective in the Decalogue As 't is Subjective in man 't is vulgarly stiled Right Reason The Light of Nature The Philosophers who were the primitive Authors of the Term Vertue knew no other Rule by which it was to be regulated but Reason This they made the alone 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of vertues Mediocrity The Mediocrity of Vertue saith Aristotle is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Right Reason dictates Eth. lib. 3 cap. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vertue is a Habit measured by right Reason idem Eth. lib. 4. cap. 3. Other testimonies to this purpose we have elsewhere produced viz. cap. 1. Now I affirm that the Law of Nature is no sufficient Measure of Religion and consequently that all Religion consists not in the meer practice of Vertue but that there is something beyond the bounds of Moral Vertue besides Chimera's and flying Dragons Eccl. Pol. p. 69. def and continuat p. 338 339. ibid. p. 315. And that the Christian Institution is not a
had never assumed the Sacerdotal Office which they did by their offering Sacrifices these two being Relates But I find I have been already too prolix upon this head and they who can withstand the force of the fore-going Arguments are not like to be influenced by any thing I am further able to subjoyne § 5. We have already shewn that the whole of Obedience which we owe to God belongs either to Worship or Manners We have also declared the insufficiency of Natural Light for the Regulating of Worship Our next task is to demonstrate the defectiveness of it as to the conduct of Manners Manners are either such Duties as in themselves are acceptable and good or such as derive all their goodness from a Command with respect to the first revealed Laws are only declarative of the goodness of the Duty The Absolute Bonity of it having an antecedent foundation in the Nature of God the Nature of man and the Relation that man stands in to God But with reference to the second supernatural Law is constitutive of the goodness of the Duty There being nothing in the thing it self previous to the Command rendring it so And here though obedience be a Moral Duty yet the Law prescribing it is not properly Moral Law For the Morality of Obedience ariseth not from the Nature of the Command but from the Relation we stand in to God and the Dependence we have on him whereas the Morality of Law hath its Reason in the Nature of God and the congruity or incongruity of things enjoyned or forbidden to it That there are acts of Obedience distinct from Natural Duties which yet are not properly acts of Worship might be demonstrated by innumerable instances Of this kind there are several Duties founded in personal commands whereby none were obliged but onely they to whom they were immediatly given Such was the Duty of Abrahams leaving his Fathers House being built on a precept wherein he only was concerned The like may be said of the Obligation laid on the young man in the Gospel of selling all that he had c. Of this sort also there are several Duties arising from Divine Laws which concerned only a particular Nation and yet emerged not from Laws properly Ritual Of which number we may reckon the Obligations proceeding from the Judicials given to the Jews at least where the Reason of them was not Natural Equity By these Laws they came under Obligations that the rest of man-kind were not concerned in Yea they became bound to some things which setting aside the positive Law of God could not have been lawfully done and which at this day no Nation or Person can practice with Innocency viz. The Marrying the Widow of a Brother dead without Issue Such Laws Gods Dominion over all men as his Creatures authoriseth him to make and that as a proof of his own absolute Prerogative and for tryal of his Creatures obedience Nor did God ever leave man since he first Created him singly to the Law of Nature for the payment of that Homage he owes him but even to Adam in Innocency he thought fit to give a positive Law a Law which for the matter of it had no foundation at all in Mans Nature further than that he was obliged by his Nature to do whatsoever God enjoyned him Now these Laws having their foundation in Institution not in Nature The Reason of them being not so much the Holiness of God as his Soveraignty Natural Light can no ways be suppos'd a due measure of them nor able to instruct about them All that Obedience that resolves into the Will of God must suppose Revelation in that nothing else can discover its Obligation to man-kind saith a late Author Def. continuat p. 427. How consistently to himself in other places where he tells that all Religion consists in nothing else but the practice of Vertue and that the practice of Vertue consists in living suitably to the dictates of Reason and Nature I leave to himself to declare That there are positive Laws of God now in being and that in the vertue of them we are under Obligation to several Duties I shall God willing evince when I come to shew the insufficiency of the Law of Nature as it's Objective in the Decalogue as to being the measure of the whole Obedience we owe to God § 6. That there are Natural Laws as well as positive and that the latter are but accessions to the former we have else-where demonstrated Now these Laws being stiled Natural non respectu Objecti not because of their object many of the Duties we are under the Sanction of by them referring immediatly to God but respectu principii medii per quod cognoscimus because communicated to our Nature and cognoscible by Natural Light If the Light of Nature alone be of significancy in any thing 't is here And indeed the Writings of Heathen Philosophers such as Aristotle Plato Epictetus Seneca Plutarch Cicero Hierocles Plotinus c. The Laws of Pagan Common-wealths especially the Republicks of Greece and Rome the vertuous actions of persons not enlightned by Revelation of all ranks and qualities such as Socrates Aristides Phâ—cion Cato and many others not easie to be recounted shew that men left to the meer conduct of Natural Light can attain a better insight into the Duties of Nature than of Religion and know more of Vertue than of Piety For as both Amyrald and Sir Charles Wolseley besides others observe Cicero wrote to better purpose in his books de officiis than he did in those de Naturâ Deorum Yea even the Platonists the great Refiners of Religious Ceremonies who in stead of obscene and barbarous usages introduced civil and modest Rites discoursed much better of Vertue than Divinity Their Sentiments for the conduct of conservation being for the most part Rational and Generous whereas their Theological Notions are either obscure uncertain or romantick If we be then able to prove that Natural Light or the Law of Nature as it is subjective in man since the Fall is no sufficient measure of Moral Duties or of those Duties we are under the Sanction of by the Law of Creation we shall get one step farther in our design namely that Natural Light is a very inadaequate measure of Religion In confirmation of this I might in the first place take notice how the great pretenders to the conduct of Reason prevaricated in all those prime Laws of Nature which Relate to the Unity of the God-head Though not onely the Being but the Unity of the Divine Nature be witnessed to by every mans Reason and we need onely exercise our faculties against Polytheism as well as Atheism Yet the Universality of man-kind setting aside those who had the benefit of a supernatural Revelation not onely sunk into the belief and adoration of a plurality of Gods but into the worshipping those for Gods whom to acknowledg for such is more irrational than to believe that
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Divine particle idem lib. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a part of God Epict. Divinae particulae aurâ— Horat. Serm. lib. 2. And it was no question with respect to this that Cicero both iâ— his Tusculan questions and in his Book de Somn. Scip. saith Deum scito te esse Know thy self to be a God A Second thing that contributed to it were the wicked and ridiculous stories which went concerning the Gods whom they did adore and indeed who would not prefer himself before a Letcherous Jupiter a Thievish Mercury a Drunken Bacchus or a Bloody Mars c. The Natural issue of worshipping such Gods was either to grow vile in imitation of them or to slight and detest them as practising that which every man should be asham'd of Shall I add in the next place that the Authority of Princes stood upon very unsafe terms if the Obedience of Subjects were to be Regulated by the opinions of Philosophers There is noâ— an assassination of any man in power but what may be justified by examples commended in the most renowned Pagan writers What Cicero who was no puny either in learning or Morality plead's in justification of Brutus and Cassius for killing Cesar may serve to Authorise the Murther of any Magistrate if the Actors can but perswade themselves to call him Tyrant Had we nothing to conduct us in our Obedience and Loyalty but the sentiments of Philosophers no Prince could be secure either of his life or dignity The last Instance wherein the Philosophers miserably prevaricated in a Matter of plain Morality that I shal mention is their allowing an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Men inflicting violent hands on themselves Holding our lives of God we are accountable to him for them nor can any be their own executioners without offending both against the Commonwealth of which we are members and invading the jurisdiction which belongs to God who only hath power to dispose of us I acknowledg that some of them were better illuminated in this matter than others Hence that of Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Soul is in the body as Souldiers in a garrison from whence they may not withdraw or fly without his order and direction that plac'd them there in Phaedon Vetat Dominans in nobis Deus injussu hinâ— nos suo discedere Cicer. Tuscul. lib. 1. Therefore Aristotle sayth well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To chuse death to avoid penury or Love or any thing that is calamitous iâ— not the part of a stout man but of a coward Eth. lib. 3. cap. 7. But the Stoicks who of all the Philosophers were the most renowned Moralists held it not only lawful but an act of the highest fortitude to redeem themselves from the miserie of life by flying to death for shelter Si necessitates ultimâ— inciderint exibit è vitâ molestus sibi esse desinet If miseries encompass thee fly to death for Sanctuary Sen. â—p 17. Sapiens vivit quantum debet non quantum potest si multa occurrant molesta tranquillitatem turbantia se emittit nec hoc tantum in necessitate ultimâ facit sed cum primum illi ceperit suspecta esse fortuna Nihil existimat suâ referre ficiat finem an accipiat idem Epist. 70. vid. Epist. 58.91.98 M. Antonin lib. 5. § 29. ac Epictet lib. 1. cap. 29. lib. 2. cap. 16. Nor were their practices dissonant from their sentiments witness Democritus Zeno Cleanthes Cato Brutus Cassius c. who all dipt their hands in their own blood acting therein both repugnantly to the instinct of self-preservation all men are by Nature imbued with and below that true fortitude which all of them celebrated as a prime Vertue For the Epigrammatists censure of Fannius doth perstringe them all alike Hostem cum fugeret se Fannius ipse peremit Hic rogo non furor est ne moriare mori Mart. By these few instances we may easily perceive what a miserable condition the World had been in even in reference to the most obvious duties of Morality had mankind been left to the sole conduct of Natural Light and by consequence that Humane Reason is not an adaequate Rule of Moral Vertue In further confirmation of the defectiveness of Natural Light for the Regulatioâ— of Moral Obedience I shall in the fift and last place observe that all who were under the conduct of meer Reason mistook in the End of Obedience which is as much under the Sanction of Law as the substance of Duty is For as Augustin sayes well Noveris itaque non officiis sed finibus 〈◊〉 vitiis discernendas esse virtutes Virtues 〈◊〉 not so much distinguisht from Vices by thâ— entity of the act as by the scope and intention of the agent advers Julian lib. 4. cap 13. What Forms are in Natural Philosophy that the End is in Moral A Respecâ— to God specifies every Vertue and Dutyâ— and wherever he is left out as the End thâ— Act is torn from its Moral Form Wâ— might call it Fortitude and Patience in Câ—â—tiliâ—e that he could endure cold hunger and much watchfulness to overthrow his Country were not the End necessary to the Moral denomination of every action The first cause is the ultimate end of every Being of and through whom we are to him we ought to be and act Seeing God is our Creator Proprietor Governour and Happiness all our actions ought to be directed to the glorifying of him Now where are any among the Heathen Moralists or among those that acted under the conduct of meer Reason who proposed as the end of their Actions the glory of God Their opinions about the Finis ultimus hominis with reference to which Varro tells us there were 288 Sects of Philosophers do abundantly evidence their faileur in this particular Some made Vertue subservient onely to their own praise applause and glory What the Poet says of Brutus's killing his own Sons when they intended to overthrow the liberty of their Country Vicit amor patriae laudumque immensa cupido Is the most that can be pleaded as the aim of a great many of them Others pursued Vertue in order to pleasure and onely admired it on that account Now supposing the pleasures they proposed to themselves were not so gross and sensual as is generally conceived though I know not how to acquit the School of Epicurus in this matter notwithstanding all the Apologies that are made for them yet their opinion is sufficiently culpable in that they confounded the intention and scope of the Agent with the consequent of the actioâ— and made the Reward annexed by God 〈◊〉 Vertue to intercept the Glory which in 〈◊〉 their thoughts and deeds they should havâ— endeavoured to bring to Him Those who spake most magnificently of Vertue held it desirable onely for it self affirming that the actions and offices of Vertue were to be pursued meerly for the beauty and honesty
neither is nor can be the Rule and Standard of the whole obedience we owe to God CHAP. IV. 1 The Principle in the strength of which Moral vertues are acquired and moral actions performed taken into consideration Determined by the Philosophers to be nothing but our Faculties and the improvement of them by objective helps 2 The same affirmed by the Pelagians 3 The Judgment of a late Author as to this particular Inquired into and found coincident with the former 4 Several Things lay'd down in order to the better discussion of the extent of the promised power 5 What we may arrive at in the meer strength and through the improvement of our Natural Abilities distinctly proposed 6 The deficiencies that occur in those Duties which Men in the vertue of the foresaid Principles do perform 7 several Duties to which by the best improvement of Natural Abilities we cannot arise 8 The Necessity of an infused Principle inferred thereupon and further demonstrated 9 The whole concluded § 1. The Rule Measure of Moral Habits acts was in the former Chap. Enquired into and if the reasons there produced hold good they yield us this result viz. that in order to our conduct in the Duties of Religion there needs an other light than that of Nature We come in the next place to consider the other great Instrument of Morality namely The Principle in the strength and power of which Moral Habits are acquired and Moral actions performed Now the Philosophers knew no other Principle of Morality but innate ability and Natural Power Natura beatis omnibus esse dedit si quis cognovâ—â—it uti Claud. Iudicium hoc omnium mortalium est fortunam a Deo petendam a seipso sumendam esse sapientiam all men are agreed that as we are to ask external good things of God so we are to trust only to our selves for the acquisition of vertue saith Cicero de Nat. Deor. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The adeption of vertue is in our own power saith Alex. Aphrodis lib. de fato § 27. As men attain skill in Trade's by discipline and exercise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the same manner do we attain Habits of vertue idem ibid. There is nothing more absurd saith Tully than to affirm that men may of their own accord be vicious also not vertuous Academ Quest. lib. 4. § 39. And therefore he tells us elsewhere Neminem unquam acceptam Deo retulisse virtutem propter virtutem enim jure laudamur de virtute recte gloriamur quod non contingeret si id donum à Deo non a nâ—bis haberemus That no man ever thankt God for being vertuous c. de Nat. Deor. That this was the general opinion of the Philosophers we have demonstrated more fully chapt 1. § 3. Being unacquainted with the Revelation of the Word where supernatural and divinely communicated strength is only promised and unfolded no better could be expected from them nor do I know upon what ground they could have lay'd claim to more As for those expressions which we meet with in the Platonists concerning the Divine Infusion of Vertue It may be easily reply'd that they had these Notions either immediatly from the Sacred Oracles or from some who understood the Jewish Traditions or else that being convinced of their own ineptitude to Vertue and not knowing whither to betake for relief they referred themselves to the supreme cause tanquam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as one who only could relieve them at a dead lift And if this answer be not thought sufficient I dare undertake to produce as many testimonies out of the Platonists for the acquisition of Vertue as for the infusion of it which argues that they were wholly at a loss about the attainment of it And that they alledged a Divine Communication of it not because of any foundation they had in the light of Nature for such a persuasion but because they knew not how else to satisfie themselves in their enquiries about the adeption of it 'T is true all the Philosophers contend for objective helps by which we may be excited to exert our Natural strength for the adeption of Vertue but for any active subjective Principle of it besides connate ability they were so far from allowing it that they lookt upon it as rather meriting scorn and laughter Yea those very objective helps which they applied to were nothing else but the effects of their faculties improving Natural Light and the first principles of Reason Hence Seneca having said that we are more indebted to Philosophy than to the Gods for as much as we owe only our lives to them but are obliged to Philosophy that we live vertuously he adds cujus scientiam puta Philosophiae nulli dederunt facultatem omnibus whereof they have communicated the actual science to none though they have given faculties and powers whereby it may be attained to all Ep. 90. The great Objective Medium they trusted to for the getting of Vertue was Moral Philosophy as we have demonstrated chap. 1. § 3. Now this take it in all the parts kinds of it whether Dogmatick wherein the Aristotelians excelled or Exhortative wherein the Stoicks were most eminent or Characteristical wherein the Pythagoreans and Platonists transcended was nothing but the product of Humane Reason improving Natural Light and congenite Notions But for any subjective Principle besides their meer faculties they knew none § 2. With the Philosophers do the Pelagian as to the substance at least of their Dogmata agree Philosophy being the seminary of the Pelagian Heresie and their chiefest notions being derived from thence Virtutes non infundi divinitus sed bene vivendi consuetudine parari contendunt Pelagiani The Pelagians affirm saith Austin that Vertues come not by divine Inspiration or Infusion but that they are acquired by a sober course of life Epist. ad Demet. lib. de gestis Pelag. cap. 14. Non esi liberum Arbitrium si Dei indigeat auxilio quoniam in prâ—prid voluntate habet unusquisque facere aliquid vel non facere Did we need any internal subjective assistance from God humane freedom would be overthrown a power of acting and not acting belonging essentially to the Will decima propositio affixa Pelag. in Concil Diospolit 'T is true they pretended to own Grace but as Austin says it was ut Gratiae vocabulo frangerent invidiam That they might avoid envy and contradiction and escape these imputations that they were justly liable to lib. de Grat. Christi cap. 37. For by Grace they understood no more than Natural Power Dei Gratiam saith Austin concerning Pelagius non appellat nisi Naturam qua libero Arbitrio conditi sumus lib. de Nat. Grat. Notwithstanding the several alterations and amendments which they seem'd to make in their opinion yet as to the point of an inward subjective principle they never granted any more than the Essential faculties of our Nature Both the adjutorium