tendency to make men easy and pleasant and useful to one another All which raise such an Evidence or Knowledg in my mind of the Divinity of his Mission who reveal'd this Proposition to me that I must do violence to my Reason if I do not give my assent to it And thus far it is not so properly and strictly a Mistery But when I think of this Proposition again Jesus the Son of God is God equal with the Father I must own at the same time I give my assent to it I have no knowledg at all of that Eternal Generation which I form an improper Idea of from the Procreation of one Man from another Nor have I any notion of this wonderful Union of the Human nature with the Divinity Nor can I in the least imagine wherein this Equality consists These and all other things relating to the manner of it are wholly out of the reach of all my Capacities and totally obscur'd from me These are the things which make it a Mystery and in respect of this part of it the Authority or Veracity of God is the only ground of my Perswasion and my Christian Faith of this Article consists in thus giving my assent to the existence of things which I have no notion of when he hath taken care to give me undoubted Testimonies of the revelation's coming from him And I trust he will accept of it because 't is no rash inconsiderate assent but that I use those powers of knowledg I have as strictly and impartially in this as I wou'd do in any affair which immediatly concern'd my life And thus I hope it plainly appears how little reason these people have to talk to us of a blind implicite assent or easy credulity since in our Christian Faith we proceed upon the strictest rules of Reason and build our assent upon no foundation but what we know to be firm And now before I proceed to the other part of his Book I shall repeat in short the Principles he lays down â—or himself to go upon in this and the following Books which he threatens the World with The whole summe of his Logick in short then is this 1. Evidence is the only ground of Perswasion i. e. you can never give your assent even to the reallity or existence of any thing but when you know as much of it as you do of any thing in the World and comprehend it as fully and perfectly as that 2 and 3 make 5. which is plainly to say you can never believe any thing but when it is so clearly known to you that you can't help believing it for no man can hinder his assent to a thing he knows perfectly well as no man can help believing that 2 and 2 make 4. A thing may be very true indeed and you not believe it but if this truth be evident to you your assent must necessarily follow So that you can believe nothing but when you can't help it and when you can't avoid it then you must believe it for God hath taken it out of our power to dissent from an evident Proposition and our kind Disposer hath put us under a Law of bowing before the Light and Majesty of Evidence and therefore this Man must make such an Idol of it as totally to exclude all deefrence or assent to the Word of the true God For another Principle of his is 2. That Authority is only a means of Information i. e. you can believe neither God nor Man upon their Word for they can only relate a thing to you but neither of them can influence your Mind to an assent So that to speak plainly 't is all one in respect of your assent whether God or Man or the Devil tells you a thing for thô you are convinc'd that God always tells truth and the Devil is a Liar yet still you believe the thing never the more because it comes from God Alas the veracity of God is not to be regarded in the case no you must bow before the Light and Majesty of Evidence only But suppose God and the Devil speak two contrary Propositions as in the case of Eve In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely Die. And Thou shalt not surely Die. The words of these two Propositions were equally clear to her she understood the substance of them alike and her Idea's of the things spoke of were equally clear and distinct What then was the ground of her assent to the latter it cou'd not be Evidence for according to him both these Propositions had equal pretence to her assent upon this score and therefore nothing remains to be the ground of her assent but the Authority either of God or of the Devil And we find by sad experience it was the Authority of the latter that sway'd her But 't is plain she had a greater degree of Evidence or Knowledg of the truth of the former Proposition because she knâ—w it came from God who cou'd not lie and yet we find she rebell'd against this Evidence Whereas had she been under such a necessity of bowing before the Light and Majesty of Evidence she wou'd not in all likelihood have transgress'd as she did and then he had not now been falling down thus prostrate to Igno rance and Errour That which shews the ridiculousness of these two Principles is that upon them we can never believe any thing that is to come thô it were the next hour For thô we understand the meaning of the Words and that the Prophecie be concerning any of the most familiar Objects of Sense and Reason so that you have the clearest Knowledg of the thing foretold yet unless you will allow Authority to be a ground of Perswasion you can never believe the truth of the Relation for no man can have any knowledg or Evidence of this till the thing comes to pass So that as to the truth of the Relation there is nothing left to be the ground of assent but the Veracity or Authority of some Person or another And thus he utterly destroys the Faith of all Prophecies for thô they may be true yet we can never believe them so till the relation is evident to us and this can never be evident to us till the things actually come to pass So that this is a short way of destroying the credit of every thing in the Gospel which for the most part speaks of things to come I said before that in Divine Propositions Evidence was a ground of Perswasion in respect of the Relation it self or act of Revelation and here I say that in respect of the very same Authority is a ground of Perswasion They are both true and therefore to make this whole Discourse more clear and prevent all mistakes as far as I am able I shall once for all shew the diffe rence between Divine and Human Revelations in respect of those three things which I said were to be consider'd in every Revelation 1.
is more in it than we are now able to comprehend Nay that there is something in it which we have no notion or Idea at all of This is the notion of a Mystery in the sence of Scripture and therefore now we see the Question is not Whether a man can believe what he knâ—ws nothing of which no man in his wits ever yet affirm'd for there is a flat contradiction in the terms and yet this is the main thing he labours to disprove and by which he endeavours to confound his Readers But the Question is Whether there be not some things in the Gospel concerning which we are bound to believe that there is much more in them than we are now able to comprehend If there be such things as it appears in this instance of the Resurrection then there is something in the Gospel that may properly be call'd a Mystery and in so strict a sence that nothing else can be call'd a Mystery with so great propriety of Speech as will appear more fully hereafter The case would have been the same had I taken any other Mystery for an instance either the eternal Generation of the Son or the Procession of the Holy Ghost or the Union of the Divine and Human Nature or the Operations of the Holy Spirit in the act of Grace or the Felicity and Joys of Heaven c. and if it be requir'd I am ready to quit this and take any other for an instance which he shall pitch upon Now this is the thing that lay upon him to disprove but he durst not go about proving or disproving any thing till he has perplex't the matter in hand and amus'd his Reader with fantastical terms and distinctions If he had mean't honestly and thought himself able to go through with what he undertook he would have spoke plain undisguis'd Reason and proceeded immediately to the proof of the Question But instead of this he finds it necessary to spend above one third of his Book in loosing of it wherefore I must take my leave of it for some time as he doth to rescue the subject from obscurity and force this Man to speak plainly and intelligibly And first he tells us That reason is not the man that hath it nor the things to be reason'd about nor is it our appetites and desires nor is it authority What trifling this is he should have added that it was not the Head that forms the Thoughts nor the Fingers that write them nor is it the Brain it self No! nor is my Reason the reason of another Man Our Readers are like to be much the wiser for this After this he proceedeth to shew what it is in his second Chapter the whole substance of which in other words is only this that it is not Simplex Apprehensio nor Judicium but that it is Discursus that is properly call'd Reason Which last he will not express by Syllogism the word for it that is commonly receiv'd but he must call it The application of intermediate Idea's to other Idea's that are distant from one another and ly too far asunder in the mind And this he explains by the measuring of two Houses with a line because you can't take one House in one hand and the other in another and so clap them together to find out which is highest What is this but making a Syllogism by applying the Medius Terminus to the parts of the Question and to what purpose is all this unless he thinks that his Readers have not learned Logick Yes he hath a drift in it which is very observable in all our modern Writers against reveal'd Religion for unless he first lays down false rules of reasoning the consequences he wo'd make will not appear to be true Thô he 's in the right of it thus far and it is no more than what is in every common Logick Yet what follows is his own and is both trifling and false For first his four ways of coming to the knowledge of any thing are very ill put together and the distinction frivolous The Experience of the Sences the Experience of the Mind i. e. in usual speaking Sence and Reason Human and Divine Revelation Now at first sight who does not see that any revelation by God or Man must enter into the mind by one of these two ways either by our Sences or our Reason so that there are but these two ways still And then as to his making Authority a means only of Information and Evidence the only ground of Perswasion which is the fundamental Error of his Book and indeed of all these modern Writers who make such a stir about Reason and Evidence we shall see the falsity of it if we consider Authority in respect of the Person who is inform'd and of him who gives the Information 1. In respect of the Person who is inform'd I grant it is a means of Information for how comes any one to the knowledge of a thing he was wholly ignorant of before and which he could not attain of himself why by an others revealing it to him 2. When considered in the Informer it is a ground of Perswasion for why do I give my assent to any Proposition related to me from another because of the veracity and ability of the Person that makes the Information But this cuning man will ask how can that which is inseparable from another be the ground of any assent in my mind I Answer It is the opinion that is in me of his ability and veracity is the cause of my assent The ground of this opinion indeed is Evidence But then this Evidence is a ground of perswasion in respect of the worth of the Person only and that Worth or Authority of his is the only ground of perswasion in respect of the substance of what he relates to me From whence it is plain that though we grant that Evidence in the Mind is a ground of perswasion yet it is not the only ground And therefore to make this very clear and undeniable let us take an instance of two Propositions wherein these two grounds may be consider'd separately The three angles of a Triangle are equal to two right ones In a Person who is able to demonstrate this Proposition the only ground of his perswasion or assent is the evidence of it in the Mind For the reason why he gives his assent to it is because he finds out the agreement of the extreams by intermediate Idea's and thus as he speaks the demonstration at last becomes self evident But as to the substance of this Proposition When Christ appears we shall be like him The authority of the Person relating it is the only ground of perswasion For as I should never have known this if it had not been reveal'd and therefore in this respect Authority is a means of information so I should never have believed it if I had not known that this Revelation had come from God And
all Faith both Human and Divine For thus he proceeds a man can believe nothing but what he knows and he knows nothing but what he comprehends and then he is said to comprehend a thing when he hath a clear and distinct Idea of it i e when it is as clear as a Mathematical Demonstration or as evident as what he sees with his Eyes for you know seeing's believing all the World over Having thus made it plain that Evidence is not the only ground of Perswasion I come now to consider his clear and distinct Idea's which he lays down as the ground of this Evidence This opinion carries a face of fairness and probability and insinuates it self by the common inclinations of men who are naturally averse to all restraint in thinking as well as acting and are as uneasy at any fetters upon their Mind as upon their Body They wou'd not willingly be oblig'd to give their assent to any thing but what they have clear distinct Idea's of and if it be not thus in the Christian Religion even well meaning people are apt to wish it were so Now because I design this Letter in answer not only to this Book but to all the opposers of Revelation and Mysteries upon the like principles of setting up for Reason and Evidence and clear and distinct notions of every thing they give their assent to I shall be very particular in the consideration of this point And I hope to make out plainly to them the deep deceit that lies at the bottom of all this and to convince them that God by requiring their assent to his Revelations doth as little violence to their mind as to their body and that he leaves their Reason as full a scope and as great a liberty in matters of Religion as in any thing else So that they will find us as great Sticklers for clear Idea's strict Reason and Evidence as they can be for their hearts These men speak much truth but make false inferences never considering the difference between these two propositions but confounding them in all their discourses Clear and distinct Idea's are the foundation of all our knowledge and assent which consider'd in a right sence is undoubtedly true But for that other which they make a consequence of it it is absolutely false viz. That we can believe nothing but what we have a clear and distinct Idea of For the clear conceptions we have of some things give us a confus'd and imperfect knowledge of others and it is upon the account of those things whereof we have clear and distinct Idea's that we give a firm assent to the existence of things whereof we have no Idea at all So that these two sayings widely differ as much as truth from falshood I can give no assent without clear and distinct Idea's And I must have a clear and distinct Idea of every thing I give my assent to Now because this is the fundamental error of all our quaint Reasoners agâ—inst Revelation and the fallacy wâ—â—â—â—by they impose upon others I shall express my self as distinctly and pâ—â—â—nly in this matter as I can But by the way we must observe thâ—â— since it appears undâ—niably from wâ—â—â— hath been said that Evidence is â—oâ—â—â—e only ground of Perswasion it is a direct and immediate consequence from thence that there is no necessity of having a clear and distinct Idea of what I give my assent to Not but that I allow there is a necessity of clear and distinct Idea's of some things to make us give our assent to others And therefore though Authority be a ground of Perswasion yet what this man wou'd insinuate doth not follow viz That therefore all it's Relations or any of them are to be receiv'd without Examen For all the Revelations of God admit of the strictest enquiry and severest search of our reason and it is this that enables us to distinguish them from the wild extravagancies of Enthusiast's and the delusions of the Devil It is by the help of this that I now shew the difference between his fallacies and the truth of God And in order to set them both in a clear light I shall six the signification of this most ambiguous word which he hath compell'd me to make so much use of for otherwise we shall but grope for truth in the dark What is meant by an Adaequate Idea is sure and fixt i e a full and comprehensive knowledg of any thing so as to know all that is knowable in it But how far short what men call a clear and distinct Idea comes of that adaequate conception of a thing is impossible to determine because our knowledge of things is varied almost in infinite degrees insomuch that perhaps we have not Idea's of any two things in nature that are equally clear and distinct And therefore to cut of all Metaphysical nicities and infist upon nothing but genuine Reason by a clear and distinct Idea as it relates to this controversy is signified as clear and distinct a conception as we ordinarily have of the things of this World For these are the two main things he contends for in his whole Book 1. That we have as clear and distinct Idea's of all things reveal'd to us in the Gospel as we have of the ordinary Phaenomena of Nature And 2. That we are oblig'd to give our assent to them no farther than we have clear and distinct Idea's of them In direct opposition to which I shall lay down these two propositions 1. That we are so far from having clear and distinct Idea's of those things of another World which are revealed to us that we have no proper or immediate Idea at all of them And 2. That though we have no proper or immediate Idea of those things yet we are bound to believe them and that our assent to them according to his own principle is founded upon clear and distinct Idea's 1. As to the first by a proper and immediate Idea I mean a conception or notion of the thing as it is in it self By a mediate or improper Idea I mean a notion we form of any thing in our Minds by Analogy or Similitude Whether this distinction hath been made use of or no I know not but sure I am 't is a very necessary one and of excellent use to set the bounds and measures of our knowledge and to lay open the true nature of our Christian Faith that we may clearly apprehend where Knowledge ends and Faith proceeds alone And I am perswaded a due observation of this distinction wo'd effectually put an end to all this controversie about mysteries Now what I say is this that we have no proper Idea's of the things of another World but frame to our selves conceptions of them from those things in this World whereof we have clear and distinct Idea's And to make this appear let us consider that there are but two ways of Gods revealing any thing to us either by giving
act of Faith as it is distinct from Knowledg is an Assent upon the Authority of another Person But according to him Authority is no ground of Perswasion and Faith is only the understanding what is believ'd Therefore there can be no such thing as any Assent distinct from Knowledg And now have I done this man any Wrong by charging him with endeavouring to destroy the Faith of the Gospel and to overthrow the whole Christian Religion In the face of a Christian Government and in Defiance of all Laws and Power Ecclesiastical and Civil He tells them plainly that Faith is nothing more than understanding what is beliv'd i. e. there is no such thing as Faith distinct from knowledg and consequently the Faith of Christians is nothing but Implicite Assent and blind Credulity And therefore here again I wou'd deliver him into the hands of the Magistrate not mov'd by any heat of passion but by such a Zeal as becomes every Christian to have for his Religion But here he pleads a Toleration but for what I hope there is no Toleration for Blasphemy and Prophaness and thô men are allow'd to believe what they please themselves yet sure they may be restrain'd from industriously spreading such Impious Notions as are destructive of all Religion and from openly reviling the Christian Faith as Imposture and Implicite blind Credulity Again 't is objected against him That his notions of Faith makes Revelation useless Yes it doth for thô we understand the Words of the Proposition reveal'd ever so well and comprehend the thing spoke of as fully as we do a Stock or a Stone yet we can never give our assent to the truth of the Relation because that after all is done we must take this upon the Word of another But much more doth it make all the Revelations of the Gospel useless because we have no clear and distinct Idea's of them and therefore must utterly reject them all upon this score likewise But in opposition to all that can be said this Positive Man asserts here what he hath been Asserting from the beginning of his Book but gives no reason for That Revelation is only of use to inform us whilst the Evidence of it's subject perswades us Then reply we if so you must believe all Relations true or false indifferently when you understand the meaning of the Words and know the nature of the thing spoken of Nay if two contrary Propositions equally intelligible be related he must believe them both And therefore now I hope he won't take it ill of the World if they believe me when I inform them that this Book which goes under his name was the joint Endeavours of a secret Club who set themselves with a great deal of Industry to destroy all Reveal'd Religion And that they have made use of this Man as a Tool only and have pusht him before them to try with what safety such Principles as these may be openly avow'd in opposition to all that is establish't among us that they might follow and openly maintain what they have been forging in secret Cabals Now this is a matter of Fact and whosoever reads this must believe it because they understand the meaning of the Words and know the nature of every thing that is spoke of in them for Faith is nothing else but understanding what is believ'd and if they understand what is spoke of they must bow before the Light and Majesty of this knowledg And therefore I hope he will never contradict me in this or any thing else I relate of him for if he says the contrary then either the World must believe us both when we relate two contrary Propositions or they must be sway'd one way or the other by his Authority or Mine and whether they believe him or me it will sufficiently confute him for it will shew that Authority may be a ground of Perswasion as well as a means of Information If they believe neither of us then it will appear they are not under such a necessity of bowing before the Light and Majesty of that Evidence he contends â—or in all relations The last objection he raises against this Principle of his is that passage 1. Pet. 2 12. Where there is this expression Which things the Angels desire to look into The things spoken oâ— here are the methods of our Salvation by the Incarnation of the Son of God and Descent of the Holy Ghost and 't is said in the time present that the Angels Desire to look into them And I think it a natural inference from hence that these things yet are Mysteries even to them in a great degree which we need not much wonder at when they don't so much as know when the day of Judgment will be and therefore we may the less wonder they are Mysteries to us But we will suppose that this expression is mean't of the time past And then let me ask him these two Quesâ—ions concerning it 1. Whether the Angels did believe those things they are said to enquire into or no if they did believe them then we find 't is very possible to believe things that we can't comprehend for if the Angels understood them fully when they believ'd why shou'd they desire to search into them 2. Whether now these things are come to pass he will assert that we have as full and comprehensive a knowledg of them all as the Angels have If we have not then we may believe things we do not comprehend If we have then there is no difference between ours and the state of the Bâ—est in Heaven at least in respect of knowledge The last Objection he brings against his own Principles is That which is drawn from the consideration of Miracles And this likewise is so strong an objection against him that the very supposition of one true Miracle wrought in confirmation of any point of Doctrine quite overthrows his whole Book For 1. The thing it self is in a great degree Mysterious and therefore if he will allow these things related of our Saviour to be true Miracles he must allow there are Mysteries in Chrisâ—â—â—nity But he endeavours to evade this by the same Quibble he did the Docâ—râ—nes of the Gospel being Mysterious â—â—z by saying the miraculous action muâ—â— be something in it self Intelligible and Possible Who denies it but it is however Mysterious still And to lay open this Fallacy we must distinguish the two things that are to be consider'd in every Miracle And 1. The substance of the thing perform'd we grant must be very Intelligible and Possible for as he says Contradiction is only another word for Impossible or nothing 2. The manner of performing it which is totally obscur'd from us and lies out of the reach of all our Capacities As to instance in that Miracle of our Saviours Fâ—â—ding five thousand People with five Loaves We understand very well what it is for a great number of men to eat and be satisfied
therefore Authority consider'd in the Revealer is the only grounds of my assent to the substance of this Proposition But to make this plainer we must consider that all natural Truths which do not necessarily require Revelation need no other ground of perswasion but Evidence but those which do have both these grounds of perswasion Evidence and Authority as will appear if we distinguish the three things in every relation 1. The meaning of the words 2. The relation it self or the very act of revelation 3. The substance of the thing intended by the Revelation As to the meaning of the words and truth of the revelation in any proposition Evidence is the ground of perswasion for why do I believe this Proposition When Christ appears we shall be like him Because I know the meaning of the words and because there is an evidence in my Mind of its coming from God from those proofs to my Senses and Reason which argue the Divine Mission of the Person who relates it and consequently the Divinity of the relation it self But as to the Substance of that Proposition Authority is the only ground of Perswasion as indeed it is in all relations whatsoever And therefore 't is now plain how Divine and Human Authority differ as well in degrees of Perspicuity as of Certitude And why because when a meer man relates any thing to me thô I allow the veracity of the man yet it is impossible for him to give such proof to my Sences and my Reason of the reality and substance of what he relates as God can And therefore can't raise so great a degree of Evidence in my Mind Though I suppose this mans relation to be true so that this relation of his and one of God's shall be upon equal Terms as to certitude being both alike true yet this assent of mine to what the man relates is more precarious and worse founded than my faith of any divine proposition because this is more clear and distinct as having a degree of Evidence in the mind which the other wants I shall make this plain by an instance A man tells me that Rome is swallow'd up by an Earthquake I have such an opinion of the veracity of the Man that I give my assent to it and believe it firmly Let us suppose afterwards that God reveals this same to me As yet there is the same degree of perspicuity allowing the ability and veracity of the man for then both God and he tell truth in this But if God confirm the relation by a Miracle this shall raise an Evidence or degree of knowledge in my Mind beyond any thing the man is able to effect and consequently the revelation of the same thing from God makes it clearer and gives it a greater degree of perspicuity than it had before But it will be yet more clear That Authority is a ground of Perswasion if we consider that all Evidence in the Mind proceeds from Evidence in the Thing Now all Truths in themselves are equally evident but in respect of us they are not so for some we are capable of knowing distinctly and some we are not because they are not suited to our present capacities In respect of those divine truths or of that part of them which is suited to our present capacities Evidence is the ground of perswasion but in respect of that part of it which is not suited to our Capacities as we have seen Authority is And thus we see how we may give our assent to many propositions for the substance of which we have no Evidence in the mind Why then says he a man shall believe what he doth not know and that is giving his assent to nothing But this is a quibble and to remove it effectually let us take up the same propositions again The three angles of a Triangle are equal to two right ones 'T is plain a man who knows what a Triangle is and what it is for one Angle to be equal to another may give his assent to this proposition though perhaps it may be utterly impossible ever to beat the demonstration into his head And though he doth not comprehend it yet he can't be said to be ignorant of it And the only ground of his assent is the Authority of some person who is able to demonstrate it And thus it is with a divine proposition When Christ appears we shall be like him Any one who knows what it is for a body to be rais'd and for one thing to be like another may give his assent to this proposition though it be impossible for him to know wherein this likeness will consist or to demonstrate that it will certainly be so And therefore the Authority of God is the only grounds of perswasion in this proposition and no Evidence is necessary any farther than to understand the meaning of the words and the truth of the revelation it self So groundless is that main principle of his that a man can give his assent to nothing but what he comprehends whereas the contrary is as clear as the light from what hath been said But farther from this supposition of his that Authority is only a means of Information and Evidence the only ground of Perswasion these two absurdities will directly follow 1. That a man can never be deceived in any thing for if Evidence in the Mind be the only ground of Perwasion a man can never give his assent but where there is this Evidence for if there be but one only cause the effect can never proceed but from that cause and what is evident i e what is truly known can never deceive He hath no way of evading this but by saying that the cause of error is the giving assent where there is none or not sufficient Evidence in the Mind which destroys every thing he says upon this head for this supposes that there may be some other cause of assent besides Evidence But if we suppose Evidence to be the only cause of assent then it must vary in degrees together with it's cause so that a clear Evidence shall have a firm assent and the least degree of Evidence shall have but the least degree of assent so that still a man can never be deceiv'd in any thing or in any degree And for him to say that we may think we have this Evidence when we have it not is still supposing that there is some other ground of assent Nay worse 't is supposing that a thing may be Evident to us and not Evident at the same time 2. It will follow that no Person either God or Man can be believ'd on their word For what they relate is evident to the Mind or it is not If it be then they give their assent to that Evidence and not to the Person who relates it If it be not evident i e according to him if he doth not know it perfectly he must utterly reject it And thus in a few words he destroys
these three are but one and he shou'd be forc'd to explain himself and say that his meaning is not that three men are one man or that one man is three men They who cry there is a Contradiction in this Mystery seem to me neither to know what a Contradiction is nor what is the Christian Faith concerning the Trinity For we don't believe that the Divinity is One Three in the same sence then indeed it wou'd be a contradiction But we affirm the quite contrary viz. that the Godhead is One Three in different respects So that all this noise of Contradiction vanishes and the whole force of the Objection amounts to no more than this viz. That we are not able to conceive in what respect he is one and in what respect he is three and therefore because we have no clear and distinct Idea of this we must utterly reject it I grant we are not able to account for this and it is this that makes it a Mystery and if I cou'd clearly solve the manner of this Union and Distinction it wou'd â—â—aâ—e to be such Thus much of it is purely the Object of my Faith and the Authority of God is the only ground of my assent to this part of it But then 3. I have sufficient proof of this Revelation's coming from God I have for This all the proof that I have for the Truth of the Scriptures and the Divine Mission of the Persons who wrote them so that I must either reject all reveal'd Religion or allow This to be an Article of my Faith But perhaps this man will Object that thô he shou'd grant it to be an Article of Faith yet it is so no farther than we can comprehend it But I have already made it out at the begining that both what we do and what we cannot know are both in gross call'd the same Mystery and that my assent to what I do not apprehend is founded upon the Authority of God but my assent to what I do apprehend is founded upon Evidence The first assent is properly Faith the last is Knowledge And so likewise if I were to give an account of my belief of the DIVINITY OF THE SON it shou'd be thus I am convinc'd by the Completion of Prophecies the Miracles he wrought and the agreablness of his Doctrine to the natural sentiments of our Minds that whatever Jesus Christ was He came from God I find him in many places assuming to himself the Name and Titles and Worship of God In discoursing with the Jews he useth this form of Speech Before Abraham was I AM on purpose to signify to them that he was that very Divine Being which was reveal'd to Moses under that Name And sometime after he tells them that as he was the Son of God so He and the Father were one That the Jews understood him in this sence I am sure because they took up Stones at each of these sayings to stone him as a Blasphemer because he made himself equal with God If these expressions were not to be understood in the sence they took them he wou'd certainly have undeceived them and have made it known that he was not God in the sence they understood him but that he was only a God by Deputation according to the wild notion of the Socinians But he â—poke the Truth and the Jews understood him right That he was eternal God equal with the Father the very same God who was signify'd by that sacred name I AM. And he hath never undeceiv'd either them or us to this day but instead thereof hath us'd many expressions to countenance and encourage this notion of him and therefore if I act like a reasonable man I am under a necessity either of giving my assent to this or of utterly rejecting him as an Impostor Now had he been and Impostor God who shew'd himself always very jealous of his Honour wou'd never have confirm'd this Doctrine of his with such repeated Testimonies If we suppose him to be only a Messenger come from God and a meer Man who spoke only by his Spirit and Commission he wou'd never have us'd such expressions as must naturally be misunderstood and lead thousands into the gross sin of Idolatry which of all others is the most detestable to God Moses was never suffer'd to enter into the Land of Canaan for a much less suspicious expression and in the heat of passion too Must we bring water out of the Rock which was a vainglorious insinuation that they wrought that Miracle by their own immediate power and proper efficacy This comes much short of these expressions of our Saviour's destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it again I have power to lay down my liâ—e and I have power to take it up And before Abraham was I am And indeed that passage concerning Moses seems to have been upon Record by the special providence of God for this very purpose that it might be a good argument of conviction to the Jews of the Divinity of the Son since this inference was very natural and obvious from it viz. If God was so incens'd with Moses for making use of one expression which seem'd to encroach upon his Prerogative then how far wou'd he have been from giving testimony of much more frequent and greater Miracles to a Person who by many plainer expressions assum'd to himself the full power and perfection of the Godhead if he were not really what he gave himself out to be For this reason I say because I can't reject him as an Impostor therefore I believe this Proposition and confess the blessed Jesus the Son of God to be Eternal God equal with the Father Now thus far I proceed in this Mystery upon the strictest rules of Reason and Evidence and my Faith of this Proposition is founded upon clear and distinct Idea's for I know clearly who I mean by Jesus Christ i. e. that Person who was born of the Virgin Mary and Crucified under Pontius Pilate I have a clear and distinct Idea of what it is for one thing to be equal to another and I apprehend very well what is signify'd by the name of God here i. e. that Divine Being whose necessary Existence I infer from that clear knowledg I have of his Creatures And of whose Nature thô I have not the least notion as it is in it self yet I form the best Idea of him I can by enlarging all the Perfections that are discernable in the Creatures And I have a clear and distinct Idea of what it is for one Person to be the Son of another Thus I understand the meaning of the words nor is there any thing in them contradictory to my reason And lastly I have clear and distinct Idea's of those miraculous proofs to the senses of men and of those completions of Prophecies and the excellency of that Doctrine they confirm the agreableness of it to the common notions of Men and it 's natural
As to the meaning of the Words Divine and Human Revelations are upon equal terms They must be both intelligible alike and thus far Evidence or Knowledg is the only ground of Perswasion in each of them 2. As to the substance of the thing reveal'd in many cases they both agree in this too viz. That they are equally intelligible for some of the Revelations of God are concerning things as knowable by us as the ordinary Phaenomena of Nature But in respect of a reveal'd Mystery Divine and Human Revelations are directly opposite for the substance of the thing intended by the revelation in one must be always intelligible but in the other it is totally obscur'd But 3. As to the truth of the Relation it self or the very act of Revelation there is this difference that in all Human Revelations Authority is the only ground of Perswasion because no meer Man can give any proof which shall amount to more than a probability or strong presumption But in Divine Propositions the truth of the Relation is founded both upon Evidence and Authority 1. Upon Evidence as the truth of it is confirmed by Testimonies which are certain and infallible as Prophecy or Miracles c. which can come from none but God and therefore create a degree of Knowledg beyond what is possible to be had of any relation meerly Human. 2dly Upon Authority as this Knowledg is not directly of the thing it self and therefore that we do not know the truth of it by any direct or immediate intuition So that these Testimonies are only to convince us that the Revelation comes from God and then we give our assent to the truth of them purely upon the account of his Veracity A third Principle of his is That 3. Divine and Human Revelations differ not as to Perspicuity i. e. You must understand the meaning of the Words in Divine Propositions as well as Human for as for unintelligible Relations we can no more believe them from the Revelation of God than from that of Man A very subtil piece of Logick indeed if he had design'd no more than he spoke But he hath a farther drift in it he knew it was not every Reader wou'd distinguish between the Sence and Meaning of the Proposition which we grant must be equally clear and perspicuous in both in order to an assent and The reality and existence of the thing and truth of the Revelation in respect of which the Revelations of God always carry a greater degree of Perspicuity because of that Evidence in the Mind occasion'd by such proofs which it is impossible for man to give What I spoke of this before I level'd at his design rather than his words as I am forc'd to do in several other instances But he will say perhaps these proofs may make the Revelation more certain but not more clear I grant they don't explain the words of it But 't is plain the Proofs make the Revelation never the more true or certain in it self But it is in respect of us they make it more certain And to make a Revelation more certain in respect of us is to make it more clear and that is to add a greater degree of Perspicuiry to it 4. We can give our assent to nothing but what we have clear and distinct Idea's of i. e We can believe nothing but what we have the immediate perception of Sense or Demonstration for or know by direct and immediate Intuition Such stuff as this he lays down for Logick and if you will argue with him it must be in his own Method and upon his own Principles and then to be sure he will be too hard for you But if you put him out of his Biass and keep him to plain undisguis'd Reason and the receiv'd rules of Arguing you spoil him quite Now by this time who so blind as not to see That the design of this Book is To strike at the Root and Foundation of all reveal'd Religion And now I have thus brought this Man out of the Clouds I need not spend much time in striping him of his disguise for the inferences he wou'd have people make from these Principles are so glaring and open that every body may see them If Authority be no ground of Perswasion then we must not believe the truth of any Revelation or Prophecy And if we must give our assent to nothing but what we have clear and distinct Idea's of then farewell all Religion both natural and reveal'd For we know all Religion natural and reveal'd is â—ounded upon the belief of a Deity of the Immortality of the Soul and of Rewards and Punishments in another World but it is impossible for us now to have as clear and distinct Idea's of these as we have of a Stock or a Stone but we infer these truths only from those things whereof we have clear and distinct Idea's and therefore upon his Principles we must utterly reject them all And then since by clear and distinct Idea's he means As exact and clear a notion as we have even of sensible Objects in one sentence he excludes all assent even to the reality and existence of every thing in the Gospel that respects another World and rejects all those Methods of our Salvation which are spoke of in the Bible as so many Dreams and Fictions Thus we must disbelieve the Resurrection and Change of our Bodies the Happiness of the blest in Heaven the Incarnation and Divinity of the Son the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead the Operations of the Holy Ghost c. nay the whole Christian Religion Because as I have sufficiently shewn we have not such clear and distinct Idea's of these things as we have of the ordinary Phaenomena of nature He cou'd not but see this and therefore we may well conclude this was his drift But he did not consider atthe same time that this wou'd cut off all assent to the very Being of God And thô I am fully convinc'd that he is the most inveterate Enemy to reveal'd Religion that hath lately appear'd in Print however I can scarce think he is arriv'd to that height of Atheism yet as to deny the existence of God thô he has not as clear and distinct an Idea of him as he has of a Stock or a Stone As for his second Section 't is all foreign to the matter and all that he says about seeming contradictions is plainly level'd at the Doctrine of the Trinity thô Transubstantiation be the instance he makes use of And he proceeds upon the same fundamental Errour he hath hitherto done That we can believe nothing but what we have a clear and distinct Idea of We say as well as he That there is nothing contrary to Reason in the Gospel That there is no contradiction in any point of Doctrine in it That Christianity is a Rational and Intelligible Religion which are the things he insists upon in this Section and goes a
by such Prâ—ofs to Mens Senses and Reason of it's divinity as shall convince us that it could come from none but God such as Miracles and Prophecies or the agreableness of the thing to our common Notions and I am not to give my assent to it unless I have this Evidence which I allow thus far to be the ground of Perswasion Thus far we are ready to joyn issue with any Adversary of Revelation and Mysteries purely upon the principles of Reason And to require it any farther is no other than to demand a rational account from us of what we grant we have no notion of God never requires our Assent to any Proposition but upon such testimonies and proof as shall cause this Evidence But as to the thing it self which is signified by this analogy as the real state and condition of the blest in Heaven is in this Mystery it is wholly exempted from the enquiry of Reason And herein is my Faith that I give my assent to a proposition which is sufficiently prov'd to come from God thô I have no notion at all of that divine truth which is represented to me under the similitude of some worldly Object And thus you see how Faith is nicely and most exactly defin'd The Evidence or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 demonstration of things not seen because Faith is no such precarious implicite assent as these Champions for Reason think but it is the giving our assent to things which thô we have no notion at all of now yet the reality and existence of them are demonstrated to us by such proofs as raise up in our minds the greatest degree of Evidence for the truth of the Relation And it is this that will strike all these Opposers of Faith and Revelation dumb when they appear at the Tribunal of God because they will not then have it to say that God requir'd their assent to any proposition but what they understood as well as they could understand any thing in this World And for the Divine Revelation of which they had sufficient proofs if they did but consider them to raise up in their minds an Evidence as clear and distinct as they can have of any thing in this World And thus he sees how groundless all those Objections are and malicious Insinuations against us and our most holy Faith as if we in any point of it declin'd the strictest examination of Reason We are so far from distrusting our cause or obliging men to walk blindfold that we give their Reason all the helps we can and men are never better dispos'd for the belief of our Christian Mysteries than when they follow the guidance and conduct of it For our whole Christian Faith is grounded upon the strictest Retiocination And therefore having stated the true extent of Reason in the Mysteries of Religion I shall now proceed to consider his Friend's objection against his Book viz. That it destroys the nature of FAITH A shrewd objection it is and that which he never will evade thô he had the wisdom of the old Serpent to help him And that person whosoever he was wou'd have been more his Friend if he had in time opened to him all the other false and impious consequences of his Book before it came abroad to spread infection and blast the credit of the Christian Faith But now alas it is too late for nothing is so vain as a man of some parts where there is not a true sence of Piety to qualify them And therefore he is now to stand by it with his Soul and venture Damnation rather than lessen himselâ— by a publick Recantation in the opinion of a half learned and debauch'd sort of people whose interest it is to run down that Institution which if it be true must rise up in judgment against them at the last day The force of the objection lies in this If we can give our assent to nothing but what we have a clear and distinct Idea of in the Mind so as to believe nothing upon the Worth and Veracity of another person then there can be no Assent distinct from Knowledge and thus there can be no Faith either Divine or Human. For if a man of whose sincerity you are throughly convinc'd shou'd tell you That there are a sort of people in the Indie's who scourge their Idols severely when any thing goes cross to their expectations it is impossible for you to believe this unless you see it For thô you know the meaning of the words and apprehend clearly what an Idol is and what it is to scourge it yet if the relations of ten thousand People and ever so many circumstances concur'd to the truth of it yet you can never give your assent to it upon any other terms than he did who saw it for nothing else can give you this evidence or knowledg of the truth and reality of it which he makes the only ground of our perswasion And then if we can't give our assent even to the Reality and Existence of any thing but when we have clear and distinct Idea's of the real modes and properties of it as it is in it self then we can believe nothing either of God or of any thing relating to another World For I have made it sufficiently appear that it is utterly impossible for us now to have such Idea's of them Therefore now let us see how he endeavours to get over this My Reader thinks I warrant that he is going about to reconcile the Christian Faith with his Principles But instead of this he spends sixteen pages in shewing you there is no such thing as Faith as you will see plainly I shall take him in order and answer every Paragraph because this is the most plausible part of his Sophistry First he tell 's us that to be confident of any thing without conceiving it is no Real Faith or Perswasion but a rash Presumption and an obstinate Prejudice If he means by not conceiving it not understanding the meaning of the Proposition reveal'd he is in the right of it but if he means by conceiving it the having as full and compleat a knowledg of the thing reveal'd as we have of any Phenomena of nature 't is absolutely false for as I have shewn at large we may give our assent to the Existence of things when we can't conceive any thing at all of their real nature And that our Christian Faith is however no rash Presumption or obstinate Prejudice because it is founded upon sufficient testimonies of the truth and reality of the propositions believ'd in things whereof we have clear and distinct Idea's This is the thing he drives at viz. that we have a full and compleat knowledg of the things believ'd and to make it plausible he says that God hath no interest to delude his Creatures nor wants ability to inform them â—rgo he reveals nothing but what he makes them perfectly comprehend Therefore he hath not reveal'd any thing of
I have for it or according as I weigh and consider them 2. The Subject of Faith must be intelligible to all since the belief thereof is commanded under no less a penalty than Damnation Who doubts it let him if he can produce one proposition we believe which is not intelligible But because we don't fully comprehend the thing spoke of are we therefore wholly ignorant of any thing relating to it must we reject it all as Fallacy Imposture If it be said He that believeth not shall be damn'd Mark 16 16. then what will become of him that takes all this pains to shew there is no such thing as Faith especially since the Belief there mean't is something plainly distinct from Knowledg For sure he doth not think the meaning of that text is this He that hath not as full and comprehensive a knowledg of God and the things reveal'd as he hath of any thing in Nature shall be Damn'd which is all his notion of Faith Again 3. If any part of Scripture were unintelligible it could never be rightly translated A very wise observation who ever question'd it But as I have shewn there is a great deal of difference between understanding the meaning of the words and having a comprehensive knowledg of the thing intended by them As I understand very well the meaning of these words When Christ appears we shall be like him thô I am wholly ignorant wherein this likeness will consist â—o that I can however translate the sence of that Proposition exactly and perfectly And therefore 't is such Wretches as He who affirm the contrary that plentifully furnish the Atheistical and Prophane with all the matter of their objections against Scripture But I hope in time God will put it into the hearts of our Governours to remedy these disorders 4. Except Faith signifies an intelligible Perswasion we cannot give others a reason of our Hope 'T is very true it is an Intelligible Perswasion and grounded upon the strictest Reason But he with a hardy confidence openly pretends that we deny people are to examine and understand their Faith and so runs into a comparison between Christ and the Idol of the Siameses upon our Principles Now he is past all Reason and Modesty and therefore I have no more to do here but deliver him up into the hands of our Governours We may confute his Errors but 't is They only can suppress his Insolence We only can endeavour to heal those who are already Infected 't is They alone can hinder the Infection from spreading farther 5. That either the Apostles cou'd not write more intelligibly of the reputed Mysteries or they would not I answer that all that we are able to understand of these Real Mysteries they have made so plain that they could not neither need they have made them more plain and intelligible As for the other part of them they knew as little of it as we do and therefore we don't Rail at them as he doth at all the Clergy as if they had industriously conceal'd any thing from us which they knew themselves He goes on ' T is affirm'd that God hath a right to require the assent of his Creatures to what they can't comprehend Yes he has and accordingly doth require it And again I say 't is Blasphemy to affirm that in this he is guilty of such a Tyranny as only becomes the Devil He requires our assent to the Eternal generation of the Son the Trinity of Persons and Divinity of Christ the Resurrection of our Bodies and change of them into the likeness of Christ c. thô we can't comprehend them And yet he is so far from acting like a Tyrant in this that he acts like a merciful God and a tender Father For he herein condescends to our capacities and Reveals the methods of our Salvation and the future state of Heaven to us after such a manner as we are able to understand them and promiseth that if they have that influence upon us which he designs i. e to excite our Gratitude and make us Vertuous and Holy he will at the resurrection of our bodies give us capacities to see them clearly as they are in themselves So that these Mysteries are to be understood at last but not till we come to another World And therefore God doth not reveal them only to puzzle our heads but for wise and excellent ends viz. to bring mankind to salvation by such Methods as are consistent with the Freedom of his nature From all these Observations he con cludes That to give our Assent to any thing above Reason in his sence is contradictory 1. To the ends of Religion whereas I have shewn at large that upon this supposition there can be no Religion at all either natural or reveal'd 2. To the nature of man i. e. because no man can believe what he knows nothing of but this Quibble I have sufficiently remov'd And 3. To the goodness and wisdom of God who as he intimated before is as much a Tyrant as the Devil for requiring us to believe any thing we can't comprehend If God had requir'd us to give our assâ—nt to what we knew nothing at all of he would have requir'd Impossibilities if he had requir'd us to give our assâ—nt to what we had no Proof or Evidence for he wou'd have requir'd what was Unreasonable but when he adapts the Revelation of things which we cannot comprehend to our capacities under the notions of things which we do apprehend clearly and fully it is the greatest argument of his wisdom And when he requires no assent from us without sufficient Arguments of Conviction to any consiâ—â—â—ing unprejudic'd person It is a great instance of his Goodness And these revelations of things above our Reason to comprehend as they are most powerâ—ul incitements to Gratitude here so they will be the subject of our Praise and Thanksgiving hereafter when the Vail is perfectly remov'd and that we are enabled to apprehend them clearly Now after all this pains to shew that there is no such thing as Faith distinct from Knowledg He says this will be objected against him He is in the right of it this will be ever objâ—cted against him till he recants his Error publickly But how doth he endeavour to evade it Why. That knowledg which is the present immediate view oâ— a thing is not Faith He says well But what is Faith is only the understanding what is believ'd He will stand by it with Soul and Body that Faith is nothing else That the understanding what is believ'd is necessary in order to Faith no one denies but any man of common Sence may see that this and the other definition are the same for pray what is understanding what is believ'd but having a present immediate knowledg of it unless he will say a man can't believe a thing till he hath forgot he knew it That which constitutes the formal
while He that pretends so much Zeal and Concern for the Vulgar shou'd not let them remain so long in Ignorance to be thus miserably impos'd upon by the craft and cunning of their Priests What strange unheard of Design this Man has in that second Book which is now a forging is hard to tell For by it he is to inform the World of things they never heard or thought of He is to reveal to us more than ever Jesus Christ hath done and what never yet cou'd enter into the heart of Man to think or into his imagination to frame any true and proper notion of Iâ— The World had any opinion of his abilities to perform what he pretends with this hardy confidence we shou'd all of us expect this wonderfull Book with much impatience Certainly by all these promises of so much New Light to the World which hath liv'd in darkness so many hundred Years we can't guess he designs to be no more than Head of an ordinary Sect but to be as famous an Impostor as Mahomet He hath laid a fair foundation for it for he aâ—er's positively in one place that if he knew the way how a Miracle was wrought he wou'd work it himself And again he openly says That nothing related in the Gospel is Mysterious either as to the manner or Substance of the thing and therefore 't is not unlikely that we shall have this man shortly confirming his Doctrines with Miracles For my part I can't imagine how he will go about what he hath undertaken however thus much I dare venture to promise him that whenever any thing is built upon that Rotten Foundation which is here laid by the Grace of God I will pull it down When this Book of his comes out which after all will tell us no more concerning these Mysteries than what we have heard an hundred times over but by what he promises must take place of the Bible it self which gives us no such clear and distinct Idea's of the things of another World Then we shall give a better guess at the design of the Man In the mean time I shall only say a little more concerning the Pretended and the Real Drift of this Book And 1. The Pretended Drift of it is To free the Christian Religion from that Darkness and Obscurity in which it is involv'd by the Contrivance of it's Preachers only to gain a Reputation â—â— their Personâ— and Profession and â—â— make it such a Religion as God design'd it i. e. a Religion for all Men. But how doth he go about this by scraps of Metaphysical Abstractions which were tolerable where he found them but spoilt in the Application By talking of Adequate Inadequate and Intermediate Idea's by the Nominal and Real Essence of things by Irivolous distinctions between the Means of Information and grounds of Perswasion and by littlâ— Niceties concerning the degrees of Perspicâ—ity iâ— Divine and Human Revelations c. This is the method this grand Reformer takes to restore Christianity to it's Native Simplicity and make it a Religion for all People Whereas it is not One of ten Thousand that knows the meaning of any of these Words and Phrases by which he darkens what is in it self Plain and Obvious and renders every thing in Religion a Mystery to them And yet this is the very man that talks so much against the new converted Philosophers for confounding their Philasophy â—nd Diâ—inity together and by that means rendering every thing abstruce by Terms And who rails at our Clergy for darkning every thing in Religion and industriously concealing it from the People 2. As to the Real design of thiâ— man 't is plain it is no other than what he formerly declar'd and whaâ— he openly affects viz. to be the Head of a Sect. and set up for a Reformer For besides many General Expressions he hath several very particular ones to this purpose as where he says That the very Nature and use of the Sacraments are absolutely perverted and destroy'd and are not yet fully restor'd by the purest Reformations in Christen doâ— And that expression in the close of his Book Because several turn'd Libâ—rtiâ—es and Atheists when Priestâ—raft was laid â—o open at the Reformation were Luther Câ—lvin or Zwinglius to be blam'd for it which is spoke by way of Defence of that great Reformation he intends whatever the ill consequences of it are Now the Method he hath taken to effect this grand design of his is first to Amuse the generality of people with a little shew of Learning by hard Words and several impertinent Quotations to get a reputation among them His next Business was to insinuate into the minds of people a disesteem of the Religion they now Profess and make them believe that Christianity as it is now receiv'd is no better than Heathenism which he doth by comparing them in several instances and tells us plainly He hath said enough to shew how the Divine Institutions of Christianity through the Craft and Ambition of Priests and Philosophers did degenerate into meer Paganism He calls our Principles narrow bigoted Tenets And in short says they are a Mystery of Iniquity He calls the present Theology the Gibberish of our Divinity Schools and the Language of the Beast He wou'd have no Ceremonies no Times Places or Particular Actions for the Worship of God c. And notwithstanding all these virulent Expressions and many more through his whole Book against the Religion profest and establish't among us He says That such is the deplorable condition of our Age that a man dares not openly and directly own what he thinks of Divine Matters if it but vâ—ry slightly differ from what is receiv'd by any Party or that is establish't by Law And therefore He that hath openly said so much already what is it he wou'd not say were it not for the Laws Undoubtedly he hath a great deal more to say whenever this new SECT of his becomes so numerous that they shall outbrave the Laws and labour for a Publick Reformation of all the Mysterious Doctrines of the Gospel Had this Man made any of the Mysteries of our Religion more clear and intelligible than they were before He had don worthily and might have hop'd for a Reward from God and Esteem from Men And the Ministers of the Gospel wou'd have been so far from resenting it that they wou'd have thank'd him for it and not fail'd to have acquainted their People with it But by this Scurrilous Libel upon all these Doctrines which are the ground and foundation of Christianity and by Railing at all the Teachers and Professors of it for sixteen hundred Years as if they had all been Fools and Knaves and Bigots at the best till He appear'd in the World He is justly become odious and detestable by all Men who have any concern lest for the Christian Religion 'T is true he hath set his Forehead like a Flint and is