Neguniah the Son of Hiskiah the Book of Ezechiel had been absconded because there are expressions in it repugnant to the words of the Law By all which it is manifest that the learned in the Law held a Council to determin what Books should be receiv'd for Sacred and what should be rejected so that whoever will be sure of the Authority of all must search into the Council and know upon what ground and reason every Book was receiv'd I should now examin the Books of the New Testament but I hear it hath been already done by Men learned in the Sciences and skilful in Tongues I am not Grecian good enough to undertake it beside we want Original Copies of those Books which were written in Hebrew and therefore I will not ingage my self in the business but only observe some things which make to my main purpose and that shall be the work of my next Chapter CHAP. XI Enquires whether the Apostles wrote their Epistles as Apostles and Prophets or only as Teachers and sheweth what is the Office of an Apostle WHoever reads the New Testament must be convinc'd that the Apostles were Prophets but because the Prophets as I have shew'd in the end of the first Chapter did but seldom and not always speak by Revelation it may very well be a Question Whether the Apostles like Moses Ieremy and others did by express Command and Revelation write their Epislles as Prophets or else only as private Men and Teachers especially because in the 1 st Epist. to the Corinthians chap. 14. v. 6. Paul in express terms declares there are two sorts of speaking the one by Revelation the other by Knowledge I say therefore it may be doubted whether the Apostles in their Writings did Prophesie or instruct Their Stile if we mark it is very far different from that us'd in Prophesie it was alway the custom of the Prophets to declare That they spake by the Command of God still beginning with expressions like these So faith the Lord The Lord of Hosts saith The Word and Decree of the Lord which they did use not only in their publick Speeches but also in their Letters or Writings which contain'd Revelations as appears in the Letter written by Elijah the Prophet to King Iehoram 2 d Book of Chron. chap 21. v 12. and there came a Writing to him from Elijah the Prophet saying Thus saith the Lord God but in the Apostles Writings we meet with no such expressions but the clean contrary 1 st Epist Corinth chap. 7. v. 40. Paul says he speaks after his own Judgment Yea in many places we find expressions which argue a doubtful and uncertain mind as in the Epist. to the Rom. chap. 3. v. 28. Therefore we conclude And Rom. chap. 8 v. 18. for I reckon and many of the like kind Beside these there are other manners of speaking which do not at all savor of Prophetical Authority as in the 1 st Epist. Corinth chap. 7. v. 6. But I speak this by permission not of commandment and in the 25. verse of the same chap. I give my Iudgment as a Man who hath obtain'd mercy of the Lord to be faithful and it is to be observ'd That when Paul in this Chapter speaks as if he did not know whether he had or had not a command from the Lord for what he said it is not to be understood of a Command from God by Revelation but only that he preach'd that Doctrine which Christ the Lord taught his Disciples in the Mount. Moreover if we observe in what manner the Apostles deliver the Doctrine of the Gospel in their Writings we shall find it much different from the Prophets way of instructing for the Apostles are always found reasoning insomuch that they seem rather to dispute than Prophesie Prophesies contain nothing but positive Opinions and Decrees therefore God is always introduced not arguing with Reason but peremptorily commanding by the Power and Soveraignty of his Nature and Essence Prophetieal Authority allows of no rational disputing for whoever will by reasoning confirm his Opinions doth in so doing submit them to the Arbitrary Judgment of another as doth Paul reasoning in his 1 st Epist to the Corinth chap. 10. v. 15. I speak as to wise men judge ye what I say And lastly because the Prophets did not understand the things that were reveal'd to them by Reason and Natural Knowledge as we have shewed in the first Chapter tho' some things in the Pentateuch seem to be concluded and confirmed by Inference and Illation yet if we consider them they cannot be taken for peremptory and decisive Arguments For example when Moses said to the Israelites Deut. chap. 21. v. 27. Behold while I am yet alive with you this day ye have been rebellious against the Lord and how much more after my death We are not here to think that this was an Argument used to convince the Israelites by Reason that they would certainly after Moses death depart from the worship of God because the Argument had been false as may be prov'd by Scripture for the people persevered constantly in it during the life of Ioshua and the Elders and afterwards also in the life time of Samuel David and Solomon these words therefore of Moses were but a moral manner of speaking which he Rhetorically us'd the more strongly to imagin and foretel that peoples future defection the reason why I do not say that Moses to make his Prediction true spake these words of himself and not by Revelation as a Prophet is because in the 21 verse of the same Chapter God reveals to Moses in other words what the people would do so that there was no need of reasoning to make Moses surer of this Prediction and Decree but it was only necessary to give him a livelier representation thereof in his imagination as I have shewed in the first Chapter which could be done no better way than by imagining that the peoples present rebellious Humor which he had so often try'd would be the very same for the future so that we are not to think Moses's Arguments which we meet with in the Petanteuch to be drawn from the Repositories of Reason but to be taken only for manners of speaking whereby he did more lively imagin and more effectually express God's Decrees I will not deny but that the Prophets might reason and argue by Revelation but that which I maintain is That the Prophets by how much more rational the Arguments were which they used so much more natural did their Knowledge appear which they had of things revealed and that the Prophets knowledge was supernatural chiefly appear'd in their speaking Dogmatically Imperiously and Sententiously so that Moses the chief Prophet never made use of any Logical Argument and I therefore conclude Paul's long Deductions and Reasonings which we find in his Epistle to the Romans were never written by Supernatural Revelation and the manner of speaking and arguing in the Writings of the Apostles doth
clearly shew that they were not by Divine Revelation and Command but were the dictates of their own natural Reason and contain nothing but brotherly admonitions full of gentleness and kindness no evidence of Prophetical Authority such as is that excuse in the 15. chap. to the Rom. verse 15. Brethren I have written the more boldly unto you and this Opinion may with the greater confidence be maintain'd because we no where read that the Apostles were commanded to Write but only to Preach where ever they went and to confirm their Doctrine by Signs for their Presence and Signs were absolutely requir'd to convert the Nations to Christianity and confirm them in it as Paul himself in his Epist. to the Rom. chap. 1. v 11. expresly declares I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end you may be establish'd But here it may be objected that if we allow the Apostles did not write as Prophets then by the same reason it may be concluded they did not preach as Prophets for when they went hither and thither to preach they did it not by express Command as did the Prophets in time past We read in the Old Testament Ionah went to Nineveh to preach that he was expresly sent thither and that which he was there to preach was reveal'd to him We are told at large that Moses was sent into Egypt by God what he was commanded to say to the people of Israel and to King Pharaoh what Signs and Wonders also he was to do in their presence to make them believe Isaiah Ieremy and Ezekiel were expresly commanded to preach to the Israelites Lastly the Prophets never preached any thing but what the Scripture testifies they receiv'd from God but of the Apostles we very seldom read any such thing when they went hither and thither to preach but on the contrary we find the Apostles according to their own Will and Inclination chose what places they would preach in as appears by that contention even to separation between Paul and Barnabas Act. chap. 15. v. 39. and that the Apostles many times in vain attempted to go to some particular places whereof we have instances in Paul himself who says in his first Chapter to the Romans v. 13. I would not have you ignorant that oftentimes I purposed to come to you but was let hitherto and chap. 15. v. 22. For which cause I have been often hindred from coming to you And lastly in the 16 th chap. 1 st Epist. to the Corinth v. 12. he saith As touching our brother Apollos I greatly desir'd him to come unto you with the Brethren but his Will was not at all to come at this time but he will come when he shall have convenient time so that from such expressions as these from the Apostles contention and because when they went hither and thither to preach the Scripture doth no where testify as it did of the Ancient Prophets that they went by the express command of God we ought to conclude that the Apostles did not preach as Prophets but as Men who were only Teachers But this Objection may be easily answered if we take notice of the difference between the calling of Apostles in the New and of Prophets in the Old Testament for the Prophets were not called to Preach and Prophesie to all Nations in general but only to some particular people for which an Express and particular Command was necessary but the Apostles were called to preach to all Nations without exception and to convert them to Christ so that where-ever they went they executed his Commission nor was there any necessity before they went that which they were to preach should be reveal'd to them they being those Disciples to whom Christ said Matth. chap. 10. v. 19 20. When they deliver you up take no thought how or what ye shall speak for it shall be given unto you in that same hour what you shall speak We therefore conclude the Apostles had those things by particular Revelation which they personally preach'd and confirm'd by Signs but what they simply spake or writ without Signs to confirm it that proceeded only from their Natural Reason and Knowledge as you see in the forecited 14 th chap. of the 1 st Epist. to the Corinth v. 6. That all their Epistles begin with the Declaration and Approbation of their Apostleship makes nothing against me for on the Apostles as I shall presently shew was not only bestow'd the gift of Prophesie but they had also Authority given them to teach and instruct Upon this ground the Apostles began and wrote their Epistles with the declaration of their Apostleship and perhaps to gain upon the Minds of their Readers and to stir them up to Attention did in the first place testify That they were those Men who by their Preaching were known to all Believers and who by such clear proofs had made it evident they taught the true Religion and right way to Salvation What I find in these Epistles concerning the Call of the Apostles and of the Divine and Holy Spirit wherewith they were inspir'd relates only to their Preaching except it be in those places where by the Spirit of God and the holy Spirit is meant only a sound right Judgment and a pure sanctify'd Mind devoted to God of which we have spoken in our first Chapter For example Paul in 1 Corinth chap. 7. v. 40. saith But she is happier if she so abide after my Iudgment and I think also I have the Spirit of God where by the Spirit of God is understood his own Opinion as the Context proves his meaning is that in his Judgment and Opinion the Widdow was happy who would not marry a second Husband for he himself had resolv'd to live single and therefore thought himself happy Of this kind we find other expressions which I think needless to mention If then it pass for granted That the Epistles of the Apostles were the dictates only of Natural Reason how could the Apostles only by Natural Reason teach those things which did not fall within the compass of it Consider what I have said in the seventh Chapter of this Treatise concerning the Interpretation of Scripture and we shall find no difficulty in the Question for tho' many things contain'd in the Bible often surpass our Capacity and Understanding yet we may safely dispute of them provided we admit of no Principles but what are fetch'd from the Scripture and upon this ground the Apostles might conclude collect and as they pleas'd teach many of those things which they had seen heard and were reveal'd to them Tho' Religion as it was preach'd by the Apostles in barely publishing the History of Christ is not to be comprehended by Natural Reason yet the principal and chiefest part thereof which consists as doth the whole Doctrine of Christ in moral Precepts and Instructions every Man by Natural Light may attain The Apostles did not stand in need of
is lawful for every Man to think as he pleaseth and to speak what he thinks CHAP. I. Concerning Prophesy PRophesy or Revelation is the true Knowledge of any thing revealed to Men by God and he is a Prophet who declares and expounds those things which God hath revealed to Persons that cannot have any certain knowledge of those Revelations but must therefore only by mere Faith receive and embrace them A Prophet was by the Iews called Nabi that is an Orator or Interpreter as appears in the 7 th chap. of Exodus v. 1 st And the Lord said unto Moses see I have made thee a God to Pharaoh and Aron thy Brother shall be thy Prophet as if he should have said Aron by Interpreting to Pharaoh what thou say'st shall Act the Part of a Prophet and thou the Part of God. We will speak of Prophets in the next Chapter but in this only of Prophesy It follows from the definition which hath been given of it that Natural knowledge may be called Prophesy for those things which we know by the light of nature depend only upon the knowledge of God and his Eternal decrees but because this knowledge is natural to all Mankind being founded upon Principles common to all Men 't is of no value with the vulgar who always affecting things rare and out of their Road despise the Gifts of Nature and therefore whereever mention is made of Prophetical knowledge they totally exclude Natural which may with as much right be called Divine as the other whatever it be seeing the Nature of God of which we participate and the decrees of God dictate it unto us neither doth Natural knowledge differ from that which Men call Divine but only because Divine knowledge exceedeth the Limits of Natural and because the Laws of Humane Nature considered in themselves cannot be the cause of Divine knowledge but Natural knowledge in respect of the certainty which it includes and in respect of the Fountain from whence it proceeds namely from God himself doth in no wise give place to Prophetical knowledge unless some will think or rather dream that the Prophets had Humane Bodies but not Humane Souls and therefore their perceptions and knowledge were of a quite different Nature from ours But though natural knowledge be Divine yet they that possess and propagate it cannot be called Prophtes because the things which they teach may with equal certainty and in as high a degree be Apprehended and Embraced by others as well as by themselves and that too not by Faith only Since therefore our Mind for no other reason but only because it containeth in it self the Nature of God as its Object and also participating thereof is able to Form certain Notions which explicate the Nature of things and teach us the use of Life we may with reason conclude that the Nature of Man's mind being what 't is conceived to be is the prime Cause of Divine Revelation for all those things which we clearly and distinctly understand the Idea of God as we have already shewn and Nature dictate to us not in words but in a much more excellent manner and such as best suites with the Nature of the Mind as every one finds by his own experience who hath but tasted what certain knowledge is but because my cheif purpose is to speak of those things which belong only to the Scripture that little I have said of Natural knowledge shall suffice and I now proceed to other causes and means by which God reveals to Men those things which do exceed and also those which do not exceed the bounds of Natural knowledge for nothing hinders but that those things which we know by the Light of Nature God may by other ways communicate to Men of which now I will more fully Treat But whatsoever is said upon this Subject ought to be fetcht only from Scripture for we can say no more of things that pass our understanding then that which the Prophets have deliver'd to us either by word or writing and because we have not any Prophets that I know in these our days all that we have to do is diligently to peruse the Sacred Volums which the Prophets have left us but still with this caution that we determin nothing positively of things of this Nature nor attribute any thing to the Prophets themselves which they have not plainly spoken and taught But it is in the first place to be observed that the Iews never used to make mention of mediate and particular Causes nor ever regarded them but for the promoting of Religion Piety and Devotion had always recourse to God for Example if they got Money by the Trade of Merchandizing they said God gave it if they earnestly desired to do any thing they said God disposed their Hearts to it if they seriously thought on any thing they said it was declared to them by God so that every thing which the Scripture saith God declared to any one is not to be taken for Prophesy and Supernatural knowledge but that only which the Scripture expresly declares or from the Circumstances of the narration plainly appears to be Prophesy and Revelation If then we run through all the Sacred Volums we shall find that all those things which God revealed to the Prophets were revealed to them either by words or by Figures and Signs or else by both together and that the words and Signs were either real and true without the imagination of the hearing and seeing Prophet or but imaginary that is the fancy and imagination of the Prophet even when he was awake was so disposed that he verily thought he heard words or saw and beheld some thing or sign God in a true and real voice revealed those Laws to Moses which he prescribed to the Iews as appears by the 25 th chap. of Exod. v. 22. where he saith And there will I meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy Seat from between thee two Cherubims which plainly shews that God made use of some real voice seeing Moses where-ever he pleased found God ready to speak to him and that only this voice by which the Law was Published was a true and real voice I will presently shew One would think that the voice by which God called Samuel was real because in the first Book of Sam. the 3 d. chap. and last verse it is said The Lord appeared again in Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord as if he had said the appearance of God to Samuel was nothing else but Gods making known himself to him by word or signifyed no more then that Samuel heard God speaking but because we are forced to distinguish between the Prophesy of Moses and that of the other Prophets it must be concluded that the voice heard by Samuel was but imaginary because it was like the voice of Ely which he had so often heard and therefore the sooner
the 12 th Verse of the 7 th Chapter of Zachary They made their Hearts as an Adamant Stone least they should hear the Law and the Words which the Lord of Hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former Prophets where Spirit must signifie mercy in this Sense speaketh also the Prophet Haggai Chap. 2. v. 5. Loe my Spirit that is my Grace and Mercy remaineth among you fear ye not Isa. Chap. 48. v. 16. It is said the Lord and his Spirit hath sent me there Spirit may be understood to signifie the Will and Mercy of God or his mind revealed in the Law for the Prophet saith from the beginning that is when he first came to declare Gods Wrath and Judgments against them he spake not in secret from the time that it was published there was I but now I am a Messenger of Joy sent by the Mercy of God to proclaim your restauration it may also as I have already said be taken for the mind and will of God revealed in the Law that is he by the Command of the Law Levit. Chap. 19. v. 17. came to admonish them therefore under the same conditions and in the same manner he warns as Moses did and at last like Moses ends with predicting their restauration but in my Opinion the first Exposition seems the best To return to what was first intended by all these Quotations it is evident that these following plain Phrases of Scripture The Prophets had the Spirit of God. God poured out his Spirit upon Men. Men were filled with the Spirit of God and with the Holy Ghost signifie nothing more then that the Prophets had some particular extraordinary Vertue above other Men and were Persons very Eminent for their constant piety Moreover that they understood the Mind and Will of God for we have shewn that the Spirit in the Hebrew Language signifies both the mind and the purpose and resolutions of the mind yea the Law because it makes known Gods Mind is called the Spirit and Mind of God so that the imagination of the Prophets forasmuch as by it the decrees and purposes of God were revealed may likewise be called the Mind of God and the Prophets may be said to have the Spirit of God now though the Mind and Will of God be Written in our minds and his Eternal purposes and decrees be Engraven on our Hearts and consequently to use the Scripture Phrase we also understand the Mind of God yet because natural Knowledge is common to all Men it is very little esteem'd and the Iews who valued themselves above all other Nations extreamly despised it because it was common to all Mankind Lastly the Prophets were said to have the Spirit of God because Men were altogether ignorant of the Causes of Prophetical Knowledge and did not only admire it but as they did all other strange and unusual things ascribed it to God as the immediate Author of it We may then without any scruple affirm that the Prophets did no other way understand the revelations of God then by the help of imagination that is by the means of words or signs and these either real or imaginary for seeing we find in Scripture no other means beside these it is not lawful to suppose or fancy any other but by what Laws and Rules of Nature it was done I confess I am utterly ignorant I might with others say it was done by the Power of God but it would be little to the purpose and no more then if I should by some unintelligible terms express the form of any thing all things are done by the Power of God for the Power of Nature is nothing but the Power of God and 't is certain that we therefore do not understand the Power of God because we are ignorant of natural Causes and we very foolishly have recourse to the Power of God when we know not the natural Cause of any thing that is when we are ignorant of Gods Power but we have now no need of knowing the cause of prophetical Knowledge for as I have already intimated we only endeavour to find out what the Scripture teacheth us that from thence as from the precepts of Nature we may know our Duty but with the Causes of Scripture-Doctrines we have nothing to do Seeing then the Prophets by the help of imagination understood those things which God revealed there is no doubt but they perceived many things which were beyond the extent of natural understanding for from words and signs many more Ideas may be formed then can be only out of those Principles and Notions upon which all our natural Knowledge is founded Hence it is evident why the Prophets perceived and declared all things parabolically and in dark Speeches and exprest all spiritual things after a corporal manner because that doth better sute with the nature of the imagination neither can we now wonder why the Scripture or the Prophets spake so improperly and obscurely of the Spirit or Mind of God as Numb Chap. 11. v. 17. I will come down and talk with thee there and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee and put it on them Likewise in the 1 st Book of Kings chap. 22. v. 11. and Zedekiah the Son of Chenaanah made him Horns of Iron and he said thus saith the Lord with these shalt thou push the Syrians till thou hast consumed them Michah saw God sitting Daniel saw him like an Old Man cloathed in white Garments Ezekiel like fire and they who were with Christ descending like a Dove the Apostles like Cloven Tongues and Paul before his Conversion like a great light all which Visions agree with those fancies and imaginations which the vulgar have of God and of Spirits Lastly because the imagination is wandring and unconstant Prophesy did not long continue with the Prophets nor was it frequent but very rare and as there were but very few that had it so likewise 't was very seldom we are now to inquire how the Prophets could be sure of those things which they perceived only by the strength of imagination and not by the certain Principles of mental Knowledge but whatever may be said concerning this Particular ought to be fetcht from Scripture tho' as we have already confest we have no true knowledge of the thing and cannot explain it by its first Causes however what the Scripture declareth concerning the truth and certainty of the Prophets I will shew in the following Chapter wherein I resolve to treat of Prophets CHAP. II. Of Prophets IT appears by the preceding Chapter that the Prophets were not endued with perfection of mind above other Men but only with strength and vivacity of imagination which Scripture-Histories abundantly testify Solomon excell'd all others in Wisdom but not in the gift of Prophesy Heman Darda Kalcoll tho' Men very Wise yet were no Prophets when plain Countrymen who had no Learning yea Women as Hagar Abrahams Maid had that gift which is agreeable both to
after God under the Notion of good and not as it is contrary to evil that is to seek after good for good 's sake and not for fear of evil for he that doth-good as we have already said upon the account of knowing and loving what is good doth it with a free and constant mind but he that is compell'd by the fear of evil is forced by punishment acts like a Slave and lives under the command of another and therefore that one thing which God commanded Adam comprehends all the Divine Natural Law and perfectly agrees with the Dictates of Natural Reason now would it be a difficult matter from this very Principle to unfold the whole History or Parable of the first Man but I pass it by because I am not certain whether my Explication will agree with the Writers meaning and because many will have the History to be no Parable but a plain and simple Narration it will therefore be better to make use of other Places of Scripture those especially of which he was Author who in Strength of natural Knowledge exceeded the wisest of his Age and whose sayings the People counted as Sacred as they did those of the Prophets I mean Solomon whose Prophesy and Piety is not so much commended in Scripture as his Wisdom and Prudence he in his Proverbs calls Human Understanding the Fountain of Life and placeth misfortune only in Folly for he saith chap. 16. v. 22. Vnderstanding is a well-spring of Life to him that hath it but the Punishment of Fools is their folly Where we are to note that by the word Life in the Hebrew is signified happy Life as appears Deut. chap. 30. v. 10. I have set before thee Life and Death Blessing and Cursing therefore chuse Life And he therefore deriveth the happiness of Life from Knowledge and Punishment from the want of it which exPresly agrees with what we observed in the fourth Place concerning the Divine Natural Law but that this Fountain of Life the Understanding prescribeth Laws to the Wise is proved by Prov. chap. 13. v. 14. The Law of the Wise is a Fountain of Life that is as appears by the fore-cited Text the Understanding and Knowledge Moreover chap. 3. v. 13. 'T is said in express Terms that Uuderstanding and Wisdom make a man happy and give him the true peace of mind Happy is the Man tbat findeth Wisdom and the Man that getteth Vnderstanding And v. 16 17. Length of days is in her right Hand and in her left Riches and Honour her ways are ways of Righteousness and all her Paths which Wisdom points out are Peace In the Opinion of Solomon then only Wise men live quietly and happily not as the wicked whose minds are disturbed and tost to and fro with contrary Passions and Affections So that as Isaiah saith chap. 47. v. 20 21. The wicked are like the troubled Sea that cannot rest there is no Peace to the wicked Lastly in the Proverbs that which clearly confirms this Opinion is what he saith chap. 2. v. 3. If thou criest after Knowledge and liftest up thy Voice for Vnderstanding then v. 5. Thou shalt understand the fear of the Lord and find the Knowledge of God. or rather the Love of God for the Hebrew word Iadah signifies both for Verse the 6 th which observe well The Lord giveth Wisdom out of his Mouth cometh Knowledge and Wisdom Which words clearly declare First that only Understanding and Wisdom teach us to fear God Prudently i e to serve him truly and to worship him rightly Next that Wisdom and Knowledge flow from the Mouth of God and are given by God that is our Understanding and Wisdom depends upon proceeds from and is only perfected by the Idea or Knowledge of God Solomon goes on and in the 9 th Verse shews that in and from this Knowledge is continued and derived the Science of true Morality and Policy Then shalt thou understand Righteousness Iudgment and Equity yea every good thing And Verse the 10 th When Wisdom shall enter into thy Heart and Knowledge is pleasant to thy Soul Verse the 11 th Discretion shall preserve thee understanding shall keep thee All which Expressions plainly agree with natural Knowledge which teacheth us Morality and true Vertue after we have gained the Knowledge of things and tasted the Excellency of Understanding The Happiness and Tranquility therefore of a Man that improves his natural Reason and Knowledge doth not in Solomon's Opinion chiefly depend upon Fortune that is God's external Assistance but upon his own internal Vertue and Faculties that is God's internal aid because by watching working and well considering he preserveth himself Lastly that place of St. Paul. Rom. chap. 1 st v. 20. Is very worthy of our Notice where according to Tremelius's version of the Siriack Text he saith The invisible things of God from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his external Power and Godhead so that they are without excuse By which words he maketh it evident that all men by the Light of natural Reason and Knowledge may understand the Power of God and his Eternal Divinity by which they may be able to know and conjecture what they are to seek and pursue and what they are to avoid and so concludes that all are without excuse and cannot pretend Ignorance which they might very vvell if he spoke of Supernatural Knovvledge and of the Bodily passion and resurrection of Christ therefore he goes on in the 24 th Verse and says God gave them up to uncleanness through the Lust of their own Hearts describing to the end of the Chapter the Vices of Ignorance which Vices he declares to be the punishment of Ignorance agreeing with that Proverb of Solomon mentioned Chap. 16. v. 22. The punishment of Fools is their folly So that it is no wonder Paul says evil doers are inexcusable for as every Man sows so shall he reap Evil unless Wisdom prevent necessarily brings forth evil the Scripture therefore expresly commends natural Knowledge and the Divine Natural Law so that I have done with what I intend to treat of in this Chapter CHAP. V. The reason why Ceremonies were instituted to what end and tow hom the Belief of Scripture-Histories are necessary IN the foregoing Chapter we have shewn that the Divine Law which makes Men happy and teacheth the right way of Living is Universal to all Mankind and we have so derived it from Human Nature that it appears to be born with and as it were engraved upon the Mind and Heart of Man but because Ceremonies those at least which we find in the Old Testament were only instituted for the Iews and so fitted to their Government that for the most part they might be observed in their Public Assemblies tho' not by every Individual Person it is manifest that they did not belong to the Divine Law nor contributed any thing to the making men happy or
benefits which he promised they should receive from Heaven The Laws which he establisht were not very severe as will appear to any Man that considers how many circumstances were required to the condemning of any offender that the People who could not govern themselves might absolutely depend upon the verbal commands of the supream Magistrate he did not permit them being accustomed to Bondage to do any thing of their own accord but whatever they did was to be done according to the prescript of the Law no Man could at his own Pleasure Plow Sow or Reap no Man could eat what he pleased nor could he cloth himself shave his Head and Beard or make merry but according to certain Rules set down in the Law nor was this all for they were to have upon the Posts of their Doors upon their Hands and their Fore-heads certain Signs which were to put them in continual mind of their obedience the end and design then of Ceremonies was that the People might do nothing by their own will and determination but only by the command of another and by continual Action and meditation confess they were not Masters of themselves but wholly Subjected to the will of another by all which 't is evident that Ceremonies conduce nothing to true felicity and that those of the Old Testament yea the whole Law of Moses concerned only the government of the Iews and consequently had respect to nothing more then Bodily conveniences as for Christian Ceremonies namely Baptism the Lords Supper Holy-days public Forms of Prayer or any others common to Christianity if they were ever instituted by Christ or his Apostles which doth not clearly appear they were only appointed as marks and signs of the Universal Church but not as things that contain any Sanctity in themselves or contribute any thing to eternal happiness and therefore being ordain'd not in reference to government but only in respect to mutual Society he that liveth alone or he that liveth under a government where the Christian Religion is forbidden is not oblig'd to the Observation of these Ceremonies and yet may live happily an example whereof we have in the Kingdom of Iapan where the Hollanders by the command of their East-India Company abstain from all outward Worship and that their so doing is justifiable I think is not difficult to prove from the Fundamental Principles of the New Testament But I hasten to the Second particular which I purposed to treat of in this Chapter namely why believing the Histories contained in Scripture is necessary and to find out this by Natural reason I thus proceed Whoever will perswade or disswade Men to or from any thing which is not in or by it self known must deduce that thing from Principles generally granted and allowed and must convince those Men either by reason or experience that is by things which Men by their Sences know to have happen'd in Nature or else by maxims which the understanding can neither doubt or deny but unless experience be such as is clearly and distinctly understood tho' it may convince a Man yet it cannot equally affect the understanding and disperse the Clouds thereof as will that which is proved by intellectual Principles that is orderly deduced from Notions certain and intelligible especially if the question be of any thing that is meerly Spiritual and falls not under sense but because to prove things only by intellectual Propositions requires a long Chain of Notions much Circumspection Sharpness of Wit and great Temper all which are seldom found together therefore Men had rather be taught by experience then put themselves to the trouble of linking together all their perceptions deduced from a few maxims so that he that would teach a whole Nation I need not say all mankind any particular doctrine and would be clearly understood in all things by all Men he must confirm his Doctrine by experience and must accomodate his reasons and the definitions of what he teacheth to the capacity of the vulgar who make up the greatest part of Mankind and must not think of giving such definitions as he thinks fittest for tying his reasons together because he would then write only to the Learned and would be understood but by a very few Seeing then the Scripture was revealed first for the use and instruction of a whole Nation and afterwards of all Mankind it was absolutely necessary that the things therein contain'd should be suited to the capacity of the common People and confirm'd only by experience to make my meaning yet more clear I say that all things taught in Scripture which are only Speculative are cheifly these First that there is a God or a being which made all things and by infinite wisdom governeth and sustaineth all things who taketh great care of Mankind and particularly of those that live honestly and Religiously but for those that live wickedly he separates them from the good and afflicts them with greivous Punishments But all those things the Scripture confirms only by experience namely by the Histories which it recites nor doth it plainly define any of these things but fiteth all its reasonings and expressions according to the capacity and understanding of the vulgar and tho' experience can give a Man no true and plain knowledge of things nor teach a Man what God is in what manner he orders and upholdeth all things or how he takes care of Mankind yet it gives Men so much light and knowledge as is sufficicient to Imprint in their Minds Piety and Obedience So that now I think 't is very plain to what Persons and for what reasons the belief of Scripture Histories is necessary that is to the common People by whom things cannot be clearly and distinctly understood and whoever denies these Histories because he neither believes the being or Providence of God is impious but he that is ignorant of these Histories and yet by natural reason concludes there is a God who made and preserveth all things if he live a vertuous life that Man is blest yea more blessed then the vulgar because beside the Truth of his Opinions he hath a clear and distinct understanding Lastly he that is ignorant of Scripture History and knows nothing of God by the light of natural reason if he be not impious and obstinate yet he may well be accounted a Beast rather then a Man and to have no Gift of God in him but 't is to be observed that when we say the knowledge of Scripture History is very necessary for the common People I do not mean all the Histories contain'd in the Bible but only the cheif and those that give the clearest Evidence of the before mentioned Doctrins and have the greatest influence upon the minds of Men for if all the Histories in the Scripture were absolutely necessary to prove its Doctrine and no conclusion could be made but from the consideration of all the Histories together contain'd in it then the demonstration and proof of its Doctrine
and clearly appear from the History of Scripture what kind of History it ought to be and what are the Principal things it ought to contain comes now to be declared First it ought to contain the Nature and Proprieties of that Language in which the Books of Scripture were Originally Written and which the Authors of those Books were wont to speak that so all the Senses which every Speech according to the ordinary use of speaking will bear and admit may be found out and because the Pen-Men both of the Old and New Testament were Iews the knowledge of the Hebrew Tongue is above all things necessary to understand not only the Books of the Old Testament which were Written in Hebrew but also of the new for tho' some of the Books of the New Testament were Published in other Languages yet they are full of Hebrewisms Secondly The Sentences of every Book ought to be Collected and reduced to Heads that so all that concern one and the same Subject may be easily found and all those which seem doubtful and obscure or repugnant to one another ought to be noted I call those Speeches clear or obscure whose Sense is easily or difficultly made out by the context and not in respect of the Truth of those Speeches easily or difficultly perceived by reason for only the Sense of what the Scripture saith and not the verity is our business we are therefore to take special heed that in searching out the Sense of Scripture we do not suffer our reason as it is founded upon the Principles of natural knowledge to be prepossest with prejudice and likewise that we do not confound the true Sense of the words with the verity of the matter for the true Sense is to be found out only by the use of the Language or by such a way of reasoning as is grounded only upon Scripture That all these things may be perfectly understood Take this example for illustration These sayings of Moses God is Fire and God is jealous how plain and clear are they so long as we regard only the signification of the words but in respect of reason and truth how dark and obscure yea tho' the litteral Sense of the words be contrary to natural reason yet unless it contradict any fundamental Principles derived from Scripture their litteral Sense is still to be retained so on the contrary if these sayings in their litteral construction should be found repugnant to Principles deduced from Scripture tho' they should be most agreeable to reason yet they ought to be Metaphorically not litteraly understood To know then whether Moses did or did not believe God to be Fire we ought not to conclude the one or the other because the Opinion is either contrary or consonant to reason but it must be gathered from some other of Moses own sayings for example because Moses in very many places hath plainly declared that God is not like any visible thing either in Heaven Earth or the Waters we must conclude that either this saying God is Fire or else all his other sayings are to be Metaphorically interpreted but because we ought as seldom as 't is possible to depart from the litteral Sense we must therefore inquire whether this saying God is Fire will admit of any other Sense beside the litteral that is whether the word Fire signify any other thing beside natural Fire and if in the Hebrew Tongue it can never be found to signify any thing else then this saying of Moses is no other way to be interpreted tho' it be repugnant to reason but on the other side all those other sayings of Moses tho' consentaneous to reason are to be conformable and accomodate to this but if the common use of the Language will not suffer this to be done then those several sayings are Irreconcileable and we are to suspend our judgment of them But now because the Word Fire is also taken for anger and jealousy Iob. chap. 31. v. 12. these sayings of Moses are easily reconcileable and we may lawfully conclude that these two Sentences God is Fire and God is jealous signify both the same thing Moreover because Moses plainly saith God is jealous and doth no where declare that God is free from all manner of passion and affections of the mind we may conclude that Moses did think or at least taught other Men to think God was jealous tho' we believe the opinion contrary to reason for as we have already shewn it is not lawful for us to wrest the Sense and meaning of Scripture according to the dictates of our reason or preconceived Opinions because all our knowledge both of the Old and New Testament must be derived only from themselves Thirdly This History of Scripture ought to give such an account of the Books of the Prophets remaining with us as may inform us of the Lives Manners and Studies of the Authors of every Book who the Person was upon what occasion he wrote in what time to whom and in what Language and Lastly it ought to tell us what was the Fortune of every Book how it was first received into whose hands it fell how many various readings it had how it came to be received for sacred and Canonical And Lastly how all the several Books came together into one Volume I say all these things this History of Scripture ought to contain To know what Sentences of Scripture are to be taken for Laws and precepts and what only for moral Doctrins it is very expedient to know the Life Manners and Study of the Author beside we can with more ease know the meaning of any Mans Words when we know his genius disposition and ingenuity Moreover that we may not confound Doctrins whose morality and Obligation is perpetual with those that were but temporary and of use only to some particular People it behoveth us to know upon what occasion at what time to what Nation in what Age all these instructions were Written Lastly it is fit we should know beside the Authority of every Book whether the Books have been adulterated or at least whether any Errors have crept into them and whether they have been corrected by Learned and Faithful Men all which things are absolutely necessary to be known that we may not with Blind Zeal receive every thing obtruded upon us but believe that only which is certain plain and past all doubt After we have such a History of Scripture and have firmly resolved to conclude nothing to be the Doctrine of the Prophets which doth not naturally follow or may be clearly drawn from this History then it will be time to prepare our selves to search out the meaning of the Prophets and of the Holy Ghost which to do the like method and order is required that is to be used in interpreting nature by its own History for as in searching out natural things we first endeavour to inquire concerning that which is Universal and common to all nature as Motion and
of Stone but in the fleshly Tables of the Heart Let Men cease to adore the Letter and not be so much concern'd for it Having sufficiently explain'd the Holiness and Divinity of Scripture let us now see what is properly meant by Debar Iehovah the word of God. Debar signifies Word Speech Decree Thing now upon what grounds any thing in the Hebrew Language may be said to be God's or have relation to God I have shew'd in the first Chapter so that I need not repeat what I have there said or in the sixth Chapter what I have said of Miracles 't is evident what the Scripture means by the Word of God To make the thing very clear I need only declare that when the Word of God is predicated of any Subject which is not God himself it properly signifies that Divine Law of which we treated in the fourth Chapter namely That Religion which is universal and common to all mankind mention'd in Isaiah chap. 1. v. 10. where the Prophet declares That the right way of living consisted in Charity and in a sincere and pure Heart which he calls the Law and Word of God The Word of God is also taken Metaphorically for the order or course of Nature and Fate because it follows and depends upon the Eternal Decree of the Divine Nature particularly for whatever the Prophets foresaw in this course of Nature because the Prophets understood future events not by natural Causes but thought them to be the Will and Decrees of God. Moreover it is taken for that which any Prophet commanded or declared because he knew it not by Natural Light but by the singular Vertue and gift of Prophesie and more especially because the Prophets as we have shewed in the fourth Chapter apprehended God under the notion of a Lawgiver for these three reasons then the Scripture is called the Word of God namely because it teacheth us true Religion whereof God from all Eternity is the Author Secondly because it makes Prophesies to be God's Decrees And lastly because the Authors of those Prophesies taught for the most part that which they did not know by Natural Reason but by a faculty and gift peculiar only to them and introduced God speaking as it were in them Now tho' the Scripture contain many things which are meerly Historical and may be unnderstood by Natural Knowledge yet the Scripture is called the Word of God in respect of those other particulars I have last mention'd so that now we plainly see why God is called the Author of the Bible namely upon the account of teaching us what is true Religion and not because it contains and hath communicated to us such a certain number of Books And hence we may also learn that the Bible is divided into the Old and New Testament because before the coming of Christ the Prophets Preached Religion as the Law of their Country and by force of the Covenant made in Moses's time but after Christ's coming because the Apostles preached Religion upon Christ's account as a Law universal to all mankind not that the Prophets and Apostles differ'd in Doctrine or that the Books of either Testament are the Deeds and Indentures of the Written Covenant nor lastly because Natural Religion which is universal is new unless it be in respect of those that knew it not according to that saying of Iohn the Evangelist chap. 1. v. 10. He was in the world and the world knew him not If then we had not some of those Books which the Old and New Testament contain yet we should not want God's Word as it properly signifies true Religion for we do not think any part thereof is wanting tho' we lack many of those other excellent Writings namely the Book of the Law which was so Religiously kept in the Temple as the Original wherein the Covenant was first written with many other Books of the Wars and Records of time from whence the Books of the Old and New Testament which we now have were transcribed and collected And this is made good by many reasons first because the Books of both Testaments were not written at one and the same time for the use of all Ages but by chance for some particular people and that as the Time and their particular Disposition requir'd which plainly appears by the calling of the Prophets who are called to warn and reprove the ungodly of their own time and also by the Writings of the Apostles Secondly Because understanding the Scripture and the meaning of the Prophets is one thing but to understand the Mind of God that is the real truth of things is another as appears by what hath been said in the second Chapter of Prophets which distinction likewise holds in Histories and Miracles as we have shewed in the sixth Chapter But in understanding places which treat of true Religion and real Vertue no such distinction ought to be made Thirdly Because the Books of the Old Testament were chosen out of many others and were approved and joyned together by a Council of the Pharisees as we have declared in the tenth Chapter and for the Books of the New Testament they were receiv'd into the Canon by the Decrees of certain Councils when several other Books by many accounted Sacred were rejected as Spurious These Councils both of Pharisees and Christians were made up of Men who were no Prophets but only learned Doctors yet it must necessarily be granted that in this choice they made the Word of God their Rule so that before they gave their Approbation to the Books they ought to know what was the Word of God. Fourthly Because as we have shewed in the preceding Chapter the Apostles did not write as Prophets but only as Teachers and chose that way of instructing which every one judged most easie for his Disciples from whence it follows as we have concluded in the end of the said Chapter that their Writings contain many things whereof in Respect to Religion we have no absolute need Fifthly and lastly Because in the New Testament there are four whom we call Evangelists but who believes it was God's express Will that the History of Christ should be four times told and deliver'd to Men in Writing Tho' things may be contain'd in one which are not in another and that one helps to understand another we must not therefore conclude that all things which the four declare are absolutely necessary to be known and that God made choice of them to write purposely that the History of Christ might be the better understood for every one preach'd his own Gospel in several places and every one wrote what he preach'd plainly that he might the more faithfully relate the History of Iesus Christ and not for any explanation to the rest If by mutually comparing them together they are sometâ—mes more easily and better understood that happens by chance and only in very few places of which tho' we were ignorant the History notwithstanding would be very perspicuous and
according to his Will to whom he hath parted with that Liberty and from him only must expect Protection Injury or Wrong is when a Citizen or Subject is compell'd to suffer loss or damage from another contrary to Civil Right and the Decrees of the Supreme Power for there can be no such thing as Wrong or Injury any where but in a Civil State nor can any wrong be done to Subjects by the Supreme Power which may lawfully do whatever it pleaseth and therefore hath place only amongst private persons who by Law are obliged not to offend one another Justice is a constant resolution of giving to every one that which by the Law rightly interpreted belongs to him Justice and Injustice are sometimes called Equity and Iniquity because they that are appointed to end Suits and Differences are bound not to have any respect to persons but to look upon all as equals and equally to defend every Man's right neither envying the rich nor despising the poor Confederates are Men of two Cities or Societies who to avoid the danger and inconveniencies of War or for any other advantage and benefit mutually covenant not to offend or hurt one another but in case of necessity to assist and help one another both preserving their own Power and Dominion This League or Contract will so long continue firm and binding as the consideration of danger or profit upon which it was founded continues because no person covenants or is oblig'd to perform his contracts unless it be in hope of some good or fear of some evil which being the Foundation of all Contracts take away that Basis Experience tells us they all fall to the ground For tho' divers Empires and Governments do mutually covenant not to do any thing to the prejudice or hurt of one another yet 't is always the endeavour of both to hinder one another from growing too powerful neither do they believe one anothers promises unless they be fully satisfied that the End of their agreement be for the benefit of both nor is there any wrong in the case for who but a Fool ignorant of the right of Supreme Power will give credit to the words or promises of him who having Supreme Power hath right to do what he will and who is obliged by no other Law but the publick safety and benefit of the people under his Government we likewise observe that Religion and Piety signify very little for who ever hath the Supreme Power cannot without consequent mischief keep his Promises which prove prejudicial and destructive to his People and Government or that he cannot perform them without breaking Faith with his Subjects by which Faith he is principally obliged and which usually with Oaths he solemnly and religiously promiseth to keep An Enemy is one that liveth out of the Commonwealth and neither as a Confederate or Subject will own its Power or Government for 't is not the hatred of a Commonwealth but its Right and Power which maketh a Man an Enemy for the Power of a Commonwealth over him who will by no kind of Contract own its Power is the same that it hath over him who doth it harm because it hath right to compel him one way or other to yield and submit to it or confederate with it Lastly Treason in Subjects or Citizens is only where they have by express or imply'd Contract transferr'd all their right to the City or Commonwealth and that Subject is counted guilty of Treason who endeavours to usurp the right of the Supreme Power to himself or transfer it upon another I say he that but endeavours it for if none were to be condemned till after the commission of the fact the punishment would many times come too late therefore I say positively he that by any means goes about to usurp or take away the right of the Supreme Power making no difference whether the Commonwealth shall be a gainer or loser by it upon what account soever he attempted or did it yet he hath committed Treason and is justly condemned which every one also acknowledgeth to be just in War for if a Souldier keep not his station but without his General 's knowledge or command assaults the Enemy tho' he beat him and did it very advisedly yet doing it of his own head he deserves death having violated his own Oath and his Geneneral's Authority Now tho' Subjects do not see that their case and a Souldiers is alike yet in truth the reason is the same in both sor seeing the Commonwealth ought to be governed defended and preserved by the Counsel only of the Supreme Power and all have absolutely covenanted that this right shall reside only in the Supreme Power if any Man shall at his own Will and Pleasure without the knowledge of the Supreme Council make any publick attempt which would certainly prove very advantageous to the Commonwealth yet having violated the right of the Supreme Power he is lawfully and deservedly condemned Now to clear all scruples if any Man ask Whether maintaining that a Man in his Natutural State hath Natural Right to live according to the Laws and Dictates of his own Appetite be not flatly contrary to the revealed Law of God Seeing every Man whether he have or have not the use of Reason is equally obliged by God's Command to love his Neighbour as himself and therefore we cannot without being very injurious do any harm to another and live according to our own Lusts. This Objection is easily answered for if we consider only the state of Nature that state and Nature it self were before there was any Religion for by Nature no Man knows that there is any obligation upon him to obey God nor can he come to the knowledge of it by Reason but whoever knows it must know it only by Revelation confirm'd with Signs and therefore before Revelation no body was bound by the Divine Law of which every Man must be necessarily ignorant The state of Nature then and the state of Religion must not be confounded but considered apart and as we have proved by Paul's Authority the state of Nature is understood to be without Religion without Law without sin or wrong doing Nor do we consider the state of Nature as before and without the revealed Law of God in respect of Ignorance only but in respect also of that freedom and liberty in which all Men were born for if Men by Nature were bound by the Law of God or if God's Law were by Nature a Law there was no need of God's making a Covenant with Men and obliging them by Oath and Contract It must therefore be absolutely granted that God's Law took place from the time that Men by an express Covenant with God promised to obey him in all things by which Covenant and Promise they did as it were depart from their natural freedom and transferr'd their natural right upon God in like manner as we have declared is done in a Civil State. But of this I
for divine Doctrins that Credulity was accounted Faith and Philosophical Controversies were maintaned both in Church and State with so much animosity and heat of dispute from whence I perceived that not only cruel hatred and dissention by which Men are easily stir'd up to sedition but many other mischeifs too tedious to be here mentioned took their beginning I resolved diligently to examin the Scripture a new with a free and unprejudiced mind and neither to affirm any thing positively of it or admit any thing to be it's Doctrine which was not clearly Demonstrated by it Under this caution I Composed a method of interpreting the Sacred Volums and furnisht with it I began in the first place to inquire what Prophesy was why God revealed himself to the Prophets and whether they were acceptable to God because they had sublime thoughts and notions of God and Nature or only for their Piety These things being known I could easily determin that the Authority of the Prophets was of greatest weight in things relating to real vertue and to the use and benefit of Life but in other matters their opinions did very little concern us This being likewise known I further inquired what it was for which the Iews were called Gods chosen People and when I perceived it was only because God chose out for them a particular part and climate of the World where they might live conveniently and securely I thereby also learnt that the Laws revealed by God to Moses were nothing else but the Statutes of that particular government of the Iews and that none but the Iews were bound to receive them yea that the very Jews themselves were not bound by them any longer then their Government continued That I might know whether it can be concluded from Scripture that the understanding of of Mankind is depraved by Nature I inquired whether the Catholic Religion or the Divine Law revealed to all Mankind by the Prophets and Apostles were any other then that which natural Reason teacheth and Lastly whether Miracles happen contrary to the order of Nature and whether they do more certainly and clearly prove the Being and Providence of God then those things do which we clearly and distinctly understand by their first Causes but when I could find nothing in whatever the Scripture expresly teacheth disagreable or repugnant to human understanding and when I likewise saw that the Prophets taught nothing but what was plain and might easily be understood and that they adorn'd and confirm'd their Doctrin with such a Style and such reasons as they thought would most affect the minds of the multitude with Devotion towards God I was fully perswaded that the Scripture left reason perfectly free and had nothing to do with Philosophy but that each stood on its own basis But that I might plainly demonstrate these things and put an end to the whole matter I shew which way the Scripture is to be interprepreted and that all its knowledge of things Spiritual is to be drawn from it self and not from those things which we know by the light of nature Then I pass on to shew those prejudices which spring from thence and that the common People addicted to Superstition prizing the reliques of time above eternity do rather adore the Books of the Scripture than the very word of God it self After this I shew the revealed word of God not to be any certain number of Books but a simple knowledge of Gods will revealed to the Prophets that is to obey God with the whole heart by practising Justice and Charity I shew that the Scripture teacheth this according to the capacity and opinions of those to whom the Prophets and Apostles were sent to Preach this Word which they did that Men without any reluctancy might cordially embrace it The Fundamentals of Faith being discovered I Lastly conclude the object of revealed knowledge to be nothing else but obedience and so distinct from natural knowledge as well in respect of its object as its foundations and means that it hath nothing in common with it but each maintains its own proper dominion without any mutual disagreement and that neither ought to be subservient or a hand-maid to the other Moreover because the dispositions of Men are very different one being possest with this and another with that opinion and that which moveth one Man to Devotion provokes another to Laughter every one ought to have the Liberty of his own judgment and the Power of interpreting the Principles of Faith according to his own reason and that no Mans Faith is to be justified or condemned but only by his Works so that all Men may obey God with Freedom of mind and only Righteousness and Charity be in esteem After I have by these things shewed the Liberty granted by God's revealed Law to all Men I go on to the other part of the question which is that this Liberty may be allow'd without any prejudice to the Peace of a Common-wealth or to the Rights of the Supream Powers nor can it be taken away without great detriment and danger both to peace and the whole republick To demonstrate this I begin from every Mans natural right which reacheth so far as every Mans Desire and Power can extend it self and no Man by the Law of Nature is bound to live according to another Mans Will or Inclination but every Man is the assertor of his own Liberty Further I shew that no Man departs from this right but he that transfers the Power of defending himself to another and that he must necessarily and absolutely be the keeper of that right upon whom every one hath devolved his own natural right of living as he pleaseth together with the Power of Defending himself and from hence I prove that they who are possest of the Supream Power have right to all things within their Power and that they only are the Protectors of Law and Liberty all other Men being obliged to Act according to their determinations and Decrees but because no Body can so far deprive himself of his Power of defending himself as to cease from being a Man I thence conclude that no Man can be totally deprived of his natural right but that Subjects do still retain by the Law of Nature many things which cannot be taken from them without very great danger to Government Those things being granted to be their rights either by tacit implication or by express agreement and stipulation made between them and their Governours These things being considered I passon to the Commonwealth of the Iews which I fully enough describe shewing upon what Reason and by whose Decree Religion first began to obtain the force of a Law touching upon some other things by the By which seem worthy to be known After this I shew that they who have the supreme Power are not only Protectors and Interpreters of the Civil but also of the Divine Law and that in them only is the right of Judging what is
see God's Face Beside these ways and means I have mentioned I find no other in Sacred Sripture whereby God hath communicated himself to Men and therefore as I have already said no other are to be supposed or admitted and though we may clearly understand that God may immediately communicate himself to Men for he without using any Corporeal Means doth communicate his Essence to our Minds yet that any man by the mind alone should comprehend those things which are not contained in the Principles of Natural Knowledge nor can be deduced from them must necessarily argue that that mans mind is far more Noble and Excellent then any Human Understanding Wherefore I believe never any Man arrived to so great a degree of Perfection above others beside Christ to whom the purposes of God for the Salvation of mankind were immediately revealed So that God did manifest himself to the Apostles by the Mind of Christ as he did before to Moses by an Aereal Voice and therefore the Voice of Christ like that which Moses heard may be called the Voice of God. And in this Sense also we may say the Wisdom of God viz. Wisdom more then Human assumed Human Nature in Christ and Christ was the Way to Salvation But I think it necessary for me here to declare that some things which some Churches determine and maintain concerning Christ I do neither assert nor deny for I ingenuously confess I do not understand them those things which I have affirmed I have collected out of the Scripture it self I have no where read that God appeared or spoke to Christ but that God was revealed to the Apostles by Christ who was the Way to Salvation And lastly that the Old Law was not delivered immediately by God but by an Angel. Wherefore if Moses spake to God Face to Face as a Man useth to do with his Friend that is by the mediation of two Bodies Christ communed with God mentally or Mind to Mind I do therefore maintain that beside Christ no Man ever reeived any Revelation from God but by the help of the Imagination or by the help of Words or Signs and therefore to Prophesy there is not so much need of a perfect Understanding as of a Lively Imagination as shall be shown in the following Chapter we are now to inquire what the Scripture means by the Spirit of God infused into the Prophets or the Prophets speaking by the Spirit of God to find out the meaning of these Phrases and Expressions it is first necessary to search what the Hebrew word Ruagh signifies which the Vulgar interprets Spirit The word Ruagh in its Proper and Genuine Sense signifies Wind but is very frequently used to signifie many other things which nevertheless are derived from Wind For sometimes it signifies Breath Psal. 135. v. 17 th Neither is there any Breath in their Mouths Secondly it signifies Life or Respiration 1 st Book of Sam. chap. 30. v. 12. His Spirit came again to him that is he breathed Thirdly it is taken for Courage and Strength Iosu. chap. 11 th v. 11 th There was not a Man left to breath Ezek. chap. 2. v. 2. And the Spirit that is Strength entered into me and set me upon my Feet Fourthly it is taken for Vertue and fitness Iob. chap. 32. v. 8. There is a Spirit in Man that is as appears in the following Verse Wisdom and Understanding but is not always to be found in the Aged for I now find it depends upon the particular Qualification aud Capacity of a Man. So in the 27. chap. of Numb v. 8. Take thee Iosua the Son of Nun a Man in whom is the Spirit Fifthly It is taken for a Man's Opinion Numb chap. 14 v. 24. Because he had another Spirit with him Proverbs chap. 1 st v. 23. I will pour out my Spirit that is my Mind unto you And in this Sense It is used to signifie the Will Purpose or Resolution the Appetite the Desire and the Anger or Passion of the Mind Ezek. chap. 1. v. 12. They went every one straight forward whether the Spirit or their Will was to go they went. Isaiah chap. 30. v. 1. That take Councel but not of me that cover with a Covering but not of my Spirit Isai. chap. 29. v. 10. The Lord hath poured out upon you the Spirit that is the desire of deep Sleep Iudges chap. 8. v. 3. Then their Spirit that is Anger was abated towards him Prov. chap. 16. v. 32. He that ruleth his Spirit that is his Appetite is better then he that taketh a City Prov. chap. 25. v. 28. He that hath no rule over his own Spirit is like a City broken down Isai. chap. 33. v. 11. Your Spirit in the English Translation Breath as Fire shall devour you Moreover this Word Ruagh as it fignifies the Mind so doth it serve to express the Passions and sometimes the gifts of the mind A high Spirit signifies Pride a lowly Spirit humilitly an evil Spirit hatred and melancholly a good Spirit kindness and benignity the Spirit of jealousie the Spirit of fornication the Spirit of wisdom council fortitude which because in Hebrew Substantives are oftner used than Adjectives signify a wise prudent valiant Mind Sixthly it signifies the life or soul Eccles. chap. 3. v. ii Spiritus idem est omnibus The same breath is to all and the Spirit returns to God that gave it Lastly it signisies the quarters of the World from whence the wind blows and likewise the sides of any thing which stands towards those quarters as appears Ezek. chap 37. v. 9 and chap. 42. v. 16,17,18,19 c. Now it is to be noted that a thing is attributed to God and said to be God's First because it pertaineth to the Nature of God and is as it were a part of God as when we say the Power of God the Eyes of God. Secondly when a thing is in the Power of God and Acts according to his Will and Pleasure so in Scripture the Heavens are called the Heavens of God because they are his Chariot and place of Abode Assyria is called the Scourge of God and Nebuchadnezzer the Servant of God. Thirdly when a thing is dedicated to God as the Temple of God the Nazarite of God the Bread of God. Fourthly that which hath been deliver'd by the Prophets and not revealed by the Light of Nature therefore the Law of Moses is called the Law of God. Fifthly when any thing is superlatively exprest as the Mountains of God that is the highest Hills the sleep of God that is deep sleep in this sence is to be understood the 11 th Verse of the 4 th Chap. of Amos where God says I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah that is like that memorable overthrow for seeing God himself speaks it cannot otherwise be properly exprest the Natural Knowledge of Solomon is called Divine and the Knowledge of God because it was so much above that which is
Reason and Experience for they who most excel in fancy and imagination are less apt to understand things clearly and they that have excellent understandings have their fancy and imagination not so strong but better kept within compass that it may not be confounded with the intellect those Men therefore who endeavor out of the Books of the Prophets to find the true knowledge of Natural and Spiritual things are extremely mistaken which I purpose to shew at large because the Times Philosophy and the matter it self requires it I will not at all value what superstition babbles to the contrary which hates nothing more then such Men as live good Lives and are lovers of true solid knowledge with shame be it spoken 't is now come to that pass that they who freely confess they have no particular Idea of God and only know him by created Beings of whose Causes they are Ignorant are presently branded with the Name of Atheists To proceed orderly in proving the Point I will shew that there was a difference between the Prophets not only in respect of imagination and temperament of Body but also in respect of the Opinions wherewith they were prepossest so that they never became the more Learned by Prophesy which I will presently more fully make out but I must first speak of the Prophets certainty because it belongs to the Subject of this Chapter and because it contributes somewhat to the Proof of what I design to demonstrate Because simple imagination doth not in its own Nature include certainty as every clear and distinct Idea doth there must necessarily some other thing accompany imagination to make us sure of the things we imagin and that is reasoning whence it follows that Prophesy of it self doth not include certainty because it depends only upon the imagination and therefore the Prophets themselves were not certain of what God revealed by the Revelation it self but by some sign as appears by Abraham Gen. chap. 15. v. 8. And he said Lord God whereby shall I know that I shall Inherit it asking a Sign after he heard the promise without doubt he believed God and did not ask the sign that he might believe but that he might be sure the promise came from God. The same thing more plainly appears by Gideon Judges chap. 6. v. 17 and he said unto him if I have found Grace in thy sight then shew me a Sign that thou talkest with me God said to Moses let this be a sign unto thee Ezechiah who well knew that Isaiah was a Prophet asked a sign of him when he foretold his recovery which shews that the Prophets had always some sign by which they were certain of the things they Prophetically imagined and therefore Moses Deut. chap. 18. v. 22. bids the People ask a sign of any that pretend to Prophesy which sign was to be foretelling some future event Prophesy therefore in this particular gives Place to Natural knowledge which needs no sign but in its own Nature includes certainty but the certainty of Prophesy was not Mathematical but only Moral which also appears by Scripture Deut. chap. 13. Moses warneth the People that if any Prophet should teach them to Worship any other God tho' he confirmed his Doctrine by Signs and Miracles yet the Prophet was to be put to death for Moses goes on and says that God did by Signs and Miracles prove the People whether they loved the Lord with all their heart Christ in like manner warneth his Disciples telling them Math. chap. 24. v. 24. there should arise false Christs and false Prophets and should shew great signs and wonders Ezechiel chap. 14. v. 9. plainly declares that God sometimes deceives Men with false Revelations And if the Prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing I the Lord have deceived that Prophet which Michaiah also testifies of the Prophets of Ahab 1 st Book of Kings chap. 22. v. 21. 22 23. And tho' this shews Prophesy to be a thing somewhat doubtful and uncertain yet it had a great deal of certainty in it for God never deceiveth the Godly and Elect but according to that saying in the 1 st Book of Sam. chap. 24. v. 13. As saith the Proverb of the Ancients wickedness proceedeth from the wicked but my hand shall not be upon thee and as it likewise appears by the History of Abigal and her discourse God useth pious Persons as Instruments of his goodness and wicked Men for Executioners of his wrath this likewise is made Evident by the Case of the Prophet Michaiah for tho' God had decreed Ahab should be deceived by the Prophets he made use of false Prophets but to a good Prophet revealed the Truth of what was to happen and did not hinder the Prophet from foretelling the Truth but still the certainty of the Prophet was but Moral because no Man can justify himself before God nor boast that he is the Instrument of God the Anger of God led David to Number the People whose Piety the Scripture sufficiently declares all Prophetical certainty was founded upon three Particulars First the Prophets did as strongly and with as much vivacity imagin the things revealed as Men waking use to do the things they see Secondly the certainty of the Prophets was confirm'd by a Sign and Thirdly because their Minds were continually inclin'd to Vertue and Justice tho' the Scripture doth not always make mention of the sign yet we ought to believe the Prophets still had a sign for the Scripture doth many times leave out circumstances and conditions and relates things as supposed to be known Moreover it is to be granted that the Prophets who Prophesied nothing new but what was contain'd in the Law of Moses had no need of a sign for example the Prophesy of Ieremy concerning the destruction of Ierusalem needed no sign because 't was confirm'd by the Prophesies of the rest of the Prophets and by the threatnings of the Law but for the confirmation of Hananiahs Prophesy who against all the Prophets foretold the sudden Restauration of the City there was necessity of a sign till the coming to pass of what he predicted should make it good Ierem. chap. 28. v. 9 10. Seing then the certainty of Prophesy which depended upon signs was not Mathematical that is such as necessarily follow'd from the thing apprehended or seen but only Moral and that signs were given to satisfy and convince the Prophet himself it likewise follows that signs were given according to the Opinion and Capacity of the Prophet so that the sign which made one Prophet confident and certain of his Prophesy could not assure another as the signs were different and various so also Revelation it self did vary in every Prophet according to the disposition of his imagination the temper of his constitution or the Opinions wherewith he was prepossest for example if a Prophet were chearful and merry to him were revealed Victories and Peace which cause Mirth and Gladness such things using
O Israel that brought thee out of the Land of Egypt Nor is it to be believed that Men accustomed to the Superstitions of Egypt Ignorant and broken to the Yoke of a tedious Bondage should have any right Understanding of God or that Moses should teach them any thing more then a peculiar manner and way of living not instructing them as a Philosopher to make living well their free and voluntary choice but as a Legislator compelling them by the Commands and Power of Law So that a good Life the Love and Service of God was to them rather Servitude then true Liberty or the Grace and Gift of God for Moses Commanded them to love God and keep his Law that they might acknowledge their deliverance out of Egypt to be by God he terrifyed them with threatnings in case they Transgrest the Law and promis'd them many Blessings if they carefully observed it So that he dealt with the Israelites as Parents use to do with Children void of Reason which is an Evidence that they were ignorant how Excellent a thing Vertue is and what was true happiness Ionas thought he could fly from the presence of God which imply'd that he also believed God had substituted other Powers to take care of those Countries and Nations which were not within the Territories of Iudea in all the Old Testament we read of no Person who spoke so rationally of God as Solomon who for natural Knowledge excell'd all the Men of his time and therefore thought himself above the Law which was only given to those who wanted the dictates of Reason and natural Understanding and slighted the observance of those Laws which particularly concern'd him as he was King and consisted in three Particulars as may be seen Deut. Chap. 17. v. 16 17. he was indeed to blame in breaking those Laws and did not do like a Philosopher when he deliver'd himself up to pleasure and sensuality yet we read in Ecclesiastes he declared all the Goods of Fortune to be Vanity and that nothing is to be so highly prized as Wisdom and Understanding and no punishment equal to a Mans being a Fool Prov. Chap. 17. But let us return to the Prophets of whose differing Opinions we have taken notice the Rabbines who have left us the Books of the Prophets now extant found the Opinions of Ezekiel so contrary to those of Moses as may be seen in the Treatise of the Sabbath Chap. 1 st fol. 13. page 2 d. that they were near resolving not to receive the Book of Ezekiel for Canonical and had conceal'd it if a certain Person called Hananiah had not undertaken to expound it which some report he did with great Labour and Study so that 't is not certain whether it were a Commentary he wrote and was perhaps lost or that he changed and glossed upon Ezekiels words and discourses according to his own fancy however it was the 18 th Chapter of Ezekiel doth not seem to agree with the 34 Chap. of Exod. v. 7 nor with the 32 Chap. of Ieremy v. 18. Samuel believed that when God had decreed any thing he never repented or changed that decree 1 st Book of Sam. Chap. 14. v. 29 Saul when he repented of his Sin and desired to worship God Samuel told him God would not change his Decree but the contrary was revealed to Ieremy for when ever God decreed good or evil to any Nation if Men became either better or worse before the Execution of the Sentence God did accordingly alter his decrees Ierem. Chap. 18. v. 8 10. the Prophet Ioel beleived that God repented of the Evil which he at any time decreed Io. Chap. 2. v. 13. in the 4 th Chap. of Gen. v. 7. it clearly appears that it is in Mans Power to overcome Evil Temptations and to live well by what God said to Cain who notwithstanding as we find in Scripture and in Iosephus never subdued his Passions by the forecited Text in Ieremy we may conclude that God changeth his purposes either of doing good or evil according to Mens living well or wickedly yet on the contrary St. Paul teacheth nothing more plainly then that Men have no Power over themselves against the Temptations and Lusts of the Flesh but by the particular Mercy and Election of God as may be seen in the 9 th Chapter to the Romans from the 10 th Verse onward in the 3 d Chap. v. 3 d where he asketh whether God be unrighteous in taking vengeance he Corrects himself in speaking after that manner like a Man. From what hath been alledged we have sufficiently proved what we proposed namely that God fitted and suted his Revelations according to the Capacity and Opinions of the Prophets and that they might be and indeed were ignorant of things meerly speculative which did not pertain to Charity and a godly Life that the Prophets were also of very different Opinions and consequently in the Knowledge of Natural and Spiritual things we are not to rely and ground our selves upon them We conclude then that we are not bound to believe any thing more from the Prophets then the end and substance of what they revealed and that in other things it is free for a Man to believe as he thinks best for example Cains Revelation teacheth us that God did admonish him to live well which was the intent end and substance of the Revelation but it doth not declare to us the freedom of Mans Will or any other Philosophical Matter therefore tho' in the Words and Reasons of that Admonition freedom of Will seem to be clearly asserted yet 't is lawful to be of a contrary Opinion since those Words and Reasons were only applyed and suited to the Capacity of Cain The Prophet Michaiahs Revelation only declared what should be the Event of the Battle between Ahaband Aram and therefore we are only bound to believe that but whatever else was contain'd in that Revelation concerning the true and lying Spirit of God or concerning the Host of Heaven standing on each side of God with other Circumstances in that Revelation they do not at all concern us but every one may believe of them as he thinks most agreeable to Reason the same may be said of the Reasons declared to Iob for God's having absolute Power over all things if it be true that they were a Revelation and that he Writ as an Historian and not as some believe like a Poet they were revealed according to Iobs Capacity for his particular Conviction but they were not intended as Universal Reasons to convince all Men nor are we to determin otherwise of the Reasons used by Christ to convince the Pharisees of their Ignorance and Obstinacy and to perswade his Disciples to live righteously all those Reasons were accommodated to the Opinions and Principles of the Persons to whom they were urged for example when Christ said to the Pharisees Mat. Chap. 12 v. 26. If Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself how then
Law which depends upon the necessity of Nature is that which necessarily follows from the very Nature or Definition of any thing and the Law which depends upon the Pleasure of Men and is more properly called Law is that which Men for the greater safety and benefit of Life or for other Causes do prescribe to themselves and others for Example that all Bodies when they hit or dash against other less Bodies do loose so much of their own Motion as they impart to those other less Bodies is the Universal Law of all Bodies which follows from the necessity of Nature so likewise when a Man remembers one thing he is presently mindful of another like it or as soon as he sees them together is a Law which necessarily follows from Human Nature but that Men voluntarily part with or are compell'd to part with that Right which every one hath by Nature and oblige themselves to a certain Rule and Manner of living depends upon the Will and Pleasure of Men and tho' it be absolutely granted that all things by the Universal Laws of Nature are ordain'd to be and Operate according to a certain and determinate Rule yet I say those Laws do depend upon the Pleasure of Men. First because Man as he is a great part of Nature makes and constitutes a part of the Power of Nature and therefore those things which follow from the necessity of Human Nature that is from Nature it self as we conceive it regulated by Human Nature tho' they follow necessarily yet they follow from Human Power wherefore the Sanction of those Laws may very well be said to depend upon the Will of Men because it so depends upon the Power of Mans Mind that the Mind of Man as it apprehends things under the Notion of true or false may nevertheless be clearly understood without those Universal Laws but not without the Law of necessity as I have defined it Secondly I have said those Universal Laws of nature depend upon the Pleasure of Men because we ought to define and explain things by their next and immediate causes and that Universal consideration of Fate and the chaining together of causes can no way help us in the forming and ordering our thoughts concerning particular things that is we know not how things are ordered and tyed together so that it is better yea absolutely necessary for the benefit of Life to consider things as they are possible and so much of Law consider'd absolutely But because the name of Law by Translation is apply'd to natural things and commonly by Law nothing else is meant but a command which Men may or may not perform so that it confines human Power to bounds and limits beyond which it might go and yet commands nothing which it is not able to do therefore Law more particularly defined is that rule and manner of living which Men for some end prescribe to themselves or to others but because very few know the true end of Laws and Men being for the most part incapable of Understanding it do not live according to the dictates of reason therefore Law-givers that they might equally bind all have wisely establisht an end very different from that which necessarily follows from the Nature of Laws namely by propounding to those who keep the Law that which they most love and by threatning the breakers of the Law with that which they most fear and so endeavor as far as 't is possible to rule the multitude as a Horse is govern'd with a Bridle so that Law in its common acceptation is that rule of living which by the Power of others is prescribed to Men and consequently that they who obey Laws are said to live under Law and may be called Servants or Subjects he that giveth to every one his due because he is afraid of the gallows is under the Power of another and being compell'd by the fear of punishment to do what he doth cannot be called just but he that giveth to every one his due because he knows the necessity and the true end and reason of Laws what he doth is free and voluntary and he may therefore be deservedly called a just Man which I suppose to be St. Pauls meaning when he said they that lived under the Law could not be justify'd fy'd by the Law for justice as it is commonly defined is a constant Voluntary resolution of rendring to every Man that which is his due and therefore Solomon Prov. chap. 20. v. 15. saith it is joy to the just to do judgment but the wicked fear Seeing then Law is nothing else but a rule of living which Men for some end prescribe to themselves or to others the Law may therefore be distinguisht into human and divine by Mans Law we understand that rule of living which secures life and the weal public but the Divine Law hath respect only to our cheifest good that is the true knowledge and love of God the reason why I call this Law Divine is in respect of the Nature of our cheifest good which I will with all possible brevity and plainess declare Whereas our better part is our underderstanding it is certain if we seek our own good we ought cheifly to endeavour as much as is possible the perfecting our intellect because in the perfection of that consists our cheifest happiness and since all our knowledge and certainty which removes all doubt depends only upon the knowledge of God because nothing can be or be known without God and because we may doubt of all things while we have no clear and distinct Idea of God it follows that our perfection and cheifest happiness depends only upon the knowledge of God. Moreover since nothing can either exist or be known without God it is certain that all things in Nature in respect of their essence and perfection do imply and express the Notion of God and consequently the more we know natural things the greater and more perfect knowledge we acquire of God because the knowledge of an effect by its Cause is nothing else but knowing the true Nature and Property of the cause so that by how much the more we know natural things so much the more perfectly do we know the being of God who is the cause of all things and all our knowledge that is our cheifest happiness doth not only depend upon but wholly consists in the knowledge of God which consequence is made good by a Mans becomming more or less perfect according to the Nature and perfection of the thing he most loves and so on the contrary He therefore is most perfect who pertakes most of the highest Beatitude and who above all things loves and is most delighted with the intellectual knowledge of God who is the most perfect of all beings Hitherto then our cheifest good and happiness still returns into the knowledge of God the end then of all human actions so far as we have an Idea of him being God the means which this end
Rest and the Laws and Rules of both which nature always observes and by which it continually Acts and from these we afterwards by degrees proceed to other things less general so likewise from this History of Scripture we are first to inquire after that which is most general and is the Basis and Foundation of all Scripture and is commended by all the Prophets for the most profitable and perpetual Doctrine to Mankind for example that there is only one omnipotent God who only is to be worshipt who provideth for all and loveth those best who serve him and love their Neighbours as themselves is a Doctrine every where so express and plain in Scripture that no Body ever doubted the Sense and meaning thereof but what God is why and in what manner he beholdeth and provideth for all things the Scripture doth no where expresly and positively declare nor teach it as an eternal Doctrine but on the contrary the Prophets as we have already shewn did not agree amongst themselves concerning these things and therefore in matters of like nature we are not posiâ—ively to determin what is the Doctrine and meaning of the Holy Spirit tho' it may be very well made out by natural knowledge This general Doctrine of the Scripture being rightly known we are then to pass on to things less Universal which concern the common use of Life and which are derived like rivulets from this general Doctrine Such are all the particular external Actions of real Vertue which cannot be Practiced but as occasion is offer'd and whatsoever in Scripture relating to them seems doubtful or obscure must be explain'd and determin'd by the Universal Doctrine and for those things which seem contradictory one to another we are to examin Upon what occasion at what time and to whom they were written for example when Christ said Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted We know not who are the Mourners meant in this Text but because Christ afterwards bids us take no thought for any thing but seek the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof which he commends to us as our cheifest good Math. chap. 6. v. 33. therefore it follows that the Mourners meant by Christ must be those who lamented to see the Kingdom of God and its righteousness so much neglected by Men for which no others could Mourn but those whose affections were Heavenly and contemned all things here below So also when Christ said Math. chap. 5. v. 39. Whatsoever shall smite thee on the right Cheek turn to him the other also if he had spoken this as a Law-giver by this command he had abrogated the Law of Moses which he declareth in the 17 th verse he came not to destroy but fulfil We are therefore to inquire who said this to whom and when he said it First it was Christ that said it not as a Law-giver who ordained Laws but as a teacher who gave moral instructions not so much to reprove their deeds as to correct their thoughts next he spoke it to Men opprest who lived in a Common-wealth extreamly corrupted where justice was neglected and whose ruine and destruction was near at hand this Doctrin of Christ was likewise Preached by the Prophet Ieremy before the first destruction of the City of Jerusalem Lament Chap. 3. v. 30. He giveth his Cheek to him that smiteth him Wherefore seeing the Prophets did not teach this Doctrine but in the time of oppression nor was any where commanded by them as a Law and on the contrary Moses who did not write in times of oppression but took care to establish a good Common-wealth tho' he condemned revenge and the hating of our Neighbour yet he commanded that an Eye should be given for an Eye hence it appears by the fundamental Principles of Scripture that this Doctrine of Christ and Jeremy for suffering Injuries and submitting to Wicked Men ought to be practised only in times of oppression and in Places where Justice is not so easily to be had but not in a good Common-Wealth because in good Governments where Justice is maintain'd every Man is obliged if he will be Just to require Satisfaction for Injuries before a Judge Levit. Chap. 5. v. 1. Not upon the score of Hatred and Revenge which are forbidden Levit. Chap. 19. v. 17 18. But to preserve and maintain the Justice and Laws of a Man's Country and that wicked Men may not get advantage and thrive by their wickedness all which is agreeable to Natural Reason to this purpose I could bring many more Examples but these are sufficient to explain my meaning and shew the usefulness of that method which is the Subject of my present Discourse But hitherto I have only shewn the Way to find out the Sense of those Scripture Sentences which concern the Use of Life and are therefore more easily understood because among the Penmen of the Bible there never was any controversy about them but other passages in Scripture which concern Matters meerly Speculative are not so plain and obvious because the Way to them is very narrow for tho' in things meerly Speculative the Prophets as we have already shewn differ'd amongst themselves and the narrations of things were suited to the prejudice of every Age yet it is not at all Lawful for us to determine what was the meaning of one Prophet by the clear Places of another unless it be evident to us that they were both of one Opinion how then the meaning of the Prophets in such Cases is to be known by the History of Scripture I will in few words declare we must in the first Place begin with what is most general and from those Sentences of Scripture which are most plain and clear inquire what is Prophesy or Revelation and in what it chiefly consists Next we ought to inquire what a Miracle is and after that of things usual and common this being done we ought to consider the Opinions of every Prophet and from them guess at the meaning of every Prophesy History and Miracle but what caution we are to use that in these things we do not confound the Sense of the Prophets and Historians with the meaning of the Holy Spirit and the Truth of the Matter I have already shewn in their proper Places But this is to be noted concerning the meaning of Revelations that this my method teacheth us to find out only those things which the Prophets heard or saw and not what they signified and represented to us by Figures an Hierogliphicks of these things we can only make Conjectures but cannot certainly derive them from the fundamental Principles of Scripture Now though I have shewn the manner of interpreting Scripture and proved it to be the sure way of finding out the Sense thereof yet indeed I confess those Men may have a more certain Knowledge of the true meaning of it if any such Men there be who have received a Traditional Explication thereof made by the Prophets themselves
by Revelation or whether God command it for it matters not how it was revealed so as it obtain the Force of a Law and become in the highest Degree obligatory to Men. If I then prove That Justice and Charity cannot become a Law or Command but by the Power and Command of the Supream Powers it will be easily granted seeing Supream Power is always in the hands of the Supream Magistrates that Religion becomes a binding Law only by their Decrees who have the Power of Government and that God hath no peculiar Kingdom over Men but by them who have the Supream Ruling Power That the outward Practice of Justice and Charity becomes an obligatory Law by the Command of the Supream governing Power appears by what I have said in the Fourteenth Chapter where I have declared That in the State of Nature Reason cannot pretend to any greater power than Natural Appetite may and that they who live according to the Laws and Dictates of Natural Appetite have as much Right to all things within their Power as they that live according to the Rules of Reason So that for this very Reason we cannot conceive there can be in the State of Nature any sin nor can we think God to be a Judge punishing sins but all things carried on in their course according to the Laws of Universal Nature to use Solomon's own Words all things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the clean and to the unclean no place being left for Justice and Charity But that the Dictates of Reason that is as I have shew'd in the Fourteenth Chapter the Divine Law written in our hearts might obtain the strength and force of a Law it was necessary that every man should part from his Natural Right and transfer it either upon all upon some or upon one and that then we first came to know what was Justice and what Injustice what Equity and what Iniquity Justice therefore and the Dictates of Right Reason with Love to our Neighbour becomes a Precept and obligatory Law by the Power and Decrees of Supream Magistrates and because as I have shew'd the Kingdom of God consists in the power that Justice Charity and true Religion have over us by becoming a Law to us therefore it follows that God hath no peculiar Kingdom over Men but by those who have the Supream Ruling Power Whether we consider Religion revealed to us by natural or prophetical Light the Demonstration is Universal seeing Religion is the same and equally revealed by God which way soever it be supposed to come to our knowledge and therefore that Religion prophetically revealed might obtain the force of a Law among the Iews it was necessary every man should first part with his natural Right and that all with one common consent should resolve to obey and submit to all things which should by God be prophetically revealed to them just as People do in Democratical Government where all with common consent resolve to live according to the Dictates of Reason and though the Iews did transfer their Power upon God yet they did it more in opinion than reality for the Supream Power really and absolutely remained still in them till they transferr'd it upon Moses who was thenceforward an absolute King and by him only God reigned over the Iews Moreover because Religion became a Law only by the Power of the Supream Government Moses could punish none before the Covenant was made because then no man had parted with his own Power and Right They broke the Sabbath before the Covenant was made and were not punished as appears Exod. chap. v. 27. but after the Covenant when every man had parted with his Natural Right he that broke the Sabbath only by gathering sticks was stoned as appears Numb chap. 15. v. 36. and the observation of the Sabbath when the People had parted with their Power became a Law by the Command of the Supream Magistrate Lastly Upon this very ground also when the Commonwealth and Government of the Iews was destroyed Revealed Religion had no longer the Force of a Law for without doubt as soon as the Iews transferr'd their Power upon the King of Babylon the Covenant of the Kingdom of God and the Obligation of the Divine Law ceased for as soon as they were Subjects to the King of Babylon the Covenant whereby they promised to obey God in all things became void and they could no longer perform it From the time they were subjected to the King of Babylon they were no longer in their own power as they were in the Desart and their own Country but were in all things obliged to obey the King of Babylon as appears by what we have said in the Sixteen Chapter and by what Ieremy saith Chap. 29. v. 7. Seek ye the peace of that City whither I have caused ye to be earried captives and pray unto the Lord for it for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace They could not seek or provide for the peace of that City as Ministers of Government because they were Captives and therefore they were to do it as Servants or Subjects by keeping themselves free from Sedition and by observing the Laws of the Government though very different from those of their own Country By which it is evident that Religion among the Iews obtain'd the force of a Law by the Command of the Supream Power which Power being destroyed Religion was no more a Law or Command of that particular Government but was to be accounted a general Dictate of Reason I say of Reason because Catholick Religion was not yet known by Revelation we therefore conclude that Religion whether it be natural or revealed acquires the Force of a Command only by the Decree of those who have the Supream Power and God hath no peculiar Kingdom over Men but by the Supream Magistrate And this is made more clear by what hath been said in the Fourteenth Chapter where we have shewn That all God's Decrees imply Eternal Verity and Necessity nor can we conceive God as a Prince or Lawgiver to Men therefore Divine Documents made known to us by the light of Nature or revealed to us by the Prophets have not the force of a Law immediately from God but must necessarily receive it from those or by their means who have the Power of commanding and making Laws and by their means only we apprehend that God reigns over Men and directs Humane Affairs according to Justice and Equity which is also proved by Experience for we can find no Footsteps of Divine Justice but where the just reign otherwise to use Solomon's Expression once more the like event is to the righteous and to the wicked to the clean and to the unclean which made many doubt God's Providence who believed that God did immediately reign over Men and made Universal Nature only for their use Seeing then both Reason and Experience make it evident that the