the measures of Justice and the Dictates of Common Sense that the bare doing an irregular act or the bare having an irregular propension should be punishable at all much more with eternal damnation as it must be if every dependence of an action upon the will be enough to render it imputable that is if every material be also a formal sin This I say would be very unjust because such irregular acts are no more a man 's own than those committed by another man. 8. But it is certain that God does not proceed by such measures as may be gather'd from the Oeconomy of his severest dispensation the Law. For when he forbad murther with such strictness and severity as to order the murtherer SECT II. A more particular and explicit consideration of Material sin and what it adds to the general nature of evil 1. AFter our Distinction of sin into Material and Formal and our justification of that distinction it follows that in the next place we give some more particular and explicit account of the nature of Material sin That it is an irregular act in general was intimated before but to speculate its nature more thoroughly we must set it in a clearer light and define what it is that makes an action irregular And the account which I shall give of this I shall ground upon that Definition of St. John who tells us that sin is a transgression of the Law. So that transgression of the Law is the irregularity of an action and is more explicitly the Material part of sin 2. Thus far in general But now to make Transgression of the Law fully adequate and commensurate to Material sin so as to extend to all kinds of it it concerns us in the next place to enquire what is here to be understood by Law and upon the right stating of this will depend the whole Theory of Material sin 3. By Law therefore in the first place is to be understood that which is Positive that is any rule of action prescribed to us by God consider'd only as prescribed Any action so prescribed be it otherwise never so indifferent for the matter puts on the force of a Law from the Authority of the Prescriber and every transgression of such a Rule is Sin. 4. But the Transgression of Law in this narrow sense of the word will not comprehend all the kinds of Material sin For altho Positive Law creates the first difference in some things yet it does not in all For had God never made any Positive Law yet the doing of some actions would have been sin nay there was sin where there was no Positive Law as may be probably collected from the fall of Angels But where there is no Law there is no Transgression There must be therefore some other law besides Positive Law. 5. By Law therefore 2ly is to be understood the Law of Reason that Candle of the Lord that lights every man that comes into the world in his passage through it This is twofold For 1st by the Law of Reason may be understood that Original stock of rational Tendencys or practical sentiments which prevent all Discourse and reasonings about what is to be done and answer to Speculative Principles For as the Animal and sensitive Nature is not only furnish'd with Sense and Perception but also with certain connatural instincts and impressions whereby Animals are directed and inclined to sensitive good so for the guardianship and security of Vertue against the danger either of ignorance or inadvertence God has furnish'd the Rational nature not only with the faculty of reasoning but with certain common Principles and Notions whereby 't is inclined to the good of the Reasonable life This is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so much talkt of and that which men generally mean by the Law of Nature 6. Or else 2ly by the Law of Reason may be understood a Power which a Rational Creature has of finding out by discoursing from first Principles what is fit to be done and of reflecting upon the reasonableness of those Moral Anticipations and impressions which he before entertain'd tho he knew not upon what ground 7. These two make up the adequate notion of the Law of Reason but we are not yet come to the adequate notion of Law. For if the Law of Reason be taken in the first sense for a stock of Moral Anticipations implanted by God in the Soul this will be but another branch of Positive Law. For Light of Nature and Light of Scripture are but different modes of Divine revelation and neither of these can be the ultimate Reason into which the Morality of every action is to be resolv'd 8. But if the Law of Reason be taken in the latter sense for a Power which a Rational Creature has of finding out by discourse what is reasonable to be done this will of necessity lead us higher namely to consider that there are certain antecedent and independent aptnesses or qualitys in things with respect to which they are fit to be commanded or forbidden by the wise governour of the world in some positive Law whether that of internal or external Revelation or both 9. We are therefore in the next place to resolve these antecedent aptnesses of things into their proper ground or to assign what that is which makes an action fit to be commanded or forbidden Which when we have done we are advanced as high as we can go and have found out that supreme eternal and irreversible Law which prescribes measures to all the rest and is the last Reason of good and evil 10. That therefore which makes an action fit to be commanded or forbidden by the wise governour of the world can be nothing else in general but its respective tendency to prompt or hinder the attainment of some certain end or other which that governour proposes For all action being for some end and not the End it self its aptness to be commanded or forbidden must be founded upon its serviceableness or disserviceableness to some end So much in general 11. I further consider that this end must be that which is simply and absolutely the best and greatest For no other is worthy of God. Now certainly there is none better or greater than the universal good of the whole Sisteme of things which is therefore to be regarded and prosecuted to the utmost both by God and all other Intelligent Beings 12. And hence arises this first and great Canon or Law that whatever naturally tends to the promotion of the common interest is good and apt to be commanded and whatever naturally tends to the disinterest of the public is evil and apt to be forbidden This is the great Basis of Morality the fixt and immutable standard of good and evil and the fundamental Law of Nature 13. And because there are some actions in specie which with relation to the present systeme both of the Material and Intellectual world have such a natural connexion with the
determination superadded by Intelligent Beings which I call Moral Entitys As to the second I grant the consequence but deny the absurdity of it For it is no absurdity that Moral evil should be Metaphysically good For this Metaphysical transcendental goodness which is the affection of Ens is nothing else but a Being's having that essence whereof it is capable or as Suarez expresses it its having that perfection which is convenient to it But this is very consistent with the nature of Moral evil for this may have what belongs to its Idea as well as good and 't is the Perfection of sin to be exceeding sinful SECT IV. Corollarys deduced from the whole The foulness and deformity of sin represented That it is the greatest of evils That no Formal sin can be in its self Venial That in all probability Vindicative Justice is essential to God hence deduced A new Hypothesis for the reconciling of eternal Punishments with the Divine Justice That he who thoroughly understands and actually attends to the Nature of sin cannot possibly commit it 1. HAving thus far carried on the Theory of sin we may now sit down and take an estimate of its Foulness and Deformity And methinks I am affrighted at the ugliness of the face which I have unmask'd and am ready to start back from the distorted and ill-boding monster For however the magic of Self-love may reconcile men to their own faults yet if we set the object at a more convenient distance from the eye and consider the Nature of sin irrespectively to our selves 't will certainly appear according to the precedent measures to be the most deform'd monstrous thing that can either be found or conceiv'd in Nature 2. For if we consider it in its full latitude it is the highest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Habitude of the will to the worst of objects than which what can be imagin'd more monstrous and absurd If we consider it as a violation of Positive Law what can be more indecorous than for a Creature to violate the commands and trample upon the Authority of that awful excellence to whom he owes his life his motion and his very being If we consider it as a violation of the Law of Reason what can be more monstrous and unnatural than for a man to rebel against the vicarious power of God in his Soul to refuse to live according to that part of him whereby he is a man to suffer the ferine and brutish part to get the Ascendent over that which is rational and Divine to refuse to be govern'd by those sacred Digests which are the Transcripts of the Moral Nature of God and to act against the very frame and contexture of his being Lastly if we consider it as a Transgression against that great and Soveraign Law of promoting the common Happiness what a monstrous evil must that be which crosses and opposes the best of ends and which is also proposed by the best of Beings that for the interest of an inconsiderable part commonly ones self justles the great wheel of Society out of its proper track that by persuing a lesser in prejudice to a greater good disturbs the order of things dislocates the frame and untunes the Harmony of the universe 3. We may also hence conclude that sin is the greatest evil that is or that can possibly be For it is contrarily opposed to the greatest possible good and consequently must needs be the greatest evil And besides 't is that which in no case or juncture whatsoever is to be committed and therefore must be the greatest evil because otherwise it might happen to come into competition with a greater and so commence eligible which is contrary to the supposition Moreover the greatness of this evil above all others is à posteriori further confirm'd from the greatness of the Sacrifice required for its attonement God could not or at least thought not fit to remit it without the shedding of blood and that too of the blood of God. So great a Fool is he so little does he consider that makes a mock at sin 4. Again it may be hence collected that no Formal sin can be in its own nature venial For according to the former measures every Formal sin tho never so small is a sin against the greatest Charity imaginable For 't is against that Charity whereby I ought to promote the ends of God and prosecute the great interest of the universe And consequently cannot be in its own Nature venial or pardonable without Repentance 5. Nay may I not further conclude according to the preceding measures that 't is very probable that no sin could have been pardon'd even with Repentance had there not been also satisfaction made for it and that vindicative Justice is essential to the nature of God For when I consider sin I find it so diametrically contrary to the essential sanctity of God and so destructive of that great End which he cannot but propose that he must needs hate it with an infinite hatred But how he should do so and yet not punish for it is hard to understand 6. Upon these measures we may also find out a way of reconciling eternal punishments with Divine Justice The great Objection is what Proportion is there between a transient act of sin and eternal misery And if there be none how is it consistent with divine Justice to inflict the one for the other This has been a great difficulty and has for a long time stood proof against all solutions But now if we consider sin as contrarily opposed to the greatest possible good the good of the universe and consequently as the greatest possible evil its demerit will be such that we need not fear 't will be over-punish'd even with eternal misery For if any misery is to be endured rather than one sin to be committed 't is also just that any may be when it is committed For the equity of both depends upon sin's being the greatest evil 7. The last Deduction which I shall make from the Premises is this that he who thoroughly understands and actually attends to the nature of sin cannot possibly commit it For as long as he does so he must look upon it as the greatest evil otherwise he cannot be said rightly to understand it And if he look upon it as the greatest evil he cannot chuse it so long as he continues in that judgment because the then chusing it would be the chusing of all that whereby it exceeds other evils gratis which is the chusing of evil as evil which is impossible 8. Whosoever therefore consents to the commission of sin passes first a wrong judgment upon it has the light of his understanding darkned and intercepted by a cloud of Passion loses the present Conviction of sin's being the greatest evil and so commits it to avoid as he then foolishly thinks a greater So that the cause and origine of all sin is ignorance folly and inadvertence there is a false
under a double Capacity 1st as a Law and 2ly as a Covenant And first as a Law. 'T is most certain that Christ was a Law-giver as well as Moses only as he was an Introducer of a better Hope so he required better and sublimer Services The advantage of Christianity does not consist in having any abatements of Duty for Christ was so far from diminishing or retrenching the Moral Law for 't is of that I speak that he improv'd every part of it to higher senses than the most exquisite of the Jewish Doctors understood or at least conceiv'd themselves obliged to As is evident from his divine Sermon on the Mount which for the Perfection and Sublimity of its Precepts St. Chrysostom calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Top and Height of Philosophy 12. And that he thus improv'd the Law of Moses besides the evidence of Comparison we have his own express word for it I came not to destroy the Law but to perfect compleat or fill it up For so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or rude draught was Moses his part but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the painting to the life was Christ's Moses drew out the main lineaments the Skeleton of the Picture which was therefore call'd the Body of Moses but 't was Christ that fill'd up all its intervals and vacuitys and gave it all its graces Air and Life-touches And this is no more than what the Analogy of the Christian dispensation required The great end and design of God incarnate was to perfect Holiness as well as to retrieve Happiness to advance the Interests of the divine life and make us Partakers of the Divine nature and accordingly as he himself was the express image of his Fathers Person so 't was requisite he should consign to us an express image a correct Copy of his Fathers will. He was to make us better men and accordingly 't was fit he should give us a better law a Law that could not be satisfy'd but by such a Righteousness as should exceed even the strictest among the Jews that of the Pharisees So that we are by no means releas'd but rather more deeply engaged in Duty by the Gospel as 't is a Law. 13. Nor 2ly are we releas'd by it as 't is a Covenant Here indeed begin the Abatements of the Gospel not as to Duty and Obligation for the Gospel makes all that our Duty which the Law did and more only which in short is the true difference between the two Covenants it does not make the strict and exact performance of it the Measure the ultimate Measure whereby we are to stand or fall but admits of Pardon which the Law knew nothing of Not of absolute Pardon for then the Gospel would be a Covenant without a Condition nor of Pardon without Repentance and actual reformation of Manners for then the Gospel as a Covenant would interfere with it self as a Law but upon the sole Conditions of Faith and Repentance For 't is a great mistake to think that we are actually Justify'd or pardon'd by the satisfaction of Christ this wou'd be the most ready expedient to verify the false charge of the Scribes and Pharisees and make him in their sense a Friend to Publicans and Sinners to encourage all manner of vice and immorality and to turn the Mystery of Godliness into a Mystery of Iniquity No Christ in this sense has redeem'd no man. All that he either did or could in wisdom do for us as satisfying was in short to instate us in a Capacity and Possibility of Pardon and Reconciliation by procuring a grant from his Father that Faith and Repentance should now be available to Justification which without his satisfaction would not have been accepted to that purpose Whereby it appears that he was so far from superseding the necessity of Repentance and good works that he design'd only to make way for the success of them He did so much that Repentance might not be in vain and he did no more that it might not be needless And thus does the wisdom as well as the goodness of God lead us to Repentance by so ordering the matter that we may obtain Pardon with it and not without it which are the two strongest engagements to action in any concern that our Reason either demands or our deliberation can suggest 14. This I conceive to be the true Hypothesis and state of Christianity which I might yet further confirm by infinite Authoritys from Scripture which every where presses the necessity of good works as Conditions to our Justification and acceptance before God but I think the more rational and unprejudiced part of the world are pretty well satisfy'd in that Point and know how to accommodate St. James and St Paul better then some late Reconcilers And besides the wisdom of the Hypothesis sufficiently approves it self 'T is such as becomes the Perfections of the Divine Nature to exhibit to the world and which the Angels may well desire to look into For 't is at once fitted to the necessitys of man and to the Honour of God to the infirmitys of the Animal life and to the advancement of the Divine to the relief of the Sinner and to the suppression of sin Here Mercy and Truth meet together righteousness and peace kiss each other The Sacrifice of the Altar does not prejudice the Ballance of the Sanctuary and the Divine Justice is so satisfy'd that the necessity of Holiness and Obedience remains secured Much is forgiven and much is to be done Duty continues as fast as ever and even the Law of Liberty is a Service 15. And now that this may not be thought a Hard saying and make some of Jesus his Disciples to go back as once they did and walk no more with him when they hear of Duty and somthing to be done I shall now proceed to demonstrate the Reasonableness of that Service which Christianity requires of us which was the 2d general Proposition I proposed to speak to 16. Religion is so very agreeable both to the Inclinations and Discoursings of Human Nature that as none is capable of being Religious but a rational creature so 't is almost impossible for a creature to be indued with Reason and not to be Religious Hence 't is that there is no Nation so barbarous and degenerate but what has some Religion or other and tho ignorant of the true Object as well as manner of worship yet rather than wholly abstain from Religious applications will adore implicitely and erect an altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the unknown God. 17. Nay so great a congruity is there between Religion and the radical notices and sentiments of a human Soul that all mankind except only some few distorted and Anomalous heads for there are monstrositys in the Soul as well as in the Body are unanimously agreed upon the fundamental and substantial Maxims of it which
of his affections gravitates and inclines to somthing further what is more Reasonable than that he fix upon God as his Center who is as well the End as the Author of his Being And since whatever portion of his love is not directed hither will necessarily light for it cannot be idle and must fix somwhere upon disproportionate and vain Objects which neither deserve it nor can satisfy it and consequently will but vex and torment him what can be more Reasonable than that he unite and concenter all the rays of his affection both Intellectual and sensitive upon God and according to the strictest sense of this great Commandment love him with all his heart Soul and mind Vision and Love make up the full composition of our Celestial Happiness hereafter and they are the nearest approach we can make to it here 30. Nor is the 2d great Commandment less reasonable than the first The truest and most effectual way a man can take to love himself is to love his neighbor as himself For since man is a necessitous and indigent Creature of all Creatures the most indigent and since he cannot upon his own solitary stock supply the necessitys of his nature the want of Society being one of them and since of all Creatures here below none is capable of doing him either so much good or so much harm as those of his own species as 't will be his best security to have as many Friends and as few Enemys as he can so as a means to this to hate and injure none but to love and oblige all will be his best Policy So far is the state of Nature from being according to the Elements of the Leviathan a state of Hostility and war that there is no one thing that makes more apparently for the interest of mankind than universal Charity and Benevolence And indeed would all men but once agree to espouse one anothers interests and prosecute the public good truly and faithfully nothing would be wanting to verify and realize the Dreams of the Golden Age to anticipate the Millennial Happiness and bring down Heaven upon Earth Society would stand firm and compact like a Mathematical frame of Architecture supported by mutual dependencys and coherences and every man's kindnesses would return again upon himself in the Circle and Reciprocation of Love. 31. But besides this Consideration of Interest there is another which equally contributes to recommend this Law of universal Benevolence and perhaps with more sweetness of insinuation than the former and that is Pleasure These two are put together by the Psalmist who tells us that 't is both good and pleasant for Brethren to dwell together in unity There is certainly a most Divine pleasure in the acts and expresses of Benevolence so that if God may be said to take pleasure in any one thing besides the richness of his own infinity it must be in the Communication of it Sure I am no man can do good to another without recreating and feasting his own spirit nay even the most happy and self-sufficient man who as to his interest has the least need to be kind and obliging yet as to his Pleasure has the greatest For he enjoys his happy state most when he communicates it and takes a Partner with him into his Paradise and receives a more vigorous joy from the Reflexion than from the Direct incidency of his Happiness 32. I might here take occasion to shew the Reasonableness of Justice and Honesty with other particular Branches of this great Law but the necessity of these is so notorious no Society being able to subsist without them and withall so attested by the common vote and experience of the world it being the business of all human Laws and the end of all Civil Government to engage men to the observance of them that I shall not need to make any Plea in their behalf Instead therefore of lending any further light to what shines already so conspicuously by its own I shall now proceed to justify the Christian Law in some of those instances which seem most to cross the present interest of mankind 33. There are some Precepts of the Christian Law which seem directly and in their whole kind to be against the interest of man. For as for those which may accidentally and in some junctures of Circumstances I shall consider them afterwards Now these I shall derive from that Abstract of Christian Philosophy the divine Sermon on the Mount. The 1st instance shall be in the Precept of Meekness which our Divine Lawgiver has extended so far as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that we resist not evil which is not to be understood in Prejudice either of the Civil sword or of legal Prosecutions for the reparation of injurys for this would be to give the worst of men a continual advantage against the best nor of public wars between distinct kingdoms for they being under no common jurisdiction have no other expedient whereby to right themselves when injured but only as to Private persons who by vertue of this Precept are not permitted unless in apparent danger of life for then the Law of self-preservation takes place the Benefit of other laws being not at hand I say are not permitted to retaliate evil but obliged rather with their Divine Master to give their backs to the smiters and their cheeks to them that pluck off the hair 34. Now this may seem a very disadvantagious and inconvenient command in as much as it may be said by tying up our hands to expose us to all manner of contumelies and affronts and invite the ill treatments of rude and disingenious spirits But whoever seriously considers the matter will find that pure and simple revenge is a thing very absurd and very productive of ill consequences and in some respects worse than the first injury For that may have some ends of profit and advantage in it but to do another man a diskindness merely because he has done me one serves to no good purpose and to many ill ones For it contributes nothing to the reparation of the first injury it being impossible that the Act of any wrong should be rescinded tho the permanent effect may but instead of making up the breach of my Happiness it increases the objects of my Pity by bringing in a new misery into the world more than was before and occasions fresh returns of malice one begetting another like the encirclings of disturb'd water till the evil becomes fruitful and multiplies into a long succession a Genealogy of mischiefs And by this time I think the man has reason to repent him of his Revenge and to be convinc'd of the Equity of the Law which forbids it 35. The next instance I shall mention is that of loving enemies This runs higher than the former that being only negative not to return evil but this positive to do good A strange precept one would think and highly contradictory to Reason as well as
furtherance or prejudice of this great end therefore these by way of Assumption under the two general Propositions are intrinsecally and naturally good or bad and are thereby differenc'd from those that are made so only by arbitrary Constitution Tho yet in one respect these are arbitrāry too in as much as they depend upon such a particular Hypothesis of the world which was it self arbitrary and which if God should at any time change the relations of actions to the great end might change too that which now naturally makes for the common advantage might as naturally make against it and consequently that which is now good might have been then evil But still the two great Hinges of Morality stand as fixt and as unvariable as the two Poles whatever is naturally conducive to the common interest is good and whatever has a contrary influence is evil These are propositions of eternal and unchangeable verity and which God can no more cancel or disanull than he can deny himself 14. So that now to analyze the immorality of any action into its last Principles If it be enquired why such an action is to be avoided the immediat answer is because 't is sin if it be ask'd why 't is sin the immediat answer is because 't is forbidden if why forbidden because 't was in it self fit to be forbidden if why fit because naturally apt to prejudice the common interest if it be ask'd why the natural aptness of a thing to prejudice the common interest should make it fit to be forbidden the answer is because the common interest is above all things to be regarded and prosecuted if farther a reason be demanded of this there can no other be given but because 't is the best and greatest end and consequently is to be desired and prosecuted not for the sake of any thing else but purely for it self 15. So that now the last Law whereof sin is a Transgression is this great and Supream Law concerning the prosecution of the common interest And every sin is some way or other directly or indirectly a transgression of this Law. Those against any Moral Precept directly and those against a Precept merely Positive indirectly because 't is for the common good that the Supreme Authority be acknowledg'd and submitted to let the instance wherein Obedience is required be in it self never so indifferent 16. If it be now objected that according to these measures there will be no difference between Moral and Physical evil contrary to the common distinction between malum Turpe and malum Noxium the one as opposed to bonum utile and the other as opposed to bonum honestum I answer that I know of no good or evil but of the end and of the means Good of the end is what we call bonum jucundum good of the means is what we call utile Evil of the end there is properly none but that only is evil which is prejudicial to it Indeed the old masters of Morality discours'd of moral good and evil as of absolute natures and accordingly nothing so common among them as to talk of Essential Rectitudes and Essential Turpitudes But I think it greater accuracy to say that Moral good and evil are Relative things that bonum honestum is one and the same with that which is truly utile and that Malum Turpe is that which is naturally against the profit of the Community And herein I assert no more than what the great master of the Latin Philosophy and Eloquence professedly contends for throughout the whole third book of his Offices And therefore instead of evading the Objection I freely own its charge and affirm that there is no difference between Moral and Physical evil any otherwise than that Physical evil extends to all things in nature which obstruct Happiness whereas Moral evil is appropriated to Actions that do so SECT III. The second part of the Discourse which briefly treats of Formal sin with the requisites necessary to its constitution Where also 't is enquired whether the Nature of sin be positive or privative 1. WE are now come to the second part of our Discourse where we are to treat of the nature of Formal Sin that is of Sin consider'd not abstractedly for the mere act of Obliquity but Concretely with such a special dependence of it upon the will as serves to render the Agent guilty or obnoxious to punishment 2. And here the first thing to be observ'd is that altho material sin does neither in its notion nor in its existence include formal sin yet formal sin does always include the other Tho there may be a transgression of the Law without formal sin yet the latter always supposes the former and as St. John says whosoever committeth sin transgresses also the Law. 3. But that which formal sin adds over and above to material and under whose respect we are now to consider it is the connotation of that special dependence of it upon the will which derives guilt upon the Agent So that for a Definition of formal sin we may say that it is an irregular action or a transgression of the law so depending upon the will as to make the Agent liable to punishment This is in the Phrase of St. John 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to have sin that is so as to be accountable for it for he speaks of that sin which upon confession God is faithful and just to forgive and consequently not of material for where there is no guilt there can be no Remission but of formal sin 4. From this general notion of formal sin proceed we to enquire what that special dependence is that makes an irregular action formally a sin And here 't is in the first place supposed that not every dependence of an action upon the will is sufficient to make it imputable And with very good reason For otherwise the actions of Infants Fools and Madmen would be imputable for these as indeed all actions have some dependence upon the will at least as a Physical Principle 5. To be positive therefore that an irregular action may so depend upon the will as to derive guilt upon the Agent 't is necessary first that it proceed from the will as from a free Principle Free not only in opposition to coaction for so all the actions of the will are free but in opposition to necessity or determination to one part of the contradiction That is in one word 't is necessary to the imputableness of an action that it be avoidable To this purpose is that common saying of St. Austin Nemo peccat that is formaliter in eo quod vitare non potest And great reason the Father had to say so for he that cannot avoid transgressing the Law is not so much as capable of being obliged by it because no man can be obliged to what is impossible and if he be not obliged by it certainly he cannot Morally and Formally break it A thing which the
Nature But whoever considers the great usefulness of Love and Benevolence to the interest of Society will quickly perceive that he ought not to be disingaged from the observance of so necessary a Duty upon so slight a ground as anothers default in it I grant 't is neither Reasonable nor possible to love an enemy for being so that is no proper motive of love but yet 't is very reasonable to love the man notwithstanding his enmity Because the necessity of Charity is so indispensable that it ought to oblige in all cafes And besides as by this means all enmity is certainly prevented on one side which is of very great consideration to the public peace so is it the likelyest method to bring over the other Kindnesses will at length prevail upon him who is proof against all the sense of Duty and Conscience and the coals of fire which are heap'd upon his head when nothing else will do it will melt him down into Love and Sweetness 36. There is one instance more wherein the Christian Law seems not to consult the interest of human life and that is in the matter of Divorce which our Saviour allows in no case but that of Adultery Now this also seems to be one of the hard sayings For the natural propension to procreation is not to be satisfy'd out of marriage and marriage by this appendage seems to be such a Burthen that the Disciples might well say if the case of a man be so with his wife it is not good to marry But yet upon consideration this also will appear to be a very Reasonable confinement For 1st all the supposable inconveniences of this restraint may be in a great measure prevented by prudent and wise Choice But suppose they cannot yet 2ly as 't would be most advisable for some men to marry tho with this restraint so is marriage with this restraint better for Society than without it For were there liberty of divorce upon other grounds every petty dislike would never want a pretence for a Dissolution and then the same inconveniences would ensue as if there were no such thing as the matrimonial Institution such as diminution of affection to children neglect of their education and the like besides the perpetual quarrels and animositys between the parties themselves so divided and their respective relatives all which would bring more inconveniencys upon Society than those which are pretended to be avoided by distending and enlarging the licence of Divorce 37. Now if to this Apology for the reasonableness of Christianity taken from its conduciveness and natural tendency to the interest of Human life we further add the Dominion and Right that God has over us the great Benefits wherewith he has already prevented us and the exceeding weight of glory laid up in Reversion for us And would we further consider that Holiness has a natural Ordination to the Happiness of Heaven as well as of Earth that 't is among the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the things that accompany or are essentially retaining to Salvation so that would God in mercy dispense with it as a Conditionary yet we could not be happy without it as a natural Qualification for Heaven Further yet would we consider the great easiness as well as manifold advantage of Christianity that many instances of Duty are agreeable to the inclinations of Nature and that where there is a Law in our members that runs counter to that of the mind we have the aids and assistances of grace that God has required nothing of us but what is substantially within the verge and compass of Human nature For to believe repent and love are all natural acts we believe some storys we repent of some follys we love some men and God obliges us but to believe him to repent of follys against him and to love him The Acts are the same for their substance tho not in their determination Lastly would we consider how much all this is confirm'd by the Argument of Practice and Experience that the Devil has more Apostates than Christ that the number of those who leave sin and come over to vertue is much greater than of those that leave vertue and come over to sin which is the Apology that the Platonist Simplicius makes for vertue the Conclusion would be placed beyond the reach of controversy that Christianity is a Reasonable Service and that the Precepts of our excellent Lawgiver both begin continue and end with a Beatitude 38. I can now foresee but one Objection of any moment which the Argument of this Discourse is liable to which is that altho vertue and vice have a natural ordination to the Happiness and Misery of life respectively yet it may so happen by the intervening of some accidents that this connexion of things may be broken off and that a man may be a loser by vertue and a gainer by vice as in the instances of martyrdom and secure theft And here the Question will be whether it be then reasonable to act vertuously and unreasonable to do the contrary To this I answer 1st that it may be justly question'd notwithstanding the intervention of any accidents whether a man may be vertuous to his disadvantage or vicious to his advantage even as to this present state considering the internal satisfaction and ácquiescence or dissatisfaction and molestation of spirit that attend the practice of vertue and vice respectively But supposing he may then 2ly I reply that here come in the rewards and punishments of another life to supply the natural sanction of the law Then 3ly to the second instance I offer this in peculiar that altho in some circumstances I might be dishonest to my present gain yet 't is very reasonable that all should be obliged to the law of Justice Because if every one should be permitted to use secret Frauds and all may as well as one the evil would come about again even to him whom we just now supposed a gainer by his theft and as to the public 't would be all one as if there were no Property and then for want of encouragement and security the final issue of the matter would be an utter neglect and disimprovement of the Earth and a continual disturbance of the public peace So that when all 's done Honesty is the best Policy and to live most happily is to live most vertuously and religiously So true is that of the Psalmist I see that all things come to an end but thy Commandment is exceeding broad 39. From what has been hitherto discours'd I shall now briefly deduce some practical inferences and conclude Since then our Religion is so Reasonable a Service 't will follow hence in the first place that there may be a due exercise and use of Reason in divine matters and that whatsoever is apparently contrary to Reason ought not to be obtruded as of Divine Authority nor be accounted as any part of the Christian Religion An Inference wherein the
violent efforts with barrs and doors to say unto this Passion hitherto shalt thou come but no further or to set any other bounds to it besides those of all possible good 4. Now Man being such an infinite Lover of himself is easily brought to believe that he is really Master of many of those excellencies and perfections which he so passionately wishes among the inventory of his possessions For there is this notorious difference betwixt Self-love and the Love of others that whereas the Love of others supposes an opinion of their excellency the love of our selves begets it We love others because we think well of them but so preposterous is the method of Self-love we think well of our selves because we first love our selves So that now upon the whole considering how necessarily and vehemently every man is carried on to the love of himself and what a natural product Self-conceit is of Self-love 't is much to be fear'd that as we cannot set any bounds to the love of our selves so we shall hardly set due ones to our Opinions of our selves and consequently the most mortify'd and resign'd Man of us all has no reason to think himself unconcern'd in this Admonition of the Apostle Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of Faith. 5. 'T is supposed that the Apostle in these words had respect to the then prevailing Heresy of the Gnostics a sort of men that pretended to great Heights of divine Knowledg to close intimacies and familiarities with God and upon that presumption grew so haughty and insolent as to despise dominions and speak evil of dignities and withall so careless and secure as to defile the flesh and indulge themselves all manner of Sensuality as you may see their Character in the Epistle of St. Jude Nay of such turbulent ungovernable Principles and profligate manners were these men that some of the Learned and particularly an eminent Divine of our own Church have adventured to write upon their Fore-heads Mystery and to place them in the Chair of Anti-Christ As an Antidote therefore against this Poison the Apostle who through the Abundance of Revelation had himself been in danger of being exalted above Measure and experimentally knew how prone human nature is to swell and plume upon a Conceit of its own excellencies thought it expedient to advise his Charge at Rome the place which Simon Magus the Author of that proud Sect had as Eusebius tells us made choice of to be the Scene of his Magical Operations to moderate and sober thoughts of themselves and being to teach them a Lesson of Humility he modestly ushers it in with a Preface of his Commission and Authority For I say says he through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think of himself more highly c. 6. The Discourse which I design upon these words shall be comprized within these limits First I observe that we are not at our own liberty to entertain what Opinions we please concerning our selves but that we ought to regulate them by some Standard Which I collect from the former part of the Text Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly 7. Secondly I observe that the Standard whereby we are to regulate our Opinions concerning our selves are those excellencies and perfections which we are really indow'd with which I collect from the latter part of the Text according as God has dealt to every man the measure of Faith. 8. And in the third place I shall consider the Absurdities and ill Consequences of transgressing this Standard whereby it shall appear how highly reasonable this Admonition of the Apostle is and so conclude with a practical Application of the whole in relation to our selves and the present occasion 9. I begin with the first Proposition That we are not at our own liberty to entertain what Opinions we please concerning our selves but that we ought to regulate them by some Standard 10. The Acts of the understanding are by some men thought as free from all Law as the Acts of the will are from all necessity and accordingly they give every one a Toleration to abound in his own sense and provided his actions be conformable to the Rule to think what he please Now since a Man cannot be accountable for an Opinion of himself in particular unless it be first granted that he is under a Law as to the Acts of his understanding in general before I can proceed any farther I find it necessary to lay down this Preparatory Position That we are under an Obligation as to the Acts of our understanding or which is all one that we are accountable for them Nay I believe I may venture higher and affirm that the understanding is not only under Obligation but that 't is the Primary and immediat Subject of it For the proof of which Paradox I desire the Patrons of the Intellectual Libertinism to consider that that must be the Primary and immediat subject of all Obligation which is so of Liberty Now that this cannot be the Will I suppose will be acknowledg'd a clear consequence if the Will necessarily follows the Practical Dictate of the Understanding And that it does so I think there is Demonstration 11. 'T is an unquestionable Axiom in all the Schools of Learning in the world that the Object of the Will is apparent good Now apparent good in other words is that which is apprehended or judg'd to be good and if so then it follows that the Will cannot but conform to the Dictate of the Understanding because otherwise somthing might be the object of the Will that is not apprehended good which is contrary to the supposition In short the Will as Aquinas has well expressed it is the Conclusion of an Operative Syllogism and follows as necessarily from the Dictate of the Understanding as any other Conclusion does from its Premises and consequently cannot be the immediat subject of Liberty and consequently not of Obligation 12. But then are we not involv'd in the same difficulty as to the understanding Does not that act with equal if not more necessity than the Will So I know it is ordinarily taught But if this be absolutely and universally true I must confess it above the reach of my Capacity to salve the Notion of Morality or Religion or to find out an expedient how the Foundations of the Intellectual world should not be out of course For since 't is evident both from the preceding Demonstration and from experimental Reflection that the Will necessarily acts in Conformity to the Dictates of the Understanding if those very Dictates are also wholly and altogether necessary there can be no such thing as a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the man is bound hand and foot has nothing left whereby to render him a Moral Agent to
qualify him for Law or Obligation Vertue or Vice Reward or Punishment But these are Absurdities not to be indured and therefore I conclude according to the Rules of right Reasoning the Principle from which they flow to be so too 13. To clear up then the whole Difficulty with as much Brevity and Perspicuity as in a matter of this intricacy is possible I shall no longer consider the Understanding and Will as Faculties really distinct either from the Soul it self or from one another but that the Soul does immediatly understand and will by it self without the intervention of any Faculty whatsoever And that for this demonstrative reason in short because in the contrary Hypothesis either Judgment must be ascribed to the Will and then the will immediatly commences Understanding or the Assent of the will must be blind brutish and unaccountable both which are as great Absurdities as they are true Consequences This being premised I grant that as the Soul necessarily wills as she understands so likewise does she necessarily understand as the Object appears And thus far our sight terminates in Fatality and Necessity bounds our Horizon That then that must give us a Prospect beyond it must be this that altho the Soul necessarily understands or judges according to the Appearance of things yet that things should so appear unless it be in Propositions that are self-evident as that the whole is greater than any one part or the like is not alike necessary but depends upon the degrees of Advertency or Attention which the Soul uses and which to use either more or less is fully and immediatly in her own power And this indifferency of the Soul as to attending or not attending I take to be the only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the bottom and foundation into which the Morality of every action must be at length resolv'd For a farther proof as well as Illustration of which Hypothesis let us apply it to a particular case and try how well it will answer the Phaenomena In the case then of Martyrdom I look upon sin as an evil and not only so but while I attend fully to its Nature the greatest of evils And as long as I continue this Judgment 't is utterly impossible I should commit it there being according to my present apprehension no greater evil for the declining of which I should think it eligible But now the evil of Pain being presented before me and I not sufficiently attending to the evil of Sin this latter appears to be the lesser evil of the two and I accordingly pro hic nunc so pronounce it and in Conformity to that judgment necessarily chuse it But because 't was absolutely in my power to have attended more heedfully there was Liberty in the Principle the mistake which influenc'd the action was vincible and consequently the action it self imputable This Hypothesis however strange it may seem to those that have sworn Faith and Allegiance to the Dictates of the Schools I believe will be the more approv'd the more it is examin'd and that not only as rational and consistent in it self but also as a refuge from those Absurdities which attend the ordinary Solutions Neither is this account wholly unlicens'd by Authority for I find some hints and intimations of it in the School of Plato where the reason why those middle sort of Beings call'd Heroes are not so uniformly pure as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is assign'd to be because they do not so equally attend to the Beauty of the Supream Good. 14. From what has been said it appears plainly that the Morality of every human action must be at length resolv'd into an immediat indifference that the Soul has of attending or not attending and consequently that we are not only under Obligation as to the acts of the Understanding but that all Obligation begins there 15. Having thus clear'd the way by the Proof of this Preparatory Position that we are under Obligation as to the acts of the Understanding in general I may now proceed to consider that our opinion of our selves is one of those acts of the Understanding which are subject to Law or in other terms that we are not at our own liberty to entertain what Opinions we please concerning our selves but that we ought to regulate them by some Standard Now the general reason of this is because 't is of great moment and influence in relation to our Practice what Opinion we entertain concerning our selves Indeed there are many acts of the Understanding which tho originally free yet fall under no Obligation by reason of the Indifferency of the Matter as in things of pure and naked Speculation These are the unforbidden Trees of the Garden and here we may let loose the Reins and indulge our thoughts the full Scope Thus there is no danger of Heresy in asserting or denying the Antipodes nor is Orthodoxy concern'd whether the Moon be habitable But altho to mistake a Star be of no consequence to the Theorist that sits immured in his Study yet it may be to the Pilot that is to Steer his Course by it There are other things which have a practical Aspect and here 't is not indifferent what we think because 't is not indifferent what we do Now among these the Opinion of our selves is to be reckon'd as having a great influence upon our well or ill demeaning our selves respectively as will more minutely and particularly appear when we come in the third and last place to consider the absurdities and ill consequences of transgressing the Standard prescribed and therefore I shall defer the farther prosecution of it till then and in the mean while proceed to the second Observable Namely That the Standard whereby we are to regulate our Opinions concerning our selves are those excellencies and perfections which we are really endow'd with Which is collected from these words according as God has dealt to every man the measure of Faith. 16. In the former part of the Text there was indeed a Restraint laid upon our Opinions concerning our selves but it was general only and indefinite But here the ground is measured out and the Boundaries precisely set 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 's the great Ecliptic Line which is to bound the Career of our most forward and Self-indulging Opinions If we keep within this compass our motion is natural and regular but if we slide never so little out of it 't is unnatural and portentous Or to speak with greater Simplicity he that judges of himself according to those excellencies whether Moral or Intellectual which he really has does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thinks soberly and he that thinks himself indow'd with any Kind or Degree of Excellence which really he has not does 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thinks of himself more highly than he ought to think 17. Here then are Two things to be considered First that we may proceed so