thing They will say perhaps that they hope to confirm themselves in a good Purpose but what do they found this Hope upon What do they wait for and what new thing do the imagine will happen to them Have they any assurance that God will use for their Conversion other Means and Motives than those which he has used already Nay how do they know but that they shall be deprived of those Means and Helps which hitherto have been tender'd them How can they tell whether there is a time to come for them and whether their Life is not just ready to end All this is very uncertain But what is certainly true is this that through so many Procrastinations their Hearts grow harder and their return to Vertue becomes more difficult The Love of Sin increases by the Habit of sinning and the Means appointed to work Repentance lose something of their force every day These Considerations do evidently shew that the deferring of Conversion is an Error as gross as it is dangerous I think it will not be useless to conclude this Chapter with observing that the Reason why so many put off their Conversion is because they look upon Repentance as an austere and melancholy Duty And this Notion must needs put them upon deferring the Practice of it It is therefore of the greatest moment to destroy that Prejudice and to shew on the contrary that if there is any sad and deplorable Condition it is that of a Man who lives in Sin For that is either a State of Fear and Uncertainty or of Security and Insensibility Such a Man can have no solid Peace of Conscience during his Life and what Agitations must he fall into when the thoughts of Death and of a Judgment to come happens to make some lively Impression upon his Mind For granting that then he may use some endeavours to dispose himself to Repentance yet besides the danger of a late Repentance it is a sad thing to end one's Life in those Struggles and Terrors which must needs accompany such a Repentance A Man who delays his Conversion prolongs his Misery and makes it greater and more incurable But Joy and Tranquility are the portion of a pure Conscience There is no Felicity or Contentment like that of a Soul which is freed from the bondage of Sin Repentance is the beginning of that Happiness which grows sweeter and more perfect according to the progress we make in Virtue Then it is that a Man is happy in all the Circumstances of Life besides that he has the Comfort of being supported at the approaches of Death with that Peace and Joy which flow from a well grounded Confidence in the Divine Mercy from the Testimony of a good Conscience and from a steady hope of Immortality CAUSE VII Mens Sloth and Negligence in Matters of Religion IT is natural and ordinary to Men to be unconcerned about those things which they do not know or of which they do not apprehend the Use and Necessity And so we may easily conceive that Men living in Ignorance and being possessed with those Notions I have now Confuted must needs be very negligent and slothful in what relates to Religion But as this Sloth considered in it self is a visible Cause of Corruption so it will be fitting to take particular notice of it in this Chapter I suppose in the first place that it is impossible for a Man to attain the End which Religion proposes to him without using the proper Means which lead to that End In religious as well as in worldly Concerns nothing is to be had without Labour and Care As there are Means appointed for preserving the Life of the Body so there are some ordained for maintaining the Life of the Soul and th last means is of the two the more necessary because there is more care and forecast requisite in order to Salvation about preserving the Life of die Soul than for supporting that of the Body It is certain that the more excellent any thing is the more it requires our Care but besides that we see the Life of the Body is easily preserved a Natural Inclination prompts us to those things which are necessary for our Subsistence and the means of supplying our bodily Wants offer themselves to us as it were of their own accord But it is not so with the spiritual Life Considering our proneness to Evil and the present State we are in we cannot avoid being undone if we neglect the necessary Care of our Souls and if we follow all the Bents and Propensions of our Nature Religion obliges us upon many occasions to resist our Inclinations and to offer violence to our selves it requires Self-denial Watchfulness and Labour it lays many Duties upon us and it prescribes divers Means without the use of which we cannot but continue still in Corruption and Death I shall then but just name the Chiefest of those Duties and Means Before all things a Christian ought to be Instructed he ought to know with some exactness both the Truths and the Duties of Christianity Now this Knowledge cannot be acquired without Hearing Reading Meditation or some other Care of this Nature In the next place as Religion does not consist in bare Knowledge but chiefly in Practice none of those Means should be neglected which are proper to divert Men from Vice and to spur them on Vertue These Means are very many but they are all comprehended under these two principal Heads The Exercises of Devotion and the Circumspections which every Person ought to use The Exercises of Devotion are mighty Helps to Piety and Salvation I mean such as Meditation Reading and Particularly Prayer which is one of the most essential Acts of Religion as well as one of the most efficacious Means to advance Holiness There are on the other hand several methods of Circumspection and Care which are of absolute Necessity As for instance the foreseeing shunning the occasions which may draw us into sin the seeking those Opportunities and Aids which promote Piety the not being over-much concerned about the Body the cherishing good Thoughts and the resisting evil ones But above all it is a thing of the greatest Importance that every one should endeavour thoroughly to know himself which he cannot do but by examining his present state and by reflecting seriously and frequently upon his Actions and Words and upon the Thoughts and Motions of his Heart All these Cares are essential and necessary For without the use of those Means it is as impossible to be religious and pious as it would be to live and subsist with out Nourishment A Man who will neither eat nor drink must needs die in a little time And so the Spiritual Life will soon be extinct if the only means which can support it are not used Let us see now whether these Cares and Means which I have shewn to be necessary are made use of It is so visible that they are almost totally neglected that I need
has placed them in And besides there is no Christian but ought to allow himself some times of Retirement nay there are some Temporal Employments which do not hinder a Man to live in a Retired manner But after all it would be the Ruin of Society and of most Christian Vertues if every one should live a-part and busy himself only in Spiritual Exercises God does not require this he has Created Man to labour in the World and those who follow an honest Employment in it act suitably to his Will and sink their Business may prove a Help to their Salvation I need not I think advertise the Reader that I speak here only of lawful Employments and not of those which are bad and contrary to the Laws of Nature or Religion And yet these last are very common but because every body may easily see that such Occupations must unavoidably engage Men in to sin I will make it my chief business to shew that lawful and innocent Employments prove to many Persons a hind'rance to Piety and Salvation Temporal Employments then being not bad in themselves they cannot occasion Corruption but by the Abuse that is made of them Now there are four Faults which Men commit in this matter 1. The first is when they are intirely taken up with Worldly Things We have shewed already that Men live in a prodigious Sloth and Carelesness about Religion and that they do almost nothing for their Souls and their Salvation From this it follows that they must be employed only about their Bodies and the Concerns of this Life And in fact if we inquire into their Cares we shall find that they terminate in the World and in their Temporal Interest and this I think needs not be proved 2. Their Hearts sink too deep into the things of the World The Business of Life is innocent when it is followed with Moderation but it diverts Men from Piety when it is pursued more and with greater eagerness than it deserves That excessive love of the World makes the unhappiness of Men. Instead of esteeming Temporal Goods in proportion to their Worth and as remembring that they are not able to procure them true Felicity in s of considering that they are not made for this life only and that they cannot long enjoy those advantages which they court they give up themselves wholly to the World they set their Hearts and Affections upon it and they act as if this life was the ultimate end of all their Actions They labour only for their Bodies and for the gratifying of their Appetites This is the Mark aimed at in all their Thoughts and Projects This is what inflames their Desires and what excites in them the most violent Passions of Grief or Joy of Anxiety or Impatience They are far from having such a hearty concern for Religion and Piety In relation to this their Affections are faint and languid and they do nothing but with Indifference or by constraint 3. The Third Fault is when Men are too much employ'd and when they overload themselves with Business It is a great piece of Wisdom both in respect of the Tranquility of this Life and the concerns of another to avoid the excess and the hurry of Business as much as possibly we may without being wanting to the Duties of our Calling to confine our selves to necessary Cares and to wave all superfluous ones Men would live happy if they did but know what their Profession requires of them and limit themselves to it without medling in that which does not concern them But here they observe no bounds They will fly at all they will busie themselves about many things which do not belong to their Province This without doubt is a dangerous Disease and the occasion of several Disorders 4. In the last place there is one thing more to blame and that is when worldly Business becomes an occasion of Sin by the abuse that is made of it For besides that it is a very ill Disposition in a Christian to be fond of the World most Men are so unhappy as to direct all the business of Life to a bad end which is to satisfy and to enflame the more their irregular Appetites And by this means many Enterprizes and particular Actions of theirs which in themselves are innocent become evil and unlawful and engage them in all manner of Sins These Considerations is prove already that the greatest part of Mens Vices proceeds from their Temporal Affairs but this will appear yet more clearly by the following Reflections 1. This excessive Application to Temporal Concerns engrosses almost our whole Time so that it does not leave us a sufficient share of it to be spent in cares of another nature Men confess this themselves and plead it for an Excuse They alledge their Business A Man who is engaged in the World will say I have no time to read or to perform the Exercises of Religion I have too much Business my Employ or my Calling does not leave me a minute of leisure And the Truth is they are too busie for the most part If they have any spare time some hours or some days of rest wherein the course of their ordinary Employments is interrupted they are not in a condition to improve to the best Advantage those short Intervals of Relaxation 2. And truly Secular Business does not only take away the best part of Mens Time but it does besides distract their Minds and invade their Hearts and Affections When for a whole Day or Week the Mind and Body have been in agitation a Man is weary and spent the activity of his Thoughts is exhausted his Head is too full to be clear he is not able to drive away in an instant so many Worldly Idea's to calm his Passions and to turn himself of the sudden to Spiritual Exercises So that he must either absolutely neglect the Duties of Piety or perform them very ill When a Man has brought himself to a Habit of being employed only in Worldly Affairs he is no longer Master of his own Thoughts and Motions It is with great difficulty if he can at all apply himself to Objects that are foreign to him Those Objects affect him but weakly he must make great Efforts before he can fasten upon them and if he fixes there for a few moments it is a violent state in which he cannot continue long Those Thoughts of which he is constantly full crowd in upon him and he returns immediately to these Things which he loves and which commonly take him up This is the true reason why Men love andrelish Spiritual Things so little and why they think it so hard to subdue their Minds with Reading Attention and Meditation This is particularly the main Source of Indevotion in the Exercises of Piety Why is the Mind so apt to wander in Prayer The too great Application to Temporal Affairs is the Cause of it As soon as a Man is awake in the Morning a throng of
Body or of this â—resent Life because they are accustomed â—o be governed only by their Senses and â—hat is enough to represent Piety to them â—s sower and distaful not only because it â—oes not procure to them those gross pleaâ—ures but because it does likewise in many â—ases oblige them to renounce them The Second Reason why Men entertain this Prejudice against Piety is that it 〈◊〉 not represented to them in its true shapâ— And here first there is a great deal of him done by the false Pretenders to Devotion who affect a mournful and severe outward appearance and whose behaviour is ofteâ— intollerably stern and savage In the nexâ— place profane Men contribute to this Mischief for as they neither know nor lovâ— Religion so they make odious Pictures oâ— it and they take a delight in carrying the Notions of Devotion too far that it may appear ridiculous Thirdly There are several well-meaning Persons whose Zeal being not regulated and softned by a discreet and prudenâ— Knowledge gives an occasion to those unfavourable Judgments which the World passes upon Piety Such People think that it is the Duty of a Devout Person never to be seen but in an austere Appearance and with a dejected look they are continually censuring and never pleased their Zeal is either Superstitious Scrupulous or Ignorant Sharp or Unseasonable and so it is extremely apt to alienate Mens Minds from Devotion and Piety Fourthly Some Divines and Moralists confirm this Prejudice by their way of recommending the Practice of Piety both in their Publick Discourses and in their â—ooks Religion and its Duties are ofâ—en proposed to the People from the Pulâ—it in such a severe and frightful manner â—s is not very fit to make it appear lovely â—o Men who for the most part have alâ—eady a Prejudice against it We find too â—igid a Morality and several strained Maxâ—ms in many Sermons and Books of Devoâ—ion And it may perhaps be of some â—â—se to give here some Instances of this â—ind When Worldly-minded Men are told â—hat Salvation is a most difficult thing â—nd that whoever will obtain it ought to â—pend his Life in perpetual mourning This is no great attractive to gain them â—o the love of Religion Such Maxims may be true in some respect but they are false and extravagant when they are proposed without Distinction or Explication By the Descriptions which are sometimes made of the Vanity of the World and of Devotion one would think that a Man cannot live like a Christian without laying aside all secular Concerns and Business and giving up himself to Solitude and Retirement Now this is what few Men are capable of and besides it is against the Order of Providence which has placed us in the World to live and labour in it and to enjoy the good things which the Divine Liberality has provided for us That which is asserted by some Moralists concerning the Love of God and their Zeal for his Glory supposes that Men are obliged to think actually upon God at all times and to have a positive intention to promote his Glory in all the actions of their lives But such Morality to say no more is absurd and impossible to be reduced to practice It is not possible for a Man to have God always in his thoughts and to make pious Reflections upon every step he takes or every word he speaks And there are such Actions in Life which cannot without Profanation be referred to the Glory of God by a direct intention St. Paul indeed enjoins us * 1 Cor. X. 31. to do all things to the glory of God But this Rule is not to be taken in the utmost strictness nor extended to all particular Actions It is enough to have a sincere and general intention to procure God's Glory and to do ones duty upon all occasions In order to which these Four Things are necessary 1. That we should not fail to think of God actually in all those Actions that require it 2. That if by reason of the present State we are in we cannot think on God at all times and in all our Action we should at least think often upon him and make frequent Reflections upon our own Conduct 3. That in indifferent Actions we should not abuse our Liberty but demean our selves according to the Rules which the Gospel prescribes and that we should especially have a great regard to the Edification of our Neighbour it being particularly in that sense that this Commandment of doing all things to the Glory of God is to be understood 4. That we should love God above all things and that it should be our chief Care and Endeavour to Obey him and to advance his Glory to the utmost of our Power How many Scruples have been infused into Mens Minds by straining the sense of this Declaration of our Saviour's * Mat. XII 36. Men shall give an account at the Day of Judgment of every idle word that they shall speak What Inferences have not been drawn from this Place to fill good Men with dread and terror It is Expounded as if all Discourses which neither contribute to the Glory of God nor to the Edification of our Neighbours nor to the promoting of our own Salvation were those idle Words of which Men are to give an Account to God And yet it does not appear that Words purely idle are always sinful or that they deserve the severe threatning which our Saviour denounces here We cannot forbear talking every Day of many indifferent things and holding several Discourses which do neither good nor harm Indeed if this should grow into a Habit if we should for the most part speak only of trifling and frivolous Things it would be a Sin But I do not apprehend what hurt there can be in talking now and then of News of Rain or of the Weather Certainly these are not the Words which are meant in this Declaration The Place where we find it and the Terms in which it is conceived do manifestly shew our Saviour's meaning to be this That Men shall give an Account at the Day of Judgment of all the Wicked and Impious Words which they have spoken and that the Pharisees particularly should be answerable to God for the Blasphemies which they uttered against his Miracles These strain'd Maxims produce very pernicious Effects They expose Piety to the Flouts and Contempt of Libertines and they discourage great Numbers from it Young People especially are by this means disgusted with Religion and they take up an Aversion to it which they seldom shake off afterwards They accustom themselves in that Age which is so sensible of Pleasure to look upon Piety under an austere and melancholy Form whilst on the side of the World and of their Passions they see nothing but sweetness and charms Between these Two Objects one of which is so enticing and the other so disgustful it is easy to imagine which side they will chuse They run into the embraces
of their Duty is that they do not profess Devotion and Piety This is the ordinary Plea of Men of Business of Worldlings of Young People of Courtiers of Military Men and of a great many besides in all Conditions We do not pretend to Devotion they cry we are ingaged in the World And with this shift they not only think themselves excusable for neglecting Piety but they fancy they have a Right to neglect it and that they do a great deal if they observe some of the External Duties of it One can hardly believe that these Persons are in carnest when they make such an Excuse It astonishes a Man to find Christians who have the considence to say That Piety is not their Business that they are of another Profession and that they are not at leisure to be Devout I fancy there are Two Things which deceive those who who alledge this Excuse 1. That they do not well understand what Devotion is they look upon it as a very austere and singular way of living from whence they conclude that but few People are able to apply themselves to it and so they turn it over to the Clergy to Women or to those who have much leisure I have observed already the Falseness of this Prejudice and shewed that Piety is neither singular nor austere 2. The other cause of their Error seems to be this that they do not consider that Piety is every Bodies Business and that such is the nature of it that it may be practised by all Men. Not but that secular Occupations and Callings do frequently obstruct Piety and ingage Men in Vice and therefore a Christian should never be so taken up with the Affairs of this Life as thereby to disable himself from performing the Duties of Christianity But after all a Man may live like a good Christian in any lawful Calling and in that sense properly we are to understand the Words of St. Paul That the Grace of God which brings Salvation has appeared unto all Men teaching them to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World * Tit. II. 11. Do those who plead it for an Excuse that they do not profess Devotion imagine that there are two ways to go to Heaven the one for Devour and the other for Worldly Men the one narrow and the other broad Do they think that the Commandments of God do not concern all Men that there is respect of Persons with God or that he dispenses with his own Laws How can they prove these Distinctions Are not we all Christians Have not we all been Baptize Does not God give us all the same Laws Or have some more reason to love God than others And ought not the great Concern of our Salvation to be equally dear to us all I grant that those who have greater opportunities and more Leisure than others ought to make use of these Advantages But I maintain at the same time that none stand in greater need of Piety than those who say we are engaged in the World we do not pretend to Devotion It is because they are not Devout that their Condition is very sad and the more they are engaged in the World the greater are the Temptations and Distraction to which they are liable Now he that is exposed to a Storm had need take more care than he who enjoys a Calm These are the principal Maxims and Sentiments which are made use of to Authorize Corruption Whoever takes notice of what is said and done in the World must needs acknowledge that these and the like Maxims are vented abroad every day so that in order to obstruct the Progress of Corruption it is absolutely necessary to undeceive Men in reference to these Sentiments and to oppose that Criminal Boldness which shamefully Corrups the Truths of Reilgion and turns Impieties into Religious Maxims and Articles of Faith CAUSE IV. The Abuse of Holy Scripture IT is a daring piece of Confidence to Authorize Corruption with Maxims borrowed from Religion but it is the last degree of Audaciousness and Impiety to turn the Holy Scripture to such a scandalous use and to seek in that Divine Book Pretences and Apologies for Vice and yet the Extravagance and Temerity of many bad Christians come up to this pitch Several declarations of the Word of God are made by them as many Maxims under which they think to shelter themselves and if we believe them there is nothing either in their Practice or Opinions but what is agreeable to the Will and Intentions of God himself This Abuse of the Scripture I design to shew in this Chapter to be one of the Causes of Corruption and it cannot he too seriously considered The Passages of Scripture which are abused to this purpose may be reduced to these Four Heads The first comprehends the places which are brought against the necessity of Good Works Under the second we will examine those declarations of Scripture by which some endeavour to prove That all Men without exception are in a state of Corruption which subjects them to Sin In the third place we shall answer the Arguments drawn from the Examples of those Saints whose Sins are Recorded in Scripture And lastly we shall make some Reflections upon those Scripptures in which the Divine Mercy is promised to the greatest Sinners There are divers Passages in Scriptures which being ill understood lead many into this perswasion That Good Works are not of absolute Necessity And First nothing is more confidently alledged to this purpose than what we read in many places * Rom. III. c. That we are justified by Faith and not by our Works No Doctrine is more clearly and expresly delivered in the Gospel than that of Justification by Faith But it is a Perverting of this Doctrine to conclude from it that Salvation may be obtained without Good Works This Conclusion must needs be false since the Gospel enjoyns Good Works as a necessary Condition in order to Salvation St Paul tells us that †Heb. XX. 14. without Holiness no man shall see God And does not that import that none shall be saved without Holiness and Good Works The same Apostle teaches us that at the Day of Judgment when Men shall be admitted into or excluded from Heaven God will have a regard to their Works to the good or evil which they shall have done | Rom. 11. 6. God will render to every man according to his Works * 2 Cor. V. 10. We must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ that we may receive according to what we have done whether good or bad This is very positive and therefore since there can be no Contradiction in Scripture here is enough already to Convince us that the Doctrine of Justification by Faith has nothing in it which destroys the necessity of Good Works But it will appear yet less difficult to reconcile these two Doctrines if we suppose that which no Man can reasonably Contest
or Hatred Piety is little Practised in the World it is despised and it is hated and these are the three principal Causes of vicious Shame 1. Piety is little Practised in the World few People love or practise it Now a Man is very inclined to do that which is commonly done he thinks it is safest and most honourable to side with the multitude he is afraid of making himself Ridiculous by being singular It is a Maxim generally received That we ought to comply with Custom and to do as others do The Reason then why many have not the Courage to be on the Side of Religion is because that Side is deserted and abandoned 2. Piety is often despised in the World It is looked upon as a mean and disgraceful thing The strictness of a Man who Acts upon Principles of Religion and Conscience is imputed to weakness of Mind singularity of Humour or Caprice and sometimes to Hypocrisy and Pride Those who profess Devotion and Piety are turned into Ridicule And on the contrary it is thought honourable to comply in every thing with the Ways and Fashions of the Age. Tho' these Sentiments are very unjust yet they make a great Impression because few People have Firmness enough to slight the Judgment and Contempt of Men. We have naturally a quick sense of Honour and nothing is so unsupportable to Self-love as Contempt so that this Temptation is dangerous and it easily produces in a Man a false Shame which diverts him from Religion 3. Piety does likewise procure the Hatred of the World because a good Life accuses condemns and reproaches those who live ill Besides Religion obliges us sometimes to do things which displease and offend Men. How cautious soever it may be it is much if upon many occasions it does not stir up their Jealousy their Hatred or their Spleen A good Man is often bound to refuse what is desired of him He is unacquainted with the Maxims of that mean and fawning Complaisance which is necessary to get every bodies Love Many for this Reason neglect Piety They dare not let shine a Light which discovers the Weaknesses and Errors of others and Fear and Shame together make them think that it would be Ill-breeding as well as a piece of Imprudence to follow a Course of Life which might render them odious From these Considerations it appears already that this Shame is one of the general Fountains of Corruption and that it can produce none but very ill effects first upon those in whom it is and next upon other Men. 1. The natural Effect of vicious Shame is to dissuade a Man from his Duty and to draw him into Sin It makes his Knowledge useless it frustrates the warnings which his Conscience gives him and so it extinguishes in him the Principles of Vertue Those who are possessed with this Shame dare neither Speak nor Act as they ought they dissemble their true Sentiments they offer violence to their Consciences they have not the Courage to speak the Truth or to reprove their Neighbours when occasion requires they are loath to confess or to amend their Faults in a Word they frequently neglect the most indispensable Duties of Piety and Charity And all this because they are checkt by a false Shame But if this Shame hinders us to do Good it does as forcibly prompt us to Evil As soon as a Man thinks it a disgrace to do Good and to distinguish himself by a Christian Deportment he presently conceives likewise that it would be a Shame to him not to imitate the Irregularities of others Hence it is that we applaud Sin that we are carried away by the Solicitations or Examples of Persons of Authority that we cannot withstand the Entreaties of Friends that we ingage in unjust Enterprizes or criminal Diversions and that we fall into many other wicked Practices A very little Reflection upon our selves will easily convince us that Shame produces all these Effects A Heathen Author * Plutarch has proved long ago in an Excellent Tract That false Modesty is one of the greatest obstacles to Vertue and that Men commit many Faults and bring a great deal of Mischief upon themselves only because they dare not refuse to comply with others The effects of this Shame are not less fatal in respect of other Men. As it proceeds from the regard we bear to their Judgments so it usually shews it self in their company so that we cannot but scandalize and corrupt them when we govern our selves by the suggestions of this false Shame For not to mention here the Scandal which this gives to good Men those very Persons for whose sake we use such sinful Compliances and who despise Religion conceive yet a greater Contempt of it when they see that those who ought to support its interest are ashamed of it and dare not openly profess it They judge that Piety must be indeed a very mean and contemptible thing and when they observe that Men are afraid to displease them they take such an Ascendent over them that Vertue dares no more appear in their presence Besides that such an Indulgence towards Vice gives a new force to it If vicious Men are not reproved it confirms them in their ill Habits if they are imitated they are Authorized if we are ashamed to confess our Faults before them we do not heal the Scandal which we have given them and that is the greater for having been occasioned by Men who are thought Pious and not by Libertines But that we may be the more sensible of the pernicious effects of this kind of Shame we ought to take notice of three things which are very remarkable in this matter 1. Shame is a thing which has an absolute power over a Man Other Passions may more easily be resisted but when Shame has gained an Ascendent over the Mind it is extream hard to be conquer'd especially if it proceeds from the regard we have for Men for when it arises from a natural disposition it may sooner be overcome The greatest Threats and Promises will not sometimes shame a Man who will presently yield if Shame can be excited within him How often do we find the most vigorous efforts we can make upon our selves and our best Resolutions quite dashed by a filly bashfulness A Jest a bare Look or a slight Apprehension of being thought ridiculous or a Bigot is sometimes enough to Confound us and to make all our good purposes vanish 2. It ought to be considered that the Shame we speak of here restrains those Persons who in their Hearts are inclined to Vertue those who live in a profound Ignorance or in a total Obduration being not susceptible of this Shame It supposes as has been said some remainder of Conscience and Knowledge soliciting Man to his Duty but it overcomes that Knowledge and those good Sentiments We are to impute to this vicious Shame a great part of the Sins of good Men and this is one of the Articles
ready to restore the greatest Sinners to his Favour when they have recourse to his Mercy and that there are express Promises in the Gospel which assure us of this I grant it God never rejects a repenting Sinner But before a Man can build upon this the hope of being received into God's Favour at the Hour of Death he must be sure that he shall then sincerely repent Now I think I have demonstrated that this is what no Man can depend upon As to the Promises which are made to Repentance in the Gospel I do not deny but that they may be applied in a good sense to all Sinners but yet it is certain that they are made in favour of those whom God was to call to the Christian Religion and chiefly in favour of the Heathens Christ and his Apostles were to assure all Men that the sins they had commited should not exclude them from the Covenant of Grace provided they did sincerely mourn for them and part with them When the Heathens came to Baptism nothing else was required of them but that they should Repent and make a solemn Vow of being Holy for the time to come But as to Christians it cannot be said that God demands nothing of them but Repentance and Sorrow for Sins for he calls them to Holiness upon pain of Damnation In this sense it was that the Apostles preached Repentance and by this we may know how much Christianity is decayed That Repentance which consists in the Confession of Sins and in a Resolution to forsake them is the Duty at which the Heathens began This was the first thing which the Apostles required of them it was preparatory to the Christian Religion St. Paul * Heb. VI. places the Doctrine of Repentance among the Fundamental Points and the first Duties in which the Catechumens were instructed before Baptism But now Christians look upon Repentance as the Duty with which they are to end their Lives that is to say they design to end where the Heathens begun and to enter Heaven at the same Gate which admitted Pagans into the Church 2. It will be said further that sometimes Men who have lived in Sin die to all appearance in very good Dispositions To this I reply That we see a great many more of those Persons who die in a state of Insensibility and that by Consequence a Sinner who puts off his Repentance has more reason to fear than to hope For who has told him that the Fate of these last will not be his and what surer Presage can there be of so Tragical a Death than the present hardness of his Heart Besides I do not know whether it happens frequently as the Objection seems to suppose that Persons who have lived ill are well disposed when they die If Repentance can be saving and effectual when it begins only upon a Death-bed every body must own that it ought to be very lively and deep attended with demonstrations of the most bitter Sorrow and with all the Proofs that a dying Man can give of the Sincerity of his Conversion But we do not see many Instances of this Nature There are but few great Sinners who express a lively Compunction at their Death or a sincere Detestation of their Sins who have a due sense of their Wickedness and endeavour as much as they can to make Reparation for it who practise Restitution and edify all about them by discharging the other obligations of Conscience It is but seldom that we see such Penitents Besides the Expressions of Devotion and Repentance which are used by dying Men are not always sincere It is much to be feared that their Repentance is nothing else but a certain Emotion which the necessity of Dying and the approaches of God's Judgment must needs raise in the Mind of every Man who has his Wits about him and has some Ideas of Religion Nothing is more deceitful than the judging of a Man by what he either says or does when he is under the effects of Fear or Trouble It is commonly said of those who have given some signs of Piety upon their Death-beds that they have made a very Christian End But there is often a great Mistake in that Judgment And to be satisfied of it we need but observe what happens to some who have escaped Death or some eminent Danger While the Peril lasted who could be more humble and holy than they They shewed so much Devotion and uttered such Discourses that all the Standers by were edisyed by them their Tears their Prayers their Protestations of Amendment in a Word their whole Deportment had in all appearance so much of Christian Zeal in it that the Beholders were struck with Admiration But are there many of these who when the Danger is over continue in the same Dispositions remember their Promises or alter any thing in their former Course of Life Almost all of them return to their old Habits as soon as the Calamity is past These are generally the fruits of that Repentance which is excited by the fear of Death in those who Recover And what Effects then can it have in respect of those that Dye I confess we ought not to condemn any Body but I think we should not pronounce a definitive Sentence in favour of those who have led an ill Life For tho' Mens Judgment makes no alteration in the State of the Dead yet it may have a very pernicious Effect upon the Living who conclude from it that a Man may die well tho' he has lived ill And while I am upon this Subject I must say that nothing contributes more to the keeping up of these dangerous Opinions than when the Ministers of Religion commend without Discretion the Piety of the Dead And yet this is frequently done especially in great Towns and in the Courts of Princes There are to be found in those Places mean-spirited and unworthy Preachers who prostitute their Tongues and their Pens to the Praise of some Persons who had nothing of Christianity in their Lives and whose Condition should rather make a Man tremble But if some remnant of Shame restrains them from carrying their Flattery so far as to commend the Lives of those whose Panegyrick they have undertaken then they seek the Matter of their Praises in some signs of Piety which those Persons gave before they left the World Now I dare say that the most Atheistical Discourses and the Corruptest Maxims of Libertines are not by much so subtil a Poyson as such kind of Elogies delivered before Men who are engaged in all the Disorders of the Age and then dispersed through the World 3. The Instance of the Converted Thief who prayed to our Saviour upon the Cross and was received into Paradice is seldom forgotten But this Instance is generally very ill understood First it is supposed without any ground for it that this Thief repented only upon the Cross and that his Conversion was the effect of a sudden Inspiration But
not be very large upon the Proof of it Men take little care of being instructed and of getting Information and Knowledge about Religion The far greater Part either cannot read or never apply themselves to any useful instructive Reading Few hearken to the Instructions that are given them and fewer yet examine or reflect upon them Carnal Lusts and Secular Business do so engross them that they seldom or never give themselves to searching the Truth They generally have an Aversion to spiritual Things Hence it is that in matters of Religion they will rather believe implicitely what is told them than be at the pains of enquiring whether it is true or not And they are every whit as careless about Exercises of Devotion Many would think it a Punishment if they were made to read or to Meditate They never do those things but with reluctancy and as seldom as they can They go about Prayer especially with a strange Indifference and a criminal Indevotion In short very few take the necessary care to preserve themselves from Vice and to behave themselves with Regularity and Caution Very few seek the Opportunities of doing good and avoid the Temptations to which the common Condition of Men or their own particular Circumstances expose them And the greatest Numbers are slaves to their Bodies and wholly taken up with earthly things One of the most sensible and fatal effects of this Negligence is that those Persons use no manner of endeavours to know themselves It is very seldom if ever that they reflect upon what passes within them upon their Thoughts their Inclinations the Motions of their Hearts and the Principles they Act upon or that they take a review of their Words and Actions They do not consider whether they have within them the Characters of good Men or of wicked and hypocritical Persons In a word almost all of them live without Reflection Mens carelesness about Religion is there fore extreamly great But they proceed otherwise in the things of the World about which they are as Active and Laborious as they are Lazy and cold in reference to true Piety They will do every thing for their Bodies and nothing for their Souls They spare no Industry or Diligence they omit nothing to promote their Temporal Concerns If we were to judge by their Conduct we would think that the Supreme Good is to be found in Earthly Advantages and that Salvation is the least important of all things I need not say what Effects such a Negligence must produce The greater part of Christians being Ignorant in their Duty having no Knowledge of themselves declining the use of those Means which God has appointed and without which he declares that no Man can be saved and wearing out their Lives in this Ignorance and Sloth it is not to be imagined that they can have any Religion or Piety and so there must be a general Corruption amongst them I say it must be so unless God should work Miracles or rather change the Nature of Man and invert the Order and the Laws which he has established But because it might be said that Christians do not live like Atheists and that their Negligence is not so great as I represent it Let us consider a little what sort of Care they bestow upon the concerns of their Souls Certainly there are some Persons who are not guilty of this Negligence But excepting these what is it which the rest of Mankind do in order to their Salvation Very little or Nothing They pray they assist sometimes at Divine Service and at the publick Exercises of Religion they hear Sermons they receive the Sacrament and they perform some other Duties of this Nature This is all which the Religion of the greatest part amounts to But first these are not only the Duties which ought to be practis'd there are others which are not less essential and which yet are generally neglected such as Meditation Reading Self-examination to say nothing here of the Duties of Sanctificatification So that if some Acts of Religion are performed others are quite omitted The reason of this Proceeding may easily be discovered There is a Law and a Custom which oblige all Persons to some Acts of Religion to pray to receive the Sacrament and to go now and then to Church If a Man should intirely neglect these external Duties he would be thought an Atheist But there is neither Custom nor Law nor Worldly Decency which obliges a Man to Meditate to examine his own Conscience or to watch over his Conduct and therefore these Duties being left to every ones Direction are very little observed As to the other Duties which Christians form in some measure the want of sincerity in them does most commonly turn them into so many Acts of Hypocrisy They perhaps say some Prayers in the Morning but this is done without Devotion hastily with distraction and weariness and only to get rid of it after they think no more of God all the Day but are altogether busied about the World and their Passions and in the Evening they Pray with greater wandring of Thoughts than in the Morning If it so fall out that they go to Church or hear a Sermon they do not give a quarter of an Hours close Attention to any thing that is said or done in the Publick Assemblies In many Places the whole Devotion of the People consists in being present at some Sermons which are as little Insructive as they are minded or hearkned to The use which is made of the Sacraments especially of the Eucharist converts them into vain Ceremonies and makes them rather Obstacles than Helps to Salvation As to the mortifying of the Body by reasonable Abstinence Fasting and Retirement it is an unknown Duty The Indifference of Christians is therefore but too palpable What they do upon the account of Religion is very little and yet they do that little so ill that it is not much more beneficial to them than if they did nothing at all And now what might not be said if after having thus shewn that what Men do for their Salvation is next to nothing I should undertake to prove that they do almost every thing that is necessary for their Damnation and that they are as zealous and industrious for their Ruin as they are slothful and negligent in what is requisite to preserve them There are means to Corrupt as well as to Sanctify our selves The means of Corruption and Perdition are Ignorance want of Attention neglect of Devotion the love of the World and of the Flesh unruly Passions Temptations and ill Examples Now supposing that a Man was so monstrously Frantick as to form the design of Damning himself what would such a Man do He would neglect the Exercises of Devotion he would not Pray at all or he would Pray only with his Lips he would profane the Sacraments by an unsanctifyed use of them he would only mind his Body and this present Life he would give loose Reins to
general as it is now These Considerations are founded upon two undeniable Facts 1. That the Church was then persecuted And 2. That Discipline was then exercised in it These were two powerful Means to remove Vices and Scandals from the Church We may easily imagine that Men who loved the World and their sins would not have embraced Christiany at a time when whosoever became a Christian did by that very thing expose himself to Persecution Torments and Death This did fright away the greatest numbers of Wicked and Impious Persons But if any of these entred into the Church Discipline for the most part drove them out when they made themselves notorious by a Scandalous life It is easy to judge that in such Circumstances there was more Piety at that time than we observe now in the Church The first Christians were sincere in their Profession Being instructed by the Apostles and apostolical Men they placed the Christian Religion chiefly in a good Life to which they did solemnly engage themselves by Baptism They were united among themselves they governed themselves in matters of Order and Discipline by the Prescripts of the Apostles as much as the Persecution gave them leave and they did with Courage lay down their lives for the Truth Such was the Christianity of the first Ages But the Church did not continue long in that State before this Zeal of those Primitive Christans began to cool On the one hand Persecution ceased and on the other the Ancient Discipline was slackned These two Fences being pluckt up and the Emperors turning Christian the Corruption of the World broke in upon the Church Divers abuses crept into Doctrine Discipline Worship and Manners till the Church fell at last into such a Dismal Darkness of Ignorance Superstition and Vice that Christianity seemed almost quite extinct and destroyed All those who had any true sense of Religiion did lament this they complained openly of it and they longed for a good Reformation This was the State which the Church and Religion were in for some Centuries It did not please God that those Times of Ignorance should last for ever that Darkness began to be dispersed in the last Century Then it was that Learning and Languages revived and that the Holy Scripture which had been for a great while a Book unknown to the People was rescued out of that obscurity in which the Barbarism of former Ages had buried it Men did perceive that divers Errors had been introduced into Religion they discovered several Abuses they went about to redress them and they succeeded so far that in this respect Christianity was restored to its Purity But that great Work could not be finished so that at this Day they Church and Religion are not yet brought to that State of Perfection which they might be in III. For to come now to the present State of Religion it is certain First that many Christian Churches are still very near in the same Darkness Men were in some Ages ago I shall say nothing of the sinking of Christianity in Asia and Africa there is more Knowledge in Europe but yet in many Places we may observe almost all those Disorders which prevailed in the Times of the grossest Ignorance Nay our Age is more unhappy than the precedent in that those Abuses have been consirmed and authorized by Laws and are now supported by Force How many Countries and Churches are there where the People know almost nothing of the Gospel where Religion is reduced to Childish and Superstitious Devotions and Practices where the most Ridiculous things are believed and the most shameful Errors received where the loosness of Manners may almost be parallel'd with Heathenism where the most execrable Crimes are committed In a Word where the Ignorance both of the People and Clergy are general excepting only some few understanding Men who are sensible of these Disorders but are restrained by Fear from discovering their Sentiments From those Places Corruption spreads to others and it would not be difficult to shew by several Instances that the Cause of Impiety Ignorance and Vice is to be found in those Places which should be the Foâ—â—tains of Piety and Religion What I have now said is not to be applied to all Churches for some there are where Religion is not so corrupted and where a purer Christianity is professed But yet let us enquire in the second place whether there are any Christian Societies where nothing is Wanting or to be desired in the State of the Church and Religion and where it would not be necessary to make some Alterations and Constitutions in order to come nearer to Perfection This deserves to be examined with Care and without Prepossession We ought here to lay aside the Spirit of a Party and ingenuously to acknowledge Defects where they are For else if every one is wedded to the Society of which he is a Member nothing can ever be remedied For supposing that there are Defects what Remedy can be used if we are all possessed with This Prejudice that all is Perfect in our Society Is not this the way to Canonize Abuses and to prevent the restoring of Order And First we ought not to wonder if there should still be Imperfections in the purest Societies It would be a kind of Miracle if there were none remaining God does not always think fit to finish his Work all at once unless he had made use of Inspired Men such as the Prophets or the Apostles were It was impossible so to attain Perfection and to provide for every thing at first dash that nothing more should be desired Besides Circumstances are so much altered that it seemâ— necessary to change several things that were left in the last Age. It is further to be considered that tho' Christians did long for a good Reformation yet great Difficulties were to be overcome to bring it about Mens Minds were not much enlightened they were just creeping out of Darkness and a long Custom had almost obliterated the true Ideas of Religion Almost all those who were in Civil or Ecclesiastical Authority did obstinately defend the Abuses which all Good Men thought it necessary to Redress Extream Severity was used towards those who desired this Reformation of the Church All this did terrify a great many well-meaning Persons and was the cause that in several Places those who had Courage enough to Condemn the Abuses openly were not able for want of Means to do all that the Interest of Religion required They were fain in those Places to yield something to the Iniquity of the Times and to settle Things as well as they could till a more favourable Oppotunity Some Churches came nearer to Perfection than others But howsoever if we would pass a right Judgment upon the present State of the Church and Religion we ought to Examine the Thing in it self and without Partiality Upon this I shall offer here some general Considerations and refer to the following Chapter some Heads which will
practised there would be less Corruption and more Zeal in the Church These were the Sentiments of many Doctors in the last Age they saw that the want of Order and Discipline was going to bring Libertinism into the Church But yet their endeavours were not altogether useless Some Churches drew considerably nearer to the Apostolical Institution and there are some where Discipline is not yet quite Abolished They still make use of some part of those means prescribed by the Gospel for the Correction of Manners They do not admit all Persons indifferently to the Sacrament They retain the use of Publick Penances and even in some places of Excommunication But yet there are still many things wanting in the Order and Government of those Churches as will appear by comparing their present practice with that of the Primitive Church and with the Canons of the Ancient Discipline I do not pretend that in this matter the practice of the first Christians ought to be copied in every thing but certainly in many points we ought to conform to it If we examine in what manner Discipline is administred now a days we may observe several Defects in it which are pretty considerable For instance we shall find Churches where Excommunication is used about Matters of no great importance where that which is called Excommunication is rather a civil Sentence or Punishment than an Ecclesiastical Censure and where not the Pastors of the Church but civil Judges Excommunicate Another common Fault is that Discipline is exercised only upon two or three sorts of Sinners Fornicators and Notorious Blasphemers are indeed severely proceeded against but a great many persons are suffered in the Church who have nothing of Christianity in their Deportment such as Drunkards idle People and several other Sinners whom the divine Laws subject as much to the rigor of Discipline as Adulterers It would be altogether Necessary to use Discipline against those who enter into Marriage only to conceal their shame and yet in most Churches no satisfaction is demandded of such People This is a matter of very great moment There is no sufficient care taken to be satisfied about the Sincerity of Sinners Repentance when they are to be restored to the peace of the Church The Apostolical Precept about avoiding all familiar intercourse with Scandalous Sinners is out of use By all this we may see that few Churches can boast a pure Discipline But supposing that true Discipline might be found in some places yet how many defects do creep into the best constituted Churches either through the stubborness of Sinners the opposition of corrupt Magistrates or through the fault and carelesness of Pastors The best Laws are good for nothing when they are not observed so that whether those who ought to exercise Discipline for the giving a stop to Scandals do it not or whether they have not the power to do it it is still true that Corruption proceeds from the want of Discipline What must we say then of those Churches where Discipline is wholly unknown where neither Church nor Pastors have any Authority to govern or inspect where Ministers dare not exclude any one from the Sacrament but admit all Persons indifferently to the Holy Communion which Abuse would have been thought an unheard of Profanation in the Primitive Church and where all publick Penances are out of Doors I say nothing of Excommunication if any Man should propose the restoring of it his design would be looked upon in many places as an unpardonable Crime And the strangest thing of all is that this want of Discipline is to be found in Churches which acknowledge the Scripture for the rule of Religion and that there are Divines who instead of promoting the re-establishment of Discipline oppose it and maintain that none are to be debarred from the Sacrament who cannot endure the very Name of Excommunication and who pretend that where the Magistrate punishes Vice there is no need of any other Discipline Those Divines have not the greater number on their side but their Opinion prevails because it favours Policy and Licentiousness We are to impute to this fatal remisness the loosness and irregularity of the Manners Christians I need not insist more upon this for every one is sensible of it Good Order keeps Men in Duty but where there is no Order Vice must of necessity bear sway What should restrain People Excepting some general Admonitions which are delivered in Sermons every Person is left to himself and lives as he thinks fit Private Men are not bound to give an account of their Conduct to any Body Those who lead the most Un-christian Life Sweaters Covetous Profane Lewd and Intemperate Persons all sorts of People live peaceably in the Church they are reputed Members of it they are mingled among true Christians they enjoy with them the same Spiritual Priviledges at least in all outward appearance and they are admitted to the same Sacraments As long as things are in this state we must not hope to see any abatement of Corruption But that nothing may be omitted which may contribute to the clearing of this matter it is necessary to answer some Objections and that which is alledged to excuse or even to justifie the taking away of the Ancient Discipline 1. Against the restoring of Discipline some say which was objected in the last Age that it is sufficient for the Edification of the Church that the Gospel should be Preached in it since that is the ordinary mean which God has appointed to procure the Conversion and the Salvation of Men. The Gospel no doubt is sufficient to teach us all that is necessary to be known in Religion but it is not true that God makes use only of the Preaching of the Gospel for the Salvation of Men For he uses other Means besides as for instance the Sacraments and those means among which Discipline is to be reckoned are prescribed by the Gospel it self so that whosoever submits to the Gospel must likewise submit to that Order we speak of But further the Gospel barely Preached and known is not sufficient to Salvation nothing but the practice of the Gospel can save a Man and it is to little purpose to Preach it if the Manners of Christians are not regulated and if Discipline is not used to that end as a Mean appointed of God As to Preaching it will be shewen in the next Chapter that Men ascribe more efficacy to it than it has and that there is a mistake in the Opinion which they commonly entertain of it 2. Those who are for Mystical Devotion and Piety will certainly say That Discipline is not essential to Religion that it is a matter of external Order and that external things are useful only to carnal and imperfect Christians But I desire those who have such Opinions to speak more reverently of an Order of which God is the Author and which the Apostles have so expresly recommended It cannot be thought that the Apostles who
unknown Facts She only proceeds against Notoriously Scandalous and Impenitent Sinners and she receives them as soon as they express their Repentance And is there any thing of Tyranny or danger in this It is proper to observe here especially with reference to Excommunication which is thought the severest part of Discipline that when the Church proceeds to that extremity she does not properly speaking act by way of Authority as if she had an absolute power to punish a Sinner and to cut him off from her Body But that Sinner has already by his Life cut himself off from the Communion of Christ he is no longer a Member of the Church so that the Church only declarâ—s that which is done and determined already tho' she should not declare it Neither is there any Cause to fear that the Publick Peace should be disturbed by the exercise of Discipline On the contrary Society will be the better Regulated for it For Discipline does not touch Civil Matters Excommunication it self does not hinder a Man from being still a Member of the Common-wealth nor that all the Duties of Justice and Humanity should be discharged towards him As for the Authority of Civil Powers it is no ways injured by this as evidently appears from the first Christians exercising Discipline openly in the fight of the Heathen Magistrates without any opposition from them Christ did not come into the World to Erect a Temporal Kingdom nor to draw Men off from their Submission to the Authority of Kings and Magistrates It is the Principle of a true Christian * Mat XXII To render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and to God the things which are God's This Principle will not deceive a Man and as long as we adhere to it all things will be in order Religion is so far from giving any just umbrage to Princes that on the contrary it strengthens their Authority Submission to the higher Powers is recommended by the Apostle in the most earnest manner The Christians of the first Ages who were very strict observers of Discipline distinguished themselvs by their Loyalty to Princes Nay it is observable that their Discipline which was so severe against Sinners was as strict against those who were wanting in the Fidelity and Respect due to Superiors witness that Cannon * Can. Apost 84. which enjoins the Deposition of those Bishops and Clergy-men who should offer an Affront to the Prince or his Officers Whosoever will take the pains to weigh this Matter will acknowledge that Discipline is a distinct thing from the Civil Power Each of these has its bounds and limits The Church does not touch the Body nor Civil Matters and it is not the Magistrate's business to regulate things relating to Conscience and Salvation Indeed if Magistrats imagine that they have a right to Govern the Church as they think fit and that they hold the same Rank in it which they hold in the Civil Society so that the Ministers of Religion are but their Officers Discipline may seem to them to lessen their Authority But let those who entertain such thoughts see how they can reconcile them with the Gospel and with the Nature of the Christian Religion Notwithstanding all this it will be said that Church-men have been known to usurp a Dominion over Consciences and over Kings It is true Church-men have abused their Authority but because a thing has been abused is it therefore to be abolished Wise Men will rather say that things ought to be restored to their natural State and to their lawful Use Else the whole Authority of Kings and Magistrates might be pulled down and we might argue thus Monarchical Governments liable to great Inconveniences Kings have been Tyrants and Usurpers therefore there must be no more Kings Magistrates and Judges have been unjust Covetous Cruel and therefore no Magistrates are to be endured Would not this Argument be extravagant and impious And yet the like Argument is used against Discipline In Church as well as in State Government there will be always some inconveniency to be feared this Evil is almost unavoidable there being no Form of Government which the Malice of Men may not abuse But those Abuses are without comparison a less Evil than Anarchy which is the most dangerous State of all But let us clear the Matter of Fact upon which the Objection I am now Confuting is founded It is supposed that Discipline did introduce Tyranny but on the contrary it was upon the Ruins of Discipline that Tyranny was erected This is known to all those who have any knowledge of Antiquity When did Bishop and Clergy-men usurp that excessive Authority over mens Estates Persons Consciences It was when the Observation of the Ancient Discipline was slackned when Discipline began to wear out of use when Sinners and especially great Men were exempted for Money when that which should have been transacted by the whole Church was referred only to the Clergy and when publick Confession was changed into a private one It was by these means and not by the due Exercise of Discipline that Church-men made themselves Masters of all What we ought to do then is this First to enquire what is of Divine Institution in Discipline and to restore that in the next place to consider what the Salvation of Sinners and the Honour of the Church require and what was good and edifying in the practice of the Primitive Church in order to conform to it and lastly to provide by good Laws that no Man may exceed the bounds of his Calling particularly that in restoring to the Clergy their lawful Authority all just measure may be taken to prevent their abusing it If Christian Princes are bound to preserve the Rights of the Church they ought likewise to take care that nothing be done against their own Authority and to punish those who oppose it or who disturb the Civil Society whether Ecclesiasticks or Lay-men This we are to treat of in another place Besides when we speak for the re-establishment of Discipline we mean that Pastors should be subjected to it as well as their Flocks and that if there is an Order in the Church to regulate the Manners of Christians there should be one also to regulate the Clergy and to lay strict Obligations on them to discharge their Duty in all its parts And that according to the Ancient Practice Discipline ought to be more severe against the Ecclesiasticks who fail in their Office than against the People But as we have complained in this Chapter of the want of Discipline with Relation to the Church in general so we are going to shew in the next that this want is neither less observable nor less fatal in those things which concern the Governors of the Church I conclude with saying that in Order to remedy the Corruption of Manners among Christians it is absolutely Necessary to restore the use of Discipline This is what has been and is still heartily wished for
he had need use all his Skill and Prudence all his Zeal and Endeavours to save Souls which are in so great danger Upon such occasions both the Minister and the sick Person have need of Time Leisure and Freedom and a hasty discourse or Prayer signifies nothing And now we may judge whether a Man discharges the Office of a Pastor who only in general exhorts dying Persons to acknowledge themselvs miserable Sinners and backs those Exhortations with Assurances of the Divine Mercy through Jesus Christ or who only reads some Forms of Exhortations and Prayers as the Custom is in some places This method is fitter to lay asleep than to awaken a guilty Conscience and this way of ex-exercising the Ministry overturns the Doctrine of a future Judgment and most of the Principles of Religion A Minister speaks to a sick Person of the pardon of his Sins he exhorts him to leave the World with joy he discourses to him of the Happiness of another Life and fills him with the most comfortable Hopes And perhaps this sick Person is a Man loaded with Guilt a wretch who has lived like an Atheist who has committed divers Sins for which he has made no Satisfaction who has not practised Restitution who never knew his Religion and who is actually impenitent Such a Man ought to tremble and yet such Consolations from the mouth of his Pastor make him think that he dies in a state of Grace But if this way of visiting and comforting the sick betrays them into security it has the same effect upon the standers by who when they hear the Consolations which are administred to Persons whom every body knows not to have led very Christian lives make a tacit Inference that the same things will be said to them and that their Death will be happy whatsoever their past Life may have been Besides the want of Ability and Zeal there are two things which hinder Pastors from discharging towards dying People the important Duties to which their Office obliges them The one is that commonly Pastors visit the Sick only in cases of extremity and the other is that they have too little communication with their Flocks and no sufficient Knowledge of the Lives and Conduct of private Persons so that being ignorant of the State and Occasions of the Sick they cannot at the approach of Death administer to them wholesom Counsels and Exhortations These I think are the most essential Defects of Pastors both in the Instruction and in the Government of the Church Having thus far treated of the Duties of the Pastoral Charge I come now to consider those Qualifications with which Pastors ought to be endued And these are of two sorts First The Endowments of the Mind by which I mean those Abilities and Talents which are necessary for the Instruction and Conduct of the Church and Secondly the Qualifications of the Heart by which I mean Probity and Integrity of Life 1. No Man questions but that Abilities and Talents are requisite in those who exercise the Office of Ministers in the Church First Some are necessary for Preaching the Gospel and for the right expounding of Scripture Preaching requires a greater extent of Knowledge than is commonly imagined To Preach well a Man should be well skilled in Languages History Divinity and Morality He should be acquainted with Man's Heart he should be of a Sagacious and discerning Spirit and above all things he should have a true and exact Judgment to say nothing of some other Qualifications which are necessary to every Man who speaks in Publick Neither are these Endowments sufficient particular Talents are requisite for the Conduct of the Church To guide a Flock and to be accountable for the Salvation of a great number of Souls is no small Charge nor an Employment which every body is fit for A Man to whom the Government of a Church is committed in whose Hands the Exercise of Discipline is lodged whose Duty it is both to Exhort and Reprove both in publick and in private and who ought to supply all the occasions of a Flock and to be provided for all Emergencies such a Man has need of a great deal of Knowledge Zeal and Firmness as well as of much Wisdom and Prudence Moderation and Charity That all these Qualifications are requisite in a Pastor is evident from the Nature of his Office and St. Paul teaches it when he appoints that none shall be admitted to this Employment but those in whom they are to be found What Effect then can the Ministry have when it is Exercised by Men who want these Qualifications or perhaps have the quite contrary who are ignorant who know nothing in Matters of Discipline and Morality who can give no account of a great many things contained in Scripture and whose whole Learning is confined to a Commentary who can neither reason true nor speak clearly who are either Indiscreet Negligent or Remiss in the Exercise of their Office But I do not wonder that these Qualifications are wanting in most Clergy-men Vast Numbers who were not cut out for this Employment aspire to it And besides these Abilities are not to be acquired without Labour and Application Now many Church-men are shamefully idle they look upon their Profession as a mean to live easy so that declining the Duties of their Place they content themselves with the Incomes of it Those who are to Preach are more employed but their Sermons are almost their whole Business Their Work consists for the most part in copying some Commentaries and as soon as they have acquired a little Habit and facility of Speaking in Publick almost all of them give over Study and Labour We may almost make the same Judgment of those Ecclesiasticks who tho' they Study hard yet do not direct their Studies to the Edification of the Church The Learning and the Studies of Divines I speak of those chiefly who have Cure of Souls is often vain and of no use for the edifying of their Flocks They apply themselves to things suitable to their Inclinations and their Studies are but their Amusement or their Diversion Now he who neglects the Duties of his Calling and pursues other Employments differs very little from him who does nothing at all II. Probity is not less necessary to Pastors than Knowledge and Ability and this Probity ought to have three degrees 1. The first is that Pastors give no ill Example and that their Life be blameless This is the first Qualification which St. Paul requires in those who aspire to this holy Office * 1 Tim. III. Let a Bishop says he be blameless that is his Manners ought to be such that he may not justly be charged with any Vice or give any Scandal Then the Apostle specifies the faults from which a Pastor ought to be free †Tit. I. Not given to wine no striker not greedy of filthy lucre but patient not a brawler not covetous one that ruleth well his own house having his
children in subjection with all gravity and who is not lifted up with pride and self-conceit Every body knows how much might be said if the Conduct of Clergy-Men was to be examined upon all these Heads Are not many of them scandalous by the irregularity of their Manners How gross and shameful soever the Sin of Drunkenness may be yet do they never commit it and is not this Vice very common among them in some Countries Are not some of them furious and passionate in their Actions and Words Do we never observe in them a sordid Covetousness and an excessive study of Self-Interest Are their Families always well ordered Are not Positiveness and Pride very remarkable in some Persons of that Profession Is there not often just Cause to complain that they are implacable in their Hatred that they have little Charity and that there is less Prepossession and more of Gentleness and true Zeal to be found among Lay-Men than among Divines I say nothing of some other Faults which are not less scandalous in Church-Men as when they are given to swearing when they are dissolute and undecently free in their Words when they are wedded to Divertisements and Pleasures Worldly-minded Lazy Crafty Unjust and Censorious When such Vices appear in the Lives of Clergy-Men it is the greatest of Scandals from that minute the Gospel becomes of no effect in their Mouths the Laws of God are trampled upon the most sacred things are no longer respected Divine Worship and the Sacraments are profaned the Ministry grows vile Religion in general falls under Contempt and the People being no longer curbed by the Reverence due to it give up themselves to an entire Licentiousness I confess that Christians ought to follow the Doctrine rather than the Example of their Guides and that it is possible to profit by the Instructions of a Man who does not practise what he teaches But every body has not discretion and firmness enough to separate thus the Doctrine from the Example and not to be shaken by the Scandal occasioned by Church-Men when their Life and their Preaching contradict each other Men are very much taken with Outsides and govern themselves more by Imitation than Reason A great many Persons want nothing but Pretexts and Excuses to justifie them in ill things and there is no pretence more specious than that which the ill Lives of the Ministers of Religion affords When the People see Men who are incessantly speaking of God and recommending Piety and yet do not practise themselves what they preach they reject all that comes from them they fancy that the Gospel is preached only for Forms-sake and that the Maxims of Religion may be safely violated 2. But St. Paul requires somewhat more in Pastors than not to be scandalous this is but the first and the lowest degree of Probity He would have them besides to be adorned with all manner of Virtues * 2 Tim. III. c. Tit. I. and II. To be vigilant prudent grave modest and given to hospitality gentle charitable lovers of good men wise just holy and chaste shewing themselves in all things patterns of good works of purity gravity and integrity And indeed Pastors are not only appointed to instruct and govern their Flocks but they are obliged besides to set them a good Example and to be their Patterns and they do not edifie less by their good Examples than by their Exhortations The Purity of their Manners and the regularity of their Conduct give a great Weight to all the Functions of their Ministry these make their Persons venerable and engage a great many to imitate them Now whether these Qualifications are to be found in Pastors every body may judge I except those who ought to be excepted but for the generality Wherein do Church-Men differ from other Men Do they distinguish themselves by a regular and exemplary Life Their Exterior indeed is something different they live more retired they preserve a little Decorum tho' ever this is not done by all but as for the rest are they not as much addicted to the World and taken up with earthly things have they not as many humane and secular Views are they not as much wedded to Interest and other Passions as the bulk of Christians are 3. This second degree of Probity is not sufficient The Life of an Hypocrite may be blameless and even edifying by composing his Exterior he may pass for a Saint There is therefore a third Degree and that is the Rectitude of the Heart a good Conscience a great measure of true Piety Devotion Humility and Zeal Pastor ought to be in private inwardly and in the sight of God what they appear to other Men. And certainly none can have greater Inducements to Piety than a Man whose ordinary Business it is to meditate upon Religion to speak of it to others to reprove Hypocrisie and Vice to perform Divine Service to administer the Sacraments to visit afflicted and dying People and to give an account to God of a great number of Souls I do not know whether there is a higher Degree of Impiety and Hypocrisie than when a Man who is in these Circumstances is not a good Man Such a Man makes but Sport with the most sacred things in Religion he does properly play the part of a Comedian and of an Hypocrite all his Life No Profession damns more certainly than that of a Church-Man when it is thus exercised It may perhaps be said that all these Moralities are nothing to my purpose that this third degree of Probity is necessary only for the Salvation of Pastors in particular and that as the People are unacquainted with the inward Dispositions of their Teachers and are not able to distinguish true from counterfeit Piety it is enough for their Edification that the Exterior should be well regulated But those who think this are very much mistaken This want of Piety and Devotion is capital and here we find the main Cause of the remisness of Pastors and of the Corruption of the People From whence do those Faults proceed which we have observed in Clergy-Men How comes it to pass that some of them are ignorant and lazy that others apply themselves to unprofitable Subjects and Studies that others preach only out of Vanity and that their Discourses are languid and jejune All this is because their Hearts are void of Devotion and Piety There are some preaching Matters and those too the most edifying which can never be well managed but by a Man animated with sincere Piety Those Preachers who describe the Beauty of Virtue or the happy State of a good Conscience the hopes of another Life or the necessity of working out one's Salvation and who are not affected and pierced thorough with what they say do but stammer about these things and they will hardly excite those Motions in other Men's hearts which they never felt in their own We cannot preach with Success without knowing the heart of Man and
of Religion with relation to Order But having done this already in the beginning of this Second Part I shall only say in general that nothing contributes so much to the maintaining of Disorder as Custom does The most beneficial Laws and Institutions are looked upon as dangerous Innovations when they are not Authorized by Practice Men dare not so much as attempt to introduce them On the other hand useless or ill Practices are thought Sacred Establishments as soon as they are confirmed by Time and Custom If Men do but endeavour to lay aside some Ceremony to make some alteration in a Liturgy or in the Form of Divine-Services It seems to many that the very essence of Religion is struck at Thus it happens that Abuses which are palpable and acknowledge by all Men of Sense subsist for whole Ages and cannot be Reformed The difficulty of reviving the Apostolical Discipline and of restoring Church-Government and the Ministry of Pastors to the State they ought to be in proceeds from the same Cause Because a certain Form of Ecclesiastical Government and Discipline obtains in a Country it is pretended to be the best and most perfect in which nothing is to be altered and those are not so much as heard who propose the establishing of another If any one thinks it a Fault to suffer Scandalous Sinners in the Bosom of the Church if he thinks that they ought to be Excommunicated and that Christians ought to maintain no familiar Intercourse with them tho' such a Man has the Laws of the Apostles on his side yet he shall be called an Innovator Tho' he should plainly shew the Inconveniences of the ordinary Practice and the necessity of Discipline from Scripture from the Pattern of the first Christian Ages and by the most convincing Arguments yet Custom will still be urged against him the Divine Laws shall give place to common Usage and the present Practice shall prevail above that of the Primitive Christians III. Example and Custom have a great force especially in those things which concern Manners Men are not altogether such Slaves to Custom in Matters of Opinion about Religion because Opinions are shut up within the Heart but in Practical Things and in Manners there are few Men who are not carried away by the Stream of the Multitude People think themselves excused from the Observation of the plainest and the most Sacred Duties as soon as they cannot observe them without departing from Custom and so they conform to the common Use how bad soever it may be Those who Condemn the vicious and corrupt Manners of the Age and practice the Rules of the Gospel who for instance abstain from Swearing and reprove those who do it who make scruple of Lying and of transgressing the Rules of their Duty are looked upon in the World as Homoursome People and stigmatized with Odious Names and Imputations If they plead the express Commands of Christ and his Apostles instead of giving up the Cause Men will strain the Scripture and by force Explications and impious Glosses endeavour to fix a Sense upon it which may favour the ordinary Practice While Piety dares not shew it self Vice is respected and bad Men carry it boldly every where because the Numbers are of their side Maxims directly opposite to the Moral Precepts of our Saviour are not only received and tolerated but they are defended as innocent for this single Reasons That the generality of Men approve and practise them This might be confirmed by innumerable Instances We can hardly imagine any thing more contrary to the Precepts of the Gospel than that worldly Life which is led by many Christians They spend their whole time in the Cares of the Body they wear out their Lives in Idleness Gaming Pleasures and Divertisements they deny themselves nothing they make it their study to live Luxuriously and to gratify themselves This kind of Life is inconsistent with Piety but because it obtains among Persons of the higher Rank it is very hard to persuade those who follow it that they ought to quit it It is by alledging common Practice that Men defend a soft and effeminate Life Fashions contrary to Chastity and Modesty the too great familiarity of the Young Persons of both Sexes the reading of ill Books the Plays which would Honesty and Religion scandalous Diversions and those Assemblies where the most inticing baits and allurements to Vice are to be met with and where the Minds of Young People receive the most dangerous Impressions All these Things I say are defended by Custom So that when Luxury and expensiveness and state in Apparel Eating or Furniture are once established we endeavour to no purpose to bring Men to Christian Moderation and to banish that multitude of Scandals and Vices which must needs attend such kind of Excesses Thus in some Nations where Drunkeness is in Vogue it is in vain to oppose so vicious a Custom In spight of all that can be said against Drunkenness and Intemperance People are so far from parting with that Vice that they fancy there is no sin in being Drunk To put up no Injuries to indulge Revenge to be tender and nice upon the Point of false Honour to stick at nothing that can promote one's Fortune to assume all Shapes to disguise one's Sentiments and to supplant others All these are Maxims which are followed without scruple because they are authorized by Use and by the false Opinions of Men. It would signifie nothing to alledge to those who are possessed with such Sentiments what the Gospel enjoins us concerning Patience forgiving of Injuries Humility Sincerity Justice and Charity such Morals will not be so much as hearkened to because these Matters are otherwise determined by Custom By the same reason it it pretended that in Offices in Trade in Arts and in the various Professions of Life every thing which is usually practised by Men in those several Callings may Lawfully be done Nay even an Oath is not sufficient to undeceive People most Men explain their Oaths and regulate their Consciences by the Example of others they use all the Methods of Gain which Custom has introduced without enquiring whether they are justifiable or not When I speak here of Custom and Example I do not only mean that which is established by general Use but that likewise which is authorized by Men in Credit The Quality of Persons produces the same effect that great Numbers do one single Example has sometimes as much force as the united Examples of a Multitude All that is done and approved of by Princes great Men Magistrates and Persons of Quality is a Law to a great many People A small Number of Considerable Persons who join their endeavours to bring a Practice into fashion is enough to make it in a little time to be generally followed how bad soever it may be This is so commonly seen that I think it needless to give Instances of it I shall add Three Considerations which deserve a