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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	adam_n	law_n	moral_a	4,944	5	10.5377	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50867	An account of Mr. Lock's religion, out of his own writings, and in his own words together with some observations upon it, and a twofold appendix : I. a specimen of Mr. Lock's way of answering authors ..., II. a brief enquiry whether Socinianism be justly charged upon Mr. Lock.	Milner, John, 1628-1702.; Locke, John, 1632-1704. Selections. 1700.	1700 (1700)	Wing M2075; ESTC R548	126,235	194

should lose his Life but that he should be kept alive in perpetual exquisite Torments But the cases are not parallel for they that expound the Words Thou shalt surely die of a double Death say that he should both lose or depart out of this present Life and also after his Departure suffer those perpetual exquisite Torments Besides an earthly Lawgiver who can only kill the body when he says Thou shalt die cannot be supposed to mean that the Person should suffer such Torments but it cannot be inferr'd hence that when the heavenly Lawgiver who after he hath kill'd is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell says Thou shall die he may not fitly be suppos'd to threaten Eternal Death as well as Temporal But that which gives greatest Offence is still behind and that is that he describes that which we call a natural or temporal Death not only by losing all actions of Lise and Sense but also by ceasing to be His words are these By Death here I can understand nothing but ceasing to be the losing of all actions of Life and Sense see Reasonab of Christian. p. 6. And so again p. 15. This being the case that whoever is guilty of any Sin should certainly die and cease to be That when Men die their Bodies lose all actions of Life and Sense we need not be told but ceasing to be is a quite different thing and according to the known sense of the words can signify nothing but the being annihilated It will therefore concern Mr. Lock to find out some other Sense of the Words which we know not of for it seems very strange that he should make Death an Annihilation When Mr. Lock says that none are truly punished but for their own deeds Reasonab of Christian. p. 9. we may gather from that which immediately follows that his Meaning is that there will be no Condemnation to any one at the great Judgment but for his own Deeds but that Persons have suffer'd otherwise for the Sins of others there are sundry Instances in Holy Writ and Mr. Lock here alledges the Words of the Apostle affirming that in Adam all die CHAP. XVI Of the Law of Nature and of Moses's Law THe Law of Nature is a Law knowable by the Light of Nature i. e. without the help of positive Revelation It is something that we may attain to the knowledge of by our natural Faculties from natural Principles Mr. Lock Essay l. 1. c. 3. § 13. The existence of God is so many ways manifest and the Obedience we owe him so congruous to the Light of Reason that a great part of Mankind give Testimony to the Law of Nature Ibid. § 6. Every Christian both as a Deist and as a Christian is obliged to study both the Law of Nature and the revealed Law that in them he may know the Will of God and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent Second Vindication p. 77. The Civil and Ritual part of the Law delivered by Moses obliges not Christians tho' to the Jews it were a part of the Law of Works it being a part of the Law of Nature that Man ought to obey every positive Law of God whenever he shall please to make any such Addition to the Law of his Nature But the moral part of Moses's Law or the moral Law which is every where the same the eternal Rule of Right obliges Christians and all Men every where and is to all Men the standing Law of Works Reasonab of Christian. p. 21 22. No one Precept or Rule of the eternal Law of Right which is holy just and good is abrogated or repeal'd nor indeed can be whilst God is an holy just and righteous God and Man a rational Creature The duties of that Law arising from the Constitution of his very Nature are of eternal obligation and it cannot be taken away or dispens'd with without changing the nature of things and overturning the Measures of Right and Wrong Ibid. p. 214. Thus Mr. Lock OBSERVATIONS It is known to be Mr. Lock 's darling Notion That there are no innate Ideas and no innate Law and consequently according to him the Law of Nature is not innate but he tells us that the knowledge of it is attain'd by the light of Nature or by our natural Faculties from natural Principles But I would ask him Whence we have these natural Principles from which by our natural Faculties we attain to the Knowledge of the Law of Nature for he denies all innate Principles Will he say then that we owe them to the Superstition of a Nurse or the Authority of an Old Woman or our Educations for these he mentions Essay l. 1. c. 3. § 22. and 26. where he is giving an account how Men commonly come by their Principles If he say this I would know why he calls those which are taught us by Old Women or our Nurses Parents and School-Masters natural Principles If Mr. Lock please to satisfie us as to these Queries I may possibly farther consider his Description of the Law of Nature Farther I believe that there have been many that have not made use of the Light of Reason and the natural Faculties which God hath given them as they should have done and withal have not had the advantage of any Revelation or of being taught who yet have had some Knowledge of the Duties and Dictates of the Law of Nature and have assented to them as just and good as soon as they were proposed to them CHAP. XVII Of Natural and Revealed Religion or of the Light of Reason and that of Revelation IT is not to be wonder'd that the Will of God when cloath'd in words should be liable to that Doubt and Uncertainty which unavoidably attends that sort of Conveyance And we ought to magnifie his Goodness that he hath spread before all the World such legible Characters of his Works and Providence and given all Mankind so sufficient a light of Reason that they to whom this written Word never came could not whenever they set themselves to search either doubt of the being of a God or of the Obedience due to him Since then the Precepts of Natural Religion are plain and very intelligible to all Mankind and seldom come to be controverted and other reveal'd Truths which are convey'd to us by Books and Languages are liable to the common and natural Obscurities incident to Words methinks it would become us to be more careful and diligent in observing the former and less magisterial positive and imperious in imposing our own Sense and Interpretations of the latter Mr. Lock Essay l. 3. c. 9. § 23. Whatsoever Truth we come to the discovery of from the Knowledge and Contemplation of our own clear Ideas will always be certainer to us than those which are convey'd to us by Traditional Revelation for the Knowledge we have that this Revelation came from God can never be so sure as the Knowledge that we have from our own clear and

not Varro apud S. August de Civit. Dei l. 19. c. 1. speak of two hundred eighty eight Sects or several Opinions concerning it I might add That the legible Characters of God's Works and Providence spread before all the World of which Mr. Lock speaks have not prevented all Controversies among Heathens about God himself and therefore Cicero in the very beginning of his Books de Natura Deorum takes notice of the different Opinions about that Subject De qua tam variae sunt doctissimorum hominum tamque discrepantes sententiae c. I may conclude therefore that we have little reason to say that the Principles and Precepts of Natural Religion are so plain and very intelligible to all Mankind and so little controverted as Mr. Lock would make them to be And we have as little reason to be satisfied with that which Mr. Lock says of the Obscurity of the Truths of Revealed Religion His only reason here is because they are convey'd to us by Books and Languages and so liable to the common and natural Obscurities and Difficulties incident to Words And so a little before that it is not to be wonder'd that the Will of God when cloath'd in Words should be liable to that Doubt and Uncertainty which unavoidably attends that sort of Conveyance Essay l. 3. c. 10. § 23. So then according to Mr. Lock Doubt and Uncertainty Obscurities and Difficulties unavoidably attend Words they are not only common but even natural to them And so all the Will of God all Revealed Truths since they are convey'd by Words according to him are obscure difficult and uncertain So that Love God and Love thy Neighbour Fast and Pray Do as you would be done unto would have been according to him dark or obscure Instructions if they had all of them been reveal'd only and none of them also Precepts of the Law of Nature So Love your Enemies Bless them that curse you Do good to them that hate you Pray for them that persecute you and Blessed are ye when men shall reproach and persecute you and speak all evil against you fulsly for my sake for great is your reward in Heaven are all dark and obscure Yea finally all that Mr. Lock hath writ is obscure if this be true that Doubt and Uncertainty Obscurity and Difficulty do unavoidably attend Words and are natural to them for in Writing he makes use of Words Doth not Mr. Lock himself confute this Notion concerning the Obscurity of Words when he faith that Christ brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel see his Third Letter p. 439. for Christ and his Apostles made use of Words in preaching the Gospel as the Evangelists also did in writing it And when Ibid. p. 443. he so gratefully receiv'd and rejoic'd in the Light of Revelation I suppose he did not judge Revealed Truths to be so dark and obscure as he did when he writ his Essay If any would be satisfied about the Law of Nature and that of Scripture and the Plainness or Clearness of them I should advise them to read Mr. Hooker Eccles. Pol. l. 1. § 12. As to the Question Whether and how far Reason is to judge of Revelation we need not dispute it since now there is no new Revelation expected and it is certain that nothing which is already reveal'd in Holy Writ is contrary to Reason As to Mr. Lock he expresses himself very variously in this matter as 1. No Proposition can be receiv'd for Divine Revelation if it be contradictory to our clear intuitive Knowledge Essay l. 4. c. 18. § 5. 2. Nothing that is contrary to or inconsistent with the clear and self-evident Dictates of Reason has a Right to be urg'd or assented to as a matter of Faith Ibid. § 10. 3. No Proposition can be receiv'd for Divine Revelation which is contradictory to a self-evident Proposition The Third Letter p. 230. Perhaps he will say that Contradictory to our clear intuitive Knowledge and to the clear and self-evident Dictates of Reason and to a self-evident Proposition are in effect the same only different Expressions of the same thing To which I answer Suppose it be so yet if descending to Particulars we are uncertain whether such or such Propositions be self-evident or no of what Use is this Rule to us According to some such Propositions are self-evident but others will not allow that they are as for instance this that the essential Properties of a Man are to reason and discourse which others reckon among self evident Propositions yea Maxims is flatly deny'd to be such by Mr. Lock in his Third Letter p. 263. Mr. Lock in his Essay l. 4. c. 18. § 3. distinguishes between Original and Traditional Revelation The former he also calls Immediate because it is reveal'd immediately by God the latter is that which is deliver'd over to others by Word or Writing He also tells us Ibid. § 6. that a Man ought to hearken to Reason even in Immediate and Original Revelation and in Traditional Reason hath a great deal more to do But I would ask him Whether Abraham ought to have hearken'd to Reason in that Revelation concerning the offering Isaac It was Faith Heb. 11. 17. not Reason that induced him to receive it as a Divine Revelation Had he consulted Reason that would have told him positively that it could not come from God since it commanded that which was so clearly forbidden not only by the Laws which God himself had given to Noah and before him to Adam but also by the Law of Nature There could not be any thing more contradictory to the clear and self-evident Dictates of Reason than this Injunction which Abraham so readily obey'd was In his Essay l. 4. c. 18. § 4. he hath these Words No body I think will say that he has as certain and clear a Knowledge of the Flood as Noah that saw it or that he himself would have had had he then been alive and seen it And I readily grant that no Man who understands what he says will affirm that he has as clear a Knowledge of the Flood and of the Circumstances of it in every Particular as Noah had that saw it but this I shall be bold to say that I know not but that there may be some who as firmly and certainly believe that there was such a Flood as is describ'd in the Book of Genesis as if they had been then alive and seen it as I hope that there may now be some of those blessed ones who though they have not with the Apostle Thomas seen the Print of the Nails yet do as certainly and firmly believe our Lord's Resurrection as if they had seen it In the same Essay l. 4. c. 16. § 14. he writes thus The Testimony of God is call'd by a peculiar Name Revelation and our Assent to it Faith which has as much Certainly as our Knowledge it self Where I would have these last Words observ'd Faith has as

to be done wants the true Principle of Vertue and Industry This Temper therefore so contrary to unguided Nature is to be got betimes and this Habit as the true foundation of future Ability and Happiness is to be wrought into the Mind as early as may be and so to be confirm'd by all the Care and Ways imaginable Ibid. p. 37 38 46. Christ commands Self-denial and the exposing our selves to Suffering and Danger rather than to deny or disown him Reasonab of Christian. p. 224. As the foundation of Vertue there ought very early to be imprinted in the Minds of Children a true Notion of God as of the independent supreme Being Author and Maker of all things from whom we receive all our Good that loves us and gives us all things hears and sees every thing and does all manner of Good to those that love and obey him and consequent to it a Love and Reverence of him They must be taught also to pray to him The Lord's Prayer the Creeds and ten Commandments 't is necessary they should learn perfectly by heart The Knowledge of Vertue all along from the beginning in all the Instances they are capable of being taught them more by Practice than Rules I know not whether they should read any other Discourses of Morality but what they find in the Bible Of Education p. 157 158 185 220. Thus Mr. Lock OBSERVATIONS When Mr. Lock in Essay l. 2. c. 28. § 7. having nam'd three distinct Laws the Divine Law the Civil Law and the Law of Opinion or Reputation as he calls it says that by the first Men judge whether their Actions are Sins or Duties by the second whether they be criminal or innocent by the third whether they be Vertues or Vices doth he not plainly distinguish Sins and Duties from Vices and Vertues For 1. He makes Men to judge of Vices and Vertues by one Law of Sins and Duties by another 2. They judge by an infallible Rule of the one by a very fallible one of the other 3. Criminal and Innocent are plainly distinct from Sins and Duties and so we cannot but judge that according to Mr. Lock Vices and Vertues are distinct from both Now if so it might not be amiss if he would inform us where the Distinction between them lies for I have always thought that there is a very near Affinity as between Vice and Sin on the one hand so between Vertue and Duty on the other hand But tho' according to Mr. Lock Men do judge of Vertue and Vice by his Law of Opinion and Reputation yet he will not say that they ought to do so He tells us here § 11. that the Law of Nature ought to be the Rule of Vertue and Vice and expresses it more largely in his Epistle to the Reader The Law of Nature says he is that standing and unalterable Rule by which Men ought to judge of the moral Rectitude and Pravity of their Actions and accordingly denominate them Vertues or Vices But I had rather say that the Law which ought to be the Rule whereby Men judge of Sins and Duties ought also to be the Rule by which they are to judge of Vices and Vertues and that is the Divine Law which Mr. Lock himself being Judge comprehends more than the Law of Nature By the Divine Law says he here § 8. I mean that Law which God has set to the Actions of Men whether promulgated to them by the Light of Nature or the Voice of Revelation So say I the Law of God comprehending both the Law of Nature and his revealed Law is the Rule whereby Men ought to judge of Vertues and Vices But Mr. Lock will prove that his Law of Opinion or Reputation or as he also expresses it Approbation or Dislike Praise or Blame is the common measure of Vertue and Vice This says he will appear to any one who considers that every where Vertue and Praise Vice and Blame go together Vertue is every where that which is thought praise-worthy and nothing else but that which has the Allowance of publick Esteem is call'd Vertue Thus Mr. Lock here viz. l. 2. c. 28. § 11. But I would know whether he speaks of true and real or of reputed Vertue if of reputed it is not to the purpose since every one will grant without Proof that his Law of Reputation is the Rule of reputed Vertue and it signifies no more than this that that is reputed Vertue which is reputed such Besides how can it be worth the while to enquire after the Rule of reputed Vertue If on the other side he speak of true real Vertue I believe that no Man before him ever said that true Vertue and Praise every where went together Constant Experience may teach every Man the contrary It is very rarely that true Vertue hath met with such Entertainment in the World but on the other hand it would fill large Volumes if we could set down all the Instances of reproach'd and despis'd Vertue which the several Ages of the World have afforded Mr. Lock goes on and tells us that Vertue and Praise are so united that they are call'd often by the same name His Meaning is that Vertue is call'd often by the name of Praise but he gives us only two Instances of it The one is out of Virgil. AEneid l. 1. Sunt sua praemia laudi where laudi is by some interpreted virtuti by others factis laudabilibus or gestis bellicis but the whole Verse is this En Priamus sunt hic etiam sua praemia laudi and why may not laudi have here the usual Signification Certainly though I shall not be confident that it is the right Interpretation of the Verse yet if referring sua to Priamus I should construe it thus Lo Priamus here also are his rewards to his Praise I believe Mr. Lock would not find it very easie to confute it The other Instance is out of Cicero Tusc. Qu. l. 2. whose Words Mr. Lock hath transcrib'd but I shall do it more fully Nihil habet praestantius nihil quod magis expetat quam honestatem quam laudem quam dignitatem quam decus Hisce ego pluribus nominibus unam rem declarari volo sed utor ut quammaxime significem pluribus Volo autem dicere illud homini longe optimum esse quod ipsum sit optandum per se a virtute profectum vel in ipsa virtute situm sua sponte laudabile quod quidem citius dixerim solum quam summum bonum Thus Cicero who himself declares what that one thing is which he would signifie by all those Names viz. the chief or rather only Good which is praise-worthy and desirable for it self proceeds from Vertue or is placed in Vertue We need then no other Commentary but Tully's own That which he signifies by Honestatem Laudem Dignitatem Decus is the chief Good concerning which he would not determine whether it proceed from Vertue or consists in it It doth