on the very same ground attend to the former because that is from God no less than this Wherefore those who oppose one to the other make â—od contradict himself because he is the Aâ—thor of both And here I cannot but take notice of the Injustice of some late Penmen who represent the Asserters of the Trinity and of such like Points of Faith as persons that are Enemies to Reason and such as will by no â—â—ans admit of a Rational Religion This they craftily urge and aggravate to blacken the Cause which they have set themselves against but there is nothing of Truth in the accusation but as they manage it a great deal of Falshood and Wrong For we give unto Reason the things that are Reason's we assert the use and necessity of it in Religion yea in the Christian Religion and we are able and ready to defend and maintain a considerable part of it by Rational Principles We most freely profess with Iustin the Philosopher and Martyr That whatever was well said by any of the Philosophers Poets and Historians is to be found in the Christian Writings of the Bible We declare that the Christian Institution commends and enforces all the Maxims of Morality and the Natural Religion of mankind and the Common Dictates of Reason Those therefore are very Injurious to us and to Truth itself who labour as we see they do to fill Mens heads with other apprehensions But though it be thus in the general yet there are Particular Doubts and Difficulties relating to this Holy Institution there are some certain Points which are in themselves Mysterious Incomprehensible and Inconceivable and will not submit to the nicer Scrutinies of Humane Reason The â—ery Deity it self which is the very foundation of all Christianity is a 〈◊〉 and the greatest of all Mysteries Whence it was the acknowledgment of 〈◊〉 a very Wise and Good Man God is Great and we know him not Job 36. 26. We cannot fully understand his Nature and Attributes yea we are capable of knowing but very little of them Which is fitly express'd by that of the Apostle He dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6. 16. This inaccessible Splendor admits not of a full view The more we gaze upon this Glorious Sun the more we are dazzled and almost blinded In some case it is unsafe and perillous saith a Pious Father to speak what is True of God â—â—e is best known by a modest 〈◊〉 â—â—ith another We know not whâ—â— he is but only what he is not saith a Third And it is observable that Socinus himself in the first Chapter of his Praeâ—â—ctions stiâ—â—y contâ—nds though upon no solid grounds at all that the Existence of God is not discoverable by the light of Naâ—ure and Reason how then can he and his â—ollowers imagine â—hat the Divine Nature and Essence are to be comprehended by humaâ—e thoughts If we cannot according to him discover that God is how shall we understand what he is There are several unutterable Abstrusities and Difficulties in the notion of an Eternal Self-subsisting Being We cannot penetrate into the Omniscience and Omnipresence of God we have not adequate conceptions of his Immutability his Justice his Faithfulness and none of his Perfections and Excellencies are throughly understood by us So that according to the way of Arguing which some men use viz. that Nothing must be receiv'd in Religion but what is exactly according to plain Reason they may renounce the Deity it self for in the notions we have of the Nature and Attributes of God there are some things above our Reason The Manner how Three real Subsistencies are united in One Essence or Substance of the Godhead is not comprehensible but the Holy Scripture puts it beyond all doubt that it is so There are many Principles and Propositions in Christianity which are far above our weak capacities There are several things in the Conduct of our Redemption and Salvation the exact knowledge of which is hidden from us at least the Modes and Circumstances belonging to them are not to be comprehended though we are sure of the General Truth There are sundry Difficult things occur concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God but we have no reason to disbelieve the Doctrine it self I know saith St. Chrysostom that the Son was begotten of the Father but how I know not I know he was born of a Virgin but I can't tell the Manner of it for we acknowledge the production of Both Natures and yet the Manner of both we are not able to declare So as to the Vnion of the Divine and Humane Natures in Christ's Person we have not an accountable idea of it though the thing it self is agreeable to Reason We cannot answer all the doubts concerning Christ's Satisfaction but upon incontestable grounds we may be convinc'd of the Truth of it The Resurrection of the same Body at the last day is an unquestionable Article of the Christian Faith but if we be ask'd how a dead body crumbled into dust and perhaps dissipated by the winds into several quarters or how a body converted into the substance of other creatures after innumerable introductions of new shapes preserves its proper Identity â—nd Individuation if we be ask'd I say How this can be The Answer in brief can 〈◊〉 no other than this We cannot tell But it will be said This is an unbecoming Answer for any man that pretends to Knowledge and Understanding in the matters of Religion I reply This is no ways unbecoming but to pretend to give Reasons and Accounts when we are not able to do it is very unbecoming and absurd And many other Points of Christianity are hid from our Natural Reason and are Inscrutable Secrets Our Religion hath many Mazes and Labyrinths in it which we cannot extricate our selves out of The Gospel not only was but is a Mystery it is so now and will continue so to the end of the world If we enquire into the Reasons of this so far as we are able to judge there may be this Account given of it 1. That which Solomon suggests to us ought to have the preference to all other Reasons that can be assign'd It is the glory of God saith he to conceal a thing Prov. 25. 2. The Supreme Being is pleas'd to hide the knowledge of several things from men because this redounds to the Honour and Glory of the Divine Majesty Hereby the Sovereignty of the Great Disposer of all things is displayed to mankind hereby his Transcendent Nature which infinitely â—urpasses that of all Created beings is proclaim'd to the world This was the sense of another Wise and Holy man who speaking of the Almighty saith He giveth not account of any of his matters Job 33. 13. Though sometimes yea frequently he vouchsafes to render a Reason of what he saith as well as of what he doth yet in many cases he thinks fit to deal with us otherwise
thing shews their mistake and that they are on this side of that place for they betray the weakness and uncertainty of their Knowledge These persons indiscreetly antedate the Last day anticipate the Future World and confront the revealed Purpose of Heaven for it was not design'd by the Supreme Being that we should here below have a full insight into those Divine Recesses this is reserved for another State Thus much of the Reasons so far as we can apprehend why Christianity is a Mystery that is why some of the most weighty and momentous doctrines of it are in some part hid from all mens understandings What I have said administers to us this double Reflection 1. From the premises we may discover the vanity and falsity of the Socinian Notion that there are no Mysteries in the Christian Religion 2. We may gather what is our Proper Duty and Concern in the Case before us First I say this discovers and detects and at the same baffles the false apprehension of those men who cry down all Mysteries in Christianity and tell us that all is levell'd to the meanest capacities Notwithstanding those Remarkable Attestations to the Contrary Truth from the plain words of our Saviour and his Apostles yet they perversly oppose and deny it and magnifie Reason as the only Measure of Truth and Rule of Faith whatever their late Pretences are and nothing will serve them in Religion but Logick and downright Demonstration I have observ'd it in the Modern Writings of this sort of men and of one also that is a late Friend of theirs that they seldom or never finish a Discourse though it be about Religion without bringing in of Geometrical terms especially Angles and Triangles These Gentlemen under a pretext of Mathematicks would subvert Christianity and demonstrate us out of the Articles of our Faith and make a Triangle baffle the Trinity This is the grand Source of their present Delusion and of that disturbance which they make in the World viz. their labouring to exclude all Mysteries from Christianity It arises wholly from this that they will not give credit to any thing in Religion but what is entirely Clear and Evident and commensurate to exact Reason This is perfectly according to that Description which one of the Fathers of the Primitive Church gives of St. Paul's Natural man He is one saith he that attributes all to the Reasonings of his Soul and thinks not that he stands in need of help from Above neither will be receive any thing by Faith but counts all foolishness which cannot be made out by Demonstration And an Ancient Critick defines him thus He is one who turns all over to Humane Reason and admits not of the operation of the Spirit i. e. any thing that is Supernatural in Religion This is the brief but full Character of a Disciple of Socinus so far as we are concern'd in him upon the present occasion but certainly it ill becomes a Christian man for I have proved already that such a spirit and genius are against the plain determination of Christ and his Apostles against the very nature of the things themselves and unsuitable to the present state we are in Such a one forgets to distinguish between Philosophy and Christianity The Professors of the former act not amiss in squaring all their opinions and sentiments by Strict Reason but the Adherers to the latter who are eminently stiled Believers must yield their assent to things which they cannot by Reason comprehend Otherwise they confound the natures of things and take away the Distinction between Reason and Faith which is much more absurd and unaccountable than what Scenkius in his Medical Observations fancies that it is possible for a man to receive the Visible Species through his Nostrils or in plainer terms that a man may See with his Nose for here is only a substituting of one Bodily Sense for another but in the other case there is a mistaking of one Mental Operation for another viz. Reason for Faith This is the Absurdity of those of the Racovian way and we ought carefully to avoid it We are to believe Christianity to be a Reasonable Service as the Apostle deservedly stiles it but it may be truly said of those men that they make Christianity more reasonable than it is that is they make it submit wholly to Humane and Natural Reason and this is the ground of their exploding all Mysteries Secondly Seeing a great part of the Christian Religion is a Mystery and design'd to be such we are concern'd to Behave our selves accordingly that is never to be so bold and rash as to demand a Positive and Punctual Account of things of this high and abstruse nature It is required in a Good Grammarian said One who was as skilful in that Art as any man that he be ignorant of some things The same may be said of a Good Divine to be ignorant of some Mysteries and not to search too earnestly into them is a good qualification in one of that Profession and indeed in all persons that study Christianity This is a Learned kind of Ignorance and we are not to be ashamed of it It is not necessary we should have a clear understanding of Theological Secrets because the Holy Writ is silent about them but yet we ought to hold and believe the things themselves because the same Infallible Word asserts them Those that go any further shew indeed that they are very Prying and Inquisitive but let them beware of handling the Word of God deceitfully and making Truth uphold Falshood As that Egyptian in Plutarch answer'd the men who ask'd him What it was that he carried so close Covered Therefore it is cover'd said he that you should not know what it is and therefore your asking was in vain So it is here these Divine things are purposely hid from us and wrapt up in Obscurity that we may not with too eager a Curiosity search into them and busie our heads about them Let every one of us think that spoken to us which the Good Christian said to the Philosopher at the Council of Nice Ask not How Be not inquisitive concerning the Manner of Sacred and Heavenly things for this is hid from us A Learned and Pious Writer of the Primitive Church tells us That it is enough for us to know that in Christ's Person the Divine Nature was so joyn'd by an ineffable kind of Tye with the Humane Nature that the same Hypostasis contains in it two distinct Natures but how that Union is made it is not necessary to know nor is it fit to search only let us believe and hold what is written And the same Excellent Person in another place and indeed in several places of his Writings exceedingly blames the rashness and curiosity of those that prie into Divine Mysteries and dispute and wrangle and raise vain questions about them and ask why and how such things are It
as the Fable tells us Iupiter appointed a Log to be their King and Governour To be dull and heavy in an Employment that calls for Activity is Inexcusable and very Reproachful Bibulus who was I. Cesar's Fellow-Consul but did nothing in his Office was left out in the Roman Dates which otherwise always made mention of both the Consuls An Idle and Useless Magistrate renders himself Ridiculous and Contemptible he is of no Value and therefore is reckoned as a meer Cypher in the Publick Accounts Matters of great moment call for his Care and Inspection how then can he be Unconcerned and Unactive His Affairs are Great and Weighty and he hath no leisure to Trifle after the rate of that Loitering Emperor who spent his time in Catching and Killing of Flies He is made for the Safety and Welfare of the People and therefore it is not enough that he â—its quiet and doth no harm but it is required that he do Good Seeing Rulers are allied to Divinity they must be Vigorous and moving they are to Live and Act as Gods they are engaged to shew forth the God-like Vertues which are supposed to be in them They must Resemble the Deity in Holiness and Purity unless they would approve themselves to be such Gods as Homer and other Poets are wont to make that is Drunken Adulterous Contentious and Debauched Gods Which indeed is no more than could be expected from that sort of Writers for it is no wonder that they who advanced Men and Mortal Creatures to the Quality of Gods thrust down these Latter to the Condition of the Worst Sort of the Former But these Things become not those Persons who are stiled Gods in the Holy Scripture and are to Represent the God of all Purity They should be reminded of this That they are to Walk worthy of a Name that is so Sacred of a Title that is so Honourable And so much for the First Remark on the Words viz. The Dignity and Eminency of the Magistrates Calling Ye are Gods Proceed we in the next Place to the 〈◊〉 of this Eminency to the Fountain of this Honour and Dignity I have said viz. That ye are Gods Had they been called so by Men it might have been construed as Flattery As we read that it was the Proud and Insolent Humour of Great Ones not only to give this Title to themseves but to be Ambitious to have it Attributed to them by Others and to be told by their Parasites as our First Parents by the Serpent That they shall be as Gods But here Magistrates are called Gods by God Himself Behold then the Divine Institution the Sacred Appointment of Magistracy The Tenure they hold by is the Highest and Best viz. in Chief from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Earthly Governours are Invested with their Authority from the God of Heaven I even I have said Ye are Gods First Nature saith it whereof God is the Author Secondly The Sacred Writ saith as much whereof God the Holy Ghost is the Inditer Thirdly The Strange Events and Occurrences in the World whereof God is the Cause and Procurer say and proclaim aloud that Magistrates and Governours are God's Ordinance First Nature saith it whereof God is the Author and Founder Magistracy bears an Antient Date and had the same Horoscope with the Creation It began Primo Adami it commenced on the Calends of the World The Light of Nature with which we were born dictates Superiority and Inferiority And it may be observed that the Man who is Rebellious against this Sentiment at the same time acknowledges the Truth of it for he Claims a Preeminence to Brutes and a Power over them and this Right was Founded in the Primitive Laws of his Creation He hath likewise Power and Sovereignty over himself and that Part of him which is Brutish his Lower Faculties and Sensual Appetites And this Empire is wholly Managed by the Laws of Reason and Rectified Understanding It is confessed by all Mankind that there is yet a farther Dominion for they have and acknowledge a Power over one another as Masters over their Servants and Fathers over their Children For all Children as soon as they are Born are under a Paternal Sovereignty so that to be Subject is as Natural as to be a Man And now since the World is encreased the same Law of Reason and Nature dictates Subjection and Obedience to the Civil Parent the Father of our Country and to all those that are Deputed by him For the Power of a King over his People and so of Lower Magistrates over their peculiar Charge is every way as Rational and Accountable as the foresaid Authority of Fathers over their Children Whilst the World was yet in its Minority it had these Guardians and Tutors and even to this Day when it is above Five Thousand Years old it stands still in need of them For certainly the very Necessities of Mankind are sufficient to vouch the Constitution of Magistracy We came into the World under a State of Government and we cannot subsist without it Our Natural Condition and Frame require such a Dispensation as this To this there is the United Suffrage and Consent of all Nations which shews it to be a Law of Nature I might add that God hath Condescended to the Weakness and Complied with the Infirmities of our Nature in appointing such Vicegerents as are of a resembling Temper with us Men of like Passions with our selves The Gods are come down to us but in the likeness of Men. The Lustre of the Divine Majesty would have dazzled and confounded our weak Sight That Glorious Sun could have no sooner been seen but we should have been blinded But when we cannot bear that Sun it self we may behold its derivative Beauty in God's Deputies the Magistrates In their Purple and Bright Robes we may safely view the Reflections of the Heavenly Majesty and Brightness And thus by a Necessary Constitution of Heaven fitted to our Natures and by the Suggestions of Natural Instinct and Right Reason we are brought to acknowledge the Reasonableness and Necessity of a Government in the World Accordingly we find the Beginning and Rise of it referred to This very Principle by the Great Masters of the Imperial Laws in their Books of Digests Nor are we to Imagine as some have fondly done That Grace banishes Nature that Reason and the Conduct of it are not Obligatory under the Gospel This is a groundless Surmise because 't is certain that he who swerves from the Dictates of Nature declines God's Law this being a Divine Law and we may rationally gather any thing to be from God if it be Evident by and Consonant to the Light of Nature which is the â—andle of the Lord. In a word Natural Reason is so far from being abolished by the Laws of Iesus Christ that it is Confirmed and Authorized by them they being the Upshot of all Good Laws and the Consummation of the Best
short of the other in this that he hath not attain'd to that Spiritual discerning of Evangelical truths which the Apostle speaks of and without which it is utterly impossible to have such a knowledge of them as will be effectual to Salvation and Happiness I will add only one Text more 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world i.e. Satan hath blinded the minds of them who believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them Here it is implied that the Gospel is hid from some persons yea and we are told from whom viz. such as according to the foregoing stile of the Apostle are Natural men those that live in their sins and suffer their minds to be blinded and perverted to be corrupted and debauch'd by the Diabolick Spirit the Prince and Ruler of this lower world To such the Gospel and the Truths of it are meer Darkness Thus it abundantly appears from the Sacred Writ whence we are to fetch our discoveries concerning these things that the Proposition which I laid down is an impregnable and unshaken Truth viz. that Christianity retains still the nature of a Mystery and that more especially as so some persons The Reason is plain because Natural Strength is not sufficient of it self to discover these Divine Truths Unless the Soul be illuminated by the Holy Spirit these remain unintelligible and wholly ineffectual and useless as to any Saving vertue and efficacy This I take to be the meaning of our Saviour's words Iohn 3. 3. Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God Unless as the Apostle speaks he be renewed in the spirit of his mind and that by the power of the Holy Ghost he cannot understand aright the Truths of the Gospel which is call'd frequently the kingdom of God and of heaven he cannot see he cannot enter into as 't is express'd in v. 5. those divine things This is that which our Saviour avers Mat. 11. 27. Neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son and he to whosoever the Son will reveal him viz. by an Inward and Effectual Discovery for they had the Outward Revelation then When the Apostle St. Peter acknowledged Christ to be the Son of the living God our Saviour told him that flesh and blood had not reveal'd this to him but his Father who is in heaven Mat. 16. 17. It was not the work of Nature but of the Spirit of God the Father that had effectually wrought this Knowledge in him This sort of Light is peculiarly from the Father of lights this Singular Wisdom is from above and accordingly as some interpret that place Iohn 3. 13. the knowledge of these Heavenly and Spiritual things is call'd ascending up to heaven From thence is deriv'd that Insight into the things of God which no Natural man hath attain'd to For in this Degenerate State of mankind the Great Points of our Religion are under a Seal and lock'd up from us and are never to be disclosed till a Divine Light opens our eyes We must of necessity remain Blind till that Eye-Salve Rev. 3. 18. be effectually applied And it can be applied only by the Holy Spirit whose proper work it is to dispel that spiritual darkness whereby the mind is indisposed to understand and discern divine matters aright This is variously express'd in the Holy Writings viz. by such terms as these shining in our hearts to give the light of knowledge 2 Cor. 4. 6. giving us an understanding to know 1 John 5. 20. enlightning the eyes of our understanding Eph. 1. 18. an Vnction from the Holy One 1 John 2. 20. Which cannot be better paraphras'd and explain'd than in the words of an Eminent Prelate of our Church The same Spirit which revealeth the Object of Faith generally to the Universal Church doth also illuminate the understanding of such as believe that they may receive the Truth For Faith is the gift of God not only in the Object but also in the Act. And afterwards in the Close he hath these words We affirm not only the Revelation of the Will of God but also the Illumination of the Soul of Man to be part of the office of the Holy Spirit of God against the Old and New Palagians So that Judicious Writer It is this Holy Instructor that disposes the mind to receive the light of Divine Truth by curing it of its Natural Darkness and Ignorance and by preparing the heart to receive its Rays There is required a Special Grace of the Holy Ghost to enlighten the Soul and to make due impressions upon it The â—aculty of the Understanding must be puriâ—ied and so made fit to apprehend Spiritual objects This is part of the Renewed Nature and Regenerate Principle and consequently where this is not the Great Doctrines of Christianity are Hidden Secrets and Unknown Mysteries From what hath been said I will only draw these Two Corollaries 1. It is no wonder that the Followers of Socinus will not acknowledge Christianity to be a Mystery for they hold there is no necessity of â— Supernatural Light no need of Illumination from the Spirit in order to the due apprehending and understanding of the Divine Truths of the Gospel There is they say in all men that natural ability whereby they are capable of discerning all Spiritual and Heavenly matters in a spiritual way They are enabled by virtue of an Inbred Power in their minds abstract from what is Supernatural to perceive and believe as they ought all the Evangelical doctrines propounded to them Wolzogen ridicules the Internal and Supernatural Illumination I have been speaking of Velthusius an Author that is much applauded by some of Socinus's follwers tells us plainly That the knowledge of a regenerate and unregenerate man concerning the things and mysteries of faith differs not from the light of Reason I appeal to the Intelligent whether this be not an approach to an Heresie long since condemned in the Christian Church It is well known that it was the Pelagian Error to assert that men can attain to a perfect knowledge of their duty and an ability to perform it by meer Natural Reason by the bare help of that light which Nature gives them And in this as well as some other Points the Socinians symbolize with those Ancient Hereticks They cry up Reason as the Only thing in Religion this with them like the Archaeus among the Chymists doth all feats produces all operations Though these men seem to be great Abhorrers of those who talk of the Light within them yet it is evident that they allow of the very same Principle and Practise they equal the Light of Reason to the Holy Scripture and say it will serve instead of this and that it is as good as Scripture because all men may be Saved by it Therefore this they urge
pitch could not but render him a very Accomplish'd Person such as was able to discern and judge of things in the best manner and to know and comprehend whatever was to be known and comprehended of them But we are to remember this further that his knowledge in Divine and Sacred things was as eminent for even as to these he had those Helps which other Christians had not yea which the rest of the Apostles were not honoured with for he tells Gal. 1. 11 12. That the Gospel which was preached of him was not after man for he neither received it of man neither was he taught it but by the revelation of Iesus Christ. He was in an Extraordinary and unparalell'd manner call'd to the Office by Christ himself then in heaven he had Immedâ—ate declarations of God's will by Visions and Revelations 2 Cor. 12. 1. yea by abundance of Revelations v. 7. for he had the matchless dignity and priviledge to be caught up to the third heaven into paradice as he otherwise expresses it the Seat of the Divine Majesty and the place of the Blessed and there he heard those unspeakable words those Doctrines and Truths which it is not possible for a man to utter i. e. fully v. 4. Then were display'd before him those Mysteries and Profound Doctrines which his Writings every where abound with several of which are not so much as mention'd in the Writings of the other Apostles which plainly shews that he far excell'd them in Spiritual Knowledge and in the understanding of some of the Main Heads of the Christian Religion And yet behold this Apostle who was thus bless'd with all manner of Intellectual Accomplishments and was possessor of all the Knowledge that Nature or Art and his own happy Genius could furnish him with and which is unspeakably much more all that Knowledge that God himself vouchsafed to infuse into him and inspire him with Behold this very Apostle is the man who uses here this humble and mean language We know in part we see through a glass darkly When he saith we he means himself as well as other Christians nay it appears that he chiefly and principally intends himself for he changes the plural into the singular v. 12. Now I know in part as much as to say notwithstanding all my advantages of Knowing much more than others I acknowledge my self to be but a Smatterer a Novice I own my self to have but a mean and imperfect insight into the High and Mystical Points of the Gospel and if they were not such I should not have so short and partial a knowledge of them This is an unanswerable place of Scripture to prove that there are Mysteries in Christianity such Divine Truths which no quickness of thoughts no sharpness and sagacity of mind can wholly reach And therefore if St. Paul be in the right we know who have taken the wrong part If Plato could say of the Rites of Sacrificing and Divine Worship It is impossible for our mortal nature to have any knowledge of these things surely then our conceptions concerning the Sublime Points of Christianity which is the Noblest and Highest Dispensation of Religion must needs be weak and shallow Divine matters are not clear and manifest of themselves to men said one of the Greek Sages quoted by Iustin Martyr To the same purpose Clement of Alexandria cites that eminent passage of Plato in his Timaeus The only way to learn Truth is to be taught it of God himself or of those that are from God Those are notable words of Iamblicus a Platonick Philosopher It is not easie to know what things God is pleas'd with unless we have convers'd with those who have heard them from God or we have heard God himself or we have attain'd to that knowledge by some Divine Art These are the apprehensions of Improved Heathens concerning Religious matters and shall not those who have attain'd to clearer notions believe the same with a more special relation to the doctrines of the Gospel As these things were not at first found out by Man so they cannot be comprehended by him As they were not discover'd by humane skill and art so they can never be fully known and explain'd by them Thus they are universally a Mystery It is true and I am very forward to grant it that the Christian Religion is stock'd even with Natural Principles such as are in themselves manifest Even that Model of Religion which is made up wholly of the Law of Nature and therefore is call'd Natural Religion is here entirely receiv'd All Rational and Moral dictates are incorporated into this Institution Here are Admirable Notions which carry with them an Intrinsick Evidence as an undeniable demonstration of their Worth and Excellency here are Reason and Morality at their Heighth It was excellently said of an Ancient Writer of the Church Far â—e it that God should hate in us that very thing wherein he hath created us more excellent than other creatures So we may say Far be it that Christianity should disallow that very thing in us which distinguishes our nature from that of Brutes and gives us a Preference to them Some of the Mahometans have a conceit that Idiots and Mad-men are Inspired persons that those who have so little of Man have the more of God But this is an idle fancy and unworthy of our Humane Nature as well as of the Supreame Being it self who was the Author of it The Best Brains are fittest for Religion and even for the Best Religion Christianity It is admirably shew'd by a Worthy Person that the Christian Religion suits even with a Philosophick Genius I question not but it may be made evident from Strict Reason that the Main System of the Christian Theology is uniform and harmonious in it self and conformable to all the Divine Attributes and Perfections that the Coming of Christ in the flesh was requisite in order to the Redemption of lost Man that his Undertatakings were the most Rational Expedient for the restoring of mankind that they were the most Proper and Suitable Method to reduce lapsed creatures and raise them up again after their fall and that Christ's Divinity was no more impair'd by being joyned to the Humane Nature than the Soul of Man is by its Union with the Body These and several things of this kind I could make clear and evident and thereby shew that Christianity is consonant to the most sober Reflections we can make on things that it is agreeable to the most solid and natural Reasonings we can form For we are not to imagine as some Enthusiastick Spirits do that Divine Revelation contradicts the principles of Reason this being a certain Truth that it is impossible to know that any Revelation i. e. any Reveal'd doctrine is from God unless we be first Reasonably satisfied that it is from him Besides Reason is from God as well as Revelation and therefore if we receive the latter we must