recedant Hieron in Amos. c. v. Ex quo perspicuum est Apostolos Evangelistas ipsum Dominum salvatorem ex Hebraeo transferre quod legerint non curantes de syllabis punctisque verborum dummodo sententiarum veritas transferatur Id. in Malach. c. iii. CHAP. XX. Of the Incarnation and Death of the Son of God THIS is that Article of our Faith which was to the Jews a Stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness 1 Cor. i. 23. and has ever been most liable to the Objections of Infidels and therefore I shall take the more care to give the clearest and fullest account I can of it I. I shall here consider the necessity of the Incarnation of the Son of God for the satisfaction of the Justice and the vindication of the honour of God II. Tho' it should be suppos'd that God could have pardon'd the Sins of Men upon any other terms than the death and satisfaction of his own Son in our Flesh I hope fully to prove that this is so far from being unworthy of God that no other way of our Reconciliation with him as far as we are able to apprehend could have been so becoming the Divine Wisdom and Goodness 1. There seems to have been a necessity for the Incarnation of the Son of God for the satisfaction of God's Justice and the vindication of his Honour For God is Infinite Justice as well as Infinite Mercy and Infinite Justice must punish Offenders unless full satisfaction be made for the Offence because Infinite Justice must demand to the utmost extent of Justice and must require whatsoever can in Justice be demanded But Infinite Mercy found out a Means to satisfie this Infinite Justice which Satisfaction could be made only by the Obedience and by the Death of the Son of God who by his Obedience unto Death even the Death of the Cross vindicated the Honour of God by performing in our Nature a perfect and absolute Obedience to all that ever God required of Mankind and by suffering to the utmost of all that the Sins of the whole World deserv'd It is for the Honour of God that his Laws should be exactly observ'd and observ'd by one who is of that very Nature for which they were ordain'd and that Satisfaction should be made in the same Nature for the Sins of it Christ therefore taking our Nature upon him paid down the uttermost Farthing which in strictness of Justice must have been demanded but which could never have been paid by any Created Being for the Sins of the whole World And he fulfill'd all Righteousness in Obedience to the Divine Laws which otherwise could never have been fully obey'd And as far as God's Justice and Honour was concern'd to see his Laws obey'd and to demand satisfaction for the breach of them so far the Incarnation of the Son of God must be necessary because these things could be perform'd by no Creature 2. Tho' it should be suppos'd that God could have pardon'd the Sins of Men upon other Terms than the death and satisfaction of his own Son in our flesh yet the Incarnation and Death of his Son is so far from implying any thing unworthy of God that no other way of our Reconciliation with him as far as we can apprehend could so much have become the Divine Wisdom and Goodness First There is nothing in this whole Dispensation unworthy of God Here I am to consider that which was the great prejudice taken against the Christian Religion at its first Propagation and is still the great Objection of the Enemies of the Gospel of Christ and of their own Salvation They are apt to represent it to themselves as an unnecessary thing and unworthy of God that he should send his only begotten Son into the World for the Redemption of Mankind they imagine that the Infinite Wisdom of God could have found out other Methods of Salvation for us and that this would never have been made use of if there could have been any other It might be enough in Answer to such Objections to say with the Apostle nay but O Man who art thou that replyest against God shall the Person saved say unto him that saved him why hast thou saved me thus will we not be contented to be saved unless we can be fully certified in all the Reasons and Methods of our Salvation May not God bring to pass our Redemption in such a way as he shall see fitting or shall we question his Wisdom if his Mercy be so much greater than we can comprehend How infinite is his Mercy and how monstrous our ingratitude if his goodness be made an objection against the truth of his word and be alledg'd as an Argument for our Unbelief What if God willing to shew the heinousness of Sin and to make known the riches of his Mercy chose this way for the Redemption of the World What if many Reasons may be given why this Method was the most proper and expedient and what if there might be infinitely greater and better Reasons for it than all the wisdom of Man can conceive But tho' the Revealed will and Counsel of God ought to silence all Disputes in this as well as in all other Cases yet I think this Objection is capable of a very plain and direct Answer For whatever weight there may seem to be in it it is all grounded upon a Mistake and upon a wrong Notion of the Union between the Divine and the Humane Nature of Christ For if the Godhead be not so united to the Manhood as to suffer with it there is no imaginable Reason why its Union with the Manhood should be supposed to be unworthy of God I shall therefore 1. Shew the unreasonableness of this Supposition that the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in Christ should cause the Godhead to suffer with the Manhood 2. I will prove that the Humiliation of the Son of God in assuming our Nature may be accounted for without supposing that the Godhead suffer'd 3. That the satisfaction of Christ by dying for our Sins may be explain'd without it I. The unreasonableness of this supposition that the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in Christ should cause the Godhead to suffer with the Manhood This Objection supposes the Godhead to be so united to the Manhood in the Person of our Saviour as that the Divine Nature must really and properly partake in all the Sufferings which befell his Person It supposes that Christ as God suffer'd the Miseries of Humane Life and at last underwent Death upon the Cross which is so far from being the Doctrine of the Gospel that it is no better than Heresie and Blasphemy and has always been rejected and condemned as such by the Catholick Church That the Union of the Godhead with the Manhood should render the Godhead capable of Sufferings as the Soul by being united to the Body becomes sensible of its pains is indeed a thing not only unworthy of God but
impossible to conceive The Immortal and ever-blessed God can be subject to nothing of passion or frailty The Godhead is uncapable of any imperfection and therefore uncapable of receiving any impressions of Sufferings from the Humane Nature as the Soul doth from the Body of Man So that tho' the Union between the Divine and Humane Nature in Christ be fitly explain'd by that between the Soul and the Body in Man yet the manner of acting is very different For Finite Beings can mutually act and be acted upon by each other in their several actions and passions but the Divine Nature of Christ being impassible could suffer nothing by all that was inflicted on the Humane but remain'd infinitely Happy and Glorious under all the Torments and Agonies endur'd by our Saviour both in his Soul and Body As God is pleas'd to aid and assist and support innocent and good Men in their sufferings and to direct and conduct them thro' the course of their Lives So God was not only present with the Humane Nature of Christ but was so united to it as to become one Person with it which since the Godhead could suffer nothing from it is no more unworthy of God than if he had only guided him with his Spirit as he did the Prophets without any personal Union There is no inconvenience or absurdity in believing that God should by the most intimate and personal Union become united to a Man who did weep and bleed and die For as God by this Union did not change the Nature he had assumed or prevent the Sufferings of it so he did not partake in them No Man can deny â—upon Principles of Philosophy but that it is very reasonable to believe that God may afford a more peculiar presence to one Man than to another and that this Man may yet be subject to Afflictions and therefore the Son of God might become united to the Soul and Body of Christ in as intimate a manner as the Soul and Body are united to each other in us and yet this union of the Divine Nature might not preserve the Humane from the Sufferings incident to the rest of Mankind but must leave it to submit to them tho' they were never so grievous when this was the very End and Design of the Union It was not below the Majesty of God to be Personally united to a most Innocent and Sinless and Holy Man tho' he was a Suffering and Afflicted Man and it is not the Personal Union as some are apt to conceive which could be any diminution to God's Glory but their own error and mistake in what they surmise would be the consequence of such an Union II. The Humiliation of the Son of God in assuming our Nature may be accounted for without supposing that the Godhead suffer'd It was the greatest condescension and humiliation in the Son of God to take upon him our Nature For it is a gracious and merciful condescension for him to take care of us by his Providence God humbleth himself to behold the things that are in Heaven and in the Earth Ps cxiii 6. But some times and in some places he is in a more peculiar manner present upon Earth and that is an extraordinary condescension tho' he is always the same in himself and never the less present or the less happy in Heaven But it was the most wonderful condescension in God to unite himself to our Humane Nature and to become one Person with it and so to die for us tho' his Divine Nature did not and could not suffer but only the Humane Nature to which it is united He was not ashamed to call Men his Brethren and in all things to be made like unto his Brethren Hebr. ii 11 17. but vouchsafed to assume our Nature in its lowest Condition and to be so strictly and personally united to the most afflicted of all the Sons of Men as to ascribe all his Sufferings to himself for the benefit of all Mankind It is the Infinite Mercy of God to vouchsafe us the comfort of his presence in any way or measure but it is the most astonishing and adorable act of his goodness that he would be pleas'd so far to condescend as to take our very Nature upon him that he might be born and might die for our sakes And that which magnifies his mercy and goodness in the highest measure is certainly most worthy of the good and merciful God III. The satisfaction of Christ by dying for our Sins may be explain'd without supposing that the Godhead suffer'd The Christian Faith is That as the Reasonable Soul and Flesh is one Man so God and Man is one Christ and that this Person consisting both of God and Man united suffer'd for our Salvation But that all the Sufferings were inflicted on the Humane Nature and terminated in it But by vertue of the Personal Union of his Divine with his Humane Nature all Christ's Sufferings receiv'd an infinite value and merit and became entituled and ascrib'd to God himself because they were undergone by that Person who is God as well as Man tho' they were not undergone by him in his Divine but only in his Humane Nature Thus God is said to have purchas'd his Church with his own blood Acts xx 28. For Actions and Passions in any person are Personal and are attributed to the whole person and sometimes those Actions and Passions which can be perform'd in one of those Natures only which constitute a person are yet attributed to the other Nature which is uncapable of them otherwise than by that relation which results from the union of both Natures whereby all things that befall the person may be affirmed of it as such and therefore have respect to both the Natures of which it consists and may be apply'd to it under the denomination of either of them All the Souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy Souls Exod. i. 5. If a Soul touch any unclean thing Lev. v. 2. And the Soul that eateth of it shall bear his Iniquity Lev. vii 18 20. In these and many other places of Scripture Actions and Passions peculiar to the Body are by reason of the union of the Soul and Body attributed to the Soul Nay both in the Hebrew and the Greek Text the Soul is sometimes put for the Body even of a dead Man Lev. xxi 11. xxii 4. in which sense (x) On the Creed Art v. Bishop Pearson explains Acts ii 27. Ps xvi 10. And in other places the Body or Flesh is often taken for the whole Man and that is attributed to it which the Flesh is of it self uncapable of The Flesh distinctly considered and apart from the Soul can neither Sin nor Pray nor Understand nor Worship nor partake of the Spirit nor be Justified and yet all these things are ascribed to the Flesh without any mention made of the Soul All Flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth Gen. vi 12. O thou
that hearest Prayer unto thee shall all Flesh come Ps lxv 2. And all Flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer the mighty one of Jacob Isa xlix 26. All Flesh shall come to worship before me saith the Lord Isa lxvi 23. And all Flesh shall see the Salvation of God Luke iii. 6. I will pour out of my Spirit upon all Flesh Acts ii 17. Joel ii 28. By the works of the Law shall no Flesh be justified Galat. ii 16. And we say in our own Language any Body thinks or any Body understands tho' we all know it is the Soul and not the Body which thinks and understands It is very usual in other Books and very agreeable to the stile of Scripture and to the common speech and sense of Men for those Actions of a Person to be attributed to one of the united Natures which could be perform'd only in the other And the Union between the Godhead and the Manhood being like that which is between the Soul and the Body the Son of God is said to have Suffered and the Son of Man to have come down from Heaven not that the Godhead Suffered or that the Humane Nature of Christ was in Heaven before his Incarnation but according to the usual stile of Scripture the Union between the Divine and Humane Natures entitles the Person consisting of them both under the denomination of either Nature to that which was done in the other tho' as the Humane Nature did not partake of the perfections of the Divine so neither did the Divine Nature partake of the sufferings of the Humane But both Natures being personally united the person is sometimes denoted by one and sometimes by the other Nature All the Objections against the Incarnation of the Son of God proceed upon the like mistake with theirs who are apt to imagine that it is unworthy of God to be every where and in all places to behold and be present at the worst of Actions as if the Sun's brightness would not be the more resplendent and glorious if it could penetrate into the obscurest corners and recesses of the Earth or as if his Rays could be sullied and defiled by the foulness of any Object which they shine upon And if it be no diminution to God's Infinite Glory and Majesty to be Omnipresent it can be none to be more nearly and even Personally united to some part of the Creation and therefore it cannot be unworthy of God to be so united to the Humane Nature to manifest his love and favour and extend his goodness to Mankind As God is every where present so he is in a more especial manner present in some places than in others by the acts of his Power or of his Grace and Favour and he has vouchsafed a more especial presence to some Persons than to others and thus he was present with his Prophets who were sent to prepare for and foretell Christ's coming But he was personally united to the Humane Nature of Christ And this is the highest Honour and Advancement to our Nature for God thus to assume it but it can be no diminution to the Divine Majesty because God continues as he was from all Eternity without any alteration only by his personal Presence and Union with our Humane Nature he causes all the performances and sufferings of it to be meritorious for the Salvation of Mankind The Son of God did not so come down from Heaven as to be no longer there but to forsake his Father's Kingdom He still continued in Heaven in the same Bliss and Glory that he enjoy'd with his Father from all Eternity tho' he so manifested himself to the World as to come and abide in it by assuming our Humane Nature Our Saviour tells Nicodemus Joh. iii. 13. No Man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of Man which is in Heaven He who fills Heaven and Earth with his presence was still in Heaven as much as ever with respect to his Godhead tho' he made a more peculiar residence than he had before done on Earth by dwelling in our Nature here The Son of God who is at all times every where present is yet in a peculiar manner present where ever he is pleas'd to manifest himself by peculiar acts of his goodness and power as he was pleas'd to do in a most stupendous manner in that Flesh which he took upon him of the Blessed Virgin And it cannot be thought inconsistent with the Majesty of God to actuate the Humane Nature and to be joyned in the most strict and vital union with it supposing God only to act upon it and not to be acted upon by it nor to suffer the miseries and feel the pains which the Humane Nature endures which would be Blasphemy to assert of the Divine Nature of Christ but to be in Heaven still in his sull Power and Majesty But some Man will say how is this Union between the Divine and Humane Nature in Christ made or wherein doth it consist To whom we may reply as our Saviour sometimes did to the Scribes and Pharisees by asking another Question and enquiring how the Body and Soul in Man are united or how God is present in all places and how in him we live and move and have our Being And if no Man can tell how these things are tho' no Man can deny the truth and reality of them then it is not to be expected that we should be able to tell how the union between the Divine and the Humane Nature in Christ is made or in what it consists We must acknowledge it a Mystery which it is above any Man's capacity to explain but that there is such an union we learn from the Scriptures and thither we appeal for the truth of it And the putting such Questions argues either a great mind to cavil or great inconsideration and shortness of thought For what Man is there pretending to Reason and Argument of so little observation as not to take notice that of all the things which we daily see and perceive to be in the World the nature and manner of existence of very few or rather of none of them is fully understood by us It is sufficient for us to know that great Reasons may be given for this dispensation of the Son of God Incarnate and that no Material Objection can be framed against it Secondly No other way as far as we can apprehend could have been so proper and expedient as the Incarnation of the Son of God to procure the Salvation of Mankind and therefore none could so well become the Divine Wisdom and Goodness The proof of this must depend upon the Reasons for Christ's coming into the World and they are all comprehended in this one thing the abolishing or taking away of Sin And ye know that he was manifested to take away our Sins and in him is no Sin 1 Joh. iii. 5. We are
bring to our remembrance the Body and Blood of Christ offer'd upon the Cross for us to make us Partakers of them and to be Pledges of all the Benefits which we receive thereby And as the Eucharist was appointed by Christ in the room of the Paschal Supper so Bread and Wine were in use among all Nations in their Religious Worship and nothing can more fitly express our Communion with God and with one another than to be entertained together at God's Table So that since there must be Sacraments or External Rites and Ordinances they could neither be fewer nor more suitable to the simplicity of the Gospel and to the Wants of Christians than the Sacraments of Baptism and of the Lord's Supper are CHAP. XXIV Of the Blessed TRINITY I Am not here to prove the Doctrine of the Trinity from the Scriptures but to suppose this to be the Doctrine which the Scriptures teach and to shew that no reasonable Objection can be brought against the Christian Religion upon that Account And indeed this was supposed to be the Doctrine of the Scriptures and objected against by (k) Lucian Philopatr Heathens long before the Council of Nice Which is a strong proof for the Truth and Antiquity of this Doctrine when it was so well known even to the Heathens that they upbraided the Christians with it in the second Century and in all probability from the very beginning for we find it then mentioned as a known and common Reproach Supposing then this to be the Doctrine of the Scriptures that the Father Son and Holy Ghost are but one God I will shew I. That there is no Contradiction in this Mystery of our Religion II. That other things are and must be believed by us which we as little understand III. That the Belief of this Doctrine doth mightily tend to the advancement of Vertue and Holiness and hath a great influence upon the Lives and Conversations of Men. 1. There is no Contradiction in this Doctrine We are ignorant of the Essences of Created Beings which are known to us only by their Causes and Effects and by their Operations and Qualities and our Reason and Senses and Passions being continually conversant about these our Notions are formed upon the Ideas which we frame to our selves concerning the Creatures and this makes us the less capable of understanding the Divine Essence besides the infinite Disproportion between the Nature of God and Humane Faculties When we say that God is an Infinite and Incomprehensible Being we speak the general sense of Mankind and no Man cavils at it but because the Scriptures represent this Incomprehensible Being to us under the Notion of Father Son and Holy Ghost that is Matter of Cavil and Dispute Whereas God being essentially Holy and True we must believe him to be what he declares himself to be in the Scriptures and he being Incomprehensible we may not be able to comprehend it If God be infallibly True why do we not believe what he delivers concerning himself And if he be Incomprehensible what Reason can be given why the Divine Essence may not subsist in Father Son and Holy Ghost These are styled Three Persons because we find distinct Personal Acts and Properties attributed to them in the Scriptures and we may suppose Three Persons in the Unity of the Divine Nature without any appearance of contradiction This will be evident if we consider 1. The Distinction of the Three Persons in the Deity 2. The Unity of the Divine Nature 3. The Difference between the Divine Persons and Humane Persons 1. The Distinction of the Three Persons in the Deity The Divine Nature is in Three Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost in the Father Originally without either Generation or Procession in the Son as communicated to him by the Father not in any such way as Sons amongst Men have their Nature derived to them from their Fathers but yet in some such manner as is best exprest to our Apprehensions by styling him the Son of God tho' the manner of his Generation is altogether incomprehensible to us The Holy Ghost has the Divine Nature communicated to him from the Father and the Son not in the same way whereby the Son has it communicated to him from the Father but in some other different incomprehensible manner whereby he is not begotten but proceeds both from the Father and the Son The Divine Nature is communicated by the Father to the Son by Eternal Generation and by the Father and the Son to the Holy Ghost by Eternal Procession We have nothing further revealed to us of the Generation of the Son but that he is begotten or received the Divine Nature from the Father in some such way as for want of a fitter Word we can best understand by the Term of Generation and the Scripture teacheth us no more of the Procession of the Holy Ghost but that he is not begotten of the Father as the Son is but proceeds from the Father and the Son some other way and not by Generation But as he that would Discourse to a Man born Blind concerning Light must use many very improper expressions to make himself tho' never so imperfectly understood so it is here we have no words that are proper but these are sufficient to teach us all which we are capable of knowing at least all that is necessary for us to know of the Godhead 2. The Unity of the Divine Nature To say that Three Gods are one God or that Three Persons are One Person is a manifest Contradiction but to say that Three Persons are not One Person but One God is so far from a Contradiction that it is a Wonder how it should be mistaken for One by any who understand what a Contradiction means The Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God and yet they are not Three Gods but One God For neither of these Three Persons is God distinct and separate from the rest but they all are but One God One Lord Jehovah not Three distinct and separate Lords and so not Three Eternals nor Three Incomprehensibles nor Three Uncreated nor Three Almighties distinct and separate from each other but all the Three Persons together are One Eternal Incomprehensible Uncreated Almighty Lord God It is Matter of Dispute what is the Principle of Individuation in Men or what it is which causes one Man to be a different Individual Person from another and it is still more difficult to find out the Principle of Individuation in Beings which are purely Spiritual and have nothing of Material Accidents to distinguish them But whatever the Principle of Individuation in Men may be it is certain that the Consequence of it is that two Men may exist separately both as to Time and Place and that one may know more or less than the other they may live at a distance the one from the other and can never at once sill the same Numerical Place nor
is their Knowledge the same there is nothing in their common Nature to determine them that they should be born or die together or that there should be any mutual communication of the Thoughts and Operations of their Minds much less that their Life and Death and Operations should be all the very same So that this Principle of Individuation whatever be assigned to be it cannot belong to the Divine Nature which is Omnipresent Eternal and Omniscient the Existence Knowledge and Local presence of Men are Personal not Essential but Omnipresence Eternity and Omniscience are Essential Attributes of God and not Personal or do not belong to each Person as they are distinguished from one another but as they are united in the same Essence for they are predicated of the Father as God of the Son as God and of the Holy Ghost as God and not of each severally as Father as Son and as Holy Ghost Every of these Essential Attributes therefore cannot be numbred with the Persons in the Deity but can be but One as the Essence itself of the Deity is and tho' the Father be Eternal the Son Eternal and the Holy Ghost Eternal yet they are not Three Eternals or Three Individual Beings of Eternal Existence as Three Humane Persons are Three Men of a Finite Existence It is a Contradiction that there should be Three separate Infinite Persons for their being separate must suppose them to be Finite or to have a limited and confined Subsistence and therefore Three Infinite Persons can be but One God or One Being which has all the perfections of Personal Distinction without the imperfection of the Division of Persons 3. From hence appears the Difference between the Divine Persons and Humane Persons The Persons of Men are distinct Men as well as distinct Persons but this is no ground for us to affirm that the Persons in the Divine Nature are distinct Gods because the Divine Nature is acknowledged to be Infinite and Incomprehensible and when we speak of Three Persons in it we do not mean such Three Persons as Three several Men are But we read of the Person of the Father Hebr. i. 3. and of Three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are One 1 Joh. v. 7. and when we speak of Three Intelligent Beings we can have no Conception of them but under the Notion of Persons We learn from the Scriptures that there are Three Persons in the Deity which bear that Relation to each other which is best express'd by the Terms of Father Son and Holy Spirit but the Terms of Father Son and Spirit are not therefore so to be understood as they are in Humane Relations and the word Person is not to be understood as it is of Humane Persons and therefore whereas we use the word Person the Greeks call them Subsistencies but acknowledge that they mean the same thing under that difference of words And yet this is all the foundation of any pretence of contradiction in the Notion of the Blessed Trinity that Men will needs understand the Terms of Person and of Father Son and Spirit when they are applied to God as they do when we speak of Men and from thence they conclude that Three Persons in the Divine Nature must be Three Gods as Three Persons amongst Men are Three Men and that the Father must be Superiour and Elder than the Son as it is in Humane Generations But this is all Mistake Adam is stiled the Son of God in a sense of the word peculiar to himself Luke iii. 38. God is in one sense the Father of all Mankind and in another sense he is the Father of the Regenerate only and when in either sense we call him our Father we take not the Word Father in the same sense that we take it in when we apply it to Men and when we say he is the Father of his only begotten Son this is another sense of the word Father very different from all the former The Relation between the Father and Son is not the same in the Nature of God that it is amongst Men nor are the Divine Persons such as the Persons of Men are but these are the fittest and the most proper and significant Terms to express the Nature of God to us that Humane Language and Humane Understandings are capable of We must acknowledge that there is a vast disproportion and impropriety in these expressions and that they give us but a very imperfect conception of the Divine Nature but it is the most perfect that we are able to have of it or that it is necessary for us to have of it in this Mortal state and if we will but allow for the incompetency of our own Faculties to have Words and Notions adequate to the Divine Nature and will remember that God is God and that we are but Men there will appear to be no contradiction in the Notion of the Trinity The Divine Nature is such that it has Three distinct Principles of Operation and Subsistency which are so described and represented in the Scriptures by Personal Acts and Properties that we know them to be as really distinct as Humane Persons are which yet being but One God cannot in this respect be like Humane Persons And whoever will oppose this Doctrine of the Holy Trinity must prove that the Three Persons of the Trinity cannot be as really distinct as the Persons of Three Men are tho' they are not such Persons as the Persons of Men. And to prove this he must understand the Nature of God as well as he understands the Nature of Man for otherwise he can never be able to prove that Three Divine Persons may not be One God tho' Three Humane Persons cannot be One Man That they are distinct Persons is revealed and that these Three distinct Persons are but one God is revealed but wherein the Distinction and the Unity of these Three Persons consists is not revealed nor is it possible for us to understand it at least without a Revelation The Distinction of the Persons of Men is founded in a separate and divided Subsistence but this cannot be the foundation of the Distinction of the Divine Persons because Separation and Division cannot belong to an Infinite Nature There is then not Repugnancy in saying that there are Three Subsistencies or Three distinct Principles of Personal Acts and Properties in one undivided Infinite Nature or that the Persons in the Trinity act as distinctly and personally as Persons do amongst Men but are united in one Infinite Nature which is uncapable of existing in separate Subsistencies tho' not of acting and subsisting in Three distinct Persons or as distinctly from each other as the Persons among Men do act and subsist The Summ is that in the most perfect Unity of the Divine Nature do subsist the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost between whom is a real Distinction which tho' not the same yet is
THE REASONABLENESS AND CERTAINTY OF THE Christian Religion BY ROBERT JENKIN Chaplain to the Right Honourable the EARL of EXETER and late Fellow of St. John's College in Cambridge The Second Edition Enlarged LONDON Printed for P. B. and R. Wellington at the Dolphin and Crown the West-end of St. Paul's Church-Yard 1700. TO The Right Honourable JOHN EARL of EXETER May it please Your Lordship THE general Decay and Contempt of the Christian Religion amongst us has made me think that I could not better employ the Leisure which by Your Lordship's Favour I enjoy than in using my best Endeavours to shew the Excellency and the Certainty of it And what I have done is here humbly presented to your Lordship as of Right and upon many Accounts it ought to be The Honour and the Satisfaction which I have often had to hear Your Lordship speak in the behalf of Religion and Virtue encourage me to hope that a Performance though but such as this upon that Subject may obtain your Acceptance And the Name only of a Person of your Lordship's Honour and Learning and Knowledge of the World may perhaps be of more advantage to the Cause I undertake than any thing I have been able to write Religion may seem by Descent and as it were by Inheritance to belong to Your Lordship's Care The Wisdom and Piety of Your Great Ancestor appear to distant Ages in the Reformation which through the Blessing of God was in so great a measure by His means establish'd in this Kingdom And I have with Joy often thought that I could observe the Spirit and Genius of my Lord Treasurer BVRGHLEY now exerting it self more than ever in your Noble Family From whence methinks we may presage Happiness to the Nation and may yet expect to see a true sense of Religion revive and may hope that even in our days Christianity amongst English-men shall be more than a Name which is every where spoken against An eminent Vertue is a Publick Good There is a powerful and commanding Force in Great Examples to countenance Vertue and discourage Vice and Profaneness to make Irreligion appear as it is base and contemptible in the World to degrade it and thrust it down among the lower and untaught part of Mankind Much is not to be expected from the Schools and from the Gown under such Contempt and Discouragement But the Great and the Honourable have it in their Power to do great things things worthy of Themselves and for the Advancement of God's Glory Persons of High Birth and both by Nature and Education fitted for the Highest Undertakings whose Vertues shall flourish with their Years and add New Lustre to their Hereditary Honours may yet regain a due Esteem to Religion and adorn the Gospel of Christ This is a proper Object for the Ambition of generous aspiring Minds to express their Gratitude to Him who has placed them so much above the rest of the World and when they find themselves happy now to disdain to aim at any thing less than Everlasting Happiness hereafter To be Miserable after Happiness is an Aggravation of Misery But to receive Eternal Blessings as the Fruits and Improvement of such as are Temporal is the Privilege of those whom God has been pleased to distinguish from others by his Mercies and who distinguish themselves by a regard to his Honour and Service All that know Burghley and who is there almost that doth not know it are surprised with Wonder and Delight to observe what Art can do and to behold the Splendor and the Magnificence of Foreign Countries in our own But the Glories and Rewards of Vertue shall continue when Burghley it self and the World shall be no more and will make Death but a Passage and an Advancement from one Palace from one Honour to another and a Removal only from the uncertain Riches and imperfect Felicities of this Life to the Mansions of Eternal Bliss in Heaven That these my Endeavours may prove but in any measure serviceable to the Ends of Religion and Virtue and thereby to the Glory and Happiness of your Honourable Family in this and a better World is My Lord the unfeigned Desire and Prayer of Your Lordship 's Most Humble and most Obedient Servant and Chaplain R. Jenkin THE PREFACE I Am sensible that the Publication of a Treatise of this nature will be liable to Exceptions from those for whose Vse and Benefit it is chiefly design'd who will be ready to lay hold of all Pretences to avoid the being convinc'd of what they have so little mind to believe They will be apt to say That if the Truth of Religion be so certain and so evident as it is maintain'd to be there could be little need of so many Discourses upon this Argument for it is no sign of Certainty when tho' such a number of Books are Publish'd of this kind that so many Men of Learning and Parts have written upon the Subject yet others it seems are not satisfy'd in their Performances but are continually offering something new upon it They will likewise object That many of the Professors and Ministers of Religion do not live as if they believ'd themselves at least not as if they were so very certain of what they teach and that if there were so great Certainty there never could be so many Vnbelievers but all who had heard of it must needs be convinc'd by such Evidence I shall therefore shew here That the Number of Books written on this Subject doth not prove the Vncertainty of Religion but rather the contrary and that the ill Lives of Men is no Argument against the Religion they profess And then I shall enquire how it comes to pass That a Religion which carries so plain and convincing Evidence along with it should yet by too many be disbeliev'd or disregarded 1. To the First Thing it might be sufficient to say That the Number of Writers is a great Confirmation of the Truth of our Religion since as many as have undertaken the Proof of it have always agreed in the main Evidence and differ only in Method or in the Management of particular Arguments And though all have not written with equal Strength and Clearness yet there is not I believe one Author but has brought sufficient Arguments to confute the Adversaries of Religion They are pleas'd indeed to think otherwise But they may at least take notice how obvious it is that if this Objection prove any thing it must prove That there is no such thing as Certainty in the World because there is no Art nor Science concerning which divers Treatises are not daily Publish'd But are therefore the Natures of Vertue and Vice uncertain Is it the less certain whether Justice Temperance and common Honesty be Vertues or whether Murther Adultery and Theft be Crimes because Laws are made and Sermons daily preach'd concerning these Things Or can any Man doubt That these Crimes often meet with severe Punishments even in this
Is it to be suppos'd that the Wise and Good God would create Men only to abuse themselves and one another To live a while in Sin and Folly here and some of them in the most extravagant and brutal Wickedness and then go down to the Grave and so there should be an end of them for ever What is there worthy of the infinite Wisdom of God in so poor a Design as this Doth not the Voice of Nature it self teach us and has it not been the general Belief and Expectation of all Ages and Nations that the prosperous Sinner who is subtle and powerful to do Mischief must suffer in another World for what he has done amiss here And that all is not to pass away with us in Sport and Extravagance in Laughter and Noise in Riot or in Violence and Cruelty as some Men are willing to believe as if the World were made for the Wicked and they to abuse it It appears likewise from the common Belief and Experience of Mankind that as there is a God of infinite Goodness and Holiness so there are wicked and malicious Spirits which are ever contriving the Mischief and Ruine of Men. For besides the Evidence of this from Scripture which we must be allow'd here to alledge in the Nature at least of an History it is Folly to imagine that all the Oracles and Prodigies of the Heathens could be meer Forgeries and that there was no Ground nor Foundation for such a Belief as universally obtain'd in all Nations and Ages of the World and for the Customs and Practices which follow'd upon this Belief that there are Daemons or Spirits of an evil and malicious Disposition and Power I shall instance only in the unnatural Cruelties which the Heathen World even the Greeks and Romans themselves were continually put upon by the Instigation of these malicious and wicked Spirits For the Heathen Nations offer'd up Multitudes of innocent Men and Women and even their own Children in Sacrifice to their false Gods which is as sure an Evidence that there are such Beings which requir'd these Cruelties from them as it is that there are Tyrants and Persecutors when they cause innocent Men to be murther'd and Children to be torn from the Arms of their Parents and slain in their sight And though the Dominion of Satan be now restrained by the over-ruling Power of the Gospel we have as great Evidence from all History that there are such Beings as Devils as we have for any other Matter of Fact whatsoever There have been indeed many false Stories concerning Spirits as well as in other Matters of History but doth this prove that there are none True Or could the Historians of all Times and Places be perpetually imposed upon or conspire to impose upon others There is no ancient History but gives some Instance or other of these things and all the Modern Histories of Heathen Nations are full of such Relations as confirm this Truth to us and even among Christians those who have by unlawful Arts put themselves under the Power of wicked Spirits have been convinced that there are such Beings which is proved not only by the publick Confessions of Witches in all Nations but by the private (a) See Mr. Boyle's Excellency of Theology c. § 1. Acknowledgments of divers learned Men both Physicians and others who have made attempts to discover the truth of this matter in different places and were Persons neither timorous nor superstitious But the Apparition of Spirits is Praeter-natural and therefore that Good Spirits who live in perfect Obedience to the Divine Will and in Conformity to the Order of their Nature should appear is now no more to be expected than any other Miracle But there are frequent Apparitions of Bad Spirits in Countries where the Christian Religion is not receiv'd and where it is receiv'd they appear to such as are willing to com◠under their Power but very rarely to others And if the Devil after so much Humane Blood as he has caus'd to be spilt in his Sacrifices and after so many Oracles and Impostures can yet perswade same Men that there is no such Being this is one of his subtilest Stratagems of all and proves how great Power though in a different kind and manner he still retains over the Minds of Men. Since therefore it is most certain That there is a Being of insinite Power and Wisdom and Justice and Goodness and that there is likewise a malicious cruel Spirit ever watchful and industrious to abuse and destroy Mankind It is highly reasonable to believe that a Being of such infinite Perfections after he had created Man would communicate himself to him would set him a Rule by which he ought to live and prescribe him Laws whereby he might answer the Ends of his Creation and attain to that Happiness which he was made capable of and design'd for by his Maker We cannot suppose that the God of all Goodness and Wisdom would create Man and then leave him to himself to follow his own Inventions and to live at random without any Law or Direction to frame his Actions by and to be expos'd to all the Assaults of an implacable subtile Enemy without any Caution and Instruction given him or any Help and Assistance afforded for his Defence Man in his Innocence was not thus to be left to himself And we have all the reason in the World to believe though we had not the express Word of Scripture for it that the God of infinite Goodness would not disregard this corrupt State of Mankind but would use some Means to reclaim them from the Error of their Ways to bring them to a Knowledge of themselves and of the Divine Majesty to inform them of their Duty and direct them to Happiness How Man became so prone to all Evil we can know only by Revelation and therefore those who reject all Revelation must suppose that Man was first created in this State of Sin and Misery which is a very heinous Imputation upon the Goodness and Justice of God but to suppose him plac'd in this Condition without all help or remedy is to charge God still more foolishly But how Men became so is not here the Matter of Enquiry it is evident that Man is of himself in a miserable and helpless Condition and considering the great Ignorance and Wickedness which have been from the Fall of our First Parents visible continually in the Word and still reign in it considering I say the notorious Wickedness and gross Ignorance of Men which from the earliest Records of Antiquity have continued down to our own Times nothing is more reasonable than to think that a Being of Infinite Perfection would take some care to rectifie the Mistakes and reform the Manners of Men. Can we believe it consistent with Infinite Truth never to manifest it self in the World but to suffer all sorts of Men of all Nations to be exposed to all the Designs and Delusions of Impostors
upon them when they least think of him with a mighty and terrible Judgment and with a sudden and unexpected Fury But to stand by and look on unconcern'd and then to take Men upon such a Surprize without giving them any notice of it before-hand is a thing impossible to be accounted for and can never be reconcil'd with the Divine Attributes St. Athanasius (b) S. Athan de Incarnatione Verbi Dei insists at large upon this Argument and carries it so far as to prove the Necessity of the Incarnation of the Son of God from it He urges That it would have been unworthy of the Goodness of God to suffer all Mankind to be destroy'd by the Fraud and Malice of the Devil or by their own Fault and Negligence and that it had been more consistent with his Wisdom and Goodness never to have created Men than to have suffer'd them thus to perish An Earthly King says he when he has planted a Colony will not carelessly suffer his Subjects to become Slaves to a Stranger or to revolt from him but he will by his Proclamations admonish them of their Duty and oftentimes will send Messages to them by his Friends and if there be a Necessity for it will go to them himself to awe them by his Presence and recall them to their Obedience And as he there adds shall not God much rather be so mindful of his Creatures as to use some Means to reclaim them from their evil Ways and regain them to his Service Especially when they must be utterly undone for ever unless he take care of them It is plain then that though we had never heard of such a thing as a Miracle or a Prophecy or of reveal'd Relgion yet from the Consideration of the State of the World and the great Ignorance and Corruption of Humane Nature it would be reasonable to expect that God should some way make known his Will to Mankind and we cannot reconcile it to his Attributes nor conceive how it should be consistent with them for him to be an unconcerned Spectator of so much Folly and Wickedness without taking any care to remedy it God cannot be oblig'd to force Men to obey his Commandments and comply with his Will but rather to leave it at their own Choice whether they will be Happy or Miserable but it was necessary to propose the Terms of Salvation to them to offer them their free Choice to set before them Life and Death Blessings and Cursings and so to leave the Obstinate without all Excuse And this is all which I am here concern'd to prove That it is reasonable to suppose that God would reveal himself to Mankind and that it is not conceivable how it should be consistent with the Divine Attributes for him not to do it To own the Being of a God and yet to deny a Providence is so great an Absurdity that none of the Philosophers but Epicurus were guilty of it and this was look'd upon in him as amounting to the Denial of the Divine Existence And to grant both the Being and the Providence of God and yet to confine the Divine Care and Providence to the Bodies only and Outward Condition of Men and to imagine that the Spiritual and Immortal Part of Man is disregarded or neglected by him is no less an Absurdity than wholly to deny his Providence or his Existence because this is to deny the most considerable and inestimable Part of Providence which concerns our Souls and our Eternal State and therefore it is by Consequence to deny the Attributes of God and to represent him not as he is in himself but Unwise Unmerciful and Unholy To say that there is no such thing as a Divine Revelation is no better in Effect than Atheism For whoever can be of this Opinion must believe only the Being of such Gods as Epicurus own'd that never concern'd themselves with Humane Affairs which was only in other Words to say that they were no Gods at all It has therefore been the constant Belief and Opinion of all Nations that their Gods did in some way or other Reveal themselves to Men and though so great a Part of the World have worshipp'd False Gods and have been mistaken as to the particular Revelations which they receiv'd for Divine yet it must proceed either from Ancient Tradition or from the Reasonableness of the thing it self or from both that the World should expect that the Divine Being should by some Means communicate himself to Men and declare his Will to them CHAP. II. The Way and Manner by which Divine Revelations may be supposed to be Delivered and Preserved in the World MAnkind had so corrupted themselves that the Will and Laws of God could not be effectually made known to them but by some extraordinary way of Revelation God had manifested himself in the Creation of the World and by the Preservation of all things from the Beginning according to their several Natures For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things which are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead Rom. i. 20. But Men had corrupted themselves even in the plainest and most fundamental Points of all Religion and acted against all the Dictates of Natural Reason in worshipping the vilest Parts of the Creation rather than God himself and in Contempt and Defiance of Him had set up even four-footed Beasts and creeping Things instead of Gods How then could the Power and Authority of God be asserted but by some extraordinary way of Revelation since the ordinary and constant Methods of God's revealing and manifesting himself by his Providence in the Preservation and Government of the World had been so far perverted and abus'd as that Men were seduc'd to the Worship of any thing or of every thing rather than of God Mankind had neither the Will nor Ability to reform themselves and had by their own Fault brought themselves under an utter Incapacity of being reform'd but by some extraordinary Revelation Natural Reason might have taught them to be less Wicked but nothing could make them Righteous but a Revelation and the gross Errors and Crimes which the wisest Men had fall'n into shews the Necessity of an extraordinary Revelation from God to instruct and inform the World And the Ways of extraordinary Revelation are but these two either God's immediate Revelation of himself to particular Persons or a Power of working Miracles and of Prophesying and Foretelling future Events bestow'd upon some to convince others that they are Inspir'd and come with a Commission from God to instruct them in what he has reveal'd But it cannot seem requisite that God should immediately Inspire or make an immediate Revelation to every particular Person in the World For either he must so powerfully influence their Minds and Affections as to take away their Choice and Freedom of Acting which would be to offer Violence to Humane Nature or else Men would
we may not be assured of some things as certainly from the Testimony of others as from our own Senses 2. Whether this be not the present case relating to the resolution of Faith I shall therefore consider in the first place the certainty which we have for the matters of fact by which the Authority of the Scriptures is proved and confirmed to us compared with the evidence of sence and will then apply it to the resolution of Faith I. In many cases men seem generally agreed that there is as much cause to believe what they know from others as what they see and experience themselves For there may be such circumstances of credibility as equal the evidence even of sence it self no evidence can satisfie sence so much indeed nor perhaps so much affect the passions as that of sence but there may be other evidence which may give as clear conviction and altogether as good satisfaction to our Reason as that which is immediately derived from our sences concerning the Being of Objects or the Truth of matters of fact Thus those who never travelled to the Indies do as little doubt that there is such a place as those who have been never so often there and all men believe there was such a man as Julius Caesar with as little scruple as if they had lived in his time and had seen and spoke with him I suppose no man in his wits makes any more doubt but there are such places as Judoea and Jerusalem from the constant report of Historians and Travellers than if he had been in those places himself and had lived the greatest part of his Life there and the greatest Infidel that I know of never pretended yet to disbelieve that there was such a person as our Saviour Christ But all men think themselves as well assured of things of this nature upon the credit of others as if they had seen them themselves For how doubtful and intricate soever some things may be for want of Knowledge or credit in the Relaters yet there are other things delivered with that agreement and certainty on all hands that to doubt of them would be as unreasonable as to doubt of what we our selves see and hear And if our Saviour's Resurrection for instance be of this nature we can with as little reason doubt of it as if we had lived at that time and had conversed with him after his Resurrection from the Dead But we have as great assurance that he was alive again after his Crucifixion as that he ever lived at all and we have at least all the assurance that there was such a Person as Christ that we can have that there once lived any other man at that distance of time from us We can no more doubt that our Saviour was born in the Reign of Augustus Coesar and was Crucified under Tiberius than that there were once such Emperors in the World nay we have it much better attested that Christ was Born and was Crucified and rose again than that there ever were such Princes as these two Emperors for no man ever made it his business to go about the world to certifie this and to testifie the truth of it at his Death But the Apostles themselves and their Disciples and Converts and innumerable others ever since from the beginning of Christianity have asserted the particulars of the Life and Death and Resurrection of our Saviour under all dangers and torments and deaths and have made it their great aim and design both living and dying to bear Testimony to the Truth of the Gospel So that a man may as well doubt of any matter of fact that ever was done before his own time or at a great distance from him as doubt of these fundamentals of the Christian Religion and yet there is no man but thinks himself as certain of some things at least which were done a long time ago or a great way off as if he had been at the doing of them himself Indeed in some respects we seem to have more evidence than these could have that lived in the beginning of Christianity for they could see but some Miracles we have the benefit of all they relyed upon their own sences and upon the sences of such as they knew and conversed with we upon the sences of innumerable People who successively beheld them for the space of Divers hundred years together so that whoever will not believe the Scriptures neither would he believe though one rose from the Dead that is though the greatest Miracle were wrought for his conviction This was said of the Old Testament and therefore may with greater reason be said of that and the New both And we have besides one sort of evidence which those that lived at the first planting of Christianity could not have for we see many of those Prophecies fulfilled which our Saviour foretold concerning his Church we know how it sprung up and flourished and from what small unlikely beginnings it has spread it self into all corners of the Earth and continues to this day notwithstanding all the malice of Men and Devils to root it out and destroy it The continuance and success of the Gospel under so improbable circumstances was matter of Faith chiefâ—y to the first Christians but to us is matter of Fact and the object of sense they saw the work indeed prosper in their hands but their Faith only could tell them that it should flourish for so many Ages as we know it has already done This is a standing and invincible proof to us at this distance of time and has the force of a twofold Argument the one of a Power of Miracles the other of Prophecies we know that a miraculous power has been manifested in conquering all opposition and in a wonderful manner bringing those things to pass which to humane wisdom and power are altogether impossible And the fulfilling hereby of Prophecies is a visible confirmation to us of the truth of those Miracles which by the Testimony of others we believe to have been done by the Prophets whose Prophecies we see fulfilled And since it must be acknowledged that things may be so well attested that we may with as much reason doubt of the truth of our own sences as of the Authority by which we are assured of the truth of them and must turn Scepticks or worse if we will not believe them we may conclude as well upon the account of these Prophecies which we our selves see fulfilled as upon all other accounts that the Historical evidence in proof of the Christian Religion amounts to all the certainty that a matter of Fact is capable of not excepting even that of sense it self II. Let us now apply all this to the Resolution of Faith and give an account how a divine and infallible Faith may be produced in us Humane Testimony is the Motive by which we believe the Scriptures to contain God's revealed Will this certifies us that such Miracles were wrought
last Days of the Jewish Dispensation p. 388. The Times of the Gospel meant by the last Days p. 389. St. Paul did not suppose that the Day of Judgment was approaching in his time p. 391. There is no reason to suppose that the last Judgment must be confined to one Day p. 393. CHAP. XXIII Of Sacraments THE Nature and design of Sacraments p. 396. 1. They are outward and Visible Signs of our Entrance into Covenant with God or of our Renewing our Covenant with him ib. 2. They are Tokens and Pledges to us of God's Love and Favour p. 402. 3. They are means and Instruments of Grace and Salvation p. 404. 4. They are Federal Rites of our Admission into the Church as a Visible Society and of our Union with it as such p. 406. The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper fully Answer the end and Design of the Institution of Sacraments p. 407. CHAP. XXIV Of the Blessed Trinity THere is no Contradiction in this Mistery of our Religion p. 412 The Distinction of the Three Persons in the Deity p. 413. The Unity of the Divine Nature p. 414. The Difference between the Divine Persons and Humane Persons 417. Other things are and must be believed by us which are as little understood as this Doctrine p. 421. The necessity of the Belief of this Doctrine explained and Defended p. 423. This Doctrine exceedingly tends to the Advancement of Vertue and Holiness and has a great Influence upon the Lives and Conversations of Men p. 427. CHAP. XXV Of the Resurrection of the Dead GOD is certainly able to raise the Dead p. 431. Bodies after their Corruption and the Dissolution of the Parts which Compose them may be restored to Life by the Reunion of these Parts again p. 436. We may rise again with the same Bodies which we have here notwithstanding any change or Flux of the Parts of our Bodies while we Live or any Accidents after Death p. 437. It is not only credible and Reasonable to believe that God can but likewise that he will raise the Dead p. 443. CHAP. XXVI Of the Reasons why Christ did not shew himself to all the People of the Jews after his Resurrection THere are Reasons peculiar to this Dispensation of his Resurrection why Christ should not shew himself to all the People after he was risen from the Dead p. 449. It had not been suitable to the other Dispensations of God towards mankind for him to have done it p. 451 Great Numbers of the Jews being given over to hardness of Heart would not have believed tho' they had seen Christ after his Resurrection p. 452. If the Jews had believed in Christ their Conversion had not been a greater Proof of the Truth of his Resurrection than their Unbelief has been p. 453. The Power of Christ's Resurrection manifested in the Miraculous Gifts bestowed upon the Apostles was as great a Proof of his Resurrection as the Personal Appearance of our Saviour himself could have been p. 454. CHAP. XXVII Of the Forty Days in which Christ remained upon the Earth after his â—â—â—surrection and of the manner of his Ascension MAny things in the Life of Christ before his Passion omitted by the Evangelists p. 459. And likewise after his Resurrection p. 461. What may be concluded from that which we Read of his conversing with his Disciples after it p. 463. The manner of his Ascension p. 465. CHAP. XXVIII Why some Works of Nature are more especially ascribed to God why means was sometimes used in the Working of Miracles and why Faith was sometimes required of those upon whom or before whom Miracles were wrought ALL Creatures act with a constant dependance upon the Divine Power and Influence but things may be said more especially to be done by God himself whereby upon some extraordinary Occasion his Power and his Will are more particularly manifested or his Promise fulfilled p. 469. Miracles are more peculiarly the Works of God because they are wrought without the concurrence or subserviency of Natural Means ib Means used as Circumstances to render Miracles more observable not as concurring to the Production of the effect 470. Christ had given undeniable Proof of his Miraculous Power before he required Faith as a condition in such as came to see his Miracles and to receive the benefit of them p. 471. Whether he required Faith of any before his working of a Miracle who had not already seen him work Miracles p. 481. Great Reason that no Miracle should be purposely wrought for the captious and Malicious p. 482. The case of his own Country-men was particular ib. The case of those who came to desire his Help p. 487. Our Saviour hereby signified that he requires the same Faith of those who have not seen his Miracles as he did of those who had seen them p. 489. CHAP. XXIX Of the ceasing of Prophâ—â—â—es and Miracles THe Antiquity of Prophecies adds to their force and Evidence p. 491. The Cessation of Miracles We read of no Miraculous Power bestowed upon any Man before Moses p. 492. Neither Prophecies nor Miracles in the Jewish Church for more than four hundred years before Christ p. 495. Miracles if common would lose the design and nature of Miracles p. 498. Men would pretend to frame Hypotheses to solve them p. 499. A constant Power of Miracles would occasion Impostures ib. They would occasion Pride in those that wrought them p. 501. No more Reason for Miracles to prove the Christian Religion among Christians than there is need of them to prove a God ib. A Divine Power is notwithstanding evident among Christians living in Heathen Countries p. 502. CHAP. XXX Of the Causes why the Jews and Gentiles rejected Christ notwithstanding all the Miracles wrought by him and his Apostles ASupernatural Grace necessary to True Faith p. 504. Jews and Proselytes were converted in great Numbers p. 508. Many durst not own Christ Others had their hearts hardned p. 511. They had violent prejudidices against the Gospel p. 512. The Signs and Wonders of false Prophets a cause of the Infidelity of the Jews p. 514. The unbelief of the Jews being foretold by the Prophets is a confirmation of the Gospel p. 515. Great Numbers of the Heathens converted p. 516. The cause of unbelief in the Philosophers ib. Of Epictetus and Seneca p. 518. The prejudices of the Gentiles p. 521. They would not be at the Pains rightly to understand the Christian Religion p. 522. Oracles had foretold that it should not last above 365 Years p. ib. Heresies and Schisms gave great Scandal p. 523. Many Heathens however had more favourable and just Thoughts of the Christian Religion p. 524. Of the Writings of the Heathens against it p. 528. The Writings of the ancient Jews confirm it p. 530. CHAP. XXXI That the Confidence of Men of false Religions and their Willingness to suffer for them is no prejudice to the Authority of the True Religion THe Martyrs for the Christian Religion more
by the name of America or that the Torrid and Frigid Zones could be habitable No mystery in Religion can seem more incredible to any man than these things did appear even to Wise and Learned men and if they had not been found to be by Navigation they might have seem'd incredible still for ought we can tell tho now we wonder at the ignorance of former times that they should make any doubt of them and admire how they came to lye so long unknown for these things seem obvious when they are once discovered and it would be a disparagement to us if we could not make as great discoveries at home as those do who travel to the Indies And if we will but consider a little with our selves we shall find that we may be at least as much mistaken in our Philosophy about the things of another World as our Ancestors were for so many ages concerning so much of this and shall conceive it very possible that there may be a Heaven and a Hell tho we never spoke with any body that had been in either of those places and that there may be a Trinity and a Resurrection tho we were able to give no account of them For Nature it self exceeds our comprehension and therefore the Divine Essence and the Almighty Power of God must needs much more exceed it The motion of the Heavens and of the Winds and Seas the light of the Sun and Moon and Stars the conception and birth of all Creatures nay the growth of Corn and of the very Grass of the Field and all the most obvious and inconsiderable productions of Nature have so many wonderful difficulties in the explication of them that if we were not mightily inclined to flatter our selves I am afraid we should sooner turn Scepticks than be able to imagin that we can give any tolerable account of them For when all is done we know just enough of them to acknowledge and admire the infinite Power and Wisdom and Goodness of God and to be led to a stedfast belief and assurance of what he has revealed of himself and of the World to come that the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World may be clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead Rom. 1.20 How little is it that we know of this Earth where we live and which we dote so much upon For by the least calculation it is above three thousand and five hundred miles to the Center but the Art and Curiosity of Man has never reached according to Mr. Boyle's account after all his enquiries among Navigators and Miners (a) Excellency of Theology Sect. 4. above one mile or two at most downward and that not in above three or four places either into the Earth or into the Sea yet all Astronomers agree as he afterwards observes that the Earth is but a Physical point in comparison of the Starry Heaven Of how little extent then says he must our knowledge be which leaves us ignorant of so many things touching the vast bodies that are above us and penetrates so little a way even into the Earth that is beneath us that it seems confined to but a small share of the superficial part of a Physical Point And to shame the pride and vanity of Mankind the chiefest discoveries in Philosophy as he likewise observes have been the productions of Time and Chance not of any Wisdom or Sagacity Which is a remarkable acknowledgment in a person who has oblig'd the world with so many wonderful Improvements in experimental Philosophy The Circulation of the Blood has been but lately found out and was looked upon as absurd at its first discovery tho now what man can doubt of it And some of the most common effects of Nature might seem as strange as any if the frequency of them did not prevent our wonder Maimon More Nevoch pt 2. c. 18. If as Maimonides puts a case we suppose a man of never so good natural parts so brought up as to be ignorant of the manner how the several species of Animals are preserved and propagated in the world how many scruples might he raise to himself concerning their Conception and Formation Might he not object that it is impossible that the Infant should ever live and be nourished and grow in the Womb and would he not offer abundance of Demonstrations to prove that the Natural Birth of Mankind and of all other Creatures is utterly impossible Our Saviour in his discourse with Nicodemus answers his Doubts concerning the New Birth by putting him in mind that he was as little able to give an account of the Wind and that he could not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth implying that there is much less reason to doubt of things of a Spiritual nature because we are able to give no sufficient explication of them when we are thus at a loss about the most common and obvious things in the world Joh. 3.8 And S. Paul confutes all objections against the Resurrection by a like Argument alledging that as it would be intolerably absurd to deny or doubt of the growth of Corn because it cannot perfectly be explained so it is much more absurd to deny or doubt of the Resurrection for no better reason since supernatural things must be more obscure and harder to be understood by us than natural 1 Cor. 15.36 Indeed Infidelity could never be more inexcusable than in the present Age when so many discoveries have been made in Natural Philosophy which would have been thought as incredible to former Ages as any thing perhaps that can be imagined which is not a downright contradiction That Gravitating or Attractive Force by which all Bodies act one upon another at never so great a distance even through a Vacuum of prodigious extent lately demonstrated by Mr Newton the Earth together with the Planets and the Sun and Stars being placed at such distances and dispos'd of insuch order and in such a manner as to maintain a perpetual ballance and poise throughout the Universe is such a discovery as nothing less than a Demonstration could have gained it any Belief And this System of Nature being so lately discovered and so wonderful that no account can be given of it by any Hypothesis in Philosophy but it must be resolved into the sole Power and good Pleasure of Almighty God may be a caution against all Attempts of estimating the Divine Works and Dispensations by the Measures of Humane Reason The vastness of the World's extent is found to be so prodigious that it would exceed the Belief not only of the Vulgar but of the greatest Philosophers if undoubted experiments did not assure us of the Truth of it We are assured by men of the best art and skill in those things * See Mr Boyle of the high vencration Mans Intellect owes to God that every Fixt Star of the first magnitude is above an hundred
to the customs of other Nations well known and practised at that time Thus the Slaves were wont to have their Masters Name or Mark upon their Forehead and the Souldiers to have the name of their General upon their Right hand and the like marks were wont to be received by men in token that they had devoted themselves to their Gods from whence we read of the mark of the Beast received by his Worshippers in their right Hand or in their Foreheads * Vid. Grot. ad loc Rev. 13.16 and of his Fathers Name written in the Foreheads of those that stand in Mount Sion with the Lamb Rev. 14.1 St Paul alludes to the Grecian Games in his Epistle to the Corinthians who were much addicted to those sports and had one sort of them the Isthmian perform'd among them 1 Cor. 9.24 25. and he alludes to the distinction among the Romans between Freemen and Slaves For which he gives this reason that it was in condescention to them I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh Rom. 6.19 Melchisedec is said to be without Father without Mother without descent Heb. 7.3 because his Pedigree is unknown which was a most significant way of expression to the Jews who were so careful and exact in their Genealogies But the very same manner of expression is also used †Patre nullo matre serva Liv. lib. 4. c. 3. â—ullis majoribus ortos Horac Serm. lib. 1. sat 6. duos Romanos Reges â—sse quorum alter Patrem non habet alter Matrem Nam de servij Matre dubitatur Anci Pater nullus Numae nepos dicitur Senec. Epist c. 8. by Livy Horace and Seneca upon the like occasions There is much of Nature but very much likewise of Use and Custom in the several Schemes and Forms of Rhetorick We meet with a sudden change of the Person speaking Jer. 16.19 20 21.17.13 and with interlocatory discourse Isa 63. and many places of Scripture are obscure to us for want of distinguishing the Persons who speak Thus for instance Jer. 20.14 the Prophet seems transported abruptly from one extream to another but if they be the words of the wicked mention'd ver 13. under the divine vengeance from the 14th ver to the end of the Chapter the sense will be more easy This abrupt change of the Person is taken notice of by Longinus as an excellency in Homer Hecataeus and Demosthenes and the want of distinguishing the Persons speaking has been a great cause of misunderstanding the Scriptures * Justin Apol. 2. Origen Philocal c. 7. as Justin Martyr and Origen observe Many Instances of the like nature might be given in the best Heathen Poets And the reading the ancient Poets is the best help for the understanding all other Authors of great Antiquity for the ancienter any Author is the nearer his stile comes to Poetry The first design of Writing was to delight so as to be the better able to instruct which made Verse much more ancient than Prose and tho it be natural for Men to speak in Prose and not in Verse yet it seems the humour oâ— Greeks would not bear tho writing Philosophy in Prose till the time of Cyrus for then * Plin. Hist Lib. 5. c. 29.7 c. 56. vid. Harduin ad loc Pliny tells us Pherecydes first wrote in Prose which must be understood of Philosophy for he ascribes the first writing of Prose in History to Cadmus Milesius And the ancient Writers now extant in Prose Herodotus Thucydides and Xenophon have many Expressions which are seldom or never met withal besides but in the Poets H. Stephens made a Collection of the Poetical words used by Xenophon which is prefix'd to his Works And the Orators both among the Greeks and Romans were as exact and curious in the Feet and Measure of their Prose as the Poets could be in Verse Great part of the Scriptures is in Verse and the different way of writing in different Ages and Nations appears in nothing more than in the several sorts of Poetry That way of writing all Verse in Rhime which in these parts of the World is most in use and esteem would have been ridiculous to the Greeks and Romans Tho' the use of Rhime in Verse is so far from being example in Antiquity that it is perhaps the most ancient of all ways of writing Verse Acrosticks tho' of no esteem and little us'd in many Ages and Countries are of great Antiquity Verses composed in the Acrostick and Alphabetical way were found to be a help to the Memory and this benefit and the ornament which it was then supposed to give to Poems is the cause why it is sometimes used in the Scriptures and sometimes the Inspiration was so strong upon the Writers mind as to interrupt the Art and Method which he had proposed to himself as Ps 25. and 145. or perhaps it might be customary upon certain occasions to omit some Letter in the Alphabet in such compositions for reasons which we are ignorant of but which might be very satisfactory and agreeable to the sense of those Times and Countries * Athenae lib. 10. c. 21. The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is an example of this among the Greeks used by Pindar and other ancient Poets The old †Casanb in Athen. lib. 8. c. 11. Spartan Dorick and Aeolick Dialect changed σ into P the rough sound of this Letter being more agreeable it seems to those People and if any of them had written Acrosticks and Alphabetical Poems σ would have been omitted Rhophalick Verses which begin with a Monosyllable every word encreasing by one syllable more than the former are to be found in Homer and the Leonine or Monkish Verses with a double Rhime one in the middle and the other at the end are not without precedent To say nothing of the Poems composed of divers sorts of Verse and framed into the shape of several things by Simmias Rhodius some of which are ascribed to Theocritus The Repetitions so frequent in Homer were not for want of words for no Author ever wanted them less than he but out of choice though latter Poets have not thought fit to imitate him in this and Martial turn'd it to Ridicule It is certain that nothing is more various than the Wit and Fancy of Man and it is as certain that whoever would write to any purpose must write in some such manner as the temper of the people to whom he writes will bear and as their customs require But before I leave this particular it may be proper to consider the stile of Scripture in the Metaphorical and Figurative use of words in speaking of the Works and Attributes of God There never was any Book written in a strict and literal propriety of words because all Languages abound in Metaphors which by constant use become perhaps better known to the Natives of a Country than the original words themselves and in process
ii 13. And it is not only threatned that the Wicked shall suffer eternal Punishment but it is likewise expresly foretold that the wicked shall be sentenced to everlasting fire at the Day of Judgment and that they shall go away into everlasting Punishment Matth. xxv 41 46. To leave no room for hopes of any End or Abatement of the Punishment we have our Saviour's express Declaration that the Sentence shall be past according to the Threatning and that the everlasting Punishment which is threatned shall be certainly executed upon the wicked Our Judge has beforehand declar'd what Sentence he will pass the Terms whereof are therefore as unalterable as if it were already pronounc'd He has declared that the Punishments of the wicked as well as the Rewards of the righteous shall be eternal as directly and possitively as he has said any thing else relating to the last Judgment or concerning any other part of his Gospel and we have as little reason to imagine that his express and repeated Affirmation is capable of a reserved Meaning in this particular as in any other matter whatsoever Some of the Benefits and Advantages which are consequent to the Punishments of this World are precedent to those of the next Here Men are punished for their own Amendment or for the Advantage and Security of others or for both In the next World the actual inflicting of Punishments is not for these ends but they were threatned for these and they must be inflicted when they have been once threatned and declared by God who cannot lye It is for the Repentance of Sinners and for the Benefit of Good Men in preserving them in the ways of Vertue and securing them from the Pride and Malice of the Wicked that Hell should be threatned but because it is the final and eternal State of the Wicked it cannot be for their Amendment after the Execution of its Torments upon them and Good Men being once out of the Power of Temptations and placed beyond the Malice of the Wicked can no longer have any Protection or Advantage from the Punishments dehounced against impenitent Sinners but whether the Advantages arising from Punishments be before or after the inflicting of Punishments there is the same necessity for the appointing and consequently for the inflicting them viz. The Good of Mankind in keeping Men from Sin and leaving those without excuse who will not be restrained from it and work out their own Salvation But another end of Punishment is that Satisfaction for the violation of the Laws may be made to the supreme Authority which is despised and affronted by it And the vindication of God's Honour and Authority and of his Truth and Holiness in his Hatred and Detestation of Sin and his indignation against Sinners is manifested by the actual Punishments of the Damned and it would be an Argument of the contrary to all this if they were threatned and not inflicted And the Number of Persons to be thus Punished doth not alter the Case but only shews that many are concerned in it and if the case be the same the Justice must be the same too tho' the Persons be never so many upon whom it is executed That which is Just towards one or Merciful towards one is Just or Merciful towards never so many Thousands For Justice and Mercy consist in the Nature of things not in the greater or lesser Number of Persons to whom they are extended And tho' Multitudes of Criminals are apt to move compassion in Men yet this proceeds partly from the Sympathy and Frailty of Human Nature which is mightily swayed by Number and Multitude to do either Good or Evil partly from the Nature of Human Affairs For to destroy Multitudes would depopulate Cities and Countries and would be an Affliction to Multitudes of Innocent Persons their Friends and Relations But it is not so in the present Case there will be no want of Numbers in Heaven and the Righteous shall be Everlastingly happy and shall perceive no diminution of their Happiness by reason of the Damnation of such as were never so dear to them in this World And Mercy and Pity is not a Passion in God as it is in Men but a Perfection it is the highstest Reason and Equity and therefore tho' the Misery of Sinners be never so severe and the number of the Miserable never so great yet when the Equity and reasonableness of the case doth not require it there is nothing to move God for their Relief because he acts by the standing Rules of Reason and Wisdom not by any Fondness and Weakness of Passion 2. I come now to shew the Mercy of God in his inflicting Eternal Torments upon Sinners Strict Justice has a severe Aspect and it may seem hard for frail Man to abide the Sentence that he may in strictness of Justice deserve But from the Justice of God it is natural for us to appeal to his Mercy and thither he allows us to appeal but not so as to expect that he should be so merciful as not to be just or should forget that he is the Supreme Governour of the World whilst he extends his Mercy to the Offending and Criminal part of it Punishment is necessary to all Government and God as Governour of the World must inflict Punishments and what these are to be it belongs to his Sovereign Wisdom to appoint And Eternal Torments were appointed for the Punishment of Sin not only out of a very just but even out of a gracious Design because nothing less than the Threatnings of them would keep Men from Sin and from that Misery which is the unavoidable consequence of it and so bring them to Heaven It is an Antient and true Observation which (c) Chrysad Stagir lib. 1. Tom 6. Sav. Edit St. Chrysostom has made that there is Mercy even in the threats of Eternal Vengeance because nothing less could have brought many Men to Heaven For there is no doubt to be made but many will be there who shall have cause to thank God for this as the thing which first opened their Eyes and moved them to Repentance and thereby brought them to Bliss and Glory And the same Mercy was extended to those that Perish and would not make the same use of it which if they had done they had never perished Tho' Heaven and Hell (d) Chrys ad â—op Antioch de Sâ—â—tuis Hom. 7. says St. Chrysostom be contrary to each other yet they both aim at the same end the Salvation of Mankind the Joys of Heaven invite Men to it and the Fear of Hell forces those to Heaven who otherwise would be regardless of their own Happiness God has used the most proper and prevailing Means to convince Sinners of their Danger and to perswade them to escape it and obtain Salvation We have everlasting Rewards and everlasting Punishments proposed to our Choice We are exhorted with the greatest Earnestness and mov'd and assisted with the continual Influences
Messiah the Jewish Law was to become impracticable and impossible to be observ'd For if the City and Temple were not destroy'd the confinement of the Jewish Worship to one certain Place must necessarily imply an alteration in their Worship upon the coming of the Messiah and the calling of the Gentiles who could not all be supposed to assemble thrice every year at Jerusalem and therefore the Prophets foretold That Jerusalem should then be no longer the only place of God's Worship but that Men should Worship him in any place of the World 'T is true the Prophets often mention the resort which should be made from all Nations to Jerusalem and to the Temple or the Mountain of the Lord. But then these are Mystical Expressions for the City of Jerusalem and the Temple are used by the Prophets as Types of the Christian Church and therefore Ezekiel (m) Lightfoot 's Prospect of the Temple ch 2. describes the Temple larger than the whole City of Jerusalem and the City in greater dimensions than all the Land of Canaan to shew that we are not to understand these Expressions literally A Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedeck different from that of Aaron was Prophesied of Psal cx 4. and a New Covenant different from that which was made with the Children of Israel upon their coming out of the Land of Aegypt Jer. xxxi 31 32. And this Covenant was to extend to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews For from the rising of the Sun even unto the going down of the same my Name shall be great among the Gentiles and in every place Incense shall be offered unto my Name and a pure offering for my Name shall be great among the Heathen saith the Lord of Hosts Malach. i. 11. If against all this it be alledged That the Mosaical Law was to endure for ever it ought to be considered what sense that expression bears in the Law it self And that expression is there used to denote the continuance of any thing which was not designed for some particular occasion or season only but was to last as long as the nature and general design of its Institution would admit The Servant whose Ear was bored was to serve his Master for ever Exod. xxi 6. by which is to be understood not all his Life but only till the year of Jubilee whereas he that had not his Ear bored was to be set free in the seventh year ver 2. And even before the year of Jubilee he whose Ear was bored might be freed with his Master's Consent (n) Grot. ad loc either by Manumission or Redemption and was at liberty upon the death of his Master not being bound to serve his Son Their anointing shall surely be an everlasting Priesthood throughout their Generations Exod. xl 15. which can be understood to extend no farther than as long as their Genealogies were preserved and the Tribe and Generations of the High-Priests could be distinguished I will abide in thy Tabernacle for ever Ps lxi 4. or in other words all the days of my Life Ps xxvii 4. Samuel was brought by his Mother to abide before the Lord for ever that is during his Life 1 Sam. i. 22. And by parity of Reason those Statutes and Laws are said to be Established for ever which were designed to be perpetual and standing Laws not temporary during their journeying in the Wilderness only as others were but to continue as long as the Constitution of the Government was to last and in this sense the Jews themselves (o) Id. de Veritat Lib. 5. §. 7. have taken the word and it is sufficiently explain'd Deut. xii 1. These are the Statutes and Judgments which ye shall observe to do in the Land which the Lord God of thy Fathers giveth thee to possess it all the days that ye live upon the Earth or as we read ver 19. as long as thou livest upon thy earth that is their Law was obligatory to them as long as they had possession of the Land of Canaan or retained any right to possess it by God's donation But those Statutes and Judgments which were to be observed in the Land which the Lord had given them to possess can no longer be of any obligation to them when they are finally deprived of that Land The Ceremonial Law therefore by its Original Design and Institution being to continue in force but till the coming of Christ he gave the accomplishment to it and put a final period to its Obligation Instituting his Gospel in its stead which had been pre-figured by the Law and foretold both by Moses and the Prophets CHAP. XVII Of Sinful Examples Recorded in the Scriptures AS some have endeavour'd to excuse their own Sins by alledging the Sinful Examples which we find mention'd in the Scriptures so others who are no less fond of imitating them yet have from hence taken a pretence for Objections and Cavils I shall therefore shew that the bad Examples in some actions of Men whom we find in all other respects commended in the Scriptures are far from being proposed for our imitation but there is great reason why the Faults and Miscarriages of the best Men should be deliver'd down to us in the Scriptures for our Caution and Prevention as well as upon other accounts I. Several passages of the Scriptures contain only Matter of Fact and that very briefly express'd and a bare Narrative of any Action implies neither the Approbation nor the Censure of it but only declares that such a thing was done and in such a manner but the Nature of the Fact it self with the Circumstances of it or some Command or Permission or Prohibition in Scripture must discover the goodness or lawfulness or the wickedness of the Action No Historian is supposed to approve of all which he relates but he must report bad as well as good Deeds who will do the part of a faithful Historian II. The Rules of Good and Evil are plainly delivered in the Scriptures by which we are to judge of Actions and we are to conform our Actions not to the Example of Men but to the Law of God We are forewarn'd to follow no Man's Example when it is contrary to the Divine Law and therefore it could not be necessary in the relating of every evil Action to set a mark of Infamy upon it and a Caution against the imitation of it III. The Relation of the bad Actions of Good Men may be of great use and benefit tho' we are not to follow but avoid them Because 1. This shews the sincerity of the Pen-Men of the Scriptures that they spare no person whatsoever but relate the plain Matter of Fact even tho' themselves be concern'd when it is never so much to their disgrace as in the Denial of St. Peter and other instances 2. By this we learn the Frailty of Humane Nature and the necessary dependance that the best Men must have upon God for his Grace in
their Carnal Appetites have concluded that the Body was made not by God but by a wicked Being and that the Soul only was from God Since therefore God is pleased to regard our Bodies as Members of Christ and Temples of the Holy Ghost it was requisite that in contradiction to these and such like Errors they should by some Rite or Sign be devoted to him by which it might be declared that Christ is the Saviour of the Body Ephes v. 23. and by which such Grace might be communicated as to render it the Temple and place of Residence of the Holy Ghost set apart and dedicated to him and inhabited by him that the whole Spirit and Soul and Body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Thes v. 23. It is the great and gracious Design of God to sanctifie the whole Man and therefore Christ took not only an Humane Soul but Humane Flesh likewise to dignifie it in the Assumption and offer it upon the Cross and translate it into Glory And as his Incarnation shews the particular Regard he has for the Body as well as for the Soul of Man so the whole Institution of the Gospel hath relation to both 4. Lastly The Sacraments are Foederal Rites of our Admission into the Church as into a visible Society and of our Union with it as such For we cannot be admitted into a visible Society nor communicate with it but by visible and outward Acts which must be performed in the Body So that whatever way we consider the Sacraments either in respect of God or of our selves or of others there is a necessary use and benefit from them and evident Reason for their Institution They are requisite as Symbols of our entrance into Covenant with God or of the Renewing and Confirmation of it and of Dedicating both our Bodies and Souls to his Honour and Service they are Instruments of his Graces and Pledges of his Promises made to us by Covenant and of the Reward and Happiness both of our Bodies and Souls at the Resurrection and are visible Marks and Evidences of our Profession as Members of the Church of our Admission into it and our Communion with it II. The Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper fully answer the End and Design of the Institution of Sacraments After the coming of Christ and the fulfilling of the Ceremonial Law by him it was of no longer use or continuance the Gospel being to introduce a Spiritual Service by teaching Men to worship God in Spirit and in Truth Yet there was need of some external Ordinances or Sacraments the Nature of Man and the State of this World requiring them but that they might be as few as possible Christ has appointed but two Sacraments as generally necessary to Salvation and these the fittest and most expedient for the benefit and wants of Men. 1. As to Baptism the Reasons and Designs in the Institution of Sacraments are all visible in it It is a very significant and apt Representation of the cleansing and purifying the Soul from Sin and in this Men of all Nations and of all Religions seem to have been agreed For nothing was more frequent among the Heathens than their Washings and Purifications and tho' they attributed a great deal too much to them yet the superstitious Opinion which they had of these outward Cleansings could never have so universally prevail'd if there had not been some Foundation for the use of them in the Nature of Things and that is the great fitness which is in these outward Washings to excite us to purity of Mind and to represent the great Duty which lies upon us to keep our Consciences undefiled which only can render us accepted with God And as these Washings and Purifications were common in other Religions so the Jewish Church was wont to receive Proselytes or Converts by Baptism for which Custom they alledge the command of God to Moses Exod. xix 10. but (i) Hebr. Talmud Exercit. on Matt. iii. 6. Dr. Lightfoot sets it higher and thinks it was begun by Jacob Gen. xxxv 2. And our Saviour who both in his Words and Actions throughout the whole Gospel condescended to a compliance with the Customs in use among the Jews so far as they might be serviceable to the ends of the Gospel was pleased to make choice of Baptism for the Admission of Persons to the Profession of his Religion as the Jews used it for the Admission of their Proselytes Baptism is very agreeable to the Nature of the Christian Religion being a plain and easie Rite and having a Natural significancy of that Purity of Heart which it is the design of the Gospel to promote and establish in the World and it is fitted to represent to us the cleansing of our Souls by the Blood of Christ and the Grace of Purity and Holiness which is conveyed in this Sacrament and the Spirit of Regeneration which is conferred by it John iii. 5. Tit. iii. 5. And it being in use both amongst Jews and Gentiles it was so much the more proper because both had already an Opinion of the expediency of it Christ came to abolish the Ceremonies of the Jewish Law and the vain and idolatrous superstitions of the Heathen Worship and yet some outward Rite of Worship was necessary to be made use of to dedicate the Body as well as the Soul to God's Honour and Service to be a Pledge of the Resurrection of the Body as well as of the Immortality of the Soul to put Men in mind of that Integrity and Purity of Life which the Gospel requires and to be a means of conveying it and to admit them as visible Members into the Church And as Baptism was very expedient to be Instituted upon all these Accounts so it had this peculiar advantage beyond any other Rite that it was already in great use and esteem and could seem strange neither to Jews nor Gentiles but it had been a very strange thing to both and very unsuitable to the Nature of Man if the most Spiritual and Heavenly Religion that can be on this side Heaven had been instituted without any external Rite for the Admission into it this had been to suppose the Church to consist of Angels and not of Men who have need of Assistance from outward Objects in their highest Acts of Religion it had been to make Men to suspect that the Body as some Hereticks imagined was little regarded of God if no notice had been taken of it at our Reception into Covenant with him and it besides had been to contradict the Notion which Mankind have ever had of Religion and to give the highest scandal both to Jews and Gentiles 2. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is so often the subject of Sermons and of every good Christians Meditation that very little needs to be here said of it For it is evident that the Elements of Bread and Wine have a peculiar suitableness to
Means which some Men may conceit he might use but leaves Men without excuse and then requires their Faith and Obedience at their peril To imagine that Christ should have appeared promiscuously unto all is as unreasonable as to suppose that God should communicate himself to all alike or that he should have spoken from Heaven to Men without the Message and Ministry of his Prophets For when Christ was risen from the Dead he was no longer to act like a Mortal Man but as in his Glorified State as our Lord and King and as God in our Humane Nature now no longer subject to any of its Imperfections and therefore he was no more to come himself to the People as he had done in the State of his Humiliation but to send his Apostles and Disciples among them as he had before his Incarnation sent the Prophets 3. Great Numbers of the Jews were given up to hardness of heart and would not have believed tho' they had seen Christ after his Resurrection Those who when they had seen our Saviour's Miracles had vilified them and blasphemed the Holy Ghost by whom they were wrought had their hearts hardned that seeing they might see and not perceive and be converted And of this Number the Chief Priests and Elders must be supposed to be who hired the Soliders to Contradict and Stifle the Belief of his Resurrection with a false Story of their own Invention The Chief Priests before had Consulted to put Lazarus to Death when he was undeniably known to have been raised from the Grave John xii 10. So far were they from being brought to a Belief in Christ by the sight of Lazarus that they fully verified that Saying that there are some who will not believe tho one rose from the Dead Lazarus was shewn openly to all the People and lived among them for many years after he had been restored to Life again when he had been Dead four Days and they would not believe tho' they saw and conversed with him but were the more enraged at it Christ himself therefore after his Resurrection did not vouchsafe them his presence but used other means which were more proper 4. If the Jews had believed in Christ their Conversion had not been a greater Proof of the Truth of his Resurrection than their Unbelief has been Their stubbornness and hardness of heart was foretold by the Prophets with their Dispersion and the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Propagation of the Gospel according to the Prediction likewise of the Prophets in so Miraculous a manner not only at a distance but in Judea and in Jerusalem itself notwithstanding all the Opposition which the Jews could make gave as great a Testimony to it as their Favour and Protection could have done And therefore it was just with God rather to leave them to the hardness of their own hearts than to use such further Methods with them as were unsuitable to the Divine Dispensation in the Mystery of our Redemption and would either have only hardned them to a greater Degree or at least would not have proved more effectual towards the Manifestation of the Truth of the Gospel 5. The Power of Christ's Resurrection manifested in the Miraculous Gifts bestowed upon the Apostles was as great a proof of his Resurrection as the Personal Appearance of our Saviour himself could have been Our Saviour shewed himself to Witnesses chosen before of God to be Witnesses of all things which he did both in the Land of the Jews and in Jerusalem Acts x. 39 41. these Men knew his Life and Doctrine they had been Instructed by him and had forsaken all for him and according to his Promise were endued with Power from on high to enable them to testifie to the whole World that they had not only seen him but had often Conversed with him after he rose from the Dead And one of their Chief Qualifications was that they were but a few poor and ignorant Men without Force or Policy without any Art or Contrivance they could tell a plain Truth but could neither feign nor dissemble if they had been more in Number the Conversion of the World had been so much the less Miraculous and they were not chosen out of the Scribes and Elders who had been used to Artifices and Falshood but had them all along their Enemies and opposed to their Craft and Power an honest simplicity of Mind that neither knew what belonged to Deceit nor feared any in so good a Cause nor were they in the least discouraged to see their own and all other Nations against them God had chosen the Foolish things of the World to confound the Wise and God had chosen the weak things of the World to confound the things which are mighty 1 Cor. i. 27. These Men under all Necessities and Persecutions and Dangers and Torments both Living and Dying Witnessed that they had seen Christ alive after he had been Crucified and tho' they were but very few in Comparison of their Enemies yet considered as Witnesses they were many for he was seen by above five hundred at once which is a vast number in any matter of Evidence and if so many Men be not a sufficient Testimony no number of Men could have been That which is demonstrated but in one way is as certain as if it were demonstrable in never so many Methods and he who sees a thing plainly with his two Eyes may be as sure of it as if he had never so many Eyes to see it withal It is written in the Law of Moses that the Testimony of two Men is true or Credible and to be relied upon for Truth John viii 17. and it is the Law and Practice of all Nations to content themselves with a small number of sufficient Witnesses in proof of the most important Affairs And if these Witnesses chosen before of God spoke and acted and suffered as no Men would or could have done if they had not been well assured of what they testified and assisted from above in preaching the Gospel the Truth of the Resurrection of Christ is as infallibly delivered to us by their Testimony as it could have been by the Testimony of never so many more for all that never so many others could have done would have been but the same thing over again which these Men certified by many infallible Proofs and what is once infallibly proved is as certain as if all the World should agree in declaring it It is not the number of Witnesses but the Character and Qualifications of the Persons and the Evidence it self in its full force and circumstances which are chiefly to be regarded in Matters of this Nature If but a few Men can make it sufficiently appear as the Apostles did by undeniable Miracles that what they say is true and that God himself confirms the Truth of it they then appeal to every Man 's own Senses before whom they work their Miracles and make every one that sees them a
equivalent to the Distinction of Persons among Men. That there is this Unity and this Distinction we learn from the Scriptures but what kind of Distinction this is or how far it is to be reconciled with our Notion of Persons amongst Men and after what manner it is consistent with the Unity of the Godhead the Scriptures have not told us and it is impossible for us to determine II. Other things are and must be believed by us which are as little understood as this Doctrine Our Knowledge at the best concerning Finite Things is very imperfect which is so generally acknowledged by all Men of Wisdom and Experience that it is esteemed a great point of Wisdom for a Man to be truly sensible of his own ignorance and it is the Character which Solomon himself giveth of the Fool that he rageth and is confident Prov. xiv 16. But when we consider things Infinite we are much more at a loss That there must of necessity be something Eternal must be acknowledged by all who understand what is meant by the word even those that are so foolish as to say in their hearts there is no God yet must believe something else to be Eternal they must believe that there always was something because if ever there had been nothing there never could have been any thing For how could any thing have been produced by Nothing Out of Nothing it might but then there must have been something to produce it We can be certain therefore of Nothing if we are not sure of this that there is something Eternal the Atheist himself cannot deny it unless he be so stupid as not to know what it means And yet what apparent contradictions may he fancy to himself in the Notion of Eternity For what is Eternal can never be capable of either a shorter or a longer Duration than it always had so that Millions of Ages hence it will not have continued longer than it had done as many Million of Ages past And how strange and contradictory doth this seem to be that not only Three Ages and one Age should be the same but that there should be no difference between one Hour or Moment and never so many Ages in respect of Eternity And there is no avoiding this difficulty if a Man be of any Religion or no Religion let him but apprehend what is meant by Eternity and he must own both that there is such a thing and that he is utterly unable to explain it Here then is an unaswerable Difficulty in a thing which all the World must believe if they have it but so proposed to them as to be made understand what it is And there is no difficulty imaginable in the Doctrine of the Blessed Trinity which can be pretended to be greater than that which is inseparable from this Notion which all must of necessity hold And if we do but observe it in Finite things which are usual and familiar to us and the Objects of our Senses every day we Believe what we very little understand or are capable of understanding Our Knowledge indeed is so very imperfect concerning the Nature of most things that I may almost venture to say that if we will but be contented for the present to believe what God has delivered concerning his own Nature we may hereafter know God himself as plainly as now we know many things here For now we see through a Glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then shall I know even as also I am known 1 Cor. xiii 12. If it be thought unreasonable however that such abstruse Mysteries should be made necessary to Salvation and that we should pronounce that whosoever will be saved must thus think of the Trinity and that all who do not thus think and believe shall without doubt perish everlastingly Let it be considered that in all Religions whether Natural or Revealed there must be something believed which is above all Humane Comprehension and which can be known no further than in order to be believed there can be no Faith without all Knowledge but Knowledge if it were compleat would exclude Faith which is the Evidence of things not seen Knowledge may be considered either as it is general and imperfect or as it is particular and adequate to the Nature of the thing known we must have a general Knowledge of whatever is the Object of Faith but if we had a particular and adequate knowledge of it there could remain nothing of it unknown to be the Object of Faith The difference between Science and Faith is not that we are less certain of the Objects of Faith than of the Objects of Science but that we know less of them For Certainty depends upon our general Knowledge as that God is true and therefore what he has revealed is as certain as if we saw it or could demonstrate it in every particular And this general Knowledge which is necessary in order to Faith is in Natural Religion attained to by Reason and in Revealed Religion from Revelation Thus we attain to such a general Knowledge of the Divine Nature by Rational Evidence as to be convinced that Infinite Power and Goodness and Truth and all manner of Infinite Perfections belong to it but we believe the Divine Perfections without any particular comprehensive Knowledge of them in like manner from Revelation we attain to this general Knowledge that the Divine Nature consists of Three Persons in One undivided Essence but we believe these Three Persons to be One God without any particular and comprehensive Knowledge of so great a Mystery for then it would no longer be a Mystery and Faith would be no more Faith I would therefore ask the Adversaries of this Doctrine whether the Belief of a God Omnipresent Eternal Almighty Omniscient Infinitely Holy Just and Merciful be not necessary to Salvation No rational Man can deny it I enquire further whether Insants and Ideots are obliged necessarily under pain of Damnation to this Belief They must certainly answer no because none can be obliged to Impossibilities I demand then again whether if one or more of these Attributes or the Agreement of them one with another be impossible to be understood with a general and imperfect Knowledge by any who are capable of knowing and believing the rest the ignorance of these Articles which are above their Understandings even as to this general and imperfect way of Knowledge can be destructive of their Salvation They must needs say it cannot because God can require nothing impossible of any Man And the very same Answers applied to the Cavils against the Athanasian Creed will be sufficient to Silence them That Creed contains such Truths as are necessary to be believed in order to Salvation but necessary to particular Persons so far only as they are capable of knowing them in order to believeing them He that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity but this supposes him capable of thinking