parts of the Creation which do in obedience to his Will endeavour to promote those excellent Ends and Designs of his Glory in the happiness of the Creation shall as the Reward from his Bounty upon their Obedience be made partakers of that happiness they are capable of and which in his wisdom he sees best for them both here and hereafter And that those parts of the Creation who in opposition or contempt of so great goodness excellency and power endeavor to cross hinder and obstruct these great Ends of the Creation shall therefore be miserable both here and hereafter by the want of that happiness as also by such other penalties as the greatness of their Crimes deserves and their Natures are capable of CHAP. V. Of Conscience its Description what is its proper Employment and the manner of its Operation HAving shewn what Principles are the foundation of Conscience viz. a sence of that Duty which we owe to God and to one another The next inquiry must of necessity be how these Duties are to be performed so as they may be agreeable and acceptable to those to whom we are to pay them And herein common Reason obliges us to believe that we are bound to follow the directions of the Supreme Being so far as he has been pleased to manifest his Will and Pleasure to us Amongst Christians the Canon of the Holy Scripture has alwayes been taken for this Rule of Direction as being the Divine Revelation of the Will of GOD. And whosoever does seriously and attentively consider the scope of those Sacred Writings must of necessity confess them to owe their Original to the Divine Nature supposing it such as has before been described and universally believed for all their Commands Instructions and Exhortations are directly level'd at these great and glorious designs of the most excellent Spirit by promoting his Glory and the happiness of Mankind both here in this life and hereafter in the life to come So that now having found we owe a Duty and having likewise found a Rule for our direction how we ought to perform this Duty there will be no great difficulty to find what Conscience is for it is no other thing than that Principle which judges whether we have discharged our Duty according to this Rule and these Directions I do purposely avoid the Niceties of the Schools as too full of Curiosity and not at all conducing to my design which is to avoid all intricacy and perplexedness and to give such an easie proper and natural description and notion of Conscience that every man may find it in his own breast Conscience therefore is that Power which every Man hath within his own mind of judging all his thoughts words and actions whether they are agreeable to that which is the best Rule by which they ought to be directed Thus from a belief that there is a GOD and from the commands in Scripture to worship Him and Him onely my Conscience or Power that I have of judging my self immediately informs me that I ought not to neglect his Worship or to give it to any Creature If therefore I do either wholly or in part omit it or misplace my Worship my Conscience tells me I have done amiss because I have not followed the direction of the Rule Thus from the belief that I ought to contribute all I can to the accomplishment of the great and good design of the Almighty Being in promoting the happiness of all the parts of the Creation my Conscience presently informs me that I ought to do all the good I can in all senses unto all Men And on the contrary that therefore I must be careful to avoid doing any wilful injury to my self or to any other person whereby their present happiness may be impaired or their future lessened or prevented because in so doing I follow the directions of the Rule which only is satisfactory to Conscience whose office is to accuse me if I do wrong to encourage and acquit me if I do what is right and what I ought to do So that to make up Conscience there must be first a true and exact Rule for all our actions which we take the Scriptures to be as being as St. Paul saith sufficient to make the man of God wise unto salvation which I think is a sufficiency for a Rule beyond all exceptions and they who expect a better Rule certainly expect another End better I am sure it is impossible And as before was intimated if there were a necessity it were no hard task to prove the Scriptures in all particulars the most excellent Rule for the management of all humane Actions in order to the forementioned Ends of Gods Glory and the Happiness of the Universe Secondly There must be a true knowledge of this Rule Scientia before Conscientia which Preposition denotes only the private application of this knowledge to particular persons and things for this is most clear and evident that I must first know this or that is to be believed or done and after this or that manner before I can believe it to be my Duty or be able to pass a judgment upon my self that I have done well or ill in believing or not believing doing or not doing any thing or not doing it as I ought according to the direction of my Rule Lastly there must be an impartial and true judgment of my actions by this Rule that is whether they have been according to the directions of the Rule which is the proper employment of Conscience whose work is to measure my thoughts words and actions and to try whether they are conformable to the Rule by which I am bound to act and according to that judgment either to absolve or condemn me for them So that Conscience thus properly taken can only be exercised about such things as are certainly known and by consequence absolutely necessary to be done for such are all and only the commands and directions of the Rule according to that remarkable place of St. Paul Acts 24.16 concerning his own practice which ought to be a pattern to all men And herein do I exercise my self to have a Conscience void of offence towards God and towards Men. That is the proper and peculiar Employ of Conscience is to judge and determine whether I do my Duty to God and my Neighbour according to what I know is his Will revealed in his holy Word Now in regard that upon this true Notion of Conscience there lies a great deal of weight and it being the common mistake amongst weak minds to take every thing which is offer'd to them as such without a due examination for a matter of Conscience in the strictest sence I will endeavor to clear this Point and make it appear that Conscience is only directly concerned about such things as are certainly known and therefore absolutely necessary to be believed and done or not done First therefore we will inquire into the Nature and as I
may call it the Essence of Conscience Secondly we will examine and consider its manner of operation and acting in all men Now the very Essence of Conscience is Knowledge for no man can have a Conscience to himself of any thing which he does not know nor of any thing further than he does know it For Example I know that GOD is and that He is to be worshipped and therefore my Conscience tells me I am obliged to act according to that knowledge and that I ought to adore him I know that no Creature is to be worshipped with Divine Adoration and therefore my Conscience tells me I sin against knowledge if I give Adoration by worshipping either Men or Angels much more if I bestow it upon the more ignoble parts of the Creation Gold Silver Wood Stone Creeping Things Birds or Four-footed Beasts I do not certainly know whether Saints departed this Life can hear my Prayers though made to them in the most modest sence and in the same nature as I would do if they were alive beg of them to pray or intercede for me and therefore if I do not pray to them to pray for me my Conscience does not accuse me of having neglected a Duty which I ought to have done or sinning against my knowledge So that it is clear that to Know is of the Essence of Conscience so that there can be no Conscience without it Now Scientia est de certis indubitatis all knowledge is of certain and undoubted things and this certainty which is the foundation of knowledge is grounded either upon the demonstration of Sence Reason or Divine Revelation and whatever I know it is because I have a certainty that it is such in its own nature either from the evidence of Sence which cannot deceive me or from clear and plain Reason or else from a positive Divine Revelation which proceeds from him who therefore will not because he cannot deceive me being Truth it self And therefore if the things I would know be either in their own nature uncertain as are all future contingencies and many past actions of former Ages about which I want sufficient means of a certain information I can have no knowledge of them and by consequence no obligation upon my mind to believe them or act according to them But wheresoever there is a certainty of knowledge either from Sence Reason or Divine Revelation there my mind is not left at liberty but has an obligation laid upon it to act or not to act according to the commands of that knowledge And that this is not my private opinion but agreeable to the greatest Truth let the most learned Apostle St. Paul give his testimony in that well known place Rom. 14. ult Whatsoever is not of Faith is Sin For by Faith there cannot be meant that supernatural Gift and Grace of believing to salvation because every thing to be known or done is not the object of that Faith and therefore as appears by the fifth Verse by Faith there he understands that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that full assurance of a mans own mind which is no other thing but the result of a certainty of knowledge of what he ought to do or not to do and is properly opposed to that doubting and wavering of a mans mind occasioned by the want of knowledge and therefore he tells us it is a damnable sin to do that which I doubt I ought not For saith he he that doubteth is damned if he eat because it is not of Faith that is of a full assurance of knowledge that what he does is lawful for to such a person till he have a full assurance from a certain knowledge that it is not it is sin because for ought he knows it may be so and the Rule tells him he is to abstain from the very appearance of evil and Reason tells him Tutum est errare à dextra it is the best to err on the right hand by abstaining from that which I am not fully assured of but it may be sinful and for this very reason the same Apostle tells us that the occasion of those mistakes in the Church about eating things offered in sacrifice to Idols proceeded from a want of this knowledge Howbeit saith he there is not in every man this knowledge and for want of this he tells them their Consciences were weak that is their minds were doubtful and some were of one persuasion others of another about it So that knowledge being of the Essence of Conscience and certainty being of the Essence of knowledge it follows that Conscience properly so called cannot be exercised but about such things as are certainly known and therefore absolutely necessary to be believed or done which plainly shews the unwarrantable doctrine and practice of some men who impose many things upon People as indispensible matter of Conscience which in their own nature admit of the greatest doubt and uncertainty and which they have no lawful authority to establish as obligatory to the Minds and Consciences of Men. But to confirm this Secondly let us examine the manner of operation and acting of Conscience in all Men Now the exercise of Conscience consists in these two things First I inquire with my self whether I have done what I ought or abstained from what I ought Secondly I inquire If I have done or abstained as I ought whether I have done it after that manner and with those due circumstances as I ought Now in both these operations the necessity of them is the Rule and the foundation of that necessity is my certain knowledge that they are so for thus I judge I have done this because I certainly know in obedience to the Rule I ought to do it I have abstained from that because I certainly know that I ought of necessity not to do it I have done it after this manner because I am certainly assured that this was according to the way directed by my Rule therefore my Conscience that is my power of judging my self pronounces for me that I have done right and well and then my Mind or Conscience being satisfied I am at ease and quiet within my self and this is called a good Conscience or peace of Conscience On the contrary when I have done either what I certainly know I ought not or but doubt I ought not to have done or omitted what I am assured I ought to have done or where I have not done what I ought to do according as I ought to have done it for the manner of performance with all due circumstances my Conscience tells me I have not done well or according to my knowledge and therefore my mind is unquiet and unsatisfied haunted with guilt of the evil and terrified with the fearful expectation of punishment and this is called an evil Conscience or to speak more properly a Conscience of evil But if there be no command to act or to abstain nor any directions for the manner and circumstances
done positively to tell them This is matter of Conscience and that no man can do with a safe Conscience whilst in truth they were either not matter of Conscience in a strict and proper sense or if they were they were such matter of Conscience as all people were obliged to act in contrary to both their Doctrine and Practise I say had they done this which was their duty they might have done God good service and promoted our common happiness by Peace Unity and Charity which now to the great dishonour and decay of Christian Religion and true Piety and irreparable mischiefs in our Politick capacities are almost grown strangers amongst us For whosoever shall without partiality consider the affairs of these Nations for this last Century shall find That Liberty of Conscience has introduced amongst us the Synagogue of the Libertines which now has more Votaries than the true Religion and all others put together There are two things which of late have been obtruded upon us whether ignorantly or maliciously God he knows under the specious name of Conscience and these are Opinion and Persuasion To this luckless Mother and fatal Daughter we owe all those divisions that strife those bitter envyings debate variance and in truth all those intollerable mischiefs under which both Church and State have for many years so heavily groan'd and so deeply suffer'd Some men it is to be feared out of Pride Avarice Ambition or desire of Novelty having embraced such Opinions as were most suitable to their private Interest or Designs presently usurp Heaven's Royal Prerogative and stamp these courser Metalls with the Divine Impress of Conscience which immediately makes them currant Coin amongst vulgar and undistinguishing Judgments These Opinions countenanced by the success of numerous Disciples and warranted by zealous Defenders and over-eager Promoters grew amongst many into firm Perswasions and having been rooted by long continuance and naturalized by Custom then they must be matters of Conscience then they must be obliging to all and give indispensible Laws to all then they are to be defended and maintained with Life and Fortune and supported with no less rigorous Penalties than Eternal Damnation to all those who will not fall down and worship this golden Image of Conscience I will therefore endeavor to shew what Opinion and what Persuasion are and how they differ from Conscience how far they do oblige and wherein their lawful right and dominion in the management of humane Actions do consist Let us act like Men and Christians with prudence and justice let us render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to GOD the things which are GODS let us not blindly injuriously and dangerously transfer the Title Dignity Power and Supremacy of Conscience the immediate Vicegerent of our Almighty Sovereign unto these two Vsurpers who in reality are but his Subjects I will begin therefore with Opinion as being the elder of the two And that you may know that it is far inferior unto Conscience this is the description which the learned Aquinas gives of it Opinio est dispositio ad Scientiam it is a disposition to Knowledge that is Opinion is an imperfect degree of Knowledge where still there is a liberty to doubt or suspect that this or that Opinion may not be exactly true As for Example that the Sun shines at high Noon this is demonstrative knowledge but because the Sun when it shines does communicate both light and heat that therefore the Sun is a vast Globe of Fire this is but Opinion because it may be so and it may not be so Or that the Moon is peopled with Inhabitants is but Opinion because being capable of doubt I can have no way to ascertain my self of the truth of either of these whether in reality the Sun be a Ball of Flame or the Moon another habitable Region so that Opinion is that private judgment which a Man makes of things or actions which are of an indifferent nature without any certainty of knowledge where he wants the assistance of some rule or way and means to attain to such a certainty And that I may not give only instances of Philosophy thus that there is such a place as Hell the residence of the damned is a matter of knowledge as being of Divine Revelation besides that it is founded upon the reason of rewards and punishments in a future estate But whether the Fire of Hell be material or sigurative or both these are matters of Opinion and it is indifferent to believe either or both because I am not positively directed to believe either of them more than the other neither if I do believe one of them rather than the other is any other Man obliged to believe it upon my affirmation of one part to be my Opinion but is still left at his liberty so he believe any to follow that part of the Opinion which to him appears most robable and the reason is because I want a certain Rule to determine me there being no Divine Revelation of it nor any way or means to attain to a demonstrative knowledge of it and further in its own nature it appears indifferent whether those infernal Flames be material or figurative or both since whatsoever they are God Almighty is thereby able to accomplish his design which is the punishment of the fallen Angels and such of Mankind as must there be eternally miserable and tormented because they would not accept of happiness upon Gods terms and conditions Come we now from Opinion to Persuasion which as before was said is the Child of Opinion and is nothing more but that belief which a Man embraces of any Opinion in indifferent things or actions which are undetermined by any certain way or rule of knowledge where the mind follows that part which appears most probable and likely to be true so that in Persuasion as well as Opinion there is no absolute certainty of knowledge to determine the mind only Men sit down with that as a determination for the present which carries the fairest appearance of Truth and with that rest satisfied though still they reserve to themselves a liberty to change their Judgment and Persuasion so soon as a clearer evidence or better way to find out the Truth about which they are uncertain offers it self unto them Thus to one Man the flames of Hell appear most probably to be material sire because the Bodies of the damned as well as their Souls must be there most exquisitely tormented and for that purpose he thinks this sort of sire most proper and therefore that part of the Opinion passes with him into his Persuasion To another who considers that the condemned Spirits and Souls of Men which are of an immaterial substance must there be punished as well as their Bodies a figurative Fire appears most probable and that is his Persuasion To a third who considers that both Souls Bodies and the wicked Spirits must have their share of pain and torment both