much oâ— what they have no Idea of it must always end in darkness and confusion That part of a Christian Mystery which is intelligible and plain was ever so and that part which is mysterious notwithstanding all their vain endeavours will ever be so till we coâ—â— to another World Therefore our way to deal with these men is to fix the right sence and meaning of those Propositions wherein the Mysteries of the Gospel are reveal'd to us and then to insist upon the Proofs we have for the truth of the Revelation and shew that they are such as ought to convince any reasonable unprejudic'd man insomuch that if they do not give their assent to them they shall be without excuse when they come to be try'd for their Infidelity Thus we shou'd turn the course of our Thoughts into a right Chanel and confound all these Enemies of our excellent Religion For by freely owning as becomes us that we have no notion at all of these mysterious things as they are in themselves we cut off a multitude of frivolous and impertinent Objections And shew these men that our Christian Faith however is no lazy credulity or blind implicite assent since it is built upon a better foundation than is possible for any man to lay without the concurrence of the Almighty Power of God insomuch that we are ready to join issue with them upon the Principles of Reason in every point of our Christian Faith as far as the things reveal'd fall within the compass of it And therefore were I to give a reason of my belief of the TRINITY laying aside all affectation of hard words and abstruse Metaphysical Notions I wou'd do it thus I am fully perswaded of the necessity of Revelation in general in order to all the purposes of Vertue and Piety in this life and I am convinc'd that those Revelations of the things of another World which are made in the Gospel have better proofs of their Divinity than any other whatsoever They have such testimonies of their coming from God from Prophecies and Miracles and the agreeableness of the Doctrines therein contain'd to our common Notions that if I use my Reason with the same impartiality in these that I do in other things I must give my assent to them In those writings I find this Proposition There are Three that bear Record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these Three are one From whence and from many other passages in the Scriptures I find that there is a Distinction made in the Godhead under these three names of Father Son and Holy-Ghost which the Church hath exprest altogether by the word Trinity and singly by the word Person And I think these terms proper enough to express all that we know of this Mystery Now I find no account of the Manner and Nature of this Distinction in the holy Scriptures any otherwise than that the Son was begotten and that the Holy Ghost comes from the Father and the Son I conclude there is something more than a meer Nominal Distinction because we are said to be Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy-Ghost Which must needs import something more than if that Commission had run thus Go Baptize all Nations in the name of Jehovah and of Elohim and of Adonai And if there were not something more intended than barely that they shou'd do it in the name of God this were a needless tautology Again I conclude that they are not three distinct different Spirits for then there must be three Gods contrary to Reason and Scripture From all which I infer there is in the Godhead something more than a meer nominal Distinction and something less than that of three different Spirits And because I find each Person seperatly as well as jointly mention'd as God and Divine Worship allow'd and paid to them Therefore as that excellent Creed expresseth it I worship the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance Now at the same time I make this profession of my Faith I allow I have not the least knowledg how strict this Union is nor how great the Distinction It is as much beyond my Reason as the Glory of God is beyond my Sight and any man who strives to conceive it himself or takes pains to explain it to others is guilty of such a folly that I can't think of any action in nature extravagant enough to match it If we saw a Man stretching up his hand with a great deal of Vehemence to pull down a Star we shou'd certainly conclude him distracted because 't is utterly impossible for him to reach it or grasp it if he cou'd 'T is the very case of those men who go about to account for the manner of that Unity and Distinction for which they have neither Words nor Idea's And therefore I say it again in opposition to this Insolent Man that I thus adore what I cannot comprehend This is one of those Mysteries reveal'd in the Gospel and it is never the less a Mystery for any thing he hath yet said or ever will say for the Union is inexplicable and will be so to the end of the World However my assent to this is not precarious and implicite or any easie blind Credulity but is â—ounded upon clear and distinct Idea's For there are three things to be done by every reasonable thinking man concerning any Proposition wherein a Mystery is reveal'd 1. To be sure that he understand well the meaning of the Words 2. That he discern no Contradiction in them 3. That he hath sufficient evidence of the Revelations coming from God 1. As to the first of these in respect of the Mystery I am now upon I understand very well the meaning of the Words wherein it is reveal'd and they themselves who oppose this Doctrine understand them as well as I for if they did not know what was meant by the Words they wou'd never set themselves to argue against it for there is no other way of conâ—uting Nonsence but saying it is such So that thus far if it prove to be true these Propositions wherein the Trinity is reveal'd will hold good against them at the day of Judgment and render them without Excuse 2. As to the second thing I see no Contradiction in it and if there were I would utterly reject it For to say that Three are One is so far from being a contradiction that there is nothing more common in ordinary discourse than for any one to say that Three or any other greater number of things are but one and if every man who spoke such seeming contradictions were catch't up immediately and forc'd to explain himself upon all such occasions it wou'd make conversation very troublesome As if one shou'd say that there are three distinct things in a Man a Body the Animal Spirits and an Immaterial Substance and yet
Imprimatur Liber cui titulus A Letter in Answer to a Book Entitled Christianity not Mysterious c. May 6. 1697. Narcissus Dublin A LETTER IN Answer to a Book ENTITLED Christianity not Mysterious As also To all Those who Set up for REASON and EVIDENCE In Opposition to REVELATION MYSTERIES By PETER BROWNE B D. Sen Fellow of Trin. Coll. Dub DUBLIN Printed by Joseph Ray in Essex street for John North in Skinner row 1697. A LETTER In answer to a BOOK ENTITLED Christianity not Mysterious SIR WHEN I sent to borrow of you the Book Entitled Christianity not Mysterious I little thought of drawing on my self any trouble beyond the bare reading of it but since you have desir'd my thoughts of the matters contain'd in it I was unwilling to resuse Thô I must freely tell you what you seem to own in your Letter that I think my self better imploy'd And your saying that it is no neglect in a Shepherd to leave his feeding of the Lambs and go aside for a while to beat off any thing that comes to devour or infect them wo'd not have prevail'd with me if this had caus'd any intermission in that business which I hope will turn to better account when I come to receive my Wages But having a little time to spare I shall perform what you desire And I have done this the rather for that you tell me the Book hath made some noise and that the Author is countenanc'd and encourag'd by some Men of Sence I don't much wonder at it for every Man of Sence is not a Man of true Religion besides it is not every Man of Reason and Integrity hath leisure to consider it and if they have yet these sort of abstracted Discourses are out of the road of Men of Business What you observe is very true that the generality of Men who write such Books as these and talk of them most are those of a mixt sort of learning Persons of a miscelaneous education who have some insight into most of the Sciences but are throughly vers't in none And the talking of Idea's and running endless divisions upon them is a cheap and easie way some Men now adays have taken up of appearing wise and learned to the world Whereas the bottom of it all is no more than this That Men of nice heads have agreed to speak of plain things in a peculiar dialect of their own which if they were strip't of those terms of Art and put into plain Language have nothing in them more than what is obvious to the common sence and reason of all Men. And the consequence of using them so frequently in matters of Religion is generally what is so visible in this Author that they darken the Subject so that the Question is lost in a multitude of Words and then Men wander far in pursuit of Truth when they left it behind them at their first setting out But before I come to the particulars I can't but take notice of that unreasonableness of People who never think a Writer sufficiently confuted unless we follow him in all his wandrings whereas in a subject of this nature it is enough to shew where he left the Road and that he is not yet return'd into it If a Man were to demolish a Fabrick there is no necessity of doing it stone by stone it is abundantly enough if he undermine and destroy those Pillars which are the main supporters of it for then it falls to the ground and is no other than a heap of Rubbish thô many of the materials were very good in themselves To any reasonable considering Person it were a sufficient Answer to this whole Book to shew in short how he mistakes the Question and proceeds in it all upon two false Suppositions One in Logick in the former part of his Book viz. That Evidence is the only ground of Perswasion The other in Divinity in the latter part of it That now under the Gospel the Vail is perfectly remov'd This wo'd satisfy them that he runs all the while upon a false scent and they wo'd not take it ill that we left him to wander by himself But because these are but few in comparison of those who take things in the gross and can't so well discern the connexion and dependance of one thing upon another And indeed because Answers are design'd for such as are not able to see into the fallacies and not for those who are therefore I shall trace him step by step and leave nothing in him unanswer'd that hath any appearance of reasoning I shall be so far from endeavouring to contradict him in every thing that I shall grant him all that possibly I can The worst of Hereticks speak many things that are true and the more we can with justice allow them the plainer we shall make their Errors appear and the more difficult it will be for them to proceed for this obligeth them either to speak to the pinch of the Question or be silent It can't be expected in the compass of a Letter that I should enter into any nice disquisitions about the nature of Faith in general or of the mysteries of the Gospel in particular or of the use of Reason in Religion For I am not now going to write a Book upon this subject if I were it should not be in answer to him I shall at present only shew the weakness and â—olly of this Man 's arguing and lay open the Cheats and Fallacies by which he is either deceiv'd himself or wo'd impose upon others That I may relieve the subject he treats of from that darkness and obscurity in which he has involv'd it either through ignorance or design And first there is great deceit in the very Title of the Book CHRISTIANITY NOT MYSTERIOUS For by these two words as it appears by what follows he wo'd raise a Notion in the heads of People that Christianity as it is now generally taught and receiv'd among us is a Religion made up of dark aenigmatical Allusions and absurd irrational and unintelligible Notions or else of the plainest things wrapt up in mysterious Rites and Ceremonies and in short that our most holy Faith is no other than one great Riddle Whereas Christianity is so far from being Mysterious that it is the plainest Institution in the World All the necessary Points of Faith and Practice are so clear and obvious to every capacity that it is a Religion calculated for all sorts of People And therefore it is said of the times of the Gospel That God wo'd put his Law into their inward parts and write it in their Hearts and they should all know him even from the least of them to the greatest That which this Sophister wo'd have infer'd from hence is That every thing God should reveal in the times of the Gospel Men should have as full and comprehensive a knowledge of as they have of any thing in nature But 't is evident this expression was
they find more reason to believe the truth of those things reveal'd in the Gospel than it is possible for them to have for what any Man says then I will allow them to be the only Men of Sence and that we are only soft and credulous fools 'T is every mans native Right and Priviledge to judg and examine every thing before he gives his assent to it and 't is this alone which distinguisheth our Christian Faith from blind Credulity because it admits of such enquiry For thô we have no notion of the things themselves yet we are sufficiently assur'd of the truth of them from those things we fully understand And the constant method of arguing in divine things is this from the things whereof we have clear and distinct Idea's we infer the existence of those things whereof we have no Idea at all As for instance in this Proposition This Corruptible shall put on Incorruption I have a clear and distinct Idea of what it is for a Body to corrupt and rot and likewise I know what an athletick habit of body is and for a person to have a firm constitution and to remain always in the utmost beauty and vigour of a blooming Youth which is the best Idea of Incorruption that I can frame to myself now And the reason I give my assent to this Proposition is not because I have any the least notion of that immutable state of perfection which a Body shall be rais'd to and which is here represented under the notion of Incorruption But because I have sufficient proof for the truth of it in this Type or Figure by which it is represented to me that it is possible for me to have i. e. the concurring testimonies of Prophecies Miracles and the Excellency of that Doctrine which they preach't who were made the instruments of revealing this to me And thus likewise thô we have no Idea of God as he is in himself yet we infer his Existence from those clear and distinct Ideas we have of the things of Nature which is the very meaning of the Apostle when he says All that was to be known of God was manifested in them for the invisible things of him from the creation of the World are cleerly seen being understood by the things that are made It was for want of some Idea of him as he is that made the Heathen World run into Idolatry and represent him under the similitude of some of the meanest of his Creatures And now by Revelation what we come to know more of him is that we can have no Idea at all of him as he is in himself and as it follows it is this will one day render all Infidels without excuse because thô they had no clear and distinct Ideas of the things of another World yet God did not leave them without sufficient proof of their existence nay greater than it was possible for them to have for any thing else From whence we see that there is an essential difference between Human and Divine Faith because the proof on which one is grounded is fallible and that of the other infallible and consequently a greater degree of knowledg in the one than in the other This is one reason of using these two words Faith and Knowledg so promiscuously in some places of the New Testament because our belief of a meer man is but a precarious assent but the Christian Faith may be called Knowledg in a more peculiar sence because we are obliged to believe nothing but what we have infallible prooffor Which again shews the falsity of that saying of his which he lays such a stress upon That Divine and Human Revelations do not differ in degrees oâ— perspicuity For where there is a greater degree of Knowledg there is a greater degree of Perspecuity but in the Christian Faith there is a greater degree of Knowledg Ergò And now we see plainly the error of those men who out of a mistaken zeal for the Mysteries of Christianity have set themselves to defend them by bringing them down to the level of a man and endeavour by thin spun notions to solve the greatest difficulties in them upon the Principles of Reason These are very rash and inconsiderate attempts and when all is done their failing in what they aim at is the best defence of our Christian Mysteries If we had not a determinate sence for the words wherein they are reveal'd they could be no Articles of Faith And if they cou'd be fully solv'd and explain'd they wou'd cease to be Mysteries This hath given the Enemies of our Religion a great advantage for when they find they are not to be throughly accounted for as indeed they are not upon the strength of Reason together with the assistance of that degree of Revelation we now have they utterly reject them as inconsistent with those powers of knowledge which God hath given us Never distinguishing between that part of a Mystery which we understand clearly and distinctly and will admit of the strictest enquiry of the morâ—sest Reasoner and the substance of the thing signified by it whereof we have no Idea at all and therefore nothing can be more absur'd than to raise any Disputes about it It wou'd certainly be very pleasant to hear two such quicksighted blind men as I spoke of dispute warmly concerning the nature of Light and how many seeming contradictions they wou'd start concerning it as How any thing cou'd be in every point of such a vast space in the same instant How it was possible for them to touch so many millions of Objects at once Since this was their chief way of distinguishing one thing from another c. and fall out about these imaginary difficulties irreconcilably Whereas upon supposition that it was reveal'd to them that there was such a thing which shou'd make them very happy some time or other when God shou'd open their eyes Their business was not to consider whether they were able clearly and distinctly to comprehend the nature of this thing but whether it were really reveal'd to them under the notion of such things whereof they had clear and Distinct Idea's If it were divinely reveal'd and they had sufficient testimonies for the reality and existence of it then they wou'd have sufficient reason to believe it without any clear and distinct Idea of the thing it self So that we take a wrong method against all the Opposers of Revelation and Mysteries when we go about to explain to them what is really inexplicable by us now many such prophane and impious Books as these have been the consequence of it We are neither able to apprehend any thing of these Mysteries nor if we knew them cou'd we explain them so as to make other people understand us 'T is the greatest Folly because it is impossible and the greatest Boldness because it is searching into what is hidden from us and all these elaborate Intricacies are but mischievous â—rifling And when Men talk so
great way about to prove very aukwardly And therefore what can he mean by it unless it be to make unthinking People fancy we deny all this If he hath any thing to object against our Doctrine of the Church of England or Ireland let him speak plainly but nothing is more vile and disingenuous than for a man to speak thus indistinctly and confusedly and talk all in the general with design to make People think us guilty of those errours we detest and abhor If he has any controversy with us let him deal honestly and instance in any one point of Doetrine we believe or teach that is contrary to Reason or Scripture and make it out as plainly as I have done his Principles to be such If not let him own he had no other design but to expose the Christian Religion and it's Teachers and gratify the Rancour of a sort of People who because of their lewd and debauch'd lives must naturally hate that Institution which they shall one day be condemn'd by and which promises them nothing but Damnation in another World This Book which goes under his name is exactly calculated for them there is a little superficial shew of Learning to make it plausible but not one instance in all the Book of close Reason or Argument Let him shew me where one link of my Reasoning fails and I will make it up again so firm that he shall never be able to undo it Whereas all his whole Discourse is a meer Rope of Sand many bold and false Assertions sly Insinuations and several things nothing at all to the question huddled up together on purpose to patch up a Book and amuse such persons who have just Logick enough to be impos'd upon by a Fallacy but not to see through it Now after this long digression of two Sections in his third and last Section he comes at length to the matter in dispute but with what success we shall see Here he begins to state the question again and says a Doctrine above Reason or a Mystery denotes one of these two things Either 1 A thing intelligible in it self but cover'd with such a Vail that Reason cannot penetrate to see what is under it till it be remov'd Which definition agrees perfectly to the Mysteries of the Gospel for they are all things intelligible in them selves but in this life so obscur'd from us by this vail of flesh and blood that with our strongest Imagination and closest Reasonings we cant penetrate into the true nature of them till this Vail be remov'd and then we shall see them clearly Now this is not the definition that he quarrels with and if he will admit of this little enlargement of it we are both agreed But the definition he finds fault with is this 2. A Mystery is a thing of it's own nature unconceiveable and not to be judg'd of by our ordinary Faculties and Idea's tho it be never so clearly reveal'd I never met with any one Sentence so fraught with absurdity as this is For 1. It signifies a thing in it's own nature unconceivable this is a downright falsity For every Mystery is in it's own nature conceivable the more truth any thing hath in it the more conceivable it is in it self the Mysteries of Christianity are the Eternal Truths of God and therefore are in themselves conceivable But it is in respect of us that they are not so because of the frail and limited condition of our understandings in this life 2. Not to be judg'd of by our ordinary Faculties and Idea's thô it be clearly reveal'd Now for a thing to be clearly reveald to a Man and yet that same man know nothing of it which is his sence of the words and which he would fasten upon us is a perfect contradiction For it is no other than saying that the same man way and may not know the same thing at the same time He can never come off by saying that a thing may be clearly reveal'd and yet the Person may have no ability to apprehend any thing of it for all Revelation supposes a capacity in the Person to whom it is made to apprehend something of it and therefore 't is nonsence to say that any thing can be clearly reveal'd to a Horse or a Stock or a Stone 3. Besides it is absolutely false that the Mysteries of our Religion are not to be judg'd of by our ordinary Faculties and Idea's It hath already appear'd that as to the thing signified and intended in the Revelation we have no Idea nor faculty to judge of it as it is in it self But as to all those means whereby God hath discover'd the reality and existence of those things to us we may judg of them all by our ordinary Faculties and Idea's And to make this plain let us instance in the same Mystery of the Resurrection Our Bodies sown in Corruption shall be rais'd in Incorruption This is one of the reveal'd Mysteries of the Gospel and yet we are to judg of it by our ordinary Faculties and Idea's For we have Idea's in our heads of what a body is what it is to be sown or laid in the ground what it is to be rais'd and what it is for a body to be improv'd when it is so Besides our Faculties of Understanding are imploy'd in considering those many arguments which prove the truth of this Mystery and therefore 't is plain that by our Faculties and Idea's we can judg of that part of it which is knowable by us But he will say we can't judg of that part of it which is totally obscur'd from us and therefore so far it is no part of our Faith and we are wholly unconcern'd in it But on the contrary we are bound by express words of Scripture to believe that this Improvement will be very great as in 1 John 3. 2. We know not yet what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him Here we are bound to believe that we shall be like Christ thô we know not what this likeness is or wherein it will consist 4. On this supposition that a thing is in it's own nature unconceivable how is it possible for it to be reveal'd This is another flat Contradiction ex Parte Rei as the first was ex Parte Hominis A thing is in it's own nature unconceivable and yet it may be reveal'd i. e. the same thing may and may not be reveal'd 5. He makes a thing 's being in it's own nature unconceivable and not to be perceiv'd by our ordinary Faculties and Idea's to signify the same thing whereas they are just as different as Light and Darkness Thô our capacities are now dark and shallow yet they will hereafter be improv'd and enlarg'd and then we shall have extraordinary Idea's to represent to us what we have no notion of now And then the thing will be no way unconceivable either in itself or in respect
is St. Paul used great plainess of Speech Ergò they had as full and perfect a knowledge of every thing he spoke as they had of a Stock or a Stone Nay when he spoke to them of the depths of the Wisdom of God and discours'd to them how he was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words without doubt they that heard him had as lively an impression of this whole vision on their imaginations as he that saw it nay as they had of the Man that spoke to them and we may expect no less from this profound Revealer of Mysteries than that he will quote us all these unspeakable words in his next Book And so by the following quotations he thinks he hath knock'd us down when any mention is made of the Mystery being made manifest or known to all Nations Ergò the very Manner and Properties of those things are laid open to us And therefore this Man I warrant you knows as much of the secret Councils of God now whose Judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out as he doth of the dark contrivances of that Caball against all reveal'd Religion where the design of this Book was first laid and the rest are now a forging For 't is well known this Mystery of Iniquity doth already work but he who hath hitherto hindred we trust will hinder till they be taken out of the way and their wickedness be reveal'd And here if I were dispos'd to be merry I cou'd make better sport with the History of this Man's life than he has done with the Doctor and his Parishioner for I have trac'd him in this too from the time he first gave out he wou'd be Head of a Sect before he was thirty years of Age till he became an Author and from thence to his coming into this Kingdom to spread his Heresies and put his Designs in Execution But I am now upon a Subject in Divinity and not making a Farce and perhaps I may have another opportunity of giving the World a clear and distinct Idea of this man who thinks himself so formidable and swells with the fancy of having run down three Kingdoms only with one cross Question which is the foundation of all his Book viz. How can a Man believe what he doth not know I come now to consider how he answers those Objections which are made against this new Hypothesis of his in Religion The first sort of Objections he brings are three or four Texts of Scripture which make nothing against either what he or we say in this matter but such as Enthusiasts bring against the use of Reason in Religion So that they are wholly impertinent unless he disputes against the Quakers and therefore I have no more to do here but to take notice of the base disingenuity of the man who by this wou'd make unthinking or prejudiced people believe that we are those ignorant perverse Men he speaks of and put us upon the same level with the rankest Enthusiasts Whereas he can't but know that we are as vigorous defenders of the use of Reason in Religion as he can be 'T is by this that the truths of all reveal'd Religion are establish'd and remain unshaken and the same for ever in spight of all the opposition of their subtilest enemies 'T is by this we confute his Errors 't is before the Evidence and Light of Reason that all his Operose and laborious Sophisms disappear like empty shadows and vanish into nothing When we thus contend for the use of Reason in Religion then on one side we are charg'd as if we deni'd all Revelation and when we defend the truth of Revelation then on the other side we are charg'd with laying aside our Reason as if we must needs cease to be Men before we can be Christians And therefore I shall state a right notion of this matter as clear as I can in short and that by these degrees 1. We allow that Sense and Reason are the only faculties we have of knowing or judging of any thing either in Nature or Religion and we allow that God in all his Revelations applies himself to us by these faculties and doth not either create any new ones or make any essential alteration in these we have for then a Stock or a Stone wou'd be as capable of a Divine Revelation as a Rational Creature And therefore 2. We allow that what is not agreable to these Powers of knowledg we are already endued with is not to be receiv'd or entertain'd by us for otherwise God who plac'd these in us wou'd not be consistent with himself nor wou'd he have us so 3. These Powers of knowledg are better suited to the present objects of this life than they are to those of another for otherwise we argue God of want of Wisdom and Contrivance and if they were now as well fitted for the Objects of another life there wou'd be no occasion for a change at the last day 4. We affirm that all the things of another World even after they are reveal'd are totally obscur'd both from our Senses and our Reason as to the real Nature and Properties of them as they are in themselves And this I hope I have sufficiently made out so that if People will believe any thing at all of another life they must do so without clear and distinct Idea's of them 5. That since we have not capacities for them there is no other way of revealing any thing to us relating to another life but by Analogy with the things of this World Thus the Glory and Intellectual Light of Heaven is reveal'd under the notion of that we have from the Sun the Generation of the Son of God under the notion of one Man's proceeding from the Lions of another c. Now therefore let me again distinguish these two things in every Revelation or Mystery 1. That Analogous object of this life under the notion of which God doth reveal any thing of another life to us And 2. The Thing it self that is signified by it As to the first of these it falls in all respects under the severest censure and trial of our Reason as to the latter it is wholly exempted from it As for instance in this Proposition The Saints shall reign for ever In this Mystery the thing reveal'd is the happy and glorious state of the Saints in Heaven The Analogous object made use of by God for this is that of the Splendour and Grandure of a Kingdom In respect of this latter our Reason hath full scope and 't is not only lawful but commendable nay our duty to be very punctual and exact in our Scrutiny And therefore we must know the meaning of the words and understand the matter of the Proposition we must be satisfied that it hath no impossibility or contradiction in it Nay more our Reason must be convinc'd and we must have a clear evidence in our mind of it's coming from God
and what it is for a small quantity of Bread to be encreas'd to a mighty bulk but as to the manner how this was perform'd we are wholly ignorant of it thô we know well how Corn is encreas'd in the ordinary way of nature But he will object here as he did concerning the Doctrines viz. That at this rate All the Phenomena of Nature are miraculous for we know not the true manner of any one of them And this is the main drift of this Chapter to give us a wrong notion of a Miracle viz. That it is nothing more than the dextrous management of second causes and not any immediate effect of Almighty God and therefore in the close he tells us That Miracles are wrought according to the laws of Nature thô above it's ordinary operations which are therefore supernaturally assisted And this is the reason of that bold and arrogant expression of his That could he tell how a Miracle was wrought he believes he might do as much himself For there is nothing more in it than in a Chymical Operation and if he were Philosopher enough he would work any Miracle of them all But the true notion of a Miracle is that it is An operation wrought by the immediate power of God not by Assisting only but Over-ruling the laws of Nature not only by hastning and accelerating it's Operations but sometimes by an instantaneous production of what was never to be effected by the united force of all natural causes As to instance in the Raising a Body from the Dead all the united force of nature with the most dextrous management wou'd not be able to effect this all the Eâ—tracting Mollifying Mixing Infusing Consolidating c. And the ministry not only of Thousands but of Millions at once wou'd not be able to unite a Soul and Body again when once they are seperated nothing less than the Almighty immediate act of God is able to effect this and that without the concurrence of any natural cause Again there are some Miraculous Operations which are so far from being according to the laws of nature that they are contrary to them As that of the Sun 's going back or standing still all the laws of nature are dispos'd for it's motion or at least for the motion of our Earth which makes it seem to us to move Again The making Iron to swim Were this effect produc'd by Mollifying Consolidating c. or any Operation which shou'd convert the substance of Iron into that of Wood then we could not say that Iron swam but something else or if the water were condensed to support it then it wou'd be Ice and not water and if any thing of this nature were don of a sodainâ—t wou'd however be miraculous but not contrary to nature But for a solid piece of Iron while it remains such to swim in Water no way condens'd this is not only above but contrary to the laws of nature And so likewise for Fire not to burn is contrary to nature Indeed if there were nothing more in it than what this man supposes that it is don by repelling the heat and keeping off the flames then it might be according to the laws of nature and there are many things which by an instantaneous application might extinguish the Fire But to hinder fire from burning while it remains such and combustible matter actually in it this is contrary to the laws of nature But all those Miracles which are not so directly contrary to nature can't however be said to be according to the laws of nature And I take these two expressions to be directly opposite Which he makes the same Miracles are according to the laws of nature And they are above the operations of it For to instance in the first Miracle our Saviour wrought that of Turning Water into Wine The production of Wine according to the laws of nature must have been by accelerating the growth of the Vine and ripening the Grape sodainly by application of all those things in nature which could forward it but to turn Water immediatly into Wine without any of these methods was to produce it afer a manner wholly different from all the laws of nature Upon his Principles we have no way from the nature of the thing of distinguishing between the Delusions of the Divel those celebrated Feats of Goblins and Witches and Conjurers which he speaks of and those which are wrought by the Finger of God For without doubt the Divel is a great Philosopher and can managâ— second Causes so as to produce Effects according to the laws of nature which shall appear very strange to us But we are sure nothing less than that power which is the Author of Nature can work any real effect contrary to it or above it The Divel indeed may delude mens senses so as to make them think that Real which is only an Appearance as it is likely he did to mimick that miracle of turning Aarons Rod into a Serpent for that of the Magicines was not a real Conversion but effected by their Enchantments or as 't is in the original by their Wiles and Jugling For we find when they endeavour'd to imitate Moses in the instantaneous production of any real thing with Life there the Divel fail'd them and they were forc'd to own it was the Finger of God And thus we see plainly how this Man strikes at the foundation of all Reveal'd Religion by undermining one of the main Pillars on which the Faith and Credit of it is founded You see his drift all along in every thing he says is to take away all Operations above the Laws of Nature and all Doctrines above the reach of Reason and then all the Religion of Men is consequently resolv'd into Infidelity an Heathenism So that any one who wishes Christianity to be true must hope at least that this Mans Principles are false since they are so utterly inconsistent 2. But 2dly As miracles being in a great degree Mysterious is an unanswerable objection against him so they are altogether useless and impertinent upon his Principles He owns that God does not work them at random but for some end and this end he owns is for the confirmation of some Divine Doctrine But why for the confirmation of a Doctrine for he hath told us over and over that it is only the Evidence or immediate knowledg of the Doctrine it self can perswade us That Faith is nothing more than the knowing what is beleiv'd c. And therefore all Miracles for the confirmation of any Doctrine are needless and superfluous If they are so evident to our Senses or our Reason that we know them to be true what necessity is there of farther conviction if a thing be so evident to mâ— Senses or Reason that I know it to be true nothing can make me surer of it So that we see the reason of Miracles is that they may be a proof of something that we cannot
the cause of it * Not that worldly Objects can have any real likeness or resemblance of the things reveal'd but they are such as God hath made choice of for that purpose and therefore we may make this inference from his Wisdom that they bear the greatest analogy with them of any things that fall within the compass of our knowledge now Lock of H. U. B. 2. C. 23. Lock of H. U. 1. Cor. 13. 12. P. 14. Rom. 1. 19. 1 Joh. 57. * Thô we grant this Text was not quoted by the Nicene Council against the Arrians and is not found in many ancient Copies Nay thô we shou'd grant that it was not originally in the Epistle of St. John it is however a good Argument for the Doctrine of the Trinity For If it was a Marginal Note and so crept into the Text this however shews it to have been the Opinion of the most Ancient and Primitive Christians who put this Comment to the Text. If they say this was put in by the Orthodox it was done in opposition to Hereticks and this was a sufficient evidence of their firm belief of the Doctrine of the Trinity then But if this Text was expung'd by the Arrians who as St. Ambrose observes of them were remarkable for this sort of fraudulent dealing with the Scriptures then there was a great deal of reason for restoring of it Thô it be not in some Copies yet it is in others and those very antient And that which may give us a strong presumption that it is genuine is that it was quoted by St. Cyprian a considerable time before the Nicene Council and before the Arrian Heresy ran so high or that it was so much for the interest of any party either to insert or expunge it But however this be we are sure the Scriptures with it are all of a piece and very consistent with themselves For the substance of this Text is plainly exprest in other places which they don't deny to be genuine And we make no question but if it were in the power of our modern Hereticks of the same rank these too wou'd be left out of all those Copies which shou'd be transmitted to posterity Athe. P. 22. P. 23. * It may be thought that I have taken a wrong Instance because at first sight it looks as if it was the consent only of her Will without any delusion of her Understanding But on second thoughts you will find this is no other than to disbelieve the truth of the History which records this false perswasion of her Understanding as the temptation which prevail'd upon her for the consent of her Will did not follow till the Devil had remov'd her Objection from that saying of Gods in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye P. 42. Sect. 2. P. 25. P. 26. P. 46. Sect. 3. P. 6â— P. 66. P. 66. P. 68. P. 73. P. 72. P. 73. P. 73. P. 74. P. 74. P. 86. P. 75. 1. Cor. 2. 9. Letter to the Bp. of Worces P. 69 70 71. Sect 3. C. 3. P. 90. Math. 26. 27. P. 90. â— Cor. 3. 12. 13. P. 109. Sect. 3. C. 4. P. 120. P. 126. P. 126. P. 127 P. 12â— P. 129. P. 130. P. 131. P. 132. P. 133. P. 134. P. 135. P. 136. P. 137. P. 138. P. 139. P. 139. P. 110. P. 140. P. 139. C. 5. P. 144. P. 145. P. 150. 2. Kings 6. 6. P. 145. P. 147 P. 146. P. 150. P 150. Sect. 3. C. 4. P. 151. P. 157. P. 120. Acts. 13. 01. P. 150. P. 154 P. 165. Sect. 3. C. 6. P. 163. P. 141. P. 167. Preface P. 2. P. 172. Acts. 24. 14. 1 Cor. 15. 5. P. 166. Preface P. 22. Preface to the Lady's Religion Preface P. 19. Pref. * STROM Lib. 5. Basil Con Eunoâ— Hymnus ad Deum Contr. Marcionem lib. 2. Cap. 27. Lib. 12. contra Eunomium Haeret. Epist. 9 ad Ti. Cap. 1. de Cal Hi. Orat. 34. Cap. 13. de Div. No Sâ—rom Lib. 5.