their Enemies Is it not more truly honourable and glorious to serve that God who commandeth the whole World than to be a slave to those Passions and Lusts which put men upon continual hard service and torment them for it when they have done it Were there nothing else to commend Religion to the minds of men besides the tranquility and calmness of spirit that serene and peaceable temper which follows a good Conscience wheresover it dwells it were enough to make men welcom that Guest which brings such good entertainment with it Whereas the amazements horrors and anxieties of mind which at one time or other haunt such who prostitute their Consciences to a violation of the Laws of God and the Rules of rectified Reason may be enough to perswade any rational person that Impiety is the greatest folly and Irreligion the greatest madness The wisest and greatest of men in all Ages at or not long before their death when freest from worldly designs and sensual delights have owned that God and His Truth which they did not embrace and acknowledge as they ought to have done in their lives and the nearer death did approach to them the more serious were they in Religion and did disclaim and abandon those Atheistical and irreligious courses wherewith they or some of them had been formerly entangled Nimrod the Founder of the Assyrian Monarchy when carried away by Spirits at his death as Annius in his Berosus relates the Story cryed out Oh one year more Oh one year more before I go into the place from whence I shall not return Ninus that great King next from Nimrod save Belus at his Death left this Testimony Look on this Tomb and hear where Ninus is whether thou art an Assyrian a Mede or an Indian I speak to thee no frivolous nor vain matters Formerly I was Ninus and lived as thou doest I am now no more than a piece of earth All the Meat that I have like a Glutton devoured all the Pleasures that I like a Beast enjoyed all the beautiful Women that I so notoriously abused all the Riches and Glory that I so proudly possessed I am now deprived of And when I went into the invisible state I had neither Gold nor Horse nor Chariot I that wore the rich Crown of Gold am now poor Dust Cyrus the Persian left this Memento behind him to all Mankind as Plutarch and others tell us Whosoever thou art O O Man and whence-soever thou comest for I know thou wilt come to the same condition that I am in I am Cyrus who brought the Empire to the Persians Do not I beseech thee envy me this little piece of ground which covereth my Body Alexander the Great who conquered the World was at last as we find in Plutarch Curtius and others so possessed with the sense of Religion that he was under much trouble and anxiety of spirit and look'd upon every little matter as portentous and ominous so dreadful a thing saith Plutarch is the contempt of God which sooner or later filleth all mens minds with fears and terrors Julius Caesar who Conquered so many Nations and at last subdued and possessed the Roman Empire could not Conquer himself and his own Conscience which troubled him with Dreams and terrified him with Visions putting him upon Sacrificing and consulting all sorts of Priests and Augures though he found comfort from none in so much as a little before he died he was as heartless as the ominous Sacrifice was that he offered professing to his most intimate Friends That since he had made an end of the Wars abroad he had no Peace at home The like may be said of Tiberius Caesar Nero and other Roman Emperours Hadrian the Emperour celebrated his own Funerals carrying before him his Coffin in triumph when he lived and when he was a dying cried out lamentably Animula vagula blandula quae abibis in loca Ah poor Soul whither wilt thou go what will become of thee Thus the greatest Princes have especially near their latter end a deep sense of Religion of the Souls Immortality and their Eternal estate in another World Nor did ever any Prince Captain or Law-giver go about any great matter but at length he was glad to take in the assistance of a God as Numa Lycurgus Solon Scipio and others Titus and Nerva two Roman Emperours had such serious thoughts and were so sensible of a Deity in the Government of the World that neither of them as the Historian saith was ever seen to smile or play Septimius Severus that Victorious Roman Emperour having had experience of the vanity of this Worlds Riches and Greatness said at his Death I have been all things and it profiteth me nothing Charles the Fifth that Famous German Emperour after twenty three pitch'd Battels six Triumphs four Kingdoms won and eight Principalities added to his other Dominions resigned all these in his life time to his Son and betook himself to a retired life and to his private Devotions This great and wise Prince had his own Funeral Celebrated beforre his face and left this Testimony of the Christian Religion That the sincere profession of it had in it those sweets and joys which the Courts of Princes were strangers to grounding his hope and assurance of Salvation upon the sole Righteousness and Satisfaction of Christ his Mediator and not upon his own Works and to this purpose divers little Papers were written by him and found immediately after his Death as is Recorded by an Author who wrote the Life of Don Carlos his Grand-child Philip the Third King of Spain lying on his death-bed the last of March 1621 sent thrice at Midnight for Florentius his Confessor who gravely exhorting him patiently to submit to the will of God the King could not choose but weep saying Lo now my fatal hour is at hand but shall I obtain eternal felicity at which words great grief and trouble of mind seising on the King he said to his Confessor You have not hit upon the right way of healing Is there no other Remedy Which words when the Confessor understood of his Body the King replied Ah ah I am not solicitous for my Body or temporary Disease but for my Soul Cardinal Wolsey that Great Minister of State who for some years gave Law to England and to other Nations poured out his Soul in these sad words Had I been as diligent to serve my God as I have been to please my Prince He would not have forsaken me now in my gray Hairs Sir Francis Walsingham that great and wise Statesman towards the latter end of his Life grew very melancholy and wrote to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh to this purpose We have lived enough to our Countrey to our Fortunes and to our Sovereign it is now high time we begin to live to our selves and to our God In the multitude of Affairs which have passed through our Hands there must needs be great miscarriages for which a whole Kingdom cannot
flourish more in Princes Courts than in the times of the Apostles why did not one or other step forth to vanquish or convict them before the Magistrates Origen not to mention here other Learned men that were converted to Christ was himself a great Philosopher and fellow-Disciple to Plotinus who is highly commended by the Philosophers can any sober man imagine that he and others of great judgment and abilities would suffer themselves like so many fools and mad men to be led with vain Illusions Or to attribute those things to God's special miraculous Operation which depended wholly upon Natural Causes Especially seeing that both Origen and also Cyprian before their Conversion to Christ had professed the Art of Magick If it be further said that the Apostles were influenced by pride and vain-glory in doing what they did how happeneth it then that each of them did not cause himself to be worshipped and adored as the Idol-gods and Mahomet did If they were so vain-glorious in their works as is pretended why did they not make use of their own Names and exalt themselves but refer all to Jesus and give him the power and glory of all who was so much despised by the great men of the World Surely this must needs be from God and from a divine power and not from Satan nor from Men. Fourthly Let a man but rationally consider the Life and Doctrine of Jesus who is the Author and substance of the Christian Religion and he will be convinc'd of the verity and excellency of it What was the Life and Conversation of Jesus upon Earth even by the confession both of Jews and Gentiles but the very pattern of Virtue and Piety What was it but the very Body of the Legal Types and shadows and the substance of the Predictions and Prophecies concerning the Messias How wise how patient how meek and humble how loving and compassionate to Mankind How holy and heavenly minded how diligent faithful and impartial was he in the Work of God He did neither flatter the greatest nor discourage the meanest but delivered the whole Counsel of God without respect of persons What a publick spirit what self-denial what excellent Virtues and Graces did Jesus shew forth both in His Actions and Sufferings His Enemies themselves being Judges Insomuch that Porphyry acknowledged Him to be a most Excellent Man though saith he the Christians are to blame to Worship Him as God And Pilate's Wife desired that her Husband might not meddle with that Just man To His painful Death which He suffered for us He went as a Sheep to the slaughter not opening His mouth and prayed most affectionately for His Enemies upon the Cross Father forgive them for they know not what they do Never was there such an Example of Virtue and Holiness as Jesus was and therefore how can any man of reason think that he should be the Author or Founder of a false Religion As for His Doctrine and Instructions there cannot be any found out or devised more excellent and precious Never man spake as He spake What was the continual subject of His Preaching and Discourse but the evil of Sin the vanity of this World the goodness and mercy of God in pardoning the Sinner the excellency of Holiness and Righteousness the glory and happiness of Heaven He teacheth not His Disciples how to obtain the Riches Honours and Pleasures of this World how to be great amongst men and to seek the praise and applause of men how to Conquer Kingdoms and subdue Nations by the material Sword But he teacheth them how to deny themselves and take up the Cross and follow Him how to be Crucified to the World and the Flesh to lay up Treasures in Heaven to forgive their Enemies and do good to them that despitefully use them Was there ever such Heavenly Doctrine such Excellent Instructions as proceeded out of His mouth If we look to the Precepts in Man's Laws as those amongst the Lacedemonians Athenians Romans they neither command all good nor forbid all evil The Laws of men are limited according to time place and persons As the Wise men of Persia answered the King who would have married his own Sister That indeed there was a Law that a man might not marry his own Sister but yet they found another Law That the King might do what he would and so by this means he shall have more liberty to sin than his Subjects But now on the contrary the Laws of the Christian Religion do command all that is good and forbid and restrain all that is evil the Precepts thereof are general and impartial to all persons to the King as well as the Subject to the Master as well as the Servant to the rich as well as the poor wthout exception No other Religion or Doctrine reacheth the Heart and inward man but only this Where can we find another Law that hath in it Non concupisces Thou shalt not lust which striketh at the very root and core of corruption Other Laws teach men to advance and enlarge their worldly interest and power and to be in favour with Princes But the Precepts of the Christian Religion teach us to forsake the world and not seek great things for our selves nor be ambitious of the favour of great men but to live above it And as God Himself is a Spirit and doth chiefly require the Heart so that Worship which pleaseth Him must be spiritual and such a Worship is prescribed and commanded by the Laws of Christ whereas all other Religions in the World as they proceed from man so man himself being Corporeal the Worship that he chiefly prescribeth must be Corporeal also and not Divine and Spiritual as the Christian Religion chiefly requires Other Religions attribute the praise to man either in whole or in part but the Christian Religion attributeth all to God as the highest Truth the chiefest Good and ultimate End of all Fifthly The nature and success of Christ's Kingdom may serve to convince any man's reason that the Christian Religion is divine and heavenly By what weak means by what contemptible Instruments hath Christ advanced and enlarged his Kingdom How hath he from time to time confounded things that are by things that are not Whereas men will have apt Instruments to every action and the Matter also well dispos'd to work upon Christ chooseth weak and unapt Instruments for carrying on His work in the World not the Wise and Noble and Learned of the World but Poor simple men to be His Apostles and Ambassadors and then for the Matter which they were to work upon namely the World it was altogether unprepared both Jews and Gentiles hating Christ and His Apostles Vlpian the chiefest Lawyer Galen the chiefest Physician Porphyry and Plotinus the chiefest Philosophers then living were desperate Enemies to them and wrote Books against Christ and the Christian Religion Julian the Emperour forbad Schools of Learning to the Christians in hatred of Christianity and the
A SEASONABLE DISCOURSE OF THE Right Vse and Abuse OF REASON In MATTERS of RELIGION By PHILOLOGUS Ratio recta est Ratio lumine Spiritus Sancti directa LONDON Printed for Thomas Passinger at the Three Bibles on London-Bridge 1676. To the Right Honorable AND Virtuous LADY the Lady MARCHIONESS OF WORCESTER MADAM 'T IS truly observed That Worldly Greatness without Virtue and Goodness is nothing else but the vigour of Vice having both mind and means to be uncontrollably vicious But Nobility joyned with Virtue renders the person truly Honorable the true stamp of Nobility and Honour being upon the minds of men who are not so much to be valued by the grandeur of their outward Estates or Titles as by their inward Goodness Virtue and seriousness in Religion is commendable in all persons and at all times but more especially in persons of Your rank and quality at this time and in this Nation wherein alas Atheism Scepticism Drollery and all manner of Prophaneness aboundeth amongst those that would be thought to excel all others in Wit and Courage and Gallantry and who should give a far better Example to their Inferiors This Atheism and Irreligion which now aboundeth hath been partly occasioned by the uncharitable unchristian heats and animosities of men of contrary Opinions and Sentiments in matters of Religion together with those great Scandals which we can never sufficiently lament that have been given by some Professors of the Gospel in these Nations Hence men of proud spirits and corrupt principles have taken occasion to doubt and question all kind of Religion and to look on it only as a Political device and invention which doth no further oblige than the Humane Laws of several Countries do authorize it But though these common Scandals have been the occasion yet the true ground at the bottom of such mens prejudice and scepticism is the strictness and purity of the Christian Religion which of all Religions is the most holy and spiritual and which they find lays too great a restraint upon their exorbitant Lusts and carnal Passions To be good in bad times to be virtuous and pious in an Age wherein Vice and Wickedness is so generally countenanced and practised This Madam adds a great lustre to your Goodness and Virtue And indeed your greatest Interest and Happiness which I doubt not but you are sensible of consists in being truly serious and religious this is the whole Duty of Man to fear God and keep His Commandments Eccles 12.13 The serious practice of Religion is that which every considerate person after all his other disquisitions will find to be his chief Interest and that which doth deserve his utmost care and diligence This is the whole of Man or as the Septuagint reads it this is all this indeed should be the great Design of Man as being most profitable and advantageous to him Go on Madam in the strength of the grace of God and add Virtue to Virtue that your last days and last works may be your best days and best works and that you may practically confute the Atheists of our times who walk and talk and live and die as if there were no God in the World no certainty no seriousness in Religion These persons are under a Judicial Blindness desperately rebelling not only against the Light of Gospel-revelation but against that Light of Reason which is in them God has given them Reason and Understanding Eyes that they might see Hearts that they might understand but they wilfully shut their Eyes against that Light of Reason and so by the just Judgment of God it is taken from them and they given up to blindness of mind and hardness of heart and to the greatest Spiritual Plagues and Judgments 'T is to be admired seeing there are such convincing Reasons and Demonstrations even from the Light of Nature against Atheism and Infidelity that there should be any such Creatures upon the face of the Earth as these Atheists and Scepticks when certainly there are none such in Hell for the Devils themselves believe and tremble so that in this respect they are worse than the Devils And though they pretend to be the Wits of the Times yet for my part I am of opinion with the Noble Mirandula That there is no Atheist in the World that is in his wits the rational Souls of such Monsters being sunk down into meer sensuality and brutishness Plutarch that grave Moralist Lib. de Superstit stiles Irreligion a kind of stupor whereby men are as it were deprived of their senses And that it is an exceeding improper thing to ascribe true Reason to those who do not acknowledge and adore the Deity And Cicero that wise Philosopher and Orator De Nat. Deor. lib. 2. saith he can hardly think that man to be in his right mind who is destitute of Religion And again why should any one stile such an one a Man who by what he sees in the World is not convinced of a Deity and a Providence and of the Adoration which he owes to that Deity And the Satyrist * Juv. Sat. 15. speaking of Religion and the sense of divine things saith Separat hoc nos A grege multorum atque ideo venerabile soli Sortiti ingenium Divinorumque capaces 'T is this which doth distinguish us from brute Creatures that we have Souls capable of divine impressions So that such persons have no just pretence to Reason who renounce Religion or turn it into meer Scepticism But however some men for a little time may offer violence to their Reason and Conscience whilst they prosper in this World yet when they are once alarm'd by a violent Sickness or some other great affliction which at one time or other they shall be expos'd unto then will the sense of a Deity and of Eternal Wrath and Punishment seize upon them with so much the greater force and power which they shall never be able to shake off Hi sunt qui trepidant ad omnia fulgura pallent We may truly say of the Atheists of our times as Plato doth of Tyrants If any person could but see thorowly into their Souls he should find them all their lives full of fear guilt and torments Pectus inuste deformant maculae vitiisque inolevit Imago Doth now saith an excellent Author the conquest of Passions forgiving of Injuries doing good self-denial humility patience under crosses which are the real expressions of Piety speak nothing more noble and generous than a luxurious malicious proud and impatient Spirit Is there nothing more becoming and agreeable to the Soul of Man in exemplary Piety and a holy well-ordered conversation than in the lightness and vanity not to say rudeness and debauchery of those whom the World accounts the greatest Gallants Is there nothing more graceful and pleasing in the sweetness candor and ingenuity of a truly Christian temper and disposition than in the revengeful implacable Spirit of such whose honour is fed by the blood of
make our Peace Hereupon some Courtiers being sent to divert Sir Francis Ah said he while we laugh all things are serious round about us God is serious when He preserveth us and hath patience towards us Christ is serious when He dieth for us the Holy Ghost is serious when He striveth with us the Holy Scripture is serious when it is read before us Sacraments are serious when they are administred unto us the whole Creation is serious in serving God and us They are serious in Heaven and Hell and shall a man that hath one foot in his Grave jest and laugh Sir Philip Sidney his Son-in-Law that brave accomplish'd Knight whom Queen Elizabeth call'd her Philip and the Prince of Aurange his Master whose Death was lamented in Verse by the then Kings of France and Scotland and by the two famous Universities of Oxford and Cambridge repented at his death of writing his Pembrokes Arcadia and would have committed it to the flames himself to prevent the kindling of unlawful heats in the youthful Readers of it leaving this farewel amongst his Friends Above all things govern your Wills and Affections by the Will and Word of God In me behold the end of this World and all its vanities Sir John Mason Privy Counsellor to several Princes upon his death-bed spake thus to some of his Friends I have seen five Princes and been Privy Counsellor to four of them I have observed the most remarkable Occurrences in Forein parts and been present at most transactions for thirty years together And I have learned this after so many years Experience That Seriousness is the greatest Wisdom Temperance the best Physick a good Conscience is the best Estate and were I to live again I would change the Court for a Cloister my Privy Counsellors Employment for an Hermit 's Retirement and the whole Life I lived in the Palace for one Hours Enjoyment of God in the Chappel all things else forsake me besides my God and my Duty The Lord Henry Howard that Learned Earl of Northampton being troubled with Atheistical thoughts and suggestions put them all off with this Consideration viz. If I could give any account how my self or any thing else had a being without God how there came so uniform and so constant a consent of Mankind of all ages tempers and educations otherwise differing so much in their apprehensions about the being of God the Immortality of the Soul and Religion I could then be an Atheist And when it was urged that Religion was a State-policy to keep men in awe he replied That could not be true for the greatest Politicians have sooner or later felt the power of Religion in the grievous lashes of their Consciences and the dreadfulness of their apprehensions about that state wherein they must live for ever Cardinal Richlieu that great Politician after he had governed the Affairs of Europe many years together confessed to Peter du Moulin a Learned Minister of the Reformed Church in France That being forced upon many irregularities in his life time by that which they call Reason of State he could not tell how to satsifie his conscience for several things and therefore had many Temptations to doubt and disbelieve a God another World and the Immortality of the Soul and by that distrust to relieve his aking Heart but in vain for so strong said he were the apprehensions of God in his Soul so clear the impressions of a Deity upon the frame of the World so unanimous the consent of Mankind so powerful the convictions of his Conscience that he could not but taste the power of the World to come and so live as one that must die and so die as one that must live for ever And being asked one day why he was so sad he answered Monsieur Monsieur the Soul is a serious thing it must be either sad here for a moment or be sad for ever Cardinal Mazarine his Successor who had for several years managed the Crown of France and the greatest Affairs of Christendom discoursing one day with a Sorbon Doctor concerning the Souls Immortality and Mans Eternal estate he wept repeating that Emperours saying O my poor Soul whither wilt thou go and immediately calling for his Confessor he vowed ten Hours of the Day for Devotion seven for Rest four for Repasts and but three for Business saying one day to the Queen Mother Madam your favours have undone me and were I to live again I would be a Capuchin rather than a Courtier Salmasius that great Scholar whom the Learned men of his time never mention without some title of praise and commendation left this World with these words in his mouth Oh I have lost a world of time that most precious thing in the World whereof had I but one year longer to live it should be spent in David 's Psalms and Paul 's Epistles Oh Sirs speaking to his Friends that were about him Mind the World less and God more all the Learning in the World without Piety and the true fear of God is nothing worth The fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from evil that is understanding The Learned Grotius after many Publick Embassies and Imployments managed and performed by him at home and abroad and after his many elaborate Writings in Divinity and other Sciences having taken an exact Survey of the Hebrew Greek and Latin Learning concluded his life with this Protestation That he would give all his Learning and Honour for the plain Integrity and harmless Innocency of Jean Vrick who was a devout poor man that spent eight Hours of his time in Prayer eight in Labour and but eight in Sleep and other necessaries And complaining to one that admired his astonishing Labours and Industry he uttered these words Ah vitam perdidi operosè nihil agendo And to another Friend that desired him according to his great Wisdom and Learning to shew him briefly what he should do he gave him only this direction Be serious Persons of great Estate and Dignity in this World must expect nevertheless to meet with great crosses and disappointments of which doubtless your Honour hath had and will have more and more experience in this vale of tears Now as the Sacred Scriptures do abundantly furnish us with grounds and motives of Patience and submission to the Will and Providence of God in every condition and under every dispensation so there are divers Heathen Moralists who have from the Light of Reason and moral Prudence propounded many excellent Arguments and Considerations to perswade us thereunto Especially Epictetus who though lame and old sickly and deformed poor and under servitude being a Slave to Epaphroditus one of the Roman Courtiers yet was he an excellent Philosopher and a man of a most noble and generous spirit some of whose excellent Sayings to this purpose I shall here recite This wise Moralist speaking of the unreasonableness of murmuring at any cross Events whatsoever hath this passage Dissertat lib. 3.
cap. 26. What reason have I saith he to fight against God Why should I desire things not desireable He that gave hath power to take away and why should I resist This would not only be great folly in me to oppose one that is much stronger but great injustice likewise to fight against a Benefactor We have received all that we have and our very being from Him and why should we take it so heinously if He be pleased to resume something back again And speaking further of the reasonableness of mens resigning up themselves to God's disposal he saith Quis vero es tu aut unde venisti aut quare Do you consider what you are and whence you came and upon what business Did not He give you a being in the World endue you with such a nature put you into such a condition wherein you should be subject to His government and disposal Did not He appoint the time and place and part which you are to act upon the Theatre of this World And this is properly your Business to apply your self to the fittest means for performing the part allotted to you and not to take upon you to murmur or repine against it for it doth not belong to us to choose our parts but to act them Would it not better become us to go off the Stage with adorations and praises of God for so much as He hath permitted us to hear and see rather than mutining against Him because we had no more And in another place he suggests this Consideration That our condition whilst we are in this World is militant wherein every one is without reluctancy to submit to the Orders of his great Captain or General in whatever He shall appoint whether or no it be to dig in the Trenches or to stand upon the Watch or to fight Every man cannot be a Commander and a Common Souldier is to obey not to dispute or offer Counsel If thou maist refuse the condition or work assigned thee why may not another do so too And according to this what Order could there be in the World And again If God would have me saith Epictetus to be sick or poor I will be content to be so whatever Employment he will design for me I will not decline it and whatever He would not have me be or do I will be against it likewise And in another place he hath this excellent passage If I had been made a Nightingale or a Swan saith he I should have employed the time of my life in such a way as is sutable to the condition of those Creatures but being made a Man capable of serving and worshipping that Deity from whom I had my being 't is but reason I should apply my self to this as being my proper work and business and therefore hereunto will I devote my self as to that Employment to which I am chiefly designed I am now as to the condition of my Body lame and old and under servitude Yet still he concludes it to be his Duty wholly to devote himself to the praises and worship of that God who was the Author of his being That must needs be much more desireable saith this Heathen Moralist Epictetus which is chosen by the wisdom of God than that which I choose A reluctancy against the divine Will is the ground of all irreligion and Atheism in the World Why may not a man refuse to obey God in what He commands as well as to submit to Him in what He inflicts and then what ground can there be for any pretence to Religion We should all of us saith he conform our minds to the Will of Providence and most willingly follow whithersoever He shall lead us as knowing it to proceed from the best and wisest contrivance I do in my Judgment more consent to that which God would have than to that which mine own inclination doth lead unto I would desire and will just so and no otherwise than as He doth And in another place Use me saith he as Thou pleasest I do fully consent and submit to it and shall refuse nothing which shall seem good unto Thee Lead me whither-ever Thou wilt put me into what condition Thou pleasest Must I be in a private not in a publick station in poverty not in wealth I will not only consent to it but make it my business to Apologize for it to justifie and maintain before all men such Thy dealing with me to be most fitting and advantageous to my condition To the same purpose another Heathen Moralist to mention no more Antoninus Lib. 10. cap. 25. saith That man is to be esteemed a Fugitive and an Apostate who runs away from his Master Now the great Law-giver who governs the World is our common Master and Ruler and His Will is the only Law we are to submit unto And therefore for a man to be angry or grieved because things fall not out according to his desire what is this but revolting from the supreme Governour of the World and declaring enmity against Him And again If God saith he do not take particular notice of and care for me and my affairs why do I at any time pray to Him And if He doth exercise a special Providence towards all Events no doubt but He doth consult well and wisely about them nor would He suffer any hurt or prejudice to befal me unless it were for a greater good upon some other account and in this I ought to acquiesce And in another place saith the same Author I refer every thing that befals me to God as the Contriver of it by whom all Events are disposed in a wise Order Now what are these great and excellent Sayings of these two wise Philosophers and other grave Moralists that might be mentioned but the same in effect with those divine Sayings in the Sacred Scriptures Psal 25.10 Job 1. 15 17. and 2.10 Exod. 34.6 1 Sam. 3.18 Lam. 3.22 39. Job 5.7 and 34.31 and 40.4 and 33.12 13. Psal 39.9 and 8.4 and 94.12 and 118.18 and 119.75 2 Sam. 15.26 Isa 45.9 and 64.8 Heb. 12.5 8 10 11. Prov. 19.3 Rom. 8.28 and 9.20 1 Cor. 10.13 and 11.32 2 Cor. 1.5 Rev. 3.19 Religion to use the words of a late Learned Bishop * Dr. Wilkins Bishop of Chester hath a firm and deep foundation in the Nature and Reason of Mankind But yet we must not so exalt Reason or the Principles of natural Religion as to derogate in the least from the necessity and usefulnss of divine Revelation or to extenuate the great and unparallel'd Blessing and Benefit of the Christian Religion and the Doctrine of the Gospel of Christ which though it transcends yet it is not contrary to the Dictates and Sentiments of Reason For it is but reasonable that we should acquiesce in the Testimony and Authority of God the supreme Being who neither can nor will deceive us We should not despise any of those Advantages saith the grave Author of The whole
the Flesh and forforsaking the good of this World which a man would not do if he had not the hope of Immortality in which he findeth the recompence of his losses yea this very perswasion of the Souls Immortality made some Heathens willingly suffer death for the safety of their Countrey If our last End were only in this Life then all that we do should be for this last End to aim at it to procure it and never to cross it Doubtless it were great folly and madness in men to undergo so many hard things as they do if they had not a perswasion in their Hearts of this Immortality and if their hope were only in this Life of all men they should be most miserable But they are perswaded that the Soul is Immortal and they find that this World wherein they now converse is too steril and empty to fill the vastness and limit the desires thereof It must be the possession of an immortal infinite immutable good that must satisfie their Understandings and Wills both which faculties aim at the chiefest and highest object The Vnderstanding is carried ad summam Causam to the first of Truths and the Will ad summum Bonum to the last of Ends And therefore He only which is the First and the Last can satisfie the vast desires of the Soul Sixthly Upon this ground the Soul must needs be Immortal because God is just A man may as well say that there is no God at all as to say that God is unjust Now then God being the just Judge of all it behoves him to punish the Wicked and to reward the Just but if God did not this in another life he should never do it for in this life the Wicked flourish and the Just are oppressed Therefore as God is just there remains another Life after this wherein the Souls of the Just shall be rewarded and the Souls of the Wicked shall be punished If the Soul were Mortal forasmuch as in this World wicked men prosper in their Wickdeness and good men as to their outward being perish in a way of Righteousness how should the Justice of God who is the Supreme Being and whose ways are ways of Righteousness be vindicated Seventhly It may satisfie the Reason of any man that the Soul is Immortal since there is an universal consent and agreement of all Nations of the Earth in one or other kind of Religion and the Worship of some Deity which is raised out of this hope That that God whom they worship will reward their Piety if not here yet in another Life Nulla gens adeò extra leges est projecta ut non aliquos Deos credat saith Seneca Hence proceeded those Fictions of the Poets touching the Elysian Fields or places of Happiness for men of honest and well ordered lives and places of Torment for the wicked and irreligious It must needs be a visible Character of a a Deity imprinted in the Soul an irresistible principle in Man's nature that must constrain it unto those sundry Religious Ceremonies observed among all Nations wherein even in places of Idolatry some were so irksom and repugnant to Nature and others so void of Reason as that nothing but a firm and deep perswasion of a Divine Judgement and of their own Immortality could ever have imposed them upon their Consciences And besides this consent of men unto Religion in general we find it also unto this one part thereof namely the Immortality of the Soul All the wisest and best reputed Philosophers for Learning and Honesty and even Barbarians Infidels and savage people have discern'd it by the glimmerings of the Light of Reason CHAP. XI The verity and excellency of the Christian Religion evinc'd by Reason THe Light of Reason is of excellent use to convince Heathens and Infidels of the truth of the Christian Religion there being no Religion at this day professed throughout the World that hath so much reason in it and for it as the Christian Religion hath if we consider the way of cleansing and expiating Sin by Christ the dignity and excellency of the Person of the Mediator the exactness of Divine Justice which requires Satisfaction the Rewards and Punishment prescribed and appointed by the Christian Religion the excellent Doctrine and Instructions thereof the Exemplary Life of Christ and His Apostles How many things in our Religion are witnessed to and approved in the Writings of the most Rational and Learned Heathens and how the greatest Enemies of the Christian Religion as Julian Porphyry and others were once Christians and came to renounce the same meerly through Pride and Discontent If these and other things relating to our Religion be but duly weighed it will appear even to the Eye of Reason that there is much Truth and Excellency therein and that other Religions are but fictitious and vain having no rational Consistence in them But we will handle this matter more particularly though with as much Brevity as possibly we can First The Antiquity of the Christian Religion proveth it to be the true Religion Prima sunt vera verum est prius That is most true which is most antient Seeing the true Religion is the way whereby Man must come to God and have Communion with him and is copula relationis between God and Man it must needs be as Antient as Man is As for the Writings of most of the Heathens unless it be those that are forged and suppositious they are but of yesterday in comparison of Moses the Law-giver under God to the Jews even Orpheus the first Heathen Poet was eight hundred years after Moses as Strabo Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus testifie The most Antient Records of the Heathens began in Solon's time which was in the time of Esdras the Romans had their Religion from the Graecians and the Graecians from Caecrop an Egyptian and the Carthaginians had theirs from Cadmus a Phoenician Now these two Countries Egypt and Phoenicia with the Mediterranean Sea do compass about Judaea and therefore any man that 's rational may easily perceive that all their Religion came from the Jews This is sufficiently demonstrated by several Writers of ours and particularly by Mr. Gale in his late Books so that it would be superfluous for me to enlarge upon this subject When the Wise men of Greece ask'd their Gods whence the knowledge of Arts and Sciences should come they received this Answer Solus utique Chaldaeus sapiens and Orpheus their antient Poet tells us that when God was angry He destroyed the World committed the Truth uni Chaldaeo And Plato in his Epimenides referreth all uni Barbaro If it be demanded who this Chaldean this Barbarian should be the Egyptians call him Theut which signifieth a Stranger meaning Abraham for so Origen against Celsus and Josephus against Appian say plainly that when the Heathen Nations used to Conjure they would make use of Abraham's Name saying Per Deum Abraham Well then if the Jewish Religion be Ancient ours
other persecuting Emperours devised most exquisite Torments to be inflicted on the poor Christians and put thousands of them to a cruel death and yet for all this Christianity prevailed and the Kingdom of Christ was enlarged Which is an undoubted Proof and Demonstration even to the Eye of Reason of the Truth and Excellency of the Christian Religion and that the Kingdom of Christ is most divine and powerful and not worldly weak and carnal That this Jesus who was born in the little Countrey of Judaea subdued by the Romans of poor Parents in a sorry Village destitute of Friends and of all Worldly helps and advantages should give Law to and Conquer the World by His Gospel or the Word of His Kingdom is not this wonderful And would ye know what He promiseth His Subjects and Followers Why instead of great matters that they might expect in this Life He tells them plainly what great Afflictions and Tribulations they must endure for His sake if they will follow Him and be His Disciples indeed they must expect to be persecuted reproached scourged imprisoned and put to death Whereas other Kings and Monarchs promise great Dignities and Preferments in the World to their followers this King on the contrary by the Doctrine of the Cross drew the Nations to Him other Monarchs Conquer by killing their Enemies this King Conquered by dying for His Enemies the death other Monarchs is the decay and ruine of their Kingdoms and Conquests but the death of Jesus hath established and enlarged His Kingdom and is the life and happiness of His Subjects Who seeth not therefore by the Light of Reason a humane weakness in the greatness of Worldly Empires and a divine power in the weakness of Christ's Kingdom When He died and was buried His Kingdom seem'd to die and to be buried with Him a few poor despised Followers He had and these were at their wits end when their Lord and Master was Crucified and laid in the Grave Well but at length they open their mouths and boldly teach men to believe on Jesus who was Crucified and Buried but is now Risen again and to suffer for His sake And if they be forbidden they will rather die than not Preach and own this Crucified Jesus hereupon they are accused and brought before Magistrates where they own their Crime as their Adversaries term'd it and are not asham'd of it and is not this admirable Other Malefactors are tormented to make them confess their fault and these are tormented to make them conceal it those hold their peace to save their lives these die for speaking and yet by this strange way and means Christ that was crucified spreads His Kingdom and fills the whole World with it Out of weakness he brings forth strength and out of death he brings forth life And who can thus draw one contrary out of another Who can thus overcome by yielding who can thus trample upon and triumph over his Enemies by dying but Jesus in whom the power of the Eternal God was and whose Kingdom is not of this World but Divine and Heavenly Whilst He lived upon Earth He was despised and rejected but after His death He is worshipped as God even to this day and His true Followers will rather die a thousand deaths than deny His Eternal Godhead and Kingdom And may not this one Consideration if there were no more touching the Kingdom of Christ wherein it far excels the Kingdoms of this World serve to convince any sober rational man of the verity and efficacy of the Christian Religion Sixthly What strange Conversions and Changes have been wrought by the Gospel of Christ in the Hearts and Lives of some of the most eminent and famous men for Learning and Parts How were they wrought upon and converted by the plain Preaching of weak simple men Even by the foolishness of Preaching as the World counts it that so the divine power and excellency of this Jesus and of the Christian Religion might the more appear Paul befor his Conversion was counted a wise and learned man and was in great reputation so that Porphyry the famous Philosopher saith of him that it was great pity such a man should be a Christian yet when Paul had received the greatest Authority and raged most against the Gospel and Kingdom of Christ he was wonderfully converted and turned quite another way and was glad to tread many a weary step and to endure many great difficulties for the Gospels sake Origen also a man of great Learning and knowledge in Philosophy and the Arts being converted by a divine power to the Christian Religion was content to be a poor Catechist in Alexandria and was every day in danger of death when he might have been with his fellow Plotinus in great Authority and Favour had it not been for his Christian profession Surely it must needs be some Divine and Heavenly power that did thus prevail upon these men and upon many other Wise and Learned men that might be mentioned Never was there such wonderful Conversions in any Religion as in this never such sound Repentance and Reformation never such true Justice Fortitude and Constancy in Affliction even to Death and Martyrdom as in this so that it was commonly said of the Christians Soli Christiani mortis contemptores Seventhly 'T is an Argument of the Truth and Excellency of the Christian Religion That it hath been so much opposed and persecuted from time to time by the rage and cruelty of the Devil and wicked men As it was commonly said of that Monster Nero a Persecutor of Christians That it must needs be a good and excellent thing which so wicked a man hated The more wicked and ungodly men are the more they hate that which is Divine and which most resembles the Holy God Now no Religion or Profession in the World hath been so desperately hated and persecuted by wicked ungodly wretches as the Christian Religion and yet the more it has been opposed and trampled upon by them the more it has prevailed and flourished even in despight of their rage and malice What a miserable end did befal Herod and other great Persecutors of this Religion Many of which did vindicate Christ and His Truth at and by their death when the Hand of God was heavy upon them though they had raged against Him in their life time and done whatever they could to root out His Kingdom and People Nay Satan himself the greatest Persecutor of all hath witnessed for the Christian Religion against himself All the Art Magick which he invented could never Conjure or call up Christ Plotinus and Apollonius and other great Magicians that rais'd up the Image of Jupiter and other Heathen Gods though they assayed with all their skill and power to bring up the Image of Christ yet could they never effect it for Christ is not subject to their power being infinitely above them 'T is well known to the Heathens that at the Birth and Death of
this Jesus their Idol-Gods fell down and their Oracles at Delphos Dodon and other places were stricken dumb Insomuch as Porphyrie himself confesseth and bewaileth that since the time that Jesus was Worshipped they have had no benefit at all by any of their Gods The Voice that was heard in the Air in the Reign of Tiberius Caesar about the time of Christ's death commanding the Master of the Ship to cry aloud that the Great God Pan is dead upon which followed great screechings and lamentations in the Air we find mentioned in divers credible Authors Lactantius tells us that when the Heathens offered Sacrifice to their Gods the very presence of a Christian would dash and spoil their Mysteries and thereupon came that speech which we read in Lucian If there be any Christian here let him depart hence This Jesus hath made such work amongst the Idol-Gods that Augustine cries out Where are your Gods where are your Prophets where are your Oracles where are your Sacrifices are they not ceased If Christ the Ark of God comes in place Dagon the great Idol must needs fall down Now the Christian Religion hath three great Enemies in the World Heathens Jews and Mahumetans against whose Religion or rather Superstition we will speak a few words to shew the unreasonableness and absurdity thereof And First * I. Reasons against the Heathenish Idolatry touching the Heathen Gods we have this to say against them in a way of Reason which may be much more enlarged That they must needs be vain and even ridiculous since by the confession of their own Learned Writers these Gods or rather Devils did command Images to be erected to them and told the fashion that they were of And is not this absurd and unbecoming the Majesty of a Deity seeing the true and infinite God who dwells in the Light inaccessible cannot be resembled by any Shape What did these Dunghil-Gods of theirs chiefly command and forbid but outward corporeal things Whereas the true God is a Holy Glorious Spirit who commands the Spirits of men and chiefly requires spiritual Worship and Obedience These Gods of theirs were not of Vniversal use nor were they good for all things One forsooth was good for Medicine and another for Wisdom and another for War whereas the true God is an Universal perfect Good The Religion of these Heathen Gods consisted only in offering Frankincense and Spices and outward Oblations which could never cleanse the Soul of man from its spots and defilements And therefore when Cyril told Julian the Apostata that Sin defileth the Soul and that outward and bodily things could never wash away the inward filthiness and corruption of the Spirit this made Julian stagger for he could not tell how to answer it What shall we say further Are not the Parents Birth and Manners of these goodly Deities particularly set down by their own Poets and Philosophers and by divers of the Ancient Fathers and our own Modern Writers and is it not ridiculous for any man to believe that these were true Gods Nay truly they were not only Men whom the Heathens Worshipped but wicked men the worst and vilest of men given up to Whoredom and Drunkenness and Cruelty and all manner of vice and wickedness Yea they were Devils and wicked Spirits that appeared in the likeness of Men and commanded themselves to be worshipped So absurd and irrational were some of these poor Heathens that they did not only worship wicked Men and Devils but even Beasts also an Ox a Dog a Crocodile yea Onions and Garlick O monstrous folly and madness How did the Devil bewitch them What horrid cruelty did he exercise upon them commanding them to sacrifice Men and Women to him when he was grievously offended with them as he doth at this day in some Heathenish Countries But when he was more mild and gentle then forsooth he must have Stage-Plays Musick Dancing and the like Pastimes to make him merry Behold here the Vanity and Brutishness of the Heathenish Idolatry Secondly As for the Jews * II. Against the Jewish Religion they are most unreasonable in their Enmity against Christ and the Christian Religion The truth of the Old Testament is acknowledged by them as well as by us though they do not rightly and spiritually understand it by reason of the veil which is upon their Hearts to this day So blind and so deluded they are as to hold that the true Messias is yet to come that Jesus is not the Messias and that when the Messias first comes he shall be great in the World and have a Princely Court and Attendants at Jerusalem and that he shall subdue all the Enemies of the Jews Now truly these are but vain dreams and fancies of theirs and quite contrary to Scripture and Reason In Jacob's Prophesie concerning the Messias Gen. 49.10 we read that the Scepter was not to depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his Feet till Shiloh come by which Shiloh is meant the true Messias But the Scepter was then newly departed when Jesus came and therefore He is the true Shiloh or Messias The Scepter as is well known was in Judah till the Captivity and after the Captivity it continued till Aristobulus and Hircanus who contending for it were both of them dispossessed of it and Herod an Idumaean and a stranger was invested with the Royal Dignity and then came Christ as was long before prophesied after whose coming the Jews were dispersed and scattered throughout the Earth so that now there is no distinct Tribe of Judah but they are all mingled one with another the Roman Emperors still labouring to root out the Jews and especially the Tribe of Judah which made them to confound their Genealogies That the seventy Weeks referring to the coming of the true Messias Dan. 9.24 are long since determined he that runs may read it and yet the Messias not come if we will believe the obstinate Jews In their Talmud we read that the Disciples of Hillel whom they highly esteem perceiving the first seven Weeks in Daniel to fall out so justly they looked for the coming of the Messias in those days being long before the full time because they had read in the Prophecy of Isaiah that the Lord would shorten those days And immediately before the Incarnation of our Saviour we find that there was a general expectation of the coming of the Messias amongst the Jews as appears by their continual sending to John Baptist to know whether he himself was the Messias or they must expect another And about this time also which may be a further proof that the Messias is already come there were more false Christs and deceivers such as Judas Theudas Gaulonites Barcosba as the Scriptures and Josephus with other Writers bear witness than was ever before or since How came it to pass that the glory of the second Temple Hag. 2.10 was greater than the glory of the first Was it not by the coming and
where and in what measure he pleaseth so that holy men partakers of the same Spirit in several degrees may err and mistake in some things and dissent one from another in matters that are not fundamental And thus we have given you some Rules to prevent mistakes touching the inward testimony and revelation of the Spirit of God It will not be amiss now to reflect a little yet without any rankor or bitterness against the persons of men upon their opinion that derogate from the Spirit of God and divine revelation and set up Reason as a Judge in matters of Religion and so resolve their Faith finally into Reason CHAP. XV. Briefly shewing when Reason is rightly used and when abused to the prejudice of the Spirits Testimony in the Scripture NO discreet rational man will deny the use of Reason in judging matters Civil and Religious in the sence formerly declared and proved If you will shew your self a man and not a beast a judicious understanding Christian and not a Child in knowledge and judgment then you must make use of your Reason in examining those matters that are propounded to you whether Civil or Religious but yet if you admit Reason to be the only Rule or Standard to measure the Mysteries of Faith by and to judge of and comprehend the most divine supernatural Doctrines and Truths of Christ then you ascribe too much to Reason and too little to the Spirit of God and Faith Eye hath not seen nor ear heard saith the Apostle neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him And as none know the things of a man save the spirit of a man which is in him even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2.9 11. The rational Creature is a competent Judge of things meerly rational but the spiritual man only in whom the Spirit of God dwelleth can rightly and spiritually discern and judge of things that are meerly spiritual and supernatural and therefore we must take heed that we confound not the Spirit and Faith of the Gospel with our natural Reason nor prejudice the divine Authority of the Scriptures by ascribing too much to Reason as we ought not to take from Reason that which is due to her in reference to divine matters First Then we acknowledge that Reason is the eye of mans Soul or that Organ which lets into his Soul that divine light and testimony of God which begets Faith and upon which Faith doth rest it self and into which it is finally resolved Reason is not the object on which our Faith resteth but that faculty which being sanctified takes in the light of Faith which leads us to Christ and the things that are heavenly and supernatural The judgment and determination of the Word of God inspired by the Spirit of God is that wherein we finally rest as the rule of our Faith and the light of divine Understanding and Reason sanctified is that whereby a Christian judgeth of spiritual things God in his Word speaks to reasonable Creatures not to brute beasts who by way of discourse weighing what goes before and what follows the Text and comparing Scripture with Scripture do come to a right understanding of the will and mind of God therefore we are commanded as men that have reason in us to search the Scriptures to try the Spirits and to judge what the Apostles say These are acts of Reason and Judgment by the help whereof we are enabled to give a sober rational account of our own Faith and to convince the Adversaries and gain-sayers If you be to deal with an Adversary that hates the Christian Religion how can you think to perswade him to Christianity unless you shew him a reason as indeed the Christian Religion is the wisest and most rational Religion If you say your Church is the true Church you must give a reason for it or else no discreet man will believe you seeing many pretend to the true Church that do not belong to it If you urge a Scripture for your opinion sober men will rationally judge whether it be agreeable to your sence and interpretation or not and accordingly will embrace or reject your opinion It concerns every man as he tenders the peace and salvation of his own soul to be certain of the truth of his Religion And seeing there are so many opinions and such variety of perswasions in the world touching matters of Religion we ought to consider which perswasion hath the best and surest grounds for it that we may with peace and safety venture our souls upon it Now this we cannot well do unless we make use of our Reason in comparing one thing with another that we may embrace the truth and reject error Secondly Though there are mysteries of Faith which Reason cannot comprehend yea in their proper nature they are contrary to the dictates of natural Reason Ex nihilo nihil fit saith Reason and Ex nihilo omnia fiunt saith Faith The dead cannot return again to life saith Reason Thy dead bones shall live again and this mortality shall put on immortality saith Faith yet the rational Soul of man being overpower'd and acted by a higher principle even by the Spirit of God sees the greatest reason in the world to believe these and all other divine supernatural mysteries and truths because the Scripture revealeth them to be of God and from God Is it not meet and reasonable and well becoming us that are rational Creatures to believe the God of Truth speaking to us in his Word though what he speaks seem never so unreasonable never so contrary to flesh and blood Yet Reason will tell us this That all that God speaks for from this pure Fountain can proceed nothing but pure streams is true and good divine and heavenly whatever our corruption saith to the contrary So then our Faith must be resolved into the divine truth and authority of Gods Word and our Reason captivated and subjected unto this higher principle to believe what we find revealed in the Scriptures because it is revealed and comes from the God of truth that cannot lye Thirdly As I have reason to believe all that God speaks in general as being the God of truth so I have reason also to believe in particular that the doctrine of Scripture is Gods revealed Mind and Will Nor is it sufficient to a well-grounded Faith for a man to say he believes all that God reveals to be true but he must also believe that the mysteries contained in the holy Scriptures are the things which God hath revealed for his salvation 'T is true according to the Judgment of our Divines that Faith may rightly be said to be a firm assent without evidence of many things in themselves which we do believe but yet the medium by force whereof we are drawn to believe must be evident unto us As now if I be asked by an enemy