commandements is a matter of so great consequence to Humane Nature that 1. The Essence or Being of man may be said to consist in it 2. The great Business or duty of man is to be conversant about it and to labour after it 3. The Happiness or well-being of man doth depend upon it These particulars I shall endeavour to make out by such clear Principles of Reason attested to by several of the wisest Heathen Writers as may be enough to satisfy any serious man who is able to understand the reason and consequence of things and will but attend and consider First Religion is of so great importance that the Essence of man may be said to consist in it Man may be considered under a twofold notion 1. In his single capacity according to that principle whereby he is constituted in such a rank of creatures 2. In Society for which man seems to be naturally designed and without which he could not well subsist Now Religion will appear to be Essential to him in both these respects 1. As considered in his single capacity according to those principles by which he is framed That which doth constitute any thing in its Being and distinguish it from all other things this is that which we call the Form or Essence of a thing Now the things which distinguish Humane Nature from all other things are the chief principles and foundations of Religion namely the Apprehension of a Deity and an expectation of a future state after this life Which no other creature below man doth partake of and which are common to all mankind notwithstanding the utmost endeavours that can be used for the suppressing of them As for what is commonly alledged in the behalf of Reason it may be observed that in the actions of many brate creatures there are discernable some footsteps some imperfect strictures and degrees of Ratiocination such a natural sagacity as at least bears a near resemblance to reason From whence it may follow that it is not Reason in the general which is the Form of Humane nature But Reason as it is determined to actions of Religion of which we do not find the least signs or degrees in Brutes Man being the only creature in this visible world that is formed with a capacity of worshipping and enjoying his Maker Nor is this any new opinion but what several of the antient Writers Philosophers Orators Poets have attested to who make the notion of a Deity and adoration of him to be the true difference betwixt Man and Beast So Tully Ex tot generibus nullum est animal praeter hominem quod habeat notitiam aliquam Dei ipsisque in hominibus nulla gens est neque tam immansueta neque tam fera quae non etiamsi ignoret qualem habere Deum deceat tamen habendum sciat Amongst all the living creatures that are in the world there is none but Man that hath any notion of a Deity and amongst mankind there is no Nation so wild and barbarous but pretends to some Religion whence it should seem that this is the most proper difference betwixt man and beasts And in another place he makes this to be the Character of that Reason which is the Form of man that it is vinculum Dei hominis which imports both name and thing Of the same sense is that of the Satyrist who speaking of Religion and a sense of Divine things saith this of it separat hoc nos A grege mutorum atque ideo venerabile soli Sortiti ingenium divinorumque capaces 'T is this saith he which doth distinguish us from brute creatures That we have souls capable of Divine impressions There are abundance of expressions to this purpose in several other of the Heathen Writers That in Plutarch where he styles irreligion a kind of stupor whereby men are as it were deprived of their senses And in another place he asserts it to be an exceeding improper thing to ascribe true reason to those who do not acknowledg and adore the Deity So again Tully esse Deos qui negat vix eum sanae mentis existimem I can hardly think that man to be in his right mind who is destitute of Religion And in another place of the same Book Quis hunc hominem dixerit c. Why should any one style such an one a man who by what he sees in the world is is not convinced of a Deity and a providence and of that adoration he owes to the Deity Non modo non philosophos sed nec homines quidem fuisse dixerim saith another Men that are destitute of Religion are so far from being learned philosophers that they ought not to be esteemed so much as reasonable men 'T is true nothing is more ordinary than for such persons as are sceptical in these first principles to entertain great thoughts of themselves as if they had considered things more deeply and were arrived unto a higher pitch of reason and wit than others But yet the plain truth is they who have not attained to this conviction of placing their chief interest in being religious they are so far from exceeding others in degrees that they come short of the very nature and essence of men as being destitute of those first Notions concerning truth and falshood good and evil wherein the essence of a rational Being doth consist Besides their palpable deficiency in such plain consequences and deductions of Reason as would become those who in any measure pretend to that principle So that by what hath been said it may appear that the Definition of Man may be rendered as well by the Difference of Religiosum as Rationale As for that inconvenience which some may object That Atheistical and prophane persons will hereby be excluded Why so they are by the other Difference likewise such persons having no just pretence to Reason who renounce Religion And it were well if they might not only be reckoned among Beasts as they are by the Psalmist where he styles them brutish but driven out amongst them likewise and banished from all humane society as being publick pests and mischiefs of mankind such as would debase the nobility of our natures to the condition of brute creatures and therefore are fit only to live amongst them Which brings me to the 2d Consideration of Man as a sociable creature Religion is essential to him in this respect also as being the surest bond to tye men up to those respective duties towards one another without which Government and Society could not subsist There is a remarkable passage in Plutarch to this purpose where he styles Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the cement of all Community and the chief Basis of all Legislative power And in another place he says That 't is much more easie to build a City in the open Air without any ground to found it upon than to establish Government without Religion A City saith he may make
belonging to good men such persons can challenge no greater share of this than according as their real merit and virtue shall require The Royal stamp upon any kind of Metal may be sufficient to give it an extrinsick value and to determine the rate at which it is to pass amongst Coyns but it cannot give an intrinsick value or make that which is but Brass to be Gold 'T is true indeed there are some Callings and particular Relations of men to which an inward veneration is due though the persons themselves should not be virtuous namely Magistrates and Ministers and Parents and Benefactors who having somewhat of a Divine stamp and impress may therefore challenge from us that we should demean our selves towards them both with such an outward respect as becomes their places and with such an inward respect too as may be suitable to that image which they bear to our dependance upon them and obligations to them But then we cannot be obliged to think such persons good men unless we have some evidence to believe them to be so or at least not to be otherwise so that they are beholding to something extrinsecal to their persons namely to their Callings and Relations for that honour which is paid to them 2. Outward Honouring is when men do by their words or actions testify that esteem and respect which they have for the worth of others And this indeed may be truely said to be in the power of others because men have a greater command over their words and actions than they have over their belief Now all men that are truely virtuous and religious will be ready to give unto every one his due honour and such are the best judges of it Upon which account Tully defines true honour to be consentiens laus bonorum the concurrent approbation of good men such only being fit to give true praise who are themselves praise-worthy As for vitious and irreligious persons 't is not to be expected that they should be forward to commend that which is opposite to them But then 't is to be considered that these are no competent judges of such matters And for a man to resent deeply the contempt of unworthy persons were overmuch to honour them as if their esteem could add any thing to his reputation And yet even these persons cannot avoid having an inward veneration for goodness and religion which is the reason why they are so forward to dissemble it to disguise themselves under the shew of it Men do not use to counterfeit common stones and metals but such as are precious Jewels and Gold Nor would any one take the pains to counterfeit being Religious if he did not think it a matter of some value and a means to procure esteem from others And when such men do revile and persecute any one for being religious yet is there such a natural veneration belonging to the thing it self as makes them to disguise it under the name of Hypocrisy Heresy Superstition c. whereby they may justify themselves in their opposing of it II. But this is only general discourse and in the notion The best argument to this purpose would be from Experience by which I mean that practical knowledg which every man may attain by his own observation of the usual course of things in the world And by this it will appear that no kind of persons have been more highly reverenced in the hearts and consciences of others than those that have been most eminent for their virtue and religion which hath been always true both with respect to publick communities and private persons 1. For Nations If we consult the Histories of former times we shall find that saying of Solomon constantly verifyed That Righteousness doth exalt a nation but sin doth prove a reproach to it And more especially the sin of Irreligiousness and Prophaneness As this doth increase in any nation so must the honour and Reputation of that nation decrease The Roman Empire was then at the highest as to its name and greatness when it was so as to its virtue when they were most punctual in observing the Rites of their Religion though that were a false way of worship most Heroical in their Justice courage fidelity gratitude then it was that they deserved to govern the world and to be had in greatest honour above all other nations And not only Cicero and Polybius two Heathen Writers who upon that account might be thought more partial But St. Austin also and Lactantius two of the Fathers do ascribe the flourishing of that Empire when it was at its height to the Religion and Piety and virtue of those times and as they did afterwards degenerate from this so did they decline likewise in their greatness and honour 2. Thus also hath it been with particular persons Amongst the Heathen what Elogies do we find in the honour of Socrates Aristides Cato Epictetus The last of whom though but a poor slave had yet such a veneration paid to his memory that his earthen lamp by which he was wont to study was after his death sold for Three thousand Drachms Nor was it otherwise amongst the Christians The Apostles were but poor Fishermen illiterate Mechanicks many of the Martyrs were but of mean condition much opposed and persecuted in the world and yet these men during the time of their lives were highly reverenced amongst those that knew them and since their deaths what can be more glorious than that renown which they have amongst men when the greatest Kings and Princes will not mention their names without reverence when whole Nations are willing to set apart and to observe solemn days and Festivals in honour of their memories And as it hath always been thus formerly so I appeal to every man's breast whether it be not so now Let them but examine what their inclinations are towards such persons whom they believe to be truly virtuous not only to such among them as are their particular acquaintance and friends but likewise to strangers nay to very enemies whether they do not esteem and love them and will-well to them It cannot be denyed but that there are too many in the world who propose to themselves such ways and courses for the promoting of their honour and reputation as are quite opposite to that which I have now been discoursing of namely prophaneness and contempt of Religion despising that which other men stand in awe of by which they think to get the reputation of Wit and Courage of Wit by pretending to penetrate more deeply into the nature of things and to understand them better than others do not to be so easily imposed upon as other credulous people are Of Courage by not being so easily scared at the apprehension of danger at a distance But the plain truth is such persons do hereby prove themselves to be both Fools and Cowards Fools In mistaking their great interest in making choice of such means as can never promote the
OF the Principles and Duties OF NATURAL RELIGION TWO BOOKS By the Right Reverend Father in God JOHN late Lord Bishop of CHESTER To which is added A SERMON Preached at his Funerals by WILLIAM LLOYD D. D. Dean of BANGOR and Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by A. Maxwell for T. Basset H. Brome R. Chiswell at the George in Fleetstreet the Gun at the West-end of St. Pauls and the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-Yard 1675. THE PREFACE THE ensuing Treatise is sufficiently recommended to the World by the Name of the Author and needs nothing else to make way for its entertainment I shall only therefore give a short account of these Remains of that learned and excellent Person and of the particular design and intention of them He was pleased by his Last Will to commit his Papers to my care and out of his great friendship and undeserved good opinion of me to leave it wholly to my disposal whether any or what part of them should be made publick This Treatise I knew he always designed for that purpose and if God had been pleased to have granted him but a little longer life he would have published it himself And therefore though a considerable part of it wanted his last hand yet neither could I be so injurious to deprive the world of it because it was less perfect than he intend ed it nor durst I be so bold to attempt to finish a Piece designed and carried on so far by so great a Master The first twelve Chapters were written out for the Press in his life-time The Remainder hath been gather'd and made up out of his Papers as well as the Materials left for that purpose and the skill of the Compiler would allow So that it cannot be expected that the Work should be of equal strength and beauty in all the parts of it However such as it is I hope it may prove of considerable use and benefit to the World and not altogether unworthy of its Author The Design of it is threefold First To establish the great Principles of Religion the Being of God and a Future State by shewing how firm and solid a Foundation they have in the Nature and Reason of Mankind A work never more necessary than in this degenerate Age which hath been so miserably over-run with Scepticisme and Infidelity Secondly To convince men of the natural and indispensable obligation of Moral Duties those I mean which are comprehended by our Saviour under the two general Heads of the Love of God and of our Neighbour For all the great Duties of Piety and Justice are written upon our hearts and every man feels a secret obligation to them in his own Conscience which checks and restrains him from doing contrary to them and gives him peace and satisfaction in the discharge of his duty or in case he offend against it fills him with guilt and terrour And certainly it is a thing of very considerable use rightly to understand the natural obligation of Moral duties and how necessarily they flow from the consideration of God and of our selves For it is a great mistake to think that the obligation of them doth solely depend upon the Revelation of Gods VVill made to us in the Holy Scriptures It is plain that Mankind was always under a Law even before God had made any external and extraordinary Revelation else how shall God judge the World how shall they to whom the Word of God never came be acquitted or condemned at the Great day For where there is no Law there can neither be obedience nor transgression It is indeed an unspeakable advantage which we who are Christians do enjoy both in respect of the more clear and certain knowledg of our duty in all the branches of it and likewise in regard of the powerful motives and assistance which our blessed Saviour in his Gospel offers to us to enable and encourage us to the discharge of our Duty But yet it is nevertheless very useful for us to consider the primary and natural obligation to piety and virtue which we commonly call the Law of Nature this being every whit as much the Law of God as the Revelation of his VVill in his Word and consequently nothing contained in the Word of God or in any pretended Revelation from Him can be interpreted to dissolve the obligation of moral duties plainly required by the Law of Nature And if this one thing were but well consider'd it would be an effectual antidote against the pernicious Doctrines of the Antinomians and of all other Libertine-Enthusiasts whatsoever Nothing being more incredible than that Divine Revelation should contradict the clear unquestionable Dictates of Natural Light nor any thing more vain than to fancy that the Grace of God does release men from the Laws of Nature This the Author of the following Discourses was very sensible of and wisely saw of what consequence it was to establish the Principles and Duties of Religion upon their true and natural foundation which is so far from being a prejudice to Divine Revelation that it prepares the way for it and gives it greater advantage and authority over the minds of men Thirdly To perswade men to the practice of Religion and the vertues of a good life by shewing how natural and direct an influence they have not only upon our future blessedness in another VVorld but even upon the happiness and prosperity of this present Life And surely nothing is more likely to prevail with wise and considerate men to become Religious than to be throughly convinced that Religion and Happiness our Duty and our Interest are really but one and the same thing considered under several notions J. TILLOTSON THE Contents FIRST BOOK Of the Reasonableness of the Principles and Duties of Natural Religion Chap. I. COncerning the several kinds of Evidence and Assent Pag. 1. Chap. II. Two Schemes of Principles relating to Practical things whether Natural or Moral proposed in the method used by Mathematicians of Postulata Definitions and Axioms p. 12. Chap. III. Some Propositions necessary to be premised for the removing of several prejudices in debates about Religion p. 22. Chap. IV. Concerning the Existence of a Deity and the Arguments for it 1. Arg. From the Universal Consent and agreement of Mankind And the Objections against it answered p. 36. Chap. V. 2. Arg. From the Original of the World p. 62. Chap. VI. 3. Arg. From the admirable Contrivance of Natural things p. 78. Chap. VII 4. Arg. From Providence and the Government of the World p. 85. Chap. VIII Concerning the Excellencies and Perfections of the Divine Nature And first of those which are commonly called Incommunicable namely Simplicity Unity Immutability Infiniteness Immensity  Eternity p. 100. Chap. IX Of the Communicable perfections of God And first of those which relate to the Divine Understanding viz. Knowledg Wisdom particular Providence p. 124. Chap. X. Of the Perfections relating to the Divine Will
Goodness Justice Faithfulness p. 135. Chap. XI Of the Perfections belonging to the Powers and faculties of Acting viz. Power Dominion Distribution of future Rewards and Punishments p. 143. Chap. XII Concerning the Duties of Religion naturally flowing from the consideration of the Divine Nature and Perfections And first of Adoration and Worship p. 176. Chap. XIII Of Faith or Affiance p. 189. Chap. XIV Of Love p. 200. Chap. XV. Of Reverence and Fear p. 216. Chap. XVI Of Active Obedience to the Laws of God p. 227. Chap. XVII Of Passive Obedience or Patience and submission to the Will of God p. 239. SECOND BOOK Of the Wisdom of Practising the Duties of Natural Religion Chap. I. SHewing in general how Religion conduces to our happiness p. 285. Chap. II. How it conduces to our present Happiness in this world And first to the happiness of the Outward-man 1. In respect of Health p. 314. Chap. III. In respect of Liberty Safety and Quiet p. 324. Chap. IV. In respect of our Estates and Possessions Riches p. 330. Chap. V. In respect of Pleasure or the chearful enjoyment of outward blessings p. 344. Chap. VI. In respect of Honour and Reputation p. 353. Chap. VII How Religion conduces to the Happiness of the Inward-man As it tends to the perfecting and regulating of our Faculties and to the Peace and tranquility of our minds p. 372. Chap. VIII How Religion conduces to our Happiness in the next World p. 388. Chap. IX The conclusion of the whole shewing the excellency of the Christian Religion and the advantages of it both as to the knowledg and practice of our Duty above the mere Light of Nature p. 394. THE FIRST BOOK Shewing The Reasonableness of the Principles and Duties of Natural Religion CHAP. I. Concerning the several kinds of Evidence and Assent I Intend by Gods assistance in this First Book to treat concerning the Reasonableness and the Credibility of the Principles of Natural Religion in opposition to that Humour of Scepticism and Infidelity which hath of late so much abounded in the world not only amongst sensual men of the vulgar sort but even amongst those who pretend to a more than ordinary measure of wit and learning In my entrance upon this work I am sensible of what ill consequence it may be to lay the stress of a weighty cause upon weak or obscure Arguments which instead of convincing men will rather harden and confirm them in their Errors And therefore I cannot but think my self obliged in the management of this Argument to use my utmost caution and endeavour that it be done with so much strength and perspicuity as may be sufficient to convince any man who hath but an ordinary capacity and an honest mind which are no other qualifications than what are required to the institution of men in all kinds of Arts and Sciences whatsoever In order to this I judg it expedient to premise something concerning the several kinds and degrees of Evidence and Assent and to lay down some common principles which may serve as a foundation to the following Discourse The several ways whereby men come to the knowledg or belief of any thing without immediate Revelation are either by such Evidence of things as is more Simple relating to the Senses Outward Inward Understanding arising either from the Nature of the things in themselves Testimony of others concerning them Mixed relating both to the Senses and Understanding I. By Senses I mean those faculties whereby we are enabled to discern and know such particular objects as are present These are either 1. Outward by which we can apprehend external objects as when we see or hear or touch any thing presented to us 2. Inward by which we can discern internal objects and are conscious to our selves or sensible both of the impressions that are made upon our outward senses and of the inward motions of our minds namely our apprehensions inclinations and the power of determining our selves as to our own Actions and by which we can at any time be assured of what we think or what we desire or purpose II. By Understanding I mean that faculty whereby we are enabled to apprehend the objects of Knowledg Generals as well as Particulars Absent things as well as Present and to judg of their Truth or Falshood Good or Evil. That kind of Evidence may be said to arise from the nature of things when there is such a Congruity or Incongruity betwixt the Terms of a Proposition or the Deductions of one Proposition from another as doth either satisfie the mind or else leave it in doubt and hesitation about them That kind of Evidence is said to arise from Testimony when we depend upon the credit and relation of others for the truth or falshood of any thing There being several things which we cannot otherwise know but as others do inform us of them As namely matters of fact together with the account of Persons and Places at a distance Which kind of Evidence will be more or less clear according to the authority and credit of the Witness Besides these there is a mixed kind of Evidence relating both to the Senses and Understanding depending upon our own observation and repeated trials of the issues and events of Actions or Things called Experience These are the several kinds of Evidence whereby we attain to the knowledg or belief of things The kinds of Assent proceeding from them are reducible to these two Heads I. Knowledg or Certainty which may be distinguished into three kinds which I crave leave to call by the names of Physical Mathematical Moral II. Opinion or Probability I. That kind of Assent which doth arise from such plain and clear Evidence as doth not admit of any reasonable cause of doubting is called Knowledg or Certainty 1. I call that Physical Certainty which doth depend upon the Evidence of sense which is the first and highest kind of Evidence of which humane nature is capable Nothing can be more manifest and plain to me than that I now see somewhat which hath the appearance of such a colour or figure than that I have in my mind such a thought desire or purpose and do feel within my self a certain power of determining my own actions which is called Liberty To say that we cannot tell whether we have Liberty because we do not understand the manner of Volition is all one as to say That we cannot tell whether we see or hear because we do not understand the manner of sensation He that would go about to confute me in any of these Apprehensions ought to bring a Medium that is better known and to derive his Argument from somewhat that is more evident and certain than these things are unless he can think to overthrow and confute that which is more plain and certain by that which is less plain and certain which is all one as to go about to out-weigh a heavy body by somewhat that is lighter or to attempt the
that in one of these ways he shall meet with much trouble difficulty danger which the other is altogether free from In this case though a man be not bound to believe that one of them is a truer way than the other yet is he obliged in prudence to take the safest Nay I add further If the probabilities on the one hand should somewhat preponderate the other yet if there be no considerable hazard on that side which hath the least probability and a very great apparent danger in a mistake about the other In this case prudence will oblige a man to do that which may make most for his own safety These are those preparatory Principles which I thought fit to premise as a necessary foundation for any debate with captious men about these first grounds of Religion And they are each of them I think of such perspicuity as to need little more than the bare Proposal of them and the Explication of their Terms to evince the truth of them CHAP. IV. Concerning the Existence of a Deity and the Arguments for it The I. Argument From the universal consent and agreement of Mankind and the Objections answered THese things being premised I betake my self to that which was at first proposed as the chief design of this Book namely to prove the Reasonableness and the Credibility of the Principles of Natural Religion By Religion I mean that general habit of Reverence towards the Divine nature whereby we are inabled and inclined to worship and serve God after such a manner as we conceive most agreeable to his will so as to procure his favour and blessing I call that Natural Religion which men might know and should be obliged unto by the meer principles of Reason improved by Consideration and Experience without the help of Revelation This doth comprehend under it these three principal things 1. A belief and an acknowledgment of the Divine Nature and Existence 2. Due apprehensions of his Excellencies and Perfections 3. Suitable Affections and Demeanour towards him Concerning each of which I shall treat in order I. There must be a firm belief of the Divine Nature and Existence Primus est Deorum culius Deos credere saith Seneca Answerable to that of the Apostle He that comes to God must believe that he is Now that this is a point highly credible and such as every sober rational man who will not offer violence to his own faculties must submit unto I shall endeavour to evince by the plainest Reason In treating concerning this Subject which both in former and later times hath been so largely discussed by several Authors I shall not pretend to the invention of any new arguments but content my self with the management of some of those old ones which to me seem most plain and convincing Namely from 1. The Universal consent of Nations in all places and times 2. The Original of the World 3. That excellent contrivance which there is in all natural things 4. The Works of Providence in the Government of the World 1. From the Universal Consent of Nations in all places and times which must needs render any thing highly credible to all such as will but allow the human nature to be Rational and to be naturally endowed with a Capacity of distinguishing betwixt Truth and Falshood It is laid down by the Philosopher as the proper way of Reasoning from Authority That what seems true to some wise men may upon that account be esteemed somewhat probable what is believed by most wise men hath a further degree of probability what most men both wise and unwise do assent unto is yet more probable But what all men have generally consented to hath for it the highest degree of evidence of this kind that any thing is capable of And it must be monstrous arrogance and folly for any single persons to prefer their own judgments before the general suffrage of Mankind It is observed by AElian That the notions concerning the Existence and Nature of God and of a future state were more firmely believed and did usually make deeper impression upon the illiterate Vulgar who were guided by the more simple dictates of Nature than upon several of the philosophers who by their art and subtilty were able to invent disguises and to dispute themselves into doubts and uncertainties concerning such things as might bring disquiet to their minds That all Nations of men now do and have formerly owned this Principle may appear both from present experience and the History of other Times and Places And here I might cite abundance of the best Authors that are extant concerning the truth of this in all other Ages and Nations But for brevity's sake I shall mention only two Tully and Seneca Quae gens est aut quod genus hominum quod non habeat sine doctrinâ anticipationem quandam Deorum quam appellat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epicurus What kind of men are there any where who have not of themselves this prenotion of a Deity And in another place Nulla gens est neque tam immansueta neque tam fera quae non etiamsi ignoret qualem habere Denm deceat tamen habendum sciat Amongst all mankind there is no Nation so wild and barbarous who though they may mistake in their due apprehensions of the nature of God do not yet acknowledg his being And elsewhere Nulla est gens tam fera nemo omnium tam immanis cujus mentem non imbuerit Deorum timor There is no Nation so immensely barbarous and savage as not to believe the existence of a Deity and by some kind of services to express their adoration of him So Seneca Nulla gens usquam est adeo extra leges moresque projecta ut non aliquos Deos credat There is no where any Nation so utterly lost to all things of Law and Morality as not to believe the existence of God He that shall traverse over all this habitable Earth with all those remote corners of it reserved for the discovery of these later Ages may find some Nations without Cities Schools Houses Garments Coin but none without their God They may and do vastly differ in their Manners Institutions Customs But yet all of them agree in having some Deity to worship And besides this Universality as to Nations and Places it hath been so likewise as to Times Religion was observed in the beginning of the World before there were Civil Laws amongst men I mean any other than the meer wills of their Princes and Governours The Works of Moses are by general consent acknowledged to be the most ancient Writings in the world And though the design of them be to prescribe Doctrines and Rules for Religion yet there is nothing offered in them by way of proof or perswasion concerning the Existence of God but it is a thing taken for granted as being universally acknowledged and believed Nor do we read that any of the other
deliverance of such as were Religious in answer to their Prayers whereby the Supreme Governour of the World hath so visibly pointed out his will and meaning and so plainly manifested his power that every impartial man must be forced to say doubtless there is a God that judges in the earth 2. That sometimes Miracles have been wrought which could not be effected without the help of some Superior Power And sometimes there have been plain prophesies and predictions concerning such future things as in their various circumstances were contingent Of which the Annals of all Ages and Nations as well Heathens as Christians do give very particular and large accounts And though we may safely grant that some of the stories to this purpose delivered either from the more ancient or later times were fabulous and vain yet for a man to deny that ever such things happened in the world but that they were all meer forgeries and designs to cheat Posterity this were to subvert the Credit of all History which is so immodest a thing as any sober man would be ashamed of These arguments are more largely discussed by others who have writ upon this subject But there is one particular which to me seems very considerable to this purpose though but little notice of it be taken by others And that is The state of the Jewish Nation who for these 1600 years have been driven out of their own Countrey having now no particular place of abode belonging to them as a Nation but are scattered and dispersed over all the habitable world hated and despised where-ever they are permitted to dwell very frequently persecuted impoverished banished murdered in vast multitudes And notwithstanding all this they are not yet so mixed and blended with other Nations as to be lost amongst them But are still kept up a distinct people There being no instance like this in any story As if they were intended for a standing memorial and example to the world of the divine power and vengeance To me it seems amongst rational arguments one of the plainest not only for the proof of a Deity and a just Providence in pursuing that Nation with such exemplary Vengeance But likewise for the autority of Scripture and the truth of the Christian Religion I might here add another argument to the same purpose from Natural Conscience which is Gods Deputy and doth internally witness for him as other creatures do externally 'T is plain that all mankind are in some measure endowed with this and one may as well assert that Hope and Fear are not natural to men as that Conscience is not To this purpose I might further argue from those natural notions of our minds concerning Good and Evil the bounds of which are fixed in the nature of things and do not depend either upon Custom or Positive Law Those things which have in them a fitness to promote our chief end being styled Good and implying in the very Definition of them Comeliness and Reward Those things which have in them a natural aptitude to hinder our Chief end being styled Evil and implying in the definitions of them Turpitude and Punishment From whence it will follow that there must be some Superior Power who by framing things with such respects towards one another may be said to have declared this Law of Nature and to have taken care to enforce the observance of it both these belonging to the nature of a Law But I may perhaps have occasion to speak more particularly to this afterwards These things put together are so strong an evidence and so sufficient to convince the existence of a Deity that that man must be very wilful who doth not submit and acquiesce in it And for this reason is it saith a Noble Author that God never yet wrought any Miracle to convince an Atheist because to a man that is capable of being convinced his ordinary works are sufficient to this purpose And I should think it much more easie and rational saith the same Author to believe all the fables in the Poets the Legend the Talmud and the Alchoran than that this Universal Frame should be without a Creator and Governour And now it may not be improper to look back and take a review of what kind of Evidence hath been produced in this matter As for any immediate proof from our outward senses this cannot be pretended to for the demonstration of such a Being as is supposed to be a pure Spirit and invisible But for the mediate proofs from the effects of a Wise Omnipotent Agent we can look no where about us But every object doth afford evidence of it There is no conclusion in Philosophy not immediately apparent to the sense that is capable of so full and unquestionable an evidence from plain effects as this As for that kind of Inward Sensation whereby we can discern the impressions of our own minds They that have any sense of a Law written in their hearts or any natural notions about Good and Evil must by these effects be convinced of a Supreme Being And as for that kind of Evidence which belongs to our Understandings If the Universal consent of mankind be of any autority If this Visible world replenished with such admirable variety of Creatures preserved and governed in such an excellent order be any evidence of Infinite Power and Wisdom If besides what we our selves have known by our own experience any credit be to be given to Universal History attesting to many Signal Providences that have happened in the world Besides the several Miracles and Prophesies that have been taken notice of in several Ages and Nations I say if any or all of these things be of any force they must needs render the thing I am proving to be credible in the highest degree and even altogether unquestionable In so much that if a Deity be supposed It is not imaginable by what other kind of evidence we should be assured of it than what we are now furnished withall And it was before laid down as a Principle That when a thing is capable of good proof in any kind men ought to rest satisfied in the best evidence for it which that kind of things will bear and beyond which better could not be expected supposing it were true If any should imagine that frequent Miracles might be a more powerful means to convince men of this Principle To this it may be said 1. That this is not fitting the proper work of Miracles being for the confirmation of such doctrines as are not knowable by natural light not for such things of which men may be sufficiently convinced by reason 2. 'T is not so certain that this would be effectual Those frequent Miracles in the passage of Israel out of Egypt The dividing of the Red-sea The waters out of the Rock The cloud and pillar of Fire The Mannah The Quails The destruction of Korah c. did not prevail with the generality of the Israelites Those constant Miracles
under the Mosaical dispensation The waters of Jealousie The extraordinary plenty of the sixt year The Urim and Thummim The special Protection of the Coasts of Israel every third year when all the Males were to go up to Jerusalem to worship which custom of theirs must needs be known to their enemies who lived round about them None of all these did prove effectual for the conviction of obstinate men Those occasional Miracles wrought by our Saviour though they were so many and so great as were never before wrought by any one yet did they not prevail with many of the Jews If it be said That none of these proofs do so infallibly conclude but that there doth still remain a Possibility that the thing may be otherwise To this I have shewed before That there may be an indubitable Certainty where there is not an infallible Certainty And that a meer possibility to the contrary is not a sufficient cause of doubting To which I now add That if it should be supposed that a man could not be sure of the Being of God Yet 't is most evident that he could not be sure of the contrary For this plain reason Because no man can be sure of a Pure Negative namely That such a thing is not unless he will either pretend to have a certain knowledg of all things that are or may be than which nothing can be more monstrously and ridiculously arrogant or else unless he be sure that the being of what he denies doth imply a contradiction for which there is not the least colour in this case The true notion of God consisting in this That he is a Being of all possible perfection If it be supposed that notwithstanding all that hath been said there may yet be some probabilities to the contrary To this it may be answered That unless these probabilities were greater and stronger than those on the other side no man who acts rationally will incline to them And if there be any such why are they not produced where are they to be found If men shall yet pretend That though they cannot answer these Arguments yet they do really find some doubt in their own minds I would ask such Have you seriously and impartially considered what is alledged in this case It should be no prejudice to any Proposition in Philosophy or Mathematicks that an ignorant man who never applied his thoughts to such things doth pretend to doubt of it If you do in some measure understand and have considered these arguments I would then ask Have you not as much reason for this as you your selves would think sufficient for the proof of any thing you were not unwilling to believe Do you not knowingly and wilfully entertain prejudices against such things Have you been true to so much light as you have received Or have you not rather with-held it in unrighteousness If so 't is plain that you have dishonest minds that you measure by an unjust balance and therefore cannot be competent judges of truth or falshood If it be supposed yet further that the Probabilities on each side should be equal or that those on the other side should somewhat preponderate yet if there be no considerable hazard on that side which hath the least probability and a very great and most apparent danger in a mistake about the other In this case every rational and prudent man is bound to order his actions in favour of that way which appears to be most safe and advantageous for his own interest as I have shewed before So that in such cases as may seem unto us not altogether free from some kind of doubt and which we could not so far clear up to our selves as to make them appear wholly unquestionable I say in such cases men that would act prudently should enquire Where lies the danger of mistaking Why on the one side All the inconvenience of Believing this if it be not so will be that we are hereby occasioned to tye our selves up to some needless restraints during this short time of our lives wherein notwithstanding there is as to the present much peace quiet and safety And as for the future our error shall dye with us there being none to call us to an account for our mistake But now on the other side what if there should be a Deity so holy and just and powerful as is supposed If this should prove to be a real truth and no man can be sure of the contrary what vengeance and indignation may such vile Miscreants and Traitors expect who have made it their business to banish Him out of the world who is the great Creator and Governour of it to undermine his Being to eradicate all notions of Him out of the minds of men To provoke his Creatures and Vassals to a contempt of Him a slighting of his fear and worship as being but such imaginary Chimaera's as are fit only to keep fools in awe Certainly as this is the highest provocation that any man can be guilty of so shall it be punished with the sorest vengeance There are two things that Atheistical men propose to themselves by their prophane loose principles namely to avoid the imputation of Credulity and the fears and perplexities of mind to which Religion makes men obnoxious But their principles are not more irrational than their design is foolish for of all mankind these prophane persons are 1. The most Credulous who can believe themselves to be wiser than all the world who can believe the Eternity of the world or its production by a casual concourse of Atoms without any kind of argument for it against the many reasons that are urged to the contrary Who if they should demean themselves about matters of the world as they do about Religion would be counted ridiculous senseless persons and altogether unfit for humane conversation 2. The most Timorous Tully hath observed that no kind of men are more afraid of God than such as pretend not to believe his Being These are the men who above all others are most liable to be affected with dread and trembling at thunder and lightning at solitude and darkness and more especially then when it doth most concern them to be freed from such disquiets namely in the time of sickness and the approaches of death From whence it will follow that upon all accounts Atheism may justly be accounted Folly both as it is directly contrary to the principles of reason and the rules of wisdom I have now done with the first thing required to a state of Religion namely A belief and an acknowledgment of the Divine Nature and Existence CHAP. VIII Concerning the Excellencies and Perfections of the Divine Nature And First of those which are commonly called Incommunicable namely Simplicity Unity Immutability Infiniteness Immensity  Eternity I Proceed to the second thing proposed as a principal part of Natural Religion namely Due apprehensions of the Divine Excellency and Perfections Without which
possit quidem sine ullo labore There is nothing which God cannot do and that without any kind of labour 2. By Reason If the power of God could be limited or circumscribed it must either be by something of greater power which is inconsistent with the notion of his being supreme and soveraign Or else by the difficulty and repugnancy which there is in the nature of things which could not be in the first creation of them because there was nothing then to make any resistance and since that there is nothing but what was made by him derived from him and is dependant upon him and therefore must be subject to him And besides all such things being finite must therefore be at a vast distance of inequality from the infinite power of God To which may be added that all his other perfections would be insignificant and ineffectual if his power of acting whereby they were to be communicated to inferior natures were not answerable to them Meer Knowledg without Power would be but an idle speculation Wisdom to contrive without Power to effect would be but vain and useless What could his goodness and mercy signifie to us if he were not able to give any proofs of it And so likewise for his Justice and Faithfulness which there would be no reason to fear or to depend upon if Rewards and Punishments were not at his disposal and he had not sufficient power to perform what he promises Nor could there be any sufficient ground for his being acknowledged the supreme Lawgiver For why should any one take upon him to intermeddle in the affairs of the world and to prescribe Laws to others who had no power to dispose of things and were not able to enforce obedience to his own Laws In brief without the belief of this Attribute there can be no foundation for Religion amongst men because there could be no ground for our Faith or Trust no reason for our Hope or Fear 2. Besides this absolute consideration of the Divine Power there is likewise a relative notion of it respecting that Dominion and Jurisdiction which he hath over reasonable Creatures his right to govern them in this life to command prohibit what he pleases to reward and punish as shall seem good unto him And that this doth belong to the natural notion of God may appear 1. By Testimony Plato and Tully and Plutarch do often style him the Lord of all things the Eternal God Father and Creator of the world and all things in it Deo nihil praestantius ab eo igitur necesse est mundum regi saith Tully God is the most excellent Being and therefore is it necessary that he should be the Governour of the world And in another place Deorum immortalium numine omnia regi gubernarique credimus We believe that God is the Governour of all things To which I shall add that testimony of a Heathen King Nebuchadnezzar in that Remonstrance which he published to all people nations and languages that dwell in all the earth viz. that Gods dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing before him And he doth according to his will in the armies of heaven and amongst the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him what dost thou And as this was their declared opinion so was their practice suitable to it by owning that to be their Duty which they supposed to be agreeable to his Will and which would render them acceptable to him 2. By Reason If we consider those several titles which can give right to Dominion amongst men we shall find them all to concur in God Now men claim a right of Government either by Conquest or Purchase or Compact or by having others born in a state of subjection under them or by their having oblig'd others with any special bounty or favour but above all these there is another ground of subjection which men cannot pretend to namely the giving of Being to a thing And this must needs above all other claims be the greatest imaginable right for the government and disposal of that thing according to the pleasure of him that made it It is he that made us says the Psalmist and not we our selves and therefore we are his people and 't is reasonable that we should be under his dominion and government 3. The distribution of future Rewards and Punishments to men according as their lives and actions have been in this world That this likewise doth belong to the natural notion of God may appear 1. By Testimony From all kind of Heathen Writers Nothing hath been more universally believed in all places and times not only amongst the civilized Nations the Grecians and Romans but likewise amongst such as were most wild and barbarous All sorts and Professions of men of any special eminence as Princes Statesmen Souldiers Philosophers Poets Artists have had great impressions upon their minds concerning a future state And it may be reasonably presumed as Tully observes that those who do so much excel others in their parts and their virtue are not generally mistaken in their judgments about a natural truth Whereas several other opinions and Doctrines which at some times have prevailed have afterwards been rejected this hath still kept up in its vigor and authority amidst all the various revolutions of Government and Religion of Nations and Churches The most ancient Philosophers amongst the Grecians who reduced that people to civility were Thales Pherecides Pythagoras the last of whom was for a long time of so great authority that no others were counted learned but such as were his followers And each of these have most expresly asserted this Doctrine And besides there are many other testimonies to this purpose cited out of Plato Empedocles Plutarch together with Homer Euripides Sophocles for the Grecians the ancient Druids amongst the Gauls the Brachmans amongst the Indians who are all mention'd as bearing witness to this truth by Justin Martyr Clemens Alexandrinus and others And as for the Latines I shall mention only two testimonies That of Tully Permanere animos arbitramur consensu nationum omnium We do believe that the Souls of men do abide after death by the consent of all Nations And that of Seneca Cum de animarum aeternitate disserimus non leve momentum apud nos babet consensus omnium aut timentium inferos aut colentium When we dispute about the immortality of the Soul the general consent of men either fearing or worshipping the infernal powers is of no small moment with us That common practice amongst the Heathen of worshipping their departed Heroes doth suppose a general belief that their Souls did remain after death and were advanced unto a higher state of happiness and power In brief all the attestations amongst them concerning the Souls immortality are founded in their belief
more And yet though it be their interest to believe this though they make it their study and business to perswade themselves and others of it it may reasonably be doubted whether ever yet there hath been so much as one person that hath hereby become absolutely free from these fears But for the most part those who would have them esteemed vain and imaginary without any foundation in nature these are the persons who are most assaulted with them Hi sunt qui trepidant ad omnia fulgura pallent So powerful and unconquerable are these impressions and therefore Natural 2. The second Reason I proposed to speak to was from the necessity of this Principle to the right government of mens lives and actions in this world and the preserving of society amongst them Nothing can be more evident than that humane Nature is so framed as not to be regulated and kept within due bounds without Laws and Laws must be insignificant without the sanction of Rewards and Punishments whereby men may be induced to the observance of them Now the temporal Rewards and Punishments of this life cannot be sufficient to this end and therefore there is a necessity that there should be another future state of happiness and misery All the Rewards and Punishments of this life are to be expected either from the Civil Magistrate who by virtue of his Place and Calling is obliged to the duty of distributive Justice Or else from Divine Providence according to that most usual course which we find by experience to be observed by him in his dispensation of these temporal things Now neither of these can afford sufficient motives for the government of mens lives and actions 1. Not all that may be expected from the Civil Magistrates because there may be many good and evil actions which they cannot take notice of and they can reward and punish only such things as come under their cognizance And if this were the only restraint upon men it could be no hinderance from any such mischiefs or villanies which men had the opportunity of committing secretly Nor would it extend to those who had power and strength enough to defend themselves from the Law and escape the penalty of it but that such might without any kind of check or fear follow the inclinations of their own appetites Nor would it afford any remedy in the case of such wicked Magistrates as should invert the order of their institution proving terrors to well-doers and encouragers to those that do ill 2. Not all that may be expected from common Providence For though it should be granted that according to the most usual and general course of things both virtuous and vicious actions are rewarded and punished in this life yet there may be many particular cases which this motive would not reach unto namely all such cases where a mans Reason shall inform him that there is far greater probability of safety and advantage by committing a sin than can be reasonably expected according to his experience of the usual course of things in the world by doing his duty Suppose the case of the three Children or of any other called to Martyrdom who may be threatned with torments and death unless they will blaspheme God and renounce their Religion if it appear to them very probable suppose a hundred to one that upon their refusal their persecutors will really execute what they threaten And if on the other side it prove very improbable suppose ten thousand to one that they shall be delivered by a Miracle In such cases it is not to be expected that the consideration of the ordinary course of Providence in the dispensation of Rewards and Punishments should be sufficient to restrain a man from any kind of Blasphemy or Villany whatsoever But the thing I am speaking to will more fully appear by consideration of those horrid mischiefs of all kinds that would most naturally follow from the denial of this Doctrine If there be no such thing to be expected as happiness or misery hereafter why then the only business that men are to take care of is their present well-being in this World There being nothing to be counted either good or bad but in order to these Those things which we conceive to be conducible to it being the only duties and all other things that are cross to it being the only sins And therefore whatever a man's appetite shall incline him to he ought not to deny himself in it be the thing what it will so he can have it or do it without probable danger Suppose it be matter of gain or prosit he is disposed to if he can cheat or steal securely this will be so far from being a fault that it is plainly his duty that is reasonable for him to do Because it is a proper means to promote his chief end And so for other cases of anger hatred revenge c. According to this principle a man must take the first opportunity of satisfying these passions by doing any kind of mischief to the person he is offended with whether by false accusation and perjury or if need be by poysoning or stabbing of him provided he can do these things so as to escape the suspition of others and humane penalties Now let any man judg what Bears and Wolves and Devils men would prove to one another if every thing should be not only lawful but a duty whereby they might gratifie their impetuous lusts if they might either perjure themselves or steal or murder as often as they could do it safely and get any advantage by it But these things are so very obvious and undeniable that the most prophane Atheistical persons do own the truth of them And upon this they are willing to acknowledg That Religion and the belief of another life is a very politick invention and needful for the well-governing of the world and for the keeping of men in awe from the doing any secret mischiefs Which by the way is a concession of no small advantage to the honour of Religion considering that it proceeds from the greatest professed enemies to it Whereby they grant that it is fit these things should be true if they are not or at least that it is fit that the generality of men should believe them to be true And though themselves pretend to believe otherwise yet are they not so far out of their wits as to be willing that those with whom they converse their Wives and Children and Servants should be of the same opinion with them because then they could have no reason to expect any safety amongst them What security could any man have of his Estate or Honour or Life if such with whom he is most familiar and intimate might think themselves at liberty to do all the secret mischiefs to them which they had the opportunity to commit But there is one thing more which those who profess to disbelieve this principle should do well to consider and that
is this That there is no imaginable reason why amongst those that know them they should pretend to any kind of honesty or conscience because they are wholly destitute of all such motives as may be sufficient to oblige them to any thing of this nature But according to them that which is called Virtue and Religion must be one of the most silly and useless things in the world As for the principle of Honour which some imagine may supply the room of Conscience This relates only to external reputation and the esteem which we have amongst others and therefore can be of no influence to restrain men from doing any secret mischief From what hath been said it will follow That those who have any regard to their own safety ought to abandon all kind of society with such pernicious persons who according to their own principles must take all opportunities of doing any mischief to others which they are able to effect with any advantage to themselves Now if this be so as I have proved that the nature of man is so framed as not to be effectually perswaded and wrought upon without the consideration of such a future state if it be necessary to add everlasting motives as the Sanctions of that Law by which the Humane Nature is to be governed this must render it highly credible that there is such a state because it must needs be very unworthy of God to conceive of him that he hath contrived the nature of one of his best and most noble Creatures after such a manner as to make it incapable of being governed without falshood and deceit The necessity of this principle to the government of mens lives and actions is the ground of that saying amongst the Rabbins That Paradise and Hell are two of the seven Pillars upon which God is said to have founded the World As if it could not be upheld without such a support 3. The third and last Argument I proposed to speak to was from the necessity of this principle to the vindication of Divine Providence Nothing is more universally acknowledged than that God is Good and Just That well-doing shall be rewarded and evil actions punished by him And yet we see that his dispensations in this life are many times promiscuous and uncertain so that a man cannot judg of love or hatred by all that is before him The worst of men are sometimes in the best condition If in this life only we had hope we should be of all men most miserable saith the Apostle speaking concerning those primitive times of persecution when the better any man was the more was he exposed to suffering Nor is it thus only in the case of particular persons or in the success of private differences betwixt men and men but likewise for some of those decisions that are made by the Sword in the publick contests of Princes and Nations these may sometimes be so stated as to the event of them as may in the judgment of wise and good men seem unequal and not according to justice and the right of the cause Now the greater uncertainty there is as to the present affairs of this world by so much greater is the certainty of a future Judgment It is true indeed that virtue may be said to be a reward to it self and vice a punishment in regard of that satisfaction or that regret of mind which doth accompany such things But these are not such kind of rewards and punishments as Lawgivers are to take care of by which they are to excite those under the government to overcome the labours and difficulties that they may sometimes meet with in doing their duty and to restrain others from wicked actions It would seem a wild extravagant Law which should propose by way of Reward that those who had upon account of Religion or Virtue undergone any great dangers and troubles should for their reward be put again to undergo more and greater That they who had been guilty of Robbery should by way of punishment be obliged to commit Murder Besides those Moral advantages or mischiefs which are properly the effects of Virtue and Vice there is likewise some Physical Good or Evil that may be expected as the reward and punishment of them Would it become a just Governour to permit his rebellious Subjects those who contemn his Laws to persecute such as were obedient to him with all kind of scorn and violence stripes imprisonment torments and death it self and that for this very reason because they were willing to do their duties and to observe the Laws Would it be a reasonable excuse for such a Ruler to say That one of these had received sufficient punishment in the very commission of such crimes and that the other had a sufficient reward both in the doing of his duty and in his suffering for it What could be more inconsistent with the rules of Justice and the wise ends of Government What could be a greater disparagement to Divine Providence than to permit the calamities and sufferings which good men undergo in this world many times upon the account of Religion to pass unrewarded and the many mischiefs and prophanations which wicked men take the advantage of committing by their greatness and prosperity in this world to go unpunished What great glory would it be to preside over this material World Stars and Meteors Sea and Land Plants and Beasts to put these things into such a regular course as may be suitable to their natures and the operations for which they are designed and in the mean space to have no proportionable regard either for those that reverence the Deity or those who contemn him 'T is very well said to this purpose by a late Author That not to conduct the course of Nature in a due manner might speak some defect of Wisdom in God but not to compensate Virtue and Vice besides the defect of Wisdom in not adjusting things suitably to their qualifications but crosly coupling Prosperity with Vice and Misery with Virtue would argue too great a defect of Goodness and of Justice And perhaps it would not be less expedient saith he with Epicurus to deny all Providence than to ascribe to it such defects It being less unworthy of the Divine Nature to neglect the Universe altogether than to administer humane affairs with so much injustice and irregularity And therefore 't is necessary for the vindication of Divine Providence that there should be a future state and Day of Accounts wherein every man shall be forced to acknowledg that verily there is a reward for the righteous doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth CHAP. XII Concerning the Duties of Religion naturally flowing from the consideration of the Divine Nature and Perfections And first of Adoration and Worship HAving dispatched the two first things I proposed as the principal Ingredients to a state of Religion namely 1. A belief and an acknowledgment of the Divine Nature and Existence
the Commandments themselves and likewise of our knowleldg and approbation of them namely the practice of holiness and virtue in the conduct of our lives whereby we are to be advanced unto that state of happiness wherein the perfection of our natures and our resemblance of the Deity doth consist And because the best of men do frequently fall short of that obedience which is due to the Laws of God therefore in case of transgression natural light doth direct men to repentance which is an hearty sorrow for our neglects and violations of the Divine Law accompanied with a firm and effectual purpose and resolution of amendment for the future Which though it do suppose the Commandments of God not to have been duly observed yet is it the only remedy left in such cases Some have questioned whether there be any obligation upon us for this by the light of nature partly because the Stoicks deny it and partly because reason will tell a man that it cannot afford any compensation to Divine justice To which I should say That the Stoicks indeed do deny this because it implies passion which their wise man must be without yet they will admit a man to be displeased with himself for any error or mistake which is much the same thing with sorrow though under another name And though this be not enough to satisfie infinite justice yet it is that which reason doth oblige us to We expect from those who offend us that they should profess their sorrow and shame beg pardon and promise amendment And the men of Nineveh did upon a Natural principle betake themselves to this remedy and with good success though they were doubtful of it Who can tell if God will turn and repent This conformity to the Law of God requires a twofold condition Universality Regularity 1. Universality both as to the time and the duties themselves without any such picking and chusing amongst them as may bend the Laws to make them suitable to our own interests and humours 2. Regularity in the due proportioning of our love and zeal and observance according to that difference which there is in the true nature and consequence of the things themselves preferring mercy and obedience before sacrifice and the weighty matters of the Law before tything of mint and cummin righteousness and peace before meat and drink 'T is true the least commandment is not to be neglected as having stamped upon it the autority of the great God But then we are to consider that the same autority by which that is injoined doth oblige us to prefer other things before it So that a man doth disobey in doing a good thing when upon that account he neglects what is far better And the mistake of men about this is the true cause of that which we call Superstition which is one of the opposites to Religion and so destructive to the true nature of it Men being apt to think themselves priviledged for their neglects and failings in some greater matters by their zeal about lesser things Now nothing will contribute more to banish this Superstition out of the world than a sober enquiry into the nature and causes of things whereby we may be able to take a just estimate of their evidence and importance and consequently to proportion our zeal about them I mention this the rather because it hath been by some objected that humane Learning and Philosophy doth much indispose men for this humble submission to Divine Laws by framing their minds to other notions and inclinations than what are agreeable to Religion But that this is a false and groundless prejudice may be made very evident The true knowledg of the nature of things being amongst natural helps one of the most effectual to keep men off from those two extremes of Religion Superstition and Prophaneness 1. For Superstition this doth properly consist in a misapprehension of things placing Religion in such things as they ought not for the matter or in such a degree as they ought not for the measure which proceeds from ignorance 2. For Prophaneness this doth consist in a neglect or irreverence towards sacred things and duties when such matters as ought to have our highest esteem are rendered vile and common And this likewise doth proceed from ignorance of the true nature of things Now one of the best remedies against this is the study of Philosophy and a skill in nature which will be apt to beget in men a veneration for the God of nature And therefore to those Nations who have been destitute of Revelation the same persons have been both their Philosophers and their Priests those who had most skill in one kind of knowledg being thought most fit to instruct and direct men in the other And if we consult the stories of other places and times we shall constantly find those Nations most solemn and devout in their worship who have been most civilized and most philosophical And on the contrary those other Nations in America and Africa whom Navigators report to be most destitute of Religion are withall most brutish and barbarous as to other Arts and knowledg It cannot be denyed indeed but that a slight superficial knowledg of things will render a man obnoxious either to Superstition or to Atheistical thoughts especially if joined with a proud mind and vicious inclinations He that hath made some little progress in natural enquiries and gotten some smattering in the phrases of any Theory whereby as he conceives he can solve some of the common Phaenomena may be apt to think that all the rest will prove as easie as his first beginning seems to be and that he shall be able to give an account of all things But they that penetrate more deeply into the nature of things and do not look upon second causes as being single and scattered but upon the whole chain of them as linked together will in the plainest things such as are counted most obvious acknowledg their own ignorance and a Divine power and so become more modest and humblé in their thoughts and carriage Such inquisitive persons will easily discern as a noble Author hath well expressed it that the highest link of Natures Chain is fastened to Jupiter's Chair This notwithstanding it be a digression I thought fit to say by way of vindication and answer to those prejudices which some men have raised against humane Learning and the study of Philosophy as if this were apt to dispose men unto Atheistical principles and practices Whereas a sober enquiry into the nature of things a diligent perusal of this volume of the world doth of it self naturally tend to make men regular in their minds and conversations and to keep them off from those two opposites of Religion Superstition and Prophaneness CHAP. XVII Of Passive Obedience or Patience and Submission to the Will of God THus much may suffice concerning the nature and duty of Active Obedience I proceed to that of Passive Obedience or patient
submission under the afflicting hand of God And though this may seem one of the most difficult of all other duties and most repugnant to humane nature yet is there no subject more excellently discussed by the Heathen Moralists and wherein they seem more to exceed themselves than this I shall mention out of them some of those passages which seem to me most apposite and material to this purpose under these four heads which contain the several Arguments to this duty viz. 1. Such as refer to God by whose Providence all our sufferings are procur'd or permitted 2. Such as concern our selves 3. Such as may be derived from the nature of affliction 4. And lastly such as refer to this grace of Patience 1. There are many Arguments to convince us of the reasonableness of this duty from the Nature and Attributes of God who either sends affliction or permits them to fall upon us I shall rank them under these three heads 1. His infinite knowledg and wisdom 2. His goodness and patience towards us 3. His power and dominion over us 1. From the consideration of his infinite knowledg and wisdom whereby he takes notice of and doth concern himself about every particular event in the world making all things beautiful and in their time disposing of all to the best Which is an argument that divers of the Heathen Philosophers do very largely insist upon Particularly Antoninus who hath this passage 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 befall 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 befalls me to God as the contriver of it by whom all events are disposed in a wise order There are also many great and excellent sayings in Epictetus to this purpose That must needs be much more desireable which is chosen by the wisdom of God than that which I chuse 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 saith he conform our minds to the will of providence and most willingly follow whither ever 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 my own inclinations lead unto I would desire and will just so and no otherwise than as he doth And in another place Use me 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 justify and maintain before all men such thy dealing with me to be most fitting and prudent most suitable and advantageous to my condition And besides the reasons to this purpose from natural light which are so excellently improved and urged by some of the Philosophers there are likewise several attestations of this nature in Scripture wherein God is said to afflict out of faithfulness To be Wise in counsel and excellent in working signifying all the works of his providence to be most excellent because they proceed from the wisest counsel And though some particular dispensations may seem unto us to be difficult and obscure His judgments being unsearchable and his ways past finding out yet we may be most sure that there is an excellent contrivance in all of them Though clouds and darkness may be round about him yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne And besides the more general assertions which the Scripture doth frequently mention to this purpose It doth likewise more particularly insist upon those special reasons and ends whereby the wisdom of such dispensations are to be justified as namely To make us partakers of Gods holiness to work in us the peaceable fruits of righteousness to save us from being condemned with the world to preserve in us a holy awe and reverence They have no changes therefore they fear not God Psal. 55. 19. To quicken our rellish of those mercies which we enjoy and our thankfulness for them To wean our affections from the things of this world to prevent the surfeits of prosperity to enlarge our experience to contract such a kind of hardiness and courage as may become a militant state to keep up in our minds a continual sense of our dependent condition which are some of the principal things wherein our happiness doth consist To which may be added that the Scripture doth likewise contain several express promises to assure us of the benefit and advantage to be had by the crosses that befall us That all things in the issue shall work together for our good Rom. 8. 28. So that there is not a trouble or affliction that we meet with which we could be without but it hath its necessary place and work in that frame and design of events which the providence of God hath ordained for the bringing of us to happiness And though all of them may for the present seem grievous and some of them perhaps not suitable to the Divine goodness and promises yet of this we may be most assured that all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies And there are few persons who have been observant of Gods dealings towards them but are able to say from their own experience that it is good for them that they have been afflicted 2. A second Argument to this purpose is from the consideration of Gods goodness and patience towards us I have shewed before from several acknowledgments of the Heathen what apprehensions they had of the Divine goodness and forbearance towards sinners from whence 't is easie to infer the equity and reasonableness of our patient submission under his afflicting hand He is merciful and gracious longsuffering abundant in goodness and truth The Apostle speaks of the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering He doth indulge us in our failings and infirmities with such a kind of tenderness as nurses use to their young children Now there is all imaginable equity in this consequence that if he bear with us in what we cannot lawfully do that we should
some shift to subsist without Walls Schools Theatres Houses nay without Money but not without Religion If it were not for this notion of a Deity and those natural impressions which we have concerning Justice and Probity so necessary for the conservation of humane society instead of those well-ordered Governments and Cities which are now in the world Mankind must have lived either wild and solitary in Caves and Dens like savage beasts or else in troops of Robbers subsisting upon the spoil and rapine of such as were weaker than themselves Pietate sublatâ sides etiam societas humani generis una excellentissima virtus justitia tollitur saith Tully Take but away the awe of Religion and all that Fidelity and Justice so necessary for the keeping up of humane society must perish with it 'T is this fear of a Deity and the sense of our obligation to Him that is the onely effectual means to restrain men within the bounds of duty And were this wholly extinguished there would follow such wild disorders and extravagancies amongst men as would not leave so much as the face or least shadow of virtue or honesty in the world There being no kind of vice which men would not abandon themselves unto considering the impetuousness of their own natural appetites and the power of external temptations were this restraint from Religion once removed or abolished The two chief Opposites to Religion are Prophaneness and Superstition Both which are prejudicial to civil Government the one by destroying conscience the strongest obligation to political duties the other by perverting and abusing it introducing in the stead of it a new primum mobile which ravisheth the spheres of Government and puts them into a praeternatural course as a Noble Author expresseth it The two grand Relations that concern society are Government and Subjection And Irreligion doth indispose men for both these 1. For Government Without Religion Magistrates will lose that courage and confidence belonging to their stations which they cannot so well exert in punishing the offences of others when they are guilty of the same or the like themselves Those that sit on the throne of judgment should be able to scatter away evil with their eyes as Solomon speaks Prov. 20. 8. By their very presence and looks to strike an awe upon offenders Which will not be so easily done if they lye under the same guilt themselves Sine bonitate nulla majestas saith Seneca the very nature of majesty doth denote Goodness as well as Power And without this Governours may easily lose that Reverence which is due to them from others and consequently that Authority which they ought to have over them When they cease to be Gods in respect of their Goodness they will soon diminish in their Power And though they should be able to keep men under as to their bodies and estates yet will they decline as to that awful love and reverence whereby they should sway over the hearts and affections of men The Philosopher in the fifth Book of his Politicks doth lay it down as a rule for Magistrates That they must be careful to give publick testimonies of their being religious and devout for which he gives this double reason Because the people will be less subject to entertain any jealousie or suspition of suffering injury from such whom they believe to be religious And withal they will be less subject to attempt the doing of injury against such as knowing that good Magistrates are after a more especial manner under the divine favour and protection 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having God to fight with them and for them 2. The want of this will indispose men for the condition of Subjects and render them loose and unstable in those duties of obedience and submission required to that state How can it be expected from that man who dares affront and despise God himself that he should have any hearty reverence for His Deputies and Vicegerents He that is subject only upon the account of wrath and the power of the sword which is over him will be no longer so when he hath an opportunity of escaping or resisting that power Nor is there any possible way to secure men in their quiet subjection and obedience but by their being obliged for conscience-sake And therefore such kind of persons as by their open prophaneness and contempt of Religion do endeavour to destroy conscience from amongst men may justly be esteemed as the worst kind of seditious persons and most pernicious to Civil Government That temper of Prophaneness whereby a man is disposed to contemn and despise all Religion how slightly soever men may think of it is much worse than Infidelity than Fanaticalness than Idolatry and of the two 't is much more eligible for a man to be an honest Heathen and a devont Idolater than a prophane Christian. Whatever disputes have been raised concerning the lawfulness of punishing men for their dissenting consciences in matters of Religion yet never any man questioned the lawfulness of punishing men for their prophaneness and contempt of all Religion Such men as renounce conscience cannot pretend that they suffer for it And certainly this Vice doth upon many accounts deserve the greatest severity of Laws as being in its own nature destructive of the very principles of Government and the peace of all humane Societies Besides the mischiefs consequent upon it from Divine vengeance 'T is an observation of Seneca That several Countries do appoint several punishments for the violation of Religion but every Country appoints some and it doth not any where escape unpunished Plato in his Book de Legibus would have it punished capitally as being a thing of most pernicious consequence to Government 'T is a rule in the Civil Law that Religio contaminata ad omnium pertinet injuriam The abuse of Religion is to be looked upon as being a common injury and every man is concerned to endeavour a vindication of it And there are some instances in story of Wars that have been undertaken upon this very account to bring a Nation to punishment for that prophaneness they have expressed towards the Religion they professed and pretended to as being injurious to mankind quod orbis viribus expiari debuit as Justin the Historian speaks which the whole world ought to vindicate and expiate by their common forces There can be no assurance from loose irreligious persons that they will be faithful in the ordinary duties belonging to their several ranks and stations And as for any extraordinary Heroical action by which the publick welfare is to be promoted men that are without conscience of Religion and a sense of Virtue can never apply themselves to any thing of that kind as having their minds destitute of all such principles as are sublime and generous without any the least seed of honour and piety and virtue and therefore they can have no sparks of magnanimity nor any the
least inclination to actions that are truly great and noble So that upon all these accounts it is very evident That Religion is totum heminis in this first sense as it refers to the Essence of Man considered either in his single capacity or as a member of Society 2. 'T is so likewise as it refers to the Business and Duty of Man that which he ought to be most intent upon and conversant about as to his employment in this world that General calling in which every man of what rank or quality soever is to be ingaged Men are distributed under other particular callings according as their education abilities friends and several opportunities do dispose of them But the obligation of Religion being of universal concernment doth extend to all and every particular there being none exempted from it Hoc est omnis homo Every man is concerned in it And it is totum hominis likewise 'T is his calling the chief business about which he is to be employed I do not say that a mans thoughts are always to be taken up about the immediate acts of Religion any more than a Traveller is always to have his mind actually fixed upon the thought of his journies end This would be inconsistent with the infirmity of our natures and the necessity of our conditions in this world But yet as he that is upon a journey doth so order all his particular motions as may be most conducible to his general end so should men habitually though they cannot actually in every affair have respect to their chief end so as to observe all the duties of Religion and never to allow themselves in any thing against the rules of it And he that hath this care continually upon his mind though he be but a secular person may properly be said to make Religion his Business The Wise man in the beginning of his Book had proposed it as his great Question to be discussed to find out what was that good for the sons of men which they should do under the Heavens all the days of their lives i. e. What was the chief employment or business which they should apply themselves to in this world And in the conclusion of his discourse after an induction and refutation of all other particulars which may seem to have any claim or pretence to this He asserts it to be the business of Religion Fearing God and keeping his commandments Suitably to that Precept of Moses Deut. 10. 12. And now O Israel what doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to serve the Lord thy God and keep his commandments And the Practise of St. Paul who made this his daily exercise to keep his conscience void of offence both towards God and towards Man To the Reasonableness of this several of the wisest Heathens have attested That 's a remarkable passage in Aristotle to this purpose where he states that to be the most desirable proportion of all worldly felicities and enjoyments which is most consistent with men's devoting themselves to the business of Religion And that to be either too much or too little of wealth or honour or power c. whereby men are hindred in their meditating upon God or their worshipping of him So Epictetus discoursing concerning the work and business he was designed to hath this excellent passage If I had been made a Nightingale or a Swan I should have employed the time of my life in such a way as is suitable to the condition of those Creatures But being made a Man capable of serving and worshipping that God from whom I had my Being 't is but reason that I should apply my self to this as being my proper work and business 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And therefore hereunto will I devote my self as being the chief employment to which I am designed I am now as to the condition of my body lame and old saith he in the same place to which he might have added that he was sickly and deformed and as for his outward quality he was poor and under servitude being a slave to Epaphroditus one of the Roman Courtiers which are conditions that usually expose men to repining and discontent and yet 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 Which upbraids so many professors of Christianity who have both more advantages of knowing their duty and greater engagements upon them to exercise themselves in the duties of Religion There is another apposite Testimony to this purpose in Antoninus Every thing saith he is designed for some kind of work Beasts and plants the sun and stars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And what do you conceive your business to be sensual pleasures Bethink your self a little better whether this be suitable to your natural sentiments to the nobility of your mind and those excellent faculties with which you are endowed Now 't is the usual course of men to apply themselves to that as their chief business by which their interest is most promoted and which may most conduce to that main end which they propose to themselves And can any thing be more reasonable than for that to be the chief business of a man's life which is the chief end of his Being 3. Religion is totum hominis with respect to the Happiness and well-being of Man That is properly said to be the chief end or Happiness of a thing which doth raise its nature to the utmost perfection of which it is capable according to its rank and kind This is the chief end which he ought to propose that alone wherein his true felicity doth consist that which doth advance his nature to the utmost perfection it is capable of The chief good belonging to a Vegetable or Plant is to grow up to a state of Maturity to continue to its natural period and to propagate its kind which is the utmost perfection that kind of Being is capable of And whereas sensitive creatures besides those things which are common to them with Plants have likewise such faculties whereby they are able to apprehend external objects and to receive pain or pleasure from them Therefore the Happiness proper to them must consist in the perfection of these faculties namely in sensible pleasures in the enjoyment of such things as may be grateful to their senses But now Mankind if we allow it to be a distinct rank of Creatures superior to Brutes being endowed with such faculties whereby 't is made capable of apprehending a Deity and of expecting a future state after this life It will hence follow That the proper happiness of Man must consist in the perfecting of these faculties namely in such a state as may reconcile him to the Divine favour and afford him the best assurance of a blessed immortality hereafter Which nothing else but Religion can so much
as pretend to 'T is true indeed the nature of Man by reason of those other capacities common to him with Plants and Brutes may stand in need of several other things to render his condition pleasant and comfortable in this world as Health Riches Reputation Safety c. Now herein is the great advantage of Religion that besides the principal work which it doth for us in securing our future estates in the other world it is likewise the most effectual means to promote our happiness in this world In my discourse of this I shall first suggest something more generally concerning the nature of our chief end And then descend to those particulars which are esteemed to be the chief ingredients to a state of Happiness Under the first of these I shall speak briefly to these Three things 1. There is a necessity that every Man who will act rationally should propose to himself some chief scope and end 2. The chief end of every thing must be of such a nature as may be most fit to promote the perfection of that thing in its rank and kind 3. This in rational Beings which are capable of it must consist in a communion with and a conformity unto the chief Good and consequently in being religious 1. There is a necessity that every man who will act rationally should propose to himself some chief scope or end The having of an end is not so much a moral duty which supposeth a liberty of acting as a natural principle like that of the descent of heavy bodies men must do so nor can they do otherwise Such is the principle of self-preservation in all things and this of acting for an end in all rational agents The most loose and profligate wretches that are do and must act for an end even in those very courses wherein they put the thought of their future state and their last account far from them The very suppressing and hardening themselves against the thought of their true end is in order to their present peace and quiet which they do erroneously substitute in the room of their chief end That wherein men are commonly defective is in not exciting the thought of their chief end and not sufficiently considering and stating in their own minds the most proper means for the attaining of it There are too many in the world that do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 live ex tempore without any particular reference to their chief end being immersed only in present matters animalia sine praeterito futuro without any regard to what is past or future like Ships upon the vast Ocean without any Compass or Pilot that do rather wander than travel being carried up and down according as every wind or tide doth drive them And this the Philosopher doth worthily brand with the name of folly Vita sine proposito stultitiae argumentum est No greater argument of foolishness than for a man not to be fixed upon some particular design Proponamus oportet finem summi boni ad quem omne factum nostrum dictúmve respiciat veluti navigantibus ad sidus aliquod dirigendus est cursus saith the same Author There ought always to be some particular scope and mark proposed as the main end and drift of all our actions as the star by which we are to be guided in our voyage Non disponet singula nisi cui jam vitae suae summa proposita est 'T will be a hard matter to proportion out particulars till we know what is the main sum This is the true ground of the common mistakes amongst men whilst they deliberate concerning the several parts of their lives but neglect the stating of what should be the main design of the whole He that intends to shoot at any thing must so manage the whole action in levelling his arrow and regulating his hands and exerting his strength so as may be most advantageous for hitting the mark As the efficient is in natural so is the end amongst moral causes of principal efficacy 'T is this which is the chief rule of all our actions And therefore there is a necessity that some end be proposed and fix'd upon 2. The chief end of every thing must be of such a nature as may be most fit to promote the perfection of that thing in its rank and kind Any thing that is short of this may be a means or a subordinate end but cannot be the chief and ultimate end if there be any thing desireable beyond it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Aristotle That is truly the chief end which is desired for it self which being once obtained we want no more That which doth satiate and fill up the desires Haec nihil vacare patitur loci totum animum tenet desiderium omnium tollit sola satis est saith Seneca In brief 't is that state wherein a thing enjoys all that good that 't is capable of and which is most suitable to its nature 3. This in rational Creatures must consist in a communion with and a conformity to the supreme good and consequently in being religious Which is the meaning of those Scripture-expressions of walking with God and as becomes the sons of the Most High being followers of him holy as he is holy being made partakers of a divine nature And to this the Philosophers do likewise consent This is the meaning of that speech in Pythagoras 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every mans chief end should be a resemblance to God a being made like to the Deity So Plato and Epictetus will have it to consist in following of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And another imitari quem colis in imitating him whom we worship So Seneca Summum bonum est quod honestum est quod magis admirêre solum bonum est quod honestum est Not only the chief but the only good doth consist in what is honest and virtuous Now the fruition of God cannot consist in any external union or contact of our souls with the Deity which Spirits are not capable of nor in any meer speculation or intellectual gazing upon his excellencies But in such an influence whereby he doth communicate to us such divine qualities as will exalt our faculties beyond their natural state and bring them into an assimilation and conformity to the most perfect Idea of Goodness together with an inward sensation of the effects of this in our selves Having thus dispatched what I had to suggest concerning the nature of Happiness in general I proceed to speak to such particulars as are esteemed to be the most usual ingredients into such a state and which do conduce to the compleating of it whether they concern Our present condition in this world either our External well-fare consisting in 1. Health 2. Liberty Safety Quiet 3. Possessions with respect either to the sufficiency of them for answering our necessities which is called Riches or Profit Or to 4. The Delight or Satisfaction
we receive in these enjoyments in the use and suitableness of the things we possess which is called Pleasure 5. The Esteem which we have amongst good men whereby we are rendered acceptable and useful to others styled Honour or Reputation Internal well-fare or the happiness of our minds which doth consist in these two things 1. The due regulating and exalting of our faculties to their proper function 2. The Peace Joy Contentment consequent thereupon The happiness of our future state This doth consist in such a fruition of the supreme good as our souls are capable of and must depend upon such courses as can afford us the most rational assurance of blessedness and glory hereafter Now I shall endeavour to make it out by plain reason that the Happiness of our condition in all these respects doth depend upon Religion And that not only morally upon account of that reward which virtuous actions do entitle a man unto from a just and wise providence but naturally also by reason of that physical efficacy which the duties of Religion have to procure for us all those things wherein our temporal happiness consists to promote the well-fare not only of particular persons but of publick Communities of Mankind in general and of the whole Universe CHAP. II. How Religion conduces to our present Happiness in this world And first to the happiness of the Outward man 1. In respect of Health ANd because these things I have mentioned especially those of them which concern our external happiness in this world are the great aims and designs by which the generality of men are chiefly swayed in their actions and therefore like to prove very powerful motives to make men religious if they could be once effectúally perswaded that Religion is the most proper means for the attaining of these things I shall therefore endeavour to make out this truth by the plainest and most convincing ęvidence that may be And the rather because in such kind of assertions as are besides the common opinion and seem paradoxes men will be apt to be jealous of their being imposed upon by some kind of Sophism or Fallacy In order to this I shall observe this method First I shall endeavour to state and define the nature of these things and to shew wherein the true notion of them doth consist And then proceed to the proof of this proposition That Religion is the most proper means to procure and promote these ends And besides the evidence to this purpose from the concurrent opinions of wise men in several ages I shall likewise make them out both by reason and by experience which are all the kind of arguments that such matters are capable of Only I must premise one Caution that when I say Religion is the cause of these things the meaning is not that it is so necessary and so infallible a cause as can never fail of its effect This would not be consistent with our dependent condition there being nothing in this world so much under the power of humane endeavours but that the providence of God may interpose for the disappointment of it To whom it must be left to make what reserved cases he pleases from the ordinary course of things But though it be not an infallible cause yet is it such a cause as doth generally and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 produce its effect And all mankind do think it a sufficient inducement to apply their endeavours unto such courses for the procuring of any thing as are the best means to be had and do for the most part effect the ends they are designed for This being premised I doubt not but to offer such arguments for the proof of these things as shall be sufficient for the conviction of any man who will but understand and consider them I begin with the First The wellfare of our present condition in respect of our outward-man doth depend upon Religion First Religion is the best means for Health By Health I mean such a constitution of our bodies whereby our members and faculties are inabled for the due performance of their natural functions and freed from pain 't is properly opposed to sickness or Disease As for the infirmities of old age these are so essential to all living creatures so necessarily spring from the very principles of our natures that though they may be somewhat lessened and alleviated yet are they not capable of any complete remedy This blessing of Health is so necessary to our well-beings in this world that without it we cannot enjoy any thing else no not our own selves insomuch that men do and may justly put a great value upon it and are willing to purchase it at any rate And therefore to all such this consideration must needs be a very powerful motive Now I shall make it plain that this doth depend upon Religion Morally Naturally 1. Morally By reason of those blessings of this kind which by the light of nature men may reasonably expect from the goodness of God upon the observance of his laws besides the several assertions and promises in Scripture to this purpose where sin is often represented as the meritorious cause of sickness and diseases are often threatned and accordingly inflicted as the due rewards of sin And on the other side upon mens observing the duties of Religion God promises to take away sickness from the midst of them to bestow upon them health and length of days The fear of the Lord and departing from evil shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones Prov. 3. 7 8. Prov. 11. 19. As righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death Chap. 2. 22 The wicked shall be cut off from the earth and the transgressours shall be rooted out of it 2. Religion is the natural cause of health which may appear upon this two-fold reason because it doth remove those things that will hinder it and doth promote such things as will help it 1. It doth removere prohibens it is apt to prevent and remove such things as are the great impediments of our health Nothing is more evident than that there are several vices which have a physical efficacy in the producing of diseases as all kind of intemperance of body all inordinate passions of mind to one of which the greatest part of the sickness amongst men may be ascribed and consequently the virtues opposite to these Temperance Sobriety Moderation must needs have a natural causality for the hindring of these diseases 'T is by Religion that men are inabled to prevent all such excesses as are prejudicial to nature to repress all such violent transports of passion Hatred Anger Fear Sorrow Envy c. as are in themselves very pernicious to our bodily health and by that violent commotion which they are apt to put the humours into do sometimes cause present sickness and always lay in us the seeds of future Diseases 2. It doth promovere
effectually prevent such things as Religion This will teach men to obey laws and submit to government This will keep them within the bounds of their duty both towards God and man This will remove all those dividing principles of selfishness and pride and covetousness It will teach them charity and meekness and forbearance to study publick peace and common good to be generous and large in their well-wishing and their well-doing Which are the most proper means to provide for our own quiet and safety And the truth of this may be evident likewise from common experience by which it will appear that for the general no kind of men do enjoy so much external peace and freedom and safety as those that are truly religious The Apostle seems to appeal to that common notion in the minds of all men concerning the safety belonging to innocence when he puts it by way of question who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good Implying that 't is a thing generally known and taken notice of that there is a kind of natural reverence and awe amongst the worst of men towards such as are innocent and virtuous And on the other side no men do incur so many hazards molestations contentions as those that are vicious what from their violations of law their needless provocations of those they converse with being scarce ever free from danger and trouble which the Wise-man seems to appeal to as a thing evident from experience in those short questions which he proposes Who hath wo who hath sorrow who hath contentions who hath bablings who hath wounds without cause who hath redness of eyes 'T is particularly spoken of the drunkard but 't is proportionably true of other vices likewise There is one objection that lyes very obvious against what I have been proving and that is from those Scriptures where 't is said that whoever will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution and that the world should hate them besides what may be alledged from common experience to this purpose concerning the sufferings of some that are good men To this two things may be said by way of answer 1. Every thing is not persecution for Religion which men may be apt to style so Some persons who for the main may be truly religious may yet by their own follies and imprudence expose themselves to needless sufferings And in such cases Religion is not to be charged as being the cause of their suffering but their defect in it and mistakes about it 2. There may be as was said before some exempt cases from the general rule and such must those be granted to be which concern times of persecution when Religion will be so far from protecting a man that it will rather expose him to danger and sufferings And such were those primitive times to which these Scriptures do refer when it seemed good to divine providence to make use of this as one means for the propagating of Christianity in the world namely by the suffering of those that professed it And in such cases when men are persecuted properly upon the account of Religion God doth usually compensate their outward sufferings with some inward advantage supplying them with such patience and courage as will support them with joy and comfort in their suffering for that which is good But then it must withall be granted that these Scriptures are not equally applicable to such other times and places when and where the true Religion is publickly professed and encouraged when Kings are nursing fathers and Queens nursing mothers to the Church because in such times and places the profession of Religion will be so far from hindering that it will rather promote a mans secular advantage CHAP. IV. How Religion conduces to the happiness of the outward man in respect of Riches THirdly as to our Estates and Possessions I shall shew that Religion is the cause of Riches In order to the proof of this the first thing to be enquired into is what is the true nature of wealth or riches and wherein it may properly be said to consist And here it is to be noted that the word Riches is capable of a twofold sense Absolute Relative 1. In the more absolute sense it may be defin'd to consist in such a measure of estate as may be sufficient for a mans occasions and conveniencies when his possessions are so proportioned as may fully answer all the necessities of his condition and afford him a comfortable subsistence according to his quality the station wherein he is placed In which sense men of all ranks and degrees are capable of being rich A Husbandman or an ordinary Tradesman may be as truly styled a rich man as he that is a Gentleman or a Lord or a King Though perhaps what these can very well afford to fling away upon their diversions be more than all the estate and possessions which the other can pretend to And upon this ground it is that all men will grant one person to be as truly liberal in giving but a penny or a poor mite as another in giving a hundred pounds because these things are to be measured by the different conditions of the givers And a man may as well be rich with a little as liberal with a little 2. In the more relative sense Riches may be described to consist in the having of large Possessions when a mans Estate and Revenue is of such a proportion as is commonly esteemed Great whether with relation to the generality of other men and so only those at the upper end of the world are capable of being counted rich or else with respect to others of the same rank and order and so all such are counted rich who do in their possessions exceed the common sort of those that are of the same rank with them this kind of wealth consisting properly in comparison There being not any one determinate sum or proportion of revenue to which the name of riches may be appropriated but that it may be as much below the occasions of some persons as it is above the condition of others who yet live plentifully Now the first of these is the only proper notion of Riches because this alone is agreeable to the chief end of wealth which is to free us from want and necessity And the other may be rather styled the being proprietour of great possessions the meer having of which cannot denominate one a truly rich man for this plain reason because though such possessions be in themselves great yet they may not be sufficient to free the owner of them from want and poverty whether in respect to his real or imaginary occasions for more And that is not Riches which cannot free a man from being poor And want of necessaries is as truly poverty in him that hath much as in him that hath but a little He that in any one condition of life hath enough to answer all his
apt to mistake sowre for sweet yet will it not thence follow that they are incapable of pleasure They may have such peculiar kinds of gusts as will be able to find a satisfaction and sweetness in such things as appear nauseous and loathsome to others And 't is the congruity of things that is the foundation of pleasure But then such persons are beholding to their ignorance and their delusion to the distemper of their faculties for their relish of these things None but those that are foolish and deceived and under the servitude of divers lusts devoting themselves to such kind of things for pleasures Supposing a man to have sound healthy faculties such an one will not be able to find any true satisfaction and complacence but only in those things which have in them a natural goodness and rectitude They must be regular objects that have in them a suitableness to regular faculties This being premised by way of explication I shall proceed to prove That Religion is the most proper means for the promoting of this interest and this it doth Morally Naturally 1. Morally as it is one of the rewards belonging to virtue which alone upon its own account doth deserve all such advantages as may render its condition pleasant and comfortable in this world Besides the several assertions and promises in Scripture to this purpose Prov. 3. 17. speaking of Religion under the name of Wisdom it is said that her ways are ways of pleasantness The yoke of it is easie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gracious and sweet and the burden light The commandments of it not grievous The fruits of it are love and joy and peace The duties of Religion are in several places of Scripture compared to musick and to feasting and are said to be sweeter than the honey and the honey-comb I delight to do thy will O my God Psal. 40. 8. 2. Religion is the Natural cause of Pleasure Which I shall endeavour to make out by Reason and Experience 1. By Reason Religion hath a natural efficacy in promoting the interest of pleasure teaching a man a chearful liberal use of the things he enjoys how to make his soul enjoy good in his labour how to sweeten and allay all the difficulties and troubles of this life Nor doth it restrain men from any such sensible pleasures as are agreeable to reason or our true interests It only prohibits mistakes and excesses about them teaches us so to regulate our selves in the use of them that they may truly deserve the name of Pleasure how to provide against that natural emptiness and vanity which there is in all such things whereby they are apt quickly to satiate and weary us and upon this account it may be said to promote rather than hinder the interest of Pleasure As for the Pleasures of the Appetite these abide no longer than till the necessities and conveniencies of nature are satisfied and so far Religion doth allow of them When our hunger and thirst is well appeased all that follows after is but a faint kind of pleasure if it be not rather to be styled satiety and a burden As for those kind of things which we call by the name of sports and diversions Religion doth likewise admit of a moderate use of these and what is beyond such a moderate use doth rather tire men than recreate them It being as much the property of such things to weary a man when he is once sufficiently refreshed by them as it is to refresh him when he is wearied by other things We read indeed of the pleasures of sin but besides that they are of a baser and grosser kind 't is said also that they are but for a season but for a moment and the end of them is heaviness The ways of sin may seem broad and pleasant but they lead down to death and take hold of hell There are some vices that seem sweet to the palate but do after fill the mouth with gravel There are several sins which have very specious and tempting appearances which yet upon trial do bite like a serpent and sting like an adder By what hath been said it appears that Religion is a natural cause of promoting these sensible pleasures besides that it affords delights incomparably beyond all these corporeal things such as those who are strangers to Religion cannot understand and do not intermeddle with 2. But besides the Reasons to this purpose it may appear likewise from Experience that the great pleasure of mens lives is from the goodness of them such only being capable of a free and liberal enjoyment of what they possess who know how to regulate themselves in the fruition of them to avoid extremities on either hand to prevent those mixtures of guilt and fear which will imbitter all their enjoyments Such persons only who have good consciences being capable of having a continual feast The great objection against this will be from the difficulty of the duties of mortification repentance self-denial taking up the cross c. All which do imply in them a repugnancy to our natures and consequently an inconsistency with pleasure For answer to this it must be observed That difficulty doth properly arise from a disproportion betwixt the power and the work as when a person of little strength is put to carry a great burden when one of a mean capacity is put to answer an hard question in learning Now supposing men to retain their vitious habits it must be granted to be as difficult for such to perform the duties of Religion or to forbear the acts of sin as for a lame and impotent man to run or for a man under a violent Feaver to be restrained from drinking But suppose these men cured of these maladies and their faculties to be rectified then all this disproportion and unsuitableness will vanish and those things will become easie and delightful which were before very difficult and unpleasant Now it is the property of Religion that it changes the natures of men making them new creatures It puts off the old man which is corrupt according to deceitful lusts and puts on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness It removes our vitious habits and endows the mind with other kind of inclinations and abilities And though there should be some difficulties in the very passage from one state to another yet this ought not to be objected as a prejudice against Religion because there are far greater difficulties and pains to be undergone in the service and drudgery of impetuous lusts The trouble of being cured is not so great as that of being sick nor is the trouble of being sober comparable to that of being debauched and intemperate That godly sorrow which is required as one of the first acts in the change of our condition is always accompanied with secret pleasure And as it is said of wicked men that in the midst of laughter their heart
is sorrowful so may it be said of good men that in the midst of their sorrow their heart is joyful And when the conditions of men are once changed when they are passed over to another state it will then prove as easie to them to observe the duties of Religion as it was before to follow their own sinful inclinations An evil tree doth not more naturally bring forth evil fruit than a good tree doth bring forth good fruit As for that moroseness and sowreness of carriage which some men who pretend to Religion are noted for This is not justly to be ascribed to their Religion but to their want of it Joy and chearsulness being not only a priviledg but a duty which Religion doth oblige men to whereby they are to adorn their profession and win over others to a love of it CHAP. VI. How Religion conduces to our Honour and Reputation FIfthly for the interest of Honour and Reputation This is one of the greatest blessings which this world can afford much to be preferred before Riches or Pleasures or Life it self A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favour rather than silver and gold One that is a generous virtuous man will chuse to dye rather than do any thing that may expose him to infamy St. Paul was of this mind It were better for me to dye than that any should make my glorying void And because it is a thing of so great excellency therefore we do pay it as the best service we can do to God and to his Deputies Magistrates and Parents 'T is by this that we are rendered useful and acceptable to others And besides the advantage we have by it while we live 't is one of those things that will abide after us when we are gone out of the world and for that reason a special regard is to be had to it And the more wise and virtuous any man is the more care will he take to transmit a grateful memory of himself to future times and since he must be spoken of after his departure to take care that he be well-spoken of that his name may be as a precious oyntment leaving a perfume behind it that men may rise up at the mention of it and call him blessed Nor can any man despise honour but he that doth either despair of it or resolve against doing any thing that may deserve it Now honour is properly the esteem and good opinion which men have concerning the person or the actions of another together with such external expressions of respect as are suitable thereunto And I shall make it appear that this kind of happiness doth depend upon Religion both Morally Naturally 1. Morally Nothing being more generally agreed upon amongst all the Philosophers than that honour is the peculiar reward of virtue and doth not properly belong to any thing else And that shame is the proper reward of vice nor can it belong to any thing else The Scripture is very copious in expressions to this purpose Such as are religious are styled the excellent of the earth Psal. 16. 3. and said to be more excellent than their neighbours Prov. 17. 27. They are Gods peculiar treasure the dearly beloved of his soul. He sets apart the man that is godly for himself Though such persons may be but low in their outward condition being put to wander up and down in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute afflicted tormented seeking for refuge in desarts and mountains in dens and caves of the earth yet are they upon the account of Religion of such an excellent value that in the judgment of the Holy Ghost the world is not worthy of them Heb. 11. 37 38. The Wise-man speaking of Rellgion saith that it shall be an ornament of grace to thy head and as a chain about thy neck Exalt her and she shall promote thee and bring thee to honour She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace and a Crown of glory God hath engaged himself by promise to those people that are religious that he will set them above other nations they shall be made the head and not the tail He will honour those that honour him And certainly he who is the King of Kings must needs be the fountain of honour and be able to dispose of it as he pleases And on the other side Shame is in Scripture said to be the proper reward and consequent of sin especially in the Writings of David and Solomon Religion is styled by the name of wisdom and Sin by the name of folly And the Wise-man having said Prov. 3. 35 that the wise shall inherit glory 't is added but shame shall be the promotion of fools It shall be their promotion the utmost that such persons shall ever attain to will be but disgrace when they are exalted and lifted up it shall prove to their disparagement to make their shame more conspicuous And Prov. 13. 5. 't is said A wicked man is loathsome and cometh to shame The word translated loathsome properly denotes such kind of persons to be as nauseous and offensive to the judgments of others as the most loathsome unsavoury things are to their tasts or smells They are styled by the name of Wolves and Bears Swine Dogs and Vipers things both hurtful and hateful Men that are truly virtuous have a reverence paid them by all that know them And on the other side vicious men are despised Not but that wicked persons may be inwardly honoured by such as do not know them to be wicked and on the other side those that are good may by others be esteemed and used as being the rubbish and off-scouring of all things But this is to be ascribed chiefly to their mistake and ignorance of them whilst they look upon such persons as being the most dangerous pernicious persons But the generality of mankind have heretofore and still do pay a reverence to any person whom they believe to be innocent and virtuous 2. Religion is the natural cause of Honour and Reputation so far as such things are capable of any physical efficacy This I shall endeavour to prove both from Reason and Experience I. By Reason For the better understanding of this we are to take notice that Honour may be considered under a twofold notion 1. According to the desert and foundation of it in the person honoured 2. According to the acknowledgment or attribution of it in the person honouring Now Religion doth by a natural causality influence both these 1. According to the foundation of it in the person honoured which is true virtue and merit I have shewed before that the Essence of man may be said to consist in being religious and consequently this must be the rule and measure of a mans real worth it must be our excelling in that which makes us men that must make us better men than others All other things have some kind of standard by which
the natural goodness of them is to be measured so is it with men likewise And this is usually from their suitableness to that chief end they are designed for Quae conditio rerum eadem hominum est navis bona dicitur non quae pretiosis coloribus picta est c. saith Seneca We do not therefore esteem a Ship to be good because it is curiously painted and gilded or carved and inlay'd but because 't is fitted for all the purposes of Navigation which is the proper end of a Ship Nor do we therefore count a Sword to be good because it hath a rich Hilt and an embroidered Scabbard but because it is sit for the proper use of a Sword which is to cut c. In homine quoque nihil ad rem pertinet quantum aret quantum foeneret a quà m multis salutetur sed quà m bonus sit It should be so likewise in our esteem of men who are not so much to be valued by the grandeur of their Estates or Titles as by their inward goodness The true stamp of Nobility is upon the minds of men and doth consist in such virtuous habits as will enable a man for worthy designs and actions when the image of God who is the rule of excellency and the fountain of honour is in any measure restored upon it Every man is endowed with a natural principle inclining him to a state of happiness and hath in some measure both an ability to judg of and a freedom and liberty for applying himself unto those duties which are the proper means for the promoting of this end Nor is he upon any other account to be justly praised or blamed but according to the right or wrong use of this natural liberty And therefore as such a man doth find either in himself or others a constant and firm resolution to make a right use of this so should he proportion his esteem accordingly preferring this inward greatness this rectitude of mind whereby a man is resolved in every condition to do that which shall appear to be his duty before any kind of external greatness whatsoever There is a respect and honour due to all kind of virtues whatsoever as rendering men amiable and lovely But amongst the rest there are two which are by general consent esteemed venerable and such as do greatly advance the reputation of those who are endowed with them namely Wisdom Courage Because they have a more intrinsick rise and do less depend upon external advantages but seem rather to be rooted in the inward frame and temper of our minds and withall are most beneficial both to our selves and others The former signifying a man to have those inteltellectual abilities which are proper to his kind whereby the humane nature is to be distinguished from other things The other because it argues a rectitude in the will and a power to subdue the passion of fear which is most natural to our present state of infirmity and withall doth support a man against difficulties and enable him for those two great services of doing and suffering as he ought And for this reason the vices that are opposite to these are amongst all others counted the most shameful there being no greater reproach to be cast upon any one than to be esteemed a Fool or a Coward Now a man that is irreligious cannot justly pretend to either of these virtues 1. For Wisdom This is so essential to Religion that in the Scripture-phrase they both go under the same name And there is very good reason why it should be so because there is such an intimate agreement between the natures of them The Philosopher doth define Wisdom to consist in an ability and inclination to make choice of right means in the prosecution of our true end And nothing can enable a man for this but Religion both as to the subordinate end of temporal happiness in this world and chiefly with respect to that great and supreme end of eternal happiness in the world to come 2. And then for Courage 'T is not possible for a man to be truly valiant unless he be withall truly religious He may be bold and daring and able in a fearless manner to rush upon any danger but then he must stifle his reason from considering what the consequences of things may be what shall become of him hereafter if he should miscarry There being no man whatsoever so totally free from the apprehensions of a future state but that when he is serious and considerate he must be startled with doubts and fears concerning it So that there cannot be any rational sedate deliberate courage but only in such as have good hopes of a better estate in the other world And 't is Religion only that can enable a man for this 2. Honour considered according to the acknowledgment or attribution of it in the persons Honouring which is the external form or as the body of honour being much in the power of others And this may be distinguished into these two kinds Inward Outward 1. Inward Honouring is properly an act of the understanding in passing judgment upon the nature of things When we do in our minds own and acknowledg the real worth or virtue of a thing or person And every one who will act rationally not miscalling good evil and evil good must proportion his esteem of things according to the real value of them Nor is it in any mans power so far to offer violence to his own faculties as to believe any thing against evidence to esteem that man to be either worthy or unworthy whom he knows to be otherwise He may call him and use him as he pleases and he may be willing to entertain prejudices either for or against him And in this sense Honor est in honorante But he cannot inwardly think or believe otherwise than according to his evidence For men of no real worth to expect this inward honour from others as it is very unequal requiring brick without straw and very unlawful It being as well a mans duty to contemn a vile person as to honour those that fear the Lord so neither is it possible because men must necessarily judge according to the most prevailing evidence nor can they esteem such a one to be worthy whom they know to be otherwise any more than they can believe that to be white and streight which they see to be black and crooked There are indeed some other things that do commonly go under this name as the several degrees of Nobility Titles and Places of dignity which are usually called by this name of honour but these things as they are abstracted from Magistracy being wholly extrinsecal have no more due to them but a mere external respect They may challenge from us that we should give them their due Titles and demean our selves towards them with that observance and ceremony which becomes their quality But then as for that inward esteem and valuation of our minds
good conscience and honest actions I appeal to the experience of all considering men whether this doth not appear to them that the generality of those who live most pleasantly in the world are the most religious and virtuous part of mankind such as know how to regulate themselves in the fruition of what they have how to avoid the extremities on either hand to prevent those mixtures of guilt and fear which are apt to sowre and imbitter all our enjoyments Whether lawful pleasures which a man may reflect upon without any sense of guilt be not much to be preferred before others Whether those intellectual delights that flow from the conscience of well-doing be not much better than any sinful sensual pleasure Whether the doing of any worthy action such as all good men must think well of and commend do not afford a more solid lasting pleasure than can be had from any sensible enjoyments Whether any thing can be more suitable and consequently delightful to a generous mind than an opportunity of being grateful to those by whom a man hath been obliged the making of an ample return for the favours he hath received Whether that noble way of conquest overcoming evil with good surprizing an enemy by kindness when we have it in our power to be severe towards him be not a far greater pleasure than that which is by some counted the sweetest of all other things Revenge Religion doth likewise advance the soul to an holy confidence concerning the Divine favour and good-will towards us If our hearts condemn us not we have confidence towards God A good conscience will set us above all those fears and doubts and cares whereby the lives of men are rendered uncomfortable When in decrepit age a man cannot find comfort in other things when the grinders shall be few and appetite cease then will this be a continual feast The most rational solid sublime complete durable delights of all others do flow from the conscience of well-doing 'T is a chief part this of that heaven which we enjoy upon earth and 't is likewise a principal part of that happiness which we hope to enjoy in heaven Next to the beatifical vision and fruition of God is the happiness of a good conscience and next to that the society of Saints and Angels Whereas on the other side he that lives under the sense of guilt and a consciousness of his obligation to punishment must needs be destitute of all inward peace and comfort Such an one can have nothing to support him with patience under a state of affliction in this world nor can he have any rational grounds to expect a better condition hereafter and therefore must needs have very dreadful apprehensions of dying and be all his life time subject to bondage through the fear of death And that man must needs be very miserable who can neither have true joy in life nor any hope in death This the Heathen Philosophers have acknowledged That there is always a secret dread which doth accompany guilt So Seneca in particular speaking of wicked men he saith tantùm metuunt quantùm nocent that such men must have fears proportionable to their guilt And a little after dat paenas quisquis expect at quisquis autem meruit expect at those men do really suffer punishment who live under the expectation of it and whoever doth any thing to deserve it must needs expect it 'T is not easie to express the torment which those men undergo quos diri conscia facti Mens habet attonitos surdo verbere caedit Occultum quatiente animo tortore flagellum Mens sibi conscia facti Praemetuens adhibet stimulos terretque flagellis 'T is the unsupportableness of this that many times doth cause men in the bitterness of their souls to chuse strangling and death rather than life The Heathens do set forth such a mans condition by the fiction of Furies continually haunting and scourging him But Zophar doth better describe it where he saith Terrors are upon him all darkness is hid in his secret places a fire not blown shall consume him Though some men are so hardened against the sense of guilt as to go on in their sinful courses without feeling any of this remorse for them yet is their peace so far from being a priviledg that it doth render their condition more desperate because it supposes them to have a reprobate mind and such a stupidity upon their consciences as makes them past feeling being seared as it were with an hot iron Which though it may preserve them from those present lashes which others are tormented with yet doth it argue their conditions to be more remediless and desperate All the difference is the one is sick of a Calenture or burning Feaver the other of a Lethargy or Apoplexy the former more painful for the present but both of them very dangerous only the latter less capable of remedy than the former CHAP. VIII How Religion conduces to our Happiness in the next world AS Religion is the true cause of our present happiness in this world whether External Internal So likewise is it the cause of that happiness which we expect in our future states Which must depend upon such courses as can give us the most rational assurance of blessedness and glory hereafter I shall speak but briefly to this subject because 't is scarce possible for any man to be so strangely infatuated so wholly lost to common Reason as to believe that vicious courses despising of Religion walking contrary to God can be the means to entitle him to this future happiness any more than contempt and hatred of any one is a proper means to procure his favour What kind of Happiness this is which belongs to our future state and wherein the Glory of it doth consist is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thing unspeakable altogether above the expressions of humane Orators and passeth all knowledg the heart of man being not able to conceive it Nor can it be expected that we should be able in this state of flesh and mortality to comprehend what kind of irradiations glorified souls are capable of Only in the general 't is said we shall be like God and see him as he is This state of future happiness as it is above all other things of greatest moment so ought it to be proportionably laboured after with the greatest care and diligence There are several varieties of metaphorical names or expressions whereby this state is described in Scripture but all of them do imply something of more than ordinary care and industry to the qualifying of men for it as Bellarmine hath observed in his Tract de AEternâ felicitate sanctorum 'T is styled The City of God The heavenly Jerusalem And it requires some care and diligence for one that is a Citizen of this world to be a fellow-citizen with the saints it being no easie thing for one that lives in this world not to
be of it The House of God where there are many mansions But streight is the gate and narrow is the way to it An hid Treasure a pretious Pearl Not to be obtained without putting such a value upon it as will make a man ready to part with all that he hath for the purchase of it A penny The wages of our daily service not to be given but to such as labour in the vineyard and hold out to the end A Feast or rich supper which they are altogether unworthy of and unfit for who do wholly devote themselves to the affairs of this world The Joy of our Lord and Master which they only are admitted to who are careful to improve the Talents they are intrusted withal The solemnity of a royal wedding from which all lazy slothful people who have not oyl in their lamps and do not watch for the coming of the Bridegroom shall be shut out and excluded into outter darkness 'T is a Prize which they only obtain who accomplish their race and run to the goal 'T is a Crown which is due only to such as fight valiantly and overcome 'T is an Inheritance and therefore belongs only to sons 'T is an Inheritance of the saints and therefore unsanctified persons can have nothing to do with it 'T is an inheritance of the saints in light and therefore cannot belong to such as still remain under the powers of darkness Heaven may be considered under a twofold notion either as a State Place 1. In the first sense 't is the same with Holiness consisting in such Godlike dispositions as may make us partakers of the Divine nature 2. In the second sense It denotes that other world where we hope to enjoy the beatifical vision in the blessed society of Saints and Angels Which Religion only and Holiness can qualify us for by working in our natures such a suitableness and congruity as must make such things to be felicities In brief That Salvation and Glory which the Christian Religion doth so clearly propose to us is as to the nature and essence of it but the very same thing with Religion consisting in such a conformity of our minds to the nature of God whereby we are made capable of the fruition of him in Heaven So that in this respect also Religion is the Whole of Man that is the whole Happiness and well-being of man doth depend upon it I have now dispatcht what I intended in this Discourse namely to prove the Reasonableness and Credibility of the Principles of Natural Religion which I have made appear to be in themselves of so great evidence that every one who will not do violence to his own faculties must believe and assent unto them I have likewise made it plain that 't is every mans greatest Interest to provide for his present and future happiness by applying himself to the Duties of Religion which upon all accounts will advance the perfection of his nature and promote his true wellfare both in this world and the other Insomuch that if we were to chuse the Laws we would submit unto it were not possible for us to contrive any rules more advantageous to our own interest than those which Religion doth propose and require us to observe upon pain of everlasting damnation and in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lye hath promised to all those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality CHAP. IX The Conclusion of the whole shewing the excellency of the Christian Religion and the advantages of it both as to the knowledg and practice of our duty above the meer light of Nature I Have now at large considered the Credibility of the Principles of Natural Religion and our obligation to the several Duties resulting from those Principles The purpose of all which is to shew how firm and deep a foundation Religion hath in the Nature and Reason of Mankind But not in the least to derogate from the necessity and usefulness of Divine Revelation or to extenuate the great blessing and benefit of the Christian Religion but rather to prepare and make way for the entertainment of that Doctrine which is so agreeable to the clearest dictates of Natural light For notwithstanding all that hath been said of Natural Religion it cannot be denyed but that in this dark and degenerate state into which Mankind is sunk there is great want of a clearer light to discover our duty to us with greater certainty and to put it beyond all doubt and dispute what is the good and acceptable Will of God and of a more powerful encouragement to the practice of our duty by the promise of a supernatural assistance and by the assurance of a great and eternal reward And all these defects are fully supplied by that clear and perfect Revelation which God hath made to the World by our blessed Saviour And although before God was pleased to make this Revelation of his Will to mankind men were obliged to the practice of moral duties by the Law of Nature and as the Apostle speaks having not the Law were a Law to themselves shewing the effect of the Law written upon their hearts yet now that God hath in so much mercy revealed his Will so plainly to mankind it is not enough for us who enjoy this Revelation to perform those moral duties which are of natural obligation unless we also do them in obedience to Christ as our Lord and Law-giver As we are Christians whatever we do in word or deed we must do all in the name of the Lord Jesus and by him alone expect to find acceptance with God How far the Moral virtues of meer Heathens who walk answerable to the light they have may be approved of God I shall not now dispute Only thus much seems clear in the general That the Law of Nature being implanted in the hearts of men by God himself must therefore be esteemed to be as much his Law as any positive Institution whatsoever And consequently conformity to it must in its kind in genere morum be acceptable to him God loves the societies of mankind and because of the necessity of justice and virtue and probity to the preservation of humane society therefore he doth generally give a blessing and success to honest and good enterprizes and blasts the contrary with signal judgments and marks of his displeasure But we cannot from these outward dispensations infer any thing certainly concerning such mens eternal conditions Some of the Fathers indeed as Justin Martyr and Clemens Alexandrinus and Chrysostom have delivered their judgments for the salvation of such Heathens as live according to the light of Nature But the general stream of the rest is for the contrary opinion I shall not now enquire into the particular grounds and reasons of this difference It may suffice to say in general that the goodness and mercy of God as well as his
this difference that they perform their business not without labour care and difficulty whereas the Divine Providence doth dispose of all and every particular thing without the least kind of trouble Tully doth acknowledg that the Providence of God doth extend not only universo generi hominum sed etiam singulis to mankind in general but likewise to every particular person And in another place Deorum providentiâ mundus administratur iidemque consulunt rebus humanis neque solum universis sed etiam singulis The whole world is governed by Divine Providence and not only human affairs in general but likewise every particular business Seneca speaking of such as denied particular Providence hath this remarkable passage Sunt qui putant c. There are some who think so well of their own minds that they are able to take care of their own business and to provide for other mens affairs likewise And yet are so absurd as to question whether this great Universe whereof they themselves are but a very inconsiderable part be managed by any kind of Wisdom or counsel and not left wholly to Chance Hierocles doth acknowledg that the Providence of God doth extend to contingencies And to say no more by way of Testimony this may sufficiently appear by the general practice of swearing by Him and praying to Him which doth sufficiently evince their belief of his particular Providence 2. By Reason The denial of this Attribute will evacuate several others namely his Goodness Justice Dominion which must all signifie nothing without Providence in the application of them And withall the denial of this doth take away the ground of Worship The belief of a particular Providence being necessary unto that adoration which we owe to the Divine nature The Greatness and the Excellency of the Deity in it self abstracted from any concernment of our own will have but a very flat and jejune operation upon our hearts Do we not find by experience that men have but little regard to the great Mogul The Cham of Tartary The Emperors of China and Persia and such other Potentates of remote Countreys who though they are Princes of great power and magnificence able to bring many hundred thousands of fighting-men into the field yet they having nothing to do with us nor we with them we have therefore but a small regard for them Whereas the next ordinary Gentleman who is but Lord of a Mannour or Justice of Peace with whom we are concerned to deal and who hath any power of punishing or rewarding of doing us either a kindness or a discourtesie we use to be accordingly affected in our esteem and veneration towards him And thus must it be likewise for our adoration of the Divine nature which will be either more or less according as we conceive our selves more or less concerned in his Providence towards us CHAP. X. Of the Perfections relating to the Divine Will Goodness Justice Faithfulness 2. THE Perfections belonging to the Divine Will were before reckoned to be 1. His Goodness 2. His Justice 3. His Truth and Faithfulness 1. His Goodness By which word is sometimes signified the notion of Perfection in general and sometimes it denotes Moral goodness in opposition to all kind of moral imperfections Of both which kinds of Goodness God is the Fountain and Author the Rule and Measure from whom all created goodness is derived and by conformity to whom it is to be estimated But that more particular sense of this word according to which it is now to be treated of doth respect the inclination of the Divine Will toward his Creatures that propension of his whereby he is generally disposed to procure their happiness in opposition to envy or malice which delights in withholding good from others or doing mischief to them And that this Attribute is natural to the notion of God may appear 1. By Testimony There being no one perfection about which the generality of men are more agreed than about this excepting only the Epicureans who attribute nothing to God but everlasting happiness and blessedness which yet cannot be without Goodness Plato styles him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the best Being And his common title amongst the Latins was Deus Optimus Maximus And our forefathers in this Nation seem to have given this very name of God from Good That is a known and an excellent passage in Seneca Primus est Deorum cultus Deos credere deinde reddere illis Majestatem suam reddere bonitatem sine qua nulla Majestas The most fundamental thing in Religion is to acknowledg the Being of God and then to demean our selves towards him suitably to the greatness of his Majesty and to his Goodness without which there can be no Majesty And in another place He that doth not acknowledg the Goodness of the Divine nature doth not take notice of the general custom amongst men of praying to him in their distress and making vows both publick and private which would not be unless they had this perswasion well fixed within them that God was ready to hear and to help them and that he is in his own nature propense to kindness and pity Nec in hunc furorem omnes mortales consensissent alloquendi surda numina inefficaces Deos. Nor is it possible that all mankind should so unanimously agree together in so great a madness of praying to such Deities as they did not believe could either hear or help them And in another place Quaedam sunt quae nocere non possunt c. Some things there are of so benign and helpful a nature so mild and beneficial that nothing of evil or hurt can proceed from them Such is the Deity who neither can nor will do any thing that is mischievous being as remote from any action that is injurious to others as to it self And elsewhere Ecce sceleratis sol oritur Piratis patent maria He causeth his Sun to shine upon the just and unjust and the Seas are open to Pirates as well as Merchants He communicates his bounty to us in our infancy and childhood when we can have no sense of it Nor doth he presently withdraw and cease his favours towards such wretches as make a question and doubt concerning the Author of them Nor is there any person so miserable and wretched who hath not in several respects had experience of the Divine bounty Hierocles asserts that God is essentially good not by accident and from external motives and considerations 2. By Reason It is so plain so fundamental a notion that Goodness must belong to God that I know not how to go about the proof of it 'T is the brightest ray of the Deity the first and clearest notion we have of God We may see every day many thousand visible effects of this Goodness in the world And there are some glimpses and weak impressions of it amongst the Creatures and therefore much more must
it be in the Creator himself This is the foundation of all Worship and Religion amongst men the reason of their Prayers to God and Praises of him Without this his other Attributes would not afford any sufficient ground for our Love and Adoration of him Knowledg and Power without Goodness would be but craft and violence He can by his Wisdom out-wit his creatures and easily impose upon them and by his Power he could tyrannize over them and play with their misery but that he will not do thus we are assured by his Goodness This is so essential to him that to imagine him without Goodness were to imagine a God without a Deity i. e. without that which chiefly constitutes him what he is Nay it were to imagine instead of a God a worse Devil and more qualify'd to do mischief than any is now in the world 2. The second Attribute belonging to the Divine Will is his Justice By which is meant not only the rectitude of his Nature in general but more specially his dealing with his creatures according to the desert of their deeds And that this Perfection is natural to the notion of God may appear 1. By Testimony It is an assertion of Plato 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God cannot be said in any kind or respect whatsoever to be unjust but so far as is possible to be most just Tully lays it down as a principle that before men are fit to associate under government they ought to be first convinced that God is the supreme Governour of the World and doth take particular notice Qualis quisque sit quid agat quid in se admittat quâ mente quâ pietate religiones colat piorumque impiorum habere rationem what kind of person every one is what he doth and what he thinks how his heart stands inclined to the duties of Religion and will deal with every one according to his reality or hypocrisie in such matters And that this was the general belief amongst them may appear by the universal custom of attesting him by solemn Oaths whereby they did-appeal to him as a Righteous Judg who would certainly revenge all falshood and injustice 2. From Reason And that not so much because Justice is a perfection as because Injustice is so great a blemish and imperfection especially in the great Soveraign and Judg of the world who having all power and authority in his hands can have no temptation or byass imaginable to do any thing that is unjust 3. His Truth and Faithfulness By which is meant the congruity of his words to his intentions especially in respect of any promises which he hath made And that this doth belong to the natural notion of God may be made evident 1. From Testimony Plato asserts all kind of lying and falshood to be imperfections most odious both to God and man and that the Divine nature is absolutely free from all kind of temptation to it so that there can be no imaginable reason why God should falsifie Porphyrie in the life of Pythagoras tells us that it was one of his precepts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that men should most of all endeavour after truth because this only can make them like God And he adds afterwards that Truth is so great a perfection that if God would render himself visible to men he would chuse Light for his Body and Truth for his Soul 2. From Reason It is one of the greatest reproaches and an argument of baseness amongst men to be counted a Lyar And therefore must it necessarily be removed from that Being which is supposed to have all possible perfections and to be the Father of Truth as the Devil is of Lyes That which tempts men to falsifie is usually either the fear of some evil or the hope of some advantage The reason why they break their words is either because of their rashness and inconsiderateness in making promises or their forgetfulness in not minding them or their inconstancy in not keeping to them or their impotence to perform them But now the Divine nature being infinitely wise and allsufficient can have no temptation to be otherwise than true and faithful His infinite Knowledg and Wisdom doth secure him from being deceived himself his Omnipotence doth exempt him from standing in need of deceiving others and his Goodness secures us from the lest suspition of any inclination thereto CHAP. XI Of the Perfections belonging to the Powers and Faculties of Acting viz. Power Dominion Distribution of future Rewards and Punishments THose Perfections which are essential to the Notion of God with respect to his faculties of working are likewise three fold 1. His Power or Omnipotence 2. His Dominion or right to govern us in this life 3. His Distributing of future Rewards and Punishments after this life 1. By the Power or Omnipotence of God is meant an ability of doing all such things the doing of which may argue Perfection and which do not imply a contradiction either in the things themselves or to the nature and perfection of the Doer Some things are repugnant to the perfection of God either Naturally as that he should be sick or dye or else Morally as that he should lye or deceive Both which imply imperfection And some other things may imply Contradiction either directly or by plain consequence And of such matters it is not so proper to say that he cannot do them as that they cannot be done As the object of the Understanding the Eye and the Ear is that which is intelligible visible audible So the object of Power must be that which is Possible And as it is no prejudice to the most perfect understanding or sight or hearing that it doth not understand what is not intelligible or see what is not visible or hear what is not audible so neither is it to the most perfect Power that it doth not do what is not possible Every kind of faculty being necessarily determined to its own proper object But as for all Possible things it is natural and necessary to apprehend of God that he can do whatsoever any other single thing or a combination of all other things put together can perform and infinitely more and that without any kind of labour or difficulty So that his Power must be infinite extensively with respect to all objects and intensively with respect to the acts of it together with the manner and degrees of them That this kind of Omnipotence doth belong to the natural notion of God may appear 1. By Testimony It is a frequent title given unto God by the Grecian Philosophers who style him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omnipotent And nothing is more frequent amongst the Latines than the titles of Jupiter Omnipotens Optimus-Maximus He is generally acknowledged to be the Creator and Governour of the World upon which account they call him Opifex rerum and Rector mundi It is an acknowledgment of Tully Nihil est quod Deus efficere non