Flesh which is enmity against God as well as against Right Reaâ—…on these are those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imaginations that are to be cast down and this is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thought which is to be brought into Captivity to the Obedience of Christ namely those Reasonings and Discourses which Minister to the Flesh and the lusts thereof This is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Natural Man who receives not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are Spiritually discerned For this is that Animal Man which is guided only by his sensual Appetite and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as those know well enough who are conversant in the Writings of the Ancients signifies that Faculty of the Soul which is adapted to the Body And he that is such cannot be subject to the Spirit of God nor Obedient to the Gospel forasmuch as the things contained there are mere foolishness to him nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned i. e. they are discerned by an humble Mind composed Affections clear Light and Pure and Internal sense This is that Wisdom puâ—…ed up with Pride and Vain-glory unto which the preaching of the Cross is foolishâ—…ess For the obâ—…ure life and ignominious Death of Christ was always counted ridiculous by a Mind turgid swell'd with higher Notions and conceits Lastly this is that Wisdom of this World and of the Princes of this World who are intoxicated with vile Affections and an Opinionative Knowledge which God and every wise Man looks upon as foolishness Such Wisdom and Ratiocinations as these are not the Off-spring of true Reason but the Fallacies and Paralogisms of a Mind blinded with lusts By Right Reason therefore I understand that innate Faculty of the Soul of Man by which it discerns the Reasons and Mutual Affections of things and argues and concludes one thing from another And now I say that Christian Religion is not contrary to Reason thus understood There are two usual Forms of Speech pertinent to this occasion viz. that something may either be above or contrary to Reason But that we may speak freely and according to the nature of the thing it self whatever is propounded to us as matter of belief ought not to be so much as above Reason unless these words be taken in this Acception namely That a thing is so high and remote from common sense that bare â—…ntellect could not light upon it There are verily some Articles of Faith which may be said to be above Reason as to some Modes of the Thing to be believed that are not clearly revealed Thus for Example it exceeds the strength of Reason to give an exact Account of the manner of our Resurrection Glorification or to make a perfect Description of the Joys and Pleasures of the Future life or to shew how the three Hypostases are one God or the Divine and Humane Nature one Christ But of these things as there is no express Revelation so neither is there an Explicit Faith required And besides This Obscurity is not a lâ—…ttle subservient for the begetting and conciliating Reverence and Esteem to the Christian Doctrine But there is nothing to which an Explicit Faith is required which so far exceeds Reason as that it is not able to form any Conception of it For Faith consists in Assent the Assent follows the Judgment but no Judgment can be made of a thing that is not at all known or understood therefore whatever exceeds all Knowledge must needs likewise exceed all Belief And he that can persuade himself that he believes a thing that he does not understand believes he knows not what and miserably imposes upon himself with a company of words prettily put together and giving a great sound which yet have no Conception answering to them in the mind and while he dreams of believing some unintelligible Mystery he only pursues mere shadows of words from which when the veil is withdrawn all Faith and Sense presently vanishes But that the Christian Religion contains nothing Repugnant to right Reason and that the use of Reason is necessary in the Affair of Religion I shall endeavour to prove by these following Arguments First If God should propound any thing to be believed that were Contradictory to Right Reason one of these four Absurdities nor can I think of a fifth will necessarily follow upon it Either that God can be deceived or may deceive or that the Reasons and Affections of things are not Eternal and Immutable Or lastly that our Faculties are obnoxious to Error when they have the clearest and most distinct Perception of their proper Objects The first and second of these are contrary to that Notion and Idea of God which we have implanted in our Minds As for the third there is indeed a certain Person who asserts the Reasons of things to be contingent and Arbitrarious and that Blasphemy Lying Perjury nay a hatred of the Divine Majesty may be reckoned into the Account of Virtues and become a Worship pleasing and acceptable to God But good God! What rash and abominable Positions do we hear Such as are rather to be buried in Eternal Oblivion or not to be named without Horror and Astonishment Search the Ancient Councils and you shall find no Heresie more deserving an Anathema then this Nay the very Jaws of Hell could not belch out any thing more detestable and blasphemous For this robs God of his Wisdom Immutability Goodness and all those other Perfections we attribute to him It overthrows the Principles and Foundations of all Discourse makes Contradictions become probable destroys all Trust and Confidence in the Divine Promises and banishes all Hope and Expectation of Future Happiness That all these Consequences do naturally flow from this Principle we have proved elsewhere and the same will appear very evident to any that shall attentively consider it The Fourth That God should plant such Faculties in us as may then deceive us when they most clearly and distinctly perceive their Respective Objects is contrary to the Divine Goodness and Veracity Moreover it is impossible that God should reveal any thing as an Object of Faith unless we first suppose that we must give credit to our own Faculties For nothing can be delivered to us from God unless it be conformable to some Faculty or other But and if that Faculty may be deceived when it most clearly and distinctly perâ—…eives its Object how are we assured that this Deception may not happen in the present Case especially whâ—…n Reason the chiefest of our Facultys clearly and evidently finds that to be false which is offered under the specious Pretext of Divine Revelation For this Revelation must be conveyed to us either by the â—…ar or some other External sense or else by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But ought we not much rather to 〈◊〉 that to be an Illusion which is conâ—…rary to the Principles
Divinae erga nos bonitatis qui unigenito suo filio non pepercit ut nostro bono inserviret Et validissimum Argumentum ad crucifigendum Carnis Cupiditates ad subeundam mortem pro fratribus aliorum commodo Porrò quod hâc morte suâ Sacrificium fiat ob Peccata quo Deus se placatum agnoscit consilium erat infinitae Sapientiae Bonitatis quo Animae argumenta Diffidentiae à Sanctitate Justitiâ Divinâ petenti opportunè succurritur Justitiam Divinam Christi Morte abundè propitiante Itidem Resurrectio ejus ex Mortuis admodum Rationi consentit Omnium enim prius actorum Certitudinem consignavit nostrae Resurrectionis vitae post mortem possibilitatem demonstravit Quod verò suscitatus ad Dextram Dei sedeat omnes Preces Gratiarum Actiones per ipsius interventum offerendae Deo sint semper apud Deum Causam nostram agat hoc quoque Rationi consonat dum nimirum Deus non solum benevolum erga nos animum notum fecit sed etiam Fratrem nostrum ipsimet charissimum nobis amicissimum ad Dextram suam posuit per quem alacriter cum fiduciâ ad Deum accedamus Christo interea nostrî gratiâ Deum deprecante ut quicquid nobis contingit boni primam suam Originem purè Deitatis Amori debere agnoscamus Deinde quòd omnis Potestas tum in Terris tum etiam in Coelis illi commissa credita sit quódque sit Dei quasi Vicarius Sanctorúmque Angelorum Caput maximè hoc cedit in nostrum solatium quod qui nos tantopere amet potestate tantâ potiatur Praeterea cùm citra Controversiam â—…it esse quandam Politiam Regimen apud ipsos beatos sanctos Angelos cui potius debetur Principatus quà m Jesu Christo qui Deus ipse est Humanâ Naturâ Vestitus Quod verò aliquando Daemones atque homines vocandi â—…int ad tremendum Dei Tribunal apprimè convenit hujus enim Cogitatio timorem incutiet audacissimo Peccatori Judicii solennitas Deum vindicabit ab omni Malignitatis crimine adeò ut suâ se culpâ stultitiâ in miseriam lapsum ab unuiscujusque Confcientiâ confessionem extorserit Quod verò Christus Judex sedeat nihil â—…ingi potuisset accommodatius Nam cum Deus Verendum hoc Judicium exercere nequeat nisi sub specie visibili quodnam huic Instituto aptius Instrumentum esse potuit quà m ea humana Natura in quâ jamdudum Domicilium suum collocaverat Denique quod omnibus inimicis subjugatis Regnum Patri traderet neque hoc à Ratione abhorret Nam cùm Integrum ejus Munus Mediatorium huic fini destinatum sit ut Creaturae in peccatum lapsae ad Deum revocentur supremâ donentur felicitate hujus sanè operis Absolutionem sequi debet Regni sui Determinatio Quae tamen non ita intelligenda est quin Jesus Christus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abinde semper Sanctorum atque Angelorum Princeps Caput permansurus sit Atque ita singula fere Religionis Christianae Capita breviter perlustravimus neque iis diutius immorari per vestram patientiam licebit Quod reliquum est Verbo expediam Ex dictis liquidò constare arbitror quam indecorum sit homine Christiano indignum Religionem suam haurire simul cum Materno lacte eámque non ingenuae Rationis Disquisitioni sed Patriae institutis Educationi Magistrorum Dictatis hujus â—…arinae Praejudiciis acceptam ferre Adeóque non in veri falsique delectu sed praeconceptâ Opinione pertinaciter tuendâ omnes animi vires nervósque intendere Ea quippe haud fides dicenda est aut putanda Dâ—…o grata quae Originem suam debet inerti potius Casui quà m Rei ipsius Evidentiae aut Argumentorum momentis quinimò post humilem piam attentamque rerum pensitationem in errorem lapsus potiori Jure censendus est si non laude saltem Excusatione dignus quà m ipsi vel etiam Veritati caecus istiusmodi fortuitus assensus Neque secus edisserit Sacra Pagina dum jubemur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Denique ut hortatur Apostolus noster parati simus ad respondendum cuilibet ejus spei quae in nobis est Rationem petenti FINIS 1 PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you IAm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ said the Great Apostle who was bred up at the feet of Gamaliel and fully instructed in all the Learning both of the Jews and Greeks Wherefore when the Christian Religion was every where oppressed and despised when it was a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks yet then despising the shame and undervaluing the Afflictions he should meet withal I am ready says he to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome among the famous Philosophers and Orators of that City renowned as well for Arts as Arms. For although there are not wanting some the Eyes of whose Minds are covered with gross Ignorance and Darkness yet glorying mightily in the mean while of their own Wisdom who endeavour to expose and ridicule the Doctrine of the Gospel as the greatest Piece of Folly nevertheless he that laying aside his Prejudices and Tumultuous Affections shall weigh the thing it self in the Balance of a sincere and incorrupted Judgment will really find the Christian Religion to be the Power and Wisdom of God wholly agreeable to Reason and worthy of all belief As therefore the Great Doctor of the Gentiles has given us a rare Example of our Duty so the Apostle of the Circumcision in the Words now read exhorts us Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you i. e. Be prepared to render an Account why you are Christians And in this sense the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 often occurs in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles of St. Paul Act. 22. 1. Phil. 1. 7. 17. 2 Tim. 4. 16. By hope I understand the Doctrine of the Gospel in which sense the word is used Act. 26. 7. That Reason is to be made use of in the matter of Religion That the Christian Religion iâ—… so framed that a â—…ational Account may be given of it That every Man professing Christianity ought to be ready to give a Reason of his Faith These are the main Observables from this Text of Scripture That in the choice of Religion Reason is not to be laid aside and That the Christian Religion is such as contains in it nothing contrary to Right Reason I shall undertake to make good in this present Discourse against Enthuâ—…asts and Deists By Reaâ—…on I do not mean the Dictates of Pride Covetousness Lust Anger or any other naughty Affection for this is that Wisdom of the
of Evident and sound Reason then to â—…ancy that our Reason which is given us of God for a Guide should be deceived in its clearest and most distinct conception of things For if we throw a way Reason there is no other Directive Faculty but External sense and its Inclinations and blind and uncertain Phansie which is obnoxious to innumerable Deceptions Wherefore bidding adieu to Reason do we not evidently expose our selves to the Illusion of every Jugling Spirit who by crafty Tricks shall counterfeit a Divine Power and Assistance If therefore Moses ordain'd his Law as a Touchstone to try the Truth of a Prophet advising his People not to hearken to any who should do Signs and Miracles if he taught aâ—…y thing contrary to that Law which he himself had delivered to them from God Ought not we in like manner to examine all those that pretend Divine Authority by the Law of Nature and Right Reason as by an inâ—…allible and unerring Rule By the way it is to be noted that I here speak of incorrupted Reason freed from all evil Affections and inlightned by the Spirit of God For without the help of this Guide our Minds perhaps may be filled with a Great Measure of Confidence and Obstinate Persuasion but can never attain any settled Assurance that they are in the right way Neither is it any thing to the Purpose to say that Reason may indeed judge of Humane but not of Divine Things For though this be true of Reason darkned with evil Passions and indubitable in such things as are rather Objects of Taste and Internal sense than Reason yet it is quite otherwise where the Assent of the Understanding alone is required For whatever is proposed as matter of Explicit Belief there must in the first place be a Conception formed of it but now whatever we can frame a Conception of there Reason either discovers the Harmony of the Terms of which it consists and its Agreement with some common Notion and so pronounces the Thing to be true or eâ—…se it finds the Terms to be contradictory and Repugnant and that the Thing is Diametrically opposite to some iâ—…ate Principle and consequently judges it to be false Or else it perceives the Terms to be partly agreeing and partly diâ—…onant or to have no Relation at all to one another and from hence affirms and allows the Thing to be either Probable or Possible And now if any Part either of the Probability or Poâ—…bility shall be confirmed by some Illustrious Miracle then Reason adds its Suffrage that it ought to be believed As for Example let us imagine what is already done a certain Person compassing Sea and Land and wâ—…olly intent upon this very Thing to teach and instruct Mankind in their Duty to God and to one another promising Eternal Blessedness upon Condition of Obedience he himself in the mean time leading a most innocent and inoffensive life and withal declaring himself to be a Law-giver sent from God and to have all Power both in Heaven and Earth committed into his hands and that Prayers and Praises are all to be offered to God through his Mediation Here is nothing in this that implies a Contradicâ—…on or is repugnant with the Principles of Nature though Reason may be apt to suspect some Pride and Affectation of Divine Glory and Worship to lie underneath But now when that which is barely looked upon as Possible shall be effected and accomplished by Divine Power and the Author of this Doctrine inabled to work such stupendious Miracles as never Man before saw Reason will presently conclude that the Thing it self is very credible Yet not withstanding if this Perâ—…on should have taught any thing contrary to the Dictates of Right Reason and introduced either a Proâ—…ane and imâ—…ious Doctrine or countenanced a licentious and disorderly way of living and that he might the better persuade us to these things should have gone about to confirm his Divine Mission by Miracles our Reason would immediately have suggested to us that he was an Impostor and Deceiver because nothing can be 〈◊〉 by God or by any Person commissionated by him which is contrary to the Law of Nature or Right Reason And though it may be urged that it is contrary to the Divine Veracity to bear Witness to a lie and therefore whatever is grounded upon the Credit of Miracles since these are the only visible signs of the Divine will must of necessity be supposed to derive from God yet because I cannot be assured whether these things may not be permitted for a Tryal or for some other end unknown to me yet agreeâ—…ble to Divine Wisdom I should rather dâ—…strust this way of Reasoning then admit any thing from the Authority of this Argument as Divine which contradicted the clear Principles of Nature 2. A Second Argument The Nature of Man is so framed that it cannot yield Assent to any thing without the Conduct of Reason Which that it may more clearly appear we shall borrow some few things hugely suitable to our present Purpose from the Famous Lord Herbert in his Book of Truth According to his Opinion therefore there are four Faculties by which we come to the Knowledge of things Natural Instinct or that Faculty which diâ—…cerneth Common Notions Internal Sense External Sense and Discourse From whence may be collected this great Truth more valuable then whole Volumes written concerning the Souâ—… and its Faculâ—…es That which 〈◊〉 be known neither by Natural Instinct Internal Sense External Sense nor by Discourse cannot any way be proved properly true Now since these are Faculties and that whatever is propounded to be believed must necessarily correspond and be conformable to some one of these Reason affirms that to each of them being rightly dâ—…posed creâ—…t is to be given viz. to Natural Instâ—…t to Inteâ—…nal and Exâ—…nal Sense Moreover Reason it self according to its proper Office making use of the 〈◊〉 of the aforesaid Faculties and relying upon first and self-evident Principles summons Discourse and deduces Conclusions Natural Instinct is always to be believed but sense as well External as Internal may sometimes be deceived and therefore sometimes deserves Credit and at other times not to discriminate and discern the Differences of which is in the Power of Reason alone there being no other Faculty to preside in this Case From whence it follows First That the Mind cannot assent to any thing where Right Reason or at least some shadow of it does not give a preceding light And then That Christian Religion requiring Faith cannot force or compel assent against the Dictates of Right Reason But against these Clear and Natural Sentiments the Enthusiasts importunately urge the Spirit and indeed every man will pretend the Testimony of the Spirit tâ—…at he may not seem to be less favour'd of God then others If we demand how they know the Testimony of the Spirit they Answer After the same manner as we discern the splendor of the Sun by its own
or Ray of the Intellectual Sun bearing the Resemblance of Primigenial light For Divine Wisdom is nothing else but a steady Comprehension of the Idea's of Things together with those Reasons Aâ—…ections and Mutual Relations whether of Concord or Discord which Immediately slow from the Nature of Things themselves as Relations poâ—…ito fundamento termino And the Divine Intellect does intimately penetrate and behold at one view these Affections together with the Idea's of the Things themselves and discerns their Order and Reciprocations Now what is this but fixed and stable Reason looking upon the Reasons and Connections of all things at once and as it were with an Unmoved Eye Whose express and accurate Resemblance is Right Reason engraven on Humane Minds which though it cannot know and lay open all things and their respective Reasons by one single Act yet it explicates and unfolds them successively and in order Moreover we have a clear and distinct Perception of the Consent or Discrepancy of so many of these Idea's and Reasons as we have an Entire and Comprehensive view of and accordingly undertake either the Probation or Refutation of one from another Wherefore Humane Reason does truly imitate and express Divine Wisdom with this only Difference that what she comprehends at once with one single Act Reason deduces by many and operose Consequences That God should therefore reveal any thing contrary to Right Reason is alike impious as to suppose him to be a Liar and to contradict the internal Conceptions of his own Wisdom For Right Reason and Divine Wisdom give the same Judgment of things and if Humane Understanding shall at any time determine otherwise that must not be looked upon as the Fault of Reason but of Ignorance Therefore if any thing propounded under the Plausible Name of Divine Revelation shall seem to contradict Reason I ought to suspect that I do not fully conprehend the meaning of it and therefore must insist upon a further search and resolve that God intended that to be believed which should be most consonant to the Principles of Nature Nevertheless I would not have Humane Understanding arrogate too much to it self nor rashly attempt to condemn presently that which exceeds its Capacity For if the chiefest Part of those things which are delivered and consigned by Divine Testimony be worthy of God and Consonant to ouâ—… Faculties as to other things we ought to yield an implicit Faith to Divine Revelations though they seem otherwise to clash with Reason yet to give our Assent to them at least according to the sense of the Spirit of God although what that is we cannot yet so fully understand 5. A Fifth and last Argument shall be drawn from the Nature of the Christian Religion it self And first of all as to its Precepts their Purity sanctity and usefulness both as to particular Persons and also the Publick are so clear to every attentive and considerative Man that it would be altogether superâ—…luous to go about to evince their Agreement with Reason More especially when the thing it self is so fully made good already by the learned Dr. Hammond From hence it likewise follows That the Promises and Comminations in Religion are extreamly agreeable to Reason forasmuch as they are a kind of Hedge and Security for the Precepts contain'd in it And though these three Parts of Christianity do far excel yet they are not wholly different from other Religions that have taken place in the World especially among the wiser and more Philosophical Pagans who set the Precepts of Morality at a high Pitch and also held the Doctrine of Rewards and Punishments after this life So that whatever may be said in Vindication of the Ancient Piety and Wisdom may with greater Reason be spoken in behalf of Christian Religion For even the most profané and Atheistical Wits upon reading the Holy Scriptures have confessed that they contain in them the most excellent Precepts of Piety and Virtue Therefore I shall choose rather to discourse briefly of Christianity under the Notion of a Determiâ—…ate Religion different from all other that its Conformity with Right Reason may from hence likewise be made apparent First therefore What can be thought more agreeable to Reason then that God should intrust some certain Person with the Office of teaching and instructing Mankind in the Discharge of their Duty to him and to one another For the Degenerate Offspring of Adam are hugely ignorant of their Duty whence so many ridiculous Rites of Superstition have been observable throughout all Ages and very much need a Teacher And besides they are obstinately and wilfully bent upon the Lusts of the Flesh and for this Reason want such a Law-giver as may Cause a Veneration and Fear in them And that this Legislator should be a Person of an unspotted and blameless life is very congruous both that he may be a Pattern and Example to us and likewise beget a Reverence and Esteem of his Doctrine That he should be conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Womb of a Virgin without the concurrence of Man is an excellent provision for a higher Esteem and Valuation of his Person being separated from Humane Defilements and the Ordinary Course of Nature That he should be intimately united to the Divine Nature and so truly and properly God adds the greater Majesty to what he should deliver Nor could God signifie his will in a way more agreeable to the Nature of Man for he cannot appear to us but under some Corporeal Veil and what more fitting Mansion or Covering then our Flesh Why may not God make use of some one of us as the Soul doth of the Body as an Instrument by whose Intervention he may discover his Mind to us Here is nothing either Contrary to Reason or hard to be understood For why should the Conjunction of the Deity with the Nature of Christ more trouble the Understanding then the Union of the Soul with the Body For the higher and more exalted Nature any thing is of with the greater Facility may it insinuate and derive it self But though this Person be so illustrious yet it seems Reasonable that in reference to this Bodily life he should be of mean Quality and obscure Condition obnoxious to the same Evils and Infirmities to which we our selves are exposed For so we shall have mighty Incentives to the Love of God and Patient bearing of Afflictions when we see the most Innocent Captain of our Salvation suffer fo much upon our Account Besides that it is an Argument of the greatest Trust and Confidence in our Lord and Saviour who being himself made perfect through sufferings knows how to succour and relieve those that are oppressed under them Moreover we may reasonably expect that God should give us some greater certainty of Eternal and Immortal life then what was found among the Heathen who spake very doubtfully of it as likewise that we should be more fully assured of the Resurrection of the
obscure but false because it perceives or conceives otherwise then the Thing it self is which is the true and universally acknowledged Notion of what is false in the conceiving of Things Pag. 8. Our Reason would immediately have suggested to us that he was an Impostor and Deceiver That God may permit an Impostor and Deceiver to work Miracles we have the express Testimony of Holy Scripture and the matter of Fact confirmed in the Egyptiâ—… Soâ—…cerers Deut. 13. 1 2. Moses tells the 〈◊〉 that if any Perâ—…on should come in the Name of a Prophet and should do a Miracle iâ—… that Prophet 〈◊〉 attempt by this to seduce them to Idolatry then he was not to be belâ—…eved because God might suffer this in Tentationem to prove their Faith and Belief in the true God But on the other side if a Prophet should come in the Naâ—…e of God and produce Mâ—…acles as the Credentials of Divine Authority and Commission and should exhort them only to the Worship of the True God of Israel than he 〈◊〉 to â—…e believed For this was the Sign or Note by which they should know a true Prophet from a false Deut. 18. 21 22. In like manner We that are Christians having the Law of Right Reason engraven in our Souls ought to be as Cautious and Jealous of admitting Belief though a Person should by Miracles seek to extort it from us if under pretence of Divine Revelation he would introduce any thing contrary to clear and evident Reason Because we may be assured that no such thing can be Authorized of God but that if the Miracles are true and real they are done in Tentationem See Annotat. upon p. 14. Pag. 10. We find most of these to have been actuated with an excess of Joy and transported with a seemingly Divine fervor How far a Natural Enthuâ—…iasm may Prevail upon men is evidently seen in the fresh Examples which every Age produces and 't is observable that those Sects among us which pretend most to Divine Inspiration are most of all inâ—…ected and agitated with Melancholy which arising from the lower Region of the Body and ascending in Copious-steams with the Blood and Spirits into the Brain ferments like new Wine and stains the Imagination with Variety of Phantasms and Impressions And if this happen to a Devotional and Religious Temper whose understanding is not strong enough to discern the Illusions of Phansie from the Dictates of the Spirit of God it presently begets in him a strong and vigorous Conceit that he is Divinely acted and inspired With which Delusion they are the more easily imposed upon for want of a right Understanding of the Nature of the Prophetical Spirit whose impulse and influence upon the Mind though it were strong and vigorous being in the Heart as a burning Fire shut up in the Bones which sensibly afflicted and pained till it received a Vent as is expressed by the Prophet Jeremy Chap. 20. 9. yet it never altered nor clouded the Rational Faculty but the Intellectual Light remained still free and undisturbed nor did ever any Prophet when acted by Divine Inspiration deliver any Thing contrary to the fixed and Eternal Laws of Reason Now the way to distinguish these Enthusiastical Impostures from Divine Influxes and Illuminations is by comparing them with the known and infallible Dictates of Right Reason for no Truth delivered by Divine Revelation is ever contrary or contradictious to the Rational Faculties of Mankind He that would know more of the Effects of this Natural Enthusiasm may consult that Excellent Treatise of Dr. More intituled Enthusiasmus Triumphatus Pag. 12. So long as that brisk and lively rellish of sensual Pleasures draws away the Mind it will not be at leisure to attend to the soft Whispers of that Gentle Monitor within There is in the Soul of Man a double Nature Intellectual and Animal which the Scripture calls by the Name of Flesh and Spirit or the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the inner and outer Man And according to this double Capacity the Respective Objects are likewise different The Animal Nature or Outer Man dictates the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is pleasant or profitable in the Grossest sense and is only that blind and irrational Appetite which results from the Souls Union and Conjunction with the Body With reference to this the Apostle says 1 Joh. 2. 16. All that is in the World the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life is not of the Father but of the World i. e. These are the Gratifications of the Mundane Life or Animal Nature and about such things as these the Corporeal life is perpetually conversant as with its proper Objects But now the Intellectual Nature or Inner Man takes for its Object the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what ought to be done being ruled and guided by the Counsels and Inspirations of Right Reason Now because the Soul cannot attend to two different Faculties or Capacities at the same time in their highest actings and Invigorations it follows that upon the Prevalency and Enlargement of either of them the other is sensibly diminiâ—…hed abated and debilitated For who is there that sees not how crazed and besotted those Persons are in their Intellectuals who let themselves loose to the conduct of their irregular Lusts and Appetites and plunge their Souls without bounds or measures in Corporeal Joys So that were it not for their External shape there would be little difference between them and Bruits And is it possible now to discern the faint and weak glimmerings of Intellectual Light through such profound and clammy darkness Nay it is very easie to conceive that the Rampancy and Luxuriancy of the Animal Life may arise to such a height as to form an Extraordinary and thick Cortex over the Intellectual or Divine Principle that its actings should never be perceptible any more but like the Central Fire in an incrustated Star be totally extinguished at the long run Of so high a Concernment is it to Mankind to mortifie and subdue the irregular Excursions of this Plastick or Animal Life and 〈◊〉 its 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 irrational and blind Appetites in the Embryo or first rudimental Efformations For the flush eruption and blazing of the Corporeal life is a sad Presage of the Death and Extinction of the Diviner Faculties And Death it self in a Physical sense is only the Consopition or laying asleep some Powers that others may awake in their stead Hence the Spirit of God affirms that those who live in pleasures i. e. licentiously and delicately omitting no opportunities of gratifying that worser Life to which they have so tender a Regard are dead while they live To this purpose is that of Plotinus Ennead 1. l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A vitious Person dies after that manner the Soul is capable of dying and the Death of the Soul is by a total Immersion and repletion
of it self with Corporeity Ibid. We are led by sense either External or Internal not by dry and insipid Reason It is 〈◊〉 Part of the Authors Design to prove that bare and dry Reason is a sufficient Criterion to discern the true and â—…ffecting rellish of Heavenly Things for as there is some Principle in us which has a Vital sense and sapid Gust of Corporeal Joys and Pleasures so there is a Principle likewise in the Soul of Man which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 something better then Reason and which a Platonist would call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Flower and Summity of the Mind when by due Purification of its self from all Corporeal Dregs and Pollutions it arises to such a Measure of Participation of the Divine Life as that it perceives a Generous Rellish and Gâ—…ateful and affecting Pleasure in Holiness and Virtue For till this inward Intellectual Sense be in some Good measure awakened Religion it self does but very little and weakly affect the Mind Therefore our Author adds That heavenly Things are not otherwise to be known but by such an inward rellish and affecting light as Divine Grace usually imparts to defecate and humble Minds And a little above he says That to render our selves Obedient to the Will of our heavenly Father is the only plain and easy way to the attaining a true knowledge and vital Sense of Divine Revelations Consonant to what our Saviour himself expresly affirms Joh. 7. 17. If any Man will do the Will of God he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self i. e. The true rellish and vital sense of Religion arises from a Conformity of Mind with the Will of God So that though Reason may furnish a Man with sufficient Arguments to assure him of the Truth of Religion yet the sapid gust and affecting sense of it flows from the Expergefaction of the Intellectual Powers into a Divine life Ibid. To admonish them that are going astray to illuminate the Eyes of the Mind to strengthen the Faith and to fix and impress the Argument of Godliness upon the Soul these and such like Things we owe to the benign Influence of the Holy Spirit It is a very great Indication of a Malâ—…ous Mind or weak and crazy Intellectuals when Men shall load and burden their Adversaries with the opprobrious and Invidious Term of Heresie as denying the Aid Assistance of the Spirit of God to be Necessary when they only endeavour to make the Mystery of our Faith the Oeconomy of Christian Religion to appear in all its Parts Rational i. e. worthy and becoming of its Author the Eternal Wisdom of God It has been the ill Fortune of some Eminent and Ingeâ—…ous Persons of late to be traduced for Pelagians Sociniâ—…s and what not for no other cause that I know of but because they speak sense and care not to explicate Religion by unintelligible Words and Phrases quaint Allusions and odd Similitudes but instead of all this jingling noise they appeal to the Common and Rational Faculties of all Mankind And in this they are so far from laying aside or rendring useless the Aid of the Holy Spirit of God under the Gospel that they â—…eely acknowledge all their strength to derive from his ever-blessed Influence that of themselves they are nothing but that it is he who works in them both to will and to do and that he is not only the beginner but Finisher of every good work Although perhaps they may not think the Operation of the Spirit of God to be by an Omnipotent Power at large but Hypothetical and upon certain Terms and Conditions like the great Formative Power in Nature which produces not the Lineaments and Primigenial Rudiments of the Body of a Plant or Animal out of a Flint but requires a pliable Ductility and Sequaciousness in the Matter it works upon Pag. 14. Pythagoras Apollonius Tyanaeus who endeavoured by Magick Art to keep up the Credit of sinking Idolatry was famous for Miracles That Miracles may be wrought by wicked Persons for ill ends and designs is evident not only from the Prediction before cited Deut. 13. as also from the Miracles wrought by the Egyptian Magicians to invalidate those of Moses but likewise from the express Prophesie of our Saviour himself concerning false Prophets that should arise and shew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 great signs and wonders to deceive if possible even the Elect. And the Apostles of our Lord Jesus foretelling the coming of Antichrist describe it to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the efficaâ—…y of Satan with all Power and Signs and Wonders or Miracles of a Lye And St. Iohn speaking of the same Person says that 〈◊〉 shall do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Great Wonders and deceive them that dwell on the Earth by the means of those Miracles which he has Power to do in the sight of the Beast Now â—…rom hence we may collect these things 1. That true Miracles may be wrought by wicked Persons not that God does immediately concur by his Almighty Power in assisting them to do Miracles to countenance Falsehoods and the open Violation of his Laws but that he may permit invisible created Spirits to exert their Energy and Power in producing Supernatural Effects Whence we have no Reason to think that the Miracles foretold to be done by Antichrist and his Followers or by false Prophets to be mere Juggles and Delusions of our Senses but that some of them may be real Miracles but because they are wrought to confirm Idolatry and to establish such Doctrines as are plainly repugnant to the Rational Faculties of Mankind therefore we are not to heed them but to look upon them as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Miracles of Falshood and a Lye And of this sort were the Miracles of Apollonius who though he might dazle the Eyes of some by the Glittering Brightness of his Counterfeit Virtues it being for the Interest of the Divels Kingdom that he should act that part well yet he never transcended the bounds of the Animal life but was an Archi-mago or Grand Magician as Moeragenes who wrote his life testifies 2. That God never permits false Prophets to do Miracles by the Assistance of evil Doemons but only in the Case of such Falshoods as are clearly discoverable by the Light of Nature or common Dictates of Universal and Right Reason because if he should it would be an Invincible Temptation But as our Author speaks a little below it no way comports with Divine Goodness and Veracity to bear witness to a falshood or to expose men in things of the greatest moment to an everlasting and inevitable Delusion 3. That Miracles alone are not a sufficient Confirmation of the Divinity of a Doctrine forasmuch as they have been wrought by Pagans and the same is asserted by Busbequius of some among the Turks therefore besides Miracles to perfect and compleat a Divine Testimony there is
contrary to Right Reason could Men ever be forced to believe it For such is the Constitution of a Rational Soul and such are the Essential Impresses of its Intellectual Nature that no Man can believe what he pleases but is fatally bound up to such Things as are agreeable to those Principles of which his Rational Nature is compounded And if it were in the Power of any Man to believe any thing though never so contradictory and repugnant to the Natural Sentiments and Impressions of his own Mind he might then yield as firm an Assent to Falshood as Truth and repute all the Contradictions and Absurdities in the World to be infallible Oracles And as he cannot arbitrariously fix his Mind to the Reception of a Falshood so neither of that which is irrational for that which is Repugnant to Right Reason is certainly false and all the Difference between them lies only in the Number of Syllables Pag. 18. Right Reason and Divine Wisdom give the same Judgment of things The Foundation of all Knowledge whether Divine or Humane lies in the Apprehension of the Idea's Natures and mutual Respects and Relations of things Now these not being Arbitratious but setled Eternally fixt and Immutable it clearly follows that Right Reason and Divine Wisdom give the same Judgment of Things Forasmuch as not only Right Reason is a Participation of the Divine Understanding but likewise that it is no more in the Power of God to change or alter the Idea's Respects and References of Things then it is in his Power to die or destroy his own Being Hence a Triangle with its three Angles equal to two Right ones and all Idea's with their Immutable Respects and Habitudes appear the same in Humane Understanding as they are Represented and Exhibited in the Divine Intellect because our Understanding is an Abstract or Copy of the Divine Understanding as likewise because the contrary would undermine and destroy the very Foundation of all Knowledge in the World Therefore it was truly asserted by Tully Est igitur quoniam nihil est Ratione melius eáque in homine in Deo prima homini cum Deo Rationis Societas Inter quos autem Ratio inter eosdem etiam Recta Ratio communis est Nor do we by this in a Stoical Arrogance make Man equal with God as some may fondly imagine For the Divine Intellect as our learned Author speaks doth intimately penetrate and behold at one view these Affections with the Idea's of the things themselves and discerns their Order and Reciprocations And this is properly called fixed and Stable Reason whereas Humane Understanding explicates and unfolds things successively and in order and this is Reason in succession or flowing and moveable Reason Pag. 41. As to other Things we ought to yield an Implicit Faith to Divine Revelation c. Christian Religion sufficiently obtains its end in that all those things which pertain to Life and Godliness to the Renovation of Mens Minds into the faultless Image of our Lord Jesus are plain and intelligible even to the meanest Capacity but in such things as are of a more Abstruse Profound and Speculative Nature it is sufficient to have an Implicit Faith i. e. to believe that the sense of all those Things that are delivered and consigned by Divine Testimony though they transcend my Capacity whatever it is which was intended by God is true For he that does not so calls God's Truth in Question But to believe this or that to be the true sense of them or to believe the Modes of such and such Doctrines which are not plainly revealed in the Holy Scriptures are thus to be explicated and all other Explications of them utterly false is not necessary either to Faith or Salvation For if God would have had under Pain of Damnation those Doctrines which are not so plainly laid down as that all should have the same Conceptions of them to be equally believed by all in this Particular and Determinate sense it could not consist with his Wisdom to deliver them in obscure Terms nor with his Justice to require of Men to know certainly the meaning of those Words which he himself has not revealed Pag. 43. That he may be a Pattern and Example to us For as Lactantius speaks excellently well Quomodo poterit amputari excusatio c. i. e. How can all excuse be taken away unless he that teacheth does the same things that he teacheth and conducts and lends his helping hand to him that follows For if he should be subject to no Passion a Man might thus reply upon his Teacher I would not sin but I am overcome being clothed with frail and weak Flesh This is it which is angry which covets which grieves which fears to die Therefore I am led unwillingly and I sin not because I would but because I am forced I am sensible likewise that I sin but the necessity of Humane Frailty compels which I cannot withstand What shall this Teacher of Righteousness answer to these Things How will he refute or convince that Man who lays the blame of his sins upon his Flesh unless he himself be likewise clothed with Flesh and Blood that so he may shew that Flesh it self is likewise capable of the Exercise of Virtue Ibid. That be should be conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost in the Womb of a Virgin without the concurrence of Man is an excellent Provision for a higher esteem and Valuation of his Person That Christ should be Born of a Virgin without the Concurrence of Man could not be looked upon as Incredible by the Pagan World who scarce ever had any famous Hero among them but they presently found out some God for his Father And Plutarch in the Life of Numa relates That the Egyptians supposed it probable enough that the Spirit of the Gods has given Original of Generation to Women and begotten fruit of their Bodies And Lactantius argues the Reasonableness of the Nativity of Jesus of the Virgin Mary from what was commonly believed among the Heathens concerning other Creatures Quod si Animalia quoedam Vento Aurâ concipere solere omnibus notum est cur quisquam mirum putet cùm Spiritu Dei cui est facile quicquid velit gravatam esse Virginem dicimus The belief of which when facilitated will appear an excellent Provision for a higher esteem and valuation of the Person of our Saviour Therefore perhaps it was not only a drunken humour in Alexander when he would be thought the Son of Jupiter Hammon but to make himself appear more August and Venerable by the Reputation of being the Son of a God To this purpose it is related by Huetius that among the Turks there are certain Boys which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 believed of the common People to be Born of Virgins and in great esteem as supposed to do strange things In the Turkish Language they are called Nephes-Ogli i. e. the