The Wisdom of being Religious A SERMON Preached at St. PAULS By JOHN TILLOTSON Preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincolns-Inn BATEMAN Maior Martis quinto decimo die Martii 1663. Annoque Caroli secundi Angliae c. sexto decimo IT is Ordered That Mr. Tillotson be desired to Print his Sermon lately Preached at St. Pauls Church before the Lord Maior and Aldermen of this City WELD PErlegi hanc Concionem in Ecclesiâ Sancti Pauli habitam cui Titulus The Wisdom of being Religious in quâ nihil reperio Doctrinae Disciplinaeve Ecclesiae Anglicanae aut bonis moribus contrarium Plurima tamen quae ad praecipuum religionis fundamentum tutandum Et ad Prodigiosam Atheorum hujus seculi vanitatem redar guendam egregiè sunt accommodata Quapropter dignissimam Censeo quae in Utilitatem publicam Typis mandetur Joh. Hall Rev. in Christo Pat. Humfredo Episc Lond. â sac Domest Maij. 13. 1664. LONDON Printed for SA GELLIBRAND 1664. To the Right Honourable Sir ANTHONY BATEMAN Lord Mayor of the City of London and the Honourable Court of Aldermen there Right Honourable IN obedience to your Order I here present you with a Sermon which you formerly heard I know not how acceptable Discourses of this nature may be I am sure they are very seasonable in this degenerate Age in which Atheism and Profaneness are grown so impudent and notwithstanding the restraints of Shame and Laws do appear with so bold a face in the world When men arrive to that degree of confidence as to tell the world that the Notion of a Spirit implies a contradiction that Fear and Fancy are the Parents of a Deity and Ignorance and Melancholy the true Causes of Devotion and that Religion is nothing else but the fear of an invisible power feigned by the mind or imagined from Tales publickly allowed when it shall be countted brave to defie God and every dabbler in Natural Philosophy or Mathematicks or Politicks shall set up for an Atheist sure then it is high time to resist this growing evil For this purpose I have enlarged that part of the Discourse which is more immediately levelled against Atheism beyond what the limits of time would allow me in the Preaching of it and in hope that it may do some service to that end it is now humbly offered to you by Your Honours most humble servant John Tillotson The Wisdom of being Religious JOB 28. 28. And unto man he said Behold the fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from evil that is understanding IN the beginning of this Chapter Job discourseth of the knowledg of Nature and the secret and unaccountable operations of Natural Causes and of the unsearchable perfections of the Works of God And enquiring at the 12th Verse where this Wisdom is to be found he tells us that it is not to be met with in any of the Creatures It is not found in the land of the living The depth saith It is not in me and the Sea saith It is not in me c. Therefore he puts the question again ver 20. Whence then cometh Wisdom and where is the place of understanding seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living To which he returns an answer ver 23. God understandeth the way thereof and he knoweth the place thereof for he looketh to the ends of the earth and seeth under the whole heaven to make the weight for the wind c. The result of which discourse is That a perfect knowledg of nature is no where to be found but in the Authour of it no less wisdom and understanding then that which made the World and contrived this vast and regular frame of Nature can throughly understand the Philosophy of it and give a perfect account of all its motions and operations But there is a wisdom and knowledg which is very proper to man and lies level to a humane understanding which is suited and accommodated to the end and uses and necessities of man and that is the knowledg of God and of that duty which we owe to him the wisdom of pleasing God by doing what he commands and avoiding what he forbids This Knowledg and Wisdom may be attained by man and is sufficient to make him happy And unto man he said Behold the fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding Which words consist of two propositions which are not distinct in sense but one and the same thing variously expressed For wisdom and understanding are Synonymous words here and though sometimes they have different notions yet in the Poetical books of Scripture they are most frequently used as words equivalent and do both of them indifferently signifie either a speculative knowledg of things or a practical skill about them according to the exigency of the matter or thing spoken of And so likewise the fear of the Lord and departure from evil are phrases of a very near sense and like importance and therefore we find them several times put together in Scripture Prov. 3. 7. Fear the Lord and depart from evil Prov. 16. 6. By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil So that they differ onely as cause and effect which by a Metonymy usual in all sorts of Authours are frequently put for one another Now To fear the Lord and to depart from evil are phrases which the Scripture useth in a very great latitude to express to us the sum of Religion and the whole of our duty And because the large acceptation of these phrases is to be the foundation of my subsequent discourse I shall for the further clearing of this matter endeavour to shew these two things 1. That it is very usual in the language of Scripture to express the whole of Religion by these and such like phrases 2. The particular fitness of these two phrases to describe Religion by I. It is very usual in the language of Scripture to express the Whole of Religion by some eminent Principle or part of Religion The great Principles of Religion are Knowledg Faith Remembrance Love and Fear by all which the Scripture useth to express the Whole duty of man In the Old Testament by the Knowledg Remembrance and Fear of God Religion is called The knowledg of the holy Prov. 30. 3. And wicked men are described to be such as know not God So likewise by the fear of the Lord frequently in this book of Job and in the Psalms and Proverbs And Mal. 3. 16. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another And Eccles 12. 13. the fear of God is expresly said to be the sum of Religion Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole of man And on the contrary the wicked are described to be such as have not the fear of God before their eyes Psal 36. 1. And so likewise by the remembrance of God Eccles 12. 1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy
assurance as the belief of a God and of a future state after this life things which we never saw nor did experience nor ever spoke with any body that did now it seems to argue too great a facility and easiness of belief to assent to any thing upon insufficient grounds To this I answer 1. That if there be such a Being as a God and such a thing as a future state it cannot as I said before in reason be expected that we should have the evidence of sense for such things For he that believes a God believes such a Being as hath all perfections among which this is one that he is a Spirit and consequently invisible and cannot be seen He that believes another Life after this professeth to believe a state of which in this life we can have no trial and experience 2. We have the best Evidence for these things which they are capable of at present supposing they were 3. Those who deny these Principles must be much more credulous that is believe things upon incomparably less evidence of Reason The Atheist looks upon all that are Religious as a Company of credulous Fools well met But he for his part pretends to be wiser then to believe any thing for Company he cannot entertain things upon those slight grounds which move other men if you would win his assent to any thing you must give him a clear Demonstration for it Now there 's no way to deal with this Man of Reason this rigid exactor of Demonstration for things which are not capable of it but by shewing him that he is an hundred times more credulous that he begs more Principles takes more things for granted without offering to prove them and assents to more strange Conclusions upon weaker grounds then those whom he so much accuseth of Credulity And to evidence this I shall briefly give you an account of the Atheists Creed and present you with a Catalogue of the Fundamental Articles of his Faith or rather Unbelief He believes That there is no God nor possibly can be and consequently that the wise as well as unwise of all ages have been mistaken except himself and a few more He believes that either all the world have been frighted with an apparition of their own Fancy or that they have most unnaturally conspired together to cozen themselves Or that this Notion of a God is a Trick of Policy though the greatest Princes and Politicians do not at this day know so much nor have done time out of mind He believes either that the Heavens and the Earth and all things in them had no original Cause of their Being or else that they were made by Chance and happened he knows not how to be as they are and that in this last shuffling of Matter all things have by great good Fortune fallen out as happily and as regularly as if the greatest Wisdom had contrived them but yet he believes that there was no Wisdom in the contrivance of them He Believes That that which is possible is impossible and that that is not which cannot but be He believes That meer Matter can Understand and Will and most dextrously perform all those fine and free operations which the Ignorant attribute to Spirits and consequently that there are no such things as immortal Spirits or a Resurrection of the Body or everlasting Life This is his Creed And seriously it is a wonder that there should be found any person pretending to Reason or Wit that can say Amen to such a heap of absurdities which are so gross and palpable that they may be felt So that I think it will fall to the Atheists share to be the most credulous person that is to believe things upon the sleightest Reasons II. The Second Imputation is Singularity the affectation whereof is unbecoming a Wise man To this charge I answer 1. If by Religion be meant the belief of the Principles of Religion that there is a God and a Providence that our Souls are Immortal and that there are Rewards to be expected after this life these are so far from being singular Opinions that they are the general Opinion of Mankind even of the most Barbarous Nations as Tully Seneca and others testifie insomuch that the Histories of ancient times do not furnish us with the names of above three or four at most who denied a God And Lucretius acknowledgeth that Epicurus was the first who did oppose those great Foundations of Religion the Providence of God and the Immortality of the Soul Primùm Grajus homo c. meaning Epicurus 2. If by Religion be meant a living up to those Principles that is to act conformably to our best Reason and understanding and to live as it does become those who do believe a God and a future State this is acknowledged even by those who live otherwise to be the part of every wise man and the contrary to be the very madness of folly and height of distraction Nothing being more ordinary then for men who live wickedly to acknowledg that they ought to do otherwise 3. Though according to the common course and practice of the World it be somewhat singular for men truly and throughly to live up to the Principles of their Religion yet singularity in this matter is so far from being a Reflection upon any mans prudence that it is a singular commendation of it In two Cases singularity is very commendable 1. When there is a necessity of it in order to a mans greatest Interest and happiness I think it to be a reasonable account for any man to give why he does not live as the greatest part of the world do that he has no mind to die as they do and to perish with them he is not disposed to be a fool and to be miserable for company he has no inclination to have his last end like theirs who know not God and obey not the Gospel of his Son and shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 2. It is very commendable to be singular in any Excellency and I have shewn that Religion is the greatest Excellency to be singular in any thing that is wise and worthy and excellent is not a disparagement but a praise every man would choose to be thus singular III. The Third Imputation is that Religion is a foolish bargain because they who are Religious hazard the parting with a present and certain happiness for that which is future and uncertain To this I answer 1. Let it be granted that the Assurance which we have of future Rewards falls short of the Evidence of sense for I doubt not but that that saying of our Saviour Blessed is he who hath believed and not seen and those expressions of the Apostle We walk by faith and not by sight and faith is the evidence of things not seen are intended by way of abatement and diminution to the Evidence of Faith and do
signifie that the report and testimony of others is not so great evidence as that of our own senses And though we have sufficient assurance of another state yet not so great evidence as if we our selves had been in the other World and seen how all things are there 2. We have sufficient assurance of these things and such as may beget in us a well grounded confidence and free us from all doubts of the contrary and perswade a reasonable man to venture his greatest Interests in this World upon the security that we have of another World for 1. We have as much assurance of these things as things future and at a distance are capable of and he is a very unreasonable man that would desire more Future and invisible things are not capable of the Evidence of sense but we have the greatest rational Evidence for them and in this every reasonable man ought to acquiesce 2. We have as much as is abundantly sufficient to justifie every mans discretion who for the great and eternal things of another World hazards or parts with the poor and transitory things of this Life And for the clearing of this it will be worth our considering that the greatest affairs of this world and the most important concernments of this life are all conducted onely by Moral Demonstrations Men every day venture their lives and estates onely upon Moral assurance For instance Men who never were at the East or West Indies or in Turky or Spain yet do venture their whole Estates in Traffick thither though they have no Mathematical demonstration onely Moral assurance that there are such Places Nay which is more Men every day eat and drink though I think no man can demonstrate out of Euclide or Apollonius that his Baker or Brewer or Cook have not conveyed Poyson into his meat or drink And that Man that would be so wise and cautious as not to eat or drink till he could demonstrate this to himself I know no other remedy for him but that in great gravity and wisdom he must die for fear of death And for any man to urge that though men in temporal affairs proceed upon moral assurance yet there is greater assurance required to make men seek Heaven and avoid Hell seems to me to be highly unreasonable for such an assurance of things as will make men circumspect and carefull to avoid a lesser danger ought in all reason to awaken men much more to the avoiding of a greater such an assurance as will sharpen mens desires and quicken their endeavours for the obtaining of a lesser good ought in all reason to animate men more powerfully and to inspire them with a greater vigour and industry in the pursuit of that which is infinitely greater For why the same assurance should not operate as well in a great danger as in a less in a great good as in a small and inconsiderable one I can see no reason unless men will say that the greatness of an evil and danger is an incouragement to men to run upon it and that the greatness of any good and happiness ought in reason to dishearten men from the pursuit of it Use I. The Use that I shall make of this shall be 1. To put men out of conceit with Sin 2. To perswade men to be truly Religious First If Religion be the best Knowledg and Wisdom this challenges wicked men for their folly and ignorance this conviction of the great imprudence and unreasonableness of a wicked course should shame men out of Irreligion Wicked men are in Scripture described by this Character they are those that know not God which argues monstrous ignorance and stupidity for to have an understanding and not to know God is in intellectual things just such an absurdity as it is in natural things to have eyes and not to discern the light for as light is primum visibile the first object of our sight so God is primum intelligibile the plainest and most obvious object of our understandings He fills Heaven and Earth every thing represents him to us which way soever we turn our selves we are encountred with clear evidences and demonstrations of a Deity For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things made even his eternal Power and God-head So that men are without excuse as the Apostle speaks Rom. 1. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such men as know not God can have no Apology to make for themselves their ignorance is utterly inexcusable Or if men do understand or believe there is such a Being as God not to consider this not to attend to the proper consequences of such a principle not to know our Relation to him and dependance upon him and obnoxiousness to his Power and Justice in case we neglect contemn and disobey him not to know the duty that we owe to him who hath made us and hath an unquestionable right in us and title to us and authority over us and is therefore our supream Law-giver because he hath power to make us happy or miserable for ever to save or to destroy us and consequently that it is our highest interest to please him to know his Will and to do it This is gross ignorance and inconsiderateness and stupidity as can be imagined He that observes the lives and actions of the greatest part of men would verily think that they understood nothing of all this therefore we find in Scripture that when God looks down upon the wickedness of men he pronounces them to be without understanding Deut. 32. 28. when God had reckoned up the rebellions and perversnesses of the Children of Israel he concludes It is a nation void of counsel neither is there any understanding in them In the 14 Psalm at the beginning the Psalmist represents God as looking down from heaven upon the children of men and when he saw how they had corrupted themselves and what abominable works they did crying out Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge Not that wicked men are destitute of the natural faculty of Understanding but they have it as if they had it not they have Understandings but they do not use them which in effect and by interpretation is all one as if they had none Nay happy were it for them if they had them not for then they would not be liable to the Judgment of God nor accountable to Him as reasonable creatures but this ignorance is wilfull and affected men are not blind but they wink and shut their eyes they can understand and will not or if they do understand any thing they imprison the Truths of God and detain them in unrighteousness they thrust light into a dungeon and hide the candle of the Lord that is in them under a bushel they do not suffer those things that they know to have a due power and influence upon their hearts and lives And this is an Ignorance that will be