rationem Plato nullam afferret vide quid homini tribuam ipsâ Auctoritate me frangeret Tot autem rationes attulit ut velle caeteris sibi certè persuasisse videatur Tusc Quaest l. 1. p. 1057. is very observable who having spoken of those little Philosophers who affirmed that Death was the total destruction of the whole Man adds Nothing doth occur to me to make me think the contrary Opinion of Pythagoras and Plato is not true For tho' Plato should produce no Reason at all see what Deference I pay to the Man his Authority would quite bear me down But he hath produced so many Reasons that he seems Willing to persuade others however doubtless to persuade himself So that in his Opinion he was little better than a Well-wisher to the Cause Let 's see whether He himself can do better He had as sharp an Eye as most Men ever had and yet he introduces his Discourse on this Argument with words to this effect I am not going to utter * Tusc Quaest l. 1. p. 1053. Explicabo nec tamen ut Pythius Apollo certa ut sint fixa quae dixero c. Oracles nor give Demonstrations but inconsiderable Man that I am among many others I will give you my Guess as to what is likely For I can go no further than Probabilities Let those talk of Certainties who profess themselves to be Wise Then he reckons up the several Opinions of the Philosophers Some think the Soul is extinguish'd with the Body others that 't is presently dissipated after it hath taken its leave of the Carkase others that it remains in being a long while and others that it lasteth always c. Now saith he God knows which of these Opinions is true and which of them is most probable is a great Question And afterwards having rejected the Opinion of Dicoearchus * Id. p. 1054. that the Soul is nothing at all saith he the Opinions of the rest give us HOPE if this be pleasing to you that it is POSSIBLE that Souls when they depart from their Bodies may go to Heaven as to their own House To this his Friend who discourses with him replies I am very desirous it should be so and if it be not yet I would fain be persuaded of it And upon the recommending Plato's Treatise of the Soul to him his Friend replies I assent to what he says * Tusc Qu. l. 1. p. 1054. I know not how while I am reading it But when I have laid the Book aside and I begin to think with my self of the Soul's Immortality all my Assent to it slides away from me Indeed the ARguments which Plato brings on this Occasion and which Tully hath but too much honoured by transcribing from him are almost all of them so weak and trifling that I wonder how Cleombrotus when he heard him discoursing on that Subject could be induced to leap from him into the Sea that he might presently be in the other State Had I been his Hearer unless he could have produced stronger Proofs and given a better Account of the matter than he hath done in his Dialogue of the Soul I should much rather have thrown Him than my self over-board and have sent him into the other World that so he might thoroughly have informed himself about the Subject he pretended to treat but was so far from being a Master of He talks so weakly on this Head that I think no man but one who is Non compos mentis would ever have brought in poor Cleombrotus as a Felo de se for Drowning himself And in another place Tully brings in Cato after a long Discourse on this Subject winding up the whole in these Words * De Senectute at the end p. 1265. If it be an Error that the Souls of Men are Immortal I am pleased to err and I will never as long as I live be beaten out of it But if when I am dead as some little Philosophers think I shall perceive Nothing I am not afraid lest the Philosophers who are dead should deride this Error of mine But if we are not Immortal yet it is desirable for a Man in his proper time to be extinguish'd This cannot be excused by a Pretence that Tully speaks it not in his own Person but in Cato's And that when a Man doth personate another he must speak agreeably to his Character tho' it be never so contrary to his own real Sentiments For he himself tells us in * De Amicitiâ in the beginning p. 1265. another place that he brings in Cato disputing of Old Age because he did not know a fitter Person and that this manner of Writing in the borrowed Person of Ancient and Illustrious Men hath he knows not how more of Weight in it And therefore saith he when I read my OWN Writings I am sometimes so affected with them as tho' they were not my Sayings but really Cato ' s. So that under the Covert of another's Name he plainly writes his own Opinion And a little after in the same Book having spoken of the speedy Return of the departed Souls of very Excellent Men to Heaven he can't forbear adding IF * Id si ita est ut optimi cujusque animus in morte facillime evolet c. Sin autem illa veriora ut idem interitus sit animorum corporum nec ullus Sensus maneat ut nihil boni est in morte sic certè nihil mali Id. p. 1267. this be so then Scipio 's Soul to be sure is got thither But IF it be TRUER that Body and Soul do utterly perish together and there be no remaining Sense at all then as there is no Good in Death so there is no Evil in it Seneca when he was dangerously Sick labours to Comfort himself against the Fears of his Dissolution with this sorry Consideration That Death * Ep. 54. would put him into the same Condition he was in ere he was born that Men are like a Candle which is in no worse State after 't is put out than before it was lighted At another time saith he I was pleased in enquiring into the Soul's Eternity †Ep. 102. or rather to Believe it For I did easily believe the Opinions of Great Men who were better at promising what was very grateful to me than at proving it When he would comfort ‖ Ad Marciam Ch. 19. Marcia for the Loss of her dear Son saith he That may be Good or Evil that is Something but that which is Nothing and reduceth all things into Nothing delivers us up to no Fortune nor can he be Miserable who no longer is at all And again upon the same Occasion saith he to another It may be he * Epist 63. the last words is gone before IF what Wise men have said be true and there be a Place to receive us after Death But this is poor Consolation cold as the Grave wherein a
man's Friend is laid Plutarch speaks no more confidently when he endeavours to comfort * Consol ad Apol. Edit Xylandri p. 109 c. Apollonius upon the untimely Death of his very promising Son he adopts that Saying of Socrates That Death is like a deep Sleep or a long Travelling into a foreign Country or else 't is a total Destruction of Body and Soul and speaks to the last as well as the two other that he may demonstrate Death to be no Evil. This was one of the Ingredients he uses to make a Plaister to heal the Sore of his distressed Friend And the best that he could say was IF the Saying of the Ancient Poets and Philosophers be true †P. 120. as 't is Probable that it is that Good men are advanced when they die and some of them as 't is reported more highly than others and there be a certain Place appointed for pious Souls in which they live you have reason to hope well concerning your Son that he is got among ' em As for Death saith * Antoninus l. 7. §. 32. Antoninus whether it be a Dissipation of the Elements or a Reduction into Atoms or an Annihilation it is either an Extinction or a Transmigration Or as others read it it is either †Gataker in locum p. 273. a Dissipation of the Elements Resolution into Atoms Annihilation Extinction or Transmigration A Saying that much resembles that of Seneca ‖ Contemnite mortem quae vos aut finit aut transfert Seneca de Provid ch 6. Despise Death which either ends or translates you He that would see more of Antoninus's Uncertainty let him turn to the Places * Lib. 3. §. 3. l. 4. §. 14. 21. l. 6. §. 24. l. 7. §. 50. l. 8. §. 25. 58. l. 10. §. 58. l. 12. §. 5. cited in the Margent To these Philosophers I will add the famous Historian †Vita Agricolae ad finem Tacitus who speaking in very affecting Terms concerning the Death of his Father-in-Law Agricola drops this Passage IF there be any place for the Ghosts of Good men IF as Wise men define the Souls of Great Persons die not with the Body in Peace maist thou rest c. Of the same Strain is the Speech of that noble Roman Lady Veturia a Woman of an admirable Wit and Address and whose Spirit was altogether as great as her Quality who among other Arguments with which she diverted her Son Coriolanus from ruining his own Country when it was entirely at his Mercy makes use of this That if she could but succeed in her Enterprize of prevailing with him to lay aside his she should not only gain Immortal Honour here upon Earth but also IF there be a place saith she * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Halicarn l. 8. p. 522 523. Edit Wichelii for the Reception of Humane Souls after they are dismiss'd from the Body mine shall go not to a subterraneous and dark one where 't is SAID that miserable Wretches are lodg'd nor to the Plains of Lethe as they are called but to the High and Pure Aether where 't is REPORTED that they who are descended from the Gods do lead a blessed and happy Life I am not without some Grounds of Jealousy that the Whole of her Speech whereof these Words are a part as 't is set down was made for her by Dionysius according to the usual custom of most Historians who are wont to put Words into the Mouths of those Persons whose Actions they relate and don 't so much tell us what They spake as what Themselves would have said had they been to have made a set Oration under the same Circumstances wherein they frequently over-do make them talk much finer than it can rationally be supposed They are capable of doing lay on so much Paint that it easily appears to an observing Eye to be the work of Art and not of Nature But be it the Incomparable Veturia or the Grave Dionysius 't is not very material 'T is evident the Person that spake was very doubtful about a Future State Now if it were thus with the most Learned and Sagacious Men with the most Elevated and Exalted Souls how sad in all likelihood must it needs be with the Body of Mankind If they who had got the Higher Ground above the Heads of the Common People and had the Advantage too of standing on one another's Shoulders could see such a little way before 'em what shall we think of the little Creatures that sate below In short we do not find that Everlasting Life in the other State was in any Heathen Nation an Article of Religion established by Law It was but slightly touch'd on by Philosophers when ever they did name it which was but seldom as a Motive to excite Men to the Practice of Vertue Other Arguments they use and trust to which they did better understand and it is Prudence for a man not to urge those Reasons which are strongest in themselves but rather fight with that Weapon which he is a Master of and knows how best to manage And 't is a shrewd Observation of * St. August de Civit. Dei l. 4. c. 22. l. 6. c. 9. St. Austin That tho' the Heathens had abundance of Gods to whom they did particularly apply themselves to one for one Blessing to another God for another Favour and therefore the Knowledge of the Gods was necessary that they might direct themselves to them aright and not ask Water from the God of Wine c. Yet Varro himself who was very well skill'd in the matter hath not mentioned so much as one God whom they were to pray unto for Eternal Life 'T is true indeed we who have been taught from our very Infancy by the Gospel that there is such a Place as Heaven and so glorious a Reward for the Righteous in the other State may be apt to think that we have hit upon it by the Exercise of our own unassisted Reason or that it was very easy so to have done But herein it fares with us as oftentimes it doth with a Studious Man who having familiarly convers'd with good Authors doth verily think some of those Notions and Expressions too which he hath learnt from them are the genuine Off-spring of his own Mind and Thought Just as Corn that springs up in some places seems to the Husbandman to be the natural Product of the Ground he having never sowed it with that sort of Grain the Seeds of which in Reality were taken up by the Wind from another Field whereto they did originally belong and invisibly dropt down there I can't better express my Sense of this than in the Words of a modern Author who herein speaks very well tho' judging by the main Design of his Book I take him to be a very Singular Unitarian seeing he cuts off all the necessary Articles of our Faith excepting that of the Belief of
nec suum nec sui quicquam à quoquam censeri volebant Stoici Gataker in Annot. in Antonin p. 423. Edit Cantabrigiae 1652. Hody of the Resurrection p. 23 24 25. Men have proved that herein he was mistaken He speaks of the utter Extinction of the Soul by Death And the Answer he gives to this stabbing Question is That if it be so you must know for certain they would have order'd it otherwise if it had been just and possible and natural and ought to have been otherwise managed And yet at another time he propounds this Question * Antoninus l. 4. §. 21. If Souls do continue how will the Air contain 'em all especially considering they have been from Eternity Which he answers by propounding another How the Earth is able to contain all the Carkases which for so very long a space of time have been buried in it And then adds As the Carkases of Men when they have been for some time in the Earth are changed and dissolved so as to make room for others so Souls being translated into the Air after they have abode there for some time * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Id. Ib. are changed burnt melted down like the Metals of a Founder I suppose and so run into the common Soul of the World and thereby make way for others to come into their places and because Men die very fast I conceive this must be very quickly done lest the Place be crouded and separated Souls be stifled for want of Room and Breath tho' in the midst of the Air it self Were it not that he adds these Words That thus a Man would answer on this Hypothesis †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ib. that Souls do supervive their Bodies I would say that to reconcile this with the Passage which I but just now cited out of him would be as difficult as 't is to make the two Poles to meet and kiss each other He reels and staggers to and fro and knows not what Opinion to be of If he had not a more steady hand in Government than he had in Reasoning and Philosophy he would have made but a very indifferent Ruler Others of the Stoicks believed that after Death the Soul lasted as long as its Body did continue And the Egyptians were of the same Opinion and that was the reason of their embalming the Bodies of the Dead For this we have the Authority of Servius * Ad Aeneid l. 3. p. 664. which the most Learned Gataker indeed puts a Slur upon saying I don't †Unde habeat nescio Gataker Annot. in Anton. p. 140. know whence he had it Nor I neither but he who lived so many hundred years ago might have met with it in some of their Books which have not been transmitted down to us nothing being more common than 't is for Learned Men as much to bewail the Loss of many Ancient Writings as their nearest Relations could do the Death of the Authors of ' em Nor is that other Reflection of that Great Man whereby he would discredit this Testimony of Servius of any great Weight viz. as tho' the * Quasi sc à Stoâ dogma istud arripuerint Aegyptii sc Id. ib. Egyptians had borrowed this Opinion from the Stoicks For 't is very likely that Servius's Author might so misrepresent it as if the Egyptians had taken it from the Stoicks whereas in truth the latter stole it from the former according to the known humour of the Greeks who did vainly arrogate to themselves those Inventions which 't is very plain they borrowed from their Neighbours And some tell us this was the true * Hody of the Resurrection p. 12. Reason why the Egyptians were wont to keep the Carkases of their Friends in their Houses and Closets and set 'em at Table as formal Guests believing they had there the Whole Man not only the Body but the Soul too Tho' such Company I suppose would not very much support the Discourse nor greatly enflame the Reckoning Other Stoicks thought that it was with Human Souls as 't is with †Gatak Annot. in Antonin p. 140. It. 301. Material Beings there was some solid Substance at the bottom which did always remain and from which in process of time new Souls did spring when the Old ones were dissolved somewhat like new Mill'd Money produced from the old Coin that was so miserably clipt and debas'd Others of them thought Souls did last till the Universal * Id. p. 139. Conflagration which they put at a very considerable distance from the Age wherein they lived Cleanthes said All Souls did so but Chrysippus and some †Arius Didymus in his Account of the Stoical Philosophy as quoted by Euseb Praep. Evang. l. 15. c. 20. p. 822. Edit Paris Others say only those of Good Men. But then they were to cease from being individual Beings any longer and to be refunded into the Elements of the World or that Universal Soul whence they were Originally taken Which a Learned Man ‖ Huetii Concordia Fidei cum Ratione p. 159. thus very aptly represents 'T is as if a Man should fill a Vessel with Water taken out of the Sea and then some time after should break the Vessel and let the Water run again into the Ocean wherein it is as it were lost being mingled and incorporated with the mighty Mass tho' it be not annihilated And this was the Opinion of Pythagoras too and his Followers and * Id. 160. Heraclitus also the Author and Founder of a Sect of Philosophers who bore his Name But others of them did not think that Souls tho' they took them for pretty durable Beings did last altogether so long They fancied that they did †Stoici usuram nobis largiuntur tanquam cornicibus diu mansuros aiunt animos semper negant Tully Tusc Qu. l. 1. p. 1060. perish at length after they had worn out several Bodies with which from time to time they were cloathed as with so many new Suits of Apparel And herein they did agree in the main with the Pythagoreans and Platonists who held the Transmigration of Souls either into Brutes or other humane Bodies or both successively which as we observed in the foregoing Section was a most Catholick Opinion of whole Nations in the East as also it * Cluverius de Germ. Antiq. l. 1. c. 32. Hody of the Resurrection p. 6 7 8. Dr. Jackson Vol. 3. p. 424. was of the Egyptians and the Druids too and the Ancient Germans in the West How often the Soul might be a Widower and with how many Bodies it might successively Marry I do not know nor think it worth the while to enquire But herein some at least of the Stoicks did differ from others that at last they thought the Soul it self did drop away and crumble into nothing Hence Dionysius Halicarnassaeus reflecting on the unhappy Death of the brave and
A PRESERVATIVE AGAINST DEISM SHEWING The great Advantage of Revelation above Reason in the Two Great Points Pardon of Sin and a Future State of Happiness With an APPENDIX in Answer to a Letter of A.W. against Revealed Religion in the Oracles of Reason By NATHANAEL TAYLOR LONDON Printed for John Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultrey And Tho. Cockerill at the Corner of Warwick-Lane in Pater-Noster-Row 1698. â—Vâ—IFUTâ—TIA â—â—â—IA 1715. â—EOâ—â—â—Vâ— D. â— MA◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 V.D. THE EPISTLE TO THE READER THE Growth of Deism § I the Advancing of Reason by those who have no larger a Stock of it to set up withal than the rest of their Neighbours and the Publick Defiance which has been made to Revealed Religion in the general should awaken us to set all hands on work to countermine the Common Enemy who scorn to work any longer under the Covert and Shelter of the Night but in the open Day endeavour to blow up the Foundations of our Faith I have little Hopes of the Recovery of those who are so very far gone in Infidelity that they have nothing of the Christian left them but what is in one of their Names However somewhat may and ought to be done to preserve those who are not yet infected and restore them who are not too deeply tainted The Poyson has been recommended to the World by the alluring Name of the Oracles of Reason And there can be no doubt unless it be because of the Weakness and Folly of them by whom they who have vented them were inspired But the Devil cannot always speak through the Serpent sometimes he must make use of a duller Animal the best he can get Thin Cobwebs indeed they are which these venomous Creatures do weave but yet they have been strong enough to hold some little Insects corrupting first the Minds and then the Manners of them that are raw unskilful and unsetled Too many Proselytes they have gotten such as they are And tho' some of them evidently do not understand the Infidel Cavils and Objections they have read yet they will in Discourse be hammering at them and repeat somewhat of them like an Eccho in an empty and a hollow Place which reverberates the last Words that were spoken tho' in such a broken imperfect manner that there is no Sense to be made of them 'T is true indeed § II serious Piety is the best Defence against these Hellish Doctrines Wicked Men do greedily catch at every little Cavil against the Scriptures because it is their Interest to have them run down The Word of God is against them and therefore they are against it If the Bible be true they must either forsake their Lusts or be Eternally damned for them and they cannot bear the Thoughts either of the one or the other But a Pious Man is freed from this Snare and Temptation and besides that he has the Witness within himself 1 Joh. 5.10 he need but consult the blessed Change that has been made by the Holy Scriptures in order to his Establishment in Christianity When the Jews reviled Christ as an Impostor he who had been Blind answered like one the Eyes of whose Understanding were opened as well as those of his Body Why Joh. 9.30 herein is a marvellous thing that ye know not from whence he is and yet he hath opened mine Eyes 'T is altogether Unaccountable for a Man to give way to Doubts and Fears whether that Doctrine be from Heaven which he finds has fitted his Soul for it Many Good Meen indeed do unwarily suck in some untoward Principles when a little gilded over which in their Nature tend to ungodly Practices But through the Weakness of their Heads they don't discern the Evil Nature or Direct Tendency of them and through the Honesty of their Hearts they do not follow whither they would naturally lead ' em The Grace of God within serves instead of the Gift of Miracles And what our Saviour promis'd his Disciples as an Extraordinary Favour in the Primitive Times Mar. 16.8 they shall take up Serpents and if they drink any Deadly thing it shall not hurt them hath been in some measure daily verified in all succeeding Ages The Excellency of their Constitution throws off the Poyson they have heedlessly taken down and tho' they receive some Mischief yet the killing Influence of it is strangely prevented by that Sovereign Antidote which they have within ' em And the same Good Principle produces a rooted Antipathy in them against Fundamental Errors and Damnable Heresies All Creatures Plants as well as Animals have a natural Instinct whereby they draw to them what is proper for their Preservation Growth and Nourishment but avoid that which is destructive to them The New Creature the most Excellent of all is not worse provided for than every inferior Being An enlightened Christian has a supernatural Instinct which makes him turn aside from Damnable Errors and unmovably retain the great Truths of the Gospel with a mighty Relish and Savour And this is that which holds the Generality of Christians close to and keeps them fast in the Faith when Deceivers do abound more than mere dry Reason and Strength of Argument can possibly do It cannot reasonably be supposed that all Holy Men should be able to Answer all those Cavils that may be started by subtile Hereticks or learned Infidels against our Holy Religion especially considering there are not among them many Learned many of the Disputers of this World Luke 10.21 But God hides these things from the Wise and Prudent and reveals them unto Babes even so O Father for so it seemeth good in thy Sight They went out from us 1 John 2.19 says the Apostle but they were not of us for if they had been of us no doubt but they would have continued with us But will sincere Christians follow them No that cannot be For the Apostle adds v. 20. Ye have an Unction from the Holy One and ye know all things and the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lie And even as it hath taught you Ver. 27 ye shall abide in him And therefore Anointing and Establishing go both together 2 Cor. 1.11 He that establisheth us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God And As the whole System of Divine Graces is an excellent Preservative § III so is that particular Grace of Humility in an eminent Manner They who are humble and he who knows himself will be so will never offer at setting up their own short Understandings as the Measure and Standard of Truth There are Mysteries in Art in Nature in Philosophy in Natural Religion no wonder then there are so in Revealed Religion and the Holy Scriptures Two things there are that make it necessary that there should be deep things in them to us unsearchable and past our finding out They treat of the Nature Counsels and Acts of God which are laid down as
Mean if the End be obtained But to this I Reply This whole arguing proceeds on a wrong Supposition That the Reformation of the Offender is the only end of Punishment Whereas Satisfaction to the Law the Honour of the Government the Explation of the Crimes committed are at least as noble Ends and as necessary if not more so than that Without due care in this Matter the Divine Threatenings will appear to be like those Flaming Swords that sometimes hang in the Air vain Meteors and mere Vapours that have no real Edge and in the Judgment of many wise Men do not praesignify any future Calamities that shall certainly follow but only serve to affright weak and superstitious Minds How confidently soever some Men may talk yet they have the Common Sense of all Mankind lying against them Who will satisfy Divine Justice Who will make our Peace with the Offended Majesty of Heaven Has been a most puzzling Inquiry in all Ages The Heathens saw somewhat more was necessary than a bare Reformation of Manners to appease the Anger of their Gods and rather than depend upon that alone have thought it more Rational to take up with any thing even the most foolish and extravagant and brutish Contrivances of Purgations and Offerings of Humane Blood and Sacrifices Micah 6.7 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow my self before the High God Shall I come before him with Burnt-offerings with Calves of a Year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oil Shall I give my First-born for my transgression the fruit of my Body for the sin of my Soul Yea the great Patriarch of Natural and bitter Enemy to Revealed Religion after all his Confidence That meer Repentance would expiate mens Offences was himself at a loss in this matter as appears by the following Passage * Et quidem quinque hos Articulos bonos Catholicosque esse unusquisque procul-dubio fatebitur ad Salutem tamen aeternam comparandam non sufficere perhibebunt nonnulli Caeterum qui ita locutus fuerit nae ille quidem audax nedum saevum temerariumque effatum meâ sententiâ protulerit quum nulli satis explorata sint judicia Divina quam etiam ob causam neque eas sufficere protinus dixerim attamen magis probabilis mihi videtur eorum opinio qui aequè pie ac leniter de Dei Judiciis statuunt dum homo quod in se est praestat Herbert de Religione Gentilium p. 217. These five Articles viz. 1. The Being of God 2. That he is to be Worshipp'd 3. That Virtue is the principal part of Divine Worship 4. That we ought to Repent of our Sins 5. That there are Rewards and Punishments in the present and future life every one without doubt will acknowledge to be Good and Catholick but some will pretend they are not sufficient to Eternal Salvation But he that shall so say is a bold man and in my opinion pronounces a cruel and rash Sentence Seeing the Judgments of God are not fully known for which Reason neither will I peremptorily say they are Sufficient c. Such is the Power of Truth that it will be reveng'd on its fiercest Adversaries and force them who contradict it to contradict themselves also 4. 'T is urged that God is our Common * Si justitiae Divinae haut factum satis ex Poenitentia dixissent fortè Sacerdotes acerbioremque quà m ex dolore interno exigi debere poenam contendissent hisce ita occurri tum temporis potuit Deum Summum esse Patrem communem adeoque in Filium Poenitentem haut graviter animadversurum Herbert de Relig. Gentil p. 199. Father and will not severely animadvert on his Penitent Child Or as another †Dr. Whichcot's Sermons p. 310. enforces it God hath stamp'd Impressions of Goodness and Kindness throughout the whole Creation Every thing maintains its own Off-spring and endeavours to bring it to good according to the several Natures of every kind and if it be capable it bears its Off-spring Affection Now whatever * Id. p. 312. Perfection is found in any Creature is in God Primarily Originally and Essentially We all commend the Merciful and Compassionate Disposition above the Cruel and Malicious And shall we attribute that to God which we condemn in any Creature But sure 't is not reasonable to insinuate that God is cruel and malicious for punishing Delinquents Especially considering what this Reverend Author saith in the very next Page viz. If God †Id. p. 313. do punish Sin he doth that which is Just And should I argue that because God is Originally Primarily and Essentially Just and therefore he will certainly punish Sinners if this be all they have to plead that they do Repent it would hold altogether as strongly as his arguing from his Goodness that he will forgive them barely upon their so doing We all commend Justice in Men and especially in a Magistrate and censure the lazy and fond Neglect of it And shall we attribute that to God which we condemn in the Creature Or shall there be any Excellency or Perfection in us which is wanting in him He that made the Eye shall not He see and he who formed the Ear shall not He hear Besides 't is as certain that God is our Common Ruler as that he is our Common Parent and 't is Matter of Fact that he do's inflict very severe Penalties on his Rebellious Subjects notwithstanding their Repentance 5. 'T is further urged That Men are by Nature * Homines naturâ suá fragiles peccatoque obnoxios esse Herbert de Relig. Gentil ubi supra frail Creatures and liable to Sin And that †Dr. Whichcot's Sermon p. 321. tho' the Act of a Creature may be aggravated in respect of the Person against whom it is committed yet in themselves our Sins are but Acts of Weakness and they are so in God's Account and Esteem c. And if there were as much Weakness in All of them as there is in this Objection a man might be hard put to it to make a Reply But are our Wilful and Heinous Provocations to be dwindled away and shrunk up into Sins of Infirmity If all our Sins are both in Themselves and in God's Account but Acts of Weakness I don't know why they should not be so in Ours too For we can't do better than to entertain such Sentiments as are agreeable to the Nature of Things and the Judgment of God himself But Good men have not been wont to take up with such Notions as these Saul urged for himself in the matter of the Amalekites That he did not reserve part of the Spoil from any evil Design but from a good Intention to have wherewithal to furnish out a Sacrifice to the Lord 1 Sam. 15.21 22 23. and tho' he was their King yet in this the People over-ruled him and it would have
am in a Region of Misery where there is a constant Revolution of Day and Night and in the Climate wherein I dwell these are very unequally divided the latter usually being much Longer than the former Were I to linger out some Thousands of Years only it were sad but 't is infinitely worse than so with me For wretched Man that I am thus must I languish away to the Ages of Eternity without any hopes of a better State But now the Gospel-Revelation drives away these black and gloomy Thoughts and Fears as the Rising-Sun doth the Darkness and Horror of the Night For it proposeth to us a Future Happiness so great that we have not Words big enough to express nor Faculties large enough to comprehend 1 Joh. 3.2 It does not yet indeed appear fully what we shall be Yet so much is clearly revealed as is abundantly sufficient to raise our Souls to an Admiration of it and draw forth our most ardent Desires after it Let us briefly consider it as to our Souls and Bodies 1. As to our Souls They shall be enlighten'd with the clearest Knowledge of God so that there shall not be the least Speck on our Eye or the smallest Cloud on our Mind We shall be filled with flaming Love to God and never more complain of any Chilness or Coldness of our Hearts towards him We shall perfectly resemble him and not be any longer such party-coloured Creatures as we now are which makes us almost ashamed of our selves We shall dwell under the bright Beams of his Love and Favour and never more complain Whither has my Beloved withdrawn himself We shall contemplate praise and adore him without any Weariness or one distracting Thought yea we shall feel a constant and perpetual Delight and Joy continually bubbling up within wherewithall our Souls shall be continually overflowed 2. As to our Bodies This is one part of our Happiness the Discovery whereof is entirely owing to Revelation The Philosophers never dreamt of it 'T is well known with what Contempt the Stoicks spake of the Body they call'd it the * Gatak not in Anton. p. 309. Pouch the Garment the Sheath the Hull and the Leathern-Bottle of the Soul and the Bond †Senec. Epist 65. of Slavery They would not allow it to be so much as a ‖ Mens cujusque is est quisque Tully Som. Scip. p. 1319. Part of themselves They and the Platonists and Pythagoreans and all others who were for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 renounced all Thoughts of the same Body And that Party of the Stoicks and Plato who were for the Revolution of all things expected to receive the same Body indeed but then it was just the same in all * Origenes c. Celsum p. 208 209. It. 244 245. respects whatever not only as to Substance but also as to all its ill Qualities and Diseases Many of them thought †Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 496 497. that all the Evil that is in the World proceeded from the necessary Malignity of Matter which was of so stubborn a Nature that it was too hard for the Gods themselves and these Men could not rationally desire to be again hamper'd by the hateful Hyle which was altogether as invincible as it was mischievous Plutarch ‖ In Romulo p. 35 36. tells us it is a very ridiculous thing to imagin that the Bodies of Good Men do ascend and to place Earth in Heaven it self And the Primitive Persecutors were wont after they had burnt the Christians to scatter their * Eusebii Hist l. 5. c. 1. ad finem Ashes that so they might render the Resurrection impossible as well as they judg'd the Doctrine of it to be †Celsus apud Origen l. 5. p. 242. ridiculous But Revelation assures us that at the last Day we shall have our Bodies restored with great Advantage for they shall be of so great Purity and Fineness of Composition as to be subject to no Wastes need no Repairs be liable to no Necessities suggest no bad Thoughts and be the Seat of no Diseases or Deformities These vile and base Bodies shall then become bright and glorious These earthly and fleshly ones shall become spiritual and heavenly These weak and infirm ones shall become active strong and nimble as the Wing of an Angel 1 Cor. 15. These mortal ones shall put on Immortality And these corruptible ones shall put on Incorruption For so shall be the Resurrection of the Just They shall be made like to the glorious Body of our dear Redeemer Phil. 3.21 be bright Mirrours and everlasting Monuments of the Infinite Power of God wherein it shall be seen what he is able to do by the working of that mighty Power of his whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself Yea such glorious Creatures shall holy Men be at the last Day both in Soul and Body too that the Angels shall stand amazed at them And Christ shall be admired in his Saints 2 Thess 1.10 and glorified in all them that do believe in that day III. § III Natural Light and Reason can't assure us that all this Happiness shall be Eternal and Unchangeable Many of the Heathen Philosophers were so far from believing this that they had contrary Apprehensions Aristotle for a long time the great Idol of the Learned World tho' so famous for all sorts of Learning and tho' he hath given us the best System of Ethicks yet is supposed to have pluck'd this up by the Roots and destroyed the very Subject of the Point for he hath been thought to deny the Immortality of the Soul and his Friends have been put to it to clear him Let us consider the Stoicks whether as they came very near to Christianity in their Moral Precepts they also do the same as to this grand Motive and Encouragement to the Practice of them They were so divided in their Sentiments that Learned Men have been almost as much at a Loss to know what Opinion they actually held as they were what was most reasonable to embrace and the one have been as much divided in their Reports as the other in their Sentiments Out of Deference to Authority we must hear the Imperial Philosopher in the first place who proposeth the Question * Antonin us l. 12. §. 5. why the Gods who have order'd all things well and with a singular Love to Mankind have neglected to take care that Men and especially the Good who have maintained as it were a frequent Correspondence with them and by their pious Works and holy Ministrations have been familiar with them that these Men when they are Dead do no longer exist but are extinguish'd for ever Meric Casaubon †In notis in M. Antoninum indeed interprets these Words of the Resurrection of the Body But Learned ‖ De Mente solâ satagit Marcus de Corpore nihil solicitus quod nec se
generous Coriolanus hath these Words If when * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dionys Antiq. Rom. p. 529 530. the frame of the Body whatever that be is destroyed that of the Soul perisheth also and is annihilated I don't see how those can be accounted Happy who having received no Advantage from their Vertue yet perish for it But then as appears from the following Words he did not carry this so far that those great Souls should remain for ever or be Eternally rewarded tho' he saith that some do so think because he thought agreeably to the Sentiments of the Stoicks they would be sufficiently recompenc'd for all their Vertues and Sufferings if they continued only for a Considerable Time in a State of Happiness above and were highly commended here below as it happen'd saith he to that Man Besides these as St. Austin * De Civitate Dei l. 22. c. 28. informs us out of Varro there were a Sort of Men who held that there was a certain great Year when all the same Stars and Planets shall return to the same Configuration and then there shall be a new Production of all Men and all other things again which shall rise up successively in the same manner and all the fame Circumstances wherein they have already appeared So that I shall again begin just as I have lately done to write the very self-same Book on the very same individual Paper with the very self-same Pen and Ink and my Reader be got just to the very self-same place in it where he now is And tho' by the Title which St. Austin from Varro gives them viz. that of Genethliaci one would take 'em to be a despicable sort of Figure-flingers and Conjurers yet they were no less Men than * See for this Dr. Jackson Vol. 3. p. 425. and Hody of the Resurrection à p. 16. ad 23. Plato and Pythagoras and their Followers and the Egyptians and many of the Indian Philosophers and some of the very Stoicks too tho' they derided St. Paul as a Babbler for Preaching the Resurrection in the Christian Sense These Men are far from being agreed about the exact Number of Years when the Stars and Planets shall return exactly to the same Configuration And therefore I can't tell the Reader how often Souls as well as other Beings shall run this Round and like Fairies dance in this imaginary Ring Only for our Comfort we must know that this will be an * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Numenius in Euseb Demonstr l. 15. c. 19. p. 821. Edit Paris It. Origen c. Celsum l. 4. p. 208. Everlasting Tautology Besides all this there are some Philosophers and St. Austin †Hoc dixerunt valde magni Philosophi St. Aug. de Tempore Serm. 139. It. 142. tells us they are of the highest Form who thought that the Souls of Good Men are a long time at Rest but after a very considerable Time they come down from Heaven and appear in Bodies again And there was yet another Hypothesis which was no Fiction of Virgil's but what he brings in as a known ‖ Dii quibus imperium est animarum umbraeque silentes Et Chaos Phlegethon loca nocte tacentia late Sit mihi fas audita loqui sit numine vestro Pandere res altâ terrâ caligine mersas Virgil Aeneid 6. v. 264. Tradition That the wicked but curable Spirits after they had smarted for their Folly in the infernal Gulf for a thousand Years were like so many Head of Cattle driven to the Waters of * Animae quibus altera Fato Corpora debentur Lethaei ad fluminis undam Securos latices longa oblivia potant Virgil. Aeneid l. 6. v. 713. O Pater anne aliquas ad caelum hinc ire putandum est Sublimes animas iterumque ad tarda reverti Corpora quae lucis miseris tam dira cupido Id. v. 719. Has omnes ubi mille rotam volvêre per annos Lethaeum ad fluvium Deus evocat agmine magno Scilicet immemores supera ut convexa revisant Rursus incipiant in corpora velle reverti Id. v. 748. Lethe where they drank so long till they were perfectly besotted to that degree that they did irrecoverably forget every thing which they had ever done or suffered But as Lucian †De Luctu Tom. 2. p. 428 429. Edit Benedicti wittily observes it fell out very happily for the World that Alcestis and Protesilaus and Theseus and Ulysses slipt by without taking a Cup there or else it had been impossible they should ever have remembred any thing and given us such a particular Account of it as they have done when they return'd to this Earth of ours After this Draught they are received up into Heaven where they enjoy all manner of Happiness till being weary of it the freak takes them to make another Trial of their Fortune here below and so they return to this World again whereupon unless it be a very sorry Heaven indeed they pay very dear for their Folly Thus have the Heathens for want of a Guide from Heaven entertained these so very different and extravagant Notions about it And for any thing that meer Reason can say to the contrary it may be but a short Term of Happiness which we shall enjoy in the other State and that would be a more abundant Recompence than we could pretend to deserve And tho' the Soul being Immaterial is naturally Immortal and hath no contrary Principles of Corruption within yet who can assure us but God may withdraw his Preserving Influence and then our Spirits must fall back again into that primitive Nothing whence they sprung up into Being by his powerful Word of Command Or for any thing we know by Natural Light the other Life as well as this may be a continued State of Trial tho' in better Circumstances and from which we may fall It may often happen among departed Souls what Modern Philosophers have dreamt doth frequently come to pass among the Heavenly Bodies where a Star is many times covered with a rising Scum and over-run with so thick a Scurf as to be degraded into a wandring Planet or a Pilgrim Comet perpetually frisking and bounding from one Vortex to another a long time before its surrounding Crust being broken it recovers its ancient Eminency again But Revelation acquaints us that the time of our Probation ends with this Life The dying Groans of a Saint are the last that ever he shall fetch He shall Sin no more Sorrow no more be Tempted and Afflicted no more His Bliss shall continue without any Interruption and without any End And this tho' but a Circumstance yet is of that Weight that it may justly be esteem'd a considerable Part of the Happiness of Heaven to be secured in the Enjoyment of it without any Fear or Possibility of a Change for ever IV. § IV Natural Light and Reason can't assure us That we shall enjoy this Happiness
immediately after our Death It seems to be too great a Leap for so very imperfect a Soul as every good Man's is in this Life to enter upon so great a Glory forthwith upon its being dislodg'd from the Body We see nothing like this in Nature all Creatures being wont from mean Beginnings gradually to creep on to the Height of their Perfection in a leasurely way by very slow and easy Steps And we have the more reason to think it should be so in the present Case because good Men in this World are not wont to improve very fast in the Divine Life but still they have many Imperfections adhering to them And one of the greatest Signs of their Growth is to be deeply sensible of the Remainders of Corruption which do still hang about them If the Scriptures be laid aside 't is hardly to be supposed that a Soul which has been so long in so muddy and defiled a Vessel can be drawn off from the Body so very clear as to carry no Dregs along with it but that it will need to pass through a great many Purgations before it be thoroughly refined And who can tell how severe and how long a Trial it must endure before it be qualified to receive and fitted to bear so great a Weight of Glory The wisest of the Heathens have thought that none but those who have been perfectly * Socrates in Platonis Phoedone p. 80 113 114. Plat. Gorgias p. 526. purged in this Life can go straightway to Heaven But as for others it would require a very considerable Time to cleanse them from that Dross that sticks to 'em before they can be prepared to enter into it They have fancied that several departed Souls did first wheel and roll about the Earth for †Tully's Somn. Scip. many Ages That some of 'em when deliver'd out of the Body are like poor ‖ Tusc Qu. l. 1. Prisoners who having lain in Irons for a long while can't presently feel their Legs and hardly know how to walk when their Shackles are off Plato was so Extravagant in his Conceits as to affirm that many of them could not recover their * In Phoedro p. 248 249. Wings in a less Space of Time than Ten Thousand Years But the Pinions of some Philosophical Spirits who were Lovers of Wisdom and beautiful Boys would grow considerably faster so that in the Compass of Three Thousand Years they would be capable of flying upwards Tho' as Eusebius * Praep. Evang. l. 13. c. 16. hath well observed we have nothing but his bare Word for all this and herein as well as in many other Points he did notoriously Contradict himself For at another time he makes Socrates tell us They who have committed great Sins but yet curable ones according to the Nature of their Crimes are cast into several Rivers of Fire where they lie for a †In Phoedone p. 113 114. Year according to the Tradition of their Poets and then come to a certain fenny marish place where they pray to those whom they have injured that they may come forth and be received into the Mansions of the Blessed And if their Prayers prevail with these Men they presently are drawn out but otherwise they must lie by it Hermagoras * In Macrob. in Somn. Scip. l. 2. c. 17. a Platonist tells us Guilty Souls are punish'd for infinite Ages before they are deliver'd out of Tartarus and then when they are sufficiently purged they return to Heaven And Virgil saith according to the Platonick Notion that some dirty Souls are hung up a drying †Aliae panduntur inanes Suspensae ad ventos aliis sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igne c. Aeneid l. 6. v. 740. and bleaching in the Wind others which are very foul are rinsed and scoured in the Water but some must be cast into a scorching Fire before their Spots can be clean got out and they be fitted for a Walk in the Elysian Fields to cool and refresh themselves There is one Saying of Socrates that is very fit to be applied to all these Fooleries which Plato makes him deliver even at the end of that very place where he speaks more soberly of this Subject than any-where else as far as I have observed t is this It may be O * In Platonis Gorgiâ p. 527. Callicles these may seem to thee to be Old Wives Fables and thou wilt despise them And it would not be strange if they were despised provided that by all our Search we could any-where find what is better and truer This is not to be found any-where but by Divine Revelation whereby we know and are sure that as soon as ever Good Men die they cease from their Labours When they are absent from the Body they are present with the Lord. It is but departing and being with Christ Angels receive the dislodging holy Soul to convoy it into the Seat of the Blessed How far it is thither and how long an Angel may be in Wafting a holy Soul to that Place is uncertain tho' we may judge the time is but short This Day says Christ to the Penitent Thief when the Day was already far spent shalt thou be with me in Paradise And we find that the Angel Gabriel Dan. 9.21 who at the Beginning of Daniel's Prayer had a Divine Order to fly to him made so great a Dispatch as to be with him about the Time of the Evening-Oblation Now suppose that Prayer of Daniel's to begin early in the Morning for I will allow him to have been up very betimes at his Devotions especially on a solemn Fast as this seems to be yet from thence till Three in the Afternoon which was about the Time of the Evening-Oblation is but a very few Hours The Compass of Time is but very short before a holy Soul enters into the Heavenly Paradise after it has left the Body and it may be it usually arrives there long before the forsaken Carkase is lodged in the Grave without the trouble of any tedious Delays or the Hazard of any new Trial or the Severity of any further Discipline V. § V Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot Certify us what Persons shall enjoy all this Happiness If we were left to the wild Guesses of our own dim-sighted Reason we might well suppose that so great a Glory should be confined to a very few special Favourites and not lie open for All. Some shall be excluded And every Man that knows himself would have been apt to suspect Am not I one of that unhappy Number And especially these three Sorts of Persons would 1. Those that have been very great Sinners either as to the Heinousness of their Crimes or the Time of their continuing Impenitent under them The fabulous and idle Poets indeed have placed the Dog the Bear and the Dragon in the Heavens and succeeding Astronomers have left them in the
For the proposing vast Recompences for very slight and trivial Matters betrays great Want of Judgment in not setting a true value upon things either upon Rewards or Services or both Now by the Law of our Creation we owe God all possible Duty and Obedience a great deal more than the best of us do yield to him And should God have exacted it on the Account of his Sovereign Authority over us without promising us any thing at all much less any great Matters we had been indispensably obliged to it And our best Actions stand in need of Pardon so far are they from deserving to be Crowned Nothing in us or done by us can bear the least Proportion to the Heavenly Glory And therefore that besides a Pardon God should promise us Eternal Life as the Reward of what we do for him is what can hardly enter into our Thoughts But now Revelation does relieve us in this Matter The Scriptures tell us That Christ by his perfect Obedience and Death in our room and stead hath highly Glorified God and his Government and not only redeemed us from Hell and Destruction to which we were liable but also merited Everlasting Glory for us And that the Design of this whole Affair is to magnify the Riches of God's Grace and show the vast Regard he has to the Death and Intercession of his own Son that on his Account he offers such an unspeakable Reward to us Rom. 5.12 That as Sin has reigned unto Death so might Grace reign through Righteousness to Eternal Life by Jesus Christ our Lord. It is not for any Works of Righteousness that we have done or can do it is not because of their Intrinsick Worth that such great Things are given to us Heaven is the Purchase of Christ's Blood it is for His Sake we are accepted and rewarded And so upon our Faith and Obedience we freely receive the Blessings which he hath merited And the more we abound therein the greater is our Reward not because of our Merits but because of God's gracious Promise and Respect to the Blood of his Son for which he assigns us different Degrees of Glory in Proportion to our different Measures of Holiness and Obedience VII § VII I shall add one Consideration more which will equally reach both this and the foregoing Head viz. Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us where Grace is to be had to enable us to perform the Terms on which the Pardon of Sin and the Enjoyment of the Heavenly Glory is suspended Whosoever consults himself the Vanity of his own Mind the Corruption of his own Heart the Turbulency of his Passions the unruliness of his Appetite the Strength of Temptations the Weakness of his Resolutions and the Force of Evil Examples will quickly see an absolute Necessity of a Divine Power to turn him into and keep him in the Paths of Holiness Some Ingenious Men tell us very strange and surprizing Stories of the mighty Strength of Wheels and Pullies and Screws that 't is possible by the Multiplication of them to pull up an Oak by the Roots with a single * Bishop Wilkin's Archimedes p. 96. Hair of a Man's Head lift it up with a Straw or blow it up with ones Breath So that by these Contrivances one of Sampson's Locks when shaven off would have had far greater Strength and done greater Wonders than he himself when all of them were on As Extravagant as this may seem to be yet 't is much more easy and likely than for any Man by his own feeble Arm to pluck up those inveterate Evil Habits which Time and Custom have settled in him and made natural to him Now what well-grounded Confidence can we have from the meer Light of Nature of Divine Help for the accomplishing this great and necessary Work Whether any shall ever enjoy it seeing the same Sins that make us need it render us most unworthy of it Or in what Proportions it shall be given forth and how long it shall be continued Whether the Spirit of God shall be like those Periodical Winds which in some Parts of the World do annually blow to help the Mariner forward in the pursuit of his gainful Voyage or whether it shall only be like that bright Minute which Astrologers tell us of that comes but once in the whole Compass of a Man's Life and which if he lazily let slip he shall never have such another but is doom'd to Misery by a Fatal Necessity all the remainder of his Days But the Christian Institution is peculiarly called the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3.8 c. as contra-distinguish'd from the Judaical one tho' that also had God for its Author so small a Portion of it was given forth under the one like little Drops of the Dew from Heaven which just wets the Ground in Comparison of what is bestowed under the other like a plentiful Shower of Rain from above that abundanly Waters it It was in the New Creation as in the Old The cold and dark Evening went before the warm and bright Morning and God appointed the lesser Light to Rule the Night and the greater one to govern the Day The Jewish Dispensation like the Moon had its Glory and its Influence on these lower Bodies But the Gospel is like the Sun who may with more reason than any thing which some Ancient Philosophers dreamt of be called the Soul of the World whose bright and warm Beams give a new Life and Being to all things here below awaken the sleepy and drowsy Spirit in every Creature and cause the Fruits of the Ground to Spring up and flourish and Crown the Year with an abundant Increase Therefore our Blessed Saviour stiles himself the Light of the World Joh. 8.12 a Title which he doth deserve because of the Objects that he hath informed us of having set those Old Truths which before were but darkly apprehended in a full and clear Light and acquainted us with those New ones which had it not been for him we had for ever remained Igrant of And he doth deserve it no less because of that Vital Influence with which his Heavenly Doctrine is accompanied without which all Knowledge in our Minds would be but like decayed Drugs which tho' taken into our Bodies having lost all their Virtue never operate upon them nay Men could not act worse if they verily believed or knew those Doctrines to be false than they do now they believe and know them to be true Joh. 1.4 Ephes 5.14 His Light is the Life of Men Wherefore he saith Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the Dead and Christ shall give thee Light And by the Scriptures we are certified that God hath appointed his own Son to be his High Almoner to distribute this Royal Gift of his among us his needy Creatures That being God and Man he hath the Infinite Goodness of the one and the tender Bowels of the other united in him And