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spirit_n	able_a	according_a	action_n	37	3	5.7600	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A76312	The grounds and foundation of natural religion, discover'd, in the principal branches of it in opposition to the prevailing notions of the modern scepticks and latitudinarians. With an introduction concerning the necessity of revealed religion. By Tho. Beconsall, B.D. and fellow of Brasenose Colledge, in Oxford.	Becconsall, Thomas, d. 1709.	1698 (1698)	Wing B1657aA; ESTC R223530	119,538	326

For first it must be confessed whilst Lust and exorbitant Appetites maintain their Ground a biassed Judgment at least cannot escape being chained to their Interest but these seem to depend upon the Health and Vigour of the Animal part As this is shocked or enervated whether thro' Age or sickness so these must decline and suffer Disgrace And therefore as the hear of Lust expires so the Judgment or Understanding will in proportion be discharged from her Fetters she will view things with a new aspect not thro' the Steams of Lust and as it were thro' a Glass darkly but Face to Face and in their naked Shapes and Features and consequently our Reflections on past Actions will be formed upon new Measures and Principles she 'll be able to discern the true Ends and Interests of Humane Nature and thereupon bring all her Actions to the Test of this Rule and this cannot fail to beget new Perswasions and Convictions according to the primitive Oeconomy of Conscience so that it is not a fit of Melancholy the effect of depauperated Spirits no otherwise than a an expiring Vapour is the cause of Light which before it obstructed but the returns of Natural Conscience acted upon a right Basis and exerting it self according to that frame in which it was created Thus much the Latitudinarian may discern from the Natural efficacy of Things But besides all this he may very well allow this wonderful change to be in some measure compleated by the concurrence of supernatural causes If God upon a long train of unrelenting impiety has at last consigned a Man over to irretrievable destruction I would fain know why he may not suffer the Devil or some of his Spiritual Crew to display before his Mind a Scheme of his past Actions No one can question but that Order of Spirits can converse with Spirits or make their applications to a Spiritual Being and consequently that he can if permitted excite such Motions and suggest such Ideas as will revive the most considerable minutes of our whole Lives and enable us to bring 'em to a new Test and view 'em in their proper Lineaments and proportions and consequently as they appear to clash with the Line of Duty plunge a Soul into the most direful Agonies and Convulsions This is but a kind of Anticipation of that future misery which I 'm confident he will be the Instrument to enhance upon all Reprobate Sinners But on the other hand if the patience and long-suffering of God extends to the leading a Soul to repentance who can dispute the Divine Influences of the Holy Spirit in bringing all past Actions to our remembrance He can discover such minute circumstances as will recover lost Ideas He can excite such Meditations and Thoughts as will suggest the true Rule of Action and Line of Duty and consequently such as will necessitate the Mind to pass Sentence on every Action pursuant to it It 's an Undisputed Truth that the Holy Spirit can move and excite the Powers of the Soul by a spiritual kind of Converse as effectually as the Rhetorick and perswasives of fellow Creatures that must be Transmitted by Sounds thro' material Organs and Vehicles This is an Assertion so clear and indisputable that I can see no reason why those ministring Spirits the blessed Angels by the divine Appointment may not be allowed capable of maintaining Intercourses of this nature even with this lower World since it only places their Power upon a level with accursed Spirits who have on all hands a Power attributed to 'em of influencing the Souls as well as Bodies of Men. And certainly God whose infinite Knowledge and Wisdom enables him to adapt all his divine Succours to sutable Seasons and Opportunities could not exert 'em better than when the Animal Part is disabled by Age Sickness or other humane Calamities And certainly its highly agreeable to the divine Wisdom when a Change of Mind and Conscience is wrought to give 'em a deep sense of their Folly and Error and consequently to throw 'em into the severest Agonies and Convulsions before he raises 'em up by his special Restoratives the refreshings of the Lord. And now certainly we have foundation enough to answer for the Contradictions of Conscience and at the same time assert the Divine Oeconomy of it This is an Hypothesis cannot be disputed in a state of Revelation And tho' in a state of Nature God has not covenanted to govern Mankind by spiritual Succours or the Effusions of his Holy Spirit on the hearts of Men yet I do not find he has any where bound himself to the contrary and it s highly probable his infinite Goodness and Wisdom may sometime incline him to dispense his Favours on this part of his Off-spring and consequently contribute to the Establishment of Conscience upon its true foundation I mean according to the primitive Model and Oeconomy of it CHAP. XXI Of the Evidence of future Rewards and Punishments from the Presages of Natural Conscience THat Mankind was Originally Formed and Created under the Conduct of a Law and that Rewards and Punishments are ascertained to the Observance or Violation of this Law has already been proved beyond any just colour of Dispute That which remains is to fix the Stage where this great Scene shall be displayed and a Formal Distribution Transacted Now I am perswaded it will be easily granted that Rewards and Punishments cannot well be Executed in this State of Life For first the Established Coercive Powers of this World can by no means pretend to it they can determine nothing beyond the Surface or External parts of the Action And these must be handed to them upon the evidence of Senses the Authority of Circumstances and the Veracity of Men and Sinners so that very often the Innocent is Sentenced to Act his Part in Sufferings in the room of the Guilty By this means the substantial parts of the Action lie Dormant and escape the most subtle Remarks and Censures of Mankind so that there may be a Thousand whited Sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead Mens Bones and of all uncleanness But this is not all for must we not admit a vast Scroul of Enormities that the nicest observations can never pretend to reach or fathom some that are sheltered by Studied Retreats and Privacies others by passing no further than Thought or Intention and the inward Workings of the Mind so that it 's impossible that any thing less than an infinite Power or a Searcher of Hearts and Reins can pretend to state the Deservings of Men and adjust an Allotment of Rewards and Punishments in proportion to them Indeed an All-wise Creator that knoweth the very Thoughts long before is abundantly qualified to finish his Dispensations of this kind even in this Life But yet in Crimes that are Publick and Notorious we sometimes see the Authors pass off the Stage of the World without any visible Marks of Divine Vengeance at least

despicable for want of Honesty as Sense This is the Work of Heaven God is able as well as faithful to accomplish it in his own good time If the following Papers fall into the Hands of Men of these Sentiments I can assure them they 'll find nothing of the Imaginary Arts or Mystery of Priestcraft nothing of any designing Leader nothing peculiar to the wary Guardians of Creeds and Profitable Inventions so often hinted by the late Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity But if any thing offers itself that cannot well be digested I shall freely embrace a fair and pertinent Answer and endeavour to make such Returns as I hope may at last beget full Convicton on both sides THE CONTENTS OF The Introduction OF the State of Man before the Fall § 1. Of Original Corruption the Nature Rise and Propagation of it § 2. The Necessity of Revelation asserted with respect to our Attainments in Knowledge § 3 4. From the Defects of Natural Religion § 5. In reference to Practice § 6. From the Necessity of a Mediator § 7. The Deists Objection answered § 8. THE CONTENTS of the BOOK A Law of Nature antecedent to Revelation Chap. 1. Proved from Scripture § 1. That Man naturaly Thinks and Reasons § 2. That Man Thinks and Reasons in a fixed determinate Way § 3. The Subject-matter of Laws of Nature discoverable by Natural Reason § 4. The Divine Authority of Laws of Nature discoverable by Natural Reason § 5. Proved from the Divine Attributes and Perfections § 5. From the Ends and Designs of Created Beings § 6. From those natural Rewards and Punishments that flow from 'em § 7. From Scripture § 8. Objections answered Chap. 2. Of the true Origin of Error § 1 2. Of the Argument of Vniversal Consent the Nature Validity and Extent of it Chap. 3. Reflections on what Mr. Lock has offered against it § 1. Reflections on some Passages in the Conference with a Theist Chap. 4. Of the Distinction of Laws of Nature from Positive or Written Laws Chap. 5. Where the Nature of 'em is more fully represented § 1. Reflections on Mr. Lock 's Arguments against Innate Ideas or Practical Principles and the Controversie determined Chap. 6. Of the different Degrees of the Evidence of Laws of Nature Chap. 7. Of the Foundation of God's Right of Dominion and our Duty of Allegiance as a Law-giver Chap. 8. A Right of Obliging distinguished from a Power of Obliging § 1. A Right of Obliging does not consist in a Power of Contributing to our Happiness or Misery § 2. All Right of Dominion derives from God § 3. God's Right of Dominion primarily founded in his creative and preserving Power § 4. Objections answered § 5. The Certainty of Rewards and Punishments Chap. 9. That God has a Right to Reward and Punish § 1. The Certainty proved from the general End and Intention of all Law-givers § 2. From the Nature of God's Laws and Man to whom they are given § 3. And the Nature of God that gave them § 4. Of the Original of a Parental Duty Love and Affection and Filial Reverence and Duty Chap. 10. The Affection of Brutes towards their own Off-spring not the Work of Reason but of certain Animal Sensations § 1. The Springs of Paternal Affection ib. Filial Reverence and Duty founded in the Act of Generation as well as Preserving Power § 2. Founded in the same Principles with Paternal Affection § 3. A Paternal Power originally includes a Kingly Power § 4. Reflections on some Passages in Mr. Lock 's Essay of Humane Vnderstanding and a Treatise of Government in 2 Parts Chap. 11. The Power of a Mother no Objection against the Civil Jurisdiction of the Paternal Power § 2. The Commanding Power of the Parent not Temporary § 3. Maturity did not place the Sons of Adam in an unlimited State of Freedom § 4. Natural Freedom not inconsistent with Civil Government ib. The Absurdities against this Author's Hypothesis represented § 5 6. Natural Allegiance asserted § 6. No Body of Men since the Creation regularly and de jure in a State of Nature such as this Author supposes Of the Nature of Moral Good and Evil Chap. 12. The Subject-matter and formal Reasons of Moral Good § 1 2. Of the true Measures of Moral Goodness Chap. 13. Pleasure whether of Body or Mind not the Measure of Moral Goodness § 1. The Conformity of Actions to the Ends of Society not the Measure of moral Goodness § 3. Conformity of Actions to a Law abstracting from the Intrinsick Rectitude of it not the Measure of Moral Goodness § 3. The original Frame Ends and Interests of our Beings the true Measure of Moral Goodness § 4. Of the eternal and unalterable Distinctions of Moral Goodness Chap. 14. Reflections on Mr. Lock 's Law of Fashion Chap. 15. His Design not barely to enumerate Moral Ideas § 1. No Necessity for assigning a Law of Fashion § 2. The true Notion of Vertue and Vice by him Mis-represented § 3. Of the Nature of Conscience in general Chap. 16. Reflections on Mr. Lock 's Description of Conscience Chap. 17. Of the Foundation and Authority of Conscience in the Original O Economy of it Chap. 18. The Truth and Certainty of Natural Conscience demonstrated against the Latitudinarian and Vnbeliever Chap. 19. The Vneasiness of Mind under Sickness or the Approaches of Death resolved into the Gripes and Convulsions of Conscience Chap. 20. Of the Evidence of future Rewards and Punishments from the Presages of Natural Conscience Chap. 21. How far Conscience shall be a Measure of the Divine Justice in the Distribution of Future Punishments Chap. 22. Some further Remarks on Mr. Lock 's Notions on this Argument § 2. The Conclusion THE INTRODUCTION Concerning the Necessity of REVELATION IT may perhaps seem a very improper Entertainment to the Christian World to establish a Line of Duty from the Records of the Book of Nature when we enjoy a more sure Word of Prophecy or Form of sound Doctrine which is able to make us wise unto Salvation or to delineate the Features of Moral Good and Evil when Life and Immortality are brought to light through the Gospel or in a word to dwell on the Infant-principles of Religion when we may go on unto Perfection But certainly the Spirit and Temper peculiar to the Age we live in is abundantly sufficient to suggest an Apology Are we not professedly Attack'd as to the Truth and Authority of Revelation and the Whole of Religion resolved into a Set of Moral Rules and Maxims And tho' others as yet cannot Discard all Revealed Truths yet they act as if they were Advocates for the Cause whilst they allow no other Rise or Original to Moral Rules and Maxims than Custom Education and a few unaccountable Traditions These are Mens Proceedings which seem to be embarked in the same Design viz. The Subversion of all Religion Our holy Religion is by this means stript of its most convincing Arguments for

Paradise may justly be presumed to be a kind of Terrestrial State of Vision and therefore God no doubt discovered himself in frequent Adumbrations of his Divine Presence and vouchsafed several special Revelations and his Divine Succours These may perhaps be thought unnecessary Dispensations in a State of unspotted Innocence and Integrity But certainly tho' Man in his original Frame was endued with a Sufficiency of Power to Decypher the Line of Duty as well as Propensions and Dispositions to observe and walk up to it yet such gracious Communications were in some measure necessary to maintain a deep Sense of the Majesty and Authority of our Maker and consequently a deep Sense of Duty and Obedience to maintain a deep Sense of the Goodness and Purity of God and consequently possess the Mind with an incessant Desire to act in Conformity to his most sacred Will Again necessary they were to arm those native Powers and Propensions with double Force and Activity to unite and fix 'em on their proper Object the Glory and Perfections of their Maker the Pursuit of Truth and Divine Knowledge and consequently to engage a Perseverance in the Line of Duty with the utmost Constancy and Resolution These were nodoubt the surprizing Felicities of Paradise And they are such as almost placed him out of the possibility of a Miscarriage had he not in some unguarded Minute fell in with a subtle indefatigable Impostor For without some such Misfortune he could not have failed in retaining a perpetual Sense of Duty and Obedience and persevering in it any more than in a discovery of the full Line of Duty § 2. But now Experience as well as Reason too fatally assure us there 's a powerful and almost irresistible Bias on the Animal Part that bears an older Date than Custom or Education can pretend to give a Bias that discovers itself in the first Efforts of Infancy a Bias that can never be perfectly regulated or corrected even by the most exquisite Arts of Education When the Powers of Nature seem to exist as it were in sieri folded up in Impotency and Imperfection and consequently one would think liable to be molded at Pleasure yet we find this Bias endu'd as it were with a Gygantick Strength able to resist the most powerful Antidotes obstinate under Commands and untractable under Counsels or Persuasives In a word it has introduced an internal Rupture in the whole Frame of Man renders him a kind of unnatural Production acted by two opposite Principles contending for two different Ends and Interests and agreeable to the sacred Language it has raised an intestine and eternal War for its a Law in our Members warring against the Law of our Mind Rom. 7.23 So that Man is certainly sunk in his original Frame and lapsed into a State of Corruption and Degeneracy This is Truth so clear and unquestionable that the most discerning Heathens have given Testimony to the Substance of it They all found it wove in with their Natures and discovering itself not only in inward Motions and Propensions but mixing itself in their most exalted Actions It 's true they were perplexed in accounting for its Original yet they all saw it in its Effects and Consequences Their Opinions were various however I shall mention the chief of 'em Plutarch charges the Stoicks with ascribing Evil as well as Good to God's Providence and arraigns it as the height of Absurdities See his Tract Adversus Stoicos * P. 1065. Ed. Par. 1624. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If this were true why should they be more concerned to dispense Good rather than Evil or how is it possible that Evil should be hateful to ' em This indeed was an Opinion extremely gross and consequently rejected by the most discerning Sages However Gellius pursuant to this delivers it as the Opinion of Chrysippus This is the very Opinion which Plutarch ingeniously exposes Ib. That Vice sprang from Vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dum virtus hominibus per consilium naturae gignitur vitia ibidem per affinitatem contraria nata sunt But the most general Opinion was That Good and Evil proceeded from two distinct Principles Hence Plutarch gives it as a most ancient Tradition recited by Divines and Law-givers and transmitted to Poets and Philosophers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose Authority is not to be traced That there was not one only Supream Governing Principle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And from the Eternal Mixture of Good and Evil as well as the Imperfection and Allay of Good concludes We are acted by two contrary Principles the one conducting or tolling us on in a true and direct Path and the other haling us back again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nay he further argues If nothing can exist without a Cause and Good cannot be the Cause of Evil there must be a peculiar Principle of Evil as well as Good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Iside Osyride Page 369. But further not to dwell too long upon Authorities it 's well known it was an ancient Doctrine among the Heathens to ascribe the Origine of Evil to certain malevolent Spirits called Daemons or Manes that could exercise a Power over the Minds as well as Bodies of Men and dispose and incline them to evil Actions Plutarch in this very Treatise gives a full Account of the Notion and the Nature of 'em nay he delivers it as the Doctrine of Plato Pythagoras Zenocrates and Chrysippus following that of the Ancient Divines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ib. p. 360. The Opinion of Zenocrates is very remarkable who attributes Obsceneness Irreligion and other Evils to certain powerful malevolent Spirits inhabiting the Region of the Air that take Delight in such Things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It 's well known the Romans constantly ascribed the Regimen of their Actions to their proper Genius assigning two to every particular Person These did not only attend 'em from their Birth and suggest Things to the Mind but contributed to the forming their very Constitutions Indeed it 's highly probable these were Traditions transmitted from the Greeks to the Romans and from the Egyptians to the Greeks and all founded in the History of the Fall of Man And truly Hierocles agreeably to his other Divine Flights describes the Degeneracy of Mankind in such a lively manner as if he had taken it from the revealed Canon In the first place he describes Man in his Original Composition to be Pure and Vncorrupt in both Parts of him and the express Image of his Maker 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hier. Comment in Pythag. Carm. p. 17. Ed. Lond. 1673. After this in his Comment on the Nature and Frame of Man with respect to the Rise or Origine of Good and Evil he represents with what a powerful Impulse we are carried into Evil and pronounces it to be the Effect of a wilful Apostasie and Revolt from God and his Society Even a Society which we once enjoyed in pure Light 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉

an Instrument of future Condemnation as well as Misery we must conclude that it will be one and the same Conscience acted by the same Measures and Principles and of the same Extent and Latitude and consequently a Conscience cleared from all Error and Mistake Partiality or Connivance and in a Word a Conscience established according to the Divine Oeconomy of it the Law of God and the eternal Measures of Moral Goodness and Duty This is that Candle of the Lord as the Wiseman expresses it that will display its Light into the deepest recesses of the Heart and Search into the inward parts of the Belly Prov. 20.27 In a Word it will be the inward Voice or Word of God quick and powerful and Sharper than any two Edged Sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the Joynts and Marrow and is a discerner of the Thoughts and intents of the Heart Heb. 4.12 § 2. From what hath been said it may not be improper to make some further Remarks upon Mr. Lock 's Notions of Conscience It 's observable Mr. Lock makes Consciousness and Conscience the same and Conscience to consist in nothing else but our own Opinions of our own Actions and pursuant to this he affirms that in personal Identity which he makes to consist in Consciousness is founded all the Right and Justice of Favour Rewards and Punishment Book 2. c. 27. § 18. But certainly the Conscience that will prevail in the great day will not be any Opinions we have entertained of Actions when Committed tho' taken up at large No we shall then be acted by no other Opinions but those of a regulated Conscience and they shall sit as Judges even over former Opinions that were engendered by Neglect or Carelessness and nothing but invincible Ignorance or sincere Repentance can deliver us from its Dominion This is indisputably evident from the Regulations of Conscience that shall be made according to the divine Oeconomy of it whereby our Opinions of past Actions shall not be measured by former Convictions but by the conformity of our Actions to the true Line of Duty or means of Information Again that consciousness which some Men might be under when Enormities were committed cannot be the foundation of future Punishment but that Consciousness of past Actions which will arise from a regulated Conscience For it is concluded that we may become conscious of Enormities committed of which we were not conscious when committed and conscious of others by wrong Measures and Convictions but it will be that Consciousness and those Convictions we are under at the Great Tribunal and result from a regulated Conscience that will be the measure of a final Absolution or Condemnation And certainly if Mr. Lock will not suffer his Notions to be guarded by these limitations he must pardon me if I cannot comply with 'em or cannot but esteem 'em dangerous and false On this account I cannot suffer an Instance that seems to interfere with what is asserted pass off without a few Remarks Mr. Lock in order to the establishing his Notion of Personal Identity brings in Enormities committed in Dunkenness of which a Man is not conscious and places them upon a level with those committed by a Man in his sleep making him no more answerable for the one than the other He indeed makes the Drunkard in this case obnoxious to the Civil Laws for no other reason but Because in these cases they cannot distinguish what is Real from what is Counterfeit and so the Ignorance in Drunkenness or Sleep is not admitted as a Plea But in the great Day wherein the Secrets of all Hearts shall be laid open it may be reasonable to think no one shall be made to Answer for what he knows nothing of but shall receive his Doom his own Conscience accusing or excusing him See Sect. 22. Book 2. Chap. 27. Here are a great many Passages that look with a very evil Aspect and therefore I shall say something to each in their order And first I think this Author has drawn a very unjust Parallel between Crimes committed in Sleep and Dunkenness It 's well known that Sleep is a thing entailed on us as a Law even a Law established in the frame of our Beings and commences upon the necessities of corruptible Nature and therefore if Mischief accidently follows it cannot well be imputed because it is founded in a Cause or Principle that is inseparable from Humane Nature or rather is an Appendage of the most necessary Powers of it that set us on a level with Brutes and consequently the Actions that flow from it cannot be imputed But I hope this Author cannot plead a necessity of Nature for Drunkenness A quantity of generous Liquor may sometimes be required for the actuating the Spirits but never to intoxicate unman or drown the Reason In a word Drunkenness argues a willful neglect in humane Conduct and as such is an Act of a free Agent and consequently the Actions that flow from it tho' destitute of Choice or Deliberation are justly imputed For in order to the imputing or charging an Action upon us it is not necessary that it should proceed from the free exercise of Reason or previous Deliberation at the very Moment when Committed It is sufficient that it 's owing to a Cause that is to be esteemed truly Deliberate and Wilful If this were not so it 's impossible any Sin of Ignorance can be Culpable a Position so wide from the line of Christian Duty that every Heathen Moralist will teach this Author the Absurdity of it I shall for once Refer him to Aristotle because he has culled out the case of Drunkenness to confirm the Doctrine He assures us Ignorance is Punishable whenever the cause of it can be charged upon us and for this Reason pronounces Crimes committed in Drunkenness liable to double Punishment 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ethic. ad Nichom Lib. 3. Chap 7. But to proceed As for the practice of Civil Governments in punishing Crimes committed when Disguised by Drink he has shamefully Misrepresented it when he Suggests that the only Reason is because they cannot distinguish what is Real from what is Counterfeit and so the Ignorance in Drunkenness or Sleep is not admitted as a Plea It 's a known truth that Civil Judicatures take cognizance of nothing but the outward Act and when this appears they constantly ascribe the internal Principles of the Action Knowledge and Freedom where the Criminal is under no Natural Disabilities so that the Reasons that induce them to proceed to Censure in cases of this Nature can be no other but those which this excellent Moralist has assigned for every such Criminal has 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tho' he was not Master of himself when the Fact was committed yet he is Acted by a Principle that made him Master of the cause of it and consequently the Government may exercise a Right of Punishment Again