the Dead dwell in us he that rais'd Christ from the Dead shall also quicken our mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in us So that a Resurrection of the Body is not only possible and highly probable but upon the prospects of the Divine Promises and Predictions certain As there shall thus be a Resurrection of the Body so Secondly This Resurrection shall be of the Body only And this Restriction is necessary to the overthrowing of an Opinion That the Souls of Men perish with their Bodies but yet so that both should be rais'd again at the last Day That they should both sleep in Darkness till the last Alarm and should both rise again at the finishing of all Things This Opinion was first started by some Arabian Bishops as we are inform'd by Eusebius St. Austin and Nicephorus and has been more vigorously in later times defended by great Pretenders to Reason Thus * Exam. 157 Err. p. 49. single â—dit Smalcius concludes That the Souls of the Saints are in a state of Sleep and suffer a kind of Annihilation and therefore are to be rais'd with the Body That †Contra Frantzium p. 409. it is doubtful whether the Spirit when it is parted from the Body can perceive any thing and whether it is capable of Pleasure till it is join'd with the glorify'd Body And in another * Contra Smiglec de Err. Arian c. 14. p. 149. place he expresly denies the Soul's resenting any Pleasure or Trouble without the Body Thus Crellius in his * c. 19. p. 134. Treatise concerning God and the Divine Attributes defines Angels in opposition to Men to be Spirits so perfect that they can subsist and act without a Body whereas an human Soul cannot And it may perhaps be enquir'd Whether the ingenious Hypotheses of late which have seem'd to level the distinction between different Species of Substance and so to break down the Boundaries between Spirit and Body have not help'd to abet this Opinion But to reply to this Fancy concerning the Sleep of the Soul In our Saviour's account of the different Fates of Lazarus and the Rich Man we find that the former was immediately convey'd to Bliss and the latter to Misery And granting that this is only a Parable or general Resemblance yet that it was an History of things truly transacted is the Opinion of * Ambros in Luc. Iertull lib. 4. contra Marcion Hilar. Enarrat in Psalm several of extraordinary Note yet the main design of it must be founded upon the Nature of Things and must shew that the distance is extreamly small between the Soul 's quitting the Body and its being transported to its final State Thus the Penitent Thief who was Crucify'd with our Saviour ascends forthwith after his Death from the Pains and Tortures of the Cross to the Joys of Paradise This Sleep or Rest of the Soul is chiefly grounded upon that usual Metaphor in Holy Writ by which Death is resembled to Sleep But the Scripture does not apply it to the Soul but the Body resting in the Grave that it may be awaken'd to a Resurrection For this would be wholly inconsistent with the Apostle's Assertion where he says that While we are at home in the Body we are absent from the Lord and that so soon as we are departed out of the Body we shall be present with the Lord. For to be with the Lord must imply a state of Felicity which Sleep is not but only of Inactivity and the Apostle's Argument would lose its force and would be no encouragement against the Terrours of Death if so soon as we are dead we should fall asleep sink into a Condition of Insensibility and till the Resurrection Be as if we were not at all The Soul therefore is not rais'd with the Body but is call'd from a state of Bliss or Woe to which it was remov'd immediately upon its separation from it to resume its ancient Mansion As this Resurrection is of the Body only so Thirdly This Resurrection shall be of the same Body from which the Soul was separated Which Conclusion bears a direct opposition to the Socinian Doctrin which affirms either that the Body some time before the Resurrection shall be * Smalc Exam. 100. Err. p. 33. de Divinit Christi c. 13. p. 79. annihilated by a Divine Power or if it is not thus annihilated yet that God will only raise a †Exam. 100. Err. p. 36. certain quantity of Matter sufficient to make up the Bodies of all Mankind and promiscuously infuse the Souls into it after that he has Organiz'd it fit for their reception But that the Bodies of the Dead shall be annihilated some time before the Resurrection is both against Revelation and against what some of our Adversaries seem more to admire Philosophy 'T is against Philosophy for the Divine Plato stiles Death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which only supposes a separation of both parts not an Annihilation of either Thus in another place he affirms * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato in Timaeo tom 3. p 72. â— dit Serrant That when Death arrives the Fibres and Strings by which the Soul acted break and untwist just like the Rudder-bands of a Ship and she that is the Soul is left alone to roam at liberty and at random Against Revelation for the Scripture calls Death a returning to Dust a seeing of Corruption a sleeping Now that which returns to Dust which is corrupted which sleeps in the secret Repositories of Nature cannot be in a State of Non-existence It must have a Being how ignoble soever it is and how much soever changed from what it was in its State of Life Nor secondly is any other Matter rais'd and united to the Soul besides what fell How hard soever it is to settle the bounds of Identity and granting those Instances of Self-consciousness being united to all those different Subjects to make the same Person which one of the greatest Philosophers of our Age in his †◠â—ock's â—ssay Book 2. Chap. 27. Essay concerning Human Vnderstanding hints at yet this does not affect the Identity of the Rising Body For the Enquiry is not Whether the same Self-consciousness join'd to different Matter makes the same Person but Whether it is more suitable to the Doctrin of the Resurrection that God will raise the same or another Matter and unite it to the same self-conscious Principle That God will raise the same Body which fell seems most agreeable to Truth for most of those Arguments which prove that the Body shall rise at all seem to manifest also That the same Body shall rise For in the Identity of the Rising Body is founded all the Right and Justice of Rewards and Punishments Happiness and Misery which regard the Body For why should Man be blest for those Virtues in one Body which he practic'd in another Or why should this Body be tortur'd for Crimes committed in that Why should God
and if Christ is honour'd with such a Worship it follows that Christ must be truly God But nothing can be worship'd with Divine Worship but God himself For every act which signifies an Honour peculiar to God signifies also an Excellence which belongs to none but him and to ascribe Divine Honour to any Object is at the same time to attribute Divine Perfections to it The Command of worshiping the Lord our God and of serving him only was not a Temporary Command which as some pretend Volkel de ver Rel. l. 5. 6. 29. oblig'd purely under the Old Testament but is a standing Rule for Divine Worship under the Gospel as well as under the Law For our Saviour did not abrogate any Branch of the Law but what was meerly Typical But how could a Precept for Divine Worship be a Type What could it represent or figure out in the Evangelical Occonomy But 't is farther reply'd That in worshiping Christ we worship the Father by whom he was endued with such a Power and that this is the difference between the Worship of God and of Christ That the Worship of the former is circumscrib'd and bounded within Himself whereas that of the batter is only relative or as others term it God is worship'd as Jo. Lud. Wolzogen on Matth 4. 10. p. 189. the supreme cause of All things as the first Author of our Salvation but Christ only as the Means which God had appoinied to bring about that miraculous Work But this way of reasoning does not only conclude for the worshiping of Christ but of any other extraordinary Instrument of Man's Salvation The Apostles themselves on this account might have been ador'd as well as their Divine Lord and Master And St. Peter was not justly acquainted with the Privileges annex'd to his Apostleship when he reprimanded the devout Centurion for falling down at his feet and worshiping him The chief Objection which can be form'd against this Argument is That Angels have had Divine Smalc Hom. 1. in 1 Job Worship paid them by the Patriarchs and therefore Divine Worship may be given to others besides God To this the Orthodox Junius Piscator and others reply and even the Socinians themselves grant that these Angels were God or the Messias himself That he on some great design assum'd an Angelick Form as he did afterwards for Man's Salvation an Human Nature and therefore the paying of Divine Worship to Him was no alienation of it from God But upon a due enquiry it will appear that this is more than the Orthodox ought to have said or than the Socinians had reason to have allow'd For these Celestial Beings mention'd in Scripture if ever yet certainly were not always the Messias but sometimes at least as they are expresl Angels For as the Messias never took on him the Nature of Angels so neither did he in all these places of Seripture their Appearance For the Apostle St. Paul with a great deal of Elegance and equal Passion recommending the Virtue of Hospitality in allusion to these Texts of Scripture says That some of the Patriarchs in practising it had entertained Angels unawares But would not his Reason have had much more force as well as beauty if they had entertain'd God or the Messias himself unawares What cause had he to dissemble the dignity-of the Person who vouchsafed to visit these hospitable Roofs and do an injury if not to the Truth at least to his Subject But to return Why should this Veneration which was paid to the Angels be any thing more than a Civil Honour and Deference exprest indeed after an extraordinary manner on account of the greatness of the Persons and the glorious import of their Message So that from hence cannot be deduc'd any Worship due to Angels nor have we hence any reason to conclude that any thing is to be worship'd besides God alone As it is thus plain that God only is to be worship'd so is it equally so that Christ may be honour'd with Divine Worship For it is made part of the terms of Salvation to worship him â—â— for Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved Where Lord can only be apply'd to our Saviour Jesus and not to God the Father since it agrees only to Him who in the former part of the Discourse was by the Apostle styl'd a stumbling stone and a rook of offence which cannot fute with God the Father who was own'd by all Nations without the least scruple And it is farther to be observ'd that these words are cited from the Prophet Joel where the word Lord is Jehovab God by Nature Being and Essence not a Creature invested with Divinity according to the new fancy of our Adversaries Secondly St. Paul ushers in most of his Epistles with this Prayer full of Charity Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christs combineing Jesus with God the Father which had been the highest injury to the former had the latter only been a Creature how exalted soever his Rank might have been to have jointly petition'd him to have given Grace and Peace to the Saints And tho' to this it is return'd That St. John in the Revelation might by the same reason be said to pray to the seven Spirits which were before the Throne of God and so have equal'd them with God Yet this objection will rather support our Reasons when we consider that by the seven Spirits are to be understood the Holy Ghost and its seven-fold Gifts as they are brancht out by the Prophet Isaiah into The Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding the Spirit of Counsel and Might the Spirit of Knowledge of Piety and of Fear of the Lord. For otherwise why should St. John place any other Spirits between God and Christ Why should he omit the Holy Ghost the Giver of Grace and address himself to Angels who are but Ministring Spirits So that this instead of overthrowing what was before laid down will be a new Instance of joyning nothing with God but what is God Farther St. Stephen a Man full of Faith and the Holy Ghost recommends his departing Soul to our Saviour as equal to the Father of Spirits with this solemn Invocation Lord Jesus receive my Spirit And tho' to this it is reply'd That this act of St. Stephen ' s can be no Precedent to us because he saw the Heavens open'd and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God yet why should the sight or concealment of the object of our Adoration make it more or less adorable God tho' He is a God who hides himself who tho' He inhabits Regions of Eternal Light is invisible to our Eyes of Flesh yet is He still to be worship'd with the most humble Devotion And as long as we are convinc'd by Faith that Christ is ready to succour us in our Necessities and give us what we ask we have reason enough to Pray to Him tho'
are Eternally punish'd for this sinning were ty'd to the Observance of this Law If they were oblig'd to it once so are the Angels which stand at present for the blessed Angels are just the same now which they were once Tho' now the Objects of God's Eternal Vengeance yet were they once his chief Ministers as much his Favourites as the most spotless most unstain'd of all the Angels ty'd to no other Rules no other Terms of Obedience The Blessed Angels are therefore at present rang'd under the Occonomy of the Moral Law as well as the Cursed were immediately after their Creation and before their Fall which may be farther prov'd by the Analogy that there is between the Moral Law and the Celestial There is the nearest Resemblance and Analogy between the Moral Law and the Celestial whether we consider the Moral Law as it may be reduc'd to One Precept to Two or to Ten. It may be reduc'd to One to that of Love for Love is the fulfilling of the Law But the most perfect Love is display'd in Heaven in the most perfect Charity for tho' Prophecies shall fail tho' Tongues shall cease tho' Knowledge shall vanish away yet Charity never fails but is compleated in Heaven 'T is the bond of Perfectness and in it as in a Center all Duties meet and are accorded The Moral Law may be farther combin'd into Two Precepts Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self for on these Two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets But the Law remains in Heaven under this Character For first The Saints and Angels love their Ever-blessed God with the purest Transports of Devotion they adore him with the most profound Veneration and they serve him with the most faithful Homage Secondly They pursue one another with the most sincere Love and unfeign'd Charity they rejoyce at one another's Happiness and are as unanimous in their Affections towards one another as they are in their Adoration of God But Lastly The Moral Law is dilated into Ten Precepts and under this latitude they are practic'd in Heaven with the utmost vigour Eight of these Precepts are Negative and there is no doubt but that they are observ'd by the Saints and Angels with the greatest accuracy Far be it from those pure Spirits to lift up their Eyes to any God but the True One to detract from or to envy one another to desire what belongs to another no not another's Happiness As to the Affirmative Commands tho' they do not abide literally yet they remain mysteriously because they are chang'd into better The Fourth of the Sabbath or the Lord's Day shall be alter'd into a more noble one for in Heaven there shall be no distinction of Days but all the Rounds of an happy Eternity shall make up one Day which shall not know a second and that wholly appropriated to the Lord one Everlasting Sabbath one Eternal Rest As to the * Affirmativorum sc Praeceptorum erit in beatltudine summa observatio nisi forte illius de Honoratione parentum quia non erit necessitas impendendi hunc actum Scot. l. 3. Sent. d. 38. q. 1. Fifth it shall not be abolished but perfected for tho' all Carnal Relations shall cease as only subservient to the Necessities of this Life yet shall that Honour that Reverence that Obedience which are by the Fifth Commandment peculiarly attributed to Parents become due to all the Saints The force of all is That the Obedience of the Blessed is a just Rule for our Obedience on account of the Matter of it because they practice the same Virtues and practice them by the same Rule which we are oblig'd to God's Will perform'd in Heaven is therefore on this account a just Standard for our accomplishing of it on Earth So is it on account of the Manner of its Performance by the Blessed Saints and Angels which was the Second General So that I shall very briefly shew that they perform God's Will after that Manner as to be just Patterns for us For First They perform it with all possible Chearfulness and Alacrity The Word is no sooner out of God's Mouth but it is also executed and these Ministers of his stay not so long as even to promise Obedience There is not among them any demurring to the quality of the Command or any delay put to the Execution of it by an over-modest representing their own unfitness for their Task They question not at all with God about the suitableness thereof nor yet debate with themselves whether or no or with what Vigour they shall apply themselves to the Execution of it Secondly They perform God's Will uniformly For an imperfect Obedience is in strict speaking no Obedience at all for he who only obeys so far as himself pleases only does God's Will as far as it complies with his own There is this more extensive Proof of the Uniformity of the Angel's Obedience That the greatest part of it is employ'd in discharging such Commands as subject them in some proportion to those Creatures which are plac'd below them Such are those Commands which demand their attendance upon us who are by Creation made somewhat lower than they yet have made our selves much more so by our Sins and Frailties So that it is easy to be imagin'd That had not their Obedience been truly uniform it would not have carried them to a compliance with such Branches of it as seem not fully consistent with the Dignity and Grandeur of their Order and Station Thirdly Their Comportment with the Divine Will is constant and settled and they always discharge the Will of God as well as chearfully and uniformly That Establishment which is destin'd to their Piety by the Election of God will most certainly produce this Constancy Besides this the Scripture displays them as always looking on the Face of God expecting as it were and inviting his Commands or travelling about his Messages as continually descending from Heaven about their Earthly Ministrations or ascending up thither after the Execution of them Fourthly The Obedience of the Angels is as compleat as it is chearful uniform and constant and reaches to every Branch of their Injunction as well as to all God's Commands because as there can be no doubt of their sufficiency for such a Compliance who are so near to the Divine Influences and so gloriously adorn'd by them so the same Reason and Obedience which move them to have a respect to all God's Commands will incite them to have a regard to every the minutest Punctilio as having the same Impress of the same Divine Will stampt upon it A DISCOURSE Concerning The Qualifications of PRAYER Or A Method to Pray in the Spirit Against the Enthusiasts EPHES. Chap. VI. ver 18. Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit AS Religion is the Life of the Soul so is Prayer the vital Spirit of Religion without which it can neither live nor move
these dry Bones shall live and become the same Man they were before their Dissolution And this must appear very easy for the Soul loses nothing by the separation from the Body as the Body does by being parted from the Soul This piece of Divinity within us owes no homage to the Elements nor is liable to be chang'd as they are As to the Souls of the Blessed they pay a constant attendance before the Throne of Grace and are always expecting the joyful Command by which they are oblig'd to a re-union And as to the Souls of the Unhappy they shall be forced unwillingly to re-inspire their unwelcome Mansions to animate once more those Parts which as in tortur'd Men are only new set and compacted to be tormented a new As there is nothing in the Resurrection of the Body which carries the appearance of an Impossibility so Secondly It is in it self very probable and suitable to the Rules of true Reason The ancient Apologists of Christianity defending it against the Heathens usually shew'd the probability of a Resurrection from some Parallels in the Works of Nature Thus the * Tertull. de Resuâ—t c. Springs rising so gloriously from the Winter and the Day from the Night the most beautiful Offsprings from the most deform'd Parents were by their pious Rhetorick exalted into some kinds of Proofs as well as Types of the Resurrection But these are not so much Evidences of as handsom Allusions to this great Truth in order to take off that Contempt with which the Heathens entertain'd this new and surprizing Doctrin Tho' the order of Effects and Changes in Nature furnish us not with any thing which may make the Resurrection probable yet the just view of the Wisdom and Goodness of God as it is discover'd by the Light of Reason will make it appear very suitable to it For tho' it is not agreeable to the Divine Wisdom to raise up Mankind only to make them capable of acting over again all that scene of Folly Ill-nature Vanity and Vice which they live obnoxious to now yet to command them back to a Life which is truly heavenly glorious and happy in which they are made fit for so glorious a Being as God Himself to take delight in is a design worthy a wise and good Creator who certainly made Man for some nobler Ends than what he can arrive to in this State of Mortality The chief design as seems evident to the Light of Nature it self for God to create Man was to communicate his own Goodness and to presentiate an order of Objects to himself which bearing his own Image and being endued with Reason might still glorify his Name and yield him back some faint Reflexion of Himself If so since God Is to all Eternity why should he not desire a Presentiation of these Objects to all Eternity Why should he not be willing to be glorify'd and to have this sort of Reflexion of Himself made back to all Eternity And since God has laid the Laws of Morality and Religion on the Body as well as on the Soul since that is oblig'd to Purity and an humble Adoration as well as this to Virtues peculiar to its Nature why should God be fancy'd to be so wholly taken up with this as not in the least to be concern'd for that Why should he change the State of the Blessed and divest them of that which properly makes up their Humanity by refining them into a pure Spirit As the Resurrection is thus probable so is it Thirdly Upon the prospects of the Divine Promises and Predictions certain and beyond all question firm It was obscurely predicted ever since the very Fall of Man and darkly imply'd in the Promise of the Messias who was to be a Redeemer of the Body as well as of the Soul As the first Man was made with all the Perfections due to his Body as well as to his Soul so he who should repair what Man lost by his Fall must restore him the Excellencies of that as well as of this And tho' the Revelation of a Resurrection to the Jews was not so clear as to put it beyond all doubt and to make it a strict Article of Faith yet are there several Texts in the Old Testament which are manifest Allusions to it and tacit Proofs of it Thus Moses introduces God speaking See now that I even I am He I kill and I make alive And thus Isaiah with his usual height of Language Thy Dead shall live together with my dead Body shall they arise Awake and sing ye that dwell in the Dust for thy Dew is as the Dew of Herbs and the Earth shall cast out the Dead To which may be subjoin'd that remarkable place of Job Though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and my eyes shall behold and not another Tho' the excellent Grotius applies these Words to his Temporal restitution or at most to discover his Expectation of a future State alone yet they seem at least to allude to the Hopes which he had of a Resurrection As to that place which our Saviour quotes from Exodus I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob they appear only in general to prove the Immortality of the Soul and to shew that these Patriarchs were not in a State of Annihilation tho' with particular regard to the Sadducees against whom they were urg'd they are a just and matchless Argument for a Resurrection For they scrupled only the Immortality of the Soul and if they could conceive that the Soul could exist independent of the Body they could grant that it might be re-united to it For they were of the same Opinion in that Age which the followers of Spinosa and Mr. Hobbes maintain in ours That what Is is Material excepting God alone in which fundamental Point of Natural Religion of God's being a Spirit those ancient Scepticks were much more Orthodox than our modern ones But how obscure soever the Doctrin of the Resurrection might be under the Revelation of the Old Testament yet under the New this Article is deliver'd with all the light and demonstrative force imaginable The whole stress of the Gospel is as it were repos'd upon it and because it look'd strange and surprizing to the unbelieving World it is enforc'd with greater Arguments repeated with more frequency To mention only one remarkable place of our Saviour's Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in which all that are in their Graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done Good unto the Resurrection of Life and they that have done Evil unto the Resurrection of Damnation As this was a considerable part of our Saviour's Preaching so he confirm'd it by his own Example by rising from the Dead himself and so by virtually raising those which are his For If the Spirit of him which rais'd Christ from
and is a kind of a pure Evangelick Deist if I may so call him may have our Saviour's Merits which he never heard of so far imputed to him as to free him from a state of Misery And how and by what Means God may make him happy is an Enquiry over-curious and concerning which our present Condition will not allow us to be satisfy'd A future State is in some proportion to us what America was to our Fore-fathers And I with all possible submission think that the Hypothesis of an †Dr. Scotâ—'s Christ Life Part 2. Ch. 4. Sâ—ct 1. p. 2â—5 admirable Person of our Church is too bold where he seems more than to intimate that God may extend the Tryal and Probation of these Heathens beyond this Life and discover in the other Life the Light of the Gospel to so many of them at least as have made any tolerable Improvements under the Light of Nature and if they make good use of it reward them accordingly That God will act not only justly on their own accounts but also in some degree mercifully on our Saviour's by these Nations seems an evident Truth But how or by what way is more than even this thoughtful Person ever knew As to the second part of the Objection That even where Christianity has been promulg'd it is found but an indifferent Expedient to work any extraordinary Effect on Men's Minds it may be answer'd That it is purely Satyr and Invective and is plainly void of Truth For tho' it must be with confusion own'd that many Christians are guilty of Vices which would make an ingenuous Heathen blush yet the Establishment of Christianity has given a total defeat to many National and Publick Crimes Amongst many Civiliz'd Nations as is plain from their own Poets and Historians Parents might expose their Children and Masters murder their Slaves with Impunity and without any dread of being call'd in question Those unnatural Sins condemn'd by the Apostle in the first Chap. to the Romans were parts of their Religious Worship a fit Service for such Gods Men were condemn'd to massacre one another in their Amphitheatres were engag'd against Beasts or with Men as cruel Altars were stain'd with human Blood a greater Villany than any it was design'd to expiate A Hero never dy'd but that he had pompous Trains of Slaves to attend him to their fancy'd Elysium But now all these barbarous Practices were as much banish'd by Christianity as the Idolatrous Rites of the Zabii by the * v. Maâ—monâ—des Mor. Nev. p. 3. c. 29. And Dr. Speâ—cer de Leg. Heb. p. 177. cap. 9. â— 1. c. Jewish Ceremonies a sufficient Indication that Christianity has been highly profitable to the World Fifthly The Divisions among single Christians and the Wars and Discords between Christian Princes and Commonwealths often heighten'd by Religious Controversies and inflam'd by the violent Harangues of Ecclesiastick Persons and the Cause of Religion being defended by the Dint of Calumny as a late †◠Tâ—â— Amyntor â— 52. Author phrases it are no just Prejudices against Christianity nor do they give a Moral Deist an advantage over a Zealot for it We cannot deny but Christianity ill understood has been the innocent Author of publick Divisions and private Discords the most beautiful Parent of ill-resembling Children The Gospel has arm'd Nations to their own ruin and the Pulpit has given the signal for very unnatural Wars Notwithstanding this Religion it self ought not to be blam'd For first The Founder of this Religion predicted that such a dismal Event should attend his Institution Think not that I am come to send Peace on Earth I came not to send Peace but a Sword Secondly It was not the design of Christianity to cherish Factions and Discords amongst its Followers Nothing could be a greater encourager of Candor Good-nature Peace and Mutual Forbearance than this Religion justly practic'd and all the Calamities incident to human Life are in a great measure the Products of Irreligion and Scepticism For if every Person liv'd up to the height of his Religion all Wars and Contests would quickly cease all Passions be compos'd and the Seat of the ancient Paradise would not neâ—d to be farther enquir'd into when all the World was One. These Objections which I have endeavour'd transiently to answer are some of the pretended Reasons for Scepticism and Doubts about Religion I shall proceed Secondly To take a short Survey of the true Reasons and Motives which make Men Scepticks And the first is Pride For the Truths of Religion as they are design'd for the Salvation of all Men so are they in some sort adapted to the Apprehensions of all But there are several of such sublime and exalted Thoughts that they can relish nothing but what is plac'd out of the vulgar method of Thinking Thus the Emperor Julian tho' adorn'd with Temperance Gravity Chastity and Sobriety as appears from his own * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. v. Jullani Misoâ—â—g p. â— 0 â—dit Spanhem Writings nor do his Adversaries Cyril or Nazianzen deny it yet the nicety and sublimity of his admir'd Philosophy made him too proud to debase his Understanding as he fancy'd to the Lowliness of the Christian Faith Out of this Principle a late †Toâ—and ' Christianity not Mysterious Writer has excluded all Mysteries out of Religion and nothing now must be believ'd but what can be comprehended The second true Cause of Scepticism is Prejudice or a rash Judgment made upon Religion For not only the Jews and Gentiles but some who have been initiated into Christianity frame false Idea's of it They are too much prejudic'd to believe that God will punish Crimes of finite duration with infinite Pain They fancy that there is reason to hope that he may release his Threats and some way mitigate the Penalty that it is a servile and mercenary Motive to engage us to Obedience by addressing to our Fears by proposing Prospects of eternal Misery But these Objections rising from Prejudice would be easily remov'd if the Sceptick would consider that God does not punish Men for Sins which they could not avoid not for single Acts but inveterate Habits and final Obstinacy That Repentance if sincere takes off the greatest Guilt That he gives us Grace to shun Sin and Grace to repent of it That Hope and Fear are the fittest Passions by which a reasonable Creature may be acted upon That every Sin is against infinite Majesty an Act too of our own Choice That God would be wanting in promoting the Observance of his Laws if he did not make the greatest Punishment due to the Violation of them That he promises eternal Happiness to Obedience as well as threatens everlasting Misery upon Disobedience The third true Cause of Scepticism is a Disposition of Heart contrary to Religion For a Soul stain'd with Vice can never comply with the Truths of Religion The Will and Affections must first be purify'd before the Understanding can be enlightned Hence our Saviour endeavours to plant the Innocence even of Children in the Minds of his Followers before he proposes the great Mysteries of Religion Happy are they who have preserv'd their Innocence unstain'd and whose Soul has never lost its native Candour The first proposals of Religion will strike upon such Minds as these with the most vigorous Light and will convince them as soon as addrest to them But to Spirits sunk into a state of Sin Religion appears upon a disadvantage and like an Object striking upon a disorder'd Organ forms an irregular Impression Let the Wings of the Soul once be disengag'd from the weight of Sin as the Pythagoreans as well as Scripture neatly stile it and it will fly up to Truth and Goodness as to its proper Center The fourth Cause of Scepticism is the prevailing Humour of turning every thing into Ridicule Nor are sacred Things themselves exempted which takes off that Veneration which is due to them and makes them look first contemptible and afterwards false The fifth true Cause of Scepticism and the last which I shall mention is want of Consideration or Attention For if Men either think not at all or not regularly or employ their Thoughts in other curious Speculations they will of necessity continue Scepticks But the fault is in themselves not in Religion they can no more complain of Obscurity in that than those who have wilfully clos'd their own Eyes of want of Light in the Heavenly Luminaries Let the Sceptick take away these true Causes of Scepticism and the pretended ones will vanish of their own accord But while these remain they are like to continue Scepticks till the Punishments of a future State shal not only make them understand but even feel that Religion is True FINIS