Divinity itself and happy were it would men consider the grounds of their Faith that they might with the Apostle amidst all the oppositions of the World stand firm with a Nevertheless I am not ashamed for I 2 Tim. 1. 12. know whom I have believed And that Mankind might have rational and satisfactory grounds for Faith in Jesus The Divine Spirit which ever gave Testimony to him exerted it self both as a Spirit of Omnipotency in Miracles and of Omniscience in Prophecy to the end Men might believe the great concerns of Revelation upon the demonstrative grounds of Divine perfection This I take to be St. Paul's meaning when he says My preaching was not with enticing words of man's 1 Cor 2. v. 4 wisdom but in Demonstration of the Spirit and of power i. e. of Miracles wrought by the Spirit of Omnipotency and of Demonstrative conviction out of the Prophets who appear to have been acted by the Spirit of Omniscience and Truth itself by the Events answering their Predictions That your Faith saies he should Verse 5. not stand in the wisdom of men either the Authority of the Civil State with the Leviathan or strong Probability with Others but in the Power of God i. e. in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 4. the Divinity itself which when it gives Testimony Natural light unquestionably concludes it true And if it be demanded which way the Apostle made his Demonstrations in the Spirit I suppose he tells us v. 13. We speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth i. e. according to the studied Rules of Arts now in Greece but which the Holy Ghost teacheth Comparing spiritual things with spiritual i. e. comparing the Doctrine and Transactions of the New Testament with the Prophecies of the Old and hereby the Faith of Jesus is Demonstrated to be Divine because attested by the Spirit of Prophecy for in the 9th verse he had quoted the Prophet Isaiah and so in all his preaching as Acts 17. 2 3. and for studying this Demonstration or comparing the New Testament with the Old the Bereans are so much commended v. 11. and nothing is plainer than that all the Evangelists and Apostles and even Christ himself did thus argue or convince out of the Old Testament Prophets The force therefore of the Testimony depends solely upon the Spirit of Prophecy or that 't is the Testimony of the Prime and Omniscient Verity I must not stay to clear my hand of the Tractatus Theologico-politicus who has resolv'd the Spirit of Prophecy not as St. Peter did into being Moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet 1. 21. but into the Crasis of the Imaginative faculty that so you may know him the First-born of the Leviathan and by their Hypotheses whose Scholars Tract p. 7 c. both were even his who resolv'd the Creation of the Universe into the fortuitous concurs of Atoms Neither may I reflect upon that Moral Probability which some seem to think a sufficient foundation for Faith further than to say That matters reveal'd and confirm'd by the Spirit of Prophecy are and ought to be so far as reveal'd as certain Truths as any Demonstrations in the World besides I fear not after St. Paul to say that matters of a Moral and Spiritual nature may be demonstrated taking Demonstration not in the confin'd signification which the School of Heathen Philosophy affixt to it but in the reality of the thing and with respect to the end for which Demonstration serves viz. a Proof that creates a knowledge certain and indubitable and this the Spirit of Prophecy not as revealing but as confirming Revelation by Prediction doth Which brings me to the Third and chief design'd Particular Thirdly That of all other Testimonies of Jesus the Spirit of Prophecy is The Testimony My meaning is There is no such standing satisfactory and demonstrative proof of the Divinity of JESVS's Transactions Faith and Doctrine as the Spirit of Prophecy is There are indeed many other Testimonies of Jesus better than most or any other cause beside his can produce First The Testimony of Angels both good and bad the good in obsequious attendancies upon his Birth his Luke 2. 13. 22. 43 c. Agonies his Resurrection and Ascension The bad in flying Fears concluding at least strongly suspecting by Luke 8. 28. Mark 1. 24. the Predictions of the Old Prophets who it was they now had to deal with in Humane Nature even the Holy One of God or the Seed promised to break the Serpent's head Secondly The Testimony of Men both his Friends and Enemies His Friends extol adore him die for him his Enemies of all sorts confess him an extraordinary Person though a deceiver as Celsus Jalian Mahomed the Jew the Philosopher the Apostate the Impostor the Infidel Mahomed is kindest of all the rest for he will allow him to be his Pew-fellow in Prophecy upon condition he may but sit above him Nay Thirdly There are more venerable Witnesses than either Angels or Men I mean those Three in Heaven 1 Joh. 5. 7 8. and those Three on Earth where though the Divine Spirit make One in either Three yet which I wonder is no more observed and insisted on the Spirit as 't is in this sence explain'd The Spirit of Prophecy is however to my apprehension The Testimony Not in preference to the Others consider'd in themselves but consider'd with reference to Mankind who are to be Judges of their Evidence and whose Judging faculties are more susceptive of satisfaction from the Spirit as a Spirit of Prophecy or infinite Science in truth than from the same Spirit in any other way of Evidence the reason of which I conceive to be this That the convictions of the Spirit in the way of Prophecy or in the display of Omniscience is more directly accommodate to humane Intellect our faculty of Science than any other operation of the Spirit is For the strongest tendencies of Intellect are to the Science of Truth and therefore acts of Omniscient Truth are more accommodate to Humane understanding than acts of Power Wisdom being that it is more delighted in than Strength If any Revelation be from God by the foresaid Rule of Natural knowledge it ought to be accepted and submitted to But whether that which pretends Revelation be from God or no is the only Question Now the Argument from Miracles is prest by all this of Prediction by few or none but without depreciating the former I must confess ever since I consider'd it the latter is weightier and more convictive with me for I am more fully satisfied That the whole Series of Scriptural Revelation is Divine because I find all along the Spirit of Prediction interwoven than because I read such and such Miracles done For I find the Alcharon pretending Miracles but not daring to pretend Prediction So that of all the innate Characters of Divinity pretended to in any written Law this of Prediction is peculiar to the Scriptures This
Finger of God I am sensible the Common Opinion presses me most with this Objection as if my Doctrine evacuated the conviction of our Saviour's Miracles and patroniz'd the Jews Infidelity in not believing for the Works sake But as has been observ'd by a Judicious Man this is a Dr. Jackson mistake for the Jews had a certain Rule of Tryal whereby to discern that the Works of Jesus were wrought in God and not in Beelzebub and that Rule was no other than the Spirit of Prophecy which like the Light as it Self-evidently manifests its own Divinity so by its Illustration it manifests other things which Spirit of Prophecy in the Old Testament those Oracles committed to the Jews had foretold that the Messiah so born so Rom. 3. 2. qualified so circumstantiated as Jesus and none other ever was should do these particular Works of wonder So that the Miracles of Christ were to them truly Signs and therefore convictive not solely because Divine operations for that was the question but because they were Contingencies determinately foretold And this is plain from our Saviour's Answer to the Pharisees requiring a Sign Matt. 16. 3. Can ye not discern the signs of the times or as St. Luke This time Chap. 12. 56. where in St. Luke Christ adds as awakening their Common reason Yea why do you not of your selves judge what is right which argues that they had a Rule to judge by i. e. why do ye not of your selves without my granting your request of a Sign judge out of the Prophets that I am the Messiah The works that I do in my Father's Name-bear witness of John 5. 36. me i. e. who I am Why how the Answer Christ made to John the Baptist Disciples Matt. 11. 4. resolves it Go tell John what ye see and hear the blind see the lame walk c. i. e. Go tell him that Isaiah's Prophecy you see is ALL Christ's Miracles were Signs to the Jews because presignified by the Prophets whom the Jews believed and in the Oeconomy of Grace the Messiah was therefore sent to that People first who had the Records of the Spirit of Prophecy I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the House of Israel Why Mankind had as much interest in him as they but the most satisfactory convictive way of propagating his Faith to Mankind was from them which is the reason it was to be preach'd to all Nations Beginning from Jerusalem Luke 24. 46. fulfilled by me Isai 35. 6. and 61. 1. and then let him and you consider who I am Where Christ to that grand Question which was the Pharisees as well as John's in answer produceth the Testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy and hereby he proved his works to be Divine or that he was sent by the Father as he himself speaks and then I allow most unquestionable and demonstrative Convictions And why was not this that which aggrandiz'd their Sin into blasphemy against the Holy Ghost Matt. 12. that they wilfully withstood the Convictions not only of the Spirit of Power but of Prophecy too of which latter they were such competent Judges whatever they were of the former Nay 't is further observable in this matter that after Jesus had prest the Jews with the two first Witnesses in Heaven viz. the Father's Voice and the Son's Miracles Joh. 5. 36 37. he finally laies the stress of his Convictions on the Writings of the Prophets Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me for he wrote of me i. e. Joh. 5. 46 the grand Witness I appeal to at the bar of mens Judgment is the Spirit of Prophecy in the written Records Search the Scriptures and all this to prove what Christ v. 39 had said v. 30. that the Father sent him Where after all the other Testimonies produc'd he finally relies upon the Spirit of Prophecy But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words where Jesus himself v. 47. plainly acknowledgeth That in humane Judgment the test both of his Words and Works and all his Pretensions of Divine mission mentioned v. 30 c. was the Spirit of Prophecy as predicting So that I see not but we may conclude without any derogation That Christ's Miracles receiv'd the force of their conviction from the Spirit of Prophecy not of Power only and so the Apostles Miracles did too for as Christ's Miracles were determinately foretold by Moses and the Prophets so the Apostles Miracles were by Christ Both were Signs i. e. foretold Christ's Works in all the Old Testament the Apostles Mark 16. 17. These Signs shall follow them and elsewhere And this was the Gospels Confirmation God bearing them witness both with Signs and Wonders and divers Heb. 2. 3 4. Miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost The first of Signs convictive as being the Testimony of Omniscient Verity the second of Miracles awakening the Senses and thereby the Understanding to consider that Conviction as the force of Omnipotence most effectually in this dull state can the last of Gifts as qualifying the Gospels Ministers to so difficult an employment Lastly After all their Miracles both Jesus and his Apostles back their Doctrine with this Testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy and hang the weight of their Convictions thereon This is that which was spoken or thus it is written throughout all the New Testament And I think 't is most remarkable That after all possible satisfaction given to their Senses Christ proves the truth of his Resurrection from this Testimony and 't is spoken signanter Then opened he their understandings that Luk. 24. 45 46. they might understand the Scriptures i. e. he explain'd the Scriptures intelligibly to them and said unto them Thus it is written c. From all which consider'd I may conclude this first Reason why the Spirit of Prophecy is The Testimony because 't was that Tally could not be counterfeited given therefore to prevent delusions for the Rules of Tryal were easie and certain and no Divination could bear the test but what had the Spirit of God its Author or else deserv'd not the name of Prophecy Secondly 'T is The Testimony because all Ages are under its conviction equally more than they are of any others abstracting from this And my reason is because this Testimony is permanent and the rest without this are transient though this adjoyned makes even them permanent too Ex. gr 1. The Father's Voice as I remember was only heard at the Baptism and Transfiguration of Jesus 2. The Word incarnate was personally present only in the Daies of Augustus and Tiberius 3. The Holy Ghost's Visible descent was but once at Jordan and once at Jerusalem the Day of Pentecost And these as generally interpreted are the Three in Heaven So likewise for the other Three on Earth 1. Holiness or Moral goodness is the pretence of every Philosopher a standing and laudable Testimony I confess and therefore the grand design
Eutychianus Whether it was Oraculum daemonum aut figmentum hominum he assures us not To me it seems grounded on some Opinions of the Primitive Christians concerning Antichrist's appearance but how miserably it fail'd St. Austin observes that in the very year Gaudentius and Jovius overthrew the Temples of the Heathen gods in Cartage Et plurimi Christiani facti qui tanquam verâ illâ Divinatione revocabantur à fide postquam eam completo eodem annorum numero inanem irridendamque viderunt De Civit lib. 18. cap. 54. the Papal or Mahometan under the Character of a divine Institution For certainly this he would have done had not the ability of his own Spirit fail'd him both as to the certainty and distance of such a contingency because nothing imaginable could have bruised the heel of the Womans Seed so dangerously confirmed Gentile Idolatry and staggar'd the Faith of Mankind so effectually as this by confronting a testimony for Antichrist out of the Heathen Oracles as good as that for Christ out of the Old Testament Prophecies And therefore all that the Serpent can do in this matter is to play the after-game as subtilly as may be and inspire Mahomet when he finds him Enthusiastick and amongst a People fit for delusion and so to club to perfect the Imposture or else to transform himself into an Angel of Light the only way to mischief the Christian Church as the Bishop of Rome doth himself into the Catholick or a Jesuit himself into a Christian or a Quaker himself into a man of Perfection And because I may not scan every objected Instance in Heathen Divination I shall in general only say that who so affirms any other than the Divine can be the Spirit of Prophecy seems to suffrage with them that blasphemed against him in leaving no distinctive Character to discern the Holy Spirit by and so may ascribe to Beelzebub what is the Divine Spirit 's prerogative And I call this of Prediction the Divine Spirit 's prerogative because God in the Prophet puts all other Diviners upon this Test Isa 41. 21 c. Produce your cause saith the Lord Bring forth your strong reasons saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and shew us See Isa 47. 3 4 5 6 7. what shall happen let them shew the former things what they be that we may consider 'em and know the latter end of them or declare us things for to come Shew the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are gods Allowing then that the sphere of Jesus's Interests is as large as the concerns of his Churches in all Ages the Prophecies of Enoch Noah Jacob and Others before his Incarnation or of Agabus St. John and Others after it make no Objection against this Truth That the Spirit of Prophecy is the Testimony of Jesus and nones else so that no cause distinct or opposite to his can produce it all divine Revelation centring in him to which give all the Act. 10. 43. Prophets witness 't is theresore called the Spirit of Christ in the Prophets 1 Pet. 1. 11. and 't is observable when this Divine Spirit was to convince the World of Sin for not believing it silenc'd all the Oracles in the World both true and false I mean both Jewish and Heathen Act 16. 16 17. 19. 16 19. which might be made use of in opposition to the Gospel And that 's my first Observation 'T is the Testimony of Jesus i. e. peculiarly and nones else Secondly 'T is not the Person employed Man or Angel on whom the validity of this Testimony depends but 't is The Spirit of Prophecy not only as revealing God's mind but as predicting to confirm the Revelation i. e. 't is the Testimony of Omniscient Veracity or of the prime Verity for nothing can furnish out the Spirit of Prophecy but a Science and Truth that is indefectible and infinite For the account of certainty in the Divine Prescience as to Contingencies and the products of Liberty must not be resolv'd into the Decree as if God certainly foreknew this would be the product of Liberty therefore because he decreed it for the Decree makes all Contingencies equally possible unless we introduce Fatality But the certainty of Prescience must be resolved solely into the Infinity of Science There is no searching of his understanding Isa 40. 28. So then whether it be Man or Angel that 's acted by the Spirit of Prophecy whether Moses or Balaam Simeon or Caiphas it matters not contrary to Maimonides's Rules about Qualifications the Testimony is the Spirits of Prophecy the attestation to the Revelation is made by the Prime Verity and the force lies in the presumptive truth of Nature's concession What God says is true or as St. John expresses it If we receive the witness of men the witness of God is greater 1 Joh. 5. 9. For all things in the World are true or false as they have or want the Testimony of the * Thus the Sun evidenceth it self by its own light and all other things visible by that illustration of Light it lends them either transiently as to the Air or permanently as to some Precious Stones c. Prime Verity whether that Verity record its Testimony in the settled Laws and Volumes of Nature upon which the study of Philosophy and all Secular knowledge depends or in the prescripts of Revelation called for distinctions sake Supernatural knowledge i. e. therefore this or that Knowledge is true in the nature of things because their causes and effects are apprehended as the first Cause and the Divine Truth did constitute them And so in Revelation this or that created Knowledge and Judgment is true or false which apprehends it according to the word and meaning of the first Revealer or otherwise We see this in Humane affairs where the grand decision of Truth depends entirely upon an Oath and therefore upon an Oath because an Oath is the attestation or appeal to the Prime Verity which Testimony upon Oath being ever esteemed most Sacred till the Licentious and Atheistical prophaneness of our Swearing Age essayed to unhallow and make it common Therefore it must follow That whatever is attested by the Prime Verity itself is true without any other or against any other contrary Evidence and 't is this that renders the Faith of Christian Mysteries reasonable Now the Declarations or Revelations of the Spirit of Prophecy Self-evidently appear to proceed from the Prime Verity because no knowledge but the Divine and Infinite can reach the Spirit of Prophecy i. e. can confirm Revelation by certain Prediction And if I mistake not this wounds the Leviathan who has taken his pastime in these waters of the Sanctuary and may shew him that Divine Faith may and ought to be resolved into Divine Truth that so its certainty might be stedfast as any knowledge in the World for whosoever may minister to this Faith its relyance must be upon
therefore is the Proposition I shall insist upon That the Spirit of Prophecy not as revealing God's mind only for that 's the Question but as predicting to confirm what is revealed is primarily The Testimony The Reasons I shall at present offer are these Two First Because this Spirit of Prophecy is that Tally cannot be counterfeited but may easily be discovered by certain Rules of tryal Secondly Because all Ages are equally under its conviction which they are not as to any other Testimony abstracting from this nay succeeding Ages have the advantage in this and may rely upon it as that which gives credit to all the rest First Because the Spirit of Prophecy is that Tally cannot be counterfeited but may easily be discovered and therefore God gave it to the World to prevent delusion in matters of Revelation The intentions of his Mercy to recover Mankind from the Fall God held forth the faith and hope of to Adam and all his Posterity in the Promise of a Seed that should break the Serpent's head i. e. in the Gospel style should Gen. 3. 15. 1 Joh. 3. 8. destroy the works of the Devil But lest the subtil Serpent should set up one of his own party under the specious pretences of redeeming Mankind when the conceal'd intention was to enslave them more God did by the Spirit of Prophecy in several Ages so individualize that Redeemer so precisely foretel his Time so notifie all his Transactions that in common reason he might be known from all others and this want of reason is that our Saviour wonders at in the Pharisees who sought a Sign of him Ye can discern the Matt. 16. 1. face of the sky but can ye not discern the signs of the times i. e. that these are the Times of your expected Messiah presignified by the Spirit of Prophecy in the Old Testament and that ye need no Sign from me to prove it but the correspondency of my time and actions to their Predictions That the Spirit of Prophecy had thus characteriz'd the Person the Time the Actions and Sufferings of the Messiah that this Jesus of Nazareth must needs be him of whom Moses and the Prophets did write Joh. 1. 45. I shall not go about to clear In this I refer to the Evangelists especially St. Matthew who still appeals * As Matt. 18. 17. and elsewhere even in Christ's Miracles to what was written in the Prophets Taking then this for granted I say that this Spirit of Prophecy was that Tally could not be counterfeited given therefore by God to prevent delusion in matters pretending to Revelation and so 't is emphatically The Testimony Not that a lying Spirit could not pretend a Divination as well as a Revelation but that it could not predict a future contingent Event especially remote so as to adventure on the tryal of Prophecy and all Heathen Divination boggled here For 't is as infallible a Rule That none but the Divine Spirit can be the Spirit of Prophecy as 't is That remote future contingencies can be clearly foreseen and certainly foretold by none but Omniscient Veracity And therefore setting aside the Works of Creation which found Natural Religion there 's no effect that argues an immediate Divinity for its cause so clearly as the Prophetical Predictions do because there are more easie and certain Rules of Tryal to discern which is the true Spirit of Prophecy than any Divine operation after the creation of things For wonderful Works may be said to be the products of that energy which the Creator at first enricht Nature with and so a * Quare absolutè concludimus omnia quae in Scripturis Verè narrantur contigisse ea secundum leges Naturae ut omnia necessario contigisse Et si quid reperiatur legibus Naturae repugnare aut ex iis consequi non potuisse planè credendum id à Sacrilegis hominibus sacris Literis adjectum esse Tract Theo. pol. c. 6. p 71. late Off-spring of the Leviathan affirms But Prediction is Self-evidently an immediate issue from the Divinity de novo which if so and prest home upon the Leviathan and his First-born now mentioned will shew them other grounds for Christian Faith and Scriptures than only the Authority of God's †Leviath cap. 36 37. Lieutenants Now the Rules to try the Spirit of Prophecy by as I take it are but these Two First That the thing pretended to be a Revelation from God which was alwaies an Injuction or Prohibition with their annexes had no intrinsecal Evil in it or necessarily derivative from it peccant against the Laws of Morality settled in the first Creation i. e. against Natural Religion or a former Law reveal'd and on good grounds accepted as Divine for God's Laws never contradict one another neither is his Wisdom so short-sighted as to set up contrary Institutions of life and therefore the Christian Law destroys not the Mosaical but compleats its imperfections I came not to destroy but to fulfil i. e. to fill up This is the primary and grand Rule of Tryal To which mens non-attendance has at last debaucht all Religion made it a wild and unaccountable thing and let in that Spirit of Giddiness that exposes men to every wind of Doctrine The Second Rule of Tryal is this That the Revelation pretending from God and not peccant as aforesaid should be confirm'd with a Sign i. e. Prediction fulfill'd These two Rules brought the whole Spirit of Prophecy under trial let the Rabbies and they that in this admire them multiply never so many I apprehend not that the Scriptures have given us any more or that reason requires them Only Two things are here to be observ'd First That in whatever matter it consisted whether Miracle or not yet being a contingency the formality of a Sign consisted in Prediction fulfill'd Secondly That the Rule of Tryal by Signs was but Secondary and subordinate to that of tryal by Natural Religion i. e. a former Law whether that of Creation or Revelation after confirmed and accepted And all this is plain from Deut. 18. and the 13th Chapters First When a Prophet speaketh in the Name of the Chap. 18. 22. Lord i. e. pretends a Revelation if the thing follow not nor come to pass that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken The defect of Prediction fulfill'd overthrows the pretences of Inspiration or Revelation which necessarily argues whatever the materiality of a Sign be its * Jer. 28. 9. Ezek. 33. 33. formality consists in Prediction fulfill'd Though I allow 't was often but not alwaies in a matter or work miraculous that what Omniscience had said Omnipotence might back and awaken the Understanding by the impressions on sense Secondly If a Sign or Prediction should be fulfill'd to promote Idolatry or any thing destructive to Natural Religion or a former Divine Law reveal'd Thou shalt not hearken to the voice of that Prophet for the Lord Deut. 13. 3
this day as foretold in the Conversion of the Gentiles nay all Events by Jesus the Prophetical Writings and Apostolical foretold answer their Predictions to instance in the case of the Jewish Nation Therefore not only Jesus and his Apostles had the Spirit of Prophecy but the Revelation or Doctrine by them preach'd is confirm'd by it to be Divine and that as certainly as the Divine Spirit can demonstrate St. Paul saies it did demonstrate and I think it can as effectually as any Mathematician in the Universe whence I conclude 't is no defect in the Argument but Brutality in the recipient obstructs its force Secondly I infer That seeing the design of this Testimony was and is man's Conviction in order to the Faith of Jesus there is something in man capable of Conviction even before he can be said to be converted Thirdly Nothing in Man being capable of Divine conviction but the faculty of Reason I infer That the Faith of Jesus is and ought to be a Rational Faith For the declining this Proposition has encourag'd men of Parts and lovers of Pleasures to decline Christianity or men of weak Reason and strong Imagination to convert it into an Enthusiastick and Phantastical thing And to give this account for the Mysteries of Faith that the Prime Verity has affirm'd them as 't is all we can without vanity give in this state so if consider'd 't is as good and rational as of any other knowledge we pretend to for 't is demonstrable that the last resolution of See Job 38. 4 5 c. and 24 25 c. our Knowledge of all other things must upon a through scrutiny be into the First Cause Many more than the Leviathan think the want of Miracles mitigates the Crime of Infidelity which to me seems but Dives's vain opinion for if men will not believe the Testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy neither will they believe Miracles as being a Conviction that 's easier shifted than this which considered is more argumentative because Reason may with some colour seruple the one as the Jews did than they can the other for the proof of which I refer to John 5. 49. For I can never conceive that Miracles are of any signification but as they address to Reason to give it satisfaction i. e. as they prove the attestation of the Divinity and argue the Commission to be from God because his Seal is to it For to think that Miracles are terminated in the senses or designs any further upon them than only to Excite the Intellect to a Judicious conclusion is to think that something may be wrought upon a Beast by a Demonstration Neither is the proper Mathematical Demonstration in Scheme of any signification as 't is terminated in sight alone for then the Elephant that was taught to draw Pliny Nat. hist lib. 8. cap. 3. the Greek Alphabet might have been taught as well to demonstrate but as thereby it helps to present convictive Truth to Reason so that whatever convinceth Reason satisfactorily attains the end of Demonstration Now all Divine Revelation though usher'd in by sense for the stupidity's sake of our dull Understanding which otherwaies will hardly be awaken'd yet ever made its application to Reason therefore saies the Prophet Shew your selves men with reference to this very Isal 46. 8 9 10. Luk. 12. 56. 2 Thess 3. 2. Argument of Prediction Why do ye not of your selves judge what is right saies Jesus Pray that we may be delivered from unreasonable men for all men have not Faith saies the Apostle Neither is this Pelagianizing at all I acknowledge the necessity of God's Supernatural Grace and that Faith is his gift 't is possible it may be rejected but the Arguments that induce to it are most cogent because of God's making not our own what we do is but to shew our selves men i. e. to exert the Faculties with which he endu'd us in the first Institution of our Nature and with which he is ever ready to concur by his Grace So then whatever convinces Reason most confirms Faith best and Faith being so confirm'd is the highest Reason in the World for because its light and discoveveries proceed as my Reason tells me from a more unerring Intellect than mine own 't is most reasonable that it should supersede all the opposit acts of my own Mind and leaves me no Inquiry but whether the Spirit of God has said so or no which sufficiently discountenances all Socinianism For it will not follow by any Rule of Reason That things are therefore true or false because I can or cannot comprehend them this were for our Reason to make it self God but because they are or are not attested by the Prime Verity how far soever they may exceed the Idaeal comprehensions of our own finite Faculties as the discoveries of Infinity necessarily must do and in these all Christian Mysteries consist So that Faith without Reason is fancy as Reason opposing Faith is phrenzy For all the Mysteries which Gospel Christianity has made necessary this is good and sufficient Reason God has plainly reveal'd them and other matters beside Mysteries are evidently true from their congruity with our own reasonable minds as the excellency and goodness of its Precepts and the nobleness of its End And now if upon these grounds we have that due honour for our Christian Faith to assert it Reasonable as well as Holy then 't will follow That no man of Parts that 's willing to consider and Demonstrations signifie nothing else the Testimony of Jesus is Irreligious but he that is Irrational For no Interest opposit to that of Jesus can produce this Testimony unless it be to its own overthrow And therefore the grand Interests opposit or destructive to those of Jesus will alwaies dissemble and pretend this Testimony Thou art Peter upon this Rock will I build To thee I give the Keys feed my sheep so the Papal on one hand or on the other hand though in truth they are coincident They shall be all taught of God and that 's Infallible so the Enthusiast My meaning is That which endangers true Christianity is some Evil within its own Profession or Pale And though there be a numerous brood of Offenders herein yet there are Three who mainly threaten that Religion amongst our selves which God's wonderful Providence has preserv'd so long and we seem solicitous that it might be longer and they are in my apprehension these Three the Atheists the Papists and the vicious Protestant i. e. the Vnbelievers the Ill-believers and the Ill-livers allowing Vice its due latitude And these Three serve the mutual designs of one another though as 't is very subtil Popery gets the last advantage for Vice begets Atheism and Atheism at length devolves to Popery for Ill-livers 't is their interest to be Unbelievers and they that through the vice of Opinions and Sects have been alwaies unstable are very near the brink of this Precipice so Vice begets