mighty Salvation for us out of the House of his Servant David Luke 1. 68 69. A general Rule for answering all Objections Having considered and answered the principal Objections urged in favour of the Doctrine which asserts Jesus Christ to be truly God in opposition to that of his being only the Man who is the Mediator between God and Men 1 Tim. 2. 5. or that which asserts that none is God but the Father of Christ 't will be needless to confute those other little Objections which still remain since when the chiefest Strength that does uphold an Error is overthrown 't is not in the Power of some little Props to maintain and support it nevertheless lest the Minds of some should thereby be perplex'd I here lay down one general Rule by which all other Objections may be easily refuted and that is this If any Principle in Religion be true by the greater and by the plainer Number of Evidences it can never be false by a few in number or by them that are dark and doubtful If then the Arguments to prove the true God to be only the Father of Jesus Christ are more in number and plainer to be understood than those are which are objected in favour of the contrary you need then only to reply thus that the Proofs that make for it are more both in Number and Weight than those that are against it and that therefore 't would be unpardonable to suffer such Trifles to unsettle and shake your Faith Suppose a Man objects against the Doctrine of God's being but one in Person this Text Let us make Man Gen. 1. 26. and endeavour to prove from thence that God is more than one in Person is it reasonable to suffer this to alter your Judgment when for that one Passage Vs urged in favour of the Belief of more Persons than one you have ten thousand that mention God to be but only one in such Terms as these I thou me he his And as for the Terms of we they them c. they are not mentioned in Scripture so much as once as applied to God alone If every single Objection that is started should be admitted to be of Authority sufficient to invalidate the best and clearest Proofs or if every hard and doubtful Passage in Scripture were enough to overthrow all them that are clear and plain then all true Religion would soon be at an end for some plausible Exceptions may be made against the chiefest and plainest Truths in Religion otherwise so many false and erroneous Opinions would not have obtained that Authority that they have in the World Indeed when we are told plainly that we are in an Error and Arguments truly considerable are at the same time offered to undeceive us we ought then to suffer our selves to be convinc'd for if what is thus urged carries with it so much clear Evidence as makes it undoubted the changing then of our Opinions will not only be reasonable but very honourable too since nothing is more ignoble and base than to be a Slave to Error from which not any thing in this World but Truth can free us Of the true Notion of the Holy Ghost 'T is plain from the general Analogy of true Faith grounded on Scripture-Evidence that the Holy Ghost is no distinct Person subsisting of himself for then 't is clear that our Lord could not be the Son of him who is now called God the Father or the first Person in the supposed Trinity since 't is plain that the Virgin Mary's Conception was occasioned by the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost Luke 1. 35. which all Trinitarians acknowledg to be the third Person and not the first 'T is expresly said that that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost Mat. 1. 20. And that she was with Child by him Mat. 1. 18. Wherefore 't is evident from these additional Words and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee Luke 1. 35. that the Holy Ghost is only that Divine and Invisible Power of God by which he works his Will and Pleasure in the World and by Consequence that God and the Spirit of God are no more two distinct Persons than Man and the Spirit of Man are for to the one the other is compared in the sacred Scripture 1 Cor. 2. 11. And as the Members of Man's Body do secretly and wonderfully obey the Dictates of his Will or Mind so and much more so do all Creatures act and are commanded by the Almighty Power of God's Divine and most Wise Will and Pleasure When therefore all the elect People of God are said to be sanctified by the Holy Ghost it must be understood of that new Temper and Inclination of Mind which God by his Divine and Invisible Power does work or cause in Men. When he powerfully raises up in them holy Thoughts and excites in their Minds new Desires he is then truly said to sanctify them by his Spirit And when Men wilfully reject those Motions to Goodness which God by his Power does raise up in them they are then truly said to resist and grieve and quench his Spirit And whereas the Spirit is said to receive and to be sent from whence some would infer its distinct Personality 't is replied that these are but improper Expressions such as are before noted to be spoken of God and Christ they are Words fitted to our dull Apprehensions rather than to the true Nature of the Spirit it self even as God is represented as having the Actions and Passions of a Man and to come down from Heaven when yet we know that he is already every where though our mortal Eyes have not Powers fitted to perceive him He that filleth all things can no ways be capable of moving out of his Place Such Expressions as these therefore are plainly improper and must not be understood literally or as at first sight they seem to express The CONCLVSION TO what has been said on this Subject I will only add this one solemn Protestation that as what I here offer is grounded on the Dictates only of plain and positive Scripture and the most evident and perfect Reason as I humbly judg So the Design of this its Publication is the alone Glory of God Almighty and the Church's Peace which no ways can be establish'd firmly but on the Foundations of Truth And though I am sensible the Work is not perform'd with that Exactness as to be in every part without Reproof yet I am satisfied that in the main I have therein managed the true Cause of God and Religion Nevertheless I have a secret Distrust within me that what I here offer will not be kindly received for my best Indeavours must not expect to find better Success than did those of my blessed Lord and Master who though he spake as never Man spake and confirmed his Doctrine with such Miracles as did demonstrate him to be a Teacher sent of God yet was believed on but by a few The Praise of Men was then generally much more belov'd than the Praise of God Joh. 12. 43. And I doubt the Case is still the same Men now seek their own and not the things of Jesus Christ Phil. 2. 21. They that love Riches will hardly run the hazard of losing any temporal Preferment for the sake of Truth Others will be averse from acknowledging themselves in a Mistake who before have been honoured with the Repute both of Orthodox and Learned Men and those who have been long prepossess'd with the contrary Perswasion will hardly relinquish it though the best of Reasons be offered to convince them of their Error In short the Religion of Mankind generally is but a Self-righteousness a Law rather of their own making than of God's appointing There are but very few that in all things do either live or believe as the Gospel directs them the whole World does for the most part prefer some senseless Humour before sacred Truth and that immortal Bliss to which it would conduct them THE END
Contradiction to the most self-evident Sentiments of humane Understanding But some may say If such Passages as these are so generally to be overlook'd in the Business of Religion why then did God cause them to be recorded in the sacred Scripture I answer that it may as well be asked why God made so many sorts of small and as we think useless Insects to live upon the Earth since we know not what Benefit they are of to the World Doubtless God who does nothing in vain made them for some great Ends though our short-sighted Understanding cannot perceive what those excellent Ends of his are Even so likewise will his Wisdom be manifested some way or other by what to us is yet hard to be understood in Scripture And though we are ignorant of the true meaning of many of the most obscure and doubtful Parts thereof yet the Ends and Purposes of God in causing them to be written either are or shall in due time be accomplished In the mean time we ought to magnify that manifest Goodness of God who hath communicated to Mankind such a number of plain and evident Precepts as will be fully sufficient for Salvation if we carefully observe them All are concern'd in the Business of Life Eternal therefore hath God given us Laws sutable to our common Capacities The Gospel of Christ was preach'd to the Poor which intimates that the Glad-tidings of Salvation did not consist of unintelligible Mysteries but of such plain and evident Notions as did fit the Understandings of the lowest People Of Faith and Reason There are a sort of People in the World of several false Perswasions who when they can no longer maintain their Errors against the Power of true Reason fly to Faith as their last Refuge and tell us that 't is by Faith only that we are made able to overcome the World 1 Joh. 5. 4. And that therefore 't is necessary for Men to believe what yet they cannot comprehend To this I answer That Faith indeed is the chief Duty of the Christian Religion because 't is the Belief of God's Promises and Threatnings that does ingage Mankind to the Obedience of his Precepts Few I doubt would be religious were there no Fear of Hell nor Hopes of Heaven 'T is said that all things are possible to him that believes Mark 9. 23. which in other Words imports that no Difficulty nor Hazard how great soever shall be able to stop them in their Christian Race And in this Sense it only is that Faith is said to be the Victory that overcometh the World But though 't is only a firm Perswasion of the Truth of God's Promises and Threatnings that inspires the Faithful with Courage to overcome and conquer the Temptations not only of the Devil but of the Lusts of this World too yet this is no Argument that therefore we must assent to that which we see no Reason to believe for then we might be every whit as liable to believe things false as things that are true Wherefore it behoves us to be very watchful and circumspect in avoiding false Principles for Error of any kind will rather make us Slaves to the Devil than enable us to overcome and conquer him As therefore thou oughtst to imbrace Truth wheresoever thou dost find it so be as ready to relinquish Errors when by carefully examining into Religion thou hast discovered them to be such for 't is in every respect as Heroick an Act of Faith to believe our selves in the wrong when we really are so as 't is to adhere stedfastly to a Truth undoubted Know then that no kind of Faith can be true that is certainly unreasonable for the Light of Nature is as much God's Law as Divine Revelation and none must ever think that God's Law can contradict it self Right self-evident Reason is the only Touchstone that Men have to distinguish Truth from Error and 't is the Agreement even of Scripture with this Reason that makes us know it to be the Word of God 't is not our Forefathers saying so but the exact Concurrence of the Witness of our Spirit and that Testimony And though some would perswade us not at all to trust to Reason in Matters of Religion yet 't is observable that those very Men that exclaim most against it are yet necessitated to give Reasons of their own to prove if 't were possible that your Reason is not to be relied on and certainly that Guide must needs be most safe whom the whole World in some kind or other do find it so necessary to follow Of the true Nature of Religion 'T is certain that the Laws of Religion are design'd by God for the only Good of Mankind he forbids some things and commands others only because the one is prejudicial to Man's Well-being and the other is absolutely necessary to his Peace and Happiness In order then to the true Happiness of this Life there is required a sutable way of living even such as respects the Universal Good of the whole Kind which in short is that which Men call a Life of Holiness or a Life perfectly free from every kind of Injustice or Mischief both to one's self and others And as for the Heavenly State that is a State of perfect Goodness and Purity and 't is impossible that any one can take delight in that Divine kind of Life hereafter which he hated here And for that Reason could the Wicked be admitted into Heaven yet then would they be unhappy by reason that there none of those base and ignoble Pleasures would be found which their corrupted Minds on Earth did love and admire 'T is then only a good Life on Earth that can fit us for the Heavenly Inheritance Now this Goodness of Life so necessary to Man's both present and future Bliss does not consist in Speculation but in Practice Belief is of no other Use than as it enacts Obedience and that 's the Reason that the Day of Judgment is represented as taking no notice of the Opinions but of the Practices of Men. Have you fed the Hungry Have you clothed the Naked Have you visited the Sick Mat. 25. 36. At that great Solemnity the Inquiry will not be What had you in the World or what did you profess but what good Deeds have you done therein how has your Care been to promote the Universal Good of rational Beings Have you renounced the Lust of the Flesh the Lust of the Eye and the Pride of Life 1 John 2. 26. and lived soberly and righteously and godlily in this present World Tit. 2. 12. and done justly and loved Mercy and walked humbly with God Mich. 6. 8. Now if 't is the Goodness of our Practice that is the one thing necessary to Salvation then the disbelieving either a few doubtful or else a few unreasonable Opinions can never be dangerous Let us then as to the Point now under Examination ask our selves but this one Question Will the Belief of the Doctrine
of a Trinity make me a more merciful and righteous Man than I shall be if I did profess the contrary Will it make me love and honour God better Will it make the Service which I render to his Divine Majesty a more reasonable Service And if on serious Consideration you find it will not then 't is plain that the Unitarian Faith which denies a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead is much to be preferr'd since 't is not perplex'd with such Contradictions to humane Understanding but depends on more plain and noble Evidences and does also in all Respects whatsoever effectually secure a good Life which when all is done is the very Soul and Life of Religion and will stand by a Man when Hypostatical Vnions and Mutual Consciousness and Somewhats will prove but poor things to depend upon for Salvation There can be no Danger of Damnation for not assenting to such mysterious Notions as Men can at no tolerable rate understand such as is that of the Doctrine of a Trinity which makes the Divine Power of the Godhead to reside in three distinct Persons whose Constitution is like that of a free State rather than the more Divine Government of a single Monarchy if in the mean time they believe heartily the plain Doctrine revealed in God's Word and live up truly to the undoubted Precepts which the Christian Religion commands which I am certain does no where say that unless ye believe that three Persons are truly God ye shall certainly be damn'd Salvation and the Belief of the Trinity not inconsistent 'T is objected as dangerous to believe the Doctrine of God's being but one in Person because we should hereby as much as in us lies exclude from Salvation all those pious and just Men who in former Ages have liv'd and died in the Belief of a Trinity I answer The Wisdom of the Unitarian Doctrine never was so uncharitable as to suppose this yet doubtless the Belief of a Trinity must needs much lessen their future Happiness though not wholly debar them of Salvation And therefore to persist therein after due Admonition especially is very imprudent and dangerous 'T is plain that though those who believe a Trinity do believe more than either God or Christ do require as necessary to Salvation yet together or therewith many Persons do also believe all the chief Fundamentals in Religion that are requisite to save them and therefore their Hope and Trust in God's Mercy on one Hand may out-ballance their Error on the other If God winked at the Ignorance of the vertuous Gentiles how can we imagine that he should not be gracious to the heedless and unwitting Errors of the humble and contrite-hearted Christian If any Man saith the Apostle build on the Foundation Hay and Straw and Stubble that is Doctrine that will not stand the Test of Truth he shall suffer Loss yet he himself shall be saved but so as by Fire 1 Cor. 3. 15. that is with great Difficulty he shall escape Damnation If God should be extream to mark what is done amiss no Man could stand in Judgment before him as it is in Psal 143. 2. 130. 3. All Salvation is of the free Grace and Mercy of God who pardons Iniquity Transgression and Sin Exod. 34. 7. A good Life will make great Abatements upon the account of a bad Faith Mercy rejoiceth against Judgment Jam. 2. 13. and Charity shall cover a multitude of Sins 1 Pet. 4. 8. But though 't is possible for a Man to be saved in this Faith who otherwise has lived well yet 't will doubtless much lessen his future Happiness for Error of any kind is the fruitful Parent of many Mischiefs it betrays us into Absurdities and involves us in many unwarrantable Words and Actions As our Faith is so will our Practice be apt to be and consequently Error in one respect or other will be apt to make Mens Lives less innocent and the less innocent our Actions are the less doubtless will our Reward hereafter be For the eternal Glories compar'd to that of the Sun and Moon and Stars 1 Cor. 15. will be in proportion to the Degrees of our Christian Perfection They therefore whose Religion is such only as will but just preserve them from Damnation must not expect so large a share of the Divine Recompences as by God's Grace is due to the inlarged Capacity of the more exactly knowing and undefiled Soul But notwithstanding what has been said on the Behalf of those otherwise good Livers who have not been ignorant of the Truth merely out of Malice and Design I add that in case Men of false Principles are told plainly that they are in the wrong and yet they still do obstinately persist therein and refuse to consider seriously the Arguments both of Scripture and Reason that are offered to convince them I see not how in any case 't is possible for such to be saved for this is truly and plainly to reject the Counsel of God and to do Despite to the Spirit of Grace By what Nature the World was redeemed When Men have argued whatever they can about the Necessity of Christ his being truly God that so the Sacrifice he offered might be of Merit sufficient to answer the Demands of God's most Infinite Justice yet after all it must be acknowledged that our Peace was made with God only by the holy Life and Death of an humane Person for nothing that is truly God can die or shed Blood but 't is by Blood even the Blood of a dying Jesus that we are cleansed from all Sin 1 Joh. 1. 7. And this his Death for our Redemption is an undeniable Instance to prove that his Person was truly humane Christ Jesus our Lord was undoubtedly filled with the Divine Spirit for in him dwelt the Fulness of the Godhead but this did not make him God any more than a Believer shall be made God by receiving of his Fulness Joh. 1. 16. or by being Partaker of the Divine Nature promised to such 2 Pet. 1. 4. It only fitted him for the Work of Redemption he by that eminent Inhabitation of the Divine Spirit became able to surmount all Temptations to Sin and 't was only the underfiled Obedience of his Life even unto Death that made the Sacrifice which he offered unto God acceptable The Blood that was shed to manifest the intire Obedience of Jesus unto God was no other than the Blood of a most holy and excellent Man 't was not the Blood of God as some Men rashly do affirm On the Cross he that thus died cried out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Now for him to be God that thus prayed to God is I think impossible Wherefore 't is evident that he who thus died was not a true Deity and yet 't was by him that died that the World was redeemed for which blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath thus visited and redeemed his People and hath raised up a