to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think but to think soberly have other thoughts and apprehensions and are most willing to acknowledge the shallowness of their own Judgments and the depth of Divine Truth We have Instances on Record of those Humble Souls who though of singular sagacity and improvements proclaim'd the Unsearchableness of the Divine Wisdom and the Exalted Truths that belong to it The Ancient Inspired Arabian expresses it thus Man knoweth not the price of it i. e. as I apprehend he cannot come up fully to the Purchase or which is the same the Attainment of it for we purchase things by price neither is it found in the land of the living the depth saith it is not in me and the sea saith it is not in me Whence then cometh Wisdom and where is the place of Vnderstanding Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living and kept close from the fowls of the air i. e. those that are most quick-sighted for Naturalists observe that the eyes of Birds generally excel those of other Animals But he concludes God understands the ways thereof and he knoweth the place thereof that is he hath reserved the perfect knowledge of these Divine and Supernatural things to Himself This was the humble sense of another Great and Wise Man the Royal Psalmist concerning whom it is worth our observing that after he had asserted and maintain'd the doctrine of God's Omniscience and All-seeing Providence he adds Such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is high I cannot attain unto it which is as much as if he had said though it is impossible for me to apprehend the infinite and boundless knowledge of the Eternal God the Sovereign Disposer of all things though I can't tell how he sees and foresees all things whatsoever yet I heartily own this Universal Sight and Prescience of his and I verily believe it to be a certain and unshaken Truth It is Humility which furnishes a man with such perswasion and language as this and it is this which causes him to believe and assert that there are Mysteries in his Holy Faith which far transcend his thoughts and conceptions This is that Wisdom which according to another Divine and Inspired Sage is far off and exceeding deep and therefore as it follows who can find it out To which irrefragable Testimonies permit me to adjoyn that of an Apocryphal Writer and the rather because I will take occasion thence to offer a Conjecture on that dark place Wisdom is according to her Name and she is not manifest unto many What is the meaning of that according to her Name What Title hath Wisdom that imports any such matter viz. that she is not manifest Some Criticks think it refers to the Hebrew word for Wisdom Chocmah others to the Arabick Algnalam but what they propound seems to be very much strain'd and doth not reach the purpose And how can it seeing they forget that this Book was writ in Greek and that the Title of it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We must therefore repair to the Greek for a solution but we must first confer with the Hebrew where we meet with the Verb Saphah or Tsaphah which signifies to hide or cover and thence it is probable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived and this it is likely is the Name that is here meant because though the language in which this book was originally drawn up was Hebrew as appears from the Prologue of it yet it was soon translated into Greek because the Iews at that time spoke Greek generally and had their Bible and Service in Greek and accordingly this place hath reference to the name of Wisdom in that tongue wherein there are many words deriv'd from the Hebrew and hence it is that the denomination of Wisdom imports something hid and mysterious and therefore she is according to her Name The Iewish Doctors had a sense of this as appears from their Proverbial Saying When Elias comes he will untie all knots i. e. solve all Difficult and Abstruse Points of which there are not a few in Religion There are sundry things hid from our understandings here which shall not be clear'd till the last day Now if the Wisest persons spoke thus concerning the things of Religion which is the Wisdom of God under those Dispensations of old is there not much more reason to say the like of the Divine Wisdom under the Oeconomy of the Gospel when doctrines of an higher nature are published to the world such as far surpass all humane comprehension But there is a generation of men among us that will not stoop to this they will not own themselves to be in a state of Weakness Childhood and Minority in this life though the Great Apostle as we have heard expresly did when he so far own'd the deficiency of his Understanding as to say he knew in part and spake and understood and thought as a Child And all the Great and all the Wise men in the world have been ready to say the same yea even with reference to matters of a lower nature The Learned in the Law confess they have their Perplexed and Knotty Cases Statesmen their Arcana Physicians their Opprobious Maladies Anatomists their Unknown Ductus's Astronomers their Eccentrical Motions which they can't reduce into regular and exact Order Mathematicians their Insoluble Problems And in brief most Professions and Sciences labour under some insuperable Difficulties and Intricacies and this is freely acknowledg'd by the most Skilful in those Arts. But here is a sort of men that will not own any such thing in Divinity although it be conversant about Objects that are infinitely Higher and Greater Notwithstanding this they think it is below a man of Parts to own any thing to be Inexplicable they profess that it becomes not a man of Sense and Reason to admit of this yea that it is an unsufferable affront to Humane Nature to believe such a thing They think it a sufficient ground to cashier a doctrine in Religion because it is attended with Obscurity In short they think it unreasonable to yield assent to a Proposition on the account of its being reveal'd in Scripture meerly because they are not able to conceive the Manner of it Thus their Pride makes them Infidels and they bid adieu to Modesty and the Faith together Secondly Another Great Disparagement and Inexcusable Blemish of these mens Perswasion is that it argues wilful Prejudice and Partiality I will make this evident from these two Considerations First Tho' they deny not that there are Mysteries in the Divine Providence yet they altogether renounce them in the Articles before mention'd Secondly Though they grant there may and ought to be a Government and Restraint on the Imaginations Will and Affections of men yet at the same time they perversly disapprove of the like restraint on the Vnderstanding and Reasoning Faculty Both these are Instances of their egregrious Prepossession
Heads whilst it hath been cried in their Ears that here is Truth and there is Truth they have grown Perplexed and Distracted and know not how to behave themselves and What Part to take They hear that the Claim to Truth is Universal but then they know This that All the Pretences to it cannot be True and How say they if None of them should be so Hereupon they renounce Religion as a Faction and in plain terms a Cheat and consequently they Live and Act in the World as they Please If Truth be claimed by All the Professors of Religion and those Professors Contradict one another Where shall we find an Answer to This Interrogatory What is Truth In way of Reply it is enough to say at present for I shall answer a great part of these Cavils afterwards in the sequel of this Discourse 1. These Several Divisions and Parties evidently prove a True Religion For it is certain that Rational Men would not Contend for Nothing Unless there were some Reality at the bottom we cannot imagine that Persons of unprejudic'd Minds and sincere Intentions as we must allow a great Part of them to be would thus seriously busie themselves and be so mightily concern'd 2. Some Mens fond and groundless Pretences ought not to be equalled with the Iust Claims of others As long as the World continues in this degenerate posture where it is there will ever be a great number of men who will be pretending to Truth even whilst they are maintaining those Doctrines which are directly opposite to it Therefore we are not to concern our selves for these Pretenders only so far as to slight them as Persons govern'd by Interest or Passion or to pity them as those who are misled by Ignorance or Prejudice 3. As for the generality of Disputes which are at this day on foot Religion and particularly the Christian Religion I mean the Essentials and Vitals of it which give it its denomination are little or not at all concern'd in those Quarrels as will appear from what I shall suggest anon and therefore I shall say no more here But notwithstanding what hath been objected I will go on with my present design which is an Inquest after Truth and I hope the attempt will not prove vain and succesless That we may certainly find it out those Two known but too much neglected Rules or Standards are to be made use of by us viz. Reason and Scripture By Reason I mean the free and impartial use of our Understandings and Judgments which God hath naturally endued us with and which we are obliged to improve and cultivate by the aid of our Bodily Senses by the Testimony of others by serious and steady Observation and well-grounded Experience for these must be assisting to Humane Reason to render it perfect and compleat If thuâ— we would apply our selves to a serious search after Truth we should soon make our selves Masters of it For the Candle of the Lord as Solomon very significantly calls the Reason of Man was set up in our Breasts by God on purpose to discover Truth to us But it must be acknowledged that this Light hath been much impair'd by Man's Degeneracy so that it can scarcely be said to Shine out i.e. perfectly to display it self It hath been Clouded ever since the First Apostacy and obscured daily by the actual Prevalency of Vice An undeniable Evidence whereof were those swarms of monsterous Opinions among the Pagans that gross Superstition and Idolatry of the Gentile World those prodigious Shapes and Models of Religion which were invented by them Oftentimes it happened that the Creature made and framed his Creator they shaped out Deities and the way of Worshipping them according to their own Fancies and Imaginations and a God was even what they thought good to make him Or suppose Natures Light did shine out to the full yet it would not be Clear and Bright enough to give us a Prospect of those Divine and Supernatural Truths which are to bring us to Everlasting Happiness For Nature and Reason cannot Dictate those things which depend wholly on God's Free Grace and Pleasure And such are the Doctrine of a Saviour and Redeemer the Method of Man's Salvation and all the Mysteries of the Christian and Evangelical Dispensation How was Nicodemus a Noted Master in Israel and no mean Possessor of Reason baffled with the Doctrin of Regeneration He might truly be said to go to Iesus by Night who made his Visit only by the dusky and obscure Light of Nature Therefore tho' Reason or rather the Understanding using its reasoning Faculty be a laudable Guide in Religion yet it will not be a safe Conduct to Truth if it be alone There must of necessity be another Guide besides this to lead us to the Discovery of Heavenly Verities and Propositions of Faith There must be Divine Illumination to assist us to find out Divine and Spiritual Truths The Second Standard then of Truth is the Infallible Word of God Divine Truths must be sought for not from Man but from God not from Human Writings but an Unerring Word not from those who are Finite and Ignorant but from Him who is Infinite and knoweth all Things not from the Sons of Men but from Him who is the only-begotten Son of God the Revealer of his Father's Will For No man hath seen God at any time the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him as the beloved Disciple beareth witness Iohn 1. 18. None is able to discover the Divine and Supernatural Mysteries which our Religion is fraught with but the Founder of them We could never have arrived to those Transcendent Notions unless we had been taught them from Heaven We were not skilled to appoint the Manner of Appeasing the incensed Majesty of Heaven and to prescribe the Way of Worship suitable to that Oeconomy This would have been as if it should be left to some silly Country Peasant to assign the Way and Manner of Treating a Mighty King and Monarch Who would not expect in such a case a strange and uncouth a rude and ridiculous Way of Address and Courtship and below the Greatness and Majesty of a Prince But it was requisite there should be a particular Divine Discovery a clearer Light a surer Guide than that of Nature For though God at sundry times and in divers manners had Revealed himself to the past Generations of Men yet to make that Revelation compleat he spoke in the last days by his Son and by the Testimony of the Holy Ghost in the inspired Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists Christ therefore saith and that Emphatically I am the Truth Iohn 14. 6. The Gospel was the last and most corrected Edition of the Doctrin of Truth and we must never look for any other to come forth to the End of the World This is Truth more eminently so called The Truth which came by Iesus Christ as the Blessed Evangelist speaketh
not be misinterpreted And now I have produced every individual place of Scripture where the word Mystery occurs and I have faithfully and impartially set them before the Considerate in their true and proper light that they may have a view of the right and genuine meaning of them and not misunderstand and misapply the word as some have done to the great prejudice of Truth but that more especially they may be convinc'd of this that Mystery as it is applied in the Sacred Writ to the Christian Doctrines expresses the Nature of them and lets us know that Christianity hath this Title given it because it is a Real Mystery in it self Wherefore after I have thus clear'd the way I will offer this Proposition and make it good that the Sublime Truths of the Christian Religion still retain and ever shall the nature of a Mystery This in general is evident from that idea and notion which we have of a Mystery which we learn from the Original denotation of the word whether we borrow it from the Hebrew or Greek viz. that it is some Hidden Secret thing some thing Shut up for such are the Chief Doctrines and Truths of the Gospel they are in a great measure hid and as it were lock'd up from us Many of the Articles of our Christian Faith are cover'd with great Darkness a Veil is cast over them and we are not able to penetrate into them Thus Christianity is a Mystery But particularly and distinctly to demonstrate this I will insist upon these two Heads 1 Christianity is an incomprehensible Mystery in a special manner to some 2. In a more extensive way of speaking it is so to all I begin with the first Christianity is in a special and singular way a Mystery to some persons and ever will be Those whom I here mean are all such as according to the Apostle's Emphatick stile lie in their wickedness continue in their state of Degeneracy and Corruption and have felt nothing of the Divine Birth and Renovation which are the sole gift of the Holy Spirit These as long as they remain in this wretched state are in darkness as the same Inspired Writer speaks that is they have no Effectual and Saving Knowledge of the divine Truths of the Gospel they understand nothing of them to any purpose for these cannot be thus known but by Divine Illumination by a Supernatural discovery from above which they wilfully debar themselves of Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast reveal'd them unto babes saith our Blessed Lord Mat. 11. 33. Therefore to the former of these the Fundamental doctrines of the Gospel concerning the Redemption of mankind by the Blood of Iesus and much more the doctrines of Regeneration Faith Self-denial Mortification c. are no other than Mysteries yea insignificant Iargon to them We hear the same Infallible Master speaking at another time thus It is given it is a Particular Donation a Special Grant unto you my Disciples to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven but to them i.e. the whole Multitude who are not Enlightned it is not given Mat. 13. 11. There are such representations of those Heavenly and Divine things made by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the Regenerate as are not to be found in others Which is according to those other Sayings of our Saviour The Spirit of Truth the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him i.e. in a Saving way but ye know him Joh. 14. 17. O righteous Father the world hath not known thee Joh. 17. 25. They are in the dark and all thy Sacred Truths are Riddles to them And this is the Apostolical doctrine The Natural man receives not discerns not entertains not the things of the Spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. The Natural or Animal man here meant saith an Ancient Father of the Church is he that lives according to the flesh and hath not his mind yet enlightned by the Spirit But he adds this to the Character That he is one that hath only that inbred and humane knowledge which the Creator furnishes all mens minds with And so other Ancient Writers interpret the words as we shall hear afterwards According to the Learned Grotius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not one that is govern'd by the affections of his fleshly part but he that is lead only by the light of Humane Reason he that hath no other light but that of Nature This Interpretation of this Learned Writer is the more considerable because the persons I 'm concern'd with at present have so great an esteem and veneration and that not unjustly for him and boast that he is theirs It appears they are mistaken for now he is ours whilst he directly and expresly avows the Apostle's Natural or Animal Man to be one that is wholly conducted by the light of Natural Reason and Humane Wisdom Such a one having no Supernatural guidance and direction cannot as long as he is such attain to a Right Knowledge of the things of God because they are foolishness unto him as the Apostle here subjoyns Nay he adds further he cannot know them there is no Possibility of the thing That the Natural man should rightly perceive the things of the Spirit of God implies as evident a Contradiction as to say a Blind man should be able to see things visible So a Judicious Divine of our Church expresses himself concerning this matter The ground of the Apostle's Assertion follows which is very remarkable These things saith he of the Spirit of God can't be known by a Natural man because they are Spiritually discerned Spiritual things are discover'd and known in a peculiar way and such as is proper to Good and Holy men only These persons have an inward sense and conviction of the Reality of the things and they know the true Value and Worth of them They know them so as to make them their own proper Concern they know them so as to feel an influence from them on their hearts affections and lives Thus a Religious person knows and discovers these things in an other manner than Natural and Vnregenerate men do It is true the knowledge of both these is alike as to some sort of discoveries relating to Holy things Thus not only the Grammatical Critical Rhetorical Historical and Philosophical part of the Bible may be understood by the one as well as the other for the Worst men may have as great an insight into these as the Best but even the Theological part of this Inspired Book so far as is meant by it the meer Speculative and Notional discovery of Divine Truths may be equally known by both But to know the Truths contain'd in this Sacred Volume so as to be better'd by them is from Supernatural Light alone and this is it which distinguishes the Spiritual from the Natural man This latter falls
short of the other in this that he hath not attain'd to that Spiritual discerning of Evangelical truths which the Apostle speaks of and without which it is utterly impossible to have such a knowledge of them as will be effectual to Salvation and Happiness I will add only one Text more 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world i.e. Satan hath blinded the minds of them who believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them Here it is implied that the Gospel is hid from some persons yea and we are told from whom viz. such as according to the foregoing stile of the Apostle are Natural men those that live in their sins and suffer their minds to be blinded and perverted to be corrupted and debauch'd by the Diabolick Spirit the Prince and Ruler of this lower world To such the Gospel and the Truths of it are meer Darkness Thus it abundantly appears from the Sacred Writ whence we are to fetch our discoveries concerning these things that the Proposition which I laid down is an impregnable and unshaken Truth viz. that Christianity retains still the nature of a Mystery and that more especially as so some persons The Reason is plain because Natural Strength is not sufficient of it self to discover these Divine Truths Unless the Soul be illuminated by the Holy Spirit these remain unintelligible and wholly ineffectual and useless as to any Saving vertue and efficacy This I take to be the meaning of our Saviour's words Iohn 3. 3. Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God Unless as the Apostle speaks he be renewed in the spirit of his mind and that by the power of the Holy Ghost he cannot understand aright the Truths of the Gospel which is call'd frequently the kingdom of God and of heaven he cannot see he cannot enter into as 't is express'd in v. 5. those divine things This is that which our Saviour avers Mat. 11. 27. Neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son and he to whosoever the Son will reveal him viz. by an Inward and Effectual Discovery for they had the Outward Revelation then When the Apostle St. Peter acknowledged Christ to be the Son of the living God our Saviour told him that flesh and blood had not reveal'd this to him but his Father who is in heaven Mat. 16. 17. It was not the work of Nature but of the Spirit of God the Father that had effectually wrought this Knowledge in him This sort of Light is peculiarly from the Father of lights this Singular Wisdom is from above and accordingly as some interpret that place Iohn 3. 13. the knowledge of these Heavenly and Spiritual things is call'd ascending up to heaven From thence is deriv'd that Insight into the things of God which no Natural man hath attain'd to For in this Degenerate State of mankind the Great Points of our Religion are under a Seal and lock'd up from us and are never to be disclosed till a Divine Light opens our eyes We must of necessity remain Blind till that Eye-Salve Rev. 3. 18. be effectually applied And it can be applied only by the Holy Spirit whose proper work it is to dispel that spiritual darkness whereby the mind is indisposed to understand and discern divine matters aright This is variously express'd in the Holy Writings viz. by such terms as these shining in our hearts to give the light of knowledge 2 Cor. 4. 6. giving us an understanding to know 1 John 5. 20. enlightning the eyes of our understanding Eph. 1. 18. an Vnction from the Holy One 1 John 2. 20. Which cannot be better paraphras'd and explain'd than in the words of an Eminent Prelate of our Church The same Spirit which revealeth the Object of Faith generally to the Universal Church doth also illuminate the understanding of such as believe that they may receive the Truth For Faith is the gift of God not only in the Object but also in the Act. And afterwards in the Close he hath these words We affirm not only the Revelation of the Will of God but also the Illumination of the Soul of Man to be part of the office of the Holy Spirit of God against the Old and New Palagians So that Judicious Writer It is this Holy Instructor that disposes the mind to receive the light of Divine Truth by curing it of its Natural Darkness and Ignorance and by preparing the heart to receive its Rays There is required a Special Grace of the Holy Ghost to enlighten the Soul and to make due impressions upon it The â—aculty of the Understanding must be puriâ—ied and so made fit to apprehend Spiritual objects This is part of the Renewed Nature and Regenerate Principle and consequently where this is not the Great Doctrines of Christianity are Hidden Secrets and Unknown Mysteries From what hath been said I will only draw these Two Corollaries 1. It is no wonder that the Followers of Socinus will not acknowledge Christianity to be a Mystery for they hold there is no necessity of â— Supernatural Light no need of Illumination from the Spirit in order to the due apprehending and understanding of the Divine Truths of the Gospel There is they say in all men that natural ability whereby they are capable of discerning all Spiritual and Heavenly matters in a spiritual way They are enabled by virtue of an Inbred Power in their minds abstract from what is Supernatural to perceive and believe as they ought all the Evangelical doctrines propounded to them Wolzogen ridicules the Internal and Supernatural Illumination I have been speaking of Velthusius an Author that is much applauded by some of Socinus's follwers tells us plainly That the knowledge of a regenerate and unregenerate man concerning the things and mysteries of faith differs not from the light of Reason I appeal to the Intelligent whether this be not an approach to an Heresie long since condemned in the Christian Church It is well known that it was the Pelagian Error to assert that men can attain to a perfect knowledge of their duty and an ability to perform it by meer Natural Reason by the bare help of that light which Nature gives them And in this as well as some other Points the Socinians symbolize with those Ancient Hereticks They cry up Reason as the Only thing in Religion this with them like the Archaeus among the Chymists doth all feats produces all operations Though these men seem to be great Abhorrers of those who talk of the Light within them yet it is evident that they allow of the very same Principle and Practise they equal the Light of Reason to the Holy Scripture and say it will serve instead of this and that it is as good as Scripture because all men may be Saved by it Therefore this they urge
here of no value it is generally despised and rejected You must think of some Other way for This will not do Alas What is TRUTH worth and what are you like to get by abetting it But I rather think that Pilate ask'd This Question in Contempt and Derision I pray Sir What is the Right Definition of Truth Do you pretend to understand the Exact Notion of it I must tell you This Friend Men are as much Mistaken about This as Any thing in the World and I believe You are One of that number You talk of Truth but do you know What it is And as soon as he had started this Query he went off the Bench. By which it appears that his Enquiry was not Serious and that he Cared not for a Reply to it Otherwise if he had been in Good Earnest without doubt our Saviour would not have failed to return an Answer For he was a Person extremely Communicative and used to satisfy all Material Questions to the Full yea above what was demanded As when a Lawyer ask'd him What was the First Commandment he told him moreover what was the Second which was like unto it So when it was asked him Is it lawful to give Tribute to Cesar or no His Answer was more than Satisfactory for he not only acquaints them that they ought to pay Cesar his Tribute but he adds also that God's as well as Cesar's Dues are to be discharged It is not to be doubted that He who was so Ready at all times to Satisfy Mens Demands would have returned an Answer to This of Pilate if this Great Man would have Stayed for it But though Pilate went away in Haste I hope it will be worth our Time to Stay and Satisfy our selves about This Question of so unspeakable Use and Value a Question which is every ways Necessary in order to the Resolving of the Scruples of the Conscientious and Silencing the Cavils of the Atheistical and Prophane a Question whereon the whole Frame and Constitution of Religion depends a Question of the Greatest Importance next to That What shall we do to be Saved Or rather it is of the Same rank with it for as the Apostle hath joyned them together God would have all Men to be Saved and come to the Knowledge of the Truth But an Other Question then will arise How shall we come to the Knowledg of the Truth Are we not on every side beset with Mistakes and False Notions Was not Error very Early in the World and doth it not bear Date from Adam I have not Examined whether that be True which One saith That there is but One Speech deliver'd before the Flood by Man wherein there is not an Erroneous Conception But this is certain that Mistake and Falshood enter'd into the World betimes and that ever since a Night of Ignorance hath over-spread our Minds and our Judgments are involved in a Cloud of Obscurity and Imperfection In Cebes's Table which represents Man's Life Imposture gives her Cup to all that come into the World Error and Ignorance are the Potion and every one Drinks of it but some more and some less Hence it is that Pretences and Appearances of Reason cozen us Imperfect Argumentations and Superficial Discourses easily determine us A Petty Inducement a Weak Likelihood a Plausible Harangue are enough to Turn the Scales with us and Weigh heavier sometimes than a Demonstration Hence it is that Truth is so Rare a thing in the World We may justly complain as He of old It is Difficult to find out True Reason Or we may cry out as Hermias the Old Christian Philosopher did Truth hath abandon'd and taken its farewell of the World How then shall we hope to have this Question assoil'd and to know What is Truth Nay We are in as bad Circumstances as before and Pilate's Demand is as far from being Answer'd as it was for as the Sceptick doubteth of all Truth yea indeed denies it so on the other hand we see that All Parties of Religion in the World pretend that they are Masters and Possessors of it Before there was No Truth and now All is Truth If you ask what it Truth you shall not want whole Herds of Men who will come and offer their Service to you and with all Officiousness will tell you that they are able to Resolve you in such an Easy Question as That is Truth takes up its Residence with Vs say the Pagaâ— Worshipers Our Numerous Deities and their Idols have been vouched by Oracles and Divinations and all the ways that are requisite to make a Religion Authentick We are the Parents of Orthodox Faith say the Iews and all the rest of the World are Bewilder'd and Lost being destitute of a Pillar of Light to lead them Alas they are inveloped in Egyptian Darkness and must continue to be so till they take Moses for their Only Guide to bring them out of it But then again Neither Gentiles nor Iews are in the right say the Followers of Mahomet who yet was the Son of a Pagan Father and a Iewish Mother The Alcoran is the True Charter of our Religion and who can suspect it since our Prophet received it from the Angel Gabriel We are the True Musselmen i.e. Believers and all Others are downright Infidels and Miscreants Nay even among Those who profess Christianity for out of the Best and Purest Religion will arise the Worst of Corruptions and Heresies the Parties and Divisions the Disputes and Claims are not a few Truth is but One and yet they All think they Monopolize it Every Sect is Eager and Violent and some of them Confine All Religion and Salvation to their Own Way Nay they are for Persecuting all Parties but their Own like the Ottoman Princes they must Strangle all their Brethren otherwise they think they cannot Reign safely Ask the Different Parties even from the Highest to the Lowest from the Old Gentleman that sits in the Porphyry Chair to the meanest Quaker or Muggletonian and they will all tell you they are in possession of the Truth Every Perswasion hath this of Popery in it that the Professors of it think themselves Infallible and say they have an Unerring Guide and therefore they take the Chair and Determine Peremptorily on their Own Sides Even whilst some cry This is False and others That if you ask them singly they all say they are in the Right and every one confidently vouches that he is Proprietor of Truth It seems by This that Truth is Equally divided among All Men or rather indeed that the Opinion of it is so And hence it is probable that Scepticism and Indifferency in Religion have had their Rise for too Lavish Pretences to Truth have made some question whether there be Any The Divers Claims and Quarrels in Christianity have wonderfully fostered Atheism For whilst it hath been observed that Divinity hath every where become Polemical and that Men have thrown Bibles at one anothers
This is the Christian Truth Our singular Glory whereby We are distinguished from all those who profess any other Religions whatsoever whether of the Unbelieving Iews or the Idolatrous Gentiles or the Deluded Saracens and Turks or downright Atheists and others of a like Perverse Perswasion These all Err especially the three first Ranks of Men by not knowing or not imbracing the Scriptures which are deservedly stiled The Word of Truth and are the only supreme Rule of Faith and Doctrin We then who imbrace this Christian Rule are Blessed with that Institution which is Pure and Undefiled which is grounded on undoubted Revelation which is backed by a more sure Word of Prophecy which hath a divine Impress stamped upon it So that Our Religion as far surmounts all Others as the Gold which hath passed the Refiners Fire and hath the Royal Stamp upon it outbids the common Ore and shames its Dross and meaner Alloy You see then which are the unalterable Standards of Truth viz. Reason and Revelation the Light of Nature and of Scripture And I dare confidently aver that if our Enquiries and Determinations in Religion were faithfully managed by these two it were impossible to fail of Truth If we would but act thus as Men and Christians and that is as we ought to do we cannot miss of it For it is certainly the Purchase of all those who make a right Use of their Rational Powers and also help and direct those Powers by the Revelation of the Sacred Spirit in the Holy Scriptures By these two we may examine the Truth of the Whole Christian Religion and we shall find that it will abide the Test. By these Standards of Truth we may examine the Doctrins of all Seducers that are abroad in the World and we shall find them to be False and Adulterate If we would sincerely follow these Rules the great Diversity of Opinions and Sentiments amongst us would soon be reconciled If we would faithfully take these Measures i.e. always be Ruled and Conducted by Reason and Scripture we should easily agree upon what is to be believed and asserted in Religion and all our Disputes and Controversies would vanish Now from what hath been hitherto Discoursed we may in some good measure be able not only to return an Answer to Pilates Question What is Truth but to another near a kin to it viz. What is Error and Falshood All Propositions which contradict the common Notices and first Principles in our Minds and which affront right Reason and the plain Deductions made from it are to be looked upon as False And on the same account those Assertions which overthrow the Verdict of our Senses and much more those that imply Contradictions in them and consequently Impossibilities cannot be True And on These Grounds I might shew that the Divinity of some High-flown Enthusiasts and the Doctrin of the Roman Catholicks concerning Transubstantiation are justly to be impeached of Falshood Again whatsoever Assertions in any Religion are repugnant to Divine Revelation to God's Will declared by some Positive Law to such Discoveries as are known to be immediately from Heaven these must necessarily be False And on this Ground the Religion of the Pagans Iews and Mahometans must be voted to be such because they oppose an Infallible Revelation and That confirmed by unparallelled Miracles And semblably in Christianity all those Tenents of several Sects which bid defiance to any part of the Sacred Scripture which is left us by the Holy Ghost as the generality of the Roman Opinions the Doctrins of Pelagians Socinians Anabaptists Antinomians Libertines Quakers Hobbians c. are False and Erroneous Thus far then by vertue of the Premises we have advanced that when there are several Claims and Pretences to Truth and it is enquired What Judge shall decide the Controversy the Answer must be That Right Reason and Inspired Scripture are the only Judges they being the fixed Standards and Measures of Truth But then here will lie the main Difficulty of all that in the Questions and Debates of Religion Scripture is quoted with equal Vigor and Confidence on all Sides as if what the Iewish Rabbies say of Scripture That it hath Seventy-two Faces were the received Opinion of Christians Nay some of these seem to acknowledge by their strange way of Interpreting it That it hath not only different but contrary Aspects When therefore there are Disputes about Scripture-Interpretation What must we do How can we discern what is Truth by Consulting of Scripture when as that is Dubious and Uncertain If contrary Sects and Parties quote it and plead it how can it be a fixed Standard of Truth How is it an unerring Guide It might suffice to say in General That it is no wonder that all Opinionists even the Wildest of them make use of Scripture yea a great Part of the Turks Alcoran is express Words of the Bible It is no wonder I say since Scripture was quoted by Satan himself who when he Tempted our Saviour misapplied it to the vilest Purpose But particularly to satisfie this Great and Affrighting Difficulty we may inform our selves that in Religion there are Five Sorts of Enquiries and Doctrines Now I will briefly shew how Scripture is to be made use of and when it is fit to Apply it to any of these Particulars I. Some Points of our Religion are in themselves Mystical and Profound and the Sacred Writings having not Explained them it cannot be expected that we should ever do it Such Difficult and Sublime Doctrines as the Mystery of the Sacred Trinity i.e. a Trinity of Divine Persons in the Unity of the Godhead the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in One Person the Manner of the Resurrection and the like are not to be throughly known by us as long as we sojourn on Earth These are like the Book in the Revelation which none is able to open in Heaven or in Earth but the Lamb. And seeing he is not pleased to Unfold them to us we must Admire and Adore them but not be sollicitous to Comprehend them We are to remember this that some Things must be believed on the mere Authority of the Speaker and it argues Infidelity to question the Truth of them or so much as to be Inquisitive about them The Things are spoken by God therefore we ought to give Credit to them The Manner and Circumstances of them are not discovered therefore I 'm obliged not to pry into them This was the Sense and Practice of the Primitive Christians as we may learn from Origen who tells us That the believing some Articles of Faith on the bare Authority of the Scriptures was objected to the Christians by the Heathens Their Complaint against them was That they would neither give nor receive a Reason of their Faith but were wont to cry out Examine not but believe Here likewise I may rank some Insuperable Problems concerning the Divine Decrees and Predestination the Abstruseness of which forbids
hear Persons of different Judgments cite the same Passages of Holy Writ should not give Offence to any Because that Trumpet gives an uncertain Sound I see no reason why the Parties should prepare themselves for Battle and Dispute with so much Fierceness and Rage as generally they do I cannot sufficiently Admire and Commend the excellent Candor and Moderation of the first Pious Reformers of Our Church who in such Articles as are Dubious and Disputable have not shewed themselves Stiff and Peremptory Rigid and Magisterial have not wound up the Strings too high lest they should marr the Harmony and Peace of the Church But where the Arguments are deemed to be Equal on both Sides they have allowed us an ingenuous Freedom and permit us to make use of our own Judgments and yet at the same time severely and indispensably urge upon us all Articles that are of the Foundation and which are certainly known to be True And this brings me to the Fifth and Last Rank of Principles in our Holy Religion and they are Fundamental and Necessary and of the very Essence of Christianity Of which sort are the Doctrines of Man's Corruption and Degeneracy of the Reparation made by Christ the Redeemer of Forgiveness and Justification by his Blood c. with all those substantial Articles of Faith comprised in the Creed which goes under the Name of the Apostles These are the Christian Verities and these are clear and manifest in God's Word and have plain Evidence of Scripture and are agreed upon by all Sober and Considerate Persons who have not renounced the Christian Profession Here it is that we have the greatest Use and Guidance of Scripture and for that plain Direction which it gives us in these we are to Prize and Value it as the Richest Treasure nay as the Only Treasure in the World For from this Inspired Book alone we have these Heavenly and Divine Doctrines they were originally in no other Writings in the World but these Wherefore let us look upon these grand Truths as the main and necessary Contents of the Bible and as the Matters which we are indispensably concerned in As for those Texts which are Obscure and Difficult or which relate not to Faith or Manners and consequently are not necessary to be known let us not be displeased that we cannot reach the meaning of them Let it not seem strange that Interpreters vary here and cannot agree about the Sense of these Places St. Ierom upon the Place saith thus St. Augustin otherwise and St. Chrisostom varies from both and it may be a fourth differs from these and a fifth comes and diffents from them all This doth not offend me in the least for where the Scripture speaks of things that are Abstruse or speaks in an obscure and dark manner it is not strange that we have not a clear and plain discovery of those Passages and consequently that those Writers who have treated of them differ in their Expositions Let not this trouble us for it was God's Will there should be these Difficulties in Scripture and he hath not made it necessary for us to have the certain sense and meaning of these Places But this should satisfy us that whatever is necessary to Salvation is plainly revealed declared and written in the Old and New Testament and that the Knowledge of this alone is absolutely necessary This then is that which I say that if Christian Men would read the Bible to learn thence these undoubted Principles and their indispensable Duty and not to furnish themselves with Matter of Dispute they would be the happiest People under Heaven and be no longer Scandalous to the greater which is the Unbelieving Part of the World by their Dissentions and Disagreements O when will that Blessed Day come when Rectified and Unbiassed Reason and the plain Arbitrement of Scripture shall decide the Controversies in Christendom If these were once admitted as Impartial Umpires they would make short Work of all the Quarrels about Religion namely by pronouncing Many of them to be vain Janglings and Most of them Unreasonable and Absurd by assuring the Christian World That if they would lay aside Prejudice and Interest and Vile-Affections nothing would appear so Clear and Evident and Undisputable as the Fundamental Doctrines above-named and that all who name the Name of Christ are obliged to Embrace and Profess these necessary and unquestionable Maxims and that they ought to be Wary and Modest in their Determinations concerning other Propositions which are uncertain and that in Matters which are Indifferent and Circumstantial it is Reasonable that they should either conform themselves to the Practice of the Church they live in or mutually agree to bear with one another Where then is there any place left for Uncharitable Disputes and Unchristian Animosities No where certainly but where meer Wilfulness and Perversness reign For are not the Rules and Standards of Truth Easy and Intelligible Have we not the Eternal Laws of Reason the immediate Directions of Nature and the Convictions of our own Minds and moreover have we not the Infallible Oracles and Inspired Writings to rectify our Mistakes Have we not Heavenly and Divine Knowledge to Exalt our Natural Notions Hath not the Divine Goodness blessed us with abundant Discoveries both from the Law of Nature and the Positive Laws of Christ Jesus but more especially from the Latter that compleat Body of Divine Laws that Authentick Volume of Religion that Inestimable Treasury of true Wisdom and Knowlege So that if we will sincerely make use of these Helps which God hath given us we shall have no occasion to renew this Demand What is Truth Now to the God of Truth and Father of Lights and to his Son Christ Iesus who is the Way and the Truth and to the Holy Spirit of Truth and Grace be ascribed everlasting Honour and Glory Amen Why Rulers and Iudges are called Gods A Sermon Preach'd before the Iudges at the Assizes held at Cambridge PSALM LXXXII 6 7. I have said Ye are Gods and all of you are the Children of the most High But ye shall die like Men and fall like one of the Princes THIS Psalm may not unfitly be stiled the Iudges or Magistrates Psalm for of them it speaks and for them it was Penn'd that they might understand their Duty and not be ignorant of their Dignity that they might know how to discharge their Office which is briefly summed up in the third and fourth Verses and that they might be assured likewise that Heaven it self hath vouched their Function and authorized their Profession that they might be Ascertained that those of their Eminent Rank and Quality are under the peculiar Influence of Providence that they are God's Charge and that they are themselves Gods I have said Ye are Gods In which Words and the following ones which I have read to you we may take notice of these Two General Parts viz. a Concession and a Correction 1st An honourable Concession of
properly Studying And certainly this is of singular Use we cannot more effectually fit our selves for our Great and Important Work that we are call'd to than by serious and sober Reflections on our Minds by Sifting and Examining our Notions and observing what Conformity they bear to our Unprejudiced Faculties by being intimately acquainted with our Thoughts and exercising our selves to a familiarity with Rational and Solid Principles and by causing them to bring their utmost Aids to Support and Maintain the Articles of Christianity Our Reading will be of little use without this for it is by Pondering on the things that we have Read and by Comparing them among themselves that we are able to digest our Notions and to arrive to the true Understanding of Matters propounded to us The Royal Psalmist's Experiment concerning himself is worthy of our Observation I have more understanding saith he than all my Teachers for thy Testimonies are my Meditation Psal. cxix 99. I find a mighty Increase and advance in Divine Knowledge because I use my self to a serious Contemplation on those Heavenly and Sublime Truths and thereby I am capable of penetrating into the profound Nature of them and to discern those wonderful things in them which are hid from others We may take notice that after many seasonable Instructions and Precepts given by St. Paul to Timothy his Faithful Assistant in the Work of the Gospel he adjoins this which is of as great use as any of the rest Meditate upon these things 1 Tim. iv 15. And so again after several Pious Admonitions and Exhortations he adds Consider what I say 2 Tim. ii 7. Which Advice reaches all of Timothy's Character and is as much as if he had said Revolve these things often in your Minds and let this Charge which I leave with you be continually in your Thoughts Accustom your selves to Thinking and know that it is the part of a Christian as well as of a Man but especially it is an indispensable Qualification in a Publick Instructer in one that is to Amend and Rectifie the Sentiments of Mankind If therefore we are desirous to attain to any Improvement and Excellency in our Ministry we must not herd with the Crowd but retire from it and hold converse with our own Minds and thereby Teach and Instruct our selves and so we shall be fit to do the same to others Which is the next thing I shall treat of Fourthly Another way whereby we are to Edify the Church and Excel in it is the Office of Preaching or as the Apostle stiles it Prophesying He gives this the Precedence to all the other Gifts which he mentions either in this or the Twelfth Chapter of this Epistle Covet earnestly spiritual Gifts but rather that ye may Prophesy This is that Endowment which according to him makes most for the perfecting of the Saints for the Work of the Ministry and for the Edifying of the Body of Christ. which Character shews it to be this Gift which I'm now to speak of This is a Complicate Office and contains many Excellent things in it as first the Informing of Mens Judgments and setting them into Right Apprehensions concerning things in Religion The Leading Requisite as I conceive in a Preacher is Orthodoxy He is to be one that owns those Principles and Articles of Faith which have been always profess'd by the Universal Church Let us not assume the Title of Protestants and yet reject some of the Great Heads of Divinity which are acknowledg'd by all Sober Persons of the Reformation Let us not say we are of the Church of England and yet deny some of the Chief Doctrines contain'd in her Articles Let us not profess our selves to be Ministers of the Word and yet renounce those Truths which are formally contain'd in it or are according to it For either Express words of Scripture or Natural and Plain Consequences from it are to be the Standards of that Doctrin which we deliver It is required of us not only to Establish Truth but to Detect and Confute Falshood and Heresy therein following the Example of those Great Men Irenaeus Epiphanius Augustin Theodoret. And truly this is become necessary in this Extravagant Age where so many Wild Notions are entertain'd and so many Old Errors revived The Christian Structure cannot but be expos'd to great Hazards and Dangers when its Foundations are Undermined by some and its Superstructure hath continual Batteries made against it by others In such Circumstances how Careful and Watchful should we be How Vigorously and Concernedly should we act Like those Builders at the Restauration of the Iews with a Trowel in one hand and a Sword in the other We must be in a Defensive and Offensive Posture at once securing and maintaining the Apostolical Faith and grappling with the Opposers of it at the same time But yet I must insert this Caution That we ought carefully to avoid all Unnecessary Disputes for nothing is more unbecoming a Preacher of the Gospel and nothing doth more hinder the Success of his Ministry Accordingly we may observe That the Doctrines which minister questions are opposed to Godly edifying â— Tim. l. 4. We shall effect but little in our Employment if we indulge Controversies and delight in Quarrels and promote Intricacies and Perplexities in Religion Our task is to avoid these with all care and to entertain our Hearers with the Necessary Doctrines of Christianity such as depend not on the fallible Deductions of Men but are fixed and unmoveable founded on the Holy Oracles and deliver'd by Christ Jesus and his Apostles Again a Minister and Guide of Souls is not only to rectifie Mens Judgments and to settle them in the Necessary Articles of Religion but further it is required of him that he take care of their Lives and Manners For though True Notions of Religion and Godliness are to lead the way yet to make a Man Absolute and Complete there must be Uprightness of Life Nay indeed unless this latter be look'd after the former will soon decay By Unholiness and Wickedness we see oftentimes that Men Hazard their Principles If the Practice be Debauch'd if the Life be Impure if the Manners be depraved there will be a Corruption in the Judgment Therefore we that are Dispensers of the Word ought to be as concern'd for Practical Religion as for Truth of Doctrin We ought not only to Instruct our Hearers in Right Principles but with all freedom to reprove their Sins and Vices and pathetically to Exhort and Perswade them to all Vertue and Goodness remembring always that a Holy and Exemplary Conversation is the True Edifying of the Church yea 't is the very Top-stone of the Building It is not meer Speculation or bare Discourse that will atchieve this great Work This is as if a Man should undertake to Build a House by Contriving it in his Head or by Talking of it It is the utmost Perfection of a Christian to Live according to his Excellent
Visible Face of it be never without the Vitals and Spirit of it Let Religion outwardly appear as comely and beautiful as the Rules of Christian Edification will allow but by no means let her exceed in Ornament and Bravery for she will soon vanish when she grows Pompous and runs into External Shew and Pageantry With Decency and Comeliness are generally coupled Vnity and Concord and these we are to be concern'd for likewise It is the Harmony and Uniformity of the Parts of a Building that makes it both Beautiful and Useful Without this it would not be a well-ordered Edifice but a confused Heap And 't is certain that by our love of Peace and Unity we shall successfully contribute towards the Building of the Church For there is History enough to convince us that the Antient Hereticks and Schismaticks betray'd the Faith when they destroy'd the Vnity of the Church At the same time that they made a Breach in her Walls they undermined her Foundations It behoves us of the Clergy then to maintain mutual Amity and Agreement both among our selves and others It is high time to banish all Dissention to put a Period to all our Animosities and Vain Janglings to doat no longer on Fruitless Disputes but to pursue the One thing Necessary and to imbrace our Religion with an Entire Affection and to commend it to the World by our Practising of it And so I pass to the last thing which I intended to Name Seek that ye may Excel in a Holy Life St. Paul in his Visitation Sermon to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus enjoins them to take heed to themselves as well as to all the Flock Acts xxviii 28. And he commands Timothy to be an Example of the Believers in Word in Conversation in Charity in Spirit in Faith in Purity 1 Tim. iv 12. And more briefly ver 16. Take heed unto thy self and to thy Doctrin i.e. to thy Life as well as to thy Preaching And he charges Titus That in all things he shew himself a Pattern of good Works Tit. ii 7. As there is a Special Designation to the Office of the Ministry so there must be a Special Holiness accompanying it There must be a Consecration of their Lives as well as of their Persons As their Function Exalts them above others in Dignity so they should surpass them in all Laudable Actions according to those words used by our Church in her Canons They must have always in mind that they ought to Excel others in Purity of Life and should be Examples to the People to live well and Christianly Let not that which was part of the Pharisees Character be fastned on them They say but do not they Preach well but Live not accordingly Let not that which the Apostle saith of Seducers and False Teachers be applied to them They profess that they know God but in works they deny him If they be Guilty of this latter they pull all down that they have Built they render all their Instructions Admonitions Reproofs and Exhortations ineffectual they obstruct the Truth in or by their Vnrighteousness for so Rom. i. 18. may be read according to the sense of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they hinder the Force and Vertue of the Truth on themselves and the Propagation of it to others by an Impious Life yea they take a course to Ruin Religion it self Thence it was the usual Speech and Maxim of the Learned and Pious Dr. Hammond The Exemplary Vertue of the Clergy must restore this Church It is that must commend us to the Hearts and Consciences of Men it is that must powerfully Influence upon them and teach them to be Religious in good Earnest A Minister cannot chuse a more efficacious way of prevailing with others to be God than by letting them see that he is so himself But on the contrary 't is no marvel that the Sheep wander if the Shepherd strays Every ones Eyes are upon their Guides all Men are looking up to these Stars these Torches of the World If they burn dim it will be observ'd and which is worse it will be Imitated It is observ'd by a Traveller of good Repute that Atheism thrives in Italy because they see so much of the Cheats and Juggles of many of the Priests and that Interest is all their Religion Wherefore let it be known by our Exemplary Lives that we are not enclined to gratifie Atheists and to promote Irreligion in the World Especially let it be seen that we act not out of Worldly Designs that we make not the Ministry a Secular Calling but that our Principles are Sincere and that we do all for the Glory of our Great Master In brief one of our Character should like Iohn the Baptist be a Burning and a Shining Light Burning in his own Breast with entire Flames of Goodness and Devotion with pure Intentions of Honouring God and Promoting Religion and Shining in his Life and Actions by an Uniform Practice of Piety by an Holiness that is conspicuous and resplendent Indeed some of us are apt to entertain this False Apprehension That the things before-mention'd viz. Right Opinions Preaching of True Doctrin Conformity to the Church's Order and Discipline are sufficient though they be abstracted from Holiness Thence some labour to be accounted Orthodox and yet mind not their Lives They teach others what they are to do but are regardless of their own Actions They are hot for Ceremonies but cool and indifferent in the Practice of Religion But nothing can be more unreasonable and absurd for the things before-named are in order to a Holy Life The proper tendency of the Articles of Faith is to Obedience The Exercise of Discipline and the keeping up of Decency and Order were originally designed to beget and nourish Religion and Vertue Let us therefore Correct our Conceptions concerning these Matters and perswade our selves that a Vitious Life is as contrary to God and Religion as Erroneous Doctrines that to break one of the Commandments is as bad or worse than to deny an Article of the Creed that Drunkenness Swearing Uncleanness are as black Crimes as Schism Yea let us be convinced that by Prophaness and Wickedness the Comliness of our Worship is rendred Deformed our most Decent Rites become Sordid our White Garments are Stain'd and Polluted Let us fix upon our Minds that of the Devout Abbot of Claraval What will our Canonical Ordination profit us if we live Vncanonically To be sound in the Faith to Preach it to others to be Peaceable and Orderly and to observe the Ecclesiastical Rules and Laws are of no worth and value if our Lives be Impure and Irregular Wherefore to sum up all in a few words let him that earnestly contends for the Faith for the Order and Discipline of the Antient Christians think himself obliged also to live the Life of a Primitive Saint You see your Calling Brethren you see what is your Office your Work your
all unjust Prejudice and causeless Iealousie all Hatred and Malice and desire of Revenge and whatsoever may hinder us from discerning the things that belong unto our Peace And by the power of thy holy Spirit do thou dispose all our Hearts to such meekness of Wisdom lowliness of Mind Patience Gentleness and long-suffering and forbearance of one another in Love and such Honour and Reverence of those whom thou hast set over us as becomes the Sons of Peace that so the God of Peace may be with us Give us grace O Lord seriously to lay to heart the great Dangers we are in by our unhappy Divisions and the great Obligations which lie upon us to godly Vnion and Concord That as there is but one Body and one Spirit and one Hope of our Calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of us all so we may henceforth be all of one Heart and of one Soul united in one holy Bond of Truth and Peace of Faith and Charity and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee O Lord who with thy Father and holy Spirit livest and reignest oâ—â— God world without end Amen The Use and Abuse of APPAREL In Two Sermons occasion'd by the present Excess in that kind 1 TIM II. 8 9. I will that Women adorn themselves in modest Apparel with Shame-facedness and Sobriety Not with broidered Hair or Gold or Pearls or costly Aray IF you impartially view the general Practice of this Age you cannot but look upon these Words as one of the most Seasonable Portions of Scripture that can be offer'd to your Consideration For among the many Follies and Vices which prevail amongst us the indulging of an Extravagant Way of Attire is not the least Wherefore I reckon it part of my Office and Function to chastise this Reigning Excess and in order to the Reforming of it if I may be so happy as to Influence upon any of you by this Discourse I will undertake these Three Things I. To shew the True and Proper Vse of Apparel II. To discover the Abuse of it and to let you see how it becomes Unlawful and Vitious and unworthy of sober and modest Christians III. To make some Practical Deductions from these Things and to disswade you from that Excess which is now grown so Common by setting before you the Evils and Mischiefs of it which you will find to be so great and so many that I hope you will be prevail'd with to abandon that undue Practice There is a fourfold Vse or Design of Apparel The First whereof is to hide aâ—d shrowd our Nakedness For though in tâ—e State of Innocency when the Image of God shined bright in the Soul of Man the very Nakedness of his Body was Beauty nor needed he any other Covering than his Original Integrity and Righteousness with God had adorn'd him yet when he offended against Heaven and defaced the Image of his Maker and became a guilty Creature he was ashamed of the Nakedness of his Body and accordingly made himself a Garment of Fig-leaves 3 Gen. 7. Afterwards God himself was pleas'd to instruct him how to make a more substantial and solid sort of Cloathing viz. Coats of Skins v. 21. i.e. of the Skins or Hides of Beasts And ever afterwards among the Civilized Nations of the World Garments have been in use for the same End that they were at first that is for Modesty sake About the Middle of the Fourteenth Century there arose an Heretical sort of People call'd Adamites who gain'd that Name because they imitated Adam's Nakedness in Paradice for they contended that since the Restauration wrought by Christ the Pristine Nakedness should be resumed and Men and Women being now reduced to the Primitive State of Innocency ought to go without Cloathing But this silly Sect who divested themselves of Sobriety and Reason before they stript themselves of their Apparel were justly exploded by wise and sober Men and their Practice voted to be unlawful because the Fall hath left a great Depravity in Men and the best of them are not perfectly healed of it So that we now have the like Reason to be ashamed of our Nakedness that our first Parents had to be of theirs and consequently we have need of a Covering as they had Secondly Garments are for Distinction sake Different Habits are not only for the differencing of the Sexes and therefore the Old Testament makes the promiscuous Use of Men and Womens Apparel unlawful but for making a Discrimination between the Qualities or Ranks of Persons Accordingly in all Ages except the very first when there were but few People in the World and there was not such an occasion for discriminating of Persons from one another the Qualities of Men were distinguish'd by their respective Garbs Not only Kings and Queens were differenc'd from their Subjects by their Royal Apparel 6 Est. 8. but there were Vestures proper and peculiar to other Orders and Dignities Offices and Degrees of Men 1 Sam. 18. 4. 1 Iob 20. 4 Lam. 5. 15 Luk. 22. 16. 19. Ioseph refus'd not to wear Pharaoh's Ring that he put upon his Hand nor to be aray'd in Vestures of fine Linnen and to wear a Gold Chain about his Neck 41 Gen. 42. Mordecai and Daniel were cloath'd with rich and stately Ornaments suitable to the Degree they were advanc'd to 8 Esth. 15. 5 Dan. 29. We read of precious Cloaths or according to the Hebrew Cloaths of Freedom 27 Ezek. 20. i.e. such Garments as became free and ingenuous Men such as those of the better Quality were cloath'd with Among the old Romans the Rank of Persons was known by their Habits The Purple Embroider'd Vesture with large Studs like broad Nail's Heads thence call'd Laticlavia was used only by the Senators and Noblemen Divers kinds of Shooes were worn at Rome according to the different Quality of the Inhabitants And the like Distinction of Garbs hath been among All Nations When our Saviour tells us That they who wear soft Rayment are in Kings Houses 11 Mat. 8. he doth not condemn the Use of rich and goodly Attire which are meant by Soft Rayment but he intimates this Distinction which I am now speaking of And so it is as much as if he had said By their Habit you may know them to be Courtiers He allows Men to be attir'd according to their Place and Degree Christianity doth not disrobe Men of their Distinctive Garments For this was one Design of Apparel viz. To discriminate between Persons of an higher and a lower Degree Yea we read that the immediate Ministers of Religion among the Iews were according to God's Command distinguish'd from the People by a peculiar Manner of Garb Which was imitated by others afterwards and would it is likely have been practis'd by the Apostles and first Ecclesiastical Persons in the Christian Church if their Conspicuousness of the Cloathing would not have made them too much known to their Enemies and so would have been
Certainty of all the doctrines of the Gospel may be discover'd yea and demonstrated to the minds of those who are fitted and prepared for it but still the Efficacy of sundry Evangelical Truths is kept secret from some persons for a time and some of them are of that quality that they will ever surmount and baffle the utmost efforrs of our Intellectual Powers In another place Col. 2. 2. the Apostle mentions the mystery of God and of the Father or rather it should be rendred even of the Father and of Christ that is the Gospel or the Christian Religion wherein God the First Person in the Glorious Trinity is declar'd to be the Father of Christ and Christ the Second Person is declared to be the Eternal Son of God and God himself These and the like Fundamental Principles of Christianity are Dark and Mysterious and because of these Sublime Truths Christianity it self hath the name of Mystery given to it If there were no other place in the New Testament but this where the word mystery is found it could not create wonder that the Socinians even for the sake of this alone contend that Christianity is not simply and absolutely call'd a Mystery in Scripture for here the Godhead of Christ as well as of the Father is asserted for the word God is attributed to both Persons God even the Father and Christ being the same with God who is both Father and Christ and consequently if they deny Christ to be very God as they do they must deny the Father to be so too I proceed to another Text in the same Epistle Col. 4. 3. whence it is manifest that in the stile and idiom of the New Testament the Gospel or Christianity hath the name of a Mystery for the Apostle expresly calls it the mystery of Christ the same with the mystery of the Gospel in the place before mention'd and he requests the Prayers of the Colossians for him that God would open unto him a door of utterance to speak this Mystery of Christ i.e. freely and openly to preach the Gospel as appears further from what follows next for which I am in bonds that is a Sufferer a Prisoner for my preaching the Truâ—hs of the Gospel So that it is impoâ—sible whatever is suggested to the contrary to understand the word here any otherwise than of the doâ—trine of the Gospel as it was then preach'd by this Apostle this is Mysterious and Hidden and in many things Inexplicable So again in 1 Tim. 3. 9. by the mystery of the faith which the Ministers and Officers of the Church are exhorted to hold i.e. to defend and maintain must needs be meant the Evangelical Truths and Doctrines The holding the mystery of the faith is the same here with holding fast the form of sound words 2 Tim. 1. 13. that is the Articles of the Christian Faith the doctrines of the Gospel And lastly in that Text on which I found the present Discourse Religion is call'd the Mystery of Godliness for immediately after the Apostle had made mention of the Truth which is held forth as on a Pillar in the Christian Church he assigns some of the greatest and fairest branches of it and in order to that acquaints us that we may the better know the true nature of them that they are a Mystery and that not with relation to the ages and generations before the Gospel but to the present Mysteriousness of this Sacred Institution for by consulting the Context you will find that the words are spoken Absolutely and Entirely without any respect to the past times of the world under Iudaism or Gentilism They represent to us the condition of Christianity as it is at this day and as it is in it self consider'd And so this and all the other Texts that I last mention'd are a baffle to what some late Advocates of Socinianism pretend to prove viz. that in the New Testament the word Mystery is always used to signifie something that is intelligible and clear in it self and in its own nature but clouded with figurative and mystical words but never to denote a thing that is dark and unconceivable in it self The contrary is plain and evident from the fore-cited Texts and every unprejudiced man that duly scans them must needs acknowledge that Christianity is there call'd a Mystery not in regard of what it was but what it is It is true there are some other Texts in the New Testament where the word Mystery is mention'd but it hath there no relation at all to the present Matter viz. the Gospel or Christianity in it self consider'd Thus in Rom. 11. 25. the General and Final Conversion of the Iews in the last ages of the world is call'd a Mystery In 1 Cor. 13. 2. mysteries is a general word for all matters of knowledge that are abstruse and dark and it refers more particularly to the knowledge of future things for to know all mysteries seems to be explicatory of the foregoing phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to have a gift of Prophesying that is foretelling and declaring things to come as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is taken in the preceding chapter v. 10. In 1 Cor. 14. 2. mysteries is a large and extensive term and used by the Apostle to signifie those divine doctrines which are mysterious and difficult but it is not particularly applied by him and therefore I have not made use of it In 1 Cor. 15. 51. it is restrain'd to a particular Truth which was unknown to the Corinthians at that time but St. Paul reveals it to them behold saith he I shew you a mystery viz. this that we shall not all sleep those that are alive at at Christ's Coming shall not die after the manner of all other men but we shall all be changed they shall undergo such an alteration that their corruptible state shall be chang'd into that which is incorruptible and immortal The Conjugal State is said to be a mystery â—ph 5. 32. because it shadows forth the Union of Christ and the Church as the Sacraments were stiled Mysteries by the Ancient Writers of the Church because they were a Representation of so great a thing as Christ's Body Mystery is applied in the Revelation chap. 1. v. 20. and chap. 17. v. 7. to particular Visions and Revelations which had a mystical and spiritual meaning in them In Rev. 10. 7. the mystery of God is said to be finish'd or fulfilled for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and it is meant of the Glorious and Flourishing state of the Christian Church in the last times of the world which hath been kept as a Mystery from the generality of men but when the Seventh Angel sounds his Trumpet then as we are there assur'd that Mystery shall actually be accomplish'd and fulfill'd But none of these Texts refer to our present Matter as any Understanding Reader may perceive only I thought fit to produce them that they might
on the very same ground attend to the former because that is from God no less than this Wherefore those who oppose one to the other make â—od contradict himself because he is the Aâ—thor of both And here I cannot but take notice of the Injustice of some late Penmen who represent the Asserters of the Trinity and of such like Points of Faith as persons that are Enemies to Reason and such as will by no â—â—ans admit of a Rational Religion This they craftily urge and aggravate to blacken the Cause which they have set themselves against but there is nothing of Truth in the accusation but as they manage it a great deal of Falshood and Wrong For we give unto Reason the things that are Reason's we assert the use and necessity of it in Religion yea in the Christian Religion and we are able and ready to defend and maintain a considerable part of it by Rational Principles We most freely profess with Iustin the Philosopher and Martyr That whatever was well said by any of the Philosophers Poets and Historians is to be found in the Christian Writings of the Bible We declare that the Christian Institution commends and enforces all the Maxims of Morality and the Natural Religion of mankind and the Common Dictates of Reason Those therefore are very Injurious to us and to Truth itself who labour as we see they do to fill Mens heads with other apprehensions But though it be thus in the general yet there are Particular Doubts and Difficulties relating to this Holy Institution there are some certain Points which are in themselves Mysterious Incomprehensible and Inconceivable and will not submit to the nicer Scrutinies of Humane Reason The â—ery Deity it self which is the very foundation of all Christianity is a 〈◊〉 and the greatest of all Mysteries Whence it was the acknowledgment of 〈◊〉 a very Wise and Good Man God is Great and we know him not Job 36. 26. We cannot fully understand his Nature and Attributes yea we are capable of knowing but very little of them Which is fitly express'd by that of the Apostle He dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6. 16. This inaccessible Splendor admits not of a full view The more we gaze upon this Glorious Sun the more we are dazzled and almost blinded In some case it is unsafe and perillous saith a Pious Father to speak what is True of God â—â—e is best known by a modest 〈◊〉 â—â—ith another We know not whâ—â— he is but only what he is not saith a Third And it is observable that Socinus himself in the first Chapter of his Praeâ—â—ctions stiâ—â—y contâ—nds though upon no solid grounds at all that the Existence of God is not discoverable by the light of Naâ—ure and Reason how then can he and his â—ollowers imagine â—hat the Divine Nature and Essence are to be comprehended by humaâ—e thoughts If we cannot according to him discover that God is how shall we understand what he is There are several unutterable Abstrusities and Difficulties in the notion of an Eternal Self-subsisting Being We cannot penetrate into the Omniscience and Omnipresence of God we have not adequate conceptions of his Immutability his Justice his Faithfulness and none of his Perfections and Excellencies are throughly understood by us So that according to the way of Arguing which some men use viz. that Nothing must be receiv'd in Religion but what is exactly according to plain Reason they may renounce the Deity it self for in the notions we have of the Nature and Attributes of God there are some things above our Reason The Manner how Three real Subsistencies are united in One Essence or Substance of the Godhead is not comprehensible but the Holy Scripture puts it beyond all doubt that it is so There are many Principles and Propositions in Christianity which are far above our weak capacities There are several things in the Conduct of our Redemption and Salvation the exact knowledge of which is hidden from us at least the Modes and Circumstances belonging to them are not to be comprehended though we are sure of the General Truth There are sundry Difficult things occur concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God but we have no reason to disbelieve the Doctrine it self I know saith St. Chrysostom that the Son was begotten of the Father but how I know not I know he was born of a Virgin but I can't tell the Manner of it for we acknowledge the production of Both Natures and yet the Manner of both we are not able to declare So as to the Vnion of the Divine and Humane Natures in Christ's Person we have not an accountable idea of it though the thing it self is agreeable to Reason We cannot answer all the doubts concerning Christ's Satisfaction but upon incontestable grounds we may be convinc'd of the Truth of it The Resurrection of the same Body at the last day is an unquestionable Article of the Christian Faith but if we be ask'd how a dead body crumbled into dust and perhaps dissipated by the winds into several quarters or how a body converted into the substance of other creatures after innumerable introductions of new shapes preserves its proper Identity â—nd Individuation if we be ask'd I say How this can be The Answer in brief can 〈◊〉 no other than this We cannot tell But it will be said This is an unbecoming Answer for any man that pretends to Knowledge and Understanding in the matters of Religion I reply This is no ways unbecoming but to pretend to give Reasons and Accounts when we are not able to do it is very unbecoming and absurd And many other Points of Christianity are hid from our Natural Reason and are Inscrutable Secrets Our Religion hath many Mazes and Labyrinths in it which we cannot extricate our selves out of The Gospel not only was but is a Mystery it is so now and will continue so to the end of the world If we enquire into the Reasons of this so far as we are able to judge there may be this Account given of it 1. That which Solomon suggests to us ought to have the preference to all other Reasons that can be assign'd It is the glory of God saith he to conceal a thing Prov. 25. 2. The Supreme Being is pleas'd to hide the knowledge of several things from men because this redounds to the Honour and Glory of the Divine Majesty Hereby the Sovereignty of the Great Disposer of all things is displayed to mankind hereby his Transcendent Nature which infinitely â—urpasses that of all Created beings is proclaim'd to the world This was the sense of another Wise and Holy man who speaking of the Almighty saith He giveth not account of any of his matters Job 33. 13. Though sometimes yea frequently he vouchsafes to render a Reason of what he saith as well as of what he doth yet in many cases he thinks fit to deal with us otherwise
thing shews their mistake and that they are on this side of that place for they betray the weakness and uncertainty of their Knowledge These persons indiscreetly antedate the Last day anticipate the Future World and confront the revealed Purpose of Heaven for it was not design'd by the Supreme Being that we should here below have a full insight into those Divine Recesses this is reserved for another State Thus much of the Reasons so far as we can apprehend why Christianity is a Mystery that is why some of the most weighty and momentous doctrines of it are in some part hid from all mens understandings What I have said administers to us this double Reflection 1. From the premises we may discover the vanity and falsity of the Socinian Notion that there are no Mysteries in the Christian Religion 2. We may gather what is our Proper Duty and Concern in the Case before us First I say this discovers and detects and at the same baffles the false apprehension of those men who cry down all Mysteries in Christianity and tell us that all is levell'd to the meanest capacities Notwithstanding those Remarkable Attestations to the Contrary Truth from the plain words of our Saviour and his Apostles yet they perversly oppose and deny it and magnifie Reason as the only Measure of Truth and Rule of Faith whatever their late Pretences are and nothing will serve them in Religion but Logick and downright Demonstration I have observ'd it in the Modern Writings of this sort of men and of one also that is a late Friend of theirs that they seldom or never finish a Discourse though it be about Religion without bringing in of Geometrical terms especially Angles and Triangles These Gentlemen under a pretext of Mathematicks would subvert Christianity and demonstrate us out of the Articles of our Faith and make a Triangle baffle the Trinity This is the grand Source of their present Delusion and of that disturbance which they make in the World viz. their labouring to exclude all Mysteries from Christianity It arises wholly from this that they will not give credit to any thing in Religion but what is entirely Clear and Evident and commensurate to exact Reason This is perfectly according to that Description which one of the Fathers of the Primitive Church gives of St. Paul's Natural man He is one saith he that attributes all to the Reasonings of his Soul and thinks not that he stands in need of help from Above neither will be receive any thing by Faith but counts all foolishness which cannot be made out by Demonstration And an Ancient Critick defines him thus He is one who turns all over to Humane Reason and admits not of the operation of the Spirit i. e. any thing that is Supernatural in Religion This is the brief but full Character of a Disciple of Socinus so far as we are concern'd in him upon the present occasion but certainly it ill becomes a Christian man for I have proved already that such a spirit and genius are against the plain determination of Christ and his Apostles against the very nature of the things themselves and unsuitable to the present state we are in Such a one forgets to distinguish between Philosophy and Christianity The Professors of the former act not amiss in squaring all their opinions and sentiments by Strict Reason but the Adherers to the latter who are eminently stiled Believers must yield their assent to things which they cannot by Reason comprehend Otherwise they confound the natures of things and take away the Distinction between Reason and Faith which is much more absurd and unaccountable than what Scenkius in his Medical Observations fancies that it is possible for a man to receive the Visible Species through his Nostrils or in plainer terms that a man may See with his Nose for here is only a substituting of one Bodily Sense for another but in the other case there is a mistaking of one Mental Operation for another viz. Reason for Faith This is the Absurdity of those of the Racovian way and we ought carefully to avoid it We are to believe Christianity to be a Reasonable Service as the Apostle deservedly stiles it but it may be truly said of those men that they make Christianity more reasonable than it is that is they make it submit wholly to Humane and Natural Reason and this is the ground of their exploding all Mysteries Secondly Seeing a great part of the Christian Religion is a Mystery and design'd to be such we are concern'd to Behave our selves accordingly that is never to be so bold and rash as to demand a Positive and Punctual Account of things of this high and abstruse nature It is required in a Good Grammarian said One who was as skilful in that Art as any man that he be ignorant of some things The same may be said of a Good Divine to be ignorant of some Mysteries and not to search too earnestly into them is a good qualification in one of that Profession and indeed in all persons that study Christianity This is a Learned kind of Ignorance and we are not to be ashamed of it It is not necessary we should have a clear understanding of Theological Secrets because the Holy Writ is silent about them but yet we ought to hold and believe the things themselves because the same Infallible Word asserts them Those that go any further shew indeed that they are very Prying and Inquisitive but let them beware of handling the Word of God deceitfully and making Truth uphold Falshood As that Egyptian in Plutarch answer'd the men who ask'd him What it was that he carried so close Covered Therefore it is cover'd said he that you should not know what it is and therefore your asking was in vain So it is here these Divine things are purposely hid from us and wrapt up in Obscurity that we may not with too eager a Curiosity search into them and busie our heads about them Let every one of us think that spoken to us which the Good Christian said to the Philosopher at the Council of Nice Ask not How Be not inquisitive concerning the Manner of Sacred and Heavenly things for this is hid from us A Learned and Pious Writer of the Primitive Church tells us That it is enough for us to know that in Christ's Person the Divine Nature was so joyn'd by an ineffable kind of Tye with the Humane Nature that the same Hypostasis contains in it two distinct Natures but how that Union is made it is not necessary to know nor is it fit to search only let us believe and hold what is written And the same Excellent Person in another place and indeed in several places of his Writings exceedingly blames the rashness and curiosity of those that prie into Divine Mysteries and dispute and wrangle and raise vain questions about them and ask why and how such things are It
to defame libel and blaspheme Christianity and all the Mysteries of it and they make use of their Reason to make void their Faith But now all this may be prevented and hindred by a humble and Christian submission to the Sacred Oracles by a free resigning our selves to the Faith of the Gospel and by giving credit to it Articles because they are deliver'd and attested by God himself in the Infallible Writings which even Reason it self dictates to be the best Method we can take to establish and confirm us in our Religion and to assure us of the Truth of all its doctrines be they never so perplexed and mysterious Nor doth this introduce a Blind Credulity and such an Implicit Faith as some of the Romanists defend for when we resign up our judgments to Divine Revelation we are not debarr'd from examining and searching into and satisfying our selves about the Truth of the things we speak of but only of the Mode of them Which makes it a quite different thing from the practice of the Roman Proselytes who are bid to swallow down whatever is dictated to them and that upon the bare Authority and Warrant of the Church But here is no such crude Method prescribed we are to search the Scriptures whether these things be so and we are to make use of Reason to shew and convince us how fitting it is that we should believe what is reveal'd by the Spirit of God For seeing since the Revolt and Original Depravation of Man we stand in need of Revelation to direct us right Reason tells us that it is unsafe to rely on the bare suggestions of our own minds in the great matters of Religion This acquaints us that though we are not capable of answering all difficulties in those Points yet we are oblig'd to give credit to the doctrines themselves because they are founded on Scripture which was divinely inspired This Principle in us assures us that though we can't fully explain these things by Reason yet we have reason to believe the Holy Writ which is the Rule and Measure of our Faith yea notwithstanding those Points seem to thwart the natural principles of Reason Thus far we have Reason on our side And then for Scripture that is wholly and entirely ours Those Grand Articles which our Antagonists renounce are found there Particularly to instance in that Great and Celebrated Doctrine which I have so often mention'd one would think it might suffice that this is so directly so plainly so frequently asserted in the New Testament where we find Three expresly named Father Son and Holy Ghost to whom the Divinity is ascribed and therefore we believe these Three to be One God But how these three distinct Hypostases are one Entire Indivisible Essence is an ineffable and incomprehensible Mystery Yet though we can't conceive the Manner of this yet the Thing it self is clearly and plainly reveal'd in Scripture and consequently the Socinians have no cause to brag that theirs is an Accountable and Reasonable Faith when it absolutely opposes and contradicts the Holy Oracles of the Bible This is the true state of the matter and so it was thought to be by that Learned Writer whom I before quoted who hath the repute even among these men of a Person of Great Reason and Sense speaking of them he thus expresses himself Their Opinion I look upon as fundamentally repugnant to Christianity it self if the New Testament be the foundation of Christianity for I know nothing more express than That viz. the Trinity in those Writings And therefore the denying of the Trinity is the denying of the Authority of the New Testament Or if they will pretend they can interpret things there so as to evade this doctrine by the same reason I think they may evade any and so still the Sacred Writ shall stand for a Cypher and signifie nothing which tends mainly to the enervating of our Faith These are very Weighty words and the more to be consider'd by our Adversaries because they come from One of a Large Compass of Mind and a great Asserter of Reason in Religion which is a thing that these Gentlemen pretend much to The sum of what he saith is this that if the Scripture be true the doctrine of the Trinity is so too if Divine Revelation in the books of the New Testament is to be believ'd then this also must be embraced And on this very account it hath been embraced by all religious and pious minds that have had a reverence for the Holy Scriptures As it was the Faith once delivered to the Saints so it hath ever since been the steady belief of all the Martyrs and Confessors of Iesus and all the True Professors of Christianity and it hath with invincible force in all ages of the Church born down all opposition that hath been made against it And I question not but those violent Efforts and Insults which have been and are made against it in this present Age will prove vain and successless Though we have seen the rain descend and the flouds come and the winds blow and beat upon it yet it shall never fall because it is founded upon a rock the same Rock on which the Church of Christ is built viz. the Confession and Testimony of the Inspired Apostles the Truth and Authority of the Scriptures the Veracity of God and the Certainty of Divine Revelation And all the other Sacred Mysteries of our Religion have the very same stable foundation and therefore are Impregnable Let this then satisfie us that these Doctrines are sufficiently reveal'd though they are not fully known I say they are sufficiently revealed because the Book of God assure us that these things are so but they are not fully known because we are not able to discover the Arguments on which they are founded we discern not the foot on which they stand God hath been pleas'd to hide this from us But then this is to be said It is not reasonable to renounce our belief of that which is plain and evident because it is mix'd with something which is dark and intricate It was an Excellent Caution and Rule of the Great St. Augustine Nunquid ideo negandum quod apertum est quia comprehendi non potest quod occultum est The Truth of a Doctrine may be evident and perspicuous and that is sufficient to command our Assent tho' the Nature of it is not The Modes and Circumstances appertaining to Divine things are not to be accounted for at least if we cannot clear them up we have no reason to quit the Grand Truths themselves These are not to be abandon'd because they are not according to our ordinary level because we are not able to render a punctual account of them because we cannot perfectly Gauge them and sound them to the very bottom in a word because they are not subject to the Tribunal of Reason But if we have any regard to the Sacred and Infallible Volume