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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A71259	The characters of divine revelation a sermon preached at St. Martins in the Fields, March 4. 1694/5 : being the third of the lecture for the ensuing year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esquire / by John Williams ...	Williams, John, 1636?-1709.; Boyle, Robert, 1627-1691.	1695 (1695)	Wing W2696; ESTC R1810	13,869	36

requisite to the Proof of a Revelation somewhat peculiar to it and that so belongs to it as not to be common to any thing with it And that is a Point I shall now take into Consideration Toward the clearer Proof of which I shall distribute it after a Threefold manner 1. I shall consider the case of such as were themselves inspired and to whom the Revelation was made and how they could be satisfied of the Truth of such a Revelation 2. The case of those that received the matter revealed immediately from the Persons inspired and how they were to judge of the Truth of such a Revelation 3. The case of those that lived in Ages remote from that of the Inspired Persons and after that the Revelation was compleated as was the case of the Jews more especially that lived between the time of Malachi and John the Baptist and as the case is of all Christians since the Apostolical times and what Satisfaction and Evidence may there be expected in those Circumstances 1. The Case of those that received the Revelation and how they themselves could be satisfied about the Certainty of such a Revelation The Resolution of this Point belongs in part to the Third General under which the Difference remains to be shewed between a Revelation and Imagination But I shall not wholly refer it thither There seems to be so near an Affinity between Revelation and Imagination and Imagination is so far operative in many Branches of Inspiration that 't is very difficult to set out the bounds exactly and to say This is of Divine Inspiration and this the effect of Fancy But whatever it may seem to us that have no Sensation or Experience of such Divine Representations as the Prophets had and so 't is no more possible for us to describe it than 't is for one that never had his Sight to conceive what Light and Colour is Yet as the blind man may be convinced that there are such things as Light Colour Figure and Sight by what he hears and observes from those that are about him and that he converses with So we may be as well assured that there was in Prophetical Schemes that powerful Representation on the part of the Divine Agent and that clearness of Perception on the part of the Person Inspired as would abundantly make good those Phrases of Vision and Speaking by which it is described in Scripture and which may well be supposed as much more to advantage as the Power that operated upon them was beyond that of mere Imagination So that those Inspired Persons after such Illumination might as well question what they heard or saw by the Natural Organs of Sense as doubt of what was revealed to them by the Impressions made upon them through the Agency of the Divine Spirit To deny this is to deny that God can so communicate himself to an Intelligent Creature that the Creature shall certainly know that it proceeds from his immediate Suggestion which I have before shewed it is unreasonable to question And indeed what is no more to be questioned or denied because we our selves have no experience of it than the Blind from their Birth can reasonably question or deny there is what we call Light and Colour or the Deaf that there are Sounds Voices and Words because they have no Notion or Idea of these things Now if we think it reasonable that the Deaf and the Blind should notwithstanding a Natural Inaptitude and Incapacity in themselves assent to what all Mankind besides do unanimously aver and not call in question the Truth or Possibility of what is thus affirmed because of their want of Sensation So it is not fit or reasonable to think this way of Revelation never was and cannot be because we have not an experimental knowledge of such a Manifestation For Almighty God can so clarify the Understanding by a Beam of Light let in from above as shall be as evident a Proof of its Divine Original as it is that the Light proceeds from the Sun the Fountain of it or as a Person himself is sure of the Truth of any Proposition which by an Argument before unthought of or unconsider'd he comes to be fully convinced of in spight of all former Prejudices and Opinions So little Truth or Reason is there in a bold Assertion of a certain Author That Revelation is uncertain and never certain without a sign And therefore saith he Abraham Moses and Gideon asked a Sign over and above Revelation But it is far from being true that those persons therefore desired a Sign because they conceived the Revelation to be uncertain or that they doubted of the truth of it but as a Sign was for the greater confirmation of their Faith in some Points difficult to be believed or in some very difficult Services for Faith as other Graces is capable of Addition and Improvement In which cases their asking a Sign is no more an evidence of their distrust of God or a doubting of the Truth and Certainty of the Revelation than God's confirming his Promise by an Oath was an evidence that he thought not his Word sufficient without it or than Abraham could be supposed not obliged to believe upon a Promise alone without that superabundant confirmation of an Oath Heb. 6.17 Thus it was even in the case of that Holy Patriarch to which this Author refers where before ever he asked a Sign he is said to have so believed in the Lord that it was counted to him for righteousness Gen. 15.6 8. his Faith was highly commended and he is for that reason called the father of the faithful So that Revelation may be certain when there is no Sign and the person was bound to believe it and was obliged by it as well where there was no Sign as where there was I grant when the Revelation comes at second hand to a person and rests on Human Testimony on the Ability and Sincerity of the Relater or person supposed to be inspired there needs some farther Evidence some Sign or Signs that are to be as it were the Credentials from Heaven since all men are liars Psal. 116.11 that is may be deceived or may deceive may either be so weak as to be imposed upon by their own Imagination or the Imposture and Practices of Evil Spirits or be so wicked as under the pretence of Revelation and Inspiration to impose upon others In such a case no man's Affirmation or Pretence is ordinarily to be heeded further than as he is able to produce such Testimonies as are really as Divine as he would have his Revelation accounted to be But when a person is himself the Recipient to whom the Revelation is imparted there is no absolute need of a Sign or further Evidence to ascertain the Truth of it to him when if God so pleases the Revelation of it self might be made as clear as it could be made by the Sign What need is there of a sign to prove

that it is Day when by the Light of it we see every thing about us Or to justify the Truth of a self-evident Proposition These are things in their own nature that need no proof And when a Revelation has an Evidence of its own as Truth has it needs no other Light to discover it no further Sign to prove it for its own sake and as to the Person to whom the Revelation is made A Sign therefore makes no alteration in the Evidence for whether with a Sign or without a Sign the Revelation is to be believed for else they that had a Revelation without a Sign were not obliged to believe and the Revelation without the Sign had in effect been no Revelation since no one is obliged to believe where there is no reason for it and there is no reason for it where there is no Evidence or that Evidence not sufficient So that if it be asked how a person shall himself be satisfied concerning the Certainty of a Revelation made to him it will receive the same answer with that How he shall be satisfied concerning the Truth of a Proposition or a self-evident Proposition for the further Proof of which God may work a Miracle and give a Sign but the thing is the Proof of it self But however suppose a person never so well satisfied in what he calls Revelation and that in his own opinion he is as sure of it as of his own Being and Existence yet what is this to others that are concerned in that Revelation if it be true and as much bound to believe it and be directed by it as if they themselves had been in the place of that Inspired Person and received it as he did immediately from God This brings us to the Second Case 2. The Case of those that did not themselves receive that Revelation immediately from God but from the Person or Persons Inspired And then the Question is How these are to judge of the Truth of that Revelation A Revelation to another how evidently and convincingly soever it may be represented to him is nothing to me unless I am fully assured that he has had such a Revelation But that I cannot be assured of unless it be by the like immediate Revelation or by sufficient and uncontroulable Testimony But it would be an unreasonable motion to demand that we be alike inspired and have the same Revelation to confirm his Revelation for that would be as if one that was born blind should obstinately refuse to believe there is a Sun in the Firmament or Day or Sight unless he has the same Visive Faculty with those that do affirm it It might then as reasonably be required with Thomas that we see the Print of the Nails and put our hand into the Side and have all actually brought home to our Senses or else we will remain Infidels and not believe This would be to drive all Faith out of the world and so it would be unpracticable We must then take the Case for granted and that it is as reasonable for us to believe where there are sufficient Motives of Credibility as if we were alike actually inspired as they to whom the Revelation was immediately conveyed And here let us place our selves in those circumstances as if we were to judge of the Truth or Falshood of a Revelation and consider what we our selves would in reason desire for our own satisfaction when the Persons to whom this Revelation is made stand ready to give it And if I mistake not in judging for others by what I my self would desire it may be resolved 1. Into the Veracity Sincerity and Credibility of the Persons pretending to Inspiration 2. Into the Matter or Subject of Revelation 3. Into the Testimony produced for it 1. The Credibility of the Person by which we understand his Probity and Sincerity his Capacity Prudence and Understanding which render him worthy of Credit and are meet and necessary Qualifications for a Divine Missionary The being a Prophet to others as those are to whom a Revelation is made and that are inspired by Almighty God so as to teach and direct them in the stead as it were of God whose Mouth and Representatives they are unto the People is an Office of great Dignity and requires somewhat of the Divine Image as well as Authority to recommend them and their Message to others and therefore Prophets and Holy Men are in Scripture frequently put together 2 Pet. 1.21 Matth. 13.17 implying that none were fit to be employed in so sacred an Office that were not Persons of known Probity and approved Integrity I grant in the ordinary Cases as there were Prophets bred up in the Schools or Nurseries of Learning and Morality there might be such Persons as were employed without a strict regard had to these qualifications as Messengers that carried an Errand by the order of their Superiour as 2 Kings 9.1 I grant again that God might and did sometimes upon some occasions inspire such Persons as had none of these Qualifications to recommend them as he did Balaam But then this was no more than when God opened the Mouth of the Ass to rebuke the Madness of that Prophet and who was so over-ruled by the Divine Power as against his will to bless those whom he came to curse which was so much the more considerable as it was the Testimony of an Enemy But as Revelation is a Divine Communication and a Mark of Divine Favour so it doth suppose in the nature of it that the Person so dignified is duly qualified for it and which is so requisite in the opinion of mankind that without it he would rather be accounted an Impostor than a Messenger from God and ordinarily have no more Reverence paid to his Errand than to his Person And what has been thus said in general as to the Morality and Virtue of Persons inspired will hold in some degree as to their Prudence and Understanding which is so necessary a Qualification that the Divine Election of Persons for so peculiar a Sevice doth in that way either find or make them fit It is no wonder that a late Author maintains Revelation to be uncertain when he saith that the Prophets were not endued with a more perfect Understanding than others but only with a more Vivid Power of Imagination and that the Wisest of Men such as Solomon and Heman c. were not Prophets but contrariwise Rusticks and untaught Persons and even despicable Women such as Hagar For if these and such as these were the only Persons employed in the Messages of Heaven to Mankind and whom all the Revelation center'd in there would be no improbable grounds of suspicion that they were mis-led into such an Opinion by the Fascination of a working Imagination and so it would be Fancy and not Revelation But what thinks he of Moses a Person acquainted with all the Learning of the Egyptians and richly accomplished with all Endowments requisite to

D r WILLIAMS's THIRD SERMON AT Mr. BOYLE's Lecture 1695. IMPRIMATUR March 6. 1694 5. Guil. Lancaster The Characters of Divine Revelation A SERMON Preached at St. Martins in the Fields March 4. 1694 5. BEING THE Third of the LECTURE For the Ensuing YEAR Founded by the Honourable ROBERT BOYLE Esquire By JOHN WILLIAMS D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell and Tho. Cockerill At the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard and at the Three Legs in the Poultrey M DC XC V. HEB. I. 1 2. God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son IN these Words there is as I have shewed I. A Description given of Revelation 't is God's speaking or declaring his Will to Mankind II. The Certainty of it 't is by way of Declaration God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake c. 'T is taken for granted and that it needs no Proof III. The Order observed in delivering this Revelation it was at sundry times and in divers manners in time past by the Prophets and in the last days by his Son IV. The Perfection and Conclusion of all 't is in the last days by his Son Under the First I have shewed 1. What is meant by Revelation in contradistinction to Natural Light 2. The Possibility of it 3. The Expedience Usefulness and Necessity of it Under the Second I have shewed 1. The Certainty of it or that there has been such a Revelation 2. I shall now proceed to shew the Difference between Pretended and True Revelation or what are the Characters by which we may know Revelation to be True In treating upon which I shall premise 1. That the proper Subject-matter of Revelation called here God's speaking being not self-evident and out of the Road of Nature requires some extraneous Principles to prove it by Sensible Objects lye open to the Sense and need no Proof for who ever thought it necessary to labour in proving there is a Sun in the Heavens that it rises and sets and has its stated Times and Periods of Revolution which every man that has his Eye-sight knows and sees as well as himself And there are Rational Inferences which we make from precedent Postulata that are as evident as the Principles from which they are deduced and which all men alike agree in But in matters of mere Revelation there is no manner of Connection between them and what we know before and are therefore never to be wrought out or learned by the Book of Nature or Reason but are only to be understood and known as God is pleased to communicate them We might search and search eternally and yet never have found out the Mystery of our Redemption that Mystery which not only the Prophets enquired and searched diligently 1 Pet. 1.10 but also the angels desire to look or pry into ver 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and were obliged to wait till the manifold wisdom of God was in its proper time made known to them by the Church Eph. 3.10 as has been before suggested This then being the Subject of Revelation 't is reasonable that this Revelation should have some other ways of Proof that what is thus Divine in its Discovery should have a suitable Evidence to justify it 2. The Matter of Revelation being thus of Divine Inspiration and Authority must also be worthy of God and of great Importance and consequently requires a Proof suitable to the Nature and Importance of it If the Matter in debate be inconsiderable we are contented with probable Arguments nor are we much concerned which way it is determined As 't is indifferent whether the Sun or the Earth be the Centre as long as we receive the benefit of both Or whether our Diet nourishes or Physick operates by Qualities or the Texture of its parts as long as we find the happy Effects of it Let Philosophers and Naturalists write Volumes and wrangle eternally about these disputable Points I find not my self concerned as long as my Interest is not affected nor concerned in the Quarrel But when the matter is of no less consequence than my Eternal Happiness it requires the most serious Thoughts and Attention to be satisfied which is the right and which the wrong whether there be a Revelation or which is the true and which the false especially since there are different Pretenders to it 3. Revelation being the Declaration of God's Will to Mankind as he doth not require us to believe without sufficient Evidence so it doth suppose that there is such Evidence and that there are some Marks or Signs by which the Truth and Certainty of such Revelation may be known and proved For otherwise every Pretender to Revelation would challenge our belief and we should not know but that the True Revelation might be the False and the False the True 4. There are some things so necessary and inseparably belonging to Revelation that the want of them will utterly overthrow the Veracity and Authority of it and yet without further Evidence they are not sufficient to prove it Of this kind are Self-agreement a Consonancy to the Principles of Nature and to the true and certain Notions of Mankind concerning Good and Evil. We are certain if a Revelation fails in any one or more of these that it is false and not of Divine Inspiration For the Light of Nature and a true and right Notion of things are from God and to suppose a Revelation to be opposite to these is to make God contradict himself Thus if we understand any thing we know God to be infinitely Good and Holy worthy of the profoundest and most solemn Adoration because of the Perfections of his Nature and his Good Will and Beneficence to Mankind And therefore to sacrifice Men and Children and to mingle the most Impure and Ludicrous Practices with the Worship paid to him is rather an Offering to be presented to the most Beastly and Savage Daemons than the Holy and Merciful Creator of all things and consequently cannot be of his Institution In this case a Contradiction in the Nature of things would be like a Contradiction in Terms or a Contradiction in the Revelation it self And therefore a Revelation that shall evidently contradict them is a Revelation in Pretence only it is not Divine But tho these are thus necessary to Revelation that the want of them is sufficient to detect what is false yet however it will not follow That whereever these are that because a Sum of Doctrine agrees with it self is consonant to the Light of Nature and the right notion we have of things that it is therefore of Divine Revelation For tho it is seldom but the Imposture fails in one or more of these yet it may have all these Characters and be a Doctrine of Men of human Contrivance and Composure And therefore there is somewhat farther