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
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
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
Culpable Those that blame my Intemperance in Writing if I were in a publick Station of the Ministry would find fault with my Preaching too much And Lastly I desire to regulate my self and my undertakings by that Rule of the Royal Preacher Eccles. 9. 10. What thy Hand findeth to do do it with thy Might The Reason of which follows For there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave whither thou goest This Present World is the place of Action and Duty and these are to be performed according to the particular Capacities and Abilities bestow'd upon us by our Great Benefactor The Proper Concern and Business of our Lives which we design to discharge we must dispatch now and that with our might and vigour Accordingly I have taken up a Resolution by the Divine Aid to do what Good I can with my Pen whilst I can hold it and make use of it And surely this will not this cannot be offensive to any Good and Vertuous men and to such I desire to give an account of my Actions and not to others Wherefore I shall not be diverted by the little Suggestions and seemingly prudential exceptions of the foresaid Objections from a sedulous and continued applying my self to the fore-mention'd way of communicating my Thoughts to the world which I hope will through the Blessing of the Highest prove someways serviceable towards the advancing of Truth and Piety in the minds and practices of men though I am sufficiently apprehensive how Mean and Vnworthy my Labours are and how much inferior to those of my Reverend Brethren and other Excellent Writers of this Age. And because I will be free and open with the Reader I will give him his Bill of Fare for the time to come I design God willing to entertain him next with a Large Discourse concerning the Different Dispensation of Religion since the beginning of the World to the Consummation of all things It is a Work that I have been designing for the Publick a considerable time but have not yet had an Opportunity to send it abroad by reason of some Other Treatises which were call'd for It is a Work if I mistake not that is exceeding necessary for the right understanding the Books of the Holy Scripture for apprehending the True Scope and Design of them for the discovering of the Grounds and Reasons of God's Various Administrations to the World and for the fully evincing of his Peculiar Care of his Church in all Ages I have also ventured to make a Modest Enquiry into the Future State and Circumstances of the Church here on Earth but I have all along built my Assertions on the Discoveries which the Sacred Writings have furnish'd me with for it is certain that the Great and Wonderful things which are yet to come and which are more Glorious than ever yet appear'd on the Stage are predicted in the Inspired Volume though the Texts which speak of them have through prejudice and prepossession been unhappily misinterpreted This and some other Treatises as an Impartial Enquiry after Truth and the Right Methods of finding it c. I intend as Preliminary to a Body of Divinity for that is the Vndertaking I have been accomplishing some years and I have made some Progress in it I purpose that the Several Parts of which it is composed shall contain Particular and Distinct Discourses on all the Articles of the Apostles Creed on every one of the Ten Commandments on the seveâ—eral Petitions of the Lord's Prayer and on all the Vertues Graces and Offices of Christianity with all the Benefits and Priviledges of it I intend a Large Supplement concerning the Five Points as they are commonly call'd controverted between the Remonstrants and Calvinists as likewise concerning all those Opinions and Doâ—â—rines which are debated between the Romanists and the Reformed Churches This is the Provision which I have been making and which I hope to finish unless it shall seem good to the All-wise Disposer in whose hand my times are otherwise to determine concerning it and me However I cannot reasonably expect the continuance of Health and the Prolonging of my days till I have entirely publish'd what I have thus prepared But so far as I am able I am willing to make my own hands my Executors in part and not to imitate those Close-fisted persons who whilst they are living distribute nothing of what God hath given them but thrust all their good deeds to the other side of their Graves Or if the Benign Deity should vouchsafe to add a greater number of days to my Life yet we Know not what evil shall be upon the earth for truly when I place before me that Atheism Debauchery and Prophaneness which are observable in the Lives of the Worst and the strange Indifferency and Lukewarmness that reign in the Best I 'm enclin'd to think that though there be a Period at present to the late Hostilities yet we are in a very Dangerous condition Which is one principal reason of my making that Haste which some I perceive censure me for it may be partly out of good will and pity towards me fearing lest I should Exhaust my self and turn Bankrupt in a short time But I believe I have said enough to ease their fears as to that matter And as for others whose Censure proceeds from a worser Principle I let them know once for all that I have devoted the residue of my Life to the Publick Defence and Advancement of Christianity with all its Weighty Truths and Doctrines and all the Holy Duties and Practices that appertain to it And I revere and adore the Divine Bounty that hath vouchsafed to entrust me with a small Stock such as is suitable to my poor Abilities to carry on so laudable a Design I intend it shall not lie dead but be employ'd to the GLORY of the GREAT Eternal Donour THE CONTENTS SERM. I. An Answer to Pilate's Question What is Truth A Sermon Preach'd before King Charles the Second at Newmarket JOHN XVIII 38. Pilate saith unto him What is Truth Pag. 1. SERM. II. Why Rulers and Iudges are called Gods A Sermon Preach'd before the Iudges at the Assizes held at Cambridge PSAL. 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 Pag. 29â— SERM. III. The Reasons why Magistrates ought to be Exemplary in their Lives A Sermon Preach'd at the Election of a Chief Magistrate in a Corporation EXOD. XVIII 25. And Moses chose able Men out of all Israel and made them Heads over the People P. 62. SERM. IV. How the Ministers of the Gospel are to Excel A Sermon Preach'd before the Clergy at the Arch-deacon of Ely's Visitation 1 COR. XIV 12. Forasmuch as ye are zealous of Spiritual Gifts seek that ye may excel to the Edifying of the Church P. 92. SERM. V. That Decay of Trade and Commerce and consequently
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
pitch could not but render him a very Accomplish'd Person such as was able to discern and judge of things in the best manner and to know and comprehend whatever was to be known and comprehended of them But we are to remember this further that his knowledge in Divine and Sacred things was as eminent for even as to these he had those Helps which other Christians had not yea which the rest of the Apostles were not honoured with for he tells Gal. 1. 11 12. That the Gospel which was preached of him was not after man for he neither received it of man neither was he taught it but by the revelation of Iesus Christ. He was in an Extraordinary and unparalell'd manner call'd to the Office by Christ himself then in heaven he had Immedâ—ate declarations of God's will by Visions and Revelations 2 Cor. 12. 1. yea by abundance of Revelations v. 7. for he had the matchless dignity and priviledge to be caught up to the third heaven into paradice as he otherwise expresses it the Seat of the Divine Majesty and the place of the Blessed and there he heard those unspeakable words those Doctrines and Truths which it is not possible for a man to utter i. e. fully v. 4. Then were display'd before him those Mysteries and Profound Doctrines which his Writings every where abound with several of which are not so much as mention'd in the Writings of the other Apostles which plainly shews that he far excell'd them in Spiritual Knowledge and in the understanding of some of the Main Heads of the Christian Religion And yet behold this Apostle who was thus bless'd with all manner of Intellectual Accomplishments and was possessor of all the Knowledge that Nature or Art and his own happy Genius could furnish him with and which is unspeakably much more all that Knowledge that God himself vouchsafed to infuse into him and inspire him with Behold this very Apostle is the man who uses here this humble and mean language We know in part we see through a glass darkly When he saith we he means himself as well as other Christians nay it appears that he chiefly and principally intends himself for he changes the plural into the singular v. 12. Now I know in part as much as to say notwithstanding all my advantages of Knowing much more than others I acknowledge my self to be but a Smatterer a Novice I own my self to have but a mean and imperfect insight into the High and Mystical Points of the Gospel and if they were not such I should not have so short and partial a knowledge of them This is an unanswerable place of Scripture to prove that there are Mysteries in Christianity such Divine Truths which no quickness of thoughts no sharpness and sagacity of mind can wholly reach And therefore if St. Paul be in the right we know who have taken the wrong part If Plato could say of the Rites of Sacrificing and Divine Worship It is impossible for our mortal nature to have any knowledge of these things surely then our conceptions concerning the Sublime Points of Christianity which is the Noblest and Highest Dispensation of Religion must needs be weak and shallow Divine matters are not clear and manifest of themselves to men said one of the Greek Sages quoted by Iustin Martyr To the same purpose Clement of Alexandria cites that eminent passage of Plato in his Timaeus The only way to learn Truth is to be taught it of God himself or of those that are from God Those are notable words of Iamblicus a Platonick Philosopher It is not easie to know what things God is pleas'd with unless we have convers'd with those who have heard them from God or we have heard God himself or we have attain'd to that knowledge by some Divine Art These are the apprehensions of Improved Heathens concerning Religious matters and shall not those who have attain'd to clearer notions believe the same with a more special relation to the doctrines of the Gospel As these things were not at first found out by Man so they cannot be comprehended by him As they were not discover'd by humane skill and art so they can never be fully known and explain'd by them Thus they are universally a Mystery It is true and I am very forward to grant it that the Christian Religion is stock'd even with Natural Principles such as are in themselves manifest Even that Model of Religion which is made up wholly of the Law of Nature and therefore is call'd Natural Religion is here entirely receiv'd All Rational and Moral dictates are incorporated into this Institution Here are Admirable Notions which carry with them an Intrinsick Evidence as an undeniable demonstration of their Worth and Excellency here are Reason and Morality at their Heighth It was excellently said of an Ancient Writer of the Church Far â—e it that God should hate in us that very thing wherein he hath created us more excellent than other creatures So we may say Far be it that Christianity should disallow that very thing in us which distinguishes our nature from that of Brutes and gives us a Preference to them Some of the Mahometans have a conceit that Idiots and Mad-men are Inspired persons that those who have so little of Man have the more of God But this is an idle fancy and unworthy of our Humane Nature as well as of the Supreame Being it self who was the Author of it The Best Brains are fittest for Religion and even for the Best Religion Christianity It is admirably shew'd by a Worthy Person that the Christian Religion suits even with a Philosophick Genius I question not but it may be made evident from Strict Reason that the Main System of the Christian Theology is uniform and harmonious in it self and conformable to all the Divine Attributes and Perfections that the Coming of Christ in the flesh was requisite in order to the Redemption of lost Man that his Undertatakings were the most Rational Expedient for the restoring of mankind that they were the most Proper and Suitable Method to reduce lapsed creatures and raise them up again after their fall and that Christ's Divinity was no more impair'd by being joyned to the Humane Nature than the Soul of Man is by its Union with the Body These and several things of this kind I could make clear and evident and thereby shew that Christianity is consonant to the most sober Reflections we can make on things that it is agreeable to the most solid and natural Reasonings we can form For we are not to imagine as some Enthusiastick Spirits do that Divine Revelation contradicts the principles of Reason this being a certain Truth that it is impossible to know that any Revelation i. e. any Reveal'd doctrine is from God unless we be first Reasonably satisfied that it is from him Besides Reason is from God as well as Revelation and therefore if we receive the latter we must
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 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
enjoyn'd us but we are to satisfie our selves with this that God's Will ought to be the Standard of ours and therefore we ought to resign our selves to the Divine Conduct And these men allow of this as just and rational and advise that our Natural desires and propensions should give way to our Saviour's Commands he being our Great Law-giver and Master And why then do they shew themselves Partial in denying it reasonable to submit the Intellectual part of the Mind to the doctrines and dictates of the Gospel Is there not as much reason to take care of this Faculty to look to the management of it to keep it within its due bounds as there is to deal thus with the Elective Power of the Soul If they are content to surrender this to the Divine Will why are they against subjecting the other to the Divine Lighâ— and Discoveries If it be commendâ—ble to curb and moderate the Concupiscible or â—rascible part why not also to regulate and govern the Perceptive If the Will must be check'd why must the Intellect be left uncontroulable If they measure the Goodness of the former Power in them by the Laws and Rules of Christ what is the reason that they measure not the Rectitude of the latter by the discoveries of Divine Truth made by the same Author in the Writings of the New Testament Seeing they deem it proper and necessary for humane minds to vail the first to the express Injunctions of the Gospel why do they not think it as requisite to submit the second to the infallible dictates of the Holy Spirit in Scripture why do they not abandon their own weak sentiments about the highest Concerns of Christianity why do they not renounce their private surmises their shallow arguings their sophistical ratiocinations and give them up to be corrected by the light of Divine Revelation why are they not sensible of the deficiency and indigence of their Minds of the narrowness and contractedness of their understandings and why do they not at the same time adore the Divine Perfection why do they not inure their understandings to the dictates of Inspiration and believe what is Unintelligible Particularly in the doctrine of the Trinity why do they lean to their own understandings why do they prescribe to Heaven and set up their own weak Conceptions as the Standard of Divine Truth In a word why do they not make their meer Natural Notions and Principles truckle to Reveal'd Truth and bring their Reason into subjection to the Eternal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If they come here with their old cry and cavils that the Article of the Trinity and some others that appertain to it are contrary to Reason and are a perfect Contradiction and are Impossibilities as their language is we may for ever silence them with this that they can't with any shew of Reason talk after this rate because they can't pronounce that to be Contrary to Reason the Nature of which they are ignorant of what they can't reach with their Reason they can't say is Repugnant to it Nor can they doom this or that to be Contradictory when they know nothing of the Manner of it And so for the Impossibility of a thing it is rash folly to determine it cannot be when they are unacquainted with the Transcendent Nature of it when the Mode of its existence is hid from them This I think is very plain and it is as pertinent to the matter in hand I having proved that the doctrine of the Trinity and such like Articles of Christianity are hidden Mysteries Therefore let not these men think to amuse and banter us as they would needs do with â—alking of Contradictions Impossibilities c. which are Terms that are nothing to the purpose But this I request of them that they would be Serious and vouchsafe to reflect on what I have suggested under this Head for the Article of the Trinity would be a very clear and bright Truth to them if they would but entertain this one thing in their thoughts that they are oblig'd as much to keep a discipline over their Understandings as over their Wills that the Intellectual Powers as well as the other Faculties of the mind are to be in subjection It is mention'd as part of Man's Depravity and alienation from his first Make that he seeks out many Inventions i. e. as the Hebrew word signifies curious Excogitations quaint Arguings fanciful Reasonings These especially in matters of Religion are greedily sought out and pursued by Vain men but where the true force and vertue of Religion prevail there they cast down imaginations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reasonings and every high thing every proud Conceit that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought i. e. every corrupt notion and conception which usurps upon Faith This is the Conduct of our Minds which the Apostles teaches us we must quit our false Argumentations and Debates about the the Great Mysteries of our Religion we must not dare to be wise above what is written above or beyond what Divine Revelation hath taught us but we must resolve all our doubts and scruples by appealing to Divine Authority and the Veracity of God It may be the Sagacious Gentlemen we have to do with at present will grant that some Vulgar heads among whom perhaps they will reckon the foresaid Apostle have favour'd the restraining and limiting of the Intellectual Powers as well as the other Faculties of the mind but will this pass current they may say with those that are voted for Men of Sense and Wit will it be admitted by Men of Keen Apprehensions men of Judgment and Philosophy Yes most surely if they will be pleas'd to take the Learned Lord Verulam and the Great Des Cartes into that number The former of whom hath left these remarkable words Gods Sovereignty reaches to the whole man extending it self no less to his Reason than his Will so that it well becomes man to deny himself universally and yield up all to God Wherefore as we are bound to obey the Law of God notwithstanding the reluctancy of our Will so are we also to believe his Word though against the reluctancy of our Reason The latter expresses himself thus and though some may think it is spoken in Politick Compliance yet it is more than they can prove and it is certain that they are in themselves words of truth and soberness and worthy of so Great a Man We must saith he always and chiefly remember this that God the Author of things is Infinite and we altogether finite so that when God reveals any thing concerning himself or other things which surpasses the natural strength of our wit such as the Mysteries of the Incarnation or Trinity we are not to refuse to give our Assent to them though we do not clearly understand them And again in the Close of this First Part of his Philosophical Principles he hath left