greatest Zeal for Religion should not justly render it suspected to Vnbelievers p. 131. Chap. 3. That the Incredulous are in the wrong for rejecting the Christian Religion because Interest seems to be the main Cause of many Peoples Devotion p. 143. Chap. 4. That the Divisions which reign among Christians is no good Reason why the Christian Religion should not be true p. 165. Chap. 5. That the Incredulous object in vain that Christianity being so little known and so ill observ'd in the World as it is can't be so useful to Mankind as a Religion reveal'd from Heaven for the Good of all Men should be p. 180. Chap. 6. That Vnbelievers can't conclude the Christian Religion to be false because the Divines of their Acquaintance make bad Answers to their Objections against it or because they maintain some false Tenets as true and as the Doctrine of Christ p. 199. Chap. 7. That the Difficulties which may occur in the Christian Religion ought not to bring the Truth of it into doubt p. 234. The Conclusion of the second Part. p. 277. Of the Truth of the Christian Religion p. 282. Letter 1. Wherein is prov'd the Sincerity of the Apostles concerning the Testimony they render'd to Christ's Resurrection p. 283. Letter 2. Shewing what a Miracle is and proving that from the Miracles of Jesus Christ and his Apostles we ought to look upon them as Persons truly sent of God p. 307. ERRATA Page 18. line 23. read angusta P. 23. l. 8. dele and. OF INCREDULITY The PREFACE Containing the Design of the Author in this Work I Cannot determine whether during the first Ages of Christianity more Books were written by the Christians to evince the Truth of their Religion than there may have been for these two hundred Years past But that we have fewer remaining of the precedent Ages than of the last two is most certain The Teachers of the Primitive Church and their Followers whilst Paganism was still considerable in the World labour'd more in confuting the Religion of the Heathens than to prove the Truth of that of Jesus Christ and his Apostles They thought if they could once convince the Heathens of the Falsity of their own Opinions that it would be no hard Matter then to make 'em Christians And this I could most easily shew were it at all useful to my Design On the contrary when Paganism was abolish'd in Europe and Christianity become the governing Religion the Teachers of it then left Paganism to attack the Religion of the Jews and that of the Mahumetans both which are yet in being amongst us But beside these two sorts of Vnbelievers there is yet a third who acknowledging the Falsity of the Mahumetan and Rabbinic Doctrines doubt notwithstanding of the Christian Religion or peremptorily judg it not true without setting up any other Religion in its Place Now to reduce these a new Method was absolutely necessary It was agreed therefore to prove directly the Truth of Christianity without insisting upon the Confutation of other Perswasions And it may truly be said to the Honour of the present Age and of that immediately preceding it that this Matter was never manag'd with better Success The Heathens the Jews and the Mahumetans were not ill confuted before but the Truth of the Christian Religion was far from being ever so well prov'd I am of Opinion nevertheless that there is still one thing behind which the most part of the Writers upon this Subject have either not touch'd at all or but very slightly I mean the secret Motives and general Reasons which the Incredulous have of not believing Christianity to be divinely reveal'd Their internal Disposition or Inclinations do so strongly incline them to reject all the Reasons offer'd them tho they are not aware themselves of the Motives by which they do this that all speaking to 'em is in vain before the Vnreasonableness of this Disposition be made evident Just as if any should plead a good Cause before prepossess'd Judges without endeavouring to cure them first of their Prejudices which must needs make them look upon that thing as false whereupon all the Reasons alledg'd are grounded 'T is certain that the Pleaders of such a Cause tho never so just would expose themselves to be cast or condemn'd This has been notwithstanding the Conduct of a great Part of the Champions of Christianity They have prov'd the Truth of it well enough but their Reasons appear weak to the Incredulous considering the Disposition wherein they are and whereof they know nothing themselves What is unreasonable therefore in this Disposition must be discover'd and laid so clearly before them that they may perceive how it imposes upon the Light of their Vnderstandings This is what the Author of the Christian Religion has taught us when he said that every one that doth Evil hateth the Light Joh. 3.20 neither cometh to the Light lest his Deeds should be reproved which signifies that Vnbelievers cannot look upon that as true which is contrary to the Maxims by which they have long govern'd themselves and to the Habits they have been contracting for many Years On the contrary he says that he that doth Truth cometh to the Light Ver. 21. that his Deeds may be made manifest that is to say that such as are dispos'd to live according to the Prescriptions of the Gospel are easily perswaded of the Truth of it In the same Sense he says elsewhere that if any will do his Will Joh. 7.17 he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether of himself Beside the Disposition wherein those may be who disbelieve the Gospel and which deceives them without their perceiving of it there are likewise certain general Reasons drawn from without that help to lead them into Error These Reasons must by all means be exploded because they are to them so many Prejudices whereby they determine the Truth and Falsehood of all that is said to them Whilst they think 'em good all the Proofs imaginable can make no Impression upon them because they never fail of opposing to them these Reasons which concluding to be solid they cannot at the same time embrace Christianity There are a world of People for example who discovering several of those Doctrines that go under the Name of Christ to be false judg of the rest by these and reject the good with the bad They are told of a thousand lying Miracles to whom those of Jesus Christ and his Apostles are join'd but finding the modern Miracles to be Impostures they give no greater Credit to those upon which the Christian Religion is grounded As long as they are of the mind that these Miracles are not more certain one than another all the Consequences drawn from those of Christ appear to them as built upon a rotten Foundation and the Christian Religion therefore but as a tottering Fabrick It must be shewn the Incredulous then that those Reasons drawn from without which
it will appear to him and the more conformable to the true Interests of Mankind By little and little will the Desire of seeing his Enemies cur'd of so great an Imperfection increase and he will insensibly rid himself of it to shew them a good Example At length instead of longing to revenge himself upon his Enemies instead of making Imprecation against them he 'll ardently wish they may become better Men and will beg it of God in his Prayers Nay he 'll on his side as much as possible contribute towards it and after praying God as he do's for himself that his Enemies may become more vertuous he 'll wish 'em all that God is wont to bestow and more as much as he would desire it for himself Now this it is to love our Enemies for we cannot love them above our selves and the Gospel requires no more It will be granted that these Thoughts are most reasonable and that it were to be wish'd all Mankind had the like Idea's And as Men so dispos'd would very easily comprehend the Possibility of loving our Enemies they would be far from doubting of the Truth of Christianity upon the score of this Precept All that can be said to this is that those who reject the Religion of Christ do it not upon the Account of its Morals which are beyond Contradiction very good and grounded upon the clearest Light of Reason but because it contains in their Opinion incredible Mysteries and supposes Miracles that have no Probability Two things we must remark then that we may know whether the Difficulty they pretend of believing the Mysteries and Miracles of Religion or whether the Dislike of its moral Precepts is the true Cause of their Incredulity The first is if they don't believe many things as incomprehensible or perplex'd And the second if the Maxims of their Morals be as reasonable as those of the Gospel or if they be not plainly opposite to it If it happens that upon all other Accounts they readily believe things they do not comprehend and that the Rules of their Conduct be more than the Gospel admits do they not give us just Occasion to suspect that their ill Habits are the secret but true Cause of their Disbelief of the Gospel whatever they pretend There is nothing so common as to see Unbelievers strongly perswaded of Judiciary Astrology and believing that Magicians can do several things beyond the Power and Order of Nature Two great Ministers of State for example whose Actions will not let us think that Religion was one of their greatest Vertues are both accus'd of believing the Predictions of Astrologers and one of them of perswading himself that a Man who vomited several sorts of Liquors did it by the Help of Magick Cardinal Richlieu says an Historian consulted besides Astrology all kinds of Divination even silly Women whose Knowledg consists in Vapours that make 'em foretel by chance some fortuitous Events He was so credulous as to attribute to the Operation of the Devil the Art of throwing out at the Mouth all sorts of Liquors after having first drunk Water as was done by an Italian Mountebank Mazarin who was not yet a Cardinal having at so simple a Discourse burst out a laughing had like to lose his Favour by it for the Cardinal being provok'd at this Mirth whereby he thought Mazarin jeer'd him said ironically to him that he was not Monsieur Mazarin who had a profound and exact Knowledg of every thing Mazarin very submissively reply'd that giving the fifty Pistols which the Mountebank demanded for teaching his Secret it might be seen whether the Devil had any hand in 't Mazarin himself look'd upon all Divinations as Fopperies except Astrology which he strongly fancy'd tho he feign'd the contrary When Madam Mancini his Sister dy'd and afterwards the Dutchess of Mercaeur his Niece according to the Prediction of an Astrologer at Rome given in Writing a great while before he became extraordinary sad and melancholy not out of Tenderness to his Relations but because this same Astrologer had fix'd the Term of his own Death to a Time that was very near He lost his Appetite upon it and slept not for many Nights c. 'T is also known that the Emperor Julian who could not believe the Prophecies of the Old and New Testament was extremely addicted to the Auguries and Presages drawn from the Intrals of Victims and the Heathens themselves have blam'd him for it I take it for granted that such things as these are as hard to be credited consider'd in themselves as the Mysteries and Miracles of the Christian Religion But the Incredulous believe them at the same time that they refuse their Assent to the Gospel because these Opinions do not regard the manner of any Person 's living and are not at all incompatible as the Christian Morals are with their ill Habits Moreover if the Unbelievers would strictly examine themselves and compare their Conduct with that which the Gospel prescribes I 'll own my self much deceiv'd if they find it Proof against the Rigour of its Precepts Julian of whom I was speaking had many excellent Qualities which he needed not to quit by any means had he remain'd still a Christian and several bad ones he had likewise which he must have rid himself of would he follow the Morals of the Gospel At least it is certain that he could not be so injurious to the Christians as he was which appears by many of his Letters From all this I conclude that notwithstanding whatever can be said the Disposition of a Person does exceedingly contribute to make him receive or reject Christianity and that Unbelievers ought to examine themselves hereupon to see whether this whereof we accuse them be not true CHAP. II. That Pride may be the Cause why Assent is not granted to the Proofs of the Truth of the Christian Religion PRide is inconsistent with a strong and lively perswasion that Christianity is true not only because the Gospel condemns it as it does all other Passions contrary to the Good of Mankind but also because those affected with it find themselves dispos'd by a particular Effect of this Vice to reject unexamin'd the Proofs alledg'd for the Truth of the Gospel This is what I design to shew after I have first describ'd Pride and its contrary Vertue Humility lest what I am to say concerning it should not be so well understood Pride is no other thing but a Disposition of Mind that makes a Man imagine he possesses more Knowledg Endowments or Vertues than he truly does and that by Consequence he should be more honour'd and esteem'd than he deserves The Proud cannot without Vexation bear that the one or the other should be deny'd to them especially if they are not refus'd to other Persons They have not only a high Idea of themselves but likewise despise others who they are easily perswaded have not the same good Qualities nor any thing worthy of that Esteem which
their own Opinions and not upon those who design only to defend the Christian Religion None can without Injustice impute to its Founders all that has been since built upon the Foundations they first laid as it shall be made appear more at large in the second Part of this Work The third Proposition concerning the Evidence of the Proofs of Revelation its perpetual Subsistence and the Perspicuity of its Expressions does suppose that the Design of God was to teach Men his Will mathematically which is a Supposition contrary to the present State of Mankind a State of Liberty wherein Laws and not Demonstrations are propos'd to them Supposing that God would appoint Rewards and Punishments he could not lead Men to Vertue nor avert them from Vice otherwise than by Laws whereof the Sense could not be more clear and yet the Justice and Authority of them be never mathematically demonstrated If all Mankind were convinc'd of the Truth of Revelation and of the Sense of it by mathematical Proofs no body then could resist it There could be consequently no Punishments for the guilty because none would be guilty nor could there be any more Reward for what Recompence can a Man expect for assenting to a mathematical Demonstration It will be demanded perhaps why God should govern Man after this manner and not mathematically as some Unbelievers would have him But I 'm not bound to account for God's Bounty which he diversifies as he pleases for Reasons unknown to us 'T is enough that I prove he cannot be accus'd of Injustice and this I 'm perswaded I can perfectly demonstrate To be short the Divine Laws are proportionated to the Nature of Man whatever they may say who have not study'd them as they ought 'T is an undoubted Truth agreed upon by all Christian Divines That God does not damn any Person barely for violating his Laws but for not leaving his ill Habits that being the Man 's own Fault I shall insist no longer upon this lest I digress too far from the Subject I treat of in this Chapter What I conclude from all I have said is That Unbelievers do frequently take ill-grounded Prejudices for clear Principles from which they hastily judg of the whole Christian Religion I have alledg'd plain Examples of it and could have brought several more but those cited by me may suffice to make a reasonable Man take care of passing such precipitant Conclusions This is all that I require in this place and which the most incredulous Man living cannot without extreme Folly refuse me Now I 'm perswaded if Unbelievers would take the pains to look back upon the first Propositions which they build upon that they should perceive a great part of them could by no means pass for Axioms and then they would quickly acknowledg how little Solidity was to be found in their other Principles CHAP. IV. That many are Vnbelievers because they know not how to reason rightly IN the preceding Chapters I suppos'd that Unbelievers did not reason well and that without perceiving it they suffer'd themselves to be seduc'd by their Passions or Prejudices but I did at the same time suppose that they might be reclaim'd by Arguments when they were shew'd that they follow'd not the Rules of good Sense But there are more than one kind of Unbelievers and some of them those I mean who are to be the Subject of this Chapter are Unbelievers upon no other Account but because they cannot reason well as I shall presently demonstrate But we must remark before that the Christian Religion consisting in Doctrines and Matters of Fact to prove both these we must make long Reasonings and alledg many Proofs depending upon one another Thus to perceive the Force of those Reasons brought to prove the Divinity of the Christian Religion we must be capable not only of understanding every Proposition or every Argument by it self but likewise to enter into the Discussion of all that is said by examining the Connection of the Reasonings and the Relations which a great number of Idea have towards one another But there are a world of People who entertain a good Opinion of themselves and are not capable nevertheless of this Examination nor to consider distinctly so great a Collection of such compounded and perplex'd Ideas I shall be immediately told no doubt That if this be so I do but lose my time in reasoning with them since I suppose that they are not capable to know the Solidity of an Argument Yet two things oblige me to do it whereof the first and principal is that what I have to say upon this Subject may contribute to keep those who are perswaded of the Truth of Christianity from being seduc'd by the Example of this sort of Unbelievers An infinite number of People who believe the Christian Religion true know not the Proofs of it so perfectly and are not so much confirm'd in their Belief but that they may be tempted by the Example of those Unbelievers who reason little They are of all Qualities and Conditions and the haughty Air whereby they reject Revelation is not sometimes less dangerous that the most specious Sophistry In the second place It may happen that such as are not Masters of the true Method of Reasoning may notwithstanding be in a Condition of leaving their Ignorance and of making a better Use of their Understandings It is very fit to convince this sort of People that they are only Unbelievers because they know not how to govern their Thoughts But I grant that those who are grown old in this kind of Ignorance and whose Presumption is encreas'd by their Age are in a manner incurable go to work with them how you will especially if any Immorality be join'd to this want of Judgment which never fails scarcely to happen Nor is it for such that we write as Books of Physick are not written about incurable Diseases To be perswaded our selves that there are in effect some People who for want of knowing how to reason refuse their Assent to the Gospel we need only reflect a little upon the present State of the Heathens and upon what we know of many Unbelievers which live among Christians Such as undertake to convert the Indians and the other Idolaters of Asia America and Africa after taking a great deal of pains to learn their Language are forc'd to take much more when they would by reasoning perswade them of the Falsity of their Religions and of the Truth of that of Jesus Christ The Monks may long enough make all imaginable Efforts to become intelligible to those ignorant People and to convince them of the Absurdity of their Idolatry and the Opinions whereupon it is built but although this thing be so plain yet there are but few of them who can be made to understand it and fewer that conceive the Reasons upon which Christianity is grounded 'T is not necessary that I speak here of the Means which the Missionaries have chosen
to employ in their Conversions rather than Reason This makes nothing to my Design I shall only remark that the Difficulty of bringing those Idolatrous Nations to receive the Gospel proceeds not from any Insidelity peculiar to them from the People of Europe They are upon the contrary the most credulous People in the World and very seriously embrace a great number of incredible things whereof their Theology is made up Their Incredulity with respect to the Gospel proceeds from their not reasoning almost at all except about things relating to Life and that nothing ever enters into their Minds except from Experience or Education They are not Men that meditate and are capable of attentively considering abstracted Ideas nor of comparing them with one another to draw some Consequence from them So for want of meeting a little reasoning in these People one is extremely puzzl'd how to get 'em to change their Opinions This cannot be said of the Mahometans since we know that their Divines do sometimes write with Subtlety and Sense enough against some of the Doctrines which the Missionaries would have 'em embrace Nor can we treat them as Infidels that reject the Christian Religion out of a Spirit of Scepticism for they are every thing rather than Pyrrhonians seeing they most heartily believe all the Alcoran Nevertheless altho they have Sense enough as I said to make Objections against some Doctrines that are preach'd to them yet they have not enough to examine the Principles of their own Religion and to see upon what it is grounded They don't so much as understand what is said to them upon that Head nor the Reasons brought to prove the Truth of Christianity And if the Missionaries now and then convert some of 'em it is not from any Reasons they alledg but in gaining their Love and Esteem by some other ways The Jews are much in the same Condition as it may be seen by the Books they have written to establish their own Opinions or to confute those of the Christians This may be easily discover'd also by any that discourses with them upon these Subjects But between them and the Mahometans there is this Difference that the latter give Credit to a Book full of Impertinencies and Falshoods whereas the Jews ground their Perswasion upon the Books of the Old Testament which contain a true Revelation And yet they can reason little better than the Mahometans which is one of the greatest Obstacles to their Conversion Whilst they are satisfy'd with the mere Authority of some Rabbins tho without any Foundation they are Proof against the strongest Reasons the Christians can oppose to 'em because from their Infancy they are wont to believe what their Rabbins tell them and are never taught to reason justly Otherwise if the Jews were in a Condition of pursuing an Argument and of distinguishing a good from an ill Consequence it would then be very easy to convince them of the Truth of Christianity It should be only needful as some Christian Divines have lately done to put them upon proving the Truth of the Divine Mission of Moses as they would prove it to a Heathen they design'd to proselyte to Judaism For if they bring any solid Proofs for this matter it may be easily made evident that these same Reasons are incomparably stronger in favour of the divine Mission of Christ and his Apostles than in favour of that of Moses as it has been shewn in the Book whose Title you may see in the Margin Limborch Amica collat cum Erudit Judaeo Now then to convince the Jews and other Infidels by Reason they must be first taught the Art of methodically digesting their Thoughts and be accustomed to reason stricly upon other Heads that they may learn to understand the Force of the Proofs upon which the Gospel is founded But this is what all the Missionaries in the World are not able to do especially to those Insidels who are advanc'd in Years It were Injustice to believe that 't is only amongst Infidels that Men are found uncapable of discerning the Goodness of an Argument and who upon this account reject the Christian Religion There are Unbelievers among Christians themselves who are not only such out of some Disposition engaging them against the Gospel but likewise out of downright Stupidity and for want of understanding the Reasons whereupon Christianity is grounded There are some People who from their Childhood have been brought up to some Trade or other constant Business without any Care taken about the forming of their Minds or even of instructing them in Religion and who being moreover of a Genius not very proper for conceiving of things reveal'd tho haughty and presumptuous have grown to a full Age without any farther Instruction or being cur'd of their Pride These are rarely perswaded of the Truth of the Christian Religion nay they frequently reject it entirely or at least in part not only because they know not the Proofs of it but also because they understand them not when they hear them from those that do know them These unpolish'd and ignorant Creatures imagine that there is nothing true but what they perceive by their Senses or what they have found by their own Experience to be possible or in a word what they find conformable to their Passions Thus neither the speculative Doctrines of Religion nor the Practice of it nor yet the History of those who taught it being within the Verge of their Knowledg they refuse to believe them rather out of Brutality and Stupidity than as deceiv'd by captious Reasonings If they reject it not altogether 't is certain however that they retain only what is most pleasing to them which is an evident Demonstration that they are not perswaded of it from Reasoning and Knowledg because the Proofs which confirm a part of it are the same that shew the whole Religion to be true 'T is not only amongst People taken up with Trade and Business that this sort of Unbelievers is to be found for there are more of 'em perhaps amongst such as aspire to great Preferments amongst Soldiers and Persons of Quality It may be said indeed that Persons of these Ranks have had a better Education than others with relation to the Affairs of the World and those Employments to which they were design'd But in very truth it is as common a thing to hear them reason as wretchedly about Religion as the most ignorant among the Populace When once they are grown old in their Prejudices against Christianity then their natural Vanity encreas'd with their Age renders them more obstinate and not seldom makes 'em altogether inaccessible to Truth You propose the most cogent Arguments to them in vain for they look upon them as mere Sophisms tho they know not wherein Sophistry differs from solid Reasoning I shall be told perhaps that this sort of Men is not so ignorant of the Art of Thinking as I suppose them to be seeing they reason not so
the want of a little Quiet whereof they deprive themselves for some small time But methinks a short term of Carelessness ought not to be of so great value with a Man that nothing can be capable of making him quit it Is there any in the World who can live in this eternal Indifference for all that requires Application If any leaves this Laziness for other things what Reason can he bring for not quitting it in order to discover his own state as to Religion If indeed after taking much pains to no purpose a Man could not enjoy his former Quiet he might plead very plausibly in Defence of this Carriage but on the contrary after fatiguing himself a little his Repose is but the more pleasant And so the Lazy should by this Principle at least be at the trouble of examining Religion But now if the Christian Religion be certainly true as we maintain a more deplorable State could not well be conceiv'd in this Life than that of the lazy Gentlemen we have describ'd For what can be imagin'd more lamentable than to precipitate ones self into eternal Misery rather than take the pains of learning the Means to avoid it That Man could not be look'd upon as a lazy Person who would not rise at Night for fear of breaking his Repose tho the House was on fire no he would be taken for a Fool or a Madman We see by these Examples very clearly how unreasonable that spiritual Laziness is which keeps Men from examining Religion We perceive the dangerous Consequences of it or at least the Miseries that may proceed from it Nevertheless there have been formerly Men of this Character and there are now even among Christians Such were those Jews of Thessalonica Acts 17.4 whereof very few were the better for S. Paul's Preaching because they would not examine what he said and whereof the most part very zealous in all other things rais'd a Commotion in the Town against the Professors of Christianity as we are told by S. Luke This appears by the Opposition which we find in the same History of the Jews of Berea another City of Macedonia to those of Thessalonica These says the Historian were more noble than those of Thessalonica in that they receiv'd the Word with all readiness of mind and search'd the Scriptures daily whether those things were so therefore many of them believed If those of Thessalonica had Love enough for the Truth to do as much they would not have been less ready to receive their Reasons who preach'd the Gospel to ' em But the Laziness that detain'd them in Judaism join'd to their other Passions kept them from examining the Doctrine of S. Paul and consequently they acknowledg'd not the Truth of it The present Jews who live among the Christians and perhaps a part of the Mahometans may neglect the Examen of Christianity out of divers Principles such as those we have describ'd in the preceding Chapters but I 'm very apt to believe that they mix with them a great deal of that Laziness we are treating of in this Chapter They are out of Love with all Meditation and Discussion nor can there be a better Proof of it than that they vouchsafe not even to examine why they give Credit to Judaism or Mahometanism Being altogether busy about sensible Objects and the Cares of Life they cannot without Reluctancy think seriously and attentively of any other Subject They may be compar'd to People extremely weary after walking a great way on foot but desir'd to take a longer Walk to refresh and divert themselves They would not hearken be sure to such a Proposition but indulging themselves in the Pleasure of Repose they would think of no other thing except quietly enjoying their Rest Thus such as are busy about the Affairs of Life and fatigu'd with the perpetual Cares they occasion are lazy as to all other things Christianity being at this time divided into several Sects whereof some must necessarily be in an Error may we not therefore place in the Number of the Lazy those Persons who full of all other Things but the Love of the Truth have never carefully examin'd which of these Sects is most conformable to the Sentiments of the Apostles I own that divers other Motives might lead them to remain without knowing why themselves in that Party wherein they happen'd to be born and to condemn all others without vouchsafing to examine their Tenets but if you remark it well it will appear that one of the Principles which occasion this Conduct is a certain lazy Aversion to the Trouble of searching after the Truth in Matters of this kind We may proceed yet further seeing there are People who condemn not only their native Religion without having ever sufficiently studied it but likewise all other Religions tho still less known to them because first perswading themselves that they have discover'd some Falsity therein they conclude next that all the rest is of the same Nature and so can never resolve upon seriously or throughly examining the Truth After having found out as they think that the ablest Men they know teach a false Doctrine for a gospel-Gospel-Truth they judg by this Sample of the Religion of their own Country as well as of all others and that Laziness which keeps 'em as it were enchanted makes 'em think it more convenient to condemn all without any more ado than to ingage in a solicitous enquiry after the true Principles of Christianity I have already shewn the Danger and Unreasonableness of this Laziness nor are there any Persons who disagree to it but when they would actually get quit of this Passion they find themselves so much prejudic'd in favour of it that they have need of their utmost Endeavours to be cur'd or to form an opposite Habit. Besides all I have hitherto said we ought to reflect upon the Pleasure of being in a contrary Disposition to this idle Temper which is not only infinitely more satisfactory but likewise much more reasonable and it may happen that the Love of Truth would be preferr'd to a shameful Quiet worthier of Beasts than Men. Let us imagine now such a lazy Person as we have been speaking of and let us compare his Condition to that of a Man whose Mind being accustom'd to Enquiry finds no Repose except in the certain Knowledg of the Truth The first having perceiv'd some false Doctrine which was taught him as a true one for we may grant this to several of the lazy Unbelievers he rejects this Doctrine and whatever else is affirm'd to be true concerning Religion without considering that important Truths might be mix'd with Falsehoods in the Theology of his Country or that there may be People perhaps elsewhere exempted from those Errors that were taught him or finally that the Doctrine of the first Founders of Christianity might have been misunderstood Common Sense would teach a Man to suspend his Judgment at least till he had examin'd these three
it be concluded from thence that this Science was only a Chimera No body durst maintain it But 't is just thus with the Christian Religion and such as are carry'd away with a false Zeal The Incredulous object further that since those who shew the greatest Zeal observe not the most important Precepts of this Religion 't is at least a sign that they are not themselves perswaded of its Truth for otherwise say they they would not quit the best part of it seeing if the speculative Doctrines be true what concerns Practice is not less so But if the most zealous are not perswaded of their Religion what may be judg'd of its Proofs This is certainly a Prejudice that is very difficultly conquer'd in the Minds of those who have more regard to what is said than to what is done and who look upon Mens Morals as the Character of their Belief Every Person has not strength of Thought enough to consider the Laws of the Gospel in themselves without any respect to the manner how they are obey'd or to the Judgment that Christians seem to make of them by their Conduct But at bottom this is an ill-grounded Prejudice from which no Consequence can be inferr'd against the Truth of the Christian Religion as it will appear by the following Remarks First of all we may grant that there are some of those Zealots in shew for a part of the Christian Doctrines who are not in effect perswaded of any of them and who make use of the Cloak of Religion to impose upon the Multitude the better to carry on their Affairs in the World But does it follow from hence that the Christian Religion is not true By no means since it is evident that these Men may be deceiv'd as well as others They are not always such as make the greatest Noise about an Art that best understand it And if all the Discourses of these People were well examin'd it might be easily perceiv'd that the Christian Religion has Beauties to which they are utter Strangers There might be also remarkâ—d in their Dispositions some invincible Obstacles to the sincere Acknowledgment of the Truth of Christianity which is entirely contrary to those Dispositions The greatest part of these People believe for example that Force must be made use of to establish Truth and that the Magistrates who favour them ought to use those hardly that are not of their Sentiments Nay they maintain that without this Christianity is lost and that all other Religions shall triumph over it All had been still Pagan according to them if Constantine and the other succeeding Christian Emperors had not employ'd their Authority to destroy Heathenism Now what other thing can such Discourses mean but that they are Strangers to the true Proofs of Christianity as well as to the Spirit of Charity and Moderation which is the Life and Soul of the Gospel Those who have well studyâ—d these Proofs and carefully examin'd all the Parts whereof the Christian Religion is made up find it so well grounded its Promises so becoming God and Men and its Precepts so useful to humane Society that to make it wholly triumph over Error it is enough in their Judgment to obtain a Liberty of preaching it and that such as profess it may incur no Danger for so doing in a word that it may oppose the contrary Opinions with equal Arms. These Persons animated with that Spirit of Moderation whereof I spoke and equally pressing all the Parts of Christianity do not contradict by their Actions the Doctrines they profess with their Mouths If Religion therefore were to be judg'd of from the Conduct and Discourses of its Professors regard ought to be had rather to these Men than to others Secondly I have shew'd elsewhere that since Men do not always act according to their Knowledg but most frequently follow the Movements of their Passions their Sentiments must not be always concluded from their Carriage This being so it may probably happen that certain Zealots might act very disagreeably to their Profession which is an Argument that we ought not to judg of their Perswasion from their Manners We must confess however that if in those Zealots there appears a continual Series of Actions contrary to the clearest Commands of the Gospel or inveterate Habits of walking contrary to what must be known to be an essential part of Christianity then we have great occasion to suspect them of Hypocrisy and a Design of covering their Infidelity with a shew of Zeal For it is not possible but that a strong and sincere Belief should at length eradicate out of the Heart all Habits which are directly contrary to it But the most ingenuous Men may act sometimes against their Perswasion by Surprize or the sudden Motions of a violent Passion Thirdly As it would be Injustice to judg of the Goodness of the Laws of any Government from the way how they are observ'd so it would be very ill reasoning to condemn the Christian Religion because such as profess it obey it not There may be most excellent Laws and acknowledg'd too for such yet not always strictly observ'd by reason of the Interests and Passions of those who break 'em as it may be remark'd in all Kingdoms of the World 'T is just so with the Christian Religion What causes this Contradiction between the Sentiments and Carriage of Men besides the Reasons already alledg'd is perhaps because they know not how to apply the general Laws to the particular Cases which happen every day and that they mistake the most prohibited Actions for Exceptions to the Rules Arrian upon Epictetus l. 3. c. 26. A famous Philosopher said that most of Mens Errors proceeded from their not knowing how to apply general to particular Ideas If we consider it nearly we shall find that the same thing occasions at least in part the violation of many Laws which are all the while thought just and well-grounded Zeal accompany'd with very great Ignorance and the greater as the Ignorance is grosser furnishes the Incredulous likewise with another Pretence of looking upon Religion as a blind Perswasion merely built upon the Credulity of the People And indeed we see that in all Religions such as have least examin'd things and that are the less discerning appear frequently the hottest in defence of the Party with which they are engag'd The furious Zeal of the Jews and Mahumetans as well as that of the Pagan Populace is so well known that I need bring no Examples of it In those Sects also into which Christianity is at present divided the Heat wherewith the ignorant Multitude defend their Sentiments and endeavour to propagate them is but too common This blind Zeal has so often broke out and has made use of such ill Methods to advance each Party that there is no Sect but has some reason to be asham'd of it But if this false Zeal may be consider'd as a Consequence of the Principles of the Heathens
violated as all others are especially if it be consider'd that those Rewards and Punishments concern another Life Men tho perswaded of the Truth of the Christian Religion look upon them as remote and are so affected with outward Objects which work upon their Senses or Imagination that the present Time prevails over the future Besides it ought to be observ'd that there are different degrees of Perswasion tho Perswasion it self be most true No body doubts of some considerable Facts of antient History for example that Cesar overcame Pompey however there is some Difference between the degree of this Perswasion and the degree of that whereby every body is perswaded of what he sees Tho those who have read the Roman Authors that were contemporary and those who spoke of it in the next Century doubt not at all of Cesar's Victory yet it must be confess'd that the Perswasion arising from what we have seen is stronger and more lively The Christians who believe the Divinity of the Laws of the Gospel and are sometimes mov'd with it are by the same Reason I just now alledg'd more mov'd with the present Pleasure of giving up themselves to some Passion and so this last Motion overcomes the other Jesus Christ foresaw that Disorder and said that few Men would observe his Commandments and many break them * Part II. Chap. 2. as I have already observ'd elsewhere But it will be said Why does not God make the Rewards and Punishments of the Gospel as sensible to Men as what they see Why do they not see if I may say so Paradise and Hell open'd good Men in the one and wicked Men in the other I answer that if it were so those who obey God not only because of the Rewards and Punishments but out of Thankfulness and because they are convinc'd that his Laws are just and reasonable could not be distinguish'd from those who obey only out of Fear and wish that God had been pleas'd to let them satisfy their Passions For 't is certain that if Rewards and Punishments were made sensible every body would pay to God the same outward Obedience Besides tho it is most certain that the Christian Religion is not observ'd as it should be and that the Difference between the Manners of Christians and Heathens is not so great as it ought to be yet it must be confess'd that Christianity hath several great Advantages above Paganism First there is a great Difference between a Commonwealth that hath good Laws which teach exactly to distinguish Good from Evil and a Commonwealth the Laws whereof approve or suffer some Crimes which are very prejudicial to Society In the former good Laws keep at least part of the Citizens to their Duty and hinder others from running themselves into great Excesses but in the other the Law-giver le ts loose all manner of Vices and puts no Bounds to them from whence it comes to pass that an infinite Number of Men give up themselves to them The same may be said in several respects of Christianity and Paganism but I shall only alledg two Examples Indeed the Notions of Justice and Charity which the Gospel hath brought into the World have not been so effectual as they should have been but however those Notions are the Reason why a horrible Custom practis'd among the Romans hath been condemn'd They took great Pleasure in seeing Men kill one another or fight with wild Beasts So cruel a Diversion lasted during many Ages at Rome nor was the Humanity of the Roman People so much boasted of by their Historians so much boasted of by their Historians offended at it in the least The same People as well as the Grecians were so horribly addicted to Fornication and Sodomy that they never imagin'd there was any harm it it provided it might not prejudice their temporal Interests Those who will read their comical and satyrical Poets will not only see the Matter of Fact but also the sad Consequences of those Debaucheries Among Christians one of them has been always detested and not so common and the other has not been so great as amongst the Heathens because they are both condemn'd in the Gospel The Heathens gave up themselves to a thousand infamous Debaucheries not only without being punish'd for it but also without feeling any Remorses of Conscience because they knew not that they were unlawful Hence it is that they never gave over their Lewdness but when the Body being worn out could no longer answer the Disorder of the Mind and that they never shew'd any Sorrow for it whereby Youth might be deterr'd from it All that old Men could say to young Men was to enjoy the Pleasures of the Flesh only as much as they were consistent with the Welfare of their Families But under the Gospel the Knowledg Men have of doing Evil when they give up themselves to Lewdness is as it were a Bridle which stops a great many in the midst of their Pleasures and a Leaven which often works Repentance and excites Men to deter others from doing the like I will not say that Justice is much better administr'd among Christians than elsewhere but it can't be deny'd that their Civil and Political Laws are better What may be the Reason of it 'T is because the Laws of the Gospel have settl'd the Notions of Good and Evil which were uncertain among other Nations or rather have introduc'd them anew from whence it is that those who do Evil dare not assert it and that many Crimes are not daily committed which otherwise would be committed openly To live somewhat modestly among the Greeks and the Romans one needed to have been well bred up or to have learn'd Philosophy nor did this hinder them from doing several unjust things which Excess only could make infamous But among Christians Men learn whether they will or not the Laws that condemn them and no body will be so bold as to say that the least Unjustice is allow'd them Princes abuse not their Authority as they did in Paganism for the same Reason and Subjects enjoy more quietly and safely the Fruits of their Labours especially in the Places where the Knowledg of the Christian Religion is greater than in others CHAP. VI. That Vnbelievers can't conclude that the Christian Religion is false because the Divines whom they know answer not their Objections well or maintain some false Doctrines as true ones and as being the Doctrine of Christ IF I say in general that one of the chief things that lead Men into Incredulity who have Wit and Judgment enough is the weak Answers which are often return'd to their Objections and the absurd Doctrines which are maintain'd against them as true ones No Christian Society will contradict me because they accuse one another of very great Errors Thus without naming any in particular I leave to every one the liberty of making such Applications as he thinks fit Forasmuch as there are many things difficult to apprehend in
Religions which are seen in the World It can't be doubted but these are most violent Prejudices against some Christian Societies but 't is an easy thing to shew that they ought not to involve all Christianity in general First Unbelievers can't suppose without Examination as they do on this occasion that the Notion Men have of the Christian Religion in their Country or that of some Divines whom they have read is really the same with that of its Founders Some Alterations may have by degrees crept into the Doctrine of the Christians whom they know and so it may be very different from that of Christ and his Apostles No body can be sure of the contrary without going to the Source to compare it with the Streams which are said to flow from it that is without reading the Writings of the Apostles and comparing their Doctrine with that which is now pretended to be the true Doctrine of the Founders of Christianity This Unbelievers are necessarily oblig'd to do before they affirm that the Doctrine of Jesus Christ is false Else they would imitate corrupt Judges who vouchsafe not to examine the Instruments of a Suit in Law but give their Sentence at the first Report of it I am perswaded that if the Unbelievers of the above-mention'd Places would undertake that Examination they would presently see that most of the Doctrines which they dislike are not to be found in the Writings of the Apostles and consequently that whatever Christians think now ought not to be ascrib'd to them The same thing ought to be observ'd every where and Men ought not to judg of the Gospel according to the Opinions that are commonly receiv'd where they live or which is worse to condemn it from hearing a silly Preacher who represents it quite otherwise than it is Yet there are many People who entertain no favourable Thoughts of the Christian Religion by reason of the Explications thereof which they hear from the Pulpits which are but too often ill provided A great many things spoken there are so far from bearing a severe Examination of judicious Men that they could scarce be allow'd in the Conversation of any Persons not altogether destitute of common Sense That sort of Discourses can't without great Injustice be confounded with the Word of God tho there are some who affect to give them that Name as if such Preachers were inspir'd Apostles and authoriz'd with Miracles They should have a greater respect for the Gospel than to call such Meditations by the same Name with the Discourses of Christ and his Apostles I had not made this Remark were it not that such Expressions give occasion to Unbelievers to despise Christianity which deserves as much to be admir'd by the most penetrating and solid Wits as many Sermons deserve to be despis'd by the meanest and most illiterate Persons As no body could bear the Injustice of that Man who should judg of the Opinions of an Author by the Discourses of another who perhaps understands them not and whose Interest it is to explain them otherwise and then pretends he may with Reason vent his Explications as infallible so Unbelievers can't ascribe to the Apostles the Opinions which they hear preach'd as Apostolical Doctrines before they have carefully compar'd them with the Writings of the Apostles unless they are willing to be look'd upon as the most unjust of Men. Secondly Unbelievers are guilty of another Fault which is not much less than the foregoing when by reason of the false Doctrines which they have read in the Writings of some Divines or heard them preach they reject all Christianity For it must be granted that 't is not impossible but many Truths may be mix'd with Lies and as it can't be said that a Book contains nothing but Truth because some few Truths are to be found in it so it can't be affirm'd that every thing in it is false because some Lies have been found in it Is there for example any profane History either antient or modern without a mixture of Truth and Falshood Yet no body says that History contains nothing that 's true and certain They endeavour only to distinguish what is true from what is false The like ought to be practis'd with respect to the Explications of Christians Doctrines which we read or hear We ought neither wholly to reject them nor embrace them because there may be a Mixture of Truth and Falshood We ought as I said before to compare them with the Writings of the Founders of Christianity and judg by those Writings of Religion it self and of what is true in the Opinions of modern Divines this is if I may say so the Touch-stone by which only the true Doctrine of the Apostles can be known Thirdly Unbelievers undoubtedly know that a Truth changes not its Nature for being ill defended We see every day very good Causes ill pleaded by some Lawyers who understand not their Profession Nay 't is confess'd among all Christians that there are a great many Books whose Authors are really engag'd in the Defence of Truth but they do it so ill that it would certainly be condemn'd if it had no better Support Many People for example who have not studied well the Writings of the Apostles say they see no Character of Divinity in the Doctrine of the Gospel and can't convince an Unbeliever of it but nevertheless they believe it to be Divine with as great a Certainty as if they perceiv'd the Finger of God in every part of it because they are say they inwardly perswaded of it by the Holy Ghost without knowing why That 's the Cant of a perfect Phanatick who equals without being aware of it the Gospel with the Alcoran and all the false Religions the Followers whereof may all say as he does that they are perswaded of it by a secret and inward Operation of God upon their Hearts But the Apostles never said any such thing all their Preaching consists in some Facts and in good Reasonings attended with the miraculous Gifts they had and 't is by such Means they pretended to prove the Divinity of their Doctrine So that we should wrong them very much should we believe that they taught their Doctrine could not be embrac'd by the means of Knowledg but by a mere Enthusiasm Others to do the Christian Religion a greater Honour ascribe to the Apostles an Art which they themselves seriously * 1 Cor. 1.17 11.4 13 c. say they have not They set forth their Stile as an admirable Pattern of Eloquence which exceeds that of the Grecians and Romans What follows from thence Unbelievers read the Writings of those Holy Men to seek what they are told is contain'd in them and because they don't find it they fancy that those who said so design'd to deceive them and thereupon being exasperated against them who grounded in part the Truth of the Doctrine of the Apostles upon their wonderful Stile they wholly reject it They could not be
to wish for Miracles as when the Christian Religion was not yet establish'd Thirdly it ought to be observ'd that to require new Miracles from God with and shew of Reason Men should have made a right use of the Means they have to know the Truth so that after a careful and impartial Examination they could not be satisfi'd about the thing they inquir'd after but must doubt still of it whether they would or not Upon this Supposition it might be said that God would be in a manner oblig'd by reason of his Goodness to help Mens Incredulity Hence it is that those who made a good use of the Revelation of the Old Testament and might be apt to doubt of the Mission of Christ and his Apostles not out of Obstinacy but because the Proofs thereof were unknown to them had the Advantage of seeing many Miracles in our Saviour's time But let us suppose some Men of a quite contrary Disposition who perform not the Duties which the Light of Reason teaches us who have no Love for the Truth who are full of a thousand ill-grounded Prejudices and blinded with unruly Passions who have examin'd nothing but doubt of every thing out of a voluntary Perverseness of their Mind and Inclinations Can such Men complain because God works no Miracles in their behalf Will they be so bold as to say that they are worthy of new Favours for having despis'd those which they had already receiv'd from him If the Unbelievers of our time would but examine themselves by this Picture they might easily find out the Answer we can return to them Fourthly I affirm that Miracles would be of no use to such Men. The unbelieving Jews in our Saviour's time are a manifest Argument of what I say seeing that being not able to deny his miraculous Works they ascrib'd them to the Devils The Unbelievers of our time would never want shifts to bring into question Miracles wrought in their Presence seeing they have found out several to hinder us from drawing any Consequence from those of Christ supposing they are true But of this I shall speak in my second Leter at the end of this Discourse Therefore it may be said that God has more reason to work no Miracles in the behalf of the Unbelievers of our time than to work any And such was the Method of Christ When he saw some obstinate Men who requir'd from him some Miracles he wrought none because he saw they would not make a better use of them than of other Divine Graces and would but thereby increase their Guilt The Evangelists observe * Mat. 13.58 Mark 6.5 that being come to Nazareth he did not many mighty Works there because of the Vnbelief of the Inhabitants of that Town Some unbelieving Teachers having requir'd of him a Miracle more than once †Mat. 12.38 16.1 he deni'd them and referr'd them to that of his Resurrection whereof notwithstanding they never had the Honour to be Eye-witnesses Wherefore he sometimes ask'd those who desir'd that he would cure their Diseases whether they believ'd ‖ Mat. 9.29 c. he could do it to teach them that none deserves a new Grace but he that made a good use of others It would have been an absurd thing to expect or demand a Cure from him had they not certainly known by other Examples or some good Reasons that he was able to do it Those who suppose that the Goodness of God should incline him to deal otherwise with Unbelievers suppose at once two things most absurd and altogether unworthy of Men who pretend to Reason The first is that God ought to have no respect to the Use Men have made of his Favours but that the more they encrease their Unbelief whatever the Reason of it may be the more he is oblig'd to grant 'em new Graces so changing the Course of Nature as soon as they are pleas'd doubt of Revelation whereby the Conduct of God will depend upon the Will and Humour of Men. The second Absurdity that follows from thence is that God would be oblig'd out of his Goodness to satisfy as many Parties as there are Unbelievers in the World and every one according to his own Humour and Method For every one of them would see some Miracles and as it were put the Divine Providence to a Trial without minding what it might have done at other times or in other places If any can brook those Consequences which necessarily follow from the Unbeliever's Objection there is no need we should longer dispute with him From what hath been said it appears that God is not oblig'd to work Miracles now because he wrought some formerly In those Places where the modern Miracles are not believ'd there is an ill Custom as well as in those where they are believ'd which is very prejudicial to the Christian Religion with regard to the Incredulous and it is this Several People who maintain some Doctrines of no great Moment and Certainty with too great a Heat are wont to say to magnify their Zeal that if the Opinion of their Adversaries was true the Christian Religion would be lost that one could be sure of nothing and such other things In the mean time their Adversaries endeavour to prove the Truth of their Opinions and sometimes prove it so clearly that the contrary Opinion cannot be maintain'd without Obstinacy The Unbelievers who are as it were a third Party and perform only the part of Spectators of those Quarrels conclude from thence that the Christian Religion is not truer than the Doctrines which they see so well confuted and those who have exaggerated too much the Importance of their Opinions can't hinder the Unbelievers from drawing such a Consequence against them There are but too many Examples of that ill manner of disputing but I shall alledg only one which will be sufficient to make Men sensible of what I say There have been many Disputes in this Age about the Antiquity of the Jewish Vowels Some have maintain'd that they were invented by the Masorethes some Centuries after Christ Others have pretended on the contrary that they were at least as antient as Esdras and consequently grounded upon the Authority of the Prophets The latter to stir if it were possible all Christendom against their Adversaries exclaim'd after a tragical manner that this Dispute was about no less a thing than the Authority of the Old Testament and of the whole Bible which was destroy'd by those who asserted the Novelty of the Vowels But Ludovicus Cappellus has shew'd in his Arcanum Punctationis and its Defence with as much Evidence as can be desir'd in a thing of that nature that the Masorethes were the Authors of those Vowels The most learned Criticks have imbrac'd his Opinion and look'd upon those who maintain'd the contrary as obstinate Persons The same happen'd with respect to another Dispute which that learned Man had concerning the various Readings of the Old Testament He prov'd that
find fault as if they were sorry to be convinc'd that the Christian Religion contains nothing that clashes with right Reason On the contrary they should be dispos'd as those who search a Truth necessary to them and think rather to discover it themselves than to find some Falsities in the Doctrine of those who would lead them to it and to whom it is not perhaps well known If those to whom they make their Application to resolve their Doubts do not satisfy them they ought to apply themselves to the Divines or read the Writings of another Party which perhaps will afford them greater Satisfaction Nay if no body did altogether satisfy them they would not be less bound to seek the Truth and having known it in part they should endeavour to go farther if it were possible and take care not to part with what seem'd to them certain because they are not convinc'd of the rest This common Sense would require from Unbelievers if Christianity was now in so deplorable a Condition that of all the Sects whereof it is made up none knew it in its whole Extent or could defend it as they ought But Thanks be to God we are not reduc'd to that Extremity The Method of Reasoning about Religion as about all other things and the manner of explaining the Holy Scripture were brought in the last Century and in this by some Christians to such a degree of Perfection as they never attain'd to before Those who liv'd in the first Ages of Christianity had reason to thank God for shewing them clear a living Proofs of the Truth of the Christian Religion by the Miracles that were wrought in the sight of all Men and the exact Knowledg they had of the History of its first Founders If we have not the same Advantages we have at least reason to give him our Thanks for teaching us that tho the Christian Religion was founded without much Reasoning or Eloquence for the Reasons I have alledg'd yet the more we are able to reason well the better we may be convinc'd of it and that the Art of Writing according to the Rules grounded on Reason may be of great Use to set all the Beauties of the Christian Religion in their due Light The Suspicions which those Talents might have rais'd concerning its first Founders have no room left with respect to those who write now There can be no better Service done to Religion than by enquiring into its Proofs with all the Exactness that we are capable of and setting before the Eyes of the Reader what has been discover'd with all the Ornaments of true Eloquence Those who know the History of past Ages are not ignorant that in many of them false Reasonings and great Ignorance were the best Talents of the Interpreters of Religion so that a Man who read them was almost to part with Reason and common Sense God be thank'd we are no more in such a Darkness May the encrease more and more the Light we enjoy by his Grace FINIS Two LETTERS concerning the Truth of the Christian Religion ADVERTISEMENT WHEN I began the foregoing Discourse I thought it not necessary to add any direct Proofs of the Truth of the Christian Religion But as I went on I perceiv'd that this Work would not be compleat enough if I prov'd it not at least in few Words What I have said concerning Incredulity being design'd only to remove the general Obstacles which hinder the Incredulous from believing it to be true it would seem that I was contented to make part of that Way smooth which may lead them to Heaven without caring to guide them to the End of it Therefore I thought my self oblig'd to add these two Letters one of which was publish'd about ten Years ago but it will be found here larger more correct and in a better Order than it was before As for the other 't is almost but an Extract by way of a Letter of a Chapter of a Latin Book wherein I have treated of the Nature of Spirits which was made publick above these three Years LETTER I. Wherein is prov'd the Sincerity of the Apostles in the Testimony they bore to the Resurrection of Christ 1. SIR You desire that I prove to you in few Words the Truth of the Christian Religion that you may use my Proofs to cure some Gentlemen of your Acquaintance who are fall'n into Infidelity I could refer you to others who have successfully treated of that Matter but because most of them have enlarg'd very much upon it I 'll endeavour to tell you more briefly what I think proper to convince your Friends of the Truth of Christianity The most common Reproach Unbelievers cast upon us is that we are full of Prejudices which hinder us from undeceiving our selves We say the same thing of them and we affirm that 't is commonly their ill Disposition which raises some Difficulties in their Minds which otherwise they would not so much as think of Besides we upbraid them with supposing a thousand uncertain things in their Reasonings as if they were certain and they fail not in their turn to accuse us of the same Fault 'T is not just that either of us should suppose our Prejudices as Principles that are either demonstrated or that want no Demonstration Let us therefore act on both sides as if we had embrac'd no Party and let us say nothing but what is grounded upon some Principles granted on both sides 2. 'T is granted on all hands that there are certain Characters whereby we may often know whether a Fact be true or not and distinguish a false History from a true one If this was not granted Men must be Scepticks or rather mad Men for one can't without being stark mad doubt of the Truth of all Histories But another thing must be also granted which is not less certain viz. that to know the Truth or Falsity of a Fact several Circumstances of Things Time Places and Persons must be present to the Mind without which one can't judg solidly of that Fact and by which one may most certainly determin whether it be true or false Those who know those Circumstances and have examin'd them at their leisure may certainly give their Judgment about the Facts in question but they can't convince others without having instructed them before and convinc'd them of the same Circumstances For example those who have read the Roman History cannot doubt whether there was a Julius Cesar who made himself Master of the Commonwealth because the Multitude of contemporary Historians and of the following Ages who attest the same thing the Series of the Time and History Inscriptions Medals and the Air of Sincerity which is to be perceiv'd in all those things do not allow them to doubt of it But if a Man was ignorant of all these Reasons which we have to believe the Facts I have mention'd and would doubt of them it would be impossible to free him from his Doubt without
prove the Apostles Sincerity They are contented to offer some Objections concerning the Nature of Miracles and so confine themselves to the second way of knowing the Falsity of a Fact which consists in discovering that 't is a thing absolutely impossible But I shall speak of this in another Letter wherein I shall explain the Nature of Miracles I am SIR Yours LETTER II. Wherein is shew'd what a Miracle is and that we ought to conclude from those of Christ and his Apostles that they were truly sent of God 1. SIR I promis'd you to discourse of the Nature of Miracles and I must perform my Promise seeing without it I should but half prove the Truth of the Christian Religion 'T is not enough to believe that the general Doctrines of Christianity are true and agreeable to Reason we must be also perswaded that they are of Divine Revelation and this we learn from the Miracles of those who first preach'd them That is the Seal whereby we clearly discover the Truth of the Christian Religion To shew that it was reveal'd by the same God who made Heaven and Earth and gave to Nature the Laws according to which natural Causes act they have often desir'd him to suspend the Effects of those Laws tho unavoidable at their Prayers they were suspended and the contrary of what the Experience of all Ages had observ'd hitherto and of what we still see happen'd then That 's an undeniable Proof not only of their Doctrines being agreeable to the Will and Designs of the Maker of all Things as it seems to be if it be merely consider'd in it self but also of their having an express Order from God to publish it among Men. Wherefore I 'll shew first what a Miracle is and how true Miracles may be distinguish'd from false ones Secondly I 'll enquire into the Author of them and what Consequence may be drawn from them Lastly I shall say something concerning the Extent of Miracles and their different kinds I 'll shew at the same time the Truth of the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles and I shall answer some Objections of Unbelievers 2. To look upon an extraordinary Effect as a Miracle and draw any Consequences from it First it must be a thing above the Power of Men. Secondly it ought to be above the ordinary Course of Nature or corporeal Causes and above the Strength of humane Souls for Nature or natural Causes and the Order or the Laws of Nature are nothing but the Souls and Bodies of Men other Bodies and the Laws according to which they constantly act without being able to violate them Thirdly he in whose Behalf that thing is done ought to know it before-hand or at least it must happen when he wants it I shall examin those three things one after another for the whole Strength of the Proofs which can be fetch'd from Miracles depends upon it 3. There are some Divines who maintain that a Miracle is only the Effect of an infinite Power and consequently that God only is the Author of it so that it is not only above the Power of Men but also above that of all other Creatures I shall speak of that hereafter 'T is enough to observe here that nothing which Men are able to do can be look'd upon as a miraculous thing Wherefore to be sure whether what is vented as a Miracle is really so the first thing that is to be consider'd is whether Men can do it For if it appears that it is not above the Power of Men there would be no reason to believe that it is an extraordinary Effect of God's Power or of some other intelligent Being Thus if a Man shew'd an usual Skill in Swimming and boasted of it as of a miraculous thing he might be justly accounted an Impostor because one may by Use get a Skill in Swimming which seems wonderful to those who have it not But if any body walk'd upon the Water as upon the Land without sinking in the least it could not be doubted that he did a thing which is above all the Strength and Skill of Men provided he had nothing under his Feet that might be seen or elsewhere to uphold him Every one knows that there being a certain Relation of Gravity between humane Bodies and Water the Laws of Nature allow not that a Man should stand upon the Water So that if it appears that any body walk'd upon the Water as upon the Land without having under his Feet or elsewhere any thing to hold him so it must be granted that a Power greater than that of Men acted in his behalf 4. But because there are an infinite number of natural Causes which Men make use of to produce some Effects which they themselves cannot produce by their mere Skill and Strength a thing to be look'd upon as miraculous ought not to be done by any other natural Cause such as are the Bodies which surround us For example great Weights which would presently sink if they were thrown into the Water will lie upon it without sinking if a Body much lighter than Water as Wood be put between the Water and those Weights There is nothing miraculous in that because it is done by a corporeal and known Cause But it could not be deni'd to be a miraculous thing if a Man should walk upon the Water as I have said When a learned Physician cures a sick Person with some Remedies after he has spent a long time in studying the Nature of Diseases and the Effects of Remedies that Cure is not look'd upon as a Miracle 't is ascrib'd to the natural Effect of the Remedies which have been well appli'd But if we should see a Man who only by touching all sorts of sick Persons or by speaking to them without using any sensible Remedy cures them upon the spot that Effect could be ascrib'd only to some supernatural Causes Some * Spinosa in Tract Theologico-Polit cap. 6. Unbelievers have endeavour'd to make that Character of Miracles uncertain by saying that we know not so perfectly natural Causes and their Effects as to be able to distinguish what they can produce from what is above their Strength Nay they pretend that what is call'd Miraculous should only be look'd upon as an extraordinary or rare Accident and the Effect of natural Causes which were not well known But tho it be very true that we are very far from having a perfect Knowledg of natural Causes yet it is not less certain that we know most certainly some things by Experience especially when that Experience is common and easy For example we perfectly know that no Man can stand upon the Water so as to touch it only with the Sole of his Feet without using the help of any other Body for it If any one should say that it may be such a thing happen'd sometimes by an extraordinary Effect of some natural Causes which we know not it is certain that such a Conjecture could only be
they pretend to be their own due The too good Opinion any conceives of himself is ever accompany'd with a Contempt of others and both the one and the other are equally apparent outwardly Those who suffer themselves to be blinded with this Passion believe not only that there are no good Qualities except in their own Persons and in such as admire them but they also abhor all that to them appears ordinary and think they should debase themselves had they any Thoughts that were common to several others Such were for example the antient Stoicks who imagin'd they had more Knowledg than all the World besides and that they were above those Weaknesses remarkable in other Men. They look'd upon those with Scorn and Pity if their Principles would permit 'em to have any who were not perswaded of their Doctrines They troubl'd themselves little with the Sentiments of others which they confider'd as idle Dreams and never spoke of the most ordinary things but in strange Terms Pain was not an Evil Pleasure was not a Good all Vertues were equal there was no Difference between Vices their Sage only had common Sense all others were Fools They utter'd a thousand Paradoxes of this Nature only to distinguish themselves from the Vulgar who have Ideas very opposite to these On the contrary Humility which is the same Vertue the Heathens call'd Modesty consists in having no other Sentiments of our selves but what are proportion'd to our good Qualities and not to pretend to Honours that are not due to us Nay this Vertue goes yet further and those whom we may call humble patiently suffer themselves to be debas'd much below their Merit As those who have this Vertue esteem not themselves more than they ought so they are far from despising others and willing to do them all the Justice they can reasonably wish Nor are they vex'd to see People that are their Inferiours in many respects exalted above them and more consider'd than they deserve This Vertue may be remarkably seen in the Primitive Christians who perfectly knowing the Errors of the Heathens and the Defects of their Philosophy did not reject however all that it taught to distinguish themselves from the Pagan Philosophers On the contrary they readily approv'd all that was good in it and were transported to discover a Conformity between the Notions of those Sages admir'd by the Multitude and the Doctrines of the Gospel They even confess'd with great Sincerity that the Heathen Authors did much surpass in Eloquence the first Writers of the Christian Religion Clemens Alexandrinus in his Stromates and Eusebius in his Evangelick Preparation can furnish a thousand Proofs of it as well as many other Ecclesiastical Authors whom I need not cite Such therefore as reject Sentiments generally receiv'd or at least receiv'd by a great Number of Persons should take care that the Love of Singularity rather than a Demonstration that others are mistaken has made them quit the beaten Road. 'T is true indeed that the Multitude of those who embrace a certain Opinion is not a good Proof of the Truth of it but on the other hand it is no cogent Argument that a thing is false because many People believe it It is certain notwithstanding that to be distinguish'd from the Croud a Man frequently rejects what he believes true for no other Reason but because it is a vulgar Notion A vain Spirit cannot bear that he should be equall'd in any thing to an infinite number of Persons whose Knowledg he believes inferiour to his own and whose mean Inclinations aim at nothing but what is common I 'm perswaded that several are Unbelievers because at least the fundamental Doctrines of Christianity are extremely common They think it noble to be indeceiv'd concerning vulgar Opinions and to look upon others as People that feed themselves upon Chimera's A Man thus conceited of himself thinks he 's elevated far above the credulous Multitude which is led rather by Custom than guided by Reason There is nothing so pleasant says an Epicurean Poet as to live in the exalted Temple of Wisdom where you may enjoy a perpetual Calm and whence you may look down upon other Men wandring and scatter'd in their different ways of living Nil dulcius est benè quam munita tenere Edita doctrinâ sapientum templa serena Despicere unde queas alios passimque videre Errare atque viam palantes quaerere vitae But at bottom one exposes himself as I have said already as much to Deception by contemning whatever the Vulgar esteems for no other Reason than this as by blindly embracing all that the Multitude authorizes Neither its Aprrobation nor its Hatred are the proper marks of Truth or Falshood If there have been Chimera's generally receiv'd there have been also as many ridiculous Notions countenanc'd by a small number of People who imagin'd themselves more knowing than others Therefore when any finds himself inclin'd to forsake vulgar Sentiments he ought to take heed that he be not impos'd upon by the agreeable Thoughts of being exempted from those Errors wherein he sees others engag'd This may be as well the Delusion of a secret Pride as the Effect of uncommon Knowledg It is by so much the more dangerous to fall out of Vanity into any singular Thoughts as that when once a Man is govern'd by this Principle it is the hardest thing in the World to make him change his Mind The same Passion that leads him into it confirms him in it insensibly by reason of the Pleasure wherewith it fills those who will be blinded by it representing them as I said to themselves as Persons highly elevated above the Vulgar Beside all this vain People imagining they are more clear-sighted than others easily believe themselves never mistaken and that the rest of Men have not the necessary Sagacity for discovering the Truth This is the reason that when any whereof they have not so good an Opinion as of themselves proposes to them Sentiments contrary to their own they will not so much as give him the Hearing The first Thought that offers it self then to their Minds or if you please the Sentiment that is awak'd in their Heart is that if this Man spoke the Truth it would follow that a Person whom they despise and not as they think without Reason should have more Penetration and a sounder Judgment than themselves But this is what they can never agree to for so they must entirely change the pleasing Idea they hitherto entertain'd of themselves and others They would be oblig'd to allow those whom they always believ'd much their Inferiours a more considerable Rank in their Esteem than themselves and in certain Regards acknowledg their Superiority I shall illustrate this Truth by some Examples Let 's take a Jewish Doctor and if you will of the Sacerdotal Race Suppose him to have studied the Laws of Moses with great Application and the Traditions currant among the Jews in the Apostles time Add
Heads But for this there is more Caution and Moderation requisite than Unbelievers commonly have who looking upon such an Examen to be impossible chuse rather to deny all at once This is just as if any Reader because he had discover'd by chance an Error in some Historian would immediately conclude without reading any further that the whole was pure Romance and that there was no such thing in the World as a true History Notwithstanding such a ridiculous and hasty Judgment Unbelievers seem to live in as profound a Tranquillity as a Man could do who knew by Mathematical Demonstrations that all Religions were false They appear to have so great an Indifference for Truth in this respect as if it did not concern them to know it They are ready while in this Disposition to do whatever may render the Enjoyments of Life more pleasing nor will they hear a word of examining and they indulge themselves in those Pleasures as far as they judg it possible without doing 'em any harm It is plain then that this Opinion opens a Door to numberless secret Crimes and gives Encouragement in publick to all that can be practis'd with Safety I will not insist upon it that such People are bad Friends bad Subjects or bad Citizens because they sacrifice every thing to their Pleasures I shall only remark that being no way certain of the Truth of Religion or that God would have 'em to be of any Religion they can enjoy no other Quiet but what must be an Effect of the most notorious Folly imaginable They are according to their own Judgment every Moment in a Condition of parting for ever with what they love and which to acquire or preserve has frequently occasion'd 'em infinite Trouble This Loss may happen by a thousand unforeseen Accidents and at last it is sure to come unavoidably by Death beyond which they expect nothing Nevertheless they live securely They behave themselves much worse than a Man would do who being seriously told that he is condemn'd to Death but that there were Means of escaping it if he would be at the Pains to know them and yet would think of nothing but diverting himself without vouchsafing to give Attention to what was said to him tho with the Hazard of losing his Life in case those Advisers whom he would not believe spoke Truth If what Christianity tells us be indeed true there are Pains infinitely surpassing Death to be fear'd by such as reject it and yet Unbelievers who have no Certainty that these things are not true rest securely in their Infidelity and Lazines without informing themselves any further In good Truth such as live in this Disposition and who imagine themselves exalted above the Vulgar are not in this respect much elevated above the Brutes which are only concern'd about the present Now on the contrary let us suppose a Man who has well study'd the Principles of true Christianity satisfy'd in himself with the Truths he has discover'd he observes the Precepts they enjoin him with all Tranquillity in this Life and after Death he expects the Reward of his Faith with a Contentment of Mind that cannot be equall'd The most refin'd Reason and the Laws of the Society wherein Men must necessarily live with one another requires nothing of him but he obeys it without hesitating and whatever befals him he looks upon Death only as a Passage to a much better Life than this I dare affirm something beyond all this and it is that supposing this Man deceiv'd yet his Condition would be infinitely more desirable than that of such as refusing to examine Religion reject it nevertheless with the Hazard of losing themselves for ever and are withal in a perpetual Fear if not quite bewitched with their Incredulity and Laziness of losing for ever all that is dear to them It is therefore infinitely more reasonable and more sure both for this and the other Life if there be one to search after Truth and to examine the Proofs of Religion than to live and die in the most extravagant Carelesness imaginable This is all that I desire should be granted me here and that cannot be deny'd me by any without acting against the clearest Evidence of common Sense Those who refuse to believe the Truth of the Christian Religion ought carefully to examine themselves and see whether this Laziness I have describ'd be not at least in some part the Cause of their Incredulity This Examination is of the utmost Importance there is nothing to be lost by making of it and you risk all by neglecting it The CONCLVSION of the first Part. I Have describ'd in the preceding Chapters those Dispositions and Motives contrary to Reason which might bring Unbelievers to reject the Christian Religion Altho I have consider'd these different Dispositions one after another and have distinguish'd them by particular Characters I am not of opinion however that they act separately upon any or that there are Unbelievers who may be reproach'd only with one of these Faults There is not any questionless that is not at the same time guilty of several of them but there are such as may be more culpable in one than in another Immorality makes one an Infidel in another 't is Pride that chiefly opposes it self to the Light of Truth You see some blinded by their Prejudices which they take for undoubted Maxims there are others who do not reason well or neglect informing themselves of what they should learn or whom Laziness keeps from entring upon a Discussion which to them appears too tedious and painful And perhaps there be those in whom all these Faults may meet in some degree tho but one of them may be their predominant Passion There is likewise infinite Variety in Mens Genius and Understandings with respect to their good or bad Qualities and their different Conjunctions Did we meet with Unbelievers who could say that they renounc'd the Truths of the Gospel for no other end but to follow the most conformable Principles to sound Reason and to live in a more regular manner or more useful to Society and could we meet with any of them exempted from the Faults I have describ'd it might then be justly said that my Enumeration of the internal Motives of Incredulity was not sufficient but I take it for granted that there is not one Unbeliever in whom several of these Defects are not remarkable and I take their own Consciences to witness They are herein to do Justice to themselves for such as exhort them as I do get nothing by it but only the Satisfaction of performing their Duty nor can the Unbelievers lose any thing by examining if they are not in some of those Conditions by me describ'd If they are oblig'd to own themselves in the wrong what risk can they run by reforming and if after a serious Discussion they find me deceiv'd they 'l have Reason to be more satisfy'd with their own Conduct The Time they shall lay out
divers Passages in the Gospels If I bear Witness of my self says he Joh. 5.31 my Witness is not true that is it cannot be look'd upon as true unless there be some other Proofs of it besides my saying so Then after telling that John Baptist had bore him witness he adds Ver. 36. I have a greater Witness than that of John for the Works which the Father hath given me to finish the same Works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me He further says to those that desir'd him to declare if he were the Christ The Works that I do in my Father's Name bear Witness of me Ch. 10.25 and a little lower If I do not the Works of my Father believe me not Ver. 37. but if I do tho you believe not me believe the Works What can be said more to the purpose than what you meet with in the same Gospel viz. If I had not done amongst 'em the Works which none other Man did Ch. 15.24 they had not had Sin By this it appears clearly that the Author of the Christian Religion did not require Assent to his bare Word His Apostles have acted just after the same manner for they did not only affirm that they had seen the Miracles of their Master or that he had spoken to them from Heaven after his Ascension but they have also join'd to their Testimony all the Marks of Truth that could be possibly defir'd Their Doctrine consider'd in it self did not afford the least Occasion to suspect Imposture they could not expect any temporal Advantage by publishing it on the contrary they met every where with an obstinate Resistance from the Jews and Heathens they were ill us'd every Moment and walk'd in perpetual Dangers In a word many of 'em suffer'd Death for constantly persevering in the Profession of the Truth And to accumulate Proofs they wrought Miracles like to those of Jesus Christ as he promis'd them they should before he left them The Incredulous will object perhaps that I beg the Question by supposing the Truth of what is doubted of but my Design is not now to infer any Consequences from these Facts in favour of the Christian Religion I only conclude from hence that the Apostles did not preach a blind Faith or Obedience as some Christians do at this time One of them exhorts those to whom he writes not to believe every Spirit 1 John 4.1 but to try the Spirits whether they be of God because may false Prophets were gone out into the World Another advises them to try all things 1 Thess 5.21 and to hold fast that which is best It cannot be said therefore that such as cry up implicite Faith do act according to the Genius of Christianity nor can the ridiculous Pretences of those who require Assent to their say-so be justly attributed to Jesus Christ or his Apostles It may be demanded of me here perhaps what that Faith is which is so much commended in the Writings of Christ's Disciples This is not the proper Place of discussing this Subject throughtly nor will I meddle with any more of it than is absolutely necessary to solve this Difficulty Faith as we have said before being not an implicite Belief consists first in assenting to good Proofs that is as strong Proofs as the Nature of the thing will bear For instance A Man affirms himself to be sent of God he preaches a certain Doctrine to me which he confirms by Miracles Immediately I examine this Doctrine in it self without regard to any Prejudices and without considering whether it be conformable to my present Disposition or not and if I find that it contains nothing false I conclude it may possibly come from God Then I proceed to the Miracles and if I see 'em wrought or if I find the Truth of them attested by Persons worthy of Credit I cannot doubt but God has actually sent this Man Those who are capable of making this Examen as they ought are worthy of great Praise for in the first place they must quit all their Prejudices and consider what is propos'd to them not as it relates to themselves but with respect to the eternal Laws of Truth and Falshood Secondly they must have a great Love for the Truth to go through with an Examination whose Consequences may prove very opposite to their temporal Interests as I have shewn in the first Part of this Work There are Times and Places when a Man cannot declare himself perswaded of the Truth of the Gospel without exposing himself to most cruel Persecutions and it may be said that the Commands of Christ cannot be exactly observed by us any where almost without drawing upon our selves the Hatred and Contempt of such as disobey them that is of the greatest Part of Men. So that to be a good Christian there is more Courage and Resolution necessary than is commonly imagin'd nor can it therefore be doubted but that Faith such as the Gospel requires of us is a very great Vertue It is also deserving of much Commendation if we consider that it is never found but in Minds well-dispos'd It engages us not only to believe that he who speaks to us in the Name of God and adds sufficient Proofs of it has been really so sent but also to expect great things of God for the future grounding our selves upon the Proofs he exhibits of his Power Those who saw the Persons brought to Life again by Jesus Christ who saw himself after his Resurrection and who could not doubt of the Truth of these Miracles were oblig'd from hence to a firm Perswasion of what he taught them concerning the general Resurrection of all Men. I 'm of opinion that no reasonable Man will look upon the last as impossible if he holds the first to be true for there is no greater Difficulty in raising an hundred than one again and it could not without Folly be said by any that God's Power was all spent upon those first Effects of it they had seen Nevertheless Men being accustom'd to believe nothing but what they learn from their own Experience can scarcely be perswaded of any thing without seeing some Examples of it He must be a Person of Discernment and good Sense who draws such a Consequence as I have mention'd and he must also have some Equity to expect for the future such great things from the Marks that God has given of his Power An unjust and obstinate Man will believe nothing except what he sees and has no regard to any thing but the present It cannot be deny'd therefore but that such an enlightn'd and understanding Faith as we have describ'd is a most commendable Disposition of Mind and most agreeable to the purest Light of Reason But here I foresee an Objection viz. I shall be told that I have describ'd the Faith of such as had seen the Miracles of Jesus Christ and his Apostles and not their Faith
be externally profess'd and that a Man let no Opportunity slip of shewing others by his Life and Discourse that he 's firmly perswaded of it 'T is by no means a speculative Science to continue lock'd up in the Memory without bearing any Fruit out of it and without appearing in their manner of Living who are convinc'd of its Truth It fills them with a certain Ardour for the Observation of what it commands that the true Christians are easily perceiv'd to be in earnest 'T is this Disposition that is call'd Zeal from a Greek Word which signifies Jealousy to shew that we ought not to have less Ardour for the Honour of Christianity than a Bridegroom should be concern'd to preserve that of his Bride This Zeal extends generally to all the Doctrines and to all the Precepts of the Gospel and not to some of them only We ought zealously to defend the Truths we learn from it otherwise it were to betray and equal it to Falshood nor ought we to manifest less Ardour in observing its Injunctions seeing this is not less essential than the Belief of its Doctrines The one and the other must be joined for Christianity is entirely ruin'd if those things be separated which the Author of it has united The Reason of this is that the Doctrines lead us to the Observation of the Precepts being reveal'd to us for this end and the Observation of the Precepts does indispensibly suppose a strong Perswasion of the Doctrines All Christians are agreed about this Principle and Jesus Christ and his Apostles are very express about it so that there is no necessity to prove it Nevertheless it is evident that such as shew the greatest Zeal for the Christian Doctrines and for the way of explaining them in their Country are frequently seen to violate the clearest Precepts of it after a most scandalous manner as if this Ardour they shew for the Defence of the Doctrines were all that the Gospel requires of Men. There are some People for instance whose Discourses breathe nothing else one would think but the Love of the Truth and the Desire of preserving the Knowledg of it and of propagating it amongst Men. They write in favour of it they defend it with much heat against opposite Errors and they stick at no difficulty to make Truth triumph over Falshood Nay they expose themselves sometimes to Dangers for this with a surprizing Courage But these very same People who seem entirely devoted to the Service of God and the Defence of Religion are sometimes altogether intractable when a Man has any Dealings with them Selfish proud deceitful Slanderers uncharitable and breaking most of the Commandments regarding their Neighbour they imagine themselves the best Christians in the World and the ignorant or corrupt Multitude looks upon 'em as in effect good Men. Such were in Christ's time the Pharisees whose Zeal for the Law we read of in the Gospel where at the same time they are represented as a very ill sort of Men. There are too many such at this time and every Country will furnish frequent Examples to all that have a mind to make their Observations What St. Paul said long ago to the hypocritical Jews may be now said to many People You that make your boast of the Law Rom. 2.23 by breaking the Law dishonour God for the Name of God is blasphem'd among the Gentiles through you The Unbelievers who take notice of these Men draw a Consequence very injurious to the Christian Religion which is that seeing those who pass for the Pillars of Religion who have sometimes the best Employments and who are in most Esteem are such ill People the Religion it self is but a mere Artifice to deceive the Simple and to cover their Passions under a Pretence which gains 'em Respect For in a word all that the Zealous do if you believe 'em is for no other end but the Service of God Thus Unbelievers come to imagine that the Beauty of the Christian Morals which they cannot deny is only a fine Idea to impose the more easily upon such as are not always upon their Guard They are much talk'd of say they but the most Zealous observe no more of them than serves their turn They would have others perhaps obey them exactly that they might get by it but as for themselves they laugh at them You 'l hear those for example preach Charity and Impartiality who have neither the one nor the other but are wonderfully pleas'd to find those they have to do with not selfish or uncharitable because it makes for their Advantage This is what Unbelievers say and they are never unfurnish'd with Examples to cite about all the Christian Vertues whereof there is not one that has not been violated by some Zealot and many times without doing him any Injury in the Opinion of the World because this Appearance of Zeal covers all Defects The Fact we deny not and we may add further that Jesus Christ and his Apostles have foreseen it by exalting that Charity which is principally violated by this false Zeal above not only Orthodoxy but even the highest Knowledg and the Power of working Miracles it self Not every one that cries unto me Lord Mat. 7.21 Lord says Jesus Christ that is who makes Profession of the Truth of my Doctrine shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy Name and in thy Name have cast out Devils and in thy Name have done many wonderful Works And then will I profess unto them I never knew you depart from me you that work Iniquity This is a manifest Admonition which the Author of the Christian Religion gives to his Disciples to prevent the evil Example of pretended Zealots making any Impression upon them St. Paul likewise expresses himself upon this occasion in such emphatical terms that it was not possible for him to speak more home Tho I speak says he 1 Cor. 13.1 with the Tongues of Men and Angels and have not Charity I 'm become as a sounding Brass or a tinkling Cymbal And tho I have the Gift of Prophecy and understand all Mysteries and all Knowledg and tho I have all Faith so that I could remove Mountains and have no Charity I am nothing And tho I bestow all my Goods to feed the Poor and tho I give my Body to be burned and have not Charity it profiteth me nothing It appears plainly hereby that the Carriage of pretended Zealots is directly contrary to the Principles of the Gospel as I have shewn from the beginning of this Chapter This may serve for an Answer to Unbelievers who cannot without Injustice confound some Persons Abuse of Religion with Religion it self If any pretended to have very much study'd a certain Science and that it appear'd by some of his Discourses that he understood nothing of it could
the Mahumetans the Jews and some of the Christians it is certain that true Christianity gives it no Approbation so that if the Falsity of these Religions or Sects may be hence concluded yet it follows not that we can reason against Christianity in the same manner I have already shewn in the precedent Chapter that it requires no such thing as a blind Obedience from such as embrace it and that it expresly condemns the furious Zeal which flows from this Spring One of Christ's Apostles acknowledging that the Jews had a Zeal for God Rom. 10.2 Gal. 1.14 adds that it was without Knowledg and blames it exceedingly Another says to those to whom he writes Jam. 3.14 If you have bitter Zeal and Strife in your Hearts glory not and lie not against the Truth This Wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devilish for where this Zeal and Strife is there is Confusion and every evil Work This blind Zeal then is not an Effect of the Christian Religion and cannot be reasonably attributed to it it is a Consequence of the Temper and Education of the ignorant Populace who instead of defending the Truth by its proper Light and the Vertues it does produce in their Hearts who duly receive it defend it with the same Arms they would Error that is with Passion and Fury This sort of People cannot without extreme Injustice be look'd upon as Models whereby to judg of the Spirit and Effects of Christianity since it clearly condemns their Conduct We must on the contrary cast our Eye upon the understanding Persons who make use of none but good Reasons in its Defence and that to procure themselves Love and Respect practise only those calm and peaceable Vertues they learn from Truth This is the Character which the Founders of Christianity bestow upon them who ought to be consider'd as the true Christians The Wisdom that is from above says the same Apostle is first pure then peaceable gentle and easy to be entreated full of Mercy and good Fruits without Partiality and without Hypocrisy CHAP. III. That Vnbelievers are in the wrong for rejecting the Christiam Religion because Interest seems to be the Cause of most Peoples Devotion SInce Christianity has flourish'd in the World it has frequently prov'd an advantagious thing to shew great Zeal for the Doctrines of it Altho this makes no Change in the thing it self Truth not depending upon the Interest one has or has not to defend it yet the Incredulous are sure to take an occasion from hence of doubting the Truth of the Christian Religion There are Endeavours made sometimes to gain them over by representing to them the Consent of the Clergy in so many Places and Ages but they instantly reply that 't is no wonder if those Men did make a Profession of Christianity since they would be great getters by it in so doing but must lose infinitely if they did not And indeed we must confess that no cogent Conclusion can be drawn from the Example of all such as have defended or that now defend the Christian Religion against Infidels But their Reasoning is still less solid as I shall shew after putting it in a greater Light It is not well done to give those Occasions of saying that the Defenders of the Christian Religion diminish the Force of their Objections and those who by their ill Carriage put before them this Stone of Offence and Stumbling deserve to be reproached for it not to speak of revenging in this place the Wrong they do to Christianity Moreover I have from the very beginning of this Work propos'd to my self not only to deal with such as entirely reject it but with those also who seem to embrace it only by halves Let us imagine then a cheating Priest People but too much known in all Christendom who pretends to some Benefice if he has none already or aspires to a greater Dignity than what he possesses He appears humble gentle moderate and kind He speaks of nothing but Disinterestedness and the Vanity of all the Enjoyments of this Life If he has a Talent for the Pulpit he there principally shews his Zeal against the corrupt Manners of the Times Nay he 's in a Fury against scandalous Clergy-men and the Abuses committed in Ecclesiastical Matters so long complain'd of and not yet reform'd In a word he uses all the Discourses that should be made in that Place in order to pass for an honest Man and to make the World believe that had his Incomes been greater he would put 'em to much better Uses than most Ecclesiasticks do After acting his Part for some Years at last he obtains his end that is a Dignity and Income that render him considerable in the World and in the Church But then it may be said of him Quantum mutatus ab illo for indeed he 's no longer to be known He 's forthwith haughty hard-hearted untractable and passionate towards all such as he thinks his Inferiours Those who were his Friends before and upon whose Friendship too he valu'd himself ought to be very well satisfy'd with him if he now vouchsafes them a Look The Obligations they laid upon him while he continu'd a private Person and when they expected no Returns from him are quite lost He thinks they were all due to his Merit and that more were owing him but as for himself he owes nothing to any body and does 'em too much Honour when he coldly receives the Incense they are base enough to offer him If he prefers any Man he must be some Blockhead or Flatterer People that have no Idea almost of their Duty and that are ready to admire any thing the Bad as well as the Good so be you make 'em live at their Ease This Man so disinterested heretofore becomes oftentimes insatiable and the Revenues of the best Benefices are not sufficient to satisfy his Avarice He procures therefore as many as he can and has never too many If he be naturally covetous all that he preach'd before of Liberality is quite vanish'd all the Invectives he made against Avarice are laid in perpetual Oblivion He does Good to no body and thinks of nothing but laying up Treasure If on the contrary he be a voluptuous or stately Person he consumes his great Incomes in keeping a magnificent Table in having a stately Train and living as the proudest Men or the most addicted to their Pleasure in the World The sordid Avarice of the one is a Frugality becoming a good Clergy-man and the excessive Luxury of the other is but an Expence absolutely necessary to keep up his Rank in the World and to beget Respect in the Laity Far from making the least Reformation in the Clergy that depend upon them they let them loose to all the ill Customs and Manners to which they are subject on condition they be submissive to them and meddle not with their particular Method of living When Unbelievers consider such a
or Infidels from giving them the hearing when they exhort them to embrace the Christian Religion The Reason of this is that all Christians notwithstanding their Divisions are agreed about certain Articles by the Examination whereof Unbelievers must necessarily begin and not by those particular Controversies which divide Christians All Christians are agreed about the Creation of the World about Revelation in general the moral Precepts of the Gospel with the Rewards and Punishments annex'd to them They agree likewise about the History of the Gospel the Divine Mission of Jesus Christ and his Apostles the Resurrection and last Judgment These are the things they undertake to prove first when they deal with Infidels or Unbelievers and this is what with common Consent they call the Principles of Christianity which they prove all with like Reasons 'T is just with Religion as with several other Sciences in which the Learned are not less divided There are very great Disputes for example among the Physicians about the Causes of Diseases the Virtues of Remedies and the way of applying them but maugre all their Contests there are certain things wherein in they all agree In Anatomy in the Description of the Symptoms of Diseases in the Knowledg of Simples and in Chymistry there are a thousand things whereof no body doubts and which are the most important Parts of Physick with which a Learner of this Science must first begin And 't is so as I have already said with the different Sects of Christianity As the Diversity in the Opinions of Physicians keeps none that has a mind to it from examining the Principles of their Art so the Difference of Sentiments in Religion cannot discourage the Lovers of Truth and indeed as we have shewn in the first Part they are other sorts of Motives which take off the Incredulous from examining it What I have call'd the Principles of Christianity is the same thing with what we may name Christianity in general Altho there be no Christian Society that comprehends all its Belief within those Ideas only about which all Christians are agreed yet this hinders not but that those Ideas may include the fundamental Doctrines of Christianity and that we must be determin'd about these before we examine any particular Doctrine of those Societies which profess our Religion This is also what I undertake to defend in this Work and from the Truth or Falshood whereof depends all the rest If it be acknowledg'd for instance that these general Doctrines are true we must then examine in what Society they are most purely taught but were they found to be false then we needed not examine any particular Sect seeing that all defending the same general Principles if they were not true then all the Sects would be all equally false It is manifest then that the Divisions of Christians ought not to be any Prejudice against Christianity in general nor hinder the Incredulous from examining it Nor is it less certain that they cannot take any Person off from this Examen that has a mind to embrace any one Sect. The Divisions indeed render this Disquisition somewhat difficult but by no means impossible I shall be told no doubt that this is true with respect to Men of Letters or understanding Persons but the Question is what the ignorant Populace must do in these Divisions As they are commonly judg'd incapable of this Disquisition so the surest way for them some think is to engage with the first Party that offers it self To this I answer first That to pass for a good Christian one must know at least those general Principles we spoke of If there be People so stupid as to comprehend nothing of 'em tho otherwise Men of good Morals we leave the Disposal of them to God but as I said in another Place they differ very little from the Savages of America or Africa Secondly If such as have Parts enough to comprehend the Principles of the Christian Religion and Vertue enough to frame their Morals according to this Model are not able however to take Cognizance of those Differences which divide Christians it is not very difficult to determine what they must do both in Equity and Prudence They ought not to judg of what they do not understand They ought neither to approve or condemn any Party concerning the Doctrines in Dispute He that requires more of them makes them pass the Limits of their Understanding and obliges them to form an unjust and hasty Judgment While they find themselves uncapable to receive true Information of the Reasons on all sides or to distinguish certainly which is in the wrong they ought to suspend their Judgments about Controversies 'T is a Rule authoriz'd by common Sense not to judg of what we do not understand nor can we believe without renouncing common Sense that God would have any body acquiesce without good Reasons for it St. Paul tells us Rom. 14.23 that whatever is not of Faith or Perswasion is Sin that is that before we resolve to act in point of Religion for this is what he there treats of we must be perswaded that we are in the right but this we cannot be unless we evidently know why It will be said perhaps that God may be pleas'd with this Cautiousness and Moderation but that Men will not bear it since they commonly oblige those that live in the same Society with them to declare for all their Doctrines Notwithstanding whatever is requir'd of Men it is certain that they keep to this Wariness whereof I spoke because they are luckily uncapable of understanding such Controversies as divide Christians altho they easily comprehend the Ground of Christianity which is suted to all sorts of Capacities that are not quite destitute of their reasoning Faculty about what makes no Impression upon the Senses Those People giving little Attention to what they do not understand apply themselves wholly to what they comprehend Thus they leave their Controversies to Divines whilst they mind only the Essentials of Christianity Such as are not more knowing and yet venture further in their Opinions and act accordingly do judg and act manifestly against common Prudence and natural Equity To imagine that God would have any Regard to so unreasonable a Conduct is to extinguish the most certain Light of Reason or Religion In the third place If it be suppos'd that such as cannot enter into the Detail of Controversies have nevertheless a little more Knowledg than those I have describ'd then they may easily determine themselves after this manner without running any risk at all By reading Confessions of Faith they may learn wherein all Parties in Christendom agree and take that for the Foundation and Ground of Religion because it is not likely that so many different Parties who dispute so eagerly against one another should agree in acknowledging certain Heads as the true Doctrines of Christianity if they were not such in effect By the different Parties of Christendom I understand
Systems of Divinity which raise great Difficulties in the Minds of those who read or hear talk of them 't is no wonder if Men of Sagacity and Penetration propose some Doubts to Divines Nay according to the Supposition of every Christian Society viz. that all others err in something it cannot be wondr'd at if it be said that Unbelievers offer some Objections to Divines which they can't resolve according to their Hypothesis or which they resolve by contradicting themselves Divines upbraid one another with it Let us therefore suppose that a Man not altogether ignorant observes in the Society in which he was born that the manner after which some Doctrines of the Christian Religion are explain'd is subject to great Difficulties or is altogether false Let us suppose further that the Divines of his Country are very learn'd Men and understand the Christian Religion better than others an Opinion common enough especially among those who never went out of their Country or never read the Books of other Sects When they perceive that the Divines whom they consult satisfy them not or maintain palpable Falsities they conclude from thence that the Religion of their Country is not true and consequently that the Christian Religion is altogether false If it happens that a Man having such Thoughts never reads the Works of other Christians who are free from the Errors he is offended at the more he lives the more he confirms himself in his Opinion because as soon as an Error hath been found out the longer it is thought of the better it is known When Men know nothing better about the Subject in question and have not Penetration and Learning enough to find out Truth of themselves they can hardly forbear doubting of every thing because they presently suspect that the other Parts of Divinity which they have not examin'd are not better and observe that the same Doctrine whereof they have found out the Falsity is accounted as essential as others But let us suppose again that a Man taken up with other Business and who has no time to spare for such an Examination as there are a great many comes to read Books of Controversy written by ingenious Men of both sides he will often perceive that both Parties attack very well and defend themselves ill That Man will conclude from thence and often with Reason that both Parties are in the wrong the more he hears them one after another the more he 'll be convinc'd of it and at last he 'll believe that there is nothing true because he hath not Parts enough to distinguish Truth from Falshood If we add that there are some other external and internal Motives which make him incline to Unbelief as there are but too many that Man will get into a Scepticism almost incurable or into a formal Unbelief out of which he will hardly be able to extricate himself What I have propos'd as Suppositions is really to be found in a great part of Christendom and there are a great many People in Italy France Spain and Germany for I must tell it and I ought not to conceal that I don't follow the particular Opinions which prevail in those Places there is I say an infinite Number of Men in the same case as I have describ'd They see some Opinions manifestly false establish'd in those vast Countries by a publick Authority if they offer any Objections they are pitifully resolv'd and then if they dare reply any thing they are overwhelm'd with Censures and Threatnings not to say that they are sent to the Inquisition and burnt if they grow obstinate Nevertheless Divines maintain those Doctrines tho evidently false with great Heat they make use of all their Wit and Eloquence to prove them Many Lay-men who want not Penetration but know no better think that indeed this is the Christian Religion and because they distinctly apprehend the Falsity of what is said they conclude from thence that Religion is not true Others add to their Meditations the reading of some controversial Book of Roman Catholick and Protestant Authors and they see that the latter altogether destroy the Doctrines of the Church of Rome They rightly conclude from thence that they are false and the utmost Endeavours of their Teachers can't free them from that Opinion On the other hand they often find some Books of Roman Catholick Authors who attack well enough some particular Opinions of certain Protestants and those Protestants are as unlucky in defending their own Opinions as they are successful in assaulting those of the Roman Catholicks They also think that those Protestants are in the wrong and because their Examination reaches not to all the Sects separated from the Church of Rome they confound them one with another and condemn them alike so that at last they perswade themselves that Truth is to be found no where Besides other Motives which may confirm them in those Thoughts and which I have already mention'd they see two things which affect them so much that they retain their Opinions for ever if no better Books come into their Hands or if no body frees them from the Doubts they are in The first is that it clearly appears that 't is the temporal Interest of Divines to maintain those Doctrines Those who assert them with Heat and declame with the greatest Violence against other Christian Societies are preferr'd and get the most considerable Dignities of the Party they are in On the contrary if any one seems to be modest and thinks himself oblig'd in Conscience to be moderate towards those who are call'd Hereticks or Heterodox he must needs be very much favour'd if he be not excluded for ever from all sorts of Employment and ruins not himself In some Places that 's enough to be altogether undone and almost every where if any intimates that he approves not all the Opinions of the Party he is in tho he does it never so modestly they shew him no Pity he must suffer whatever Hatred and Cruelty can do when they are cloth'd with the Pretence of Religion The second thing that confirms Unbelievers in their Disposition is that Divines will be Judges and Parties in controverted Doctrines against the clearest Principles of Equity tho 't is most evident that 't is their Interest to favour one of the Parties Tho their Decisions be never so unreasonable and unsatisfactory they must be submitted to because they look upon them as good and solid Nay if they are to be believ'd the Books of their Adversaries ought-not to be read or those who read them ought to do it with a Design of not approving their Arguments otherwise they must undergo the Condemnation of their Parties Unbelievers who are convinc'd of the Falsity of several particular Doctrines and observe that they are maintain'd out of a worldly Interest and by unjust and violent Means conclude that Divines and consequently all Christians are factious People and Enemies to Truth as well as those who profess the other
their Life to bring others to the Obedience of the Gospel by their Example do a thing very useful to the Society 'T is therefore false that the Laws of the Gospel are Arbitrary Laws and no Commandments given to Men for their Good 'T is also false that God would have Mysteries in Religion altogether incomprehensible only to humble Man The Doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ's Body in the Eucharist is no Apostolical Doctrine and the Apostles have taught none of which we can have no Notion not so much as a confus'd one as it may be said of that To believe a thing 't is not necessary to have an exact and distinct Idea of it but we must have at least a general and confus'd Notion of it For no body can believe what he understands not at all seeing to believe that a Proposition is true is to acquiesce in the Relation which is perceiv'd between the Terms it is made of as Logicians teach and none can acquiesce in a Relation that is not perceiv'd For example when I am told the Dead shall rise I understand not only the meaning of those Words the Dead and to rise but also clearly perceive the Relation which is said to be between those two things tho I don't know distinctly the Manner and Circumstances of the Resurrection But if I was told the Dead shall rise and not rise at the same time without any Equivocation in the words dead and to rise perceiving no relation between an Affirmation and a Negation I could not believe it The same may be said of all contradictory Propositions they can't be an Object of Faith which receives nothing but what it understands at least in some measure Such is the Doctrine of the Real Presence which contains several such Propositions When the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles are propos'd to Unbelievers as undeniable Proofs of their Divine Mission they fail not to question the Truth of them The chief Reason they alledg to make that History suspected is the false Miracles which are now given out as true ones to keep People in their Duty by this pious Fraud Those who make use of that Art or endeavour to vindicate those pretended Miracles can reply nothing to Unbelievers without condemning themselves or betraying the Christian Religion They are far from confessing that they are in the wrong they boldly maintain that there is no more reason to believe the Miracles of Christ and his Apostles than to acknowledg the Truth of their modern Miracles In the mean time the Unbelievers who see that the latter are mere Impostures fancy the former were so too Those who cast in their way that Stumbling-block are bound to remove it and acknowledg the Truth unless they will be look'd upon as Men of no Judgment or less Conscience But tho Unbelievers may triumph over that sort of Men who undertake to assert some Facts which cannot be maintain'd they can't say against Christians in general that the Miracles on which their Faith is grounded are like those which are said to be wrought every Day First Christ and his Apostles affected not to work Miracles every minute and out of Ostentation such as are those that are now talk'd of Secondly Christ and his Apostles and those in whose behalf those Miracles were wrought got no Money by publishing them abroad as 't is now practis'd by those to whom those Churches belong wherein they are said to be wrought That very thing viz. that the Opinion of Miracles being wrought in a certain Place brings Wealth to the Master of it is enough to make one rightly suspect whatever is said about it Thirdly The Miracles on which the Gospel is grounded were done in the midst of the Enemies of the Christian Religion among whom it was not safe to bear witness to those Miracles and on the contrary those who having examin'd them should have discover'd the Falsity of them had nothing to fear Such a Discovery had been very acceptable to the Jews and Heathens But now Miracles are wrought among Men ready to believe any thing or at least to say they believe it for fear of being deliver'd to the Inquisition where it is set up or of drawing on themselves the Hatred of the Mob which sometimes is not less to be fead'd than that dreadful Tribunal To be sure that the Testimony of another is well-grounded he ought to have the liberty to say the contrary But when he exposes himself to Danger if he says the contrary his Testimony is of no weight Besides to be sure of the Truth of a Fact one ought to have the liberty of examining it but no body dares do that now with respect to modern Miracles in the Places wherein they are look'd upon as true Thus there is a vast Difference between the Certainty of the Miracles wrought in the beginning of Christianity and what is said for those of our time None but those who want either Judgment or Sincerity will compare the one with the other But I must not forget here that Unbelievers pretend to take advantage of what I have suppos'd viz. that there are no Miracles now They say that if there is no Reason to make us believe that they are necessary now there is none neither that can perswade us that there was any formerly because the only Reason that could oblige God to work Miracles many Centuries ago was the Incredulity of Men which could not be cur'd and other way and that the same Reason subsists still So that if they are to be believ'd God is not less oblig'd to work Miracles out of his Goodness in the behalf of those who doubt now of the Truth of the Christian Religion than he was in the time of the Apostles In answer to it I say First that the Proofs we have of the Truth of antient Miracles make them as it were sensible if we reflect upon it so that they may also be of use to cure our Doubts It was necessary that God should work Miracles to establish the Christian Religion but being establish'd they are no longer necessary because the History of Religion preserves the Proofs of those that were done at its first Establishment But it will be said that the Truth of that History is doubted of and that therefore new Miracles are now requir'd I answer in the second Place That if the Proofs of the Truth of that Doctrine are good as we affirm and if they are doubted of only out of an ill Principle they have no reason to complain of God's Goodness If there remain'd no Proof of the Truth of the History of Christ and his Apostles it might be said that God has forsaken us and deals with us much worse than with those in whose behalf he wrought Miracles formerly But having very good Reasons to believe that History to be true they ought to be to us instead of Miracles This being so 't is manifest that Men have not now the same Reason