it hinders the same and not as it meerly crosses the Will of the Legislator Every Breach of them is more or less Evil as it is more or less prejudicial to the General Good and has in that respect a greater or less Penalty assigned thereunto Penal Laws are made for preventing of Evils that might happen for want of them and not to take Revenge on the Transgressor of the Law for neglecting to observe or for opposing the Law-givers Mind p. 111 SECT XI Faith Hope and Charity are necessary Means for procuring everlasting Bliss Sincere habitual Charity formally expels Mortal Sin and is therefore formal but incompleat Righteousness Perfect Charity formally expels all Sin and is therefore compleat formal Righteousness or the absolute falfilling of the Divine Law. p. 128 SECT XII Neither by the Light of Nature nor by the Law of Moses without Christ could ever any either Jew or Gentile be eternally saved and come to Glory but through him both of them might The Christiam Religion is in many respects preferable to the Law of Nature and the Law of Moses The Injunction of the Judaical Ordinances Rites and Ceremonies had a farther Tendency than than the exacting of bare Obedience p. 163 SECT XIII Nothing is available to Felicity but as it contributes to Charity The Nature of the two Theological Virtues Faith and Hope and how they become useful to the obtaining and augmenting the Habit of Charity p. 176 SECT XIV The Moral Habits Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance are truly Virtues in that respect only as they promote Charity What the Office of each of them in particular is in the way of subserviency unto Charity p. 184 SECT XV. Prayer offered to God for all things absolutely necessary to Salvation whether the Theological or Moral Virtues or Remission of Sins is evermore effectual if it be made aright and it is then made aright when it is unfeigned fervent and frequently performed p. 194 SECT XVI Praise and Thanksgiving to God are proper and efficatious Means whereby to get and increase Charity Vocal Prayer Music and Gestures of Body betokening Humility and Reverence towards the Divine Majesty are beneficial for the obtaining of everlasting Felicity p. 219 SECT XVII The two great Sacraments instituted by Christ for the Benefit of his Church Baptism and the Lords Supper were ordained to be serviceable to Charity the one in procuring it the other in preserving it Yea and all other Divine Institutions and Ordinances whatsoever are only so many designed ministerial Helps and Furtherances thereunto p. 225 SECT XVIII In the Exercise of the hearty Love of God or Charity consists the sincere Observance of every Precept of the Decalogue But the absolute entire fulfilling of the Moral Law is not accomplished till Charity have attained its ultimate Perfection in Heaven p. 235 SECT XIX There is not any one Precept of the latter Table of the Decalogue truly kept but when it is observed out of Love to God nor is there a real Breach of any of them but when the Soul is either deprived of the Love of God or has the same abated and weakned in it by the Omission of something which is required or by the Commission of something which is forbidden in the Precept p. 247 SECT XX. Charity or the unfeigned fervent Love of God above all things proved by Scripture to be Righteousness or the sincere keeping of the whole Law of God. p. 265 RELIGION AND REASON Adjusted and Accorded OR A Discourse wherein Divine Revelation is made appear to be a congruous and con-natural Way of affording proper Means for making Man eternally Happy through the perfecting of his Rational Nature SECTION I. There is an absolute perfect Being which is self-existent Eternal only One Infinite Immutable a pure Act entirely Simple one Formality and a Spirit 1. WHatsoever has Perception the same has a Being for what is not can have no Perception And that there is Perception the very Denyer of it if there be any one so vain as to contradict the rest of Mankind may be convinced from his own denyal For the denyal of it if the denyer be serious must proceed from this that he thinks there is no such thing as Perception which Thought of his he cannot otherwise chuse but grant to be either true or false if he grant it to be false he owns in effect there is Perception But in case he will have his Thought to be true he must yield that his very Thought it self is a right Perception and so either way he 'll be necessitated to acknowledg that there is for certain Perception 2. Perception then most certainly there is and consequently something that perceives or that has an actual Being which is the Subject of Perception And whatsoever has an actual Being or doth Exist the same must have it's existence either intrinsecal of it self or from some other thing that is extrinsecal to it Whatsoever receives its existence from any thing that is extrinsecal to it that same it not the perfectest Being that is because it depends upon another for its existence provided there be any Being at all which has nothing of Existence from another 3. And that there is some Being which has nothing of existence from another is clear from hence that since the reason of a things existing by virtue of another is because there is some other thing which causes it to exist and that an endless Series or infinite number of things causing others to exist is impossible to have been because a by-past Series of things may be encreased by a new addition made unto it and a Series of things which may be encreased is not infinite for otherwise there might be something that would be more or greater than infinite which questionless cannot be there must of necessity be some first cause which receives nothing from another but exists wholly of it self and is thereupon the most perfect Being 4. That which is the most perfect Being or first Cause must of necessity have always existed or been from Eternity because if there had been a time when it was not it must of nothing have become something seeing it self was first And in case it should of nothing have become something it would have been or existed before it had a Being or Existence and consequently have been and not have been or existed and not existed at once which is impossible For being supposed to be the first Being if ever it had a Beginning it must have been as well the Producer as the thing to be produced and so as it was the Producer must be supposed to have had a Being and as it was the thing to be produced to have had no Being and both at the same Instant which is a manifest Contradiction 5. The prime or first Being then is necessarily eternal à parte antè and what is necessarily Eternal à parte antè is likewise so à parte pòst because having nothing of
will his Love to God be excited till at length if his Faith continue operative it grows into an Habit by which he is put into a State of Salvation or the direct Way to everlasting Bliss Sect. 11. Nor is this the whole benefit of an active Faith for when Charity is thus by its means wrought in the Soul Faith doth not straight give over its Function and begin to be idle but grows more vigorous and lively whilst the Soul being enflamed with the Love of God sets it a fresh on work about the Object the Motives and other Helps of Bliss whence Charity becomes not only confirmed and strengthened but augmented also For although it have frequent need of the Exercise of Faith only to maintain and preserve its Habit that it be not lost by reason of the many Temptations alway ready to ensnare the Affections of the Soul yet in regard the more that Faith is conversant about the Object and Means of Bliss it will from thence be obvious to the Intellect to discover still farther Excellencies in God and greater Love and Kindness in him towards wretched Man it cannot churse but that fresh Representations of Loveliness in God being often made the Soul will become more vigorously affected towards God especially when Charity is in good plight having no present Adversary or Temptation to encounter with 4. After Faith Hope lifts up its Head and 't is twofold either such as precedes Charity or is subsequent to it even as we have seen Faith to be Paragr 3. The Hope which precedes Charity is subservient to Faith in assisting it to beget the Love of God in the Soul in manner here following When Faith has begot some imperfect desires of Bliss before Charity be habitually seated in the Soul some slender hope will arise from the glowings whereby the Soul perceives herself to grow warm in Affection towards God that he will be graciously pleased to perfect the good Work he has already begun in her This Hope tho weak contributes something to Charity if not choaked by fresh Sin for while the Soul hopes for what she desires her desires of what she hopes for is quickned thereby Nevertheless till an habitual Love to God above all things or Charity be throughly framed in the Soul there 's no Spiritual Life therein but only previous dispositions preparing for it Such Hope is therefore by the Schools termed informis and the other Hope which follows Charity is called formata because Charity gives Live and Vigor to it for no man has a firm well grounded Hope that he shall ever inherit Bliss till he find within himself that he has an hearty unfeigned Love to God and really persues the known Means appointed by him to procure a full Fruition of him Thus is Charity the Parent of a true and lively Hope and to this intent that she may be a Stay and Comfort to her Mother for while men rationally hope to enjoy what they love they are cherished confirmed and strengthened thereby in their Love because they have confidence arising from a well-grounded Hope that their Love is not in vain Wherefore the greater our Charity is till perfect that it excludes Hope through possession of the thing hoped for the stronger will our Hope be and the stronger our Hope is the greater Encouragement will be given to Charity which perfected is Felicity Object 2. The Love of God in Heaven may be an adhering with delight to the Object of Felicity or a Complacency Joy and Satisfaction arising from the Beatific Vision or Contemplation of the Divine Excellency But the Love of God upon Earth seems rather to be a Desire only to enjoy him eternally than any the least real participation of Bliss or the Enjoyment of God. Solut. Every true hearted sincere Desire to enjoy God eternally is an Effort and vigorous striving of the Soul to be throughly satisfied with the full fruition of him for ever which since it is caused by the Delight it finds in the solid and devout Consideration and Meditation of the Divine Excellency or of Gods wonderful gracious Kindness to man apprehended by Faith or of both the greater inward Joy and Spiritual Contentment men have in thinking of Gods transcendent Excellency and of his stupendious Kindness shown to Man the stronger will their Desires grow to obtain a full Possession of him to Eternity whence it appears that the Desire to enjoy God is an effect of Charity or Delight taken in him and not Charity it self but is a very great Advancer of it in that it puts men upon the exercise of all things which are known to be available to the Fruition of God and indeed is so like to Charity that it is not without a near Inspection discernable from it yet certainly is distinct from it as may be farther gathered from the constant answer we use to give to one demanding of us why we so earnestly desire this or that thing which is because we have a great Love for it or take much delight in it but do not ever say we love a thing or are delighted with it because we desire it In fine then I take it to be cleared that Charitas viae and Charitas patriae the Love of God here and hereafter differ only as the less and more perfect whence I conceive arose that common Saying of Divines Gratia est semen Gloriae and the occasion of calling aswell Grace as Glory the Kingdom of Heaven in Scripture SECT XIV The Moral habits Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance are truly Virtues in that respect only as they further Charity What the Office of each of them in particular is as 't is subservient unto Charity 1. HAving shown after what manner the Theological Virtues Faith and Hope are useful and serviceable unto Charity it follows to be considered of how the moral Virtues Prudence Justice Fortitude and Temperance minister help thereunto in respect of which alone they are truly Virtues and not otherways For since Charity here and hereafter is Felicity the one begun the other perfected Sect. 13. and that Felicity is the ultimate End of Man Sect. 4. it certainly follows that not any thing at all is virtuous or good to man as man or a Rational Creature made to inherit Bliss but what is in some respect or other advantagious and beneficial to Charity so that although he be commonly esteem'd a Prudent Man who discreetly orders his actions to some honest end proposed a just man whose care it is to do uprightly in the Affairs of the World a stout man who behaves himself couragiously against his Countries Foes a temperate man who regularly moderates his Appetite about Meat and Drink yet is not any of these truly virtuous by so doing except he do it out of Love to that End whereunto all his Actions ought either mediately or immediately to tend because in the obtaining of that alone Humane Nature is perfected the Man made happy whereas other
read with diligence and devotion the holy Scripture to frequent the hearing of the Word preached and to meditate often on the Contents of Sacred Writ how can it otherwise be but that he should by so doing acquire a firm and stedfast pious Belief of Divine Truths revealed by Christ and his Apostles 13. And in regard that he whose Petition to God is unfeigned and ardent and withal frequently used for obtaining of Hope and putting his Trust and Confidence in God that he will be graciously pleased to excite his Desires and prosper his Endeavours for the attainment of Bliss will doubtless be induced thereby to refrain from those things which he knows must destroy all hope of Salvation and to addict himself to a stricter Course of Life than he had formerly led and so by the daily Use and Exercise of such Ways and Means as are conducible to Felicity he 'l increase his Hope till it grow by degrees into an Habit. 14. And as for Charity whosoever heartily and with earnestness and constancy of Desire to attain to the Love of God above all things makes his humble address to the Heavenly Throne for the same it cannot otherwise fall out but that he must often be put upon the serious consideration of the unmerited great Love of God to Man in creating preserving and redeeming him of the transcendent value of the immense and endless Joys of Heaven and of the Vanity of the short and transitory Pleasures of this World which if pursued will bring him to intolerable and perpetual Misery whence he 'l learn to despise all sublunary fading Delights in comparison of the everlasting enjoyment of his most gracious Maker Sustainer and Saviour the greater and greater desire of which in his Heart cannot chuse but grow by an ardent constancy in Prayer for the same till Charity be habitually seated in the Soul. 15. Thus we see that Prayer if it be such as God commands doth certainly as a subordinate Cause under himself who is the principal Author of all good whatsoever always prove an effectual Means of instilling every Virtue both Theological and Moral into the Soul of Man so that all other Virtues not here particularly treated of as Humility Patience c. are as effectually got by fervent and frequent Prayer proceeding from a sincere affection and desire of them as those which have been handled be Yea and temporal Blessings both for our selves and others are also obtained of God by devout Prayer when the Divine Wisdom sees the bestowing of them will be a Means to improve in Godliness for the Prayers sake the Souls of those for whom the Prayer is made 16. And if Prayer rightly made be so potent and prevalent to procure the Habits of Virtue as we have seen it is how much more easily will it preserve them being once obtained since every time we seriously pray after the Soul is possessed with the habitual Love of God we are exercising and cultivating Faith Hope and Charity whilst he that loves God above all things firmly resolves that the grand and main Design of his whole Life shall be a continued Tendency through God's gracious Assistance towards the perpetual Fruition of him in Heaven so that whenever he makes his pious Addresses to God in Prayer they are always performed in Faith or a stedfast Belief of the Truth and faithful Performance of all Gospel Revelations and Promises and in an assured Hope and Confidence in the Mercy and Goodness of God towards him from the unfeigned Love he finds he has to God so that the more a pious man pray the more he exercises the Graces of Faith Hope and Charity whence their Habits must needs be confirmed and strengthened accordingly 17. The like is also true of the Moral Virtues whose Habits are corroborated and more firmly fixed by the devout Prayers of a godly person for the better one is established in Faith Hope and Charity the greater Vigilancy and Diligence will he use to subdue and keep under by Temperance his carnal appetite to do right by Justice to every one and to strive through Fortitude against all sinful Temptations and the practice of those Virtues cannot fail to invigorate and fortifie them proportionably to the measure thereof Object 1. Why may not you 'l say the meer Consideration of the necessity of Virtue for the obtaining of Blis put men upon the practice of all such things as are apt either to procure it or to keep it when it is procured And if it may what peculiar Excellency or benefit is there in devout Prayer Solut. That the sole Consideration if serious and frequent of the necessity of Virtue in order to Felicity will excite men to desire and seek after it and if already acquired to preserve it there 's no doubt to be made But nevertheless there is a Benefit peculiar to Prayer above and beyond the Utility of such Consideration For First in applying our selves to God who is our sole supream Good we fix our Thoughts more steadily on the Means available to the gaining thereof when we earnestly beg them of him to that end yea and the very Consideration of the Necessity of Virtue will it self be much improved and heightned thereby Secondly Whenever we devoutly pray we comport our selves with great reverence and Humility as before the Throne of God which rendring the Action of Prayer serious and sacred makes it to work a deeper impression of the Virtue prayed for in our Thoughts than the bare consideration of the Virtue without such Prayer would do Thirdly When with earnestness of Desire we petition our heavenly Father to grant us his merciful Assistance for the obtaining any Virtue we on our parts plainly engage our selves thereby to him to employ our own Care and Endeavours towards the acquiring thereof which must needs cause a stronger inclination in the Soul and a more sedulous diligence in our Actions to obtain the Virtue petitioned for than the sole Consideration of the Benefit thereof towards Bliss could possibly do Fourthly There is nothing more quickens the Desire and encourages the Endeavours after any thing we highly value than a well grounded Hope to obtain it by the Means used to obtain it by and we have his Promises who is no less faithful than able to perform that if we ask not amiss as we never do when we pray for Virtue with Sincerity Fervency and Constancy of Mind as is clear by what has been said in this Section we shall most certainly have our Request Object 2. If Sincerity Fervency and Frequency of Prayer be necessary for the acquiring of Virtue it is but rarely I fear attain'd unto for although many pray frequently and with a real desire of what they pray for yet are there but few that do it with much earnestness or fervency of Spirit Solut. There are several degrees of Fervency or Earnestness the lowest of all which and Sincerity of Affection always implies some degree thereof if
no influence at all from them but is wholly miraculous as every Effect immediately produced by God is To me it seems more rational to say that as those Children who live till they be of years capable of understanding the Reason and Use of Baptism are appointed by the Church to be informed thereof that they may make good the Engagement of their Sureties without doing of which their Baptism will not avail them to Salvation so Infant-Children upon the separation of Soul and Body are illuminated by their Angels for are they not ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation Heb. 1. 14. And that Baptized Children are such we be taught by the Answer to the second Question in our Catechism where the Word Inheritor is rendred in the Latin Haeres and in the Greek κληÏονόμος with the Knowledg of their Baptism for then they are capable of apprehending any thing offered to the intellect it proceeding from the disposition of their Bodies and not from the nature of their Souls that they are ever uncapable of actually understanding And seeing the inclination to the Creature through Original Sin is not by far so strong as that which is contracted by frequent Acts of sinning their affections will be instantly turned to God by virtue of their Baptism signified unto them But however the Truth in this obscure Point stand this is certain that in regard Felicity consists in the Love of God sect 4. par 13. baptized Infants must some way or other obtain Charity before they arrive at Bliss or at least upon the very instant of being possessed thereof And how their Baptism should be useful to them for the obtaining of Charity except they have Knowledg of it and by whom it should be made known unto them but by their Angels unless miraculously and Miracles are not wrought where there 's no necessity of them I do not understand Yet since I know of no Divine Revelation nor of any clear demonstration after what manner their Love of God depends upon their being baptized I do not presume to affirm that my delivered Thoughts are positively true SECT XVIII In the exercise of the hearty Love of God or Charity consists the sincere observance of every Precept of the Decalogue But the absolute entire fulfilling of the Moral Law is not accomplished till Charity have attained its ultimate Perfection in Heaven 1. WHen treating of the Moral Virtues I shewed the Assistance which Prudence Temperance and Fortitude exhibit to Charity sect 14. par 2 4 5. I said I would defer my intended Discourse on Justice till I came to the Explication of the Ten Commandments whither being now come I shall endeavour to make it appear that every Precept of the Decalogue tends to the causing a firm establishment of Charity in the Soul of Man and that in the exercise thereof when it is acquired the sincere observance of the whole Law is practised albeit the absolute exact fulfilling of it be not accomplished till Charity have obtained its utmost Perfection which human Frailty will not permit the attainment of while Men carry about them a Body of Flesh 2. For since to love God with all the Heart with all the Soul with all the Mind and with all the strength Mark 12. 30. is required to the compleat exact fulfilling of the Law and that such Love would perpetually take up all the Powers of the Soul it is plain that in regard while we live in this world our Thoughts must be often employed in taking care for the necessary accommodations of Life and in using Means to further our own and others Welfare here and hereafter we cannot in this mortal state so fully fix our Affections on God as to have our Souls fully possessed of him 3. And yet forasmuch as to give God the pre-eminence in our Affections and to despise all other things in comparison of the fruition of him to eternity so as that when we are tempted to violate any of his holy Commandments the ardent desire we have for the enjoyment of him enables us to resist and overcome the Temptation forasmuch I say as thus to love God permits us not wilfully and advisedly to break any of his Precepts but engages and puts us upon the keeping them all in sincerity of Affection and unfeignedness of heart it is apparent that in the exercise of Charity is virtually contained the sincere unfeigned Observance of the whole Moral Law. 4. Which Law consists of Ten Commandments the four first whereof totally respecting Man's Behaviour towards the supream Being the only Object of these is God whom therefore they command us to look up to as he is the Author and Finisher of Eternal Salvation in which respect we are to esteem him as he truly is the prime Verity whom we are to believe the sovereign Power in whom we are to trust and the chiefest Good whom we ought to love above all things or the Object of Faith Hope and Charity 5. And seeing neither Faith nor Hope are available to Salvation save only as they contribute to Charity either in helping to produce the Habit thereof or being obtained to confirm and strengthen it sect 13. 't is clear that the Precepts of the Former Table are not observed till we love God as our Sovereign Good or be endued with Charity 6. Whosoever therefore exerciseth the Grace of Charity he is all the while employ'd in the sincere keeping of the Four first Commandments the whole design of God's forbidding us to have any other Gods besides himself to make any graven Image to fall down before it and worship it to take his holy Name in vain and to do any unnecessary worldly Business at Times appointed for Divine Offices being totally accomplished in this to cause us to fix our Souls Affections on God and to pursue with earnestness the eternal Fruition of him as our sole Sovereign Good. Object 1. If Faith and Hope be not absolutely necessary to Salvation in themselves abstracting from this that they are Ministerially beneficial to Charity then are the opposite Vices to them Infidelity and Apostacy Presumption and Despair not Sins damnable in themselves or as destructive of the contrary Virtues but only as they cannot consist together with the Grace of Charity But Infidelity and Apostasie Presumption and Despair are Sins damnable in themselves or as they are destructive of the contrary Virtues Faith and Hope abstracting from this that these are Ministerially beneficial unto Charity Ergo Solut. The Minor Proposition must be denied and justly I conceive may for although it be most certainly true that Infidelity and Apostasie Presumption and Despair debar Men of Felicity yet the Reason thereof is not because of their immediate opposition to Faith and Hope but for that they are totally inconsistent with Charity For since that no Habit is truly virtuous but in virtue of the End whereto it serves and that the End of all Virtues is Charity
within us doth justifie us and deserve our Justification for that were to count our selves to be justified by some Act or Vertue within our selves The Act or Vertue here mentioned being set in opposition to the Merits of Christ which are an efficient Cause 't is in effect as if it were said The Merit of Christ only and not any Act or Virtue of our own whatsoever is the efficient Cause of our Justification But the true understanding and meaning hereof is that although we hear Gods Word and believe it and although we have Faith Hope and Charity Repentance Dread and Fear of God within and do never so many Works thereunto yet we must renounce the merit of all our said Virtues of Faith Hope and Charity and all other Vertues and good Works which we either have done shall do or can do as things that be far too weak and unsufficient and imperfect to deserve remission of our Sins and our Justification and therefore we must trust only in Gods Mercy and that Sacrifice which our High Priest and Saviour offered upon the Cross Lo here again Christs Merits and Mans are set one against the other which would be impertinent if they were not spoken of the same sort of Causes but of Causes different in kind and a meritorious Cause is an efficient Cause as was seen above The Merit of Christ then in the 11th Article of our Religion is not to be understood of the Formal Cause of Mans Justification or Righteousness but of the efficient Cause thereof in respect of which I assert it to be most truly said that We are justified by Faith only because by it alone Christs Merits are applied to us SECT XII Neither by the Light of Nature nor by the Law of Moses without Christ could ever any either Jew or Gentile be eternally saved and come to Glory but through him both of them might The Christian Religion is in many respects preferable to the Law of Nature and the Law of Moses The Injunction of the Judaical Ordinances Rites and Ceremonies had a farther Tendency then the exacting of meer Obedience 1. SInce the ultimate End of creating Man was that he might be eternally happy through the perfect Love of God for ever Sect. 4. it plainly follows that inasmuch as no man since Adams Fall can attain to the perfect Love of God but through Christ Sect. 9. and 11. There is none other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Acts 4. 12. 2. For though some few do by nature i. e. the Light of natural Reason the things contained in the Law viz. the Moral for the Gentiles could not by the Law of Nature observe the Ceremonial Law of the Jews Rom. 2. 14. by being brought through a serious Consideration of the glorious Structure of the World more especially of Man himself and of Gods Providence in preserving and governing all things to adore the Divine Majesty to pray to him and to praise him as the Author of all Good and thence contract an habitual Love to him above the Enjoyment of the vain Pleasures of the World. And albeit many by the Law of Moses have not only obtained the habit of Charity but have also acquired an high degree and measure thereof yet in that neither Jew nor Gentile could ever without Christ attain to the perfect Love of God Sect. 9. and 11. 't is clear that through Christ they must do it if ever they arrive at eternal Bliss 3. Which most blessed State forasmuch as God is no respecter of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted with him Acts 10. 34 35. and that he who habitually loves God above all things is Righteous Sect. 11. every one who departs this Life with an habitual Love to God shall at length obtain For seeing all must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his Body according to that he hath done whether it be good or bad 2 Cor. 5. 10. 't is plain that every righteous man whatsoever shall receive a righteous mans Reward at the last day which Reward is everlasting Bliss 4. For since nothing is wanting to one endued with sincere Charity but something to perfect the same in him to make him for ever happy and that the glorious appearance of Christ coming to Judgment will throughly purge out of the Soul of every one habitually possessed of Charity all the Relicks of worldly Affections Sect. 11. Solut. of Object 4. and thereby entirely disposed and ultimately and immediately prepared to obtain the Beatific Vision 't is evident that the Reward which every righteous man shall have at the last day is everlasting Bliss Object 1. If every one of all Mankind from the beginning of the World to the end thereof that habitually loves God above all things and consequently his Neighbour as himself Sect. 11. Solut. of Object 2. when he leaves this World shall at length be eternally blessed through Christ what need men concern themselves so much as they do what Religion they be of Solut. It concerns every one so much as his Salvation is worth to be solicitous to be a Member of the Catholic Christian Religion not only because there 's small hopes that he who is not desirous to take the best course he can to be saved will in sincerity of heart observe the Rules of any Law whatever but also because if notwithstanding the Divine Excellency of the Precepts Motives and Discipline of the Gospel-Dispensation thousands perish within the Bosom of Christ's Visible Church through the strong Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil wherewith they are overcome the perdition of Souls will be certainly much greater and more general where those potent Adversaries of man's Bliss find small Resistance made against them Wherefore since no man ever attain'd to live a virtuous Life in order to the End for which he was created but in regard he was directed and inclined thereunto either by the Law of Nature or by some Revealed Law of which later sort there are only two the Jewish and the Christian 't is apparent that if the Christian Religion be in many respects highly preferable for the obtaining of Felicity by it to them both it alone where it can be had is to be chosen and embraced And that the Christian Religion is in many respects highly preferable to them both for that End is evident For First It doth exceedingly much more fully and clearly reveal to the World the Nature of God the Immortality of the Soul the Excellency of the Fruit of a virtuous godly Life after Death and the intolerable Torments of the Wicked in the World to come Secondly It gives far more perfect Rules and shews abundantly more efficacious Helps and Means of leading such a Life as must bring men to Felicity if ever they attain thereto Thirdly It propounds infinitely more convincing and powerful Arguments
opposition to the customs of the Nations adjoyning to the Land of Judea as we are assured from Learned men out of Maimon for I never had a sight of his Writings my self who proveth out of ancient Books that the Precepts of the Jewish Law of this kind are still with a Reflex upon the Heathen Rites and not of those only of simple Idolatry but most of all such as were complicated with magical and unreasonable Superstition and that the respect of those Laws were not so large and indistinct as to look on all the Heathens in general but in particular to the Egyptians Canaanites Chaldeans and Amorites Yea the same Author it is said hath reconciled the strangeness of the Ceremonial Precepts to any man's proportion of Reason and Belief of which I 'le produce one Instance It is forbidden that any man of Israel should eat Blood. Also it is commanded that the Blood be sprinkled on the Altar and moreover that it be covered with dust or spilt on the ground as water Some of the Zabii did use to eat the Blood some others who reckoned this to inhumanity at the killing of a Beast reserved the Blood and gathered it up into a Vessel or Trench and then sitting down in a Circle about the Blood they ate up the Flesh and satisfied themselves with an Opinion that their Daemons fed upon the Blood entertaining a strong Conceit that this manner of sitting at the same Table with their Gods would engage them to a nearer Tye of Conversation and Familiarity and promising to themselves also that the Spirits would insinuate themselves in Dreams and render them capable of Prophecy and things to come In reference to these Ways of the Amorites God expresly forbad his People to eat Blood for so some of the Zabii did and to meet with others who gathered it up into a Vessel he commanded the Blood should be spilt on the ground like Water And because they ate their Sacrifice in a Circle round about the Blood he also commanded that the Blood should be sprinkled not about but upon the Altar Mr. Gregory of Oxford in his Notes and Observations upon several Passages of Scripture Chap. 19. More Instances of the like sort may be seen in Dr. Stillingfleet's Origin Sacr. Book 2. Ch. 7. Where he writeth that the Precept against Woollen and Linnen was occasioned because the Idolatrous Priests went so cloathed That the Jews were forbidden to round the Corners of their Heads because it was the Custom of the Arabians and others of the Babylonian Priests to round them That because the Idolaters threatened all Parents that their Children would never live unless they caused them to pass through the Fire was that strict Prohibition of giving their children to Molech which was by that custom of passing through the Fire These and several other Precepts of the Law of Moses are deduced saith the Doctor by that very Learned Rabbi Maimonides from Idolatrous Customs as the Occasions of them which seems to have the more Reason says he because that God in the general forbad the Jews to walk after the Custom of the Nations about them Levit. 20. 23. Thus by what in the whole has been said of the Jewish Law it appears that it had a Tendency to the same great End which both the Law of Nature and the Christian Law look unto namely the Love of God as sole Sovereign Good of the Soul. SECT XIII Nothing is available to Felicity but as it contributes to Charity The nature of the two Theological Virtues Faith and Hope and how they become useful and beneficial to the obtaining and encreasing of Charity 1 SInce the ultimate End not only of Mans Creation Sect. 4. but of his Redemption also Sect. 9. is his own Eternal Felicity and that Felicity consists in the perfect Love of God clearly seen Sect. 4. 't is evidently consequent that neither Faith nor Hope nor the moral Virtues nor any Duty nor Ordinance nor Institution whatsoever is at all available to everlasting Bliss save only as in some kind or other they contribute to Charity either in helping to procure it to preserve it to augment it or to compleat it provided Charity begun here in this world and that which is Felicity in the next differ not in nature but only in degree 2. And that Felicity is the same Charity perfected in the other World which is begun in this is manifest both from Reason and Scripture For since the Love of God apprehended by Faith and the Love of God proceeding from Vision have both of them God as he is the sole Sovereign Good of the Soul for their only Object they are of the very same Nature each of them being a Complacency or Delight taken in God under the self same Notion to wit as he is the Supream Good of Man so that albeit the Love which proceeds from Vision by reason of the clearer knowledg it affords of God must needs be greater then the Love which comes by Faith yet their difference is not in essence but in degree only Neither doth Reason give Testimony to the Truth thereof alone but Scripture also which expresly tells us that Charity never faileth 1. Cor. 13. 8. Object 1. If the Love of God in this and in the World to come be both of them Charity how comes Charity here to be accounted a Theological Virtue together with Faith and Hope which are only Means and Furtherers of Bliss and Charity hereafter Bliss it self Solut. The reason is because Charity here doth not always proceed to and necessarily end in Charity hereafter and therefore is looked upon as an Help to Felicity rather than any degree thereof though in verity it be in all those who finally lose it not but depart hence habitually endued therewith Felicity really begun in them to be compleated and perfected in Heaven Paragr 2. 3. Faith is the first in order of the Theological Virtues because the Foundation of the Christian Religion quoad nos whilst by it we are ascertained of the whole Mystery of the Gospel of Christ For what is Faith in general but Knowledge grounded on Testimony to which an assent is given And what Christian Faith in particular but the Belief of Christ's Doctrine upon the account of his Divine Word relating or testifying the same unto us Hence it will certainly be that whosoever believes the Holy Scripture will believe the Incarnation Life Death Resurrection Ascension and coming to Judgment of our Saviour Jesus Christ and that either superficially and carelesly or cordially and concernedly if the former he does it not to that intent the Belief of them was proposed by God and so no wonder if he be not bettered by it but if the latter his Belief will be apt to work an answerable Love in him towards the Author and Offerer of such transcendent Kindness as in the Gospel is held forth and therefore the more firm and frequent acts of Faith he exercises the more
inferior Ends beneficial in their kind to some particular purposes may be attained and yet everlasting Misery not be prevented thereby This then being apparent that Charity is the Scope and Aim which the moral Virtues ought to look and level at let 's see in what way they compass their designed End. 2. Prudence which because it is conversant circa agibilia is reckoned with the moral Virtues is the practical Knowledg of things to be desired or shunned in respect of some honest end sought after whence it is manifest that Prudence is deeply engaged in every moral Virtue and therefore how much soever Charity is advanced by any of them Prudence always plays its part in contributing thereunto 3. Justice is said to be a Virtue whereby we give to every one what is due or right for them to have the Discourse whereof I 'le therefore omit till I come to the Decalogue or Moral Law. 4. Fortitude is that Virtue which strengthens the Soul to overcome Difficulties that would avert the Will from the Prosecution of Good for fear of Evil to be encountred with before the Good can be obtained 'T is apparent therefore to see that considering a Christians Life is a continual Warfare where daily Enemies that would hinder Mans Love to God above all things are stoutly to be combated if Victory be desired and expected Fortitude is a Virtue primely useful unto Charity 5. Temperance is a Virtue which regulates the desires of the Will about the Objects of Tast and Touch as Meat Drink and Venery and is hugely serviceable to Charity For whereas the Will through the Corruption of Mans vitiated Nature is prone to follow the Gust of the sensitive Appetite in the immoderate persuit of whatsoever is grateful to it and is apt thereby to be drawn from the Love of its chief Object the Supreme Good which is God Temperance by restraining the sensitive Appetite from excess in its desire of Meat and Drink doth thereby reduce the animal Spirits to a more moderate Quantity and Temper which otherwise through their too great abundance and activeness are wont to excite the sensitive Faculty to a violent lusting after all such things as are pleasing to it and that again disturbs and blunders the Rational Powers of the Soul and by eagerly pressing upon them averts the Understanding from the due Consideration of things and thence totally gains the Phantasie and thereby ensnares and captivates the Will. Besides Temperance is very serviceable ut Causa removens prohibens to Prayer and Meditation the two faithful Ensurers as I may well call them of Charity for they never fail to ensure it to us as will be made appear in the next Section if we fail not to make sure of employing them in their Office. Object 1. By what hath been said of the moral Virtues if true they are not bona per se good in themselves which is contrary to the Opinion of most men Solut. Whatsoever is bonum per se good in it self is of it self the Object of Desire and so having no Reference as such to any farther good in consideration of which it is desirable it ought to be desired for its own sake without respect had to any other good whatsoever to be obtained by it and consequently to be acquiesced in either as the edequate End and Perfection of the Soul or at least as a coordinate part and proportion thereof The former the moral Virtues are not otherwise God would be totally excluded from being in any sort Man's ultimate End and Sovereign Good. Nor can they be the latter First because it is impossible but that the Soul which is fully possessed of God should have all Good and Perfection whereof it is capable and Secondly for that the moral Virtues are Dispositions of the Soul for moderating the Affections of the Will about such Objects as shall have no Being in Heaven and if there be no Objects for the Virtues to be concerned about there will also be no Virtues because they receive their different Natures and Species from the diversity of the Objects they are exercised on Justice indeed seems to be eternally necessary in that we must give for ever to God Angels and Men what is their due but Charity abundantly supplies that forasmuch as to love every one of them as they ought to be beloved eminently contains in it whatsoever is to be rendred to them Object 2. Although a man that deals uprightly to obtain the Reputation of a good Name or defends his Country for Honours sake or lives temperately out of regard to his Health or that does all these for the mentioned or any other such like End be not properly a virtuous man yet he that exercises Justice Fortitude and Temperance for Honesties sake or because it is agreeable to the Principles and Dictates of Reason and so conformable to mans rational Nature to do it is certainly a moral honest man or else there is no such thing as moral Honesty in the World. Solut. He that does a thing for any End be it what it will has his Reward or all he desires in the obtaining of it if so be he have not an Eye to a farther end to be acquired by it and therefore in case every Man did exercise Justice Fortitude and Temperance for the pure Love of them only because they are agreeable to human Nature he had his Reward in doing it and thence fell short of Felicity or his chiefest Good the Fruition of God and consequently he did not act virtuously For he that acts virtuously acts rationally and he that acts rationally acts for a good End which must either be Mans ultimate End or else some intermediate End conducible to the obtaining of it because Mans ultimate End alone is desirable for its own Cause and other things only as they are in order to it as was proved before Par. 1. and in the Solut. of the first Object in this Section Such a Man indeed as is said in the Objection I am now answering to be a moral honest man if there were any such would be less miserable by what he did but so will every one be accordingly as he is less vitious Sect. 7. although he be not in any sort truly Virtuous Is there then you 'l reply no such thing as meer moral Virtue or Honesty I answer yes Meer moral Virtue or Honesty is when a man without the Direction or Help of any other Law save only of the Law of Nature doth from the Consideration of Gods transcendent Excellency in himself of the Creation of the World and especially of Man all demonstrable by Reason as is to be seen by the first third and fourth Section and from the Beauty Order and Preservation of the Universe manifest to sense raise his Thoughts from poring on Earthly things to the Contemplation of the Divine Majesty and Goodness and by frequent admiring and adoring him together with giving Praise and Thanks unto him for
all the Enjoyments of this Life acquires an habitual Love of him and thence desires to be fully satisfied with the knowledge of him despising all terrestrial Pleasures in comparison of the same and in virtue of his Love to God doth heartily wish to all Mankind the like Happiness he wisheth to himself as knowing that things of the same Kind tend by Nature to the same End. This I take to be pure Moral Vertue or Honesty with which if any man depart hence he will at length through Christ be eternally happy sect 12. par 3 4. But so great is the Corruption of Man's Nature through Original and Actual Sin sect 9. that such Virtue or Honesty is attainable by very few Object 3. If the moral Virtues be therefore not good in themselves by reason they have a tendency to a farther good to be obtained by them 't will follow that nothing that has a tendency to a farther good to be obtained by it is good in it self which is very unlikely to be true Solut. When we speak of moral goodness we evermore intend something by it which is perfective of man's Rational Nature so that to enquire whether the moral Virtues be good in themselves or not is the same as to ask whether they be directly and immediately perfective of man's Rational Nature yea or no or be only useful to procure something which is directly and immediately perfective of it This latter I take to be true not the former and my Reason is because the moral Virtues in that they are not any lasting permanent good of the Soul but pass away and leave it when it becomes possessed of its everlasting good Felicity Solut. of Obj. 1. are instrumentally or so far only good unto it as they are necessarily helps and means to procure that good which is the eternally-during Perfection of it whence it seems plain that the Benefit of the moral Virtues and so likewise of all Gifts Graces and Ordinances as Faith Hope Prayer the Sacraments c. which cease upon the full enjoyment of God consists in their very Tendency towards the good to be obtained by them But yet if any will be so scrupulously nice as to demand Whether that which is necessarily good and useful in its very Nature though but instrumentally to the perfecting of Man be not good in it self I shall not contend but yield it is provided it will be granted me again that it is instrumentally so and no more for then in consequence thereto it must of necessity be owned that it is not desirable for its own sake but for the sake of that which it is an instrumental Cause to procure In this sense I have proved that Faith and Hope are good in themselves as without which Charity cannot be acquired sect 11. par 2 3 4. and the moral Virtues also in this Section par 2 3 4 5. are made out to be no less and so shall Prayer likewise be manifested in the next Section to be good in it self or in its own Nature necessarily useful for acquiring Man's Chief Good in the everlasting Fruition of which his Rational Being will be perfected SECT XV. Prayer offered to God for all things absolutely necessary to Salvation whether the Theological Virtues or Moral or Remission of Sins is evermore effectual if it be made aright and it is always made aright when it is unfeigned fervent and frequently performed 1. SEeing nothing is good to man as man but what either ultimately compleats and perfects him as such or something that hath a tendency and is serviceable thereto sect 14. 't is evident that nothing ought to be desired of God which may prove any the least hindrance to man's ultimate End. 2. In regard therefore Eternal Felicity or the perfect love of God is man's ultimate End and Perfection sect 4. par 12 13. 't is apparent that nothing which will obstruct the Love of God ought to be prayed for 3. And forasmuch as neither Health nor Wealth nor temporal Honour nor even the Saving of Life but may in some Circumstances prove prejudicial to Charity none of all these are absolutely to be prayed for but conditionally only and so far forth as they may be useful in respect of Charity 4. It remains therefore that nothing besides Charity it self and what always furthers it are absolutely to be begged of God. 5. Wherefore since Virtue whether Theological or Moral is a thing which always furthers Charity sect 11 13 14. 't is clear that Virtue is always to be absolutely prayed for 6. And forasmuch as God who is Goodness it self grudges no man that which is really good for him but ever grants him his desire if he ask not amiss Jam. 4. 3. 't is plain that Prayer always obtains Virtue of God whensoever it is made aright which is then done when it is unfeigned fervent and frequent 7. For since the Almighty does not by the sole force of his omnipotent Will immediately confer his gracious Gifts on Man except on some extraordinary Occasions when ordinary Means are insufficient for the designed End otherwise he should be in a still continued course of working Miracles but conveys them to us by second Causes if it be so that unfeigned fervent and frequent Prayer be an effectual Means whereby he conveys unto us the Theological and Moral Virtues then doth unfeigned fervent and frequent Prayer always obtain them of God. 8. And that such Prayer is an effectual Means or which never fails of conveying all the Virtues to us will be made appear by shewing the efficacious power it has to procure each of them in particular 9. For first He that from an unfeigned heart pours forth fervent and frequent Prayer to God that he may live temperately cannot while he doth so live intemperately but on the contrary will endeavour by frequent Acts of Temperance after a constant temperate course of Life and by frequent Acts are Habits or a facility of acting acquired 10. And whoso beggeth of God in sincerity and fervency of Devotion the Grace to deal uprightly to all men will if he be constant likewise in his Request abhor the injuring or doing wrong to any one and by often excercising Acts of Justice he will certainly obtain the habit thereof 11. Neither will he who unfeignedly ardently and constantly prays that he may overcome all such difficulties as would hinder his arriving at Bliss for fear of Temptations and Evils to be encountred with in pursuit thereof forbear to set himself stoutly to oppose and repel Temptations and to reject the Enticements of the World which would draw him from the Love of his gracious God and supream Good to the vain and transitory Delights of it self and so by frequent doing thereof he 'l contract an easiness in overcoming what would eternally destroy his Soul if yielded to 12. And forasmuch as he that is constant in sincere and fervent Prayer for the Grace of Faith will undoubtedly give himself to
sect 13 14. which perfected is Felicity it evidently follows that there is not any Vice mortally vicious or finally prejudicial to Man's Felicity save only by reason of Charity 's inconsistency with it But it is impossible that those who either through Infidelity never believe or through Apostasie fall from the belief that there is an eternal Being which ought to be belov'd above all things should place their Affections on God and equally impossible that they who either through Presumption or Despair will not make use of the necessary Means should attain to the End to be acquired by them Whence it is manifest that every one of these Vices are Mortal Sins and necessarily if not forsaken destructive of Salvation If it be replied that every Sin is a Transgression of the Law and every Transgression of the Law a Mortal Sin no less than Infidelity Apostasie Presumption and Despair and therefore destructive of Salvation as well as they I grant it to be true in every one abiding in the State of sinful Nature for since such a Man's Will is habitually vitiated with the Love of the World above the Love of God every Act proceeding from that Source or Principle will partake of its Nature and Disposition and all such Love is Mortal Sin Sect. 8. par 5. But to him that is in the State of Grace or endued with the Habit of Charity which is Formal Righteousness sect 11. pa. 6 7 8. I deny that any single sinful Act or Transgression of the Law is Mortal unless it be such as either by the grossness of it or else by the perverse wilfulness of committing it destroys the Habit of Charity in the Soul for it is impossible that that Man should suffer the Pains of Hell who habitually loves God above the World and prefers the enjoyment of him before all Terrestrial Pleasures sect 11. pa. 6 7. albeit thro' infirmity and the frailty of human Nature he sometimes transgress in smaller Matters some part of the Law of God. Object 2. Faith and Hope seem very excellent Virtues in themselves Faith in that it owns the Truth of God in readily assenting and firmly adhering to those mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture which wholly transcend all our Reason and Apprehension And Hope in that it owns the infinite Power and Goodness of God such Faith and Hope being required as Conditions of our Salvation and that God may be righteous in absolving and saving Sinners Rom. 3. v. 24 25 26 27. Whence it appears that they are on these accounts abstracting from this that they are Ministerial to Charity necessary to Salvation Solut. That the owning the Truth of God by readily assenting and firmly adhering to the Mysterious Truths revealed in the Scripture and the owning the infinite Power and Goodness of God are any Virtues when they are not accompanied with Charity besides for the reason shewn sect 13. par 1. therefore deny because the Devil not only gives a most firm assent to every Divine Truth revealed in the Scripture as knowing it to be the Word of God and therefore infallibly true but also owns upon the same account the infinite Power and Goodness of God as they are there in every respect declared and set forth and yet he is not at all virtuous in doing of either yea the stronger his Assent is to their Truth the more wicked he is because he has not Charity answerable to his Knowledg in that he loves not God as the only Sovereign Good of all rational and intelligent Creatures when he most certainly knows that he ought to be so beloved by them If it be alledged that Faith in the Objection is to be understood of a Divine Faith I return that if an Assent given to a Divine Truth upon the Credit of a Divine Testimony be Divine Faith the Devil's Belief of the Truths revealed in the Scripture is a Divine Faith But if by Faith be meant a Saving Faith then I grant the Devil is void thereof because his Faith is not accompanied with Charity for all Faith without Charity is nothing worth in reference to Salvation 1 Cor. 13. 2. 7. As the principal Aim and Drift of the Precepts of the former Table of the Decalogue is the Love of God as Mans chiefest Good Par. 6. so hath the Loving of our Neighbour likewise its Consummation therein For since Rational Nature is the same in all men and consequently the same End appointed for all Mankind 't is clear that every Man in that he is a Man is obliged to wish and further the same final Good and the Necessary Means conducible to it to every one and this is that which is truly loving a Mans Neighbour as himself whilst every other good one man ought to do to another is a thing extrinsecal to man as man and depends as to the Obligation thereto on prudential Motives or mutual Consent explicit or implicit or formal Contracts for the Preservation or Comfort of the animal Life and is not so much as to be absolutely prayed for even for our selves Sect. 15. Par. 3. and then certainly not of necessity to be absolutely wished or done to others as their final good Estate and what necessarily conduceth to the obtaining of it evermore are 8. Seeing then to love a mans Neighbour as himself is heartily to wish and desire that he may enjoy the same necessary good with himself and to contribute his Assistance when occasion requires to the furthering thereof and that eternal Felicity is that necessary good consisting in the perfect Love of God Sect. 4. Par. 13. it is plain that in heartily wishing and endeavouring also when occasion serves that our Neighbour may attain to the sincere Love of God here and the perfect Love of God hereafter We love our Neighbour as our selves and thereby keep all the six last Commandments 9. And forasmuch as no man can possibly heartily wish to another either Grace or Glory but because of his own real desire thereto for himself first had it is manifest that he who loves his Neighbour as himself doth evermore first at least in order of nature love God as his chiefest Good. 10. And because the sincere Love of God or Charity is formal Righteousness and that formal Righteousness doth formally justifie Sect. 11. Par. 8. it directly follows that a man is formally Righteous or justified before in order of Nature at least he love his Neighbour as himself and consequently that the Love of our Neighbour is not any part of formal Righteousness but a necessary Effect and Consequent thereof which will farther appear to be a Truth from hence that as on the one side he who desires and endeavours by his Council and Prayers his Neighbours Felicity though he never attain thereto performs his Duty to him and thereby fulfils the Precepts of the latter Table if so be he did them for the Love he bears to God because such Love doth justifie so on the other side
the former for that he was void of Charity the latter because he wanted what was necessary for conservation of that I mean Life which according to Natures Prescript is chiefly to be employed for the procurement of Felicity The Ninth Commandment which is Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour is expressed in such Words that the transgressing it in any respect is sinful But it makes nothing against my Assertion which is that the Commandments of neither Table are truly kept but by reason of Charity as it is taken for the sincere love of God nor ever really broken except for want thereof that it is so but for it because these words False Witness and against thy Neighbour imply a defect of a right Disposition in the Will towards God seeing that man's Mind whose sincere Affections are placed on God will be far from acting against his own knowledg to his Neighbour's harm By the Tenth Commandment Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's House c. is forbidden to entertain or harbour desires tending to a man 's own advantage by another's harm or loss which whoso doth hath not certainly the love of God dwelling in his Heart and therefore formally breaks the Precept Object Religion and Reason do not here seem to accord for what Rational Account can be given why a very indigent man though not reduced to the ut most extremity might not silch from his rich hard-hearted Neighbour something which he could well spare save only because it is forbidden that we should not so much as covet that which is another man's Solut. Nature is content with a few things and requires not Superfluities and therefore Necessaries being had no man doth really benefit himself in taking any thing from his Neighbour so that albeit men were not bound by any other Law than of natural and inbred Reason only yet could no convincing Argument be brought to prove it reasonable to dispossess another of that whereof the Spoiler has no absolute need much less where there is a Society of men governed by certain Laws prohibiting all manner of Rapine would it be justifiable to do it For whatever thing any man requires a Property in by virtue of such Laws all the rest of the Community ought of right to permit him quickly to possess the same Wherefore if a poor man rob his rich Neighbour when the necessity is not so urgent as to restore him to the pure state of Nature he acts against his own either explicit or implicit Agreement and disturbs the Tranquility sought after by himself as well as by others in joyning in society together the Benefit whereof is intended by God who is the prime Author of Government for a farther End than any temporal and transitory Commodity to wit the Eternal Welfare of Mens Souls as is plain from the Words of the Apostle exhorting that Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of Thanks be made for Kings and for all that are in Authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour 1 Tim. 2. v. 1 2 3. He therefore who through a perverse Mind violates the Laws of Justice whether instituted by God or Man despises the Means which the Almighty and Omniscient hath ordered to conduce in some respect or other to his Everlasting Good which he would not do but for want of sincere and hearty Affection to God which is the Formal Reason of the Breach of every Precept of the Decalogue and of all other just Commands whatsoever in that respect as the violation of them is prejudicial to the obtaining of Felicity SECT XX. Charity or the unfeigned fervent Love of God above all things proved by Scripture to be Righteousness or the sincere keeping of the whole Law of God. TO the Reasons formerly given Sect. 11. why Charity is Righteousness or the sincere keeping and fulfilling of the Law of God I shall add the Testimony of Scripture for a full Confirmation of the Truth thereof When a certain Lawyer asked Christ saying Master What shall I do to inherit eternal life He said unto him What is written in the Law how readest thou And he answering said Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy Neighbour as thy self And he said unto him thou hast answered right this do and thou shalt live Luke 10. 25 26 27 28. If any man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him John 14. 23. Love is the fulfilling of the Law Rom. 13. 10. All things work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8. 28. All Gifts how excellent soever the best of Doings and the worst of Sufferings are nothing worth without Charity 1 Cor. 13. 1 2 3. Charity rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things 1 Cor. 13. 6 7. Charity is the Bond of perfectness Col. 3. 14. It is evident saith Dr. Hammond in his Paraphrase on 1 Cor. 13. 13. that as Faith Hope and Charity are far to be preferred before all other Gifts of the Spirit which are given men for the benefit of others vers 2. so of those three Graces or Divine Virtues Charity is the most excellent whether considered in it self or in the duration of it In it self it is the most necessary Grace here v. 1 c. and all the other whether Graces or Virtues are but Means for the working of this our Faith teacheth it and our Hope excites it and Charity is the End of the Commandment and Faith must be perfected by it and without it all the Gifts mentioned v. 1 2. are nothing worth and are given men for the working of that in others and so likewise in respect of duration the Gifts were soon to vanish and are now vanished long since the Gift of Miracles of Languages c. and Faith and Hope will vanish with this Life for Faith is of things not seen and therefore ceaseth when Vision cometh and so Hope if it be seen is not Hope but Charity shall never be out-dated but last and flourish when we come to Heaven and be then a special Ingredient in our Happiness which indeed consists in loving God and having common Desires with him and loving all whom he loves not the Damned who are Vessels of Wrath and that eternally If what this excellent Person here saith be a true Comment on the Text my Discourse on Charity is sufficiently avouched by it as being but as it were an enlargement of his Paraphrase on the Place Object 1. The mentioned Quotations from Scripture comprehend Man's Love both to God and his Neighbour at least some of them yea there is an express Text that he that loveth another á½
Conjunction and Union with the Soul has such an Influence on it that it certainly inclines it to all manner of Affections which the animal Parts excites it to except when Reason prevails with the Will to resist the Motions of the sensitive Appetite which cannot be while the Intellect is uncapable of the Exercise of Reason 't is manifest that seeing Children in the Mothers Womb have not at all the use of Reason there will be in their Souls an Inclination or Habitude agreeable and correspondent to the Disposition of their corporeal Part which in that it is begot and conceived of Seed issuing from disordered Bodies will it self be in disorder and thereby cause an unanswerable disorderly Disposition in the sensitive Faculty inclining it to Objects of sense and that again work a proportionable inordinate Habitude in the Will which bereaving it of the due Inclination it ought to have towards the true Object of Felicity causes a Want of that Original Disposition of Soul which should and would have been in Children if so be Man had continued in the State of Integrity which Want is that Malady of the Soul Men call Original Sin or Privation of Original Righteousness and is the Consequent in the manner above explain'd of eating the forbidden Fruit. 3. By this Explication of Original Sin God is justified and cleared from all Suspicion of being cause thereof whereas if the Sin of Adam was transferred to his Posterity because their Wills are included as some say in his I see not how the Almighty could be cleared from being the Author of it For since the Wills of Children are not really and truly by Nature in the Wills of their Parents for otherwise all Children should of Right be guilty of all the Sins of their Parents the Wills of Adams Progeny could not be included in the Will of Adam unless God in whose Power the Wills of all Men are would for his Preasures sake have it so If therefore by Gods meer voluntary Constitution the Wills of Adams Posterity be included in Adams Will it follows that by the same Constitution the Sin of Adam is his Posterities Sin also in that the very Reason why the Sin of Adam becomes the Sin of his Posterity is because their Wills are voluntarily constituted by God in his Will which if it were true would make God the Author of Original Sin. Object 1. If Original Sin be derived from Adam by Propagation it cannot be a Privation of Original Righteousness because Privation is the meer want of a thing and not a Positive thing which may be propagated Solut. There are two things to be considered in Original Sin an Habitude or Proneness in the Will towards the Enjoyment of the Creature and a Want of Original Righteousness or Disposition of the Soul towards God which it had by Creation Now although the Want of Original Righteousness be truly and properly Original Sin because if there were no want of that there would be no Original Unrighteousness yet in that the native Habitude or Proneness of the Will towards the Creature Par. 2. instead of God is the reason why the Soul becomes deprived of Original Righteousness that Habitude or Proneness of the Will is also called Original Sin which that and how it proceeds by means of natural Generation was shown in Par. 1. 2. And it is so in all manner of Vice that the irregular Act or Habit is not Vice formally taken but the Privation of the opposite Virtue which ensues upon that irregular Act or Habit and yet nevertheless the irregular Act and Habit are both called Vice Metonimically because it is a necessary Result of each For instance an intemperate Act or Habit is said to be a Vice and yet the formal Reason of their Vitiousness confists in this that the one at least weakens the other destroys the Virtue of Temperance or in case a Man be intemperate before they render it more difficult for him to become Temperate by strengthening or encreasing his Intemperance for it is impossible that any thing should be morally evil but as it deprives of some moral Good or weakens it or puts a Man farther from it for if by Intemperance a Man were not a whit the less Virtuous he would not be one jot the more Vitious than if he were not Intemperate at all And the like may be as truly said of any other irregular Act or Habit of the Will. If it be urged that in case Original Sin descend in the manner before described by propagation it would rather be derived to us from our immediate Parents than from our First since another Temper of Body is communicated by them to us then what was derived from Adam to his own Children as is evident from the manifold different natural Dispositions we meet with in young Children and yet Original Sin is solely fixed to the eating of the forbidden Fruit my Answer is that though it be very true that Infants receive another Disposition from their more immediate Progenitor than what has been perpetually derived from Adam and consequently that some of them also have a greater propensity to Vice through the personal Faults of their nearer Ancestors and Parents yet in that the whole Stock of Mankind ever since Adam has had a proneness from their Conception to the Creature in room of the Creator by reason of the first Transgression Original Sin is rightly imputed to the eating of the forbidden Fruit it being certain that from that Fault alone though there had never been any other therewould have ensued a Want of Original Righteousness in all Mankind Object 2. If Original Sin proceed from a Proneness in the sensitive Appetite towards the Creature and that from the unequal Temper or male Disposition of the body unless the Body be restored to its primitive Constitution which is not to be expected no Man shall ever be quit or clear from Original Sin in this Life Solut. Although Concupiscence be never totally rooted out of the sensitive Faculty in this Life yet it doth not always as it does Infants who have not the use of Reason necessarily so influence the Will as it does the sensitive Appetites and the Will is the only proper Seat of Sin but may through a virtuous Course of Life be so far mastered and subjugated to the Power and Command of the Will that it shall be able to give but small and ineffectual disturbance to the Rational Faculties which actually falls out so often as the Soul acquires the Habit of Virtue whereby it obtains a sincere Affection to God as its Sovereign Good for such Affection or Charity as shall be shown afterward Sect. 11. not only frees the Soul from Original but all other mortal Sin likewise whilst it is thereby formally justified and put into a State of Grace and Salvation 4. The mentioned Difficulties about Original Sin removed I go forward to shew that as Original Sin proceeds from our first Parents eating of the Tree
hearty Affection unto God Par. 6 7 8. Object 2. The sincere habitual Love to God above all things cannot of it self alone justifie any one because the Divine Law requires that a Man love his Neighbour also as himself Solut. True it doth so but since it is impossible but that he who cordially desires and accordingly stedfastly endeavours to enjoy God eternally should also unfeignedly wish the like to his Neighbour which comprehends all Mankind and assists him when occasion serves in what is necessarily conducible thereunto so far as he well can in doing of which the Duty of loving a Mans Neighbour as himself is fulfilled as will be at large set forth in the Explanation of the Decalogue Sect. 18. and 19. 'T is plain that he who loves God above all things doth in consequence thereto of necessity love his Neighbour like as himself If a Man love me he will keep my Words John 14. 23. And this Commandment have we from him that he who loveth God loves his Brother also 1 John 4. 21. But of this more hereafter in the three last Sections Object 3. If Men be formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness then are they not formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them But Men are formally justified by the Righteousness of Christ imputed to them Christ is made unto us Righteousness 1 Cor. 1. 30. Therefore Men are not formally justified by their own habitual Righteousness Solut. In answer to the proof of the Minor Proposition viz. That Christ is made unto us Righteousness I return that in the same Text he is likewise said to be made unto us Wisdom and Sanctification and Redemption and therefore if Christ's Righteousness can be proved from thence to be the formal Cause of man's Justification or that man is formally just thereby by the same Text it may be equally and as well proved that man is formally wise and formally holy by the Wisdom and Holiness of Christ which if he truly were then would a justified Person be as just wise and Holy as Christ himself and consequently he ought to have no remorse for any thing he ever did nor to crave pardon for his Sins and by consequence since Sin is a Transgression of the Law unless he no more transgress God's Law than our Blessed Saviour himself did he 'l be a Transgressor of the Law and not a Transgressor of the Law a Sinner and no Sinner at the same time which is impossible Christ's Righteousness therefore in the quoted Text is Metonymically to be understood for the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness even as his Wisdom and Holiness likewise are in respect of our being wise and holy In this sense all the meritorious Doings and Sufferings of Christ may be rightly said to be ours whilst by virtue of them Grace is wrought in our Hearts by which we overcome the Temptations of the World the Flesh and the Devil so that the Benefit of them really redounds to us and whatever Righteousness we have here or shall have hereafter it is the very effect of the righteousness of Christ For since rational Arguments Motives are the proper inducements whereby a Rational Creature is inclined to Good whilst through them the Understanding is illuminated with Truth and the Will excited to the love of it 't is evident that nothing possibly besides except the immediate irresistible Will of God could so effectually work on mens rational Souls to cause them to forsake the love of the World for the love of God as Arguments and Motives fetcht from the consideration of Christ's love to man his Incarnation Doctrine Conversation Passion Resurrection Ascension Session at the right hand of his Father and his coming to Judgment Whence in very truth those men who in attributing man's formal Righteousness to the Righteousness of Christ made his by imputation through Faith think they attribute more to Christ and give him greater honour than they do that hold the sincere habitual love of God to be the formal cause of Justification are under a manifest Mistake For since Christ is personally God and not personally Man and that the infinite value of his precious merits is from the hypostatical Union of his Manhood with the Deity 't is plain that it is far more excellent and glorious that Christ's righteousness which comprehends the whole merit of all his active and passive Obedience should be the efficient Cause of man's Justification by producing a real habitual Righteousness in his Soul than the formal cause thereof by a meer imputed Righteousness because such imputed Righteousness in case it were possible would be the Righteousness of Christ as man for otherwise a righteous person would be infinitely righteous and consequently be God since nothing is infinitely perfect in any respect whatever but he alone whereas if his Righteousness be the efficient Cause of man's Righteousness it is proper to him as he is both God and Man. But indeed it is impossible that Christ's Righteousness should become formally man's for seeing it is personal and thence a thing extrinsecal to every one but himself 't is not possible to become a formal Cause to others in that a formal Cause whether it be substantial or accidental is an internal Cause and essentially constitutive of the thing whereof it is a Cause For instance Man's Soul is the formal Cause and a substantial essential part of man as man or a rational Animal Prudence is the formal Cause and an accidental essential part of man as he is prudent and so is Temperance of a temperate man and every Abstract else of the Concrete to which it is appropriated For what is a prudent man but one habitually indued with Prudence or a temperate man but one whom the habit of Temperance formally makes such And must not a righteous person by parallel Reason be one habitually possessed of Righteousness If it were not thus but that on the contrary a prudent man could be prudent by the Prudence of another without the Habit of Prudence within himself then were it possible that a man might be prudent though really imprudent in all his doings and so be prudent and utterly imprudent at once And if a man could be temperate without the Virtue of Temperance inherent in him he might possibly be temperate when he wallowed in the Sink of all filthy Pleasures and thence be temperate and not at all temperate at the same time And so in like manner if a man could be righteous by the Righteousness of another without any inherent Righteousness of his own he might possibly at the same instant be righteous and a notorious Transgressor of God's Law and consequently be a just and unjust person a Sinner and no Sinner both together If it were replied that God always in the very moment wherein Christ's Righteousness through Faith is imputed to any man infuses entire holiness into his Soul so that he exactly keeps every Divine Precept I would make this
assisted by the Spirit of God they are as apt to convert as a Knife being employed by the Hand is to cut cannot actually convert but when they are applied to a Subject fitly prepared to take impression from them and therefore when they meet not with a due Disposition or right Preparation of Heart to receive them Conversion will not ensue And forasmuch as such Disposition or Preparation of Heart is not in the Power of Mans Free Will as Pelagius impiously held it was but is the undoubted work of God every ones Conversion is truly attributed to the Power of the Holy Ghost in that he works the mentioned Disposition in the Soul by causing it to give due Attendance to the means of Salvation offered as may be clearly collected from the Instance of Lydia's Conversion whose Heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul Acts 16. 14. For through that her attention the Word of God delivered by St. Paul took effect and converted her There is then no Scruple at all to be made but that every man's Conversion is the Work of Gods Spirit in the heart both in respect of the Application of the Means of Grace and of giving due Attendance thereunto The only difficulty lies in this how the Attention to the Doctrine of Salvation requisite on Man's part to his Conversion is wrought whether by some physical Influence or real Emanation issuing from God and penetrating the Heart of Man as Fire warms by sending forth Heat into the thing warmed by it or by the sole force of the Divine Will without any such either Influence or any intermediate Cause whatsoever or lastly that through the Almighties Government of the World in ordering second Causes which are all in his disposing man's mind becomes inclined to give due heed to Instruction and Exhortation by Motives offered several ways such as are pain of Body loss of Estate or Friends Plagues Desolation sudden and violent Deaths great and unexpected Mercies and Deliverances with divers other things seen heard or read of The first of the three rehearsed ways the absolute Perfection of the Divine Nature makes impossible for how should any Physical Influence or real Emanation proceed out of him whose Being is Immutable one essential Act and entirely simple Sect. 1. Par. 8 9 10. The second Way would be as miraculous as the creating of all things out of nothing and the Attention given to the Means of Grace would be irresistible in all Men. The third Way therefore I take to be truth and am confirm'd therein from St. Paul's Conversion which though strange and unusual yet was it not effected by the immediate Will of God without all intermediate Means from his becoming all things to all men over and above his zealous preaching of Christ and indeed from the constant manner and method of God's dealing with Mankind since the very Creation If it be replied that I seem to place the sole and whole immediate Cause of Man's Conversion in the Means and only the remote Cause thereof in the Spirit of God which yet is held by Divines actually to reach and work by its immediate Inspiration the Effect I answer that the Divine Will which instituted and orders the Means as well for Conversion as for the Preparation of the Heart goes still along therewith to make them effectual not unlike to a mans Mind which after he hath made a Pen to write with and prepared Ink and Paper continually goes along with the Pen to effect the intended Writing so that I plainly maintain what answers to that which others call the immediate Operation or Inspiration of the Holy Ghost or Divine Influx or Concourse with the Means of Grace whilst I hold that as the Pen cannot write without the continued assistance of the Hand moved by the Will so neither can the Means of Grace convert a Sinner or cause any other holy Act without the perpetual Aid of the Divine Will or Power of the Holy Ghost enabling them thereunto If it be said that albeit Man's Mind guide and go along with the Hand and Pen yet the Pen alone immediately touches the Paper and makes the Impression in it my Answer is that both the Mind and the vis impressa conveyed by the Hand to the Pen reach as far as the Pen it self otherwise the Pen could not write what it doth either as to the Character or the Matter for what knows it of the difference of any Figure or Subject whatsoever and even so doth the Spirit of God no less than the Means of Man's Salvation reach the Heart both to prepare it and convert it unto God but with this difference that the Writing on the Paper is an Impression necessarily received by it but the preparative Disposition and Conversion of the Heart are Effects wrought therein by a voluntary Compliance and Concurrence of the Will of Man with the Author and Means of Grace SECT XVI Praise and Thanksgiving to God are proper and efficacious Means for procuring and augmenting Charity Vocal Prayer Musick and Gestures of Body betokening Humility and Reverence towards the Divine Majesty are useful and advantageous for begetting inward Devotion and Affection towards God. 1. AS Prayer hath been shewn to have its proper effect in procuring the Moral and Theological Virtues in order to the uniting the Soul to God by Charity and by causing the frequent exercise of it and them when they are acquired by which Charity is confirmed enlivened and augmented in us Sect. 15. so likewise will it appear that the virtue and good of Praising and Lauding God for the Excellency of his Essence Power and Wisdom and of his great and noble Acts in creating and governing the World is terminated in setling and confirming the Love of God in Mens Souls for whose Cause and not for his own as he commands Prayer to be made unto him so doth he enjoyn Honour Laud and Praise to be perpetually given unto Him. 2. For since every Command whether of God or Man must of right tend to and design the obtaining some good by fulfilling of the same and that it is impossible for the Almighty who was all Perfection within himself to receive any good either of Profit or Pleasure from abroad Sect. 8. it necessarily follows that God requires Honour Laud and Praise to be given unto him not for any accession of Advantage to himself but solely for the Benefit of his Creature 3. And because the uniting the Soul to God by Charity is the alone Good whereunto all that can be truly said to be good to Man tends Sect. 11. every one is required to praise God in his Holiness to praise him in the firmament of his Power to praise him in his noble Acts to praise him according to his excellent Greatness Psalm 150. ver 1 2. by reason the often hearty doing thereof cannot chuse but exceedingly advance the Love of God and cause a longing in the Soul to
understand him more and more and to obtain the sight of him for ever 4. And as the praising and exalting God's Excellence in respect of his Essence Power and Wisdom has an Influence on the Soul to beget and strengthen the Love of God therein so doth also the giving of Thanks unto him for his loving Kindness and Mercy to Man in creating preserving and redeeming him proportionably to the seriousness and frequency of doing it of necessity elevate the Heart to God and make it in Love with him Object 1. If the design of commanding Prayer to be made to God and of Praise and Thanks to be given to the Divine Majesty be to cause the Elevation of the Heart unto him Vocal Prayer Praise and Thanksgiving the howing of the Knee the lifting up of the Hands and Eyes and all Gestures of the Body are to no purpose seeing the Heart may be raised and lifted up to God without them Solut. That Bodily Exercise is not absolutely necessary to Salvation is plain from hence that some are dumb and cannot speak some are not able through Infirmity to bow the Knee or lift up their Hands others want their Sight and have not Eyes wherewith to look up to Heaven and yet all of them may be saved and go to Bliss and undoubtedly shall do so if they be habitually possessed of Charity when they leave the World. But nevertheless this is no Argument that Bodily Exercise is to no purpose or that it may be omitted by those who are in a condition with convenience to perform it For an earnest and vehement expression of words an humbling our selves with reverence on our Knees and the lifting up our Hands and Eyes to Heaven are all of them Helps to stir up inward Devotion and make our Prayers Praises and Thanks more fervent and consequently more effectual to promote Charity Nor is the Musick either of Voices or Instruments unuseful for exciting Devotion whilst it is apt to put the animal Spirits into such a motion as will cause the Heart to be carried with delight towards the Object of Worship which men endeavour to honour and celebrate thereby Object 2. Although external Actions and Gestures may improve internal Affection to God yet that men should be obliged to this or that Form of Words or manner of Gesture in the Church seems unreasonable seeing the same Words and Gestures do not move all men alike Solut. To use several Forms and Gestures in the publick Congregation at once would be very inconvenient and a great hinderance to Devotion For as to Words wherein Prayer Praise and Thanksgivings are offered to God in a public way 't is requisite they should be the same to all as well to avoid Confusion and Distraction which otherwise would certainly fall out as also for that Christians meeting together to offer up in common Prayer Praise and Thanks to God and desiring the same things should use the same means to testifie their joynt Consent and Concern for the mutual Encouragement of their Devotion in Christianity as Members of the same Body under one Head Christ Jesus And in regard the same Form is convenient to be used by the whole Congregation and that some of necessity must appoint the same it is apparent to see that the chief Governours of the Church who being generally ancient and learned men and constantly exercised in matters of Religion are the best able to do it well should have that Charge principally committed to them And as for the Ceremonious part of Religious Exercises in public since all decent Habits and Gestures are indifferent in themselves to be made use of and that it is evident that the more public and of greater Authority Ecclesiastical Persons be the easier and more obvious will it be for them to know what Habits and Gestures are esteemed the most common and commendable Signs and Tokens of Decency Humility and Reverence which every private Person who hath his particular Concerns to look after and is not called by the Course of Providence to order Church Affairs cannot do it must in reason be granted that the Principal Managers of Ecclesiastical Matters the Prelates ought in prudence seeing the Signs of Respect and Honour are different in different times and places so as no Rule more than in general could be left in Scripture for them to be the Persons entrusted to declare appoint and enjoyn what Ceremonious Habits and Gestures are to be used in the administration of Public Divine Offices SECT XVII The two great Sacraments instituted by Christ for the Benefit of his Church Baptism and the Lords Supper were ordained to be serviceable to Charity the one in procuring it the other in preserving it Yea and all other Divine Institutions and Ordinances whatsoever are only so many designed ministerial Helps thereunto 1. WHatever Virtues or Christian Duties have hitherto been spoken of 't is apparent from what hath been said of them that they every one of them have their Accomplishment in establishing Charity in the Souls of Men. And no less certain is it that all other Ordinances of God particularly the two great Sacraments of the Church to pass by for brevities sake Confirmation Holy Orders c. Baptism and the Lords Supper have no other end or design save either to beget Charity in the Soul or to advance it towards Perfection being first seated there 2. For in that a Sacrament is an outward and visible Sign of an inward and Spiritual given unto us ordained by Christ himself as a Means whereby we receive the same and a Pledg to assure us thereof it is clear that if Charity be the Spiritual Grace here intended it is the End and Accomplishment of every Sacrament 3. And that Charity is the Spiritual Grace here intended is plain not only from hence that nothing is truly Virtuous or of any prevalency towards the obtaining of everlasting Life which is not done out of Love to God Sect. 14. Par. 1. and from the Apostles Testimony averring that all other Gifts Graces and Performances without Charity profit nothing 1 Cor. 13. but also from the account given of the two mentioned Sacraments themselves in the Churches Catechism 4. For according to that the inward and Spiritual Grace given in Baptism is a Death unto Sin and a new Birth unto Righteousness and Charity in that it formally expells mortal Sin and frees from everlasting Damnation and the Torments of Hell is formal Righteousness Sect. 11. 5. And to the Question proposed what the Benefits be whereof we are made partakers by the eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper The Answer is made the strengthening and refreshing of our Souls by the Body and Bloud of Christ as our Bodies are by the Bread and Wine by which it is manifest that in the nourishing and strengthening of our Souls by spiritual Food is the End of this great Sacrament attain'd And as Bread and Wine are