because such Actions do tend to the general Happiness of his Creatures whom he loves § 16. and for the contrary Reason it will follow that he hates and abhors all Actions that are evil And this is what I mean when I say That God is most holy 19. All possible Excellency or Perfection that I can conceive is reducible unto these Five Heads viz. 1. Perfection of Being which consists in perpetual Duration without any Decay or Infirmity 2. Perfection of Understanding which consists in such Knowledg and Wisdom as is free all Mistake or Ignorance 3. Perfection of the Will which consists in a free Liberty to choose or refuse without any Constraint or fatal Necessity 4. Perfection of Power which consists in an Ability to do every thing And 5. Moral Perfection which consists in an inflexible Resolution always to do and encourage that which is morally good and to avoid and discourage whatsoever is morally evil Now since all these Perfections are in God in the most absolute manner as I think I have shewn in the foregoing Paragraphs from hence it will follow That God is most absolutely perfect 20. And since he who is absolutely perfect can stand in need of nothing it must also follow that God is most perfectly happy in Himself 21. As my Reason do's evidently demonstrate unto me the Being of a God so does it not in the least suggest to me any Argument to conclude that there is any more but One God And it is absurd and unreasonable to multiply Beings without any Ground or Reason for it 22. That there is a real and not only a nominal Distinction between the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost or Spirit that they are frequently spoken of in the Holy Scriptures in such Terms as we ordinarily use when we speak of Three Persons altho sometimes this Expression Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit may be put to signifie not so much the Person as the Power Effect or Energy of God's Spirit That altho the Son be often spoken of as really and truly a Man yet many things are said of him which cannot agree to a meer Man or to any created Being whatsoever and that there are such things also spoken of the Holy Ghost as cannot be accommodated unto a Creature Moreover that the Son derives his Being from and always depends upon the Father as the Holy Ghost does from and upon the Father and the Son All these things I say in my Opinion are not to be denyed by any one who will but interpret the Holy Scriptures according to the ordinary Sense and Signification of the Words thereof and not according to his own Prejudices or preconceived Opinions And altho the Socinians do clearly enough expound some of those Texts of Scripture which with more Zeal than Reason are sometimes urged against them yet as to the principal Passages which are alleged to prove what I have now asserted I think their Interpretation of them not only to be harsh and strained which in a manner is acknowledged even by their own acute and brief Historian in the last Paragraph of his second Letter but also many times to be utterly irreconcileable unto the Words and Context And now to explain those Conceptions which arise in my Mind upon the Consideration of the Texts here hinted at as well as in a Matter so abstruse and remote from my Senses I am able since I cannot find a more proper Term to express the Distinction of the Father Son and Holy Ghost by I call them Three Persons and not knowing what other Title to give a Divine Person who is no Creature I call each Person God But I give the Title of God in a more emphatical manner unto the Father than unto the Son or Holy Ghost because the Father depends on none but they do depend on him And since both my Reason and the Holy Scriptures do teach me to own no more than one God I am of necessity compelled to say that these Three are so united together tho in such a manner as is above my Understanding as to be but one God And altho it argues a great deal of Imperfection in Humane Speech that for want of other fit and proper Terms we are forced to give the same Appellation to each Person singly and to the Three conjointly yet this does not imply any manner of Contradiction as some do object because when we apply the Word God to one single Person it has not the same exact and adequate Signification as when we ascribe it unto the Three Persons conjointly for that would imply that each single Person were at the same time the Three Persons and so confound that Distinction which the Holy Scriptures do so often and apparently make between them And this analogical Difference in the Signification of the Word God will easily solve most of those Objections which the Socinians do bring against the Doctrin of the Trinity And because I know no better Word to express that Unity which I apprehend to be between the Three Persons I therefore say that they are One in Essence or Substance For Unity of Concord or Consent alone does not seem enough to me to denominate them to be One God And because I find that the Son is said to be begotten and the Holy Ghost to proceed or be sent or emitted I therefore make use of these Terms without pretending to assign the Difference between Generation and Procession And altho the Son and the Holy Ghost being each of them God are and must needs be of the same Nature and upon that account equal with the Father yet it is manifest that this Equality must be understood with an Allowance for the absolute Independence of the Father and the Dependence of the Son and Holy Ghost upon him 23. All the Objections that I can remember to be made against the Doctrin of the Trinity thus stated I think are easie enough to be solved by what I have now said excepting Two which must be particularly answered The first is taken from Joh. 10. 33. c. But tho our Saviour did not here assert his Divinity when there seemed to be occasion for it yet it will not follow that therefore he is not God Especially if we consider that it was not always his Custom to give full and compleat Answers unto such captious Questions and Objections as were put to him But sometimes he contented himself only with shewing the Unreasonableness of those who proposed them of which we have one Instance Mat. 21. 23. c. and another Joh. 8. 3. c. and as some think another Mat. 22. 17. c. And we may as well conclude that he had no Authority for what he did because he did not declare it when the Chief Priests and Elders questioned it Mat. 21. 23. as deny his Divinity because he did not expresly maintain it when on that account he was charged with Blasphemy The other Objection is drawn from Mar. 13.
and spend overmuch of his Time and Labour in getting a Living for himself and his Family 71. I have now gone through what I at first designed and have not that I know of omitted any one thing which I could judge to be a material or necessary part of Religion Altho I have on purpose endeavoured to avoid the use of some Words which do frequently occur in all or most Systems of Divinity that I have met with And the reason why I have so done is not that I find fault with the Words themselves but because I would have my Reader take notice that Religion does not consist in Terms of Art or forms of expression but in the belief and practice of such things as God has made known and requires from us And it is too common among Men to wrangle about Words before they have clearly fixed and agreed upon the meaning of them I have not for example made use of this Term Justification But yet I have endeavoured to shew upon what conditions a sinner obtains the Pardon of his sins and Mercy at the hand of God which is the same thing Nor have I said any thing of the nature or number of Sacraments But I have spoken what I thought might be necessary concerning Baptism the Holy Communion and those other things which the Church of Rome calls by that name And if once I am satisfied touching any thing how far God requires it from us and whether or no it be necessary to Salvation I cannot see why I should trouble my self much in enquiring whether such a thing may properly be called a Sacrament or not which to me seems no more but a dispute about the meaning of a Word True indeed it is that in the Doctrine of the Trinity which I have delivered Part 2. § 22. I have expressly made use of the Terms person substance c. because I could find none others so fit and proper to express my Thoughts Nor durst I venture in so sublime a matter to apply new Words to those things of which I can have but very imperfect and obscure Conceptions And having thus said all that I intend upon this occasion I freely submit the Whole to the Judgment and Censure of every Reader leaving him to that liberty which I my self always desire to enjoy and being ready to retract any thing that I have said whensoever I am convinced that I have been therein mistaken Books Printed for Richard Sare THe Fables of Esop with Morals and Reflections Folio Erasmus Colloquies in English 8o. Quevedo's Visions 8o. These 3 by Sir Roger L'Estrange The Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp the Shepherd of Hermas c. Translated and published in English 8o. A Practical Discourse concerning Swearing 8o. The Authority of Christian Princes over Ecclesiastical Synods in Answer to a Letter to a Convocation Man 8o. Sermons on several Occasions 4o. These by Dr. Wake Epictetus's Morals with Simplicius's Coment 8o. A Sermon Preached upon the Death of the Queen Both by Mr. George Stanhope The Doctrine of a God and Providence vindicated and asserted 8o. Discourses on several Divine Subjects 8o. These two by Thomas Gregory Lecturer of Fulham Dr. Gregory's Divine Antidote in Answer to an Heretical Pamphlet Entituled an End to the Socinian Controversy 8o. Essays upon several Moral Subjcts in two parts by Jeremy Collier M. A. 8o. Compleat Sets consisting of 8 Volumes of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy who lived 45 Years at Paris undiscovered giving an account of the Principal Affairs of Europe 12º Humane Prudence or the Art by which a man may raise himself and Fortune to Grandure 12o. Moral Maxims and Reflections written in French by the Duke of Rochfoucault now Englished 12o. Of the Art both of writing and judging of History with Reflections upon Ancient as well as Modern Historians By Father Le Moyne 12o. An Essay upon Reason by Sir George Mackenzie 12o. Death made comfortable or the way to dye well By John Kettlewel 12o. The Parson's Counsellor or the Law of Tyths By Sir Simon Degg 8o. The Unlawfulness of Bonds of Resignation 8o. Price 6 d. An Answer to all the Excuses and Pretences which Men ordinarily make for their not coming to the Holy Sacrament 8o. Price 3 d. by a Divine of the Church of England Remarks on a Book Entituled Prince Arthur an Heroick Poem by Mr. Denis 8o. FINIS AN APPENDIX TO A GENTLEMEN's RELIGION In which it is Proved That nothing contrary to our Reason can possibly be the Object of our Belief But that it is no just Exception against some of the Doctrines of Christianity that they are above our Reason LONDON Printed for R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holbourn 1698. AN APPENDIX TO A Gentleman's Religion 1. HOW those Persons who take unto themselves the distinguishing Name of Vnitarians do dissent from the main Body of Christians of whatsoever Church or Perswasion touching the Doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation of our Saviour Christ is so well known that I need not here offer to open or explain in the Terms of the Controversie which is managed between them Now when in this Dispute the Vnitarians are prest with some passages of Scripture which seem very evidently to make against them besides other ways which they have to avoid the force of them they commonly have recourse to the nature of the thing controverted and press their Adversaries back again with this demand How such a thing can possibly be And when to this it is reply'd That there is evidently no Contradiction to sound Reason in the Doctrines themselves and that the Truth of them ought ot be believed upon the Authority of God who hath revealed them But that the manner of them is utterly above and altogether incomprehensible to our finite and narrow Understandings and therefore not to be enquired after In return to this there are some who maintain that if these Doctrines were not contrary to Reason yet this alone is a sufficient cause to reject them that they are confessedly above it For of that which is above our Reason say they we can form no true Conception or Idea and it is absurd or rather impossible for a Man to believe that which he cannot clearly and plainly so much as conceive or apprehend 2. For the right stating and clearing of this whole Controversie I have given such hints in the Gentleman's Religion Part 1. Sect. 33. Part 2. 22 23 37. as I thought to be most fit for Men of ordinary Capacity and most suitable to that brevity which I all along defigned But in this Appendix I shall address my self unto those who are of a more refined Understanding and accustomed to a more exact way of thinking and try if I can give them any satisfaction in a Matter which seems to be not a little perplexed perhaps by the overmuch Curiosity of some of both the contending Parties 3. That our Knowledge of things is
and no way contradictory to the Principles of plain and sound Reason And if in many other Points of Speculation which by some are adopted into Religion I am either wholly ignorant or perhaps doubtful and undetermined or it may be mistaken Yet if to the Belief which I have here professed I do superadd a virtuous and Christian course of life I hope there is no moderate Christian who does not in effect make it a part of his Religion to be uncharitable but will allow that I may be saved But wherein this virtuous and Christian life consists and what are the Duties which the Gospel obliges us all to perform whether they are the Duties of pure Morality as to love God and our Neighbour or those of positive institution as to be Baptized to receive the Holy Communion c. is to be the subject of the Third and last part of this small Work to which therefore I now proceed A Gentleman's Religion PART III. 1. ALL the Commands of God and consequently all the Duties of a Christian are reducible to these Two viz. To abstain from that which is evil and to do that which is good according to his ability Those actions I call good which either are eternally agreeable unto the nature circumstances and mutual relations of Persons and Things and therefore for ever to be approved of by every impartial rational Being as I have said Part 2. § 18. for which we must appeal to every mans Reason as we do to his Eyes without any other Demonstration to prove that the Sun shines or else are expresly commanded by God of his own positive will and pleasure to whom as being his Creatures we all owe an intire Obedience for which we must have our recourse to the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament only all the positive Institutions and Ordinances of the Mosaick Law which were given by God to the People of Israel being abrogated and the Obligation of them annulled by our Saviour Christ Altho the moral part of it which contains the Precepts and Rules of eternal good and evil and wherein the very life and soul of that Law consisted be not only abetted and confirmed but also very much improved by him And such actions as are contrary to good that is to say either disagreeable to the nature and circumstances of Things and Persons or else positively forbidden by God I call evil I am indeed of opinion that in the Holy Scriptures we have not only the positive Commands of God whereby some things which otherwise would have been indifferent are enjoyned or forbidden but also either in particular or at least in general a sufficient account of all those actions which are eternally good or evil and therefore to be done or avoided by us And this designed by Almighty God for the direction and instruction of those Men who have not ability to dive into and discover those things by the strength of their Reason And therefore in order to describe the whole Duty of a Christian it might be enough for me to collect the Precepts and Prohibitions which God has given us in his Word and to vouch no other Authority or reason but his Will for them But because every mans Duty will probably make the greater impression upon his mind when he is satisfied as to the reasonableness of it as well as convinced of its obligation I shall endeavour as I proceed first to infer as much of our Duty as I can from the nature and circumstances of Things and Persons and then to superadd where there is occasion what God has positively ordained and commanded as to any point And this with the same conciseness that I have observed in my Second Part neither enlarging upon those Arguments nor reciting those Texts of Scripture which I suppose my Reader to be able to call to mind upon the least hint of them 2. To begin then Since God is the most perfect and excellent Being in Himself and so loving and beneficent to Us It follows that we ought to love him in the highest degree that possibly we can And true and compleat Love as it is an act of one person exerted towards another as its object consists in an unseigned desire First of always doing what may be truly grateful and acceptable to the person beloved and Secondly of enjoying and being with him as much as may be The more ardent and zealous we are in our love to God the better undoubtedly it is And we should strive to engage our Affections as well as our Reason and our Will unto him from whom we have received all things But yet this Love is not to be measured or judged of by the earnestness of those suddain motions which sometimes may arise within us upon the contemplation of God's Excellency and Goodness because to be thus Passionately affected is not wholly in our Power and somtimes least so when we most earnestly desire it But the true and certain way of judging whether we love God or not is by examining whether we are stedfast in our Resolutions and accordingly diligent in our Endeavours constantly to obey him and keep all his Commandments which is the only way to please and consequently to enjoy and for ever be with him And where the Love of God is thus firmly rooted in the Will and brings forth plenty of Fruit in the life and actions it is certainly nevertheless acceptable to him altho it does not so passionately move our Affections as we could wish or desire And as all the Duties which we owe unto Almighty God are derived from and do depend upon that of loving of him or rather indeed are contained in it so is it very evident that they are all to be judged of by the same forementioned Rule that is to say not so much by the strength of an inward Impulse upon the Mind which is a thing not under our Command as by the steady agreeableness of our Will and Actions unto all such Principles as are right and good 3. Since God is the most excellent and perfect and consequently the most worthy of all Beings that are or can be from hence it will follow that we ought to honour him with the greatest Honour that may be Now to honour any person is in other words inwardly to esteem and outwardly to shew our Respect to him Our inward Esteem of God consists in a due Acknowledgment of his Being and Attributes and our outward Respect to him is to be shewn as well by abstaining from all actions which may savour of any Neglect or Irreverence towards him as by performing all such as may appear to be suitable both to his own Excellency and our Dependence upon him 4. Since God is present in all places and knows all even the most secret things and therefore cannot possibly be deceived or imposed on We should on this consideration be very watchful and careful upon all occasions how we behave our selves in his Presence And