of their Duty is that they do not profess Devotion and Piety This is the ordinary Plea of Men of Business of Worldlings of Young People of Courtiers of Military Men and of a great many besides in all Conditions We do not pretend to Devotion they cry we are ingaged in the World And with this shift they not only think themselves excusable for neglecting Piety but they fancy they have a Right to neglect it and that they do a great deal if they observe some of the External Duties of it One can hardly believe that these Persons are in carnest when they make such an Excuse It astonishes a Man to find Christians who have the considence to say That Piety is not their Business that they are of another Profession and that they are not at leisure to be Devout I fancy there are Two Things which deceive those who who alledge this Excuse 1. That they do not well understand what Devotion is they look upon it as a very austere and singular way of living from whence they conclude that but few People are able to apply themselves to it and so they turn it over to the Clergy to Women or to those who have much leisure I have observed already the Falseness of this Prejudice and shewed that Piety is neither singular nor austere 2. The other cause of their Error seems to be this that they do not consider that Piety is every Bodies Business and that such is the nature of it that it may be practised by all Men. Not but that secular Occupations and Callings do frequently obstruct Piety and ingage Men in Vice and therefore a Christian should never be so taken up with the Affairs of this Life as thereby to disable himself from performing the Duties of Christianity But after all a Man may live like a good Christian in any lawful Calling and in that sense properly we are to understand the Words of St. Paul That the Grace of God which brings Salvation has appeared unto all Men teaching them to live soberly righteously and godly in this present World * Tit. II. 11. Do those who plead it for an Excuse that they do not profess Devotion imagine that there are two ways to go to Heaven the one for Devour and the other for Worldly Men the one narrow and the other broad Do they think that the Commandments of God do not concern all Men that there is respect of Persons with God or that he dispenses with his own Laws How can they prove these Distinctions Are not we all Christians Have not we all been Baptize Does not God give us all the same Laws Or have some more reason to love God than others And ought not the great Concern of our Salvation to be equally dear to us all I grant that those who have greater opportunities and more Leisure than others ought to make use of these Advantages But I maintain at the same time that none stand in greater need of Piety than those who say we are engaged in the World we do not pretend to Devotion It is because they are not Devout that their Condition is very sad and the more they are engaged in the World the greater are the Temptations and Distraction to which they are liable Now he that is exposed to a Storm had need take more care than he who enjoys a Calm These are the principal Maxims and Sentiments which are made use of to Authorize Corruption Whoever takes notice of what is said and done in the World must needs acknowledge that these and the like Maxims are vented abroad every day so that in order to obstruct the Progress of Corruption it is absolutely necessary to undeceive Men in reference to these Sentiments and to oppose that Criminal Boldness which shamefully Corrups the Truths of Reilgion and turns Impieties into Religious Maxims and Articles of Faith CAUSE IV. The Abuse of Holy Scripture IT is a daring piece of Confidence to Authorize Corruption with Maxims borrowed from Religion but it is the last degree of Audaciousness and Impiety to turn the Holy Scripture to such a scandalous use and to seek in that Divine Book Pretences and Apologies for Vice and yet the Extravagance and Temerity of many bad Christians come up to this pitch Several declarations of the Word of God are made by them as many Maxims under which they think to shelter themselves and if we believe them there is nothing either in their Practice or Opinions but what is agreeable to the Will and Intentions of God himself This Abuse of the Scripture I design to shew in this Chapter to be one of the Causes of Corruption and it cannot he too seriously considered The Passages of Scripture which are abused to this purpose may be reduced to these Four Heads The first comprehends the places which are brought against the necessity of Good Works Under the second we will examine those declarations of Scripture by which some endeavour to prove That all Men without exception are in a state of Corruption which subjects them to Sin In the third place we shall answer the Arguments drawn from the Examples of those Saints whose Sins are Recorded in Scripture And lastly we shall make some Reflections upon those Scripptures in which the Divine Mercy is promised to the greatest Sinners There are divers Passages in Scriptures which being ill understood lead many into this perswasion That Good Works are not of absolute Necessity And First nothing is more confidently alledged to this purpose than what we read in many places * Rom. III. c. That we are justified by Faith and not by our Works No Doctrine is more clearly and expresly delivered in the Gospel than that of Justification by Faith But it is a Perverting of this Doctrine to conclude from it that Salvation may be obtained without Good Works This Conclusion must needs be false since the Gospel enjoyns Good Works as a necessary Condition in order to Salvation St Paul tells us that †Heb. XX. 14. without Holiness no man shall see God And does not that import that none shall be saved without Holiness and Good Works The same Apostle teaches us that at the Day of Judgment when Men shall be admitted into or excluded from Heaven God will have a regard to their Works to the good or evil which they shall have done | Rom. 11. 6. God will render to every man according to his Works * 2 Cor. V. 10. We must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ that we may receive according to what we have done whether good or bad This is very positive and therefore since there can be no Contradiction in Scripture here is enough already to Convince us that the Doctrine of Justification by Faith has nothing in it which destroys the necessity of Good Works But it will appear yet less difficult to reconcile these two Doctrines if we suppose that which no Man can reasonably Contest
giving an account of his Dispute with St. Peter and of his reproving him for his too great Compliance with the Jews he affirms that we are justified by the Faith of Christ and not by the Work of the Law Why has not than difference been observed which St Paul makes about Works When he speaks of the Works of the Mosaical Law he calls them the Works of the Law or barely Works but when he treat of the Works which the Gospel prescribes he call them Good Works because they are really good holy and profitable in their own Nature but this Title of Good Works is never bestowed upon the Works of the Ceremonial Law which considered in themselves had nothing of Goodness or Holiness in them In a word Good Works in St. Paul's stile are quite another thing than barely Works or the Works of the Law If this had been considered such great â—ains needed not to have been taken to make * Rom. 3.27 St. Paul agree with St. James †Galat. 11.16 St. Paul says that Man is justified by Faith withâ—ut the Works of the Law | Jam. 11.24 and St. James â—hat Man is justified by works and not by Faith â—nly There is no contradiction between these two Apostles Both follow one Hypothesis and argue upon the same Principles St. Paul disputing against the Jews who wou'd tie Christians to the Observance of the Works of the Mosaical Law â—â—ffrms that Faith in Christ is sufficient provided it brings forth Good Work 's â—nd that it is not necessary to observe the Mosaical rites St. James disputing against â—ereticks who pretended that Faith did â—ave without Good Works and so did â—ntirely ruin our Saviour's Morals deâ—lares that Faith which does not proâ—uce Good Works is not sufficient to â—alvation Is not this the same Doctrine with St. Paul's But instead of reconciling these two Apostles some People find here great difficulties They do not reconcile St. James with St. Paul but they rather refute St. James by St. Paul St. James is expounded with great Caution as if he had gone too far by saying that Man is justified by works and not by Faith only This Proposition is softned as much as possible it is excused rather than explained but as for what St. Paul says that Faith alone justfiies without Works it is taken in the utmost strictness so that all is ascribed to Faith and nothing to Good Works Nay Faith is set in Opposition to Good Works and God to God himself the Passages of Scripture which speak of Faith being brought out against those which relate to Works It is true say some the Scripture says that without Holiness no manshall see God but it is likewise written that we are not justified by our Works but only by Faith And by this way of reasoning Men raise themselves above the reproaches and accusations of their own Consciences I say it once more this is to attack and confute the Word of God by it self and to charge the Holy Ghost with self-contradiction For in short if a Man can be justified without Good Works he can be saved without them too since the being justified is the same thing with the being saved Now if a Man can be saved without Good Works he may see the Face of God without Holiness which is directly contrary to what St. Paul tells us * Heb. 21.14 that without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. 2. A great many People imagine that it is one of the Priviledges of Christians not to be tied to the Observation of God's Law as the Jews were some mistaken places give occasion to that Error and particularly this †Rom. 6. We are no more under the Law but under Grace These words are thus interpreted The Law did prescribe Works but the Gospel requires only Faith the Law did threaten but the Gospel speaks only of Grace and Pardon So that to require Works at this time of day is to bring back the Dispensation of the Law There is something of Truth in this reasoning but those who make use of it to free themselves from the Observation of God's Commandments do very little understand either what the Law or the Gospel is and wherein these two Dispensations differ It is certain that the Law was a Dispensation of Severity it did not propose to Men remission of sins and salvation as the Gospel does The Law had not that power and efficacy to sanctify Men which Grace has The Law laid upon the Jews great many Obligation which were not only burdensom and painful but which besides had no intrinseâ—â—â— Holiness in them and those Duties were enjoyned under a Curse The Law it self was a time of Severity and Malediction in respect to all the Nations of the Earth since all the while that Oeconomy did subsist they were excluded from the Covenant which God had made with the Jews In these several regards we are not under the Law but under Grace But if from this that we are not under the Law we should infer that we are no longer bound to do what is just this Inference would overturn the whole Gospel and transform Religion into Libertinism Iâ— because we are under Grace we ought to speak no more of Works why should the Gospel prescribe Works and the same Works which the Law enjoyned excepting only the Ceremonies Why should this Gospel call us to a Holiness which exceeds that of the Jews and enforce this Obligation with more terrible Threatnings than those of the Law Why did our Saviour John the Baptist and the Apostles preach up Repentance and enter upon their Ministry with these Words | Mat. 3.2 and 4.4 repent ye According to the Hypothesis of these Men they should have spoken to them after this manner * Acts 11.17 This is the time of Grace the Law is past and the Covenant of Works is abolished therefore fear nothing let not your sins trouble you for Salvation is promised to all Mankind Whence comes it to pass that our †Mat. 5.6.7 Saviour speaks only of Works in his Sermon upon the Mount or that St. Paul declares that the natural intention and the proper effect of Grace is to teach Men to live according to the rules of Temperance Justice and Godliness Must we say that God is altered that he does not love Holiness so much now as he did heretofore of that Sin is become less odious to him since it was expiated by the death of his Son But it is said we are no more under the Law What are Christians then a Lawless People On the contrary we are under the Law I mean under the Law of Christ under | Rom. 8.2 the Law of the Spirit of life which makes us free from the Law of Sin and Death But let us hear St. Paul himself in what sense and respect does he say that we are no more under the Law but under Grace He says this precisely to shew that
namely that when the Scripture says that Faith is sufficient to Salvation we are to understand by the word Faith in this Proposition that true Faith which the Gospel requires Now if we ask what that Faith is and by what Marks it may be known All the Apostles will unanimously tell us that true Faith produces a Holy Life and that it discovers it self by all manner of Good Works They assign Good Works as the essential Mark and Character that distinguishes a saving from an Hypocritical Faith By that very thing therefore that the Gospel requires Faith it does likewise require Good Works since Faith cannot be without Works And by consequence the Opinion of those who fancy that Faith is sufficient without Works is evidently absurd and contrary to the Gospel and to the Nature of Faith it self But to set this matter still in a clearer light it is necessary to take notice here of two Mistakes which Men are apt to run into when they speak of Faith and Good Works The first is that they separate Faith from Works they look upon Faith as a thing quite different from Works and which supplies the want of them or rather they oppose Faith to Works as if these two things were contrary to each other A Corrupt Man will say I confess that I have not Good Works but however I have Faith Those who speak thus suppose that they may have Faith tho' they have not Works but St. James has directly confuted this Imagination †Jam. II. What does it profit my Brethren though a man say he has Faith and have not Works can Faith save him If Faith have not Works it is dead being alone Who can after this separate saving Faith from Good Works Can we separate that from Faith which God has declared to be inseparable from it It shews that Men are strangely blinded With Ignorance and Prejudice when at this time of day we are fain to prove things so plain and questionable The Second Illusion is that Men place Faith in Confidence alone and many define it by that They fancy that to have Faith is nothing else but to believe that God is merciful and to rely upon the Merits of Christ because Faith embraces the Promises of the Gospel the natural effect of which Promise is to fill the Heart with assurance and tranquility It is beyond all doubt that for the most part true Faith is attended with Confidence But Confidence is not the Whole of Faith and I cannot Imagine what part of God's Word countenances that Notion which places the Essence of Faith in Confidence alone The Faith which the Gospel speaks of consists in believing that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and the Saviour of the World in embracing his Doctrine as true and in making Profession of it in doing his Commandments and hoping for Salvation from him But the resolving all Faith and Religion into Acts of Confidence is the most extravagant Conceit that can enter into a Man's Head If this Notion was true it would follow from it that in order to be saved it is enough fore Man to believe that he shall be saved Which is the same thing as to say that whoever would have a right to confide in God needs do no more in order to that than actually to trust in him and that is a most ridiculous Thought which turns all Religion into a strong Fancy Before we believe a thing we ought to know why we should believe it and have good reason and solid Grounds for our Belief Before we trust in God we ought to satisfy our selves that we have a Right to confide in him for can a Man be saved only because without any ground or reason he fancies that he shall We ought not to rely upon God but according to his Promise Now God has promised nothing to those who live and are hardned in Sin far from promising any thing to them he threatens them with inevitable ruin What claim or title then can an obdurate Sinner have to the Mercy of God What Confidence can he repose in God's Promises as long as he continues impenitent None at all except we suppose in God a general Decree to save indifferently all sorts of Persons It must not be said that these Considerations are apt to Alarm and Disturb the Peace of Men's Consciences for they will Alarm none of those who are animated with true Faith and sincere Piety And as to others we do them a great piece of service when we awaken and terrify them out of that false Quiet into which a groundless Confidence has betraied them On the other hand it is a dangerous thing to teach that Confidence is the most essential thing to Faith for by this we may alarm some good Men who either through Melancholy or want of Instruction are destitute of Confidence and inward Peace And it has certainly happened that several Pious Persons are fallen into black Thoughts and sad Scruples concerning their Salvation and that they have in some measure desponded because they did not find Confidence and a sense of the love of God in themselves From all these Reflections it does evidently appear that Faith never ought nor can be separated from Good Works and that Christians are as much obliged to aply themselves to Good Works as they are to believe and to have Faith But now if it be asked why St. Paul â—hen opposes Faith to Works and why he excludes Works when he treats of Justification I answer that the Apostle â—ins at two things by this His design â—s to shew 1. That Works are not the Cause and Foundation of Men's Salvation â—ut that it flows from the pure Mercy of God through Jesus Christ This he proves with respect both to the Heathens and the Jews in the first Chapters of his Epistle â—o the Romans But he did not mean to say â—hat Good Works are not necessary under â—he Covenant of Grace His expressions are too clear to leave the least Room for any doubt about this matter To reâ—eject the meritoriousness of Good Works â—s one thing and to deny their necessity is â—nother But 2ly because it may be obâ—ected that St. Paul does intirely exclude Works and that he uses expression which implie that Christians are no longer obliged to the practice of them and that they have no influence on Men's Salvation either as Causes or Conditions but on the contrary are opposed to Faith Therefore I add that he speaks thus with relation to the Works of the ceremonial Law and especially to Circumcision There were many in St. Paul's time who asserted that Christians were bound to observe those Legal Ordinances It was about the Question that the Apostles met a Jerusalem and determined * Acts. XV. that Christians 〈◊〉 justified by Faith only and that the yoke of Mosaical Ordinances ought not to be laid up on them The same Conroverly is handled by St. Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians where
who can tell whether his Conversion was not begun either before he was taken or in the Prison where it is probable that he was kept for some time before the Feast of Passover over But if his Conversion must needs be sudden and wrought only a few Minutes before his Death if we must of necessity ascribe it to a Miraculous Inspiration and to those singular Circumstances which he then happen'd to be in yet I do not see what can be inferr'd from this Instance since no Man living can assure himself that any such thing will befall him But be that as it will we should I think observe a vast difference between the state of this Thief and that of a Christian This poor Wretch had not been called before as Christians are he had never known our Saviour or at least he had not professed his Religion he had not had that Ilumination and those Opportunities which Grace offers every day to those to whom the Gospel is Preached And so his Repentance tho' it came late yet it might be as effectual to Salvation as that of the Heathens who embraced Christianity in their riper Years and who happen'd to die immediately after Baptism I shall say a word or two upon the Parable of the Labourers where we read * Mat. XX. that those who went to work in the Vineyard only an hour before Sun-set received the same Wages with those who had been at work ever since the Morning From this Sinners imagine it may be proved by an invincible Argument that those who Repent but a little before Death will obtain the same Reward with those whole Life has been Regular But this is not our Saviour's meaning in that Parable It signifies only that those whom God should call last and who should answer his Call were to be received into the Covenant in the same manner as those who had been called to it before and that the Heathens should share in the same Priviledges with the Jews tho' the Jews had been in Covenant with God a great while before the Heathens This our Saviour declares in these Words which conclude the Parable so the last shall be first and the first last Here is nothing that can be applied to those Christians who delay their Conversion They are not in the same Case with the Labourers who were sent but late into the Vineyard Those Labourers went no sooner because no Man had hired them but they went as soon as they were sent I say Christians are not in this Case since they have been called in the Morning and at all the Hours of the Day being Born and having always lived in the Church I have been somewhat large in shewing how unreasonable and dangerous the Proceeding of those Men is who pretend to Repent only at the end of their Lives But all those who put off their Conversion do not put it off so far There are many who acknowledge that it is dangerous to stay till the extremity and that it is necessary to Repent betimes they propose to go about it in a little time and they hope that they shall Repent soon enough not to be surprized by Death under a total hardning but in the mean while they do nothing toward their Conversion This way of Delaying is an Illusion which does not appear so gross and dangerous as the former because it supposes some Inclination to Good But yet it is no better than an Artifice of the Heart a Trick of Self-love by which a Man deceives and blinds himself Nay in some respects the State of these last is more criminal and dangerous than that of the first It is more criminal because they do not what they approve of and because they sin against the constant Admonitions of their Consciences and do not perform their Resolutions and their Promises But it is likewise more dangerous for with this Intention to Repent in a little time they think themselves much better than those who are resolved to Repent only upon their Death-bed they applaud themselves for such a sense of Piety as they have and they judge that if they are not quite in a state of Salvation at least they are not far from it Now one may easily see that such an Opinion of themselves can only lay their Consciences asleep and inspire them with Presumption and Security But all things considered they go no farther with these good Dispositions than those who without shuffling refer the whole matter to the end of their Lives All the difference is that the latter do all at once what the others do successively And therefore all that has been said in this Chapter may almost wholly be applied to these last They run the same Risk with those who design to Repent only upon extremity since Death may surprize them before they have executed their good Resolutions They have as little love for God and are as much addicted to their Lusts That which deceives them is that they fancy that there is in them a sincere Purpose of Conversion But if this Intention is sincere how comes it to pass that they do not Repent When a Man is resolved upon a thing when his Heart is in it when he desires it in good earnest he goes about it without losing time But when a Man uses Delays it is a sign that he is not well resolved yet A Resolution which no Effect follows is not a fixed and settled Resolution This purpose of Conversion is therefore but one of those wavering Designs and Projects which are formed every Day but never accomplished It is no more than a general and unactive Intention which may perhaps be found in all Men. But other sorts of purposes are necessary for a Man who hopes to be saved Salvation is not obtained by bare Designs and Projects but by the actual Practice of Holiness Now Men might easily be undeceived and Convince themselves of the un-sincerity of all those Resolutions they make in relation to Repentance if they did but reflect upon the time past and ask themselves whether they have not been very near in the same Sentiments and Resolutions for some years together And yet these Sentiments have produced nothing and those Resolutions have made no Change in them they are still in the same state and perhaps farther from Conversion than ever Must not Men blindfold themselves when they do not see that it will still be the same thing for the future and that Life will slip away in perpetual delays For what can they promise to themselves from the time to come and what ground have they to hope that it will not be like the time past Are they more firmly resolved than they were before When will this Resolution be put in Practice Will it be in a Month or in a Year They must confess they do not know when it will be So that when they promise to repent they do not know what they promise nay they cannot tell whether they promise any
Eye of some Wise Persons who may observe their Deportment I do not enlarge upon these Considerations because they would carry me too far neither do I speak here of Encouragement Correction and Example nor of some other Means which might be very usefully taken in hand for regulating the Conduct of Children because these have been spoken to already There is ground enough to conclude from what has been said that Corruption proceeds primarily and chiefly from the ill Education of Youth The ordinary Education of Children being not Christian what wonder is it that true Christianity and folid Virtue should be so scarce The first Impressions are the strongest The Principles which have been imbibed in the first Years of Life do not wear out afterwards and those who had not a good Education are not often known to be wise and regular in their Conduct Let it not be objected here what many are wont to alledge upon this Subject That the Errors of Education are not so considerable but that they may be corrected afterwards and that Wisdom comes with Years Thus those Men reason who only examine things superficially but such Persons did never seriously reflect upon Man's Temper upon the manner how ill Habits are formed or upon Experience Almost all good or ill Habits begin in Infancy and they grow stronger afterwards The Age which succeeds Youth is so far from supplying the Defects of Education that on the contrary the longer a Man lives the more difficult it is for him to return to Virtue if he did not set out well at first For besides that Habits are then stronger and deeper rooted Business does also come with Age and People have no longer that leisure and freedom which they had when they were young Those therefore who do not take right Measures early and who lanch into the World with ill Principles are still growing worse instead of amending This is verified by daily experience Age seldom alters Men for the better I do not deny but that People who were neglected in their Infancy or whose Youth has been unruly are sometimes known to change their Manners and their Conduct when they come to a riper Age. But we are to consider how this Change happens and what the Nature of it is In some it is a thorough Change and a sincere return to Virtue God sometimes works Conversion in the greatest Sinners and he does this commonly by Afflictions Sicknesses and Pains But such kinds of Conversion are not very frequent The Change which we think we observe both in our selves and others is not always sincere it is often no more than an effect of Age of the State we are in or of Custom Age does Two Things it deadens the Passions and it changes them In the heat of Youth Passions are violent and make a great stir when the prime of Life is over a Man perhaps is no longer a Libertine or a Deboshee but his Exterior only is reformed The same Principle of Corruption remains in his Heart He that was Sensual and given to Lewdness moderates himself but still his Heart and his Imaginations are defiled He that was Profane and Impious does no longer profess Libertinism openly he practises some Duties of Religion But for all that he has no more Devotion or Faith than before Age does likewise change Mens Passions and Inclinations Young People have their Passions and supposing these should abate about Forty or Fifty or even that they should be quite left off which yet happens but seldom there are other Passions which succeed those of Youth and which work the stronger because they are not so much mistrusted and because they make less noise and are hid under the pretence of a Lawful Calling Thus we see often that Libertines and Deboshees end with Ambition and Covetousness The World calls the Change which is observed in those Men Conversion and Amendment A Man is said to be reclaimed from the Errors of his younger Days when his Conduct is no longer Scandalous or manifestly Criminal but if he is free from the Faults of his Youth he is guilty of others which he had not then He is no longer Dissolute but he is a Slave to Ambition he is Covetous Unjust and wedded to the World more than ever Nay all things well considered he is worse than he was in his youth since he has run from one Vice into another and loaded himself with the Sins of the several Stages of Life We are not to imagine that every alteration which Age makes in Mens Conduct and Manners is a true Conversion The various States Callings and Professions of Men do likewise put many of them upon altering their way of Living and make them give over those Excesses to which they have been addicted for some time As soon as a Man come to be the Master of a Family or to be preferred to Places he must of hecessity grow more regular in his Conduct and forsake several Disorders which he alâ—owed himself in before He becomes more â—erious he applies himself closer to labour â—e lives more retired and he takes leave of â—he Amusements of Youth Honour Decenâ—y Interest the necessity of making a Famiâ—y and other Considerations oblige him to â—his but Religion has not always a share in â—his Change Lasty a Habit of Sinning does often blind â—nd harder Men to that degree that they â—magine there is a sincere Amendment in â—hem when there is none at all nay when â—hey are more Corrupt than when they were young Men at first are sensible of their Faults Conscience checks them for the sins â—hey commit but in process of time they perâ—eive them no more Conscience grows seared â—nd they Sin without being aware of it Haâ—its seldom fail to produce this Effect of which we see a Thousand Instances in old Sinners All this shews that the Foundations of the Conduct of our whole Lives are laid in Youth â—nd that the chief reason why Men live ill is because they have not been well Educated I do not think it necessary to mention the Remedies of this Cause of Corruption I have observed them all along in shewing the Faults which are committed in the Education of Youth I shall only add before I dismiss the Subject that all this does properly concern Masters of Families and Pastors It were therefore to be wished in the first place that Parents would take more Care than they do to Breed their Children well and that in this they would proceed by the Rules which Reason and Religion prescribe They are mistaken if they think they may excuse themselves from this Obligation which both Nature and Piety lay upon them and which cannot be neglected without a Sin But the Carelesness of Parents in this Point may very justly be wondered at the Education of their Children is generally that of all things which they mind the least and the reason of it is that they themselves want Religion and Piety It would be requisite in the
next place that Pastors should discharge their Duty with relation to young People and that to this end in all Places and Churches the necessary Order and Method were established for instructing the People and particularly Children I remark this because in this respect things are not well ordered so that in many Places such helps andmeans are very much wanting It is well known that the opportunities of Instruction and the helps to Piety are mighty scarce in the Country and in Villages Schools are there managed at a very ordinary rate and many Places have no School at all whereby it happens that many Persons cannot so much as read There likewise Divine Service is but seldom performed and very carelesly too The Ministers who are appointed in those Places are generally either Men of little worth or Men who do not watch over their Flocks as they ought and who are remiss in the Exercise of their Office These are the essential Defects which should be remedied by those who have Authority in Church or State Above all it is requisite that Church-Men should have a strict inspection over Schools and Families and that Catechisings were more frequent than they are Young People ought to be the chief objects of the care of Pastors no part of their Office is more useful or rewards their Labours with better success than that Their endeavours to mend those who are come to Age are for the most part to little purpose but what they do for Children â—s of great benefit If therefore they have a Zeal for the Glory of God and if they wish to see a change in the face of the Church let them apply themselves to the instructing of youth and make it their Business to form a New Gneration Among the particular Establishments which might be made for the edification of the Church and the benefit of young People there is one which would be of great use and which seems to me absolutely necessary And that is that with relation to Children who have attained the Age of discretion the same order should be observed for their admission to the Sacrament which was practised in the Primitive Church when Catechumens were to be received into the Church by Baptism This admission was very solemn A long Probation and Instruction went before it The Catechumens were required to give an account of their Faith and the bound themselves by solemn Promises and Vows to renounce the World and to live Holy No such thing is done at this day in the Administration of Baptism because young Children are baptized but what is not done at the time of Baptism should be done when they come to Years of discretion And truly if there be not a publick and solemn Profession a Promise in due form on the Children's part I do not see how we can well answer what is objected by some against Infant-Baptism which yet is a good and laudable Practice A Man cannot be obliged to profess the Christian Religion against his will or without his knowledge This engagement is a personal thing is which every bold should act and answer for himself When Children are baptized they know nothing of what is done to them it is there fore absolutely necessary that when they come to the years of Reason they should ratify and confirm the Engagements they came under by their Baptism and that they should become Members of the Church out of Knowledge and Choice Now the fittest time for such a Confirmation and Promise is when they are admitted to the participation of the Holy Sacrament The Order then which I mean is this First that when Children desire to be admitted to the Sacrament they should be instructed for some Weeks before and that at the same time they should be informed of the Sacredness and importance of this Action and of the Promise they are to make that so they might prepare for it betimes In the next Place that they should be examined and that they should publickly render an account of their Faith This Examination being over that they should be required to renew and confirm in a publick and solemn Manner their Baptismal Vow to renounce the Devil and his Works the World and the Pomp of it the Flesh and its Lusts and to promise that they will live and die in the Christian Faith And then that they should be admitted to the Communion by Benediction and Prayers It will no doubt seem to some that I am here proposing a Novelty and that too not very necessary that there is no occasion for all this Solemnity that it is enough to examine and exhort Children in private and that this Confirmation of the Baptismal Vow is included and supposed in the admission to the Sacrament To this I say that the order I propose will be thought a Novelty by none but such as do not know what was anciently practised and who call Innovation every thing which does not agree with the Custom of their Country or their Church This is an imitation of the Ancient and the Apostolical Order and besides this Establishment being altogether sutable to the Nature of the Christian Religion as I have just now made it appear it ought not to be rejected As for what is said that it is sufficient if Children are examined and admitted in Private I answer that the Corruption of the Age we live in is so great that in many Churches this Admission and the Examination which precedes it is but three or four hours Work and sometimes less Pastors and those to whom this Function is committed do often go about it very negligently they content themselves with some Questions which for the most part relate only to Doctrine and Controversy the address to Chidren general exhortations to Piety but they take no care to instruct them in Morals or to examine their Conduct they do not require of them an express Ratification of the Baptismal Vow I know there are Pastors who do their Duty but the best thing would be to have this Form of Examination and Admission regulated in such a manner that it might not be in the Breast of every Minister to do in this Matter as he thinks fit And that all this might be done the more orderly it would be fitting that according to the Practice of the Primitive Church some Persons should be appointed on Purpose to instruct Young People and Catechumens What Care soever may be taken of Children and whatever may be done for them in private Instructions it is certain that publick and solemn Exhortations on the one hand and Promises on the other would make a much greater Impression upon them They would then look upon their Admission with Respect they would remember it all their Lives and this Solemnity would prove as useful and edifying to the whole Church as it would be to young People I offer this with the greater Confidence because an Order like this has been setled of late in some Churches and is there observed
the Men of the World St. Paul exhorts Christians †Rom. XII Eph. II and IV. Tit. II. Mat. VII XIII XIV Not to be conformed to this present world not to walk after the course of this world not to follow other mens way of living to renounce the world and the lusts of it Our Saviour enjoins his Disciples To avoid the wide gate and the broad way of the multitude and to strike into The narrow path which is walked in but by a few These are Reflections which every Man who believes the Gospel would frequently and seriously make and which should serve him for Remedies against the Temptations arising from Example and Custom There are other general Remedies which tend to lessen the number of bad Examples and to alter the Customs and Usages which are contrary to the Christian Religion For tho' it may seem that to go about the abolishing of that which is established by a general Custom and a long Use is to attempt and impossibility and tho' we cannot expect that this Cause of Corruption should be intirely removed yet the difficulty is not so great but that it might in some measure be overcome This we might have Reason to hope for if First those who know and love their Duty would discharge it with Courage and if they did add to their Knowledge a Zeal supported by Prudence and Firmness How great soever the Degeneracy of Men may be there is still something in Virtue which attracts their Respect and their Love The Endeavours of good Men against Vice are always attended with some Success If the benefit of their Exhortations and good Examples does not reach far they may at least be useful to their Families and their Acquaintance But something more than this is requisite to reform general Customs and Practices and none can do this more easily and effectually than those who are raised above other Men and who are in publick Stations I say therefore Secondly that if Christian Princes and Magistrates would use their Authority to this End and be exemplary themselves the Corruption of the World would considerably abate and bad Examples would neither be so frequent nor so forcible as they are It is in their Power to banish the greatest part of those Customs which are commonly received and to establish contrary ones The Care and Example of Pastors are likewise a most efficacious Remedy If they did instruct Christians as they ought if they did oppose the Corruption of the Age with the pure Maxims of the Gospel if they did set themselves against Abuses if they did endeavour in publick and in private to bring all those that err into the way of Truth if they applied themselves to the instructing of Youth and if their Manners were edifying and exemplary there is no doubt but that they would soon stop the Current of Vices and Scandals It should be their chief Care to oppose Abuses and ill Customs in their beginnings because when they have once taken Root the Remedy is much more difficult In fine as Customs are established by degrees so they are not abolished all at once and therefore those who do not succeed at first in so good a Design ought not presently to be discouraged and to grow weary CAUSE VII Books THIS is the last Cause of Corruption which I shall mention but without question it is one of the most generaland of the most remarkable Books are as many publick Fountains from which vast numbers of Notions and sentiments which are commonly received among Men and which are the Principles of their actions diffuse themselves into the World And as it is impossible but that among an infinity of Books a great many must be bad so it is certain that Books contribute very much to the keeping up of Corruption If Men as we have shewed in the precedent Chapters are ignorant and full of Prejudices if they have loose and impious Notions concerning Religion if great Defects are observable both in the Lives of Christians and in the state of the Church in general if the People are ill instructed and Children are ill educated the cause of all these Disorders is partly to be found in Books It is therefore a most important subject which I am to handle in this Chapter but it is likewise a very large one by reason of the prodigious Multitude of Books which I might have an opportunity to speak of here But I must confine my self to that which is most material to be said upon this Head I shall speak 1. of Ill Books and 2. of Books of Religion The number of bad Books is infinite and it would be very hard to give a Catalogue of them but I think that among all the sorts of ill Books none do greater Mischief in the World than either those which lead to Irreligion and Impiety or those which are impure and filthy The first attack Faith and the other corrupt Manners 1. The most dangerous of all Books are those which attack Religion such are not only all the Books of Atheists and Deists but such are likewise all those Works which tend to overthrow either the Authority of the Holy Scripture or the Facts and Doctrines of Christianity or the difference between Virtue and Vice or any other Principle of Religion Frank also in the same Order the Books which introduce Scepticism and the design of which is to render the Principles of Faith or Morality uncertain and dubious Those Books in which Impiety appears bare-faced are not the most pernicious Few Persons ever durst maintain Atheism openly or deny directly the Fundamentals of Religion And besides avowed Atheists and Deists have not many Followers Their Opinions raise horrour and a Man's Mind rebels against them But those Men who tho' they do not openly espouse the Cause of Impiety but pretending all the while that the acknowledge the existence of a God and a Religion do yet shake the principal Truths of Faith those Men I say diffuse a much more subtil and dangerous Poison and this may be particularly said of the Scepticks In the main they drive at the same thing with the Atheists they assault Religion with the same Weapons and make the same objections There is only this difference that the Atheist decides the Question and denies whereas the Sceptick after he has mustered up all the Objections of the Atheist and started a thousand Scruples leaves in some manner the Question undetermined he only insinuates that there is no solid Answer to those difficulties and then he concludes with a false Modesty and tells us that he dares not embrace either side and that which way soever a Man turns himself he meets with nothing but Obscurity and Uncertainty This differs little from Atheism and it does naturally lead to incredulity It is an astonishing thing that Books containing such pernicious Principles should have been published and that Libertinism in Opinions about Religion should have grown up to that pitch which we
subject to the same Passions with the Vulgar and that those Passions hinder them from discerning the Truth These Makers of Objections who pretend to Politeness and Wit are not generally sound at Heart but they love Licentiousness they are not addicted perhaps to a gross and shameful but to a more refined Libertinism they observe a little Decorum but they do not relish the Maxims of Devotion and Piety and they cannot endure to be tied to them Vanity has likewise a great share in their Conduct A great many imagine that it is for their Credit to distinguish themselves from the Vulgar and not to believe the things which are believed by the People And when they have once embraced this way and set up for Scepticks in the World they think themselves bound in point of honour to maintain that Character Men of Knowledge are sometimes governed by many Prejudices and false Motives A preconceived Notion or a meer Circumstance is sufficient to determine them to the embracing of an Opinion What has been said of the Conduct of Princes may be applied to the Opinions and Hypotheses of the Learned Wars and such other great Events upon which the Fate of Nations depends and which make so much stir in the World do not always proceed from Wise and Mature Deliberation sometimes they are but the effect of a Passion of a Humour or of some particular Circumstance Thus it is with the Learned We think too well of them if we fancy that they are always determined by the greater Weight of Reason The Motives which prompt them to maintain certain Opinions are often very slight They are not sensible of this they think themselves guided by Reason and they do not perceive the true Principle of their Actions or Judgments If Infidels did strictly examine themselves they would find perhaps that their Scruples were first raised and have been maintained since either by some Book they read when they were Young or by the Love they had for some Persons or by their Aversion to others or by some ill treatment they have met with or by the Praises which have been given them for their Wit or by some Prejudice they have conceived against Religion in General when they heard it ill defended or against certain Tenets which are particular to the Society they live in and manifestly absurd or by some other Motion of this Nature If we call to mind in the last Place what has been said in the beginning of this Treatise to wit that few Christians apply themselves sincerely to the study of the general Truths and of the Principles of Faith we shall not wonder that among so many who never inquired into the Proofs of Religion some should be inveigled by the Objections of Libertines and fall into Infidelity I have in a manner stept out of my way but this Digression is not impertinent since these Considerations may serve as a remedy against Incredulity and Scepticism which some Authors would fain establish by their Writings One would think that every body should abhor those Impious Books but yet they are read and liked by many Persons Young People especially who for the most part love Novelty and are inclined to Vanity and Licentiousness do easily imbibe the Principles which are scattered through such Books They are imposed upon by the Genteelness the Wit and some kind of Learning which they commonly find there Being not well grounded in Religion they are struck with the Reasonings of Infidels they very first Objection puzzles them they begin to doubt of many things and in a little time they become thorough-paced Scepticks I leave any one to judge what effects this may produce in an Age so prone to Vice as this is and if Young People can avoid being Corrupted when they are no longer restrained by Religion and Conscience There is no Condition more remediless nor is there any State more deplorable than when Incredulity is joyned with dissoluteness of Manners People then are hardly to be reclaimed Age and ill Life fortifie their Doubts and Scruples and they continue in that State to their dying Day This is the fruit which many reap from the reading of those pernicious Books but it is not all the Mischief which is occasioned by such Writings They may fall into the Hands of many who have no great compass of Knowledge and beget several Scruples in the Minds even of good Men. After these Reflections I make no doubt but it will be granted that no Books are more dangerous than these and that to have the Confidence of Publishing them is a superlative Degree of Impiety II. The Books I have now spoken of assault Religion and Piety in general and by consequence open a door to all manner of Disorders and Vices There are others which tho' they do not attack the Principles of Faith do yet introduce Licentiousness of Manners It would be a long Work if I should specify here their several sorts which are as many as there are Vices Passions or received Errors among Men This is a Detail which I cannot enter into Being then forced to stint my self I shall only speak of impure Books And I chuse this particular Species of ill Books because the number of these is not only very great but because they are those likewise which do most generally Corrupt Men. Their Number is prodigious First we have the Obscene Books of the Heathen which are not only read by Men but are put likewise into the Hands of Youth Some People are so infatuated with these Books that they fancy a Man cannot be a Master of Greek or Latin unless he has read all the Obscenities written in those Two Languages which is as extravagant an Opinion as if a Man should pretend that whosever designs to acquire a thorough Knowledge of the French or of any other living Language and to be able to speak and write elegantly in it must read all the leud Poems and all the scandalous Books which this Age has produced Secondly Besides impure Books of Pagan Authors we have those that are writ by Christians The World is ove-run with Books of this Stamp their Number increases every Day and their amazing multitude is one of the strongest Proofs of the extream Corruption of the Times It is the last degree of Impudence to write in that Style and then to disperse it in the World by the Press The Dissolution must need be very great when this is done so freely and so often as it is in this Age. Nothing can be imagined more lascivious or execrable than some Books which have been and still are Published from time to time Paganism did never produce any thing more abominable upon the Head of Impurity than several Works which were hatched in the very Bosom of Christianity so that in this respect Christians have no cause to reproach Heathens These Detestable Books are not the only Impure ones nor perhaps the more dangerous vast Numbers of others are currant
capable of doing more hurt than good 1. An Author who Treats of Morality should always have these Two Rules in his view 1. To explain exactly the Nature of the Duties which it prescribe And 2. to persâ—â—de Men to the practice of those Duties Now these Two Rules have not been sufficiently observed by all those who have published Moral Books 1. They do not always represent with due exactness the Nature of Vice or Virtue Either the Notions they give of them are not true or they are too general On the one hand they are not accurate enough in describing the true Characters of each Virtue and Vice and on the other hand they do not distinguish their various Kinds and Degrees which yet ought to be done if they intend that Men should know their own Pictures 2. They do not press Men enough to the practice of Virtue The End of Morality is to work upon Man's Heart and Passions In order to compass this End Two things are necessary 1. That all those great Motives which the Gospel affords should be strongly urged And 2. that the false Reasons and Motives which engage Men into the Love of this World and give them any Aversion to Holiness should be Confuted Morals cannot be usefully handled without the observation of these Two Maxims the second especially for the Reason why many are not prevailed upon by the Arguments and Motives which are offered to them is because they are hindred by other Arguments and Motives A Reader frames in himself a Hundred Objections against what he reads in a Book of Morality Man's Heart is no sooner inclined to any Vice but it grows fertile in Evasions Reasons and Pretences Every Sinner has his Excuses and his Shifts If these who Teach Morality do not obviate those Objections and destroy those Excuses they can never obtain their Design but this is a trouble which few Authors care to take upon them 2. Books of Morals would produce more fruit than they do if the Morality they Teach was neither too much relaxed nor too severe Morality is relaxed when it does not propose the Duties of a Christian Life in their full extent or when it does not assert the absolute necessity of the observation of those Duties It is strained and too severe when it imposes Duties which God has not Commanded or which cannot possibly be practised and when it ranks among Sins things which are innocent I touch this only by the by because I have spoken already in some other Places of this Treatise both of the remiss and over severe Notions which Men form to themselves about Religion See Part I. Cause I. Art II. and Cause II. Art V VI. and Part II. Cause III. Art I. 3. Some of the Authors who handle Morality are guilty of another Fault and that is a want of accuracy and exactness in their Ideas and Reasonings They do not consider enough whether every thing they advance is strictly solid and true whether the Principles they lay down will hold whether their Maxims are not stretched too far or absurd whether they do not contradict themselves whether they do not make use of frivolous Reasons whether nothing is false or mean in the Motives they urge in a word whether or not their works will be able to stand the Censure of a Judicious Reader Moralists as well as the generality of Preachers are a little too much carried away by the heat of their Imagination and Zeal and they do not reason enough They often go about to move People with Rhethorical Figures rather than by dint of reasons And this is a very ill Method In Matters of Morality it chiefly concerns a Man to speak and to argue close without this it is impossible that he should either convince the Mind or produce a solid and diserning Piety 4. The World is full of Books of Morality and yet there are several important subjects which have not hitherto been treated as they ought or if they have it was in Works which are not read by the People Those who study Morality are often sensible of this defect and complain justly that they do not find in Books all the light and helps they look for there It is but of late that any thing has been writ with exactness in French upon Restitution Who can doubt but that a good Book concerning Impurity would be highly useful This sin is exceeding common but it is one of those about which the People are the least instructed If Christians understood the Nature of this Vice its Consequences and the duties of those who have fallen into it they would certainly avoid it more carefully than they do I might say the same of Injustice of Swearing and of some other Subjects IV. I come in the Last place to Books of Devotion It is very necessary to make a right Choice of them because of all the Books of Religion they are those which are the most read 1. I cannot help saying in the first place that there are Books of Devotion which are capable of introducing Corruption of Manners and diverting Christians from the study of Holiness We may easily apprehend how there should be Books of this kind if we confider that many even among Divines think it dangerous to insist upon good Works and to press Morality And there are Books of Devotion which were made on purpose to maintain so strange an Opinion Some Authors have taught that true Devotion and solid Piety is not that which consists in the Practice of Good Works they have writ that the Doctrine which represents good Works as a necessary condition in order to Salvation overthrows the Doctrine of Justification by Faith that Works cannot be looked upon as the way to Heaven that all we have to do now under the Gospel Covenant is to receive and to accept of the Salvation purchased for us and that the Gospel requires Works only from the Motives of Gratitude and Love Nay those Authors enter into dispute they refute the Arguments drawn from the Exhortations Promises and Threatnings of Scripture which might be urged against them and they tax with Pharisaism or Pelagianism those who are of an Opinion Contrary to their I cannot think the Authors of such Books did publish them with ill intentions but I could wish they had abstained from â—riting things which gives such mighty advantages of Libertines and which may blast the fruit of all the Books of Morality and of all the Exhortations which â—â—e addressed to Sinners And yet these Books are Printed and which is more surprizing those Divines who are so rigid and scrupulous in point of Books and Sentiments do not oppose the publishing of such Works but they suffer them quietly to pass for Current in the World 2. The Books of Mystical Devotion are likewise most dangerous and their number is greater than we imagine For to say nothing of those in which Mystical and Fanatical Principles are openly proposed many Works which are otherwise full
Religion is attended with some difficulty The general Rule is to chuse those which are instructive and edifying Every body will own this to be a good Rule but all Men do not agree in the Application of it What seems edifying to some appears quite otherwise to others In point of Religion all Men should be of the same Mind since they are all bound to believe the same Truths and practise the same Duties but their Tastes are different because many of them have a vitiated Palate To speak my Mind upon this Subject I think that Christians should chiefly stick to those Books which prove the Truths of Religion and which establish by solid Arguments the fundamental Articles of the Christian Faith and to those which give a clear and exact View of the Duties of Morality To these it may be useful to add the Works in which we find the Examples of Persons eminent for their Piety and Virtue Such Examples are very efficacious to excite Men to the Practice of what is good and they prove a great Preservative against the Scandal occasioned by bad Example and against the Corruption of the Age. But not to enlarge further upon the Choice of Books I refer the Reader to what has been said in this Chapter A judicious Choice of Books being once made the next thing is to make a good use of them And here two Rules are to be observed 1. A Man should read with Judgment And 2. he should read in order to Practice 1. What Book soever we read it is absolutely necessary to read it with Discretion and Judgment We are commanded in Scripture * 1 Thes V. XXI 1 Joh. IV. I. To prove all things and to hold fast that which is good to try the Spirits and the Doctrines whether they are of God This Caution is to be used lest we fall into Errors since every Author is a Man and by consequence may sometimes be mistaken The common People do particularly need this Advice because they are very apt to believe that whatsoever is read in Books especially in Books of Devotion is true But tho' a Book should contain nothing but what is good Discretion is necessary to make a just Application of the Contents of it to out selves because that which is proper for some is not sutable to others The not observing this Rule is the Reason why some Readers who have a pure but a timorous and short-sighted Conscience are terrified without Cause and apply to themselves what is said only of wicked Men when on the other hand hardened Sinners deceive themselves with vain hopes by adapting to themselves what related only to good Men. 2. We ought to read in order to practice and that we may grow better this is the more important Rule of the two and that which distinguishes true from hypocritical Devotion Many are very regular and constant in Reading and they seldom fail to do it Mornings and Evenings But the Deportment of those Persons who are so assiduous in the perusing of good Books is not always agreeable to the Rules of Devotion and Piety When they are but just come from their Reading we find them often sowr peevish and passionate after they have read in the Morning they spend the Day in Slandering Gaming or Idleness and they avoid only the grosser and the more noisie Sins There are Readers of another Character they read and even delight in the Reading of Books of Religion They like well enough those Works which prove the Truths of the Christian Religion or treat of Morals they speak of them advantagiously and they will say fine Things concerning the Abuses which are crept into Religion and upon the Necessity and the Beauty of Morals but all this terminates only in a vain and fruitless Approbation which they give to the Truths and Duties of the Gospel for after all they reform nothing in their Lives Such Readings are but meer Amusements and they are good for nothing but to rock Conscience into a most dangerous Sleep The End of Reading as well as that of all Religion ought to be the Practice of Holiness I. shall here observe last of all that Christians have a Book which alone might suffice to preserve them from the Danger of ill Books and to secure them against the Corruption of the Age if they did use it as they ought I mean the Holy Scripture It is the best of all Books a Work divinely inspired which contains nothing but what is most excellent and true and wherein we find every thing that is necessary to instruct and to sanctifie Men. But it were to be wished 1. That the Translations of Scripture which are in the hands of the People should be rendered more perfect so that they might express the Sense of Sacred Authors with all possible Exactness All those who have studied the Original Text of the Bible will own that this is a necessary Work and that the Translations need some Amendments And so we see accordingly that now and then Divines and Translators apply themselves to the correcting of them 2. It would be to no purpose to have exact Translations of Scripture if Men could not read it I have already remarked it elsewhere as a crying and shameful Abuse that a great part of Christians should not be able to read This Abuse should have been reformed long ago and this might easily be done if every Pastor did endeavour it in his own Church and if the Magistrates did lend a helping Hand toward it 3. The Holy Scripture should be read more than it is and Men should make that use of it for which it was given Other Books are only Streams but when we read the Scripture we drink at the very Fountain-head Humane Books have their Faults and therefore they ought to be read with great Discretion But this Divine Book is most perfect it is a Guide to whose Conduct we may give up our selves without fear or danger This being certain is it not strange that the best of all Books should be the most neglected In many Countries the Bible is a Book unknown to the People In other places the reading of it is permitted but with great Cautions as if it were dangerous for Christians to reveal a Book by which God was pleased to reveal his Will to Men. In those places where Christians have an entire Liberty to read the Scripture great multitudes make no advantage of that freedom Many that are addicted to reading leave the Word of God for other Books In a word very few read it with suitable Dispositions and with a sincere Design of learning the Will of God and of growing the better by it And thus the far greater part of Mankind is destitute of the most efficacious mean and remedy which the Divine Goodness has afforded to Men to preserve them from the Contagion of Sin and to make them happy And so we need not wonder that the Corruption of Christians should be such as