and directed me where and how to seek for the particular Doctrines of it it follows now that I should put this Speculation into Practice that I would search the Scriptures with all the diligence I can and set my Mind with all its Faculties on work to find out as much as I am able of the Will of God that I may the better conform my self unto it This with God's help I design speedily to do And the Result of my Thoughts shall be published to the World if what I here write prove acceptable But in the mean time I think it not improper here to add some general Considerations which may serve as Rules and Guides to me or to any other Person who shall set himself upon such an Enquiry to direct our Judgments aright to the true Doctrine of Christianity and to keep us from all Mistakes about it XL. First Then I take it for granted That the Christian Religion is calculated for Men of Reason and Understanding that is That it is fit to satisfie and convince every sober Man who seriously considers the Arguments on which it relies and is not led astray by Passion by Prejudice or Worldly Interest That this is so appears very evidently from hence Because both Jesus and his Appostles do appeal to the common Reason and Understandings of Men to judge of what they taught Yea and why even of your selves judge ye not what is right says Jesus Luk. 12. 57. Prove all things hold fast that which is good says St. Paul 1 Thes 5. 21. Be ready always to give an Answer to every one that asketh you a Reason of the Hope that is in you says St. Peter 1 Pet. 3. 15. Believe not every Spirit but try the Spirits whether they are of God says St. John 1 Joh. 4. 1. Hence then I conclude That there can be nothing in Christian Religion which contradicts the clear and evident Principles of Natural Reason For otherwise a Rational Man could not be a Christian See § 33. XLI Secondly It appears plain to me that Christian Religion was calculated not only nor chiefly for Men of great and deep Learning But also for those of ordinary plain and mean Capacities That is to say That there is nothing necessary in Christianity but what may be as well understood by every ordinary illiterate Man as by the greatest Schollars If this were not so it would not be possible for an unlearned Man to be as good a Christian as one that is learned Whereas the contrary is most apparently declared in the New Testament I thank thee O Father because thou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes says Jesus Matth. 11. 25. To which the Words of St. Paul do exactly agree 1 Cor. 1. 19. to Vers 7. of the Second Chapter And the same St. Paul gives us a Caution That Philosophy should not corrupt our Christianity Col. 2. 8. And warns Timothy against Science falsely so called 2 Tim. 6. 20. But there is nothing so much as intimated throughout the whole Bible that Philosophy or any other Humane Learning will qualifie a Man ever the better to become a Christian I confess indeed That as things stand at this time in the World it is highly convenient that the Teachers and Preachers of Christianity should be competently skilled in Humane Learning that they may be the better able to defend their Religion and the Purity of it against those who use so much Art and Skill either to corrupt or oppose it But where a Man sets up not for a Teacher but only for a true Believer it is evident from what has been said that he has no need of Scholarship but only of a plain and sober Understanding to make him capable of all necessary Instruction for a good Christian Or else Why should the Gospel be preached so particularly to the Poor Matth. 11. 5. who are commonly illiterate And how should the Poor in this World become so rich of Faith as St. James tells us Jam. 2. 5. From whence I think I may conclude That all such Doctrines the Vnderstanding and Proof whereof depend either on the subtile Spcculations of Humane Philosophy or the Niceties and Criticisms of Grammatical Learning or the curious Knowledge of History and Antiquity are not to be esteemed as necessary Parts of Christianity XLII Thirdly It is no less evident to me that the main Design of Jesus and of his Disciples whom he sent to preach the Gospel was to make Men not wiser as to Matters of Speculation but better and more vertuous as to their Lives and Actions Knowledge puffeth up but Charity edisieth saith St. Paul 1 Cor. 8. 1. Thus also Chap. 13. of the same Epistle he gives us to understand that the Gift of Tongues and of Prophecy the Understanding of all Mysteries and all Knowledge and Faith are of no value before God without Charity And that by Charity he means a Life led in the Practice of Vertue and Piety susficiently appears by the Sequel of that Chapter The same St. Paul tells us Tit. 2. 13. That the Grace of God that bringeth Salvation hath appeared unto all Men For what End To make them more wise more learned or more losty in their Speculations No such thing But teaching us That denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live soberly righteously and Godly in this present World And to omit a multitude of Texts which might be alledged in so plain a Matter I shall only add what we are told Rom. 2. 6 c. That God will render unto every Man according to his Deeds c. Which is a plain Demonstration that it is our Deeds that is our Practices our Live and Conversations that we are chiefly obliged to take care of I grant indeed that God may if he pleases command things that are purely Ceremonial and such as have no manner of Influence upon Vertue and Morality As undoubtedly he did unto the Children of Israel And if he does command any such things 't is certain that we owe Obedience to them by virtue of that Authority which God has over us He may also reveal such Truths as are merely speculative and have nothing practical in them And whosoever is convinced of any such Revelation is undoubtedly bound to give his Assent to the things so revealed although they are beyond the Reach of his Understanding as I have said § 33. But from what I have here said I think I may conclude That since Vertue and Morality are undoubtedly the chief Design of Christianity they ought to be chiefly regarded and attended to by all Christians Nor ought any thing which is purely Ceremonial or Speculative to be reckoned as a necessary Part of Christian Religion except it appears very evidently that God has revealed or commanded it Very evidently I say For when a thing is conceived in dark and doubtful Expressions it is very liable to be mistaken and he that is
a Token of his Work stamped and engraved this his Mark and Character upon them X. There is no Man of common Sense who builds a convenient and goodly Structure but he takes care likewise to keep it in good Order and Repair after it is built And there is no Fabrick but in Tract of Time will visibly decay if constant care be not taken of it Since thefore God has erected and framed this goodly Structure of the World and since in so long a time there is no Manner of decay to be found in it as is abundantly proved by Hackwell in his Apology on this Subject I conclude That God not only made this World by his Power but also governs it by his Providence And for the only Objection which seems to be of any Force against God's Providence namely that wicked Men do often thrive and prosper whilst good and Vertuous Men are oppressed with Misery it is most easily and naturally solved by supposing what shall anon be proved That there are abundant Rewards for good Men and sufficient punishments for the wicked to be distributed in a Life which is to come which will bring all things to be equal at the last XI Every Parent who begets and brings up a Child every Master who feeds and pays a Servant every Prince who governs and protects his Subjects and every Benefactor who does any act of Kindness for another may very reasonably and do always expect a Return of Love Obedience and Gratitude in due Proportion to the Benefits received from them Since then God is more than a Parent to us for he made us and our Parents too since he is so kind a Master who gives us our Food and all the Conveniences of Life since he governs and protects us by his over-ruling Providence more effectually than any earthly Prince does his Subjects And lastly since he is our greatest and supreme Benefactor who has given us all the good which we possess and enjoy I cannot but conclude that he expects a return of Love Obedience and Gratitude from us I will not say proportionable to the Benefits received from him for that perhaps may exceed our Ability but proportionable unto our Ability or Capacity XII That God is wise and powerful I gather from his Work which I contemplate in the Visible World And from thence I conclude That he will sufficiently punish those Persons who despise him so far as not to love thank and obey him according as he expects and requires from them That he is also good and gracious I gather from those good things which he has bestowed upon us relating both to our Bodies and Minds And from thence I conclude That he will abundantly reward all those persons who take care to pay him that Love Gratitude and Obedience which he expects XIII That these Rewards and Punishments are not finally distributed in this Life is very evident Because we often see Men that are notoriously wicked enjoy all the pleasures and others that are conspicuously vertuous undergo almost all the Calamities of this World even unto their very Graves I conclude therefore That there is another Life after this in which these Rewards and Punishments shall be duly distributed XIV When a Man is once convinced that there is a God to whom there is a Service due and that there are Rewards and Punishments to be dispensed to all Men according as they have performed or neglecting that Service the grand Enquiry that every Man is concerned to make is What he must do to avoid these Punishments and to be made Partaker of these Rewards And here I think I may most easily and naturally make these following Conclusions viz. 1. He who does what God requires from him shall not be punished but rewarded 2. God requires from every Man that he should use his honest Endeavour by all means to know and understand his Will as perfectly as he can For this is but Reason for every Master to expect from his Servant much more for such a Master as God 3. If a Man does his heartiest and best Endeavour first to know and then to perform the Will of God God will require no more from him For to me it seems utterly inconsistent with the Wisdom of God to expect and with his Goodness to require any more from a Man than what he is able to perform i. e. any more than his best and most hearty Endeavours XV. There are in the general but two ways of finding out knowing the Will of God The one is by the use of our natural Reason and Understanding the other is by attending to that Revelation which God has made of his Will to the World Here then I conclude I must make it my Business sirst to enquire into the Truth and Reality of this Revelation and then to make use of that and my Reason together in order to find out what is God's Will XVI That there was such a Person as Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee in the time of Tiberius Caesar the Roman Empetor That he had a Company of poor Men for his Disciples That He and his Disciples went about the Country of Judea Teaching and Preaching That he was put to death upon the Cross after the Roman manner under Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor of Judea That after his Death his Disciples went about into all or most Parts of the then known World Teaching and Preaching that this Jesus was the Christ the Son of God and Saviour of the World and that he was risen from the Dead and gone into Heaven That in a few Years they converted a very great Number of People in all places to this Belief That the Professors of this Belief were called Christians That they were most cruelly persecuted and many Thousands of them put to death and that with most exquisite Torments for no other Reason but because they were Christians That these Persecutions were several times renewed againg them for the space of about Three Hundred Years And yet for all this that the Number of Christians daily increased and that not only Ideots and Unlearned Men but great Scholars and Philosophers were converted to Christianity even in the Times of Persecution All this being merely Matter of Fact was never yet denied by the greatest Enemies of Christian Religion And indeed these things are so abundantly testified by the Histories and other Writings of those Times and have been so generally receiv'd for Truth as well by the Opposers as Believers of Christianity by a constant universal and uninterrupted Tradition from those Days even unto this Time that a Man may as well deny the Truth of any or of all the Histories of the World as of this Now since all Men generally have a strong Inclination to retain and stick to that Religion whatever it be in which both they and their Fathers have been brought up and no less an Aversion to all causeless Innovations in Matters of Religion Moreover since all Men without
to be a person wonderful a Counsellour the mighty God the Prince of Peace of the increase of whose Government there should be no end and unto whom the gathering of the Nations should be Now altho there may some Difficulties be started as to the Interpretation of some of those and such like Prophecies which do occurr in the Old Testament which is no great wonder considering how the Jews who are enemies to Christianity have endeavoured to obscure and perplex them yet if we do consider that there is evidently a fair consonant and reasonable Application of all these Predictions to be made unto Jesus of Nazareth and that there is not nor ever was any other person to whom they could be applied besides himself and since it is not possible for any one but God to foretell a thing with so many circumstances so long before it comes to pass I think I may very well from hence conclude not only against the Jews who acknowledge but also against all others who may perhaps at first deny the Authority of the Old Testament that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ or Messiah whom God had promised to send into the World And if to this we add the greatness of his Miracles and the transcendent Goodness of his Doctrine of which see Part 1. § 19 I think the Argument will have the force of a Demonstration 37. In the Holy Scriptures I find such things spoken of Christ as do plainly shew him to have been a true and real Man in all things like unto us sin only excepted Other Expressions also I find frequently applyed to him which cannot possibly agree to any Man or created Being whatsoever but only unto God as I have already said § 22. And altho there is a plain Distinction made between his Divine and Humane Nature yet is he always spoken of but as one person Here then I know not better how to express my Sentiments than by saying that in the one and single Person of Christ there is a Conjunction of both the Divine and Humane Nature and consequently that Christ is really and truly both God and Man And if the same Objection be made against this Doctrine as is against that of the Trinity viz. that it is very obscure and difficult to be apprehended I shall also return the same Answer as I have already done to that in the latter end of § 23. to which I refer my Reader 38. He who acknowledges Christ to be God to be sure will allow of his eternal Existence as to his Divine Nature And as to what concerns his Humane Nature that he was Conceived by the Power of the Holy Ghost Born of the Virgin Mary and that after some years spent in preaching and doing good he was thro the Malice of the Jews and at their vehement desire condemned by Pilate the Roman Governour to be crucified which was accordingly done and a Spear thrust into his Side That being dead he was buried and lay in the Sepulcher unto the third day upon which he rose from the dead and aster several times conversing with his Disciples for the space of Forty days that he was visibly taken up from them and received into Heaven unto infinite and eternal Glory where he is our perpetual Mediatour and Intercessour at the Throne of God All this I say is so evidently and without Controversy testified by his Disciples whose Veracity I have asserted Part 1. § 19 and recorded in the Scriptures of the New Testament whose Authority I have proved Part 1. § 23. c that no reasonable Man I think can now deny or so much as doubt of any part of it And altho there are one or two passages of Scripture from whence it is inferred that Christ before his Resurrection did descend into Hell yet will I not venture nor do I think it necessary to determine whether by the word Hell is meant the state of the dead only or the place of the damned or if the latter signification be to be chosen for what end and purpose it was that he descended thither Only I conclude certainly that it was not to suffer any thing there because I do not find the least intimation throughout the Scripture of any suffering of Christ which he did or was to endure beyond the shedding of his Blood and yielding up his life upon the Cross 39. What God might have done had he so pleased without any other consideration but only by virture of his own absolute Authority if he has rather chosen to do it for the sake of Jesus Christ and in consideration of that Obedience which he performed and those Sufferings which he underwent who shall dare to find fault with him or pretend to be wiser than he Now that it is for the sake of Christ and of his Obedience and Sufferings that God vouchsafes to us the Pardon of our Sins and makes us the offer of everlasting Happiness is so plainly declared in many places of the Holy Scriptures that nothing can be more And since I find God's sending of Christ to be set forth as an instance of his Love not to some few particular persons only but even to the whole World and since Christ is said to have died for all and to have been a Propitiation for the sins of the World without any exception I cannot but conclude that all men who ever were or are or shall be might have been or may be the better for Christ and his Sufferings if through their own default they have not or shall not forfeit that Benefit which was designed them And as it is not disputed but that the ancient Patriarchs who by Faith foresaw the coming of Christ had a share in that Redemption which he wrought altho they died before he came into the World so to me it seems to stand with a great deal of reason that even those persons who never heard any thing of Christ may yet for his sake find Mercy from God because God who perfectly knows the most secret Inclinations of all Hearts may clearly foresee that if the knowledge of Christ had been proposed and offered unto them they would have owned him and submitted unto his Gospel which our Saviour tells us was the very case of Tyre and Sidon and for which reason he declares that they should receive a milder Doom than Chorazin and Bethsaida in the day of Judgment Mat. 11. 21 22. And how far this may extend to all such as labour under very strong Prejudices altho not strictly invincible I think that God is the only proper Judge 40. But however God may think fit to deal with those who are either ignorant of or strongly prejudiced against the Christian Religion yet the manner of his proceeding with true Believers is plainly enough declared All those who receive and own the Christian Faith are not to be looked upon as so many separate persons each of them believing such and such Doctrines but are always represented
is possible When therefore any religious Dispute arises whereby the Church's Peace and Unity is like to be endangered It is free and proper for Nor is there any thing which should hinder either the Church universal or any particular Church or even any prudent Men whatsoever to declare and publish their sense of the matter in debate But as no Man can be obliged to believe the Determination of any Church or party whatsoever any farther than he is convinced and satisfied of its agreement with Reason and the Holy Scriptures Part 2. § 1 and 2. so is not any Man bound to oppose or dispute even against an Error it self except there be something in it which is injurious to Christian Faith or practice and consequently which may prove pernicious to Men's Salvation And therefore if such a Mistake which may have prevailed in any Church cannot well be rectified without endangering the breach of Peace and Charity because they who hold it it may be are obstinately wedded to it I think it is the Duty of us all to be very tender in such a case and to permit every Man freely to abound in his own Sense until such time as God shall think fit to bring them to a clearer sight of the Truth And by no means to renounce the Communion of any Church on the account of any Error that is not damnable and much less on account only of such Terms or Expressions as are but abstruse or of doubtful signification For otherwise since the Apprehensions of Men are so very different especially in such things as being remote from our Senses are matter only of rational Speculation if Difference of Opinion upon such theological Questions as do not immediately concern our Salvation were a sufficient ground for Separation in point of Communion there would soon be probably almost as many Churches as Men in the World But if any Church shall require from a Man either to comply with or practise any thing which is not only against his Fancy in point of Decency or Convenience but also against his Conscience in point of Lawfulness or that he should not only be silent and not oppose but also explicitly profess the Belief of any such Doctrines as he judges to be false however innocent the Belief of them may be to them who think them true and if such a Church shall refuse and deny her Communion to all those who will not joyn with her upon these Terms We must rather be contented to be excluded from such a Church's Communion than to purchase it by solemnly telling a down right Lye before God and the World or by the violation of any other of God's Commands For if we offer to do Evil that Good may come of it St. Paul has declared us to be in a state of Damnation 65. For the due regulation of every Society it is necessary that it have a Power somewhere or other vested in it over its own Members either to compel them to live orderly according to its Laws and Constitutions or if any of them are disobedient and refractory and will not upon due admonition be reclaimed wholly to exclude them from the Body of the Community For otherwise if the Members of any Society may at their pleasure break its Constitutions and violate its Laws without control this would be wholly to pull down the Enclosure and lay all open and common as before and consequently in effect to dissolve the Society it self And accordingly our Saviour has given the Church a Power to admonish and rebuke those who give any scandal by their ungodly and unruly Behaviour and if upon this they do not repent and reform of rejecting and cutting them off from her Communion Which Authority must ever be exercised with due mildness and caution for the edification and not with heat and fury which in the end would more probably tend to the destruction of the Church But if any Church shall go beyond this to punish or persecute Men with Fire and Sword or with Fines and Imprisonment only for being of a different persuasion from and refusing to communicate with her In my Opinion she herein acts contrary to that Mildness and Gentleness which the Gospel upon all occasions prescribes and particularly in the case of dealing with those who oppose themselves to it 2 Tim. 2. 24. Altho at the same time it cannot be deâ—yed but that if any Man under the pretence of Conscience or Religion shall advance such Doctrines or do such acts as are destructive to the peace or safety of the civil State or Common-wealth the civil Magistrate may and ought to punish such a person according to the Laws of the Land notwithstanding all his pretences For if the Plea of Conscience the truth of which can only be known to Almighty God be sufficient to save any Malefactour from Punishment no civil Society can ever be safe and all humane Laws and Magistrates would be wholly useless See Part 1. § 35. 66 And as Almighty God in his Mercy is pleased not to cut the greatest sinners off from all hopes of pardon but is ready at any time upon their true and sincere Repentance to receive them again into his Favour so has he committed unto the Church the ministry of Reconciliation which Church therefore accordingly ought not only to endeavour to bring sinners to Repentance by Preaching Admonition and Exhortation but also wherever she sees evident Marks and Tokens of it in any person of which yet there ought to be good assurance for his greater comfort and ease of Conscience to remit or absolve him from his sins and restore him again to the benefit and privilege of Christian Communion of which I suppose that he has or ought to have been deprived And whatever Sentence of thus binding or loosing remitting or retaining of Men's sins is duly and regularly pronounced by the Church upon Earth our Saviour assures us it shall be ratified and confirmed by God in Heaven But that a Man is obliged to make a particular Confession of all his sins unto any other person except God in order to obtain the Pardon of or Absolution from them as I no where find it asserted in the Holy Scripture so the reason which the Roman Divines do allege for it is very weak and unconcluding For it is not the particular Confession of a Man's sins which may be performed by the most hardened impenitent but his Contrition and the visible reformation of his life which may sufficiently appear without a particular Confession that only can enable the Church or her Ministers to judge whether he truly repents of his sins or not and consequently whether he be a proper Object of God's Mercy and the Church's Favour Altho I deny not but that in some cases it may be very proper for a Man to make known the diseases of his Soul to a prudent Spiritual Physician that he may have his advice for the cure of them And his Duty also