esrc 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD 
 ENDOWMENT FUND
 
 RELIGIO PHILOSOPHI: 
 
 Or, the Principles of 
 
 Morality and Chriftianity 
 
 ILLUSTRATED FROM 
 
 A View of the Universe, and of 
 Man's Situation on it. 
 
 By WILLIAM HAY, Efq 5 
 
 Humbly inscribed to the 
 Right Honourable 
 
 ARTHUR ONSLOW, 
 
 Speaker of the Houfe of Commons. 
 
 Difceteque, O miferi ! & caufas cognofcite rerum, 
 Quid fumus, & quidnam vi&uri gignimur ; ordo 
 
 Quis datus : 
 
 quern te Deus effe 
 
 Juffit, & humana qua parte locatus es in re. 
 
 Persius, Sat. 3. 
 
 Attend then, wretched Youth ! in Time attend, 
 To every natural Caufe, and moral End. 
 Look into MAN, with philofophic Eye : 
 Confider W H A T we are, confider WHY. 
 Know we are polled HERE, by Power Divine ; 
 And think what Poll, that Power has deftin'd thine. 
 
 A Tranflation in 1742. 
 
 The SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for R. and J. Dodsley in Pajl-mall. 1754. 
 
 J

 
 51 
 
 TO THE 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 ARTHUR ONSLOW, 
 
 Speaker of the House of Commons, 
 
 and 
 one of his Majesty's most honour- 
 able Privy Council, 
 this ESSAY is inscribed and sub- 
 mitted, WITH GREAT AND DUE 
 Esteem and Veneration, 
 by 
 his most Obliged, 
 and Obedient Servant, 
 
 w. hay. 

 
 t - 
 
 
 
 
 :' .
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 |HE following Piece has * 
 now been compofed above 
 fifteen Months : and con- 
 sequently can have no Re- 
 ference to any Writings, which made 
 their Appearance laft Year. All the 
 Time it was in hand, the Author 
 fcrupuloufly avoided reading any 
 thing new on the Points, which 
 were the principal Subjedts of his 
 Conlideration : refolving to keep 
 * February 10. 1753. 
 
 his
 
 PRE.FAC K 
 
 his Mind as unbiaffed as poffible ; 
 that any Opinions, which he fhould 
 advance, might be, in the ftri&eft 
 Senfe, his own. 
 
 His great End is, by rectifying 
 Mens Ideas, and by removing Vul- 
 gar Prejudices,, to fix Religion on 
 a firm Basis. 
 
 In a Matter fo interefting and im- 
 portant, and of fuch general Con- 
 cern to Mankind, he thought it his 
 Duty, not to be led by Authority 
 or Custom ; but to follow Nature 
 and Reason ; Guides, who afford 
 the beft Lights in every Search after 
 Truth ; and Interpreters of Scrip- 
 ture, who are leaft fallible. 
 
 Thofe
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Thofe things, which on ferious 
 and mature Reflection appeared to 
 him to be true, he here prefents 
 without Difguife to the World : and 
 he hopes, that they will be read with 
 the fame Candor, with which they 
 were writ.
 
 ^
 
 Religio Philofophi. 
 
 MA N is confcious of his own 
 Exiftence : but feldom confi- 
 ders, where, or what, he 
 is : and his Ignorance in thefe Particulars 
 has ever been and will be the Source of 
 his greateft Errors. 
 
 He is placed on the third a Planet of our 
 Solar Syftem : that Syftem but one among 
 b numberlefs others : that Planet c neither 
 the greater!: nor leaft in that Syftem. Yet 
 
 * The fix primary Planets moving round our Sun are 
 i . Mercury. 2. Venus. 3. The Earth. 4, Mars. 5. Jupiter. 
 6. Saturn. 
 
 b The Followers of Copernicus with the greateft Pro- 
 bability (almoft Certainty) imagine each fixed Star to be a 
 Sun with Planets (more or fewer) furrounding it, as our 
 Planets furround the Sun ; and all fuch Planets to be inha- 
 bited as well as the Earth ; for the Fixed Stars are luminous 
 and fparkling ; which (hews them to be of a fiery Subftance 
 like our Sun: and if they are of the fame Nature, it is 
 very probable they ferve to a like Ufe. 
 
 For Inftance Jupiter is much larger, and Mercury much 
 lefs. 
 j^ The Author afks pardon of Perfons of Education for 
 
 inferring thefe Notes, which not one of them can want : 
 
 But they were thought neceffary to explain his Meaning 
 
 to common Readers. 
 
 B fo
 
 2 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 fo much does Nearnefs magnify Objecls ; 
 that Man who inhabits this Planet will al- 
 ways continue to call it the World ; to con* 
 fider it as fuch ; and himfelf as the only 
 * rational and moft confiderable Animal, in 
 the World j and the Sun, Moon, and Stars 
 (which appear fo fmall) as made and 
 moving only for his ufe. 
 
 When I fay Man, I mean the Gene- 
 rality of Mankind : for Geography and 
 Aftronomy have taught others another 
 Language - 3 who confider our Globe but 
 as one fingle Link in the extenfive Chain, 
 one fmall Wheel in the immenfe Machine 
 of the Univerfe : and Man its chief Inha- 
 bitant but as one Species among innume- 
 rable other Species of rational and intel- 
 ligent Creatures. 
 
 This being Man's Situation ; I would 
 afk him, who placed him on this Globe, 
 and from whence he derives his Being ? 
 Will he fay, from his Parents ? Tho' the 
 Manner of it he can never explain, I will 
 admit it : and they theirs from their Pa- 
 rents ;
 
 Religio Philosophi. 3 
 
 rents -, and fo on : which prefuppofes Pa- 
 rents Hill to exift to communicate that Be- 
 ing, till it leads us up to fome firft Parents, 
 who received theirs in another Manner. 
 From whom did they receive it ? It could 
 not be from themfelves ; they had not 
 Being. It could not be from the Earth : 
 Animals do not moot up from thence $ 
 nor hath it a Power to produce any new 
 Species : it muffc be from fome other 
 Caufe : and that Caufe mull be fome Wife 
 and Intelligent Being, who could form an 
 Animal of fuch an exquifite Frame 5 and 
 endue it with Power to propagate its Spe- 
 cies. And as by the fame reafoning we 
 muft trace every Species of Animals and 
 Vegetables on this Globe up to fome Ori- 
 ginal, which muft have received its Exi- 
 gence in another Manner -, we muft like- 
 wife conclude, that the fame Wife Being, 
 which created Man, created them alfo for 
 the Ends to which they ferve : and as this 
 Globe ferves for their Production, Sup- 
 B 2 port,
 
 4 Religio PttlLOSOPHl." 
 
 port, and Habitation j we mull likewife 
 conclude, that He who created them, cre- 
 ated this Globe alfo : and if this Globe 
 or one Planet, then every Globe and every 
 Planet within our Syftem, as alfo the Sun 
 the Center of it, which warms and invi- 
 gorates the whole : and if our Syftem, 
 then every other Syftem throughout the 
 Univerfe. For it is impoflible to conceive, 
 that he who made One Wheel in the 
 Machine, with which all the reft corre- 
 fpond, did not make the Whole. 
 
 By the Whole I would in this place be 
 underftood to mean every Fixed Star, 
 which is luminous, with its furrounding 
 Planets which are not fo : which Fixed 
 Star with its Planets taken together com- 
 pofe a Solar Syftem by themfelves, fepa- 
 rate from the reft j but which perhaps 
 correfpond with the reft as a Part to 
 the Whole. And I mean, not only eve- 
 ry Fixed Star vifible from our Earth > 
 but if Telefcopes were placed all round in 
 
 the
 
 Religio Philosopht. 5 
 
 the moft remote of them, all new ones 
 that might be difcovered from thence ; 
 till the Telefcopes frill removed on in the 
 fame manner, pointing from the fame 
 Center, mould look into a Vacant Space 
 where nothing further can be defcried. 
 This I will call our Univerfe ; and fuch 
 Vacant Space the End of our World : 
 not the End of Nature : fince beyond that 
 Space may be many AfTemblages of Bo- 
 dies equally, or perhaps more numerous, 
 wonderful and glorious. For tho' the ma- 
 terial Globes are limited in Number ; yet 
 that Number may be fo great as to exceed 
 our Computation : and tho' they exift in 
 fome Part of Space, yet that Space is im- 
 menfe beyond our Imagination. It is in- 
 deed infinite and co-extenfive with the 
 Deity, in whom (in the moft literal Senfe) 
 all things live, move, and have their Being. 
 But not to carry our Thoughts too far, 
 and to lofe them in Infinity, I will call the 
 Fixed Stars vifible to us, and to each other, 
 B 3 with
 
 6 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 with their attendant Planets, the Univerfe. 
 When this Univerfe began, or when it will 
 end, or whether every Solar Syftem in it 
 began together, or will end together, 
 God only knows : that which mufl have 
 had a Beginning in Time, may as well 
 have begun at one Time as another. It 
 may be fcarce Six Thoufand Years old, or 
 it may be Sixty Millions : it may end to- 
 morrow, or may laft for ever: for he 
 who at his Pleafure created and preferves 
 it j can at his Pleafure preferve it on or 
 annihilate it - 3 or withour annihilating can 
 change and vary it at his Pleafure. He 
 has made Matter fufceptible of all Forms 
 he may be pleafed to imprefs upon it ; 
 and the fame Mafs differently difpofed may 
 exhibit great Variety of Appearances and 
 Species of Things. The fame Star or fame 
 Planet may roll on in its ufuai Courfe 5 and 
 yet the Surface of it be fo altered, as to oc- 
 caflon a very memorable iEra in that Part. 
 If a Fixed Star is crufted over, fo as no 
 
 longer
 
 Religio Philosopht. 7 
 
 longer to difpenfe its Light, all its Planets 
 in that Syflem muft fhare the Calamity : 
 but that Calamity reaches not to the other 
 Fixed Stars. So if a particular Planet has 
 its Surface altered, it affects not the other 
 Planets of that Syftem, but may be of 
 great Importance in the Planet where it 
 happens : if all things on it are deftroyed, 
 fuch an Alteration with regard to thofe 
 that' live on it, is equivalent to a total De- 
 ftruction of the Univerfe ; and when new 
 Inhabitants are placed there, fuch Renova- 
 tion is equivalent to a new Creation. That 
 fuch Alterations may happen is certain, for 
 all things are poflible with God : that 
 they fhould happen is agreeable to his 
 Wifdom and Providence : that they have 
 happened is almoft certain from Phseno- 
 mena vifible to us within our fmall Sphere 
 of Obfervation. d Have not new Stars ap- 
 peared and old ones difappeared r c Does 
 
 * Vid. Low thorp's Abridgment of the Philofophical 
 Tranfattions, Vol. i. p. 247. 
 e Ibid. p. 274. to 279. - 
 
 B 4 not
 
 8 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 not the Face of our own Sun vary ? f Does 
 not the Surface of one Planet appear re- 
 gular ? that of another broken and irre- 
 gular, like the Fragment of fomething 
 once more entire ? But more of this in 
 another Place. 
 
 Having thus far confidered where I 
 am -, let me now confider what I am. 
 
 I am an Animal j and of that Species, 
 which is fuperior to all others on this 
 Globe. Every Animal on this Globe, muft 
 have fome EfTence or Principle, diftinct 
 from the Body, refiding in it ; becaufe 
 they are fenfible of Impreffions made on 
 the Body, and are capable of making Im- 
 preffions on the Body, and of moving it : 
 which the Body alone cannot do j for the 
 Body is Matter, and Matter however 
 varied in Form is incapable of Senfe and 
 Self-motion : and a Clod of Earth, a Stone, 
 a Chair, or a Table, might feel and move, 
 
 1 Ibid., 382. Phafis of Jupiter. 4.23 of Mars. 425. 
 of Venus Thofe of the Farth and Moon are viiible with- 
 out a Tekfcope : and we havMaps of both. 
 
 as
 
 Religio Philosophy 9 
 
 as well as a Horfe, a Dog, or a Man, if 
 thefe laft had not fome ErTence or Prin- 
 ciple united or aflbciated to their outward 
 Frame diftincT: from it. 
 
 This EfTence or Principle I call Spirit, to 
 diitinguifli it from Matter 5 and the par- 
 ticular Spirit aflbciated to the Body of any 
 Animal, the Soul of that Animal. How 
 the Soul acts on the Body of an Animal, 
 * I know not j that it does, I know from 
 the Effect. But all Motions in the Body 
 do*not proceed from the Soul, which is 
 only the Caufe of Voluntary Motion. The 
 Circulation of the Blood and Juices of the 
 Body is owing to the fame Natural Caufes, 
 as the Circulation of the Sap in Vegetables 
 is owing j and as a Plant may be im- 
 proved or impaired by a proper or impro- 
 per Manure, Air, Expofure, or Culture 3 
 fo may the Body of an Animal. While 
 the Body is kept in Order, the Soul is 
 cafy j when it is not, the Soul is in Pain : 
 when the Functions of the Body ceafe, 
 
 the
 
 10 Religi: Philosophi. 
 
 the Soul quits the Aflbciation ; but exifts 
 in a feparate State, unlefs God pleafes to 
 annihilate it. For as every Particle of 
 the Body (however transformed) will 
 remain after the Separation ; fo will the 
 Soul alfo : for whatever hath once received 
 a Being from God, cannot ceafe to be 
 without his Interpofition. 
 
 The Dignity of every Animal on this 
 Globe rifes according to the Number and 
 Extent of the Faculties of the Soul. It 
 would be difficult to marfhal them all 
 by this Rule. But this Rule gives Man the 
 Precedence, and the Dominion and Go- 
 vernment of the reft. What becomes 
 of the Souls of Brute Animals after a Se- 
 paration from their Bodies, imports not 
 Man to know : but it is of the greateft 
 Confequence to him to confider the Na- 
 ture of his own Soul j and what Hopes 
 he can form from thence of its future 
 State j without which the little Time he 
 
 pafles
 
 Religio Philosop.hi. ii 
 
 pafTes on this Globe is of very little Con- 
 fequence. 
 
 It is ufelefs to enquire whether the 
 Soul of Man is firft afTociated to the Body 
 in the Womb j or whether it refides prin- 
 cipally or altogether in the Brain. What- 
 ever the Cafe be, in thofe Inftances it re- 
 fembles the Soul of Brutes ; as it does in 
 fome others. It has the fame Affection 
 for the Body, the fame Defire to preferve 
 it, the fame Inclination to propagate its 
 own Species, and to mix in Society with 
 them, and is affected with the fame Paf- 
 fions of Joy, Grief, Anger, and the like. 
 
 But then there is this great Difference. 
 It has more Reafon, to curb and controul 
 thofe Appetites and Paflions : before an 
 Action, to forefee the Confequence ; and 
 after it, to reflect on it with Pleafure or 
 Remorfe : to compare pafr. Things with 
 prefent, and prefent with future : little of 
 which is to be obferved in Brutes, whofe 
 Ideas feem confined to the prefent Time 
 
 and
 
 12 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 and Occalion, and their Capacities not to 
 
 admit of much Improvement. 
 
 But the Soul of Man is capable of per- 
 petual Improvement. The little Know- 
 ledge he gains by Reading, Converfation, 
 or Contemplation, (till excites his Thirft 
 after more : and though he can make 
 but fmall Progrefs in his prefent State, 
 his Ambition is boundlefs : he can know 
 but little, and yet he wants to know all. 
 He is confined to a Point of Time in this 
 Life ; yet extends his Views backwards 
 and forwards through Millions of Ages, 
 till he is loft in Eternity. He is confined 
 to fome minute Part of this Globe ; yet 
 while his Feet ftand on it, his Soul is tra- 
 velling to every Globe, traverfing im- 
 menfe Spaces from World to World, till 
 he at laft is loft in Infinity. He wants to 
 be acquainted with Nature and with 
 God, and dreads the Thoughts of An- 
 nihilation. And can it be imagined 
 that God will annihilate a Being in its 
 
 own
 
 Religio Philosophy 13 
 
 own Nature immortal, and which he 
 hath indued with fuch a Paffion for Im- 
 mortality ? or that he would amufe and 
 delude Man in vain with a fublime Capa- 
 city and a laudable Ambition to contem- 
 plate him and his Works, and never give 
 him the Opportunity of being gratified ? 
 Moft unworthy Notions of the Deity ! 
 from whofe Goodnefs alone, without 
 other Argument, I have reafon to be 
 convinced that my Soul is immortal. 
 
 Since then God hath given to Man an 
 immortal Soul, with Faculties fuperior to 
 thofe of other] Animals on this Globe 5 
 Man ought in Gratitude to return a con- 
 flant Tribute of Praife and Thankfgiving 
 to God who gave them. # 
 
 When I raife my Thoughts from our 
 own Globe, and contemplate the gene- 
 ral Frame of the Material World, and 
 the Analogy of its Parts, I am firmly 
 convinced that there are, not only in 
 the Planets of our own Solar Syftem, 
 
 but
 
 14 Religio Philosoi>ki. 
 
 but in each of the numberlefs Planets 
 throughout the Univerfe, many Species 
 of living Creatures, with Bodies formed 
 and fupported from the Materials of their 
 refpecTive Globes, which after propagating 
 their Kind return again to the common 
 Mafs: refembling terreftrial Animals in 
 thefe Particulars^ though from Diffe- 
 rence of Situation they mufl be very un- 
 like them in bodily Frame and Constitu- 
 tion. I am perfuaded too, that there 
 is on every Globe, as well as ours, fome 
 one Species Superior to and ruling over 
 the reft, with a Mind capable of Searching 
 out God in his Works, and adoring his 
 Providence and Goodnefs. 
 
 Hence I conclude ; that Praiie and 
 Thankfgiving are continually afcending 
 to his Throne, not only from this Spot of 
 ours, but at the fame Inftant from every 
 Quarter of the Univerfe: every Globe 
 joining with the others, Man with man'y 
 Creatures to him unknown, and they with 
 
 him,
 
 Religio Philosophi. 15 
 
 him, in One Chorus, in One Anthem, to 
 One great Author of their Being. It is a 
 general Religion, a joint Communion, a 
 Univerfal Church 5 which, tho' differing 
 throughout in Forms and Ceremonies, yet 
 is a Stranger to Sects and Divifions 5 entirely 
 united in Spirit, and directing their Halelu- 
 jahs to one Object in Gratitude for their Be- 
 ing and Prefervation. There is nothing can 
 extend our Charity more than this Thought ; 
 which lifts it from the Earth to the Skies j 
 and bids us look not only on all Men as 
 our Neighbours ; but on all Mortal Intel- 
 ligent Beings throughout the immenfe 
 Space of the Univerfe : and bids us love 
 them, not as our own Species, but as our 
 Fellow-creatures, and as Members of the 
 fame Church and Communion, united to us 
 in the fame Spirit and Bond of Devotion. 
 And as God has united all Intelligent 
 Creatures by the fame Principles of Reli- 
 gion ; fo has he in the fame Principles of 
 Morality. It is a Univerfal Principle of 
 
 Moralitv,
 
 j6 Religio Philosophy 
 
 Morality, to love one another; and there- 
 fore to hurt or deftroy their own Species 
 is an enormous Crime in every Globe of 
 the Univerfe. Another Univerfal Principle 
 of Morality is, to ufe the Objects around 
 them (which the Scripture calls God's 
 Creatures ; and which in common Speech 
 one may call the Furniture of their Globe 
 or Habitation) to the Ends for which they 
 were defigned ; and therefore the Abufe 
 of them is every where an immoral Action. 
 For the Nature of Good and Evil confifts 
 entirely in preferving or confounding that 
 Order of Things which God hath ella- 
 blifhed, and which none but God him- 
 felf can fuperfede. 
 
 Though God hath e^ablifhed a good 
 Order which ought to be preferved by his 
 Creatures, yet it is certain, that for fome 
 great and hidden Ends' of his Providence, 
 he hath be ft owed on Material Intellectual 
 Beings a Liberty of Action, which they may 
 employ to confound that Order, Man does 
 
 many
 
 RELIGIO PtilLOSOPHI. ly 
 
 many immoral Actions daily on this 
 Globe : and it is mofl probable, that the 
 Animals refiding in many other Globes 
 do the fame. Since therefore God hath 
 made them liable to Sin, we muft conclude 
 that out of his Goodnefs he ufes many 
 Methods to recal them to a Senfe of their 
 Duty j by Signs, and by Wonders ; by 
 Inftruction, and by Correction. Which 
 may be called his Moral Difpenfations, 
 and which may be as various as the 
 Globes themfelves ; and which are car- 
 ried on in each according to his good 
 Pleafure. In fome, the whole Colony 
 may be deftroyed, and another created^ 
 In others, the Face of the Globe may be 
 altered to punifh the Inhabitants : for 
 the Lord maketh a fruitful Land bar- 
 ren for the Sins of them that dwell 
 therein. And as the Moral Tranfadtions 
 in one Globe are diftin<5t from thofe of 
 another ; fo neither will any Natural Al- 
 teration on the Surface of one at all af- 
 C feci;
 
 i8 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 feet the reft : for however Forms are 
 there altered, the Quantity of Matter 
 continues the fame, and the Globe will 
 roll on in its old Courfe. And we in fact 
 obferve a Difference in the Surface of the 
 Planets of our own Syftem. The Surface 
 of the Moon feems broken and irregular 
 like that of her Principal the Earth, as 
 if me had fympathized with her Fate : 
 whilft the Belts of Jupiter fhew the Land 
 and Sea to be regularly difpofed, as if he 
 ftill continued in his original State j or 
 after fome Changes were reftored to it 
 again : For as Houfes are deftroyed and 
 rebuilt j or the Apartments or Furniture 
 altered -> fo may it be with thefe Globes : 
 and that after fome Generations, the Spe- 
 cies of Men or other Creatures may be- 
 come extinct as well as private Families ; 
 and when one Colony is deftroyed, ano- 
 ther may be planted in their ftead. 
 
 And let not fuch Changes be thought 
 unnatural, or to derogate from the Per- 
 fection
 
 Religio Philosophy 19 
 
 fe&ion of God's Works. I will fuppofe 
 (which perhaps may not be the Cafe) 
 that he created all the Globes of the 
 Univerfe together ; and that they are fo 
 many Wheels in that vaft Machine, which 
 have a mutual Connection and Depen* 
 dance, and will roll on together till the 
 whole is deftroyed, if ever it be his 
 Pleafure to deftroy it. But I fee no rea- 
 fon, why the feveral Species of Material 
 Beings on each Globe, the Individuals oi 
 which are continually arifing from it, 
 and returning to it again, may not have 
 their Periods as well as the Individuals 
 themfelves : or why they may not be 
 again renewed ; or others be fubflituted 
 in their place : or why the whole Surface 
 of a Globe may not undergo a Change. 
 Can the Potter mould the fame Mafs in- 
 to Variety of Utenfiis ? Can the Painter 
 ftrike the Figures off his Canvas, and 
 place on it others of the fame or of a 
 different Colour and Shape ? And cannot 
 C 2 God
 
 20 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 God at his pleafure effect the like Changes 
 to anfwer the wife Ends of his Provi- 
 dence ? Which Changes are far from con- 
 founding or deforming the general Syftem 
 of the Univerfe. 
 
 There is a particular Difpenfation of 
 Providence to each Globe : to carry on 
 the Ends of which all Alterations on it 
 are regulated : and thefe Alterations can- 
 not in the Courfe of Nature in the leaft 
 affect other Globes. They are as much 
 unknown there as the Tranfactions of the 
 Inhabitants. Some few great ones only 
 may perhaps be obferved through a Glafs 
 darkly from fome neighbouring Planet, 
 though the Caufe remain a Secret. For 
 inftance ; when our own Globe was over- 
 flowed immediately before the Creation of 
 Adam, and again in the Days of Noah, 
 Afhoaomers in Mars, Venus, or the Moon 
 might obferve it darker, than either before 
 or after thofe Periods j and perhaps they 
 will hereafter obferve it of a more ruddy 
 
 Com-
 
 Religio Philosophi. 21 
 
 Completion at the time of the general 
 Conflagration ; and when a New Earth, 
 like a Phenix, mall rife out of its Allies, 
 will fee it refume its former Hue : though 
 the Spots of Land and Water, they were 
 before acquainted with, may by fuch Al- 
 terations have changedtheir Situation. 
 
 Mens Obfervations are very limited, 
 both in Time and Space : to their own Age 
 and the Hiftory of a few Centuries before 
 them : to their own Globe, and that too 
 in great part unknown : and becaufe they 
 have never (ten or read of fuch great Al- 
 terations, they are apt to conclude, that 
 they never did, can, or will happen : 
 But a thing is no lefs poffible, becaufe 
 rare : and a thing we account rare may 
 be very common in the general Courfe of 
 Nature : it is a rare thing for a Perfon 
 to be born or to die in a private Family j 
 perhaps it does not happen once in a 
 Year : in a great City it happens every 
 Day ; in a great Kingdom every Hour, 
 C 3 and
 
 22 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 and in fome Part of the Earth certainly 
 every Moment. So a general Deluge or 
 Conflagration, which may not happen in 
 thoufands of Years on our Globe, may be 
 Events that happen every Moment in 
 fome or other of the innumerable Globes 
 difperfed through the Univerfe. 
 
 Again : Men obferving the Beauty, 
 Harmony, and Relation of Creatures on 
 Earth ; and the regular and uniform Pro- 
 duction of each Species of them, are too 
 apt from thence to conclude, that every 
 thing muff, for ever continue in the fame 
 Courfe, and can be in no other ; and 
 that the Order of the World in the State 
 they find it is the only perfect Image of the 
 Idea of God. But can it be denied, that he 
 who created for his Pleafure, may for his 
 Pleafure alter or deftrov ? And if he mould 
 do fo j that he may rebuild in the fame or 
 any other Manner ? For though it would 
 be Blafphemy to fay, that the Works of 
 God are not good, and wifely conducted 
 
 in
 
 Religio Philosophi. 23 
 
 in every State j it would equally be fo to 
 advance, that he is under a neceflity to 
 continue them in the fame State, and 
 could not vary it ; as if his Power were 
 exhaufted ; or that if he did vary it, tha* 
 it would be for the worfe; as if the 
 Riches of his Wifdom were at an End. 
 
 Befides : we fee but a very fmall Part 
 of the Scheme of Providence : and thofe 
 Events, which appear to us fo deftruc- 
 tive on particular Globes, may contribute 
 to the Harmony of the Whole. Thefe 
 Storms may be as neceffary as the Calm ; 
 and feen from a right Point of View may 
 afford as beautiful a Profpedt: the mofl 
 uniform is not the mofl: pleafing; it is 
 that which is changing, and which af- 
 fords the greater!: Variety of Objects. And 
 whether thefe Changes are effected by 
 what we call Natural or by what we call 
 Miraculous Means, they are equally the 
 Work of God, and ferve equally to pro- 
 claim his Power. 
 
 C4 tt
 
 24 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 If fuch Changes are poffible (as no 
 doubt they are) there are both Moral 
 and Natural Reafons to convince us, that 
 they are every Moment going on in fome 
 or other of the innumerable Globes dif- 
 perfed through the Univerfc. 
 
 i. If God has placed on each Globe (as 
 is more than probable ) Material Beings 
 endued with Intelligence and Free Will 5 
 thefe Changes ferve, either to proclaim 
 his Power and awaken them to a Senfe 
 of their Duty, or to execute his Juftice 
 by punifhing their Crimes. 
 
 2. We may be convinced of fuch Al- 
 terations from the Appearance of our 
 own Globe : which (befides what we 
 know from Hiftory) are recorded in very 
 vifible Characters on its Surface. Lcok on 
 a Map of the Globe j how irregular is 
 the Difpofition of Land and Water I Look 
 on many Parts of the Globe itfelf -, how 
 rugged are they with barren, broken, 
 and mif-fhapen Rocks, and horrid Preci- 
 pice? !
 
 Religio Phtlosophi. 25 
 
 pices ! which are next to Proofs, that 
 the prefent Surface is but the Fragment 
 of fomething once more entire. And 
 the many Marine Forlils both Natural and 
 Artificial found in Inland Places, are al- 
 moft a Demonftration they were once 
 covered with Sea. 
 
 Nor is there occafion for a Miracle 
 to effect Alterations of this kind : the Na- 
 tural Inflruments are always near at 
 hand, and under the Direction of the Al- 
 mighty : and a general Shock may by 
 their means happen, as well as thofe 
 Particular Ones, which frequently (I had 
 almoft faid daily) happen in fome Part 
 or other of the Surface of our Globe. 
 8 Have we not certain and recent Accounts 
 of Cities fwallowed up f h of Mountains 
 
 re- 
 
 e Lowthobf's Abridgment, Vol. 2. from p. 400 to 
 423. with Accounts of Earthquakes in 1692, in which 
 all Sicily and Jamaica were ihook, and Catanea, Port- 
 Royal, &c. deitrcyed : of another at Lima in 168-, and 
 another at Batavia in 1699. 
 
 h Between the 19th and 20th of September 1^3?, 
 Monte Novo near Naples was thrown up by aa Erup- 
 tion
 
 26 Religio Philosoph*. 
 
 removed ? of others finking and leaving 
 
 Lakes 
 
 tion of Fire : Its perpendicular Height amounting to 
 400 Fathom, and its Circuit to above 3000 Paces. (See 
 Addison's and Misson's Travels.) On Saturday the 
 17th of February 1 571, at fix in the Evening, a Piece 
 of Land of 20 or 30 Acres on a fudden broke ioofe from 
 the neighbouring Fields, and moved flowly on till Mon- 
 day at Noon, for about 400 Paces, and then formed 
 JMarkley Hill in Herefordfhire (fee Cambden's Britannia 
 and Annals of Q^ Eliz } The Alterations on Mount 
 Vefuvius, are well known : They are now fearching the 
 Ruins of Heraclea, which was (wallowed up in its firft 
 Eruption in the Reign of Titus Vespasian. The Elder 
 Pliny loft his Life by venturing too near to obferve it. 
 His Fate is defcribed by his Nephew in one of his Epiftles 
 to Tacitus, (L. 6. Ep. 16.) and the Cataltrophe of the 
 Mountain itfelf is beautifully lamented by Martial (L.4. 
 Epig. 24.) for what was before clothed with Vines was 
 then buried in Afhes. The Fate of the Ifle of Ifchia is 
 the Reverfe. Mr. Addison fays, the ancient Poets call it 
 Inarime, and lay Typhseus under it by reafon of its Erup- 
 tions of Fire. There has been no Eruption for near 300 
 Years: the laft was very terrible, and deftroyed a whole 
 City. At prefent there are fcarce any Marks left of a fub- 
 terrar.eous Fire : for the Earth is cold, and over-run with 
 Grafs and Shrubs where the Rocks will fuffer it. The 
 Via Appia and Via Flaminia (formerly the direct Reads 
 to Rome) are now in feveral Places loft in fteep Afcents 
 and deep Fens and Valleys, that are inacceflib'.e. M 1 s- 
 son on this occafion (Let. 21. V. 1 .) makes a general Re- 
 flection on the Alterations Time makes on the Surface of 
 the Earth. He fays, 'Tis very certain, that by Winds, 
 Rains, great Floods, Earthquakes, and other Accidents, 
 Plains arc fwellcd to Hilh, and Hills funk to Valleys. 
 The Land gain* from the Sea in fome places, and lofes in 
 others. The Seafaruifhcs the Lar.d with Lakes, and the 
 
 Land
 
 Religio Philosophi. 27 
 
 Lakes in their room ? and s of new Iflands 
 raifed in the Sea ? and chiefly by Force 
 of fubterraneous Fires ? And can thofe 
 Fires want a Supply, when there is an 
 Ether (which is the Natural Fire, and 
 which, when by certain Agitations it is 
 vifible to us, we call Fire) is perpetually 
 pervading every Globe in the Univerfe ? 
 How readily it will kindle certain Sub- 
 fiances in the Air is evident from the 
 Meteors feen there j as well as from 
 (what we call) Electrical Experiments. 
 How quick and inftantaneous its Mo- 
 tion, how violent and irrefiftable its 
 Force, appears from the Natural Light- 
 ning as well as from that Artificial Light- 
 ning which is raifed and conducted by 
 thofe Experiments. That there is a con- 
 Land renders it Iflands. Rivers dry, and change their 
 Courfe. Mountains become level, and the Figure of the 
 Globe is in perpetual Variation. 
 
 1 Lowthorp continued by Eames and Martin, V. 6. 
 p. 203. An Ifland raifed by fubterraneous Fire near Ter- 
 cera in 172c. 
 
 tinual
 
 28 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 tinual Flux of Ether through our Globe 
 appears more than probable by the Point- 
 ing of the Needle $ and k by the Variation 
 of the Needle it appears too, that that 
 Flux of Ether is continually varying : and 
 what a Change in our Globe fuch a Vari- 
 ation may in the End produce, the Au- 
 thor of Nature only knows. The Ether 
 agitated by the Sun and other great Lu- 
 minaries (as by a glafs Globe in Electrical 
 Experiments) with its genial Warmth 
 and Light cherifhes and invigorates every 
 Planet in the Univerfe : but if it mould 
 be quickened in its Motion, or differently 
 directed by him, who regulates its every 
 Atom, it may prove fatal where it was 
 before beneficial : it may blaft and de- 
 ftroy all Species of Creatures on our 
 Globe j and Vulcanos may break out in 
 
 every 
 
 k Lowthorp, V. 2. p. 610. Tn the Year 1580. the 
 Needle pointed at London n 1 5' to the Eait of the 
 North Po'e : in 1680 4 to the Weft of it: and now 
 about 17'.
 
 Religio Philosophi. 29 
 
 every Quarter, as dreadful as iEtna or 
 Vefuvius, and end in a general Con- 
 flagration. 
 
 If an Opinion of fuch Changes is a- 
 greeable to Reafon and Nature (as I am 
 moft firmly convinced that it is) it is alfo 
 confirmed by the Voice of Scripture, as 
 I will fhew more fully in its place. And 
 Men cannot too often dwell on this Sub- 
 ject ; becaufe the more they think of it, 
 the jufter Notions they will have of God 
 and Religion. 
 
 1. This Opinion banifhes that abfurd 
 one of Neceffity and Fate, to which 
 fome would fubjecl: the Power of the 
 Almighty : conceiving Thofe Words to 
 fignify lomething Real 3 whereas they 
 are Mere Words without Signification : 
 not applicable to any thing exifting in 
 Nature, but to what exifts only in Poetic 
 cal Fiction. Or if they mean any thing, 
 they mean only this j that all things 
 mull always have been, and mud alwavs 
 
 be,
 
 30 RELIGIO pHIL0S0?ttt* 
 
 be, as they are at prefent ; for no better 
 Reafon but becaufe they are fo at prefent : 
 which is blafphemoufly fetting Bounds 
 to the Power and Wifdom of God ; and 
 allowing him lefs Liberty of Counfel and 
 Action than Man, who can plan out and 
 execute his Work in different Ways, and 
 alter it at his Pleafure. 
 
 2. It banifhes another unworthy No- 
 tion of God j that he is only the Soul of 
 the Material World, which is his Body ; 
 and that he can no more change the Form 
 of it, than we can that of our Body j or 
 divert the ordinary Courfe of its Parts, 
 than we can the Courfe of the Blood in 
 our Veins. What is this but to fuppofe 
 that Matter is Eternal and Infinite, or 
 that God himfelf is not fo. It is hard to 
 believe that Matter is Eternal, becaufe it 
 exifts only in particular Parts of Space : 
 and that very Fact proves it is not Infi- 
 nite j nor would God be fo, if he ex- 
 ifted only where there is Matter. But 
 
 the
 
 Religio Philosophi. 31 
 
 the truth is ; Matter is comprehended 
 
 in fome Part of Space only : but Space 
 
 is infinite as God : in whom all things 
 
 live, and move, and have their Being. 
 
 And the abfurd Notion of God's being 
 
 only the Soul of the World would leave 
 
 him lefs Power over it, than Man has 
 
 over his own Body ; which he has the 
 
 natural Power to deflroy, and feparate 
 
 from the Soul ; which may exifl after 
 
 fuch Separation. And mail we fuppofe 
 
 that God wants Power to deflroy the 
 
 Material World ; or that he would the 
 
 lefs exifl if there was not an Atom of it 
 
 left? 
 
 3. This Opinion banifhes that of the 
 
 Epicureans, which denies a Providence, 
 or that God intermeddles in the Affairs 
 of the World. An Opinion equally Im- 
 pious and Unphilofophical. Impious, as 
 it fuppofes God either not to be the Au- 
 thor of Nature ; or that like an unkind 
 Parent he abandons his Offspring. Un- 
 
 phi-
 
 32 Religio Philosophy. 
 
 philofophical, as it fuppofes Motion 
 without a Caufe. ! It like wife banimes 
 an Opinion of Descartes : that at the 
 Creation God impreffed on Matter a 
 Certain Quantity of Motion, which un- 
 renewed has continued ever ilnce, and 
 will ever continue without Increafe or 
 Diminution ; and being diverted into dif- 
 ferent Channels ferves all the Purpofes 
 of the Univerfe. If this afcribes the Be- 
 ginning of Motion to God, yet it gives 
 no good Reafon for the Continuance of it : 
 For as Matter is inanimate, and cannot 
 move itfelf, its natural State is Reft. x\nd 
 as there mult be fome living Power to be- 
 gin its Motion, that Power muft ftill con- 
 tinue acting to continue it ; and if it ceaf- 
 ed acting one Moment, the Motion itfelf 
 would ceafe : Whence I conclude, that the 
 Deity has every Moment from the Crea- 
 tion of the Univerfe been acting with 
 
 1 Rem ati Descartes Principiorum Philofophiss Pars 
 fecund a, c. 36. 
 
 equal
 
 Religio Philosophi." 33 
 
 equal Vigour in its Prefervation $ and 
 if he ceafed ' fo to do, the World itfelf 
 would ceafe. For a perpetual Motion 
 mud proceed from, a perpetual Caufe. 
 
 4. This Opinion is of ufe, not only 
 to extirpate falfe and unworthy Notions 
 of the Deity j but alfo to improve our 
 Ideas of his Power, Wifdom and Juflice. 
 How glorious does he appear ! when we 
 confider him, not only rolling on every 
 Globe in its Courfe, but at the fame 
 time regulating all that paries in any of 
 them ! and though they are innumerable, 
 and each flocked with innumerable Va- 
 riety of Creatures ; yet that he is inti- 
 mately prefent in all, and directs the 
 moft minute Tranfactions ! that the Hairs 
 in each are numbered, and that not a 
 Sparrow falls to the Ground in any of 
 them without his Knowledge and Ap- 
 pointment ! What an inconceivable Va- 
 riety of new Scenes equally beautiful and 
 harmonious, muft be continually ariling 
 
 D in
 
 34- Religio Philosophi. 
 
 In his Prefence, when at his Pleafure 
 he changes the Face of thefe 'Globes, and 
 caufes them, like the Adder, to put off 
 their old Drefs, and appear in frefh Vi- 
 gour and Beauty ! Plow awful and how 
 amiable does he appear, when we con- 
 iider him, making thefe Changes in Na- 
 ture fubfervient to moral Purpofes, and 
 employing them as the Instruments of 
 temporal Rewards and Punifhments to 
 thofe Claries of Rational Beings, that 
 inhabit each Globe ! At the fame In- 
 ftant that he ads in fome as a tremen- 
 dous Judge, he acts in others as an in- 
 dulgent Parent. In fome only alarm- 
 ing, in others correcting ; in fome de- 
 stroying, in others rebuilding ; in fome 
 changing only Individuals, in others en- 
 tire Species ; and exalting the Rational 
 Creatures of each Globe from a Materi- 
 al to a Spiritual, from a Mortal to an Im- 
 mortal State ; transforming them into 
 
 Angels 5
 
 RelIgio PhilosoPhi. 35 
 
 Angels ; and from thofe Seminaries per- 
 petually increafing the Hoft of Heaven. 
 
 5. This 'Opinion *iot only promotes 
 Natural Religion ; but alfo confirms the 
 Authority of Scripture* in which the. fame 
 things are revealed. Are not we there 
 told of a new Heaven and a new Earth ? 
 That the Heavens fhall Wax old as doth 
 a Garment, and as a Vefture fhall they 
 be changed 5 though the Lord is the 
 fame, and his Years fhall not fail ? 
 Have we not there the Hiftory of fome 
 Changes on our own Globe by the Crea- 
 tion and the Deluge ? And have we not 
 the Prediction of a future Change by a 
 general Conflagration ? In w r hich Points 
 Reafon and Scripture mutually confirm 
 each other. 
 
 Such Meditations are worthy of Ratio- 
 nal Creatures : who are led bv them from 
 their refpedive Planets to vifit thofe Parts 
 of Nature which lie beyond their View. 
 Though the vifible Parts of it fufEcient- 
 D 2 ly
 
 36 RELIGIO PttlLOSOPHl. 
 
 \y declare God's Glory, and are that 
 Page of the huge Volume which he 
 has laid open for .their conftant Perufal 
 and Reflection : and their own Planet is 
 the particular PafTage in that Page, which 
 merits their more immediate Attention. 
 They may range in Speculation to every 
 Globe in the Univerfe ; but their own 
 Globe is the only Scene of their Actions j 
 and by what they do there they are to 
 approve themfelves to their Creator $ 
 who has left them free to act, but given 
 them Rules to act by, which he has 
 made known to them by Reafon. Thefe 
 Rules are either General, and concern 
 all the Univerfe ; or Local, which con- 
 cern only particular Planets. To love 
 God and adore him, to love their own 
 Species and affift them, to ufe other 
 Creatures to the Ends for which they 
 were given, and not abufe them, are of 
 the firft Sort of Rules, which God has 
 prefcribed to all Rational Material Beings 
 
 through-
 
 Religio Philosophy 37 
 
 throughout the Univerfe ; and are eter- 
 nal Foundations of Religion and Mora- 
 lity. But the particular Form and Man- 
 ner in which thefe Actions are to be per- 
 formed in each Globe, mud be as vari- 
 ous as the Nature and Situation of the 
 Globes themfelves, as the Rational Crea- 
 tures that inhabit them, and the Objects 
 with which fuch Creatures are furround- 
 ed, Thefe external Modes of Religion 
 and Morality which are practifed in any 
 particular Globe cannot be known in the 
 reft, but are the peculiar Concern of that 
 Globe only. And the only Way to judge 
 of their Propriety is, to confider, if they 
 are agreeable to Reafon, if they are adapted 
 to the Nature of Things on that Globe, 
 and if ihey tend to promote the great 
 Ends abovementioned. If they do not, 
 they can neither be pleafing to God, nor 
 derive their Original from him. 
 
 Let us now confider the Laws of Reli- 
 gion and Morality, which concern the 
 D 3 Pre-
 
 38 Religio Philosophy 
 
 Prefent State of our own Planet, and the 
 
 Prefent Race of Mankind. 1 fay the 
 
 Prefent Race ! For they no more con- 
 cern any Colony of Creatures, that may 
 have dwelt on this Globe before us, or 
 any other, that may fucceed us, than 
 they concern the Inhabitants of Jupiter 5 
 or any other Planet whatsoever. 
 
 It hath pleafed God to place Man on 
 this Globe, to contemplate his Works, 
 and by fuch Contemplations to afcend to 
 him as the firjft Caufe. Amongft all 
 God's Works it is moft incumbent on 
 him to fcrutinize himfelf, and the Globe 
 which he inhabits, to learn what he is 
 himfelf, and in what Part of the Crea- 
 tion he is ftationed - y and from a Know- 
 ledge of his own Nature and Situation 
 to arrive at the Knowledge of his Duty, 
 both as a Citizen of the Univerfe in ge- 
 neral, and as an Inhabitant of this Globe 
 in particular. 
 
 A:
 
 Religio Philosophi. 39 
 
 As a Citizen of the Univerfe, he has 
 a Duty in common with all Rational Be- 
 ings howfoever difperfed throughout the 
 Whole, arifing from their Relation to 
 God s by which all are bound in their 
 feveral Spheres to return their Tribute 
 of Thanks and Adoration to the Author 
 of their Being. This is Man's Religious 
 Duty. 
 
 As an Inhabitant of this Globe, he has 
 a Duty peculiar to himfelf (as all other 
 Rational Beings within their refpective 
 Globes have) arifing from his Relation 
 to the other Creatures on the Face of it : 
 the right Treatment of which is his Mo- 
 ral Duty. And this he may learn from a 
 due Confideration, of the Nature which 
 God hath beftowed on them, of the Or- 
 der in which he hath placed them, and 
 of the Ends for which he intended them : 
 and if he confound neither their Nature, 
 their Order, or their Ufe, his Actions 
 are Good j if he does, they are Crimi- 
 D 4 nah
 
 40 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 nal. Becaufe God hath given him an 
 Underftanding to comprehend the Na- 
 ture of Things, a Freedom of Will to 
 chufe what he will do, and a Freedom 
 of Action to do what he chufes. And 
 the better to guard his Actions, God has 
 given him Reafon (or a Power of exer- 
 cifing his Under (landing) to examine and 
 compare Things, the better to judge of 
 their Qualities and Relations, and of the 
 Confequences of his own Actions with 
 regard to them, and to himfelf. And 
 if a Man employs his Reafon before he 
 acts, he will feldom err in his Moral Du- 
 ty ; for the Nature of Things, the moft 
 common and necefTary to be known, is 
 generally very obvious and plain. But if 
 he acts before he employs his Reafon ; 
 if the Action is right, he will have no 
 Merit ; if it is wrong, he will judge of 
 it when it is too late, and his Confcience 
 will condemn him : for Reafon, which 
 fhould always be our Guide before we 
 
 ad,
 
 Religio Philosophic '41 
 
 ad, will always in fpite of us be ct:: 
 Judge after thfl Action, either to cen- 
 fure or applaud. 
 
 Why then is Mankind fo little guided 
 by Reafon 5 that the Generality do not 
 think before they ad ; and of thofe that 
 do, many ad againft their Judgment ; 
 that even the very Beft do many Things 
 am its ; and that there is not One with- 
 out Faults ? The Reafon is, that it hath 
 pleafed God (for Wife Purpofes to us 
 at prefent 'unknown) to implant in Man 
 Affections and Appetites, which, as they 
 ftir him up to Adion, often conduct him 
 to wrong Objects, or withdraw him 
 from thofe which are right ; the firfl 
 of which he purfues for the obtaining of 
 fome prefent Advantage either of Plea- 
 fure or Profit ; and avoids the laft for 
 the efcaping fome prefent Inconvenience 
 either of Uneafinefs or Lofs ; and both 
 with fuch Eagernefs, that often he does 
 not confult his Reafon before he ads ; and 
 
 when
 
 42 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 when he 'does, he often judges wrong by 
 not eftimating Things according to their 
 real Value : all which makes him com- 
 mit Actions, which on more mature 
 Confideration he would avoid. 
 
 Such being Man's Frame and Con- 
 stitution, it is no Wonder that he is 
 liable to Error. And for the Truth both 
 of the Caufe and of the Effect we may 
 appeal, in the firft place to what paffes 
 within every Man's Confciencej in the 
 next to what paffes in the World within 
 our own Knowledge and Experience ; 
 and laftly to the Hiftory of all pafl Ages, 
 which is chiefly rilled with the Vices and 
 Follies of Mankind. When we hear of 
 Men, inftead of worfhipping the God of 
 Heaven and Earth, worfhipping Heaven 
 and Earth as Gods ; inftead of bending 
 the Knee to the God who made them, 
 falling down to Gods that they made; 
 inftead of loving and affifting their 
 own Species, injuring and destroying 
 
 them 5
 
 Religio PHiL6s<5PHr; 43 
 
 them j inftead of ufing other Creatures 
 for the Purpofes intended, ahufing then* 
 to gratify their own PafHons and Appe- 
 tites j we are tempted almoft to doubt if 
 Man himfelf is a reafonable Creature. 
 
 Since then God htis given to Man a 
 weak Underftanding and ftrong Paffions, 
 which he is naturally inclined to follow, 
 if left to himfelf; can we fuppofe God 
 would leave him to himfelf to fink into 
 fo miferable a State, and fuffer the high- 
 er Faculties of his Soul, which are fo ca- 
 pable of Improvement, to languim and 
 be ufelefs ? Is it not more rational to be- 
 lieve, that he would furnifh him with 
 fome Means, to enlighten his Under- 
 ftanding, fortify his Reafon, incline his 
 Will, and moderate his Pafllons, that he 
 may live in greater Happinefs and Digni- 
 ty as well on this Globe, as in any future 
 State for which he may be defigned ? 
 And what Means more eafy and natural 
 can we imagine, than that God, who 
 
 forms
 
 44 Religio Philosophy 
 
 forms the Soul, and turns it as it pleafeth 
 his Wifdom, mould infpire fome particu- 
 lar Perfons with fuperior Talents to be 
 Guides to the reft of Mankind ; who by 
 laying many Things open to their View 
 . may enlighten their Underftanding j by 
 propofing Rational Rules of acting, may 
 inftruct the Ignorant; and by (hewing 
 the Reafons and Motives of fo acting, may 
 raife the Attention and work on the In- 
 clination of Men to purfue them ? 
 
 But how is . Mankind to know thefe 
 Guides, who for thefe great Ends may 
 be fo qualified and commiffioned by 
 God ? I think there can be no better 
 Way to diftinguifh them than by their 
 Characters, their Doctrine, and by the' 
 Circumftances attending the Promulga- 
 tion of it. i . They mud be Wife and 
 Juft Men; v/ho have only the Glory 
 of God and Welfare of Mankind in 
 View ; without any Profpect of worldly 
 Power, Pleafure or Profit to themfelves. 
 
 2. Their
 
 Religio PkiLosoPHt* 45 
 
 2. Their Doctrine ought to be agreeable 
 to Reafon, fince that is the only Standard 
 given by God to Man to judge of it by. 
 It ought to be general, and extend to all 
 the Race of Mankind, who at prefent 
 inhabit this Globe. It ought to acquaint 
 them with the Being and Attributes of 
 God : and that he is the Author and 
 Preferver of all Things. It ought alfo 
 to acquaint Man with his own Nature, 
 his Original, and his End; and what 
 Relation he bears to God, to his own 
 Species, and to other Creatures, and 
 to point out to him fome Rational 
 Method of performing his Duty to 
 each. 3. The Manner of promulging 
 their Doctrine fhould be fuch, as to make 
 it taken notice of at Firft ; and to 
 continue the Memory of it on this Globe, 
 as long as the Race of Adam continue 
 on it. 
 
 Let us in the next place confider, what 
 Doctrines now in the World anfwer 
 
 thefe
 
 46 RELIGIO PhILOSO^H*. 
 
 thefe Characterifticks : and which of 
 thofe that claim the Direction of Man* 
 kind ought to be preferred. 
 
 I throw out of the Cafe the Heathen 
 Poets and- Philofophers : The Firft in* 
 volved their Sentiments in Fable and 
 Fiction, which the Generality of Man- 
 kind adopted into a Syftem of Idolatry. 
 And though the Laft did not believe 
 thofe Abfurdities with the Vulgar ; and 
 have left: behind them many admirable 
 Preeepts of Morality ; yet they had very 
 imperfect: Notions of the Deity- very 
 abfurd ones of the Origin of Man ; and 
 very doubtful ones of any future State * 
 and though they write on thofe Topicks^ 
 they do it to propofe rather than to 
 eftablifh their Opinions ; for none of them 
 fet up for Univerfal Guides. 
 
 If we take a View of the Religions 
 now prevailing in the World ; we fhall 
 find the greateft Part of the Globe Rill 
 clouded with Idolatry: which from the 
 
 ear-
 
 Religio Philosophi. 47 
 carlicft Ages down to the prefent remains 
 a Monument of the Ignorance, Weaknefs, 
 and Superftition of Man. 
 
 The three Religions, that profefs the 
 Knowledge of one only true God, are 
 the Jewifh, the Chriftian, and the Ma- 
 hometan. I will fpeak of the laft firft : 
 becaufe barely to mention the Character 
 of the Author, with fome few of its 
 Tenets, will (hew it not to have the Cha- 
 racterifticks of a true Religion. The 
 Author was an Impoftor, who ufed ma- 
 ny Frauds to deceive his Followers ; and 
 by thofe Means advanced himfelf to 
 worldly Power and Grandeur. The 
 Method he propofes to propagate his 
 Religion is by the Sword, not by Perfua- 
 fion ; by Conqueft, not by Conviction. 
 The Rewards he promifes in a fu- 
 tnre State are ienfual 5 fuch as Ratio- 
 nal Men would contemn in this Life; 
 and which the Soul diverted from the Bo- 
 dy cannot enjoy in another. Add to 
 
 this ;
 
 '48 Religio Philosophy 
 
 this ; that the Pilgrimage to Mecca ren- 
 ders it a Local Religion, and impoffible 
 to become Univerfal : for if that, which 
 is enjoined to All, can be performed only 
 by a Few, it is a vain Command, and lays 
 no Obligation on any. 
 
 The Jewifh Religion is the Stock on 
 which Chriftianity is grafted, after lop- 
 ping off the fuperfluous Branches : there- 
 fore it is of equal Importance to a Chri- 
 ftian as a Jew : that it fhould be of divine 
 Original. It is contained in the Writings 
 of Moses, the Oldeft now extant $ and 
 which muft therefore ftand on their own 
 Authority and Credibility. We. muft 
 therefore (as I faid before) confider their 
 Author, the Writings themfelves, and their 
 Promulgation. 
 
 Moses was educated in the Court of 
 Pharaoh j and was inftructed in the 
 Wifdom of the Egyptians, a learned and 
 powerful Nation in that early Age ; and 
 from whence Learning fpread itfelf into 
 
 other
 
 Religio Philosophi. 49 
 
 other Countries. But he chofe rather 
 to fuffer Affliction with the People of 
 God, than to pafs for the Son of Pha- 
 raoh's Daughter. And was miraculouf- 
 ly called by God to deliver his Country- 
 men from Slavery, and to con duel: them 
 to the Promifed Land through the Wil- 
 dernefs 5 where for Forty Years he ap- 
 proved himfelf a >moft, wife Legiflator ; a 
 moil upright Judge ; and a moft fhin- 
 ing Example of Piety and Virtue. 
 
 His Writings are Philofophical, Hi- 
 florical, Prophetical, Moral, Political, 
 and Religious. And let us appeal to 
 Reafon, if they carry not with them 
 the Internal Marks of a Divine Original. 
 
 In the Philofophical Part he defcribas 
 the Creation of the Univerfe ; the For- 
 mation of the Surface of our Globe ; 
 and the Original of Man and all other 
 Creatures on it. 
 
 He fets out with faying, " In the Be- 
 
 " ginning God created the Heavens and 
 
 E the
 
 50 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 "the Earth." A very fhort but fublime 
 Sentence ! of few Words ; but which 
 exprefs and imply as much good Senfe 
 and found Philofophy, as could be con- 
 tained in as many Volumes. It afTerts, 
 what none but the Fool ever denied in 
 his Heart, that there is a God : with- 
 out Beginning; felf-exiftent from Eter- 
 nity. That all other Beings had a Be- 
 ginning ; and derived their Exiftence 
 from him. That he created them, or 
 caufed them to exift out of Nothing j 
 not out of a pre-exifting Chaos, which 
 is a very Chimerical Notion. Whether 
 we fuppofe it Eternal, or to have been cre- 
 ated before the World. For if we fuppofe 
 fuch a Chaos Eternal ; it is as abfurd and 
 a more gloomy Idea than that of an 
 Eternal World. And can we fuppofe 
 fuch a ufelefs piece of Lumber to lye by 
 from Eternity, till it pleafed God to em- 
 ploy it in the Creation ? Or can we fup-' 
 pofc, that God, like a common Mecha- 
 
 nick,
 
 Religio Philosophi. 51 
 
 nick, wants Materials provided before- 
 hand to begin his Work ? And it is as 
 unworthy of the Deity to fuppofe, that 
 God firft created a Chaos, and out of 
 that a World, For can we conceive, 
 that in the Original Production of the 
 World he would frame it imperfect, in 
 order to render it more perfect afterwards ? 
 and perform that at Two Operations, 
 which he could perform at One ? How 
 much more agreeable to the Divine Ma- 
 jefty and Perfection is the Senfe of the 
 Words, " God created the Heavens and 
 " the Earth !" Plainly implying, not only 
 our Globe, but every Globe in the Uni- 
 verfe ; and that all Nature, with every 
 Being comprehended in it, flatted at once 
 at the Word or Nod of the Almighty 
 into a beautiful Order and Harmony, to 
 declare his Glory, and demonflrate his 
 Power and Wifdom. 
 
 After this general and noble Defcrip- 
 
 tion of the Creation of the Univerfe, he 
 
 E 2 con-
 
 52 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 confines his Difcourfe to this little Globe, 
 the peculiar Province of Man. And 
 what he fays of it feems to me, not to 
 relate to the Original Formation of it ; 
 but to fome great Alteration of its Sur- 
 face, immediately preceding the Dona- 
 tion of it to the prefent Race of Man- 
 kind. It may have undergone many Re- 
 volutions and Viciffitudes before that 
 time : for God out of the fame Mafs of 
 Matter, can produce Variety of Effects, 
 equally wonderful and glorious. But 
 what it hath been before its prefent State, 
 or what it may be after it, God, who 
 alone is able to vary the Landfcape, alone 
 knows ; and it is vain for Man to conjec- 
 ture. It is of more importance for him 
 t know, how this Habitation was pre- 
 pared for him ; how he was placed in 
 it ; and by what Tenure he holds it : 
 which Particulars are distinctly related 
 by Mos&s. 
 
 Who-
 
 Religio Philosophi. 53 
 
 Whoever maturely and impartially 
 confiders the Force of his Exprefiions re- 
 lating to our Globe, I mould imagine 
 would concur with me in Opinion, that 
 they cannot relate to the Original Crea- 
 tion of it. He fays, " that the Earth was 
 " without Form." He cannot mean, that 
 it was not a Globe -, or that it was not 
 a Planet in that Part of our Solar Syftem 
 in which it is ranged at prefent. Nor 
 can he mean (for the Reafons I have 
 before given) that this or any other Globe, 
 at the Creation of the Univerfe, came 
 rude and imperfect from the Hands of 
 the Creator. He mufr, mean that the 
 Form of its Surface was altered j that it 
 was without the Form it had, either at 
 the Creation, or at the time immediately 
 preceding that State of it which he is 
 defcribing j that the Beauty and Harmo- 
 ny of its Parts were deftroyed, and its 
 former Figures melted and difiblved, like 
 Wax 5 in order to receive a new Stamp and 
 E 3 ImprerTion
 
 54 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Impreffion from the Almighty. And his 
 next Expreffion feems to confirm this In- 
 terpretation j for he fays, " The Earth 
 '* was Void." That is, it had no Creature 
 upon it. It was void of every thing, that 
 ever lived or moved or grew on Land or 
 in the Water : they were all confound- 
 ed and deftroyed. And feveral of the 
 following Expreffions point out to us the 
 Natural Means, employed by God to ef- 
 fect this great Change. It feems to have 
 been brought about by a General Deluge ; 
 more lafting and more fatal than that, 
 which followed in the Days of Noah. 
 For it is faid, that Darknefs was upon 
 the Deep; that the Spirit of God moved 
 on the Waters, which were afterwards 
 gathered into one Place, to let the dry 
 Land appear. From all which it is evi- 
 dent, that the whole Surface of the 
 Globe was covered with Water mixed and 
 polluted with Earth. . Nor is it wonder-- 
 ful, that Darknefs mould be on the Deep, 
 
 when
 
 Religio Philosophi. 55 
 
 when the Spirit of God moved on the 
 Waters. That is, when the Almighty 
 Power put them in a violent Agitation, 
 and thoroughly mixed them with every 
 thing in the Caverns and on the Face of 
 the Earth. For when the whole Globe 
 was covered with Water, mixed with 
 Earth, and impregnated, heated, and fer- 
 menting with all forts of Animal, Vege- 
 table, and Mineral Subftances, the Sun 
 mufl raife a Vapour, fo copious, thick, 
 and grofs, as would make him invi/ible to 
 Creatures upon Earth, had there been 
 any then upon it ; who, being deprived 
 of the Sun and Stars, the Index of their 
 Time, could not have diftinguifhed any 
 Part of the Twenty-four Hours from 
 another. 
 
 But when it pleafed God to abate 
 this Agitation and Ferment, the groffer 
 Particles of the Vapour naturally fell back 
 to the Earth. And then it was, that 
 God faid, " Let there be Light, and there 
 " was Light:" that is, the Sun fhone a-? 
 E 4 gain
 
 56 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 gain on our Globe, and might give a Sen- 
 fation of Light to Animals (foon to be 
 placed there) by impelling the Ether on 
 the Eye. And the Earth, by its Rotation 
 on its Axis, again feparated the Light 
 from the Darknefs, and Day from Night : 
 and the Evening and the Morning were 
 diftinguifhable by the Setting and Rifing 
 of the Sun. For we are not to imagine, 
 that Light in general was then created : 
 and that it did not exifl: before that Pe- 
 riod. Light has ever been : and is 
 (with Reverence let me fpeak it) a Pro- 
 perty of the Deity. The Scripture tells 
 us, God is Light : he dwelleth in Light : 
 he decketh himfelf with Light as with 
 a Garment : in him is no Darknefs : the 
 Darknefs and Light to him are both a- 
 like. Thus our great, fublime, and phi- 
 lofophical Poet, addreffing himfelf to the 
 Light, fays, 
 
 Before the Sun, 
 Before the Heavens thou wcrt 
 
 and endeavouring to convey to our 
 
 weak 

 
 Religio Philosophi. 57 
 
 weak Underftanding fome Idea, tho' im- 
 perfect, of its Nature, he callsMt, 
 
 Of the Eternal Co- eternal Beam : 
 
 Bright Effluence of bright EJfence increate & . 
 
 After the groffer Parts of this thick 
 Vapour had fallen back on the Globe, 
 the lighter watery Particles remained fu- 
 pended in the Air j which divided them 
 from the Waters on the Face of the 
 Globe -, and which Moses, to comply 
 with the Vulgar Phrafe and Apprehen- 
 fion, calls the Firmament and the 
 Heaven. 
 
 When the Agitation of the Waters ceaf- 
 ed ; the Waters under the Heavens, that 
 is, on the Surface of the Globe, would 
 naturally fubfide, or be gathered together, 
 or run into fuch Cavities as God had 
 provided for them ; and the dry Land 
 mull of courfe appear ; and by (o tho- 
 
 Milton, Par Loft, Book III. 
 
 rough
 
 58 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 rough a Mixture of Manure of all Sorts 
 muft be very well prepared to nourifh all 
 kinds of Vegetables, the Grafs, the Herb 
 yielding Seed, and the Fruit-tree yielding 
 Fruit 5 which God was then pleafed to 
 plant upon it. 
 
 When the Air grew clear and ferene, 
 the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars became 
 vifible j which Moses places in the Fir- 
 mament of the Heaven ; to make himfelf 
 intelligible to the Vulgar ; who call every 
 thing Heaven, that appears in the Air 
 over their Heads, and cannot diftinguifh 
 the Diftance of the Clouds from the 
 Heavenly Bodies, nor of one Celeftial 
 Globe from another. He does but juft 
 mention the Stars, (which compofe fo 
 vaft a Part of the Univerfe) becaufe it 
 was foreign and unneceffary to his Sub- 
 ject. And he mentions the Sun and 
 Moon, only as they have a Relation to 
 our Globe, and not to the reft of our 
 Planetary Syftem. He /peaks of them 
 
 accord ing
 
 Religio Philosophi. 59 
 
 according to the Conceptions of the Vul- 
 gar : he calls the Moon a Light as well 
 as the Sun ; the laft the greater to rule the 
 Day, and the other to rule the Night ; 
 and to be for Signs, for Seafons, for Days, 
 and Years ; that is, to diftinguifh to us 
 the neceffary Divifions and Memorials of 
 our Time. 
 
 Aftewards : when both Water and 
 Air were fettled, and clear, and fit to re- 
 ceive their Inhabitants ; then God created 
 every thing living and moving, which 
 the Waters brought forth in abundance 
 according to their kind ; and every fea- 
 thered Fowl according to his kind. 
 
 Laftly : when the Earth was become 
 firm j and was clad with Vegetables ; God 
 made all Sorts of tcrreflxial Animals j to 
 whom he gave them for Food : and laft 
 of all the nobleft of them all, Man, to 
 whom he gave Dominion over all the 
 reft. 
 
 Thus,
 
 6o Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Thus, Moses fays, " the Heavens and 
 " the Earth were finifhed, and all the 
 " Hoft of them :" that is, all Creatures in 
 the Air, the Waters, and the Earth. And 
 to this Performance he arligns Six Days. 
 This Account of the Work, and of its 
 Duration, if applied to fuch an Altera- 
 tion of the Surface of our Globe only, 
 may (from the firft Appearance of the 
 Light) bear even a literal Interpretation. 
 But if it be applied to the Creation of 
 the Univerfe in the manner there defcrib- 
 ed, it is contrary to Reafon and to Fact, 
 and derogates from the Wifdom and Dig- 
 nity of the Creator. 
 
 For it reprefents God, working Six 
 Days, to produce and form all things ; 
 which, it is more reafon able to fuppofe, 
 were perfected in an Inftant by his Will. 
 It reprefents the Frame of the World 
 in feveral Particulars different from what 
 it really is : for it fuppofes with the. 
 Vulgar our little Planet (without mention- 
 ins
 
 JIeligio Philosophi. 61 
 
 ing the others) to be the principal Part 
 of the Creation; and the Sun, Moon, 
 and Stars, (all indifcriminately mention- 
 ed as Luminaries) as fubfervient to that 
 alone. It mentions the Creation of Light, 
 which (as I faid before) muit have been 
 from Eternity. It mentions Waters above 
 the Firmament. Which as well as the 
 Firmament are no where to be found; 
 unlefs you underftand the Waters to be 
 the Clouds or Exhalations ; and the Fir- 
 mament the Air that fupports them. It 
 reprefents the Six Days Work, as divided 
 into very unequal and unnatural Tafks 
 or Portions. On the Firft Day was cre- 
 ated Heaven ; and Earth fhapelefs, void, 
 and dark ; and Light. On the Second, the 
 Firmament, dividing the Waters beneath 
 it from thofe above. On the Third, the 
 Sea, Land, and Vegetables. On the 
 Fourth, the Sun, Moon, and Stars. On 
 the Fifth, Fifh, and Fowl. On the Sixth, 
 all terreftrial Animals, and Man. 
 
 Such
 
 62 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Such an Interpretation can never be 
 adopted ; and tho' that, which I have be- 
 fore given, may perhaps be New, it ap- 
 pears to me the moil Rational. It makes 
 Moses fpeak a Language, intelligible at 
 the fame time, both to the Vulgar, and 
 to the Philofopher. Whereas a literal 
 Interpretation is full of Abfurdities. And 
 whoever puts fuch a Conflruclion on 
 any Part of Scripture, does not fupport, 
 but undermines its Authority ; contri- 
 butes to makes Infidels and not Believers. 
 And fince Men have now clearer Con- 
 ceptions of the Structure of the Uni- 
 verfe ; fince the Ptolemaic Syftem has 
 given place to the Copernican ; and Ficti- 
 on to Reality ; it is right to employ the 
 Lights which God has afforded them, to 
 illuftrate his Works ; and they are more 
 capable now to explain the Mofaical Ac- 
 count of the Creation, than they were 
 in darker and more ignorant Ages. 
 
 In
 
 Religio Philgsophi. 63 
 
 In the lafl place, Moses gives an Ac- 
 count of the Original of the Prefent Race 
 of Mankind : whom he derives from 
 One Pair only. And in the Defcription 
 of their Formation, Nature, State, and 
 Situation, he fhadows Truth, under Al- 
 legory and Fittion, to make it the more 
 agreeable. He fays, God formed Man, 
 in his own Image, after his own Like- 
 nefs ; out of the Duft of the Ground : 
 and breathed into his Noftrils the Breath 
 of Life. The Meaning is, that he cre- 
 ated him with a Spiritual and Immortal 
 Soul, but with a Material and Earthly 
 Body. He fays, God made Woman out 
 of his Rib : meaning by fuch a Repre- 
 fentation to infpire mutual and cordial 
 Affection between them, as being of one 
 Nature, and to inculcate the Dependance 
 of the Woman on the Man. He fays, 
 God put them into Eden, i. e. placed 
 them in a State of Happinefs ; till the 
 Woman (the weaker in Understanding) 
 
 was
 
 64 Religio Philosofhi. 
 
 was tempted by the Serpent, i. e. her 
 own vicious Inclinations, to eat the for- 
 bidden Fruit, i. e. to commit Sin, and 
 to tempt the Man to do the fame ; for 
 which they were turned out of Paradife, 
 i. e. loft their Happinefs with their In- 
 nocence. For Innocent they were, and 
 muft have been, at the Inftant of their 
 Creation, not having had time to commit 
 Sin; and confequently muft have been 
 as happy, as a clear Confcience, and the 
 Health and Vigour both of Body and 
 Mind, which God then beftowed on 
 them, could make them. And how 
 they were driven out of this Paradife by 
 Sin, let every Guilty Man's Confcience 
 inform him. 
 
 How natural and juft is fuch an Alle- 
 gorical Interpretation 1 But to imagine 
 the Account to be a literal Hiftory is, 
 I think, inconfiftent with Reafon, and 
 any true or pure Conception of the Deity. 
 To conceive, that God formed Man me- 
 chanically
 
 Religio Philosophi. 65 
 
 chanically from the Duft, and breathed 
 in his Face ; that he took a Rib from the 
 Man when afleep to form the Woman ; 
 that he planted a particular Garden for 
 them to refide in, exclufive of the reft 
 of the Globe, which was to remain un- 
 inhabited that in the Garden, there was 
 one Tree whofe Fruit could give Know- 
 ledge, and another whofe Fruit could 
 give Life 5 that the Serpent fpoke to the 
 Woman; that the eating of one Fruit 
 could make Man finful and mortal, or 
 of another immortal ; that God made 
 Coats for them ; that he drove them out 
 of the Garden ; and that he placed 
 Cherubims with flaming Swords to guard 
 the Tree of Life j are fuch Opinions 
 as feem to me to require no Confuta- 
 tion. 
 
 As Man at his Creation muft have 
 
 been placed on fome one particular Spot 
 
 of this Globe j and could only have the 
 
 fpontaneous Product of it for his Nutri- 
 
 F ment -,
 
 66 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 ment ; God placed him in a Climate, 
 where he made to grow out of the 
 Ground every Tree pleafant to the Sight, 
 and good for Meats. This Place was a 
 real Eden or Garden : and the firft Pair 
 alone, Strangers to Sin and Shame, a 
 while enjoyed a perfecl Paradife. Moses 
 defcribes the Situation of this Place by 
 the names of Rivers and Countries known 
 in his Time. Which Defcription leads 
 many to imagine it to have been near 
 Babylon j and the four Rivers to be the 
 Tigris and Euphrates before they unite, 
 and the two Branches into which they 
 divide before they fall into the Perfian 
 Gulf. And certainly there is no properer 
 Place to be found on the prefent Surface 
 of the Globe ; the Country being fruit- 
 ful, and near the Center of the great 
 Continent of Ada, Africa, and Europe. 
 
 Some have fuppofed, that before Noah's 
 Flood, there was a regular Difpofition 
 of Land and Water on the Surface of 
 
 this
 
 IIeligiq Philosophy 67 
 
 this Globe : but that the Shell of it, be- 
 ing broken by that Event, prefents us 
 with the feveral Irregularities now to be 
 obferved in the Map of it. I can not 
 fubfcribe to that Opinion j which is 
 fcarce reconcileable to the Account of 
 Moses - t who mentions Mountains before 
 the Flood, and the fame Situation of 
 Rivers before and fince : and fays, the 
 Dove returned to the Ark with a Leaf 
 pluckt from an Olive j which fhews, 
 that the Waters, tho' deep, were ftill, 
 and could not occafion fuch a Change. 
 I imagine, it is owing to earlier Caufes ; 
 and perhaps not to one but to many -, 
 and I conceive the Great Deluge im- 
 mediately before the Creation of Adam, 
 when the Spirit of God moved on the 
 Waters, to have had a principal Share 
 in it. 
 
 It is next to be confidered, if it is 
 
 poffible and probable, that the Globe 
 
 could be peopled from one Pair. For if 
 
 F 2 it.
 
 68 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 it could j it feems a noble Defign of 
 Providence to abate the Pride and Am- 
 bition, and to promote the Charity and 
 Benevolence of Men, by affording them 
 this Subject of Reflection, that however 
 diftant others may be in Condition or 
 Situation, however different in Cuftom or 
 Complexion, they are ftill their Brethren, 
 and derived from one common Mafs. 
 And when Man came frefh (as I 
 may fay) out of the Mint, in perfect 
 Vigor of Body and Mind, without Dif- 
 eafes derived from his Parents or contract- 
 ed by Intemperance, and living on the 
 Fruits of the Earth ; no wonder, that he 
 lived longer than Men do now ; and be- 
 gat Sons and Daughters to the great 
 Age which Moses afcribes to him. 
 Thus we fee Natural Caufes concurring 
 with the Defigns of Providence for the 
 more fpeedy peopling of the Globe. 
 And whoever computes the Numbers, 
 that might defcend from one Pair and their 
 
 Pofterity,
 
 Religio Philosophi. 69 
 
 Pofterity, in the Space of e above fixteen 
 Centuries between the Creation and the 
 Deluge, I believe will find, that the 
 Globe muit have been better peopled at 
 the time of the Deluge, than it has 
 been at any time fince. And as Indi- 
 viduals attaining to fuch Ages muft 
 have a Degree of Knowledge and Ex- 
 perience beyond our Comprehenfion ; 
 and by the help of one Language might 
 maintain a mofl extenfive Correfpondence; 
 all Arts and Sciences, as well as Commerce 
 and Navigation, mud have been carried 
 to great Perfection : nor could Noah, 
 when fix hundred Years old, want Skill 
 to build the great Floating Vefiel which 
 faved the Remnant of Mankind. 
 
 The Dimensions of the Ark, as given 
 by Moses, is efteemed one Proof of the 
 
 divine Authority of his Writings : fince 
 F 3 a 
 
 e The Bifhopof Meaux (in his Difcourfe fur PHi- 
 itoire Univerfellc) makes it 1656. Mi\Whiston (in his 
 Chronological Tables differing from other Writers) only 
 1307-
 
 jo Religio Philosophi. 
 
 a Veffel of that Form and Capacity is 
 found by the Examination of the bell 
 Mathematicians, not only to be well con- 
 trived, but of an ample Size, to hold 
 Noah and his Family, each Species of 
 Birds, Quadrupeds and creeping Things, 
 with Provifions for their Subfiftence 
 for a longer time than the Waters co- 
 vered the Earth. But to collect each 
 Species together, and to caufe them to 
 enter into the Ark, are things that ex- 
 ceed human Power, and require the In- 
 terpofition of Providence. So likewife, 
 tho' I can conceive there may be Water 
 enough in the Clouds, the Ocean, and 
 the great Deep, to cover the Globe - t 
 yet I cannot conceive how it could be 
 raifed out of the Ocean and the Deep 
 above the Mountains, without a like 
 Interpofition of Providence. It is cer- 
 tain, that God can, tho' he feldom 
 does, act out of the common Courfe of 
 Nature : whenever he does, it is for 
 
 great
 
 Religio Philosophi. 71 
 
 great and wife Ends, and in Affairs 
 of general Concern : Now what more 
 momentous Ocean on can we imagine on 
 our Globe, than the Deftruclion of Man- 
 kind for their Wickednefs, all to a few 
 Perfons, who and their Poflerity were 
 warned by fo terrible an Event, to be 
 more virtuous, and to revere God's Power 
 and Juflice. 
 
 After the Flood, Man was permitted 
 to feed on Animals j and Luxury and 
 Intemperance, as well as divine Appoint- 
 ment, might have fome Share in abridg- 
 ing the Term of his Life. And as Pro- 
 vidence was viable in the long Lives of 
 the Poflerity of Adam, for the more 
 fpeedy peopling of the Globe ; it is no 
 lefs vilible in the fhorter Lives of the 
 Poflerity of Noah, that it might not be 
 over-peopled. In. the former Period, 
 for the firft Eight or Nine Hundred 
 Years, there were continual Births with- 
 F 4 out
 
 72 Religio Phi los-op hi. 
 
 out Burials ; whereas in our Age the nrll: 
 
 do but little exceed the laft. 
 
 Another Inflance of Providence Moses 
 gives us is, the Confufion of Tongues. : 
 which, tho' miraculous, is not more fo 
 than the beftowing the Ufe of Language 
 on Man immediately on his Creation. 
 This Difference of Language compelled 
 Mankind to divide into Clans, and to 
 fettle in different Places j and by dif- 
 perfing them naturally contributed to the 
 peopling of the Earth. 
 
 As Moses derives Man and all terre- 
 ftrial Animals from the Ark -, it is found 
 difficult to account, how fome of them 
 arrived from Mount Ararat to the 
 Places where they have been fince found. 
 How came the People into America, 
 which Columbus found there ? Or, fe- 
 veral Species of Animals, not to be met 
 with in our Hemifphere ? How came 
 into Iflands venomous and fierce Crea- 
 tures, which Men would rather avoid, 
 
 than,
 
 Religio Philosophy.' 73 
 
 than convey to fuch Abodes ? Or, how- 
 came the Negroes to differ fo much in 
 Complexion from other Men, if defend- 
 ed from the fame Parents ? Thefe 
 Queftions are beft anfwered by others. 
 Does not North America join to our 
 Continent ? Is it a longer Voyage from 
 fome Part of the African Coaft to Bra- 
 fil, than it is from London to the Me- 
 diterranean ? Were not the Coafts of 
 Afia early peopled ? And are not the In- 
 habitants of them to be fuppofed to be 
 foon acquainted with the Art of Navi- 
 gation ? What do we know of their 
 Hiftory ? Are we informed of all the 
 Voyages they have made ? Or, can we 
 affert, that None have been made from 
 Afia or Africa to America from the 
 Flood to the Days of Columbus ? Can 
 we fay, there has been no Alteration 
 in the Surface of the Globe in fo long 
 a Space of Time by fubterraneous Erup- 
 tions and other Accidents ? And that 
 
 many
 
 74 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 many Iilands have not been broken by 
 them from the Continent ? Does not the 
 Climate vary Men's Complexions ? Was 
 a fair Man ever known a Native of Gui- 
 nea ? or a Negroe of the Polar Circle ? 
 Let me afk too fome other Queftions. 
 Was there a Deluge, or was there not ? 
 And if there was, was it total ? If there 
 was not a Deluge, or if it was not total, 
 how come f Marine Fofllls to be found 
 in Inland Parts all over the Globe ? And 
 if there was a total Deluge, how could 
 any terreftrial Animals efcape, but by fome 
 fuch Means as Moses defcribes ? 
 
 So much for the Philofophy of Moses. 
 I mail now confider him as an Hiftorian : 
 the Firft and the only one, who gives 
 any Account of above Twenty-five 
 
 Centuries, 
 
 f In Ab. of Phil. Tran. Vol. IV. Part 2. Pag. 270. by 
 Jones, it is faid ; Shc-ftiells and the Teeth and Bones of 
 Marine Animals occur almoit every where and in all ' 
 Countries ; and have been fhewn to be all Remains of the 
 Univerful Delu.:e,
 
 Religio Philosophi. j$ 
 
 Centuries, which palled from Adam to 
 his own Time. In this Account he com- 
 prehends the Creation (or rather Renova^ 
 tion of the Face of our Globe) and the 
 Deluge : two moil: memorable Events, 
 and moll: neceffary to be known to the 
 prefent Race of Mankind. He gives 
 but few Particulars of what paffed in 
 above Sixteen Centuries between the Crea- 
 tion and the Deluge : but informs us in 
 general, that that Calamity was brought 
 on the Antediluvians for their Wicked- 
 nefs. Nor was it at all neceffary to be 
 minute in relating the Affairs of a Race of 
 Men long fince extincl - y and whofe Me- 
 morial (but for his Hiflory) mud have 
 perifhed with them. He has fet forth 
 a Pedigree from Adam to Moses, with 
 that Plainnefs and Simplicity, as well as 
 Perfpicuity and Preciiion, as gives great 
 Credit to his Hiilory ; and leaves little or 
 no Room to doubt of its Veracity. The 
 fame may be laid of feveral Pedigrees, 
 
 which
 
 y6 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 which he derives from Noah, to Abra- 
 ham the Father of the Faithful, and to 
 feveral others, who were Founders of 
 neighbouring Nations. 
 
 Nor is it to be wondered at, that Moses 
 mould have clear Information of the ear- 
 lieft Ages ; when we confider the long 
 Life of Man before the Flood. Noah 
 (if I miftake not) was cotemporary with 
 Seth and with Abraham : and might 
 inform Abraham of his being faved 
 from the Deluge himfelf, and of what he 
 had heard from the Son of Adam con- 
 cerning the Creation. Events too intereft- 
 ins, for Abraham not to tranfmit to his 
 Pofterity, or for Moses not to learn 
 from his great Anceflor : for Abraham 
 was Great Grand-father to Levi 5 as* 
 Levi was to Moses. 
 
 As Moses is the moft ancient Wri- 
 ter, his Hiftory can receive no Confir- 
 mation from the concurrent Testimony 
 of Authors near his own Time. Yet it 
 
 is
 
 Religio Philosophi. 77 
 
 is much confirmed by the Traditions, 
 which have prevailed amongft moft an- 
 cient Nations concerning a Chaos, out 
 of which the Earth was formed, and a 
 General Deluge : which Poets have con- 
 founded, and obfcured, with many Fables 
 of their own Invention. 
 
 But the ftrongeft Evidence of the Truth 
 of the Hiftory of Moses are the People 
 of the Jews themfelves. Who, when it 
 was publifhed, mufl know almoft every 
 Circumftance of it, that related to their 
 own Nation. Who were Eye-witnefTes 
 to what pafled in Egypt and the Wil- 
 dernefs. Who were in Fad: fettled un- 
 der his Inftitutions in the Land of Ca- 
 naan ; where they were found in After- 
 Ages governed by them. Who, before 
 Christ, were punifhed by God for for- 
 faking of them : and who fince have 
 been punifhed by Man for adhering to 
 them. And who in the midft. of Perfe- 
 ction do ftill firmly adhere to them, 
 
 above
 
 78 Religio Philosophy 
 
 above 3000 Years after their Publication, 
 As if God intended they mould always 
 remain a living Evidence of the Truth of 
 his Word delivered to the World by this 
 his firft great Prophet, in which Charac- 
 ter I mail now confider him. 
 
 By Prophets I would be underftood to 
 mean Perfons chofen and infpired by God 
 to publifh his Decrees to Mankind 5 to 
 manifeft his W r ifdom by their Precepts $ 
 his Power by their Miracles -, and his 
 Prefcience by their Predictions. 
 
 The Predictions to be found in the 
 Writings of Moses are what I meant by 
 the Prophetical Part of them : and are 
 fuch as were made known by God to him, 
 or to Others who lived before him, and 
 concern either Mankind in general, or the 
 Jews in particular. 
 
 The firft Prediction, that concerns 
 Mankind in general, is contained in the 
 Allegorical Account of the Fall : viz.' 
 that the Seed of the Serpent fhould 
 
 bruife
 
 Religio Philosophi. 79 
 
 bruife the Heel of the Woman, and her 
 Seed the Serpent's Head. As all the Al- 
 legory is full of important Truths, we 
 cannot fuppofe this Part to be without 
 its Meaning. I take the Meaning to be, 
 that tho' the Race of Adam will always 
 be purfued, attacked, and difturbed, by 
 the Temptations of their own vicious In- 
 clinations to commit Sin >, yet God will 
 raife up among them Prophets, who fhall 
 furnifh them with divine Means to van- 
 quifli fuch Temptations. And therefore 
 the Learned with Juftice principally ap- 
 ply this Prediction to Christ : whom 
 his Followers allow to be a Prophet, and 
 more than a Prophet, fent into the World 
 to fave Mankind. 
 
 Another Prediction of general Con- 
 cern to Man is God's Promife to Abra- 
 ham, confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, 
 that in their Seed all the Nations of the 
 Earth fhall be blefTed. This Prediction 
 confirms the former - p and at the fame 
 
 time
 
 80 Religio PhiLOsophi. 
 
 time informs them where to look for their 
 Prophets, and that Salvation is only to be 
 expected from Ifrael : but not from any 
 Prophet before the time of David : be- 
 caufe God honoured him with a Promife, 
 that the great Prophet and King of Man- . 
 kind mould defcend from him. From this 
 Quarter the Jews have always expected 
 their Messiah, in whom all Nations 
 were to be blerled, according to God's 
 Promife to their Forefather Abraham ; 
 and fuch a one they ftill expect. Though 
 the Followers of Christ anert, that the 
 Prophecy was compleated by his Appear- 
 ance on Earth : and that he is that Pro- 
 mifed Redeemer. As we hope to prove 
 in its proper Place. 
 
 I mall take Notice but of Two Pre- 
 dictions in the Writings of Moses relat- 
 ing to the Jews in particular. 
 
 The Firfl is God's Promife to Abra- 
 ham ; that he would give the Land of 
 Canaan to his Pofterity, and make of 
 
 them
 
 Religio Philosophic 8r 
 
 them there a mighty Nation. This 
 was s above 450 Years before Moses 
 conducted them to the Borders of that 
 Land -, which they took Pone mo n of 
 foon after his Death - } and grew up there 
 under the Conduct of their Judges j till 
 they arrived at very great Power in the 
 Reigns of David and Solomon. 
 
 The Second is the Promife of tempo- 
 ral Bleffings to them, whilil they wor- 
 shipped the true God, and kept his Com- 
 mandments j and of temporal Judgments, 
 whenever they fell to Idolatry ; a Prophe- 
 cy verified by the whole Series of their 
 Hiftory h for near 1500 Years from Moses 
 to Christ. 
 
 As to the Moral Part of the Writings 
 of Moses, it is fet forth in the Deca- 
 logue, which teaches us to acknowledge 
 One only true God ; to revere his Name ; 
 G and 
 
 8 Beth the Bilhop of Meaux and Whiston make it 
 about 470. 
 
 b Both the Bifhop and Wm ston make it above 1 490.
 
 82 Religio Philosophy 
 
 and to adore him : to honour all Men, 
 to injure no Man, in Perfon or in Property, 
 either by Deed, Word, or Thought ; a 
 fet of Precepts fo fhort, that All may re- 
 member ; fo clear, that None can mi- 
 stake ; fo excellent, that All rnuft ap- 
 prove : worthy to be written by the Fin- 
 ger of God, and engraven on the Heart 
 of Man : and which muft remain an im- 
 mutable Law as long as he inhabits this 
 Globe. 
 
 The Political Part of the Writings of 
 Moses contains the Laws for the Civil 
 Government of the Jews j which are a 
 never-failing Proof of the Wifdom of 
 the Legiflator. In all Nations the prin- 
 cipal Duties of Morality have been 
 guarded with Penalties to punifh the 
 Breach of them. Thefe Penalties are 
 well adapted by the Mofaical Law to 
 the Nature of the Offence. To inflance 
 firft in the Offences againft the Decalogue. 
 Idolatry, Blafphemy, Sabbath-breaking, 
 
 Striking
 
 Religio Philosophi. 83 
 
 Striking or Curfing of Parents, Mur- 
 der, and Adultery, are punifhed with 
 Death. Theft with five-fold Retribu- 
 tion. Falfe Evidence with the Payment 
 of the full Damage it might occafion. 
 Inferior Hurts to the Perfon with Reta- 
 liation : an Eye for an Eye, and a Tooth 
 for a Tooth : and if done to a Bond Ser- 
 vant, to be recompenced with Freedom. 
 The TrefpafTer on Lands was to make 
 Reftitution out of the befl Product of his 
 own. Unnatural Pollutions are capitally 
 punifhed. Inceftuous are prohibited. 
 Marriages with Strangers are prohibited 
 for fear of Idolatry. Children accufed. 
 of Vice by their Parents to the Magi- 
 flrate were to fuffer Death. If a betroth- 
 ed Virgin was known in the City, both 
 flie and the Man were to die : if in the 
 Field, the Man only. If the Virgin was 
 not betrothed, the Man was to pay a 
 Ranfom to her Parents, and to take her 
 and never to put her away. The He- 
 G 2 brew
 
 84 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 brew Servant after fix Years was to be 
 free. They Were to rife up to the hoary 
 Head. Not to vex the Stranger. To 
 help the Fatherlefs and Widow. To 
 keep and reftore Things loft or ftray'd to 
 the Owner. To eafe the Afs of their 
 Enemy finking under his Burthen. To 
 leave the Gleanings of their Harveft and 
 Vineyard to the Poor : to open the Hand 
 wide to him. Not to opprefs the hired 
 Servant -, but to pay him before the go- 
 ing down of the Sun. Not to lend upon 
 Ufury or Pledge. Not to remove the 
 Neighbour's Land-mark. Not to keep a 
 great and a fmall, but one juft Weight 
 and Meafure. Judges were not to take 
 a Gift to blind them : nor to wreft their 
 Judgment in the Caufe of the Poor or of 
 the Mighty: were to have the Matter 
 proved by two or more WitnelTes : And 
 in corporal Punifhments were not to or- 
 der above Forty Stripes. And to crown 
 all, every one was to love his Neighbour 
 
 as
 
 Religio Philosophi. 85 
 
 as himfelf. Thefe, with many other of 
 
 tjie Laws of Moses (too numerous .to be 
 
 here inferted) compofe a more excellent 
 
 Syftem of human Policy than any that 
 
 either befoie or fince hath appeared in 
 
 the World i and the good Effects of 
 
 them were manifeft through many Ages 
 
 by Experience : for the Jews (except 
 
 during their Captivity) lived under them 
 
 from the time of Moses to the Deftrudtion 
 
 of Jerufalem -, a much longer Period than 
 
 the Spartans continued under the Laws of 
 
 Lycurgus. 
 
 In the Religious Fart of the Mofaical 
 Writings is to be found a general Hiftory 
 of Religion from Adam to Moses ; and 
 the general Scheme of Providence for 
 the preferving the Knowledge and Wor- 
 ship of the true God on Earth, as long as 
 the Pofterity of Adam fhall remain upon 
 it : fhewing how by Man's natural De- 
 pravity it was gradually contracted, and 
 confined to the Seed of Abraham; 
 G 3 and
 
 86 Religto Philosophi. 
 
 and foretelling, that from them it mould 
 
 at laft be fpread over the Face of the 
 
 Earth. 
 
 From Adam to Noah Man was guid- 
 ed by his own Reafon, joined to fuch 
 Traditions as he received from Adam 
 concerning God and the Creation ; which 
 proved too weak a Defence againfl his 
 own vicious Inclinations. 
 
 Though the Terrors of the Deluge were 
 added to the former Motives to a good 
 Life, yet they all proved infufficient ; and 
 Noah was fcarce dead, before a fecond 
 Deluge of Impiety fpread itfelf amongft 
 Men. Which made the Almighty chufe 
 Abraham, and fet a carnal Seal on him 
 and his Pofterity, as Perfons defigned 
 by him, to preferve the Honour of his 
 Name and Worihip, and to punifh the 
 Idolatry of other Nations : which was be- 
 come very general, when the Children of 
 Ifrael left Egypt : and fuch is the Force 
 of Cuftom on Vulgar Minds j that even 
 
 they
 
 Religio Philosophi. 87 
 
 they were feduced ; and prevailed on 
 Aaron to confent to making the Golden 
 Calf in the Wildernefs. 
 
 The better to fecure Man againft this 
 Infatuation, and to preferve Natural Re- 
 ligion pure and undented, it now pleafed 
 God to affift his Reafon by a written Law> 
 delivered to Moses, to remain to all Ge- 
 nerations. Written by God on Tables of 
 Stone j and delivered to Moses with the 
 mod awful and tremendous Signs of Di- 
 vine Power in the Sight of all the Peo- 
 ple; to be kept (as it deferved) in the 
 Ark of the Covenant, in the mod facred 
 Place of the Tabernacle and Temple, be- 
 tween the Cherubims, and honoured with 
 viiible Marks of the Divine Prefence and 
 Protection. 
 
 To worfhip God is a Part of Natural 
 Religion, injoined by this Law. But as 
 Men cannot join in Publick Worfhip with- 
 out obferving fome outward Form, it is 
 neceffary to eflablifh fome Form for the 
 G 4 Ufe
 
 88 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Ufe of the People. The Form eftablifh- 
 ed by Moses was full of Pomp and Cere- 
 mony : intended partly, that the People 
 might not think it meaner than the Wor- 
 fhip of the idolatrous Nations round 
 about them ; but principally, to diftin- 
 guifh them from thofe Nations. For 
 there was fcarce a Ceremony or Obfer- 
 vance, but what was ordained to perpe- 
 tuate the Memory of fome fignal Mercy 
 or Deliverance, which they had received 
 either in Egypt or the Wildernefs ; and 
 which perhaps was to be a Type to Man- 
 kind of fome greater Mercy or Delive- 
 rance to come. But thefe Ceremonies, 
 confidered in themfelves alone, were 
 vain j were burthenfome in the Perfor- 
 mance : fome were temporary : others 
 were local, as the coming annually to the 
 Tabernacle or Temple to worfhip. Which 
 Ceremonies, though necefTary to keep 
 the Jews united among themfelves, and 
 a diftincl: People from others for a Time, 
 
 are
 
 Religio Philosophi. 2g 
 
 are abfolutely incompatible with a Reli- 
 gion that mud be general to all Mankind. 
 And Moses himfelf declares it a Form, 
 that is to give place to a better; where he 
 fays, " A Prophet fhall the Lord raife 
 \" up unto you, like unto me, from 
 " among you, even of thy Brethren ; 
 " unto him mall ye hearken. And God 
 <{ will put his Words in his Mouth ; and 
 " he fliall fpeak all that he commands 
 " him : and whofoever will not hearken 
 <c to the Words, which he {hall fpeak 
 " ia God's Name, God will require it 
 t{ of him." 
 
 Such are the Writings of Moses. 
 Which not only bear in themfelves the 
 Marks of a Divine Original : but are 
 proved to be (o by the Miracles attending 
 their Promulgation ; and by the Accom- 
 plifTiment of many Prophecies contained 
 in them ; which are a ftrong Arlurance 
 that the reft will be accomplifhed. 
 
 When
 
 go Religio Philosophy 
 
 When Moses was called by God - } his 
 Commiffion was attefled by Fire in the 
 Bum unconfumed, and by a Voice from. 
 Heaven ; and a Rod was delivered to 
 him, as the Enfign of his Power, by 
 which he performed moil amazing Won- 
 ders, in Egypt, the Red Sea, and the 
 Wildernefs. And when the Command- 
 ments were delivered to him on Mount 
 Sinai, there were Thunders, and Light- 
 nings, and the Sound of the Trumpet 
 exceeding loud : and all the People was 
 afraid : and when they flood round* the 
 nether part of the Mount, it was all 
 on Smoke, becaufe the Lord came down 
 upon it in Fire j and all the Mount trem- 
 bled exceedingly. And when the Sound 
 of the Trumpet blew long, and waxed 
 louder and louder, Moses fpake, an4 the 
 Lord anfwered him by Voice. 
 
 Though all thefe things are very won- 
 derful, yet are they inconteflable. There 
 is fcarce a Miracle wrought by the Hand 
 
 of
 
 Religio Philosopht. 91 
 
 of Moses without a Million of Wit- 
 nefTes. All Egypt faw and felt thofe 
 performed there j as did all the Con- 
 gregation of Israel thofe in the Wil- 
 dernefs. If the People had not ken 
 them, Moses could never have related 
 them to that very People, as things 
 which they had feen : and if the People 
 affembled had feen them, they could 
 not afterwards deny them. He daily re- 
 minds them of thefe Miracles ; appeals 
 to them as Facts, which they had feen 
 and could not deny, and which were 
 worthy to be had in remembrance. As 
 fuch they are beautifully defcribed by the 
 facred Writers ; and have been juflly ce- 
 lebrated through all Ages. 
 
 Another Proof of the Divine Origi- 
 nal of the Writings of Moses is the Ac- 
 complishment of the Prophecies con- 
 tained in them. By that we are to judge 
 if the Lord hath fpoken it; for he de- 
 clared} by Moses, that if a Prophet 
 
 fpeak
 
 92 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 fpeak in his Name, and the thing come 
 not to pafs, the Prophet hath fpoken 
 prefumptuoufly. 
 
 I have before taken notice, that the 
 Prophecies of Moses relating to the Set- 
 tlement of the Children of Israel in 
 Canaan, and to their Happinefs or 
 Mifery as they were obedient or difobe- 
 dient to the Law, have been accom- 
 plifhed. 
 
 There remains behind the great and 
 important Prophecy concerning the Mes- 
 siah -, of the Seed of the Woman, who 
 is to bruife the Serpent's Head - 3 of the 
 Seed of Abraham, in whom all Na- 
 tions are to be blened j like unto Moses, 
 whom they are to hear ; who is to fpeak 
 to them all that God commands ; and 
 to whofe Words if they do not hearken, 
 God will require it of them. Let us 
 then confider, if fuch a Prophet has yet 
 appeared j and if he has, how far the 
 
 Ends
 
 Relicio Philosophy 93 
 
 Ends of his Miffion have been accom- 
 plifhed. 
 
 The Author, who added the lafl 
 Chapter of Deuteronomy to the Writings 
 of Moses, which gives an account of his 
 Death and Character, fays, " that there 
 " arofe not a Prophet fince in Israel 
 " like unto him, whom the Lord knew 
 " Face to Face ; in all the Miracles and 
 <c Wonders which he fent him to do in 
 " the Land of Egypt 5 and in all that 
 " mighty Hand, and all that great Fear, 
 " which he wrought in the light of all 
 " Israel." This is fuppofed to be added 
 by Ezra after the Return from the Cap- 
 tivity. Before the time of Ezra, Sa- 
 muel, David, Elija, Elisha, and 
 almoft: all the Prophets whofe Writings 
 are contained in the Bible, had appeared. 
 Confequently none of them could be 
 t he Messiah : and far from claiming 
 the Character, thofe facred Writers, as 
 well as Moses, foretell his Coming. From 
 
 the
 
 94 Religio Philoso^hi. 
 the time of Malachi after the Captive 
 ty there appeared no Prophet till John 
 the Baptift; who exprefly declares he 
 was. hot that Prophet, and not worthy 
 to unloofe the Latchet of his Shoe j but 
 that he was near at hand j meaning Je- 
 sus of Nazareth, the only Perfon, who 
 ever till that time claimed the Title. 
 
 Let us fir ft examine what external Cir- 
 cumftances there are to 'fupport this 
 Claim : and then, whether it is fupported 
 by his Life and Doctrine. 
 
 But before I enter on this Subject, let 
 me premife once for all, that I under- 
 ftand every thing faid in Scripture con- 
 cerning Jesus Christ to relate to this 
 Globe only. That God has ordained 
 him the Guide, the Prophet, the Judge, 
 the Prince, the Saviour, and the Re- 
 deemer of the Race of Adam only : 
 that as Man he furTered only for Men, 
 and on Earth for Sins only committed on 
 Earth : that God hath united hirp to 
 
 himfelf
 
 Religto Philosophi. 95 
 
 himfelf in a peculiar manner for thofe 
 purpofes -, as he may have done other 
 intelligent Beings in other Planets for 
 fimilar Ends, That the Son of Da v i d 
 has not, nor ever will have, more Au- 
 thority there, than they have or can 
 have here. And we may as well ex- 
 pect a Saviour or Prophet from Mercury 
 or Jupiter, as they One from hence. 
 
 This is, and ought always to be 
 thought the genuine Interpretation of 
 Scripture : and we mould not draw any 
 other Conclufions from any general Ex- 
 preflions found there : for to make it 
 contradict Nature is to deftroy its Au- 
 thority ; and to caufe that, which rightly 
 underflood is mofi: rational, to be moft 
 abfurd and incredible. 
 
 That there was fuch a Perfon as Jesus 
 of Nazareth can no more be doubted, 
 than that there was fuch a Prince as 
 Augustus Czesar, in whofe Reign he 
 was born. His Life is proved, by the 
 
 Writings
 
 96 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Writings of his own Dilciples, who were 
 Eye-witnefTes to the Particulars of it 
 which they have related : by the concur- 
 rent Teftimohy of other Authors both 
 Jewifh and Pagan : by the Admiflion and 
 Confeffion of even the mod inveterate 
 Enemies to Chriftianity : and by the num- 
 ber of Chriftians, who have ever iince 
 profefTed this Religion, which could not 
 have been at firft taught and eftablifhed 
 without fome real Author of it. 
 
 The Life of Jesus was not (like that 
 of Moses) writ by himfelf, but by others. 
 The Four Evangelifts are his Biographers ; 
 and there are the ftrongeft, Reafons to 
 convince us of the Truth of the, ir Re- 
 lation ; and that it is come down to us 
 without any material Alterations. 
 
 1. Two of the Evangelifts were his 
 Difciples and Apoftles, and Eye-witnef- 
 fes of the Facts they relate. A Third 
 was a Companion of St. Peter, who 
 was fo : and the Fourth of St. Paul, 
 
 who
 
 i Religio Philosophy 97 
 
 who had been miraculoufly converted 
 and inftructed. Their Accounts, tho* 
 publifhed in diftant Places and different 
 Periods of Time, all agree in the princi- 
 pal Facts : and yet evidently appear not 
 .to be copied from each other, becaufe 
 each in fome Inftances fupply Circum- 
 flances omitted by the reft. The Wri- 
 tings of the other Apoftles in the New 
 Teftameht bear witnefs of their Truth : 
 as cotemporary Jewifh and Pagan Au- 
 thors do to the Truth of thofe Facts, 
 which in their Nature are of public No- 
 toriety, and which could not efcape their 
 Notice, if true. The Apoftles, while on 
 Earth, fpent their whole Lives in convinc- 
 ing the reft of Mankind of the Truth'of 
 it. They difperfed themfelves over great 
 part of the Globe to propagate the Story ; 
 in which, how diftantly foever dif- 
 perfed, they all continued to agree. They 
 told it in Languages they had never learn- 
 ed ; they confirmed it by Miracles, which 
 H none
 
 98 Religio Philosophi, 
 
 none elfe could perform j and tho' mofl 
 of them Men of mean Fortune and Educa- 
 tion courageoufly afTerted the Truth of 
 it before the Rulers of the Earth ; and 
 voluntarily expofed themfelves to Perfe- 
 ction and to Death to fupport the Cre- 
 dit of it. Is it poffible to conceive, that 
 Men generally fo illiterate and low 
 mould invent fuch a Story, and be at 
 fuch Labour and Pains, and perfill: fo 
 obftinately to impofe it on Mankind, with- 
 out any View of worldly Advantage to 
 themfelves, but even to their own De- 
 duction ? or that whole Armies of Mar- 
 tyrs in or near their Times, who had re- 
 cent Evidence of what had paffed, mould 
 leal it with their Blood ? 
 
 2. As the Evangelifts and Apoftles were 
 careful to preferve the Memory of the 
 Life and Actions of their Lord and 
 Master in their Writings; their Follow- 
 ers were no lefs careful to preferve thofe 
 Writings. As ibon as the Gofpels were 
 
 publiihed,
 
 Religio Philosophi. 99 
 
 published, they carried Copies of them to 
 the Churches then eftablifhed -, where 
 the Perfons converted by the Apoftles 
 found them to agree with the Traditions 
 before delivered to them. Such Copies 
 were kept with great Care : and in what 
 diftant and different Parts foever they 
 have been fince found, they have been 
 found to agree with each other, and with 
 the Quotations made from them by the 
 Fathers and other ancient Writers of the 
 Church. And whatever little Variations 
 may have crept in by the Error of 
 Tranfcribers or Tranflators, or have been 
 attempted by the blind Zeal of late Ages, 
 no Writing of Antiquity is come down 
 purer to us than the Gofpel, nor has any 
 fo many Proofs of being Genuine and 
 Authentick. 
 
 This being premifed - f let us examine 
 whether the Character of Jesus, as fet 
 forth in the Gofpel, anfwers to that of 
 the promiied Messiah. 
 
 H ?. The
 
 ioo Religio Philosophi. 
 
 The Messiah was to be of the Houfe 
 of David : Jesus in the Pedigrees fet 
 forth by St. Matthew and St. Luke is 
 derived from that Prince and his Houfe. 
 
 The Messiah was to be born of 
 a Virgin : Jesus is related to have been 
 ib. This is a Miracle j that is, an Event 
 out of the common courfe of Nature. 
 Nor are Miracles to be wondered at on fo 
 important and folemn an Occafion : and 
 that it pleafed God to point out to Man- 
 kind their Head and their Guide by pe- 
 culiar Marks of Diftindtion to notify his 
 Arrival amongfl them. 
 
 Many other Prophecies there are con- 
 cerning the Messiah, which the Evan- 
 gelifts and Apoftles (who were beft ac- 
 quainted with them) fay were fulfilled in 
 Jesus. Such was his very Name : the 
 Place of his Birth : the MafTacre of the 
 Children in Bethlehem : his Return out 
 of Egypt: his Refidence at Nazareth': 
 the Preaching of John in the Wilder- 
 
 nefs :
 
 Religio Philosophic ioT 
 nefs : his leaving Nazareth to dwell at 
 Capernaum : his riding into Jerufalem 
 on an Afs with her Fole : the cafting out 
 thofe who bought and fold in the Tem- 
 ple : his being fold for thirty Pieces of 
 Silver, which bought the Potters Field : 
 the parting of his Garment, and cafting 
 Ipts on his Vefture : his being crucified 
 between Thieves, and numbered with 
 TranfgrefTors : the giving him Gall to 
 eat and Vinegar to drink : the not break- 
 ing his Bones : the piercing his Side : and 
 his not feeing Corruption in the Grave. 
 
 And God was pleafed ft ill more ma- 
 nifeftly to declare his Appearance on 
 Earth by Miracles. An Angel foretold 
 it to the Virgin. Angels notified it to the 
 Shepherds. A Star (i. e. Meteor) conducted 
 the Wife Men to the Place of it. Voices 
 from Heaven proclaimed him the Son 
 of God and a Prophet, at his Baptifm, at 
 his Transfiguration, and at his Appearance 
 to St. Paul. Unnatural Darknefs co- 
 ll 3 vered
 
 102 Religio Philosophi. 
 vered the Earth at his Death, And a 
 great Earthquake rent the Veil of the 
 Temple. He failed forty Days. He 
 walked on the Sea. Was transfigured 
 before fome of his Difciples. Was feen. 
 by them and five hundred others at once 
 after his Death. Vifibly afcended from 
 Earth, and difappeared from amongft 
 Men. And afterwards appeared in a 
 Vifion to St. Paul going to Damafcus : 
 and laft of all to St. John in the Jfle of 
 Patmos. 
 
 If any further Proof is required, that 
 Jesus was the Messiah, we may appeal 
 to his Character, his Life, his Miracles, 
 his Prophecies, and his Doctrine. 
 
 i. He was himfelf a Pattern of thofe 
 Virtues, which he recommends to his 
 Followers : and the onlv Perfon of the 
 Race of Adam free from Sin. His fu- 
 perior Worth drew on him Hatred, Ma- 
 lice, and Perfecution ; to which he made 
 no other return than Patience and For- 
 
 givenefs.
 
 Reugio Philosophy 103 
 givenefs. And when he could have called 
 for Legions of Angels to his Aid, he 
 yielded himfelf up to the moft cruel In- 
 dignities and Torments, and prayed for 
 his Enemies at his Death. He was, as 
 the Prophet defer ibes him, a Man of 
 Sorrows, and acquainted with Grief. He 
 was defpifed, and we efteemed him not. 
 He was opprefled, and he was afflicted, 
 yet he opened not his Mouth. He was 
 brought as a Lamb to the Slaughter j 
 and as a Sheep before her Shearers was 
 dumb. He did no Violence, neither was 
 any Deceit in his Mouth. Yet it pkafed 
 the Lord to bruife him, and to put him 
 to Grief, when he made his Soul an Of- 
 fering for Sin : he was wounded for our 
 Tranfgreffions, he was bruifed for our 
 Iniquities j the Chaftifement of our Peace 
 was upon him, and by his Stripes we are 
 
 healed. Thus it pleafed God, in the 
 
 wonderful Difpenfations of his Provi- 
 dence, (having before prepared Men by 
 H 4 a
 
 104 Religio Philosophy 
 a very general Notion of Expiation of 
 Sins by Sacrifice) in this Inftance to make 
 the only Man that ever was without Sin 
 to attone for the Sins of Mankind. 
 
 2. His Life was one continued Scene 
 of laudable and benevolent Actions. He 
 went about doing good $ and inftructing 
 Men how to behave in this Life fo as 
 to be happy in the next, that Life of 
 Immortality, which he brought to light 
 thro' his Gofpel. 
 
 3. Many were the Miracles he per- 
 formed to prove the Truth of his Million 
 and Doctrine, and which proved him to 
 be more than Man, with Powers exceed- 
 ing human. He fhewed a Power of Cre-* 
 ation, by multiplying the Loaves and 
 Fifties: of altering the Qualities of Bo- 
 dies, by changing the Water into Wine : 
 of changing their fpecific Gravity, by 
 walking on the Sea : over the vegetable 
 Part of the Globe, by blafling the Fig- 
 Tree : over the watery Tribe, by the 
 
 wonderful
 
 Religio Philosophi. 105 
 
 wonderful Draught of Fifties, and by 
 taking of the FifTi with the Tribute- 
 money : over terreflrial Animals, by the 
 Swine running headlong into the Sea : 
 over his own Mind, by refilling all Occa- 
 fion and Temptation of Sin : over his own 
 Body, by failing forty Days ; by his 
 Transfiguration by his Refurreclion ; 
 and bv his Afcenfion : over the Minds of 
 others, by curing of Lunatics, and by 
 cafting out Devils, or (as I imagine) cu- 
 ring of thofe who were furioufly mad : 
 over their Bodies, by curing all manner of 
 Difeafes ; the Leper, the Woman with 
 the bloody I flue ; the Deaf, the Dumb, 
 the Lame, and the Blind j and by railing 
 Lazarus and others from the Dead. And 
 how were thefe Miracles performed ? by 
 no other Means than his Will or his 
 Word : often in the Abfence of the Par- 
 ties, an Evidence that his Power was not 
 confined to Things near at hand ; as his 
 Prophecies are, that he knew future as well 
 
 as
 
 io6 Religio Philosophi. 
 as prefent Things. They were not per- 
 formed in a Corner, but before thoufands : 
 the Fame of them went through Paleftinc 
 and Syria : Multitudes reforted to Jesus, 
 and brought Perfons to be cured of all 
 manner of Difeafes : the Perfons cured 
 publifhed the Fads, of which feveral of 
 them remained living Witneffes many 
 Years after Christ's Death and Refur- 
 rection. The Facts were fo flrongly at- 
 tended, that the moft inveterate Enemies 
 of Chriftianity could not deny them - 3 and 
 found no better Subterfuge, than to afcribe 
 them to Magic, or as the Jews exprefled 
 it, that he caft out Devils by Belzebub : 
 a Suppofition equally weak and wicked, 
 and which is confuted and expofed by 
 Christ himfelf. 
 
 4. The Prophecies of Christ relate 
 either to himfelf; to his Difciples ; to the 
 Jews ; to the Chriflians ; or to Mankind 
 
 in general. 
 
 1. A<
 
 Religio Philosophi." 107 
 
 1. As to himfelf : he foretold, that he 
 mould be betrayed to the Chief Priefts, 
 and unto the Scribes, and that they fhould 
 condemn him to Death, and fhould deli- 
 ver him to the Gentiles to mock, to fcourge 
 and to crucify him ; and that the third 
 Day he mould rife again. And that all 
 the Tribes of the Earth mould fee him 
 come again in the Clouds with Power and 
 great Glory. The firft Part of thefe Pro- 
 phecies have been fulfilled : which is an 
 Earned that the laft will be fo. 
 
 2. As to his Difciples : he foretold fome 
 Things relating to fome of them in parti- 
 cular : as that one that fate with him at 
 Meat mould betray him : and that Peter 
 mould deny him thrice before the Cock 
 crew. Others he foretold of them in ge- 
 neral : as that they mould be hated and 
 perfecuted ; delivered up to the Council, 
 and fcourged in the Synagogues ; that 
 they fhould be brought before Kings and 
 Governours for his Sake ; and that it 
 
 mould
 
 108 Religio Philosopht. 
 fhould be given in the felf fame Hoar 
 what they mould fpeak. Thefe Predic- 
 tions were fully verified. The Difciples, 
 convinced of the Importance of his Mif- 
 lion, and of the Truth of his Doctrine, 
 were not difcouraged by any Danger from 
 purfuing his Orders. As he told them it 
 was enough for the Difciple to be as his 
 Matter, they took up his Crofs, and fol- 
 lowed him. They boldly entered on their 
 Office : what he told them in Darknefs 
 they fpoke in the Light ; and what they 
 heard in the Ear they preached on the 
 Houfe-tops. They anerted his Doctrine 
 before the Rulers of the Earth ; and, il- 
 literate as they were, they wanted neither 
 Argument or Language to defend it j for 
 it happened as he had foretold, that it was 
 not they that fhould fpeak, but the Spirit 
 of the Father. They relied on Providence 
 for their Guard, having learned from him, 
 that the Hairs of their Head were all num- 
 bered, and that not a Sparrow fell to the 
 
 Ground
 
 Religio Philosophi. 109 
 
 Ground without the Father, and that they 
 were of more Value than many Sparrows. 
 They feared not thofe who could kill the 
 Body only, being perfuaded, that he who 
 lofeth his Life for Christ's Sake mould 
 find it. And they confirmed their Doc- 
 trine by the Miracles which, he had aflur- 
 ed them, if they wanted not Faith, they 
 fhould perform. 
 
 3. As to the Jews : he foretold, that of 
 the Temple of Jerufalem there mould not 
 be left one Stone upon another, which 
 mould not be thrown down. That the 
 Enemies mould caft a Trench about Je- 
 rufalem, and compafs her round, and keep 
 her in on every Side, and lay her even 
 with the Ground, and that they mould 
 not leave in her one Stone upon another. 
 All which was fulfilled when it was de- 
 stroyed by Titus. 
 
 4. As to the Christians : he foretold, 
 that in the Courfc of his Gofpel falfe 
 Chrifts and falfe Prophets fhould arife, 
 
 who
 
 no Religio Philosophi. 
 who mould mew Signs and Wonders, to 
 feduce, if poffible, even the Elect. Si- 
 mon Magus, and many fince have veri- 
 fied the firft Part of this Prophecy, and 
 Mahomet the laft. He likewife foretold, 
 that Men (hould fay, See here, or fee 
 there! lo here is Christ, or there! but 
 he commands them not to believe it ; for 
 the Kingdom of God cometh not with 
 Obfervation (or outward Shew) but is 
 within you. How neceflary was this 
 Caution ! when we reflect how this Pro- 
 phecy has been verified by the Preten lions 
 of all the different Sects of Chriftians ; 
 particularly of the Pope, who calls him- 
 felf the Vicar of Christ, and is called by 
 others Antichrift. Again, though our 
 Saviour has declared, that the Doctrine 
 of his Gofpel was Love and Peace, yet he 
 foretold it would not entirely have that 
 Effect : and that he was come, not to give 
 Peace, but Diviiion and a Sword : that 
 Men mould hate and betray one another : 
 
 that
 
 &ELIGIO PHILOSOfHI. 1JI 
 
 that Brother mould betray Brother to 
 Death ; the Father the Son -, and Chil- 
 dren rife up againft their Parents, and 
 caufe them to be put to Death ; and that 
 Iniquity mould abound. This Prophecy 
 has been very fufficiently verified - f and 
 Perfecution for Religion (which was little 
 known before the Gofpel) has been car- 
 ried to the greater!; Excefs of Cruelty, at 
 firft by the heathen Emperors againft the 
 Chriftians, and iince by the different 
 Se&s of Chriftians againft each other* 
 Laftly, he foretold, that the Gofpel fhould 
 be preached in all the World, for a Wit- 
 nefs to all Nations, and then mall the End 
 come. Though the Gofpel has been al- 
 ready preached in many different Parts of 
 this Globe, yet the Prophecy is far from 
 being at this Time compleated ; and there- 
 fore we need not expect the DifTolution 
 of the World (that is, of Mankind) yet : 
 for this Generation (that is, the Race of 
 Adam) fhall not pafs away, till all thefe 
 
 Things
 
 ii2 Religio Philosophy 
 Things (of which the general preaching 
 of the Gofpel is one) be fulfilled. Hea- 
 ven and Earth fhall pafs away, (that is, 
 this Generation fhall be taken from the 
 Earth) but my Words fhall not pafs a- 
 way j that is, the Gofpel fhall afterwards 
 remain, as the Record of the Trial and 
 Sentence of the prefent Race of Men : 
 and the Moral Precepts of it are eternal. 
 
 5. As to Mankind in general : he fore- 
 told his coming again in Glory to judge 
 the whole Race of Mankind : the End of 
 them here : the Separation of the Righ- 
 teous from the Wicked : ' a future State of 
 Happinefs for the firft, and of Mifery for 
 the laft. Thefe Prophecies remain to be 
 fulfilled j and I fhall enlarge upon them in 
 another Place. 
 
 5. I come now to fpeak of the Doctrine 
 of Christ : what he commands to be 
 done, and what to be believed. 
 
 He informs the World, that he is not 
 come to deflroy the Law, but to fulfill it : 
 
 intimating
 
 Religio Philosophy 113 
 
 intimating that he is the great Prophet 
 foretold by Moses, who was to teach Men 
 the perfect Will of God, both with regard 
 to God and Man. 
 
 1. With regard to God. He eftablifhes 
 that firft and great Commandment of the 
 Law, as necefTary to eternal Life, to love 
 God with all the Heart, Soul, Strength 
 and Mind. He tells us, to fear him who 
 is not only able to deftroy the Body, but 
 to caft the Soul into Hell. He directs us to 
 pray, but not to be feen of Men : to pray 
 in the Clofet and in fecret, becaufe God 
 feeth in fecret : not to ufe vain Repeti- 
 tions, becaufe he knoweth what we have 
 need of before we afk : and that we may 
 not addrefs the Supreme Being improper- 
 ly, he hath furnimed us with a moft fliorr, 
 excellent, and compreheniive Form. He 
 hath prefcribed no particular Form of 
 publick Worfhip ; but hath left it to the 
 Choice of every particular Perfon in pri- 
 vate, and of every Country in public. He 
 I neither
 
 U4 Religio Philosophy 
 neither confined himfelf or others to par- 
 ticular Times or Places of Worfhip. He 
 refted not on the Sabbath from doing 
 Good. He taught not only in the Syna- 
 gogue and Temple, but on the Mountain, 
 on the Sea, and in the Wildernefs. God 
 dwells not in Temples made with Hands, 
 but in the Heart -, therefore his Worfhip 
 is not local 5 but, like that of Christ, 
 may be exercifed alike in every Part of this 
 Globe. To ferve God, no Man need go 
 to a Temple at Jerufalem, a Mofque at 
 Mecca, or St. Peter's at Rome: God 
 hath erected his Temple in the Heart of 
 Man, and confequently can in no Part of 
 the World be deflitute of Places of Wor- 
 fhip where there are Men. 
 
 2. With regard to other Men. He 
 teaches univerfal Benevolence. To look 
 on all Mankind, of what Nation or Sect 
 foever, as our Neighbours ; and like the 
 good Samaritan, to aflift them. To love 
 them as ourfelvea. To do to them, as we 
 
 would
 
 Religio Philosophi. ir 
 would they mould do unto us. Not 
 to judge others, left we be judged* 
 Not to fee their Faults, and be blind to 
 our own. Not to be angry with our 
 Brother without a Caufe j but to love 
 even our Enemies. Not to curfe our 
 Brother, or call him Fool; but to blefs 
 thofe who curfe us. Not to retaliate In- 
 juries, or refift Evil, but to him that 
 fmiteth us on the right Cheek, to turn 
 the other alfo. To do Good to them that 
 hate us. To pray for them that de- 
 fpitefully ufe us, and perfecute us. To 
 forgive an offending Brother not feven 
 times only, but feventy times feven ; the 
 Condition on which God will forgive us. 
 To live thus peaceably with others ; and 
 to be Peace-makers amongft others, with 
 the Promife of a Bleffing, if we are Co. 
 This is our Duty to others, as private 
 Men. As Members of the State, we are 
 to give unto C^sar the Things that are 
 I 2 Cesar's i
 
 116 Religio Philosophi. 
 Caesar's ; Tribute to whom Tribute is 
 due -, Honour to whom Honour. 
 
 3. With regard to a Man's felf. He 
 teaches us to be poor in Spirit, meek, 
 merciful, poor in Heart, hungring . and 
 thirfting after Righteoufnefs, and exceed- 
 ing glad when reviled and perfecuted for 
 it's fake. Mailers of our carnal Affec- 
 tions, fo as not to look on a Woman to 
 lull after her. We are to let our Light 
 mine before Men, that they may fee our 
 gcod Works j but not to be oftentatious 
 of them. When we do Alms, we are 
 not to let the Left-hand know what the 
 Right-hand doth. When we pray, 'tis 
 not to be in the Corners of the Street, but 
 in the Glofet. When we fait, 'tis not to 
 be with a fad, but a chearful Counte- 
 nance. We are not to be like the Scribes 
 and Pharifees, who do all their Works 
 to be feen of Men ; make broad their Phi- 
 lacteries ; enlarge the Borders of their 
 Garments ; love the uppermoft Rooms at 
 
 Feafis -j
 
 Religio Philosophi. II y 
 Feafts -, and chief Seats in the Synagogues } 
 and Greetings in the Market ; and to be 
 called of Men, Rabbi, Rabbi. We can-* 
 not ferve God and Mammon j therefore 
 are not to lay up Treafures on Earth, but 
 in Heaven. Should not be folicitous for 
 Food or Raiment; but firit. feek the King- 
 dom of God and his Righteoufnefs, and 
 rely on his Providence for them. We are 
 to love neither Father, Mother, Son, -or 
 Daughter, more than Christ ; but are 
 to take up his Crofs and follow him, (i. e. 
 fuffer like him for Righteoufnefs Sake) 
 for he that findeth his Life (i. e. faves 
 it in this World by denying him) mail 
 lofe it, (i. e. in a future State) but he 
 that lofeth his Life (i. e. is a Martyr) for 
 his Sake, fhall find it (i. e. be eternally 
 happy.) 
 
 This is the moil perfect Syftem of Mo- 
 rality that ever was propofed to Man. Wor- 
 thy of the great Prophet foretold by Mo- 
 ses, who was to teach them all they were 
 I % to
 
 1 18 Reiigio Philosophi. 
 to do, and whom they were to hear. A 
 Religion, not like the Jewifh, requiring 
 many vain Ceremonies, and external Per- 
 formances j but only a right Difpofition of 
 the Mind, and a reafonable Employment 
 of it's Faculties. It injoins but two Cere- 
 monies, in their own Nature indifferent, 
 as Seals or Marks on it's Profeffors, to 
 teflify to the World their Faith and the 
 Author of it : neither of them burden- 
 fome j but both eafy to be performed in 
 any Part of the World. The one is to 
 be baptized in the Name of the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost : the other fome- 
 times to eat Bread, and drink the Cup, in 
 Remembrance of Christ, and his Suffer- 
 ings for Mankind. 
 
 Thefe Things the Chriftian Religion 
 requires to be done. What does it re- 
 quire Men to believe r One God : that 
 God diftinguifhed into Father, Son, 
 and Holy Ghost : that Son taking or 
 uniting to himfelf Jesus of the Houfe of 
 
 David
 
 Religio Philosophi. IL9 
 
 David to be the eternal Prince of Man- 
 kind : that Jesus, heretofore inftrucling 
 and dying for Man, now in a State of 
 Glory interceding for him with God, 
 hereafter to come again to be his Judge, 
 and to take with him all the Righteous 
 of the Race of Adam into Manfions of 
 everlafting Blifs. 
 
 This is tfie general Subftance of the 
 Chriftian Faith contained in Scripture. 
 The Articles of it lie difperfed there: 
 but have been collected, methodized, and 
 prefented in one fummary View in feve- 
 ral Creeds which have been formed for 
 the Ufe and Eafe of the Generality of 
 Mankind, who are not able to make fuch 
 Abftracts for themfelves. Creeds are hu- 
 man Compoiitions ; and therefore of no 
 Authority. They are no further to be 
 attended to than they are warranted by 
 Scripture, which h the fole Rule of 
 Faith. They may be propofed, but can- 
 not be impofed. Every one, who is able, 
 I 4 mould
 
 i2o Religio Philosopht. 
 mould compare them with the Gofpel, 
 to fee if they be agreeable to it. Of this 
 a Man rauft judge for himfelf. He can 
 have no other Opinion than his own : 
 others cannot think for him, nor he for 
 them. If he differs in Opinion from an- 
 other concerning any Mode or Circum- 
 fiance of any abftrufe and myfterious Ar- 
 ticle of the Chriftian Faith, he does no 
 more than different Popes, Synods, and 
 Councils have done before on the fame 
 Points. He only exercifes that Liberty 
 which Christ allows. He allows Men 
 to conjecture, but not to decide fuch 
 Points which he was not pleafed fully to 
 reveal. Thofe Glimmerings of Light 
 which he hath afforded us concerning 
 them, are Intimations that what we can- 
 not plainly difcern here, will be difclofed 
 to us hereafter. Let a Man think as he 
 pleafes about the Myfferies of Chriffiani- 
 ty, if he conforms but his Actions to the 
 r/lain Precepts of it : by the fi rft he can 
 
 hurt
 
 Religio Phtlosophi. 121 
 
 hurt neither himfelf nor others ; by the 
 kft he will mod certainly benefit both. 
 In delivering his Opinions on thefe My- 
 fteries, let him be charitable, allowing to 
 others the fame Liberty of Sentiment 
 which he aftumes to himfelf: let him be 
 humble, not peremptorily deciding be- 
 yond what the Scripture hath decided : 
 but let him be confident of one Thing, 
 that, though it may contain many Things 
 above his Comprehenfion, it can contain 
 nothing repugnant to Reafon. 
 
 The Tenets which principally diftin- 
 guifh the Chriftian Religion from all 
 others, and of which Men could have no 
 Conception or Idea by the Light of Na- 
 ture, relate, i. To the Deity: 2. To 
 the Union of Christ to the Deity: 3. 
 To a Refurrection and Judgment preced- 
 ing a future State. 
 
 As to the iirft. God, whofe Nature is 
 incomprehenfible, hath been pleafed to 
 reveal to us, that there are three Perfons 
 
 in
 
 122 Religio Philosophi. 
 in the Godhead : not three diftinct Qua- 
 lities or Attributes only, but three diftinct 
 intelligent Agents; for dictinct Actions 
 and Offices are afcribed to them, which 
 could not be to Qualities or Attributes, 
 but muft be to Perfons or intelligent A- 
 gents. Thefe three Perfons are of the 
 fame Effence, and have the fame Attri- 
 butes 5 but are diftinct in Intelligence and 
 in Operation : always willing the fame 5 
 and always acting in Harmony. They 
 are often exprefly mentioned together in 
 Scripture : the whole Tenor of the Scrip- 
 ture implies, that they are diftinct : and 
 the Scripture would bp unintelligible, if 
 they are not conceived to be fo : and that 
 all Nations mould conceive them to be fo 
 was the Intention of Christ, when he 
 ordered them to be baptized in the Name 
 of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 The Father is felf-exiftent, and fu- 
 preme, the Author of all Beings, and the ' 
 
 Fountain
 
 Religio Philosophi. 123 
 Fountain of all Power, and in the moll 
 exalted Senfe God. 
 
 The Son is derived (or begotten) from 
 the Father alone : and receiving his Be- 
 ing from him, confequently is not origi- 
 nally God, but Cod of God. Having 
 been with the Father from the Begin- 
 ning, that is, before all other Beings or 
 Worlds, and before even all Computation 
 of Time. In which Senfe only he is eter- 
 nal j not in the mod abfolute Senfe, as 
 the Epithet is afcribed to the Father : 
 for tho' he is before all Worlds, he muft 
 be after the Father, becaufe he derives 
 his Existence from him. He is begotten, 
 not made ; that is, he is of the fame Ef- 
 fence with the Father^ from whom he 
 derives his Exiflence : and the Expref- 
 fion (begotten) is ufed to convey that Idea 
 to us : for in our Conception, every 
 Thing that is begotten, is of the fame 
 Nature with that which begot it j but 
 nothing that is made, is of the fame Na- 
 ture
 
 124 Religio Philosophy 
 ture with that which made it. The Ex- 
 prefiion (begotten) is not ufed to convey 
 any Idea of this Divine Generation: that is 
 known to God alone. Man is ignorant 
 of the Manner of his own Generation, or 
 of that of any Animal or Vegetable : and 
 it would be the moft blafphemous Pre- 
 fumption in fo inconfiderable a Creature 
 of the Univerfe to attempt to explain that 
 of the Son of God. Tho' the Son is of 
 the fame Subftance or EfTence, yet he is 
 fubordinate to the Father, who is great- 
 er. This is exprefly faid in Scripture $ 
 and is implied through the whole Tenor 
 of it. Therefore when the Athanafian 
 Creed fays, he is equal to the Father as 
 touching his Godhead, it muil he under- 
 flood only, that he is equally of the fame 
 Divine Nature, not equal in Authority : 
 for he in every Thing does the Will of 
 the Father. Not my Will, lays he,, 
 but thine be done. 
 
 The
 
 Religio Philosophi. 125 
 
 The third Perion who has exifted from 
 the Beginning (or before all Worlds) 
 with the other two, is the Holy Ghost. 
 The Eternal, the Holy Spirit, who fpoke 
 by the Prophets and Apoftles ; by whom 
 Jesus was conceived - 3 the Comforter 
 fent by the Father and the Son ; to mo- 
 ralize and fanclify the World. Who will 
 continue with Mankind (that is, amfl) 
 to conduct them into the Way of Truth, 
 until they fhall be removed from this 
 Globe. 
 
 As the two laft Perfons derive their Ex- 
 igence and Authority from the Father, 
 they are fubordinate to him, who is the 
 only fupreme God, who governs all Things 
 by their Miniftration, and by and through 
 them is worfhipped and glorified for as 
 Christ himfelf hath faid, and directed 
 us to fay, His is the Kingdom, the Power, 
 and the Glory, for ever and ever. But 
 tho' the other Perfons are fubordinate to 
 the Father, yet we conceive them to be 
 
 of
 
 126 Religio Philosophi. 
 of the fame Nature and Perfections : in 
 which Senfe, and in which alone, the 
 three Perfons can be faid or understood to 
 be co-equal. ' 
 
 For in other refpects, as the Son him- 
 fclf hath declared, the Father is greater 
 than he. The Father is God of himfelf, 
 the other Perfons God of God. The Fa- 
 ther felf-exiftent, the others deriving 
 their Exiftencc from him. Some Things 
 none knoweth fave the Father only, 
 others he hath revealed to the Son alone. 
 The Father doth whatfoever he plea- 
 feth, the Son only what he feeth the Fa- 
 ther do: the Son and Holy Spirit in 
 all Things performing his Will. The 
 Son is fent (or commifiioned) by the Fa- 
 ther 5 the Holy Ghost (or Comfor- 
 ter) by the Father and the Son : and 
 he that fends is greater than him that is 
 fent. That Expreffion therefore in the 
 Athanaiian Creed, that none of the Per- 
 fons is before or after other, none greater 
 
 or
 
 Religio Philosophi. xiy 
 
 Or lefs than the other, but their Glory 
 equal, is fcarce reconcileable to Scripture $ 
 or to reconcile it, muft be underftood 
 with great Limitations. 
 
 This Idea which we receive from Scrip- 
 ture, of three Divine Perfons fubfifting to- 
 gether from Eternity in the Godhead, is 
 more chearful than that of a Deity exit- 
 ing from Eternity, without any Commu- 
 nication of his Ideas before the Creation 
 of the Univerfe. 
 
 It gives us alfo a more exalted Notion 
 of the Theocracy, or God's Government 
 of the Univerfe : when we confider the 
 other two Perfons performing the high 
 Behefts of the Father, and by his Order 
 co-operating with him in the Creation, 
 Prefervation, and Sanclification, not only 
 of this little Globe of our's, but of every 
 Part of Nature. 
 
 Eut there will always remain two great 
 Difficulties in the Doctrine of the Trini- 
 ty, i. How it is confident with the Uni- 
 ty
 
 128 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 ty of the Godhead. 2. How it is con- 
 Merit with the Eternity of the Son and 
 Holy: Ghost. 
 
 To reconcile it to the Unity, we are to 
 believe, 1. That notwithstanding there 
 are three distinct Perfons or intelligent 
 Agents in the Godhead, which we are 
 not to confound, yet, as is faid in the 
 Athanafian Creed, we are not to divide 
 the Subftance, which ftill remains but 
 one : for the Divine EfTence, being fpiri- 
 tual, cannot be divided ; and being infi- 
 nite, cannot be multiplied. The Son is 
 faid to be in the Bofom of the Father; 
 that is, wherever the Father is, there 
 is the Son, and there too is the Holy 
 Ghost. This is very difficult for us to 
 conceive, who borrow our Ideas from 
 vifible Objects here below: and no Pa- 
 rallel can be made from created Things. 
 All created Beings occupy particular Parts 
 of Space, and are each feparated in Place 
 .from the other : the Godhead goes 
 
 through
 
 Religio Philosophi. 129 
 
 through all Space, and confequently each 
 Perfon in it muft be ever and throughout 
 united. We cannot conceive three Men 
 in this manner to be one, or to be in one 
 Place at the fame time. We cannot 
 conceive one Man to have three Souls, 
 three Underftandings, or three Wills : or 
 three Men to have one Soul, one Under- 
 ftanding, or one Will. We cannot con- 
 ceive three Men, or even one Man, al- 
 ways to have the fame Thoughts and In- 
 clinations -, or three Men to know the 
 Thoughts and Inclinations of each ether. 
 But God's Nature is not like Man's Na- 
 ture 1 his Thoughts like Man's Thoughts -, 
 his Ways like Man's Ways : his Ways are 
 unfearchable ; his Counfels impenetrable ; 
 and his Nature incomprehenfible. It is 
 not for Man to explain this Myftery -, at 
 to fay, it is, or it is not thus. As it was 
 at firft difcovered to him in Scripture, all 
 that he can know of it he muft learn from 
 thence, and muft not be wife beyond 
 K what
 
 130 Religio Philosofhi. 
 what is there written. 2. As the three 
 Perfons are but one in Eflence j fo are 
 they but one in Will and in Harmony of 
 Action; the Son and Holy Ghost always 
 either co-operating with the Father, or 
 performing his Will. 
 
 The other Difficulty with regard to the 
 Trinity, is the Eternity of the Son and 
 Holy Ghost. For we are at a lofs to 
 conceive, how Perfons, who derive their 
 Exigence from another, mould always 
 have been ; or not afcribe a Priority to 
 him, from whom they derive their Exi- 
 gence. We can conceive them to have 
 been, as St. John fays, in the Beginning, 
 before any thing was made : or, as the 
 Nicene Creed expreffes it, before all 
 Worlds : we may impute to them a Du- 
 ration beyond what either the Force of 
 Imagination or Numbers can reach : but 
 when we have done all, we can fcarce 
 fay, as the Athanarian Creed does, that 
 none of the Perfons are before or after 
 
 other :
 
 Reljgio Philosophy 13 1 
 other : or when it fays they are co- eter- 
 nal, afcribe the fame Sort of Eternity to 
 the two laft as to the Father. When- 
 ever we contemplate this Point, we muft 
 be fenfible; that we cannot comprehend it 
 in this Life j and that the Line of our Un- 
 derftanding is much too (hallow to fa- 
 thom the Depths of Eternity. It is fuf- 
 ficient for Chriftians to believe, that there 
 are three Perfons in one Godhead. The 
 Nature of the Deity is above Man's Com- 
 prehension, as well as the Manner of the 
 Co-exiftence of the three Perfons in it* 
 "When Men therefore attempt to explain 
 any Part of this Myftery, it is only pro- 
 poiing an Opinion, which the reft of 
 Mankind are at Liberty to receive or re- 
 ject. The Scripture is the Standard, by 
 which fuch Explications are to be tried. 
 And whether they are agreeable to Scrip- 
 ture every one muft judge for himfelf. It 
 is arrogant in any to in fi ft on their own 
 Senfc as a necefTary Rule of Faith -, and 
 K 2 impious
 
 132 Religio Philosophi. 
 impious and unchriftian to curfe others, 
 if they do not believe it. Thefe things 
 were revealed to make Men humble, not 
 proud and contentious. 
 
 The next Tenet, which diftinguimes 
 the Chriftian Religion, is the Union of 
 Jesus to the fecond Perfon of the Deity, 
 by which he became both God and Man, 
 or one Christ. An ineffable Myftery, 
 as well as the Trinity ! on which Men 
 may difpute, but which they can never 
 explain. This, as we are told in Scrip- 
 ture, was performed by the Operation 
 of the Holy Ghost : therefore he is 
 faid, in the Apoftles Creed, to be con- 
 ceived, in the Nicene, to be incarnate, 
 by the Holy Ghost. In what Manner 
 exceeds our Comprehenfion j if we can- 
 not comprehend how Man is conceived 
 in the natural Courfe, we certainly can- 
 not this miracuolus Conception : if we 
 cannot tell how the Soul is united to the 
 Body, much lefs can we explain how the 
 
 Body
 
 Religio Philosophic 133 
 Body and Soul of Jesus was united to the 
 Deity. I think the cleareft Explanation, 
 that is to be found, of this abftrufe Point, 
 is in the Athanafian Creed, viz. That 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of 
 God, is God and Man. God, of the 
 Subftance of the Father, begotten 
 before the Worlds; and Man, of the 
 Subftance of his Mother, born in the 
 World. Perfect God, and perfect Man, 
 of a reafonable Soul and human Flefh 
 fubnfting. Equal to the Father, as 
 touching his Godhead ; an,d inferior to 
 the Father, as touching his Manhood. 
 Who, although he be God and Man, 
 yet he is not two, but one Christ. One ; 
 not by Converfion of the Godhead into 
 Flefh ; but by taking the Manhood into 
 God. One altogether ; not by Confu- 
 fion of Subftance, but by Unity of Per- 
 fon. For as the reafonable Soul and 
 Fleih is one Man, fo God and Man is 
 one Christ. Thefe Words (according 
 K 3 to
 
 T34 Religio Philosophi. 
 to my Appreheniion) intend to mew, 
 that Jesus, who was miraculoufly born 
 of the Virgin Mary, was in a peculiar 
 Manner united to the fecond Perfon in 
 the Godhead. That by fuch Union he 
 became Christ ; or the Anointed j to 
 be a Prophet to inftruct, a Prieft to re- 
 deem, and a King to judge and govern 
 Mankind. That as the Union of Soul 
 and Body compofe but one Perfon, or. one 
 Man j fo the Union of the Soul and Body 
 of Jesus to the fecond Perfon in the 
 Godhead, compofed but one Perfon, or 
 one Christ. That, as the Soul and 
 Body of a Man, which are of different 
 Natures, dill continue fo whilft united ; 
 fo the Soul and Body of Jesus, which 
 were both of a different Nature from the 
 Godhead, ftill continued fo after they 
 were united to it in him. Thefe Na- 
 tures were not confounded, though uni- 
 ted : for it is blafphemous to imagine, that 
 God could be converted into Man, or Man 
 
 into
 
 Religio Philosophi. 135 
 into God. The Manner of this Union 
 cannot be better expreffed, than by fay- 
 ing, it was not by Converfion of the God- 
 head into Flefh, but by taking the Man- 
 hood into God, in whom all Things are 
 contained. Not by Confufion of Sub- 
 ftance (divine and human) but by Unity 
 of Perfon j that is, by uniting the Perfon 
 of Jesus (and of Jesus only, felected 
 from all Mankind) to the Godhead, in a 
 more peculiar Manner, and more inti- 
 mately than all other Men. 
 
 On this myfterious Subject Men have 
 been led into great Confufion and Per- 
 plexity by two Things : 1 . By not fuffi- 
 ciently attending to the Diftinction be- 
 tween the Son of God (the fecond Per- 
 fon of the Trinity) begotten of his Fa- 
 ther before all Worlds, and Jesus (who, 
 by being peculiarly united to that Perfon, 
 is likewife called the Son of God) born 
 in the World. 2. By imagining, that 
 by futh Union Christ became Lord of 
 the Univerfe 5 whereas his Commimon 
 K 4 extends.
 
 136 Religio Philosophy 
 
 extends only to our Planet, and the pre- 
 
 fent Race of Mankind. 
 
 The Athanaiian Creed is juftly blame- 
 able for fetting up a human Compofition, 
 as the Standard of Salvation ; and for re- 
 quiring an implicit Belief of the Tenets 
 contained in it under the Penalty of Dam- 
 nation. When many have thought fome 
 of thofe Tenets very doubtful, and others 
 repugnant to Scripture. But notwith- 
 ftanding thefe glaring Imperfections, the 
 Methods it proceeds in is better than either 
 that of the Nicene or Apoftles Creed. 
 For it firft treats of the three Perfons in 
 the Godhead, and afterwards of the In- 
 carnation or taking of Jesus into the God- 
 head, and uniting him to the fecond Per- 
 fon of it. Whereas the other two Creeds, 
 without previoufly fetting forth the Tri- 
 nity, infert the Name of Jesus between 
 the Father and the Holy Ghost. 
 Which, if not properly attended to, and 
 explained, may make the Generality of 
 People confound the two Natures in 
 
 Christ 5
 
 Religio Philosophy 137 
 
 Christ ; the divine, which exifted be- 
 fore the World ; and the human, which 
 was taken into or united to the divine at 
 the Time of the Incarnation. 
 
 The Nicene Creed, after profefiing a 
 Belief in the Father, proceeds thus : 
 " And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the 
 " only begotten Son of God : begotten 
 " of his Father before all Worlds : God 
 " of God, &c. being of one Subftance 
 " with the Father." Which mull be 
 thus underftood, viz. That Jesus Christ 
 was the only Man, who became the Son 
 of God, by being at the time of the In- 
 carnation united to the only begotten Son, 
 begotten of his Father before all Worlds, 
 God of God, of one Subftance with the 
 Father. For Jesus, as a Man, was 
 born in Bethlehem, of the Subftance of 
 his Mother : in the World, not before it. 
 
 The Apoftles Creed, without faying 
 any thing of the fecond Perfon of the 
 Trinity, begotten before all Worlds, af- 
 ter
 
 138 Religio Philosophi. 
 ter the Father Almighty, immediately 
 names " Jesus Christ, his only be- 
 " gotten Son, our Lord, who was con*- 
 <e ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of 
 C the Virgin Mary." So that an igno- 
 rant Perfon in reading this Creed would, 
 from the literal Senfe of the Words, ima- 
 gine, that before Jesus was born, there 
 was no only begotten Son of God 5 as he 
 might in reading the Nicene, that Jesus 
 was begotten before all Worlds. 
 
 The true Senfe in which Jesus in 
 Scripture is called the Son, and only be- 
 gotten Son of God : is, 1. As he is united 
 to the only begotten Son, or fecond Per- 
 fon of the Trinity. 2. As he is the only 
 Man of the Race of Adam that ever 
 was fo. 
 
 But although he is the only Man ever 
 thus united, we mull not from thence 
 conclude, that he is the only intelligent 
 or rational Being, that ever has been, or 
 will be fo. The Son, or fecond Perfon 
 
 of
 
 Religio Philosophi. 139 
 
 the Trinity, is under the Father, and 
 by his Order, the Inftructor, Redeemer, 
 Judge, and King of all fuch Beings, not 
 only on our Globe, but on every Globe, 
 and in every Quarter of the Univerfe : as 
 the Holy Ghost is their Sanctifier. In 
 order to inftrucl:, redeem, judge and go- 
 vern the Race of Adam, he united to 
 himfelf Jesus : and for the fame or fimi- 
 lar Ends he may have, and probably hath, 
 united to himfelf other rational Crea- 
 tures in other Planets. Jesus is not their 
 Saviour, nor they the Saviour of Man- 
 kind. Jesus, as to his Manhood, was 
 of the Race of Adam, defcended from 
 Abraham and David. He was fent to 
 inftruct. his own Species only. He died 
 for Men, and Men only. He fuffered on 
 Earth for Sins only committed on Earth. 
 His Tranfaclions here no more concern 
 other Globes, than the Tranfactions there 
 do us. To imagine that his Authority 
 extends to other Globes is as abfurd, as 
 
 to
 
 140 Religio Philosophi. 
 to imagine that a Magiftrate in any par- 
 ticular State here, is a Magiftrate in every 
 other : or that a Commiffion to act in 
 England, gives a Man Authority in Mexi- 
 co or Japan, 
 
 I am very defirous of being thoroughly 
 understood on this Point 5 which appears 
 to me of the laft Importance to true Chri- 
 ftianitv. It has fcarce been touched on. 
 or but very flightly, by Divines : and yet 
 it is extremely necefTary it fhould be 
 cleared up. Till it is cleared up, the 
 Ideas of Men will remain very confufed ; 
 and many of the moil: fpeculative will be 
 either Sceptics or Infidels. The Inters 
 pretation I contend for is clear and intel- 
 ligible : any other, I think, mocks Na- 
 ture and common Senfe -, and therefore 
 cannot be agreeable to Scripture, which 
 through the whole requires the firft In- 
 terpretation. 
 
 It may be afked, how came it then not 
 to prevail before ? for it can fcarce be 
 
 afked,
 
 Religio Philosophi. 141 
 
 afked, why mould it prevail now ? un- 
 lefs thofe who afk the Queftion will fay, 
 that Mankind ought never to grow wifer, 
 or understand Scripture better than they 
 did before. And as to the firft Queftion, 
 I think feveral Reafons may be affigned. 
 
 1. Ignorance in Natural Philofophy 
 was the great and principal Reafon. For 
 many Ages after Christ, the Ptolemaic 
 was the only prevailing Syftem of the 
 Univerfe. The Earth was efteemed the 
 Center of it ; for whofe Sake all the ce- 
 leftial Bodies were made, and moved 
 round it only to adminifter Heat or Light. 
 This was long taken for granted without 
 Examination. Men eafily believed what 
 flattered their Pride, and feemed con- 
 firmed by outward Appearance. The 
 Earth appeared greatefl to Man; and 
 he was the mod considerable upon Earth. 
 And as Ignorance and Vanity conducted 
 him into Errors of Philofophy, fo did 
 they into Errors of Faith. And both 
 
 went
 
 142 ReLIGIO PHTLbSOPHf. 
 
 went on increafing by the literal and falfe 
 Interpretations, which blind Guides put 
 on Scripture. And a furious Zeal (al- 
 ways the Attendant on Ignorance) made 
 it dangerous for Men to declare their O- 
 pinions freely either in Philofophy or Re* 
 ligion, for fear of being condemned and 
 murdered as Heretics. Whilft therefore 
 Men were no better informed than to 
 think our Earth the Univerfe ; they could, 
 as Chriflians, have no other Notion, than 
 that Jesus was the Saviour of the whole. 
 2. Since Men have been convinced of 
 the immenfe Extent of the Univerfe $ and 
 that every Globe in it is inhabited, many 
 Reafons have kept them filent on this 
 SubjecT:. In Popifh Countries, the Fear 
 of a Pope, or an Inquifition, if they mould 
 advance any thing, that mould be deem- 
 ed heretical. In Proteftant Countries, 
 among the Laity the Fear of being thought 
 lingular : among the Clergy, of being 
 thought unorthodox $ which any Opinion 
 
 may
 
 Religio Philosophi. 143 
 
 may be, which either wants or contra- 
 dicts the Authority (or rather the No- 
 Authority) of a Father, Synod or Coun- 
 cil. Another Reafon may be, the Diffi- 
 culty to make the Vulgar underftand it, 
 which they could not without fome pre- 
 vious Knowledge of Geography and 
 Aftronomy : for want of which they will 
 continue to think this Globe the whole 
 habitable World 3 and whilft they do fo, 
 it is no Error in them to believe Jesus to 
 be the Saviour of the whole. But Men 
 of Learning and Speculation think not 
 with the Vulgar. God has opened wider 
 to them both the Book of Nature and of 
 the Scripture $ and intends they mould 
 ufe the firft as a Comment on the other : 
 that, as Christ hath brought Life and 
 Immortality to Light through the Gof- 
 pel, that Light might mine ftill brighter 
 to illuftrate the Truth of the Gofpel. In 
 which there are many things, which 
 perhaps were not known to the infpired 
 
 Writers
 
 144 Religio Philosophy 
 Writers themfelves; ( for they did not 
 ipeak but as the Holy Ghost gave them 
 Utterance) the Truth of which will con- 
 tinue gradually to open and difclofe itfelf 
 to Mankind, both in this Life and in the 
 next; 
 
 And let no one think it derogatory to 
 the Honour of Chrsit, to rank him with 
 numberlefs other Saviours and Mediators, 
 which God hath eftablifhed between 
 himfelf and the rational Beings which he 
 hath created. With regard to us, Jesus 
 Christ, as he is united to the Godhead 
 for our fakes, is a moft divine and ado- 
 rable Perfon : the Prince and the Hierach 
 of all the Race of Adam, which have 
 exifted, and mall exifl till his fecond 
 coming. He was fent to inftruct them by 
 his holy Life and Doctrine, to redeem them 
 by his bitter Death, and Pamon, and to 
 confirm them by his glorious Refurreclion 
 and Afcenfion : to the end, that if they 
 are holy in this Life, as he was holy, 
 
 they
 
 Religio Philosopht. 145 
 they may follow him to that State of 
 Glory to which he is already exalted. 
 For he is the Way to lead Men into the 
 right Way : the Truth to guide them in- 
 to all Truth : and the Life to conduct 
 them to everlafting Life. He is the only 
 Mediator between God and Man. No 
 Man cometh to the Father but by him. 
 His is the only Name under Heaven, by 
 which Men can be faved. 
 
 The next diflinguiming Tenet of the 
 Chriftian Religion is the Belief of the 
 Refurrection of the Body. j. That of 
 Christ, which has already happened : 
 2. That of all Mankind, which is to 
 happen at his fecond coming. 
 
 1. The Refurrection of Christ is a 
 Matter of Fact, which could be only 
 proved by Evidence. And no Fact was 
 ever more ftrongly attefted. For after 
 his Refurrection, St. Paul fays, he was 
 feen of Cephas ; then of the Twelve. 
 After that, he was feen of more than five 
 L hundred
 
 146 Religio Philosophi. 
 hundred Brethren at once : whereof ma- 
 ny remain unto the prefent, and fome 
 alfo are fallen afleep. After that he was 
 feen of James ; then of all the Apoftles. 
 And laft of all he was feen alfo of me, 
 as of one born out of due Time. This 
 certainly is fufficient Evidence to eftablifti 
 the Fad*. 
 
 2. The Refurrection of Christ is a 
 Prelude to that of Mankind, and an Ear- 
 neft that it will happen at the laft Day. 
 He is called the firft Fruits of them that 
 flept : and the Beginning and firft begotten 
 of the Dead : and we are to refemble him 
 in the Likenefs of his Refurrection. How 
 then was Christ railed ? and with what 
 Body did he come ? He was raifed with 
 the identical Body that was laid in the 
 Grave j and which did not continue there 
 long enough to fee Corruption. This 
 can be the Cafe of few befides ; only 
 of thofe few, who fhall die juft be- 
 fore the laft -Day. Others too will rife 
 
 again
 
 Religio Philosophi. 147 
 
 again with corruptible Bodies (no mat- 
 ter whether compofed of any of the 
 fame Particles as before) fufficient to di- 
 ftinguifh the Identity of their Perfons. 
 To the end, that all Men may be judg- 
 ed in the Flefh on Earth for the Works 
 they had done on Earth in the Flefh. But 
 as St. Paul fays, Flefh and Blood can- 
 not inherit the Kingdom of God. There- 
 fore we are not to imagine (nor is it rea- 
 fonable to imagine) that Men are to pafs 
 with the fame Bodies into another State. 
 No : St. Paul fays, he will mew a great 
 Myftery : we fhall all be changed in a 
 Moment, in the twinkling of an Eye : 
 this Corruptible mull: put on Incorruption j 
 this Mortal (hall put on Immortality j and 
 that which was fown a natural Body, 
 fhall become a fpiritual Body ; as the Body 
 of Chrift did before his Afcenfion, and 
 before he could fit down at the Right- 
 hand of God, amongft the holy Angels, 
 who are made fubjecl: to him ; and with 
 L, 2 whom
 
 148 Religio Philosophi. 
 whom he will come again in the Cloud? 
 with Power and great Glory to judge 
 both the Quick and Dead. At that Day 
 (in the fame manner as Christ himfelf 
 afcended into Heaven) St. Paul fays, the 
 Dead in Christ mall rife ; and mall be 
 caught up into the Clouds to meet the 
 Lord in the Air .* And why (as the fame 
 Apoftle fays) mould it be thought incre- 
 dible, that God mould raife the Dead ? 
 It is not incredible, becaufe impoffible ; 
 for nothing is fo with God ; and in this 
 Inftance, it requires no greater Power to 
 raife Man's Body, than at firft to create it. 
 It is not incredible, becaufe irrational ; 
 for nothing can be more rational, than 
 for God to vindicate his Juftice on Earth 
 in the Face of all Mankind : that every 
 wrong Sentence given here may hereube 
 reverfed : that thofe, who have been un- 
 juffcly condemned may be acquitted : and 
 thofe who have been unjuftly acquitted 
 may be condemned : that even here the 
 
 prof-
 
 Religio Philosophi. 149 
 profperous wicked Man may begin to fuf- 
 fer, and the afflicted good One to be com- 
 forted, before their Punimment or Reward 
 be compleat. 
 
 To the Refurrection of the Body is 
 immediately to fucceed the Judgment of 
 Mankind, and the End of the World ; 
 that is, of all things on the Face of this 
 Globe. But the End is not yet : the 
 Gofpel (hall be preached in all the World 
 for a Witnefs to all Nations, and then 
 mall the End come. But of that Day 
 and Hour knoweth no Man, no, not the 
 Angels in Heaven, neither the Son, but 
 the Father only. It mall come like a 
 Thief in the Night : and as in the Day 
 of Noah they knew not, till the Flood 
 came, and took them all away ; fo /hall 
 the coming of the Son of Man be. Be 
 ready therefore, take heed, watch and 
 pray, left the Lord coming fuddenly 
 fhall find you fleeping, or (which is worfe) 
 fmiting your Fellow-fervants, and eating 
 L 3 and
 
 150 Religio Philosophi. 
 and drinking with the Drunken. But 
 tho' we know not in what Hour he will 
 come ; the Manner of his coming is re- 
 vealed ta us, and chiefly by himfelf. 
 
 The Approach of this great Judge will 
 be ufhered in with moft amazing Pomp 
 and Solemnity. The Sun fhall be dark- 
 ened, the Moon mail not g<ve her Light, 
 the Stars (i. e. Meteors) fhall fall from 
 Heaven, and the Powers of the Heavens 
 (i. e. Air) fhall be fhaken, the Sea and 
 the Waves roaring. And what Wonder ? 
 if then all the Tribes of the Earth mourn ; 
 if Mens Hearts fail them for Fear, and 
 for looking after thofe things, which are 
 coming on the Earth. For then they 
 fhall fee the Son of Man coming in the 
 Clouds of Heaven with Power and great 
 Glory. 
 
 And he fhall fend his Angels with a 
 great Sound of a Trumpet to fummon 
 Mankind. And they fhall gather his 
 Elect from the four Winds, and from 
 
 one
 
 Reltgio Philosophi. i$r 
 one End of Heaven to the other : where 
 we may fuppofe they have the Liberty 
 to expatiate, and to contemplate God's 
 Works, till they are fummoned to re- 
 fume their Bodies to appear at this great 
 Tribunal, in order to receive from their 
 Lord more ample Praife and Reward. 
 They will therefore receive this Sum- 
 mons with Joy ! How different from the 
 Guilty ! who (wherever they are) will 
 call on the Mountains to fall on them, 
 and the Waves of the Sea to cover them, 
 from the Fieacenefs of his Wrath and the 
 Vengeance of his Power. But in vain ! 
 For every Eye mall fee him j and they 
 alfo which pierced him ; and all Kindreds 
 of the Earth mail wail becaufe of him. 
 In this manner, thofe good Men who 
 fleep in Jesus (i. e. mall then be dead) 
 God will bring with him j and when he 
 mall defcend from Heaven with a Shout, 
 with the Voice of the Archangels, and 
 with the Trump of God, they fhall rife 
 L 4 firft:
 
 152 Religio Philosophi. 
 iirfb : and thofe other good Men, which 
 are alive and remain unto the coming of 
 the Lord, fhall not fleep, (i. e. die) but 
 /hall appear in the Body with them ; and 
 with them mall meet the Lord, and be 
 for ever with him. 
 
 This Globe was never fo populous, as 
 it will be on that great Day of AmTe ; 
 when all the Sons of Adam, who lived 
 in ever fo diftant x^ges, will appear toge- 
 ther in the Flefh, and be Cotemporaries. 
 Compared to this, every AlTembly of Men 
 recorded in Hiftory, appears contempti- 
 ble 5 even the Hoft of Xerxes is loft in 
 the Croud. And yet numerous as it will 
 be, every Individual will be flrictly 
 examined, and receive the moft exadt 
 Juftice. This will not be like Human 
 Tribunals, where Actions only can be 
 weighed, and Truth may be concealed. 
 Before this Tribunal the Truth muft 
 appear : it hath Cognifance of Mens* 
 Thoughts as well as Actions : to th* 
 
 Judge
 
 Religio Philosophy 153 
 Judge all Hearts are open, all Defires 
 known, and from him no Secrets can be 
 hid. 
 
 When the Prince of the Kings of the 
 Earth is thus feated in the Clouds in 
 Power and great Glory to judge the 
 whole Circuit of it ; the Earth revolving 
 on it's Axis mall piefent every Kingdom, 
 Nation and Language in their turn at 
 the Foot of his Throne, to receive their 
 Trial and their Sentence. Thofe that 
 lived under the Gofpel fhall be tried by 
 the Gofpel -, thofe that lived under the 
 Law, by the Law : and thofe that lived 
 without either La\v or Gofpel, by (what 
 was a Law to them) fuch Lights as their 
 Reafon afforded j for God is not hard, 
 reaping where he hath not fown, and 
 gathering where he hath not ftrawen. 
 Now mall the Diftindticn be made be- 
 tween the Seed that fell on good and 
 that which fell on bad Ground : between 
 the Wheat and the Tares : between the 
 
 wife
 
 154 Religio Philosophy 
 wife Virgins with Oyl in their Lamps, 
 and the foolifh who had none : between 
 the Servants, who improved their Ta- 
 lents, and thofe who did not: between 
 thofe who relieved the Hungry, Thirfty, 
 Stranger, Naked, and Prifoner, and thofe 
 who did not : between thofe whom the 
 Lord mail find doing his Will, and thofe 
 whom he mall find fleeping, fmiting their 
 Fellow-fervants, or eating and drinking 
 with the Drunken. 
 
 The Trial ended, the glorious Judge 
 fhall feparate Perfons fo different in Me- 
 rit, as a Shepherd divideth the Sheep from 
 the Goats : and he fhall fet the Sheep 
 on his Right-hand, and the Goats on the 
 Left ; and then he will pronounce this Sen- 
 tence. He mall fay unto the firfl, Come 
 ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the King- 
 dom prepared for you from the Founda- 
 tion of the World. And unto the laft he 
 fhall fay, Depart from me, ye curfed, 
 into ever lading Fire, prepared for the 
 
 Devil
 
 Religio Philosophi. 155 
 
 Devil and his Angels. And thefe mall 
 go into everlafting Punifhment, but the 
 Righteous into Life eternal. 
 
 But previous to the Execution of the 
 Sentence, both mutt undergo a very great 
 Change on this Globe, before they quit 
 jt for ever. They muff both depofite 
 their mortal Bodies in their native Soil, 
 before they ftep into Eternity. But how 
 extremely different will be their Exit ! 
 This is that important Crifis foretold by 
 John the Baptift, when Christ will 
 thoroughly cleanfe his Floor ; gather the 
 Wheat into his Garner j but burn up the 
 Chaff with unquenchable Fire. The 
 Righteous mall be changed in an Inftant, 
 in the twinkling of an Eye : they mall 
 leave their mortal, corruptible, and na- 
 tural, for immortal, incorruptible, and 
 fpiritual Bodies : they (hall be caught up 
 to meet their Lord in the Air, and be 
 for ever with him : no longer terreftrial, 
 but etherial Beings - 3 no longer Men, but 
 
 Angels 5
 
 i$5 Religio Philosophi. 
 Angels ; a glorious Society, with Christ 
 at their Head : who (as faith the Evan- 
 gelist) mall mine like the San in the 
 Kingdom of their Father. But how 
 dreadful will be the Exit and Cataftrophe 
 of the Wicked! Far from quitting the 
 Body with Pleafure, like the Righteous, 
 and afcending with them to meet the 
 Lord, they will be left on Earth to perifh 
 as Malefactors in the Flames, which will 
 confume both them and all the Furniture 
 of this Globe, which will be their Fu- 
 neral Pile. They are the Tares, which 
 at the End of this World, which is the 
 Harveft, the Angels, who are the Reap^. 
 ers, fhall gather and burn in the Fire: 
 for the Son of Man fhall fend forth his 
 Angels, and they mail gather out of his 
 Kingdom all things that offend, and 
 them which do Iniquity, and mall cafl 
 them into a Furnace of Fire, there mail 
 be wailing and gnafhing of Teeth. Iri 
 this Day of the Lord, faith St. Pi.TER, 
 
 the
 
 Religio Philosophi. 157 
 
 the Elements fhall melt with Heat, and 
 the Earth, with the Works that are 
 therein, fhall be burnt up. 
 
 How awfull, how tremendous will be 
 the Scene! when the Ether agitated in 
 the Air, and in the Entrails of the Earth, 
 fhall burfl forth in Lightnings and Vul- 
 canos, whofe Flames feizing on every 
 Combuftible fhall fpread over the Face 
 of the whole Globe. Then fhall the 
 Elements melt with fervent Heat : the 
 watry Tribe fhall expire in a boiling 
 Ocean ; the Aerial in Clouds of Smoke : 
 the Cave or Foreft fhall be no Refuge to 
 the wild Beafb ; nor Houfe, nor City to 
 offending Man: both fhall perifh with 
 their Habitations. All the Works of Na- 
 ture and of Art will be involved in one 
 common Ruin. Where is the proud 
 Pyramid, whofe wide Foundation was 
 thought folid as the Earth, and whofe 
 Point invaded the Skies ? where the Tri- 
 umphal Arch ? the afpiring Column and 
 
 Obelifk ?
 
 158 Religio Philosophi. 
 Obelifk ? the Cloud-capt Tower ? the Gor- 
 geous Palace ? the Solemn Temple ? Every 
 Monument of Man's Vanity, Pride and 
 Ambition, of his Superftition, and even 
 of his Piety, fhall fail and their Place 
 fhall no where be found. All Records of 
 Hiftory mall ceafe : the Glory of the 
 greateft Empires mall vanifh : and it 
 mail no longer be known on Earth, that 
 there were fuch Men as Alexander and 
 Caesar, or fuch Cities as Babylon and 
 Rome. Fame fhall die ; and Oblivion 
 reign in her Stead. On this folemn and 
 final Day, the great wicked Man will have 
 before his Eyes thefe Monuments of his 
 Pride 5 and when he is perifhing with 
 them will blufh to think, that he fet his 
 Affections on things fo trifling and tran- 
 fitory : he will wifh his Name had been 
 unknown : and when his Memory ceafes 
 on Earth, that it might ceafe too in his 
 own Confcience. 
 
 When
 
 Religio Philosophi. 159 
 When Man has finally quitted this 
 Globe, the future State and Condition of 
 it is not the Concern of Man. Whethe r 
 God in his Wifdom may fuffer it to lie 
 fallow for a Seafon 5 or after thus ferti- 
 lizing it with the Flames, will imme- 
 diately replenim the Face of it. It is of 
 much more Importance to confider the 
 future State and Condition of Man ; 
 When the Wicked fhall go into everlaft- 
 ing Punifhment, and the Righteous into 
 Life eternal. 
 
 1. As to the Wicked. After their 
 Bodies are confumed in the general Con- 
 flagration, their Souls will mix with other 
 Evil Spirits. From Men they will be- 
 come Devils : be aflbciated with the De- 
 vil and his Angels : and be caft into the 
 everlafting Fire prepared for them : where 
 the Worm dieth not, and the Fire is 
 not quenched. This Worm and Fire are 
 metaphorical, not material. A material 
 Worm could not live in a material Fire : 
 
 A
 
 160 Religio Philosophi. 
 A material Fire could not affect an imma- 
 terial Subftance like the Soul ; which 
 efcaped from fuch a Fire, when the Body 
 was confumed at the general Conflagra- 
 tion. The Worm that never dies is Con- 
 fcience. The Fire (i. e. Torment) which 
 is never quenched (i. e. never ceafes) are 
 uneafy Paflions and Affections, Thoughts, 
 and Reflections, Ideas and Imaginations : 
 All which attended with Anxiety, An- 
 guim, Terror, Horror, Remorfe, and 
 Defpair, compofe a Hell in the Soul of a 
 wicked Man. The Soul is not fo proper- 
 ly fpeaking in Hell, as Hell in the Soul. 
 Wherever the Spirit of a wicked Man 
 ihall be, there will be Hell : whether it 
 pleafe God to confine it to any one par- 
 ticular Part of Space, or fuffer it to wan- 
 der through every Part of it. It carries 
 Hell with it : and it is with Juflice Mil- 
 ton makes Satan fay, that he himfelf is 
 Hell ; and that he can fly from Hell ho 
 more than from himfelf. Divines have 
 
 vainly
 
 Religio Philosopht. 161 
 vainly difputed about the Place of Hell, 
 as if it were neceflarily Local. Poets 
 have defcribed it as fuch, in the fined 
 Allegories, and the mofl beautiful Colours 
 of Imagination : and have divided it into 
 feveral Apartments for the different De- 
 grees of Guilt. But fuch Lodgings are 
 unnecefTary : each guilty Perfon carries 
 about him a Hell, and a Punifhment ex- 
 actly proportioned to his Crime : for it 
 would be inconfiftent with the Juftice of 
 God to punifh all Crimes alike. It will 
 be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, 
 than for Jerufalem : for the Offenders 
 againfl Man, than for the Atheifl, Ido- 
 later, and Blafphemer, who have directly 
 affronted God : for petty TrefpafTers 
 againfl their Neighbours, than for the 
 Tyrant, Murderer, and Adulterer : for 
 thofe who have neglected their Duty, 
 than thofe who have wilfully tranfgreffed 
 it : for thofe who had fome mixture of 
 Good with their Evil, than thofe who 
 M have
 
 162 Religio Philosophi. 
 have none : for certainly the leafl vicious 
 Man and the leaft virtuous, will not be 
 very diftant in Condition : nor the Gates 
 of Heaven and Hell fo remote, as is com- 
 monly imagined. One fort of Punifh- 
 ment will be common to all the Wicked, 
 viz. to fee the Righteous in Abraham's 
 Bofom, in a State of Blifs, to which they 
 cannot arrive : to deplore the lofs of 
 that Blifs by an ill-fpent Life : to wifh 
 they had never been ; or might ceafe to 
 be, if they may not be releafed from that 
 Place of Torment. But whether they 
 ever will be, God only knows. If after 
 Ages of Torment, of his infinite Mercy 
 he mould releafe them ; we can fcarce 
 imagine they would be immediately ad- 
 vanced to a happy State : the beft to be 
 expected would be a new State of Pro- 
 bation. 
 
 2. Let us now change the Scene to 
 Heaven ; that Region of the BlefTed ; 
 where are Joys for evermore ; fuch as 
 
 Eye
 
 Religio Philosophi. 163 
 Eye hath not feen, nor Ear heard, nei- 
 ther hath it entered into the Heart of 
 Man to conceive. This happy Region 
 is confined to no particular Place ; it ex- 
 tends to all Nature. The Spirits of Men 
 are finite, and confequently muft be in 
 fome particular Part of Space. They 
 muft be fomewhere, but may be any 
 where : and as the Spirit of a righteous 
 Man muft be happy in all Places ; there- 
 fore wherever it goes, Heaven attends 
 him. Wherever God pleafes at any time 
 more particularly to manifeft his Glories 
 or his Terrors, thofe Places during that 
 time are more peculiarly Heaven or Hell, 
 which he can change and remove at Plea- 
 fure. We are fure, that our Heaven will 
 be with Christ. He is at the Right Hand 
 of God, that is, in great Glory. We 
 (hall follow where he is gone before ; 
 to thofe Manfions which he is preparing 
 for us. For in his Father's Houfe are 
 many Manfions, that is, different degrees 
 M 2 of
 
 164 Religio Philosophi. 
 of Reward : for God, who weighs the 
 minuteft Actions, will reward every Man 
 according to his Works. It is not every 
 one fhall fit on Thrones like the Apoftles, 
 judging the twelve Tribes of Ifrael : or 
 be ranked with the goodly Fellowfhip 
 of the Apoftles, or the noble Army of 
 Martyrs. Many fhall be admitted with- 
 in the Suburbs of the New Jerufalem, who 
 fhall not approach him, who fitteth on 
 the Throne : but when the four and 
 twenty Elders fall down to worfhip him 
 and the Lamb, the whole Circuit of 
 Men and Angels, after their Example, 
 ihall fall proftrate in Adoration. This is 
 that Heaven of Heavens, which Christ 
 himfelf revealed to his beloved Difciple 
 in Patmos, in Types and Figures, to give 
 Mankind fome previous Idea of the very 
 glorious State, to which the Righteous 
 mould be exalted. And when they fhall 
 at any time remove to a greater Di- 
 ftance from the Throne of his Glory ; 
 
 and
 
 Religio Philosophi. 165 
 
 and go as his Ambaffadors to the diffe- 
 rent Quarters of Nature, they will not 
 want their Heaven. They will find it 
 every where in a Soul, purged from im- 
 pure Pafiions and Affections, which 
 they found fo difficult to retrain here 
 below. They will find it in the Re- 
 flection on a Life well fpent, which was 
 a Comfort to them whilit, they only ex- 
 pected a State ' of Happinefs, and mult 
 be infinitely greater when they enjoy it. 
 They will find it alfo in the Enlargement 
 of their Powers and Capacities, which 
 will make ample Amends for their Weak- 
 nefs and Defects in this Life. 
 
 Thofe Spirits clad in glorified Bodies 
 of an Etherial Subflance will pafs with 
 eafe through the Etherial Spaces : quick 
 as the fame Ether darts in the Lightnings j 
 or paffes to the Planets from the Sun. They 
 may then vifit in Perfon thofe Parts of 
 Nature, which they could only reach 
 here in Imagination. Their former Thirft 
 M 3 after
 
 1 66 Religio Philosophi. 
 after Knowledge will be fatisfied : their 
 Curiofity gratified : their Doubts cleared 
 up : their Errors detected : the Relation, 
 Dependence, Connection, and Harmony 
 of things will be difcovered ; as well as 
 the Means and Manner of their Opera- 
 tion : Caufes, as well as Effects, will 
 appear : and it will be known, in what 
 Cafes God (the firfl Caufe) acts immedi- 
 ately j and in what he ufes other Beings 
 as the Inftruments of his Operations. 
 They will then be acquainted with the 
 Nature of Place, of Space, and Infi- 
 nity : of Time, Duration, and Eternity : 
 of Spirit, and its Union with, and the 
 Means and Manner of its Operation on 
 Matter : of Matter, and its Elements, 
 which compofe all Bodies : of all Bodies, 
 their Structure, Magnitude, Forms, and 
 Motion : of Comets (which perhaps may 
 pafs into different neighbouring Syftems) : 
 of thofe Suns, which each illuminates 
 its Planetary Syftem : of the Planets in 
 
 each
 
 Religio Philosophi. 167 
 each Syftem : and of the Furniture and 
 Inhabitants of each Planet : and after ad- 
 miring the Wifdom of God in the won- 
 derful Structure of the Univerfe, they 
 will join the great Chorus of Heaven 
 in faying: " Thou art worthy, O Lord, 
 " to receive Glory and Honour and 
 " Power ; for thou haft created all things, 
 " and for thy Pleafure they are and were 
 *' created." 
 
 Such may and probably will be a Part 
 of the glorious State of thofe, who ad- 
 here to the Precepts and follow the Ex- 
 ample of Christ, But how fatally have 
 Mankind deviated from both ! He very 
 truly foretold, that he hath not fent 
 Peace but a Sword. The beft Religion 
 hath been perverted to the worft Purpofes. 
 It hath been ufed as an Engine of Slavery 
 inftead of Freedom -, and of the De- 
 struction inftead of the Salvation of 
 Mankind. 
 
 M 4 As
 
 168 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 As Aaron fet up the Golden Calf m 
 the Wildernefs : theChriftian High Priefts 
 have fet up many of their own Inven- 
 tions as the Objects of Veneration : and 
 required many things to be obferved not 
 required by Scripture. They have efta- 
 blifhed the Opinions of weak, wicked, 
 ambitious, fallible, Men, as the Doc- 
 trines of Christ. Have impofed fool- 
 ifh, abfurd, ridiculous, fuperftitious, ido- 
 latrous Ceremonies, as necefTary. All 
 from Motives of Ignorance, Ambition, 
 or Intereft j with a Cruelty and Zeal 
 inconfiftent with Chriftianity or Huma- 
 nity. True Chriftianity almofl ceafed 
 in each Country, as foon as the Govern- 
 ment became Chriftian. And as before 
 that time, true Chriflians fuffered Perfe- 
 cution, as their Lord and Master did ; 
 after that time, the falfe ones deferting 
 his Precepts and Example turned Per- 
 secutors themfelves. What Diiputes, 
 what Quarrels, what Murders, what Maf- 
 
 facres,
 
 Religio Philosophi. 169 
 
 facres, have been caufed among Chri- 
 ftians on frivolous Queftions, that not only 
 a Man of Senfe, but even a Child would 
 be afhamed of! and profecuted with Zeal, 
 as if eflential to Salvation ! and out of the 
 fame Zeal often impioufly declared to be 
 fo ! and the greater!: Sinners have been 
 efteemed Saints for efpoufing them ! 
 There is fcarce a Tenet, or fcarce an 
 external Ceremony of Chriftianity, but 
 hath been the Subject of fome Difpute. 
 
 I have before obferved -, there are but 
 two Performances, in their own Nature 
 indifferent, required by Christ of his 
 Followers, as outward and vifible Marks 
 of their Profeffion, viz. Baptifm and his 
 Supper. Very eafy Performances ! and 
 yet they have afforded matter of much 
 Difpute. It hath been difputed, whether 
 Baptifm may be adminiftered by Wo- 
 men as well as Men : by Laymen as well 
 as Clergy : to Children as well as adult : 
 by Afperfion or Immerfion : in public or 
 
 private :
 
 170 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 private : in a Houfe, a Church, or a Ri- 
 ver. Whether valid, if any of the Ce- 
 remonies are wanting in the Performance : 
 and whether fatal if the whole is omit- 
 ted ; even to Infants who could not help 
 it. Strange Difputations ! Do the Difpu- 
 tants imagine Baptifm a phyfkal Means 
 of conveying Grace and Salvation ? and 
 that they flow, as by a Canal, through 
 the Water and Fingers of thofe who ad- 
 minifter it ? If they do ; they are as bad 
 Philofophers as Divines. If they confi- 
 der it (as they ought to do) only as a 
 Condition to entitle us to God's Favour ; 
 do they think God unjuft, to require the 
 Performance of it by Infants and others 
 not able to perform it ? or to punifh them 
 for the Omiffion ? Or if Baptifm is per- 
 formed i do not they think (as they ought) 
 that God accepts the Will for the Deed ? 
 Or do they think, that he, like vain Man, 
 is pleafed with a Ceremonial ? or angry, 
 if any Circumftance of it is omitted ? 
 
 And
 
 Religio Philosophi. 171 
 
 And are they prefumptuous enough from 
 thence to determine the future State of 
 Man, and the Purpofe of God ? 
 
 There have been as many frivolous 
 Difputes about the Lord's Supper. As, 
 where the Table mould be placed : whe- 
 ther it mould be called literally a Table, 
 or figuratively an Altar : whether it 
 mould be received fitting or kneeling ; 
 whether in leavened or unleavened Bread : 
 whether in Wine, or Wine mixed with 
 Water : whether in one or both Kinds: or 
 whether alike by Clergy and Laity : and 
 by whom or to whom it may be admini- 
 flered. Can any Man refufe to admini- 
 fter it to another on pretence of Unwor- 
 thinefs, without arrogating to himfelf 
 the Prerogative of God, of knowing the 
 Heart ? Or can any one, to whom it is 
 refufed, be weak enough to be uneafy 
 from the Apprehenfion of any ill Confe- 
 quence to refult from the Refufal ? Does 
 he not know that God accepts the Will 
 
 for
 
 172 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 tor the Deed ? that he punifhes only for 
 voluntary, not forced Omiffion j for the 
 Man's own Fault, and not that of ano- 
 ther ? Human Excommunications are but 
 airy Phantoms in their Nature -, tho' they 
 have been found ufeful Engines of world- 
 ly Power and Intereft. And when ex- 
 erted in ignorant Times, have had Influ- 
 ence enough on weak and prejudiced 
 Minds, to produce the moft horrid Riots, 
 Murders, Seditions, Rebellions, and Ca- 
 lamities. The fame may be faid of the 
 Doctrine of Tranfubftantiation : abfurd 
 and blafphemous : which wants no Con- 
 futation j and deferves only Contempt. 
 And the Belief of it fo long amongft 
 fuch Numbers is an Infatuation to be re^ 
 garded as an Inftance of God's immedi- 
 ate Vengeance for the Abufe of his Reli- 
 gion -, and is a Proof, that'any Abfurdity 
 may be inculcated into the Mind of Man ; 
 and that the Prejudice of Education can 
 
 triumph
 
 Religio Philosophi. 173 
 
 triumph over the united Force both of his 
 Senfes and his Reafon. 
 
 Christ prefcribed no particular Forms 
 of Public Worfhip or of Government 
 in his Church : but left both (as the 
 Forms of Civil Government are left) to 
 the Choice of every Society. It is funi- 
 cient, that things are done decently and 
 in Order : for as Ceremonies are not ef- 
 fential, the fame Ceremony is not necef- 
 fary. There muft be fome. Men can- 
 not affemble to ferve God, without fome 
 Time or Place appointed for their Meet- 
 ing : without obferving fome Form, when 
 met : and without having fome Perfons 
 among them to officiate. 
 
 1. As to the Place. God is equally 
 prefent in all Places; and Christ, and 
 his Apoftles preached and prayed in all 
 alike. The Primitive Chriftians were 
 under Perfecution ; and could have none 
 fet apart by the State. When the Em- 
 perors became Chriftian, Heathen Tem- 
 ples
 
 174 Religio Philosophi. 
 pies were converted to Churches, and 
 falfe Gods gave way to the true. It was 
 not long, before Idols were replaced in 
 Churches, by thofe who called them- 
 felves Chriftians ; nay, in fome perhaps 
 the very fame Idol which had been re- 
 moved from thence was reftored to the 
 fame Place : and was to reprefent fome 
 Saint, often a worfe Perfon than the 
 God, whom he fupplanted, and whofe 
 Worfhip he ufurped : for in the Heathen 
 World Men were raifed to divine Ho- 
 nours for fignal Services to Mankind ; 
 which are not always the Terms of Ca- 
 nonization. Thus the fame Places were 
 reftored to Idolatry, which had before 
 been refcued from it. And as Saints (like 
 the Heathen Gods) were Men, and 
 could not be prefent every where ; the 
 People were taught to believe them more 
 peculiarly prefent where their Image was. 
 That was the Place of Miracles : the 
 Statue was often animated : it rolled the 
 
 Eve :
 
 Religio Philosophi. 175 
 
 Eye : it nodded : it fpoke : it told For- 
 tunes : it took particular Men or Profef- 
 iions under its Protection : it had Relicks 
 and Noftrums to cure particular Dif- 
 eafes both of Body and Mind. This 
 drew together great Numbers of People ; 
 which brought no fmall Gain to the 
 Priefthood, and to the Place ; which 
 made both cry out, like thofe of Ephe- 
 fus, " Great is Diana of the Ephefi- 
 " ans." The Opinion of a local Prefence 
 of Heathen Gods in Temples, and of Ro- 
 mifli Saints in Churches, made way for 
 a falfe Belief, that God himfelf was more 
 peculiarly prefent there : that the Place 
 acquired (I know not what) Holinefs by 
 the Ceremony of Confecration : that be- 
 fore it, it was no Church ; and that after 
 it, it ought never to be turned to any o- 
 ther ufe. But God dwells not in Tem- 
 ples made with Hands. He is Omnipre- 
 fent : and tho' for great Purpofes he hath 
 fometimes manifested his Prefence by 
 
 outward
 
 176 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 outward Signs in particular Places -, yet 
 he was not then more prefent in thofe 
 Places than in others ; nor have they 
 acquired fince any particular Sanctity. 
 He manifefted himfelf by Fire to Moses, 
 when he fent him to deliver his People : 
 to that People he manifefted himfelf by 
 Thunder and Lightning and a Voice, at 
 the Delivery of the Law : in a Cloud 
 by Day, and a Pillar of Fire by Night, 
 over the Tabernacle in the Wildernefs : 
 by Fire on the Altar on the Dedication 
 of Solomon's Temple : by cloven Tongues 
 to the Apoftles on fending the Holy 
 Ghost. But the particular Spots of Earth 
 on which all thofe great Events happen- 
 ed are now unknown or difregarded. 
 And it is abfurd to imagine, that when 
 fuch Acts of the Deity gave no particular 
 Sanctity to a Place, that any Act of Man 
 can do it. An Edifice, or the Ground 
 on which it (lands, is not capable of 
 fuch an Impreflion : the Heart of Man 
 
 only
 
 Religio Pmilosophi. 177 
 
 only is. Where two or three are ga- 
 thered together in God's Name, there is 
 a Congregation ; and where a Congrega- 
 tion is, there is the Church. The Walls 
 are not a Church : nor can any particu- 
 lar Place be always appropriated and fe- 
 cured to the fame Ufe. Conveniency 
 may alter it: Time certainly will. Con- 
 fecration of a Church therefore^ in the 
 moft rational Senfe, is only a Publica- 
 tion, that that Place is deiigned for the 
 People to meet in to ferve God ; with a 
 Prayer, that they may ferve him there 
 in Spirit, and in Truth. It was this ima- 
 ginary Sanctity of Place, that formerly 
 fent the Princes of Chriftendom on Ex- 
 peditions to Palestine, which coil Mil- 
 lions of Money, and of Lives : and that 
 hath fince fent immenfe Treafure in Pre- 
 fents to Loretto ; of no ufe to the 
 Lady there j and which, we may believe 
 Popes have been too wife to fuffer to re- 
 main there ufelefs. 
 
 N 2. As
 
 178 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 2. As to the Time. It is neceffary to 
 have flated Times as well as Places of 
 public Worfhip : that Congregations may 
 know when as well as where to meet. 
 The Chriftians, in imitation of the Jews, 
 and in compliance with the fourth Com- 
 mandment, have rationally fet apart one 
 Day in fewcn for that purpofe. But they 
 changed it from the feventh, eftablifhed 
 by Moses to remind Man of his Cre- 
 ation, to the firft of the Week, on which 
 Christ rofe from the Dead, to remind 
 him of that great Proof of his Redemp- 
 tion. And to imprint fo memorable an 
 Event ftill ftronger on Mens Minds, the 
 Refurrection of Christ is celebrated 
 once a Year with more Solemnity, as his 
 Birth, PafTion, and Afcenfion likewife 
 are. Thefe Things are very rational to 
 be done 3 but may be ordered to be per- 
 formed as well at one Seafon as another, 
 and nothing could be weaker than the 
 Ancient and Unchriftian Difpute about 
 
 the
 
 Religio Philosopht." 179 
 the Time of the Celebration of Eafter ; 
 and the endeavouring to fix an invariable 
 iiniverfal Rule for it. It is impoffible in 
 Nature. Nature hath not divided the 
 Earth's annual Courfe precifely into Days, 
 but hath left a Fraction j which (as is well 
 known) in procefs of Time varied the 
 Rule from the original Intention. Na- 
 ture hath alfo diftributed the fame Point 
 of Time into different Seafons on diffe- 
 rent Parts of the Globe. Men cannot 
 celebrate Eafter all together at the fame 
 Point of Time: they muil vary either 
 in the Day or the Seafon of the Year. 
 When it is Day in our Hemifphere, it 
 is Night in the other: and half Man- 
 kind will be in Bed whilft others are at 
 Church. Whilft it is Spring in one 
 Hemifphere it is Autumn in the other. 
 Therefore if they keep Eafter at the 
 fame Time, it will be at different Sea- 
 fons of the Year ; if at the fame Seafon 
 of the Year, it muft be at different and 
 N 2 oppofite
 
 180 Religio Philosophi. 
 oppofite Times. And what Rule mud 
 be obferved within the Polar Circles ? 
 where Days are reckoned by Months, 
 and not Months by Weeks and Days : 
 they certainly cannot celebrate Eafter 
 there the firft Sunday after the full Moon 
 after the 2 1 ft of March, It is amazing 
 to reflect on the Zeal fhewn formerly 
 on this Occafion ; and that Men could 
 be induced to think, that God would not 
 accept their realbnable Service, as well 
 at one Seafon of the Year as another, 
 and at all Times alike. But it was lucky, 
 that whilfl: they were labouring to fix a 
 Point of no Importance in Divinity, they 
 improved themfelves in Aftronomy and 
 
 Chronology. Not content with fetting 
 
 apart thofe Days in Commemoration of 
 Christ, Christians foon appointed others 
 in Memory of his Difciples. This might 
 be reafonable, to remind them of the 
 Lives and Examples of thofe holy and 
 infpired Perfons. But the Popes did not 
 
 flop
 
 Reltgio Philosophi. 181 
 flop here : they took upon them the Pre- 
 rogative of God in judging Man's Heart, 
 and declaring Saints whom foever they 
 pleafed. Every Zealot for their ufurped 
 Power was canonized, tho' the meanefl 
 or moft wicked of Men. The Calendar 
 was not able to contain them. Every 
 Day had more than one. A Man, who 
 obferved thofe Days, could not carry on 
 the necefTary Bufinefs of Life ; but was 
 rendered an ufelefs Member of Society. 
 And how are thefe Days celebrated ? A 
 Holiday is not a holy Day, but a Day 
 of Debauchery; not of Religion, but 
 of Vice : fo that one nominal Saint makes 
 thoufands of real Sinners. 
 
 3. As to the Form. When Men are 
 met at a certain Time and Place for pub- 
 lie Worfhip, they mufl neceflarily ufe 
 fome Form of Words, and of Ceremo- 
 nies in performing it. What thefe Forms 
 mould be is not directed in Scripture. It 
 is impoflible it mould, fince Modes of 
 N 3 Speech
 
 182 Religio Philosophi. 
 Speech and Behaviour are very different 
 in different Places, and ever varying with 
 Time in the fame Place. It is fufficient 
 if the Words are intelligible, and the 
 Senfe agreeable to Reafon and Scripture : 
 and if the outward Gefture and Behaviour 
 be fuch, as by the Fafhion of the Place 
 denote Decency and Refpect. Under 
 thefe Qualifications every People is at 
 liberty to chufe their own Form j and 
 every Government, for the Sake of Or- 
 der, ought to eftablifh fome Form for 
 their Ufe. This every Government ought 
 to propofe, no Government ought to im- 
 pofe ; but mould leave to every Man the 
 Chriftian Liberty of worfhipping God in 
 any other Way he likes better, provided 
 he difturbs not the Peace of the Society. 
 Forms and Ceremonies, being in their 
 own Nature indifferent, are only the 
 Drefs of Religion, the Mode of which 
 every Government may both eftablifh and 
 alter at Pleafure. The moft rational 
 
 Forms
 
 Religio Philosophi. 183 
 Forms are thofe which have the feweft 
 Ceremonies; as they are the leaffc bur- 
 thenfome, and are moil agreeable to that 
 Liberty and Simplicity which Christ in- 
 tended to ertabliih. It is wife in a Go- 
 vernment to eftablifh fuch a Form of 
 Worship as is agreeable to the Inclina- 
 tions of the Majority j and not to alter it 
 without their Confent. It is weak in In- 
 dividuals not to comply with the Form of 
 the Country where they happen to re- 
 fide, if it requires nothing which they 
 think linful. Could one have imagined, 
 that Men could have been fo far infatu- 
 ated, as to regard thefe Forms as effen- 
 tial ? but fo they have been generally 
 taught, and fo they believe. Nay, they 
 generally believe them to be moft ehen- 
 tial. Mention the Word Religion, the 
 firffc Idea that arifes in their Minds is con- 
 cerning thefe Forms. By the Religion 
 of England, Scotland, Sweden, France, 
 Geneva, Rome, &c. they mean the par- 
 N 4 ticular
 
 184 Religjo Philosophi. 
 ticular Forms eftablimed by Law in each. 
 Thus the Word Religion is perverted, 
 and inflead of being applied to the Be- 
 lief and Practice of the Cofpel in gene- 
 ral, in which it confifts, is only applied 
 to the particular Modes of public Wor- 
 ship in each Country, which are in them- 
 felves indifferent. Nay, fo zealous have 
 Men been for thefe Lift, that, in Support 
 of their own Modes they have violated 
 not only all Principles of good Policy, 
 but even of Chriftianity and Humanity. 
 But by this blind Zeal they have feldom 
 gained their End, which is better and 
 more certainly obtained by Indulgence ; 
 for if Men are left to themfelves, they 
 will naturally fall into the Fafhion. None 
 of thefe outward Forms will either make 
 or unmake a Chriftian. The only true 
 Chriftian is he, who with a benevolent 
 Temper, and fincere Difpofition, con- 
 forms himfelf to the beft of his Under- 
 standing
 
 Religio Philosophic 185 
 
 ftanding to the moral and general Rules 
 of the Gofpel. 
 
 4. As to the Perfons to officiate. When 
 Chriftians #re met at particular Times 
 and Places to perform their public Wor- 
 fhip, whatever the Form is, the Act to 
 be performed muft be either Prayer, 
 Praife or Thankfgiving to God, admini- 
 ftering Christ's Sacraments, or hearing 
 the Scriptures read or explained. In the 
 Performance of thefe Acts, it is verv 
 convenient, for the Sake of Order, that 
 there mould be particular Perfons ap- 
 pointed to lead the Way in them, and to 
 be the Instruments of conveying Inftruc- 
 tion to the Ears and Hearts of the Con- 
 gregation. If it was not fo, all might 
 be filent, and neither Speakers nor Hear- 
 ers : or elfe all might be Speakers and no 
 Hearers. Therefore from the Time of 
 Christ, to the prefent, particular Per- 
 fons have been conftantly appointed for 
 thofe Functions. Christ firft inftruct- 
 
 ed
 
 186 Religio Philosophi. 
 ed and fent forth his. Difciples, and they 
 others. And at firft it could not be 
 otherwife; for then there were no others 
 that knew the Will of their Mafter. But 
 after the Publication of the Gofpel, when 
 the Scriptures were in every Hand, all 
 Perfons of equal Capacity were equally 
 able to inftruct both themfelves and o- 
 thers : and there was no Neceflity im- 
 mutably to appropriate the Performance 
 of thefe Acts to particular Individuals, 
 which all Chriftians were equally able to 
 perform. Nor is there any Command or 
 Injunction in Scripture for fuch a per- 
 fonal Diflinction amongfr. them. But 
 what was at htft neceffary was after- 
 wards thought convenient j and a parti- 
 cular Set of Men have ever fince been ap- 
 pointed to thefe Functions. Before Go- 
 vernments became Chriftian, thefe Men 
 could not be appointed by the State; but 
 muft have been appointed by one ano- 
 ther ; either by Election of their refpec- 
 
 tive
 
 Religio Philosophi. 187 
 tive Congregations, or by Nomination of 
 the Perfons before appointed, or by both 
 thefe Ways concurring and confirming 
 each other. But fuch Appointment could 
 give no Authority to one Chriftian over 
 another. All that they could do was, to 
 exhort others to follow their Directions, 
 and to exclude them from their Society, 
 if they did not, Temporal Power they 
 had none, nor could have, either from 
 Christ, or from the State; the flrft had 
 difclaimed it, declaring his Kingdom not 
 of this World 5 and no Government was 
 yet Chriftian. And therefore whatever 
 temporal Power the Clergy have at any 
 time poiTefTed in any Country, they muft 
 have acquired it, either by Grant from 
 the State, or by Ufurpation ; the Pre- 
 tence of a Divine Right to Power or Pof- 
 feffions being as fcandalous as ground- 
 lefs. 
 
 When Princes became Converts, they 
 were zealous for their new Faith, and 
 
 liberal
 
 i88 Religio Philosophi. 
 liberal to their Inflructors. They gave, 
 them earthly for their heavenly things ; 
 and thofe Inflructors were glad of the 
 Exchange. But after tailing the Sweets 
 of Wealth and Power, they were unwill- 
 ing to hold them upon fo precarious a 
 Tenure as the Pleafure of the State. 
 What they at firfl received as a Favour, 
 tfiey foon infilled upon as a Right and 
 founded that Right on their own arbitra- 
 ry Interpretation of Scripture ; which 
 they made a Warrant for whatever they 
 lifted j and made Excommunication, 
 (which they endeavoured to perfuade the 
 World was always followed by Damna- 
 tion) as the Penalty for every Non-com- 
 pliance. Credulous Men were eafily im- 
 pofed upon, and terrified with big Words, 
 The Clergy gained an Afcendant over 
 Mens Confciences -, and by that a tem- 
 poral Power too flrong for the State. 
 Princes were often forced to be Slaves to 
 their own Subjects. ; who pretended to 
 
 derive
 
 Religio Philosophi. 189 
 derive a Power from Scripture, indepen- 
 dent of theirs, and fuperior to it. 
 
 When Governments declared for Chri- 
 ftianity, the fame Perfons continued to 
 officiate, and the fame Orders of Men 
 remained among them as before. In the 
 Exercife of their Functions, they were 
 confined to particular Diftricts ; but the 
 Perfons who were to exercife them were 
 appointed (or ordained) by one another, 
 as before. This, as I faid before, was 
 not neceffary, nor commanded in Scrip- 
 ture j but might be thought convenient : 
 nor was it eafy to forefee all the Confe- 
 quences, which have lince proved fo in- 
 convenient to the State. It was a Mark 
 of Diftinction, which afforded them an 
 opportunity of fetting themfelves up as a 
 Body of Men of a different Species from 
 other Chriftians, and of affuming an 
 Authority and Jurifdiction over them. 
 As Minifters had been fo appointed from 
 the Times of the Apoflles, it was more 
 
 eafy
 
 I90 RELIGIO PHlLOSOP&t 
 
 eafy to perfuade the World, that they 
 muft always be fo appointed, and could 
 not be otherwife* That the Perfons fo 
 appointed, and no other (even though 
 elected by their Congregation, or nomi- 
 nated by the State) had a right to exer- 
 cife thofe Functions. That it was a Di- 
 vine Right, which they alone derived to 
 themfelves in Succeffion from Christ and 
 his Difciples ; and which they alone could 
 tranfmit in Succeffion to Men of the 
 fame Order. That fuch Orders of Men 
 had a Divine Right to Power, and were 
 effentially neceffary to the very Being of a 
 Church : and that one Link broke in the 
 Chain of their Succeffion might endan- 
 ger the future State of Mankind. Thus 
 they eftablifhed themfelves into a Corpo- 
 ration, diftinguifhed from the reft of their 
 Fellow Subjects, by the moft extenfive 
 and exclufive Powers and Jurifdictions : 
 yet it is difficult to produce PafTages from 
 Scripture amounting to a Grant of a per- 
 petual,
 
 Relioio Philosophy ipt 
 
 petual, perfonal, fucceffive, and exclu- 
 five Charter. 
 
 Being in pofiefnon of appointing one 
 another, and of performing particular 
 Acts, they made it a Pretence to afTume 
 the magnificent Titles of Ambanadore 
 of Christ and Succeffors of the Apo- 
 Itles ; and as fuch to claim a Power, Au- 
 thority, and Refpecl:, anfwerable to thofe 
 Titles. 
 
 They were not like the AmbafTadors 
 of an earthly Prince ; but their Charac- 
 ter was indelible, and their Power was 
 infeparable from it. Their Perfons fa- 
 cred and inviolable : not amenable to civil 
 Courts, but to be judged by themfelves 
 alone. Their Pofleflions holy and una- 
 lienable; and held by a Divine Tenure; 
 for being holy themfelves, every thing 
 they laid Hands on become fo. When 
 they appointed others to the Miniflry by 
 Impofition of Hands, they talked of it 
 in a Stile, as if the Spirit or Gracn of 
 
 Gud
 
 i$2 Religto Philosophy 
 God was not his immediate Gift, but 
 was capable of a material Conveyance tcf 
 the Soul; and that they were the Phy- 
 fical Inftruments and fole Canals by which 
 it could pafs to Perfons ordained, and 
 from them to the reft of Mankind : and 
 as if the bare Ceremony of Ordination 
 gave a Man a refpectable Character, which 
 is to be acquired only by an orderly 
 Life. 
 
 As SuceefTors of the Apoftles, they 
 laid no Claim to fucceed them in their 
 Labours, the.ir Virtues, and their Suffer- 
 ings ; but in Power and Authority, which 
 the Apoftles themfelves never claimed. 
 
 The Apoftles had a Power of cafting 
 out Devils, and of working other Mira- 
 cles. This Power was Perfonal ; but 
 yet it hath been often claimed by thefe 
 pretended SuceefTors, to ftrike Mankind 
 with Awe and Veneration. In dark and 
 ignorant Ages they impofed numbeflefs 
 Forgeries upon them ; which being dis- 
 covered
 
 Religio Philosophi. 193 
 
 covered in more enlightened Times, have 
 not only brought the Contrivers to Shame 
 and Contempt 5 but made Men doubt of 
 the Truth of Chriftianity itfelf, when 
 they found fuch bafe Artifices ufed to fup- 
 port it. 
 
 The Apoftles did not defire to be di- 
 ftinguifhed from the other Followers of 
 their Matter; claimed no peculiar Pri- 
 vileges, or any Superiority over them ; 
 humbling, not exalting themfelves -, and 
 complying with others, not exacting O- 
 bedience from them. They pretended 
 to no Sacrednefs of Perfon ; or that the 
 Divine Grace mould be conveyed from 
 them in Succeffion by a particular Set 
 of Men exclufive of other Chriflians ; 
 and if fuch Succeffion mould be inter- 
 rupted, many Acts could not be per- 
 formed that are neceffary to Salvation. 
 Thefe were the Pretences of more modern 
 Divines, to make themfelves neceffary and 
 refpected. 
 
 O Neither
 
 194 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Neither the Apoftles or their Matter 
 left Directions in what manner the 
 Church was for ever to be governed : 
 much lefs did they fay, that Epifcopacy, 
 Prefbytery, or any other Form, was of 
 Divine Right. They left the particular 
 Form of the Government of each Church 
 to the Society or State to which it be- 
 longed : no more requiring a Uniformity 
 in that, than in the civil Government of 
 States. As Civil Governments all differ 
 according to Time, Place, and Occafion ; 
 fo mull Ecciefiaflical : and as the firfh 
 agree in fome fundamental Principles ; 
 fo muft the lad : the chief of which is, 
 that Christ was a Prophet fent by God 
 to inftruct Mankind j and that he died 
 and rofe again to confirm the Truth of his 
 D jclrine. 
 
 The Apoflles claimed no worldly Pof- 
 feffions, much lefs a Divine Right to 
 Tythes. They claimed no worldly Pow- 
 er, much lefs a Right to difpofe of King- 
 doms.
 
 Religio Philosophi. 195 
 
 doms. They arrogated not to themfelves 
 the Prerogative of God, either of judg- 
 ing of Mens Hearts, by canonizing them 
 for Saints, or by anathematizing them 
 for Sinners -, or of forgiving Sinners by 
 Pardons and Indulgences. Could they 
 have imagined, that their pretended Suc- 
 ceffors would blafphemoufly apply thefe 
 blafphemous Claims to fandlify fome for 
 promoting, and to curfe others for op- 
 pofing their Defigns ? That from being 
 the Minifters of God's Word, they mould 
 claim to be the Sole Interpreters of it, 
 and make it fpeak their own Language to 
 gain Obedience to themfelves ? Or that 
 from being Minifters of his Sacraments, 
 they fhould take pofTefTion of the Gates 
 of Heaven and of Hell, by perfuading 
 Men that the receiving them from their. 
 Hands was necefiary to Salvation ; and 
 by giving or refufing them to what Per- 
 fons they pleafed ? Excommunication 
 formerly carried a Terror that few could 
 O 2 with-
 
 196 RelIgio Philosoph*. 
 withftand, looking on it as a certain Ear* 
 neft and Prelude of Damnation : and it 
 was the moil powerful Engine in the 
 Hands of the Clergy to bring about all 
 their Purpofes 5 by this they were able 
 to triumph over Rivals, to deftroy Here- 
 tics, and dethrone Princes. Are we to 
 lament, that it has now loft its Force ? 
 
 The Apoftles did all in their Power 
 to make known the Will of their Ma- 
 fler : they taught all Nations ; and preach^ 
 ed and publimed the Gofpel to every 
 Creature. Their pretended SucceiTors have 
 endeavoured to keep it to themfelves 3 to 
 conceal it in a Language unknown ; and 
 deliver out to the Vulgar fuch Parts only 
 as they judge proper, in their own Senfe 
 and Interpretation. 
 
 Is it known, or is it probable, that the 
 Apoftles ever compofed a Creed, although 
 there is one, which goes under their 
 Name ? They certainly did not compofe it 
 in the precife Terms in which we now 
 
 have
 
 Religio Philosophy 197 
 
 have it. Or if thofe infpired Perfons did 
 compofe it, is it not fufficicnt ? Or mall 
 any Mortal prefume to compofe, and 
 (what is ftill more) to impofe another 
 after it ? Yet their pretended SuccefTors 
 have compofed many : and the more 
 they have compofed, the more they have 
 confounded and divided Mankind. Were 
 they to publifh many more, they might 
 make mofl Points of Christianity incre- 
 dible. A Man fcarce deferves the Name 
 of a Chrift.ian, that could entirely believe 
 all thofe, already extant. 
 
 The Apoflles were contented with the 
 Scriptures in the Form and Words, in 
 which they received them from their 
 Matter and the Holy Spirit : they at- 
 tempted not to impofe their own Opini- 
 ons on the World $ much lefs to eftablifh 
 them as Articles of Faith. Their pre- 
 tended SuccefTors have been of a more 
 dictating and dogmatical Spirit. They 
 have called themfelves the Church, and 
 O 3 under
 
 19B Religio Philosopht. 
 under that Title claimed a Right to de- 
 termine every Doctrine. Some things 
 they have decided, which Christ never 
 taught ; fome which he left undecided 
 and free to every Man's Opinion j fome 
 impoflible to be known 3 fome too frivo- 
 lous or even ridiculous to be examined ; 
 and fome not things in Nature but on- 
 ly their own Chimeras. To thefe Deci- 
 fions they have required an implicit 
 Faith, and a Submiflion without Re- 
 lerve j infilling that others mould de- 
 clare an unfeigned AfTent to them, or 
 openly fubfcribe them : endeavouring to 
 terrify fuch as refufed with opprobri- 
 ous Names, Curfes, and Excommuni- 
 cations j and (what is worfe) purfuing 
 them with Banifhment, Fine, Impri- 
 sonment, Fire and Faggot j and acting 
 as Subflitutes of Satan in torturing Man- 
 kind. 
 
 Thofe Things which Christ left 
 myfterious, his ' Apoftles attempted not 
 
 to
 
 Religio Philosophi. 199 
 to explain, patiently waiting for a more 
 full Revelation of them in a future State. 
 Their pretended SuccefTors, more pofitive 
 and prefumptuous, have magifterially ex- 
 plained them all. The Divine Elfence is 
 incompreheniible to weak and mortal 
 Man : yet they have undertaken to dc- 
 monftrate, how the three Perfons of the 
 Trinity exift in it ; and have wrangled, 
 and in turns have perfecuted each other 
 for many Centuries about it. Witnefs 
 "Sabellius, who denied the Exiflence of 
 the Son and Holy Ghost, averting them 
 to be only Qualities of the Godhead : and 
 k MACEDONiuSj who denied the Divini- 
 ty of the Holy Ghost only. Witnefs 
 c Arius, who denied the Eternity of the 
 Son j and Socinus, who denied his Di- 
 vinity. The fame may be faid of their 
 endeavouring to explain the Manner of 
 
 a Vid. Bower's Hift. of the Popes, Vol. I. p. 75. 
 
 b Ibid. p. 172. 
 
 c Ibid, from p, 158. to 167. 
 
 O 4 Christ's
 
 200 Religio Philosophi. 
 Christ's Union to the Godhead. * Ne- 
 stor i us and his Followers maintaining 
 two Perfons and two Natures in Christ ; 
 and e Eutyches and his only one Per- 
 fon and one Nature. They murdered 
 each other in Defence of thefe Opinions : 
 and the Followers of Athanasius, en- 
 deavouring to fet them right, have damn- 
 ed all Mankind, who do not come into 
 theirs. Some have doubted whether our 
 Saviour had a human Soul ; and others 
 whether he had a Body. And others 
 have difputed where his Soul was between 
 his Death and RefurrecHon ; and where 
 his Body is iince his Afcenfion. Vain 
 Enquiries, and of no Importance ! 
 
 Thofe pretended SuccefTors of the A- 
 poftles, not content with explaining My- 
 fteries, have made Myfteries of Things 
 very plain. The Sacraments, the Con- 
 ditions of God's Grace, they reprefented 
 
 * Ibid, from p. 386. to 405. 
 
 c Vol. II. from p. 30. to 64. Vid. p. 306, 339. 
 
 as
 
 Religio Philosophy 201 
 
 as the phyfical Means of conveying it ; 
 and that they could be effectually admi- 
 nifler'd only by themfelves ; and not even 
 by themfelves if not orthodox. Many 
 have been fo abfurd, as to make Meta- 
 phor a Reality ; and to maintain, that 
 when Christ called Bread his Body, he 
 turned it into Flefh : as every R.oman 
 Catholic Prieft. has done iince : fo that 
 when the confecrated Wafer is taken in- 
 to the Mouth, if their Interpretation be 
 true, the Congregation are Canibals. 
 
 How many Conceits have they enter- 
 tained concerning the State of Man, both 
 at his Creation, and after his Death ! The 
 Account which Moses gives of his Crea- 
 tion, and adapted to vulgar Capacities, and 
 the allegorical Account which he gives of 
 his Fall, they have taken in a literal Senfe ; 
 which hath led them into a Labyrinth of 
 ridiculous Abfurdities: which I before 
 hinted, and which have been fufficiently 
 
 expofed
 
 202 Religio Philosophy 
 expofed by Men of great f Learning and 
 Abilities. 
 
 Having thus introduced Man upon the 
 Stage, let us hear how they have difpofed 
 of him upon his Exit. His Soul is no 
 fooner feparated from his Body, but fome 
 have fent it to Hades, fome to Purgato- 
 ry, and fome made it fleep till the Refur- 
 re&ion. At the Refurrection, they have 
 given him the fame individual Particles, 
 which compofed his Body before, (as if 
 ncceifary to his Identity) without faying 
 in what Period of his Life : and have had 
 fo grofs an Imagination as to think, that 
 the fame Body is to pafs with him to 
 Heaven ; which we are told Flefh and 
 Blood cannot inherit. After the Refur- 
 rection fome have given a Reign of a 
 thoufand Years on Earth to the Righte- 
 ous ; and others, more kind, fent them 
 directly to Heaven. Vain Speculations ! 
 
 f See Burnet's Archxologiae Philofophicse, Lib. 2. 
 c. 7. &c. 
 
 Is
 
 ReliCio Philosophi. 203 
 
 Is it not iufficierft for Man to know, that 
 he will be miferable, if bad ; and hap- 
 py beyond Expreffion, if righteous. The 
 particular Defcription of a Country can- 
 not be had, from which no Traveller re- 
 turns. 
 
 Yet thefe Men have rufhed boldly in- 
 to Heaven and Hell 5 and, like Poets, 
 defcribed the Torments of the one, and 
 Joys of the other > tho' the Scriptures 
 fay, thefe laft are fuch, as neither Eye 
 hath feen, nor Ear heard, neither hath 
 it entered into the Heart of Man to con- 
 ceive. They have been pleafed even to 
 fix the Scene, and tell you where Hell 
 is j tho' they do not all agree in what 
 Latitude it lies. Some imagining you 
 mufl defcend to it, and that it is a Dark, 
 Covered Place, are pleafed to fix it near 
 the Center of our Globe -, which is the 
 lowed Place, in the Conception of us poor 
 Mortals, who creep on the Surface of it. 
 Others conceiving it to be a very hot 
 
 Place,
 
 204 Religio Philosophi. 
 Place, have been pleafed to fix it in the 
 Sun, where poor Souls will be burnt: 
 and others in a Comet, where they will 
 be feverely fcorched as they pafs by the 
 Sun. It is more difficult for them to find 
 out the Heaven, to . which we are to a- 
 fcend : for, as in our Notion we afcend, 
 when we remove from any Part of our 
 Globe, our Globe being the Standard or 
 Point from which we fet out on our Jour- 
 ney, the Roads may branch out from 
 thence to any Part of the Univerfe; 
 
 Not fatisfied with defcribing Hell, and 
 the Torments of the Damned, they have 
 entered into the Cotmfels of the Almigh- 
 ty ; and blafphemoufly afibmed to them- 
 felves a Right of judging of the Juilice of 
 his Determinations. God, fay they, fore- 
 faw all Mens Actions, and that fome 
 would fin : they therefore can fcarce re- 
 concile it to his Mercy, if from Eternity 
 he defiined fome to be Veflels of his 
 Wrath ; or even gave them a Capacity 
 
 of
 
 RelJgio PhilosoIphi. 25 
 
 of finning, forefeeing they would fin ; tho* 
 he gave them a Will free to determine 
 their Actions, and a Power to act accord- 
 ing to that Determination. If God, fay 
 they, is not the Caufe of Sin in Man, he 
 placed him amidft Temptations, which 
 are the Occafion of it: and therefore 
 they think the Scripture not well under- 
 ftood, when it mentions everlafting Pu- 
 nifhment ; too great, they think, to be 
 inflicted by a merciful and juft God, on 
 a Creature whom he made fo frail, and 
 for Crimes committed in a momentary 
 Life. Thus, like the Devils in our great 
 Poet, 
 
 * They reafon high 
 Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will and Fate, 
 Fixt Fate, Free Will, Foreknowledge abiblute, 
 And find no End in wandring Mazes loft. 
 Vain Wifdom all, and falfe Philofophy ! 
 
 t Milton, Book II. 
 
 It
 
 206 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 It was not given to Man to know 
 thefe things in this Life ; and therefore 
 he mould not difquiet himfjf in vain 
 about them. Shall an Animal of fo 
 limited an Underftanding, creeping on 
 the Surface of this little Globe, having 
 only a few Obje&s within the Reach of 
 his Senfes, little acquainted with their 
 Nature, and as little with the Connexion 
 and Dependence of one Being on, another, 
 fet himfelf up as Dictator of the Uni- 
 verfe ? He cannot know the Schemes of 
 Providence, much lefs alter them. God 
 made Man, and not he himfelf. He 
 created him for his Plcafure, and at his 
 Pleafure he will difpofe of him. He 
 alone knows through what new Scenes 
 he muft pafs ; and he will conduct him 
 through them to anfwer the Ends of his 
 Providence. Let Man refign himfelf in 
 full Confidence on that Sovereign Being, 
 who is juft and merciful to all his Crea- 
 tures -,
 
 RELIGIO PHILOSOPHI. 2Q7 
 
 tures ; and daily fay, " Not my will 
 " but thine be done." 
 
 But tho' thefe Points cannot be known 
 yet they are important : and therefore 
 Difputes about them, tho* vain, are not 
 fo ridiculous, as thofe, which have been 
 raifed by the Clergy about meer Ceremo- 
 nies and Trifles of their own Invention. 
 I have mentioned fome concerning Times 
 and Places and Forms of Worfhip, and 
 of adminiftring the Sacraments j con- 
 cerning Ordination, different Orders or 
 Degrees of Clergy, Ecclefiaftical Go- 
 vernment, and Cenfures. Who can for- 
 bear laughing to hear of Difputes about 
 a Cloak or a Surplice; about placing a 
 Table or a Pulpit; about fitting or kneel- 
 ing ; about turning to the Eaft or Weft ; 
 bowing or other Geftures ; falling or 
 feafting ; eating Fifti or Flefh ; in Lent 
 or out of it ; and thofe numberlefs Rites, 
 which Papifts retain ? many of which 
 the Proteftants rejected by Authority at 
 
 the
 
 2o8 Religio Philosophy. 
 
 the Reformation -, and many of which 
 
 by their own Reafon they do fince reject. 
 
 Such Difputes would have been thought 
 incredible; becaufe they concern things 
 not enjoined in Scripture, and are incon- 
 iiftent with the Spirit of it : if they 
 flood not recorded in Ecclefiaftical Hi- 
 ftory. Ecclefiaftical Hiftory ! the moft 
 infignificant, lead entertaining, and leail 
 inftructive, of all Hiflories ! A Narration 
 either of moll: impertinent Trifles, or 
 elfe of moll: mocking Crimes ! A Collec- 
 tion of the Ignorance, Folly, Credulity 
 and Superflition of weak Men j of the 
 Knavery, Forgery, and Impofition, of 
 the Pride, Avarice, and Ambition, of the 
 Tyranny, Perfecution, and Cruelty, of 
 worldly Men ! and the greatell Reproach 
 to Chriftianity ! If there are many Mar- 
 tyrs, whofe Memory is ever to be ho- 
 noured ; there are more Monfters, whofe 
 Memory is ever to be detefted : who 
 have perverted the beft things into the 
 
 worft ;
 
 Religio Philosophi. 209 
 word; and under the Name of Christ's 
 Religion have eftablifhed that of Anti- 
 chrift. 
 
 Such Difputes are at prefent little re- 
 garded in this Ifland : and may they ne- 
 ver return again to difturb the Quiet of 
 it ! The beft way to prevent it is for the 
 Clergy not to endeavour to impofe their 
 own Authority on Mankind j but to leave 
 the Gofpel (as it is and ought to be) the 
 fole Standard of Faith and Practice : to 
 deliver it without Myftery to the Igno- 
 rant j and to encourage and invite all, 
 that are capable, to examine and judge 
 of it by their own Reafon. Nothing can 
 be more for the Advantage of Chriftiani- 
 ty : nothing can be more for their own 
 Eafe, Honour, and Intereft : for they 
 will always (and defervedly) be refpect- 
 able, when they ferve the Ends of their 
 Profeffion j and always contemptible, 
 when they would make their Profeffion 
 ferve other Ends. 
 
 P Reconcile.
 
 210 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Reconcile Scripture to Reafon : that is 
 the true Way to fupport its Credit and Au- 
 thority. It is not fufficient to fay it is the 
 Word of God : that does not prove it. 
 Or to fay, that the Books, in which it is 
 contained, are canonical y for whatever 
 Numbers pronounce them fo, their Opi- 
 nion cannot make them the Word of 
 God, or convince others, that they are 
 fo t It is not fufficient to fay, they were 
 found in fuch a Place, or with fuch a 
 Nation, or were delivered by Perfons 
 inipired. What Place, Nation, or Per- 
 ibn can claim fuch a peculiar Privilege ? 
 If they do, the Truth of fuch a Claim 
 muft be fubmitted to the Examination 
 and Determination of Reafon. 
 
 What Proofs are there to induce us to 
 think the Old Teftament the Word of 
 God? 
 
 The Historical Part of it, if falfe, proves 
 it to /be not the Word of God ; and, 
 if true, does not prove it to be fo ; for a 
 
 true
 
 Religio Philosophi. 21 I 
 
 true Hiftory may be delivered without 
 Divine Infpiration. It is a Hiftory, that 
 gives an Account of Tran factions long 
 before any other Hiftories j and therefore 
 can neither be confuted nor confirmed 
 by them. Its Authority muft reft on 
 the Credibility of the Fads related, the 
 Credit of the Relators, the Completion 
 of their Prophecies, or the Excellence of 
 their Inftruction. 
 
 The Facts related are of great Import- 
 ance to Mankind. The fhort Abftract 
 of the Hiftory before the Deluge con- 
 tains a general Account of what is moll 
 interefting in that Period. An Account 
 of the Creation of the firft Man and Wo- 
 man : a Fact which muft have necefTarily 
 exifted at fome Time and Place. And 
 why may we not believe them to have 
 been the Perfons whom Moses defcribes; 
 when to confirm it, he brings down their 
 Genealogy to Noah ? The allegorical 
 Account of the Manner of their Forma- 
 P 2 tion,
 
 212 Religio Philosophy 
 tion, of their happy Situation, of their 
 yielding to the Temptation of Vice, of 
 their Mifery after it, of God's fweeping 
 one wicked Race of their Defcendants 
 from the Face of our Globe, and reple- 
 nishing it from a righteous Family, are 
 Events very rational, and therefore very 
 credible : efpecially if we confider Moses 
 (the Author) as a Perfon very worthy of 
 Credit, and who, by Tradition, might 
 have very good Information. 
 
 From the Deluge his Hiftory chiefly 
 concerns the Jews: a People not confi- 
 derable in Power as a Nation ; but ex- 
 tremely fo, as the only People who pro- 
 fefTed the Worfhip of the true God, 
 when all others were funk in Idolatry. 
 Therefore, if any where upon Earth we 
 are to expect a true Account of the Ori- 
 ginal of the prefent Race of Mankind, 
 or of God's paft or future Difpenfations 
 concerning them, we may reafonably ex- 
 pecl it there or no where. We find it 
 
 there,
 
 Rej.igio Philosophy 213 
 there, and no where elfe. And it is come 
 down to us authenticated in the befl Man- 
 ner any Hiftojy can be. The Law of 
 Moses has always been obferved by the 
 Jews, who have always acknowledged 
 Moses to be the Author of it. What 
 Reafon is there then to doubt it ? It was 
 always prefer ved in their Memory and 
 Tradition, as well as in Writing : and h 
 when, through the Impiety of fome of 
 their Kings, it was neglected, a Copy was 
 retrieved by Jos 1 ah. They were found 
 acting under it before the Deftruction of 
 the Aflyrian Empire, during the whole 
 Perfian and Grecian Empires, and under 
 the Roman Government till the Deftru- 
 ction of Jerufalem : and tho' fince dif- 
 perfed over the whole Earth, they adhere 
 to it to this Day; every where bearing 
 Teftimony to the Truth of the Hiftory, 
 ftronger than any other Hiftory ever re- 
 ceived. And if we believe the Hiftory 
 
 h Prideavx's Connexion, Vol. I, p. 260. 
 
 P 9 as
 
 214 Religio Philosophi. 
 as far as Moses carries it, we have no 
 Reafon to difbelieve the Thread of it af- 
 terwards, every Part of which flands as par- 
 ticularly recorded, and in a more correct 
 Manner than that of moil other Nations. 
 
 The only Objection to the Credit of 
 any Part of it is, the Relation we meet 
 with of fome Miracles, which could gain 
 Credit in no other Book. Now, the Que- 
 stion with me is not whether the thing 
 is porlible or no ; for all Things are pof- 
 fible with God j and the Author of the 
 material World can alter the common or 
 natural Courfe of things in it as he plea- 
 fes. The only Queftion is, when we 
 have Reafon to conclude and believe that 
 he does fo ? And, I think, we can only 
 judge of that by this one Rule, viz. whe- 
 ther the Miracle related is to promote fome 
 great and good End of Providence : and if 
 we cannot difcover that, we have Reafon 
 to fufpend our Belief j or rather to be- 
 lieve, that it was told to ferve fome End 
 
 of
 
 Religio Philosophi. 215 
 of the Relator, who by impofing fuch 
 Stories might hope to acquire Honour, 
 Power, or Authority to himfelf, or to his 
 Nation. Let every one judge by this 
 Criterion ; and determine for himfelf : 
 and if he cannot difcover any great or 
 good End in the Miracle related, he may 
 fafely doubt, whether that Part of Scrips 
 ture is fo authentic as the reft ; and whe- 
 ther it has not been corrupted. 
 
 If a Man finds a Fact related in Scrip- 
 ture, which he takes to be morally im- 
 poffible, viz. inconfiftent with God's 
 Juflice, Mercy, or Goodnefs ; he has 
 much more Reafon to doubt : for though 
 there may be natural, there can be no 
 moral Miracles : God may direct the 
 Courfe or Motion of Things in the ma- 
 terial World in different Ways, and his 
 Almighty Power be equally exerted and 
 demonstrated in all - 3 but his Juftice and 
 Goodnefs are immutable, and their Courfe 
 can never be interrupted. And though 
 P 4 Man
 
 216 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 Man cannot always judge aright of his 
 
 Proceedings ; yet he may be affured that 
 
 the Judge of the whole Earth will do 
 
 right. 
 
 I do not think that the Hiftory of the 
 Old Teftament acquires any new Credit, 
 as to paft Facts related in it, by being re- 
 ferred to in the New : for when our Sa- 
 viour or his Apoftles refer to any Part of 
 it, fuch Reference cannot alter the pad 
 Facts : they refer to it as a known Re- 
 cord only, whether the Story recorded 
 be true or falfe, Fiction or Reality : as I 
 am as well understood, when I mention 
 the Engagement of the Frogs and Mice, 
 Pigmies and Cranes, as when I mention 
 the Battles of Blenheim or Pharfalia. To 
 give one Inftance among many : when 
 St. James fays, e< You have heard of 
 %l Job's Patience j" he does not aflert, 
 that there was or was not fuch a Perfon 
 as Job ; but refers to the Character of a 
 righteous and patient Man, finely de- 
 
 fcribed
 
 Religio Philosophi. 217 
 fcribed in the Old Teftament, and gene- 
 rally known ; and which was equally in- 
 ftrucYive whether it was real or ficti- 
 tious. 
 
 There is another Part of the Hiftory 
 of the Old Teftament, which is very pe- 
 culiar to the. Scriptures -, and that is Pro- 
 phecy, or the Hiftory of Events before 
 they happen. If thefe fall out in diftant 
 Periods of Time, as foretold ; fuch Pro- 
 phecy (or anticipated Hiftory) needs no 
 other Proof of its Truth ; or indeed of 
 its divine Original : for God alone could 
 forefee any Series of Events at fuch a Di- 
 ftance of Time. And when fuch Events 
 foretold in the Old Teftament are re- 
 ferred to by the New, or applied to it, 
 if they are juftly referred to and applied, 
 both thefe Books receive the greateft re- 
 ciprocal Illuftration and Credit. 
 
 But to dwell no longer on the Hiftori- 
 cal Parts of Scripture -, let us confider the 
 whole (both Old and New Teftament) 
 
 as
 
 2i 8 Religio Philosophi. 
 as a religious and moral Leffon to Man- 
 kind. Where is there, or ever was 
 there, a Book comparable to it ? If we 
 can fcarce forbear thinking Virgil, Ho- 
 race, Cicero, and other Heathen Wri- 
 ters infpired, who, notwithstanding the 
 idolatrous Fictions of their vulgar Theo- 
 logy, have delivered fuch fublime Senti- 
 ments and Precepts ; what mall we fay 
 to a Book, the only one of all Antiquity, 
 which throughout the whole Tenor of it 
 points out to Man one only God, an 
 eternal and infinite Spirit, the Creator of 
 the Univerfe, Omniprefent, Omnifcient, 
 Omnipotent, Wife, Juft, Merciful and 
 Good j who placed Man on this Globe, 
 to contemplate him and his Works, to 
 adore him, and to endeavour to imitate 
 his Perfections ; promifing Rewards in a 
 future State to thofe that do fo : and to 
 aid him in his Duty fent Christ, the 
 only faultlefs Perfon who ever appeared 
 amongft Men, to teach them a Leffon of 
 
 Love,
 
 Religio Philosophi. 219 
 
 Love, Charity, and univerfal Benevo- 
 lence, of Submiffion, Resignation, Hu- 
 mility, and Temperance, more perfect 
 than ever was before delivered ; fet forth 
 and exalted by Sentiments more noble, 
 and Expreffions more fublime, than can be 
 met with in any other Writings. Have 
 we not therefore Reafon to call it the 
 Word of God ? that is, that the Senti- 
 ments and Precepts contained in it, were 
 fuggefled by God to the Minds of thofe 
 who publifhed them to the World. Take 
 it altogether, it is Divine ! And if Ca- 
 vils and Objections have been raifed to 
 particular Parts, they perhaps are not ge- 
 nuine, or not underftood. 
 
 But we are not immediately to con- 
 clude, that the Scriptures are not genuine, 
 if we do not underftand them. There 
 are many Obftacles in our Way to the 
 right underftanding of many PafTages, 
 never to be furmounted. No Writ- 
 ings are exempt from Errata ; which 
 
 in
 
 220 Religio Philosophy 
 in ancient ones are difficult to difcover 
 and correct : and in Scripture, what wife 
 Man will attempt to correct them ? No 
 Tranflations come up to the Spirit of the 
 Original ; and in many Parts cannot be 
 adapted to the precife Senfe of it : and 
 how few can read the Scriptures in the 
 Original, compared to the Generality of 
 Mankind, who mull truft to Tranfla- 
 tions ? Difference of Style, Phrafe, and 
 Idiom, of Laws, Manners, and Cufloms, 
 in Countries and Ages diftant from our 
 own, neceffarily introduce great Obfcu- 
 rity ; and are the Caufe why many Parts 
 of Scripture are not now underftood, 
 which might be clear at the Time and 
 Place they were writ. A modern Reader, 
 who is rational and impartial, will make 
 great Allowances on thefe Accounts : and 
 it is to be hoped, he will make a fmall 
 Allowance for the Weaknefs of his own 
 Underftanding, the common Lot of Mor- ' 
 tality ! If after due Reflection, he is not 
 
 fatisfied
 
 RELIGIO PhILOSOPHI." 221 
 
 fatisfied with his own Interpretation, he 
 is to expect but little Aid from former 
 Interpreters. The many Doubts remain- 
 ing on feveral Parts of Scripture, are a 
 Proof of the ill Succefs of their I abours 
 to fettle the Opinions of the Wori\ o And 
 fome Reafons may be afligned why ma- 
 ny of them have fucceeded no better. 
 Ancient Divines have often failed from 
 an Ignorance in natural Philofophy, ma- 
 ny Parts of which the Moderns are bet- 
 ter acquainted with from Obfervation 
 and Experience, Modern Divines have 
 often failed from adopting the Errors of 
 the Ancient. Modern Philofophers often 
 fail from a Conceit of their own Know- 
 ledge j being too apt to conclude things 
 to be impomble, that fall not within the 
 narrow Compafs of their Obfervation and 
 Experiments j when, on more mature 
 Reflection they would appear moil a- 
 greeable to Reafon and Nature. Som; 
 fail from adhering too much to the Let 
 
 te/
 
 222 RELIGIO PhiLOSOPHI. 
 
 ter, turning Figure, Metaphor, Allego- 
 ry, and Expreffions adapted to the Ideas 
 of the Vulgar, into Realities. Whilft 
 others fail, by turning plain things into 
 Myfteries, to raife the Reputation of 
 their own Knowledge with the Vulgar, 
 and to keep them in Awe : perfuading 
 them there is Danger in departing from 
 their Interpretation, or even in doubting 
 of, or examining into their Opinions: 
 deterring fome from any Examination at 
 all, and prejudicing thofe who do exa- 
 mine againft the Scriptures, by making 
 them unintelligible by their own Inter- 
 pretation j which they endeavour to force 
 on others, in order to preferve, as they 
 think, an Uniformity of Opinion. Mi- 
 staken Men ! who take this Truth for a 
 Paradox. Attempting a Unifor- 
 mity in Opinion breeds Dissen- 
 tion : permitting a Latitude in 
 Opinion begets Unity. Men will 
 either not think of Religion at all, or they 
 
 will
 
 Religio Philosophi. 223 
 
 will think for themfelves. They can do no 
 otherwife ; for their particular Ideas arife 
 from the Impremon of Objects on their 
 Minds j which are fccn by different Men 
 in different Lights, and under different 
 Circumftances : and it was as much the 
 Intention of Providence, that there mould 
 be a Difference of Opinions as of Per- 
 fons : nor is it to be imagined, that God, 
 who fo formed Man, is offended with 
 fuch Difference of Opinion on any Sub- 
 ject 
 
 It is a vain Attempt to think of making 
 Men agree in any one Religion, by for- 
 bidding them to examine into the Prii>- 
 ciples of it. Nay, it makes it impoffible 
 for them to be of that Religion ; not* 
 withftanding they profefs it j or however 
 they may comply with outward Forms, 
 from Fafhion, from Deference to Autho- 
 rity, or from Fear of Punifhment ; for 
 Religion mult arife from an inward Con- 
 viction, and there can be no Conviction 
 
 without
 
 224 Religio Philosophi. 
 without Examination, and weighing the 
 Reafons for and againft it. 
 
 It is as vain to think of forcing Men 
 into a Religion by attacking their Per- 
 fons or Reputation : Perfecution may 
 make good Men Martyrs, and bad ones 
 Hypocrites : but can never make a Man 
 religious ; for neither Blows nor Calum- 
 ny are proper Arguments of Conviction. 
 
 It is as vain too to think of preferving 
 fuch a Uniformity by Mens fetting up 
 their own Decifions for a Guide ; call- 
 ing themfelves orthodox, and the reft of 
 the World Heretics ; making it merito- 
 rious in a Man to follow their Opinions 
 blindfold, and criminal in him, after his 
 beft Examination, to follow his own, If 
 private Men differ with public Decifions, 
 what Wonder ? when thefe Decifions have 
 often differed with one another : Popes 
 have condemned Popes, and Councils 
 Councils ; travelling the World over 'to 
 fettle Points, fome inexplicable, and others 
 
 frivolous j
 
 Religio PuiLosoprti. 225 
 frivojous i and taking great Pains to make 
 themfelves ridiculous. Which muft al- 
 ways be the Cafe, when Man's Judg- 
 ment, mixed with his Interefts, Paffions, 
 and Infirmities, is fet up as a Standard of 
 Faith inftead of the Scripture. 
 
 It was commendable in the Befeans to 
 examine the Scriptures j which require, 
 that every one fhould be ready to give 
 a Reafon for the Hope that is in him. 
 And it is vain to think of eftablifhing 
 the Authority of Scripture, without leav- 
 ing Men at liberty to examine and conii- 
 der the external and internal Evidence of 
 the Truth of it. A Man cannot believe 
 it to be true without fome Reafon for his 
 Belief: and it is not a good Reafon, be- 
 caufe another either does, or fays he be- 
 lieves it. Nor can he believe any Part of 
 it, that he thinks repugnant to Reafon, 
 which is the only Rule by which he can 
 judge of it : and he is fure that whatever 
 is repugnant to right Reafon, could not 
 Q be
 
 226 Religio Philosophi. 
 
 be delivered by Men commifTioned and in- 
 
 fpired by God. 
 
 It is vain to endeavour to flop a free 
 Enquiry into the Grounds of Religion > 
 it makes Men more eager after fuch En- 
 quiries. It is very imprudent ; it hurts 
 both Religion and the Clergy ; for Men 
 are apt to fufpect a Caufe that is not fuf- 
 fered to come to a Trial, as well as the 
 Advocates for it. If it is true, why are 
 they againlt bringing it to the Teft ? If 
 it is falfe, why would they impofe it ? If 
 it is doubtful, why are they angry with 
 thole that doubt it ? Truth will bear the 
 Light j and the more it is expofed to it, 
 the brighter it will appear. It is certain, 
 that nothing hath done more Prejudice 
 to Chriltianity, than the trying to deter 
 Men from fuch Enquiries ; by branding 
 them with opprobrious Names, by in- 
 flaming others againft them, and by a- 
 larming them with the Danger of liften- 
 ing to Reafoh j as if it was- a Crime to 
 
 empjoy
 
 Ri-ligio Philosophi. 227 
 
 employ that nobleft Talent, with which 
 God hath intrufled them, and on the 
 moft important of all Subjects. 
 
 Chriftianity is a good Caufe, and will 
 bear any Examination : to prevent an Ex- 
 amination is to betray, and not to defend 
 it. Leave the- Gofpel with every Man to 
 examine : the Excellence of its Doctrine 
 will defend it. It is to be trufled with 
 the Laity as well as Clergy 5 for it makes 
 no Diitinction between them. Every 
 one may underftand the mofr. neceflary 
 Parts of it ; they want neither Popes nor 
 Councils to explain them. It requires no 
 Artifice to fupport it : no falfe Miracles : 
 no ancient Opinion, or Practice, either 
 of Fathers or Saints, whether they were 
 learned, able, or honeft, or whether they 
 were weak, credulous, or defigning Men. 
 Nor can any human Authority, though 
 dignified with the Name of primitive, 
 add the leaft Weight to it. We ought 
 not to truft to Authority, but appeal to 
 Q 2 Reafon
 
 228 Religio Philosophi. 
 Reafon for the Defence of Chriftianity ; 
 and begin by convincing Men, inftead 
 of fcattering Terrors, which no wife Man 
 will regard. It was monftrous to believe, 
 or to endeavour to perfuade others, that 
 any one would be damned for a Miftake 
 in Judgment or Opinion. What an un- 
 worthy Notion muft he have of the Deity 
 who holds fuch a Tenet ! Inftead of con- 
 demning his Neighbour for no Crime, he 
 fhould afk Pardon of God for his own 
 Impiety. 
 
 I have now delivered my flncere Sen- 
 timents on the Subject of Chriftianity; 
 and with unufual Freedom. And I thank 
 God, that I live in an Age and Country 
 in which that Freedom is not reftrained. 
 No Religion can ftand, that hath not 
 Reafon and Nature for its Foundation : 
 nor can there be any Certainty, that it is 
 fo founded, without a free Examination, 
 and a free Declaration of every Man's 
 Opinion, and of the Reafons on which 
 
 he
 
 Religio Philosophy 229 
 he grounds it: for fuch Difcuffions are 
 the only ready way to the Truth. Con- 
 cealment, Stratagem, Force, or Autho- 
 rity, can never fupport any Religion. 
 Chriftianity needs no fuch Defence. It 
 is much better defended by fhewing it 
 is agreeable to Reafon and Philofophy, 
 which was my Defign in writing this 
 Treatife. 
 
 Before I conclude, I would willingly 
 obviate any Mifconftruction of what I 
 have faid relating to the falfe Pretentions 
 and Ufurpations of the Clergy : that I 
 may not be thought to point Reflections 
 where I never intended them. I refer 
 all I have faid on that Topic to paft Times, 
 and not to the prefent ; to Times of Ig- 
 norance and Superflition, and not to an 
 Age fo enlightened as this. I ilncerely 
 honour the prefent Clergy of this Ifland. 
 They are a Body of Men highly refpecl:- 
 able : many of them very eminent in 
 Learning; very few fcandalous in Life. 
 
 I
 
 230 Religio Philosophi. 
 I think, that they are extremely different 
 from fuch of their PredecefTors, as I have 
 defcribed : that fenfible of their Errors 
 they will avoid them : and that having 
 more enlarged Notions, as well as more 
 Candor and Charity, they will be the 
 great Inftruments of God, to fet Revela- 
 tion in a fair and clear Light, and to re- 
 commend Christianity to the Underftand- 
 ing and Affection, to the Head and Heart 
 of Mankind. There is no thinking Per- 
 fon, who can doubt of the Exiftence of a 
 Deity ? That there is fuch a Tower above 
 us, all Nature cries aloud through all her 
 Works, fays l the moft ingenious and bed 
 of our moral Writers. And no Man can 
 believe otherwife, without believing this 
 Abfurdity, that there are Effects without 
 a Caufe. Therefore the Atheifl: (real or 
 pretended) is the moll ignorant, low, and 
 contemptible Ideot. Any Attack of his 
 upon Religion mull always be very weak : 
 
 Apdisox. 
 
 to
 
 Religio Philosophi. 231 
 
 to be pitied only, never to be dreaded. 
 There are a much greater number of 
 Men, who believe the Being of a God, 
 but who doubt of the Truth of Revela- 
 tion : diftinguifhed of late by the name 
 of Deifts. Thefe Men (if fincerely re- 
 ligious) would foon be Converts to Chri- 
 ftianity, could they fee it in its genuine 
 Principles, ftripped of the worldly Dif- 
 guife in which it has been drefTed fince 
 its firft Connection with the State : and 
 would admire the Luftre of the Gem, 
 were it cleanfed from the Stains and 
 Spots, which have fo long fullied and 
 difgraced it. This ought to be the Stu- 
 dy and Labour of- the Clergy : they 
 ought to difabufe Mankind ; and to ex- 
 tricate them out of that Labyrinth of 
 Errors, into which they have been led 
 by the Blindnefs or Wickednefs of their 
 former Guides. And it is with fincere 
 Pleafure I obferve them now fairly de- 
 bating all Points with thofe who publifh 
 
 their
 
 232 Religio Philosophy 
 their Opinions to the World : appealing. 
 to Reafon and Scripture, not to Autho- 
 rity and Tradition : defending their Caufe 
 with their own Abilities, not calling in 
 the Aid of the State : trufting to Argu- 
 ment and Conviction, not to Force and 
 Perfecution. While they proceed in a 
 Manner fo difpaffionate, and treat others 
 with Candor and Temper, they will eve 
 gain Profelytes and Friends. If they 
 give up the weak Outworks of ancient 
 Error, and retire to the Citadel of the 
 Gofpel, (ftrong by Nature without Art) 
 they will render Christianity impregnable. 
 Like wise Men, they will build 
 G O D's House, the Church, not 
 upon the Sand, but upon a Rock. 
 Then let the Rain descend, the 
 Floods come, and the Winds blow, 
 and beat upon that House, it will 
 not fall, for it is founded on a 
 rock; and the gates of hell shall . 
 not prevail against it. 
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