m / 'y , - SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, IN THE YEAR 1792, AT THE LECTURE Founded by the late Rev. JOHN BAMPTON, M. A. CANON OF SALISBURY. THE SECOND EDITION, With Correftions and Additions. TO WHICH ARE NOW SUBJOINED FOUR SERM ON S Preached before the Univerfity of Oxford, In the Years 1791 and 1794. BY JOHN EVELEIGH, D. D. PROVOST OP ORIEL COLLEGE AND PREBENDARV OF ROCHESTER. OXFORD: SOLD BY J. COOKE ; BY MERRILL, CAMBRIDGE; A tf D BY WHITE AND RIVINGTON, LONDON. M.DCC.XCIV. TO THE UNDERGRADUATES OF THE UNIVERSITIES OF OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE, AND TO ALL THOSE OF EVERY DENOMINATION, WHO HAVE NOT YET SATISFIED THEMSELVES WITH RESPECT TO THEIR RELIGIOUS AND INFINITELY MOST IMPORTANT CONCERNS BY A REGULAR INQUIRY INTO THEM, THESE SERMONS ARE ADDRESSED 5 AND AN HABITUAL ATTENTION TO THE GREAT TOPICS COMPENDIOUSLY DISCUSSED IN THEM IS MOST EARNESTLY RECOMMENDED BY THEIR VERY FAITHFUL FRIEND THE AUTHOR. 2GO0829 ADVERTISEMENT. OF the following Sermons the eight firft, which were preached at the Bampton- Lecfture, contain a view of our Religion with regard to its fubftance, hiftory, evidences, and the objections by which it is oppofed ; the two next deduce from Scripture the doclrine of the Trinity ; the eleventh is defigned to point out the general conduct which is re- quired of us, in oppofition to an unwarrant- able dependence upon the divine mercy ; and the laft teaches us how to commence our Chriftian practice moft properly and moft ad- vantageoufly with the worfhip of God. In thefe Sermons the author trufts he has dated concifely and determinately the infor- mation, vi ADVERTISEMENT. mation, which is bed calculated to excite a belief in the doctrines of Chriftianity, as it is profefTed in our truly Apoftolical Church ; and to eftablifh the practice of it upon the moft durable foundation : at leaft he can affert with confidence, that he has endea- voured faithfully to reprefent in them what he himfelf feels to be the ground-work and fupport of his own Religion. What muft follow from a rejection of Re- velation and a total dependence upon human philofophy, the Almighty has been pleafed to permit us to learn vvith certainty from the dreadful ftate, to which we have feen a neighbouring and powerful nation in a fhort time reduced. What are. the. confequences even of a partial adoption of fuch principles, the want, which we experience in our own coriduct, of religious motives and religious truft too often unhappily evinces. May God grant that thefe principles and thefe confequences may not increafe among us ! May a fober and regular attention to the doctrines ADVERTISEMENT. vii doftrines and duties of Chriftianity, which are univerfally calculated to produce in us habits of contentment and of exertion in our different flations, and an animating confidence in that all-perfect Being who has placed us in them, fecure for us the enjoyment of thefe invaluable attainments here, and that hap- pinefs which is to be their everlafting recom- pence hereafter ! SERMON I. i PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man, that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. IT is a diftinguifhing property of Chrifti- anity, that it not only admits of a rational inquiry into its truth, but alfo incites its pro- feflbrs to this inquiry in the moil forcible manner, making it a part of their religious duty. We are commanded in the text to be always ready to give an anfwer to every man, that afketh us a reafon of the Hope that is in us : or, in other words, we are commanded to fatisfy ourfelves univerfally of the truth of our Religion, fo as to be prepared on all occaiions to affign our reafons for believing in it. Our Religion may be confidered with regard to its fubftance, with regard to its hiilory, with B regard 2 SERMON I. regard to the arguments by which it is confirmed, and with regard to the objections by which it is oppofed. Thefe four great topics include the principal circumftances which affect our Chriftian Faith : under them we have ample means of fatisfying both our- ielves and others concerning the Hope that is in us. And many are the reafons, which ought to induce us, on occafions like the prefent, to prepare ourfelves by a general difcuffion of thefe great topics to comply with the com- mand of the text. In an age when the real fubftance of our Religion is mifreprefented by men of the moft oppoiite characters and intentions 3 when the manner, in which it has been received and conveyed down to us, is traduced by the moft infidious and unfupported infinuations - y when the arguments in its defence are ftudioufly dif- joined from each other, and frittered away by fucceflive detractions of many of their moft convincing parts ; and when the whole body of old objections againft it is recalled, and en- forced by new ones which are every day fug- gefted by an adventurous and fceptical philo- fophy ; in fuch an age it is confpicuoufly our duty to fortify our minds by a view of the in- formation, SERMON I. 3 formation, comprehended under the general to- pics of Chriftian Theology which I have above enumerated. Difcourfes alfo on fuch general topics may well be interfperfed among others on the par- ticular parts of our religious profeffion, which the founder of this Lecture has wifely marked out, as fubjects of our difcuffion. Thus inter- fperfed, they will conduce, on an extended fcale, to fimilar good purpofes with thofe reflections at large on any human fcience -, which, in the progrefs of difquifitions on particular branches of it, fuggeft to us from time to time fuch conceptions of the whole, as are found to be efTential to a full comprehenlion of the inftruc- tions which are communicated even on its moil detached and minute divifions. Such general information moreover cannot fail of being peculiarly ferviceable to the young- er part of my audience, for whofe benefit this Inftitution was more immediately calculated. Since without it early improvements in religious fcience will be fo defultory and imperfect, as to afford little reafon to expect, either that The- ological iludents will be furnifhed with that connected knowledge of the different parts of their Religion, which may qualify them in fu- ture life to teach others with advantage, or B 2 (what 4 SERMONI. (what ought never to be an object of lefs ferious concern) that young and unexperienced minds will themfelves be effectually guarded again ft that moft extenfive fpecies of infidelity, which is founded on * ignorance of the general na- ture and circumftances of our Religion, and is conftantly betraying itfelf by inlignificant and impertinent objections againft its truth, and by the fenfelefs blafphemy which fo often fhocks the ears of good men in private converfation. Truth indeed has on all occafions fo much force, that, when clearly propofed, it muft command attention and refpect : but the truths of Chriftianity are farther fo admirably calcu- lated to fatisfy the hopes of the beft men and to allay the penitential fears of the worft, that, wherever they are early and fyftematically un- derftood, prejudice inftead of exerting itfelf againft them muft co-operate with reafon in their favour, and fecure for them fuch in- fluence on an uncorrupted heart as the op- polition of ignorance will in vain attempt to deftroy. Since then a general difcuflion of the great * " From the feveral converfations, which it has been my " chance to have with unbelievers, I have learned that igno- *' ranee of the nature of our Religion, and a difinclination to " ihidy both it and its evidences, are to be reckoned among thr " chief caufcs of infidelity." Beattie's Evidences, vol. i. p. 6. topics, SERMON I. 5 topics, under which I have diftributed the confideration of our Religion, and which are fo comprehenfive as to enable us to comply with the command of the text, is well fuited to the prefent times, is extenfively ufeful at proper intervals amidft the particular fubjects prefcribed for this Lecture, and is likely to be of peculiar fervice to the younger part of my audience; I {hall confine myfelf to it in the following difcourfes, and, without any apology for calling your attention to truths of which you muft often before have heard the greater part, or any farther introduction, I mail propofe it as my defign to ftate compendi- ouily, what Chriftianity is, what the manner in which it has been received and conveyed down to us, what the arguments by which its truth is defended, and what the objections with which it is aflailed. Or, to propofe my deiign with its particular compreheniion and limitations, I mall endeavour, Firft, to ftate in historical order the fubftance of our Religion, as it extends from the mofl remote circumftance any where revealed in Scripture to the publication of the Gofpel after the afcen- fion of Chrift ; Secondly, to give a fketch of the hiftory of our religion from this publi- cation of the Gofpel to the prefent times $ B 3 con- 6 SERMON I. confining however this {ketch, towards the eonclufion, to the particular hiftory of our own Church ; Thirdly, to ftate in a fummary manner the arguments in general which are adducible in proof of the truth of Chrifti- nity ; And Fourthly, to point out the ge- neral fources of objection againft it, and to fhew that a forcible removal of thefe offences by divine interpofition would be inconfiftent with the doctrines themfelves of Revelation ; concluding the whole with a particular ac- count of thofe objections which are advanced againft Christianity from the pretenfions of philofophy. To begin then with ftating in historical order the fubftance of our Religion, as it ex- tends from the moft remote circumftance any where revealed in Scripture to the publication 6f the Gofpel after the afcenfion of Chrift. The declarations of Scripture, which form the fubftance of our Religion, afcend to the remoteft fubject from which it is poflible that any information mould commence. They in- form us that from c everlafting, from a dura- tion which numbers have no powers to ex- prefs and the mind of man no faculties to comprehend, is God : that he is a d Spirit, is e Pf. xe. 2. * John iv. 24. pof- SERMON I. 7 r pofTefled of life in himfelf, and is infinite in perfection, but incomprehenfible in his na- ture ; and farther, that through his own free goodnefs he originally created, and continually preferves, whatever elfe befides himfelf has ex- iftence both in heaven and in earth. The firfl intelligent beings, created by him, are fometimes in Scripture called Spirits from the refined conftitution of their nature ; at other times they are called angels from their miniftration in the divine economy. Various are the f pafTages of holy writ, which affure us that they were created upright ; while at the fame time the fall of fome among them moft unhappily demonstrates that they were created alib free agents and capable of fin. Why they fhould be permitted thus to fall, and why when fallen they mould afterwards be permitted to tempt other creatures to involve themfelves in a fimilar fate, are circumftances left among tfce fecret things of God. Nor lefs unrefolved by Revelation are the queftions, whether any " " Jehovah" and " I am," the appropriate names of God in Scripuye, are immediately derived from his inherent life. And by an oath, referring to this diflinguifhing property of the Godhead, the Almighty was often plealcd to confirm his pro- mifes : ' As I live faith the Lord." Num. xiv. 21. Rom. xiv. ii.' 1 John viii. 44. Jude vi. B 4 part 8 SERMON I. part of matter were created at fo early a period as the firfl intelligent creatures , and whether thofe creatures were clothed with material bo- dies ?" Revelation, while it draws arguments for our inftruction from the conduct, condition, and agency of fuperior beings, informs us in- deed concerning particular circumftances of angelic hiftory ; but, to the utter difappoint- ment of vain curiofity, it fays nothing profef- fedly with regard to this hiftory. Deflined for human ufe, it confines itfelf to human concerns. After a full, but indefi- nite, aflertion, that g " in the beginning God " created the heaven and the earth," it confines its profelTed information concerning the mate- rial creation to fuch circumftances, as particu- larly relate to man and the fyftem which he inhabits : inftructing us, that all the various objects, which we perceive and admire around XK, were originally produced and have lince been preferved by the all-perfect God ; and alfo, that, among the productions of the mate- rial world, this all-perfect Being having form- ed man's body from the duft of the earth, was pleafed in a diftinguiming manner to breathe into his noftrils the breath of life. Thus ani- * Gen. i. i. mated S E R M O N I. 9 mated with a fpirit of heavenly extraction, man was faid to be formed in the Image of God, was conftituted fovereign of this lower world and was inverted with the good things of it. At the fame time to prove his grateful obe- dience under thefe bleffings, and to fit him (as h hath been inferred) for greater in another and eternal ftate, conditions of trial were impofed upon him. Like the angels, man was created upright and a free agent. By the wifdom of God obedience to a pofitive precept was en- joined him j and by the fame wifdom the fallen angels were permitted to fuggeft temptations to the contrary. His own choice led him to difobedience, and to death, the predicted con- fequence. And this confequence, it might be feared, would contain under it not merely a privation of animal-life here, called temporal death ; but (what in the regular courfe of things muft be expected to follow from the guilt of free and corrupted agents) that privation alfo of the enjoyments of eternal life hereafter, which is called the fecond or eternal death. But the univerfal progenitor of mankind having thus fallen through the temptation of h See Bifhop Bull concerning the firft covenant and the flate of man before the fal!, in the third volume of his Sermons and Difcourfes, 8vo. p. 1079, I0 9 I &c - fuperior jo S E R M O N I. fuperior and malicious beings, and having en- tailed upon his pofterity a depraved and infirm nature ; man was not left doomed to thofe end- lefs evils, which might thenceforth have been dreaded as the unavoidable punifhment of his voluntary and unexpiated fin. His great Cre- ator gracioufly and immediately interpofed to provide a remedy for his fall. But fo much did it coft to redeem his foul, that the reme- dy muft aftonifh every rational creature. The 1 eternal fon of God (whofe coexiftence in na- ture with the Father forms part of the incom- prehenfibility of the Godhead) was in procefs of time to take upon him the nature of man. In that nature, united with his own in the fame Perfon, he was to give mankind all the k inftruclion neceffary for them ; and by the meritorious fufferings of that nature, thus inti- mately connected with the divine, he was to make ' atonement for their fins, and to provide them with the mod extenfive means of efcap- ing thofe dreadful confequences of their cor- 1 Ifaiah ix. 6. Zech. xiii. 7. Rom. viii. 32. Heb. ii. 16. k Deut. xviii. i 8. Even the Samaritans appear to have been fully convinced, that, when the Mefliah came, " he mould tell " them all things." John iv. 25. 1 See, concerning the atonement made for us, Adls xx. 28. Rev. i. 5. Rom. iii. 23 26, and the whole of the 53d Chapter of Ifaiah, and of the 9th and roth Chapters of the Epiftle to the Hebrews. ruption S E R M O N I. ii ruption which threatened to involve them in death eternal ; with means, m as extend ve as the influence of the firft man's fall : " As by one man's difobedience "many were made fin- ' ners, fo by the obedience of one many were to " be made righteous :" " Chrift was to tafte " death for every man :" ' He was to give " himfelf a ranfom for * all.'* It is not however declared in Scripture to be necefTary that all men mould be made ac- quainted with the circumftances of this Re- demption to qualify them for a participation of its bleffings. Millions have partaken of corruption through Adam in different ages and degrees, without knowing the fource of their corruption. And millions may partake of Redemption through Chrift in equally dif- ferent ages and degrees, notwithftanding their * ignorance of him in this life. God, we are ' exprefsly told, is " the Saviour of all men ;" m " God promifed our firft parents immediately upon the fall " that the feed of the woman mould bruife the ferpent's head : " and by virtue of this Promife all truly good men were faved " by Chriit from the beginning." Sherlock on Providence, p. 225, 226. B Rom. v. 19 " ci TeMoi" in both parts of this verfe ought to be rendered " the many" or" mankind in general." Heb. ii. 9. P i Tim. ii. 6. * See Butler's Analogy, note, p. 296, 8vo. edit. ' i Tim. iv. 10. though 12 S E R M O N I. though we are told at the fame time, that he is fo " efpecially of thofe that believe." Thefe merciful defigns indeed were not all revealed at once to any body of men : they are collected from different parts of Scripture and from the completion of the whole. The inti- mation of a redemption, which was given to the original tranfgreflbrs, was fufficient to encou- rage hope ; and more appears not to have been intended by it. But, from the declaration that * the feed of the woman mould bruife the fer- pent's head to the triumphant aicenfion of the Prince of life, the fame merciful deligns are purfued with an uniform direction to their great and final completion. Indeed we find on this occafion fo uniform and wonderful a whole, that infidelity might be tempted to fufpect fome preconcerted plan of human con- trivance ; were it not that many of the * in- fpired penmen appear not to have underflood their own predictions on the fubjedt, and much lefs to have had a connected knowledge of the different parts of the edifice which they were contributing to erect. * Gen. ill. 15. * Dan. xii. 8. i Pet. i. 10, 1 1, iz. 2 Pet. i. 20, 21. See on this fubjed Burgh's Scripture Confutation, zd edit. Svo. P- 33 34- But, SERMON L 13 But, whatever deliverance from future evil might be defigned for man, no fooner had he forfeited his innocence, than he was reduced by the wifdom of his Creator to a ftate of * laborious activity, well calculated for finful creatures. In this ftate he was left amidft toil and pain to ward off for a feafon tempo- ral death ; and by his virtu-e, here to be exer- cifed in various trials, hereafter to be accepted through his great Redeemer, he was left to fe- cure for himfelf an inheritance in life eternal. The various parts of the material world, the various operations of the human mind, were thenceforth to fuggeft to him (according to the determination of his own free will) means of purification or of farther debafement. General "hopes of Redemption and general y rules of conduct were given him, and without doubt general afliftance of the Holy Spirit (that third Peribn in the incomprehenfible Godhead, whofe operations were from the beginning to be among the principle means provided for man's re- covery) was z given alfo, to effect in honeft minds an acceptable obedience. But the de- pravity of man's heart foon became deftructive of his virtue. His defcendants increafed and 1 Gen. iii. 19. * Gen. iii. 15. y Gen. iv. 7. i G'.'ri. vi. 3. IT. li. 12, their I 4 S E R M O N I. their vices alfo increafed. Neither the laws of confcience nor the more exprefs commands of the Deity were effectual to reftrain their headftrong paffions. Every * imagination of their heart was evil : and violence overfpread the face of the whole earth. To no effect was Enoch, who had walked with God, tranf- lated to the regions of heavenly blifs with a defign to convince his brethren that the road to happinefs in a better world was flill open to religious obedience. To no effect was Noah raifed up to be a preacher of righteoufnefs, and a b time limited for the reformation or de- ftruction of mankind. So great and fo general was the vengeance which their profligacy called down upon them, that all the inhabi- tants of the earth, fave eight perfons, were fwept away by an univerfal deluge. But the promifes of God concerning the Re- demption of man were unalterable. Heaven and earth might pafs away, but his word could not pafs away. Immediately after this fatal event the Al- mighty c fmelleda fweet favour from that facri- fice, which had been infKtuted as a type of the great Redeemer, and determined that he * Gen. vi. 5. b Gen. vi. 3. e Gen. viii. 21. would S E R M O N I. 15 would not any more fmite every living thing : moreover he was gracioufly pleafed to provide mankind with A new laws for their direction. To thefe laws we may refer both the founda- tion of the different Religions profefled in the Heathen world, and the articles of Faith pre- fcribed to the Jewifh Profelytes of the Gate. But thefe laws were not the only means which appear to have been gracioufly ufed by the Almighty to hinder the future corruption of mankind. He immediately fhortened the lives of Noah's defcendants, with a merciful intention (as we may conclude) to render them more obedient and fooner to remove pernicious examples from the earth. And, on the pre- fumptuous erection of the tower of Babel, the fame great moral Governour interfered in a more confpicuous manner to reftrain the licentioufnefs of thofe upon whom he had promifed not to inflict a fecond general deftruction : he diftri- buted them into c feparate nations by a confu- fion of tongues ; thus guarding againft an uniformity of corruption among them, and providing in the ordinary courfe of his moral government means to punifh their wickednefs by the inftrumentality of each other. But, notwithftanding thefe divine injunc- * Gen. ix. e Gen. xi. 8. tions 16 SERMON I. tions and interpofitions, ibon did the depravity of the human heart again widely extend its influence : foon did the defcendants of Noah, from imperfect obfervations and groundlefs conjectures concerning the motions and na- tures of the f heavenly bodies, form for them- felves, firft perhaps (under the traditions which they might recollect, or under the in- fluence of what their own s unworthinefs might fuggeft, concerning the neceflity of a mediator) a race of tutelar gods or interceiTors with the moft High ; and afterwards, as their h corrup- tions increafed, l Gods of a fupreme and inde- pendent nature. That mankind therefore, f Of what fort the original corruption of divine worfhip was, we may infer from Afts vii. 42, 43. s Seeker's Lectures, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 145. h We mail eafily conceive to what degree religious tradi- tions may be corrupted from the following remarkable fadl ; Some Saxon Monks, who had formerly introduced the Gof- pel into Rugia, dedicated a Church there to their patron St. Virus. The inhabitants afterwards relapfed inco Pagan- ifm, forgot the true God, and, when they were converted again about the year 1 1 70, they were found to be given up to the worfliip of the idol Suantovit which they had derived from " Saint Vitus." Jortin's Remarks on Eccl. Hill. vol. v. p. 232. ift edit. 1 What Mr. Hume aflerts in his natural hiftory of Religion, to prove that Folytheifm was the primary Religion of mankind, has the iame kind of foundation with thofe political fyllems, which admit of no original communications from the Deity and derive all government from the free and uninfluenced choice of the People. forgetful S E R M O N I. 17 forgetful of the commands enjoined to Noah and his pofterity, might not be involved a fecond time in an univerfal alienation from the living God ; and alfo that they might not be Unprepared to receive the promifed Redemp- tion j it pleafed the Almighty to felect k one from the faithful then left, to impart to him a particular knowledge of his duty, and by con- fining the Redeemer to his l defcendants to in- tereft them more immediately in the preferva- tion and publication of thofe prophecies con- cerning this great Perfonage which were to be entrufted to human care : that the fervice of the living God might not be left without ad- vocates among men, fome true worfhippers were at different times, by traditions derived from them and miracles wrought among them, to convey m inft.ru6r.ion to the idolatrous Heathen and occafionally to difpel their grofs darknefs even before the day-fpring from on high mould vifit them j and that there might be fome guardians worthy to be entrufted with the facred n oracles, fome country fitted to receive the * fun of righteoufnefs, it was or- k Gen. xii. i, 2, 3. ' Gen. xxii. 18. * See Jenkin's Reafonablenefs of the Chriftian Religicn, vol. i. p. 73, &c. * Rom. iii. 2. Mai. iv. 2. C dained ^6 S E R M O N I. tkined that there mould be " a p chofen ge* neration, a royal priefthood, an holy nation/' Such were the important defigns of the * Jewifh difpenfation. The promifes made to the pofterity of Abraham through Ifaac and Jacob, the mi- racles wrought in their prefervation and in- creafe, and their deliverance from Egyptian bondage, are every where urged as arguments againft idolatry and types of univerfal Re- demption. After this deliverance, as if occa- fional interpofitions were inadequate to his gracious purpofes, the Deity vouchfafed by a continuation of miracles to take immediately upon himfelf their temporal government. Nor can the human mind conceive a fcene more awful, or more impreflive of religious obedience, than that which umered in the f i Pet. ii. 9. Exod. xix. 5, 6. i The term '* Jew," which is the appropriate denomination of the defcendants of Judah^ foon included under it the Benja- mites, who joined themfelves to the tribe of Judah on the re- volt of the other ten tribes from the Houfe of David. After the Babylonifli captivity, when many individuals of thefe ten tribes returned with the men of Judah and Benjamin to rebuild Jerufalem, the fame term was made to include them alfo. Prom hence not only all the Ifraelites of future times have been called Jews; but farther all the defcendants of Jacob are fo called by us at prefent from the very beginning of their hiftory ; and we fpeak even of their original dilpenfation, as the Jewifh difpenfation. laws S E R M O N I. 19 laws and ordinances of this new Kingdom. While the vifible interpolation of the divine Majefly conferred on it a folemnity and dig- nity, which no r language but that of Infpi- ration can defcribe ; the * public difplay of this wonderful condefcenfion was calculated to preclude all poflible fufpicion of impoflure and to convey the moft durable inftrudion to pofterity. At the fame time the precaution alfo, with which the divine commands were delivered, ferved to prove their great and lading importance. For, to prevent as much as poiiible that intermixture of human error which might arife from the contracted du- ration of men's lives, the Mofaical inftruc- tions were not, like former Revelations, left to the conveyance of tradition, but * written and engraven by the finger of God. And well are they worthy of our attention on account of their excellent morality ; but particularly ought we to obferve the manner, in which they are calculated to confecrate a peculiar people to the fervice of the true God by the prohibition of intercourfe and intermarriage r Some of the mod beautiful and fublime paflages of facred poetry confift of allufions to the wonderful fcene which was ex- hibited on mount Sinai. See Lowth da facra Poefi Heb. 3d edit. p. 113. * See Exod. xix. . 1 Exod. xxxi. 1 8. Ib. xxxii. 16. C 2 between 20 SERMON I. between them and their idolatrous neighbours (that fatal caufe of the corruption of the old world when the u fons of God went in to the daughters of men), and by numberlefs pre- cepts, which were defigned to create in them a fettled abhorrence of the w advocates for Heathen fuperftition and which to fome re- fined moralifts favour too little of univerfal charity. How effectually thefe injunctions operated, under the immediate appointment of the Almighty, to form the Jews into a fe- parate body from the reft of mankind, is ex- ceedingly remarkable. To this very day, like the well-cemented ruins of fome old fortrefs, * Gen. vi. 2. w That the Jewifti laws are fingularly favourable to ftran- gers, as fuch, is abundantly evident from Lev. xix. 34. xxiii. 22. xxiv. 22. xxv. 35. Num. xv. 15, 16. Deut. i. 16. - x. 17 19. xxiv. 14 17. xxvii. 19. Had Mr. Gibbon been acquainted with thefe and many other fuch parts of the Jewifh law, he would not have afferted in the molt unqualified manner, on account of fome punifhments faid to be inflided in the old Teftament the reafons of which he perhaps did not un- derftand, " that the moral attributes of Jehovah may not eafily " be reconciled with the ftandard of human virtue." Hiftory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. v. p. 202. But, whatever fuch men may prefume to aflert, we know, on the authority of one wifer and better acquainted with the fub- jeft, " that no nation had ftatutes and judgments fo righteous " as all the law which was fet before the Jews." Deut. iv. 8. And, whatever might have happened on particular occafions and for particular reafons, we are affured in general with regard to the princes of the houfe of Ifrael from the confeflion of their enemies that they were merciful kings. See i Kings xx. 31. they SERMON I. 21 they exhibit proofs of the moft durable con- texture ; and, however their original ufe be fuperfeded, adhere together with undiminimed force. Nor did it contribute in an ordinary degree to promote the great ends of the Mo- laical difpenfation, that the rewards and pu- nimments of it were immediately diftributed ; and that the Jews were left to difcover, by * other means, the doctrine of a future ftate. For how could this people be fo flrongly guarded againft the temptations to idolatry which were ever foliciting their fenfes from prefent objects, as by the contrary aflurance of prefent gratifications ? Or by what other fo effectual a method could they be made to look forward with in te retted confidence to that great Lawgiver, whom Mofes himfelf y commands them to obey in language the moft explicit and folemn ? Under fuch influence if the Law did not, by its fpiritual defign, as a * fchool-mafter bring them to Chrift ; their * With regard to the doftrine of a future ftate both the Jews and the Gentiles appear univerfally to have derived traditional information on this important fubjecl from fome original Reve- lation, communicated to mankind in the early ages of their hiftory : that however of the Jews continued very much more pure in confequence of the inftrudtion, conveyed to them by the defcriptions of God and the promifes of Redemption which are every were found in their Scriptures. y Deut. xviii, 15 19. z Gal. Hi. 24. C 3 zealous 22 S E R M O N I. zealous attention from temporal motives to every particular relative to him would make them inftruments of univerfal falvation. Ex- clufively indeed of fuch considerations, had the Mofaical covenant propofed to its par- takers future and eternal rewards without full information that thefe were not to be obtained through works of the law, unlefs fanctified by Faith in their promifed Redeemer j it would apparently have fuperfeded the neceffity of this Redeemer. And fince the Divine Mercy did not think fit to propofe explicitly the conditions of our eternal life before the great facrifice for fin had been actually offered ; we cannot enough admire the wifdom, by which the neceiTary temporality of the Mofaical fanc- tions was employed to prepare the way for a better covenant. At the fame time that the promifed defcent of the Redeemer might not lofe of its influ- ence by being common t too many, it is very remarkable how it is limited : firfl to * Ifaac, then to b Jacob, then to c Judah, and after- wards to d David and his pofterity. Nor was * Gen. xxi. 12. Heb. xi. 18. fc Gen. xxxv. 12. Mai. i. 2, 3. c Gen. xlix. 12. d A&s ji. 30. it S R M O N I. 23 it thus limited without fome concomitant and immediate token of divine favour. Each of thefe patriarchs was foon diftinguimed by his riches and power. Care having been thus taken to preferve in fome part of the world the knowledge of the true God, and to prepare a facred repofitory for the prophecies, which were not only to authenticate the Redeemer on his arrival, but alfo to prepare mankind for his reception ; we may every where find thefe reafons of the Jewiih difpenfation iniifted upon and enforced. It was not for their own virtue that the Jews were made particular objects of divine care 3 but becaufe Jehovah loved their forefathers, who amidil an idolatrous generation had re- mained uncorrupted ; and for the glory of his name, to be difplayed in the univerfal Re- demption of mankind. c This their great Lawgiver and their prophets fully declare, while they upbraid the Jews with unworthi- tiefs of divine favour. And though the hifto- ry of this people for many ages immediately after the promulgation of their law is one con- tinued relation of perverfe obftinacy and difo- e Compare Deut. ix. 7. wlthDeut. x. 15, 16. And fee the 4.8th and 4Qth chapters of Ifaiah. C 4 bedience; 24 SERMON I. bedience ; yet the merciful Providence of God abandoned not thefe rebellious children, but at different times raifed up holy prophets to reprove them and almoft to force them back to their duty. So much was the uni- verfal and eternal intereft of mankind concern- ed in the prefervation of that feed, through which all the nations of the earth were to be bleffed ! And while by alluring promifes every day fulfilled before their eyes, by grievous threats, and even by the fevereft temporal pu- nimments, they were reduced at f length to fome partial obedience ; the great work of man's falvation was accelerated. Thofe pro- phets, who denounced through the Holy Spirit the moft oppreffive bondage on this rebellious nation, foretold alfo with encreaiing clearnefs through the fame Spirit the future deliverance of mankind and the eternal blef- iings of Mefliah's Kingdom. Nor is the pre- cifion, with which they pointed out the great Saviour, unworthy of the moft particular attention. Almofl every circumftance rela- tive to him was marked out with minute de- tail. His miraculous * conception > his birth, { The Jews were never guilty of idolatry after the Babyloniih captivity. f If. vii. 14. with S E R M O N I. 25 with the particular h time and * place of it ; the k obfcurity of his outward appearance ; his 1 fafting during forty days; the m fpotlefs purity of his life ; the n greatnefs of his miracles ; his triumphant, though humble, entry into Jerufalem ; the p betraying of him for thirty pieces of filver ; his execution with common 9 malefactors ; his * patience under all man- ner of infult and torture previous to his death, while his ' back was given to the fmiters, his r hands and feet were pierced, and the parching thirft occafioned by his agony could procure no other afTuaging potion than u vine- gar mingled with gall; his making of his grave w with the rich ; his x refurrection on the third day; his y triumphant afcenfion ; and the z flocking together of the Gentiles to his enfign; all thefe and many more circum- ftances, relative to him, were prefigured and foretold with a precifion eminently characler- iftical of Omnifcience. Perverfe and invin- cible muft the fcepticifm be, which remains h Dan. ix. 25. 1 Mic. v. 2. k If. liii. 2. 1 Prefigured by Motes and Elijah. m If. liii. 9, 1 1 . n If. xxxv. 5,6. Zech. ix. 9. f Zech. xi. 12. * If. liii. 12. r If. Hit. 7. 5 If. 1. 6. 1 Pf. xxii. 16. u If. Ixix. 21. w If. liii. 9. * Jonah ii. 10 y Pf. xxiv. * If. Ix. 3, &c. unin- 26 SERMON I. uninfluenced by it in any lituation. No wonder therefore that it mould have left without the porTibility of excufe that obftinacy which refufed affent to this prophetic evidence, when it was afterwards drawn together and prefented by the Apoftles to the Jewifh nation, with a difplay of miracles correfpondent to thofe of the great Redeemer himfelf, and with a force peculiar to the accomplifhment of writings which had, long been regarded by this nation as their diftinguifhing glory. But, like the * infidel lord who would not believe the Prophet Elifha's gracious prediction, they were to fee the great promifes of God fulfilled before their eyes and not to tafte of them. Indeed, to verify incontrovertibly the reafons here affigned for the Jewifli difpenfation, and to preclude all fuppofition of predilection in the Almighty for the pofterity of Jacob his * Beloved for their own fake exclufively 5 ten of the twelve tribes of Ifrael, rendered no longer ufeful in the grand fcheme of man's falvation by their obftinate idolatry and the limitation of the Meffiah to the tribe of Judah, were many hundred years before his coming difperfed and removed from the peculiar protection of the * 2 Kings vii. 2. fc Mai. i. 2, Almighty ; SERMON I. 27 Almighty -, a punimment, which was in a confpicuous degree to await their brethren alfo, and which was only deferred till the great purpofes of their feparate and na- tional eftablifhment had been fully accom- pliflied. In the mean time the other nations of the earth were exercifing, under various circum- ftances and in various degrees, that reafon, which, however perverfely applied, was given them to promote their own c happinefs and the glory of their Creator. After their difperfion at Babel they formed themfelves into focieties, eftablilhed * empires, cultivated fcience. But they e corrupted the Religion, given to Noah and his defcendants, by Polytheifm (as hath been declared) and by idolatry : they cor- rupted the promifes and commands of God, c " Parvulos nobis dedit igniculos, quos celeriter malis mo- ribus opinionibufque depravatis fie reftinguimus, ut nufquam naturae lumen appareat. Sunt enim ingeniis noftris femina innata virtutum, quas fi adolefcere liceret, ipfa nos ad beatam vitam natura perduceret." Cic. Tufc. Quaef. L. 3. C. i. d Shuckford's Connexions, vol. ii. p. 67. zd edit. ' When Cicero defcribes the Caufes of the corruption of mankind, he mentions the poets firft and with greater propri- ety than he was himfelf aware of; iince thefe contributed, by debafing divine traditions, to the general corruption very much more than could ever be known to the Roman philofopher. Queft. L. 3. C. z. involved 28 S E R M O N I. involved themfelves in the punifhment of a f reprobate mind, and became ignorant of the true nature both of God and themfelves. Their temporal fuccefs however puffed up their vain imaginations, often tempted the true worfhippers to defert the living Jehovah, often called down denunciations and inflictions of divine vengeance upon the Gentile no lefs than upon the Jewifh idolater. Human reafon indeed did not fucceed even thus far every where. In countries diflantly remo- ved from the feat of Revelation, by degrees the moft debafing fuperftition ufurped the place of Religion, the powers of the mind were left uncultivated, and the foolifli heart of rrian appears to have been darkened both with regard to things temporal and eternal. But though God was pleafed fo far to wink at thefe times of ignorance, as not immedi- ately to interfere either to extirpate or to re- form the offenders j and though he caufed his fun alike to mine upon the juft and the unjuft j yet no part of mankind was left unregarded by their great moral Governour : they were all univerfally going on with that ftate of proba- tion, to which they had been reduced by 9 Rom. i. 38. their S E R M O N I. 29 their original parents, or rather to which they had been reflored by the mercy of God ; and according to their conduct in this probation they were, under the Atonement of their great Redeemer, to receive their portion in another life. The Gentiles, having a power (as Re- velation g fufficiently declares) to do by nature the things contained in the Law, might render thernfelves fit objects of divine favour by Jiving agreeably to its injunctions : and they who finned without Law were to perifh with- out Law, not lefs h afTuredly, than they who finned in the Law were to be judged by the Law ; i thofe, who had no other written Law given them, having a Law written in their hearts, their confciences bearing them witnefs. The Gentiles however, inftead of flriving through the divine mercy to extricate them- felves from the curfe of fin, had not only proved unworthy of the food and gladnefs with which their hearts were filled, and con- fequently much more unworthy of the eternal bleffings to which they might have afpired j s See Rom. i. 19, 20. Ibid. ii. 14. Befides, we mult here recoiled, what has above been declared, that Come affiftance of the holy Spirit appears from the beginning to have been ex- tended univerfally to the infirmities of human nature. See Gen. vj. 3. &c. k Rom. ii. 12. l Rom. ii. 14, 15. but 3& S E & M O N L but the Jews alfo (as we have feen) could with difficulty be reftrained within bounds of religi- ous duty. Even when this choien people had ceafed after the Babylonifti captivity to profane their Religion by idolatry, they made it, as far as in them lay, of none * effect by their traditions. But the perverfenefs of the Gen- tiles and Jews had evinced the univerfal and inveterate depravity of human nature ; and 1 thus had itfelf been preparing the way for the great Redeemer. Conducively to the fame important end, the Gentiles had befides de- monftrated the infufficiency of man's mod cultivated reafon to retrace, after long oblite- ration, the great duties of a religious life : and the maxims, occafionally inculcated or often- tatioufly difplayed by their philofophers, had illuftrated the admirable fitnefs of fuch a mo- rality as Chriftianity was to enjoin. The Jews alfo had preferved and made m known the prophecies which were to authenticate the Redeemer ; and, by abhorrence of Idolatry after their return from Babylon, had been brought to recommend the worfhip of the in- vifible God. k Mark vii. 13. l Rom. iii. 9, 25. *" Thefe prophecies were known not only to all the Jews, but alfo tb the Heathens, as it appears from Virgil and other Hea- then writers. Prepa- SERMON I. 31 Preparation had by thefe and other means been made for the Redemption and perfedt in- ftrudtion of mankind. Preparation had been made : and the fulnefs of time came. After the Jewifh Scriptures had been clofed for an awful period of nearly four hundred years, the birth of the great Saviour was announced by a multitude of the heavenly hoft. And well might the important mefTage be declared to contain tidings of great joy to all people. From the firft fall of mankind fin had reigned in their mortal bodies ; and the wages of it had been continued mifery. Of this the Heathen philofophers were fo far fenfible, that they recommended perfect n virtue, as the only folid foundation of happinefs. But they could * no where find this virtue, and were at a lofs where to find their happy man. By requifi- tions, better fuited to human infirmity, Reve- lation, from the firft introduction of human mifery, had been preparing a renovation of happinefs for mankind : obfcurely and typi- cally often in the beginning ; but not fo, when Chriftianity was finally propofed as the com- n See the fifth book of Cicero's Tufcalan Queftions. " Nemo fine vitiis nafcuur" is a truth univerfally admitted by the wifefl Heathens. pletion 32 S E R M O N I. pletion of all former revelations. The Chrif- tian covenant began not with the moft diftant requifition of Stoical apathy or unattainable perfection . The voice of him, that cried in the wildernefs, required no fuch qualifications in mankind. It p addreffed itfelf to them, as finful creatures, and exhorted them to repent. With the fame exhortation the Redeemer alfo himfelf q entered upon the publication of his Religion ; and the fame was the introductory doctrine of his r difciples and deftined fuccef- fors. The firfr, ftep towards the restoration of mankind to divine favour was repeatedly point- ed out in an humble confeffion of their own unworthinefs. Nor were the fubfequent means of counteracting the bad effects of their depravity left either to be difcovered or to be regulated by themfelves. By s instructions, delivered in his own and his Father's ' name from his mouth who fpake as never man fpake, and by his all-perfect example and ' atonement * Mat. in. 2. 1 Mat. iv. 17. Marki. 15. T Markvi. 12. * See more concerning this inftrudtion in the fifth Sermon, where it is urged, under the internal evidences of cur Religion, as an argument in its favour. * Mat. 5th, 6th and 7th Chapters, John v. 43. Ib. vii. 16, 1 7. u 2 Cor. v. 21. See alfo the parts of Scripture above refer- red to concerning this Atonement. who S E R M O N I. 33 who was tempted in all points like as we are yet without lin, fuch provifion was made for our afliftance and acceptance in the perform- ance of our duty towards God, our neigh- bour, and ourfelves, as at once is calculated to reftore our nature to its proper perfection, and to w proportion to our abilities the obedi- ence required from us. During the miniftry upon earth of this wonderful Perfonage, he was engaged either in thus inftructing his fol- lowers with regard to their duty, and in pro- viding the merciful means of their prefent and future happinefs ; or in evincing, by difplays of the moft aftonifhing miracles and by comple- tions of prophecies, the reality of his preten- iions and divine miffion. During his miniftry upon earth, whatfoever had been written in the Law, or in the Prophets, concerning the office and character, concerning the birth, life, death, refurredtion, and afcenfion of the great Re* deemer received in Jefus of Nazareth its per- fect accomplimment. From the moment that the glorified Jefus, having arifen from the dead, was inverted with his office of Interceflbr for mankind and was openly announced as their future judge, their promifed Redemption * Matt. xxv. 14 23. D was 34 SERMON I. was completed. A new covenant between God and man commenced : a covenant, into which all * natiorjs were to be admitted by Baptifm ; and in which they were to be fup- ported and perfected by folemn y commemo- rations of the great facrifke which had been offered for their fins : a covenant, which, though comprehenfive in its efficacy of the firfr. man and z all his defcendants, difclofed itfelf with various degrees of light -, and fhone not forth iri all its fplendour before the afcen- fion of its great mediator. From that time God was pleafed explicitly to a inform mankind concerning their ftate of trial in this life, and concerning the conditions of their future judgment: that, though they muft here remain fubject to temptation from the world, the flefh, and the Devil, and at length to death itfelf j they were provided with abundant means of efcaping that mifery hereafter, which is to be the certain and dread- ful confequence of wilful perfeverance in Irre- ligion and which is called death eternal : that, * Matt, xx'.iii. 19. 1 Luke xxii. 19. z See concerning the univerfality of Chriflianity the paflages of Scripture above cited, and alfo what is faid on the fubjeci in the fixth Sermon. a This information may be collected from the univerfal tenor of the Apoftolical writings. through S E R M O N I. 35 through the infinite atonement made for them by his blefled Son, he would affift their infir- mities by the preventing and continued influ- ence of his Holy Spirit, would pardon their fins, and reward them with peace here and eternal glory hereafter ; provided, on their part, that they would embrace thefe his gra- cious offers with that determined Faith in the doctrines revealed by him, which proceeds, under the evidences of their truth, from hum- ble reliance on his infinite perfections ; and with that obedience to his precepts, which demonftrates a fincere and univerfal defire to obey them. The Apoftles and others were appointed to announce this covenant : while the perfons to whom it was announced, be- ing in poffeffion of the free will, which their original parents, and their more immediate anceftors the Gentiles and Jews, fo obfti- nately perverted, had full power to accept or reject it. It was foretold that preachers mould continue in future ages to propofe the fame terms, and that mankind mould continue to be inverted with the fame powers of accept- ance or rejection. But in Chriftianity every offer of divine mercy was to be completed. No farther covenant was ever to be propofed ; nor this withdrawn. If even an angel from heaven were to teach any other doctrine, he D 2 was 36 S R M O N I. was to be b accurfed ; while at the fame timd all the c feoffs of the latter days and the d gates ( of hell itfelf were never to prevail to the era- dication of this holy Religion. Such is the fubftance of our Religion as it extends from the moft remote circumflance any where revealed in Scripture to the publica- tion of the Gofpel after the afcenfion of Chrift. Such therefore was our Religion at the time of its original completion : and fuch alfo it continues to be to this day j the grand fcheme of man's restoration to divine favour having been fully perfected by the accept- ance of the atonement made for him by his great Redeemer, and admitting in it- felf of no variation from fubfequent cir- cumftances of time or place. * As to the difplay of miraculous powers with which our religion was afterwards pub- limed, and the infallible manner, in which it was fo recorded for the permanent ufe of mankind, as to enable them with cer- tainty to coiled: for themfelves in every age thofe conditions of their future and eternal happinefs which have been above ftated j thefe are circumftances of which the relation \vill fall under the next head. fc Gal. i. 8. f - 2 Pet. iii. 3. * Matt. xvi. 18. SERMON II. i PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man, that ajketb you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. HAVING fhted in hiftorical order the fubftance of our Religion, as it extends from the moft remote circumftance any where revealed in Scripture to the publication of the Gofpel after the afcenfion of Chrift, I am now to give a fketch of the hiftory of our Re- ligion from this publication of the Gofpel to the prefent times ; and thus to point out the anfwer, which we may give concerning the hope that is in us, as far as relates to the man- ner in which our Religion has been received and conveyed through fuccefiive ages down to our own. D 3 This 38 SERMON II. This head is fo extenfive, that, compendi- oufly difcufied, it will furnifh matter for three Difcourfes : the firft will carry us from the publication of our religion after the afcen- lion of Chrift to the eftablifhment of it by Conftantine ; the fecond from its eilablimment by Conftantine to the commencement of the Reformation ; and the third from the com- mencement of the Reformation to the prefent times, or (as I have limited this part of my fub- ject) to the prefent ftate of our own Church. To begin then with the firft of thefe periods. The Apoftles, who were commiflioned by our, blefled Saviour to publim his Religion, were men deftitute of worldly advantages ; but they were men, who had been e with him from the beginning, and, together with their great perfecutor and future aflbciate, were diftin^ guimed by an ingenuoufnefs of mind, which in all ages has been required as a necefTary preparation for the reception of divine Truth. St. Peter's repentance, St. Thomas's con- feffion, and St. Paul's converfion, are eminent difplays of this difpofition. At firft the Apoftles, like their great Maf- ter, confined their inftruction to that nation John. xv. 27. which S E R M O N II. 39 which had hitherto been the more immediate object of divine Revelation. They foon how- ever learned, that the God, whom they preach- ed, was not the God of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles alfo. The miraculous effufion of the Holy Spirit by degrees opened and en- larged their understanding on this important fubject ; and his various gifts raifed their fee- ble powers to the ability ef executing the tafk of preaching the Gofpel to the whole world, to which they had been commhTioned by their great Matter. It was impoffible that our Saviour mould himfelf in his human capacity be every where prefent before his Sufferings to preach his Gofpel : and, as the Jewifh nation had been particularly calculated for his recep- tion and Judcea was to be the theatre of his mighty works, it was f necefTary that the Gofpel mould be firft preached unto the Jews. But from the commencement of this falvation the Gentiles were not unapprifed that they alfo were to partake of its bleffings. No fooner did the Saviour of mankind appear in the fle/h, than the wife men of the Eaft were conducted by the leading of a flar to the habitation of this king of Ifrael. And no f Ats xiii. 46. D 4 fooner 4 o SERMON II. fooner again was the falvation of mankind ef- fected, than the partition between the Jewifh and Gentile worfhippers was removed : the veil of the temple was immediately rent in twain frorn the top to the bottom. St. Paul alfo was foon after called to be the Apoflle of the Gentiles : Cornelius's prayer was heard : the Holy Ghoft fell upon him : and that Gof-* pel, which had hitherto been the peculiar glory of Ifrael, became a light to lighten the Gentiles. In the A#s of the Apoftles we have a con- cife account of the inceflant ardour, with which the preachers of Chriftianity went on, after the communication of the Gofpel to the Gen- tiles, to make known to the whole world the glad tidings of their miniftry. Their zeal carried them by different routes into diffont countries : fupernatural powers every where raifed for them the attention of mankind : and the fanctity of their lives and doctrines improved this attention to the advantage of their new Religion. How far they actually extended their progrefs has been the fubject of curious and often of fceptical inquiry. It is perhaps impoffible, it certainly is unnecefTary, to determine this queftion in the prefent age, The natural blefiings of any country are ef- faced SERMON II. 41 faced by indolence or difafter ; and both the ad- vantage and remembrance of religious improve- ments are done away by the neglect or the perveriion of religious obligations. But, not- withftanding every infinuation to the contrary, we may reft affured from good authority that the firfl preachers of Chriftianity not only * vi- iited all the diftinguimed countries of the old world ; but alfo that their zeal carried them h beyond the regions, into which either ambition or avarice had in thofe days furnimed means of extending the geographical difcoveriesof Roman fcience. The prediction was fully accompli med, which declared that before the deftruction of Je- rufalem 1 " the Gofpel fhould be preached in all "the world for a witnefs toall nations;" and St. Paul had the joyful opportunity of aflur- ing the Coloffians that " k the Gofpel was 5 See Stillingfleet's Orig. Britan. p. 37, 38, h Tertullian fays " Britannoram inaccefla Romanis loca, Chrifto vero fubdita" adverfus Judasos, 0.7. Eufebius alfo fays concerning our Saviour's original difciples, " K-'fijivfleui ot (atvrovf) ti$ fsatTO,^ TO Ton Iijcra GUGUM, KCU fa.$ iretp- x.a,i xctTot -croXiv &z0xsH t xa T8j .'JTr,v re TJJ jS Af>ij.ei/not , iTtgovs i TO J t r,^ xa sir aura rris oi TO. ax^a, t9ri TS Tr,> lydaiy ^Sow ya^at, x tTtfovy v-jreg Tot arpt\&t STTJ raj xaXsjiAEva; Bpirlanxa? vr>ffw$" Eufeb. Demonf. Evangel. 1. iii. p. 112. edit. Par. 1628. 1 Matt. xxiv. 14. k Col. i. 6 T *' come 42 SERMON II. " come unto them, as it was alfo in all the l world." The Apoflles in their fir ft preaching of Chriflianity contented themfelves with deli- vering by oral communication the great and fimple truths of their Religion. The extent of their perfonal induftry was the extent alfo of their inftruction. This induftry however was indefatigable : and its fuccefs was foon followed by other means both of diffeminating and fup- porting the truth. Within a m fhort time after the defcent of the Holy Spirit it pleafed the 1 See Origenagainft CelfuSj I. i. c. 7. andl. ii. c. 13. Park Correlpondently with this propagation of our Religion Arno- hius fays, " Quod fi. falfa, ut dicitis, hiftoria ilia rerum eft, unde ** tarn brevi tempore mundus ifla religione completus ?" Adv. Gentes, 1. i. p. 33. Lugd. Bat. 1651. m " Poflea cnim quarn furrexit Dominus nofter a mortuis et * induti funt fuperveniemis Spiritus Sanfti virtutem ex alto, de * omnibus adimpleti funt et habuerunt perfeflam agnitionem, ' et exierunt in fines terrae ea quas a Deo nobis bona funt evan- gelizantes, et coeleftem pacem hominibua annunciantes, qui 1 quidem omnes pariter et linguli eorum habentes Evangelium ' Dei. Ita Matthasus fcripturam edidit Evangelii," &c. Irensus adv. H*er. 1. iii. c. i. edit. Maffuet. I might mention different opinions concerning the time when, the Gofpels were written : but, for the fake of precision, I fhall mention that of Townfon only, who is among the lateft approved writers on the fubjeft. He fuppofes, with Cofmas of Alexan- dria, that St. Matthew wrote his Gofpel about the time of the perfecution upon St. Stephen's death ; Difcourfes on the Gof- pels p. 25. And again he fays p. 113. " we may reft fecure * c that St. Matthew's Gofpel was written by the year 37." divine SERMON II. 43 divine Providence that St. Matthew mould publish an account of the life, doctrines, death, refurrection, and afceniion of his great Mafter. o Thus was a foundation laid for (imilar and fupplemental writings, which enfued in their reflective feafons. Ahout twenty years after the publication of St. Matthew's Gofpel, n St. Mark, the difciple of St. Peter, abridged (as it appears) in many inflances the Gofpel of St. Matthew, and by the addition of fome par- ticular circumftances adapted it more fully to general ufe. A farther interval of a few years fucceeded, before St. Luke, the beloved com- panion of St. Paul, undertook to write on the fame fubject and finished his Gofpel to the particular advantage of the Gentile world ; p putting into it the doctrines preached by St. Paul. In the mean time the more diftinguifhed among the Apoftles were labouring incefTantly in the great work of converting mankind : and being ordained, like the Evangelifts, to teach men of every country and every age, they were n Townfon fays that St. Mark's Gofpel was written about the end of the year 56, or of the year 60. Difcourfes, p. 168. 8 With regard to St. Luke's Gofpel, Townfon fays only that it was written after St. Matthew's and St. Mark's, and that St. Luke had feen thofe Gofpels, p. 200. * See Iren?eus adverf. Haer. 1. iii. c. 14. See alfo Bp. Horf- ley's Trafts, 8vo. 1789. p. 326. per- 44 S E R M O N II. perpetuating in common with them the various instructions by which they were to build up the Church of God. In the Acts of the Apoflles, written by St. Luke, and in the va- rious Epiltles ftill extant, and written by St. Paul, St. James, St. Peter, St. Jude, and St. John, we may admire the q contempt of danger with which thefe Holy men attefled the truth of what they had heard and fecn ; we may ad- mire the zeal with which they went on to im- prove their difciples -, we may admire alfo the Mercy of God, who has furnifhed pofterity through their means wijth the moft perfect in- ilructions in righteoufnefs. But there is one circumftance, which regards the writings of the New Teftament and which particularly calls for our grateful admiration. It was appointed by the Providence of God that thefe writings mould be fubmitted to general examination, and be left to make their different impreffions on good and bad men, before the deflined finifher of them was removed from the i " As far as ecclefiaflical hiftory can afcertain us of it, all the Apoflles but John (and that to make good the prediction of Chrift) fuffered violent deaths by the hands of thefe that perfe- cted them merely for their do&rines." Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac, p. 275. 410, edit. 1680* world. S E R M O N II. 45 world. At an interval of not fo little as r fifty years after the publication of St. Matthew's Gofpel St. John is faid to have fanctioned by his ' approbation the three firft Gofpels, to have fupplied their * deficiencies in his own, and to have refuted in it fome u heretical opinions which had arifen concerning the perfon and dignity of his Saviour. In the fame manner the Epiftles had been generally received and had produced their effect, before he addrefTed to the feven Churches of Afia thofe exhortations and moft remarkable pre- dictions which clofe the facred volume. Long was the beloved difciple preferved in this life, that by his concurrence at a diftant T Townfon fays, p. 109, that St. John's Gofpel was publifhed after the taking of Jerufalem : And again, p. 211, that the fe- veral circumftances as to the writing of it are ftrongly in favour of its late publication. Eufebius fays of St. John, " TEX<>? & n nm ypa0n > rw- pet (pxff-i, a,}.r,Seii/ etvroif " pntrtttTu.." Hift. Eccl. 1. iii. c. 25. Reading's Ed. See alfo Cave's Hift. Liter, vol. i. p. 16. 1 Jortin fays, " St. John had feen the three iirft Gofpels, for he wrote his own as a fupplement to them." Remarks on Eccl. Hift. vol. i. p. 46. ift edit. n That St John's Gcfpel was written againft the Nicolaitans and Cerinthus is aflerted by Iraeneus, 1. iii. c. 1 1. p. 188. Jortin fays, " the Ebionites denied the Divinity, and the '* Docetae the Humanity of Chrift ; and St. John feems to hav* " had them both in view." Remarks on Eccl. Kift. vol. u. p. 266. period 46 S R E M O N II. period he might give the ftrongefl confirma- tion to the veracity of the other Evangelifts and Apoftles, and that he might fupply whatever could be wanted either to edify or to confole the Chriftian believer till the confum- mation of all things : thus before he was ad- mitted to the joy of his Lord, was he to faci- litate the progrefs of others to the fame hap- pinefs. Various and decifive are the arguments, by which thefe Scriptures of the New Teftament, as w Eufebius has afcertained their number and as we have them at prefent, come recom- mended to our * acceptance. A correfpondence between our text and the citations and verfions of the earlieft ages eftablifhes beyond a poffi- bility of doubt the general authenticity of our modern copies. That the writings themfelves were alfo given by Infpiration ought not to be w Hift. Eccl. 1. iii. c. 25. x Mofheim fays that the books of the New Teftament were the greateft part of them received in the Church before the middle of the fecond Century vol. i. p. 108. Englifh Tranflation, 8vo. 1782. The Canonical books are fuppofed not to have been finally and authoritatively fixed before the Council of Laodicea, towards the end of the fourth century. But Lardner fays that the Canon may juftly be faid to have been fettled before that time. Works, Svo. 1788. vol. vi. p. 29. doubted SERMON II. 47 doubted by any one, who admits the truth of the doctrines contained in them. For if the Holy Spirit was to direct the Apoftles in their addreffes to the y adverfaries of our Religion j we cannot fufpect that his affi fiance would be withholden, when they were ad- dreffing themfelves to the perfons, for whole fake thole adverfaries were to be refuted, and that too in words, which (whether it were known immediately or not) were to be record- ed for the inftru&ion of all ages. In the fame manner if the Holy Spirit interfered to con- troul and direct the Apoftles with regard to the z places where they were to preach, and the Gofpel which they preached was not taught them but by the * Revelation of Jefus Chrift ; we may reft allured that they were not left to their own unaflifted reafon in deli- vering thofe among their doctrines, which were to be of the moft extenlive and lafting importance. And belides, if it was foretold that the Holy Spirit mould b teach the Apof- tles all things, and bring all things to their remembrance, whatfoever Chrift had faid unto them, and exprefsly that he mould c guide y Luke xxi. 15. * Afts xiii. 2. Ibid. xvi. 6, 7. a Gal. i. 12. b John xiv. 26. e John xvi. 13. them 48 S E R M O N IL them to all truth -, doubtlefs, we have abun- dant reafon to prefume that their writings muft have been delivered under d his infallible direction. With regard to the firft part of the facred writings, which is contained in the Jewifh Scriptures, our blefTed Saviour e declares concerning the Law that it was eafier for Heaven and Earth to pafs away than that one tittle of it fhould fail : we are informed alfo on the f authority of the New Teftament that prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft j and befides, that David 8 fpake by the Holy Ghoft. And fince this is the cafe with regard to the different h parts of the Jewifh Scriptures ; what fhall we fay concerning the Scriptures of the new and eternal covenant ? What (hall we fay con- d It is perhaps worthy of obfervation, that on the very day, which has always been celebrated by the Jews in remembrance of the wonderful delivery of the Law on mount Sinai, the Holy Ghoft defcended to direft and illuminate the minds of the Apoftles. e Luke xvi. 17. f 2 Pet. i. 21. s Mark xii. 36. h A particular account of the books of the Old Teftament is given by Eufebius from Jofephus, and from Origen. See in Eufebius's Eccl. Hill, the account from Jofephus, 1. iii. c. 10 ; and from Origen, 1. vi. c. 25. Thefe books of the Old Tefta- ment were divided into the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagio- grapha : the laft of thefe three divifions includes the Pfalms, Proverbs, &c. cerning S E R M O N II. 49 cerning thofe difcourfes of our blefTed Saviour recorded in the Gofpels, of which he himfelf fpeaks more forcibly than of the Law, de- claring, .' " that Heaven and Earth fhall pafs " away, but his word fhall not pafs away ?" What fhall we fay concerning thofe pafTages of the Epiftles which are exprefsly faid to have been fpoken by the Lord ? Arid what concerning numberlefs other pafTages both in the Gofpels and Epiftles, which are undif- tinguifhed from the reft, and foretel things to come, or relate things paft, with a precifion, for which it is impofTible to account, except by afcribing it to that Divine Spirit who was to teach the Apoftles and bring to their re- membrance remote occurrences ? But we muft not confine ourfelves to particular paf- fages of the New Teftament. St. Paul k af- ferts, that " all Scripture was given by Infpi- ration." St. Peter 1 clafTes St. Paul's writ- ings among the Scriptures. And among the fame Scriptures alfo have the writings of the other Apoftles, and of their conftant attend- ants, St. Mark and St. Luke, been uniformly, from the beginning, claffed by the Church of Chrift. How fhall we then not fay of all 1 Mark xiii. 31. * 2 Tim. Hi. 16. 1 2 Pet. iii. 16. thefe 5 o S E R M O N II. thefe writings, what St. Paul, on a particu- lar occasion, fays of his own, " that they are *' the m commandments of the Lord ?" And what" exceptions dare we make to the uni- verfal Infpiration of the fubjed-matter, at leaft, of compofitions, delivered down to us under fuch circumftances ? On this immoveable foundation of truth, and divine Infpiration, Chriftianity creeled it- felf and went on to increafe. Communities of Chriftians were formed ; regulations were inftituted for their permanent p edification and government -, and q Bifhops immediately ap- m i Cor. xiv. 37. n That the writers themfelves made no fuch exceptions, fee Horbery's 8th Sermon, 1774. From Jgnatius's Epiftle to the Philadelphians (c. 7.) it even appears, that the extraordinary Infpiration of the Holy Spirit in the firft ages of Chriftianity was not confined to the writers of the New Teftament exclufively. He fays, when exhorting them to adhere to their Bifhops, their body of Prefbyters, and their Deacons, " Ol wrscrams (forfitan vmKTtvtrarrfs) /AE ErgoEtJoTa Ton ^iiit7fxox rnu fayeu rat/ret* (Aocprv ; ^E ^.01 tv on 0.7*0 ffagx.os atvgu'jriirA tin lyvuv. To oe tnntvpot. txrifviro't raJe x. T. X. In the fame manner he fays to the Ephefians (Epift. c. 20.) that he would inftruft them in fome points, That forms of prayer were not only ufed by the primitive Chriftians, but alfo fuch as correfpond in many inftances with our own, and efpecially in the part which relates to the facra- ment of the Lord's Supper, fee Cave's Prim. Chrift. vol. i. c. 1 1 : and that rules of Faith were admitted by them, fee Ter- tullian agair.ft Praxeas, chapter the zd. ^ Clemens Romanus, the Fellow-labourer of St. Paul, fays " Kai 01 7roro7^oj itfAUt tyiutrizi/ eta T Kfpia i/ S E R M O N II. 51 pointed, and provifion made for a fuccefiion of others, to fuperintend and enforce thefe regu- lations. In the hiftory of the Apoftles we read of Churches in Ada and other parts : and j TtAua> xctrtrTiera.* ruf irgoHgvfAtvXf (fcilicet iwurxo- a?) xai fjLtrot%v nritopw cu snpoi oiaix.tu.ctcu.ttoi c Epiit. i". ad Cor. c. 44. An account of the nature of the epifcopal office in the firlt century may be feen in Moiheim's Eccl. Hift. vol. i. p. 105, &c. Engl. Edit. 1782. Various paflages might be cited from Ignatius's genuine Epiftles to prove the great ftrefs which this Difciple of St. John lays on the Epifcopal authority. Indeed, Moiheim fays of thefe Epiftles, " nulla forte Us plerifque Ignatianarum Epiftolarum " mota fuiffet, nifi qui pro divino origine et antiquitate guber- *' nationis epifcopalis pugnant, caufam fuam ex his fulcire po- " tuiflent." De rebus Chriftianorum ante Conftant. p. 160. Hooker goes fo far as to challenge the feftaries of his time *' to find out but one Church upon the face of the whole earth, " that hath been ordered by their difcipline, or that hath not " been ordered by ours, that is to fay by epifcopal regiment " fithence the time of the blefied Apoftles were here conver- " fant." Pref. to Eccl. Pol. p. 10. Edit. 1666. See alfo on this fubjeft Stillingfleet's Orig. Britan. p. 74 83. Cave's Hiftor. Liter, vol. i.p. 42. Heylyn's Reformation juftified, p. 202 and 25 i. Collier's Eccl. Hift. vol. ii. p. 617. andBingham's Antiquities of the Chriftian Church, b. ii. c. i. Fol. Edit. 1726. What Lord Chancellor King fays on epif- copal Government in his " Enquiry into the constitution, " &c. of the Primitive Church" is well anfwered by a Prefbyter of the Church of England in a book, entitled " an original " Draught of the Primitive Church," and publifhed in the year 1717. Ananfwertoit may alfo be found in Bifhop Smalridge's Sermons, Fol. p. 107 112. E 2 among 52 S E R M O N II. among their Epiftles we find fome, which make exprefs mention of * Bifhops, Deacons, and Elders, and which were purpofely written to inftruct and confirm the new Bifhops. That thefe Bifhops alfo were diftinguifhed from the Elders or Prefbyters, * before or very foon * after the death of St. John, the moffc zealous friends of the Prefbyterian form of Church government allow. And were we even to concede that this diftindtion was not always made antecedently to the expiration of * i Tim. chapters 3d and 5th. 1 Chillingworth informs us in his " Apoflolical InfUtution of Epifcopacy demonflrated" (which is comprifed in four pages) that Petrus Molina;us in a book, purpofely written in defence of the Prefbyterian government, acknowledged " that prefently after the Apoftles' times, or even in their time (as eccleiiaftical hiftory witnefleth) it was ordained that in every city one of the Prelbytery mould be called a Bifhop, who mould have Preeminence over his colleagues to avoid confufion which oft times arifeth out of equality. And truly this form of go- *' vernment all Churches every where received." Chillingworth adds that another great defender of the Prefbytery Theodoras Beza confefleth in effeft the fame thing. He alfo fubjoins in a Note the conceffions of two other writers from Geneva : refer- ring his readers at length for fuller proofs to Dr. Hammond's Diflertations againll Blondel, which he fays " were never an- " fwered and never will." See Chillingworth's Safe-Way, &c. P. 321. 4th Edit. London 1674. tt Walo Meffalinus de Epifcopis et Prefbyteris (8vo. p. 253. Lugd. Bat. 1641) fays that the diftinftion arofe about the be- ginning or middle of the fecond Century. And Blondel in his Apol. pro fententia Hieronymi (Preface, p. n. Amftelodami 1646) makes it commence about the year 135. the SERMON II. 53 the Apoftolical age; no reafon can be afligned for an univerfal prevalence of it immediately after that period, which is not derived from decifions and injunctions, w delivered down by the Apoftles themfelves, concerning their fuc- ceffors in the paftoral care and government of the Church. The early Bimops fell little fhort of the Apoftles in zeal and integrity. Thefe holy men, having extended to the utmoft of their abilities the knowledge of the truth, taught their converts by their own Example to live according to the doctrines of their profeffion, and by the fame perfuafive motive made them rejoice and triumph, when they were called upon to crown a well-fpent life by a death of pious fortitude. w During the life-time of the Apoftles, prefbyters, as Dr. Bent- ley infifts, were called ITTJC-XOTTOJ, oroverieers, juft as fuperinten- dents in the Heathen world were at that time fo denominated on different occafions. Bat the Apoftles having appointed their fucceftbrs in the fcveral cities and communities and being them- felves removed from this world, the holy men thus appointed, though evidently the fucceffors of the Apoftles and not of the firft Bimops, were too modeft to aflame the title of Apoftles and contented themfelves with that of Bimops : and " from that time ' it was agreed over Chriitendom at once in the very next js ES- TO ystos av- , stle ftot,gguii, tm EXA^jvow, UTS aTrhvs uTtvuvv ovo^cam ^oer. j aoixuv xahovfttvuv, y tv crxwctH; xl^volpo- , xanzroujri) TUV o\uv ywoncu" p. 345. Edit. Par. 1615. An enumeration of the nations by which Chriftia- nity waTw." Eccl. Hill. 1. viii. c. i. the S E R M O N II. 59 the flock. d Perverfe brethren diftracted the minds of the weak : and cruel adverfaries from without aflaulted not only the Faith, but alfo the lives, of thofe who called on the name of Chrift. While however the common enemy was ready to deftroy every profefTor of Chrif- tianity; it was not probable that there mould be many pretended converts to this Religion : and among its lincere members lefs was to be feared from dirTenfion of opinion. Though therefore the fpiritual paftor was not exempt from much anxious labour in fecuring his flock from internal herefy ; it muft at this early period have been his principal care to guard it againft the foreign enemy. Accordingly, at- tempts were made at different times to obviate the flander, and to difarm the malice, of the Heathen world by tranflations of the Scrip- tures, and by reprefentations, in numerous e apologies, of the true principles of Chrifti- See Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 22. See alfo in the fame Hift. 1. v. c. 20. an account of Irenreus* zeal in refuting herefies. e Quadratus and ArifUdes wrote apologies for the Chriflian Religion and addrefled them to Adrian. Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 3. Various other apologies were written at different times on the fame fubjeft. Thofe of Athenagoras and Melito compared with the apologies of Tertullian and Juilin Martyr have greatly the advantage. Jorlin fa,vs the latter are the performances of very 60 SERMON II. anity. Thefe exertions did indeed at par- ticular times produce the delired effect : but the cefTation of perfecution, which they pro- duced, was ufually of very fhort continuance. It was f inferred before the commencement of the fifth century from figurative and fanciful explanations of Scripture that ten general per- fecutions were to befall the Church. Hence perfecutions have been magnified or extenu- ated, as might beft ferve to mark out with diftinction the number which was to be com- pleted. And hence alfo modern Sceptics have very clowns compared with the former Note on his Rem. on Eccl. Hift. vol. ii. p. 85. f Sulpicius Severus, who died about the beginning of the fifth century, fays " Etenim facris vocibus decem plagis mun- dum afficiendum pronunciatum eft." Sac. Hift. f. ii. c. 48. p. 370. 8vo. Ed. 1665. Auguftine and Orofius, according to the opinions of their times, refer for Scriptural prefigurations on the fubjeft to the ten plagues of Egypt, and the ten oppoiitions which Mofes en- countered from the Egyptians. Auguftine enumerates the dates of ten perfecutions of the Chriftians before the time of Con- ftantine and fays : " plagas enim ^Egyptiorum, quoniam decem *' fuerunt antequam inde exire inciperet populus Dei, putant " ad hunc intelleftum efie referendas, ut noviflima Antichrifti " perfecutio fimilis videatur undecimae plagae qua ^Egyptii, dum " hoftiliter fequerentur Hebrasos in mari rubro, perierunt." De Civitat. Dei, l.xviii. c. 52. Orofius recounts the ten perfe- cutions after Auguftine and fays explicitly, " Decem ibi con- " tradifliones adverfus Moyfen, hie decem edifta adverfus " Chriftum," 1. vii. c. 27. p. 533. Ed. Havercampi. BeHdes the part of Scripture, thus referred to by Auguftine and Orofius, others refer, but without better foundation, to Rev. xvii. 12 14. See on this fubjeft Mofheim, vol. i. p> 72. been SERMON II. 61 been led to queflion the reality of every fuch extraordinary perfecution. But the confe- quences, which have enfued from injudicious inferences drawn by the profeflbrs of our Reli- gion in its degenerate days, cannot juftify us in rejecting the true hiftory of its heft and mofl * dilinterefled members ; or in giving up the h argument, which arifes in its favour from the extenfive fufFerings of its early profefTors. That there were general and grievous perfe- cutions of the early Chriftians the l heft-in- formed writers declare. Thefe perfecutions alfo continued in a greater or lefs degree from their firft k commencement to the civil efta- blimment of Christianity. Intolerance, once raifed among Heathen nations to the extrava- gance of inflidling the moffc cruel death on the s S. Severus fays, p. 368. " Certatim in gloriofa certamina ruebatur, multoque avidius turn martyria gloriofis mortibus quzrebantur, quam nunc Epifcopatus pravis ambitionibus appetuntur." h " The wonderful behaviour of the ancient Chriftians may juftly be accounted a proof of the truth of our Religion ; and we fhould deferve to be blamed and defpifed, if we parted with it and gave it up tamely on account of a few objections. " Jortin's Remarks on Eccl. Hift. vol. ii. p. 149. 1 Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny, and others, whofe names may be feen in the Prolegomena to Cave's Hift. Liter, p. 38. See alfo on this fubject at hrge Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. 1. viii. c. I 14. and Cave's Primitive Chriftianity, vol. i. p. 195. 3d Ed. k The perfecutions of Chriftians commenced under Nero S. Severus, p. 350. peace- 62 SERMON II. peaceable profeflbrs of a Religion, the mofl pure, and the moft fr.ric"l in requiring its fol- lowers to abftain from the rites of idolatrous wor/hippers and to endeavour by every means to convert them to the fervice of the living God, could not be expected to fubfide for any confiderable time, while the civil power con- tinued in oppofition to the truth and the fame difference of religious opinion was zealoufly maintained. It might indeed at times be re- ftrained by the interpofition of humanity or the juftice of public authority. But fuper- ftition, being always ready to crufh its enemies by force in proportion as it is unable to defend itfelf by reafon, would eagerly embrace every opportunity of returning to perfecution. Ac- cordingly, we find that it was not fufficient for the Roman Emperours on particular occa- fions to repeal the laws enacted againft Chrif- tians ; they were compelled 1 farther to decree fevere penalties againft their accufers. So for- ward was the zeal of Polytheifm to bring to punimment the deferters or the defpifers of its public inftitutions ! But it was only for fhort intervals that the accufation of an innocent 1 This was done by Adrian and Antoninus Pius. Eufeb. Hill. Eccl. l.iv. c. 9. 13. See alfo S. Severus, p. 365. Chrif- SERMON II. 63 Chriflian was deemed criminal. During the reign of fome of the moil celebrated Empe- rours it was regarded as highly meritorious. And though, from the extraordinary blaze of particular perfecutions, fome countenance may be given to a numerical partition of them ; yet it may fafely be afierted that Chriflianity was in a m general flate of perfecution from the days of Nero to thofe of Conflantine, and that this cruelty was rather remitted at particular times, than the toleration of our Religion dif- turbed by any number of temporary perfecu- tions. Nor (hall we have any doubt that it may be fafely thus aflerted, when we confider the influence of large bodies of men and that the Roman" Senate, as a body, was never fa- vourable to Chriflianity. The fufpenfion of thefe perfecutiens, upon reprefentations of the real principles of Chriflianity, proves that their violence was often owing to the malicious and io-norant flanders of its enemies ; and, towards the conclufion, of none perhaps more than of Celfus. But, however much we may deplore the m See Stillingfleet's Orig. Britan. p. 56. n " Marcus Aurelius and other Emperours not void of good *' qualities opprefled the Chriftians to gain the efteem of the " Senate ; who, as a body, were never favourable to Chriftia- " nity" Jortin's Rem. vol. ii. p. 172. dif- 64 SERMON II. diftrefTes in which the early ChrifHans were in- volved from the prevailing ignorance of their Religion ; there were other evils derived from the fame fource, which ought not in the pre- fent times to be palled over lefs noticed or lefs lamented. It has been infultingly afked by modern unbelievers, whence it happened that fo many of the wifefl and moft virtuous Heathens of thofe early ages remained uncon- verted to Chriftianity ? Thefe Heathens paid no ferious attention to the evidences of our Reli- gion. The Chriftian feet (as we are p informed by an inhabitant of Rome) was every where fpoken againft; and from thence its preten- fions were not fairly examined. " The reli- " gious tenets of the Galileans or Chriflians," Mr. Gibbon q declares, " were never made a *' fubject of punishment nor even of inquiry." And farther he himfelf r allows the Chriflians to be " the friends of mankind -j" though Tacitus * informs us that the Romans con- fidered them in a diametrically oppofite light : fe that the Romans condemned them not fo " much for the crime of fetting fire to the " city, as for their hatred of mankind." Ta- * See Gibbon's Hift. vol. i. p. 516. P Afts.xxviii. 32. ^ Hiftory, vol. i. p. 537. " r Ibid. p. 537. ' Annal. 1. xv. c. 44. citus S E R M O N II. 65 citus therefore at once fupplies us with a proof of the ignorance of the Romans with regard to the Chriftians, and with a prefump- tive proof alfo of fuch a prejudice in this people again ft them from their fuppofed hatred of mankind, as muft effectually indifpofe all, who were influenced by it, for any proper inquiry into their Religion. In reality the Jews and Chriftians were either * confounded together at this period, or at fartheft thought fects of the fame Religion : and the charge of igno- rance and fuperftition, with which the Jews had ever been branded, was indifcriminately applied to both. It was therefore thought needlefs by Heathen pride to examine into the 1 This appears from what Suetonius fays of the expulfion of the Jews (or Chriftians) from Rome: " Judaeos, impulfore " Chrefto, affidue tumultuantes Romas expulit." In Vita Clau- dii, c. 25. The fame appears to have been the cafe alfo with regard to the Jews and Egyptians. Mr. Hume afferts (Note on his EfTays vol. ii. p. 461.) " that ancient writers of the greateft genius " (Tacitus and Suetonius) were not able to obferve any difference " between the Egyptian and the Jewifli Religion." If fo, how miferably ignorant muft they have been on the fubjeft ! And what opinion muft Tacitus have had of the Chriftians, whom he probably did not feparate from the Jews ; when he joins the latter with the Egyptians and fays " Aclum et de ' facris ^Egyptiis Judaicifque pellendis ; fadtumque patrum ' Confultum ut quatuor millia liberdni generis ea iuperftitione ' infecla, queis idonea aitas, in infulam Sardiniam veherentur ' coercendis illic latrociniis, et fi ob gravitatem cceli interiiflent, ' vile damnum : Caeteri cederent Italia nifi certain ante diem, * profanes ritus exuiffent ?" Ann. 1. ii. c. 85. F evi- 66 evidences of a Religion, which it was every where taken for granted was falfe. And the lame contemptuous u indifference with regard to the difputes of Jews and Chriftians about words, and names, and their law; which Gallic, v Seneca's brother, openly profefled when he was Deputy of Achaia, was the com- mon method of treating Chriftianity among the philofophers of thofe days. We have a remarkable proof of this in the younger Pliny's well-known Epiftle to Trajan. No mention occurs throughout the whole of any inquiry which had been made into the foundation of the Chriftian Religion. Nothing farther had at all been inquired into, than the behaviour of it's profeiTors. Of this Pliny was called upon to take cognizance, as a civil magiftrate. Even to have examined into the general pre- tenfions of their Religion might have appeared to admit the poflibility, at leaft, of its truth ; a conceflion, humiliating to the pride of a w philofopher, and dangerous to the interefts of a dependant on a Heathen court. Without any fuch examination therefore he profefles at once " x he had not the leafl doubt, what- u A6ts xviii. 15. y Tacit. Annal. 1. xv. c. 73. w See Bp. Warburton's Julian, p. 22. x " Nequedubitabam, qualecunqueeffetquod faterentur, per- vicaciam certe et inflexibiiem obftinationem debere puniri." ever S E R M O N II. 67 " ever were their confeffion, that their ftub- " bornnefs and inflexible obftinacy ought cer- " tainly to be punifhed." Indeed the very names, by which the Heathen writers diftin- guifli Chriftianity, afford abundant proof of their ignorance of it. Who, that knows any thing of the real nature of our Religion, can think when y Pliny calls it " Superftitio prava " et immodica," z Tacitus " exitiabilis Super- " ftitio," and Suetonius " a Superftitio nova T Ot,yOI,$U>> &(*)?, X. T. A." Jufthl's I ft Apol. p. 50. edit. Par. 1615. See alfo Laftantius de Jaftit. 1. v. c. 13. k Tertullian fays of the fufFerings of Chriilians, "Quis enim * ( non SERMON II. 71 enquire into the foundation of this unufual fortitude. And their enquiries, thus ultimately directed to the miraculous evidences of our Religion, often ended in a profeffion of the fame Faith and a difplay of the fame fortitude. Such was the converfion of Tertullian ; and fuch was the converfion and glorious i death alfo of Juftin Martyr. From fome indeed of thefe converts arofe evils of the moft ferious confequence to Chrif- tianity. The prejudices, incident to human nature, fuffered not all the new and philofo- phical believers in our Religion to facrifice the learning of their fchools to its folemn, but fimple, truths. Hence numerous feels of both 01 Gnoftic and Platonic Chriftians, or of Chrif- tians who mingled human knowledge of different kinds with divine Revelation in their religious tenets : hence Revelation was wrefted to fupport fanciful conjectures, n hereiies were " non contemplation e ejus concutitur ad requirendum quid in- " tus in re fit? Quis non, ubi requifivit, accedit ? Ubi ac- " ceffit, pad exoptet r" Apol. ad finem. 1 See an account of Juftin Martyr's death in Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 1 6. TO " Mr. Bingham fays that the term " Gnoftic" was originally applied in a good fenfe to Chriftians, as to thofe who were pof- fefled of the beft knowledge ; but that it was afterwards aped andabufedby others. Antiquities, b. i. c. i. feel. 3. * Jortin obferves that moft of the ancient heretics were a mixture of philofophy, Greek or Oriental, and Chriftianity F4 Re- 72 S E R M O N II. introduced, the peace of the infant Church difturbed, and a foundation laid for thofe num- berlefs diflenfions, which added (as was before remarked) to the anxiety of Chriftian Paftors during the time of perfecution, and prevented them in future ages from enjoying the happy effects of toleration and eftablimment. That however a very confiderable propor- tion of the converts to Chriftianity during the three firft centuries confifted of men of illi- terate education can be no difcredit to that Religion, of which it was a diftinguifhing mark that " the poor had the Gofpel preach- " ed unto them." The Apoftles and their fuc- ccflbrs, in general, were men of this fort. They were, in general, remarkable neither for their learning nor for their eloquence. They exprefs the mofl pious fentiments in the moil fimple language and the moft important truths without ornament. But the piety of their fentiments and the truth of their doc- trines were fufficient under Providence to make their Religion prevail : and, in fpite of Remarks, vol. ii. p. 266. And again, " the philofophers who " patted from Judaifm and Paganifm to Chriftianity corrupted " the fimplicity of the Gofpel, turned it into a contentious Re- " ligion, and filled it with unedifying fpeculations." Vol. ii. p. 273. all SERMON II. 73 all oppofition, it continued in fucceffive ages to prevail with the mafs of mankind by the conviction of honeft and humble attention, till thofe great men, who were not to be allured by its own excellence, found it expe- dient from worldly motives to come over to its fide; being influenced in this moft import- ant of all concerns by the conduct of an illi- terate multitude and not by the difcoveries of their own fuperior p wifdom. This is the great argument, which is inferred in favour of our Religion from its peculiar mode of propagation. The argument is not inferred from any num- ber of wife or powerful men, who embraced Chriflianity in this or that place at any given time ; but from the triumph which it ob- tained over the wifdom and power of the world by a procefs, contrary to what was ever obferved in the fuccefs of any other inftitution: the foolifh things of the world were chofen * to confound the wife and the weak to con- found the mighty. But in reality the truth of Chriflianity, and the fatisfaction refulting from a conviction See the Introduction to Bp. Warburton's Julian, p. 26. f See the fame, p. 25. * I Cor. i. 27. Of 74 S E R M O N II. of that truth, are very little concerned in the enquiries which at prefent form a confiderable part of eccleliaftical hiftory during the firft ages of our Religion : in enquiries concerning the miracles afcribed to the fuccefibrs of the Apoftles, concerning the extent of the early propagation of our Religion, the extent of the perfecution of its proferTors, and the reafons from the beginning why it was not generally received by men of learning and why uni- verfal mention was not made by them of its miraculous proofs. Thefe are fubjects, on which the enemies of our Faith have been able to avail themfelves of the errors, the omiffions, and other imperfections, of its friends as well as foes. With them there- fore thefe are favourite topics of declamation ; and from thence they necefTarily make a part of thofe fubfequent obfervations on the hiftory of our Religion which are intended to vindi- cate its truth. It is fufficient with regard to the original propagation of Chriftianity j at leaft indeed it is fufficient for our fatisfaction, as far as the foundation of our Faith is concerned in this important part of our hiftory j if we are in- formed that the publication of our Religion was entrufted, after the afcenfion of its great Author, S E R M O N II. 75 Author, to poor and illiterate men who had been his Difciples and witnefTes from the be- ginning: that thefe men were enabled by fu- pernatural means to confirm the truth of their doctrines and to preach the Gofpel to all nations : that their induftry was proportioned to the importance of their commiffion and to their means of fuccefs: that numbers were converted by their preaching: that, by the miracles performed before the expiration of the apoftolical age, by the writings of the New in addition to thofe of the Old Teftament, and by inftitutions appointed for the public profeffion of our Religion, provifion was made for its re- gular and permanent maintenance among its converts, and for the converfion of men of every age to its belief, without the aid and in oppofition to all the efforts of human power and human wifdom: and that all thofe, who were thus employed at firft to publifh and confirm the doctrines of Chriftianity, having before given up every profpect in this world for its fake, at length, when brought to the * trial, chearfully laid down their lives in at- f Every one of the Apoftles was aftually brought to the trial, except St. John. See the paffage above cited from Stillingflet's Orig. Sac. p. 275. teftation 76 S E R M O N II. teftation of its truth; leaving to lateft pofteritjr the moft unequivocal afTurance of the reality of the miraculous events, recorded by them in the New Teftament, which had been the objects of their fenfes and the original founda- tion of their faith. Few as thefe circum- fiances are, they comprehend in reality all the information concerning the firfl propagation of our Religion, which reafonable men can think neceflary for the confirmation of its truth. As to all other miracles befides thofe which are recorded in Holy Writ, they are not to be reckoned (as hath been fully declared) among the prefent proofs of our Religion i And though ftrong arguments may be drawn in its favour from the extent of its early propagation, and from the extent of the perfecution which it overcame ; even thefe are not to be conli- dered as abfolutely neceflary to our caufe. The various errors, whether with regard to fictitious miracles or ill-founded reprefentations of other forts, which were intermingled with the hi (lory of our Religion by its advocates, and the diverfified oppofition and contempt which it encountered from its enemies, prove only, what we every day experience, that Chriftianity may be defended with little judg- ment and that the moft gracious offers may be rejected and infulted. Such S E R M O N II. 77 Such however, as they are above fketched, are the occurrences (whether they are all ef- fential to the confirmation of our faith or not) which form the principal outlines of the Chriftian hiftory from its publication after the refurrection of Chrift to its eftablifhment by Conftantine. During a period of nearly 300 years, our Religion, having been openly * pro- fefTed under the inftitutions originally appoint- ed for its maintenance, was expofed to all thofe calamities, which arife from the ma- lice of powerful enemies and from imperfec- tions of various kinds in mifguided friends. But, under every * difadvantage, its intrinfic purity and external evidences, aided by the in- fluence of the Holy Spirit, made it go on and gain ftrength ; till Conftantine, encouraged and perhaps perfuaded by the u number of his 8 See Jof. Mede's difcourfe concerning Churches : Works, Book 2d, Edit. 1672 : and Cave's " Primitive Chriftianity." 1 " Ecclefiaftical hiftory will mew us the amazing progrefs ' of Chriftianity through the Roman empire, through the Eaft ' and through the Weft, during the three firft centuries : though ' the powers of this world ftrenuoufly oppofed it ; though po- ' verty and infamy, diftrefs and oppreffion, the lofs of friends, ' property, liberty, and life were often the lot of its profef- ' fors." Jortin's zd Charge, Sermons, vol. vii. p. 382. u Cave proves that in the reign of Diocletian there were above forty Bafilicaj or Churches in Rome only. Cave's Primitive Chriftianity, vol. i. p. 133. And Dr. Powell fays, in oppofition to many of our modern writers, that, " when Conftantine afcended the throne, the Chrif- " tian party was equal, perhaps fuperior, to their adverfaries " through the whole Empire," loth Sermon, p. 165. Chriftian 78 SERMON II. Chriftian fubjects, proclaimed himfelf a convert and guardian of Chriftianity. From his time, notwithftanding the apoftacy of one fucceed- ing Emperour and the profligacy of many more, we may affirm that Kings became its w nurling fathers and Queens its nurfing mothers. Hav- ing raifed itfelf to the favourable attention of Princes by the poffeffion, which it had before taken of their fubjects' hearts, it has thence- forth received protection from them ; and has itfelf in return protected both their perfons and authority. w If. xlix. 23. SERMON III. i PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man, that ajketb you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. THE prefent difcourfe is to carry our obfervations on the hiftory of our Reli- gion from the eftablifhment of it by Conftan- tine to the commencement of the Reform- ation. The eftablimment of our holy Religion by Conftantine without doubt filled the minds of its fincere profefTors with the pureft joy. Whoever confidered the excellence of the Re- ligion itfelf, and the protection which it was now to receive from the civil power, might well be led with pious fervour to imagine that the bleffings, with which it was ufhered in, were thenceforth to receive their accomplifh- ment: 8o SERMON III. ment : that thenceforth * glory would be given to God in the highejft, and that on earth there would be peace and good will towards men. And indeed to this period b is referred the glorious triumph of the Church, celebrated in the feventh Chapter of the Revelation of St. John. But the depravity of the human heart from the beginning oppofed itfelf to its remedy, and infected not only the unlearned part of Chriflians, but the teachers of Chrif- tianity themfelves ; thus making way for ge- neral and permanent corruptions. Among the Apoftles we have a Judas Ifcariot. In the ages immediately fubfequent, and among the rulers alfo of the Church, arofe men of per- Verfe minds -and totally unworthy of their fa- cred ftation. But the number of unworthy rulers, no lefs than the general number of in- fincere and unworthy profeflbrs of our Reli- gion, was reflrained in the early ages by per- fecution, and is fmall, when compared with the fwarms of both, which under the future and peaceable ftate of the Church were more zealous to partake of its c emoluments than a Luke ii. 14. b See Bp. Newton on the Prophecies, vol. iii. p. 7477. ' S. Severus, p. 368. Stillingfleet's Orig. Britan. p.i^S. to SERMON III. 81 to promote in any refpecl: its fpiritual intereils* As foon as Bifhops were d elefted by intrigues and embarked in the fupport of factions, the qualifications for their high, rank and a proper demeanour in it were no longer ufual and diftinguiming parts of their character. Differ- ent Princes contended for temporal power; and different Bifhops grafped as e contentiouily at each other's ecclefiaftical jurifdid:ion. One per- nicious confequence of thefe contefts is to be la- mented in the want of purity, which during the contention and in fucceeding times prevail- ed throughout the Chriftian world. The pro- d This cenfure ought not to be equally applied to all the Bifhops of this period. When Ammianus Marcellinus fpeaks of the manner of obtaining Bifhopricks, and of the luxury of Bifhops ; he fays there was a very great difference between the Bifhops of cities and thofe of provinces. " Neque ego abnuo ' oftentationem rerum confiderans urbanarum, hujus rei cupi- ' dos ob impetrandum quod appetunt omni contentione laterum ' jurgari debere : quura id adepti futuri funt ita fecuri ut di- ' tentur oblationibus matronarum, procedantque vehiculis infi- ' dentes, circumfpedle veftiti, epulas curantes profufas, adeo ut ' eorum convivia regales fuperant menfas. Qui efTe poterant * beati revera, fi, magnitudine urbis defpefta quam vitiis oppo- ' nunt, ad imitationem antiftitum quorundam provincialium. ' viverent; quos tenuitas edendi potandique parciffime, vilifas ' etiam indumentorum et fupercilia humum fpeitantia perpetuo ' numini verifque ejus cultoribus ut puros commendant ec ' verecundos." C. xxvii. p. 458. edit. 1558. e Eufebius mentions the contefts, which prevailed in the Churchi " ct^i/Tuif a.%xt>trS' even before the reign of Conftan- tine, Hift. Eccl. 1, viii. c. i. G feflion 82 SERMON III. feflion of Chriflianity was indeed extended. The converfion of many nations was begun long after the Chriftian eftablifliment by Con- ftantine. Among many nations alfo, which had before partially profefled the Chriftian Faith, much was done to render the profeffion of it univerfal. But, the fountains from which Chriftianity flowed being corrupt, we cannot wonder if the doctrines, which were propagat- ed under its authority, mould henceforth be impure. Befides a deficiency in enforcing moral duties, even religious dodtrines were perverted and made matter of party violence. f Heretics of the moft pernicious tendency were propagated with cruel perfecutions of the con- trary Faith ; while on the other hand * little differences of opinion were at length conftrued into damnable herefies. This fpirit of contention in the rulers of the Church found no fmall encouragement f Arianifm was enforced in this manner under Conftantius, Valens, &c. And, as Bp. Sherlock obferves, the great Arian controverfy yielded as feyere trials to Chriftians as they had ever before experienced. Sermons, vol. iii. p. 358. See on this fubjeft Sozomen, Hift. Eccl. 1. vi. c. 1 8. and So- crates, 1. iv. c, 1 6. * See the objections urged by Michael Cerularius againft the Latin Church, Molh. vol. ii. p. 556. and SERMON III. 83 and fupport in the learning of the times. It hath been h before remarked that many philo- fophers were found among the early converts to Chriftianity. More fucceeded them in fubfequent ages. In the doctrine of the Tri- nity, and in the doctrines of Revelation which relate to the fall of man and the operation of evil fpirits, thefe philofophers found a * refem- blance to the tenets of their refpective fchools* When therefore they embraced Chriftianity, they did not think it necefTary to relinquish the k language of their former tenets ; if indeed they relinquifhed ' all the tenets themfelves. From a ftudioufnefs to reconcile fuch language with their new Religion much curious and ty- h See the preceding fermon. 1 Philo, an Helleniftic Jew of Alexandria, who lived at the fame time with the Apoltles and who is faid by fome to have been an apoftate Chriftian, prepared the way, by his ingenious but fanciful combinations of the Jewifli Scriptures with the Pla- tonic philofophy, for fimilar corruptions of Chriftianity. Pho- tius fays, that he was the writer " i| a x r^t*cr> & o ZTpw^ariK >- tyv.tx.K- t Tts xa- Tertullian fays, " Ipfe denique haerefes a philofophia fubor- " nantur :" and again at the conclufion of the fame chapter, ' viderint qui Stoicum et Platonicum, et Dialefticum Chrii- " tianifmum protulerint." Adv. H^er. c. 7. In what manner the philofophers of the early ages ftudied Chriftianity may be inferred alfo from what Cave fays of them at the Nicene Council, " ad hunc conventum venifle quof- ' dam philofophos five dialefticos de rebus theologicis fubtili- " ter difputaturos." Hift. Liter, vol. i. p. 351. n Such as Clemens Alexandrinus. Cyprian himfelf was fo fond of my ftical interpretation, that Cave calls it "the argu- *' ment which that good man produces as his warrant to knock * down a controverly, when other arguments were too weak to " doit." Prim. Chrift. vol. i. p. 350. And even Ammonius, the mailer of Origen, is faid to have lived and died a Chriftian. Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 501. The Gnoftic fedl, which began in the days of the Apoftles> was extended in the fecond century by Bafilides. He (as Mo- meim fays, vol. i. p. 223.) has generally obtained the firft place among the Egyptian Gnoftics : and is called by Cave " Gnofticorum SERMON III. 85 fyftems, and for fuch explanations of its par- ticular doctrines, as before its civil eftablifhment had blended almoft every tenet of it with the reveries of philofophical fpeculatifts. After its civil eftablifhment thefe fubjefts of abufe went on to p increafe. Philofophical Divinity was " Gnofticorum antefignanus" (Hift. Lit. vol. i. p. 49.) He was followed by Valentine, Theodotus the tanner, and many others ; among whom Manes " was fo adventurous" (to ufe the words of Molheim) " as to attempt a coalition of the doc- " trine of the Magi with the Chriitian fyftem or the explication " of the one by the other." Vol. i. p. 296. Nor did Origen, who was the leader of the platonizing Chriilians, derive his fpeculations from a mafler, who had been lefs adventurous in the corruption of Chriflianity than Manes himfelf. See Molheim, vol. i. p. 169 174. Under Origen the platonizing Chriflians foon eclipfed their Gnoftic brethren. " A prodigious number of interpreters both in the third ' century and in the following times purfued the method of ' Origen ; nor could the few, who explained the Scriptures ' with judgment and a true fpirit of criticifm, oppofe the ' torrent of Allegory which was overflowing the Church" ' Origen illuflrated the greateil part of the do&rines of ' Chriflianity, or to fpeak more properly difguifed them ' under the lines of a vain philofophy." Mofheim, vol. i. p. 278, 279. P Molheim fays of the fourth century : " Origen was the ' great model, whom the moft eminent of the Chriflian doctors ' followed in their explications of the truths of the Gofpel, ' which were of confequence explained according to the rules ' of the Platonic philofophy, as it was corrected and modelled ' by that learned father." Vol. i. p. 369. Under this cenfure he includes Jerome, Hilary, Eufebius, Ephraim the Syrian, Chryfoftom, Athanafius, and Didymus. And fo prevalent in thefe ages was the cuftomof difguifmg or fecreting the doclrines of Chriflianity that Cave tells us, Chryfoftom, in fpeaking of the myfterious parts of our Religion.* ufe$ the words " ura 234. T. Smith alfo in his account of the Greek Church admits (p. 2.) a priority of Dignity in the See of Rome ; though he afferts (p. 80.) the perfect equality of the Patriarch of Cori- itantinople with the Pope. as SERMON III. 97 as appeals were made in civil matters from different parts of the Empire to the Imperial city -, fo they were alfo made in matters refpect- ing Chriftianity. Probably too thefe latter may be traced more frequently in the early ages ; becaufe, notwithstanding the corrupt flate of the Romim Church in fubfequent times, it is notorious that me was p lingularly free from the early herefies. The fuppofed fuc- ceiTors of St. Peter foon availed themfelves of the power, which thefe proofs of refpect ap- peared to acknowledge in them ; and pro- ceeded to ilTue directions and menaces to dif- tant parts of the Chriftian world. Thefe in- terpoiitions were by no means received with approbation or with filent acquiefcence. As early as in the fecond century they excited the refentment and cenfure both of Irenasus and P Sozomen, Hift. Eccl. 1. iii. c. 6, iid 13. and I. vi. c. 23. Reading's Edit. Stillingfleet's Orig. Britan. p. 226. Waterland's Lady Meyer's Sermons, p. 327. 1 E4pr,)>aio$ o AvyJHW Tr,; in FaXXka 7r7xo7r3j Tit Bx?9^oj i5i' emro- Ars yina-wq xari^a//..*, ^.t^a.u.ttoi; at/re T>J> $f/*oT>iTa, *. r ^. Socrates, Hift. Eccl. 1. v. c. 22. Reading's Edit. Polycrates expreffed a fimilar difapprobation of the condufl of the Bifhop of Rome, and on the lame occafion. Hoyiyn'i Re- form, juilined, p. 270. H Poly- 98 SERMON III. Polycrates. And in the third century r Cyprian oppofed with great refolution the incroach- ments of the Bifhops of Rome ; refuting as Bifhop of Carthage to defend himfelf in an- fwer to an appeal which had been received at Rome againft him ; and declaring that all Bifhops were equal in power. But remon- ftrances, and repeated decrees of early s coun- cils, were not fufficient to counteract a power which was fure of being fupported by the paffions and interefts of mankind. Even Atha- * Cyprian fays on the fubjedt, " Statutum fit omnibus nobis et scquum fit pariter ac juftum, ut unius cujufque caufa illic audiatur ubi eft crimen admiflum ; et fingulis paftoribus por- tio gregis fit adfcripta, quam regat unufquifque et gubernet, rationem fui aftus Domino redditurus : oportet utique eos quibus praslumus non circumcurfare nee epifcoporum concor- diam cohjerentem iua fubdola et fallaci temeritate collidere, fed agere illic caufam fuam, ubi et accufatores habere et telles fui criminis poffent." Epift. 55. Edit. Paris. 1726. p. 86. And again he fays, " habet in ecclefia^ adminiftratione vo- luntatis fuae arbitrium liberum unufquifque prspofitus, ratio- nem aftus fui Domino redditurus." Epift. 72. p. 129. ad fi- nem. Hence Jortin fays of St. Cyprian, " if his authority be any " thing, the Pope's authority is nothing : he hath cut it up from ' the root by eftablifhing the parity of Biihops." zd Charge, Sermons, vol. vii. p. 394. 1 Of the fecond general council and that at Milevis See Burnet's Hift. vol. i. p. 138 9. Collier's Eccl. Hill. vol. i. p. 27 and 128. Cave's Hift. Lit. vol. i. p. 560. and Bing- ham's Antiquitie?, b. ix. c. i. fed. 13. nafius, SERMON III. 99 nafius, when obliged to leave Alexandria, * re- tired to Rome and contributed to aggrandize the Bifhop of that See by appealing to him. Indeed it may be remarked of both the u Eaftern and the w African Clergy, that, whenever they were unable to fupport either themfelves or their doctrines, they were al- ways forward to appeal to the Roman Pontiff. Befides, after the civil eftablimment of Chrif- tianity the Bimops of Rome had not only the x Imperial fanction for their titular preemi- nence, and a full mare of the legal y power which the Church now derived from the ftate ; they had alfo the moil favourable op- 1 Sozomen fays in his Eccl. Hift. et a " ABcttxa-Kjt tfifapfotus Mii-ouro xi Typo? a&Ttfs Tr/ X.O.T a.vro> " oix.;." 1. iii. c. 7. See allb Socrates, Hilt. Eccl. 1. ii. c. u. u Socrates, Hift. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 12. w See a claim addreffed in the 5th century to the African Clergy by a Bifhop of Rome, in which he aflerts his Right thus to receive appeals and to decide on all occafions. Cave's Hift. Lit. vol. i. p. 394. x Mofheim, vol. i. p. 351. y One of the branches of this legal power, which contri- buted exceedingly in future ages to the temporal preeminence of the Clergy, was the right which Conftantine gave perfons, con- tending in law, to remove their caufes out of the civil courts and to appeal to the judgment of the Biftiops ; whofe fentence in this cafe was to have the fame authority as if it had been decreed by the Emperour himfelf. Sozomen. Hift. Eccl. 1. i. c. 9. See fome account of the fubfequent efFecli of this con- ceffion in Father Paul's Hift. of the Council of Treat, tranilatsd by Brent, p. 312, 313. H 2 . portunity ioo SERMON III. portunity of increafing this power by the re- moval of the refidence of the Emperours to the Eaftern parts of their Dominions. The Papal encroachments found likewife from time to time protection in the difordered ftate of the Weflern world arifing from the inundation of Barbarians ; and precedent in the example of unlimited power conferred by the Celtic Barbarians on their z Arch-Druid. They had moreover not only ecclefiaftical pretenfions for their fupport : thefe, through the favours which they conferred by abfolving the con- fciences of guilty Princes and by affifting them with anathemas againft their enemies, procured in the eighth century for the Bifhoprick of Rome large * donations of land, and raifed it to the fubftantial power of a temporal Sove- reignty. During the progrefs of thefe circum fiances, who can wonder that the Roman Pontiffs fhould afTerl their fuperiority to the civil power by withholding from the Emperour the ufual tribute at their b election, and afterwards by e difclaiming all dependance upon his au- z Jortln's Rem. vol. iv. p. 441. * From Pepin. h This was done by Agatho in the yth century. e This happened in the eighth century under the Popedom of Gregory the fecond and third. Mofn. vol. ii. p. 262 3. thority : SERMON III. 101 thority : or that thefe Pontiffs, having laid the foundation for a feparation between the Eaft- ern and Weftern Churches by d excommu- nicating the Bifhop of Conftantinople, mould both actually e pronounce this feparation when the Eaftern Chriftians refufed to join with them in the worfhip of images, and finally confummate the unhappy breach by new and unrecalled anathemas as foon as their ufurped dominion was endangered by the interference of the Greek Patriarch in f parts of the Latin communion ? In the mean time alfo the watchful policy of the Romifh Church failed not to grafp at all the different means, both internal and ex- ternal, which offered themfelves to fecure the power that fhe claimed and to impofe its decifions upon the ChrifHan world. As if the general influence over the Weftern Church, which the Bifhops of it had imperceptibly * Felix Bifhop of Rome excommunicated Acacius Bifhop of Conftantinople about the end of the fifth century. c See Mofh. vol. ii. p. 262 3. f In Illyricum, Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia, Theflaly, and Sicily : and about the year 862. Mofh. vol. ii. p. 352. Cave calls it the controverfia Bulgariana, and fays of it " Quantas turbas excitaverit controverfia hsec Bulgariana hifto- " rias hujus fsculi (fcil. noni) non prorfus ignaris fatis conftat. " Hinc rupta deinceps penitus concordia, natumque fchifma " nullo forte fsculo extinguendum." Hift. Liter, vol. ii. p. 2. H 3 given 102 SERMON III. given to the See of Rome, was not a fufficient fupport for the Papal Dominion ; no fooner had the fucceflbrs of thofe 5 pious Monks, who in times of perfecution had fled from the habi- tations of fociety or who in future times had withdrawn through erroneous notions of Chrif- tianity to a life of mortification, made them- felves conliderable by their numbers, their pofTeffions, and the acquifition of all the learn- ing of their times ; than the Church of Rome immediately h detached them from the jurif- di&ion of their refpe&ive Prelates, and formed them into independent communities which were every where to obey the orders and en- force the authority of the fupreme Pontiff. But this was a lefs injurious device for the eftablifhment of Papal power, than prefents itfelf to us in the fatal l reftraints impofed with regard to the ufe of the Scriptures in the common language -, and in the difpenfations and indulgences ; no lefs than the k excom- e See what is faid concerning the Monks of Egypt by Eufe- bius, Hift. Eccl. 1. ii. c. 17. See alfo Bingham's Antiquities, b. viii. c. I . fel. 4. h This happened in the feventh century, as Mofheim fays, vol. ii. p. 172. See concerning it Collier's Eccl. Hift. vol. i. p. 388. And, concerning the original fubjection of Monks to the Bifhops of their own diocefe, fee Bingham's Antiquities, b. ii. c. 4. feel. 2. and b. vii. c. 3. feel. 17. 1 See note x , page 89. k It was a prevailing opinion that he who was excommu- nicated SERMON III. 103 rnunications, penances, holy wars, and l per- fecutions, which proceeding in the end to the moft horrid extravagance diffufed lafting im- piety, immorality, and cruelty through all the different orders of fociety. But indeed what lefs was to be expected from the continued and almoft uninterrupted advances, which the Papal power had for many ages been making ; and from the profligacy of the Bimops by whom it was finally eftablimed ? The Prelates, who filled the Apoftolical chair about the ninth and tenth centuries, have furnifhed the enemies of Chriftianity, no lefs than the enemies of the abufes of it, with inexhauftible matter of in- vective. They feem to have been permitted by Providence to prove the extreme folly, as well as blafphemy, of thofe pretenfions to nicated forfeited all the rights not only of a citizen, but alfo of an human creature. Jortin's 3d charge, Sermons, vol. vii. p. 417. 1 Burnet fays, " The firft inftance of feverity on men's " bodies, which was not cenfured by the Church, was in the " fifth" (rather the fixth) " century under JufUn the firft, who " ordered the tongue of Severus (who had been Patriarch of " Antioch, but did daily anathematife the Council of Chalce- " don) to be cut out:" And that it was not before the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that fuch cruelties were raifed to their utmoft extravagance by being inflicted on num.. bers of fimple and innocent perfons. Hift. of the Ref. vol. i. p. 24. As late as in the fixteenth century the Pope wifhed to intro- duce the inquiiition into every country of Chriilendom, Burnet'* Hift. vol. ii. p. 347. H 4 infalli- io 4 SERMON III. infallibility which have been made for the Bimops of that See. " There was a m fucceffion " (fays Stillingfleet) of not lefs than fifty Bi- aTxr,X>j<7 oi, ^jja-aj ex ^>t/\oT^is yiy.vn^on TJJC p, ti tu ^(pog>." L>- iv. c. 37. Reading. Seealfo Sozomen, Hift. Eccl. 1. vi. c. 37. Sozomen afterwards clearly afierts that Ulphilas was the great caufe of the prevalence and continuance of Arianifm among the nations of the North, Hift. Eccl. 1. vii. c. 17. Where fptaking of the divifions of the Arians he calls one of them that of the Goths, adding 4l TOT$U> &> xaSo-n x SERMON IIL which they oppofed each other whether im- portant or not, were the fubjects more earneftly inculcated among themfelves and enforced on their converts and dependants, than the great and fundamental doctrines of Chriftianity. When therefore the northern nations of Europe were converted by thefe Churches, they may be faid not fo much to have been converted to Chriftianity in general, as to the peculiar and diftinguiming tenets of the Romim or Greek Communion : and this too, at the moft degenerate period of both thofe Communions. No wonder then that the fword was the inftrument, by which Chrif- tianity was propagated among many of thefe eJo|a^E* d Bulgaria, Hungary, Bohemia, Saxony, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, and Ruffia. Molheim charges Boniface the Apoftle of the Germans with an exceffive zeal for increafmg the Honours and pretenfions of the facerdotal order and a profound ignorance of many things", of which the knowledge was abfolutely neceiTary in an Apoftle ; and particularly of the true nature and genius of the Chriftian Religion, vol. ii. p. 207. See alfo in Cave's Hift. Lit. a Letter from Joannes Smera Polovecius, giving an account of the corruptions of the Latin and Greek Churches ; and addrefled to the King of the Ruf- fians, when he and his Kingdom were converted to the Greek Church. Vol. ii. p. 113, nations ; ii2 SERMON III. nations; and that this fhould finim in e Li- thuania the converfion of northern Europe in the fourteenth century. However, though the contefts between the Weftern and Eaftern Chriftians were productive of many evils; they produced alfo ibme conliderable good. They hindered all parties from corrupting the Scrip- tures through fear of detection. They kept alive fome literary enquiries ; and the fpirit, with which they were carried on, powerfully urged the different difputants to exert at times their utmoft abilities. Befides, the unfucceff- ful attempts, which were made to fupprefs thefe contentions and to effect an union of opinion among Chriftians that there might be an union of operation alfo among them againfl their common enemies, were productive of excellent confequences. The embaffies fent by the Greek Emperours into the Weft, and their journeys thither at three different times, tended effectually to recall the attention of the Latins to f Greek literature ; and, by difperf- * This may be conceded to Mr. Gibbon, without giving him the leaft advantage over real Chriitianity. See his Hiftory, vol. v. p. 577. ft The Greek language had been exiled from Italy upwards of 700 years, when Emanuel Chryfoloras (who had been fent by John Palasologus Emperour of Conftantinople to implore the afftiUmce of the weftern Chriftians) fet about the reftoration cf SERMON III. 113 ing among them the means of cultivating it, prepared the way for that Reformation which was to fucceed and remedy the evils of this unhappy period. The doctrines, which declare the internal ftate of the Church, and which were particu- larly defended or corrupted during the ages that fill up the long period from Conftantine to the Reformation, confift either of thofe fundamental doctrines of our Religion, which refpect the Trinity, the perfon and natures of our Saviour, and other important articles of the fame kind which are received and profefled by ourfelves at prefent ; or of thofe corruptions of Chriftianity which became in fubfequent times the fubjedt of our Reformation. The former (hew the effects of the degeneracy of the Chriftian world by the manner in which they were defended : the latter by their very nature and exiftence. The former had the advantage of being finally eftablifhed in the earlier and lefs darkened part of this period. And certainly we have reafon to blefs God that thev were then eftablifhed ; whatever the of it in that country. See Port Royal Greek Grammar, Pref. p. 9. and 12. I enemies U4 SERMON IIL enemies of our Faith may s infinuate to the contrary, and whatever caufe we may have to difapprove of the manner in which it was done. The great doctrines of our Religion were de- livered in the infpired writings with a preciiion, which was abundantly fufficient for the in- flruction of thofe, who were difpofed rather to obey the Word of God than to look out for difputable matter in it. When fubtlety and vilionary fpeculadon were afterwards in- troduced, the foundation was laid for he- refies, which embittered the minds of Chrif- tians towards each other during the times of perfecution, and which, being afterwards in- creafed, made them endeavour to reftrain fuch dhTenfions by public decifions of the Church, as foon as the civil magiftrate was ready to lend his afiiftance on the occafion and to con- vene ecclefiaftical affemblies. We know what were the confirmed decifions of fuch afTemblies before the end of the feventh century : we know alfo on what authority of Scripture thefe decifions ought to have been made. As to the concomitant circumstances with which they were actually made, if thefe favour much of * See Mr. Gibbon's Hift. vol. iv. chap. 47. the SERMON III. 115 the corruption of the times, it is no more than we might expect. If the decifions of different councils on the herefy of Arius, no lefs than on other fubjects relative to the doctrines, above mentioned, of the Trinity and of our blefTed Saviour's perfon and natures, were made in a tumultuous manner by men of ambitious views and of little perfect knowledge of Chriftianity, and were alfo enforced by the h fword ; it is no more than we might expect from the ge- neral tranfactions of thofe times, and is a proof, in addition to numberlefs others fupplied by hiftory, that the Almighty is often pleafed to bring good out of evil. All that is eflential to our purpofe, is to know that the doctrines in queftion, which are profeffed by us at pre- fent and which after thefe decifions were uni- verfally received before the end of the eighth century, are warranted by Scripture. While we have means to convince us of this, we have reafon to blefs that God, who did not fufFer his Church to fall into errors with regard h The Arian perfuafion prevailed longeft among the Goths in Italy and the Vandals in Africa, and is faid to have been fupprefled among them both by the fword of Belifarius. 1 See an attempt to prove this at large in the gth and loth Sermons. I 2 tO ii6 SERMON III. to the great doctrines of our Religion, which it might afterwards have been unfpeakably more difficult to do away, than thofe palpable corruptions which were the fubjed: of our Re- formation : and efpecially might this have been the cafe amidft the effervefcence of new opini- ons foon after the commencement of the Re- formation 5 when Socinus and his followers were found to furpafs every former feel: of he- retics in prefumptuous and degrading aflertions concerning the perfon of Chrift and the nature of our redemption. As to the corruptions which were the fub- jedt of our Reformation, many of thefe began fcon after the civil eftablimment of our Re- ligion : but they went on increafing afterwards in a rapid proportion ; uniting themfelves as they advanced to new and fimilar debafements of divine truth, and forming at length that mafs of impiety, which difgraced the Chriflian pro- femon and totally eradicated all devotional Re- ligion, till it was diftinguimed from true Chriftianity and feparated from it. Among thefe the worihip of faints and images and the whole confequent train of idolatry may be faid to have k commenced with that fubordinate k Cave fays, " nullum pro imaginibus citari teftem quarto " faeculo anteriorera." Hift. Lit, vol. i. p. 650. However SERMON III. 117 worfhip of martyrs, which l Eufeblus and other well-meaning rulers of the Church ap- proved and promoted in the days of Conftan- tine. The abfurd veneration of the Crofs be- gan with m Helena, mother of Conftantine : and that of relics with his fucceflbr Conftantius, who firft diftinguifhed himfelf by the removal of them. Even n Jerome and Ambrofe gave their unqualified fandlion to injudicious mor- tifications and to the long train of articles of will-worfhip, which enfued, by declaiming againft marriage and by recommending monaf- tic vows under the mofl * injurious circum- However in the fourth century fuch idolatrous worfhip appears to have introduced itfelf : fince Epiphanius in his epiftle to the Bifhop of Jerufalem fays that coming into a Church, inveni ibi velum pendens in foribus ejufdem ecclefiae tinftum atque depiftum, et habens imaginem quad Chrifti vel fanfti cujufdam. Non enim fatis memini cujus imago fuerit. Cum ergo hoc vidiffem in ecclefia Chrifti contra audoritatem fcripturarum hominis pendere imaginem, fcidi illud," &c. Jerome's Works, torn. ii. p. 161. Baiil 1565. 1 Jortin's Rem. vol. iii. p. 1 1 and 289. Cave's Hift. Lit. vol. i. p. 650. ra S. Severus, p. 370 374. RufiniHift. Eccl. 1. i. c. 7. Ed. Grynasi 1587. Socratis Hift. Eccl. 1 . i. c. 17. Reading. B Jortin's Rem. vol. ii. p. 289. It may be obferved in general, that, when external perfe- cutions ceafed, ChriiHans began to vie with each other in in- flidling'voluntary puniftunents on themfelves. P " Jerome drew a noble matron, the mother of many chil- " dren, away from Rome with him, and was the means of " fending her about to vifit the different Monks of the Eaft, and 13 " to Ii8 SERMON III. ftances. The fatal confequences, which pro- ceeded in the progrefs of more than a thoufand years from thefe and other fuch unhappy com- mencements, may all be faid to have been ul- timately derived from two principles, totally repugnant to the doctrines of Revelation ; the one that lies are admiffible in defence of truth; the other, that mental imperfection is to be remedied by bodily fuffering ; principles, which many of the- q Fathers of the Church contri- buted to bring into credit. r Hence all the fictitious miracles which gave fandtion to the worfhip of * Saints, their images and relics ; which gave this worfhip a general and firm footing before the end of the fixth century ; made it triumph over all the oppofition of the Eaftern Emperours in the eighth century; and made it triumph ultimately over the modera- ! .~ "' " to fquander the fortune of her family upon them." " Ambrofe was fo violent a declaimer in favour of virginity, " that he exhorts young girls in one of his treatifes to enter " into Nunneries even againft the advice of their parents." Jortin's Rem. vol. iii. p. 37. and 40. Jortin makes Erafmus fay in a fimilar manner of the Monks themfelves, " thefe men fay that you muft follow Jefus Chrift, " though you were to trample upon the bodies of your father " and mother." Life of Erafmus, vol. i. p. 7 1 . q Ambrofe, Hilary, Augufline, Gregory Nazianzen, and Jerome. See Jortin's Rem. vol. iv. p. 19, 20. 1 See Jortin's 3d Charge, Sermons, vol. vii. p. 410 415. And particularly of the Virgin Mary. tion SERMON III. 119 tion with which the principal ' Kingdoms of Weftern Europe for fome ages received it. Hence alfo the diverflfied difplay of monaftic inflitutions, the celibacy enforced on the Cler- gy, the doctrines of purgatory and of prayers for the dead, the fantaftic penances, the u cru- fades, perfecutions, difpenfations, and indul- gences; to fay nothing of the ceremonies which difgraced Chriftianity during thefe times. As to the corruptions relative to the Sacrament, thefe had a late origin. Communion without a w participation of the cup, x tranfubftantiation. ' France, England, Spain, and Germany. See concerning this fubjeft Collier's Eccl. Hift. vol. i. p. 139142. * The crufades, or holy wars, which have been mentioned above as inftrumental in advancing the power of the Bifhops of Rome, mult be confidered as the refult of an injurious and moft unprofitable corruption of the true principles of Chriftia- nity. They did not tend to diffufe even its nominal profeffion. The gentle and humble means, ufed by the Almighty in the original propagation of our Religion, effected in the Eaft a converfion to its belief, which the effufion of all Europe in arms was not in the leaft degree able again to produce. w Pope Pafchal in the 1 2th century ordered the Sacrament to be adminiftered under one kind only. But the Laity in England had it in both kinds for 200 years after the Con- queft. Collier's Eccl. Hift. Pref. p. n. and vol. i. p. 489. Indeed, in Father Paul's Hiftory of the Council of Trent, it is laid that the communion of the chalice was obferved by the whole Church till within 200 years of that time (1546) P. 154. x Though tranfubftantiadon was broached by Radbertus in the year 818 (Jortin's Rem. vol. iv. p. 484.) yet it was not J 4 eitablifhed 120 SERMON III. and all the circumftances relative to the y ado- ration of the Hoft, (of which many were the effects of trivial and accidental fuggeftions from the ignorant z populace) can pretend to no early eftablimment. The a refufal of the Scrip- eftabliflied before the time of Innocent the Third who lived in the i 3th century. Mofheim, vol. iii. p. 243. and Cave's Hift. Lit. vol. ii. p. 276. V " The hanging up and adoring of the Hoft was but lately " fet up, fays Cranmer, by Pope Innocent and Honorius." Burnet's Hift. vol. ii. p. 1 16. z This was the cafe with both the Proceffion and the Feftival of the Holy Sacrament. Jortin's Rem. vol. v. p. 472. And Momeim, vol. iii. p. 261. a See an account of this in a preceding note, x , p. 89. I may add, that the Romanifts not only attempted to bring the Scriptures into difufe, but alfo into difcredit. WicklifFs followers urged againft the preaching Friars that they laid blafphemous imputations on the Scriptures, and charged them with herefy. Collier's Eccl.Hift. vol. i. p 579. Momeim fays, " the Popes permitted their champions to indulge themfelves openly in reflections, injurious to the dig- nity of the Scriptures, and by an excefs^of blafphemy almoft incredible to declare publicly that the' edidls of the Pontiffs and the records of oral tradition were fuperior in point of authority to the exprefs language of Scripture." Vol. iv^ 213. To the fame effeft Bifhop Jewell fays, " Indulgeotias (inquit Pierias) auftoritate Scripturae non innotuerunt nobis, fed auftoritate Romanas Ecclefiae Romanorumque Pontificum, quze major eft. Pig hi us etiam non dubitet dicere injufTu Romanae Ecclefiae ne clariffimae quidem fcripturae creden- dum." Apol. pro Eccl. Anglic, p. 121. And fuch at length was the conlequence of the early corruptions introduced into Chriftianity by philofophy and of the attempts afterwards made to conceal and vilify the Scriptures; that, after the Lutheran controverfy had been long carried on, many of the Monks in Scotland were fo ignorant of their contents, as to charge SERMON III. 121 tures to the people in the common language, which has been mentioned, with many of the corruptions juft ftated, as immediately refulting from the policy of the rulers of the Church, was followed by a fubftitution of oral tradition in their ftead and at length by a fimilar refufal of all the different parts of religious b wormip and c iriftrudtion. Such prohibitions however muft be confidered not only as a confequence, but alfo in fubfequent ages as an additional and aggravating caufe, of the perverlion of our Religion. But in whatever manner they are confidered, they ferve confpicuoufly to with- draw pure Chriflianity from the difgraceful charge Lutker with being the author of that wicked book, called the New Teftament. Jortin's Life of Erafmus, vol. i. p. iz6. See alfo on this fubjed Cave's Hift. Lit. vol. ii. Append, p. 158. b The Latin form of wormip, which had for many ages be- fore been ftrongly recommended by the Popes, was at length enforced in all the Weftern Churches by Gregory the Seventh. Mom. vol. ii. p. 573. c Our Homily againft Rebellion (part the 6th) fays, " very few of the moil fimple people were taught the Lord's prayer, the articles of faith, or the ten commandments, otherwife than in Latin." But Burnet goes much farther, and fays of he beginning of the reign of Ken. VIII. "If any taught their children the Lord's prayer, the ten commandments and the Apoftles' Creed in the vulgar tongue ; that was crime enough to bring them to the ftake." Hift. Ref. vol. i. 3'- fcenes 122 SERMON III. fcenes of this unhappy period, and leave the profligacy of the profeflbrs of our Religion to be imputed moft exclufively to themfelves. All thefe erroneous doctrines and ufages ap- pear to have been maintained, with very few * exceptions, by both theRomanifts and Greeks. The infignificancy of the e charges, which Mi- chael Cerularius urged againft the Latins in the eleventh century, while it proves the finif- ter zeal of the difputant who urged them, forces us to conclude that the great corruptions of Chriftianity at that period were common to the whole Chriftian world. Even when the dif- ference between the Weftern and Eaftern Churches was afterwards reduced to f four d Among thefe one of the principal exceptions is, that the Greeks did not r.fufe the cup to the Laity. e That they ufed unleavened bread at the Lord's Supper : that they did not abftain from things ftrangled and from blood : that the Monks ate lard, and permitted their infirm brethren to eat flefh : that the Bifhops adorned their fingers with rings, as if they had been bridegrooms : that the Priefts were beardlefs : and that in baptifm they ufed only one im- merfion. Mofh. vol. ii. p. 556 7. f The four articles refpecled the proceffion of the Holy Ghoft, the ufe of leavened or unleavened bread in the facri- fice, the doftrine of purgatory, and the authority of the Pope. The difputants for the two Churches appear not to have differed effentially in their tenets concerning purgatory ; though they could come to no decifive conclufion concerning it. See Du Pin's Hill, of the controverfies of the ijth century, p, 37. Eng. SERMON III. articles, that only, which related to the Pro- ceflion of the Holy Ghoft, was a doctrine of Faith on which they appear to have really and efTentially differed. With regard to the external ftate of the Church during this period, it has been g re- marked that Chriftianity was fo much altered and defaced after its civil eftablifhment as to fland in need of the protection of the civil power -, and had it not enjoyed this protection, Paganifm itfelf (if refined and new- modelled) might have had too many advantages over it. The remark is entirely juft. And this unhap- py alteration in our religion might well render the evils, to which it was expofed from foreign enemies, a fubject of terror to all thofe among its profeiTors, whofe apprehenfions were not relieved by a confideration of its divine origin and of the afTurances which have been given us Eng. Ed. But though formerly the great corruptions of the Romifh Church were in general chargeable on the Greeks, and the difference between the Creeds of the two Communions was not important; yet the confeffion of Faith, which was publifhed by the Greeks in the laft century, proves that they differ confiderably at prefent from the Romanics in many refpe&s. It appears however that their tenets in thefe refpedls are unfortunately different alfo from thofe of other Chriftian focieties. Mom. vol. iv. p. 250. s Jortin's Rem. vol. ii. p. 337. Of 124, SERMON III. of its ftability and perpetual duration. The in- vafions of the Goths, and of various other na- tions from the North, who, purfuing the fame route after the Goths, overwhelmed in fuccef- live ages all the civilized kingdoms of Southern Europe, were fo deftrucftive during thofe times and have fince produced fuch lading effects ; that they form the principal part of our hiflory during the four centuries which immediately followed the reign of Conftantine. But the danger, which they feemed to threaten to the eftablifhed profeffion of Chriftianity, was of very mort continuance. The Northern invaders conquered indeed at different times all the dif- ferent parts of the Roman Empire, except that which immediately h furrounded Conftantino- ple ; and often obtained forcible pofleffion of Rome. But, in juftice to their moderation, it has been infifted that they did very little injury to .the monuments of art or to the ! religious edifices, which adorned the old capital of the world. And the danger, which their invafions h Socratis Hift. Eccl. I. v. c. i. et 1. vi. c. 6. Sczom. Hift. Eccl. 1. vi. c. 39. 1 Sozomen fays that Alaric, when he took Rome, had fuch reverence for St. Peter that he permitted his Church to be an Afylum. Hill. Eccl. 1. ix. c. 9. might SERMON III. 125 might at firfl threaten to the profeffion of our Religion, was fully done away by the readinefs and permanency with which they themfelves became its converts. The greateft evils, which Chriftianity had to expect from foreign enemies, were to be feared from thofe, who every where declared themfelves not lefs hoflile to its difcriminating doctrines than to the perfons of its profeflbrs. About the beginning of the feventh century thofe k Churches of Alia, which had been the diftinguifhed care of the Apoftles and peculiar objects of divine Revelation, were funk into a grofs degeneracy both of faith and practice. About the fame time alfo the Perfians, Ro- mans, and northern Barbarians feem to have reached their period of greater! profligacy and diforder. At this feafonable juncture Maho- met, the artful and warlike importer of Arabia, arofe to delude and perfecute mankind. Aware of his own fraud, and of the neceflity of con- ciliating the minds of men, he accommodated his doctrines to the l prepoffeflions of all "* Evagrius defcribes the Churches of the Baft, as being in a miferable ftate of confufion even in the fifth century. Hift. Eccl. I. iii. c. 30. Reading. 1 Jortin has remarked, that without this he never could have made five converts. Rem. vol. ii. p. 278. around 126 SERMON III. around him in a manner totally different from what has ever been obferved in the Revelations of the God of truth. He not only endeavoured, by the amftance of the Jewifh and Chriftian Scriptures, to form a Religion which might be received by both Jews and Chriftians as confift- ent in fome degree with their own, and which might flatter the prejudices of his countrymen who boafted of their defcent from Abraham; but farther alfo he dared to plead Divine au- thority for indulging the impurity of his fol- lowers in this life, and for promifing them a continuance of their impure gratifications in the regions of eternal happinefs. The cir- cumftances of the times and the juft indig- nation of the Almighty gave fuccefs to the importer ; while at the fame time fuch marks of impofition were left on himfelf and his Religion, as might for ever make known the real characters of m both. m It is not from Prideaux and other writers of former times only, that we are to feek for fevere condemnations of both Mahomet and the Koran. Volney, who is among the latcft travellers into the Eaft, fays, " it certainly may be aflerted " fafely that of all the men, who have ever dared to give laws " to nations, Mahomet was the moil ignorant ; of all the *' abfurd compofitions ever produced, none is more truly " wretched than his book." Vol. ii. p. 397. Engl. Edit. And Mr. Whitaker afferts in his " Origin of Arianifm dif- " clofed" that Mahomet " betrayed his ignorance in a form "fo SERMON III, 127 That men fliould be permitted to forfake the truth and believe a lie, is indeed no more than we may exped: in a ftate of probation. The divine difpenfations on fuch occafions are uniformly confident. The Prophet of Judah was perfuaded by a pretended Revelation to difobey what he knew to be an exprefs com- mand of God, and was flain as a punimment for his impious credulity; while the Prophet of Bethel, who had lied unto him, is no '* fo very palpable and grofs upon his very Koran, as feems to " be intended for the mint-mark of God himfelf in order to " mew the falfity of his infpiration to every eye," p. 336. In fupport of his affertion he then gives many particular inftances of this ignorance and expofes the weaknefs of the attempts, made by Sale and the Mahometans, to palliate its abfurdities, as they who require fuch proofs of the falfehood of the Mahometan Religion may fee p. 336 360. Afterwards in the fame chapter he ftigmatizes the grofs obfcenity both of the Mahometan Prophet and Religion, and of Mr. Gibbon who is their advocate ; expofes the perjury fanftioned by the example of Mahomet ; and fatisfaclorily (hews, that, though he was affifted in the composition of his Koran by an excommunicated Chriftian, his principal affiftance came from a Jew, Abdia Ben Salon. As a confequence of the fanftion, juftly faid by Mr. Whitaker to be given by Mahomet to perjury, I (hall produce the fol- lowing facl on the authority of Mr. Gibbon himfelf: " Four " thoufand citizens of Herat of a grave character and mature " age unanimoufly fwore that an idolatrous fane," which they hadjuft burnt, " never exifted." By this meritorious oath (as it was thought) they and their city efcaped all punimment for the outrage. Gibbon's Hift. vol. v. p. 384. where 128 SERMON III. where immediately held forth to us in Scrip- ture as an example of divine vengeance. Though n three out of Mahomet's four immediate fucceiTors fell by the hands of aiTaf- fms ; yet fuch fuccefs attended the zeal with which the profeffors of his Religion fought, that all the provinces both of Aiia and Africa, which bordered on Arabia, foon became fubject to them. And fo widely did their victories extend, that they fubdued alfo a confiderable part of Europe, and made fuch advances to- wards the conqueft of the remaining parts, that the entire cbnqueft of them is faid to have been hindered by a defeat, which Mr. Gibbon afcribes fo exclufi vely to the valour of an in- dividual, as to declare that the Clergy are in- debted for their exiftence to his fword. That fuch indeed was the ftate of our Religion both with regard to its profeiTors and its doctrines, that neither the Eaftern nor Weftern Chrif- tians oppofed to the inroads of Mahometan enthufiafm the infinite advantages which the fuperior purity of their Religion ought to have afforded them, may readily be confeffed. But, Omar, Othman, and AH. Abubeker the firft of his fuo ceflbrs reigned only two years. Charles Martei. See Mr. Gibbon, vol. v. p. 412. notwith- SERMON III. 129 notwithftandingthe unworthinefs of Chriflians, we cannot fo readily confefs that the Almigh- ty ought to be excluded from fome particular {hare in the p defeat here referred to. We need go no farther than to this hiftoriari's own words to prove the contrary. After the fe- venth day's conteft, which (as the Saracen-s had ftili the undifturbed porTeffion of their camp) appears by no means to have been irre- coverably decifive, he fays " In the diforder " and defpair of the night the various tribes of " Yemen and Damafcus, of Africa and Spain, " were provoked to turn their arms againfl experienced the malice of the Romi(h Church. From fuch aflaults it would be ungratefully impious not to confefs that the hand of Pro- vidence delivered us during our diilrefs j and that it has alfo preferved us unhurt, though not unalarmed, by them during the laft hun- e " The Proteftant Church of England has enjoyed hut little " peace from its firft eftablimment." Sherlock againft the re- peal of the Teft-Aft, p. 25. 4 Se", in the Preface to Hooker's Ecclefiadica! Polity, the real origin and foundation of this enthufiafm, as they were defcribed by that excellent writer at a time when he could hardly think it would ever proceed to thee.vcefs of madnefs, by which it was afterwards fo eminently diftiriguifhed. dred SERMON IV. dred years. And however this refllefs male- volence of our enemies may have called forth particular tefts for our fecurity, and ftill render it necefTary that we fhould fupport them, as we hitherto have done, with un- fhaken refolutionj yet, amidfl all our exer- tions in our own defence, it has not in any degree leflened the moderation of our Govern- ment, either civil or ecclefiaftical, fo as to reftrain it from every day more widely extend- ing its toleration to all thofe who differ from us in religious belief. May God grant that we may ever continue to imitate our prede- ceffors both in courage and wifdom to main- tain the invaluable eftabliihment, under which our Religion has thus been delivered down to us, and in Chriftian virtue to forgive and to- lerate our moft uncharitable opponents ! Such then are the great outlines of the hiftory of our Religion from the publication of the Goipel after the afceniion of Chrift to our own times. Having been preached by the Apoflles under the miraculous afliftance of the Holy Spirit, and provifion having been made for its permanency and integrity, it appears from that time to have been left in an eminent degree to our own reafon and our own free will. Accord- SERMON IV. 187 Accordingly its reception and influence in the early ages were iuch, as we might expect from our prefent knowledge of 113 genuine excel- lence. It was offered to the free judgment of mankind ; was received by the fincere and humble ; and produced fuch viiible effects on their conduct, as to go on increafing by the fame gentle means, till it became the Religion of Princes and was fanctioned by a civil efta- blimment. Being now profeffed without fin- cerity and without humility, its precepts foon loft their influence, and every corruption of Chriftian piety followed, which might be ex- pected from interefled paflions, from a confu- fion of facred and profane learning, and from all thofe peculiar circumftances of foreign in- vafion, favage cuftoms, and favage ignorance, which enfued. In fuch times when fuperfti- tion would be fure to acquire, with accumu- lated force, all the influence which true Re- ligion loft, it could not be difficult for reli- gious pretenfions of the moft abfurd and blaf- phemous kind to erect themfelves in the place of pure Chriftianity. It pleafed God how- ever that the power of this kind, which was erected in the See of Rome, was made to con- duce to fome good purpofes. The Church of Rome i88 SERMON IV. Rome was known to deliver down the regular profeffion of Chriftianity from the beginning. It maintained likewife without interruption the difcriminating doctrines of our Religion with regard to the Godhead and our Redeem- er : and, what was of invaluable confequence, it delivered down to us the Scriptures ; and we are aflured that it did not corrupt them, as well from pofitive proofs of their integrity, as from the danger, to which it would have been expofed, of having its corruptions detected by the members of a rival Communion, which was eftablifhed in the Eaft under the Bifhops of Conftantinople. It pleafed God alfo that one of the confequences of the rivalfhip of thefe Communions was the encouragement of learning in ecclefiaftical bodies -, and that, not- withftanding the unfavourable fituation of our Religion, its external enemies were not able to prevail againft the public eftablimment of it in the Kingdoms of Weftern Europe. With thefe advantages, which were left us after all the corruption of the darker ages, we have been enabled under the revival of found learn- ing, under the incitement of a foreign refor- mation, and under the peculiar circumftances of our own civil government, to correct Our religious SERMON IV. 189 religious errors and to eftabliih that fyftem of Chriftianity among us, which has been the principal fubjedt of the prefent difcourfe. We have therefore, as Chriftians, as Pro- teftants, and as members of our own national Church, abundant means to give an anfwer to every man that afketh us a reafon of the hope that is in us, as far as this hope is connected with the manner, in which our holy Religion has been received and conveyed through fuc- ceffive ages down to our own. Let us however not be vain of diftinctions in any of thefe refpects between ourfelves and our Chriftian brethren, who diflent from us, or who are members of other eftablifliments. Let us rather direct our thoughts to the con 11- deration of thofe arguments and thole objec- tions relative to the general truth of the Reli- gion thus delivered down to us, in which Chriftians of all denominations are equally concerned. If the conviction, which ought to refult from thefe more important confidera- tions, were to produce its proper effect ; we fliould all rejoice with exceeding great joy that the Almighty has been pleafed to confer on mankind fuch an invaluable bleffing as Chrif- tianity. Actuated by the fame common be- lief of the great doctrines of our Religion, we mould I 9 o SERMON IV. fhould charitably and chearfully bear with the various infirmities of each other j while we looked forward with awful expectation to that time, when we muft all ftand before the judgment- feat of our great Redeemer, and re- ceive our reward, under his merits, according to the ufe which we have made of thofe par- ticular means of knowing and acting which he has vouchfafed to afford us. SERMON SERMON V. i PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man, that ajketb you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. IN the preceding difcourfes I have ftated in hiftorical order the fubftance of our Re- ligion, as it extends from the moil remote cir- cumftance any where revealed in Scripture to the publication of the Gofpel after the afcen- fion of Chrift ; I have alfo given in them a iketch of its hiftory from this publication of the Gofpel to the prefent times. I am now to ftate in a fummary manner the arguments in general, which are adducible in proof of the truth of our Religion, and confequently in vin- dication 192 SERMON V. dication of the anfwer which may be given from thence concerning the Hope that is in us. So numerous and fo various however are the arguments, by which the truth of our holy Religion may be proved*, that to comprehend within a fmall compafs a regular compendium of the whole, or even of the more important part of them, is impoffible. It muft fuffice therefore in the prefent and the following difcourfe (which I mall appropriate to this part of my fubjed:) if I attempt to ftate com- pendioufly fuch among the more important of thefe arguments, as, commencing with the being and attributes of God, are fufficient to prove the credibility of a divine Revelation, and to (hew that Chriftianity by its internal and external evidences evinces itfelf to be in reality fuch a Revelation. The being of God is an article of Faith, on which all Religion, both natural and revealed, immediately and necerTarily depends. He, that comes to God, muft believe that he is. But this fundamental article is not more necefTary, than its proof is eafy. The obfervation, which js made in common life, that whatever is moft indifpenfably wanted is always moft eafily ac- quired, obtains here in an eminent degree. The SERMON V. 193 The being of God is proved from every ob- ject within the extent of our obfervation; and in a manner fo fingularly fatisfactory, that men of warmth and ability have not fcrupled to affirm * " that it is the only thing of which " we are certain." Every particle of matter, even by its paflivenefs and inactivity, proclaims fome external caufe of its exiftence. And hu- man reafon, a principle the moft remote of any in this world from matter, however arrogant and prefumptuous, dares not profefs itfelf its own original. Befides, every object with which we are converfant, whether material or fpiritual, not only requires in order to its pro- duction the agency of fome caufe without it- felf; but, as this caufe alfo muft either be the effect of fome other caufe or be felf-ex- iftent, we (hall, if we purfue the argument, at length neceffarily afcend to a great and fuper- cminent caufe, which is the effect of nothing and is confequently a felf-exiflent being. a Though we cannot flriftly admit the truth of this fentiment, which is introduced in N. 381 of the Spectator and repeated in N. 69 of the Guardian ; yet we may fully and faf'ely fub* fcribe to the inferences of Bp. Stillingfleet, who makes the foundation of all certainty to depend on the neceffary e viltence of a being abfolutely perfeft. For without that, fays he, we can never be lure that our faculties are not fo conltituted as to de- ceive us. Orig. Sac. p. 330. O To i 9 4 SERMON V. To fuppofe, in oppofition to this, that things might be produced " ad infinitum," fuccef- fively depending on each other, is evidently to fuppofe them to exift without any original caufe ; a fuppofition, not lefs abfurd, than that which would require of us to admit that any individual production might exift without its own proper and immediate caufe. It an- fwers indeed fome purpofe: it removes the abfurdity to a diftance, and renders it perhaps inviiible to the unpenetrating eye. But furely it is not more abfurd (as hath been often alleged) to fuppofe that one link of a chain may remain fufpended in the air without fup- port, than to contend that an infinite num- ber of links may be thus fufpended without any prop to fuftain the whole. In vain alfo hath Atheifm urged, " that, though the in- te dividual things around us cannot, the Uni- verfe (which is a " fui generis" phenome- " non) may perhaps, exift without a caufe." This fuppofition is very nearly allied to the former and equally abfurd with it. Doubtlefs it ought never to have been brought forward by the men who are moft zealous to repeat it ; fince it is contrary to our univerfal b expe- b Befides, no probable reafon can be affigned for the devia- tion from univerfal experience here fuppofed ; whereas the con- * trary SERMON V. '95 rience, and thus is imprefTed with that cha- racteriftic, which they themfelves are ready on all occafions to urge as decifive againft Reve- lation. To prove however the abfurdity both of this and the former fuppofition, I may re- mark that each of them fets itfelf in direct op- pofition to that univerfally received maxim, " Nihil eft in toto, quod non fuit prius in " partibus." Belides, each of them is precluded for this obvious reafon, that the world could not have derived its origin from matter. The fyftem of things around us not only carries with it moft evident proof that it muft have had fome original caufe, but farther likewife that this caufe muft have been an active and an intelligent principle: fince without activity nothing can be produced ; and, without in- telligence alfo, nothing that carries with it marks of regular and unqueftionable defign. But in fact Atheifm, thus fupported, de- pends folely upon its own afTertion : and this, which is the cafe with it in the inftances at prefent before us, is equally fo in all c others. trary is true with regard to the parts of Revelation which are oppofed on this ground ; as may at once be feen in the inftances of this kind mentioned in the following note. e This dependence on affertion is evident in all thofe trite aflumptions in favour of Atheifm, which are repeated in Mr. Hume's Dialogues, p. 55 70, 94, 115, -125, 130, 166, 189, 6 2 w?6, r 9 6 SERMON V. It has been juftly d remarked that " the whole " ftrength of Atheifrn confifb in contradicting " the univerial reafon of mankind: that Athe- " ifts have no principle and can have none ; 228 SERMON VI. and other writers, and particularly by Ammia- nus Marcellinus, whofe teftimony, as a Pagan, a philofopher, and a bofom-friend of the apof- tate Prince, infidelity would readily and fully m admit, were it not before- hand apprifed of its contents. He declares, that" " horrid balls of *' fire, breaking out near the foundation with " adewj htytlcti re v.on TT^IVITCII, xai wag B^svo? a^piCaMsTdw Hlu. Eccl. 1. V. C. 22. Mr. Moyle fays on the fubjedl, " I am loth I confefs to re- " jedl all the miracles fmce the days of the Apoitles for the fake " of a very remarkable one, which happened at the rebuilding " of Jerufalem under Julian ; which is fo extraordinary in all " its circumftances and fo fully atteftedby all the Chriftian and " the Heathen hiftorians of that age, that I do not fee with " what forehead any man can queilion the truth of it." Thundering Legion, Works, vol. ii. p. 101. 8vo. In the fame manner, though Jortin doubts of the truth of all the other miracles, which are reported to have been performed after the commencement of the fecond century, he fays of this, '* The ftory of Julian's defeated attempt to rebuild the Jewilh " temple is, after every allowance has been made, as well at- ' ' teiled as we could reafonably expect. The teftimony of Chrif- " tian writers on the fubjecl being confirmed by Marcellinus, ** by Jesvilh writers, and perhaps by fome pafiages in Julian's " Epiitles, and by this circumitance over and above, that it " appeals to a fafb which every one might go and fee with his " own eyes." Rem. on Eccl. Hill. vol. iii. p. 380. But Bifhop Warburton's full and learned defence of this mi- racle in his " Julian" is well known, and is fufficient to luper- iede the neceffity of any farther vindication of it. m See Warburton's Julian, p. 46, 47. n Marcellirms's words on the occafion are " metuendi globi " flammarum, prope fundamenta crebris adfultibus erumpentes, " fecere locum exulHs aliquoties operantibus inacceflum, hoc- " que modo, elemento dellinatius repeilente, ccflavit inccep- " turn." L. : \xiii. p. 412. Edit. 1588. " frequent SERMON VI. 229 " frequent and reiterated attacks, rendered the " place from time to time inacceffible to the *' fcorched and blafted workmen, and that the " victorious element continuing in this manner " obftinately bent, as it were, to repel their " attempts, the enterprife was given over. ' To oppofe the very fingular evidence by which this fact is recommended to our belief, requires a more determined fpirit of contradic- tion than is always to be afcribed to infidelity. Mr. Gibbon allows, that " the enterprife " was defeated, perhaps, by a preternatural " event." But we cannot wonder, if the evidence on this occafion, which muft be refpected even by our adverlaries and which is allowed at times to have fome influence with them, mould, not- withftanding, not have a full and converting influence on their hearts ; when we find that they are not to be converted by the powerful arguments in favour of our Religion, which arife from the prefent ftate of the Jewifh nation and which immediately apply to their own fenfes. Who among our modern unbelievers has not an opportunity of feeing with his own eyes the wonderful completion of the Scrip- Gibbon's Hift. vol. ii. p. 588, 385; ture- 230 SERMON VI. ture- prophecies with regard to the Jews ? Who among them may not with his own eyes fee, m this people, a body of men, providen- tially preferved to this very day in a ftate of punifhment and a ftate of feparation from all others -, religious, yet deriving no bleffing from God j peaceable, yet fecure of no protection among men ; defpifed and perfecuted during feventeen hundred years as a nation, yet ever zealous of their national distinctions ; abound- ing in riches, yet, contrary to the known influ- ence of riches, deftitute of a fettled place where to enjoy them ; and, as if they were exprefsly intended by the Almighty for the conversion of thofe who will not believe except they them- felves fee a fign from heaven, fcattered over every country and obvious to the fenfes of every unbeliever ? The miracles, which are adducible in vin- dication of the divine origin, of Chriftianity as well from the Old as the New Teftament and which conftitute its other external and divine proof, were of fuch a nature as to preclude all poffibility of forgery. Every individual in the Jewim nation was prefent at the time when the great miracles, recorded in the Pentateuch, were performed. Every one of them muft have feen the wonders performed SERMON VI. 2*1 O performed in Egypt ; have feen the waters of the Red Sea retire on either fide, as on a heap, to afford them a paffage j have heard the voice of God from mount Sinai; and fenfibly have ex- perienced the continued miracles wrought for p their fuftenance and the prefervation of their raiment during forty years in the wildernefs. No one at that time could poffibly deceive them in fuch matters. The connection, which thefe miracles had with their law, may ferve alfo to prove that they were not thus deceived by any fubfequent forgery. For though we mould for a moment fuppofe the whole Jewifh nation to have been more abfurdly credulous, than ever an individual was known to be in any other ; and that immediately upon the pro- pagation of fuch a forgery they might admit at once the truth of thefe miracles (however unfupported by traditional hiftory) ; yet furely they could not be fo ftupidly paffive in the ad- miflion of a law which was burthenfome and intolerable. Their own as well as their fa- thers' experience muft have convicted the im- poftor, who firft enjoined the fictitious code as the ancient and divine conftitution of their na- tion, and with it they would undoubtedly have P Deut. viii. 2, 3, 4. rejected 232 SERMON VI. rejected the miracles which were infidici defigned for its confecration. Beiides, the Jews are repeatedly commanded in their law itfelf -' * to teach the things therein contained " to their children ; to talk of them when they '* fat in their houfes, when they -walked by the *' way, when they lay down, and when they " rofe up ; to bind them for a fign upon their "hand; to make them as frontlets between " their eyes ; to write them upon the potts of " their houfes and upon their gates." Thefe commands are immediately r calculated to pre- clude any irnpoiition of later ages ; and tend in conjunction with the preceding circumftances to demonftrate that neither the time, nor the manner, in which the law is faid to have been delivered, was of man's ' invention. Indeed the tranfadtions, recorded in the Penta- teuch, are referred to by all the fubfequent wri- ters among the Jews in language fo fimply and convincingly declarative of their divine truth ; and the imprefnon, which they made on the minds of the people, was fo forcible -> that no tranfactions appear to have been ever received by any nation with fuch univerfal and immove- < Deut. vi. 7, 8i 9. * See Jenkin's ReafonabJenefs of Chriftianity, vol. i c. 6. " See Shuckford's Connection, vol. iii. p. 350 399. able SERMON VI. 233 able afient. Jeroboam and the other deferters of the Jewifh worfhip before the ' Babylo- h captivity, and the fceptical Sadducees af- ter it, dared not deny the truth of the Penta- teuch. But in reality the Jews were fo far from be- ing (what they were generally accounted by the Heathen world) the moft credulous of all na- tions, that they appear to have been the reverfe. It cannot be matter of wonder, that men, who had dcbafed their natural notions of Religion by the moft fuperilitious idolatry, ihould charge every worfhipper of the invilible God with credulity. But if we coniult the hiftory of the Jews, where alone we can expect to meet with their true character, we mail find them to have been the molt itifif-necked people and that from the beginning they always refilled the Holy Ghoft. This obilinacy might pro- bably be one reaibn why the miracles, calculat- ed for the confirmation of their Religion, were performed in a manner fo public and unexcep- tionable: though certainly we have at the fame time to acknowledge another moft gracious reafon for the public notoriety of the miracles, recorded both in the Pentateuch and in other 1 This cr.; not extended to all the people of the Jew* for any period of more than fifty year* together. parts 234 SERMON VI. u parts of the Jewifh Scriptures ; fince it has fupplied all fucceeding ages with irrefragable arguments in vindication of the divine origin of the Jewifh Religion. Of the fame incontrovertible notoriety were the miracles alfo of the New Teftament. They were not done in a corner. Every one had full liberty to pry into their genuinenefs : and yet the moft malicious enemies of our Saviour and his Apoflles never pretended, at the time when they are faid to have been performed, to difcover any impofi tion in them . Nor wasthe teftimony of thofe, who afterwards ftood forth to vouch for their truth, lefs public or lefs unexceptionable than the miracles themfelves. Every martyr, among the fjrft preachers of Chriftianity, de- monftrates their reality by his death. For what, but the known truth of thefe wonderful events, made them lay down their lives -for a Religion, of which thefe were an eflential fupport and often the immediate w caufe of their own fuf- ferings ? That they were competent witneiles on the u Particularly thofe performed by Jofhua, Samuel, and Eli- jah ; and the continued miracle exhibited by the Cloud which refted over the Mercy-Seat in the old temple. See, concerning this cloud, Prideaux's Connection, vol.i. p. 119. Fol. Edit. w See the paffage cited from Stillingfteet's Orig. Sac. in the notes, p. 44. occafion, S E R M O N VI. 235 occaflon, however poor and illiterate, their fitu- tion with refpeft to thefe miracles and the nature of the tranfaclions themfelves fully evince. Thefe miracles were all objects of fenfe, and required no depth of learning and no ingenuity for a proper obfervation of them. Of whate- ver attainments or abilities the obfervers were, they muft know whether they had heard the dumbfpeak, had feen the blind reftoredto fight, the lame walk, and the dead railed again to life: they muft know whether their Lord's cruci- fixion, at which they were prefent, were attend- ed with the miraculous circumftances which they relate ; and whether they were afTured by their fenfes that he was again * alive after his paffion. We believe in thefe refpects nothing more, than what the difciples of Chrift declare, " y they had heard, had feen with their eyes, had " looked on, and their hands had handled." Doubtlefs men, who could hear, fee, and feel, were as good witneffes in thefe matters of fenfe, as the moft learned and acute : and men, who laid down their lives in atteftation of facts thus * See in Townfon's Works a very ingenious and very fatif- faftory harmony of the accounts given in the different Evangelifts of the circumftances which relate to our Saviour's refurreftkm. y I John i. I. indu- 236 SERMON VI. indubitably known to them, cannot be fufpeft- ed of any want of veracity on the occafion and muft ever with candid inquirers z unexception- ably eftablifh their truth. For however it may be urged, that the truth of the Chriftian miracles is not proved by the fufferings of Chriftians for their faith under future perfecu- tions ; the fufferers might be deceived, and through well-meant zeal lay down their lives in defence of an error ; however this may be urged ; yet it applies not in the fmalleft degree to the firft teachers of Chriftianity, who at- z The miracles of Chriftianity appear in reality to have all thofe requifites, which Mr. Hume lays are not to be difco- vered in any miracle found in hiftory. He fays, " there is not to be found in all hiftory any miracle attefted by a fufficient number of men of fuch unqueftionable good fenfe, education, and learning, as to fecure us againft all delufion in them- felves ; of fuch undoubted integrity, as to place them beyond all fufpicion of any defign to deceive others ; of fuch credit and reputation in the eyes of mankind, as to have a great deal to loie in cafe of being detected in any falihood ; and at the fame time attefting facts performed in fuch a public man- ner and in fo celebrated a part of the world, as to render the detection unavoidable. All which circumitances are requifue to give us full affurance in the teftimony of men." EfTays, vol. ii. p. 130. The education of St. Paul and the writings of him and of the other authors of the New Teitament, their unimpeached cha- racters, their unanimous furrender even of their lives in defence of the truth of the miracles which they relate, the notoriety of thefe miracles, and the confpicuous fituation of Jerufalem and other places where they were wrought, all contribute to refute the aflertions of this daring plulofopher. teft SERMON VI. 237 teft on fuch occaiions nothing but what fell within their own abfolute and fenfible know- ledge. But the merciful God, who has left us irre- fragable proofs of the authenticity of the pro- phecies, which refpect our great Redeemer, in -the unbelief of the Jews, has alfo fupplied us with arguments in fupport of the miracles of our Religion from the different ways in which they have been oppofed by our different adver- faries. While the fads were too recent to be dif- puted a ,Celfus, Porphyry, and Hierocles admitted their reality, but denied the divine commiffion of the agent and the confequent truth of that Religion which they were wrought to eftablim. In modern times when the confequence of their admiffion is better known, and there are few, if any, who are not convinced that fuch creden- tials befpeak an ambafiador fent from God (ef- pecially too when the purport of the embaily does not b contradict the great truths demon- a See Mr. Moyle's Letters concerning the Thundering Le- gion, Works, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 353. b See Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacr. 1. ii. c. v. p. 172. Let it not be thought that the argument here revolves at all in a circle from internal to external evidences and vice veria. Fcr, as Bimop Sherlock fays, " Men do not diitinguifh be- " tween the doftrines which we prove by miracles, and the " doctrines by which we try miracles : for they are not the " fume doctrines. God never wrought miracles to prove the *' difference 238 SERMON VI. ftrable by natural Religion), unbelievers have prudently thought fit to ihift their ground. But, unhappily for them, a denial of the Chrif- tian miracles at prefent comes too late: fince the facts of this kind, which infidelity has long fince admitted upon earlier and better inform- ation, will for ever remain a teftimony of the truth of Chriftianity and of the perverfenefs of modern unbelief. The univerfality of our Religion, which forms a part both of its internal and external evidences, is the third and laft article by which I propofed to prove its divine origin. This univerfality was before infilled upon, when I treated of the fubftance and of the in- ternal evidences of our Religion. Whatever may be commonly underftood by it, we cer- tainly ought not to eflimate it primarily from the effects which our Religion has produced on mankind. Thefe, except in regions placed be- difference between good and evil : and I fuppofe that if any man were afked how he proves temperance or chattily to be duties, murder or adultery to be fins, he would not recur to miracles for au argument. Thefe and the like duties are en- forced by the Gofpel ; but were always truths and duties be- fore our Saviour's coming : and we are in poffeffion of them withcut the help of miracles or Revelation. And thefe are the doctrines, by which we try miracles. But the doctrines, which are to be proved by miracles, are the revealed doctrines of Chriftianity, &c." Sermons, vol. i. p. 303. yond SERMON VI. 239 yond thepoffibilityof the Chriftian's reach, have from the beginning depended eflentially upon ourfelves. Chriflianity from the beginning ad- drelfed itfelf to us, as free agents : and, what ought ever to be urged in its favour, it was fo publifhed as to leave us, amidft all our preju- dices from worldly wifdom and worldly attach- ments of every kind, at full liberty to accept or reject it, and to obey, or not, the injunctions which it gives concerning its future propaga- tion. The univerfality of our Religion, confi- dered as an argument in its favour, ought there- fore primarily to be estimated from its general defign and other circumftances within itfelf: and if feccndarily from its effects ; from thefe however no farther, than as they are confider- ed under the influence of our own free will. Its general defign may immediately be col- lected from its general fubflance. This (as we have c feen) evinces that Chriilianity com- menced with the creation of mankind ; that it has regularly been brought down through the different ages of their hiftory ; and that, while it joins together and unites the whole human race by the moft comprehenfive and intimate connection, it alfo accounts for and remedies c In the 5rft Sermon. thofe 240 S E R M O N VL thofe univerfal evils in human exiftence, which man's unenlightened reafon could neither ex- plain nor in any confiderable degree alleviate. While mankind are deduced by Christianity from the fame common ftock, and involved in the fame confequences of their firft parent's vo- luntary guilt; they are taught to what caufe they are to afcribe the introduction of all their fin and mifery. They are no longer left vainly to attempt with philofophy to reconcile their divedified crimes and fufferings with the original appoint- ment of divine goodnefs. Chriflianity from one comprehenfive caufe traces out and explains the whole. Like the true fyftem of the natural world, it accounts in the moft fimple and in* telligible manner for intricacies and irregu- larities, which long confounded the fubtle- ty and baffled all the ingenuity of conjectural philofophy. Having referred man's fin and all its deflruc- tive confequences to the fame original perver- fion of free will, Christianity goes on to pro- vide as comprehenfive a remedy for thefe evils. The Heathens indeed could fee and deplore the d corruption of human nature : but, as they - See Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 509 514. knew SERMON VI. 241 knew not its e caufe, ib they were ftill more ignorant of its proper f remedy. They were too confcious of the guilt of fin, not to be convinced of the punimment which it deferved at the hands of infinite juflice : and at the fame time too fenfible of its influence over the beft men, to fuppofe their actions could merit re- \vard, much lefs eternal happinefs, from an all- perfect God. They were therefore induced through fear either to counteract their general apprcheniions and to deny a future ftate of re*- tribution, or to g adjuft it to their own infir- mities and dements. The idea of an all-perfect Redeemer and of univerfal fandtification and acceptance through him, however revealed to their forefathers, yet when corrupted by idola- try and loft in fuperftition, was not to be reco- vered by the moft daring effort of human con- jecture. But, what man could not conceive e See Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 476- 500. f Porphyry is made to lay by St. AugutUne : " nondum re- " ceptam unam feft.im quas univerfalera yiam animae contineat " li'oerands." De Civic. Dei, 1. x. c. 32. z We may learn from Komcr of what fort the future life was which the Heathens expe&ed. Achilles is defcribed by him, as laying to Ulyfles in the regions below, M>) p-oi SavTO yi ira,^ot.'j^ BsXoi/x.*;* K avrapaof IM Sr,rtvcu,a Odyff. i*'. I. 487. R much 242 SERMON VI. much lefs expecl, Chriftianity had from thc beginning ordained, was gradually preparing, and at length accomplished in the Gofpel-co- venant. Infinite juftice and goodnefs, having been vindicated with regard to the commence- ment of man's imperfections, are reconciled in Jiis pardon by the merits and interceffion of the fecond perfon in the Godhead. By thefe means eternal happineis is again offered to mankind, and the road to it is opened by an univerial atonement for thofe imperfections of human nature which were an invincible ftum- bling-block to every other iyftem of future rewards : h " God fpared not his own fon, " but delivered him up for us all." Such, and fo comprchenfive, is Chriftianity in its general dtiign. Its other internal and particular parts are not lefs univerfally calculated for the in- ftrudtion and happinefs of all mankind. No- thing is to be found in its precepts, adapted to one ftate or people, and not to all. In Chrift Jefus there is no difference between Jew and Greek, bond and free, male and fe- male. He, by whom all the nations of the earth were at firft feparatcd from one family, h Rom. viii. 32. See a!fo i Johnii. 2. again SERMON VL 243 again unites them as brethren under the fame laws and into the fame communion. And that no one might be debarred of accefs to the Religion which was thus defigned for the happinefs of all, the New Teftament was evidently calculated by its plainnefs and fim- plicity for the inftruction of the loweft and moft illiterate in every age and nation : herein remarkably differing not only from the doc- trines of unaffifted reafon, which are not to be inveftigated in their different relations without the learning and labour of philofophy ; but alfo from the antecedent parts of Revelation. As thefe latter were the obfcure ! commencement of Chriftianity and as they were intended par- ticularly for the Jews, they often abound in fublime and figurative reprefentations ; which perhaps can thoroughly be underftood by thofe Oriental nations only, whofe ftudy and delight they were. But the language of the New Teftament, like its doctrine, is univerfal. Every one is enabled without difficulty to partake of its benefits. Every one alfo is in- vited to partake of them : g " Come unto me " all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I ' " The ancient Patriarchs were the Chriftians of the old " world." Cave's Primitive Chriiticaity, vol. i. p. 22. k Matt. xi. 28. R 2 " will 244 SERMON VI. " will give you reft," was the Redeemer's af- fectionate addrefs to mankind. ' " Go ye into " all the world and preach the Gofpel to every " creature," was the commiffion, with which he fent forth his difciples ; a commiffion, which the very exiftence of the New Teftament proves that they executed, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, in fuch a manner as to leave their fuccerlors abundant means to make the Gofpel known in procefs of time to every individual throughout the world. I have above faid, that the effects, produced on mankind by Chriftianity, will as long as we are free agents depend eflentially upon our- felves : and that its univerfality ought not to be eftimated from thefe effects any farther than as they are confidered under the influence of man's free will. But, even under this mode of confideration, they will afford convincing proofs of the unlimitable extent of our Religion. Though Chriftianity was fo propofed to man- kind from the beginning, as to leave them at full liberty to accept or reject it ; yet, on its firft publication, it was immediately embraced by multitudes. In fucceeding ages it was eftablifhed in the moft civilized and moft 1 Markxvi. 15. powerful SERMON VI. powerful empires. And in our own time we know that it is the Religion of all thofe, who are juftly ranked among the enlightened na- tions of the earth. That it is not profeffed at prefent by more of the unenlightened inhabitants of our globe, is to be afcribed, in the countries placed be- yond our reach, to fimilar difpenfations of Providence with thofe which withheld for fo many ages the coming itfelfof the Redeemer: in the countries, acceffible to us, it is to be afcribed, not to our Religion, but to our own imperfections 3 to our want of Chriilian zeal to propagate it among diftant nations, or rather perhaps to our want of Chriftian virtue to re- commend it by our conduct to their acceptance. It has however widely extended its falutary influence among thofe who are not its actual profeflbrs. It has improved the morality of both m Mahometans and Pagans : it has alfo improved their religious creeds ; affording them inftruction not eafily to be limited in its dif- perfion, and, we may truft, much more bene- ficial in its confequences, than that which is derived from Revelation by unbelievers in Chriftian countries, who doubtlefs would not m Seeker's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 257. R3 ex- 246 SERMON VI. exceed the moft fubtle of Heathen philofophers on fubjects of natural Religion, if they had not accefs to that Gofpel which they affect to defpife. We are indeed encouraged to look for- ward to a future profemon of Chriftianity, fuch perhaps as our adverfaries require ; when the Chriftian Religion, which is univerfal in its defign and conftitution, /hall alfo be uni- verfally received ; " n when the earth fhall be " filled with the knowledge of the glory of " the Lord as the waters cover the lea." But whether this unlimited profeflion of Chrif- tianity is to arife from a itrenuous exertion of the means which we now poffefs of making converts to it, or from any new interpofition of the Almighty, we are not informed ; much lefs are we authorifed to require or to hope for an immediate accomplishment of the blefTed event. In the mean time however there is one effect which we are encouraged to expect from this holy Religion, and which (though it is itfelf alfo under the influence of man's free will) muft more than compenfate for any defi- ciency of extenfion that can poflibly be objected at prefent to the Chriftian Church : We are encouraged humbly to expect that the atone- 8 Hab. ii. 14. See the firft Sermon. ment SERMON VI. 247 ment made for us by our great Redeemer will be as extenfive as the influence of our firft pa- rent's fall, and that no oneamongafl the defcen- dants of Adam will be excluded from fome at leaft of its benefits, but fuch as wilfully mut their eyes againfr. the truth, and, either from the pride of human reaibn or the luft of feu- fual pleafure, rejedt fo great falvation. In this manner does Chriftianity carry with it a remedy for the deficiencies above pointed out in natural Religion: Firft, it is calcu- lated to lead mankind to future happinefs by the complete knowledge, which it conveys to them, of themfelves, of their duty and its ob- ligation, and of their attainable acceptance with God \ Secondly it was accompanied with external and divine alterations of its truth; and Thirdly it is diftinguifhed by its univerfality. If thefe things then are certain ; if natural Religion evinces that there is an all-perfect God, the Creator and Preferver of all things; if it evinces alfo from the prefent circum- ftances of our exiflence that there will be a future ftate of retribution ; if at the fame time this Religion is eflentially deficient in its in- flrucliion, in its proofs, and, as a fyftem which R 4 is 248 SERMON VI. is too difficult for the invefligation of p common capacities, in its extent j and if under thefe circumstances any Revelation (hould be let forth> confirming what is evinced by natural Religion and remedying what is deficient in it - y then we muft either confels the truth of fuch a Revelation, or (what is the worft blaf- phemy) fuppofe God himfelf to have favoured an impofition upon mankind : efpecially too, when we recollect that one of the deficiencies of natural Religion, remedied by thefuppofed Revelation, is the want of external and divine proofs. For what reafon to the utmoft ex- tent of its abilities recommends, and fuch proofs confirm, is unqueflionably the voice of God fpeaking diftinctly to every intelligent creature. Thus I have attempted to ftate in a fum- mary manner the arguments in general, which P The Religion of the great bulk of mankind in the heathen world has ever been ultimately derived from that ftate of na- ture (fo called in contradiftinftion to a ftate of pure Revelation) in which man was left after the fall and after the deluge, and in which he was affifted by tradition and divine Grace no lefs than by his own reafon. But the natural Religion, concerning which I am here fpeaking, whether it can in reality make the difcoveries commonly afcribed to it or only produce arguments in fupport of them when before made by Revelation, is however fuppofed fo depend entirely upon human reafon. are SERMON VI. 249 are adducible in proof of the truth of our Re- ligion, and confequently in vindication of the anfwer which may be given from thence con- cerning the Hope that is in us. In juftice however to a caufe, which has been defended in the ableil and fulleft manner, I muft repeat the obfervation \vith which I entered upon this part of my fubjecl:; " that it " is impoffible to comprehend within a i'mall " compafs a regular compendium of the whole, " or even of the more important part, of the " arguments by which the truth of our holy " Religion may be proved." The repetition of this obfervation cannot but be neceiiary in an age when fuperncial vindications of our Reli- gion are found to do as much injury to the caufe which they defend, as the writings againft which they are commonly levelled. Since many, even of thofe who think their Religion worthy of ferious attention, content- ing themfelves with fuch curfory treatifes are naturally led to impute their imperfections to the fubjecl: itfelf : and, becaufe feme parts are pafled over in filence and others very briefly handled, they conclude at once either that nothing, or that very little, can be faid in their behalf. But if men are really in earneft and wim to give the arguments in favour of Chrifti- anity 250 SERMON VI. anity a fair examination, let them attentively perufe the difcourfes delivered at Mr. Boyle's Lecture. Or if this mould be thought too laborious an undertaking, let them read and thoroughly digeft what 9 Bimop Pearfon has written on the Creed ; and they will find, efpecially in the former cafe, fo many reafons affigned for the truth of every part of our Re- ligion , that neither the infmuations of its enemies, nor the injudicious zeal of its friends, will ever after be likely to (hake their Faith. w The importance of the enquiry muft convince every fenfibly man that his time could not be better employed. And the confequence of it to every r well-difpofed man will be fuch a full aiTurance of the truth of our Religion, as muft infpire him with that fettled * peace of *> They, to whom Bifliop Pearfon's writings on the Creed may appear too abftracted, will find a moft perfpicuous and fatisfac- tory collection of the arguments in defence of our Religion in Bifhop Burnet's very valuable Expolition of the Thirty-nine Articles. 1 Swift in his Letter to a young Clergyman goes fo far as to fay, " There is one observation which 1 never knew to fail, and " J defire you will examine it in the courfe of your life, that " no gentleman of a liberal education and regular in his " morals did ever profefs himfelf a free-thinker." Mifcell. vol. i. p. 285. 5 Nothing can exhibit a more ftriking contraft to the joyful expectations, derived from pure Religion, than the miferable confequences of Scepticifm. The latter are well exemplified in the feries of Mr. Hume's philofophical writings. After he has endeavoured to wreft from us all ths pleafmg confidence, which. we SERMON VI. 251 mind, and pleafing confidence with regard to futurity, which alone can constitute the hap- pinefs of a rational being. Since to conclude the prefent head with the words of an admired modern * writer : " What true Religion and ' true philofophy dictate of God, and Provi- " dence, and man, is fo charming, fo confonant " with all the finer and nobler feelings in " human nature, that every man of tafte who " hears of it muft with it to be true : and I " never yet heard of one perfon of candour, " whowimedto find the evidence of the Gof- *' pel fatisfactory, and did not find it fo." \ve might derive from Chriftianity, by his Treatife on Human Nature, his Efiays, and tns Dialogues ; he concludes his fcepti- cal works with a defence of fuicide and an attempt to prove the mortality of the foul. After depriving his admirers of the moft valuable confolations of this life, he furely makes them but poor amends by telling them at laft that they may cut their throats and fafely depend upon eternal annihilation. 1 See Beattie en Truth, p. 447. 8vo. 5th. Edit. SERMON VIL i PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man, that ajketb you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. HAVING rimmed the parts of my defign, which relate to the fubftance, hiftory, and evidences of our Religion, it remains that I fpeak concerning the objections which are urged in oppofition to its truth. This lait topic unhappily furnimes abundant matter for our consideration. For as fuperfti- tion and bigotry have ever attempted to pre- clude a difcordancy of opinion with regard to Chriftianity by diicou raging enquiries into its evidences, Ib contrary prejudices have uni- formly led to the oppofite extreme ; and this moil 254 SERMON VII. jr.oft benevolent of all inftitutions, inftead of fccuring the refpecl by providing for the wel- fare of mankind, has been treated with the moll licentious freedom. Whatever be the caufe of thefe prejudices again ft our Religion, th~ effect of them is indifputable. Offences in Revelation have been induftrioufly fought af- ter : and the objections, in which they are urged, have been dirt-died againft every article that comes recommended by its authority. To expofe the futility of each particular among thefe objections has furnilhed the learning of ages with ample employment. According to the plan which I have laid down, 1 am to content myfelf under the pre- fent head -with pointing out the general fources of fuch objections, and with (howing that a forcible removal of thefe offences by divine interpofition would be inconfiftent with the doctrines themfelves of Revelation ; conclud- ing the whole with a particular account of thofe objections, which are advanced againft our Religion from the pretenfions of philofo- phy. Thus limited however, the prefent head, no lefs than the preceding ones, will fuggeft irrefragable reafons, by which we may fatisfy both ourfelves and others concerning the Hope that is in us. As SERMON VII. 255 As this head will fupply fufficient matter for our confederation at two different times ; I (hall make what relates to the general fources of objection the fubjeCt of our immediate confideration, and refer ve for the next op- portunity the particular objections with which I am to conclude. It hath a already been remarked, " that the " whole ftrength of Atheifm confifts in con- " tradicting the univerfal reafon of mankind : " that Atheifts have no principle and can '* have none, and therefore that they can ne- " ver realbn, but only confidently deny or af- <* firm." I (hall therefore not attempt to trace from any more immediate fources thofe objections againft the being and attributes of God, which muft all ultimately be referred either to the want of due attention to the ob- jects which furround us or to a fpirit of un- fupported contradiction ; and, without farther notice of them, (hall proceed to the different objections, which are advanced againil our Re- ligion by men who admit both the exigence and infinite perfection of God. By fome of thefe it is thought abfurd that Revelation, or our Religion as it is contained 3 In th= fifth Sermon. in 256 SERMON VIL in the Holy Scriptures and derived from an all-perfect author, mould be at all the fubjedt of offence j and that emanations from the fountain of truth mould furnilh the moft pre- judiced fceptic with even an appearance of error. But fuch men would do well to confider the imperfections of human nature, and to en- quire whether all the objections again ft Reve- lation ought not in reality to be afcribed to thefe imperfections, as to their proper fources. We know in the firft place that the pureft flream may be rendered foul by the channel through which it paffes : and if we view man in his moil enlightened ftate, we {hall have no reafon to wonder, that inftructions, committed to writing and conveyed in fucceffive ages through his hands, fhould b lofe much of their original purity. Befides it appears necefTary from the imperfections of mankind, that Re- velation mould be attended with a variety of circumftances, which will give rife to objec- tions more extenfive than are drawn from mere errors in the conveyance, and which will contribute in an eminent degree to render be- k However, it has happened, whether our Adverfaries will allow it to have happened providentially or not, that the cor- ruptions of the facred Text have neither been fo numerous, nor of fo great importance, as might have been expedted. lief SERMON VII. 257 lief in its truth a matter of faith and not of demonft ration. For, as containing a body of written instructions for the information and di- rection of its profelTors, at whatever time Re- velation were given; its antiquity in fubfequent ages would render many of thofe parts, which depend upon the conftrudtion of language and the cuftoms of mankind, obfcure at leaft and uncertain. And where the obfcurity and un- certainty of writings require at times the af- fiftance of conjecture, it is well known that no original perfection can fecure them againft all the different kinds of contradiction and af- perfion. Exclufive alfo of thefe general ap- pendages on human imperfection, which are fo common to all the very ancient writings, as to be allowed by men of candour to furnifh no reafonable objection againft any ; there are numberlefs circumftances, ariiing from the in- competency of human judgment, which will affect fuch a fyftem as the holy Scriptures un- fold and bring unmerited cenfure upon it. A narrative, which commences with the creation, which relates during the progrefs of nearly four thoufand years the mofl extraordinary occur- rences of hiftory, and which abounds with the greateft variety of matter, will be expofed to charges of mifreprefentation, when it is fub- S mitted 258 SERMON VIL initted to readers, incapable of being furnifhed with an abfolute and univerfal knowledge of facts. For, in a fucceffion of many different things, it is c probable that fome will happen contrary to probability. Efpecially too, will this be the cafe where things natural and fu- pernatural are intermixed with each other. Even the latter, though referred for their ori- gin to the immediate interpofition of the Deity, will, notwithftanding, leave beings of con- tracted and fceptical minds peculiar occafions of offence. Miracles, though related by eye- witnefTes, will, as facts of a fmgular kind, be d eminently expofed to every doubt which can c Ariftctle cites from Agatho thefe lines : and remarks on them, " yysT yap TO vuf TO EIXO?' un a>:z; " Xflft TO 5Tf TO ;." Rhetoric, p. 385. 8vo Edit. Cant. 172.8. He had before cited to the fame, or nearly the fame, effeft, p. 351. i-tv xfi) yt v. T* -aroXXa ffvuJomm * " Suppofe for inftance that the faft, which the teftimony " endeavours to ellablifh, partakes of the extraordinary and " the marvellous j in that cafe the evidence refulting from the " teftimony admits of a diminution greater or lefs in proportion " as the fact is mure or lefs unufual." Hume's Effays, vol. ii, p. i 27. be SERMON VII. 259 be inimuated again!!: human teftimony. And prophecies, which mean not to deftroy free- agency, cannot at times efcape the moft inju- rious lulpicions which arife from intentional obicurity. Moreover, as we are unacquainted with the efience of God and the general eco- nomy of his moral government; thofe parts of Revelation, which ought perhaps to be thought the leail expoled in themielves to plaufible ob- jection, will not on that account be lefs confi- dently availed by our adverfaries. Thus the myfterioulhels of paflages in a difpenfation, which, proceeding from God, rnuft fometimes refer to the incomprehenfibleeiTence of its au- thor, will from our inability to judge in thefe matters be conftrued into abfurdity. And, as the reaibns of God's dealings with man are . ; our finding out ; according to our" differ- ent conceptions of what he ought to do, ob- jections will be urged againfl the time and manner, whenever or whatever it be, in which Revelation was firft introduced and propagated in the world, againft the kind of evidence by \vhich its truth is confirmed, and againil the means by which its propofed happinefs is to be obtained. In the fame manner, as we are- unacquainted with the eflences of every part of creation, no lefs than of the Creator him- S 2 feif , 2 6o SERMON VII. felf, and are ever ready to fupply the want of knowledge by a variety of conjecture ; differ- ent kinds of objections will arife from a com- parifon of thefe different conjectures with Re- velation : iince the fame unfavourable con- clufion may be fuggefted againft its truth, whether it contain more or lefs than was ex- pected, and whether parts of it be mifunder- ftood or gratuitoufly contradicted by its op- ponents. To the fources of objection here enumerated, and which are all immediately derived from human imperfection, we may fubjoin the effects of this imperfection on the manner in which our Religion has been ex- plained, received, and defended, by Chriftians themlelves ; and the unmerited e farcafms, to which it has been expofed from the pious and e The farcafms of this kind, to which our Religion has been expofed, 'do not proceed from Mr. Gibbon and Voltaire only. The philofophical Mr. Hume has founded a very confiderable part of his objefHons againft miracles on the fidKons concern- ing the Abbe Paris and others. The inferences, which he draws from fictitious miracles, and from our want of experience as to fuch extraordinary events (fee the notes on the fifth Sermon), cpnftitute almoft the whole of his bold inve&ive againft the mi- raculous proofs of our Religion. And what he thus urges againft miracles he applies without variation to prophecies alfo. See his Eflays, vol. ii. p. 147. On fo weak a foundation reft the writings, which are often ; found to unfettle the faith and deftroy the peace of unguarded readers ! interefted SERMON VII. 261 interefted artifice, no lefs than from the fenfu- ality and ignorance of its profeffors. And if at length, in addition to all thefe circumftances, we take into our account the active influence of thofe corrupt and powerful motives, which will induce many to fearch out and extend to the uttermofl all fuch means of difcrediting divine Revelation j we (hall not want fources to which we may refer the num- berlefs objections advanced againfl our Re- ligion. How far it would be poffible for Omnipo- tence itfelf to remove all thefe occafions of of- fence, and to reduce Chriitianity to an indif- putable and permanent certainty, without a previous annihilation of all the imperfections of our nature, I am not concerned at prefent to enquire. This queftion has been difcufTed, and the negative of it ingenioufly maintained by a f modern writer on the origin of evil. I am here engaged to prove, that if the Deity were thus to interpofe his almighty power, it would be inconfiflent with the doctrines themfelves of Revelation. But, before I proceed to this, I may ob- ferve, by way of general illuftration, that the r Soame Jenyns. $ 3 inter- 262 SERMON VII. intcrpofition here defcribed would be evidently inconfiftent with that courfe of things, which is univerfally eftablifhed and approved in the natural world. If we confult the common appearances which furround us, we jfhall every where find circumftances fimilar to thofe com- plained of in our Religion. The conflitution of things prefents to our imperfect reafon fo many difficulties and uncertainties, as to de- monflrate that in the natural world it is by no means the defign of Providence to fubmit the propriety of his difpenfations to our judgment, or to force us into action by any more perfua- five motives than rational probabilities. In the common and hourly occurrences of this life we cannot foretell the certain confequence of the mofc vigorous exertions, nor enfure the fuccefs of the beft principles. To have excluded therefore with the poffibility of objection all appearance of uncertainty from Revelation, would in reality have been to form the world, as 8 fome partial obfervers of the divine difpen- fations infift it is formed, upon one plan and the Religion for it upon another. But fuch an enforcement of truth would not only be incon- iiftent with the courfe of nature (as hath been * See Soame Jenytjs's Internal Evidences. evinced SERMON VII. 263 evinced at large by Bifhop Butler in his invalu- able "Analogy," a work, which can never be recommended with too much earneftnefs to the Chriftian philofopher) ; it would be inconfiftent alfo, as I am to prove^ with what we are taught by Revelation itfelf. To prove this nothing more will be necef- fary, than to call your attention to the infor- mation which Chriftianity gives us concern- ing itfelf and the fubjecl: before us. The mif- fortune of moil fincere unbelievers is, that they confider the Chriftian Religion in a very erroneous point of view. They confider it merely as a covenant made at fome particular time between God and man without reference to any former tranfactions ; and from thence they proceed to fettle the degree of certainty which they require of its truth. This how- ever is not to confider Chriftianity, but a con- ceit of their own. No fyftem was ever denied the privilege of explaining its own nature and limiting its extent : and according to that ftandard alone, which itfelf propofes, can it be fairly eftimated. Chriftianity pretends not to be a covenant between two equal parties, nor even between a Creator and his creatures fimply; but between an all-juft and all-merciful God S 4 and 264 SERMON VIL and fallen degenerate man. As fuch it h in- forms us of the caufe of man's fall, and of the conditions required on his part to reinftate him in God's favour. In the perverfion of free will it points out the fource of human mifery j and, in the regulation of the fame principle, a remedy for this mifery through the merits of an all-perfect interceflbr. For the privilege of free will, though wrefted to the corruption, was ftill to be, according to its original defign, the ultimate perfection of human nature. To this great foundation therefore of all rational and moral excellence was every evidence, and every precept of Chriftianity to be accommodated. The Sa- viour, who was fent from heaven to make atonement for man's original fin, while he pro- mifes the am" fiance of the Holy Spirit to his weaknefs, pardon to his frailties, and even re- rniffion of his greateft crimes upon that re- pentance and faith which carry with them a reformation of life, flill leaves the iincere obe- dience, which was to procure all thefe blef- fings, in man's own power. And thofe em- phatical words in the laft chapter of that book which clofes the whole revealed will of God, h See the firft Sermon. " he SERMON VII. 265 1 " he that is unjuft let him be unjuft {till, " and he that is filthy let him be filthy ftill, " convey the manifeft intention of every part of Scripture with regard to thofe who are deter- mined to perievere in difobedience. Correipondently with this, fuch arguments only are offered to eftablifh the faith of man- kind as are fufficient to convince difpafiionate enquirers. Belides, we are exprefsly informed by one of the Apoftles, that there were k "fome " things in St. Paul's writings hard to be un- " derftood, which they who are unlearned and " unftable wreft, as they do allb the other *' Scriptures, to their own deftruction. " In the fame manner our bleffed Saviour is called *' a l {tumbling- ftone and a rock of offence :" and, fo far from compelling men to receive his doctrines, he himfelf explicitly m declares, that to thofe, whofe hearts were waxed grofs, whofe ears were dull of hearing, and who had clofed their eyes, the myfreries of the kingdom of God were reprefented in parables ; that feeing they might fee and not perceive, and hearing they might hear and not understand. And, however often tempted, never did he conde- fcend by any more convincing proofs of his 1 Rev. xxii. ii. k 2 Pet. iii. 16. l Rom. ix. 33. n Matt. xiii. ii 15. divine 266 SERMON VII. divine miffion, than thofe which he had before given, to win their attention who like the deaf adder ftop their ears. Indeed the infidelity of his audience often made him withdraw the means defigned for their conviction inftead of adding to them. Thus we are told of his own countrymen, that n " he did not many mighty " works among them becaufe of their unbe^ " lief.'' Or, as another Evangelift exprefles it, " he could not do any mighty work among " them" for that reafon. Nor need we won- der at the expreffion ; fince the whole tenour of Revelation required fuch a promulgation of our Religion, as mould leave thofe at liberty to re- ject it in whom the God of this world had blinded their eyes. For though divine mercy had interpofed to roufe mankind from the le- thargic fecurity of continued fin, and had en- gaged, through the merits of a Redeemer, both to fupply them with fupernatural means of re- filling the corruption of their fallen nature, and to procure acceptance for their fincere, however imperfect fervices ; yet is nothing far- ther any where propofed by their redemption. Man's ftate at firft was only probationary ; to no better therefore can we poffibly expect Matt. xiii. 58. Mark vi. 5, 6. that SERMON VII. 267 that he 'hould be advanced by the forfeiture of his innocence. Befides, if the fallen angels, thofe dreadful examples of almighty vengeance, all perifhed ; how would it have been confident with the fame infinite juftice that any other fallen creature mould at once be pardoned and in- verted with eternal happinefs ; or, what is the fame, that his actions ihould be determined by fatal neceffity, or his faith conftrained by irrefiftible demonftration to a conformity with fuch duties or doctrines as would unavoidably lead in their confequences to eternal happinefs ? Thofe angels indeed, as we may infer, fell each feparately by his own prefumption. But what elfe will they do who perim under the Gofpel- covenant ? Had God condemned all, that were in Adam's loins, to eternal punifhment for the fin of their firft parent, his mercy might perhaps have been called in queftion with fome appearance of reafon. But he has more than vindicated this his mofl endearing attri- bute. Of his own will he has redeemed man- kind from their firfl fall ; and it is to himfelf alone that each man muft impute his fecond. To reftore the human race even to this capacity of happinefs was not effected without the fa- crifice of an all-perfect Redeemer. To have done 268 S E R M O N VII. done more for them would have required a facrifke of a very different kind: the fa- crifice ( if it may be fo called ) of divine juftice. Inftead therefore of the bleffings of eter- nal life being forced upon us by the removal of objections from our Religion, it is fingularly arid awfully remarkable in what manner re- flraints are every where on the contrary with- drawn from our Faith. In the natural world, he, that filleth all things with his prefence, has condefcended for a feaibn to retire (as it were) from this fcene of probation, or in the p Scripture language to hide himfelf -, and to leave mankind to themfelves and the con- clufions of their own reafon, fave that he every moment fupports the profligate fenfualifts, who, becaufe they do not fee and hear him, dare deny his exiflence. And, under the Chrif- tian difpenfation, the light of the glorious Gof- pel is left to our own difcovery and application ; though at the lame time it diffufes its fplendour around thofe very unbelievers who are fludious to retort every ray of divine illumination againfl the great luminary itfelf from which it ilTues. Nor do any of the arguments, drawn from the P Job xxiii. 8,9. Ifaiah xlv. 15. creation, SERMON VJL 269 creation, more fully prove the infinite perfection of its author, than this his government of the moral world, explicitly declared in Revelation and uniformly experienced in human life. Having, through Chriftianity, again prepared the means and propofed the conditions of hap- pinefs for mankind, he determined to leave the ultimate reception and operation of this Reli- gion to that free will by which they were from the beginning to ftand or fall. And this, once refolved by a being of infinite perfection, none of thofe paffions and refentments, which dif- turb and fruftrate the councils of man, have ever been able to invalidate : " His q righteouf- " nefs ftandeth like the flrong mountains, '' and his judgments are like the great " deep." At the fame time left unbelievers mould prefumptuouily conceive, that, by deriding, they defeat alib the councils of the great Au- thor of Revelation ; he has expreisly foretold, in addition to all the other information which he has given us on the fubject, not only that " it mult r needs be that offences come," but alfo, that " there mould come in the laft days " ' (coffers walking after their own lulls :" * Pf. xxx vi. 6. ' Matt, xviii. 7. * 2 Pet. iii. 3. men, 270 SERMON VII. men, who, we may prefume, were to refemble thofe defcribed by the excellent * Hooker, and " bear the title of wife men, and fcribes, and " great difputers of this world : men, who are *' nothing indeed lefs, than what in mew they " moft appear ; who, being addicted unto " their own wills, ufe their wit, their learn- " ing, and all the wifdom they have, to " maintain that which their obftinate hearts " are delighted with, efteeming in the frantick ** error of their minds the greateft madnefs in ** the world to be wifdom and the higher! ** wifdom foolifhnefs." The feoffs of unbe- lievers therefore thus foretold, inftead of de- feating the councils of the great author of Revelation, ferve on the contrary to difplay the veracity of his predictions : and the long- fuffering, with which they are permitted to periift in oppofition to the truth, proves only that the perverfenefs of man cannot prevail to annul the merciful offers of that all-perfect Being, who has declared, u " I am Jehovah, " I change not j therefore, ye fons of Jacob " are not confumed." Whatever then unbe- lievers may fay or immoral men do ; it is not *- Eccl. Pol. b.iii. c. viii. p. 75. Edit. 1666. tt Mai. iii. 6. confident SERMON VII. 271 confiftent with what our Religion declares of i.tfelf, nor with the requiiitions and predictions which it holds forth to its profeffors, that any force fhould be applied to reftrain the princi- ples of the one more than the practice of the other. Chriftianity has engaged to fave neither without his own w voluntary concurrence : and furely its truth cannot be affected by permitting, what on the refufal of fuch concurrence it has moil folemnly denounced, the eternal deftruc- tion of both. Such are the fources from which the objec- tions again ft our Religion are drawn ; and fo inconfiftent with it is any forcible removal of thefe offences. But, left any one mould imagine that the method of reafoning here purfued might be extended to juftify the abfurdities of any reli- gious fyftem whatever, it may (before I dif- mifs thefe general obfervations on the objec- tions againft our Religion) be an ufeful caution to remark at large, that I have been attempting to account for the endlefs variety of thefe ob- jections, and not to apologize for them as w Erafmus very juftly fays in his paraphrafe on St. Matt. xxii. 37* O Jerufalem, Jerufalem, them that killeft the pro- phets, &c. " Cui femel data eft arbitrii libertas, invitus fer- ** vari non poteft," charges SERMON VII. charges which can properly be directed againfl our Religion and which are founded in truth. Chriflians are as ready as their enemies to con- fefs, that the Deity can never be fuppofed to reveal any thing contradictory to reafon : and Christianity needs not the affiftance of fubter- fuges. However many of its parts may have been controverted j no part of it was ever proved to be falfe or irrational. The numberlefs abfurdities not only of the bed-fancied hypo- thefis. of Deifrn, but of every other pretenfion to Revelation beiides that of the Holy Scrip- tures ; even of the pretenfions of Jews and Chriftians themfelves, when they defert the written word and defcend to oral tradition.; immediately di (cover a fallibility of human ori- gin. Bat the difficulties, attending Chriftianity, are of a very different kind, and prove only that it does not mean to counteract, with re- gard to itfelf, the natural confe'quences of our imperfections ; but leaves thofe confequences to form that effential part of our trial, which re- quires a x good difpolition, as previoufly ne- ceilary, that we may know of the doctrines of onr Religion whether they be of God : and which requires, above all, a fpirit of invefti- * John vii. 17. gation. SERMON VII. 273 gatlon, the reverfe of that which betrays it- fclf on fubjects of fceptical difpute : " For " r thus faith the high and lofty one, that " inhabiteth eternity, whofe name is holy, " I dwell in the high and holy place j with " him alfo that is of a contrite and humble " fpirit." In conformity with thefe requifitions, which are fo ftrongly enforced in the holy Scriptures as to be conftituted fources of predeftina- tion to eternal life, aflent is enjoined without demonftration , and the Chriftian's faith is made an indication of a well-difpofed and humble mind, as well as the deduction of an unprejudiced judgment. To an affectation in our firft parents of being wife, as Gods, Re- velation afcribes our prefent mifery : and from a modeft ufe of that reafon, which was de- llgned for man, does this gracious difpenfation encourage us to hope for a reftoration to hap- pinefs. To this reafon it appeals, command- ing us to z fearch the Scriptures and as a wife men to judge for ourfelves; but fo to judge, as to remember that the Chriftian's Faith muft ever be a virtue. And as it cannot, con- liftently with this appellation, require demon- y If, Ivii. 15. z Johnv. 39. a i Cor. x. 15. T ftmtive ftrative conviction (for where then would be its pretenfion to virtue ?), fo neither can it, conformably . with that reafon, by which as the candle of the Lord we are to examine Revelation itfelf, be founded on abfurdities or inconiiftencies. As the Chriftian's Faith does not admit of demon ftration, fo neither will it acquiefce in enthufiafm or fuperftition. It rifes ftill more above thefe latter, than it falls fhort of the former. It requires all the evi- dence which the nature of the thing itfelf fuggefts ; but no more. It requires that a Revelation, fent from God for the benefit of mankind, fhould be commenfurate with all the real wants with regard to belief as well as practice, which can be alleged by well-difpofed and humble men, and that it fhould through- out be confident with the glory of God. It does not require that Revelation mould carry with it fuch irrefiftible proof of its truth, as to remove every offence and flop the mouth of infidelity. This would deftroy free will and render human life no longer a flate of pro- bation. What our Religion is in its fubftance, its hiftory, and its evidences, we have feen. It hath appeared in all thefe refpects not only to be fuch, as to confirm in the higheft degree the SERMON VII. 275 the defcription here given of the Faith required of us; but fuch alib, as will abundantly fatisfy every expectation of the well-difpofed and humble inquirer, and preferve him, under the influence of this faith, unmoved by all the attempts of infidelity. Filled with pious gra- titude for the affurances afforded him of the truth of his Religion, he will confefs both the origin and the irremediable nature of the objec- tions advanced againft it ; and will adore that infinite wifdom which has fo difpenfed to man- kind its gracious communications, as to enable them, by voluntary obedience here, to co-ope- rate with their great Redeemer in fecuring for their inheritance that perfect happinefs which is defigned to be their everlafting recompenfe hereafter. Having faid thus much (according to my original propofal) concerning the objections in general that are advanced againft our Reli- gion, and having moreover added a caution with regard to the manner in which I have treated of them, I mail proceed in the next difcourfe to the particular objections with which I am to conclude. T 2 SERMON VIII. i PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man, that ajketb you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. THERE are no objections, among all that are comprehended under the differ- ent fources enumerated in the preceding dif- courfe, againft which Chriftians of an inqui- fitive mind will require that more care fhould be taken to guard their Faith and to fupply them with reafons in vindication of the Hope that is in them, than thofe which are to be the fubjecT: of our prefent confideration. The ob- jections to our Religion, urged immediately in favour of fenfual gratifications, are notoriously the offspring of a vicious difpoiition and retain T 3 few 278 SERMON VIII. few learned advocates. But thofe, which arc drawn from philofophy, affume the form of rational inquiries ; too often under this fpe- cious appearance difcredfting our Religion with the followers and admirers of human fcience. To hold forth cautions therefore againft the deluiivenefs of philofop'hy, is one of the moft zealous concerns of the a infpired penmen : and as nothing more powerfully difTuades men from error than an expofition of its real prin- ciples, I cannot perhaps more effectually co- operate with thefe cautions in the prefent dif- courfe, than by endeavouring to point out in it particularly the origin and foundation of the objections which are thus advanced againft our Religion from the pretenfions of philofo- phy. It has been obferved by a celebrated "critic, that there is no Iburce of excellence in writing, which will net produce the contrary effect in iuch as are forward to diftinguifh themfelves by fome unufual diiplay of genius. If this ob- lervation be accommodated to our prefent fub- ject, we fhall ceafe to wonder that the ftudy of philofophy, which has fupplied humble in- quirers with ib many arguments in fupport of Revelation* mould recommend itfelf to men * Col. ii. 8. b Longinus, feft. v. Of SERMON VIII. 279 of an oppofite character by fuggefting to them objections againft its truth. And if we reflect that abftracted reafonings, no lefs than imme- diate difcoveries in nature, form a part of phi- lofophy, and that both may equally be direft- ed againft Revelation, we mall farther ceafe to wonder that thefe objections fhould at length become innumerable. Thofe, which are drawn from abftracted reafonings, extend themfelves to every part of our Religion. For, as, from the variety of caufes to which effects may be referred, or to which through our ignorance of the efTences of things they appear capable at leaft of being referred, there is no occurrence in common life which will not afford pleas for affigning it to fome falfe caufe; fo there is no fubject, accounted for in Revelation, which has not furnifhed argu- ments to prove the poffibility of its reference to fome other caufe than what is fuggefted in the infpired writings, and which has not at length been ftudiouily wrefted from its true origin by an c illogical deduction of the agency c By the- pofition, as it is called in hypothetical reafoning, of the antecedent from the pofuion of the confequent. A.riftotle mentions this, as a thing which is very natural, but very falla- T 4 cicus i 280 SERMON VIII. of that other caufe from the exigence of the general effect. Thus the creation, formation, and government of the univerfe have been afcribed to neceflity or chance, as it difplays more or lefs order to fceptical examiners. Matter itfelf, as it exifts under certain modes perceivable only by the fenfes, has been refer- red for the fource of this its difputed exigence to mere perceptions ; while thefe again have been d confounded with ideas. Spirit alfo, as it partakes with the body ofiimilar imperfections in infancy, of fimilar gradations of improve- ment in advancing years, and of the fame, even fometimes incapacitating, affections through- out life, has been denied any other exiftence than what it has been faid to derive from the precarious harmony of bodily organs. By as fophiftical a method of referring things to new and fuppofititious caufes, the motives, from which the moft common of men's actions pro- ceed, have been creeled into principles of ne- ceffity and inverted with the abfolute controul of the human mind. Nor have there been clous : " OIOKTO.I yxf xvBpuirot, lia,v mot evros v> " ei TO vrsfor erj xi TO crgoTEpoy > r, ywttrS " &f." Poet. C. 24. 4 See Beattie's Effay on Truth, p. 242, &:c. wanting SERMON VIII. 281 wanting philofophers to afcribe the contradic- tory opinions of different ages and nations on the fame fubjects, and even on moral virtues, to the impoffibility of any criterion of truth and to a total want of moral difference in men's actions. While others, with an equally flattering remedy for the confcioufnefs of guilt, have boldly afferted, becaufe men are ailaulted by different degrees of temptation and endow- ed with different powers of refinance, that therefore whatever is called virtue in mankind proceeds either from circumftances of fitua- tion or from natural frame and conftitution. Attempts having been thus made to fubvert the principles of Revelation, and indeed of all Religion, by affuming, as the real caufes of things, thofe which (to indulge fcepticifm in its moft e abfurd petitions) are no more than the poffible caufes of them ; it is unneceffary to * Such as, that neceflity and chance may be caufes of things; that matter has no exiftence ; and that an organization of matter in the human body may produce fpirit or mind, &c. &c. Of which pofitions the two firft are evidently abfurd in themfelves : and with regard to the laft, matter and mind are not only to- tally different things ; but likewife it has been proved anatomi- cally concerning the brain, from the organization of which this pirit or mind is fuppoied to proceed, that " no part of it is " effentialiy neceffary to the exiftence of the intellectual facul- " ties." See Dr. Terrier's argument againft materialifm in the Memoirs of the Manchefter Society, vol. iv. part i, fhow 282 SERMON VIII. (how that the fame has been the cafe alfo with regard to all the remaining and appropriate parts of Revelation. The truth is, things, if they exift at all, muft exift under fome circumftances ; and, while thefe circumftances may be referred through ignorance or artifice to fictitious caufes, the mind of man, when ambitious to fupport the credit of human fufficiency, will acquiefce in any extravagant fiction fooner than accede to the doctrines of Revelation. To expofe therefore the want of foundation in objections againft Revelation, derived 'from fuch an origin, it is by no means required to prove it to be impomble that the caufes af- fumed in them mould produce the afligned ef- fects. From the poffibility no logic can ever infer the reality of fuch a production. Befides, proofs of the impoffibility of it cannot be univerfally and decifively adduced without a knowledge of the eflences of things. To ex- pofe the want of folid foundation in the objec- tions before us, it is required to mow only that the caufes laid down in Revelation are fuffi- cient to account for the appearances of things : or that if Revelation be true, things will exift under thofe very circumftances from which new caufes are perverfely inferred and directed to SERMON VIII. 283 to difprove its truth: that (with regard to the particulars above inftanced) if an all-wife God did create the univerfe, it would be go- verned by regular laws; and that even this re- gularity in the operation of fome parts of the creation would, from the interference of other as well regulated parts of it, produce at times effects which may appear to be devoid of all regulation and order: that if matter were produced by Omnipotence for the ufe of beings endowed with fenfe, it is reafonable to expect that it mould be fubject to their perception by means of the organs of fenfe, and this too in proportion only as thofe organs are employed about it: that if the fpirit of man were de- iigned for an exiflence, as progreffive at lead in improvement as his body, its original {rate may well be as proportionably imperfect, and its proficiency in attainments as gradual as that of his body \ and that if bodily enjoyments and fufferings be fo many trials of the fpirit, it will be affected by all thefe fenfations, and amidft diverfities of probation the corruptible body will in different degrees prefs down the foul: that if human actions be left to the guidance of reafon, they cannot, though ab- folutely free, 'be a mere effect of the will, but require to proceed from fome motives and to be. directed SERMON VIII. directed to fome ends : that if mankind be endowed with freedom of thought and be re- duced to a ftate of general corruption, it may be expected not only that individuals but alfo that communities ihould differ in their opi- nions of things, and that thefe differences, when widened by the contrary operation of igno- rance on the one fide and enlightened knowledge on the other, mould at length terminate in contradictions of the greateft importance: laftly, that if men have different talents allotted them, their trials, or degrees of temptation, will be as different ; and if one deftined con- fequence and reward of virtue in another life be an exemption from all temptation , it is confident with the analogy of things that the fame caufe mould in fome degree produce the fame effect in this life, and that good men fliould find the leaft difficulty in controuling their paffions. When it has been thus mown that the ap- pearances of things, or the circumftances un- der which things exift, are accounted for and morally neceflary, if the doctrines of Revela- tion be true, no f additional argument can be f Bentley very pertinently afks, " Is that a good argument *' backwards againft the truth of any thing, which a priori is " plain muft happen To ; though that thing be allowed to be " true ?" Phileleuth. Lipf. Rem. 22. wanted SERMON VIII. wanted to enfure for us a lading triumph over the e preceding and fimilar attempts of meta- phyfical fophiftry : fince our Religion itfelf both requires and explains that very ilate of things, from which objections againft its truth are thus perverfely drawn ; and it is well known, that the firft rule of philofophizing explicitly declares, " more caufes of things " are not to be admitted, than are both " true and fufficient to explain their phs- " nomena." But furely we ought not to wonder, if the enemies of our Religion have been able to em- ploy the fuppofitions of abftracled philofophy to its prejudice ; fince fuch metaphylical fub- tleties are fo thoroughly adverfe to divine truth, that even attempts to reconcile them have been attended (as we have k feen above) with per- nicious confequences to Chriftianity. In the early ages of our Religion, when the zealots of fuch fyftems had nothing to oppofe to its recent evidences, they did not come over to its fide without bringing with them a numerous f All thefe objections are of the fame kind with that, which Ariftotle calls " AWK ^aio/xsj, XA' ta>. aV^jjj an," and pro- ceeds to obferve concerning it, "a yu.% TI x uxo? M>E 3 eir*//f- *' &?, aXX' JTI ax avuyxcuw." Rhetor. 8vo. p. 390. 4 See the introduction to the third Sermon. train 286 SERMON VIII. train of errors. Sooner than they would relin- quifh their former ftudies, they forced the fimple doctrines of Chriflianity into a confift- ency with all the wild reveries of both the Gnoflic and the Platonic School. The plain- nefs of Revelation was foolifhnefs to thefe lo- vers of difputation : and divine truths appeared to be unworthy of reafon, till they had been tempered with the mofl extravagant of its fal- lies. Nor did men of fcience (as they were efteemed) betray lefs prejudice and ignorance of true Chriftianity, than the i Emperours who propofed to the fenate to enrol Chrift among the Roman Deities. But as I have fhewn that the metaphyfkal attempts of the enemies of our Faith to introduce new caufes of things are devoid of all folid foundation ; and as care is at prefent abundantly taken, by means of .Church eftablifhments, to hinder the injudi- cious profefTors of our Religion from again in- corporating philofophical conceits with its doc- trines; I need add no more, either for our fa- tisfaction or caution, on this part of my fub- iect, and may proceed to the objections againft our Religion which are immediately drawn from difcoveries in nature. 1 Adrian and Severus Alexander. See Jortin's Remarks, vol.. ii. p. 90. Thefe SERMON VIII. 287 Thefe objections are drawn from discoveries of this kind, which are either general and fyf- tematical, or particular and feparate ; and all of them originate in erroneous opinions with regard to the intention of our Religion, or with regard to the difcoveries themfelves from with they are drawn. Thus, in confequence of fuch general and fyftematical difcoveries, objections are urged againft our Religion on account of the coinci- dence of its- language with popular opinions concerning natural appearances, and its want of fuperior information on thefe fubjects. For though the k authors of the general difcoveries in natural fcience, which enlighten the prefer. t age, have been fully convinced of their con- fiftency with Revelation ; we yet frequently find admirers and followers of thofe great men, in all other refpects, forward in this to main- tain a contrary opinion. They are offended, that Revelation mould either countenance (ac- cording to their interpretation of its intention) any erroneous fyftem, or omit the opportunity of proving its fuperior wifdom by explaining the true fyftem of nature. But fuch men have yet to learn the real in- k Newton, Boyle, &c. tention 288 SERMON VIII. tention of Revelation. By religious as oppofed to other inftruction, this gracious difpenfation was to provide a remedy for the fatal confe- quehces of man's original tranfgreffion. Thus calculated, it neither approves nor condemns the natural fyftems of its age. Having in the introduction to its own hiftory eftablifhed the foundation of every rational fyftem of natural knowledge, having eftablimed in the Deity the Creator and preferver of univerfal nature, it fupports not in its fubfequent parts any par- ticular reafonings of men concerning his works. Jt (imply relates fuch truths, as are connected with Religion and refer to man himfelf. It adopts not any fyftem of natural philofophy. When references muft neceflarily be made to philofophical fubjects, with whatever human fyflem the expreffions may coincide, thefe re- ferences are fo made, as plainly to mow that the holy Scriptures mean not to philofophize, but to propofe their inftructions in terms which are moft eafily underftood. The language, .which philofophers have uied in every age, is on fuch occalions the unaffected language of in- fpiration. Philofophers have found it expedient, with regard to natural appearances, that the'er- 1 Philofophers univerfally fpeak of the riling of the Sun, Xrc. rors SERMON VIII. 289 rors of the generality of mankind mould be admitted in difcourfes defigned for general apprehenfion : and Revelation has gracioufly been pleafed to accommodate itfelf to the fame expediency. Indeed any other language would have required a previous explanation and avow- al of the fyftem from which its terms were derived. And this would not only have been inconfifteflt with the general intention of Re- velation, but alfo with that indulgence which the Deity has from the beginning been pleaf- ed to extend to human reafon. Had Revelation introduced any the beft- founded fyftem of modern phyfics, or had the Almighty Creator been pleafed to difclofe the councils themfelves of his infinite wifdom, what would have been the confequence ? Phi- lofophy would immediately have become mat- ter of Faith, and difbelief of any part of it a m dangerous herefy. How many infidels would this or that man's fanciful hypothecs con- cerning the appearances of things have cal- led forth ? From the time of Ptolemy to Copernicus how many prejudices would the wifeft of men have entertained againft Revela- tion ; and how few would have believed in a 01 See Nichol's Conference with a Theift, vol. i. p. 70. U fyftem SERMON VIII. fydem which appeared to contradict the tef- timony of their fenfes ? Befides, though truth be one certain indivifible point, even good men think they may fafely controvert the opinions, without impeaching the virtue of their oppo- nents ; and in fome cafes fcruple not to main- tain their own conjectures, for no better reafon perhaps than becaufe they are their own. But where Revelation had interpofed its inftruc- tion, this liberty could by no means be inno- cent 5 and the human mind, having no choice of opinion left, would neceflarily lofe one of its mod pleaiing and mod powerful motives to exertion. At prefent the God, who brought m every bead of the field and every fowl of the air to Adam to fee what he would call them, has difplayed the productions of creation before our eyes, and left us to exercife that reafon-upon them which he certainly endowed not in vain with any of its powers. He has commanded our Faith with regard to thofe religious doc- trines, which are calculated to remedy the confequences of man's original tranfgrefiion ; and which, few as they are, the fophiflry of metaphyfical philofophy has throughout at- m Gen. ii. 19. tempted SERMON VIII. 291 tempted to fubvert. In every other relpe^i he has indulged us with perfect freedom of thought. It matters nothing to our falvation what fyftems of natural fcience we adopt, or whether we equally reject them all ; provided only that we do not, with the impious Al- phonfus, argue from our own prefumption againft the wifdom of the Creator, and blafphe- moufly imagine, that, had we been admitted to the councils of the moft High, we could have taught htm better how to exert his Almighty power. Exclufively however of objections againft our Religion, which are thus drawn from general fyftems, others are urged againfl it in confe- quence of particular and feparate difcoveries in nature. The hiftory of Revelation is fo immediately and intimately connected with the ftate of the world, that believers readily confefs there is reafon to expect a confiftency between them ; and the enemies of Chriftianity have in all ages been forward to avail themfelves of the opportunities, which the concifenefs of tfce Scripture-hiftory and the infinite variety of appearances around us afford for cavil and dif- putation. But fo well do the particular dif- coveries, which have been made in nature, U 2 corre* 292 SERMON VIII. correspond with the events recorded in the Scriptures, that they have given rife to few objections, except with regard to the time of creation and the defcent of mankind from the fame common parents. Of thefe the former are founded on n conjec- tural inferences from difcoveries relative to the matter of our globe ; which might eafily be anfwered by other conjectures on the fame fub- jedts, were it not, that fo extenfive is our igno- rance of the original fubftance of the earth, and of the changes which might be made in it on different occalions, and efpecially when all the fountains of the great deep were miracu- louily broken up at the deluge, as to hinder us from arguing with any degree of certainty upon fuch fubjects. Befides, it is very poffible alfo, that the Mofaical account of the creation mould be fo explained, as to evince that it n Whatever inferences fome writers may draw from volcanos concerning the age of the world, Sir William Hamilton fays with regard to the beds of lava in the neighbourhood of mount ^Etna and Vefuvius : " I do not pretend to fay that a juft efti- " mate can be formed of the great age of Volcanos from this " obfervation, but fome fort of conjecture might be made." On Volcanos, p. 98, 99. Mofes indefinitely affects, " IN THE BEGINNING God " created the heaven and the earth:" Gen. i. i. He then gives an account of the formation of the earth which may refer to a much later period ; to a period fo much later, as to admit of the intermediate creation of angels, and of the poffibility even of an intermediate and different formation of the earth it- felf. SERMON VIII. 293 cannot be affected by any inferences whatever which our adverfaries may wifh to draw from thefe difcoveries. The beft human means of fatisfying a ra- tional and modeft inquiry into the commence- ment of the things around us, as far as it is indif- putablyand effentially connected with the Scrip- ture-hiftory, muft ever be fought for in the origin of arts and fciences and the general tefti- mony of heathen antiquity. And thele have been p proved to be fo decifive in favour of Reve- lation, that to be ignorant of fuch fubjects is in reality to lofe a perfuaiive motive for believ- ing in our mofl holy Religion. felf. It is certain that the words *' IN THE BEGINNING," as they are ufed in the introduction to St. John's Gofpel, refer to a time coeval, at leaft, with the production of the very firft creatures. And when Mofes fays, that God made the heavenly bodies, he may be fuppofed to intimate only that our atmofphere was fitted at that time to tranfmit light, fo that thpfe bodies were then rendered vifible to inhabitants of our globe, and might be faid to have been made in an inferior fenfe of the term, or ren- dered capable of conveying to us the benefits which we derive from them. Such conje&ural interpretations of Scripture receive fupport from the difference between the word N~Q " he created," which is ufed in the firft verfe of Gen. i. and often afterwards, and ni>.y which is rendered " made" in the 7th, i6th, and other verfes, and is known frequently to imply nothing more than an adaptation, or at mofl only a formation. See concern- ing this ufe of nil'V Exod. xxviii. &c. &c. f See Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. U 3 The 294 SERMON VIII. The objections againft the common parent- age of mankind, both from the difference in o their perfons and local fituations, will require fomewhat more of our attention. Thefe are directed againft a part of our Religion which is intimately connected with the univerfal cor- ruption and redemption of mankind. They are however at prefent fo retrenched in their limits as to have loft all the irrefiftible force which they were fuppofed to carry againft Revelation. For, with regard to the perfons of men, whatever might q formerly be conjectured or reported concerning nations fpecifically diftin- guifhed in fhape and ftature from the reft of mankind, we are fully authorifed by r late dif- coveries to contradict every fuch insinuation and to apply univerfally what a celebrated mo- dern hiftorian fays of the inhabitants of Ame- rica : * " In proportion as fcience extends and * Tacitus gives a concife account of. fome ancient relations concerning monflers, which were partly of the human fpecies, and mentions in his concluding words what probably was the real origin of fuch fables : " Ut quifque a longinquo reve- *' nerat, miracula narrabam, vim turbinum, et inauditas volu- " cres, monftra maris, ambiguas hominum et belluarum formas : " vifa, five ex metu credita." Annal. 1. ii. c. 24.. * See the different voyages of Capt. Cook. 9 Robertfon's Hift. of America, vol. ii. p. 76. 8vo. Edit. The fame is alfo fully aflerted in Dr. Smith's " EfTay on the " caufes of the variety of complexion and figure in the human " fpecies/' p. 93 97. Edit. 1789. " nature SERMON VIII. 295 " nature is examined with a difcerning eye, '* the wonders which amufed ages of ignorance " difappear, the tales of credulous travellers are " forgotten, the * monfters which they defcribe t( have been fearched for in vain, and thofe " provinces, in which they pretend to have " found inhabitants of fingular forms, are now " known to be poflefTed by people no wife " differing from the reft of the Americans. " The various complexions therefore, by which men are diftinguifhed from each other, may now be faid to conftitute the principal differ- ence in their perfons. And though this vari- ety has ever been fuppofed to proceed originally from climate ; we mall yet perhaps acquiefce more readily in the opinion from the ingenious and forcible manner in which u it is maintained by the hiftorian above cited. 1 The obfervations, which are here made with regard to monfters of the human fpecies, are equally applicable to mon- fters of other kinds. " The ifland of Ferro was celebrated for a century or two on the credit of a miraculous tree, fmgle in its kind, enveloped in perpetual mifts, and diftilling water for the ample fupply of the ifland. But this wonder, though vouched by feveral voyagers and by fome as eye-witneffes, vanifhed at the approach of fober enquiry, nor could a fingle native be found hardy enough to afTert its exigence." Voyage to new South Wales, 410. 1789. p. 22. u See Robertfon's Hiltory of America, vol. ii. p. 74, &c. What M. de Pages fays from his own experience on this fub- jeft in that part of his travels round the world in the years i 767 1771, which relates to his paflage over the great defert, is well worthy of our attention : " The tribes, which frequent the U 4 " middle 296 SERMON VIII. To inveftigate all the caufes which have co-operated in the production of the differ- ence of complexion, and other lefs confider- able differences of appearance, in the human fpecies, and to defend the neceffary pofitions by particular arguments, would not be con- fident with the limits of a mort difcourfe. The fubjecT: alfo itfelf has been well-nigh ex- haufted by a foreign naturalift of the prefent age. Buffon, though by no means a bigot in favour of the Scripture-hiflory, afferts its caufe in the fulleft manner poffible againft the objec- tion at prefent before us This indefatigable philofopher inquires into all the real differ- ences v difcoverable in men's perfons ; and at length from a w number of the beft-attefled ' middle of the defert, have locks fomewhat crifped, extreme - ' ly fine, and approaching the woolly hair of the Negro. My ' own during the fhort period of my travels in thofe regions became more dry and delicate than ufual, and receiving little nourifhmem from a checked perfpiration mowed a difpofition to affume the fame frizzled and woolly appearance : an en- tire failure of moifture, and the exceffive heat of climate by which it was occafioned feem to be the principal caufes of thofe fymptoms ; my blood was become extremely dry, and my complexion differed little at laft from that of a Hindoo or Arab." v The differences in the perfons of mankind, remarked by Cook and other late voyagers, do not vary from thofe, which are ftated and examined by Buffon. w See vol. i. of Buffon's Hiftory, translated by Kenrick and Murdcck, from p. 171 to p. 292. obfervations SERMON VIII. 297 obfervations deduces the following memorable conclufion : x " From every circumftance may " be obtained a proof that mankind are not " compofed of fpecies eflentially different from " each other : that on the contrary there was " originally but one individual fpecies of men, " which, after being multiplied and diffufed " over the whole furface of the earth, undef- ' went divers changes from the influence of " climate, from the difference of food and the " mode of living, from epidemical diforders, " as alfo from the intermixture varied ad infi- " nitum of individuals more or lefs refembling " each other : that thefe alterations were at " firft lefs confiderable and confined to indivi- " duals : that afterwards from the continued " action of the above caufes becoming more " general, more fenfible, and more fixed, they " formed varieties of the fpecies : that thefe " varieties have been and ftill are perpetuated " from generation to generation, in the fame f ' manner as certain diforders and certain mala- " dies pafs from parents to their children." Befides, our Religion does not want advo- cates in the prefent times to efpoufe its caufe, and to repel the attacks of this fort to which * See Buffon as above, vol. i. p. 291. it 298 SERMON VIII. it is every day expofed. What has been laft objected on the fubjedt before us, by philofo- phers of more enterprife than y fober reflexion in their endeavours to undermine Revelation, has been very lately z anfwered in the moft able and fatisfa&ory manner by a diftingu idled American profeflbr ; who appears to have made excellent ufe of his local advantages for the dif- cuffion of fuch a fubjeft, and to have fo fully confirmed, by his own obfervations and reafon- ings, the fubilance of the conclufion urged in y We have a fufficient proof of Lord Kaims's want of fober reflection on fuch occafions in what Dr. Smith remarks on his inferences from the Giagas : " He thinks it certain that the ' Giagas, a nation of Africa, could not have defcended from ' one origin with the reft of mankind, becaufe, totally unlike ' all others, they are void of natural affection. They kill, fays * his Lordihip, all their own children as foon as they are born, ' and fupply their places with youth ftolen from the neighbour- ' ing tribes. If this character had been true, even his Lordfhip's ' zeal for a good caufe might have fuffered him to reflect, that ' the Giagas could not have continued a feparate race longer ' than the firft ftock mould have lived. The ftolen youth would ' refemble their parents and would at length compofe the nation. ' And yet the Giagas, according to his Lordmip, will continue 1 to kill their children and to be a Handing monument of ths * falfhood of the Scriptures ! An excellent fpecimen of the eafy * faith of infidelity ! " Smith's Eflay, notes, p. 96. * Among other objections againft Revelation, on the fubject before us, that which is often urged in modern times from the difcoveries of Anatomifts concerning the three lamellae or folds of which the fkin confifts,and from the different appearance of the mucous fubftance which fills the cellular membrane of the in- termediate fold in black and white men, is very concifely and ably anfwered by Dr. Smith, p. 17, and i&. our SERMON VIII. 299 our favour by the great foreign naturalift, as to have rendered additional defences of it en- tirely unnecefTary. The other objection advanced againfl the Scripture-genealogy of mankind from the dif- ference in their fituations, or from the fup- pofed abfurdity of making them migrate from fome one country to all the remote parts of the earth, is in modern times flill more ob- vioufly and inexcufably deflitute of folid foun- dation ; fince, what may have been done by many different ways, it is in every point of view an unwarrantable prefumption to afiert gratuitoufly was never done by any. Paflages have been actually difcovered in the prefent century from the northern a extremities of the old world to the great continent of the new, which evince at once the b extreme proba- bility of the migration in queftion as far as refpects the peopling of the principal regions * From the North-Weft of Europe and the North-Eaft of Afia. b " By fixing the relative fituation of Afia and America " and difcovering the narrow bounds of the llrait which " divides them, he (Cook) has thrown a blaze of light upon " this important part of the geography of the globe, and folved " the puzzling problem about the peopling of America by " tribes deftitute of the necefTary means to auempt long navi- " gations." Jntrod. to Cook's and King's voyages publifhed by authority, 410. p. 55. Of 3 oo SERMON VIIL of the earth. And if we attend alfo to the c rc- femblance found to fubfift between the inha- bitants on the oppoiite fides of thefe paf- fages, we {hall find this probability ad- vanced to an indifputable certainty. Indeed fo fully convinced of the certainty was the naturalift, above cited, long before the d laft and the moft important difcoveries on the fubjecl:, that he declares, he has e " no doubt, " independently of every Theological confi- " deration, that the origin of the Americans is " the fame with our own." The parts of the new world, which are dif- joined from the others and which have been reprefented by ignorance and infidelity as vail continents, are by the moft recent and com- plete refearches reduced to a few f inconfider- c The Efquimaux refemble their neighbours on the North- Weft extremity of Europe. The fame refemblance i? found to fubfift between the inhabitants of the North-Eaft of Afia, and both the Americans oppofite to them and alfo all the other Americans, except thofe few tribes, which, together with the Efquimaux, appear to have defcended from the Greenlanders. Robertfon's Hift. of Amer. vol. ii. p. 45 49. d Thofe of Cook and King. We find that die latter had an opportunity of feeing at the fame moment the coafts of Afia and America. Cook's and King's Voyage, vol. iii. p. 244. e BufFon (as before), vol. i. p. 279. f New Holland, though very coniiderable in its fize, is not at all fo in its population. It was however known in part be- fore the other iflands here referred to. able SERMON VIII. 301 able iflands : and, as far as can be collected from the imperfect accounts given of the in- habitants, it is highly probable that they were conveyed to their prefent fettlements from 8 iflands adjacent to the continent of Aflaj from h which continent all the inhabitants of the new world ( with a * few flriking ex- ceptions to the contrary ) appear to have mi- grated. Nor mail we wonder that we are unacquainted with the circumftances of their migration ; if we confider, that this event probably happened at no great diftance from the early period when our own anceftors fet out from the fame regions to people the weftern world by an oppolite route. Belides all the confirmation derived to our Religion from the want of folid foundation in the objections againft it thus drawn from par- 8 The inhabitants of thefe iflands are fuppcfed to have been all derived from the Malayans. See Introd. to Cook's and King's Voyages, 410. p. 71 73, and vol. i. p. 116 and 202. h Robertfon's Hiftory of America, vol. ii. p. 47, 8vo. Edit. 1 The Efquimaux, and fome few other Americans, who ap- pear to have migrated from the North-Weft extremity of Europe, are to beexcepted. Robertibn's Hift. (as above) p. 47, 48. See, concerning thefe other Americans on the Weftern coafl of North- America v.ho reiemble the Efqui- maux and Greenlanders, Cook's and King's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 521, 522. ticular 3 02 SERMON VIIL ticular difcoveries in nature, if we reflect (as we well may while we are purfuing fuch objec- tions) that the afcertained and acknowledged condition of every nation evidently correfponds at prefent with the Scripture-hiftory of the fall of man and of the perverlion of his nature, and that, while no probable account has been given of the origin and difperlion, none has been given even of the corruption of mankind, except by Revelation -, if we thus reflect, we fhall find that modern difcoveries have not only extenfively contributed to obviate philofophi- cal objections againft our Religion, but alfo that they have fumifhed us with pofitive arguments in its favour. And fince it is our national glory to have explored in the pre- fent age the whole furface of the globe, we may henceforth bid defiance to conjecture and confidently alTert from the teftimony of eye- witnefTes, that all the different people of the earth, wherefoever found and howfoever cir- cumftanced, unite to prove the truth of the Scripture-hiftory. Such, particularly, are the origin and foun- dation of the objections advanced againft our Religion from the pretenlions of philofophy ; from abftracted reafonings, no lefs than from immediate difcoveries in nature. The former appear SERMON VIII. 303 appear to derive their exiflence and fupport from that ignorance of the efiential confli- tution of things, which muft ever render us liable to be deceived by references of them to metaphyfical and fuppofititious caufes : the latter appear to depend upon mifconceptions with regard to the intention of our Religion, or upon erroneous opinions with regard to the difcoveries themfelves from which they are drawn. So fatisfactory therefore are the reafons, which we have to advance on this part of our fubject in vindication of the Hope that is in us. What then are we to think of the men, who propofe k fuch objections, as grounds for an univerfal rejection of Chriftianity ; who profefs to difbelieve all the plaineft truths of Revelation and fully to approve the mofl ad- venturous fuggeftions of human philofophy ? If the affectation of fuperior wifdom, or the luft of fenfual pleafure, make them diffemble their real fentiments, we need not doubtlefs infifl upon the extreme folly of facrificing to k " Paradoxical writers have flattered themfelves that infi- " delity would gain ground as philofophy advanced. So fan- " guine was a late projector in this way, that he would fome- " times give it as his opinion that Chriftianity could not out- " laft the prefent century." Seattle's Evidences, vol. ii. p. 152, 153. fuch 304 SERMON VIIL fuch motives the glorious profpecls of ChrifH- anity. But, if they are fincere in their pro- feflions, we have to lament that God has given them up to l believe a lie, and that the Al* mighty has made fooliflinefs the wifdom of this world. It is not however for us to judge concerning others, but to beware left we alfo be fpoiled through philofophy. And, while we defend the infallible word of Revelation againft different affaults of the cunning crafti- nefs of men, let us be careful to remember, what can never be too often infifted upon, m " that God refifteth the proud and giveth " grace to the humble. " I have now gone through the four different heads, under which I propofed to ftate com- pendioufly the principal circumftances which affedt our Chriftian Faith. The reafons, which I alledged for thus calling your attention to truths of which you muft often before have heard the greater part, and which might enable us to give a fatisfac- tory anfwer to every enquiry concerning the Hope that is in us, were drawn from the oppofition at prefent directed againft our Re- ligion, from the extenfive utility of inter- 1 2 Theff. ii. n. m James iv. 6. fperfing SERMON VIII. 305 fperfing at times fome general account of our Faith among the particular fubjects marked out for this lecture, and from the peculiar benefits conveyed by fuch general inftruction to the younger part of my audience, for whcfe improvement this Inftitution was more imme- diately calculated. I doubt not but thefe reafons will be deemed fully fufficient to juftify the choice which I have made of my fubject. But, independently of all fuch particular reafons, fo unreftrained is the freedom of our thoughts and actions, and fo commenfurate with our whole lives is the imperfection of our nature, that the oldeft, the wifeft, and the befl among us often want to be reminded of the general truths which have been the fubject of thefe difcourfes. The information therefore, which has been given in them, may through the grace of God be effentially ferviceable to all who have attended to it.' May neither that grace, nor our own en- deavours, ever be wanting to render fuch information thus ferviceable to us all to all eternity ! X TWO SERMONS O N THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY. THE SECOND EDITION, WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. SERMON IX. ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY. i PET, III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every man, that ajketb you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. IT is an obfervation juftified by every page of Holy Writ, that Christianity means to adt by rational, and not by compulfive mo- tives. The all-perfed: Author of our nature was the Author alfo of our Religion, and he ats not contradictorily to himfelf : he is every where confidently wife. From the beginning he formed mankind fo as to give them reafon for the regulation of their conduct j and to this great principle he refers them in Reve- X 3 lation 3 io S E R M O N IX. lation for determinations in religious as well as other concerns. St. Peter declares in the text, that we are to be ready always to give an anfwer to every man that alketh us a reafon of the hope that is in us ; and we may fafely apply this decla- ration, not only to our Chriflian hope in ge- neral, but likewife to all the particular doc- trines of Chriftianity ; even to thofe myfteri- ous doctrines of it, which are fometimes called doctrines of faith in oppofition to others which are fuppofed to be difcoverable by our own unaffifled reafon. For if they are built on the foundation of infpired and infallible writings (and fuch the Scriptures of our Religion have often been proved to be), we can have no more folid foundation in reafon for admitting the jufteft inferences, which are drawn from phi- lofophy or hiftory, than for admitting thefe doctrines. Heaven and earth fhall pafs away ; but the words of him, who fpake in Holy Writ, fhall not pafs away. And (blerled be that God who has promifed that the gates of hell (hall not prevail againft his Church !) the Scriptures of our Religion are not only infal- lible, but they have alfo defcended to us, and doubtlefs will defcend to our lateft pofterity, entire and unmixed with the opinions and dif- putations SERMON IX. 311 putations of fallible men. So long as the Church has thefe Scriptures to which it may appeal upon all occafions, as the foundation and teft of its doctrines, it has effectual means of fupporting itfelf againfl the afTaults of all its adverfaries. Bold aflertions and prefump- tuous reafonings may procure admirers for a feafon, and become in the hands of Provi- dence fo many trials of our faith ; but their end mu.fl be, that they fink fucceffively into oblivion ; while the oracles of truth remain for ever, an impregnable barrier for the Church of Chrift againfl the alTaults of herefy, fchifm, and infidelity. That all the myflerious doctrines of our Religion are built upon this foundation of holy Scripture, is taught by our Church : that the doctrine of the Trinity, which is the principal one among them, is thus circumilanced, it mail be my endeavour to prove by citations from thofe writings themfelves. My chief intention here will be to counter- act the influence arifing from falfe explana- tions of fingle pafTages of Scripture, by bring- ing fo a many of thefe paffages together, as No paflage will be cited in a fenfe, which is not commonly received and which the author is not fully convinced ought really to be afcribed to it. But, as his argument is not to depend X 4 upon 3 i2 SERMON IX. to leave ingenuous minds no room to doubt for a moment concerning the meaning of the whole. In doing this I (hall cite no texts concern- ing the Father -, his Godhead being acknow- ledged and appealed to upon all occafions. But I mall endeavour to flare diftinctly the Scrip- ture-Account, firft, of the Son ; fecondly, of the Holy Ghofl ; and thirdly, of the one Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft : afterwards I mall conclude with fome obfer- vations upon the whole. The firft of thefe three heads will take up mod of our time, both becaufe the Son is fpoken of under different characters and in very many pafTages of Scripture, and becaufe the declarations of Scripture concerning him are the moft common fubjecl of controverfy in the important doclrine of the Trinity. The order, fittefl to be purfued in bringing together thefe declarations of Scripture con- cerning him, will be fuggefted from an obfer- upon any fingle text, it is. by no means his defign to repeat the critical vindications, which have been given of fuch interpre- tations of Scripture either in former or in later times. If he has thought it neceflary to evince in an appendix, with regard to Jer. xxiii. 6, that the Bible-Tranflation is fupported by the Seventy, he has entered upon this criticifm merely be- caufe (as far as he knows) the Bible-Tranflation has not before been at all vindicated in this important refpeft. vation SERMON IX. 3'3 vation which may be made, that there is no circumftance which has contributed more to unfettle and pervert our faith with regard to this fecond Perfon of the Godhead, than the manner in which we generally fet about the eftablimment of it. Initead of proceeding in the firft place to inquire into the Scripture- account of his original condition (with reve- rence let all fuch expreffions be underftood) and afterwards regularly tracing out the fub- fequent parts of Scripture concerning him; we invert this natural method of inquiry, and, from later circumftances in the defcriptions of him miimterpreted, prefume to reafon con- cerning the former, venturing by deductions of our own to determine what his nrir, condi- tion ought to have been in contradiction to what Revelation declares that it really was. Thus, from particular conftructions of de- tached parts, conclufions are drawn fubver- live of the principal doctrines of the whole : and inconiiftencies are alledged and imputed to figurative language, which derive their ex- iftence and fupport from defultory and partial views of the fubject. To avoid therefore the fame fatal error, I mail endeavour to lay before you the different declarations of Scripture concerning the Son ia regular SERMON IX. regular and (as far as it can be fo called) in chronological order. It will however be neceffary to premife, that he is called in Scripture " the Word of God," and b " the Angel of God," for reafons which his agency in divine Revelation will cafily fuggeft ; that he is fpoken of alfo in Scripture under various c appellations, which refer to the human nature of our Redeemer ; and that, whenever he is diftinguifhed by fuch reference to human nature, we are not from thence to confider the Son of God as involved in any of our imperfections, but only as d con- defcending to be connected in time fo inti- mately with human nature, as to give tranf- cendent excellence to the whole character of our Redeemer, and as to be included under the lame e perfonal appellations with the man Chrift Jefus. b We are by no means, to fuppofe from hence that our Sa- viour was really of any angelic nature; fince the affumption of fuch a nature would have been an aft of condefcenfion in him. Heb. ii. 16. c He is called "Chrift" by St. Paul before his appearance in that character, i Cor. x. 4, 9. And after his appearance in it he is fpoken of, as " the Son of Man who is in heaven." John iii. i 3 . d Philip, ii. 6, 7. e Thus Hooker " Hcwbeit, as often as we attribute to " God what the manhood of Chrift claimeth, or to man what his Deity hath right unto, we underftand by the name of " God SERMON IX. 315. This being premifed, I may confider the Son of God as called at times " the Word of God" and " the Angel of God;" I may with- out icruple apply to him the appellations at large which are given to our Redeemer ; and may begin the propofed relation of the dif- ferent declarations of Scripture concerning him with an account of his eternal generation. This important doctrine is deducible from thofe texts of Scripture, which declare that he was f " the proper Son of God;" from the Septuagint Verlion of that difficult g pafTage in the i loth Pfalm, which undoubtedly refers to the Son of God, and which our old Verfion renders literally from the prefent Hebrew " the " Dew of thy Birth is of the Womb of the " Morning," but which the Septuagint ex- plains by rendering " EK yag-oog TSTCO eutrtpopou " eycwycet ere," " from the womb before the " morning ftar I begat thee ;" and from the declaration of the prophet Micah, " that his " h goings forth had been from old from ever- " lafting." It is deducible alfo moft incontro- " God and the name of man neither the one nor the other na- " ture, but the whole perfon of Chriil in whom both natures " are." Eccl. Pol. 1. v. p. 211. Fol. Ed. 1666. { Rom. viii. 32. Heb. iii. 6. John v. 18. Pf. ex. -j. b Mic. v. 2. vertibly 316 SERMON IX. vertibly from the relation, which the Xoyog mufl bear to God the Father, as the term Xoyoq it- felf imports. Correfpondently with the eternity of the Son's generation, he is faid to have been " l be- " fore all things ;" he is declared, by his type Melchizedec, to have been " k without be- " ginning of days ;" he is called " ' the Alpha " as well as the Omega, the Beginning as well ." as the Ending;" and he is not only faid " to have life m in him," but alfo he fays exprefsly of himfelf, " n before Abraham was, " I am." With regard to the generation of the Son, many of the orthodox Chriftians in the fecond and third centuries held that his exiftence was * Coi.i. 17. k Heb. vii. 3. Jortin fays on this paffage, "What Mel- " chizedec was figuratively, Chrift was really. Melchizedec " had neither beginning of days nor end of life, nothing being *' recorded in Scripture with regard to his birth or death, con- " fequently the Son of God had in reality neither beginning of i. 10. * Waterlarui's Lady Moyer's Sermons, p. 54. Y 3 Gods/' . 3*6 S E R M O N IX. " Gods," to exprefs the Deity and particu- larly in the firft chapter of Genefis ; alfo from the plural language, in which the Being thus denominated deliberates concerning the creation of man " let us make man in our own image," and concerning the removal of him from the garden of Eden " the man is become like one " of us." But, to difmifs the objection, it may be re- marked that the Attributes, above declared to belong to the Son, prove him qualified for this fo great a work; while the manner, in which it was executed, might reciprocally be adduced to prove that all the Divine Attributes muft have centred in its Author. Indeed the work of, Creation is fo peculiarly the effect of Al- mighty power, that fome have queftioned even the poffibility of it. And throughout the whole of Revelation we find it inlifted upon, as the criterion of the true God, " h the Gods " of the heathen (fays the Pfalmift) are but " idols, but Jehovah made the heavens :" and again we are informed, ! " that he who built " all things is God." Nor does St. Paul, in the paflage above cited, declare that the Son of God made all h Pf. xcvi. 15. * Heb. iii. 4. things SERMON IX. 327 things only, but alfo that " k by him they con- " fift :" or, as we are elfe where informed, " ' he fupporteth all things by the Word of " his Power." The fame difplay of infinite perfection, which mines forth in the creation, is as confpicuous in his prefervation of the world and calls as loudly for our wonder and adoration. And as we are allured, that no m one hath heard or feen the Father, but the only begotten Son, who is in his bofom, he hath declared him ; fo we mall find from the beginning, that all Revelation proceeded from the Son, and that he was a principal, though not the fole Object of wormip with true believers. Even with regard to the antediluvian hif- tory we are informed by St. Peter, that " it " was n Chrift who preached to the fpirits in " prifon in the days of Noah :" and, as he preached to them by means of Noah, it might be eafy to infer from thence, that Chrift alfo was the divine Perfon who after the flood gave to Noah the in ft ructions which he was to de- liver down to pofterity. But, not to dwell on this pafiage, I (hall endeavour to prove more at large, that all that part of Revelation which k Col. i. 17. ' Heb. i. 3. m John i. 18. v. 37. a i Pet. iii. 19. Y 4 relates SERMON IX. relates to Abraham and his defendants pro- ceeded from the fecond perfon in the Trinity, as their God ; though at the fame time it pro- ceeded from him, as " the Angel of God," or, in the language of the New Teftament, " as " fent by the Father." That this Angel of God was the God of Abraham is evident, fince he p calls himfelfby that name in different parts of Scripture. But farther it may be inferred, that he was the God who fware unto Abraham : and this will con- firm, under the authority of the Author of the Epiftle to the Hebrews, a doctrine which has in reality been above eftablimed by an induc- tion of particulars, " * that there was none ' greater than he ;" or, to ufe the very remark- able expreffion of Zechariah, that he was " the Fellow of the Lord of Bofts. The 22d chapter of Genefis begins with informing us, that " God did tempt Abraham ' and faid." At the i2th verfe the Angel of God fays, " lay not thy hand upon the lad, 3 This is maintained by all the Fathers of the ChrifUart Church, as Bifhop Bull proves Defence of the Nicene Faith, fed. iv. c. 3. And it is fully admitted by Dr. Clarke in his Scripture Doftrine. P Compare Afts vii. 38. with the igthand aoth chapters of Exod. and Gen. xxxi. 13. with Gen. xxviii. 13. See alfo Exod. iii. 6. < Heb. vi. 13. "for S E R M O N IX. 329 " for now I know thou feareft God, feeing " thou haft not withheld thy fon from r ME." The Angel of God therefore is the fame with the God before mentioned ; fince no other than that God could be the Perfon from whom Abraham did not withhold his fon. Afterwards the Angel of God called out of heaven a fecond time and faid, " By myfelf " have I fworn, faith the Lord, that in blefT- *' ing I will blefs thee, becaufe thou haft *' obeyed my Voice." The words e< my Voice" therefore confine this oath to the God who tempted Abraham, to him whofe Voice Abra- ham had obeyed : and fince he (as we have feen) is the fame with the Angel of God, the oath muft be referred to this Angel, however he may himfelf refer it to Jehovah in the third perfon, and there could be none greater than he. In confirmation of this inference it may be obferved, that there is another pafTage of Scrip- ture in which the Angel of the Lord fwears by himfelf. In the 45th chapter of Ifaiah we find an oath of this kind introduced with even r If the angel of God had not been the Perfon who tempted Abraham to offer up his Son, he would certainly have ufed the pronoun " him" inftead of " me," as the term " God" im- mediately precedes. greater 330 SERMON IX. greater folemnity than that which we have been confidering : " s I have fworn by myfelf, " the word is gone out of my mouth in righte- " oufnefs and mail not return, that unto me " every knee mall bow, every tongue mall " fwear." Now that the Speaker is the fame in this as in the 48th chapter is evident, be- caufe both chapters are comprehended within one continued prediction concerning the over- throw of Babylon by Cyrus, and their feveral parts exactly correfpond. In both the Speaker calls himfelf " the univerfal Creator," fays that " he did not fpeak in fecret," commands " the " people to ailemble themfelves," and afks *' who hath declared thefe things." And yet he profefles, towards the conclufion of the 48th chapter, " now the Lord God and his fpirit " hath fent me." He muft therefore be the An- gel or Son of God. Indeed our Saviour exprefs- ly fays in the book of Revelation, " I ' am the " firft and the laft," affuming that very title by which the fpeaker " here diflinguimes him- felf; and St Paul x repeatedly declares, that in him the event, predicted with this oath, was to receive its accomplimment. * If. xlv. 23. l Rev.i. 17. " If.xliv. 6. xlviii. 12. x Rbm.xiv. ii. Philip, ii. 10. But SERMON IX. 331 But to proceed If the Angel of God was the Jehovah who thus fware unto Abraham, there can be no doubt with regard to the God of his defcendants ; iince the Perfon of their God is particularly y limited by this oath. In- dependently alib of this circumftance, the Angel of God fays explicitly to Jacob, " I z am the " God of Bethel, where thou anointedft the c pillar and vowedft a vow unto me ;" though on that a occafion he is called by no other name than " God," and " Jehovah," and " the God *' of Abraham and the God of Ifaac." In the fame manner, when Jacob wreftles with this Angel, he is faid to b wreftle with Godl And, in his folemn benediction of Jofeph's children, Jacob makes the God of Abraham and Ifaac to be the fame with this Angel : " c God, before whom my Fathers Abraham " and Ifaac did walk, the God which fed me *' all my life long unto this day, the Angel ' Matt. xii. 6. z Hag. ii. 9. Or, as this paflfage is well rendered by Dr. B'ay- ney and conformably to the Septuagint Verficn, " made the " latter Glory of this Houfe greater the former." God, SERMON IX. 337 God, appears to have been the adlor in the mod difcriminating occurrences of the Jewifh Theocracy ; and the names Jehovah and God appear from collateral paffages of Scripture to have been frequently given him without any particular marks of diftinclion. We may therefore a conclude that he is intended at va- rious other times when thofe names are men- tioned at large ; and that all that part of Re- velation, which relates to Abraham and his defcendants, proceeded from him as their God, though at the fame time it proceeded from him as " the Angel of God,'* or, in the language of the New Teftament, " as fent by the Fa- " ther." Thus we have feen that defcriptions of the divine nature of our blefTed Saviour pervade every part of Revelation : that he was from everlafting the Son of God, and himfelf God, inverted with all the titles and attributes of real divinitv : that he was the Creator and j Preferver of all things, the Deity and Object of higheft adoration with true believers be- 3 " Ubicunque non merum angelum fed ipfum Deum appa- " ruifTe Hquet, ibi non Fatrem fed Filium intelligendum efTe " prims va; antiquitatis confentiens judicium religiofe fequentes " conftanter affirmamus." Bulli Fid. Nic. Def, feft. 4. c. 3. 16. Z fore 338 SERMON IX. fore the Gofpeldifpenfation; not indeed to the exclufion of the Father and the Holy Ghofr, as appears from his being fent by " the Lord " God and his Spirit," but in concurrence or union with them. For if that jealous God, who will not give his Glory to another, has _thus permitted every diftinguiihing mark of , the Godhead to center in his beloved Son, furely he is not another but the fame God, furely he and the Father mufl be one in the Uriel: and proper fenfe of his own allertion, " 1 " b and my Father are one." In the declarations of Scripture concerning , our bleffed Saviour already confidered he is reprefented in no other than his divine capaci- ty : the Son of God had not as yet alTumed any inferior condition. Here therefore we may feek for defcriptions of his own natural flate without danger of mifapprehenlionc And thefe we have found conveyed in terms fo full and fo expreffive of perfect divinity, that no believer in Chriftianity could ever have denied the divine nature of the sreat Saviour of man- o kind, were it not that the Lamb of God, who was flain for our falvation from the foun- dation of the world, is fpoken of alfo under a b John x. 50. very SERMON IX. 339 very different nature from that which we have been hitherto confidering. What this nature is, and how the remain- ing parts of our bleifed Saviour's hiftory (if I may fo call it) are to be underftood, v/e need only on fome future occaiion confult the fame Scriptures, and purfue the fame order, to be fully informed. SERMON X. ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY. i PET. III. 15. Be ready always to give an anfwer to every many that ajketb you a reafon of the Hope that is in you. IN a former difcourfe on thefe words I ftated that Chriftianity meant to aft by rational, and not by compulfive motives : that the text declares we ought to " be ready always to give " an anfwer to every man, that afketh us a rea- " fon of the hope that is in us :" and that we may fafely apply this declaration to all the particular doctrines of our Religion, even to the myfterious doctrines of it ; lince thefe lat- Z 3 ter .342 SERMON X. tcr arc admitted by us, becaufe they reft on the foundation of writings, which have often been proved to be infpired and infallible. That they actually do reft on this foundation, I was to endeavour to prove, as far as relates to the Doctrine of the Trinity, by paflages of Scrip- ture, fo numerous as to leave no room for mifin- terpretation with ingenuous minds, and fo dif- pofed as to (late diflinclly the Scripture-ac- count, firft, of the Son ; fecondly, of the HolyGhoft; and thirdly, of the one Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghofl : after- wards, I was to conclude with fome obfer- vations upon the whole. In ftating the Scrip- ture-account of the Son I was likewife, for reafons then alleged, to proceed in regular and (as far as it can be fo called) in chronolo- gical order ; and in this order I proceeded to the end of th'ofe declarations of Scripture, which apply to him before his manifeftation in any other than his own divine nature. I (hall now refume the feries, which I have been purfuing, of Scriptural declarations con- cerning our Saviour, and conclude this part and the remaining parts alfo of my fubjecl:. The Prophets under the Jewim difpenla- tion, while they proclaimed the divinity of the great Redeemer, foretold, that he was to be " pierced," SERMON X. 343 ' pierced," that he was ts to be b wounded for <( our tranfgreffions," " to be brought as a " lamb to the flau^hter," " to be cut off from ^ <: the fond of the living," c< and that his foul " was to be made an ottering for fin." It was neceflary therefore, that the impaffible Son of God mould afTume fome nature capable of thefe fufferings. And " verily c he took not " upon him the nature of Angels, but the " feed of Abraham :" " he d was made a little *' lower than the Angels for the fuffering of " death." Of this wonderful condefcenfion St. Paul informs us moft fully in his exhortation to the Philippians, Let this e mind be in you, " which was alfo in Chrift Jefus, who, being " in the form of God, thought it not robbery " to be equal with God, but made himfelf " of no reputation" (or, as the words eavroy txsvu; vi. 9. with A&sxxviu. 25. Heb. ix. 14. n Heb. ix. 14. Luke xviii. 19. f John xiv. i'6. i Cor. vi. 19. A a 4 in 360 S E R M O N X. in all good Chriftians, but he alfo at the fame time " * fearcheth all things.*' His Omnifci- ence is imprefled upon us by the judgment inflicted on Ananias and Sapphira for " tempt- ' ing this Spirit T of the Lord," or for doubt- ing of his infinite knowledge ; and again more fully, by that molt remarkable declaration of St. Paul, " that * he fearcheth the deep things -i of God." And his Omnipotence may be in- ferred from the miraculous Powers which he beftowed, even thofe exercifed by our Saviour himfelf. Moreover blafphemy againft him is the only fin which is declared to be unpardon- able. Since the Holy Ghoft is no where faid to have affumed any inferior nature, he is no where defcribed as eflentially inferior to either of the other Perfons of the Trinity. Even when it is faid in St. Mark, '* of * that day and " hour knoweth no one ; no, not the Angels '* which are in heaven, neither the Son j" it is by no means added, " neither the Holy " Ghoft." It may be objected here that he is faid to be fent by the Father and by the Son, as the Son himfelf was fent by the Father or was his Angel. This however might be de- i i Cor. ii. 10. r Afts v. 411. * I Cor. ii. 10. * Mark xiii. 32. figned, S E R M O N X. 36! figned, in part, to declare the concurrence of the whole Trinity in each individual operation ; while it more fully declares that v fubordination of perfons in the Godhead, by which it muft ever be remembered that the fecond Perlbn of the Trinity is inferior to the firft, and the third to both the others. But in whatever manner we explain fuch millions, it is evident from the titles ufed on thefe occafions by Ze- chariah, that there was an equality of nature in the Perfon fending and in him who was fent ; fince he fays, ' tt the Lord of Hofts was " fent by the Lord of Hofts." Without paying more attention therefore to fuch objections, I mail proceed third- ly to ftate the Scripture-account of the one Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy- Ghoft. * See Dr. Randolph's Vindication of the Trinity, p. 21. Dr. Clarke has produced 240 Texts of Scripture to prove that the Son is fubordinate to the Father, xvhich no found mem- ber of the Catholic Church has ever denied. He certainly would not have taken all this trouble (as Dr. Waterland re- marks) if he could have fhewn by any one text that the Son is not really God of the fame nature with the Father. Among thefe Texts, that in St. John's Gofpel (xiv. 28.), " my Father is greater than I," may perhaps be much more properly applied to the divine nature of the Son in proof of his fubordination to the Father, than many others in Dr. Clarke's lift. Zech. ii. 8 11. This 362 SERMON X. This head will not necefTarily require much of our time after what has been already faid. If each of thefe three Perfons is proved from Scripture to be God and Lord, we are com- pelled by the Chriftian verity (as the Athana- iian Creed exprefTes it) to acknowledge each by himfelf to be God and Lord. And if we are forbidden by the fame Scripture, or (to ufe the words of the creed jull mentioned) by the Ca- tholic religion to fay there be three Gods or three Lords, then thefe three Perfons muft be one God and one Lord. However we need not reft our caufe upon this argument, though it is certainly conclufive: thefe three Perfons are actually fpoken of in Scripture as one divine Being. This appears from the w paffage of the pro- phet Ifaiah which has been cited above, and in which the fpeaker, who is the only God and eternal Creator, fays, "he was fent by the *' Lord God and his Spirit." That no one could be greater, than the Perfon fpeaking on the occafion, has been proved from the oath which he fware by himfelf; that the Lord God and his Spirit were not lefs is indifputable, be- caufe they fent him : and as he repeatedly w Ifaiah xlviit. 16. declares, SERMON X. 363 declares, " there is no God befides him," they muft be the fame God with him. It appears alfo moft evidently from the threefold doxo- logy contained in the lixth chapter of Ifaiah, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of Hofts." This doxology is addreffed to a Being that fays of himfelf in the plural number, "Who " will go for us ?" It certainly applies to the Father, from the impoflibility of excluding him from the attribute and appellation here introduced : it applies alfo as certainly to the Son, whofe glory, x St. John fays, the pro- phet was then feeing : and to the Holy Ghoft, becaufe we are y exprefsly told it was the Holy Ghoft, who fpake by Ifaiah the words, which are immediately after uttered by the divine Perfon, that faid, " Who will go for us ? " It is notwithstanding addrefled to one Lord of Hofts. But no where is the one efTential Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft taught in Scripture with more precifion and force than in the form of baptifm : " Go * ye, fays our Sa- " viour to his difciples, teach all nations, bap- " tizing them in the name of the Father, and " of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft." Doubtlefs in a matter of fo much confequence, as the original inftitution or the firft enunciation of * I John xii, 41. * Afts xxviii. 25. * Matt, xxviii. 19, that 364 SERMON X. that faith which Chriftians were for ever * to avow and defend, our Saviour muft mean to have the declaration full and determinate : he inuft mean rather to clear up, than to in- creafe, the doubts of weak minds. This baptifmal form therefore may be confidered as decifive on the fubject before us. For if there are confefTedly in the holy Scriptures many paflages, afTerting the Godhead of the Son and of the Holy Ghoft, as well as of the Father ; many paflages alfo aflerting the unity of the divine' effence ; and many paf- fages which lead us particularly to conclude that thefe three Perfons are comprehended un- der this unity of the divine eflence j and if our bleffed Saviour at the time of his final de- parture from mankind, when he could be ig- norant of no part of the Revelation which was to be delivered down to his Church, when he was inftituting the form itfelf of admifllon into his religion, and moreover when he had lately been put to death for making himfelf equal with God, was, notwithstanding, fo far from explaining in a different fenfe any of thefe paf- a That this form of Baptifm was in conftant ufe among Chriftians from the beginning, we may infer both from the quelHon propofed in the A6b of the Apoflles to fome who had not heard of the Holy Ghoft, " to what then were ye bap- " tized r" and from their anfwer, tf to John's" (not to Chrift's) " baptifm." Afts xix, 3. fages, SERMON X. 365 fages, that, having joined the three perfons together in one name, he commanded his dif- ciples to teach all nations and baptize them in this name j what lefs can we infer from thence, than that our Saviour meant to inftrucl: us in the mofl decifive and folemn manner that thefe three perfons are one indivisible God ? And what farther need of citation can there be to prove that this important doctrine of our Church is built on the foundation of infpired and infallible writings ? Thus I have endeavoured to flate diftinctly the Scripture-account, firfc, of the Son ; fe- condly, of the Holy Ghoft; and thirdly, of the one Godhead of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft. I am now to conclude with fome ob- fervations upon the whole. . The doctrine of the Trinity, as profefled by our Church, is built then (as we have feen) upon the foundation of Scripture. But how the three perfons of this Trinity exift in one God- head, is a queftion on which Revelation is fi- lent, and concerning which (as hath been ob- ferved with regard to the eternal generation and the incarnation of the Son, and the pro- ceflion of the Holy Ghoft) our own reafon can teach us nothing. Such exiftence has nothing fimilar to it in the created world. The divine nature 366 S E R M O N X. nature is, and muft be, a nature " fui generis" in the higheil fenfe of the words, and can ad- mit of no comparifon with the things without it. Indeed we have not the leaft foundation for fuch a comparifon. We know nothing of fpirit, nothing of felf-exiftence, nothing of eternity : and furely we cannot reafon con- cerning them from matter, creation, and time, things totally incommenfurate with them. The method then of reafoning by b analogy, from which we univerfally derive our knowledge of the natures of things and not from their ef- fences themfelves, can have no place with regard to the divine nature. It certainly there- fore ought not to be matter of objection or of aftonimment with men accuftomed to philo- fophical reafoning, that the manner, in which the three Perfons of the Godhead exift in one divine efTerice, is entirely above our compre- henfion or that it mould ever remain a myftery to us. c Illustrations of this doctrine may indeed b Mr. Hume fays very juftly (as far as relates to a phyfical confideradon of the divine nature) " The Deity is a Angle " Being in the univerfe, not comprehended under any genus or *' fpecies, from whofe experienced attributes or qualities we can' " by analogy infer any attributes or qualities in him." Eflays, vol. ii. p. 162. c Dean Sherlock, in his Vindication of the dodrine of the holy and ever-blefTed Trinity, endeavours to illultme the man- ner SERMON X. 367 be attempted from a defire to obviate in weak minds objections againft its belief. It may be infmuated, that as parts exift in created beings, fo intelligent perfons (though not in the fame manner nor fuch perfons as we can compre- hend) exift in the all -perfect God ; and that the three Perfons, Father, Word or Son, and Spirit are included in the very idea of God; io that if there could be three Gods, there would be d three Fathers, three Words or Sons, and three Spirits. But we have not facul- ties to proceed far in fuch illuftrations. Ra- tional minds, which are convinced that the doctrine refts on the authority of Scripture, can require no farther fatisfaction concerning it than merely to know that it contains no abfurdity. And this it is fo far from containing, that ner in which the three Perfons of the Godhead exift in one God by making their union conlift in mutual confcioufnefs. " They ' are diftinguifhed, as three finite and created minds would be, ' by felf-confciouinefs. They are united into one by a mutual ' confcioufnefs to each other, which no created beings have." |. to . p. 67. And again : " This is that effendal unity, which ' is between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, who are ef- ' fentially united by a mutual confcioufnefs to whatever is in ' each other, and do by an. internal fenfation (I want other ' words to exprefs it) feel each other, as they do themfelves : ' and therefore are as eflentially one, as a mind and fpirit are ' one with itfelf." p. 68. d See Bifliop Horfley's Tracts, p. 262. See alfo, on this fub- jccl, Dean Sherlock's Vindication of the Trinity, p. 129. nothing 3 68 S E R M O N X. nothing is in reality to be found in it, which is in the leaft inconfiftent with the deductions of found reafon on the fubject. The different demonftrations of the unity of the Godhead, which have been attempted from reafon in modern times, either fall entirely c mort of their intended proof, or they prove f only the unity of the divine nature : and this they prove from the impofTibility of any difference in na- ture between all-perfect Beings. Such rea- fonings therefore, as far as they are at all effec- tual, extend to the exclufion of feparate divine natures; but not to the exclufion of feparate di- vine Perfons in the fame nature. Among the Ancients the Platonifts are g moft diftinguifhed by reafonings of this kind ; and, from h what- ever fource they may ultimately have drawn their principles, they are fo remarkable for profeffing tenets concerning the Deity which correfpond in many refpects with our doctrine of a Trinity, that the doctrine itfelf has been faid to be derived from them. But the pafTages, which are cited above from Scripture-writers e See Grotius and Clarke. f See Dean Hamilton. E Among the ancient Pagans there were others befides the Platonifts, who had fome notion of a Trinity : this hath been fully proved by Cudworth. h Probably from tradition derived from the mod ancient Revelation. See Bp. Horfley's Tra&s, p. 42 46. 224, &c. who SERMON X. 369 who lived many hundred years antecedently to the exiftence of the Platonic fed:, confpicu- oufly prove the erroneoufnefs of thofe l philo- fophers and hiftorians, who refer the origin of the Scripture-doctrine of a Trinity to this feel ; and leave us the unallayed poffeffion of every plea in vindication of the general reafonable- nefs of our doctrine, which can be urged from the profeffion of fimilar tenets by men, who, before the Chriftian Era, were eminently dif- tinguimed by inquiries and argumentative de- ductions concerning fuch fubjects. Much has been done in k confirmation of the 1 Dr. Prieftley and Mr. Gibbon. c The only plaufible objections, which can be urged inde- pendently of Scripture againft the Doctrine of the Trinity, muft be drawn from the opinions of the early Chriftians con- cerning it. Objections of this fort have been repeatedly urged and as often anfvvered. With what fuccefs they have been an- fwered, we may judge, in fome meafure, from the conceffion of Dr. Prieftley in his Defence of Unitarianifm for the year 1787. " 1 allow (fays he, p. i 39.) all that Biinop Bull and Mr. Burgh " afcribe to the Fathers of the fecond and third century ; I " allow that they held the doctrine of the divinity of the Son, " at leaft j but it was in a qualified fenle, and by no means the " fame that was maintained after the council of Nice. 1 have " alfo diftinctly fhewn whence the notion of thefe Fathers was " borrowed ; but what I maintain, and by evidence drawn from " their own wrings, is, that while the learned Chriftians were " Trinitarians, the common people, who had no notion of Pla- " tonifm, were fimply Unitarians." As to the authentic and uninfpired writers of the firft cen- tury, they are very few and their productions not very confider- able. But Biihop Bull and Mr. Burgh might have furnimed B b Dr. 370 SERMON X. doctrine of the Trinity by appeals to the Fa- thers and to the tenets of the primitive Church. But on the foundation of Scripture it muft reft for its principal fupport even with men of learning. On this it refts for its whole fup- port with the generality of Chriftians. It is therefore of extenfive importance that it mould be fully and often ftated from thence j and fo, as to be intermixed as little as poffible with foreign and fallible matter. That the body of evidence, here produced from Scripture in defence of this doctrine, mould be collected from all the different parts of it, is no more than might be expected in citations from a Revelation which reduces not its doctrines to regular iyftems ; and ought to afford no matter of objection to thofe, who , allow that all Scripture proceeds from the fame infallible Spirit. The enemies of our eftablifh- Dr. Prieftley with abundant reafon for including them alfo in his conceffion. And as to the faith of the unlearned Chriftians of the firft ages, (to fay nothing of the inferences which muft ever be drawn in favour of its orthodoxy from the Trinitarianifm of their learned brethren) was it not of thefe that Pliny fays, it was their cuftom to fmg hymns " Chrifto tanquam Deo?" Befides, (as Jortin fays in his Remarks on Eccl. Hift.vol. ii. p. 90.) " if the opinion of Chrift's Divinity had not prevailed com- " monly among the Chriftians of the firft and fecond centuries, " how came it to pafs that Adrian is laid to have defigned to " deify Jefus Chriit, or that Severus Alexander intended it ?" ment S E R M O N X. 371 ment generally wifh on this occafion to fe pa- rate fome parts from other parts of Scripture ; but before they can do this l effectually they are forced to deny the univerfal infpiration of it. While therefore we defend the univerfal infpiration of Scripture, we ought never to depreciate any part of this evidence by a difcri- minating and unqualified preference of the reft. The Scriptures are one great body, one complete whole. Nor do the Jewifh and the Chriftian Revelations reflect light on each other merely in general points of view, but alfo with regard to particular doctrines. Why he, who fpake in times paft by the Prophets, has afforded to different ages different degrees of information on the important fubject before us, it might be prefumptuous in us to inquire. Thofe, who had fuch information from par- ticular parts only of Scripture, were anfwerable in their faith for no more : we, who have means of founding this article of our Religion upon the whole of that divine Revelation 1 See, in Dr. Prieftley's Defence of Unitarianifai for 1787, p. 66, the opinions of both himfelf and Dr. Price on the in- ipiration of Scripture. Though Dr. Clarke entitles his book on the Trinity " The " Scripture-Doctrine," without citing any Text from the Old Teflament in the body of his work, yet he very fully acknow- ledges the importance of fuch Texts of Scripture in various notes. B b 2 which 372 SERMON X. which was defigned for the inftruction of man- kind, can never be too cautious not to neglect or undervalue any part of it. If 1 have omitted many paffages of Scrip- ture which might have been cited on the oc- cafion, this omiffion has not arifen from any perfuafion of their want of importance or from any difpofition to give up at once thofe among them which have been difputed ; but from a perfuafion that the citations, which I have made, are numerous enough to fecure the great object which I at firft propofed, and to preclude with ingenuous minds all danger from falfe ex- planation. After all however, if the pafTages of Scrip- ture here cited, or indeed if all that can be cited, in vindication of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity Lhould be thought liable to objection and ihould not be fufficient to convince every one, let it be remembered, that fo various are the minds of men and fo inexhauftible the fources of objection, that the arguments ad- ducible from reafon in vindication of the plain- eft articles of natural Religion are not fufficient to convince every one. Let it be remembered alfo, that as the general faith of a Chriftian is to be a virtue, as no demon ftration of the truth of Chriftianity in general is either pro- mifed SERMON X. 373 mifed or given fo as to amount to a com- pulfive evidence in its favour, we ought not to be furprifed if we meet with circumftances of the fame kind with regard to fome of its particular doctrines. If the pafTages of Scrip- ture in queftion are abundantly fufficient to furnim judicious and humble Chriftians with reafons for believing in this great article of our religion, with reafons for the faith which in this refpect is in them, it is all that ought to be thought eflential to its eftablilhment and vin- dication. But while we are always to be ready (ac- cording to the precept of the text) to bring forward fuch reafons in vindication of our re- ligious profeffion ; we muft be careful never to depart from the fpirit of Chriftianity, fo as to engage in a fubject of this nature with any other difpofition than that which is enjoined in the words immediately following the text, namely, " with meeknefs and fear." B b 3 APPEN- APPENDIX. AMONG the texts of the Old Tefta- ment, by which it has been a proved that the incommunicable name " Jehovah" is applied to our blefTed Saviour, I have referred to Jer. xxiii. 6. It is well known that this text has been fo rendered in a late very learned trigflation of Jeremiah-, as entirely to exclude the ufe which J have made of it. I therefore think it ne- ceflary to fay fomewhat in vindication of the Bible tranflation of the paflage : otherwife, as it has not hitherto been vindicated, the reference which I have made to this text may be thought in a great degree, if not entirely, indefen- fible. The Hebrew words of the paflage in quef- tionare, " WV* miT MOp' njPK V1V HiV O _ir Bible tranflatioa is, " And this is his name a See page 322. B b 4 " whereby 376 APPENDIX. " whereby he mall be called, the Lord our " Righteoufnefs." The new Tranflation is, " And this is the " name by which Jehovah fhall call him, our " Righteoufnefs," To this tranflation is fubjoined the following note, after another which is not necefTarily connected with it : " I doubt not but fome " perfons will be offended with me for depriv- " ing them by this tranflation of a favourite " argument for proving the divinity of our " Saviour from the Old Teflament. But I " cannot help it : I have done it with no ill " defign, but purely becaufe I think and am " morally fure that the text, as it ftands, will " not properly admit of any other conftruc- " tion. Tne Seventy have fo tranflated before " me, in an age when there could not poffibly " be any bias of prejudice either for oragainfl " the beforementioned doctrine j a doctrine " which draws its decifive proofs from the " New Teflament only. In the parallel paf- " fage, ch. xxxiii. 16. the expreffion is a lit- " tie varied but the fenfe according to a juft '* and literal tranflation is precifely the fame ; " And this is he whom JEHOVAH fhall call, '* OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." As the Hebrew words will admit of either of the two translations, the reference, which the APPENDIX. 377 the Author of the new tranilation makes on this occafion to the Seventy, is highly proper: we certainly need not be afraid to abide by their verfion, without any notice of the undifputed fupport which our tranilation derives from every other old verfion ; fmce no interpretation can be more decifive in favour of the Bible- Conftruction of the word " m.T" in the paf- fage which we are confidering. The words of the Seventy are, b Kai TVTO TO ovopoi aura, o Y,xXt(Ti avTOv Kup/of, lcc(r^sK. This is a literal verfion of all the Hebrew text (ex- cept the affix 13 which is virtually c included under luv^tyJ) with this addition, that, where- as IKlp 1 may be rendered ' he fhall call him;" or, if the fubject be confidered as indefinite, " one fhall call him," and more loofely '* he fhall be called" " they fhall call him;" the Seventy not only render it " he fhall call " him," but alfo adually infert " the particu- " lar He," namely " Kupiof." For, that the Se- venty did not give this term "Kvpiog" as a translation of the " nin" is indubitable, fmce they join that term to " pT^ M forming" d IA- b See Grabe's Edition. c Theodoret in his Comment on the paffage fays, " &i?.o ra cicxa " Kffto? hxa-Kxrvirn r.^uo." * That " nin" is joined to " pTK" in the word " IJit'* ill not be doubted by thofe who confult Leufden's Oncm^fti- cttja, APPENDIX. xAij-%io$ SiKcttccrvvv] v.puv." As the Hebrew word " N")p'" is properly rendered paffively "xA^ij- " ]$<7ETai ; and he thus comments upon it, " Tare TO wopa, x m TCK irgxr- tf 6s Te6stxH Ti run "E^aiwv a.-JTrit jta>.fTs (fiaty lufftccz." Theo- doret therefore has not only preferved the Septuagint-Verfion of the paffage, but he has alib been remarkably exprefs in re- ferring it to its proper author by afcribing it to the tranflator, who " (v Totf ir^aff^m irrtSuxs lu * Repentance is ufed in this cafe to fignify the performance of all our practical duties for the reafon affigned by Dean Noel- in his Catechifm ; " quia neque obedientiam, neque charita- " tern, quam debemus, praeftamus, poenitentiampeccatoribus ad '* Dei mifericordiam confequendam maxime neceffariam fubfti* " tuunt." Bifhop Butler calls an intention " an aft:" andfays that re- folutions alib to do well are properly " afts." Analogy, 8vo. ed. p. 122. vant SERMON XI. 39 1 vant was by no means pardoned, becaufe one talent only was the whole of his original truft. Thus no Micenfe whatever is given to fin. The fmcerity, which is to procure acceptance for us, muft ifTue immediately from a q pure heart, and can be coniiftent with no conduct which is wilfully and obftinately defective. On the contrary it requires that our obedience fhould be as perfect as all our powers can ren- der it : but, at the fame time, as it requires not this obedience without making r allowance for all our different infirmities, it affords the moft extenfive room for exertion to that mercy which rewardeth every man according to his works. As in Adam all were rendered in- capable of procuring acceptance with God, fo in Chrift all are reflored to this capacity. Every man is to be rewarded according to his performance of thofe works which are both within his reach, and are not enjoined him with- out a gracious confideration of all his infir- mities. Under Chriftianity therefore the promifes of rewarding men according to their works are P Ecclus. xv. 20. * Matt. xii. 34, 35. \ Tim. i. 5. T Luke xii. 48. 2 Cor. viii. 12. Heb. iv. 15. C c 4 extended 392 SERMON XL extended fo far, as not only to require nothing impoffible from us, but alfo nothing which is difproportionate in any refpect to our prefent abilities; and, thus extended, they are held forth even to profefTors of our Religion, who have been guilty of the greatefl crimes and who re- pent and return from their evil ways, no lefs than to thofe who from the beginning of their Chriftian courfe have uniformly followed after perfection. It was a part of the fame difpen- fation, which at firft vouchfafed to offer pardon to mankind for the paft and acceptance of their fincere endeavours in future, to continue to them during the s whole of their prefeht exift- ence the fame gracious offers of pardon and acceptance. Indeed the lives of incomparably the greater part of mankind', while they are continually fpent under the counteracting in- fluences of fin and grace, will fo far at times be characterized by each, as to require that a Religion, which, like Chriftianity, is calcu- lated to recover mankind effectually from their original fall, mould alfo, like Chriftianity, leave extended room for renovation and divine favour. Habits of vice, thofe natural confequences and moil alarming punifhments of indulgence in impiety, will doubtlefs even in this life fear Matt, xx, i 16. the SERMON XI. 39:3 the conferences of fome, deprive them of the affiftance of the Holy Spirit, and exclude them from the moral poffibility of reforming and partaking of the Gofpel-bleffings: and con- trary habits will be rewarded with fuch a de- termined attachment to whatever is right, and with fuch additional fupplies of divine Grace, as to raife others on this fide of the grave to a moral certainty of psrfeverance and final ac- ceptance : the former will invariably reject, the latter will appear not to be called upon to accept, the gracious offers held forth by Chrif- tianity to converted finners. But men of both thefe defcriptions are rare ; rare alfo as they are, their retribution will not at all differ in kind from that of other men. When it is declared, " He that is unjuft, let him be un- " juft ftill ; and he that is filthy, let him be " filthy ftill ; and he that is righteous, let him " be righteous ftill ; and he that is holy, let " him be holy ftill ;" it is immediately fub- joined, " Behold I come quickly, and my re- " ward is with me, to give every man accord- " ing as his works fhall be." While therefore the moft gracious and continued allowance is made by Chriftianity for human infirmity, our works, whether va- riable or habitual, are the determined ftandard by which we are all to receive our final retri- bution. SERMON XL bution. ChrilKanity gives us not the leaft encouragement to hope for a participation of its rewards without aclual holinefs of life. Indeed fo effentially connected with holinefs are the conditions enjoined to qualify us for a participation of the Gofpel-bleffings, that e men, remarkable for fcriptural knowledge and for Chriftian chanty, have not ventured to afTure the alarmed profligate of the accept- ance of his moft earneft profeffions of Re- pentance and Faith, when the fmcerity of his converfion is not evinced by regular amend- ment of life ; and this alfo in cafes where no opportunity has been afforded for fuch amend- ment. And if fuch be the general fubftance of the New Teflament, nothing can more fully con- firm our general doctrine concerning the divine mercy. The New Teftament every where de- clares, that the atonement of Chrift is the me- ritorious caufe of the rewards bellowed by the mercy of God upon mankind, and that fuch rewards are beftowed upon them according to thofe works, which, allowance and provifion being made for all their infirmities, are pro- perly as well as finally their own. I may therefore propofe it as a general doc- 1 See Seeker's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 304. trine S E R M O N XI. 395 trine confirmed by all the different parts of Revelation, ' that the exercife of the divine " mercy towards mankind depends ultimately (t upon their own works ;" and may proceed fecondly, to prove the reafonablenefs of this doctrine. That the happinefs of every moral agent mould be connected with his own works is evidently confident with reafon. But that the attribute, which directs this difpenfation to- wards mankind, ought (as far as we may pre- fume to pronounce with regard to fuch difpen- fations) to be called mercy in God, and that the divine mercy towards mankind ought to be extended no farther, are c ire urn (lances which may appear to require proof. The difpenfa- tion, which has refpect to works, may be thought referable to the juftice rather than to the mercy of God. It is not my defign to enter upon any meta- phyfical difquifhion concerning the attributes of God, nor even to infift at large that juftice and mercy muft ever be one and the fame thing in an all-perfect Being. The necemty of this coincidence has been infifted upon and u proved See Sherlock's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 221 226, Bifnop Ridley alfo exprefles himfelf nearly to the fame effefb towards che candufon of his " Proteitatio : " " cuju. in no* " milcri- 396 S E R M O N XI. in the moil fatisfadtory manner by that diftin- guifhed matter of reafoning, the great Bifhop Sherlock. If I confider thefe attributes, as the Scripture fpeaks of them, according to our or- dinary conceptions, this mode of confidering them will perhaps not only be the moft intel- ligible in itfelf, but it will alfo be fully fuffi- cient to prove that the attribute under our more immediate consideration is not called mercy without abundant reafon and propriety. The juftice of God, according to our ordi- nary conceptions of juftice, muft require of his creatures in proportion to the abilities which he has given them. If they have by any means whatever degraded thofe abilities, they them- felves mud fee to that. It is not what we call juflice, but another attribute, which difpofes him to accept the fervices which they are enabled to perform in their reduced ftate. Amidft the infirmities in which mankind are involved through their own and their progeni- tors' vices, if he does not require that obedience which they were originally enabled to yield to his commands, but will at all times accept their (incere endeavours and reward them according to the works which they ftill can perform, it " mifericordiffimaj juftitiae et juftiffimae mifericordiae totaliter " me meamque univerfam caufam jadicandam commendo." ought SERMON XL 397 ought to be afcribed to what we call mercy. For what in human judgments is mercy, but a regard to all circumftances, and a mitigation of flridl juftice in proportion to the degrees of intentional and aggravated guilt in offenders ? It certainly is not a remiffion of puniihments deferved in every point of view. The Judge, who fpares, and much more he who rewards, the wilful and hardened criminal, is not called merciful : he is ftigmatized by fome very dif- ferent name. Thus a ftricl: execution of law among men is called juftice ; a remiffion of its penalties, from circumftances of mitigation, is called mercy. The dilpenfation therefore, which, notwithftanding the imperfections infe- parably annexed to our beft adions in confe- quence of our degraded abilities, perfeveres du- ring the whole courfe of our lives to offer us rewards according to the fincere exertion of our remaining powers, can never, confidently with analogy of language, receive any other appellation among us than that of mercy. It was reafonable then that the attribute, which we have been confidering as exercifed, according to the works of mankind, mould be called mercy. And if this immediately follows from any allotment whatever of divine rewards to human obedience, fuch as it muftbeat pre- fent, 398 SERMON XL fent, how tranfcendently will our conviction of the mercy difplayed in them be increafed, when we take alfo into our account that par- .don upon the gracious terms of the Gofpel, which muft often be previoufly extended to enormous crimes, and that grace and interpo- lation of our Redeemer's all-perfect merit which are univerfally necefTary, before accept- ance can be procured for the works which are thus to be rewarded in mankind ? Nor fhall we be at a lofs to find reafons why this mercy ought to be extended no farther ; xvhy man ought ilill to remain expofed to a iecond and an irrecoverable fall. What are the determined and deftrudtive confequences of fin we know from the expe- rience of common life ; we know from the general declarations of Scripture; and we know alfo in the moft decifive and wonderful manner from the infinite value of the atonement, which was made to redeem mankind from the puniihment of it. How this atonement can be applied to the pardon of creatures, by no means inflrumental in the merit of it, is a queftion, which has been often afked and as often anfwered by fhewing the incompetency of man's wifdom to decide on queftions of di- vine grace. A principal objection to the ap- plication SERMON XL 399 plication of this atonement is however effec- tually precluded by the aflurance afforded us, that it is not defigned to introduce finners to a Hate of happinefs at once, but merely to pro- cure for them means of pardon for their paft fins, and means of fo regulating their future conduct as to enable them in fome refpedl to deferve (if I may ufe the expreffion) fuch a ftate for themfelves. It certainly is not more agreeable to the deductions of our own wif- dom, thari to the declarations of the infpired writings, that " without holinefs no one mall " fee the Lord." But, while this vindicates from objection the atonement made for our fins, it fuggefts at the fame time irrefragable reafons why the divine mercy, which is de- rived from this atonement, ought not to be extended beyond the limits within which it has above been refrrained. Befides, if it was confillent at firft with the divine perfection to form this world for crea- tures, fuch as man, expofed through free will to (in and puniihment, it muft be unreafon- able in the higheft degree to expert that dif- obedience, which would neceffarily be permitted in this fyftem, mould at once excite fuch an interpofition of divine mercy, as to cancel the original 4 oo SERMON XI. original defign of the whole, and leave mankind no longer expofed here to fin and punifhment. Objectors, who are offended at the power which Chriftianity leaves with mankind of ren- dering themfelves miferable, little think in ge- neral to what their principles tend : they little think that their principles tend to reduce the creative power of God within the compafs of mere mechanifm. If men had not the power of rendering themfelves miferable, they could not, without violation to infinite holinefs, have the power of finning ; they could not be endowed with free will ; and the all-perfect God could not, confidently with the univerfal application of fuch reafoning, create other than mechanical agents. All that could previoufly have been ex- pected, if man were to abufe his free will, has been done in his favour. He has been reftored to the capacity of procuring accept- ance with God, and will at all times be re- warded according to the fincerity of his con- duct. How allowance is to be made for the infinite variety in the circumftances of different individuals, God certainly knows : infinite power and wifdom can and will make the proper allowance ; each individual's happinefs will SERMON XI. 4 qi will alike depend upon himfelf. By what name we ought to diftinguim this retribution, whether we ought to call it mercy or by fome other name, has already been determined univerfally from the imperfection of our beft obedience. The retribution itfelf is fuch, that the moft prefumptuous reafon can expect no more in favour of fallen creatures from a Creator of infinite perfection. Laftly, I am to ftate fome practical infer- ences arifing from the general doctrine which we have been confidering. The practical inferences fuggefted by a confideration of the divine mercy, as this mercy has been limited and vindicated above, are of the greateft importance to us ; fince the confequences of fach a limitation of this divine attribute not only affect us all in a general point of view j but they apply them- felves alfo to the moft particular circumftances of each one individual among us. If we have nothing more to expect from the mercy of God, than to be rewarded according to thofe works, which, allowance being made for all our infirmities, are within the reach of our fincere endeavours ; we are mofc awfully called upon to inquire what thofe works are, and what is thus indifpenfably incumbent upon us. D d Though 402 SERMON XL Though others may be ignorant what they are, yet we can certainly inform ourfelves. After extended allowance has been made for every infirmity of our nature, there are abir lities, either natural or infpired, which each one among us muft feel that he pofTefTes. When we fall fhort of lincerely endeavouring to proportion our works to thefe, we are guilty of known and wilful fin. And though re- pentance is ever eafy to all but confirmed and habitual tinners ; our conduct muft yet be conformable to our abilities before we can hope for acceptance through the mercy afforded by Chriftianity. He, that fpared not the fallen angels, will not fpare thofe who per- verfely and obftinately refufe to difcharge the probationary duties impofed upon them. Our beft wifdom, after fatisfying ourfelves by the afli fiance of Revelation concerning the general circumftances of our fallen flate, is to difcover the particular part which we are called upon to fuftain in it : and our higheil hopes from the mercy of God can with fafety be extended no farther, than to a humble af- (urance that he will at all times (unlefs we quench his Holy Spirit by habitual fin) both enable us to exert, and himfelf moft gracioufly accept, our honeft and regular endeavours to fulfil S.E R M O N XL 403 fulfil the duties of fuch our refpective ila- tions. Men often heat themfelves with enthufiaftic thoughts of the faith which they mould have fhewn, had they lived in the days of miracles and of martyrdom ; and with unbounded fchemes of beneficence, had they been blefTed with large endowments. But fuch thoughts tend only to pride and cenforioufnefs. God certainly knew from the beginning how to arrange his creatures under all the poffible cir- cumftances of their exiftence : he knew from the beginning what fituation of individuals would at all times be beft for themfelves and for the whole. One concern only is referved for man in the great arrangement of this life ; the important concern of regulating his own conduct under the circumftances in which he is actually placed, under the abilities and in- abilities which he actually experiences. In affairs of temporal intereft it is well known that he ufually fucceeds beft, who watches and improves the opportunities which really arife before him, not he who fpeculates about things impoflible or even the moft pro- bable : and, however various, however un- fpeakably various, the circumftances of dif- ferent individuals are, it may be remarked that D d 2 happinefs 404 SERMON XI. happinefs is at prefent more equally divided among men, than the admirers of worldly grandeur are always ready to acknowledge ; that a comfortable (hare of it is ufually within the reach of every man, who acts with a prudent conformity to the circumftances of his ftation. The fame will undoubtedly and univerfally be the cafe with regard to our future defti- nation. The prefent ftate difclofes to us merely the imperfect commencement of the retribution, which has been ordained for man- kind by their great moral Governour. That virtue, which for wife reafons does not always receive its proper reward in this probationary ftate, will receive if in the moil perfect manner when we mall enter upon the pof- ieffion of our eternal inheritance. Conform- ably to what ufually, but not always, happens in the distribution of earthly happinefs, every man, who honeftly exerts his heft endeavours under the circumftances of knowing and act- ing in which he is here ftationed, under the op- portunities of improving in religious faith and practice which he here enjoys, will afTuredly and without exception find hereafter, that he has been fupporting no unmeaning or unpro- fitable characters that he has been fupporting a character SERMON XI. 405 a character under the appointment and appro- bation of the great Difpofer of all things ; and that the due, though fometimes late, exertion of all his abilities of obedience here will be crowned with fuch a reward, as muft ensure to -him the gratification of all his abilities of enjoyment hereafter. Thus much and no more Revelation en- courages us to expect ; and this alfo (as we can never be too careful to remember and de- clare) not as a reward deferved by our own works, which at beft are exceedingly defective, but in reality as the gift of God procured by our great Redeemer for his fincere, though by no means meritorious followers. That we thould notwithstanding expect more from the divine mercy, ought not to be matter of aflo- nimment. While our judgments are formed upon confufed ideas of the divine attributes, and our conduct continually falls ihort of the excellence at which our fincere endeavours may arrive ; unwarrantable expectations from the mercy of God will ever render us liable to impofe upon ourfelves with regard to the general conditions of our Chriftian probation, and will ever be our deceitful refuge. To correct therefore our errors on this moft important fubject, we mufl not only confider Dd 3 diflinctly 406 S E R M O N XL diftin&ly the different attributes of God and their necefTary confiftency with each other ; but, what is of ftill greater confequence to us, we muft alfo endeavour to prevent thofe de- ftructive habits which arife from indulgence in fin by determining immediately to forfake it ; and muft learn, by feafonably applying our abilities to the purpofes for which they were deligned, to judge without prejudice what he indifpenfably requires from us who has given us the enjoyment of them. To this application of our abilities we are invited by the promifes of Chriftianity, by the joy which both good men and angels will ex- prefs at our conduct, and by the comfortable affurance, that under fuch circumftances mercy itfelf will rejoice on our behalf; not, indeed, againft juftice (for that muft ever be impof- fible) but againft judgment. A SERMON ON THE WORSHIP OF GOD, SERMON XII. ON THE WORSHIP OF GOD. JOHN IV. 24. God is ajpirit: and they, that ivorft>ip him, mujl Ivor flip him infpirit and in truth. THERE is no one among all the duties in- cumbent upon us, which is diftinguimed by more forcible proofs of obligation and im- portance, than the worfhip which we owe to God. This obfervation is ib evidently true in itfelf, and fo little likely to be difputed, that any attempt whatever to confirm it by argu- ment would be altogether unneceflary. But, though there are very few among us who are - not 4 io SERMON XII. not forward to acknowledge both the fuperior obligation and importance of fuch worlhip, yet we meet with many in all the different ranks of life, who appear to want proper information with regard to the duty itfelf as it ftands enjoined by our Religion, or proper directions and inducements to afiift and con- firm them in a regular compliance with it. . I intend therefore to employ the following dif- courfe in ftating, Firfr., the wormip which our Religion re- quires of us ; Then, the means by which we are to efta- bliih ourfelves in this wormip ; And laftly, the good effects refulting from it: and, if from a confideration of thefe effects it mall appear to be peculiarly calcu- lated to excite and keep alive in us a confci- entious attention to all our duties, we fhall do well ever to regard it, not only as a fervice indifpenfably incumbent upon us in itfelf, but likewife as the moft direct and firhple means of initiating us, under the divine affiftance, into the univerfal practice of Christianity. The text immediately declares that the wormip, which our religion requires of us, is of a fpiritual nature : and what the text teaches us on this fubject, the other parts of SERMON XII. 411 ' ^ of Scripture abundantly confirm. Revela- tion begins the hiftory of mankind with in- forming us that God made man in his own image -> that is, endowed him with a rational and upright foul. And no fooner was man thus made in the image of God, than God was pleafed to mew that he was defigned for a intercourfe with his Maker : God proceeded to b exercife his faculties, and vouchfafed to converfe with him by feniible and external means. But of this familiar intercourfe with the great PoiTelTor of all perfection, man foon be- came eflentially unworthy by defiling himfelf with fin. It was not however wholly broken off at once even after this defilement. God was gracioufly pleafed to ordain that mankind fhould in time be redeemed from their fall : and though he meant to withdraw his more immediate prefence from them in this life, and leave them to a fpiritual intercourfe with him ; yet he did not entirely withdraw from them this diftinguimed and fenfible light of his countenance, but by degrees, and fo as was 3 " God created man for this end and purpofe to enjoy con- " verfe and a humble familiarity with him;elf." Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 3. b Gen. ii. 19. beft 4 i2 SERMON XII. beft calculated to promote the great purpo^s of that Religion by which the Redemption of mankind was to be effected. God not only converfed in the fame manner with Adam after his fall, as before; but alfo he fpake himfelf to Cain after the murder of his brother Abel. Enoch, we are informed, walked with God, and was not, becaufe God took him. God fpake in a familiar manner to Noah before the flood, and to him and his fons alfo after it. From this time we read of no other fuch communication with mankind till the call of Abraham. With him and with his defendants the Almighty was pleafed to converfe at fundry times and in divers manners ; fometimes by bodily appearances, fometimes by voices, fometimes by dreams, and fometimes by extraordinary infpirations of his Holy Spi- rit ; but at all times ultimately with a view to the eftabliihment of that Religion among us, which was to be taught by our great Redeemer, and which, when thoroughly eftablimed, was tofuperfede all fuch immediate communications from himfelf. How great a part of our fervice of God might have been taken up in fenfible inter- com fe with him, if we had never been defiled with fin, it is in vain for us now to inquire. From SERMON XII. 413 From the declaration of the author of the Epiftle to the Hebrews concerning the accept- ance of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, holy men fpoken of above, and of others mentioned in his eleventh chapter, we may learn what fince that defilement Revelation has taught man- kind to regard in their religious fervices as the fource of their acceptance with God : namely, that Faith, which is the fub- ftance of things not feen ; which believes without fenlible proof that God is, that he is fuch as he is defcribed in Holy Writ, and confequently that he is the fole Author of our being and enjoyments, and that, whitherfoever we go, he is prefent with us ; that Faith, which alfo, in the regulation of our conduct, is to fupply the want of fenfible intercourfe with God; which makes us rely with firm afTurance upon his word, as if we actually heard his voice ; makes us look up to him and endure, as feeing him that is inviiible; and makes us behave ia all refpects towards him \vith the fame reverential awe and atten- tion, as if he were continually expofed to our fenfes : it is therefore that Faith, which makes us con/icier God as a Spirit of infinite perfection, and nttkes us zealous to fecure his favour 414 SERMON XII. favour by endeavouring at all times v to ferve him in fpirit and in truth. It is not however a Faith, which was to fuperfede all external ordinances in our wor- mip of him. In the inftitution of the Jewifh Law ceremonies were neceflary, as means of preferving the Jews from idolatry and as types of the great facrifice promifed for human fin. In the inftitution of Chriftianity they were necefTary for our folemn initiation into our Religion, and for the renewal and continuance of us in it by the eflablimment of a folemn memorial of the wonderful expiation now actually made for our fins. Befides, in both inftitutions they and likewife forms of prayer and thankfgiving were neceflary, not only to preferve the decorum of public worfhip, but alfo for another and a mofl important reafon, that nothing new or unexpected in the cere- monies oraddrefTes might ftrike the worfhipper on a fudden, as an object of cenfure or com- mendation, and call off his attention from that devotion which ought immoveably to fix and engage his whole thoughts. But that the worfhip, every where enjoined under the Jewifh and Chriftian Religion, is, notwithftanding fuch external ordinances, to have SERMON XII. 415 have its real efficacy in raifing our fpirits to God, not only agrees with the defcription given of the Faith which is to be the fource of our acceptance with him in all our religious fervices -, it is moreover the evident intention of all the different precepts concern- ing divine worfhip, which are to be col- lected from both the Jewifh and the Chriflian Scriptures. Whoever confiders in the book of Pfalms that part of the Old Teftament, which moft abounds in devotional matter, mufl at once be convinced of this great truth with regard to the Jewifh Revelation. Nor does ChrifUanity, while it is intent on more clearly explaining the fupernatural means which our fall has made necefTary to procure acceptance for our religi- ous fervices, omit to infift fully upon the im- portant duty before us. By Chriftianity we are informed it is necefTary that the c Holy Spi- rit mould aflift our infirmities, and that all our petitions and praifes mould be offered up in the name and through the mediation of our great d Redeemer. Under thefe means, which Chrif- tianity declares are efTentially requifite and c Rom. viii. 26. Ephef. vi. 18. d John xiv. 13, 14. Ib. xvi. 23, 24. Col. iii. 17. Ephef. V. 20. which 4 i6 SERMON XII. which it gracioufly fupplies us with the moft ample power of empioying in our religious addreffes,. the fpiritual worihip, of which I am fpeaking , is every where enjoined in the New Teftament. Indeed this wor(hip was not only exprefsly enjoined to the Jews and Chriftians, but fuch alfowas their obedience to the injunction, that, notwithstanding the Idolatry of the Jews be- fore the Babylonim captivity and of the Chrif- tians after the civil eftablifhment of their Re- ligion, the enemies of both have confefTed with regard to the more uncorrupted periods of their refpective hiftories, that their worihip was the fervice of the f mind only, or that it was 8 purely fimple and fpiritual. The worlhip then, which our Religion re- quires of us, may be ilated upon the authority of the text, and of all the different inftruc- tions afforded us on the fubjecl: by Revelation, to be " fuch a fpiritual worfhip, conducted " under the influence of the Holy Spirit of ' God and offered up in the name of our great e Matt. xv. 7 9. John iv. 23, 24. Rom. 1.9. i Cor. xiv. 15. f TacitusconfefTes that the Jews worfhipped the Deity " mentc " fola." Hiftor. 1. v. c. 5. e Mr. Gibbon fays that the Catholic worfhip before the reign of Coaftantine was " purely fimple and fpiritual." Vol. v. p. 8 9- '* Redeemer, SERMON XII. 417 " Redeemer, as may raife our hearts to h God " with an awful fenfeof his fpiritualand infinite " perfec"tion, and of our entire dependence upon " him : fuch as may teach us with fixed and *' fervent devotion to prefent before him our " well-regulated fupplications and thankf- " givings, and to engage our fpirits in that " holy intercourfe with the Father of fpirits, " which may raife us in another life to the " happinefs of feeing this great Being, whom " in our fallen ftate we muft at prefent be con- " tented to know, and humbly to adore, by " Faith alone." Such is the worfliip which our Religion re- quires of us. But this worfhip is far from being attended with no difficulty on our part. It is highly neceflary then, in the next place, that I mould ftate the means by which we are to eftablifh ourfelves in it. h When our prayers are direfted to God or the Lord in gene- ral terms, we muft underftand, by this great Being, the whole and undivided Trinity. When they are directed feparately to the Father, or (as fometimes is the cafe) to the Son and Holy Spirit, we are by no means fo to addrefs them to the feparate Perfons, as ever to forget the neceflary relation which they bear to each other. Farther alfo, we mult not forget, that by the Redeemer, in whofe name our prayers are offered up, we are not to underftand " the Son in his divine nature only," but " that Chrift, who is both God and Man, and who, as fuch, now " fits in his mediatorial kingdom at the right hand of God to " make interceffion for us." E e " Every 4 i8 SERMON XII. " T Every good gift and every perfect gift is " from above." In order therefore that we may eftablifh ourfelves in the worfhip which our Religion requires of us, we muft firft pray for the affiflance of God's Holy Spirit : and for this we muffc pray in the name and through the merits of our great Redeemer. We are then to determine at all events to purfue this our duty j to neglect none of the proper fea- fons for it, either public or private; and to en- counter with patient perfeverance every diffi- culty which may oppofe our proficiency in it. For we muft expect to encounter difficulties here and many. To conceive of a fpiritual and all-perfect God properly (as far as we can conceive at all properly on fo exalted a fubject) is perhaps not very difficult at particular times. But it is exceedingly difficult for us to withdraw our thoughts from the various objects which fur- round us, and to fix them for any continuance of time upon this Being, fo as at once to be imprefled with an awful fenfe of the God whom we addrefs, and of the addrefles which we of- fer to him. But, difficult as this is, it is the worfhip which we are to pay to God. Diffi- culties are efTential to a flate of probation, and * James i. 17. it SERMON XII. 419 it is in vain to lofe time in complaining of them. The common rules of reafonable expecta- tion will teach us, if we do not attend to the perfon whom we addrefs and to the fubject- matter which we are addrefling to him, that we ought not to expect that he fhould attend to us and our addreffes. And the common method of conquering difficulties in other cafes will be of effential fervice to us here. Difficulties are always increafed by diftant views of them. It is by meeting and oppofing them that we are to hope to get the better of them. If, inftead of complaining of the diffi- culty of fixing our attention on fubjects of de- votion, we Jftedfaftly attempt it, we mail find it to be very practicable even at firft to a cer- tain degree. A fecond trial will carry us far- ther into the practice of it : and a repetition of fimilar trials will form a habit of devotion for us. We cannot reafonably expect to excel in the practice of piety without many and ftedfaft efforts. We mufl learn to be pious, as much as we learn to arrive at any other men- tal excellence. In religious atttainments the great Author of our being has made excellence as progreffive and as much the effect of habit, as in temporal concerns. It is the confequencc E e 2 and 420 SERMON XII. and reward of real endeavours to comply with a duty, that we find it more eafy to be com- plied with on every new trial. The one thing needful, under the divine affiftance, is, that we mould determine at all events not to be overcome. Though we do not fucceed at firft according to our willies or according to our expectations ; though we find ourfelves languid, inattentive, or even pofTefled by the word thoughts during the times dedicated to devotion; yet we muft endeavour to roufe our- felves and to fix our attention upon the fubjects before us. And though we mould relapfe again and again, we muft again and again re- new our efforts : we muft renew the whole of our efforts from the beginning ; we muft again pray for the afiiftance of the Holy Spirit, and call forth all our powers to oppofe the diffi- culties which hinder us from addreffing our- felves ftedfaftly to God. If we perfevere with lincerity in this holy ftruggle, and prove our fincerity as well by never neglecting the proper feafons for devo- tion, as by ftricl: attention to our thoughts du- ring thefe feafons, we muft overcome : through the afliftance of the Holy Spirit, and the pro- mife made by God that he will accept our fin- cere endeavours for the fake of our great Re- deemer, we muft overcome in the end; and muft find, SERMON XII. 421 find, to our inexpreffible comfort, that greater is he that is with us, than he that is againft us. God knows how far different individuals have different powers of attaining excellence in this important refpect, and he mofl affu redly will accept the fincere and perfevering efforts of the moil imperfect piety. But what makes this practice of piety in- comparably more difficult to many, is that per- haps they have accuilomed themfelves before to treat all matters of devotion with thought- lefs indifference, or poffibly to treat them even worfe. Such men have much to unlearn in addition to all that they are required to learn on the fubject. But the very worft men under the grace of God have no reafon to defpair. If more time or greater exertion be necefTary to bring them to any degree of perfection in the eflential duty before us, they muft fubmit with patience to the evils which they have brought upon themfelves ; and will have rea- fon to think themfelves happy if the mofh irk r fome fubmiflion of this fort can be accepted as the only punifliment of their former im- piety. This circumftance however ought to teach us die neceffity of impreffing upon young minds a propsr fenfe of the manner in which E e 3 they 422 SERMON XII. they are to endeavour to addrefs their thoughts to God, as foon as we teach them any form of words for this purpofe. Some proper idea of God and of the addreiles which we offer to him, and forne proper difpolition to attend thoroughly to the ideas which we affix to both, may be inculcated as foon as any form of prayer or of thankfgiving can be imprefTed upon the moft youthful memory. And that they fhould be inculcated muft be of the greateft confe- quence, fince habits only of piety can make us laftingly pious: and habits, every one knows, are more and more difficult to be acquired as years advance upon us. That our labour in attaining a habit of de- votional piety will be amply rewarded, muft be rendered evident by the good effects refult- ing from it : and thefe effects I was to date, as the laft head of the prefent difcourfe. The good effects, refulting from the piety here recommended, are worthy of our moft attentive coniideration. The man, who makes it his regular practice to pour out his heart in folemn devotion before his God, will necef- farily become felicitous to keep it free from all defilement. As our devotion muft originate in a certain degree of internal purity, fo it will alfo reciprocally preferve and improve in us SERMON XII. 423 us this moft invaluable qualification and orna- ment of a religious mind. It muft by degrees be part of the very conftitution of the devout Chriftian, whom I am defcribing, often to place himfelf in the more immediate prefence of God, and often to addrefs himfelf to this great Difcerner of the thoughts. But how can he do this with real fatisfaction, while he is conicious to himfelf of internal defilement? How can he continually offer up his heart in prayer and thankfgiving to God, and not con- tinually endeavour to cleanfe and fanclify its moft fecret defires ? The fame piety will alfo extend its good effects to all around us. It will be impoffible for fuch a truly religious man to perfevere for a continuance of time in any courfe of actions, which are unjuft or uncharitable towards his neighbour. When he brings his gift to the altar, the offering of his heart to God, he cannot enjoy that happinefs, which he has beenaccuftomed to derive from thus difcharging his duty, as a Chriftian, towards his all- perfect Benefactor, till he is reconciled to his brother, and ready to difcharge alfo the duties en- joined him by his Religion towards all man- kind. E 6 In 424 SERMON XII. In a flate of imperfection therefore, fuch as that in which we live at prefent, where we are liable to fall from numberlefs caufes ori- ginating both from ourfelves and others, what an invaluable advantage does that man enjoy who has acquired a practical and habitual fenfe of devotion towards God; a fenfe of devotion which mufl return upon the mind often in every day, and which, as often as it returns, muft irrefiftibly tend to cleanfe our hearts both with regard to ourfelves and all around us ! Such conftant and Simulating calls to reformation cannot fail by degrees to extirpate our evil affections, and to fill us with all the purity and all the virtue of which our imperfedl natures are capable. Other good effects, refulting from the fpi- ritual devotion here recommended, will re- fpedl: our flate with regard to God. We mail not only be led by it to that real love of God, which has ever been deemed effential to true Religion, and which can by no other means be fo permanently excited as by devotional intercourfe with him ; but we {hall alfo derive from it a perfuafion that he will accept our prayers, and will either give us thofe things which we afk, or other things inftead of them which SERMON XII. 425 which he knows to be more proper for us, and more conducive to the good of the whole. Having afked, as he requires, under the in- fluence of his Holy Spirit, in the name and through the merits of our great Redeemer, and with our whole hearts and fouls, we mail have no doubt that our prayers are heard ; and mall leave the event with that God, who makes all things work together for good to thofe that love him, and who will be fure in the end to give them, by fome method or other, more than their humility will permit them todefire, as well as more than they deferve. Under this confidence we (hall receive with cheerfulnefs what God is pleafed to allot us ; and mail acquire that fubmiffive and habitual truft in him, which, amidft the uncertainties and afflictions of this life, can alone free our minds from apprehenfion and difquietude. He, who has brought himfelf to a habit of thinking upon God, as Chriftianity requires, on other occaiions, will naturally think upon him and truft in him alfo on occaiions of diftrefs. He will naturally on fuch occafions caft all his care upon God, in full aflurance that God cureth for him. And this he will do more efpecially towards the clofe of life ; towards that awful period of diftrefs, 426 SERMON XII. diftrefs, for which it is our duty and our higheft wifdom to provide fome confolation. The truly devout man, having been accuf- tomed during his health often to dwell upon his fins, and often to confefs them in his prayers with unfeigned forrow and refolution of amendment before his God, having never forgotten them during the time of his prof- peri ty, will be encouraged to forget them, or (what will not be lefs pleafing) to recollect them without uneafinefs at the hour of his death. Allured by divine Revelation that fins thus deplored and forfaken will not be re- membered hereafter to his condemnation, he will find at his diffolution no apprehenfion of future judgment refulting even from his worfl offences, which will not effectually be done away by a confcioufnefs of the fmcerity of his pafl repentance, and by a reliance upon the mercy provided for him through the atone- ment of his great Redeemer. In addition to thefe effects I might mention, that fuch devotional intercourfe with God will not only eminently conduce to our eternal interefl by fixing our attention upon a bleffed immortality and preparing us fot the enjoy- ment of it ; but alfo, with reference to the purfuits of this life, that the mind, when puri- fied SERMON XII. 427 fied with regard to itfelf and others, when pofTeiTed of a firm affurance that all things are working together for its good, and of a firm confidence in God under all circumftances of uncertainty and danger, will acquire a fted- fafcnefs and calmnefs, which muft wonderfully tend to l enlarge its power, to enable it to fee things as they really are, and to facilitate its attainments in whatfoever ftudy or engage- ment its duty, intereil, or amufement, may make it wifti to excel. But I forbear to purfue farther the confi- deration of thefe effeds. As to thofe which have been above ftated, they are undoubt- edly often experienced by religious minds. Nor let it be thought that I do wrong in re- ferring them thus to the prefent fubject : they proceed fo fully and immediately from the fpiritual devotion required of us, that I know not whether it be poilible to derive them in 1 This is, r.r.j ever muft be, the natural effed of true devo- tion ; however men, who have net perhaps experienced its in- fluence, may lay, " that the mind is relaxed by prayer." See Gibbon's Hift. vol. v. p. 471. How different from Mr. Gibbon's fentiment, and ho\v infinitely more juft is that of th-: French poet, \vho makes the Jewiih High Prieft exclaim, " Je crains Dieu, cher Abner, & n'ai point d'autre crainte :" " Abner, I fear my God, and have no other fear!" See joad's Speech ia Pacine's Athaliah. the 428 SERMON XII. the fame degree, or with the fame advantage> from any other fource. That men do not more generally experience them is owing to their want of the piety in queftion, and not to any the leaft inability in this piety to produce them. Some men may be fo ignorant as never to have learnt, that our Religion requires of us the devotion of the fpirit, and not merely that of the lips ; that, when we join in any adt of wormip, we ought to think of God as an all-perfed: fpirit, and that we ought really and ferioufly to think alib of the meaning of the addrefles which we offer to him, and let the meditation of our hearts accompany the words of our lips. Such men are greatly to be pitied ; and it is an acl: of the moft benevolent charity to teach them better. Others know their duty here thoroughly, are capable in this refpect of teaching the ignorant, yea and perhaps are ready and folicitous fo to doj but, moft unhappily for themfelves, they never apply this their knowledge practically to their own benefit. A third and probably the moft numerous clafs confifts of men, who who have fome imperfect fenfe of their duty in this important refpedt, and who ufe at times fome weak endeavours to comply with it ; but they do not ftrive to inform themfelves tho- roughly SERMON XII. 429 roughly of its true nature and importance, and feel no incitements powerful enough to make them reduce even what they do know to regular practice. Surely then we muft not wonder, if all thefe men fall mort of attaining the good effects above mentioned : nay, on the contrary, we muft not wonder if oftentimes their prayer mould become k abomination, mould be turned into l fin. Indeed that there is fo little appearance of Chriftianity in the lives of mankind, and fo little happinefs among men arifing from re- ligious principle, is owing to their defects in religious wormip, more perhaps than to any other caufe which can be mentioned. Thofe, who fincerely endeavour to purify their devotion according to the directions here given, will find their piety rewarded by fuch effects as I have here ftated. They will however find thefe effects in different degrees, and perhaps not always according to their dif- ferent degrees of perfection in devotional piety. Bodily conftitution and a variety of other cir- cumftances may make fuch a difproportion in the advantages refulting in this life from the practice of any duty, as mould hinder us from k Prov. xxviii. 9. 1 Pf. cix. 7. rigoroufly 43 SERMON XII. rigoroufly extending our obfervations on this fubject to every particular cafe. But that in general fuch and fo great rewards will imme- diately attend this our piety, we may afTure ourfelves even from a confideration of the natural workings of our own minds. How fatisfadtory then ought our affurance on this momentous fubject to be, and how powerfully ought it to influence our conduct, v/hen to the tendency of the thing itfelf, which our all-perfect Creator has made natural to us, we fuperadd that continued influence and affift- ance of the Holy Spirit, which will con- tribute to produce and heighten thefe happy effects in us ! Let us therefore not content ourfelves with general acknowledgments of the obligation and importance of religious worfhip ; but let us with determined refolution prepare to habituate ourfelves to that worfhip of God, which he himfelf has required of us : con- vinced, that, as it is peculiarly calculated to excite and keep alive in us a confcientious attention to all our duties, it ought ever to be regarded (agreeably to the obfervation at firft made) not only as a fervice indifpenfably incumbent upon us in itfelf, but likewife as the moft direct and fimple means of initiating us, SERMON XII. 431 us, under the divine afiiftance, into the uni- verfal practice of Chriftianity ; into a courfe of Chriftian obedience fo comprehenfive, as at once to include all that can be required to perfect both our moral and religious characters, unlimited as it muft be in its extent, and founded as it is upon a proper inveftigation and difcharge of our duty to God. FINIS. 1