THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES THE POSTHUMOUS WORKS O F JEREMIAH SEED, M. A, Late Reftor of Enham in Hampjhire, And Fellow of gueetts College, Oxford. Confifting of SERMONS, LETTERS, ESSAYS, fcf f . IN TWO VOLUMES. Publiflied from the AUTHOR'S original Manufcripts. By JOSEPH HALL, M. A. Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford. VOL. I. The SECOND EDITION. LONDON: Printed for M, SEED, and fold by R. MA N BY on Ltuigate-btil* MDCCLII. THE RX CONTENTS.!^ SERMON I. Moral Certainty a fufficient Ground for the Belief of Chriftianity. 2 PETER I. 16. For we have not followed cunningly devifed Fables y when we made known unto you the Power and Coming of our Lord jfe- fus Cbrijl. Pag. i. SERMON II. Improbabilities not fufficient to invalidate Moral Certainty. HEBREWS X. 23. Let us bold fajl the profej/ion of our Faith without wavering : for he is faithful that promifed. p. 29 SERMON III. The ufual Objections againft Revelation founded in Ignorance. A 2 i COR. CONTENTS. i COR. I. 25. T'be Foolifinefs of- God is ivzfer than Men\ and the Weaknefs of God isjinonger than Men. p. 65 SERMON IV. The ufual Objections againft Revelation founded in Ignorance. i COR. I. 25. "The Foolijhncfs of God is ivifer than Men j and the Weaknefs of God is ftrongtr than Men. p. 89 SERMON V. The Damnatory Claufes in the ATH ANA- SI AN Creed juftified. MARK XVI. 16. He that believeth not Jhall be da nine d^ p. 1 1 7 SERMON VI. The Being, Nature and Offices of Evil Spirits confidered. r PET. V. 9. latter Part. Your Adverfary the Devil^ as a roaring Lion, ivalketh about^ feeking whom he may devour, p. 155 SER- CONTENTS. SERMON VII. Curiofity in unneceffary Matters cenfured and condemned. JOHN XXI. 22. If I will, that He tarry till I come, what is that to thee ! follow thou me. p. i 8 5 SERMON VIII. Delight in GOD the Origin and Perfe&ion of human Pleafure. PSALM XXXVII. 4. Delight Thyfelf alfo in the LORD-, and Hejhall give Tihee the Defires of thine Heart* p. 2 o i SERMON IX. . The Duty of honouring the KING found- ed on the Fear of GOD. i PET. II. 17. Fear GOD, Honour the KING. p. 223 A 3 S E R- CONTENTS. SERMON X. Religious Pleafures produdtive of the great- eft Happinefs. PROV. III. 17. Her Ways are Ways ef Pkafantnefs. p. 25 I SERMON XI. Of Anger, Meeknefs, &c. EPHES. IV. 26. Be ye angry, and Jin not. p. 269 SERMON SERMON L Moral Certainty a fufficient Ground for the Belief of Chriftianity, Preached in Queen's College Chapel. 2 PETER I. 16. For nothing depending upon it, Reafon is left in it's full Freedom to determine as it fees evidence. But the Miracles being wrought to eftablifh a Religion, by which we are to be faved or condemned ; the Paffions im- mediately take the Alarm, and are up in Arms as againft an Enemy that is come to difturb their Repofe, and reduce their ex- orbitant Power. For the Refiftance to VOL. I. B Truth 1 2 Moral Certainty a Ground SERM. i. Truth bears generally an exadl Proportion to """* 'it's Weight or Moment. It is idle for the Detfls to run out into long Declamations againft Hiftoricai Evi- dence ; that it is in many Cafes precarious and uncertain; that Hiftorians give diffe- rent, and fometimes contradictory Reports of the very fame Aclion. This is only to empty their Quiver in the Air without aim- ing at a certain Mark. It is to difcharge their Artillery againft Hiftoricai Evidence at large, without levelling it againft the particular Point in Debate : the Queftion not being, whether Hiftoricai Evidence may not be fometimes uncertain and in- conclufive ? But whether any Evidence can be fo, that is fo circumftanced as that for Chriftianity is ? Where, if there had been any Impofture, it was utterly impoffible but that the Impofture muft have been dif cover- ed and the World undeceived. Thoufands could not have been converted to Chri- ftianity, and have died for it, unlefs it had carried the ftrongeft Conviction with it. For Men will not embrace a new Inftitution, fubverfire of every other, in Oppofition to their former Prejudices and worldly Inte- rcilb, without very forcible Proofs. Mira- culous for the Belief of Clriftianlty. culous Fads faid to be done in the Eye of the World for a Courfe of Years, before a great Number of WitnefTes, before Enemies as well as Friends (not to confirm an efta- blifhed Religion, but to build a new one up- on the Ruins of the former) could not have been believed to be true, if they were not fo, by thofe, who lived at that Jundhire ; and in thofe public Places where they pretended to work them ; fuch as jferufalem, Ephefus, Antioch) Corinth , &c. For a Set of Men to endeavour to deceive the World in fuch an aftonifhing manner, would have been looked upon as an audacious and unparellelled At* tempt to impofe upon the Senfes of Man- kind 3 and Chriftianity in that Cafe would have been like the Grafs growing upon the Houfe-Top ; by lying fo open and expofed, and wanting a fufficient Depth of Soil, it would have withered away of itfelf, and pre- vented the Violence of any hoftile Hand. But fuppofe, through fome unaccounta- ble Enthufiafm or Madnefs which then feized and poflefTed the Minds of the Peo- ple, it had fpread far and near ; yet in this Cafe the Jewijh Rulers and Magiftrates could never have flood by unconcerned, as idle Spectators. They were highly inter- B 2 efted 1 4 Moral Certainty a Ground SERM. I. e fl- e d to detect the Falmood, and to do themfelves Juftice, as being charged with the Murder of an innocent Perfon. They were obliged in Duty to their Law, in Cha- rity to their own Nation and the World, to fupprefs, as far as they could, the Belief of the Refurredtion, and the fubfequent Mira- cles wrought in Confirmation of it. By their Authority they could, and by their Inclina- tion they would have exploded the Impo- fture : they would have invalidated all the Teftimonies relating to thefe falfe Facts, if falfe they had been, by producing ftrong Counter-Evidence. The Apoftles on the other Hand, fup- pofing the Truth of the Refurrection, had all the Reafons that worldly Prudence could fuggeft. to have concealed it; fince they could not but forefee, that to maintain it would draw upon them a Train of fatal Confequences. But fuppofing the Fal/hood of it, all the Motives both of this World and the next confpired againft their Propa- gation of it. They could not think that the Chiefs of the Jewijh State would let them publifh every where throughout the World, that they had flied innocent Blood, the Blood of the Prince of Life y whom God for the Belief of Chriftianity. God had raifed up, without calling them to an Account for it. A long continued Succefiion of wonder- ful Works, many of them faidto have been performed in Places of the greateft Refort, (as any one that reads the Gofpels and Acts of the Apoftles may find) muft have laid open to public Examination ; and, if falfe, to public Detection. The chief Men among them, as their Reputation, Religion and Intereft were ftruck at, had all the Motives to detect: and fupprefs Chri- ftianity (which were wanting for the Pro- pagation and Succefs of it) and they had all the Advantages imaginable to compafs their End. And had the Men of Power and Policy, who were extreme to mark any Thing amifs in their Conduct, convicted the Apoftles of one Falmood ; their Credit muft have been for ever after blafted. Truth itfelf would have been fufpected from Perfons proved guilty of a folemn and deliberate Villainy, yet pretending to act it in the Name of God : but Faldiood could not have been credited. Impofture is like that Kind of Animal, which does a great deal of Mifchief; but then it is only while it works in Secret and under Cover : B 3 A* 1 6 Moral Certainty a Ground SERM. I. As foon as it appears above Ground and 15 difcovered in Day-Light, it is rendered in- capable of doing any further Detriment. Their Enemies, right or wrong, would en- deavour to fully the Brightnefs of their Cha- racters. And when one confiders them in their exalted Situation as Ambaffadrjrs of God, a Spectacle to Mankind on the open Theatre of the World, they muft (plain and unlearned as they were) have acted their Parts with uncommon Addrefs not to have .been difcovered. Like Statues placed on an high Pedeftal, they muft have been fome- what bigger than the Life, not to look lefs than it ; I mean they muft have been better than the common run of Men, not to have appeared worfe than them; when their Actions and Characters would be fcanned with all the Quick- fightednefs of Malice, ever vigilant to feek Occafion againft them. In fhort, the Facts thus circumftanced prove themfelves ; and the only Reafon why, at the Time and Place when and where they were faid to be done, they were believed to be true by Perfons tenacious of another Religion, is, that they were true ; as the only Reafon why a felf-evident Pro- pofition which draws after it a Train of un- for the Belief of Chriftianity. 1 7 unacceptable Confequences is admitted to SERM - J - be true, is, that it cannot be denied. All v ~"" v "* other Suppositions are forced and unnatural, and fuch as would not be endured by any Man of common Senfe in any other Cafe. Nay, no Account can be given, why the Chief Priefts and Rulers, who could fuborn the Soldiers to tell a fenfelefs Falf- hood about the Refurreftion, did not at- tempt to difprove the other marvellous Fatfs, though convinced that they were true, but this that they were fo notorioufly true, it would have been of no Avail to have denied them. It would have been as ridiculous, at that Time and in that Place, to have fet about a Confutation of fuch overbearing Evidence, as it would have been to have denied a felf-evident Proportion. They might as well have aflerted that the Feaft of Pentecoft was not obferved at Jerufa/em, -as that the Miracle of the Gift of Tongues was not wrought publickly at that Fefti- val, when there were fo many living Wit- nefles from every Nation under Heaven to atteft the Truth of it. Nay, fo far were the Ancient Jews, how- ever virulent, from confronting the Evi- dence for Chriftianity, that the Jerufalem B 4 T*/- 8 Moral Certainty afufflcient Ground RM. I. cfalmud *, which contains a Collection of the Traditions of their Fore-fathers, and was compofed about three hundred Years after the Birth of our Saviour, has preferv- ed the Memory of fome of our Saviour's Miracles ; as that he walked on the Sea, and that he raifed the Dead ; and it mentions the veryPerfons by Name with particular Cir- cumftances, whom St. James miraculouily cured, though their Diftempers were mor- tal, by the Name of Jefus Chrift. The State of the Queftion is now changed j in thofe early Times they did not (and the only Reafon was, they could not] conteft the Reality of the Miracles ; what they contefted was, the Inference from thence ; the Truth of the Doctrines : The ableft of our modern Adverfaries own, the Doctrines muft be allowed to be true, fuppofing the Miracles actually wrought ; but deny that they were wrought. For thus One of the moft fagacious of them fays, (and what he fays is very true) God can never be fup- in the Profeffion and Belief of Chriftianity ; which he cannot do, if he think upon the Stretch, in a State of Infidelity. 3 I begin 3 2 Improbabilities not fufficient SERM. II. j ^ e gj n ^h t h e firft of thcfe Propofiti- ons> ^'2. That no feeming Improbabilities , no Objections, &c. By Moral Certainty is meant fuch an Evi- dence, as, though it does not exclude a mere abftraft PoJJibility of Things being otherwife, fhutsout every reafonable Ground of fufpecting, that they are fo; an Evidence which we cannot reject, without contradict- ing the common Senfe and Reafon of Man- kind. It is an Evidence of fo high a Na- ture, that Men of plain Underftandings ge- nerally confound it with abfolute Certainty ; and would be furprized to hear any Man affert that // is only probable in the higheft Degree, that there is fuch a Country as 7ta- ly. Yet it is in the fame Senfe, that Philofo- phers muft be underftood, when they fay, that it is only highly probable -, that our Sa- viour and his Apoftles wrought fcveral uncontrouled Miracles, by which they prov- ed the Divinity of their Miffion and the Truth of their Doctrines ; meaning by high" ly probable ', that it is not capable of rigorous Demon/oration, it is morally certain, but not fcienttfcalfy fo. The Bulk of Man- kind can well enough diftinguifh Certainty in general from Uncertainty : but to afcer- tain to invalidate Moral Certainty* 3 3 tain all the Boundaries and Degrees of Evi- SERM - H- dence, to fix precifely the Point, where abfolute Certainty ends, and moral Certain- ty begins, is a Taik, to which at leaft un- improved Capacities are not fuited j like thofe common Machines, which ferve well enough for all the Purpofes of Life to in- form one in general, how the Time paffes, without pointing out to a Tittle the minut- eft and fmalleft Differences of Time. Taking.it for granted (what every one who has written upon the Subject has prov- ed) that Chriftianity is founded upon moral Certainty: it will follow, that, if we be not abfolutely fecure from a pbyjical PoJ/i~ bility of Error ; we are certainly fecure from the Guilt and Immorality of Error in embracing it. For He at leaft ftands clear of Immorality and Guilt, who acts agree- ably to the Will of his Creator ; and he acts agreeably to his Will, who is determined by moral Certainty : Becaufe unlefs moral Cer- tainty were allowed to be a proper and ra- tional Ground of Conviction, all Admini- ftration of Juftice muft ceafe j all Truth and Commerce flagnatej and fuch a Scene of Confufion be opened, as muft be high- ly difagreeable to God, who is a God of C 4 Or- Improbabilities not fufficieht not O f Confufion. God formed us focial Creatures : now we cannot at as focial Creatures, without fome Degree of mutual Truft repofed in one another ; and no mutual Truft can be repofed in one an- other, if thofe are not to be depended upon who gave, as the Apoflles and primitive Martyrs did give, the ftrongeft Proofs of their Integrity. The numerous Converts to Chriftianity in the firft Century could not have believed it to be true, if it had been falfe. For not to mention other Things, they muft have had an inward Confciouf- nefs, whether they had received thofe mi- raculous Gifts or not ; for the Abufe and Mifapplication of which St. Paul^ in his firft Epiftle to the Corinthians, reproves and cenfures them. They muft have had an absolute Certainty, fuppofing no extra- ordinary Gifts were communicated to them, that he from whom they received their Re- ligion, and whofe Epiftles, as appears from St. Peter and others, were univerfally read as of divine Authority, was a (hamelefs Importer. And yet they could not have profefled the Belief of it, knowing it to be an Impofture, at a Time when Chriftians were of all Men moft. miferable, without .,2, any to invalidate Moral Certainty. 3 5 any Profpect of worldly Honour or Advan- SERM> ir> tage, but with a certain Expectation of ex- quifite Torments ; except upon a Suppoii- tion, that they loved Mifery and avoided Happinefs as fuch. In a Word, Society muft difband upon the fame abfurd Princi- ple, whereby fome labour the Subverfion of Chriftianity, 'viz. the Denial of the Force and Validity of moral Certainty. Ri- gorous and find: Demon ftrations refemble precious Stones ; with whatever Luftre and Brightnefs of Evidence they may fhine, they cannot be purchafed without great Expence of Thought j and when they are purchaf- ed, they are not always neceflary for the Ufes of common Life. Whereas Moral Evi- dence is like current Species : It is current Proof on which the Stamp of Credibility is fixed, and by which the common Bufmefs of Life is carried on. Though we have not an abfolute Cer- tainty that we cannot err, yet we have an abfolute Certainty that we do not fw t in yielding our Aflent to fuch moral Proofs, as Chriftianity is fupported by. And when this tranlient Scene is doled, the grand Queftion may be, as far as Matters of Be- lief are concerned, not whether the Doc- trines 3 6 Improbabilities not fufficient SERM. II trines which we embraced had their Foun- - ~ v "~ - ' dation in the Truth and Reality of Things, but whether the Evidence, upon which we embraced them, was of an obligatory Na- ture or not : fince if it were of an obligato- ry Nature, then, though they mould prove to be falfe, yet we may be as much the Ob- jects of the divine Difpleafure for rejecting them, as if they had been true. For we may certainly be juftly punifhed for not complying with fuch Evidence, as God has laid us under an Obligation to fubmit to, and to which we do, without any Hefitation, fubmit in the higheft Concernments of Life. What has been hitherto advanced, pro- ceeds upon a Suppofition, that fuch Evi- dence may poffibly mifguide us : but if we take the Veracity and Goodnefs of God into the Account, we may advance a Step higher in the Scale of Certainty, and arrive at fuch a determined Pro- portion of it, as no Improbabilities can de- ftroy the Force and Weight of it. For let there be never fo many Improbabilities in Chriftianity, yet as long as they are but Im- probabilities , and do not amount to a direft Impojjibihty in the Nature of the Thing, then there is no abfolute ImpofTibility but fome to invalidate Moral Certainty. 37 fome rational Solution of them may begiv- SERM - ir - en : but it is abfolutely impomble in the Nature of the Thing, and contradictory to our Ideas of God, that he mould miflead us, or, which is the fame Thing, neceffi- tate us to be governed by fuch Evidence, as muft miflead us, in Points of the laft Impor- tance. If a Faith, which is built upon mo- ral and indubitable Proofs, mould be erro- neous, then h^who has made it our bound- en Duty, by the Exigences of human Af- fairs and by the Laws of our Nature, to clofe with fuch Proofs, defigned it fhould be fo; and confequently muft be, in the laft Refort, the Author of Error 5 to aflert which is Blafphemy. We are reduced to no Abfurdity in embracing leveral Things as true, upon juft and legitimate Proofs ; which, antecedently to fuch Proofs, we mould have rejected as highly incredible and improbable : for fuch an Aflent is war- ranted by the fame Procedure in every Branch of Literature, and even in that Branch which requires the ftricleft Certain- ty, as is plain from the Cafe of Infinites of all Sorts. But we are reduced to a Train of Abfurdities of the word Sort,by with- hold- ing our Aflent from what is founded upon moral 38 Improbabilities not fufficient SERM. ir. mora i Certainty; fince if that Opinion were univerfal, it would caufe an intire Cef- fation of Bufinefs, and introduce Dilbrder and Mifery into the Creation, contrary to the Intention of our great Creator, and therefore contrary to Truth. Whatever Weight fome People may think the Objec- tions againft Chriftianity have j they can have little or no Weight comparatively with the Force of this Argument, which is an indireft Demonftration in Favour of it : viz. Chriftianity muft be true, becaufe the Suppofition of its not being fo, carries along with it grofs and palpable Abfurdities ; it implies a Difbelief of every Thing of which we were not Eye-witneffes ; it puts an End to the Credibility of all human Teftimony, and plunges us into a State of Scepticifm in Matters of Practice ; far more to be avoid- ed than that which relates to Matters of mere Theory. It fuppofes, that feveral thoufands of early Chriftians, who could not have been deceived, as to the Reality of thofe Miracles which fell under the im- mediate Cognizance of their Senfes, entered into a Combination to make the reft of the World believe they were thoroughly per- fuaded of the Truth of them and of Chri- ftianity, to invalidate Moral Certainty. 39 ftianity, by perfifting in it to the laft, with- SERM - If - out any Intereft and even againft their In- tereft. Farther, we rnufl diftinguim between the Proofs of a T'hing^ and theT/>/;2g- fald to be proved. All Objections which relate merely to the Nature of the Thing proved, but do not affect the Proofs themfelves, ought not to invalidate our Affent. For our Affent is built upon the Proofs-, and, while they continue firm and unmaken, // ought to be fo too ; and nothing but what deftroys the Force of the Arguments, by which a Thing is proved to be true, can prove it to be falfe. It is thus in Natural Philofophy : when once the annual Motion of the Earth round the Sun is proved, we do not alter our Opinion, becaufe it feems highly improbable and to mock our com- mon natural Notions, that fo cumberfome and unweildy a Body as the Earth mould move fome hundreds of Miles in a Minute, and fome thoufands in an Hour, with a Velocity unperceived by us, and yet more rapid than that of a Cannon Ball. Thus again, when it is proved that Light comes from the Sun ; we do notfufpecl: the Proof to be ill-grounded, becaufe it is inconceiv- able 40 Improbabilities not fufficient . H-able how any Body (and Light is a Body) mould travel feveral Millions of Miles in fe- ven or eight Minutes j that the Sun mould emit every Minute as many Corpufcles, as have been fufficient to diffufe themfelves throughout the whole Expanfe of the vifi- ble Creation for almofl fix thoufand Years, without any fenfible Diminution of its Bulk, without impoveriihing itfelf by fuch a long continued Expence of Rays. Thus feveral Things relating to the Spring of the Air, the Reflexion and Refraction of the Rays of Light, Magnetifm, &c. are admitted to be true upon the Teftimony of Experimen- tal Philofophers, without their own perfo- nal Knowledge, by thofe who would have thought them not a little abfurd, indepen- dently of fuch Teftimony. In a Word, let a Man have never fo romantic an Ima- gination, it could not enter into his Heart to believe, or into his Head to conceive thofe aftonifhing and incredible Things, which are done in the Univerfe by him who only is wonderful and only doth wonder- ful things ; unlefs his Eye had feen them, or his Reafon demonftrated them, or his Ear had heard them from feveral Perfons of great Abilities and unfufpected Credit, j What- to invalidate Moral Certainty. 41 Whatever Abfurdities fome imagine they SERM -H- fee in the Scriptures ; it is the greateft Ab- ^ furdity of all, that they who do not know any Thing in the Courfe of Nature, no not fo much as the Falling of a Stone, but what baffles, confounds, and furpaffes all their reafoning Powers, mould refufe to be- lieve any Thing in God's Revelation and extraordinary Difpenfations, that does fo. Jt appears then that an Improbability arif- jng from the Nature of the Thing may be overcome and over-ruled by direft pojitive Proofs. The Reafon is obvious: the Na- ture of Tlxngs is in a great Meafure in the Park, their internal Conftitution and Ef- fence in a great Degree unknown, and be- caufe unknown, befet with a great many Difficulties, which, though not irreconcile- able in themfelves, may feem to us to be fo. But the Proof s for the Reality of the Things whofe internal Nature baffles the Under- ftanding, may lie fo open to our Apprehen- fions j may be fo clear and fubftantial, as juftly to demand the Aflent of every intel- ligent Perfon. Exceptions againft the Proofs of revealed Religion ought to be ferioufly confidered, and have been, I think, fully anfwered. But as long as the Proofs are unex- 42 Improbabilities not fujficient SERM. II. unexceptionable > all other Exceptions againft it are of little Force; provided they do not imply any Impoffibility or any Immorality. For it is demonftrable, that we cannot ful- ly comprehend every Thing that God may reveal, nor the whole Scheme of the Chri- ftian Difpenfation ; it is demonftrable, that we muft be inefficient Judges of what we cannot fully comprehend j and it is demon- ftrable, that no great Strefs is to be laid up- on the Exceptions of an infufficient Judg- ment. But our Infufficiency, which takes off the Force of the Objections, does not annul or make void the Proofs -, becaufe the Proofs for Chriftianity being external are what they are, extrinfecally and indepen- dently of the Nature of the Thing proved. The Subftanceof what I would fay is, that if there be any fuch Thing as proper and un- doubted Certainty of Fact, there is fuch a moral Certainty for thofe Facts which fup- port Chriftianity, not to mention a Variety of other fubftantial and concurrent Proofs. Now we cannot refift the Strength of moral Certainty, without offering a Violence to Nature, and committing a Force upon it : we do not refift it in any other Cafe befides that of Religion; and if we do it in that t it to invalidate Moral Certainty. 4.3 it muft be owing to fome irregular Paffion SERM - IL which hangs a wrong Biafs upon us : the Man muft ftruggle hard, and labour not t6 be convinced, who is not convinced by it. There is a ftrong Propenfion, interwoven in our Frame and Constitution, to furrender ourfelves without Referve to fuch Evidence. It feems to be the Voice of God fpeaking within us; whofe Intention it never could be, that his Creatures mould continue, as to Matters of Practice, in a pendulous State of Mind, quite unbalanced and ever-waver- ing, without a Poffibility of coming to a fixed Refolve, which they might abide by : which yet muft have been the Cafe in moft Affairs, if moral Certainty were not allow- ed to be fufficient to enfure our Conviction. The Cafe is the fame as to ftrong Appear- ances of Truth, as it is as to Miracles. It has been often proved that God would never fuf- fer a Train of Miracles to be wrought in Fa- vour of Falfhood : he would not fuffer fuch a Snare to be laid for Mankind without dif- abufmg them by working thofe of a fupe- rior Nature in Oppofition to it. Juft fo by Parity of Reafon, we may conclude, that he would never fuffer fo many bright Ap- pearances of Truth from the Propagation VOL. I. D of 44- Improbabilities not fujjicient SERM. II. o f t h e Gofpel, from the Completion of Pro- phecies, &c. to be affixed to a Forgery ; he would never fuffer thofe Facts which give an inconteftable Sanction to the Doc- trines of Chriftianity (fuppofmg it an Im- pofture) to come recommended to us by as ilrong Marks and Characters of Credibility, as any diflant Matter of Fact can have, and ftronger than any other has ; without giving us fomething of fuperior Force, fome clear Demonftration of the Falfhood of it, to prevent us from being betrayed, which we mould otherwife inevitably be, into an Error. Suppofing an infinitely good Being at the Helm, he would not permit his Crea- tures, who are defigned for Aftion and not merely for Speculation, to be diftracted with equal Appearances of Truth in Points of the laft Importance, fo as that the Mind mould hang in an even Poife between two Propo- fitions. There muft be fome prepollent Evidence in all fuch Cafes to vindicate God's Goodnefs, and to turn the Scales. Now where there is a very high Degree of Moral Certainty, nothing can preponde- rate or overbalance it, but abfolute infal- lible Certainty. It muft be confequently the Will of our Creator that we fhould ac- quiefce to invalidate Mora/ Certainty. quiefce in Chriftianity as enforced by ftrong Moral Certainty, if IL//y, There does not appear any abfo- lute Impoffibility in the Contexture of it of anyy?r/? Demonjlration that it is falfe, and that too in Things of Importance. But this it's moft early and virulent Ad- verfaries never have /hewn. A demonstrative Proof that they could not do it : their very- Silence is a ftrong Argument in Favour of it's Truth ; and by alledging fo little againfl it, they have made it clear that they had nothing material to alledge. If Infidels have any Thing of this Nature, let them pro- duce it : let them fet out with fome felf-evi- dent Principle, and from thence go on gra- dually with a neceflary Connection of Ideas, till by a Chain of clofe Reafoning, there being a ftrict Coherence all along, they come to the Conclufion j or let them prove that Chriftianity authorizes and enjoins fome grofs Immorality : For it is a Demonftra- tion, that a Religion which authorizes Im- morality cannot have the Sanction of a per- fectly pure and holy God. If they have not any Thing of this Nature, then, as I have proved before, no Difficulties or even D 2 Impro- 46 Improbabilities not fujficient SERM. il. Improbabilities ought to over-rule ftrong and undoubted pofitive Evidence : And the Reafons for Chriftianity are fo many, clear, and forcible, that they will, and muft, and ought to fway the Minds of reafonable, unprejudiced and good Men. One Demon- ftration, and nothing lefs than Demonftra- tion, would effectually difprove it. For one Demonstration would beget infallible Certainty, and twenty Demonftrations could not do more than beget infallible Certainty, which does not admit of Degrees. The Underftanding could not yield its Aflent as a Volunteer. It would be preffed into the Service of Infidelity, and compelled, how- ever reluctant, to come in. But this is a Tafk only fit for that adventurous Genius who pretended to have by him a Demon- ftration againft the Being of God. At pre- fent the Deifts virtually confefs, they have nothing of this Sort to level againft a Reli- gion which has ftood the Trial of many fucceffive Ages, by being humbly content to take up with any plaufible Plea that car- ries but the Face of an Argument , a kind of Hypocrify in Argumentation, which has the mere Form and Outfide of Reafoning, without the Power and Energy thereof. They to invalidate Moral Certainty. 47 They have recourfe to low Evafions, falfe ?ERM - Ir - Quotations, Mifreprefentations ; poor ar- *"""" tificial Props, which a firm fubftantial Building needs not, and a ruinous Build- ing cannot long be fupported by. They have been moft loud and clamorous in the Charge of Contradictions as to the myfteri- ous Doctrines of Chriftianity, and particu- larly that of the Trinity, pretending to no- thing lefs than a Demon ftration of the Ab- furdity of it. Whereas on the other Hand there is a Demonftration, that the Doctrine of the Trinity does not imply any exprefs and plain Contradiction. Becaufe plain and exprefs Contradictions lie as level to the Un- derftanding as plain Truths do. Now the Doctrine of the Trinity relates to the inter- nal Nature of the Deity, and his intrinfic Manner of Exiftence, what Differences it may admit of confidently with the Unity of EfTence : but what relates to the inter- nal Nature of God, to which our Faculties bear no Proportion, cannot lie level to the Underftanding : his Nature muft be like the great Deep, unfathomable by us, though his Rigbteoufnefsy and Moral Attributes fland like the Jlrong Mountains vifible to every Eye. While they charge die Doc- D 3 trine 48 Improbabilities not fufficlent SERW. II. t r i ne o f the Trinity with a Contradiction, ""' they are guilty of one themfelves, in allow- ing the Divine Nature internally, as it is in itfelf, to be incomprehenfible and far above out of their Sight, and yet pretending to fee clearly what is far above out of their Sight j in pretending to difcern fully and perfe&ly an Impoffibility in the Nature of the Thing, where the only Impoffibility is, that they mould difcern any Thing at all fully and perfectly. All the Con- fufion arifes from not diftinguifhing be- tween Ideas of Intellect ^ and Ideas of Imagination : feveral Things may not be abfolutely unintelligible that are yet utter- ly unimaginable^ or to which no Images belong. Thus we under/land (and can de- mon ftrate what we underftand) that fome- thing muft have exiiled from all Eternity, But when the Imagination would lay hold on fome Idea to reprefent it, it can lay hold on none, but what labours under a Com- plication of Abfurdities ; it cannot conceive any Being to exift without fuccefiive Dura- tion. Now Eternity in the Senfe of fuc- ceftive Duration, cannot be a neceflary At- tribute of God ; fince that cannot be necef- fary, no two Parts of which ever exifted toge, to invalidate Moral Certainty. 49 together. Duration paft is no more, that SEI ^'- H. which is to come is not yet in Being j the ' " prefent Moment only exifts j yet while we are fpeaking it is gone and has ceafed to be. And fmce no Part of fucceffive Duration can be neceflary, the whole of it cannot be fo. A fucceffive, changing, and fleeting Dura- tion cannot therefore be attributed to him, whofe Exiftence is unchanging, permanent, and neceffary j not to mention that an infi- nite fucceffive Duration implies an infinite Number of Years, an infinite Number is a laft Number, a Number fo great that you cannot add to it, which is a Contradiction. God's unbounded Duration cannot differ from ours merely in Degree, fince what is infinite and unbounded admits of no De- grees : it muft differ therefore in Nature and Kind: and if fo, it follows, that what would imply a Contradiction, when predi- cated of a finite Nature, may, in fome Cafes, be none with Refpect to the divine ; the Contradiction being not ad idem. Thus for Inftance it is a Contradiction to fay, that we have not exifted longer to Day, than we had Yefterday j but it is no Contradicti- on as to that Being, with whom a thou- D 4 fond 50 Improbabilities not fufficient SERM. ^-JandTears are but as one Day, and one Day as a thoufand Years. For the Deity had exifted a whole Eternity Yefterday, and can have exifted no more than a whole E- ternity to Day : or in other Words, unli- mited Duration cannot be lengthened or Shortened ; becaufe, what can be lengthened or fhortened, enlarged or narrowed, muft have Limits. It is demonftrable therefore, that what has exifted from Eternity muft cxift in a Manner quite different from what we do, and of which we can have no Ideas. And if fo, what crude indigefted No- tices muft they entertain, who can argue, that becaufe three feparate human Perfons are three Beings, therefore three divine Per- fons muft be fo too? In fhort the divine Na- ture not only infinitely tranfcends ourNature, it infinitely tranfcends our very Conceptions of it : the Deity not being only infinitely above what we are, he is infinitely above what we can think of him. If we would filence our Imagination, a delufive Faculty, and liften to the Voice of cool Reafon, we fhould perceive no abfolute Impoifibili- ty that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, though diftincl: from each other, and fubfift- ing to invalidate Moral Certainty. 5 1 ing in a different Manner, may be undivid- SERM * ed ; and to what is undivided and incapa- ble of any Difunion, we may, with at leaft as ftrid: Propriety of Speech, afcribe the Denomination of one Being, as we can to any Thing, of which we have a pontive Idea, in the whole Univerfe. Again, the Understanding may perceive that it implies no Contradiction, that there may be fuch a Relation in the divine Na- ture, as, according to our poor and low Ways of thinking and fpeaking, greatly difproportioned to the Originals which they fhouldreprefent, is beft Shadowed out to us by that of a Son to a Father, to which it may bear fome faint Refemblance. But the Imagination falls immediately to work, and afcribing it to the Deity in as ftritt a Senfe, as when it is applied to the human Nature, forms as many abfurd Conclufions, irs own Workmanship, as it does, when it argues from our fuccefTive Duration to, what is infinitely different from it, the Duration of God. Whatever Abfurdities fome People may fancy upon this Subject, they have all been occasioned by this, that they have con- founded Strength of Reafon, and Strength of Imagination : they did not perceive any Dif- 52 Improbabilities mtfufficient II. Disagreement in the Ideas themfelves, Ideas pure Underftanding, they only perceiv- ed a Difagreement in the Ideas of Ima- gination which it borrows from created and even material Beings j whereas it is evi- dent that no Ideas of the Imagination, none but thofe of pure Intellect, ought to be em- ployed, except by Way of Figure, in de- fcribing a pure intellectual and fpiritual Be- ing. Something like this happens in the Point of God's Omniprefence. The Un- derftanding clearly proves, that the Deity muft be prefent to every Thing, which he made and governs. But the Imagination, ever obtruding beyond its Sphere, is impa- tient to bring down this Doctrine to its own Level ; and not being able to conceive the Prefence of any Being that is unextended, it conliders the Deity under the grofs Idea of infinite Extenfion, of infinite Length, Breadth, and Height ; and then a nume- rous Train of Contradictions break in upon us ; as that Extenfion implies Parts ; that Parts by the very Term imply Imperfec- tion, which cannot belong to an All-perfect Being ; that there muft be as many diftinct ConfcioufnefTes as there are diftinct Parts, and confequently an infinite Number of di- ftinct to invalidate Moral Certainty. 53 itinct Confcioufnefics in what is infinitely SERM - ir - extended. The only Remedy for which is to confider, that as there is a Demonftrati- on that there is one fpiritual Being which is prefent, fo there is a Demonftration too, that he muft be prefent in a Manner, about which we can imagine nothing at all ; be- caufe no Imagery of a fpiritual Being, or it's Prefence, can be drawn on the Fancy, as that of material Beings is. It is thus too as to the Trinity. Though we have Ideas of Union and Diftinction, and know well enough what we mean by them, when we apply them to the Divine Nature, yet thofe Ideas are fo defective that we cannot exact- ly compare them: and, where our Ideas are fo defective that we cannot exactly compare them, there we cannot have an evident Perception of a Contradiction or Difagreement of Ideas, which depends entirely on a full and exact Comparifon of Ideas. Arianifm feems to be divided from De- ifm t and that again from Atbeifm, by thin Partitions. The Man who is obflinate in the Difbelief of his Saviour's Godhead, muft be, one would think, ftrongly tempt- ed to reject the Scriptures, as a Book big with 54 Improbabilities not fufficient SERM. II. w ith Blafphemy, fince every Idea diftino - " v """ 1 ^ tive of God from his Creatures is there ex- prefsly afcribed to him ; unlefs Paternity, a mere Relation of Order, be the diftinctive Idea of God ; which yet is fo far from im- plying any Inferiority, that it proves the very Reverfe. For unlefs only Son and only begotten mould fignify the only creat- ed (the Confequence of which would be, that our Saviour is the only Creature in the Univerfe) it muft follow, that he is un- created and of the fame Nature with his Father. Well, fuppofing him now turned Dei/I; the Tranfition from thence to Athe- ifm or Scepticifm would be almoft una- voidable, becaufe Eternity, Omniprefence, and Foreknowledge are encumbered with as great Difficulties as the Doctrine of the Trinity. Some Writers, who fet out with oppofing the Divinity of the Son, have at laft, by a natural Gradation of Error, ended in combating the Prefcience of God; and made at lead very near Ap- proaches to Atheifm. For next to believ- ing there is no fuch Thing as an infinitely perfect Being j the greateft Abfurdity is to believe, there is an infinitely perfect, and wife Being, who does not know, what to- morrow to invalidate Moral Certainty. $ morrow, nay what the next hour may 5 *, ir. bring forth. And indeed I do not know' / "" whether the Denial of any one funda- mental Truth might not, if purfued to its utmoft Confequences, lead or rather miflead one, by a juft Train of Deducti- ons, to the Reje&ion of every other, that is fo. One would undoubtedly wifti for fome fixed Anchor, fome Haven and fecure Situ- ation, when one fees and hears of fo many who have either made Shipwreck of their Faith, or are driving at the Mercy of the Wind : which can be only this : that Moral Certainty is a fufficient Ground of a full Affurance, where there ap- pears no abfolute Impoflibility to over- balance it, as there does not in the Cafe of Chriftianity. The Confequence of which is, That a thinking Man may en- joy himielf, with perfect Eafe and Tran- quillity, in the Profefllon and Belief of Chri- ftianity, which he could not do, if he thought upon the Stretch, in a State of Infidelity. For Improbabilities not fufficient For he will find every comfortable Doc- trine, which a good Man could wifh to be true, actually proved to be fo by thofe Arguments which demand the Aflent of every wife and unprejudiced Perfon. He will perceive, that there are feveral Points, which are neceffary to be determined in Or- der to come at any tolerable Satisfaction and Repofe of Mind, but yet are undetermi- nable by any internal Evidences from the Nature of the Thing: and he will per- ceive, that where Reafon from inward E- vidences fails us moft, there the Scripture has been moft exprefs, particular and full, as if it had been written on Purpofe to fup- ply the Deficiencies of Reafon, as well as authoritatively to enforce the Difcoveries of it. He thinks that as God defigned Man- kind in general mould be governed by Re- ligion, that Religion has the faireft Preten- fions to Truth, which is fuited to Man- kind in general. Now a Syftem of moral and religious Truths delivered in eafy, fhort and compendious Precepts, and proved to have the Stamp of divine Authority upon it by a Certainty of Fact, is much better fuit- ed to Mankind in general, than what de- pends upon ideal and abftract Reafonings. i For to invalidate Moral Certainly. 5 7 For the Bulk of Mankind can much more SERM - Ir - eafily apprehend the Credibility of Tefti- mony and of public notorious Facts, than they can the Force of metaphylical Argu- ments drawn out to any Length 3 or judge whether Confequences, after feveral Re- moves from their firft Principles, have all the Virtue and Strength of thofe firft Prin- ciples conveyed to them. Take away Faith and Authority, and you take away the very Bafis, upon which Religion, Mora- lity, and common Honefty muft fland among the Generality of our Species ; who, though they may, by a due Ufe of com- mon Senfe, perceive a grofs and palpable Abfurdity, and therefore may guard againft the Impositions of Popery, yet cannot po- fitively afcertain by the Ufe of their un- ailifted Faculties, the moft neceflary Truths. It is therefore an additional Comfort to a ferious Chriilian to confider that he is acl:- ing in Concert with that Being, who wills the Happinefs of all Mankind, by counte- nancing, encouraging, and adorning that Religion, which is beft adapted to the Ex- igencies of Mankind in general. On the other Hand, can an inquifitive, thinking Man be perfectly ferene and un- difturbed, 58 Improbabilities not fufficient SERM. II difturbed, who has revolted from Chriftia- nity, and forfaken the Guide of his Youth ? He muft be very fanguine to think he can demonstrate Chriftianity to be certainly falfe. The utmoft Lengths, I conceive, a cool Unbeliever, who has ftudied the Point, can go, is to attempt to prove, that it may not be certainly true : and if this be all, how great muft his Inquietude be? And this is perhaps the only affignable Reafon, why Infidels are more induftrious, com* pacing Sea and Land, to make Profelytes, than the Generality of Chriftians feem to be, who enjoy their Opinions and them- felves, without being injlant in Seafon, and out of Seafon to propagate them. The Truth is, a found and rational Believer, like a good Man, is fatisjied in and Jrom himfelf. The Perception of Truth, it Mat- ters not whether from internal or external Evidences, gives him a genuine Compla- cency, and an inward Feeling that all is right within, as to the main Points of Be- lief. Whereas thoughtful Men who are in any pernicious Error, muft look out for that Satisfaction, which they cannot feel at Home in their own Breads, elfe where from the Number, Countenance and Ap- i pro- to invalidate Moral Certainty. 5 9 probation of their Followers ; looking upon SERM - IJ - every new Convert, whom they gain, as a confirming Circumftance in Favour of their Opinions. A poor and flender Confirma- tion ! For thofe very Men who are infenfi- bly drawn into the very Depth of Wrong- thinking, would have been mocked if they had opened their whole Scheme at firft. They do not attempt to pour in all their Tenets at once, left they mould fall to the Ground and be loft. They infufe them into the Mind as by a narrow Opening or Inlet, by Degrees, Drop after Drop, till they have made them to receive the moft noifom Dregs of Error. They in the Beginning fet forth their moft plaufible and colourable Opinions, and when Men have well drank in them., then thofe which are worfe. Thus Men are led from one Fait* hood to another, till they fall into Fatalifm* the laft Sink of poifonous Notions; into which all grofs Errors, after they have gone their utmoft Lengths and run their Courfc, at laft empty themfelves. A benevolent Man that is at Eafe in him- felf would not defignedly let a Line appear in Print, or a Word fall in Converfation, that mould ftagger the Good in their Way to VOL. I. E Hea- 60 Improbabilities not fuffictent SiRM^n. Heaven, or confirm the Bad in a Courfe of Wickednefs : he would not for all the World write or fay any Thing, that mould tend to weaken the Motives to Honefty and Virtue, by ftriking at the Authority of that Book, from which alone a full AfTurance of unallayed, exceeding, and endlefs Happinefs (the ftrongeft Support of Virtue and Honefty) can be derived. Can a Man that is a Friend to Natu- ral Religion, endeavour to fubvert a Re- velation, which contains all the Motives to Goodnefs which Natural Religion has, and adds fome diftinguiming ones of great Weight peculiar to itfelf ? Or can he really think that Natural Religion would fucceed in its Room ? No, There would be as many Schemes of Religion, as there are opinionated Men, who wanted to form a Party. And that Propofition would have very uncommon bad For- tune, which could meet with no Friends to countenance and ftand up for it. Men are very well agreed that feveral Duties are enjoined by Christianity, who would have endlefs Difputes, whether they were Parts of Natural Religion or not. Reafon, abstractedly from Revela- tion, to invalidate Moral Certainty. 6 c tiqn, does not prove many certain Points .SERM.JF. and the Mind of Man nds itfelf dif- pofed to believe -a great many more, provided it could prove them. There will be, Chriiliahity once fet afide, a mighty Void left in it, which Reafon of itfelf cannot fill up. Pagamfm, En- thufiafm, and Superftition on the one Hand ; a formlefs undetermined Thing that calls itfelf 'pcrfonal Religion, Mani- ch&ifm t Atkeifm, and Fat alt fm on the other; would be driving to erect them- felves upon it's Ruins, till at laft the Populace ran into Superftition in Variety of Forms, and the Gentry into no Re- ligion at all. What has been faid of the DiiTolution of a well-conftkuted Go- vernment, is as applicable to the Diflb- lution of Christianity : it would refem- ble the Putrefaction of a dead Animal, when, inftead of one noble Creature, as k was while Life held it together, there would be a thoufand little naufeous Rep- tiles preying upon it, each crawling in a Path of its own. An humane Perfon cannot reflect with- out deep Concern on the ImprefTionH; which are made upon an honeiV unde- E 2 figin 62 Improbabilities not fufficient SERM. n.figning but weak Man, when he lights ^'""upon the Books, or falls into the Com- pany of artful Infidels : Where there is a good Difpofition at the Bottom, they fhall ferve his Faith, juft as the Rob- bers did the Traveller in the Parable of the Samaritan ; they fhall not kill and de- ftroy it entirely, which would be almoft a Kindnefs in Comparifon, but they fiall leave it wounded and half-dead. He fhall have afterwards feveral uneafy Senfations, and ungrateful Feelings within, before he can recover an eftablifhed Health of Soul. He (hall go on drooping and diffi- dent without that chearful Affurance which he had before, in his Journey through this World to a better. But, whatever others do, let us unite our vigorous and animated Endeavours in efpoufmg the Caufe and promoting the Interefts of Chriftianity. Let us not be indolent, or, like the Difciples of old, ajleep while they are going to crucify our Lord and Mafter^ or, which is one Kind of crucifying him, to root out his Reli- gion from off the Face of the Earth. But let us hold fa/I the ProfeJ/ion of our Faith 'without wavering, and confirm the 3 Faith, to invalidate Moral Certainty. 63 Faith, that is wavering, of others v by our SERM - IL Difcourfe, by our Pens, and by (what u ~ % is fometimes the moil effectual Confir- mation of all) our Lives fuitable to our Holy Faith : then faithful 'will be be, who has promifed to his faithful Ser- vants eternal Happinefs : Which God of his infinite Mercy grant, GV. SER- SERMON III. The ufual Obje&ions againft Reve- lation, founded in Ignorance. In two Sermons preached before the Uni- verfity of Oxford. i COR. I. 25. 'the Foolifonefs of God is wifer than Men ; and the Weaknefs of God is flronger than Men. IT was no unufual Thing among thesER. ill. Ancients, as might be mewn by In- *"-* ftances brought from approved Authors, to call Things, not as they were in them" felves, but as they appeared^ or were efteem- ed to be by others. Agreeably to this Cuf- tom St. Paul, in the 2 8th Verfe of this Chapter, calls Things accounted as nothing, Things that are not. And here he ftyles That Foolifinefs and Weaknefs^ which was deemed to be fo by the Greeks, though it was far otherwife in Reality. 4 The 66 *fhe ufual Objections againft SERM.III. Th e j) e ift s have never offered any ra- """ v ""tional Scheme, or tolerable Hypothecs, to account for all the ftrong Marks of Credi- bility and Appearances of Truth and Divi- nity in Chriftianity, fuppofing nothing more than human concerned in the Publi- cation and Propagation of it j any more than the Atheijli have advanced any plau- fible Scheme to folve all the Appearances of Goodnefs, Wifdom, and Defign in the Creation, without fuppofing an infinitely wife and good God the Author and Pre- ferver of it. What the Deifts object to Chriftianity, is juft what the Atbeifts do in Regard to the Creation ; inftead of pro- ducing any confident Theory to take off thefe Appearances of its Divinity, they en- deavour to balance them by counter Ap- pearances ; A ppearances of fomething wrong, irregular, or amifs in the Contexture of it. They tell us, it contains feveral Things which could not have been in it, if it had come from God; It will not be improper therefore, I/?, To mew, that it is owing to Igno- rance, that feveral Things in Revelation feem liable to the Charge of Fooliihnefs. \\dly, Revelation, founded in Ignorance. 67 \\dlji To advance a Step farther, and SER - nr - prove, that God has flamped the brighteft Characters of Divinity on thofe Parts of Re- velation, which are thought moft excep- tionable. j That fuppofing, but not granting, there were fome Inconfiftences in little in- cidental Matters, and Points of no Confe- quence ; Chriftianity neverthelefs would ftand upon a firm Bafis, as long as the prin- cipal Evidences for it remain unfhaken, and the weightier Matters are worthy of God. I/?, Then I am to mew, that it is owing to Ignorance, &c. It has been Matter of Surprize to fome, that Infidelity fhould fpread, even among Men, who are fenfible and knowing in all other Refpedts. The Age has been com- plimented as a difcerning and inquifitive Age ; and fo it may be ; but certainly, ge- nerally fpeaking, it is not inquifitive into fcriptural Learning, whatever it may be into other Branches of Literature. This feems a Province too much neglected, in Proportion as other Regions of Science have been cultivated. Yet without a fufficient Fur- 68 The ufual Objeflions againft SER. ill. Furniture of this Kind, a Perfon of very od Senfe is by no Means qualified : in Judgment upon the Bible. The T rath of the Matter is, Men rauft either be con- tent to reft in Generals, I mean, the Evi- dences of Revelation, and the Reafonable- nefs of it, as to the main Subftance.and Defign of it ; as the middling Part of Man- kind moft commonly do : Or, if they will enter into Particulars, they mould do, what too many of them do not, enter into them thoroughly with all proper Helps, and fift Things to the Bottom with an Attention proportioned to the Importance of the Sub- ject. I will not deny, that fome Men of Abilities may have done this, and yet con- tinue Infideh ftill : But this I will venture to fay, there are not more Men of this Stamp, than there were in the laft Age of thole, who, though incredulous in every other Refpect, were firm Believers in ju- dicial Aftrohgy : There are not more in Number, than there are Searchers after the Philofopher's Stone, and perpetual Motion. If the Light of the Gofpel be loft to any one, after due Care and Application, it is loft commonly upon dark, unhappy, and involved Souls; which fmother the Evi- dences, Revelation, founded in Ignorance. 69 dences, that fupport, enliven, and invigo- SER - ] rate every good Chriftian. I would not, V * however, pafs too general and undiftin- guifhing a Cenfure; great Allowances arc to be made in many Cafes, and efpecially for thole, who have been early tinctured with Infidelity^ through the Default of their Education. Poifonous Notions may be inftilled, or get Admittance into the duclile and tender Mind, as little Infects do into Amber, before it has that Firmnefs, Solidity, andConiiftency, which is neceflary to hinder them from infinuatingthemfelves : And, like them too, when they have got into it, they cannot, without much Diffi- culty, be removed. The Mind hardens and retains them after, as fo many Proofs, that it was once weak, unftable, and unre- fifting as Water. Let us fuppofe a Perfon of fine Natural Parts, not a little improved by polite Reading, by an enlarged Converfation, and by his great Knowledge of the World. But then it is of the World, as it is at prefent ; for he may know no more of it as paft long ago, than he does of that which is to come. How eafily may he, notwith- ftanding his Abilities, be tempted to Infide- 3 The ufual OljeElions againft ij t y . j w hen he looks into his Bible, in- flead of confidering that he is, in fome Parts of it, ftepping back into the very re- moteft Scenes of Antiquity, and travelling, as it were, into another World, quite dif- ferent from this ; he fits down and tries (no wonder he condemns) Authors, who were born and bred in another Age and Country, by Laws, to which they were utter Strangers, the Laws of Writing which obtain at prefent in our Country? How natural will it be for him, in the Fulnefs of his Sufficiency, to treat with Contempt fuch Paffages as this : Moab is my Wafh- poty over Eidom will I caft out my Shoe 5 and to aflc, with a fupercilious and decifive Air, whether a Perfon, affifted by the Di- vine Spirit, could write in fuch a homely and coarfe Manner ? But his Contempt for this, and many other Places of Scripture, would abate, if he would ftudy the Na- ture and early Ufe of Hieroglyphics, which gave a Tindture to the Converfation and Writings of thofe Times : So that a Wafhpot, which was ufed as a fignificant Charatfc- rijlic Mark, became, when Letters more generally fupplied the Ufe of Symbols, a Cbarafteriftic Appellation, to denote a Na- tion Revelation, founded in Ignorance. 7 1 tion reduced to the mofl abject: State, and SER - lir - employed in the moft contemptible Offices. And as for Cafting out the Shoe, he might find Reafon to think, that, as fome have obferved,That was the ancient Form of tak- ing PofTelfion of any Country, or even Piece of Ground, in Allufion to that of Mofes : Every Place , on 'which the Soles of your Feet Jhall tread t jhall be yours. Or perhaps, caft- ing out the Shoe, might only fignify fhaking off the Duft of one's Feet, as an Indication of that Neglect and Contempt which the Edomites deferved. No Wonder fome mould cavil at the Prophetical Schemes of Speech as ftrange and ridiculous, when a celebrated Roman Hiftorian * could afcribe thofe pompous Titles to the abfurd Pride of the Perjian King, which we may, with fome Probability, fuppofe were authorifed by the common Language of the Orientals, and took their Birth from hieroglyphic Ima- gery, viz. -f- " Sapor es, Brother to the Sun " and Moon, and Relation to the Stars, to " his Brother ConftantiusCczfar:" It being no more unufual, or out of the Way, for the * Ammianus Marccllinus. f Rex Regum Sapores par. tkcps Siderum, Prater Soils & Luna;, Confhntio Crcfari meo Salutcm. Eailern 7 2 The ufual Qbje&ions agamfi SER. in. Eaftern People to characterize the Heads of a Nation, nay even of a private Family (as appears by Jacob's Interpretation of Jo- feptis Dream) by the Sun and Moon, and the Nobility by the Stars j than it would be now to call a late eminent Writer the Light of the Philofophical World. And Authors mufl conform to the Laws of Compofition then in Being ; otherwife they will be as fhort-lived, as Authors j as thofe Subjects, who will a6t in Oppofition to the Statutes and Edicts then in Force. Nay we often, through our Ignorance, imagine we defcry a Blemim, which, upon maturer Confideration, proves to be a confiderable Beauty and Elegance of Diction. Thus, Deftroy this 'Temple^ and in three Days / will raife it up, has been thought by fome to be a ridiculous and affected Way of fpeaking j and it might perhaps be fo in any other Perfon; but in our bleffed Sa- viour it is perfectly juft, and in Character. His Body being the very Temple, of which the other was only a Type, the very Tem- ple, in which the Shechinah, or Divine Pre- fence, tabernacled ; the Temple, in which the Fulnefs of the Godhead dwelt fubflan- tially. Revelation^ founded in Ignorance. If we will not be at the Pains to confi- der the Nature and End of the Mofaic Difpenfation t feveral Laws muft appear un- worthy of God, which are yet realty Jut t-\ able to his unerring Wifdom, as being ne- ceflary Prefervatives againft Idolatry (the Parent of Immorality) by the Prohibition of idolatrous Rites, which might miflead them into it. Thus, however trifling this Law might feem, viz. The Woman foall not wear that 'which appertaineth to the Man, neither Jkall a Man put on a Wo- man's Garment : for all that do fo are an Abomination unto the Lord thy God ; it ap- pears, in this Light, perfectly reafonable ; it being a Cuftom among the Heathen, as we learn from Macrobius *, for the Men to worfhip Venus in Women's Habits, and Women in thofe of Men. Befidcs thofe Ceremonies which are Emblematical, and have an inward and fpirituai Meaning, ac- cording to the early Method of conveying Inftrudtion under the Veil of Types and Sym- bols; other Laws might be highly requifite, * Ptihcorus quoque in Atthide eandem (Vencrem) affir- mat efie Lunam, & ci Sacrificium facere Yiros cum vefte Mulicbri, Muliem cum virili ; quod eadera & Mas aetti- roaiur & Fcemina. Macrab Satrn. L. IJI. c. vi \ i. at 74 The ufual Objections again/I that Jundlure, to make it impracticable for the Jews even to eat with the Gentiles, whofe idolatrous Ways they were too apt to learn : Laws forbidding them fevera! Kinds of Food, which were allowed to the reft of the World, that fo any Intercourfe, which might expofe them to Contagion, fhould be cut off. Folly, ductile as Wa- ter, flows in no unalterable Channel ; but changes it's Courfe, and runs in new Ma- anders^ as the Humour and Fancy of Lead- ing Men, in feveral Ages, turn and direct it. Hence feveral Prohibitions, intended to guard againft fome Abfurdity, then predo- minant in the neighbouring Nations, fecm not a little ridiculous now, when the Me- morial of thofe Follies is perijhed with them. Some of the yewijh Laws are, in fomc Meafure, unaccountable to us, for the fame Reafon that Satyr is more hard to be underftood by After-ages, than any 0- ther kind of Writing : Becaufe other kinds of Writing are upon Subjects of a more fixed and unchanging Nature. But Satyr dwells upon the Modes, Humours, vicious and ridiculous Cuftoms, which prevailed when the Author wrote j Things very va- riable and changeable ; in which Folly is ever Revelation^ founded in Ignorance. 7 ,5 ever Shifting the Scene, and taking new SERMljr - Determinations. Unlefs the Follies of the ^ prefent Age fliould be, fome Way or other, conveyed to future Times, fome of the moft admired Writers at prefent, will ap- pear to Pofterity in a very odd Light, as to thofe PaiTages in which they expofe the Fafhions of Drefs and Diverfions. Nor can any Thing fcreen them from Cenfure, but what ought, for the fame Reafon, to exempt the facred Writers, that a Vein of good Senfe runs through every other Part j and the fame Hands, which compofed fome Parts, being equally concerned in all, it ought to be prefumed, that it extends like- wife to thofe Paflages, which lye under the Difadvantage of referring to Things now no longer known. We are thoroughly re- conciled to Folly, as at prefent modified, which we fee and hear of every Day j but can have no Notion of it, as it fubfifts un- der quite different Modifications, unlefs the Memory of it be preferved. And when we can have no Notion of the Folly, we can have none of thofe Laws which fenced againfl it ; but are apt to cenfure them as arbitrary, capricious, and whimfical. Let a Man confider what exalted Ideas Mofes VOL. I. F every j6 The ufual Objections agalnjl SERM.III every where inculcates of the Deity t and < ~~ V ""~ J of the Worfhip due to Him : Let him read Jofep&'s Interview with his Brethren ; and the Book of Deuteronomy p , where the Spirit of the Law-giver, and the Father of his People, breathes in every Page ; and then let him confider, whether it be not very poffible, that Mofes may have faid many Things, which, through Length of Time, may be unintelligible; but utterly impof- fible, that fo great a Writer could fay any Thing grofsly and palpably abfurd. The Misfortune is, People lit down to read fuch ancient Books as the Scriptures, with Heads full of modern Cuftoms and Ideas: And whatever they cannot adjuft to them, they, through a Narrownefs of Soul, reject with Scorn, as highly improper. And thus it comes to pafs, (agreeable to an Obfervation that has been made) that often, when the Objectors to Revelation think that the facred Writers nod y it is only they themfelves that dream. Difficulties, like Shadows, lengthen in Proportion as we are farther removed from the Light of An- tiquity ; which, if it (hone directly and immediately upon us, would vanifh. Sup- pofing a Revelation originally given to Per- 2 fons Revelation, founded in Ignorance. 7 7 fons of a different Age, Genius, and Lan- SERM -HI. guage, it muft be expected of Courfe, that ' *** there mould be in it ieveral Idioms and Pe- culiarities of Style, as remote, as the Time and Country, from ours ; feveral Allufions to Ufages, then well known, but now for- i gotten. And what mujl be, upon the Sup- pofal of a Revelation then given, can cer- tainly be no Objection, or Proof, that it was not then given. It would have been as much Enthufiafm for the Prophet^ to have de- clined the ufual Methods of conveying their Meaning, whether by Significant Ac- tions, Parables, or any other Way fuited to the Genius of thofe early Ages j as it would be now to revive them, when they are quite out of Date. Cuftom is always the Standard of Language : And that alone is proper , which is authorifed by />> and the general Confent ; that alone improper \ which deviates from it. No Doubt, feveral Forms of Expreffion may feem uncouth and abfurd, merely becaufe they are not fa- miliarized to us ; as, on the other Hand, "carce any Thing feems/0, which has been made familiar to us from our Infancy. No Doubt, there may be in the Scriptures fome [mages, in Appearance to us, too bold and F 2 daring ; - 7 8 T'he ufual Objections againfl SERM.III daring; they are Plants of a hotter Soil, "~~*~~~ > which will not bear to be tranfplanted in- to a Climate fo unkindly as ours. But fuch was the Habit of Writing, which then prevailed. Our Manner of Competition, however correct and accurate, would have feemed to them fiat and unanimatcd j like Marble, very fmooth and polifhed, but very cold ; and which, inftead of beget- ting a kindly Warmth in the Bread, would ilrike a chilly Damp into it. It is the Ill- breeding of the Vulgar among Criticks, to laugh at any Thing Out-landifh in the Drefs of foreign, but facred Writers : Efpecially when there are plain Proofs, that the Body of Revelation, whatever the Cloathing of it may be, is fearfully and wonderfully made by the wife Author of all Things, and in his Book are all the Members of it written. After all, were ws no more interefted in the Contents of the Bible, than we are in thofe of a fa- vourite Claffic, we mould efleem it as, what it is, the nobleft Compofition that ever was penned. There would be acknowledged to be in it, as in the Works of Nature, fcmething grand, auguft, and magnificent ; and (however irregular fome Things may feemj Revelation ) founded in Ignorance. 79 fecm) far preferable to the correcter E!C- SE!? M -Hi. gances of Art, and the confined Exa&nefs "^^ of a regular Work. The only Confidera- tion, that makes us fond of every little Cavil, and willing, at any Rate, to depre- ciate it, is, what ought in Reafon to recom- mend it mod of all, that it's Contents are Obligatory upon us. Setting this Confide- ration afide, we fliould make neceflary Al- lowances for the Lofs of proper Keys, at this Diftance, to unlock Difficulties j and condemn that Man, as an ill-natured Cri- tic, who, when there is a Cup in the Hands of the Authors, and they pour out of the fame thofe cordial Drops, which Jlrengthen every good Man's Heart, is eager to find and fuck out any Dregs, or Sediments mix- ed with them; any exceptionable Part, any Inaccuracy, or Impropriety. It would be owned, that every Perfon, that read them, was the better for them. They would be univerfally applauded as ancient Authors, if they were but Authors : The Confideration that they are like wife Prophets, Apoftles, and Law-givers to us, flattens our Reliih for them. There are a thoufand mining PafTages, which, if they had % originally grown in the Gardens of Plato, or Cicero, F 3 would 80 The ufual Obje$ion$ agalnjl SERM - IIL would have been thought the moft gene- rous Plants, that any Soil is capable of pro- ducing. Unhappily for them, our heaven- ly Father hath planted them, and com- manded us to eat of them, and live for ever. How admirable, in thofe afore- mentioned Writers, would have feemed the indirect Manner of fuggefting Knowledge under the Veil of Parables and Allegories ; that ufeful, but otherwife offenft e ue y Truth might enter, as it were, by a By-path into the Underftanding, when all the direct Avenues were mut up againft it as an Ene- my! How would thofe ftrong Paintings have been extolled, the leaftPraife of which is their Beauty! Their chief Commendation is, that their Beauty is made fubfervient to nobler Purpofes ; and that while they en- tertain the Fancy with agreeable Imagery, they convey to us the moft beneficial Senti- ments, and imprefs them more deeply upon the Mind: Like BlofToms, which, though they feem to be made only to pleafe the Eye, are necefTary for the Production of Fruit, and the Prefervation of the Seed ; Nature concealing, as it were, it's grand End, and appearing intent to beautify the Crea- tion, at the fame Time it is benefiting it. It Revelation^ founded in Ignorance. 8 1 It would be eafy to multiply Inftances SFRM - nr - to make it appear, that thofe Objections, which are looked upon as the Refult of a fuperior Sagacity and Difcernment, are, in Reality, the Effect of a profound Ignorance offacred, and fometimes of profane^ Anti- quity. One fcarce indeed knows, what fome People deem Objections. Trifles, light as Air, often tried in the Balance, and found want- ing^ fink as deeply in unfurnifhed Minds, and make as much Impreffion there, as Difficulties of a weightier Nature ; like Feathers defcending in a Void with a Force and Velocity equal to that of much more fubftantial and maffy Bodies. From this Set of Men you continually hear the ftale Objection of David's being a Man after God's own Heart : And fo he might be, comparatively with Sau/ t as to his public Char a ft er^ in anfwering all the Purpofes (the meaning of the Phrafe, after God's own Heart) which the Deity had in veft- ing him with Kingly Power, by beating down Idolatry, and promoting true Reli- gion, which was the fole End of the Jewijh Polity. Or he might befo, even as to his private Char after ^ though not in in Refpect of the Crime he committed j yet in Refpect F 4 ef 8 2 7/jg ujual Objections agalnfl Severity of his Repentance, which bore Proportion to the Enormity of his Crime, and remitted him in God's Fa- vour j not to mention his prevailing good Qualities, and the main Tenour of his Life. I would not duTemble, however, that Re- velation, as all other Things, has it's dark, as well as bright Side j is a Mixture of Light and Darknefs ; and that, as God has been pleafed to give bright and illuftrious Indications of it's Divinity to thofe that feek after Truth with all their Soul and with all their Strength, he has turned the Pillar of the Cloud to the difingenuous and per- verfe. Notwithstanding, though the Mat- ter of our Faith be dark or myfterious, yet the formal Rcafon of it is not fo. Where- as Facts imperfectly related in a fummary View, without defcending to Particulars, and therefore liable to Objections ; myfte- rious Doctrines ; the unfathomable Difpen- fations of Providence j Obfcuritiesoccalioned by Forms of fpeaking widely different from ours; Accounts of the invifible World, and of the Offices of evil Angels ; thele, and many other Things of which we knoxv little or nothing, and therefore cannot af- firm or deny any Thing with Certainty, are the Revelation , founded m Ignorance. 83 the formal Reafons of Infidelity. To thefe SER - Iir - Men of this Stamp retreat, as to Haunts impervious to the^Beams of the Sun, when, we would fet before them the Brightnefs of that Light, which arofe with Healing in it's Wings. The Difference between a Chriftian and a Deift does not confift in this, that the one affents to nothing but what is evident; the latter affents to Things inevident in theinfehes. But here the Diftinction lies ; the Delft affents to Things inevident in tbcmfelves, without any Ground or Reafon at all ; the ChrJftian affents to Things in- evident in them/dyes upon the Authority of God. Thus the Dei ft believes there is on-, ly One Solitary Perfon in the Divine Na- ture ; the Chriftian, that there are 'Three : both Proportions inevident in themfehes : And he, who affirms the former, ro more perceives any neceffary Agreement of Ideas, than he who maintains the latter. Nor is there any plaufible Plea, that can be offered for a Singlenefs of Perfon, but that exploded one of a foreign Philofopher, viz. whatever is, there is afiifficient Reafon appearing to us, 'why it is, rather than why it is not. And an ingenious Stirrer up of Doubts 2 might 84 1%e ufual Objections again/I SERM.HI. m ;ght ra if e as many Cavils againft the foli- tary Unity of Perfon in an EfTence every- where frefenf, as an Anjitrinitarian can do againft a 'Trinity of Subjiftences. The Truth is, both thefe DocTrines are equally incomprehenfible : And he who rejects a Trinity, refigns his Understanding to a Proportion, of which he has neither in- trinfic nor extrinfic Proofs ; he who ad- mits it, believes it upon the only Proofs, that the Nature of the Thing admits of, or our Nature requires, Extrinfic ones. The Evidence for Chriftianity preponderates the Objections, for this plain Reafon : becaufe moft, if not all, the principal Objections turn upon Points, of which we are incom- petent Judges. But we are able to have a perfect Knowledge, and form an adequate Judgment, of the Evidence on which Chrif- tianity fhnds. Though therefore we ought to abide by our Judgment where it is fuffi- ciently informed ; we ought to lay no great Weight upon it, where it is infufficient and unequal to the Things to be judged of. We have no Right to judge where we have not a competent Ability to judge. For the Right of Judgment cannot extend beyond our Ability of judging. Sup- Revelation, founded in Ignorance. 85 Suppofing it had pleafed the Deity, be- SBRM.III. fore GlafTes were invented, or Experiments made, to have given us a Syftem of Natu- ral Pbilofopby, together with that of Reli- gion, containing all the modern Difcove- ries; what an ample Field of Ridicule would have been opened to little Wits* 'That Three Divine Perfons, however dijlinfl, jhould befo united, as no other Perfons are, or fan be ; and therefore Jhould be, not fo many Beings as Perfons, but one Being only, would have afforded but little Matter of Raillery ? But that Millions of Animalcules, which have Parts correfpondent to Creatures of much larger Dimenfions, mould fubfift to- gether in one little Drop of Water, would have appeared as ridiculous an Abfurdity, as that of ten thoufand Spirits being at once upon a minute, and barely vifible Point of Matter. That Balaam's Afs mould fpeak, would have fupplied them, comparatively, with no great Fund of Pleafantry; fince a Caufe is afligned more than equal to the Ef- fecl, and there was an End worthy of that Caufe; viz. to let the Prophet know, in Conformity to the Cuftom of that Age (which was, not only to notify one's Mean- ing in meer Words, but to exemplify it by fome 8 6 The ufual OljeElions againft ITT - fome finking Inftance or Matter of Fact) that his Intention to fpeak otherwife than God directed, would be of no Avail. For He, who could actuate the Tongue of the dumb Anim.il, and make it utter what arti- culate Sounds he pleafed, could alfo over- rule the Madnefs of the Prophet, and deprive him of any Power of going beyond the Word of the Lord, or faying more or lefs than he fhould order him. But that the Body of Light fhould travel one hundred and four- core thoufands of Miles in the Second of a Minute,as modern Philofophers affert, would have appeared to them an abiblute Contra- diction ; as it fuppofed, they would fay, the lame Body to be in feveral Places of a pro- digious Diftance almoft at the fame Inftant. How would they have been afronified to hear, ic'te yet has been demonjlrated *, that ten thoufand two hundred and fifty fix Moun- tains (every one of which is equal to the higheft Mountain in the Earth) do not con- tain fo many Grains of Sand, as one Grain of fuch Sand does Particles of the Blood or Juices of certain Animalcules : or, that the Imalleft Portion of Matter that can be align- ed might dittufe itfclf over the amplcft Ex- C Ktiilii Incrcdactio ad I'l^fjcsm. Pag. 52. tent Revelation, founded, in Ignorance. 8 7 tent of Space, and fill it fo, thit there ihould SERM - Iir - be no Vacancy left but what wai lefs than an y given Quantity ? The Stoicks and Epi- cureans would not have diverted themfelves with the Apoftle, for bringing//;/^ Things to their Ears, when he told them of the Ri- furreclion. All their Merriment would have been exhaufted upon much Granger, if he had laid open to them the Secrets of Nature, the feemingly Magical Operations of the Load/lone; that all the eflential Parts of an Animal, however large, are at firfl folded up in a little Speck fcarce difcernible, and that it's Growth is nothing but the Unfolding and Expanfion of thofe Parts which were contracted before; The art of reftoring a Body to it's former State, when it has been altered by Calcination or Diflblution ; that the Sun acts through a vaft intermediate Void, where it is not; that the Rays of it's Light are reflected from a Surface which they never touched, &c. One would go up- on very fure Grounds, before one pronounces peremptorily, fuch Things are abfurd, con- tradictory, and cannot pofTibly be in a Di- vine Revelation: Experience teaching us, that leveral Things in the world actually do exilt in fuch a Manner, as we, antecedent- S 8 7%e ufual ObjeEliom againft &c. SERM.iir.jy t Experience, mould have judged im- pofiible in the Nature of the Thing. What is there, for Inftance, incredible in our Sa- viour's Miraculous Birth ? Suppoiing us ig- norant of the natural Method of Generation, we fhould think it as furprizing and incre- dible to the full, that a Child fhould be pro- duced jointly by a Male and a Fern; ls,as that it fhould be produced by a Female only : Nor can this be more inconceivable than the Formation of the Firfl Man without any Parents at all. Thus far I have gone, intending, at an- other Opportunity, to profecute this Sub- ject much farther j as being fenfible, the great Secret of fpreading Infidelity confifts in unfettling Men's Minds, by railing Doubts and Cavils about the Style and inward Con- tents of Revelation. Thefe are the Intricacies with which they befet us ; the Thorns and Briars, of which unlefs the Ground be effec- tually cleared, whatever good Seed or Princi- ples may be fown in it, they willfpring up m) cboak, or render them unfruitful. SERMON SERMON IV. The ufual Obje&ions againft Reve- lation, founded in Ignorance. In two Sermons preached before the Uni- verfity of Oxford. i COR. I. 25. T'be Foolijhnefs of God is wifer than Men ; and the Weaknefs of God is Jlronger than Men. H AVING in a former Difcourfe SER. IV. fhewn, *-*- I/?, That it is owing to Ignorance, that feveral Things in Revelation feem liable to the Charge of Foolifhnefs; I now proceed, II Revelation, founded in Ignorance. 105 pence; the OmifTion of which drew no SER - iv. Manner of bad Confequence after it. It is not incumbent upon us in our Difput;es with Dei/Is to prove, that Mofcs, the Pro- phets and E'vangelijh were infpired to fuch a Degree as to be to a Tittle infallible as Hiftoriam. It is enough to prove that they were fo as Prophets^ Lawgivers, and Per- fons making known the Will of God ; And that, as Hiftorians, he guided them fo far, that they mould not be guilty of any, momentous Efcapes or Inadvertencies ; i being abfurd to think, that when God gave a Religion built upon Facts, he would leave the Writers to themfelves in relating thofe. Fads upon which it is built ; fo as to fall into fuch Inconiiftencies as would affect the Credit of the Relators, and deftroy.the Cre- dibility of the Relation. It was no more ftrictly neceffary, that the Deity mould guard againft trivial Er- rors, than that he mould reveal ufelefs Truths : it is enough that he hath difco- vered Truth as far as it is important to our Happinefs j and prevented Error, as far as it is of an hurtful Tendency. An extra- ordinary Afiiftance is feldom vouchfafed when fuch an AiTiflance is not material : and 106 The ufual ObjeSlions againft SER.IV. anc i certainly it was no very material 1 * ' Point, that the Prophets and Apojlles fhould be fecured from Miflakes that were not material; no more than it was fo, that Providence mould fuperintend all fucceeding Tranfcribers, and preferve them from fuch TLrrata^ as do not in the leaft defeat the original Intention of Revelation, or affect one eflential Point. The grand Point is, whether we have fatisfactory Evidence that Chriftianity is a Revelation from God con- taining every thing neceflary to fecure his Favour and our Happinefs ; not, whether it be a Revelation given us exactly in the fame Way and Manner that we may ima- gine it mould have been ; and -with that Degree of Clearnefs, Fulnefs and Freedom from every Stumbling-block as we might have expected : For it has been proved*, that God does not, in the Courfe of his Provi- dence, difpenfe other Blefllngs to us in the fame Way and Manner as we, previoufly to Experience, mould have expected. The Queflion therefore between the Deijls and us being not, whether the In- fpiration of the Scriptures be univerfal as to See Bifhop BUTLER'S Analogy, Part II. Cb. 3. every Revelation^ fotmded in Ignorance* every Thing however inconfiderable j but* SER - Iv - whether it be fo fufficient as to take in all Points that have a Relation to Faith and Practice ; fo fufficient, that we may abfo- lately depend upon it in every interesting Concern : to fet Chriftianity afide, it muft not only be proved that the infpired Wri* ters have erred in Points of no Confequence, and upon which nothing depends : (for this would only prove that God left them to themfelves in thofe Cafes, and did not in- terpofe where there was no Occaiion for him to interpofe.) It muft be demonftrated that they have erred in the weightier Points, which make Revelation a Matter worthy to be received of all Men ; or in the main Subftance of forne Fact, upon which the Truth of Revelation depends. Unlefs they can do this, they will only, like the Serpent^ bite the Heel, or give a Wound (far from being incurable) to Religion in it's lower or lefs noble Parts ; without bruifmg it's Head or hurting it in the capital, vital and constituent Parts. But we will fuppofe their Charges of an higher Nature; Charges of Repugnances to Reafon, Ablurdities and Impoffibilities in Matters of Moment. Now the Question VOL. I. H is, io8 The ufual Objections agamft SE R. IV. j Sj whether thefe Abfurdities which they ob- ~ ject, relate to Things of whofe Nature we are fully apprized. We are fully apprized of the Nature of moral Evidence, it being that, upon which we do and muft act in the daily Courfe of Life : and we cannot reject, what has fo high a Degree of it as Chri- ftianity hath, without embracing Abfurdi- ties : Abfurdities as to a Point with the Nature of which we are fully acquainted, and therefore, we may be fure Abfurdities really fuch. We cannot, for Inftance, re- ject divine Faith without cancelling all hu- man, and breaking the Chain which con- nects Man to Man : a monftrous Abfur- dity moft certainly, and big with fatal Con- fequences. But if the Abfurdities charged upon Chriftianity relate to Points of which we are not thoroughly apprized j Nothing is more common, than in fuch Points to imagine Abfurdities where there are none, and therefore they may be imaginary, not real ImpofTibilities. Thus an ignorant A- merican would think itabfolutely impoflible that our Thoughts might, without any oral MefTage, be conveyed from our Country to his. The Reafon is, he wants an Idea, the Idea of Letters or Characters ; which, as Revelation, founded in Ignorance. 109 as foon as he hath acquired, the feeming SER - Iv ImpoiTibility vanifheth. And how many Ideas may we want, as to Things above our Ken, or imperfectly revealed ; which, fuppofing we were Matters of them, would clear up every feeming Repugnancy toRea- fon? Thus again a Perfon unacquainted with Painting would deem it impoffible, that an even Canvafs mould exhibit what js uneven, the human Body with all it's Pro- minences and DeprefFions. A Stranger to Mathematics would think it a grofs Abflir- dity to aflert, that two Lines mould be ever approaching one another, without a Poffi- bility of meeting. That there are Quan- tities infinitely fmall, fome of which are infinitely greater than others ; that there is a Series of them, each infinitely lefs tha'n the preceding, and infinitely more confide- rable than the following, approaching nearer and nearer, in an cndlefs Progreflion to Nothing, which yet they never arrive at : Thefe are Truths which would be looked upon by Men unfkilled in Algebraic Calcula- tions, as the Reveries of a diftempered Mind, but are thought, by the great Maf- f ters of Science, to be Proofs of the Extent H 2 of The ufual Objettions againft StR.iv. f human Underftanding, and the utmoft Efforts of our Abilities. What then ? Would you have us to ad- mit any Thing that contradicts any clear Principle or evident Conclufion of Reafon? No, I would have you act agreeably to the clear Dictates of Reafon ; it being a clear Didlate of Reafon, that partial and imper- fect Views may, and often do, occaiion an Appearance of Wrongnefs and Abfurdity, which a full comprehenfive Knowledge of the whole Cafe entirely removes. Thefe Appearances of Abfurdities are but Sha- dows, which are owing to a Privation of Light, or that the Light does not diffufc itfelf over the whole Body of Truth, which has to us it's dark as well as bright Side. We mould remember that we know many Things but in Part\ that the mofl exten- five Understanding hath it's Boundaries ; and that, when it is arrived at it's full Height, the Man cannot, however much Thought he may take, add one Cubit to the Stature or Size of it : that though we may fhorten the Line of our Knowledge, as we may do that of our Lives, by our own Default, we cannot extend it beyond the Period Revelation y founded in Ignorance. in Period affigncd by God: Or if we could, SER - it would be but Labour and Sorrow : Deity fometimes being equally gracious in what he has hidden from our Eyes, as in what he hath revealed to them. After all, fuch an Anfwer as this is fuf- ficicnt as to moft, if not all, of the Ob- jections againft the main Articles of our Belief. And fuch an Anfwer as this, plain Senfe, without much Learning, might fug- geft. " Such a moral Evidence, as there " is for Chriftianity, is cafy to be under- " flood -, and fuch moral Evidence is the " only Guide of Life; that by which our " Conduct is influenced, and our Behaviour " determined in all practical Cafes. Upon " this therefore I will reft, as God intend- ' cd I mould do : Whereas your Objecti- " ons againft the Poflibility of a general 11 Refurrection, the Redemption, theTri- " nity and other fundamental Doctrines, " depend upon metaphyfical Intricacies, of " which we, the Bulk of Mankind, are no " Judges at all, whether there be not fome ** Flaw in them j and the very ableft Men. " are, it may be, but very incompetent " Judges. Shall I then be determined to H 3 &c. ^J^|^ flender Acquaintance with them may tempt a Man to Infidelity ; but an accurate, in- timate Knowledge of them, and a thorough Infight into their Contents, brings the Mind back to a firm Belief, and makes us ac- knowledge and adore the great Author of them. To whom be afcribed, as is mofl due, SERMON SERMON V. The Damnatory Claufes in the ATHANASIAN Creed juftified. MARK XVI. 16. He that belieuetb not flail be damned. THIS has been thought an &WV/SERM. v. Saying, though it be our BlefTed^ *""~ J Saviour's, when he commiffioned his Apoftles to preach the Gofpd to every Creature. It will be neceflary therefore, I/?, To confider with what Limitations the Proportion is to be understood; how far, and in what Points Unbelief is highly dangerous ; and whether in fome Cafes we may not charitably fuppofe, that favourable Abatements will be made. lldfy y To fhew the Reafonablenefs of the Propofition properly qualified and ex- plained, and the numerous ill Confequences of Unbelief. After which I mall, 1 1 8 T^ht Damnatory Claufes in SERM. V. \\\dly, Offer a few occafional Reflexions, which arifefrom the Subjeft Matter of my Difcourfe. I begin with my firft Proportion. Though Ignorance, in many Cafes, be abfolutely unavoidable, there being feveral Truths quite out of the Reach of our Un- derftanding ; yet a Man, generally fpeak- ing, in plain and important Points may ftand clear of Error. Becaufc Error im- plies a wrong Judgment; and Men are not under a ftridt Neceflity of judging, where they have not Evidence; or of judg- ing any farther, than they have Evidence. Error therefore, material Error, is com- monly owing to the Want of Care, and Attention proportionable to the Moment of the Subject ; or to fomc predominant Paf- Con, which difcolours the genuine Appear- ances of Things. It is the common Cafe of Men, that when they are not determin- ed by that Sufficiency of Evidence, which is fully laid before them, they are actuated by fomething elfe, than an ingenuous Love of Truth. And our Saviour takes here in* to Confederation the common Cafe of Un- believers, leaving it to the general Appre- henfioa the Athanafian Creed juJlifieJ. 119 henfion of Mankind to except (which they SfR *- v - are apt enough to do) fome few extraordi- *""" nary Cafes. In the fame Senfc are to be underflood the following Claufes in the Creed, com- monly called the Atbanefen\ " which " Faith, except every One do keep whole *' and undefiled, without Doubt he fhall " perim everlaftingly." And again, " This