THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES CONSIDERATIONS ON THE STATE of the WORLD With regard to the THEORY of RELIGION, IN THREE PARTS. I. Want of Univerfality in Natural and Reveled Reli- gion, no juft Objection againft either. II. The Scheme of Divine Providence with regard to the Time and Manner of the feveral Difpen- fations of Reveled Religion, more efpecially the Chriftian. III. The Progrefs of Natural Religion and Science, or the continual Improvement of the World in general Being the Subftance of fome Sermons preach' d before the Univerfity ^Cambridge. By EDMUND LAW, M.A. Archdeacon of Carlijle. CA MB R1DG E, Printed by J. Bentham Printer to the Univerfity^ forW. THURLBOURN Bookfellcr in Cambridge, and J. Bee croft in Lombard-Sreet, London, MDCJCXLV. «~- , TO The Right Honourable H E N R T Lord Vifcount Lonfdale^ Thefe Difcourfes Are mqft humbly Dedicated* In Teftimony of that Veneration which is due to His Lordship's general Character, AND As a Token of Gratitude for his par- ticular Favours to the Author. * -i r •"*>/■.* * m > PREFACE. C T J HE following Difcourfes are part of a much ^ larger Defign i tending to Jhew that Arts and Sciences, Natural and Reveled Religion, have upon the whole always been progrejjive, from the Creation of the World to the prefent Time ; as alfo that they have been fuited to each other, as well as to the Circumftances of Mankind, during each Period of this their ProgreJJion. A Theory which when fairly reprefented, I have been af- fured would give fome fatisfaflion to ma?iv who being convincd of the Exiflence and Attributes of one fupr erne frjl Caufe, yet are fb unhappy as to entertain fir ong Prejudices againfi every kind of Revelation, chiefly on account of the Circum- ftances under which it was fuppofed to have been communicated, which they are unable to reconcile with the Courfe and Order of Divine Providence in all other refpeSls -, as well as to thofe who are equally at a lofs in fearching after any fettled Order or Defign in either of thefe Eflablifl:ments : but yet if they could once perfwade themfelves in general that one of thefe proceeded in fome fort of uniform Ratio and Analogy with the other, and that both were in a State of regular Progreilion, WOuld PREFACE. would have Patience to wait a while in hopes of feeing their particular Objections gradually re~ moved in each by the fame Rules, I have formerly attempted to clear upfome of the chief Difficulties that occur in our Conceptions of the Deity and his Providence, in fome Ob/ervationsonABp.King's Efjay on the Origin of Evil, and have f nee had thepleafure of feeing that Syflem adopted by a late celebrated Writer, and e/leem'd worthy of being adorn 'd with all the Graces of Poetry. This is in fome refpects a Continuation of the fame defgn : But being now in a great meafure cut off from Juch Books as were neceffary to complete it y I could only draw the Plan, and Outlines, and was forced to content myfelfwith venturing this abroad in the prefent Form, ( though very fenfible that it is not the mofl inviting to Readers of the fl amp Jjuft now mention d) rather than be at the pains of throwing it into one clofe continued Treatife ; efpecially as I ca?inot think that my prefent flock of Materials would have been flifficient to have given that its due proportions, and fever al things muft then have been retrenched which this more popular Form admits. Some of the fe probably will feem Repetitions, and yet perhaps be excufed, as they come in on different Occafons, and help to Jet the fame Thought in different, and % tis hoped not altogether difagreeable Views, When I con- fider preface, Jider the ^Temper of thofe Perjbns for whofe ufe the following Papers chiefly are intended, I am en- couraged to hope that none of my Brethren will eafely take offence at the freedom I have been ob- liged to ufe in cenfuring feme things which feeem d to be the greatejl obftacles to this Progrcfs of Religious Knowledge, as well as to hinder both ourfehes and others from perceiving it : at lea/l s that iffuch Cenfures mnft be deemd a wounding of our prefent Syftem, they will at the fame time be look'd on as the faithful wounds of a Friend. Nor will it, Itruft, be requifete to make any far- ther Apology for the Defects of the Performance which are but too natural on Jo very extenfeve a Subject in fuch hands. As it is, I hope it may prove feuffic lent to give general hints in each part of the Scheme propofed, aud thereby put fome others on finijhing what flail upon examination bear the teft. If the Foundation itfelfjhould ap- pear to be faulty, here is already too much built upon it ; fence the Confeque?ices of the whole are pretty obvious. I. Want of Univerfality I N Natural and Reveled Relio-ion No juft Objection againft either. Are not my Ways equal? Ezek. 18.29. /; he the God of the Jews only ? Is he not alfr of the Gentiles ? Tes, of the Gentiles alfo. Rom. 3. 29, ACTS xvii. 30. And the Times of this Ignorance God "winked at> but now commandeth all men every where to repent* THESE words contain a Declaration of God's gracious intent to reform Man- -kind by the coming of Chrijl, and at the fame time intimate the preference due to His above any former InfKtution. In the foregoing Verfes the Apoftle had been inftructing the Athenians in the Nature of the true God, and his univerfal Providence. He mews them that there is one common Father and Governour of the world, who has made this Earth a fit habitation for the fons of men and distributed them all over the face of it ; who has diftinguiilied the Seafons and divided the Nations, and fix'd the bounds and periods of each in fo regular and wife a manner as might lead all diligent obfervers of them to a know- ledge of their Author, and put them upon feeking out fome method of exprefTing their Devotion to him. Though here in fa£t, (as the Apoftle intimates, v. 27. ) they were all but like men groping in the dark, their notions of the Deity very imperfect and obfcurc, their wor- A 2 ihip 4 Of the Want of Univerfality fliip highly abfurd and irrational. This their Ignorance God was pleafed for fome time to wink at, (vrriQiktv) to overlook > difregard, or as it is in a parallel place, * He fuffered them to walk in their own ways, to wander in the feveral mazes they had brought themfelves into, the various feds of Superftition and Ido- latry into which they had fallen : but now he commandeth. all men every where to repent ; or rather publifhes, ( iFugayyeMei ) proclaims the Tidings of Salvation to all men upon the terms of Repentance; he offers a new Covenant to Mankind in general, from the benefits of which none are abfolutely excluded who fincerely de- lire them. Tidings which ought to be re- ceived by all, as they were by the firft Chriflians^ with Joy and Thankfulnefs. But how ftrangely has the face of things been altered, or rather the nature of them inverted fince ! When through the; degeneracy of mankind the bene- fits of tl)is. Divine Inftitution become reftrained to a few. Nations, and even thefe are taught to defpife it for that very reafon which ufes to make a benefit the more valuable, namely be~ caufe it is retrained to themfelves. If, fay the prefent Unbelievers, God has made of one blood all Nations of men, and is no re- - * A&s 14. 16. JpecJer- in Natural and Reveled Religion. 5 fpeBer of Perfons ; and if he defigns this Reve- lation for all men, as he muft, if it be of (o great ufe and advantage to them > — Why then is it not actually communicated to all ? — Why did he fo long, why does he ftill wink at the Ignorance of fo many Nations and leave them without any means of coming to the Know- ledge of his Truth ? Can a God of infinite power and wifdom be difappointed in his aim ? Or will the common Father of mankind con- fine his greateft mercies to fb few of his Chil- dren? And thus every Argument of the fuperior excellency of our Religion is made an objection to its Divine Authority, and what mould be a particular motive of Grati- tude for having received it, is turned into the ftrongeft reafon for rejecting it. In my following Difcourfe I mall confider that part of this Objection which relates to the Manner of the C7W/?/tf/z Difpenfation, the other which more immediately affects the Time of its delivery muft be referved to a more full ex- amination afterwards. In anfwer therefore to this part of the fore- going difficulty I (hall endeavour to prove in the firft place, I. That a partial Communication of Chrifti- anity can be no particular Objection to its Divine A 3 An- 6 Of the Want of Univerfality Authority, fince the Religion of Nature is on the fame foot with it in this refpect. II. I propofe to mew the Wifdom and Goodnefs of the Divine Conduct in the Dif- penfation of them both. And III. The great Benefit of complying with the Terms of the Gofpel, and the Inexcufable- nefs of rejecting it. I. I am to fhew that a partial Communication of Christianity can be no particular objection to its Divine Authority, fince the Religion of Nature is on the fame foot with it in this refpedt. As the all-wife Creator of the Univerfe has been pleafed to frame different Orders of intel- lectual Beings, fo he has made a confiderable difference among thofe of the fame order. In Mankind the cafe is very evident. We cannot but obferve a vaft difparity between both the Abilities and Advantages of fome men and thofe of others - y their tempers of body and Towers of mind, and Circumftances in the world j their Education, Opportunities and Ways of Life ; the Station they are in, or the Govern- ment they live under. Now thefe are fo many Talents which together make up our portion of Reafon, and feverally contribute to the in Natural and Reveled Religion. 7 the forming our Understanding and improving our Nature. As thefe then are fo very une- qually distributed, 'tis plain that our Religious Notions, or our Law of Nature, muft be very different and unequal alfo. The bounds of Duty will be as various as the degrees of Know- ledge in every man, and likewife be enlarged in proportion to the gradual Improvement in the fame man. To fpeak therefore of one fixt, immutable and univerfal Law of Nature is framing an imaginary Scheme without the leaft foundation in the nature of things, directly contrary to the prefent order of the whole Creation : 'Tis making the fame Rule fuit Beings in all Cir- cumstances, which is full as abfurd as to pre- fcribe the fame food and phyfic to all Conftitu- tions. To ftile this Religion of Nature abfolutely perfect, or its Light fuffcient, can only mean that every one may be as perfect here as God intended him to be, and able to do all that his Maker will require of him, or as much as is fufficient to excufe him from punijlmefit ; which is very true, but nothing to the purpofe : for this kind of Perfection is far from implying an univerfal unchangeable Equa- lity in the Law of Nature, or excluding greater Light, fince it may be very confident with that A 4 di~ 8- Of the Want ofUniverfality diverfity of Talents abovementioned, aiwlthofe different degrees of Happinefs and Perfection which are founded in and naturally confequent upon it. As therefore all the Gifts of Nature are diftributed in this partial and unequal man- ner, How unreafonable is it to object againft reveled Religion for its being conveyed in the very fame manner ! One who believed any thing of a God and his Providence would naturally fup- pofe that if a Revelation were to be made at all, it would be made according to the lame method which is obferved in the Government of the natural and moral world j at leaft, he that al- lows this method to be confident with the be- lief of a Deity in the one, cannot furely on that account reject the other. * * Mr. Chubb [Difcourfe on Miracles, p. 48, &f<:.] endea- vours to invalidate this obfervation, by aflerting, that the two Cafes, are not parallel, becaufe the one Could not have teen better conflituted ; which he thinks cannot be made appear concerning the other. But if wefhe^/ that the like or greater Inconveniences would flow from any other aflignable way of conveying Revelation (which will be attempted in the following part of this Difcourfe) then we have as much reafon to affert that it could not upon the whole have been conveyed in a better way, and con. fequentlythe objection drawn from its want of Univerfality will be of no more force than that from Inequality is in the common Courfe of Nature, and the two Cafes will ftill be exactly parallel. Thus in Natural and Reveled Religion. 9 Thus much may be fufficient to fhew that natural and reveled Religion are upon the fame foot in point of Univerfality, and that the Objection holds equally againft both. And I have been the more brief on this Head as it has been fo fully difcuffed of late by very able writers. * II. I proceed therefore in the fecond place, to point out the Wifdom and Goodnefs of the Divine Conduct in the Difpenfation of them both. 1 ft. Of Natural Religion, which as we have feen, is proportionable to the different Abilities and Attainments of Mankind, as thefe are alfo to their different Stations and Conditions, both which we fhall find exquifitely fuited to the well-being of the World. For in the firit place, Society is requifite in order to fupply the Conveniences, the Comforts and the Neceffaries of Life, as well as to fecure the quiet ufe and fafe pofferlion of them. To pre- ferve Society, among fuch frail fallible Crea- tures, there is need of Government, which implies * See Dr. Conybeare's, Mr. Fojler's, or S. Browne's De- fence of Revelation, or Dr. Denne's Sermon on the Propagation of the Gofpel, or more at large in Bp. Butler's Analogy of Religion, &c. pag. 181. 215. &c. O&avo. dif- I o Of the Want of Univerfality different Stations and Conditions, as thefe again call for different Abilities and Qualifications. All, 'tis plain, cannot be Governours, nor enjoy the benefits which attend fome Pofts of Wealth and Power : the many have nothing left them but to obey, to execute the will of their Supe- riors, and undergo the Drudgeries of Life. * The fame holds in the Body politic as in the natural, there muft be many inferior and more feeble Members , which yet are ?iecejfary i neither can the Head fay to the Feet I have no need of you'. But now, if all thefe different Members of the world had naturally the felf- fame fenfe and relifh of things ; if each man had originally and unchangeably the higheft degree of Underftanding and Acutenefs, the greateft ftrength of Reafonand finenefs of Imagi- nation that is to be met with in any of the Species, how very unequal and incongruous mufl this unavoidable diverfity of Orders prove! How hard would be the cafe of them whofe lot is to fill the worft and loweft Offices, and *" Uli ergo omncs conditi funt ut haec opera praeftent, " quibus in Civitate opus eft; conditus eft autem Vir " fcientia praeditus fui gratia : atque ita fimul colitur " Terra, ct repcritur Sapientia. Quam fcite ergo dixit " ille, quifquis fuit, Nifi ejfent Jlulti defolaretur Terra? Ma'tmon. Porta Mof. p. 41. Eccl-. 38.32.34. yet in Natural and Reveled Religion. ' 1 1 yet who find themfelves as well qualified for, and as highly deferving too of the beft ( fince on this fuppofition, which leaves it fo very little in any one's power to improve or benefit either himfelf or others, there could fcarce be any real defert at all) as thofe that hold them, and who likewife cannot but be as deeply fenfible of all that mifery and hardfhip which arifes from the want of them ! The common Intel- lect and Apprehenfion of Man would be but 511 placed in an Ox or Afs, nor would the genius and temper of fome philofophic mind be any better fuited to him that drivetb them a?id is occupied in all their labours. But this muft neceffarily be the ftate of things if all men were by nature furnifhed with all thofe rational or intellectual Accomplifh- ments which adorn fome few of them at prefent. Three parts in four of the world muft be unfit for their particular Circumftances, and at odds with their Condition. How inconfiftent alfo would it be in Nature to implant thofe various Senfes, Appetites and Taftes in all men, which not one in a thoufand would have power to gratify ! That fublime degree of Reafon and Reflection which could only prove its own tormentor ! Not to mention what ill influence fuch a Scheme would have on Government itfelf; 12 OftheWantofUniverfality itfelf ; how difficult it muft be to rule where every one has the fame Strength and Skill; how hard to obey, when all have equal Abilities, and therefore (as they might think) an equal right to be their own Directors. In fhort, how much more wife and beneficial is the prefent Conftitution of things ! Where all is left to Mankind them- felves, who have both the forming and dijpofing of each other j nay where men are at liberty in a great meafure to frame their own Natures and Difpofitions : where they have no incon- venient or pernicious Principle to lay to Nature's Charge, * no properly innate Notions or im- planted InftinBs, J no truly natural Appetite or AffeBion to fway or byafs them, except that univerfal Senfe and ftrong Defire of Happinefi which was abfolutely neceifary to their Prefer- vation. b By thefe means we have at firft only * See Ubot's Boyle's Left. 2dfett, ferm. 5. p. 143. &>V. or A . Bp . King's Origin of Evil, Note 38 . p. 21 1 . 2d Edit. % See the Prelim. DifTert. to King's Origin of Evil, and rem. 1. p. 87, 88. 2d Edit. b To form fome notion of this, let it be obferved, that when the firft foundation of a diverfity of Senfe and Intel- lect is once laid in a greater or lefs fufceptibility of Pleafure or Pain, by a Perception of Ideas more acute or dull, more quick or flow, and a proportioned ReflcRion on them fwhich proportion, by the bye, between thefe two Powers [of perceiving and reflecting] is, I believe, in each perfon pretty in Natural and Reveled Religion*. r 3 fuch Thoughts and Inclinations inftilled into our Minds as are agreeable to, and for the moil part do in fact arife from our Place and Circum- stances in the World, and afterwards find room enough to refine, improve and enlarge our Faculties j to qualify ourfelves for, as well as by a right Application of them to merit fome fuperior Station whenever it mail become void. How regular and beautiful a Subordination mull this produce! How fitly might the whole Body thus knit together and compared by that which every Joint fupplieth, increafe with the Increafe of 'God \ would Man but enter into the fame great Plan of exciting Induftry and Labour and do what lies in his own power to promote it, viz. entail Benefits and SuccefTes as the natural confequence of thefe, and endeavour to fuit every one's Station to his refpective Merit and pretty exactly kept up as to the pitch of their Vivacity in both the abovenamed refpe&s, i.e. the Force and Time of their fucceflive Operations, or the Momentum and Velocity of their refpe&ive Objects) — from hence the whole Tribe of Ajfeclions &c. and the feveral Degrees in each, are very apparently deducible : fuppofing only this, I fay, which feems to lie in the original Stamina of the Body, and i» fo far not to be accounted for, at leaft by me j which therefore, and which only, I fhould term innate^ or ftri&ly natural^ fince every thing bcfidcs, that is compre- hended under the name of Natural Appetite Sec. is pro- perly fo far from being fuch that it is evidently poftcrior in 14 Of the Want of TJniverfality Abilities, i.e. deal with each perfon according to what he is, and obferve thofe Rules which the great God of Nature has eftablifhed ! What in the Order of Nature, and entirely grounded on the Ideas which themfelves arife from hence, and whofe iti- natenefs in all fenfes of that word is now generally given up : — fuppofing then this one foundation laid by Nature, a difference herein will be enough to conftitute the Being more or lefs fenfible or rational in general, and tend to make it more or \zfcpajJionate or mild, eager or indolent &c. in whatfoever it applies itfelf to; but can this ever actually determine it to any one peculiar fett of Objects, or have any tendency towards giving what we mean by a parti- cular Genius, Tafte, or Temper ? That, and the whole Conftitution of the H uman Mind , or its pred ominan t Quali - ties, feem to arife afterwards from the particular AJfociations which we form ourfelves or learn of others, as thefe grow gradually and even mechanically from the Circumftances we are in, or from thofe Objedls that more immediately furround and ftrike us ; provided that a fuitable Attention and regard be paid to each as it prefents itfelf. For that amidft all this Mechanic Apparatus we have fuch a diftin& Faculty of attending, and determining the fubordinate Powers in confequence thereof, as is ftated at large by A. B. King, I muft yet beg leave to fuppofe, till all thefe various Appearances which feem fo much to require it (of which in the following note e . ) are folved on other Principles, and then indeed this, which it muft be owned contains fomething inexplicable, will be of courfe excluded. I may add here, that neither are thofe Affbciations them- felves, from whence fome very ingenious Perfons would de- duce a total Mechanifm, altogether necejfary, nor we fo far paffivc under them as tp bs left without a power of curbing and in Natural and Reveled Religion. i £ Emulation muft this raife, joined with the utmoft care and caution, when each finds it in his power fo much to improve and advance, and correcting, breaking and eradicating, as well as of con- tracting them at firft and afterwards confirming them: to afTert this would be advancing a new Doctrine of Habits contrary to the general Senfe and Language of Mankind. Well then, allowing fuch a degree of Liberty, or active Power to be joined with the other paflive Ingredients in our Compofition, as fuch it muft in fome meafure act independently on each of them and be capable of forming new Affectations from its own proper Acts, which will extend to all the reft and influence them ; and yet as it will alfohave fome fuch fort of connection with them all as to be itfelf in fome refpect or other influenced by them reciprocally, or ("which comes to the fame things the Mind will be fo far affected in and through them as to influence it, which we all daily feel. [ elfe how come thefe parts of our Conftitution to be conftantly applied to with fuccefs for the determination of it ? Why is Pain prefent or in profpect ufed to move a Man, or Arguments and Motives urged, if they are really Matters of indiffer- ence to his Choice and have no manner of effect upon it?] As this grows and gathers ftrength like all our other Faculties and is equally capable of being impaired and rectified again (King,HoteX. p. 406,407. 3d. edit.) — As it is limited and fubject to its Laws not perhaps wholly dif- ferent, though of a kind diftinct, from thofe of the other Appetites. ( however fuch as make it no lefs governable, ibid. c. 5. §5. fub.4. p.420, &c. with notes 70, p. 417 and 71, p.422,423.) and cannot go againft thefe Appetites without manifeft pain and mifery totheperfon: ib.Not. N. P- 336* & c - T As it may be inclined both by them and its 1 6 Of the Want ofXJnlverfality as well as to impair and debafe his Nature , and thereby alio change his State ! what eagernefs to excell fome I what dread of falling below others ! what provocation for all to make the beft ufe of their Faculties and Opportunities ! This amicable Conteft, this perpetual Struggle muft certainly make more for the good of the whole, than if all had been paflive and abfo- lutely fixed in any degree of Knowledge and its own courfe of Operation, and will become daily more and more conformed to them by due regular exercife, which we likewife experience ; — its Operations will be- come as much the Objecls of Foreknowledge, nor will it be much lefs eafy to account for either the Formation or Increafe of any particular Turn of Mind in any given fituation, than if all were performed in us neceflaxily, and at once. This Plan of Human Nature, which derives every thing from fo few Principles, and yet makes room for that endlefs Variety confpicuous in it, might, I am fen- fible, be fet in a good light and fhewn to be free from fome of the greateft Difficulties that inuft clog all others. In this view a jufr. Uniformity is, by the Deity fo far as he aits, always, and might be by us, preferved among all its confhtuent parts; our Talents fuited to our Capacity of ufing them j our Sphere enlarged as that increafes and regularly keeping pace with our Improvements ; each Difpenfation put upon a reafonable foot, and all Dif- coveries made in due proportion to ou-r Qualifications for judging of them, and our Difpofitions to apply them. Whereas the contrary Scheme of bringing all things to an original, equal and immediate Intuition, or of fixing every man to certain Impulfes or Inflindts, independent on his Station and Endeavours and intirdy unimprovable by them ; this in Natural and Reveled Religion, i y Perfection or limited unalterably to any State. a Upon this Plan only could there be place for Hope or Fear, Reward or Punimment, the only proper means of governing free, rational Agents, and of conducting them to their fupreme and trueft Happinefs, which feems entirely to confift in Agency, and which can only this way be excited. b This therefore is the method moft agreeable to Wifdom and Goodnefs, and con- this muft be quite arbitrary, and in a great meafure ufe- lefs, and attended with all the inconfiftencies and incon- veniences already mentioned. Such would the Confe- quences be of that pretended Univerfal Equability in Natural Religion ; nor is the levelling Scheme fo much contended for in Revelation lefs abfurd, as will appear below. a See King's Origin of Evil, Note 19. p. 121, &c. and Note Y. p. 44.9, &c. We may add that the fuppofitiori of any fuch fixed unimprovable State of natural Good implies, ftric~tly fpeaking, no lefs than the Subverfion of of all Virtue or Moral Good, which is nothing but the chufing to communicate the former [ See King, R. 1. p. 84, 85. 3d. Edit. ] for which Communication there could be no place in fuch a State, nor confequently any room for any of thofe Ideas which are founded on it. Nor does this Scheme any better confult the Intereft of our Intelteftual accomplifhments, which while it feems to be exalting them is at the bottom taking away their Ufe and Exercife ; while it pretends to conftitute an equality among Rational Agents is really deftrudtive of both Rationality and Agency. b See King, p. 241, 338, 350, 368, 379> 393> <&• with tTie following Note % B feqnently 1 8 OftheWantofUnherfallty fequently moil worthy of God. c Having thus* far confidered the partial Diftribution of the Gifts of Nature and by confequence the Diverfity of natural Religion, and offered fome Hints towards explaining the Reafonablenefs and Neceffity thereof, I proceed to mew the lame concerning Revelation. If a Revelation were to be made at all (and I mult here take it for granted that fuch a thing is neither im- poiTible nor altogether urtreafonable in itfelf) it muft either be conveyed in the method we are told it was, namely, at firft communicated to fome few ielecl Perfons and by them di- vulg'd and gradually propagated to the reft of the World ; d or fecondly, every particular man. c See this defcribed more at large in Bp,5«^r' s Analogy y p. 93, (Jfc. 2d. Edit. d Mr. Chubb (on Miracles, p. 68, &c. ) objects to this firft method, that hereby it would be in the power of a few men to deprive the reft of all the benefits of this Revelation. But is not that really the cafe in all the other Benefits of Nature and the ordinary Gifts of Pro- vidence l Are not moft of the Blefiings of Life commu- nicated to us by the mediation and inftrumentality of other men, who may be juft and faithful in communi- cating them, or otherwife ? and is it not oft in the power of a fingle perfon to deprive multitudes of Life itfelf or any of its comforts, of Liberty, Peace, Plenty ,< Arts, Improvements, &c. and is not all this unavoidable while men- are allowed the free ufe of their natural Powers, in Natural and Reveled Religion. i o muft have it by immediate Infpiration, and be at all times and in all cafes influenced and di- rected to it internally ; or thirdly, it muft be published again and again, and frefh Miracles worked for the Conviction of each Unbeliever in every Age. In the Second of thefe methods the Incon- veniences are very obvious : for Firit, This In- fluence, of what kind foever it be, muft either be abfolutely efficacious and irrefiftible, i.e. fo ftrong as to fubvert the natural Powers of Man, and take away his Freedom of thinking and acting, and confequently deftroy all Virtue^ Merit, Praife, Reward ; /. e. all that is good and valuable in Religion : or elfe it would not be Powers, which Mr. Chubb contends for ? Men, he faySj are not to be over-ruled in either the Publication or Re- ception of Religion ; and if fo, he has yet to explain how that is to be given fo as not to leave it in the power and pleafure of a few, fooner or later to reftrain and fupprefs, to difguife and corrupt it ; and confequently to prevent thoufands and millions of others from /baring in the benejiti thereof, ib.p.63. On a little farther confideration Mr. Chubb may probably find that in this Scheme [i.e. of Kuimn Liberty] it muft be impoflible for any thing relating either to the Minds or outward Circumftances of Mankind to remain in. a ftate of perfect Uniformity ; and then he may be fenfible too that the fame Caufes, which among other things that concern Mankind make their Religion una- voidably continue in thi, partial and unequal way* will c 2 hold 20 Of the Want of Unfoerfality fumcient toanfvver the ends propofed, nor could it certainly and effectually fecure the Interefl and Salvation of Mankind. As an Illumination it mud either be diftinguimable from the pre- fent Effects of Reafon and the ordinary Opera- tions of the Divine Spirit, or not ; if the for- mer, this mull be by ftriking us more forcibly, and working a more affured infallible Conviction hold as ftrongly for its being originally given in the fame way. Mr. Chubb's fecond Objection, that if Men could be fuppofed to be honeft and faithful in the publication ofaSyftem of Reveled Religion, then there would be no occafion for fuch Syftem, ib. feems to be worfe found- ed than the other, fince this Revelation notwithftanding all the Imperfections that attend its communication may frill be the means of conveying fuch fuperior Benefits to thofe who do come to the knowledge of it, of making fuch Difcoveries in the Nature both of God and Man, and of affording Motives for Man's attaining to fuch a degree of Virtue and true rational Happinefs as all their Honefty, without fuch helps, could never raife the gene- rality of them to. And whether thefole end of Revelation be to bring men to a higher pitch of happinefs than they could otherwife attain or not: ib. p. 49. this Author never can prove but that this may be one of its great endi, and that this End is in fact obtained- to as high a Degree as is confiftent with his own Scheme of perfect Liberty ; fo that, in the laft place, allowing God toforefee all the Confequences and Events attending fuch an Efrablifh- ment, ib. p. 62. yet this Eftablifhment fo circumftanced may, notwithftanding any thing this Author has made ©ut to the contrary, come from him. in in Natural and Reveled Religion. 2 1 in the Mind : but as much as is added to that, above what may arife from the prefent Confti- tution of things, juft fo much muft be taken from the prefent Choice and Merit of believing, and the concomitant Delio;ht and Satisfaction which we feel, and ought to feel, in giving our AfTent to Truth, c Such Evidence muft either fuperfede all Action and Enquiry of our own, e See A.B. King's Origin, N. 19. p. 128, &c. 3d.Edit. compared with N. 58. p. 349. Whence it appears that though in fome cafes and refpe&s the AfTent be unavoid- able and we merely paflive in the Attainment of many ufeful parts of Knowledge, and which muft be attended with fome fatisfaction in degree proportioned to the ap- prehenhon of that ufefulnefs, and of a Kind perhaps very complex, as arifing from variety of Caufes accidentally aflbciated ; yet neither is the kind nor the degree of this Delight fo intenfe and exquilite as that which ufually accompanies thofe points which we work out ourfelves, which we properly make our oivn by a free, fair invefti- gation. Thefe Truths though of no more importance in themfelves or confequences than many others that are either forcibly obtruded on us or fortuitoufly thrown into our way, yet are attended with a fort of felf approba- tion and complacency, which both accompanys the firft Difcovery, the tranfporting evpwct, and will continue after it and bear Reflection ; and which makes them infinitely exceed all others in our eftimation. The fame tiling as it is come at in the one or the other of thefc ways is evidently not the fame to us: which I can afcribc to nothing more than a cenfeioufnefs that in the forme cafe w.c have contributed fomcwlut to the acquifition of B 3 22 Of the Want of Univerfality and overbear the Judgement beyond poflability of Doubt, (which yet from the manner of our acquiring and afTociating Ideas and forming judgements is impoflible to be conceived, with- out reverfing the whole Frame of the human Mind; neither would that appear to be at all defirable, as we have feen above) it muft I fay, either be inconfillent with the exercife of our other mod valuable Faculties, or it would come to the fame thing with the prefent ufe of them, and prove alike capable of being equally neglected or oppofed, corrupted or deftroyed : it would have no other or higher Evidence than in fome cafes the common Principles of Reafon have, nor could it lay any flronger Obligation on us to obey its Dictates. The lame will be the cafe with it confidered as an Impulfj or Impreffion on the Mind inciting it it and to our own improvement by that acquifition ; or an Idea of Merit constantly aflbciated with this kind of Acquifitions, and which is perhaps the very ftrongeft and (he mod agreeable of all our JJfociations. From whence alfo we may collect how necefTary it is to the Happinefs pf Man tliat he fhould appear to himfelf to he free in the Exercife of the Faculties of his Mind as well as the Powers pf his Body ; to be in fome degree active in the Attain- ment of his Knowledge as well as any other Attainments ; ,and how far this will go towards proving him to be really fo J leave to be confidered. If he has any real Liberty, there in Natural and Reveled Religion. 23 to follow each determination of the Judgement, and phylically connecting Thought with Action ; lince this Connection, if much altered from that which is obfervable in the prefent State, or increafed to any confiderable Degree above that Harmony which now fubfifts among our natural Powers, would be attended with the very fame Confequences. * Farther, as all this muft be tranfacted in a Man's own bread, and fo long as it is limited as above, or he retains the leaft degree of Liberty, is capable of being flirted there, every one might and moil probably would foon difregard it, as much as he does now the many good Thoughts, Motions and Suggeftions, which arife daily in his Mind. Nor is there lefs likelihood of its being perverted to the worft of purpofes, as Intereft, Vice or Vanity might direct : — of its there will be a good reafon for annexing this double Pleafure to the exercife of it, both to excite him to Action in cafes of Difficulty, and afterwards to juftify him for engaging in fuch, and enable him to go through all the Toil and Hazard that attends them. If he has none, won't it be a little hard to point out cither the Rife or Reafonablencfs of this fp conftant and fo general a Dclu- fion, and to account for fuch Ideas as thofe of Merit, Elteem, Reward, &c. which are entirely founded in it? * See Mr. Hucbcfon on the PufTions. p. 179, 200, L' or Kinfs E&v, N.28,fcrV. B 4 foon 24 Of the Want ofUniverfality foon filling the World with rank Rnthufiafm or the moft wicked and abfurd Impoftures ; and when it is once thus perverted, there feems to be no room for any remedy upon this .Scheme ; no means are left us to detect the Fraud or Folly of any religious pretences whatfoever, no method of refcuing Mankind from per- petual Delufion. f f The ingenious Author of Chrijlianity not founded on Argument, feems to adopt this fecond method of commu- nicating a Religion to Mankind, and carries it fo far as to fuperfede all other Means, Divine or Human, that have ever been made ufe of to fupport it in the World. He contends for a conftant and particular Revelation imparted feparately and fupernaturally to every Individual, p. 1 12. This he terms Infpiration and infufed Evidence , p.58. feeling and internal Senfe, ib. and of a nature but little differing from that of Intuition, p. 59. In fhort, it is what will difpatch the whole bufinefs of Religion at once with- out either Time or Teaching, p. 17. reading or reafoning, the ufe of our Underftandings, or the Evidence of our Senfes. — 'Tis hard to guefs upon what Plan this Author would defend himfelf if he were prefled, but for the pre- fent he admits one general external Revelation to have been made and recorded [ though both upon his Principles mull have been extremely unneceflary ] and yet labours to difTwade us from examining the Contents of it, and moft inconfiftently attempts to ftiew, as well from Reafon as this very Revelation, that we ought not to imploy our Reafon at all either in the Proof or the Interprptation of it, or in any thing elfe relating to the Subject, p. 7, 13 c. A felf-deftructive Schema ! which were it really, as he would in Natural and Reveled Religion. 25 Nor in the Third place, would lefs Incon- veniences attend the frequent republication of Religion, and working new Miracles for the conviction of each particular perfon that might be fuppofed to want it ; iince thefe repeated Publications when grown common would in all probability be as little minded as the con- flant preaching of it is at prefent. Such a con- would prove, laid down by Chriji and his Apojlles, and in the Nature of the thing or from the Praclife of Mankind ever fo neceffary, yet could not poflibh/ be kept clear of the Confequences abovementioned, of which more here- after. But that this is far from being the cafe may eafily be fhewn. That Chriji and his A po fries both encourage and enjoin the exercife of Reafon in Religious Matters is plain enough from thefe few Texts. Matth.iy. 19,23. Mark 8. 17, 18. Luke i. 4. 12.57. 7°^ n 5- 39- J ^ £is l l • II, 17. Rom. 10.17. II. I. iCor. 10.15. 14.29. iCor. 13.5. iTim. 4. 13, 14, 15. iTim. 3. 15. ijohn^.l. I P^f. 3. 15. Do fuch Texts as thefe fuppofe Conviclion to precede the Evidence? p. 37. to which add iTheff.^.21. where S.Paul treating of Spiritual Gifts themfelves exhorts his followers toprove all things [a hopeful Tafk ! fays our Author p. 76.] and Rom. 10. 2. where the fame great Apoftle is recom- mending Zeal according to Knowledge, though this Writer is pleafed to tell us that fuch Zeal will fcarce ever defcrve the name; p. 25. However, to give this extraordinary Scheme of his a fcriptural air, he lays hold on fome paflages of Scripture Hiftory [of which in their proper place] and draws in feveral detacht parts of ftragling Texts about the Spirit of God, or fuch as found that way, which he applies to his point indifcriminately, whether they concern thofc ordi- 26 Of the Want of Umverfality tinual feries of Miracles would in time be no Miracles at all, they muft lofe all their force together with their Surprifingnefs and Novelty ; nor could they leave any more lively or more lading impreffions on us than fuch as may be ordinary Afliftances and imperceptible Operations that may be expected from the Holy Ghoft in every Age, or are confined to his extraordinary, miraculous Gifts, that were, we think, peculiar to the firft publication of the Gofpel, and produced thofe wonderful Effects which thi» Writer alludes to, and which he, with fome modern Sectaries, feems ftill to claim upon that ever weak foun- dation of believing ftrongly that he has the fame, without being able to bring any of the fame Proofs in j unification .of fuch Belief. Though even here he ought to be re- minded that moft of thefe very fupernatural Gifts were fo far from exerting themfelves independently on any natural Attainments, that they moft commonly acted hi conjunction with and were adminiftred conformably to fuch, and were themfelves improved by Labour, Diligence and Study, or impaired and quite extinguifhed by Neglect, [ See Whitby and others on zTim. I. 6.] that all of them were fubject to the Will and Reafon of thofe who pof- fefled them, and to be by them carefully and prudently applyed to the particular Exigences of the Church, and the moft ufeful Purpofes of Edifying, fo as to conftitute the whole a Reasonable Service. ' God when he makes the * Prophet does not unmake the Man. He leaves all his * Faculties in their natural ftate, to enable him to judge * of his Infpirations, whether they be of Divine Original * or no. When he illuminates the Mind with fupernatural * Light he does not extinrruifh that which is natural. If 8 he would have us affent to the Truth of any Propofition *he in Natural and Reveled Religion. 27 kept up by thofe {landing Records and vilible Memorials which now evidence to us the Truth of Chriftianity. Not to mention that both of the foregoing Schemes would in fome meafure put it out of the power even of God 1 he either evidences that Truth by the ufual Methods 4 of natural Reafon, or elfe makes it known to be a ' Truth which he would have us aflent to by his * Authority, and convinces us that it is from him by fome * Marks which Reafon cannot be miftaken in. Reafon ' muft be our laft Judge and Guide in every thing.' Lock on Eyitbufwfm, A Chapter which I would beg leave to recommend to this ingenious Writer ; and when he fhews us any of the fame infallible Marks of Infpiration that were formerly exhibited, when he communicates fome of that infufed Evidence which he can make appear not to have been derived from other Sources, we may be obliged implicitly to follow his Directions ; but till then are, I humbly apprehend, at liberty to fuppofe that he himfelf is only following his ozvn Spirit and has feen nothing', and that all the fe feelings are no more than the Effects of his own warm Imagination. For that the ordinary Oper- ations of the Spirit do not fuggeft any thing of this kind, that they are never diftinguifhable from the natural work- ings of our own Minds, much lefs in any refpect fubver- five of them ; that they are perfectly confident with the mod free life of all our rational Powers, which are the Gift of the fame Author and given to be fo ufed by us, and that thefe generally attend upon their regular Excrcife and were defigned rather to preferve, aflift, improve, than toobfrructandfuperfedcit,isIthinknowprettywellagrecd. See King's Origin of Evil, N -j. p. 422, &c 3d. Edit. No* 28 Of the Want of Vniverfality himfelf to bring about a Reformation in Reli- gion when it was once corrupted ( as it might eafily be in both of them ) fince thereby the (trongeft and ■ ritteft of all means to procure Attention, Awe and Reverence, which we now Nor can he fhew that Reafon thus aflifted v/ill be infuf- ficient for the purpofes of true Religion, or make out from the Nature of thefe two that they ought to have no Com- munication with each other. His firft allegation, that Men by the exercife of their Reafon do not, nor can be re- quired to think all alike, will not come up to his point, as it is neither true nor necefTary.^ 'Tis falfe in many matters both of Facl: and Reafon, on which all men that think at all think in one way, and he has yet to fhew why the EfTentials of the Chriftian Infritution may not be included among fuch, I mean as they lie in the Bible, and fo far as our aflcnt is there explicitly required to them in one and the fame precife determinate manner, on pain of forfeiting the Privileges of that Inftitution. Thefe he will find to be very few and plain. But though he allows the whole of Chriftianity to be true and reafonable, yet he feems all along to beg the Queftion by fuppofing that it is of fuch a nature as is incapable of being made to appear fo to each perfon fo far as he is concerned to know either the fubftance of it, or its grounds. Hence all the for- midable Objections againft Reafon's judging of the Gofpel Truths, which yet hold equally in many other Truths of confequence in common Life, wherein the common People notwithstanding go on very well by the life of their natural Faculties, be they never fo weak or fo ftrongly befet with Doubts and Difficulties. His other Arguments againft admitting Reafon in religious Matters, from in Natural and Reveled Religion. 29 call fupernatural Interpolation, would foon be- come familiar, cheap and ineffectual to that end, as was hinted above. Befides, what Unity or Uniformity of public Worfhip, what Decency and Order could be preferved in fuch a State from fome particular Inliitutions and the general Praclife of the World, are no better founded. That Children are introduced into die Chriftian Church by Baptifm [which our Author feems to argue for and goes perhaps a little farther than he will be able to juftify when he aflerts it to be the Ordinance of God bimfelf] and that they have early prepolTemons in favour of Chriftianity [ whereof he fhews the great ufe and neceflity, and wherein we moft heartily join with him] does this render their Religion the lefs reafonable to them when they are capable of rea- foning about it ? Or are they ftric~tly under any other Obligation, when they come to age, of taking it upon themfelves, than what arifes from their Conviction of the Reafonablenefs and Wifdom of fo doing, from their being fatisfied of its Truth and Divine Authority ; and what they otherwife would have been under when thus much ever mould come to their knowledge? Surely their being made to underftand the ChrijUan Religion firft, by no means hinders their giving it a fair examination afterwards, fo foon and fo far as they become qualified for fuch Examination. Nay, if they underftand it thoro'ly they will find that it requires examination from all its ProfcfTors in fome degree or other, as appears fufficicntly from thole few Texts above. It does indeed infift upon a right Belief and a conformable Prattife in all Perfons to whom it has been fairly propofed : nor is this either fo uncommon a tiling, or ijiconfiftent with what we maintain, funpoluig ftiU 3 Of the Want of Unherfality of things ? If Men did ever ajfemble the?nfelve$ together, (the Reafonablenefs and the Neceffity whereof will be apparent fo long as they are capable of having either their Memories re- frefhed, or their Affections raifed by fenfible ftill its Truth and Credibility. Does any Lawgiver pro- claim thofe exceptions to the general obligation of his Laws, which accidentally arife from the fole Incapacity of the Subject, and which common fenfe is always ready to fucwefr. and willing to allow for without the leafr. dimi- c>iz> to nution of their Ufe and Obli'gatorinefs ? Or would it be any derogation from their Excellence and Authority ; or any excufe for our not labouring to underftand thefe Laws, that all men did not reafon right about them? — ■ Nor does our being to apply by Prayer for the continuing jlcdfajl in the Faith, Jhew the Defign of God that Reafon fiould not be at all employed on thefe occafons ; p. 1 1 . any more than his working in us both to will and do y and our being taught to afk this of him, proves that we have no occafion to endeavour toiuork out our own Salvation. We do not pretend that Reafon is itfelf fufficient either to difcover all that may be of benefit in Religion, or engage us to obferve and act up to what it is really able to dif- cover, and therefore there is room enough for our folicit- ing the Grace of God as well to ftrengthen and fupport this very Faculty, as to bring others into due fubje&ion to it ; to lead us into the Truth, to make us love and feek it ; to guard againft every deviation from it, and enable us to refifr the numberlefs Temptations to Vice, Ignorance and a criminal Unbelief. Nor laftly, would the Difficulties and Difcouragements which Human Reafon is too frequently laid under by the practife of the World, in Natural and Reveled Religion. 3 1 Objects ; — fo long as they have either Memory or fenfes, I.e. fo long as they continue to be Men) in fuch AfTemblies every one of them n^ould have a Pfalm, a Do£tri?ie, a Tongue, a Revelation, an Interpretation ; and what could World, were that in truth fo bad at prefent as this- Author rcprefents, wholly deftroy its Influence in the point before us ; or prove any thing more than that its Province is too much invaded by thofe, be they Parents, Tutors or Magif 'rates , who either wilfully or unwarily iinpofe thefe Difficulties, and who alone are anfwerable for giving any handle for fuch a Plea as he has grounded on them. If the two former conftantly betray its Caufe by narrowing the Minds of Youth, and (hutting up the Avenues of Knowledge ; if they do not teach them care- fully the Art of Reafoning, and lead them to a fair ufe of Reafon on every Subject within their fphere and worthy their Enquiry ; or if the laft intrench upon its Rights by interpofing their Authority in the grand affair of Divine Worfhip, beyond barely keeping up the eftablifhed Form and tolerating others; If this were indeed the Cafe now, as I hope it is not, this Author, I conceive, mould have fhewn thefe Proceedings to be warrantable, e'er he went on in earneft to draw fuch a Confequence, as that the whole Subjccl is abfolutely out of Reafon 's Jurifdi&iw. A Confequence which can tend only to revive Celfus\ Calumny againft the ChrijVian Caufe, M» s^t*^ «*x*. mrtvtrtt, and recommend the no lefs abfurd modern Maxim that Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion ; which renders all that Scripture which was given by Infpiration a dead, ufelefs Letter, and rcprefents that other Candle of the Lord as a falfe Light and dangerous, and fuch as by this Writer's g 2 Of the Want of Univerfality this produce but Tumult, Strife and an univer-*' fal Confufion ? This furely is not fo reajbnable a Service, nor fo fit for Edification as the pre- fent j not quite fo proper a Method to convey and preferve a Syitem of Divine Truths in the World, as a regular, fettled Inftruction and Hiftoric Faith, grounded on a ftanding, written* Revelation, which holds thefe forth together with their Proofs to every one, and offers them to the view and examination of all Ages. When fome of thefe things are a little attend- ed to, we may perhaps be convinced that either the fame or as great Objections would lie a- gainfl any other affignable Method of commu- nicating a Religion to Mankind. If then neither all men could be made equally wife and perfect, nor Religion be at once equally communicated to them all ; if the prefent Laws of our Nature are the beffc that could be, "and as fuch ought to remain inviolate, and we be Writer's Motto is infmuated to be a Curfe upon us, rather than a Bleffing. This Notion indeed he has kept to all along, whether ferioufly or otherwife he knows beft, and concludes fuitably enough to it with this piece of Advice to his'young Academick, that he content himfelf with being as rational a Chriftian as his Sifter or Mother,- p. 114. As to the Inconfiftencies which this ingenious Writer labours to fix both upon that excellent Inftitution the Boy* in Natural and Reveled "Religion, 33 left to the common Methods of informing our- ielves in all natural as well as fupernatural Truths, it will follow, in the laft place, that Chriftianity could not have been propagated otherwife than in fact it is, namely, in a gradual, progreflive, partial manner. Let it be proclaimed at firft never fo far and wide, yet the reception and continuance of it muft in a great meafure, we fee, depend on Mens own Difpofitions both natural and moral. Some previous as well as concomitant Qualifications are requifite to the due exercife and influence of it as well in private Men, as public States and Communities : fo that among a People funk in Ignorance or Barbarity, where there is no kind of good Order or Government eftablifhed, no regular Forms of Education instituted and obferv'd j where there is an univerfal want of Difcipline and a DirTolutenefs of Manners, there Chriftianity cannot fubfift. Boykan Lecture, and thofe worthy perfons who have with fo much fuccefs accomplifhed its Defign, I need only appeal to Dr. Ibbot, who, I think, ftands abfolutely clear of his Exceptions, and has as fully anfwered the End of its great and good Founder, as he has obviated this Author's whole Performance. * The advantages of this above Oral Tradition may be feen in Tillotfon, V.2. Fol, S.73. p .549. or LeClerc Harm. 3Difs. p. 615. C Miracles 34 Of the Want of Univerfality Miracles were indeed neceflary to gain Attention and give Authority to it at firit, but the per- petuity of them in any kind would (as we have feen) weaken that very Attention and deftroy their own Authority. When therefore a Re- ligion has once been fufficiently promulged by Divine Authority,, it muil be committed to human means ; and left to the conduct of that Nation or Society in which it is planted, and by their care be handed down to Pofterity : it muil be preferv'd and propagated in a natural way, and by the ordinary Courfe of Provi- dence, or elfe there is no avoiding the ill con- fequences abovementioned, namely, perpetual Enthufiafm or Impofture. As a Syftem of Divine Doctrines and Rules of Life it muft be fubject to the common Methods of Inftruction, and taught as all other Science is. Youth of all kinds are to be principled and grounded in it, and fome inftructed in thofe other parts of Learning which may fit them for a due en- quiry into its original Evidence > for undemand- ing the true Nature, Ends, and Ufes of it, and conveying the fame knowledge down to future Ages. Some Orders of Men like wife mull: be fet apart and authorifed to explain and incul- cate it, to defend its Doctrines as well as to infpect and to fecure the practife of its Precepts. From in Natural a fid Reveled Religion. 3 5 From all which it appears that ignorant, uncivilized, flaviih and brutifh Nations, are as uncapable of duly receiving fuch an Inftitution, as they are of all thofe other Sciences, Arts, Improvements which polifh and adorn the reft of Mankind, and make Life a BleiTing. Without fome tolerable degree of Learning and Civility men don't feem qualified to reap the Benefits of the Chriftian Inftitution, and together with thefe they generally do receive it, the fame human means ferving to improve their Notions in Religion, which help to enlarge their Knowledge in all other Subjects, and at the fame time directing them to, and in a natural way enabling them to arrive at the moil pertect Difpenfation of it. One of the chief Reafons commonly amgned for the Fit fiefs of the T'ime of Chrijl's appearing in the World was the extent of Learning and Commerce through all the then known parts of it, * which tended very much to open mens Minds, and qualify them to receive his Inftitution, as well as paved the way for a more general Communication of it j but as there were many at that time not able to hear it, fo on the fame account neither yet are they able, nor will they be, till by reajbn ofttfe * This is more fully explained in the following Dif- sourfes, Part 2. C2 (as 36 Of the Want ofTJniverfality ( as the Apoflle fpeaks ) they have their Senfes exercifed to difcern both Good and Evil : Till their rational Faculties be enlarged and im- proved, their natural Genius cultivated and re- fined ; which feems in a good meafure to con- stitute their refpective Fitnefs of T'ime. a And as barbarous and favage Nations are un- able to hear the Truth ; fo vicious, debauched, immoral ones are in like manner incapable of a That the Chinefe in particular, from whom fome have thought that the ftrongeft Argument might be drawn againft what is here fuggefred, and whofe Learning and Education have been fo much cried up, are very far from deferving fo great a Character, fee Renaudot's Diflertation on their Learning. Ancient Accounts of India and China, p. 200. Terry's Voyage to the E aft Indies, feet. 12. and2i^ Travels of fever a I Mijfioners, p. 180. &c. or Millar*% Hijlory of the Propagation of Chrijlianity, V. 2. p. 266, &c. or Le Comte's Memoirs, paflim. I fhall give one Inftance from the laft mentioned Author in a branch of Philofophy for which they have been oft particularly celebrated. * All Nations have ever been aftonifhed at Eclipfes be- * caufe they could not difcover the Caufe of them : there * is nothing fo extravagant as the feveral Reafons fome * have given for it ; but one would wonder that the * Chinefe, who as to Aftronomy may juftly claim Seniority ' over all the World befides, have reafoned as abfurdly * on that point as the reft. They have fancied that in < Heaven there is a prodigious great Dragon, who is a 4 profefled Enemy to the Sun and Moon, and ready at all 4 times to eat them up. For this reafon as foon as they 4 perceive an Eclipfe they all mance a terrible rattling 4 with Drums and Brafs Kettles, till the Monfter fright- ncd in Natural and Reveled Religion. 3 7 bringing forth the Fruits thereof. If fuch a People did receive the true Religion, they would foon drop it again, as many Nations mod un- doubtedly have done ; at leaft they would lofe the Spirit, Life and Power of it, and then the bare Name and outward Form will not be worth enquiring after : nay much better would it be if thefe were always quitted too together with the other. Chrtjlianity cannot immediately ' ned at the Noife lets go his Prey. Perfons of Quality, * who have read our Books, have for thefe feveral years ' been undeceived : but the old Cuftoms (efpecially if thp ' Sun lofeth his Light) are ftill obferved at Pekin^ which, ' as is ufual, are both very luperftitious and very ridiculous. * While the Aftronomers are on the Towers to make * their Obfervations, the chief Mandarines belonging to ■ the Lipou fall on their knees in a Hall or Court of the ' Palace, looking attentively that way, and frequently ' bowing towards the Sun to exprefs the pity they take ' of him, or rather to the Dragon to beg him not to * moleft the World, by depriving it of fo nece/Tary a 'Planet.' Le Comte, p. 76. Edit. 1738. comp. p.93. &c. and Lett. 8. From their notorious Ignorance of, and by confequence, Contempt for the reft of the World and great averfenefs to any Communication with it, till of very late years, we may eafily account for this flow progrefs of theirs both in the Knowledge of Nature and Reveled Religion, notwithstanding their having had very con- fiderable Means of improving both in their hands for fome time ; nor are they v/anting in point of Genius, as may- be fcen in the fame excellent Author. — But this will come in more properly under the 3d Part. c 3 tranf- 3 8 Of ^ e Want of Vniverfality transform Mens Minds and totally change the general Temper and Complexion of any Peo- ple j but on the contrary it will thereby itfelf undergo confiderable alteration, and its own Influence and Effect in a great meafure depend thereon : With the pure it will be pure, and they that are otherwife will foon defile it; will cither corrupt it with Fable and abfurd Tra- ditions, or turn it into Licentioufnefs and carnal Policy. Thus did the Eaftern Nations, and were overwhelmed with Mahometanifm, * and thus did a great part of Africa. To the like Caufes, in all probability, as well as the Neglect and Mifbehaviour of its Propagators and ProfefTors, (which have been here but too remarkable b ) is it * V. Part II. b Of the former a large account may be feen in Millar's Hift. c.8. p. 274. 284. 291. &V. and c. 9. p. 376. &V. Add Mr. IVarburton's judicious obfervation at the end of Se£t..6. p. 306. &c. of Dlv. Leg. 2d Edit. As to the latter, we cannot but obferve the great and general Prejudice which muft prevail in both the Indies againft all Europeans from the injurious treatment they have often received from us, as may be feen in almoft every late account of Voyages &c. Numberlefs inftances of this occur in Salmon's Modern Hiftory, particularly in the prefent State of the Sunda I/lands, c.4. Having defcribed the extraordinary fufpicion of the Japoncfe whofe goodnefs and humanity towards us were once as eminent as is their dread in Natural and Reveled Religion. 30. owing that true Religion makes no greater pro- grefs in the Eaft and Well: Indies. Though, it mull be owned, great and good things have been done in it of late by Societies eftabliihed for that purpofe, and none perhaps have been more diligent and difcreet than our own. But it were beyond the Limits of this Difcourfe to enquire into the State of every Heathen Country in order to fee what probable reafons might be affigned for either their firft rejecting or not ftill retaining Chrifiianity. Perhaps it may be enough to have given thefe general Hints, which though they were all founded on mere Conjecture, yet till fuch an Hypothecs can be difproved from Fact, we ought rather to acquiefce in them than confidently arraign ^ dread at prefent of all Ckrijiian Nations, he concludes, * But from whence can all this immoderate caution pro- ' ceed unlefs from the ill ufage they have met with from ' Europeans ? Surely it fufficiently demonfrrates what I ' have fo often ohferved, that we did not find, but make ' thefe Nations barbarous ; and if they have any thing 4 fhocking in their behaviour at this day, they learnt 4 it from us, who inftead of planting Chrifiianity and * improving their Morals, have in fact, corrupted them.' Mod. Hij}. V. i. 4 to . p. 226. Such Obfervations are I fear but too well grounded, and might be carried a great way towards accounting for the How Progrefs of Chrillianity among fuch Nations as feem otherwife not ill qualified tor the reception of it. Nor are the frequent Quarrels c 4 among 40 Of the Want ofUniverfality Providence, and cenfure its Ways with Man in matters of the laft importance. But I hope Arguments may be drawn from them fufficient to flop the mouths of our Adverfaries,andfilence each Gainfayer j a more particular difcuffion of which will be the fubject of fome following Difcourfes. I (hall only beg leave at prefent to add an Obfervation or two concerning a Diver- lity of Religion in general, and the cafe of thofe who cannot attain to the knowledge of the Chrijlian. And firft, Though I fee no reafon to affirm with fome, that God takes equal delight in the various kinds of Worfhip which come to be eftablifhed in the World, and that a fpecific Difference in Religion is in itfelf and abftractly confidered as acceptable to him as that diverfity of Beings which he has made : on the contrary I think he has plainly difcovered one moil per- fect Standard and requires all to approach as near it as they can j and may be faid to approve among Chriftians themfelves and their notorious ill ufage of each other a lefs prejudice againft their Profeffion, as is obferved by the fame Writer, p. 264. * So extremely « jealous were the Portuguefe of the Indian Trade that 4 even their Priefts did not flick at the moft treacherous « and barbarous methods to exclude all other Nations « from it, which muft, no doubt give the Indians a very * great Opinion of the Chrijlian Religion they pretended to * pro- in Natural and Reveled Religion. 41 every approach to it, and prefer that to its oppofite, in the fame manner as he does every other excellence and improvement of the Human Mind, where he intends perpetual advancement, as we have feen j yet from what has been already faid, thus much will appear, viz. That one of thefe is in fome meafure a neceffary confequence of the other during the prefent Laws of Nature in the moral and intellectual World : a difference of Rank and Capacity among Men mull needs produce an equal difference in their Religious Notions, as was fhewn above ; fuch difference therefore in degree of Perfection is made rieceffary by the Conftitution of things and the general Diipen- fations of Providence ; and what by the ordi- nary courfe of Divine Providence is to men in fome circumftances rendered unavoidable, that the Divine Goodnefs will in thefe Circum- ffances moft undoubtedly excufe and accept with all its Imperfections. * ' propagate ; nor need we look for any other reafon why ' Chrijiianity does not gain ground in the Eaft, though * the Indian Princes have given the greateft encourage- ' ment to the Miffionaries themfelves upon account of 1 their Skill in the Mathematics.' * See Dr. Rymer's General Reprefentation of Reveled Religion, c. 6. 'Tis a Beauty in Providence to advance * in the Difpenfations of Religion ; to propofe various « Per- 42 Of the Want of Unherjality The fame thing obtains remarkably in each particular Syltem, even in thofe of ' Chriftianity itfelf, which to different Perfons and in different Times and Places appears in a very different Light ; though fo much always every where lies level to all as is abfolutely required of each, and fo much alfo as will or might have a very confiderable influence upon their Lives and Manners. And the fame may in a great meafure be affirm'd of Modern Heathens, the generality of whom ftill preferve in fome degree the great fundamental Principles of one Supreme God, a Providence and Future State, as Authors of the beffc Credit have affured us. * 2. As to the cafe of thofe People in general, we may confider that if they have fewer and lefs Advantages than others, their Natures and Capacities muft iikewife be inferior ; to which their future State may be proportioned : God is not obliged to make all men equally perfect in the next world any more than in this ; and if their Capacity be rendered lefs than that of an ordinary Chrijlian, a. lower * Perfections in Piety and Virtue upon Earth, and anfwer ' them with refpe&ive Promotions in Heaven,' p. 152. * A Collection of them may be feen in Stackboufe's Body of Divinity Part 3. 08. S. 2.3. p. 528. &V. or Millar's Hii't. of the Prop, of Chriftianity, c.5. &c. degree in Natural and Reveled Religion. 43 degree of Happinefs may fill it. However, we need not be very folicitous about their Eftate, much lefs call any ungrateful imputation on the Governour of the World for not having dealt fo bountifully with them as with ourfelves -, fmce we know that in all cafes every one will at length be accepted according to that he haSj and not according to that he has not ; and that to whomjbever much is given, of him /ball much be required. We know that all their Souls are in the hand of a moft merciful Creator, all ivhofe ways are equal, and who will moft afluredly deal with every one according to what is juft and right. But of this more hereafter. I come in the laft place briefly to obferve the great Benefit of complying with the Terms of the Gofpel, and the inexcufablenefs of reject- ing k- The Benefit of the Chriftian Inftitution above all others appears, in that it naturally fits Men for an higher degree of Happinefs, as well as entitles them to it by pofitive Covenant. It gives them more juft and worthy Notions of the Divine Being, and the Relation they bear to him, and of the Duties which refult from that Relation. It explains, improves, exalts all thofe Virtues and good Difpofitions which are the natural Foundation of Happinefs both in this f 44 Of the Want ofUniverfality this world and the next. It dire&s us to add to our Faith Virtue ', and to Virtue Knowledge , and to Knowledge temperance, and to Temperance Patience, and to Patience Godlinefs, and to Godlinefs Brotherly Kindnefs, and to Brotherly Kindnefs Charity. It propofes to our Study whatfoever things are true, honefi, jujl, pure, lovely and oj good report, and binds all thefe upon us with the ftrongeft Sanctions ; at once giving us the moll ample Inftruction in and incitement to the practife of our Duty, and moreover affording all neceffary Means of Grace in order to prepare and train us up for Glory. And thus, as St. Peter fays, hath the Father given unto us all things that pertain unto Life mid Godlinefs, through the knowledge of him that hath called us unto Glory and Virtue, — that at length we might be partakers of the Divine Nature. The great Condition of this Covenant is expreffed in the Text and many other parts of Scripture by Repentance : Repentance from dead works and ferving the living God. This was the fubftance of our Saviour's preaching, and what the Apoftles continually tefiified both to the Jews andalfo to the Greeks, namely Repentance towards God; * that is a thorough Reformation of * A&5 20. 21. Mind in Natural and Reveled Religion. 45 Mind and Temper, a renouncing of this World its Vanities and Vices, and an improvement in all thofe Graces and good Habits which are abfolutely necefTary to fit us for the Prefence of God, the Society of Angels and Spirits of juft Men made perfect. How gracious a Defign this ! how reafonable, juft and holy an Infti- tution ! How ftxongly muft it recommend it- felf to every man's Judgement and Confcience, when once rightly underftood ! and what in- finite reafon have we to give continual thanks unto the Father who hath not only prepared for us an Inheritance , but likewife laboured to make us meet to be Partakers of it among the Saints in Light ! and how fiall we efcape if We negleB Jo great Salvation ? How difingenuous and ungrateful muft it be to refufe and put it from us ! How dangerous to contemn and blafpheme it ! To conclude, May the Mercies of God in Chrijl J ejus engage every one of us in time to obey the Divine Precept in the Text ; to fhake off more efpecially all fuch Vices as the Heathens of old delighted in, and which betray too many now a days into the like State, and blind their Eyes, and harden their Hearts againil all poflible Conviction, namely, Pride, Covet- oufnefs and Senfuality. May we all comply with the 46 Of the Want ofUniverfality y &c. the Apoftle's advice in walking circumfpecliy towards them that are without, fince the reafon affio-ned is in fome refpects of as great force at prefent, — becaufe the Days are evil. As Infi- delity ftill abounds and the Love of many waxeth cold, we who profefs the Faith of Chrifi and think we have more perfect under- flandins of it, and are to communicate the fame to others,, we ought to contend To much the more earneftly for it, and labour to adorn the Doctrine of our Lord in all things. To our daily Prayers therefore let us add our conftant Endeavours that the Kingdom of God may come on thofe who have not yet received it, and be reftored in purity and perfection to fuch as have rejected it : and finally, let us beware left in any of us be found an evil Heart of Unbelief-, let us take care that we be not of thofe who either in Principle or Practife draw back unto Perdition j but of them that believe to the laving of the Soul. The II. The Scheme of Provfdence, With regard to The Time and Manner of the feveral Difpenfations of Reveled Religion. Crefcat igitur oportet, et multum vehement er que proficiat y tamfingulorum quam omnium^ tarn uniits hominis quam totius Ecclefia, cetatum ac feculorum gradibus, intelligentiayjclentia^ fapientia. Vine. Lirinens. Common. 1.28. GAL. iv. 4. But when the Fulnefs of the Time was come y God fent forth his Son. THE Coming of Chrift in the Flefh is a Difpenfation fo full of Wifdom and Goodnefs, that in whatever view we confider it 'twill appear moft worthy its Divine Author. The precife Time in which he was manifefted, though it has been made the fubject of more Cavils ancient and modern than any other Circumftance attending it, yet I doubt not but upon a fair examination may be difcovered to bear the fame Characters. On this head the following QuefHons are ufually afked. If the common Father of Man- kind be infinite in Goodnefs, and the Chrifiian Scheme be the only acceptable way of worship- ping him and abfolutely neceffary to our Salva- tion, Why was it not communicated to the World much fooner ? Why was this greatefl of all Bleffings kept back to the laft, — to the End of the World, as it is called ? * Nay, • if God c always acts for the good of his Creatures, c what reafon can be affigned why he mould * Heb, 9,26. D ' not 50 Of the feveral Difpenfations € not from the beginning have difcovered fuch e things as make for their good, but defer the ' doing of it till the time of Ti&erius V * — All the late Adverfaries to Chriftianity lay the greateft weight on this Objection, and accord- ingly feveral Arguments have been offered to remove it ; I mail felect fome of them, which feem the mod conclufive, in my following Difcourfe, and add fuch farther Obfervations as may help to fet the whole in a proper Light. When the Fulnefs of the Time J was come—* The Apoftle in this Chapter is comparing the Ages of the World to the Life of a Man and its feveral Stages, as Infancy, Childhood, Youth, Maturity. If we reflect on this comparifon we mail find it very juft in general, and that the World itfelf, or the collective Body of Man- kind, as well as each particular Member, has from very low beginnings proceeded by a regular gradation in all kinds of Knowledge, has been making (low advances towards Perfection in its feveral Periods, and received continual improve- ments from its Infancy to this very Day. a And * Chriftianity as old, &c. p. 196. 4'*. % Or the proper Seafon. v. Tit. 1. 3. a For an explanation of this, fee Dr. Edwards's Survey of all the Difpenfations of Religion, &c. V. 1. p. 396. and V. 2. p. 615. — 21, 13 c ; or Mr. Worthington\ Eflay on Plan's Redemption C.8.&V. though of Reveled Religion. 5 1 though in both cafes this progrefs be fometimes interrupted, and the courfe of this World and its Inhabitants appear, like that of the Heavenly- Bodies, to fuffer fome Retrogradations ; yet we have reafon to believe that thefe are fuch for the molt part in appearance only, that this very Lett in like manner where it is real, makes way for a more rapid progrefs afterwards, which leems to bring matters into the fame State upon the whole as if they had been all the while progreffive. Farther, every one that looks into the Hiftory of the World muft obferve that the Minds of Men have all along been gradually opened by a Train of Events ftill improving upon and adding light to each other, as that of each individual is, by proceeding from the firft Elements and Seeds of Science to more enlarged views and a ftill higher growth. Mankind are not, nor ever have been, capable of entering into the Depths of Knowledge at once, of re- ceiving a whole Syftem of Natural or Moral Truths together ; but muft be let into them by degrees^ and have them communicated by little and little, as they are able to bear it. In this manner does every Art and Science make its way into the world : And though now and then an extraordinary Genius may arife and reach as it were fome Ages beyond that in r>2 which 5 1 Of the fever al Dijftenfitions which he lives, yet how few of his Contend poraries are able to follow him, or even under- hand what he delivers ! The generality ftill go on ftep by ftep in gathering up and digefting fome final 1 portions of that vaft flock of Know- ledge which he pour'd out at once, and are for a long time in refpect to him but mere Children. So that notwithstanding a few fuch extraordi- nary inftances, I think, we may affirm in general, that from the very beginning of the World, Science, or all kinds of intellectual Ac- complishments, have been found to make very flow, and pretty regular advances among the the bulk of Mankind -, but that upon the whole, advancing they have been and are. This, I fay, is generally fo in fact, a and therefore will have place in religious, as well as all other Truths among men either taken collectively, or in each individual. Why the cafe is thus in both; why all are not adult at once both in Body and Mind, concerns not Revelation to account for, fo much as the Religion of Nature, at leaft they are here, as in the former cafe, both on the fame foot, and the fame Principles may be applied to each of them. And though in this refpect the Divine Difpenfations feem to differ from Human Arts a A more particular Proof of this will be given in the hi Part, and of Reveled Religiun. 53 and Sciences, that thefe are commonly the moil rude and imperfect at firft, and every pait of them improving by repeated Tryalsj whereas the others have all that purity and perfection at their Delivery which they are defigned to have, and rather lofe in many refpe&s than get by length of time ; yet will not this make any material difference on the whole. To ftate this matter right, we ought to di- ftinguifh both between the Delivery of a Doctrine, and its general Reception in the world j which we know is always according to the Meafure of the Recipients only, which muft chiefly depend upon the State and Quali- fications of the Age they live in : and alfo be- tween the fupernatural Affiftance and extraor- dinary Impreflions at its firft publication, and the ordinary State in which it appears, and the ufual progrefs it makes, as foon as ever thefe come to ceafe, and it is left to be continued by mere human means ( as we have fliewn before that it muff be ) when we (hall find it partak- ing of the tafte and temper of the Times through which it pafTes, and propagated in the fame gradual, partial manner as all other parts of Science, all Human Acquisitions and Im- provements are. *>3 Let 54 Of the fever al Difpenfations Let us proceed then to confider the feveral Difpenfations of Religion in this light, and fee whether each will not appear to have been de- livered in its proper Time, and as foon as it became fully necefTary ; as alfo whether each was not as perfect as it could be fuppofed to have been, coniidering the feafon in which it was delivered, and every fubfequent one an improvement on thofe that went before. We will enquire Firft what provilion God made for the Inftruction of Mankind in the Infancy of the World, and whether it was expedient to fend his Son upon their nrft Tranf- greffion. Now we have reafon to fuppofe that Adam during his ftate of Innocence held conitant com- munication with the Deity , a from whence he re- ceived his information of things and was directed in the ufe of them. b And if he had been content to follow that Direction, he would undoubtedly Jiave been fecured from any pernicious Errors, and * Gen. 2. 23, 24. compared with Matth. 19. 5. Mark 10. 7. and 1 Cor. 6. 16. See Bp. Bull on the fubjeft. Difc. p. i82,fcfr. Only let it be obferv'd that what this learned Author, with fome others, attributes to Divine Infpiration, in this cafe, feems to be more naturally accounted for from an exprefs Oral Revelation made to Adam. b Gen. 1. 28.— 30. 2. 29. See the Authors referred to l>y Patrick on Gen. 2. 17. fup- of Reveled Religion. 5 5 fupplied with all the Inftruction and AiMance, which was neceffary for him, and trained up by degrees to as thorough an acquaintance with the Nature of God and the things around him as was agreeable to his own Nature, and confift- ent with his State and Circumftances in the world. But upon his rejecting this Guide, and applying elfewhere for Knowledge, and fetting up to be his own Director, * that Communication might both with juftice and wifdom be in a great meafure withdrawn from him, and he left to the imperfect: notice of his Senfes, to learn the Nature of both Good and Evil, and the way to obtain the one and avoid the other, by a painful experience. a Yet was he not left wholly to himfelf in the affair of Religion, but directed to fuch a form of Worfhip as ferved to point out and perpetually remind him, both of the demerit of his Crime and the dreadfiil- nefs of that Penalty which he had incurred, and alfo gave him fome hopes of future Pardon, * That he intended nothing lefs than'this by eating of the forbidden Tree, which was to him the trial of his Submif- fion to, or his Rejection of the Divine Government, the Tejl of Good and Evil, may be feen in Mr. Rutberforth's account of that Tranfaaion. EJfay on Virtue, c. 1 1 . Note • p. 273. Wr. * See A.Bp, King's Sermon on the Fall, D 4 and 5 6 Of the fever al Difyenfhtiom and a final Acceptance with his Creator. All this feems to have been fignified by the Infti- tution of Sacrifices, fetting before him all the Horrors of that Death which he had been fentenced to undergo, but which was hitherto fufpended, and that of fome other Creatures demanded in its room by way of ranfom and expiation made to the Lord of Life, b This, together with the Promife of a future Delive- ranee in the Seed of the Woma?7 i ferved for the prefent to afford fome comfort to our firft Parents under their heavy fentence, and to con- b See Revelation examined ivith Candour , V. I. p.. 144, C5V. or Dr. Burnett's Boyle's Left. Fol. p. 517, £ffc. and the following Notes. c What that was may be feen in Hallet's Difcourfes, V.2. p. 276, &c. or at the beginning of Locke's Reafon~ ablenefs of Cbrijlianity, d After all the Difputes about the Origin and Intent of Sacrifices as well before as under the Mofaic Law ('when they are taken in the ftrict Senfe and diftinguifhed from all other Offerings that accompanied either Prayers or Thanks for particular Bleflings) I am forced to refer them to Divine Appointment, and think we may conceive them to have been fixed both by way of pofitive Mulcl or For- feiture [v. Morality of Religion, p. 35. Abarbanel. Exord. Com. in Lev. p. 313. LeClerc. in Lev.^.i2~\ to render every breach of Duty burdenfome and expenfive to the Sinner ; and likewife for a Tejiimony and Symbolical Repre- fentation of his Repentance and Confefiion of fuch breach : and lafrly, as a Federal Rite denoting in a more efpecial manner the terms of that great Covenant Grant or Pro- mife of Reveled Religion. 57 vince them that their offended Maker was not wholly implacable ; as well as to lead their Pofterity to fuch Notions of Religion and kind of Worfhip, as mould confhntly reconcile them to the Deity, and remove the Guilt of their particular Offences, and alfo prepare them for the great Attornment to be offered in due time, which was to take off the whole of Adam's Curfe c and reftore both him and his Poftericy to that immortal Life which he had forfeited. d Nay raife them to a much higher degree of Happinefs than he could be conceived to enjoy mife whereby Man was to be delivered from the effects of the firji breach, which as fuch was in each Difpenfa- tion thought proper to be particularly diitinguifhed. All which Appointments, Grants or Covenants, may likewife be underftood ( not in their literal ftricr. Senfe, or as in themfelves abfolutely necefTary, but) as fo many Schemes of Government or convenient Methods of Divine Oeco- nomy, treating Mankind, (not like Philofophers, but) as the generality of them always were to be treated, and leading them gradually to as juft and worthy Notions of God and themfelves as they became capable of receiving. —But to afcribe fuch an Inftitution as this of facrificing Animals wholly to the invention of Men, efpecially the Men of thofe times, feems very unnatural : of which more in the following Notes. — That this had actually fuch an effect upon the Jews as we laft mentioned ; that they were led to expect an expiatory Sacrifice from the MeJJiah, and commonly thought and fpoke of him in that capacity, feems probable from John's account of Chrtji at his very firft appearance. Job. 1.29. and again v. 36. in 58 Of the fever al Difpenfations in his Paradifaical State. e And that this Rite with all its Circumftances was enjoined by God himfelf and explained to our firft Parent is more than probable, even from the fhort ac- count we have of thofe Times; fince we find his two Sons bringing their Offerings to a cer- tain place, * and well apprifed (by fome vifible tokens no doubt J ) when they were accepted, as that of Sacrifice was rather than the other, and moil likely accepted for that very reafon becaufe it had been appointed by God himfelf, and was perform' d agreeably to his Command, * e See A.B. King's Note8i.p.466,&Y. 3d.£dit. * Gen. 4. 3, 4. %Heb. II. 4. a See Revelation examined^. I. p. 134,^. Bp. Sherlock's Ufe and Intent of Prophefy, p. 73, &c. or Rymer's Repre- fent. p. 30, &c This one Article of the Diftin&ion made between AbeVs Offering and that of Cain, which accord- m 6 2 Of the fenier al Dijpetifations who feemed to be fo well acquainted with the Voice of God in the Garden * upon his Fall, fhould never have heard it there before on other occafions. In thefe times therefore God Thirdly, ' It gives one a very degrading Idea of their ' Goodnefs to confider them as entering into a kind of c Merchandize with Mankind in the matter of their * Favours,' p. 14. and p. 20, ■ The Demand of the Life c of a perfectly innocent Creature to be offered up in f Sacrifice to God could give but fmall encouragement * to hope that God intended to favour a guilty one.' But I cannot apprehend that fuch an Intercourfe as was kept up between God and Mankind by the fore- mentioned Offerings muft necefTarily be taken in either the Firft or Third of thefe Viev/s, fince the like Inter- courfe is not always fo underftood even among Men, fome of whom are too far exalted above others to receive any advantage from them, yet neverthelefs expect fome dutiful Acknowledgement of the Benefits which they confer on others, and require frequent Teftimonies of their Love : and why mould not we imagine a fincerely devout Sacrificer to the Deity able to interpret his Devotion in the fame fenfe ? or if led to a more grofs inter- pretation of it, why may we not even fuppofe the Deity condefcending in that cafe to fet him right by fome fuch kind expoftulation as the following ? Will I eat the Flejb of Bulls, or drink the Blood of Goats ? If I were hungry I would not tell thee ; for the World is mine and thefulnefs thereof. Offer unto God Thanksgiving, and pay thy Vows unto the ?noJl High. And call upon me in the day of trouble $ I will deliver thee, and thou /halt glorify me. Nor does there feem to be any more Merchandize m any fort of Saw** * Gen. 3.8. 10J of Reveled Religion, 6 3 was pleafed to manifeft himfelf to the Senjes of men, and vifibly conduct them by the Angel of his prefence in all the chief concernments of Religion. And this infant flate of the World Sacrifical Offerings, than in thofe other of Vows, Prayers, Praifes and Thankfgivings, which ftill make up an efTential part of our Religion, from their relation to which the former always derived all their value, and were per- haps only a ftrong, lively manner of expreffing them ; ftor probably more ftrong and explicit than might be neceflary for the times ; nor likely to convey any more degrading Ideas of the Divine Goodnefs [ at leaft not more than were adapted to and unavoidable in the then low ftate of reafoning] than does the inward Tribute of a broken and a contrite Heart, which is ftill requifite on fome occafions ; as well as the outward publick profeflion of our dependance on the Deity, the rendring to him the Calves of our Lips, which when the understandings of Men were ripe for it, and they able to keep up a tolerable fenfe of Duty by thefe means, have of themfelves been and are accepted by the fame gracious Being in the room of the other, { Hof. 14.2. Heb. 13. 15. ] though thefe be founded equally on Human Weaknefs, and at a like diftance from the excellency of the Divine Nature. As to the Confumption of the Fruit of the Ground in Offerings, why might not men conceive that the fame God who had given them all things richly to enjoy, might reafonably expect a return as it were of fome part of them merely in token of Gratitude for the reft, as an exercile of their Faith, in a memorial of their Dependance on him for a continuance of them, and a pledge of their Obedi- ence in applying each to the good purpofes for which he bad beftowed them ? without the leaft dread of affronting him 64 Of the fever al Difpenfations muft lland in need of his efpecial guidance and prote&ion. They were not yet able ( with Mofcs * ) to look up to him who is invifible, and perform a purely rational and fpiritual him by an implication that he either wanted lbmething, or reaped Benefit by their Prefents. Nor need even fuch as had the moft imperfect Notions of his Power and Bounty apprehend this to be any danger- ous mifapplication of thefe Gifts, on a perfwafion that he had required it ; though without fome Tradition of that, Socrates himfelf [ p. 10. ] might perhaps juftly doubt of the propriety and acceptablenefs of this kind of Worfhip : as he had the like fcruples about Prayer. [Plat.2dlcib.] But if ever thefe or any fuch Offerings were in facl: required, and thefe or the like ends might be ferved by them [otherwife we mould indeed have no room to be- lieve they were] then will this be far from a mere ujelefs waj?e> though the things offered be deftroy'd : nor indeed can I fee any material difference between a religious Dedication of fuch things and the Deftruction of them ; or how they could be prefented to the Gods at all if they were ftill kept for the ufe of their Owners. The cafe, I apprehend, will not be much different as to the Life of an innocent Creature; for if this Creature be confidered as man's Property, why may not the Oblation of it be affigned by way of Compofition, Mulct or Commutation for fuch Faults as he is fenfible of, and ferve as a ugnificant reprefentation and acknowledgement of fuch his fenfe, and be accepted by the offended Govemour of the World in lieu of a more condign Punifhment ? by virtue of fuch alignment doing away his Guilt, and being a fufficient Ground of Encouragement for him to hope for a full reftorajjpn to the Divine Favour, without any * iifb-u. 27 of Reveled Religion] 6 5 Worfhip. They could have no very perfect Notions of his Nature and Providence j nor had they much leifure for Speculation and Refine- ment in thefe Subjects. They were all Tillers any farther Import. Though if this fhould have yet a more diftant and extenfive view [as much removed per- haps from the comprchenfion of Mankind in thofe times, as fome others, then very obvious ones, may poflibly be now from us] it anfwers thefe ends for the prefent never the lefs, and is more like all other parts of the Divine Oeconomy, which ferve for various purpofes immediate and remote. — But if we admit thefe Ufes, they will make it improper for this Rite to have been inftituted before the Fall, which is another Objection, p. 22. And if they will warrant the fuppofition of its being inftituted at all by God, it mull: be inftituted with a merciful Dcfign, and as fuch every dutiful compliance with it would be conceived in fome refpecl to better the Condition of the Worfhip- per as far as he could carry his thoughts on that Condition, how dark foever his Notions might be as to the time and manner of completing it. Upon the whole, I cannot help concluding it to be more probable in itfelf and more analogous to the general courfe of things that this fo univerfal a Pra&ife of facri- ficing Animals, however odd and unaccountable it may feem to be in fome refpedts at prefent, how much foever inferior to fome modern Notions of the world and its all- perfeft Governour, mould owe its Origin to fome Divine Appointment, be propagated every where by primitive Tradition, and afterwards [ as in too many other cales ] by a pretended Imitation and Improvement, but a real Mifreprefentation and Abufe, receive fuch gradual Altera- tion, from the Authors of all Supcrftition and Vice, as at E len^h 66 Of the fever al Dtfpenfations of the Ground or Keepers of Cattle ; employed fufficiently in cultivating and replenifhing this New World, and through the Curfe brought on it by their forefather forced with him to eat their bread in the fweat of their brow. We may fuppofe the generality of them to have been no better than Anthropomorphites in their Conceptions of the Divine Being, as many were found to be long after them in much more knowing Times, a and as perhaps a great part of the World yet are, by giving way to their Imagination, notwithftanding the cleared Reve- length to arrive at that degree of Enormity which this ingenious Writer has fo well defcribed. And I fubmit it to his Candor whether the fuppofition of its coming from one who might have farther views in it than could appear at firft fight, or be at once accomplished, be not as likely to remove his Difficulties, as attributing it wholly to the Invention of Men at a time when it is agreed between us that they were capable of inventing very little; and who, if they could fee fo far before them as to ftrike out fuch a Form of Worfhip, muft we may think have likewife been apprifed of fome of the fame Difficulties, which would always attend it. And laftly, whenccfoever it did come, whether fuch a perfwafion as this Gentleman entertains of its being fundamentally wrong, and in every light fo glaring an Abfurdity, be not as hard to reconcile with the Belief [ which I prefume we are equally agreed in] of God's exprefs acceptance of the fame on fome occafions, his permiffion of it all along to his diftinguifh'd Favourites, and at laft formally enjoining and eftablifhing it of Reveled Religion . 6 y lations and plaineft Arguments to the contrary. Frequent Apparitions then might be neceffary to keep up a tolerable fenfe of Religion among them and fecure obedience to the Divine InfH- tutions; b and that the Almighty did not ap- pear as frequently as was either necefTary, or fit to anfwer this end cannot be concluded from the filence of thofe very fhort accounts we have in Sacred Hiftory, as was obferv'd before. Befides, Adam himfelf continued nine hun- dred and thirty years an eye witnefs of the Power and Providence of God, and could not it with the minutefl Circumftances; and this without any fuch intimation as is given in other cafes of its being all merely a compliance with fome of their own Cuftoms or their Prejudices. a c LaSIantius is to prove that God has Human PaJJions ' — to prevent being mifunderftood and to provide a proper * Subject for thefe Pafiions he contends ftrongly for God's * having a Human Form ; no difcreditable notion at that time in the Church.' ff'arburton's Divine Legation, B. 3. S. 4. p. 372. add I«a? on Human Undcrftanding, B. 1. c. 4. S. 16. and Huctii Origeniana, L. 2. Q. I. S. 8. p. 30. Koa ya.(> nxo? tv xoyjv\ t» xoq-jus tin ifctibv fit&oriQr.Bxi rn\v av6^U7rwv (po xii £7nTpo7revovTUv Jtai ©JXOVOUHVTWV aVTXq (ACTX TTXCX^O^H ITTl'QxVZKXi; TWV VTWt- T*o.ivxv rco t« ©£» G«A*ijtA«T». Orig. COnt. Cels. p. 2 I 6. Edit. Cant. £ 2 but 68 Of the fever al Dijpenfations but reflect on thole remarkable inftances of both exerted at the beginning of his own Life, a and muft have acquainted the reft of Mankind with all thofe Truths relating to the Deity that were implyed in the Creation of Man and his nrft fituation in the World * as well as his pre- fent Hate of Punifhment and profpecl: of a future Redemption, which were exhibited to- gether, and doubtlefs explained to him, upon his Fall. He was all that while a living Monu- ment both of the Juftice and Mercy of God ; of his extreme hatred and abhorence of Sin, as well as his great Love and long fuffering toward the Sinner. He was very fenfible how Sin enter'd into the World and could not but ap- prife his Children of its Author, and at the fame time inform them of the Unity of God and his Dominion over the Evil one, and allure them of his being the Supreme Governour and Judge of all. For fo much, I think, might eafily be gathered from that Tranfaction in Paradife in whatfoever fenfe we underftand it ; not to mention that the Garden of Eden, the great fcene of this Tranfgreflion, might perhaps a See Mix's Reflexions, B. i. c. 8. &c. * How he was able always to convince the World that he was the firft Man, fee Cumberland de Leg. Patriarch. p. 409, 410. ftill of Reveled Religion. 69 ftill be vifible. b This would produce a tolerable Idea of the Divine Being and afford fufficient motives to obey him. And accordingly we find the effects of it in the righteous Family ofSetb, who began to call upon the Name of the Lord, * or as that Text is better render'd in the Margin, to call thc??ifelvcs by the Name of the Lord. c They foon diftinguifhed themfelves from the Pofterity of Cain, and for their extraordinary Piety were entitled the People or Som of God. Of them fometime after fprang a perfon fo very eminent for Goodnefs and Devotion as to be exempted from Adam's Sentence and the common lot of his Sons : who after he had walked with God three hundred years and prophefied to his Brethren, * and forewarn'd them of the approaching Judgement, was tran- flated that he fhould not fee Death, f This very remarkable Event muft make the World about him fenlible of the good Providence of God infpe&ing and rewarding his faithful Ser- vants, and one would think it fhould induce b J/lix's Reflex, p. 53. and 62. * Gen. 4. 26. 'See Shuckford,V. I. p. 42, &V. VanDaleOrlg.etProgr. Idol. c.2. Stlllingfleet Iren. c.3. p. 73. 4'°. * Judei^. f Hcb. 11. 5. comp. Eccl us . 44. 14. and Mr. Arnold ^upon Wifdom,4. 10. e 3 them 70 Of the fever al Difpenfations them to look up to a better ftate than the pre- fent, where all fuch might hope at length to fee and enjoy their Maker. To Adam himfelf, if he was then alive (as the Samaritan account makes him to be above forty years after ) to Adam it rauft be a lively and affecting inflance of what he might have enjoyed had he kept his Innocence, as well as an earneft of the promifed Victory over the Evil one j and a flrong ground of confidence that he and the reft of his Pof- terity mould not be left entirely in their prefent ilate, but fometime or other be reftored to the favour of their Maker and behold his prefence in Blifs and Immortality. a At the fame time lived Lantech another Prophet, who was con- temporary both with Adam and Noah, and well acquainted with the Counfels of God, as ap- pear'd from his foretelling that that part of the Curfe which related to the Barrennefs of the Earth w r ould be taken off, as it was, in his a Sce Bp. Z?:;//'s Difcourfes, V.i.p.343. V.2. p. 585,^. Mr. Worthlngton argues farther that this Tranflation of Enoch ' was moreover an intimation to Mankind that if * they overcame the Depravity of their Nature as he did, ' they fhould be delivered from the ill confequences of it 1 as he was ; the chiefefl of which was Death, temporal * and eternal, both which he avoided :' and this ingenious ,A uthoi; fuppofes him to be a Type of many others being . to do the very fame, EJJay p. 72, &c. Son's of Reveled Religion. 7 1 Son's days. a At length, when by the unlawful mixture of the two Families of Cain and Seth> the latter alfo was corrupted, and the whole World became full of unbounded Luft and im- purity,* of Rapine and Violence j-f- when thofe Giants in wickednefs f had filled the Earth with Tyranny, Injuftice and Oppreffion, and the whole race of Men were grown entirely carnal || and abandoned ; God, whofe Spirit had been hitherto Jlriving with them, was at length obliged even in mercy to themfelves, as well as their Pofterity, to cut them off, after having raifed up another Prophet, b to give them fre- quent warning of their Fate, and allowed them a hundred and twenty years for Repentance. § Thus ample provifion did God make for the Inftruclion and Improvement of the World for the firft fixteen hundred years j namely by a Gen. 5. 29. fee Bp. Sherlock's Ufe and Intent, p. 89,^. * Gen. 6.2. fv.n. X v - 4« II v - 3- b Pet. 3. 19. Heb. 11. 7. Noah the Eighth, a Preacher of Righteoufnefs, (2 Pet. 2.5.) or as fome morejuftly render it the eighth Preacher, [fee Jenkin, V.i. p. 46. and Pool in loc. N. 4.] For he was neither the Eighth Per/on in defcent from Adam, nor does his being one of the Eighth Perfons in the Ark feem to be a conftruclion either very natural or pertinent. Add Pearfon on the Creed, Part 2. p. 115. 2d Edit, § Gin. 6 3. E 4 fre- 72 Of the fever al Difpenfations frequent Appearances , as we have feen ; by the Spirit of Prophecy, which is by fome fuppofed to have been hereditary in the Heads of Families in thofe times; a and by uninterrupted Tradition : there being but two Generations from Adam to Noah ; fo that we cannot imagine that the Knowledge and true Worfhip of God during that time could be entirely loft in any part of the World. But we are to remember that the World was ftill but in its flate of Childhood, which it moft aptly refembled in thofe extra- ordinary Aids and Supports afforded it; in the repeated inftances of that paternal care and tendernefs with which the Creator watched over it : and I have been the more particular in examining from whence it might derive its Notices of God and Religion, and how far thefe could poffibly extend, in order to obviate fome Miflakes which are commonly made in the Hiftory of thofe Times, by fetting out wrong, and fuppofing the f rft Man to have been once fuperior to all his Pofterity b both in natural Abilities and actual Knowledge, becaufe more innocent than they ; and imagining the primi- tive Religion more perfect, becaufe it was more naked, plain and fimple than that in after times : * S.c jfurieu Crit. Hiji, V. I. p. 34. 6 Viu. Gen. DiSf. Art. Adam, p. 228, i3'c by of Reveled Religion. 73 by which means we are forced to make the State of the World often go backwards, to rife and fall again, and be filled with Breaks and Inequalities j inftead of obferving that regular, even Progrefs which will appear in all parts of the Divine Oeconomy. To proceed. After the Deluge God is pleafed to converfe a frefh and make another more clear and extenfive Covenant with Mankind in the perfon of Noah, who was a new inftance both of his Power, Juftice and Goodnefs, and whofe Family had been fufhciently convinced of his fupreme Dominion over the Earth and Heavens ; of his utter abhorrence of Sin, and his determin'd will not to let it go unpunifhed. Nor could they or their Children for fome time want any other Argument to enforce Obedience, Fear and Worfhip. a The Knowledge of man- kind therefore after the Flood muft for a con- fiderable time be better than ever it was before, and it might fafely be propagated by Tradition, and did not ftand in need of any farther Revelation. But when by degrees they had corrupted this Tra- dition in the moil effential parts, efpecially with relation to the Object of their Worfhip, and inftead of one fupreme God had fet up feveral Orders of inferior ones, and worfhip'd all the c See Jllix.B. i.c 1?, Hoft 74 Of the fever al Difpenfatlom Hoft of Heaven, (as they began to do in the time of Peleg the fifth from Noah ) and at the fame time were uniting under one Head and forming an univerfal Empire, and erecting a Monument to preferve and perpetuate this their Union ; in order to prevent their being all corrupted at once God faw it necerTary to come down, a and difperfe them into feveral di- viner Colonies by dividing them into fo many Languages, [ or caufing that Dijcord amongfh them b ] which made their future intercourfe impracticable, and thereby render'd it impoffible for any one fpecies of Idolatry to be univerfally eft ablifhed ; nay gave a confiderable check to the progreis of falfe Worfhip in general, which had mod probably been introduced by the Rulers r of thofe times ; and for which reafon their People then might be driven from them to hinder its being impofed, as God's own Peo- ple were afterwards difperfed every where to cure it. After the DiJ'perfion particular Revela- tions were in all probability vouchfafed where- * Gen. n. 5.7. fee LeCierc upon the place. b Pf. 55.9. L m e Clerc ibid. Add 1 Cor. 1. 10. and Vitringa Obferv. Sacr. L. 1. c. 9. §. 6, &c. Sbuekford,B. 3. V.i. p. 146. or Huchinfon on the Confufion of Tongues. c See Sbnckford, V.i. B.5.p.353,£sV. The fame Author gives a probable reyfon for this 5 V.2.B.9. p. 457,^. ever of Reveled Religio?2. 75 ever men were capable of improving by them and difpofed to regard them. We find Peleg had his Name prophetically given from that Dijperjion which was to happen in his days ; * and not only his Father Eber, but all the Heads of Families mentioned in the eleventh of Gene/is, from Noah to Abraham, are with fome reafon fuppofed to have had the Spirit of Prophefy on many occafions. However Noah was undoubt- edly both Prieft and Prophet, and living till Abraham was near fixty years old, might well be able to keep up a tolerable fenfe of Religion in the World, which was then but very thinly inhabited. a His religious Son Shem likewife was living fo long as Jacob's time, and couid not but be a great means of continuing the Faith and Worfhip of the true God among his Defcendents. b But notwithstanding a few righteous men and fome remains of true Re- ligion, Idolatry with its perpetual attendants * (?*-». 10. 25. * Gen. 13.9. v. Part 3. p. 108. note* and Newton Chron. p. 185.-6. The Ark itfelr", a certain Monument of the Deluge, continued feveral Ages after Abraham, and pre- ferv'd the memory of it even among Pagans. v.Luciande D,a Syra. Allix Reflex, p. 68. Jofeph. Ant. L. I.e. 3. b Concerning the Notices of Religion in the world i?.bout this time, fee Allix, B.I. C 14. Vice j6 Of the federal Difpenjations Vice and Superftition c had in a little time fo far prevailed among the Sons of Noah, as to make it highly expedient for God as well to fhorten the lives of men, d as to withdraw his Prefence from the generality, who had made themfelves unfit for fuch Communication, and to fingle out fome particular People to bear his Name and be his more immediate Servants, and thereby preferve his Worfhip pure in fome part of the World amidft the various corruptions that were going to overfpread it. With this view Abraham is called, who had been driven out of an Idolatrous Nation, in all probability for oppofing and refufing to comply with its Idolatry, e and after many remarkable trials of his Faith and Conitancy admitted to a particular intimacy and Friendjhip with his Maker. God enters into a peculiar Covenant with him and c The attendants and effe&s of Idolatry are well de- fcribed by the Author of Wifdom, c. 14.23. — 29. So that there reigned in all men without exception Bloody Manjlaugh- ter, Theft and Dijfimidation, Corruption, Unfaithfulnefs y Tumults, Perjury. 25. Difquieting of good men, Forgetful- nefs of good turns, defiling of Souls, changing of kind y dif order inMarriages, Adultery and Shamelefs Uncleannefs^ 26. add c. 12. 4, 5, 6. v. Arnold in loc. d Concerning this great Change in the Divine Oeco- nomy, fee Part 3. c Maim. M. Ncv. p. 4.21. fee Chandler Vinci. O. T. Part % p. 474. Judith 5. 8. Shuckford^ V.i. B.5. p.269. engages of Reveled Religion. jy engages to be his prefent Guide, Protector and Defender, and to beftow not only all temporal Benefits on him and on his Seed, a but to make fome of them the means of conveying a Blefiing of a higher kind to all the Nations of the Earth, who mould in an extraordinary manner be blejjed through him. Abraham no doubt was fix'd upon for his fingular Piety and truft in God, and entitled to thefe high Privileges by his extraordinary Virtues, for whofe fake (or rather for the fake of encouraging and rewarding of which Virtues ) the fame Privileges were con- tinued to a part of his Pofterity, though far lefs worthy of them. But we cannot think that it was fo much on his own account that he was thus diftinguifhed ; or that for his fake only * Faith is faid to be imputed to him for Righteoufnefs ; but rather for the common Benefit of Mankind was all this done, and in order to make him an inftrument in the hand of Providence ( and a fit one he was ) to con- vey the fame Faith and Fear of God to all the a That the original Promife ( Gen. 12. 7. 13. I4> x 5- 15. 18, &c. ) was made to Abraham's Seed in general, though the efpecial Covenant was reftrained to a part of them, fee Remarks on part oi the 3d Vol. of the ral Phihfopher, p. 89. 90. * Rem. 4. 24. 3 Nations yS Of the fever al Difpenfat ions Nations round him. And accordingly we find him greatly favour'd and diftinguifhed among the neighbouring Princes, and Kings reproved for his fake, who are acquainted with his Pro- phetic Character and defire his interceffion with God. j Hiflory tells us of his converting on the fubjecT: of Religion with the mod learned Egyptians, b and being very highly efteemed by them, from whom probably they afterwards derived the Rite of Circumcilion, among other Inftitutes of Religion. c We are informed that his Name was had in the greateft veneration all over the Eaft j that the Magians, Sal?ians 3 X Gen. 12. 17. and 20. 7. b "Jofephns L. i.e. 9. contr. Apion. paffim. Damajcen. in Eufeh. Praep. Evang. L.9. c.18. c Shuckford, B. 5. p. 322, &c. and B. 7. p. 132, &c. Others derive it from Jofepb. Univers. Hi/i. V. i.p. 527. noteR. and p. 453. noteU. add Jenkin,V. i.p. 97. Grot. Ep. 327. Others fuppofe it introduced by IJhmael, [Rev. Exam. V.2.P.190}] or his Pofterity the Shepherds, as is made very probable by the Ingenious Author of Remarks on part of the 3d Vol. of the Moral Philofopher p. 59,^. d Prideaux, Part 1. B.4. p. 225. Comp. Hide de Rel. Vet. Perf.c-2. and 3. and Univerf. Hi/i. paffim. 'Tis re- markable that the Lacedemonians retained the memory of him for above 1600 years, and under their King Areus claimed kindred with the Jeivs, as being of the Stock of Abraham* I Maccab. 12. 21, &c. Jofeph. Ant. L. 12. 5. [ fee Dr. IFaterland's Poftfcript to Scrip. Find. Part 2. p. 142. or Jaikin, V.I. p. 53. and 90. How this might come of Reveled Religion. 79 Pet fans and Indians all gloried in him as the great Reformer of their Religion. d And as he was let into the various Counfels of the Al- mighty and taught to reafon and reflect upon them y as he was fully appriied of his juft Judgement in the miraculous overthrow of the rive * wicked Cities, with the particular Cir- cumftances of it, -f as well as his.moir. gracious intent of providing a Redeemer for all Man- kind, and rejoiced to fee his Dtoy, J and faw it-, 'tis very probable that he and his Family would propagate thefe Doctrines, together with their Confequences, wherefoever they went. a come about, fee Stillinrjleet Or. S. B. 3.C.4. or Shuckford^ B. 10. p. 51. ] nor is it unlikely that from the Abrahamam, or Sons of Abraham, the Brachmans might defcend and derive their Name. Newt. Chron. p: 351. 'Tis likewife ohferv'd that the Pcrfmns adhered fd ftri&ly to the Re- ligion of Abraham as to keep clear of the moft grtifll Idolatry all along, as is at large proved in the Univerfal Hi/lory, V. 2. add General D'icl. V. 6. p. 34.3. other Tefti- monies of Heathen Hiftorians on this point are colle&ed by the Author of Revelation examined with Candor, V'.%. p. 217. * #7/2/. 1 06. fGen.iS. I Job. 8.56. nya.-h-Kictau.To gejliebat long'd carncftly. fee IVarburion's ingenious Comment on this Text. Div. Leg.V.2. p. 592, &c. a See Dr. Burnet's Boyle's £e$. p. 536.] Fol. « God * called Abraham out of his own Country and made him 1 travel from place to place, to make him thereby famous « in 8 o Of the fever al Difpenfations But though the Deity was pleafed to manifeft himfelf in a more frequent and familiar man- ner to Abraham, yet were not the reft of the world quite overlooked. There were no doubt many other mining lights and eminent Profefiors of the true Religion, who like Lot in the midft of Sodom, were as eminently preferv'd and fup- ported in it j we fee Laban and Bethuel ac- knowledging the Lord || and the former of them favour'd with a Villon ; § nor was the Spirit of Prophecy, or Divine Revelation, wholly confined to Abraham, or to his Family. In Canaan we meet with Melchizedeck, King and Prieft of the moft High God 5 b who is acquainted with the Blefling promifed to Abraham, and confirms it to him, and to whom the Patriarch himfelf pays Homage. In Arabia we find Job and his three Friends, all of Regal Dignity, c entering into the deepeft points of c in the world, and to invite men by that means to in- quire after his Profeflion, his Hopes, and his Religion*. Allix Reflex. B.2.C 12. add Rev. examined, V. 2. Diff. 6 6 and IVortbington's EJftiy, p. 125, &c. || Gm.24.31, 50. § Gen. 31.24. \ b Moft probably the Patriarch Sbem himfelf. vid. Cum- berland de Leg. Patriarch, p. 428, &c. Bedford Scrip. Cbron. p. 318. The fame opinion is maintain'd by many other Authors mentioned by Calmet. Dicl. V. 2. p. 177. c Tebit 2. 16. vule. I/at.— lob infulubant Reges. Di« of Reveled Religion. 8 1 Divinity, and agreed about the Unity, Omni- potence and Spirituality of God, the Juftice of his Providence, and other Fundamentals of Religion ; as alfo mentioning a Divine Infpira- tion as no very uncommon thing. * Eliphaz had his Viiions and Revelations ~\- as well as Job, though in a lower degree > a and the latter ex- prefTes his belief of a Refurreftion and a general Judgement in much flronger and clearer Terms, than are elfewhere to be met with near his time, if according to the Seventy, he was the fifth from Abraha?n i b or according to others, contemporary either with him, or Ifaac. c Though in truth it is not very eafy to fettle either the Date of that piece, or the Import of feveral expreflions in it. Some look upon it as a Jewijlj Parable or allegorical Drama, and bring it down as low as the Captivity, nor are they without their reafons. d However, all feem * Gen. 32.8. 33. 15. +0.4.12,15,16. * See Patrick Append, to Paraphr. on Job. $.$(). X C.19. b See Calmet's Dictionary. c Jurieu. Crit. Hijl. V. 1 . p.18. Shuckford, B. 7. p. 136. l$c. Univerf Hiji. p. 482. Selden de Jur. Nat. &c. L. 7. c. 11. d See fome of them in the Five Letters on Infpiration, p. 99. and Le Clerc on "Job. 1,6. 23,12. 26,12. 38,3. 42,7. But this is put beyond all doubt by the incompa- F rable 82 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom to agree that whoever was the Author of it, it is built upon a real Character, and that decorum kept up as to fuit molt of the Notions in it to the Patriarchal Times. To proceed : In Chaldea we meet with Balaam a true Prophet, c yet one who from his own perfonal merit had no particular pre- teniions to the Word of God, lince he fo notoriously loved and followed the Wages of Unrighteoufnefs, and at length juflly perimed among the idolatrous Midianites, * having taught them to feduce and corrupt thofe whom he knew to be the chofen People of God. -(- Confidering, I fay, the Character of this Perfon, rable Author of Div. Leg. B. 6. S. 2. p. 543, &c. who has given us a beautiful account of this whole book and cleared up all the Difficulties in it which ufed fo much to perplex Interpreters, and particularly makes it appear that the words in Queition can relate only to a temporal Deliverance, nor indeed would the other fenfe of them well agree with any of the times which have been fix'd on for the writing of this Book. • See Patrick Append, to Paraphr. on "Job. p. 60. * Numb. 31.8. f Numb. 24.. 9. and 31.16. Mic.6.5. Rev.%.\\. f Whatever might have been his behaviour before, it was certainly very bad in the whole of this affair, during which he had the fulleft Revelations, and yet was always either directly difobeying or endeavouring to defeat the intent of them, as may be fcen in Bp. Butler's excel- lent Sermon on that fubje£t, and Dr. Shuckford's Con- nection of Reveled Religion. 8 j lie feems to have had no particular Title to the Gift of Prophecy, f and therefore we may fup- pofe that in thofe days it was not fo uncommon a favour, but might be conferred on many others likewife in other parts of the world, 6 whofe Hiftory is not delivered down to us : and upon the whole, it feems probable that as in every Nation thofe who feared God and worked Righteoufnefs were accepted of him , * fo he was pleafed alfo to manifeft himfelf where-ever men were difpofed to make a proper ufe of that Manifeftation, and in fuch manner and degree as would bell anfwer the ends of his good Providence, and mod effectually promote the * Atts 10. 35. nection. B. 12. p. 314, &V. As to the particular manner of thefe Revelations we may I think fuppofe them to have been all made in Vifion, Dream or Trance [ as our Tranflators have interpreted one hereafter mentioned ] though from the narration it is as difficult here as in forae other parts of Scripture to diftinguifh between real FacT: in the moft literal fenfe, and vifionary, fymbolical Re- prefentations, fuch as occur in Job,c. I. v. 6,- 12. iKings, c. 22* v. 19.- 23, &V. Zecbariah 1.2. and perhaps Gen. 32. 2,24. vid. Theodoret. That of the Angel meeting Balaam in the way feems to be thus explained by himfelf. AW^.24. 3,4. (when rightly rendered) where he alludes to the very Circumftance of his eyes being fhut for fome time c. 22. 31. Nor does it feem very probable that he who was fafd to be in the retinue of the Princes of Moab. f 2 Numb* 84 Of the fevtral Dijpenfations Intereft of Religion. Not to infill: upon the numberlefs Traditions of fupematural appear- ances and the common Belief of them all over the world ; h which notion can hardly be fup- pofed to have arifen at firft without foundation, though numberlefs Impoftures ( which yet are Imitations of fomething real) have indeed ren- dered all reports of that kind for thefe many Ages very fufpicious. But to proceed. When for the reafons above- mentioned, and perhaps many others, it had pleafed God to adopt Abraham and part of his Pofterity in a peculiar manner and to eftablifh his Covenant with them, * we find all poflible care and condefceniion ufed to train them up by degrees in fuitable notions of their Creator ; a frequent Correfpondence held with them, Numb. 22.21. mould at any time be fo far feparated from them in the way as to give room for fuch a remarkable Tranfa&ion without the knowledge of any of them, as by the account it appears to be. c Ita dico, in negotio * Bileami, totum illud quod in via ei contigiffe dicitur, * et quomodo afina loquuta fuerit, in vifione Prophetica ' factum efie, quia in fine Hiftoria? explicatur quod Angelus ''Dei loquutus fuerit.' Maimon, Mor. Nevoch. P.2, c.42. To the fame purpofe R. Levi BenGerfom. and Pbilo feems to be of the fame opinion, by his omiffion of this Circum- ftance, as is obferved by Dr. Shuck/ord, B. 12. p. 315. Add Memoirs of Lit. for Jpril 17 10. p. 14, &c. Leibnitz en= of Reveled Religion. 85 and frefh Promifes daily given to ftrengthen and confirm their Faith, to fix and preferve their Dependence on the God of {leaven. He reveles himfelf to Ifaac and Rebecca and foretells the Condition of their two Sons, -f- renews the Promife made to Abraham , + and bleiTes his Ion Ifaac, miraculoufly increafes his fubftance, and foon makes him the envy of the neighbouring Princes. || He converfes in the fame manner with Jacob and repeats the fame Promife ; § gives him the right of Pri- mogeniture, and engages to be with him and keep him in all places whither he fhould go. * This he confirms by many extraordinary BlefT- ings and frequent appearances, *f- vouchfafing to talk with him face to face, J to beftow all kinds of Riches on him, and ftrike the Terror endeavours to prove the fame in his Hiftory of Balaam* Gen. Ditt. v. 6. p. 678. Which I think, is pretty clear in his cafe, though fome of thofe others abovementioned may perhaps belong to that Species of Revelation by Attion which Mr. Warburton explains at large, Dlv. L,eg. B.4. S. 4. and B. 6. S. 5. g See Judg. 7. 13, &c. and Notes below. h See Patrick on Numb. 22. 9. Append, to Job. 60, &c. Huet. S^ueejl. Alnetan. c. 2. N. 1.2. Shuckford, B. 1. p. 47. * Rom. 9. 5. -j- Gen. 25. 22, 23. % Gen. 26. 24. II Gen. 12. 13, 14. § Gen. 28. 13, 14. * v. 15. f Gen. 32. I. 35. 1,-9. X c. 32.29. F3 of 8 6 Of the fever ml Dijpenfations of him into all the Cities round about. * And yet we find all this little enough to keep up even in Jacob a tolerable fenfe of Duty and Dependence on his God : (as is obferved by an ingenious writer. a ) After the firft Vifion he is furprifed and hefitates, and feems to make a kind of ftipulation with his Maker. If fays he, God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to tat and raiment to put on, Jo that I come again to my Father's Hcufe in peace, then Jhall the Lord be my God: & c - G own 98 Of the fever al Difpen fat ions own Preverfenefs and Ingratitude,* and aflured that it was not for their own fakes that they were thus diftinguifh'd, for they had always been a ftiffnecked and rebellious People ; -f but in regard to the Promife made to their Fore- fathers, and on account of the fuperior Wick- ednefs of thefe Nations j J b that the great in- tent of God was to raife up and feparate a Peo- ple which mould manifeft his Power to the Heathen, and make his Name known through- out the earth; * which were to be a Kingdom of Priefts, *f- Preachers of Righteoufnefs and Publishers of true Religion all over the World : c that this defign had taken place before they were born, and would be carried on either by * Deut.g. f ^.9.6, 7 fefr. % ib, 5. b That this was fuch as juftly deferv'd exemplary punifh™ ment from the fupreme Governour of the World, and that it might with equal Juftice be inflicted by fuch per- forms as receiv'd an exprefs, clear commiilion from him for that purpofe, is fhewn at large in Mr. Lowman's dif- fertation on the Civil Government of the Hebrews , c. I» p. 13,^- and c. 12. p. 221, &c. or S. Browne, p. 366. &c. Concerning the great Propriety of punifhing them by the Sword of the Ifraelites, rather than any other way, both for the better Admonition of the Jfraelites themfelves and of their Heathen Neighbours, and how much the credit of the Gods of every Nation depended on the Fate <>f War. * E-zek. 36. 22,23. -J- Ex. 19.6. of Reveled Religion. 99 their Obedience or their Difobedience^ who were to be Examples to all others both of the Goodnefs and Severity of God. J And accord- ingly in the remainder of their Hiftory, both under their Judges and Kings, we find them frequently rebelling, and as frequently punim'd for it j as foon as they repent, they are reftored > when they relapfe they are again chaftifed ; d all along alternately finning and fufYering, im- mediate and viiible Judgements attending each revolt, either Opprefiion in their own, or Slavery in foreign Countries, till the laft great Captivity in Babylon feems to have quite cured them of their favourite predominant Vice Idolatry, to which they had been before fo unaccountably War, fee Jenkin, V. 1. p. 72. Lozuman, ib. p. 228, &c Univers. Hiji. p. 893. Note T. ad Jin. Jackfon's Remarks on Chrijiianity as eld Sec. p. 51. many inftances of this occur as low as Conjlantine, to which purpofe we have a remarkable Speech of Licinius in Eufeb. de Vit. Conft. c. 5. To which we may add, that as the People in thole times did not in the lead ilifpute the Reality of each others Deities, no kind of Miracles but fuch as Imply'd fuperior Power could induce any of them to quit their own for other Objects of religious Worfhip. comp. 1 Kings 20. 23.-28. 2 Kings 18. 34, tifd c See Dr. JVaterland\ firft Charge, p. 50,^. \ Deut. 3c. l$c. Rom. 1 1. 22. * Judg. 3.8. 12.42.6. 1. 13. 1. 1 Sam. 12. 9, 10, &c G 2 ad- 1 o o Of the fever al Difpenfations addicted. e But all this while the reft of the world reap almoft the fame Benefit by them, whether they keep their Law and profper, or difobey it and are in diftrefs. One would na- turally fuppofe that they mull partake of the Improvements of the fews Religion in fome degree, as well as thefe partook of their Cor- ruptions j and this appears to be the cafe in fact j and as it has been obferv'd of Greece, that when it was fubdued by the Romans, itfelf fubdued e Le Clerc attempts to give fame account of this in his Note on 2 Kings 21. 11. l I can account for it ( fays an e ingenious Writer * ) upon no other confideration, but 4 that of the exceeding great Temptations there are in all 4 Religions that are a mere mixture of Civil Policy and ' Priejl-Craft, drefs'd up with all the Artifices of exter- ' nal Pomp, Splendor and Amufement, and made agree- ' able to the corrupt and vicious Inclinations of Men. * Such no doubt was the Heathen IVerjlnp, to which that * of the Golden Calf bore too near a refemblance both in * its Original and Progrefs. And when we turn our ' thoughts to thofe Ages and Nations of the World that ' are call'd Chrijlian [and fuppofed to be under far hap- * pier advantages of Light and Knowledge than ever the * yeivijh Church was] and obferve to what extravagances * both of Notions and Praclifes, the Romifh Communion 1 hath for fo long a time, and by the like means influene'd * the Majority of the Nations around, it will I conceive * much abate the wonder arifing from this matter confi c der'd in relation to the Church of Ifrael? The parallel in* * Pyk Pref. to Paraph, on the 0. T. Vol 4, of Reveled Religion. i o I its Conquerors, foften'd their favage Temper and refined their Manners; and afterwards of the Romans themfelves, that wherever they conquer'd, they civilized the World : fo may it with much greater juftice be faid of the jfeius that they improved and reform'd the Religion of every People who were either brought under fubjection to them, or into whofe hands they fell : who were witneiTes of the Power and Juftice of their God, either in inftance abovemention'd affords likewife a good Illustra- tion of the Degree of their Corruption. For that this Crime of the Ifraelites did not confift in their abfolute Rejection of the true God, but only in joining the Wor- fhip of other Gods, and taking them into Communion with him, is made plain by another able Writer. * So ' ftrong was this univerfal Prejudice of Inter •community ' that all the Provifions of the Law could not keep thofe * People from running into the Error. For their frequent < Defections into Idolatry till after the Balyloniftj Capti- ' vity, was no other than the joining foreign Worfhip to ' that of the God of Ifrael. It is a vulgar Error to imagine ' they confifted in renouncing the Religion deliver'd to * them by Mofes, as a falfe one ; they all along held it ' to be true ; but deluded by the Prejudice of this Inter- i community, they were apt to regard the God of Ifrael * only as a local, tutelary Deity, this we fhall mew at ' large hereafter.' Divine Legation, B.2 . S. 6. p.277. This he has done effectually in B.5. S. 2. See alfo Jurieu Crit. Hift. V. 2. Part 3. e.g. and Mede'a Apoftacy of latter times, c. 10. p. 651. q 3 di- 102 Of the fever al Difpenfations diftinguiming them by rewards for their acU hering to him, or as remarkably puniming them for deferting him ; and who feem to be well acquainted with the Intent of thefe his difpen-* fations, a efpecially when they were made the Inftruments thereof. b Thus by the various Revolutions in their Government and frequent change of their Condition, they fpread the Knowledge of their Hiftory and Religion far and near j more efpecially by the total Difper- fion of the Ten Tribes and the great Captivity of fudah under the Affyrians and Babylonians -, when by their cleaving more ftedfaftly to God a This may be gather'd from the cafe of the Men of Jericho in particular who were fully inform'd of the feveral Miracles work'd in favour of the Ifraelites. Jojh. 2.9, 10, and who muft have had fufficient warning of God's de- i'ign therein either from common Fame, or more pro- bably, by exprefs Revelation, for defpifing of which they are term'd difobedient by St. Peter 1.3.20. comp, Heb.ii.3i. See Shuckford, V. 3. B. 12. p. 403, Be. And that the fame thing might be done afterwards in many other Inftances [ as in the following Note ] by their own Prophets, who were fent to the Nations on that very account, is no lefs probable ; as may be fecn in the Notes a little below, which gives a farther anfwer to the Moral Philofopher's Objection mention'd p. 96. N. a. b Jer. 50.7. All that found them have devoured them , and their Adverfaries [aid wt offend not becaufe they have finned againjl the Lord, the habitation of Ju/lice, even the Lord) the hope of their Fathers , The Lord thy God, (fays Ne- V of Reveled Religion. 103 and refuting to comply with the Idolatrous Worfhip of the Empire, they were diftinguifh'd by many extraordinary Interpofitions of Provi- dence, and had feveral Royal Proclamations and public Decrees made in their favour, which bore teftimony to the fupreme Power, Wifdom and Juftice of theirG^j as in the fuccerhve Reigns of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabonadius or Belfhazzar, and Darius the Mede •> as alfo of Cyrus, Cam- hyfes or Ahafuerus, Darius Hyjlajpis, Xerxes, Ahafuerus the fecond, or Artaxerxes, a many of which Princes found themfelves defcribed before in the Jewifi Prophecies, fome of them Nebwiar-adon to Jeremiah) bath pronounced this Evil -upon this place. Nozu the Lord hath brought it and done accord- ing as he hath J aid, becaufe ye have finned again/? the Lord and have not obeyed his Voke, therefore this thing is come upon you. Jer. 40.2, 3. Jm I now co?ne up without the Lord againfl this Place to deflroy it ? The Lord faid to me, go up againfl this Land to dejlroy it, fays Rab-Jhakeh. 2 Kings 18. 25. Ifaiah 36. io. and to the fame purpofe Pharaoh- Necho 2 Chron. 35. 21. which feems to be the molt proba- ble fenfe of both thefe places notwi th (landing Dr Prideaux's Objections, V. 1. p. 24, and 54. 8 edit, fee Le Clerc oa 2 Kings 18.22. and 2. Chron. fupra. comp. Judith 5.17, Sfr. » Dan. 3. 28. 4. 1,2, &c. 6. 25, &c. iChron. 36. 23. 1 Efdrasi. 27.2.3. 8.8, &c. Ezra. 1.3. 6.9. 6. 1?. 7.13. Nehem. 2.j,&c. Ejlher.q. 32. and 10. Conf. Jofepb. contr. Ap. L.i. et Ant. L. 11. c. 1. et 5. add Univerf. Hiji. V. 2. p. 208. Note. M. G 4 very 104 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom very exprefily, one by name. After theie Alexander comes to Jerufalem, confults the Prophecies of Daniel, and offers Sacrifice to the moft High, b and many of the Jews lift in his Troops. After his death Ptolemy making himfelf mafter ofjudea carries above a hundred thoufand Jews into Egypt, difperfes them through every Province, employs the chief of them in his Army and Garrifons, plants great numbers in Cyrene and Libya, d and gives many more extraordinary Privileges in Alexandria. e His Son Philadelphus procured a Tranflation of their Law into Greek, the then moft univerfal Language, which was, as it were, a new Pub- lication of their Religion, f and for which the Alexandrian Jews formerly kept a folemn day of rejoicing : 6 (though afterwards it was turn*d into a Faft, when they found what great ufe b Jofephus, L.I I. c. 8. Prideaux, Parti. B. 7. p. 487. Univerf. Hijt. V.3. p. 345,^. though others queftion it. fee Moy/e's Works, V. 2. Lett. 4, and 6. * Jofeph. L. 11. c. ult. * Prid. Part 1. B. 8. p. 526. Jofeph. Ant. L. 12. c. I. * Prid. ib. p. 541,-2. * When the World having been united under one great Empire was in the beft manner prepared to receive it. See Allix p. 11. Concerning the ends and ufes which this Tranflation ferv'd, feeJllix Part 2. p.161. a more accurate account of compiling it may be feen in Prid. V. 2. p. 34, tfc, 8Ed. had of Reveled Religion. 105 had been made of thatVerfion by the Chrijlians.) His Succeffor Euergetes offer'd Sacrifices and gave thanks to the God of Ifrael for all his Victories, having feen the Prophecies of Daniel concerning them, and been convinc'd that he owed them only to that God whofe Prophet had fo fully predicted them. h Ptolemy Philo- metor had a Comment on the five Books of Mofes dedicated to him by his Preceptor, ' and permitted Onias the High Prieft to build a Temple in his Kingdom after the Model of that at Jerujalem, and to perform the fame Worfhip in it; k whereby the Prophecy of Ifaiah was fulfill'd, * that there fiould be an Altar unto the Lord in the midft of the Land of Egypt 3 1 and by this means his Name became as well known there as in Judea itfelf, that Temple continuing for above three hundred s Philo vit. Mof. L.3. comp. Bafnagc, B.6. c. 5. S.n. h Prld. Part 2. B.2. p. 82. Jofeph. contr. Ap. L.2. » Eufeb. Eccl Hiji. L. 7. c. ult. &c. Prid. Part. 2. B.i. P,2Cj. Eufeb. Praep. Evang. L. 13. c. 12. Clem. Alex. Strom. L. 1. and 5. k Prid. B.i. p. 264. X If- 1 9-'9- 1 By this Prophecy the Jnvs thought themfelves autho- rifed in building a Temple in Egypt, though it was a thing othcrwife forbidden by their Law. Allix, p. 163. and I o 6 Of the fever al Difpenfations and forty years. * When at length Judea was reduced to a Roman Province this People and their Religion became no lefs known all over that vaft Empire. That they were very re- markably preferv'd and profper'd under it for fome time, is particularly noted in its Hiftory. m We find great Privileges granted them by Julius Ccefar^ n and Augtiftus, TUberiuSy Vitellius all fending Victims to be offer'd at the Temple of Jerufakm. ° And thus did the four great * Jenkin^ V. i. p. 92. Jofephus fays 333 years. De Bell. Jud. L. 7. c.30. m * They are a fort of men, fays D. Cajfius, who though ' they have been often diminifhed, yet have fo far en- * creas'd, that they have been too hard for the power of ' the Roman Laws, and almoft arrived to the Confidencr ' and Liberty of mak'mg Laws for the reji of the World.* So Dr. Edwards [ Survey p. 561. ] renders the following WOrds Ka» e$-» *«» nsccgot, to»? Pw/xaK>K to ytvo<; tbto, #oX*ot>6ee /xev -nroX^axKj a,v%yQtv $e £7r» )$ ►opcrea;? ixvixnecu. Eft id genus hominum ( Judseorum ) apud Romanos etiam: atque tametfi faepenumero immi- nutum fuerit, ita tanien au&um eft, ut legum quoque potejlatem vicerit. L. 37. p. 41. D. ed. H. Stepb. The Hiftorian probably means no more than that they pre- vail'd fo far againft the Romans as to live by their own Laws, or preferve the free exercife of their Religion, which they did every where [ fee Bifcoe's Boyle's Left. c.6. S. 6. Not. a. p. 180. ] and which was an indulgence not only peculiar to them, but pretty extraordinary in itfelf, confidering their declared oppofition to all other Eftablifhments, and general odium which they incurr'd fome- of Reveled Religion. \oj fucceffive Monarchies feverally contribute to- wards propagating the Knowledge of the true God in the World ; thus as the laft of his Pro- phets had foretold, -f from the rifing of the Jim even unto the going down of the fame , was his Name Great among the Gentiles. \ And though the Jews were never able at once to convert a whole Nation to their Church, and make it the eftablidied Religion of the Country, yet they gain'd every where numerous Profelytes* fometimes by their abufing of their own. fee p. 109. Not.S. " J°f e pk- contr. Ap.2. Id. Ant. L. 16. c. 10, iff e. * Jenkin V. 1. p. 86. Allix. B. 2. c. 25. The fame thing had been often done before, particularly by Antiochus the great [ Jofrpb. Ant. L. 12. c. 3. ] and under Seleucus, 4 when (as is obferv'd by the Authors of Univ. Hijf. V.4. * p. 45.) the Jews were in fuch high eftecm that Sovereign * Princes courted their friendfhip, and made magnificent 1 Prefents to the Temple ; and Seleucus furniih'd out of 4 his own Treafury all the expences of it.' 2 Mace. 3.3. — So far were they from being always that little incon- fiderable Nation which fome reprefent. See DrJVaterland's firft Charge, p. 28. f Mali. 11. % Comp. If. 45. 6. p Of this number in all probability were Jethro and his Family among the Midiamtes. [Ex 18. 11.] Naaman and. his Servants among the Syrians [ 2 Kings 5. 17. J Araunab xhcjebufite [2Srtw.24.23.] Hiram King of Tyre [iKings 5.7. iCbron. 2. 12.] the Queen of Sbeba> Egypt and Ethiopia [ l Kings. 10. q. Jofeph. Ant. 8.2. Univ. HiJL p. 80J-2. Note S. ] In Sc/o'/ion's time there were found above I o 8 Of the fever al Dijpenfatiom to their Law and many more to the belief of One fupreme God, ( which was as much as « was then required q ) and thereby prepared the minds of men for a more perfect Difpenfation : r and might have done this with a great deal better fuccefs, had they acted more conforma- bly to the genius of their own Inftitution, and not treated all others with fo much pride and ill nature as often render'd themfelves odious and contemptible to them, eipecially in the latter Ages of their Government. s Though this per- haps was in fome meafure a natural confequence of that feemingly anfociable fpirit fo necerTary in them to prevent an entire intercommunion with the Idolatrous Religions round them -, and above an hundred and fifty three thoufand Strangers or Profelytes in the Land [ iChron.i. 17. ] without reckon- ing Women and Children, [ib.v. 18.] and in other Lands very probably might there be as many, by the miraculous converfion of Nebuchadnezzar [Dan. 3. 28,29 4.34,^.] and the other Princes abovemention'd. [Ejlher 8. 17. ] to which we may add Jofephus's remarkable ac- count of the Adiabenian Queen and her Son [Ant. 26.2.'} In our Saviour's time we read of devout men, or Profelytes , of every nation under Heaven. [ ASfs 2.5. ] Befides the Eunuch of Ethiopia^ there were Parthians and Medes and Elamites (ox Pcrfians) and dwellers in Mefopotamia , Cap- padocia^ Pontus and Afta^ Phrygla and Pamphylia^ Egypt and Libya ; Cretes and Arabians and Strangers of Ro?n. fib. g. 10,11.] kejenkin V.i.p.93. or Lardner's Credib. of G.Hi/?. B.I.C.3.S.5. might of Reveled Religion. 109 might be greatly aggravated by others on their at length perfifting in a fettled averfion to thofe Rites which they had fuffer'd fo much for con- forming to. Befides, the Jewifh Prophets were often difpatch'd to Foreign Countries to ac- quaint them with the Counfels of the Mofr. High, and to make them know the Lord. t yeremiah was ordain'd a Prophet unto the Nations, u who together with Ifaiah and Ezekiel prophefied to mod of them. Daniel particularly defcribes the fate of the Four Monarchies, as was obferv'd above. Amos proclaims the Judgements of God on Syria > Tyre, Edom, Moab and Amnion. Obadiah is fent to the Idumeans ; yonah to the People of Niniveh, the Metropolis 1 See Dr. IVaterland's firft Charge, p. 54. r * It does not appear that any of the moft refined * Philofophers, thofe men of admired knowledge and * genius, ever converted fo much as a fingle Perfon or ' Village from their Idolatrous Superflitions ; on the con- ' trary, they all meanly fubmitted and conformed to the * Idolatry eftablifhed in their rcfpe<5tive Countries, and ' exhorted others to do fo too. Whereas the Jews were * inftrumental to turn many from Idolatry and to fpread ' the knowledge of the true God far and wide, in many ' parts of the Roman Empire, Babylonia, PerfiaJ &c. Leland's anfw. to the Moral Philofopher, p. 57. f V Juvenal. S. 14. I. 100- 103-4. Tac. Hifr.5.5. • Ezei.2$- 7.17, £s*c . paflim. '1,5. comp. c. 27. and 1 Efdras 1.28.4 of 1 1 o Of the fever al Difpenfatioris of the AJJyriam, who ftraight way believe and re-^ pent at his preaching ;which(hews (as is obferv'd by a learned writer x ) that God was kind to them as well as to the Jews, and that they had his Will in fome meafure difcover'd to them before j otherwife they would not have been fo capable of underftanding the Divine MefTage when it came to them, and of behaving them- felves fuitably to it. y In like manner Nahum defcribes the final Deftruction of Nimveb, and Zephaniah proclaims the Divine vengeance on the neighbouring Countries of the Philifti?ies f of Moab, and Amnion^ as well as Ethiopia and Aflyria. z And accordingly their Prophets are occafionally fought and honour'd by many of the greateft Princes, who were thereby induced to acknowledge, fear and reverence the God of Heaven, though they did not entirely con- form to his Will. Thus Elifia is applied to by the Kings of Syria, * Jeremiah protected by * EdzvarcWs furvey, &c. p. 296. t V. Buddd Par erg. p. 426. 2 * One needs only read their Books to fee that the ' Prophets not only foretold obfeure matters, or what ■ particularly concern'd their State ; but alio things of a * more fplendid Nature ; the Overthrow of Cities, of * Kingdoms ; the Deftru&ion of whole Nations, the de- 4 ftruSion of their own City, with its reeftablifhment. * 2 Kings c. 5. and 8. Mat- of Reveled Religion. 1 1 1 the King of Babylon, % Daniel honour'd and advanced by the fucceifive Rulers of the Chal- deans > Medes and Perjians, as obfcrv'd above. And thus did this famous People every way ferve to propagate the Knowledge and Fear of the One true God in almoft every Nation, either by their Profperity or Adveriity, their Conquefts or Captivitys, a their Separation from the reft of the Nations, or their Difperiion a- mong them; both by the Laws that were given them, and by the Prophets which at va- rious times were rais'd up in the midft of them, proclaiming the Power and Juftice of the Uni- verfal Governour of the World, and foretel- ling his difpofal both of them, and the neigh- bouring States, together with the reafons of it. * Thus were Mankind far from being rejected by their Maker during this ftate of Nonage, though he had his peculiar refidence among the Jews, and was their vifible Guardian and 1 Matters which would render their Books very illuitrious, ■ and which would caufe them to be read, not only by * the Jews, but alfo by the neighbour Nations, the * Ammonites, Moabites, AJfyrians, Perjians, Egyptians 7 &c Mix Reflex. B. 2 . p. 41 . X 7^-39- «• 40.1. ■ Vicli vicloribus leges dederunt, fays Seneca of this Peo- ple. Aug. de Civ. D.L.6. c.n. * Sec the Texts in p. 103. Note a. Di- U2 Of the fever al Difpenfations Director. The exprefs Terms of his Covenant indeed belong'd to them ( which as it con- fifted in temporal things he was often obliged to interpofe in order to make good the Per- formance of it, b and which on that very ac- count could not be a more perfect one j c the real Benefits thereof, the Heavenly Canaan, of which the firft may be conceiv'd as only a Shadow, extended to the People of every Nation that feared God and worked Right eoufnefs-, and he might fix his refidence in Jewry, as being b See Bp. Sherlock Difc. 5. p. 150. c V. Crellli Orat. 2. Quare nee Mofes nee Philofophi perfectam virtutem prefcribere potuerint. ' Perfedlionem * fan&itatis ideo Populo Hebrao prefcribere et ad illam * fequendam eundem acrioribus ftimulis incitare Mofes 4 Dei nomine non potuit, quod felicitatem ac mercedem, * ob quas Pietas colenda eflet, terrenae Reipublicae otio, 8 et eorum tantum bonorum afHuentia terminaret, quae * ad corporis paftum fpcdlant, quorumque ufus hujus vitae < circumfcribitur cancellis, ita requirente iftius Populi * infantia : quin etiam illam Rempublicam in qua pietatis ' fuae frudlum Gens Ifraelitica deberet capere, armis et ' parare et tueri juberet. Unde fi totam praeceptorum ' Mofaicorum rationem ad ifta tempora accommodatam c confideres, animadvertes earn ifti pietatis praemio ap- c prime fuifle confentancam.' &c. Crell. Eth. Chrift. p. 443, &c. Op. Tom. 4. * As they were to continue ' feparate from others for the prefervation of the true ' Religion, they ftood in need of Temporal Promifes 4 that they might have no Temptation for Temporal * Gain of Reveled Religion. x I \ the midfl of the Nations, d in order to difpenfe the rays of his Light more equally and advan- tageoufly among them, to whom his chofen People probably were defign'd to bear a due proportion, as fome understand thele words of Deuter. 32.8. He Jet the bounds of the People according to the number of the People o/'Ifrael. * We are apt to conceive the Deity as partial in his favours to this People, and at the fame time think that they defer v'd them the lead of all People, both which Notions perhaps are en- ' Gain to fall away into the Gentile Superftitions. For * fince the Heathen ow'd all their Worldly SuccefTes to * the Worfhip of their Idols and falfe Gods, there wss ' a neceflity, in proportion, that the God of Ifrael fhould * fhew himfelf as gracious to his Votaries, as the falfe ' Gods were fuppofed to be to theirs ; and therefore it's ' fo far from being a Derogation to this Law that it c abounds fo much with the promifes of Temporal BlefT- * ings, that it is a particular Inftance of the VVifdom of * it 3 fuch Promifes being not only moil: likely to work * upon that ftupid lowminded People, but fuited alfo to * their particular Circumftances and Occafions, as they * were to be kept feparate from other Nations,' Dr. T- Burnett. Boyle's Left. p. 543. Fol. d Ezeck.$.$. 38.5. vid. Reland Palceji. L.i.c. ic, and the Life of David Vol. 2. p. 92. a See Jenkin V. I. p. 49. That the Jews were fpread over all the World about Chrijfs time, as it is faid Jffs 2.5. \id. Jofepb. B.I. c. 16. Philo. Legat. ad Caj. id. in Flacc. Lardncr's Credib. B.i. c.3. or Bafnage's Hift. B. 6. FI tirely n 4 Of the federal Difpenfatiom tirely groundlefe. Their favours, we have feer?, were rather favours to the whole World, and they only Instruments in the hand of God to hold forth this Light to all around them, whereof other Nations were fure to reap the benefit in due time, whether they themfelves flood faithful to their truft, or fell for violating it. b Nor perhaps were they worfe than any other Nation would have been in the like Circumftances. The Ca?iaanites i we know, behaved worfe under all their early advantages and repeated means of improvement, as obferv'd above ; * nor could their Defcendents the Carthaginians deferve any better Character : nor did the more polite and learned Nations Greek and Roman after- wards advance above the fame grofs errors in religious worfhip. c Nay whether the Hebrews were not in fome refpects more particularly fit to have the Oracles of God committed to them has been queried by fuch as obferve their for- mer exactnefs in fettling their Hiftory, in di- ftinguifhing their Genealogies and preferving all their Records ; their great tenacioufnefs of Ancient Rites and Cuftoms -, and their extraor- » See Wel/ledp.yj. * p. 107. c See this Obfervation explain'd in PUary's Manner of the Ifraditts c, 21, dinary of Reveled Religion. i 1 5 dinary Zeal in making Profelytes. d And though we may allow them to have been in general extreamly itupid and perverfe, yet if we look over their Hiftory with any tolerable degree of Candour, we mult, be convinc'd that they were very different from the acount given of them by fc-me unfair modern Writers. e But the more weak and fottifh this People were of themfelves, the better was God's great end anfwer'd in diitinguifhing himfelf and his Re- velations by them j the lefs they did or could do in their own defence, the more illuflrious was that very extraordinary Providence which protected them, as is obferv'd by an able Writer. f And the lefs capable they were of inventing the great things contained in their Books, the more apparently did thefe point out another Author, and prove more inconteflibly that they had fuch communicated to them from above. g However, they were in the hands of God, a certain means of bringing men by d Jenkin V. i. p. 91. 93. I. A. Darizii Cura Hcbrceorum in conquirendib Profelytis. • See the Moral Phi lofopber p. 255, Cv. V.I. with Leland\ Anfwer. V. 1. p. 207. and Wen tbitigton's Eil'..\ p. 105, I06. f Div. Leg. B. 5. S.2. p. 362. * See Mr. Seed's Difcourfes V. 2. Serin. 7. p. 204. h 2 de- 1 1 6 Of the fever al Dijpenfations degrees to the knowledge of the Truth. They were his Witneffes, as He himfelf terms them,* that he was God. The firfl production and ori-» ginal ftate of Mankind, the Hiftory of the World and its Government manifefted by fre- quent Interpofitions and exprefs Predictions of the moft remarkable Events, was necefTary to be known and well remember 'd : Memoirs of this therefore were to be kept fome where, and in fuch a manner as to be of ufe to all Ages. And this the Jews effected, being difpers'd among all Nations, and yet ftill kept a diftindt People j by which means thefe great Truths were both preierved pure and propagated to moft parts of the World. Their Law was a Schoolmajier -f to teach them the rudiments of Religion who were to inftruct and improve others ; it was added to the Promife, or to the Religion of the Patriarchs , a becaufe ofTranf- grejjions, \ to convict them of Guilt and con- vince them of the neceffity of laying hold on thofe Terms of Grace which were to be offer'd in due time. Their whole Inftitution was a State of Difcipline and Bondage under the Elements of this World, |] a fort of fervile con- * Ifaiah 43. 10. 12. + Gal. 3. 24 j » Div. Leg. B. 5. S. 1. p. 361. t ib. 3. 9. (j ib. 4. 3. fine- cf Reveled Religion. ny finement and Tutelary regimen, conducting them by prefent, temporal rewards and earthly profpecls ; affording only a dark, diftant inti- mation of better things, and introducing thefe in figurative reprefentations, by Sacrifices, Types and Emblems 3 till they as well as the reft of the World were got out of their Minority > able to walk by a more Perfect Rule, and fit to enter on and make a proper ufe of their Inheri- tance j till the Fulnefs of the Time was co?ne : which is the next great Period we are to con- fider. From the foregoing account it appears that God made fuch ample provifion for the in- ftruclion of Mankind by the various Difpenfa- tions of his Providence and Revelations of his Will at fundry times and in divers manners, that the million of his Son was not wanted for fome time j neither would his coming have been fo feafonable or fo fitting till after thofe other methods had been tried. It was proper that the Houfe holder fhould firft fend his feveral Servants to fee after the ftate of his Vineyard ^ and reap the fruits of his early care and Cul- ture in their feafons : * that lower Inftitutions mould precede and pave the way for this lad and higheft of all. * Matth. 21. 33. Jtr. 7. 25. h 3 The 1 1 § Of the federal Difpenfations The Patriarchs had ftanding memorials of God's prefence and protection, as well as fre- quent and familiar Converfe with him, afiuring them of his Favour and thereby inviting and alluring them to his Service : The Law was given to his peculiar People by Angels , * in all the appearances of pomp and terror, to aftonifh and awe them into obedience j the Prophets were fent to denounce variety of Judgements againfr. their Difobedience j to threaten them with the fevereft Plagues on their Apoftacy, as well as to promife them proportionable Bleffings upon their return to their Duty ; and by both means to prepare them for, and gradually open to them the profpect of that great, univerfal Bleffing, the end and Comple- tion of all his Promifes, — MESS IAH j in whom were laid up the fur e mercies of David-, mercies of a much higher nature than any of thofe which they were then expecting ; who mould procure for them a far more noble and extenfive Kingdom than they had ever dreamt of, mould make them brethren and fellow- citizens with all the world here, and fellow- heirs to a more valuable Inheritance in the * Afts 7. 53. Gal. 3. 19, Heb. 2. 2. World of Reveled Religion, i r 9 World to come. a Who notwithstanding their blindnefs and preverfenefs and many Tranfgref- fions, mould certainly deliver them from all their Adverfities, and finally reftore them and all Mankind to the favour and full Enjoyment of their God. The Doctrines he taught contain a Syftem of the moft agreeable and important Truths ( though not deliver'd in any Systematic, b artful method, or adapted in any refpect to vicious Palates) giving us the moft worthy, amiable notions of the Deity, and affording the * During thefe Circumftances — God was pleas'd that ' a Lawgiver fhould be born among the Jews of another ' nature than he whom they expected, and infinitely more ' ufeful to them, Inftead of a temporal King who might * have increas'd their Power and Renown, but would not * have leflen'd their Ignorance nor their Vices, God fent ' them a King worthy of Him, who taught them how ' they ought to live here to be eternally happy after this * Life : and fhew'd them that inftead of being members f of a little Common- wealth and enemies to the reft of * Mankind, they ought to look upon the whole World ' as their native Country, and all men as their fellow- * citizens : a Thought worthy of thofe who already pro- * fefs'd to believe that all men are equally the Work of ' God.' LeClerc on the Caufes of Incredulity, p. 267. b That there is lefs ground to fufpect them of Impofture on this account, and that they are thereby of much greater ufe, See LelancVs Anfvver to Cbrijlianity as eld, &c. V. 2. p. 166, &c. and p. 245, 246. H 4 ftrong- 120 Of the fever at Difpenfatiom flrongeft Motives to love and obey him, the greateft incitement to refemble our BlefTed Savi- our himfelf in Goodnefs, Holinefs, and every Virtue of the Heavenly Life. The Benefits he conferr'd were the refcuing us from the power, and redeeming us from the penalty of Sin -, repairing the breach made in our Nature by the firft Adam, and reftoring to us the loft Communion with our Maker ; not indeed in the fame open, vifible manner as at firft, which is neither necefTary for, nor fuitable to thefe Ages of the World ; but by the more fecret, filent influences of his Holy Spirit, which are equally efficacious a if duly attended to and improved j enabling us to at- tain unto all that Perfection which he requires or we are capable of in the prefent ftate, and thereby entitling us to fome higher Degree of <- Happinefs and Glory in another. By his own Blood he cancels the original Covenant, b and purchafes a new one full of Grace and Mercy j freeing us from the whole of Adam's Curfe, viz. Death, or utter Extinftion-f and finally afluring us of a complete Vi&ory over both that and a See Wollajion, p. 106. or A.Bp. King, p.425. 3ECI. b In what fenfe Covenants are undcrftood was hinted above, p. 29. Not. *. * See Not. c p. 29, Hell of Reveled Religion. 1 2 1 Hell* by the Gift of eternal Life and Happi- nefs. This is the true import of the Chrillian Inflitution, and in this fenfe it muft appear to be indeed a Gofpel, or good Tidings of great joy to ALL People : d which therefore ought to be referv'd till Mankind were able to compre- hend and duly refent lb great a Blefiing j till they were fit to make the proper ufe of fuch a Scheme of infinite Goodnefs and Philanthropy. As nothing greater could come after this, and this was to be offered but once for all ( other- wife, as the Apoftle fays, -j- Chrift muft often have fuffered fince the fowidation of the World \ often in every Country, and as often in vain, his offers of Salvation by their cheapnefs flighted, his Sufferings difregarded ) as no farther mani- feftation, I fay, of God's Will could be made to Man either in terms more full and exprefs, or in a way more kind and condefcendino- . it was fit that all fuitable provifions fhould be made for the reception and continuance of it in the World, all proper preparations ufed to fix and afcertain its Evidence, as well as to ex- plain its Worth, and make men fenfible of its * Rev. 20. 14. d In what rcfpecls Chriftianity exceeded all former Infti- tutions may be feen at large in Edwards* s Survey, p. 313,- 323. The effects which it will fome time certainly produce are 122 Of the fever al Dijpenfatiom true Ufe and Neceffity. To this purpofe the Jews were to be train'd up to the expectation of it by a feries of Prophecies foretelling the Time, Place and every Circumftance of the MefialSs Advent, and defcribing the Nature of his Kingdom : their Law was to continue till it had effectually guarded them from all kinds of Idolatry and fecured their dependence on the one fupreme God; till they had attain'd to fuch rational notions of his Nature and Provi- dence as qualify'd them for a more pure and perfect way of worfhipping him, and enabled them to communicate it to the reft of the World. The Gentiles were to have fufficient experience both of the Weaknefs of their are well defcribed by Mr. Worthington in his EJfay on Man's Redemption^ c. II. &c. who fuppofes that they will be attainable even in this Life and has taken a great deal of pains to prove it. The fubftance of his Scheme is thus laid down, p. 253. — ' My perfwafion is, that our Re- * demption by Chrift will, when it hath its perfect Work, * be productive of all thofe great and happy effects — 4 That the Human Nature fhall, before the end of the * Gofpel Age and confummation of all things be deliver'd * from Sin, Sorrow and Sicknefs, and all the other Miferies « and Evils of this Life, proceeding from the Fall of our ' firft Parents, and in the end from Death itfelf j without <, rafting of which it fhall be tranflated from an earthly * Paradife, which it fhall once more enjoy, to an Hea- ' vcnly one, which it fhall enjoy for ever. And moreover ' that cf Reveled Religion. 123 Understanding in Searching after God, and the infirmity of their Nature in not acting up to what they might and did difcover ; fufficient to make them wifh and hope for fome Hea- venly Guide (to inform them how they came into their prefent (rate of Ignorance and Im- perfection, and how and when they ihould be able to get out of it,) which in fact the wifeft of them did, as particularly appears from two remarkable Inftances in Socrates's Difcourfe upon Prayer and Sacrifice , e and in Arijlottis declaration juft before his Death [if the account of it be genuine] concerning the reafonablenefs of believing that the Gods fhould come down from Heaven to inftruct and relieve Mankind/ * that all the Diforders of Nature in general fhall be reo * tified, and that there fhall be a Redemption of the ' whole Creation to its firll State, as well as of Man, the * Lord of it.' How far this differs from the Hypothecs- of Burnet, or Afgil's Argument, may be feen in the fame place. e See Plato's fecond Alcibiades near the end. More paffages to the fame purpofe are collected by Dr. Clarke, Evidences. Prop. 7. and Dr. Young DifTert. V. j. f Auclor de Porno [de quo v. Fabric. Bibl. Gr. Tom. 2. L.3. p.166.] Ccel. Rbod. Ant. L.17.36. [fee Bayle's Diil. Art. Arijlotle, Note Q^ ] Stanley Vit. Philos. concerning the Tradition of his having convers'd with a Jew, fee Gen, Dicl. V. 2. p. 267. Thus 124 Of the fever al Difpenfations Thus was the Confcioufnefs of their Defects requifite in the Heathens to prepare them for, and difpofe them to embrace a Remedy when it fhould be otfer'd; and the Jewijh Oeconomy was equally requifite to fit them for admini- flering this Remedy ; the one made its value better underftood, the other render'd its Evi- dence more inconteftable throughout all Ages. No ftronger Teftimony than that of Prophecy could be given to confirm its truth, nor any greater Token of its Ufefulnefs than that which appear'd in the miferable State of the Heathen World without it ; both highly contributed to procure Chriftianity its due regard and efteem in the World ; but neither of them could have taken place had it been from the beginning, as the Objection* fuppofes. We fee then in general that fome time mull have preceded the Publi- cation of the Gofpel ; and we ought to con- fider that if it were delay 'd a while longer than we can particularly account for, yet as much as that Period may feem to have loft, fo much we of thefe latter Ages manifeflly get by the delay , 'tis fo much nearer to us, and thereby its Light and Evidence more clear at prefent, its Heat and Influence proportionably ftronger; * P- 25. all of Reveled Religion. 1 2 5 all which we have occafion enough for already : and well is it for us that it came fo late, if all its Evidence decreafe fo faft by length of time, as thefe very fame Objectors would inlinuate. * And how do we know but that it might be deliver'd about the middle Age of the World, and by that means be neareft to the feveral Generations, and the moft juft proportion kept between the length of time during which Chrift's future Advent was to be foretold and expected and that in which his paft appearance is to be acknowledg'd and commemorated ? We are hafty and fhort-fighted, our views limited to a few years and we become impatient at feeing any of them pafs over before the whole Plot is unravel'd, and would have all brought on the Stage at once : but it is far otherwife with the great God, to whom a thoufand years are as one day ; who has an immenfely large pro- gressive Scheme confifting of many underparts and intermediate fteps, all placed in their pro- per Periods, and each rifing upon the paft, and the whole conducted in that regular, gentle manner which is beft fuited to the moral Government of a World of intelligent free a Chriftianity as old, c. 12. p. 163. 8 tt0 . from Craig, of which fee Dr. Rotberam's DiJlertation. Edinb. 1743. Agents, 126 Of the fever al DifpenfationS Agents, and moil becoming a Being of infinite Wifdom and Goodnefs. But to be more particular. The Period in which our Saviour came into the world may be conceiv'd to be the Fullnefs of Time and fitteft for fuch a Difpenfation on the following accounts. Firft, as it appear'd to want it moit : Secondly, as it was the molt, able to receive and propagate it : and Thirdly, as it was the bed qualify'd to examine its Evidence, confirm its Truth, and convey it down to future Ages. Firft, it wanted it moit, and that in regard to both its Morals and Religion : i . That Age ftood in the greateil need of a Reformation in its Morals, as it appears to have been the moft wicked and abandon'd of any upon record. As to the Jews, we are told that both theif Magiftracy and Miniftry were then corrupted to the laft degree, their Laws againft the worft of Villains never executed * their moil: facred Offices, not excepting that of the High Prieft- hood, fet to fale, the Temple turn'd into a place of Merchandife, their Priefts made of the loweft of the People, and devoted wholly to Intereft and the loweft kinds of Traffick ; the * The low State of their Sanhredrim about that time, may be feen at large in Light/art Op. Lat. V.2. p. 370, 671, b7. whole of Reveled Religion. i 27 whole Nation fplit into Sects and Factions, hating and perfecuting and devouring one another. a In fhort, the account which their own Hiftorian gives of them not long after this time will be fufficient to determine the point be- fore us, who concludes it with this Declara- tion ; That if the Romans had delay 'd taking vengeance on them, he believes their City muft either have been fwallow'd up by an Earth- quake or Deluge, or deftroy'd by Fire from Heaven, as Sodom was, fince it produced a much more impious Generation. b — But this remarkable Wickednefs of the yews will be confider'd in another refpect hereafter. — Nor were the Gentiles lefs corrupt, or even capable of ever being more fo ; nor does it feem po£- fible to conceive Human Nature to be funk lower in all kinds of Vice and Senfuality, than they were at that time ( notwithstanding all a See Ligbtfoot, Op. Lat. V. 2. p. 148.272, bV. Ed- wards's Survey, V. 1. p. 339, &c. Lardner's Credibility of the G. Hift. B. 1. c.5. Benfon's Hift. of planting the Chrijlian Rel. V. 2. p. 234, &c. Le Clerc. Proleg, ad Hift. Eccl. Seel. 1.2. Bafnage B. 1. c. 5, &c. Whitby% Ne- ceflity, &c. of the Cbrijiian Rev. c. 2. Nor is this at all furprifing, fince the reigning Party among them were at that time Sadducees. Jofepb. Ant. 18.2. add Il'~aW-> Note on Arts 5. 17. fc Jofepbus, B.I. L. 16. c.i 6, their 128 Of the fever al Dljpenfations their Improvements in other refpects) as may fufliciently appear from the Defcription given of them by St. Paid * whofe witnefs is true, and moft abundantly confirm'd by their own Writers. a But Secondly. The World at that time more especially wanted a Reformation in Religion, and was grown weary of all former Inftitu- tions. The Jeivifh Law had fully anfwer'd if s * Rom.l. 21. iSc. * Some account of them may be feen in Millar's Hift. of the Propag. c.5. p. 54,^. and the Bp. of London's 2 Part. Lett. 4, 5, &c. or Buddei Eccl. A poft. c. 1. §. 3. ' Ecce Romana Refpublica, quod non ego primus dico, 4 fed au&ores eorum unde haec mercede didicimus tanto ' ante dixerunt, ante Chrifti adventum, paulatim mutata, ' et ex pulcherrima atque optima, peffima atque flagitio- ' fiflima fadta eft. Ecce ante Chrifti adventum poft de- ' letam Cartbaginem, majorum mores non paulatim ut ' antea, fed torrentis modo praecipitati ; adeo juventus ' luxu atque avaritia corrupta eft.' Auguflin. de CD. L.2. c. 19. et Id. ib. c. 21. Conf. Sallufl. B. C. Paterc. L.2. c. 1. Senec, Ep. 7. et de Ira, L. 2. c.8, &c. cum Sueton. Tacit. Petr. Arb. paflim. * Si Ethnicorum mores * paulo ante Chrijlum et paullo poft intueamur, quae fuit ' do&iffima aetas, peftimos et fceleratiflimos fuifle com- * pcriCmus,ut docent qui eorum temporum hiftoriam con- * fcripferunt. Bella Civilia temporibus Marii, et Sulla:, * ftatus Reipub. Rom. perturbatiffimus, qui proxime fe- ' quntus eft : bella iterum Civilia Caf. et Pomp, turn * etiam Triumvir. Principals ipfe Aug. et multo magis < Tib. of Reveled Religion. 229 end, and almoft ceafed of itfelf ; the Ceremo- nial part of their Oeconomy began rather to be a Yoke of Servitude and an unneceiTary Burden to them j the Moral was in a great meafure loft in their loofe Cafuiftry and vacated by their Traditions. b The fenfe of the Prophetic Writings had been darkened and debafed by their corrupt Glofles, and the Key of true Knowledge at that time taken away by thofe very Perfons Tib. Calig. Ncr. et Dom. ne ulterius pergam, cloacae ' fueruntflagitiorum et fcelerum apud Romanos, qui tamen * Gracos paflim quafi fe deteriores defcribunt. Sail Cic: ' Sen. Tdc. Suet, aliique cum nobis hodie leguntur, etiam- ' num indignationem in improbos illius sevi homines nobis * movent : ne proferam Pers. et Juven. Poetas Satiricos, * qui forte modum exceflifTe, in caftigandis moribus fui ' aevi poflent. ltaque pravae religionis erFe6lus fiftere ' non potuit Philofophia, et paucorum contra torrentem 4 nitentium conatus irriti fuere.' Cleric. Proleg. Eccl. Hifr. S. 2. c. 1. 20. add Whitby's Neceflity of the Chrijiian Rev. c. 8. b Eorum turn Religio, quantumvis Scripturas regulam fuam pronunciarent, Traditionibus omnis generis prae- cipue nitebatur ; quas non tantum Scripturis praeferebant, fed iifdem omnem Scripturis Authoritatem derogabant. Marc. 7. 7. -g. Tenucrunt Dominum cum i His contraxijp fadus juxta legem Traditionh. Baal Turim in Gen. 1.3. Tcnebant Scriptam Legem deficere comparatam Legi non fcriptce. Tanch. Fol. Legemque fcriptam ob mer cedent doceri poJJTe y non item non fcriptam. Maim, in Thalm. Torah. Perck. 1. Lightfoot Op. Lat. V. 1. p. 517. Vide plura Teftimonia ibid. V. 2. p. 3L I that 130 Of the fever al Dijpenfations that mould have open'd the Scriptures and im- parted it to thefri. Philofophy had {hewn its utmoft force in the great Mafters of Athens and Rome, and was able to afford juft Light enough to difcover its own Errors and Defects, and to refer them to a better Guide, as we have fecn above. Its Votaries having been long tofled to and fro among the variety of Syftems which human Wit had invented, were at laft left in abfolute Uncertainty, unable to decide amongft them, and ihfluenc'd by nothing more than ibme dark Hints of ancient Tradition, c and c This appears to have always been the cafe in moft of the beft things which they deliver on the moft important Subjects, as may be eafily difcern'd by the abrupt man- ner in which they commonly retail fuch Sentiments, by their feldom reafoning on them long confiftently, (I fpeak of their Writers in general) or being able to purfue their natural Confequences ; from whence methinks any in- different Perfon wou'd conclude that they had never traced fuch out by their own Reafon, nor were the original Difcoverers of them ; at leaf! I could not help concluding ib from hence ; as well as from their frequent citing of Tradition and fame/acred Records for them, and appeal- ing to what they have beard upon fuch Subjects. I might have fet down numberlefs expreflions that confirm the obfervation, though I do'nt doubt but the fame thing has been obferv'd by many others: However I fhall point out fome remarkable Paflagcs from Plato to this purpofe, Phikbus. 0» [mv waAtfuoi xgtirovzt; v\pm x«t s'y'yvT£(>u of Reveled Religion. 1 3 1 and that became one of its moil rlourifliing Sects which profefled to doubt of every thing : and accordingly we find the great Ornament of this Seel: Cicero declaring on fomc of the moll, im- portant Points that it was impofiible to deter- mine on which fide lay ( not the Certainty, for that they did not pretend to difcover, but) 3"£toV 01X8VTEJ TXUTW ^JljU'/l^ ZTCtP lSoi£',;£<&at x.t.A. lb. IIoAAoi o£ ejcj xxi Sx-jfAxg-ot rng yng totoj, xxi xvrn an ota, »te ocrrj U7n> tcov TC£?f>t y»jf hwOotww As^Ety, w? e^w u7ro rivoq T3-rrrv<7(A.%i. Kai o £» ( u.ju.ia?, ■etccc; Tttura, £^n, Ae^ek w Swx^aTfs' " 9 'sr£f * ^af Tot rng y*;? xai auro? -croAAa Jtj axrjxoa. x.t.A. y^pfl/. SciT. Ei (Je au o«oy x7roSnunoi e»cowf Ao^ov, ou vf« av^^*. Id. de Rep. 10 fin. K«t 8T0C, U YXOCVYMV, pvdon; £(Tw9l1, XOil 8X a7TWA£T0. Kfct ??//.«;£ av <703(7fi£v, av TrE^o^Oa avrw. 2 Harum fententiarum quae vera fit Deus aliquis viderit; quae verifimillima magna quaeftio eft Tufc. £>. L. 1. S. 11. V. Cleric. Proleg. ad Hift. Eccl. S.2. c. 6. de Academicis. b De Nat. Deor. L. 1. c. 32. Utinam tain facile Vera invenire poflem quam falfa convincere. Id. ap. LacT:. L.2." c. 3. Notwithstanding all the fine things which he had faid about the Inunortality of the Soul^m which point he feems to the moft fanguine and pofitive of any, yet in his Epijlles ( where he is the mofl; likely to fpeak his real thoughts) we find him oft g'n'ing it all up and having recourfe only to the miferable Comfort of Infenftbility. L. 5. Ep. ult. LJt hoc faltem in maximis malis boni confequamur ut Mortem^ quam etiam beati contemnere debeamus, prop- terea quod nullum Jenfum cjfct habitura, nunc fie affecti, non modo contemnere debeamus, fed etiam optare. L. 6. Ep. 3. Sed haec confolatio levis eft, ilia gravior, qua te, uti fpero, ego certe utor. Nee enim dum ero angar ulla re, cum omni vacem culpa ; et fi non ero, fenfu amni carebo. id. Ep. 4. Deinde quod mihi ad confolationem com- mune tecum eft, ft jam vocer ad exitum vitae, non ab ea Repub. avellar qua .carendum efte doleam, praefertim cum id fine ullo fenfu futurum ft. Id. ib. Sed cum plus in metuendo mali fit quam in ipfo illo quod timetur, defino; / .Prae- of Reveled Religion . 133 to lay what is not his opinion, than what is. b They began then to be fenfible that Human praefertim cum impendeat in quo non modo Dolor nullus, verum finis etiam Doloris futurus fit. More paffages to the fame purpofe are collected and illuftrated by Mr. JVar- burton. Div. Leg- p. 387, &c. 2 Ed. And among the feveral Apologies which the ingenious Author of his Life has offer'd for them this probably will be efteem'd the moft natural ; that even here in a melancholy hour Doubts and Difficulties may be fuppofed to have got the afcendant over Cicero^ V. 2. p. 561. 4 l °. In truth, he feems to have been often in the ftate of mind which he fo well dcfcribes Tufc. £>j L. 1. S. II. M. — Evolve diligenter ejus [Platonis] eum librum, qui eft de animo : amplius quod defideres nihil erit. A. Feci mehercule, et quidem faepius ; fed nefcio quomodo, dum lego, aflentior: cum pofui librum, et mecum ipfe de immortalitate animorum cspi cogitare, aflenfio omnis ilia elabitur. That he had great doubts of a Providence is fully fhewn by the learned Author of Ep. ad C. Middleton, p. 74. Not. h. That he both recom- mended Suicide as the beft refuge in affliction, and had frequent thoughts of putting it in practice, is no lefs clearly proved by the fame judicious writer, p. 76, 77,78. And though he himfelf declares upon occafion that he was with difficulty withheld from it by the advice of Atticus and the intreaty of his Friends : ibid, yet it ap- pears too plainly that this was not owing at laft either to the ftrength of his Judgement or his Refolution ; to any prudential Confiderations refpe&ing the State, himfelf, or his Relations, fo much as to the fame notorious want of Courage, which difabled this great Man from bearing his Misfortunes decently, and which muft equally deter him from attempting to end them together with his Life. 1 3 Reafon 134 Of th e fewral Difpenfations Reafon was of itfelf a very infufficient Director/ and grew weary of the common Delufions from pretended Revelation. Oracles, Omens, Portents were generally exploded j d the old Fables of Ely fan Fields and Pluto's Kingdom were grown ridiculous, and given over to Poets and Painters, as the fame Author informs us. e Another very learned Writer of the fame time tells us that they had near three hundred Opi- nions about the Chief Good and ultimate End of Action j f that the Objects of their Devotion amounted to thirty thoufand, g that there were no lefs than three hundred Jupiters, or fupreme Gods among them, h in fhort, that they had multiplied Deities to fuch a degree, and mo- deled their Worfhip in fuch a manner that he and others of the wifer fort were afhamed of them : i not to mention that the prevalence of c Omnis cognitio multis eft obftru&a DifEcultatibus, eaque eft et in ipfis rebus obfcuritas et in judiciis noftm infirmitas, ut non fine caufa et dociiffimi et antiquifiimi invenire fe pofle quod cuperent diffifi fint. Cic. Acad. 2.3. Mihi autem non modo ad fapicntiam ca^ci videmur, fed ad ea ipfa quae aliqua ex parte cerni videantur, habetes et obtufi. Id. ap. Latlant. L. 3. c. 14. Ncfcio quis nos teneat error et miferabilis ignoratio veri. Id. ib. More Teftimo- nics to the fame purpofe may be feen in Bp. Leng's Boyle's Lect. S. 12. p. 119, no. FoJ. and Dr. CiunpbeWs necejjity of Revelation the cf Reveled Religion. 135 the Epicurean Philofophy had render'd both in a great meafure infignificant. k So great want had they of a thorough Reformation in Matters of Religion. Secondly. That Age was alfo the fitted: to receive fuch a Benefit, as well as to propagate it in the World. At the fame time that the Jewifo Oeconomy waxed old and was ready to vanifh away, it had ferv'd to build up a better Houfe ; had rais'd their Minds above itfelf and fitted them for a more per fed Inftitution ; and when the eye of Reafon in the Gentile World had moft of all difcover'd its own dimnefs, and could do little more than (hew the Darknefs that furrounded them, it then in the heft man- ner prepared them to receive and rejoice in a greater Light. The many fine Le&ures which had been at feveral times deliver'd to the Jews ■ d Cic~ de Divin. paflim. e Tufc Queft. L. 1. S. 10, II. f Varro ap. Augujlin. de CD. L.19.CI. 8 Augujlin. de Cecil. Deif. 4. 5, 6. Jurieu. Crit. Hill. V.2. p. 13. When the Philofopher Bruxillus made his dying fpeech to the Senate they had Two hundred and eighty thoufand. MijforCs Travels, Part 2. p. ic h Terhdl Apol. c. 14. '' See Jcnkhi, y. 1. p. 338. and Sartorha de Hypocrifi Gentilium circa Cultum Deorum. k See Le Clcrc\ Caufes of Incredulity, p. 266. u b y 1 3 6 Of the fever al Difpenfations by thofe 'Tutors and Governours under whom God had placed them ; by Mojes, Jojhua, Samuel, David, Solomon, and the fubfequent Prophets, though all of them in fact found inefficient to direct their Conduct, and mod of them to a great degree then defeated and perverted, as is obferv'd above ; yet we mud allow that towards the End of this Difpenfation they began in general to be better underftood than formerly j upon the erecting of Synagogues after the Babylonijh Captivity ' they were more frequently read and inculcated, and under their Perfecutions in the time of the Maccabees more thoroughly fludied and regarded j and laftly, by their numerous Schools and Academies which flourifh'd in the moil corrupt parts of their Government. m Learning of all kinds had fpread itfelf among them, and got fo good footing, as to render them the moft capable of r Vid. Buddei Hift. Eccl. V. T. V.2. p. 976. Vitringa de Synagoga, L. 1. Par. 2. c. 12. p. 413. or Patrick on zChron- 36. 15. Who afligns this as one chief Caufe of their keeping fo clear of Idolatry ever after, when they had neither Prophets nor Miracles among them, add Prid. V. 1. p. 389. m See Vitringa Obf. Sacr. L.6. c. 14. S. 8, 9. Some of their own Authors fay there were near four hundred Synagogues in Jerufalem itfelf, as many Academies, and the fame number of Schools : fome reckon four hundred and eighty. Budd. Eccl. Hift, V. 2. Par. 2. Sect. 7- §-17. p. 9663, of Reveled Religion. 137 difcerning thefe Corruptions and recovering themfelves from the Errors and Abufes above- mention'd when they were once freely pointed out to them and oppofed ; lb that notwith- standing the prevailing Iniquity, which made thefe in that refpect the worft of Times, their Minds had yet been fo far cultivated as to be able to receive the Promifed Seed ; at lead: much more fo, than they had been at any time affignable before. The fame thing had been done to the Heathen in a good meafure, and from the fame fource by their great Lawgivers and Philofophers, who got raoft of their belt Notions from travelling into Egypt, Ckaldea and Rhcenicia themfelves, or from converting with thole who did; fuch were Minos, Lycurgus, Solon, Numa ; of whom this has been (hewn particularly by learned Men : n Such was Zoroq/ter in the Eaft, by fome fuppofed to have p. 966, izfe. Lightfoot Op. V.2. p.140. and 197. That they afTemblcd in thefe Synagogues three times a week. v. ibid, p. 280. comp. Univerf.HiJl. B. 2. c 1. p. 26. Not. Q. n Gale's Court of the Gent. Part. 1. B. 3. c. 9, &c Dr. Water land's 1. Charge p. 17. 25. Uw'verf. Hijl. V. 1 p.487. V.3. p. 330. Not. F. Clem. Alex. Strom, paflim The fame is acknowledg'd by the Greeks themfelves Vid. Diod. Sic. ap. Eufeb. Ev. Praep. L. 10. p.480, b'c Ed. Morell. Diog. Laert. Proem, pr. cum Cafaub. et al in loc. Add Koung's DifTert. V. j. c. ult, been 138 Of the feveral Difpenjations been Servant to Ezra ° by others to Daniel, p and fuch was Pythagoras his Difciple. q The fame end was purfued by Socrates and his Dif- ciples, who prepared the way for a more per- fect Reformation by labouring to bring men to the knowledge of one fupreme God and the ftudy of natural Religion, by teaching them Humility, and giving them hopes of an In- ftructor from Heaven, as was obferv'd above. The fame thing was a doing about the fame time by that celebrated Socrates of the Chine fe (as he is call'd) Confucius. r , The fame Defign was carried on by that remarkable Difperiion of the Jews among all Nations, as obferv'd likewife ; by the communication of their Sacred Books, which had been long ago tranflated into the moft common Language, and many Copies of which were in their hands and ready to be " Hyde Rel. V. P. c. 24. p. 314. p Pr'id. Connect. V. i.p.331. Hyde Rel. Vet. Per/. p. 314. He is fuppofetl to have been fometimes endow'd with the Spirit of Prophecy like Balaam, Id. ib. c.31. p. 382, &c. What ground there is to believe that he clearly foretold the coming of Cbrl/f, may be feen in Univerf. Hi/}. V.2. p.218. Another Prophecy to the fame purpofe occurs in p. 222. Not. R. Prideaux and Moyle agree in fuppofing that there muft have been two Perfons of that Name, in order to reconcile the Greek and Perf:an accounts. [ Moyle's Works V.2. p.63. and 75.] Others reckon fix. vid. CI. Buddci Eccl. Hift. Tom. 1. P-349- of Reveled Retigioti. 1 3 9 examin'd : s When at the lame time they were both qualify 'd and difpofed to examine them by the increaie of general Learning and Phi- lofophy, which mull help greatly to improve and polifh them, notwithstanding all its Imper- fections abovemention'd ; the very difcovery of which Imperfections was like wife no incon- fiderable argument of its Improvement. They had time to digeft the Precepts and Inftruciions of their own Sages, as well as to become ac- quainted with the Hiftory of the Jews. Super- stition of all kinds gradually wore off, and Arts and Sciences fucceeded, which naturally ex- cite and enliven the Genius of any People, and open a free Communication with others ; and thefe were then in great perfection, as is too notorious to need particular proof. Nor can what is here faid be thought to be at all incon- p. 349, &c. What refemblance there is between his Hiftory and that of Mofes may be feen in Huet. Dem. Evang. Prop. 4. c. 5. concerning his Writings vid. Fabric. Biblioth. Gr. L.i. c. 36. p. 242, &V. 1 Pr'ul. V.i. p. 213. Univerf. Hljl. V. 2. p. 236. Not. Z, esfc r Vid. Burnet Arch. Ph. p. 20. He is fuppofed to have been acquainted with the Jeiujh Religion. See Youngs DifTert. V. 1. p. 293. f Vid. Walton. Apparat. B. Polyglott. S. 9. Par. 3. or Mix, B. 2. c. 25. or Umvitf. Hijt. V.4. B. 2. c. 1. p.40. iiftcnt 140 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom Merit with that remarkable Degeneracy and Corruption mention'd under the former Head, if we reflect how often in common Cafes the fame Peribns who as to Abilities and Genius are the moil capable of apprehending and ap- plying any Inftruction, and in that fenfe beft difpofed to receive it, are yet in another fenfe, I.e. in point of Ingenuity and Inclination as little difpofed to admit fome branches of it, ( or who in Underftanding may be arrived at very great perfection, when there Morals are at a criiis in the other extreme ) on which ac- count they want it ftill the more, and fuch a juncture may be a very proper one to adminifler it and lay a good foundation for their improve- ment in both thefe refpects. Thus were Mankind in general train'd up and ripe for a new Difpenfation, as well inclined to attend to fomething of that kind, as able in a good meafure to perceive and reap the Bene- fit of it when it mould be offer'd j their Curi- oiity was rais'd and their Capacity fuited to any religious Enquiries ; nor was it at Athens only that they fpent their time in telling or hearing fome new thing. Science and Literature had made confiderable progrefs weftward, and every where Men's Minds were enlarg'd together with their Commerce. And thus all things con- of Reveled Religion. 1 4 1 eonfpired to bring the World toward a State of MATURITY) and at the fame time the Circumftances of it were fuch as remarkably contributed to fpread all kinds of Knowledge in the moft expeditious and effectual manner. All this while the Roman Empire had been growing up to that vaft extent which it reach'd under Augujlus i and had united the feveral Governments under one Head, and fettled it- felf in a general Tranquility : it had carried its Language and Arts almoft as far as its Arms; had open'd a Correfpondence and eftabiifh'd a Commerce between all the then known parts of the World, from whence Intelligence was quickly convey'd to Rome and Orders difpatch'd from thence. a Judea the place were the Sim of Right eoufnefs was to arife had juit been re- duced to a Roman Province b whereby regular accounts were taken of all remarkable Tranf- aclions in it by the Roman Governours c and » The Institution of Pojls among the Romans is gene- rally attributed to Augujius ; though we read of them long before on fome occafions among the Perfians. Herodot. 8.98. Xen. Cyrop. L.8. E/fber, 3. 13. and 8. 10. v. Briffon de R. P. p. 147. k See Lardner's Credib. of the G- H. B. i. c. 10. S. ro. c See an Account of their Asia in Pear/on on the Creed, Art. 4. fin. Ap- 1 42 Of the feveral Difpenjatiom Appeals lay from thence to Cczfar : and by this means the fame of an extraordinary Teacher of a new Religion would foon be publim'd over all the civilized parts of the World, and its ProferTors be better enabled to advance and defend it, and propagate it more fuccefsfully than could have been expected under any other Coiiititution of the World before that Time. If true, it muft by thefe means foon gain ground and appear to be fo 5 if falfe, as foon be filenc'd and confuted. For, Thirdly, this Age was the beft qualify'd to examine the evidence of fuch a Revelation, to confirm its truth and convey it down to Pofterity. It was in comparifon of thofe before, a learned, curious and inquifitive Age, as we have feen, and therefore like to be more cautious and fceptical in a thing of this nature, not fo eafy to be im- pofed upon or apt to run into every religious Project. There were Men every where ready to confute and expofe the Chriftian Institution had it contain'd any thing either falfe or fri- volous, abfurd or immoral j if it had confifted of either Enthufiafm or Impoimre, or a mixture of each. At that time the many Seels and Factions in the World had whetted themfelves by Contention, and were perpetual fpies upon each other, fo that no confiderably new Religion could of Reveled Religion . 143 could gain ground among them without being thoroughly lifted by the adverfe Parties. The Pbarifees and Saducces, the Stoics and Epicureans were fubtle and perverfe Difputers, and all of them eager enough to oppofe the Chriftia?is> The world had then alfo fufficient Knowledge of the Powers of Nature to be able to judge of Miracles, and diftinguifh them from any uncommon appearance or effect of Art. Pro- phecy had been for fome time withdrawn from the Jews, which mull make them at firft more fhy and fufpicious of any new Pretences to Infpiration. a Oracles began to ceafe among the Gentiles, by being defpifed and generally neglected, Divination of all kinds was brought into contempt : and though they were a We may add, that the ceafing of this, as well as of Miracles, for a time would likewife be a means of raifing greater Surprife among the Jews upon the revival of both, and of procuring more attention and regard to the Perfbn who fhould appear really to have the Gift of them again. * Gifts granted to the Difciples of our Saviour which 4 none had been partakers of iince the time of Malachi ; c God having fo order'd it that the Defires of the Jezui c might be the more enflamed for the MeJJiah's Coming; ' as alfo that upon his coming he might the more eaftly ' be difcerned.' Mix. Reflex. Part 4. p. 272. How far Revelation ceas'd from the time of Malachi ; and what Reafons are affignable for it, may be fcen in Vitringa. Obfav. Sac. L. 5. e. 6, - 14. fuf- 144- Of the Jeveral Difpenfations fufficiently defirous of fome better Light in Matters of Religion than what their own Rea-> fon and Philofophy afforded them, as was ob- ferv'd above ; yet from the many Falfe Lights which had been already held forth, and which had only ferv'd to miflead and bewilder them, they rather began to difpair of finding any true one. Tired out with wandering through the mazes of Error and Uncertainty, the wifefl of them gave up all fuch pretended Guides, and and look'd upon the whole Story of Revelation as a Cheat. Thus men were fufficiently guarded againfl any new Impofition though never fo well fupported by Learning, Wit and Policy. Nor would they fure be lefs averfe to one that came without all thefe : to one appearing in fuch a form and with fuch recommendations as the Chrijiian Scheme ; fo deftitute of aid from Human Wifdom and Subtilty ; fo feemingly below what they had hitherto been entertain'd with ; ftript of all that Pomp and Ornament which attended the Jewifo Inftitution, that Art and Eloquence which adorn'd each Syftem of Philofophy ; confiding of a few plain Rules of Life, and thefe fo ftrictly pure and perfect as equally to ftrike at the corrupt Scribe and haughty Philofopher : and therefore fuch as muff needs be to the one a Stn?nbli?ig Block and to of Reveled Religion. 1 4 r to the other Foolijhnefs ; deliver'd for the moft: part, occafionally without Art or Method, in the mofl fimple, unaffected manner, by mean, obfcure perfons, in full oppofition to all the reigning Pafiions, Prejudices and Interefts of the learned and great : under all thefe and the like diiad vantages, which are well known to have attended the Chrijlian Religion in its In- fancy, if at fueh a Time and in fuch Circum- stances it was able to fupport itfelf and make its way in the world, and ftill be all an Impo- fition both upon the Senfes and the Reafon of Mankind, in what a ftrange Situation muff Mankind have been, in both of thefe refpedts! How different from what they have ever been before or finee ! How will the Men who are fo apt to ftumble and ffrain at each little Dif- ficulty which attends the prefent Scheme in common with all others, be able to get over this great unparallel'd one of fuch an Impofition [were it one indeed] prevailing fo far and in fuch a manner as this did ? Or rather have they not from hence fome reafons to allow of its pretenfions? fome room to admire with us how fure mull: its foundation be ! how ftrong the outward Proofs of its Divine Authority! ho\v great its inward force and efficacy! This to a fair Enquirer, who will weigh the cafe with any K toJ- 146 Of the fever al Difpenfaiiom tolerable impartiality, fhould now afford the fame conviction that it did of old, and ihew it to be nothing lets than the Power of 'God r , and the Wifdom of God. Each of thefe Obstacles to its reception gives the flrongeft atteftation to it when once approved of and embraced ; and all together mutt, when duly attended to, gain it the higheft efteem, and be a ftanding evidence both of its Truth and Excellence; a furhxient anfwer to all Sufpicions that can be rais'd from the prevalence of any Fable or Im- pofture in any other Age ; from what may have been introduced in a manner directly con- trary to this, by other kinds of Perfons, and in very different Times ; by Craft, Policy or Perfecution, in days of Bigotry, Blindnefs and Superftition. 'Tis an obfervation frequently iniinuated by fuch as are no Friends to Reve- lation, that there are certain Seafons when any thing will pafs upon the World under the Notion of Religion : a which has no doubt a good deal of truth in it with regard to the general belief of things marvellous and extra- ordinary : But from all that is gone before I think it fufficiently appears that this Age was * Voltaire's Letters, L. 7. To the fame purpofe ( if I mif- take not) are fomc parts in the Life of Homer 1 Kdit. and feveral paffages in Bfivle's Did. and the CharaBerijlteks* bv of Reveled Religion. i^-j by ho means iuch; that it can neither be charg'ri with Ignorance nor Credulity ; that it cannot be fufpected of any extraordinary Difpofition to receive fuch a Doctrine as that of Chri/lianity, and from fuch hands, were it not manifeltly true and of Divine Authority : and that there- fore the examination into the Grounds thereof at its rirft propagation, and the full Conviction which each Party muft have had before it would be able to gain admittance with them, mi?ht fairly ferve for all fucceedingGenerationSj and muft be allow'd to add one of the ftrongefl confirmations to it. Laftly, this Age was the bed: qualify'd to hand it down to Pofterity, As it was an in- quifitive and difcerning one, fo it was no lefs letter 'd and hiftorical. The Auguftan Age is remarkable to this day for the number of its Writers. There is none better known, fcarcely any of which fo full and particular accounts are given. The Roman Empire had been juft fettled, and the minds of its chief Members turn'd from Arms and Action, to Works of Genius and Speculation ; fond of celebrating its Conquefts and recording its Glory they gave themfelves up to the Study of Eloquence and good Writing. Their Chronology had been lately reform'd and adjuited - 3 exact Reviews k were \ 148 Of the fever al Dijfenfatioris were taken of the moll diftant Provinces j th# Number, Names, Employments, Quality, Eftates of their Inhabitants regifter'd, a and all remarkable Acls and Occurrences tranfmitted to Rome the Capital of the World. In fuch a State of affairs no great Event could lie con- eeal'd or be long call'd in queftion : At fuch a time therefore was it not proper to introduce this new furprifing Scene upon the Stage of the World, whereby its ./Era muff be fix'd be- yond all future Controverfy ? Had Chrift come in an obfcure or fabulous Age, by this time we might perhaps have doubted whether ever there was any fuch Perfon ; at leaft whether any thing relating to him could be well de- pended on. It was by no means fit that a thing of this Confequence mould be done in a Corner, and left to vulgar report and uncertain Tradi- tion, to be foon dropt again, or blended and difguis'd with Fiction and Romance : This therefore commenc'd in an Age of the World when the Copioulhefs and Certainty of its Hiftory ferv'd both to fpread it more unrverfally, and preferve it more fecurely - y when many took in hand to fit forth in order a Declaration of thofe things which were tnoft Jurely believ'd a- mong them t whereby we have more ample and 2 See Lardner\ Credibility, B. 2. c. irS. 2* authentic of Reveled Religion . 1 49 authentic Memoirs of Church Hiftory than could ever have been expected before that Period ; b and whereby the Time when, the Place where, andPerfons under whom the moft material Occurences happen'd, were afcertained and confirm'd by Writers of different Nations and ProfeiTions ; by Romans, yews and Greeks. Thefe feveral Circumftances confpire to bring the Million of Chrifi very near the Time in which he came. There is one more which feems to fix it precifely to that, at leaft will fhew that it could not be fooner, confidently with the common courfe of Providence, and moral Government of the World ; admitting likewife the particular Scheme already fpeciry'd, viz. of his defcending from the Jews j I mean the circumftance of their then being in fub- jection to the Ro?nan Government fo far as to have the Power of Life and Death in moft cafes taken from them c b This is to be understood with an Exception to the thirty years between Nero and Trajan, to which time all the common complaint of Want of Ecclehaftical Writ ought I think to be limited. The caufe of this is affign'd by Vitringa Obferv. Sacr. L. 4. c.y. S.9. p.904. &c John 18. 31. How far this was fo, fee Lardner-^ Credibility B. 1. c.2. S.5. par. 7. p. 49, bV. 2 Edit. The particular inftance of St. Stephens Murder wich is brought to prove the contrary by the Authors of Univerf. Hiji. I v. 4. p. 236. Not. R.] docs not feem fufficicnt for that K3 pur- 1 5 ° 0/ V/6(? fever al Difpenfatiom By all that we know of that Generation we have reafon to believe that if they had been at liberty, they would certainly have cut him off as foon as ever he appear'd to correct their grofs Errors and to reprove their many abufes in Religion, to difappoint all their fond Hopes of temporal Grandeur, Wealth and Power, and humble their fpiritual Pride by reducing them to a level with all fuch as feared God of every Nation under Heaven. And accordingly when they faw that he was not a MeJ/tah for their purpofe, a we find them immediately refolv'd to feize and difpatch him, as they would undoubtedly have done, if they had had fjfficient Power : but being in a great meafure purpofe, but rather looks like an Acl of the Zealots, though his Trial was begun regularly ; [fee Bafnage, B.5. c. 2» S. 8. ] and the Cafe of St. Paul mention'd in the fame Book [N.O. p. 257, J feems to (hew, not that they pre- tended to an executive Power in his time, but that even their Judicial one was then interrupted to prevent the like outrages. This point feems to be pretty exactly ftated in Millar's Ch. Hifr. c. 7. p. 536. comp. Bafnage ibid. S. 7. One would think their own judgment of the thing might be inferr'd from Hieros. Sanhedr. fol. 18. col. 1. Traditio eft quadraginta annos ante excidium Templi ablation fuijje jus vita et mortis, et ib. fol. 242. Quadraginta annis ante vaf- tatumTemplum ablata Junt Judicia capitalia ab ISRAELE. Though Dr. Lightfoot is of a different opinion, and pro- duces feveral in fiances in confirmation of it, [op. Lat. v, 2. p. 371 .J it muff be confefs'd that the learned Mr. Bifcoe \BoyW% of Reveled Religion. i r r deprived of it, they were obliged to have re- courfe to Stratagem, continually laying wait for fomething to accufe him of to the Rotnans ; tempting him, and trying all methods to draw him into any Act which might be conftrued Trealbn or Difarrection to their Government i on which account alfo we find him behaving with fo much caution and referve before them j keeping in private as much as was poffible and confident with the End for which he came ; b charging his Difciples not to make him known, preventing his being proclaim'd the Mejjiah, d and declining any direct Anfwer when quef- tion'd about it, e till he had fmifhed the Work [ Boyle's Left. c. 6.] has made it very probable that the Jcwijh Magiftrates had often even in thofe times the Power of inflicting capital Punifhments allowed them • but yet he allows that they were often prevented by the Roman Governours ; [ib. p. 225.] 'tis plain their State was about that Time in great Confufion, and it appears that they durft not exert fuch a Power upon the occafion above- mentioned, nor in their Circumftances could at laft have compafled our Saviour's Death in any regular judicial way without application to a Roman Governour, which comes to pretty near the lame thing with refpeft to the main part of the prefent Argument. a How foon their Rulers perceiv'd this, and what a different conduft it produced at firft in them and that of the common People toward him, fee in Mr. Lardners Credibility, V.i. p.288,&V. b Luke$. 16. Job.-]. l. II.54. c Matt. 12.16. * Mark 3. 12. Luke 4. 41. « J b, 10. 24. n. 4, £sV. K4 of j c 2 Of the fever al Difpenfations of his Miniftry, and fulfili'd every thing in the Scriptures concerning him. a No former Age of the Jews probably was wicked enough to have withstood fo many evident Proofs of his being the true MeJ/iah y to have rejected him and been his Betrayers and Murderers, and thereby to have accomplifhed the Prophecies and executed the good purpofe of God in fend- ing his Son to die for all the World : this Generation was (o thoroughly fuch -f as to have done it with too much fury and precipitancy, unlefs reftrain'd by a fuperior Power : which 3 See Loch's Reafonablenefs of Chriftianity, p.487,^. Fol. 3 Edit, [or Lardner's Credibility, B. 1. c.5. p. 286.] where may be found a full anfwer to the Moral Philoso- pher's Obfervations on this Subject, V.3. p. 189. Who concludes as ufual with a very falfe account of the Mat- ter, viz. that ' our Saviour all along, from firft to laft 1 [witnefsM^.26.64. Mar. 14.62. Luke 22.70. Job. i%. 37.] difclaim'd the Mefliahfhip among them' i.e. thejeivs. Comp. Whitby on Matt. 9. 30, The fame account ferves alfo to confute the Obfervation made upon thefe PafTages by the Author ofChriflianity not founded on Argument, who from thence infers that our Lord could have no fuch mean- ing as to convince by his Miraculous Works , p. 48. no fuch In- tention as to prove his own Truth and Characler by thefe In? fiances of his Power, ib. in full contradiction to thofe many other PaiTages where he exprefsly appeals to the fame Works as direct: Proofs of his Divine Commiflion : Matt. 11. 4, 5, 9.1. Job. 5. 36. 10. 25, 38. 14. ii. 15. 24, cjV. See Dr. from •J- Vid. Lightfoot. Op. Lat. 317. 325. &c. of Reveled Religion. 153 makes their Subjection to the Roman Govern- ment in this refpect alfo to :onftitute the FULNESS OF TIME, md affords a Cir- cumftance particularly requilite and fuitable to the coming of Chrift. And though this very remarkable Wickednefs of the jews in fome meafure counterballanc'd all their other Quali- fications for attending to the Chrijl when he came, and debarr'd the generality of them from the Benefits of his Coming ; yet it con- curr'd equally to carry on the fame Defign of Randolph's Anfw. p. 169, 170, &c. The fame is likewife a reply to this Author's Objection againft the Truth of Chriftianity from Cbrijl's not opening hjs Commiflion be- fore the Jewijh Rulers, [ ibid. p. 48. iffc. ] as far as he has represented the cafe truly : for which fee Mr. Benfon's Anfw. Part 3. Dial. 3. p. 196, &c. The fame Obfervation may be apply'd with no lefs force againft our Saviour's doing the like before the Roman Governours, which ftuck fo much with Woolfton^ \_exaft Fitnefs. Pref. &c] to which we may add, that his addrefling himfelf in form at any time to either of thefe mull in all probability have been turn'd to a great Obje&ion againft the Truth of his Mimon in after Ages whether they had, or had not re- ceiv'd him ; the firft would have been wholly attributed to State Policy ; the latter might have been urg'd as im- plying fome extraordinary Defedt, in his Credentials, fee Ben/on, ib. p. 216, tffc. So that had the whole been conducted in a way different from what it was, the cafe would, as far as now appears, have been no better for thofe times in which it was tranfacled, and much worfe for all iture ones. Pro- 154 Of the fiver al Dijpenjatiom Providence for the common good of the World : even the Vice and Folly of them who were led to reject him contributed to the advantage and improvement of thofe who had fo much Virtue and Wifdom left as to receive him j which great numbers of them did, a notwith- flanding the vile Policy of their Rulers : and this foon brought on that very thing which they were feeking to avoid by it, b the DiiTo- lution of their State, it having now fully an- fwered the Ends it was defign'd for as a Body Politic, and its Remains ferving to better pur- pofes in bearing everywhere fuch evident Marks of the Divine Difpleafure as could not but be taken notice of, together with the Caufes of their Punifhment. And thus did the Fall of Ifrael become the Riches of the IVorld^ and rife of a new greater Difpenfation, communi- cated to all Nations and by this means moft effectually confirm'd in every fucceeding Ge- neration : c of which below. * V. Jenkln^ V. 2. c. 32. p. 497. » Job. 11.48. c ♦ Had the Jews been all converted by JESUS * CHRIST, we ihould only have had doubtful witneffes j * and had they been quite deftroy'd,we fhoulu have had * none at all'. PafchaWs Thoughts, p, 121. comp. p. 89, 00. fider'd of Reveled Religion, 155 Thus have we confider'd fome of the moft re- markable Circumftances attending the Age of CHRIST'S Advent, which when they are taken together make it appear to be the Fulnefs of the c Time i and fitteit for fuch a Difpenfation. I have omitted fome Topics commonly made ufe of in this Argument, fuch as that of an Univerfal Peace at that time, and the great Expectation of the Mejjiah among the yews ; fince the one appears to be falfe d at leait 'twas foreign to his Birth c any otherwife than as a good Means for convey- ing the Tidings of it more eafily and fafely through the World, ( in which fenfe it was in- cluded under the Settlement of the Roman Em- pire, but that is not the fenfe in which it is ufually infilled on) the other was not gratify 'd ill the manner in whch they did then expect him, but a quite different one ; which therefore, fo far as it was a wrong one, though it help'd to raife their attention to JESUS CHRIST at nrft, yet might be faid to tend as much afterwards to deaden and difappoint it. We may d Sec Ma foil's fani Templum referatum, with Buddeus on the fame Subject ; or Bafnage Hift. Polit. Eccl. V.i . p. 114. That the fexvs had never lefs Peace among them- fdves than at that time may be feen in Jofephus, Philo or Univaf. Hijf. V. 4. c. n. p 196, oV. * Sec IVooljl in's exact Fitnefs, £?Y, p. 91. add, 2 c 6 Of the fever al JJifpenfations add, that though the Jews had fufficient ground for expecting fuch a Perfon from their Pro- phetic Writings, and this expectation of theirs in o-eneral be a good Argument againft them now to prove in what fenfe their Forefathers did interpret fome of thefe Writings ; yet was this Expectation in itfelf ( more efpecially per- verted as it then was ) fo far from being any particular qualification of the time, at leaft any Circumftance proper to confirm the Truth and Credibility of his Million, that it might as well be fuppofed to have a contrary effect, in giving a handle to Impoftors, as we find it actually did to two Thudafes, to Simeon Athronges, Judas of Galilee, Simon Magus, Dofitheus, a and after- wards Barcochebas and many others. b Nor have I urg'd the general notion which prevail'd over moft of the World of fome great Prince that then was to appear ; iince this (were it never fo confident with Cbrift's real Character) can only prove that there was fome Prophecy or other which might be fo interpreted as to give occafion to that Rumour, and the Objection » V. Origin contra Celf. L. I. et 6. et Calmet. Die*. b v - J°f e P h - B - !• L. 2. c. 2. fcff. A Lift of them may be feen in Kidder's Dan. Part 3. p. 167, taV. Fo), or IVagenfeil's Confutation of R. Lip/nan's Carm. Memor. P- 233- &c. re- of Reveled Religion . 157 'returns with equal force againft its being pre- fixed to that time by any Prophecy : the Dif- ficulty is ftill the fame, why had it not a more early date in Prophecy, which might have rais'd a proportionably more early expectation ? — But this has been already accounted for. Upon the whole, we may obferve that from the beginning of the world, Mankind have always had fufficient Means of being inftructed in Religion, and that the feveral Difpenfations have all along been fuited to their refpective Circumftances and Capacities, as far as can be learnt from thofe very brief accounts that are left us of their Hiftory j from which 'tis alfo probable that if we had more full ones, we mould fee this more clearly. In the INFANT State of the World Mankind were led as it were by the hand in matters of Religion, directed by vifible Appearances on every occafion ; fed with a prefent Portion of this World's Goods and che- rifhed with temporal Profpects. The Doctrines of Religion and Modes of Worfhip were few and plain, agreeable to their imperfect Notions of things, and fuited to their Simplicity of Manners ; * and when thefe were once taught and inftituted among fome principal Heads of Families, they might through the longevity of * See Part 3. Men * 5 ^ Qf ^ Jfrveral "Difpenfatiom Men in thofe Days be eafily held and handed down by Tradition. When Mankind had mul- tiplied and were difpers'd over all the face of the Earth, and traditional Religion ( notwith- ftanding the frequent revivals of it by particular Revelations) began to be corrupted and defaced, and as foon as a better way of preferving and propagating the Notices of it was difcover'd a viz. by the Invention, or perhaps Revelation of Letters, b God is pleas'd to afford more clear and ample ones j he fingles out a Perfon par- ticularly eminent for Faith and Obedience ; takes him under his immediate protection by way of pofitive Covenant j communicates him- felf exprefsly to him, and makes him a means of difcovering that Knowledge to other Nations, and reforming the Religion of every Country * See Dr. Conybeare's Def. of Rev. Rel. p. 404, &c. b Gale [ Court of the Gent. P. 1. B. 1. c. 10. S. 4. ] brings many Teftimonies both from Heathen and Chriftian Writers to prove that Mofes was the Inventor of Letters, See alfo Gen. Dia. V.6. p. 41 7. G. I. Voffms Ariftarch. 1.9. and an EJfay upon Liter at ure^ proving that the two- Tables ivritten by the Finger of God in Mount Sinai was the firjt Writing in the World. Lond. 1726. from which Author it appears how much Letters mull have contri- buted to prevent the increafe of Idolatry, at Ieaft the ad- vancing Men into the Number of Gods, by preferving a more particular account of all th°ir Actions, comp. Univerf. Hijl p. 720. N. T. and Daubuz on the Reve- lation. of Reveled Religion. 159 into which he was fent. The fame Favours are continued to fome of his Pofterity and with the fame defign ; they are removed to and fro, and every where miraculoufly preferved, blefs'd and multiplied -, are united under a Theocracy and have a written Law given them, confid- ing of the molt perfect Rules of Life that their then State and Temper would admit of, and containing a Body of Precepts oppofite in moft parts to the Superftitious and Idolatrous practiies of the People round them : they are inftructed with a Hiftory of the original State of the World, and all paft Difpenfations of Religion in it, together with Predictions of the future, more efpecially of that great one under the Mejiah, who was to defcend from them, and whom they were taught to expect by lation, Prelim. Difc p. 2, &c. which laft Writer fhews- that it was as neceffary then to give the Ifraelites Letters to fupply the ufe of their Symbols, and take off their inclination to fymbolical Idolatry, as it was afterwards to communicate the Art of Printing in order to correct a no lefs grofs Idolatry in the Chrijiian World by tranf- mitting all ufefal Knowledge much more eafily and uni- verfally than could have ever been done before by Writing, ib. p. 12. Many Proofs of God's having communicated the Art of Alphabetical Writing firft to Mofes, as well as reafons for that Conduct, have lately been fet forth by Mr. Worihington, ElTay c. 8. which we may expect: to fee fupported with variety of Learning by Dr. U'lnder. nurh- 1 6 Of the fever al DifpenfitioHs numberlefs preparatory Types and Figures, all tending to point him out more fully to them, and pave the way for his Reception. They be- come a mighty Nation, are diftinguifh'd by extraordinary Deliverances, SuccefTes and Vic- tories under their feveral Governours ; the fame of them and of their God's fpreads far and wide. To keep them duly attach'd to his Worfhip he raifes up a fuccefiion of Prophets who ceafe not to warn, exhort and urge them to their Duty, and to reprove and correct them for their repeated Breaches of it ; to remind them of their Dependence on that God who had already done fo great things for them, and to afTure them of ftill greater upon their Obedience, as alfo to threaten them with the fevereft Punifrn ments on their Defection : which always came to pafs accordingly, and were diipens'd in fo very vifible and exemplary a manner as could not but ftrike furprife and terror into all the Nations round them, and plainly enough dif- cover'd him to be not only a God of the Jews, but the fupreme Governour of the World, and Lord of Heaven and Earth : which was the principal End of all j and to effect which their Prophets are often fent to foretell the Fate of the neighbouring Kingdoms and to acquaint them with the Knowledge of the moil High, This tf Reveled Religion, 1 6 1 This is the great Defign which was ilill car-* rying on, and which his own People, though they perverfely oppofe and frequently endeavour to crofs it, are yet obliged to execute whether they will or no, and equally promote it by their Succefles and their Sufferings. They were to be like fo much Leaven in the Mafs of Man- kind, and when they were once thoroughly prepared themfelves he difperfes them among all Nations to diifufe the fame Spirit and con- tribute to the Improvement and Reformation of others ; and 'tis obfervable that the fame long Captivity which cured moft of them of their great pronenefs to Idolatry, ferv'd alfo to di- stribute them over molt parts of the World, and together with them the Knowledge and Worfhip of the one true God. a When at length » It has been obferv'd that the Jews were removed to Babylon when that Empire was in its moft flourishing State and moft frequented by Philosophers [ Young's Hifh DifH V.i. p. 292. J and Legiflators, who travel'd thither from all parts and thereby in a good meafure became ac- quainted with the Jewijh Hiftory, as many of them are Juppofed to have been, [fee the Authors above in Not. n.] And 'tis well known that at the end of this Captivity the greateft part of them and thofe of the greateft eminence ftaid behind andfettled inChaldea^AJJyria and other eaftern Provinces, notwithstanding feveral Decrees granted by the Kings of Perfia for their return, [ Prid. Part I. B. 3. p. 136, &V. Univerf. Hi/}. B.2. c. 1. p. 5. ] from whence L 'tis, 1 6 2 Of the fever al Dijpenfations the Jews had attain'd to ibme tolerable fenfe of Religion, and were fo well attach'd to it, and confirm'd in their Hopes of the Mejjiah, as to be fit to communicate the fame to the Gentiles, to whom they were by this time fuf- iiciently known ; and thefe alfo by what they had heard of the Jewijh Prophets and feen of their facred Books, together with their own Improvements in Philofophy, were able to receive and relifli a more perfect Inftitution ; when both few and Gentile had been prepared to expect a new Revelation j when they began to want it moft, and were moft fenfible of their Wants, and therefore like to be the moft difpofed to accept and apply the proper Remedy : and when the State of the World was fuch as moft of all favour'd the Communication and 'tis probable that fome of their Defcendants fpread fo far as the Eajt-Indies, where their Pofterity continue to this day, as appears from the Accounts of many modern Tra- vellers. We have a remarkable Paffage to this purpofe re- lated by Dr. Bandy in the Preface to his Tranflation of Lamy's Apparatus Biblicus ^ as follows. ' The Rev.Mr.-Lswg * lately return'd from Fort St, George in the Eajl-Indies y 4 allures me and gives me leave to declare it to the World « from him, that the Gentous (a People in the Eaft, who * from their Cuftoms and other Circumftances are by the * moft judicious believ'd to be the Defcendants of thofe of * the Jewijh Ten Tribes who never return'd from the 4 Babylonijb Captivity) have a Temple at Chillembrurn * near of Reveled Religion. 163 help'd to fecure the Continuance of it ; when the dark, fabulous Ages were well over, and fucceeded by one remarkably learned and hifto- rical : when Arts and Sciences and Commerce had extended themfelves, together with the Roman Empire and Language, over moft parts of the World, and thereby open'd a way for any new Difcovery, and enabled Mankind in general with eafe and expedition to fearch into and thoroughly examine it j and more parti- cularly, when that part of the World which was to be the fcene of all this, had jufh been reduced to a Roman Province and thereby exact accounts were taken of its State and Inhabitants, fo that the Perfon who was to work this great Reformation in Religion there could not long be hid from the reft of the World j when the * near Porto Novo on the Coaft of Corornandel, which they * call Zuliman's Temple, which they refort to with the * fame Devotion as the Jews formerly did to that at * Jerufa/em, and that it is divided into Courts in the fame * manner as Pcre Lamy's is, and is built much after the * fame Plan which is there given.' An Account of "Jeivs and yeivijh Cuftoms difcoverM in China , Bengal, and Ma da ga fear, as alfo in Africa and America both North and South, may be feen in the Authors rcferr'd to by Jenkm, V.i. c.2. p. 104, &c. and many more in Fabricius, Lux. Evang. from c. 32. to 50. or Bafnage's Hi ft. B. 6 ; and 7. where we have an ample account of their being fpread over all the four Quarters of the World. l 2 Govern- 164 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom Government of it had likewife been put under fuch a form as was extremely fuitable and even necefTary to the due exercife and full execution of his Miniftry : in this Period of the World Cbriji came j nor could he, as far as we can fee, have come fo opportunely at any other. Whoever attentively coniiders thefe feveral Circumftances, though he may not perhaps allow every one of them, yet he will, I believe, find fomething fo remarkable in many, efpecially in that extraordinary Coincidence of fo many, as to induce him to think that there might be very good reafon for deferring this Difpenfation to fo late a Period. And though I am very far from imagining this to be the whole of the cafe, or fuppofing that we can difcover all the Reafons of it, yet I truft enow have been al- ready pointed out to juftify the Divine Conduct in this refpect : at leafl I hope we may be al- low'd to fay, that there is fomething in them. And thus it appears that God has all along acted equally for the good of Mankind in Matters of Religion, though in very different manners according to their different Circumftances and Capacities ; that his feveral Difpenfations have been gradually open'd fo as regularly to rife out of and improve upon each other -> and that the State of Knowledge and Perfection in the World of Reveled Religion. 165 World Has hitherto been perpetually tncreafing. The very fame Method might be ihewn to be continued under Chriftianity itfelf, if it were not too much beyond the fubject of this Difcourfe. It was in its Infancy in Chrifs time, who communicated the things of it to his Difciples by little and little, as they were able to bear themj a beginning with the plainer!: and moil: obvious ; laying the foundation and firft Principles of the Doctrine during his Miniftry and Converfation with them after his Refurrection, b and leaving the more full opening of it till the Defcent of the Holy GhoJl'y c which likewifeled them gradually into its feveral Truths. For fome time the Apoftles themfelves were ignorant of C/jri/l's true Office and the Nature of his Kingdom. They could not conceive that he was to furrer and die for the whole World, d they expected nothing but a temporal Prince, e and thought that his Kingdom was to be confined to a » Marl: 4. 33. Job. 16. 1 2. *» ASfs 1. 3. Litkc 24. 27, - 44. c As to the Fa&, fee the Bp. of London's 3 d Paftorai Let. S. 3. 4, and 6. for the Reafons of it, fee Mifc. Sacr. EfT. 1. p. 157, &c. d Mattb. 16.22. Luke 18.31.34. • Matt. 20,21. &c. l 3 rem- i 6 6 Of the federal Difpenfations remnant of the Jews. f Even after the Defcent of the Holy Ghoft St. Peter wants a particular Revelation to convince him that the Gentiles were likewife to be admitted : g the Difciples with him are aftonimed that on them alfo was poured out the Gift of the Holy Ghoft, h and others of the Brethren contend with him about it, l and afterwards prevail upon him to dif- femble it ; k Many yet infifted on the point of Circumcifioii, l and moft of them concluded that Chriftianity and the World itfelf would ipeedily come to an end. m And though a much larger and more comprehenfive view of the whole Scheme was given by Chrift himfelf, after his Afcenfion, to St. Paul n that chofen VefTel, who was endow'd with greater Accom-r plKhments and a larger ftock of Learning, and who labour'd more abundantly than they all, Q f Atts 1.6. and c. io. The ufe of this may be feen in Div. Leg. V. 2. B. 4. S.6. p-3i9, &c. 2 Jdls 10.6, &c. 11. 5, iffc. h Ads 10.45. « A£ls 11. 2. k Gal. 2. 11. 13. 1 A£ls 15. 1,5. «> See Burnet, de Stat. Mort. et Ref. c. 7. p. 145, 13 e. n Gal. 1. 1 6, &c. See Mifc. Sacr. Efl*. 2. p. 40, &c. and Lock's Synops. to his Comment on Ephef. 1 Cor. 15. 10. p Comp. Rom. 13. n. 1 Cor. 1. 7. and 15.51. iCor. 5 2,3,4. and 1 Thefs. 4. 15, 16, 17. with Grottus and Wall's note of Reveled Religion. 1 67 yet perhaps it may be queftion'd whether he alfo was not fuffer'd to continue under the lame error, or left in fome degree of uncertainty about it, for fome time. p In this refpect the Chrifiian Inftitution may be faid to have been but in its Childhood even under the Apoftles. We find it for fome time mix'd with Jiidaifm q and fubjecl: to carnal Or- dinances : the Apoftles of the Circumcifion feem not yet to have any diftincl: knowledge of the general freedom from the Ceremonial Law; r St. Paul is forced to conceal his Preach- ing to the Gentiles for feveral years, s a diftinc- tion of Days, l of Meats and Drinks u and other legal Ceremonies w are obferv'd, to gratify the jfewifi Converts, and avoid giving offence to the weaker Brethren ; they are obliged to com- ply with fuch in the Toleration of many things note on the laft place, add Grot. Append, ad Comm. de Antichrifto, Tom. 4. p. 475. Lowtb on Infpir. p. 255. 2 Edit, or Ben fort's Append, to Paraphr. on i.777w. 5. 23, &c. q See Edwards's Survey, p. 598, &c . 1 Acts 21.26. fee Benfon's Hift. of the firft Planting, V.2. p. 209. f Gal. 2. 2. fee Pref. to Mifc. Sacr. p. 15. 26, bV. « Acls 13.14. 16.13. Colofs. 2. 16. u Rom. 14. 3. 1 Cor. 8. 13. » Acls 16.3, l 4 bur- 1 6 8 Of the fever al Difpenfa t ions burdenfome to the Flefh and unprofitable as per* taining to the Confcience ; and the obfervance of fome is judg'd necefTary to be enjoin'd to certain Profelytes by a public Decree/ The many Miracles and extraordinary Gifts of the Spirit which attended the Church at that time were no lefs evident iigns of its Weaknefs, which flood in need of all thefe Interpofitions, (as one well obferves) a than the frequent appearance of Angels was under the former Administrations: Whereas afterwards in its more confirm'd and fettled State, thefe Helps b became unneceflary, the natural and ordinary Evidence, the regular and ftated Methods of Inftruction being abun- dantly fufficient. The fame Obfervation might be confirm'd from the frequent mifapplication of thefe very Gifts, fo as to occafion tumults and confuficn in the public ArTembly ( with reverence I fpeak it ) even in the midft of that * Ails 15.28,29. See Benfonh Hift. of Planting Chrir Jianity, V. 2. p. 56. where the beft account feems to be given of that Decree from the 17 and 18 of Levit. See alfo Mifc. Sacr. Efr.4. * Edwards's Survey, p. 600, 606, &c. add Hicks's Spirit of Enthufiafm exorcifed, p. 27,-30. The particular oc- cafion there was for each may be feen in Mifc. Sacr. EfT.i. p. 153,^. 1 1 Cor. 12.28. F 1 Csjf. IA. fee Div. Leg. V.2. B>4. S.6. p. 320. plen- of Reveled Religion . 169 plentiful effufion of the Spirit, c infomuch that they fometimes came together not for the better y but for the worfe. d Even in thofe days the Myjlery of Iniquity began to work, e many Factions and Schifms arofe, many Tares were fbwn together with the good Seed, and often fprang up with it and choaked it. No fooner had Chrijlianity got well rid of the Yoke of the Jewifi Law, than it was corrupted with yewijh Fables f and Traditions. The Gentile Converts were fometime in laying aiide their old Errors and Superftitions s and afterwards intro- duced an impure mixture of their Philofophy i h this foon produced innumerable Seels and mon- ftrous Here/ies, which take up the greateil part of the Hiftory of thofe times. ' l Inftead of attending to the plain popular fenfe of Scripture, they fly to fanciful Allegories, k raife multitude? of Myfteries, and maintain continual oppofition «* 1 C?r. 11,17. e iTheJf. 2.7. f See Bajhage's Hift of the Jews, B. 3. c. 22. 8 See Bingham's Ant. B. 16. 05. See Bibl. Univerf. Tom. 10. et Cleric. Ep. Crit. 4. 148, &V. 1 See a fummary account of it in Le CI ere. Ep. Crit. 4.. k * Hunc (fcil. Philonem) haud ita multo poft culpabili 4 affedtatione fequuti funt Patres et Scriptores Ecclefi- 4 aftici, tarn fuam quam lectorum operam ludentes : five 4 quod is omnium primus annotata in Sacram Scripturam * tentaret, five potius quod Philonem primo in hunc modum * feci- 170 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom of Science faljly fo calVd. For under all their fhew of Science not much folidity or real Knowledge, not much true Learning is to be met with ; nor indeed had they much room to cultivate it in thofe times. — And though the whole Scheme of our Redemption was compleatly delivered, and all its eflential parts recorded during the extraordinary Amftance and Infpection of the Holy Gbojl, and in fome re- fpe&s the primitive Chrijlians feem to have the advantage of others, as being better acquainted with the Stile in which it was wrote, and fome Apoftolical Traditions which gave light to it : ' yet it by no means follows that the true Genius and Extent of this Revelation mutt be as well underftood by the generality of them, as it could be by any that came after them. What ' fcribentem repererint : Certum fane eft eum CbriJIianis * Scriptoribus diu plurimum arrififle ; quorum nonnulli ' eiim adeo ad amuflim imitari ambiebant, ut facra ' volumina, alioquin in fe perfpicua, foede obfeurarint, * obdu&aque allegoriarum fuarum fuligine minus fincera ' pnebuerint.' Ligbtfoot Op. Tom. 2. p. 848. 1 Which yet is but of very little weight, as may be feen in Le Clerc Ep. Crit. 4. p. 146, &. or Whitby^ Diflert. de S. Scr. Interp. paflim. * Sunt equidem qui fentiunt * Patres eo quod N. Teftamenti Scriptoribus propriores * eflent idoneos magis fuifle fenfus Scripturas Judices, five * Interpretes ; quod tamen falfiffimum efle experientia * duce compertum eft. Ex trium enim primorum feculorum * fcriptoribus haud pauca in hoc opere congelfimus ab ' omni of Reveled Religion. i y i our Saviour faid of John the Baptift, that the leaft in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater than he, greater in his Knowledge of the Nature and Constitution of that Kingdom ; the fame may be faid of common Chriftians in that Period j many of lefs merit and lower abilities, but living in a more enlighten'd Age, might eafily prove equal, if not fuperior to them in w r hat may be call'd the Theory, or fpeculative part of their Religion, with regard to which only I would always be underftood. The plain fundamental Doctrines and Rules of Life were then no doubt (as they have always been ) well known, and thefe they took good care to act up to, and deferve this Character, that they lived much better than they reafon'd. m Though perhaps even thus much can only be * omni veritatis fpecie aliena. Oftendant nobis Patrum ' Pafoni imam Scripturae Pericopen, qua; alias obfcura * cum efTet, ab iis fit lucem mutuata. Hoc autem admi* ' randa Dei providentia contigifle exiftimo, ne ex humano * judicioDivinarum Scripturarum authoritas penderet. Nill ' enim experientia fcientiae magiftra compertum efTet *■ Patres primaevos et Apoftolis propriores, haud minus c quam caeteri, ca-fpitafle, pronum eflet propter infignem * eorum Pietatem et dona quorundam fpiritualia eorum * veftigiis mftitiiie.' Whitby ib. Epil. p. 346. «» See LeClen's Eccl. Hift. of 2 firft Cent. pafT. and Ep. Crit. et Eccl. Ep.4. or Daille or Barbyrac Pref. to Pufcndorf, and Spirit of Ecclefiaftics. Whitby DifTert. in Pref. 172 Of the fever al Difpenfations afrirm'd of them in the very primitive times, during the extraordinary affiftance of the Holy Spirit, and whilft the original Evidence was clear and cogent, and its ImprefTions ftrong and lively upon them ; while they believ'd that the World was juft at an end, however like to end fuon with themfelves by reafon of the many Dangers, Difficulties and DiftrefTes to which they were daily expofed : from which extraordinary cafes we are not to form our Notions of the State of any Inftitution, as was obferv'd in the beginning. * Nor are fuch any Objection to the gradual Progrefs of Religion here fuppofed. Neither were the fir ft Chriftians different from other men as foon as thefe ex- Pj?ef. S. 4,5, &c, et Epilog. Bp. Taylor's Liberty of Pro- phecying, c.8. Ibbot's Boyle's Left. Part2. Serm. 4. or Edwards's Free Difc on Truth and Error, c.7. or his Patrologia Pofth. Tr. 1. at the end of which is a Catalogue of Authors that have freely cenfur'd the Fathers. Buddeus in his Judgement of Le Clerc [de Theolog. Patrift. Ifag. L.2. c.3. S. 3. p. 489.] feems to own that the learning of the generality of the Fathers is to he rated according to the Times in which they lived, and that thofe were much inferior to our own in this refpecl:, which is all that I am here concern'd for. Vid. Bub. ib. S. 10. p. 508. add Dodwel DifT. in hen. Praef. et. DifT. 1. or Wotton's Re- flections, c. 29. p. 389, &V. 2 Ed. * Part 2, tra- of Reveled Religion. 173 traordinary Hopes and Terrors ceafed ; m m as foon as they were at eafc in the World, and left to the common courfe of it, and once be- came involv'd in all its Famions, Forms and Interefts, having all along this treajure in earthen Veffels, that the Excellency of the Power might be of God a?id not of them. n mm £lq $ two; ruv A-n-og-oXuv X°^ 0<; $ ia -ty % m **A?i(pfi r» (3»» TfAo?, zrzpsXvXvQti T£ yfyzvix sxuvn ruv ocvrxig axoxiq rng tv Six (rotpiocg (vax.ovuod ah 'tis perfici nee Deus, * nee Homines finent donee in aliquo terrarum angulo Litene ' et Veritath amor vigebunt.' Clerc. Ep. Crit. 4. p. i$i,&c. comp. Ibbot'sB. Le&. 2Part Serm.4. p. 119. and Laclant. de Orig. Err, L.2. S.7. To which we may be added lVotton y % two excellent Chapters on the Philological and The** of Reveled Religion. 1 87 time gone abroad j yet is this neither fo uncom- mon or unconformable to the courfe of Divine Providence in other refpects as to make us de- fpair of feeing it attended with the ufual Con- fequences : We have ftill reafon to truft that when Truth and Knowledge have once fully got the better of Error and Superftition, this Spirit of Reformation will at length reform and rectify itfelf, and we (hall have more and more of the true Life and Spirit of our Religi- on as we draw nearer to thofe times wherein the fure Word of Prophecy has fix'd its Reign. I am for from imagining that Chrifiiamty is yet come to its mature ftate, that it is underftood in the whole extent, or held in its utmoft. pari- ty and perfection by any particular Church c . But as when it was firft preached Men were fit Theological Learning of the Moderns. Refl. c. 28, and 29. and Worthington 's EfTay, c. 8. « * It will not be thought any imputation on Chrijfia- 1 nity that all its Myfteries and Doctrines have not been * as yet fo fully difcover'd and underftood by the fevcral 1 Sects and Parties of Chrijlians, as to come to a fettled ' Agreement concerning them, if it be confidcred that * no human Science hath been brought to fuch perfection ' as not to admit of farther Improvements, many of ' which began to be cultivated long before the Com- ' mencement of Chriftiamty .' Prcf. to Mr. IFortbington* Effay, p. 7. to 1 8 8 Of the fever al Difpenfations to hear and profit by it in a competent Degree, ( as we have mown) as that was a very proper time to divulge it, in order to improve the "World, which it did very confiderably * ex- celling all former Difpenfations of Religion, and Syftems of Science, refining the Notions, even of thofe who did not formally receive it, * and yet was itfelf for fomewhile but ^partially communicated b and imperfectly understood : So now, 'tis of much greater advantage to the World in general, and yet frill capable of en- creafe ; it waits for its own Fulnefs, nor {hall Mankind receive the proper influence and ad- vantage of it till their Minds be much farther open'd, their Reafon more fully exercifed in this great Myftery of Divine Love. We muii fure be fenfible that the Scriptures are very far from being thoroughly underftood by us, who are of fo reform'd a Church, live under fuch * See the Bp. of London's 2* Paftoral Letter, or Wor- tbington's EfiTay, c. y. a This is very vifible in the Writings of thofe Phi lofophers who came after its promulgation, as Epiftetus, Plutarch^ Max. Tyr. and more efpecially M. Antoninus, who is well acquainted with the Chrijiian Virtue of Humility, among many others, and frequently infifts upon it. The like may be obferv'd of Porphyry and Hierocles [ fee pafTages in Burnet de Fid. et Off. p. 29.] as alfo in Seneca [fee Lamott's Enquiry into his Religion: Works of the Learned of Reveled Religion. 1 8 9 an excellent Government, and in this enlighten'd Age, not even thofe parts of them which treat of paft States and Difpenfations, much lefs thofe which regard Futurity. How long is it fince men were fo very ignorant of its Doctrines as to fix that horrid one of Abjblute Reprobation upon St. Paul himfelf ? and 'tis to be fear'd that almoft as hard things are yet believ'd of him and other infpired Writers. We are ftill apt to confine the Gofpel of our Lord, as his primitive Difciples fometime did, to particular Nations, Churches, Seels, Opinions j to contend vehemently either about things in their own Nature abftrufe and difficult to be understood, and therefore lefs necefTary to be determin'd $ or elfe fuch lighter Matters, as the Ceremonies, Circumftances and outward Forms of its Ad- ministration j inftead of explaining and recom- mending the true Nature End and Defign of for July 17 3g ] The fame thing is own'd by the Emperor 'Julian in his excellent advice for a Reformation in their Philofophy by taking in the Chrijlian Morals. Ep. adJr/ac. 49. V.Cave Introd. p. 32, &c. Millar Propag. p. 402. or Gordon's Difc. before his Tacitus, or Bp. Leng's B. LecT:. S. 12. p.m. Fol. add Jenkin, Part 3. 05. p. 386. b See the feveral Periods of this Communication accur- ately fettled by the Author of Mifc . Sac. in his Abftradt of the Scr. Hift, of the Apoftles, and Pref. p. 14, &c. it. 19° Qf ^ de f cvera l Difpenfatiojis it, and being intent upon enlarging its real Kingdom, and taking care to maintain thofe Works which are intriniically good and profi- table unto men : a inftead of attending to that more excellent way which the lame blelTed Apoille fhew'd us, * that bond of Perfection which he has fo earneftly exhorted us to put on above all things, *j- which he has taught us to efteem above all F:uth and Knowledge and even the beft miraculous Gifts. — Bat though the Face of Christianity be fTill miferably dark- en'd and- deform'd ; ( of which more below ) though fome Nations feem to be in their Childhood yet and cannot receive it j and others grow fo vicious and profligate as to be inclined to reject it: though in fome Ages it feems to be quite hid in darknefs and funk under Ig- norance and Superftition, in others born down with the Torrent of Lewdnefsand Libertinifm : though like the Sea, it have its Ebbs and Flows, * Tit. 3.8,9. * The great Offence — which in all Nati- * ons and in all Ages has hundred the Propagation of the e Gofpel of Truth, has been a hypocritical Zeal to fecure c by Force a fictitious Uniformity of Opinion, which is * indeed impoflible in nature, inftead of the real Chriftian * Unity, of Sincerity, Charity, and mutual Forbearance, * which is the Bond of Perfettnefs: Dr. Clarke's Serm. 18. V.6.8" Fol. V.2. S.18. * 1 Cor. 12. 31. f Cohjf. 3. 14. and of Reveled Religion, 191 and leave Tome Lands to gain on others ; nay though fometimes it feem to be at a general ftand, and even retreating : yet neverthelefs we have reafon to conclude that upon the whole its motion is progreffive, and that each very Lett tends in the main to accelerate this Progrefs ; (as was obferved in the beginning) that its Power is flill vifibly or invifibly enlarging over the World, and that it will always go on to do fo till the Kingdom ofChri/t be fully come, till it be within us, and known by all from the the leaft to the greatefl ; till the Everlajling Gojpel* go forth and be fo thoroughly under- flood and embraced as to bring on the Fulnefs cf the Gentiles, and by their means the Reftoration of God's own People the Jews, as he has often foretold:* and fo the whole Earth be full of the Knowledge of the Lord, as the Waters cover the Sea. From the whole we have reafon to conclude, that the objection, mentioned in the beginning of thefe Difcourfes is abfolutely groundlefs, that * Rev. 14. 6. a See the Texts above, p. 183. Many more to the fame purpofe are colle&ed in a Note to Part 2. c. 11. p. 187. Fol. of Kidder's Demonftr. To which may be added JVhitby*s Appendix to his Comment on Rem. II. and Trcatifc on the true Millenium c. 2. Burnet's App. to Ms B. De Stat. Mart. Werthington\ Fflay, p. 295. there I o 2 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom there is nothing in the time and manner of the Chriftian Difpenfation inconliftent with infinite Wifdom and Goodnefs : that God is by no means partial or arbitrary in the diftri- bution of his BleiTings, but at all times takes care of all Mankind j and that this great fcheme of Revelation was contriv'd and carried on in the beft manner for the World in general; which ought chiefly to be regarded by us as it is in the Eye of our common Father. When we come to particular Ages and Na- tions, it is the fame as with particular Perfons, the fame Benefits are not, cannot be con- fer'd on all, and the Difpenfations of Religion are perfectly analogous to thofe of Providence in the conftant courfe of both the natural and moral World, and thefe perhaps are capable of being mown to be the bell: upon the whole, as may in part appear from the former Difcourfe.* If Chrift was to come once for all, he mull appear in fome particular time and place which could not be equally near to all the fuccemve Generations of Mankind: nor could all have the fame priviledges of feeing and converfing with him in the Flelh : and as they are blefTed who • Sec this more at large in Bp. Butler's Analogy, P l 2. c. 6. csY. have of Reveled Religion i 1 9 3. have not Teen and yet believed, fo are they too moft undoubtedly ( though perhaps in a lower degree ) who having not To much as heard of Chrijl are yet in a good meafure qualified to receive his doctrine were it deliver- ed to them. The great Scheme of our Redemption in Chrijl was laid before the World began, * and if we take the account which itfelf gives of its Defign, we mall find the greateft of its Bene- fits extended to all Mankind, namely the Cove- nant for reftoring the whole Poflerity of Adam to that Immortality which he forfeited. 'The Gift of God is eternal Life through J ejus Chrijl our Lord, -f- Death was abolijlfd and Lije and Incorruptibility b fix'd in the Divine Decrees from the beginning in view of Chrijl' % future Ranjbm, c though not fo fully brought to light till the actual Accomplishment of it by him in our Nature. As to any particular Privileges that can be fuppofed to be annex'd to the bare belief in him, or explicit profefiion of it, we have reafon to think that no lefs were enjoy'd * Eph. 1.4. -f- Rom. 6.23. b AipOago-ia. iTlm. no. i.e. of the Body raifed 1 Cor. 15.52. c Matt. 20. 28. Mark\Q.\$. Riv. 138. Aft%l$Al. Heb, 9. 15. N by 194 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom by thole good Men of old, who by the dim Light of Prophecy or Tradition beheld his Day and rejoiced in it; who faw thefe Promifes afar off and were perfwaded of them and em- braced them. * Faith in him to come was the fame in proportion to the Evidence as in him paft, and mud be equally meritorious. a Nor have we any reafon to doubt but that the fame Benefits, in kind at leaft, whatever they be, might accrue from a pious Prenguration of his Death, with a lively Faith, in Sacrifice, as now do from remembring it in the fame manner in his Holy Supper. So far then it might be the fame when ever he came. And when we fpeak of the Chriftian Scheme being abiblutely nccef- fary to Salvation, -f we underftand Salvation in the Scripture fenfe of that word, as implying a particular State and Degree of Happinefs, or as the Chrijlians Heaven, b not as the fole Condition of enjoying everlafling Life, or as neceffary in all Men to the avoiding abfolute Mifery, or efcaping the pains of Hell. He * Heb. II. 13. Gal. 3. 8. a See Dr. Dcnne's Serra. before the Society for the Prop, of the G. p. 53, CSV. t P- 25. * See Rymer's Reprefertt. of Rev. Rcl. p. 104. or Whitby oa Rom. 2. 14. has of Reveled Religi on. 195 has told us that in his Father's Houfe are many Manfions, States fuited to every Degree of Holinefs and Virtue ; and as it often appears that "men under very different Difpenfations here, differ but almoft infenfibly from each other in the abovemention'd Qualifications, can we conceive that their States of Retribution fhall be fo infinitely different hereafter as thofe of Heaven and Hell are commonly believ'd to be? No doubt there are great Advantages and fure Promifes belonging to thofe who have been fo happy as to be included in the Chriftian Cove- nant, and hold it in Faith and Purity. But let not fuch exclude others from the Mercies of their common Lord, or murmur at the good man of the houfe if thefe alfo receive every man his penny 9 * Whether they fhall not fome- time hereafter be call'd into the Vineyard and at length become acquainted with that Perfon who has done fo great things for them as well as us j a or what amends may be made them for the want of thofe fino;ular Advantages which we here enjoy, is known only to that God of all Mercies in whofe hands they are. What our * Matt. 20. a See Stairtot's Enquiry into the State of thofe Men in another Life who never heard of Cbrtft in this, from Rev, 20- n a Savi- 1 96 Of the federal Difpenfations Saviour faid of the Gentiles in contradiftinction to' the Jews, may be no lefs true perhaps between Chriftians and the reft of the World that never heard of Chrift, but yet are prepared to enter, and in a good meafure worthy to be admitted into his Kingdom j — who have duly attended to that Candle of the Lord, which is fet up in the breaft of every man, and which would lead fuch to the clearer Light of his Gofpel, — other Sheep I have which are not of this Void, them alfo mufi I bring and they Jhall hear my Voice, and there jhall be one Fold and one Shep- herd. b To them like wife may the Times of re- frefiing come from the prefence of the Lord. c — However, the cafe of fuch will undoubtedly be very different from that of thofe who fre- quently and perverfely reject the Counfel of God againft themfelves, refolved to truit to their own Strength, and going about to eftablifi their own Rightcoujhefs, and not fubmitting themfelves unto the Righteoufiefs of God. * To conclude with our BleiTed Saviour's admonition in a like cafe, -f If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee f follow thou me : Let us inftead of judging others or b Job. 10. 16. comp. Matt. 8. II. and Luke 13-29. c Jlfls 3. 19. comp. Rom. 8- 22. * R am 10.3. f Job. 21.2.2. de- of "Reveled Religion. 197 determining of their State, take care to fet a due value on and to fecure our own Salvation : inftead of charging God foolifhly and ungrate- fully for not having imparted the fame Benefits to All which we enjoy, let us rather be giving him continual Thanks for his imfpeakable Gift, and endeavouring to employ it to his Glory. Let us be intent on Studying the pure Word of God and careful to interpret it in fuch a manner as may do moft honour to its Author -, and at all times encourage a free and an impar- tial Study of it. 'Tis now high time to do this, and to awake out of Sleep, fince our Refor- mation is much nearer than when we iirft be- lieved : and it is to be wifh'd that we ourfelves could be perfvvaded to examiue our own State before others are obliged to do it for us ; that we were difpofed to help and forward, rather than check the progrefs of every ferious En- quiry, and ftop any farther Improvements in the Knowledge of that which of all things de- ferves and wants them moft j rather than with- ftand a general Reformation in Religion by rigoroufly infifting on and obtruding fuch things for Doctrine as are the Commandments of Men and very foreign to the EfTence of it ; inftead of either entertaining that Antichriftian kind of Spirit which calls down fire from Heaven on N 3 all 698 Of the fever al Di/penfations all who don't receive us ; which delights in ftraitening the way that leads to Life, and (hutting up the Kingdom of Heaven againft Men ; or elfe incurring the Woe denounc'd a- gainil thofe Hypocrites who are defirous of lading Men with heavy Burdens, and binding upon them things which are too grievous to be born, and which they know that none need touch with one of their fingers. * As v/e fee the Faults and Follies of paft Ages, a double Woe will be to us if inflead of taking warning by them and avoiding the like, we are refolv'd to tread the fame Steps, and fill up the Meailire of our Fathers. Let us who have lcifure given us for this very purpofe think on thefe things, and ftudy to difcern the Signs of the Times > that we may be prepared for them and profit by them : that we may not only five ourfelves in the day of Trouble, but alfo contribute to the fafety of our ferufalem^ and be ready to watch over and defend it whenever, or from what quarter foever the Enemy cometh. As we are a City upon a Hill, let us mew forth the Praifes of him that has called us out of Darknefs into his marvellous Light ; let our Light mine before Men, and let us freely communicate it to them * Matt. 23. Luke 11, who of Reveled Religion. 1 9 9 who dill fit in Darknefs, and drive to adorn the Doclrine of our Lord. As we live in a more enlighten'd Age and are intruded with a greater {hare of Talents, let us walk worthy of it and endeavour to excell others as much in our improvements. Above all things, let us labour to bring forth the genuine Fruits of our Religion in true Holinefs and Virtue, and daily draw nigh unto God in the imitation of his Moral Perfections, which is the Sum and Sub- fiance, the End and Aim of all Religion. N4 The III. The Progrefs of Natural Religion and Science , OR, The continual Improvement of the World in general. Antiquitas Seculi, Juventus Mundi. Bacon de Augment. Scient. L. i. c. $ a Antiquity Iunfeignedly honour and reverence, but why IJhould be bound to reverence the Ruji and Refufe, the Drofs and Dregs, the Warts and Wens thereof^ I am yet to feek. — As in the little, fo in the great World, reafon will tell you that Old Age or Antiquity is to be accounted by the farther dijtance from the Beginning, and the nearer approach to the End', and as grey Beards are for Wifdom and Judgement to be preferred before young green Heads, becaufe they have more Experience in Affairs : fo likewife for the fame Caufe the prefent Times are to be pre- ferred before the Infancy or Youth of the Worlds having the Hiftory and Praclife of former Ages to inform us, which they wanted — In difgracing the prefent Times therefore you difgrace Antiquity pro- perly fo call'd. Ha^ewill. Apol. p. 132. ECCLES. vii. 10. Say not thou what is the Caufe why the former Days were better than thefe f for thou doji ?iot enquire wifely con~ cernincr this. THE badnefs of the Times has been a common Topic of Complaint in every Age, and that they are growing worfe and worfe continually is what fome Perfons think themfelves obliged to infift upon with no lefs frequency and vehemence, how hard foever they find it to account for this in any refpecl:. The former of thefe arguments if urg'd only toexpofe and give a check to fome particular predominant Vices ( for which indeed all Ages have afforded too much room) may be of con- ftant ufe and often neceflary. But when the latter is added to it, and both carried fo far as to make us difcontented and uneafy with ourfelves and troublefome to one another - y to fet us a quar- relling with the Station and Society in which we are placed, a murmuring at and {peaking evil of the Government we live under; defpiiing every fturcan Dominion and even repining at the of 204 ^he Progrefs of Conduct of Divine Providence, and miitaking the Iflue of its Difpenfations to iuch a degree as mull: confound our judgement and unhinge our Faith in the unlimited Goodnefs, Power and Wifdom of their Author j then 'tis high time to correct an Error of this kind, and enquire into the true itate and Hiftory of the World in the abovemention'd particular. In order to which, fo far as the compafs of fuch a Difcourfe will allow, I purpofe in the firft place. I. To fliew the Falfity of this Complaint in feveral refpects. II. Secondly, to point out fome of its ill Confequences, which may be fufficient to juitify the Preacher's obfervation in the Text, viz. that this way of judging is no very wife one. The Defign of the Book from which thefe words are taken is to examine into the Courfe of this World in general, to confider the Nature of its Enjoyments and the Ends propofed in our purfuit of them. No one faw farther into thefe things or better understood their real value , none perhaps had a mind more elevated and refined above them, or could in a more lively manner difplay the Vanity and Empti- nefs thereof on fome occafions than King Solomon ; yet where he meets with thofe who treat Natural Religion and Science. 205. treat the Subject fo very mjudicioufly as both to difparage the Works of God by reprefenting. them to be eyer goin? backward and on the decline, and to diffract the Minds of Men by teaching them to undervalue and grow weary of the prefent Benefits through an invidious retrospect to former Days : — when things are placed in fuch a light as this, we find him abfolutely difapproving of the view and all thofe Queftions which arife from thence, intimating that the very Foundation of them is not true in fact. To make this appear more fully let us confider fome of the Advantages of Life both natural and acquired, in order to fee whether there be any figns that thefe are now difpens'd in a lefs liberal way than formerly, or whether the reverfe is not more probable. As to the Fruitfulnefs of the Earth and Clemency of Seafons, the Temperature of the Air and Influence of Heavenly Bodies, the vulgar miftake of their Decay and tendency to DifTolution has I think long fince been ex- ploded. a Whatever might have been the employment of Man had he continued innocent, (which yet we fee was not exempted from the Care of a A fufficient Confutation of it may be feen in Hake- u ill's Apologv, pa Aim, Jref- 2C tie Prog :f eping that lpot of Ground in which A:-.' "■ was placed*) upon his Fall a fee of Toil and Labour became necellarv in order to fecure the Virtue Health and Quiet .: in any tolerable degree : on which account the Earth is reprefented as lying: under an extraordinary Cur/e of Barren- nefs, which has been generally thought to have continued and receiv'd confiderable addition at the D. ':. .~:' -, and verv philolbphical Reafons re afngn'd for this Opinion, c till of late a learned Prelate d fhew'd us from the Circum- lees :f the Hiftorv, that the direct contrary fait. For lbme time after, the Longevity : :" A v 1 ankind 'erv necelTarv for peopling the rid and learning Arts, e though I (he imcult to point out the Natural Cauies I this Lous and the following Char. leaft luch as c:.n be confident with the fore- * G ■ :. 15. .. £ .;'-- Orig n : Ev;l, p. 192. Note 53. 3 Edit. : ms there refer r d to. To which ad J ," • . h' .' . : this point more particular! . 1 See them - in the Umk ai h :, Vol. 1. - : :: . L~'.. * 1 . . U .. I - : of Proph. Difc. 4. M on the fame Subject, E :.. ' :.. . _: L. 1. c. 3. men- Natural A Ugh .-'. 2 1 meiition'd opinion. l Since if the Earth g corrupted to fiich a degree at the univeria^ Deluge.; man Life thereby ta much lhc Etoc oe would imagine fhould have been mod t ; frxfe ifi Gauies mnft be - eib . _-..:e :.ioft ngly : not to repeat that this A : I Cor- cuptioo is a : Error. TA : Change .refore teems to have been . ; :: :. r:::- intment of die Dei jp A.A-A: from, and fubfequent to that 0: _Y. :'f Y'.z-zd, ar.d introduced ibr Reaib.": v. hicb •-: :k cAce ibme after ir, and may be c. « a A" -.. D: benjation Decenary for the future Govern- ".: of the v. ;A .-■ :,zc. z - Hovevc:, ib e .;. : * we f.nd the Life of m fhfd to the tame ■ A in tprefent, for His Defcri :: n of it Aciv.s sot being wholly id .. ::• the ' V. C - . - : EccL V p. 151. Mr. •-' ..:.'; I . - - the Cd Sons immedL:. occafion'd the D:i ■;.. J . ."'. -_ . :_-'.-. , G . ■.-... 5 : for pc :he ger i encr. e -pon c . * make the ... ....-.:.. he ien'd tl . • . . . ■ 2oB T'he Progrefs of particular Cafe at that time in the Wildernefs) and ever fince fo far as the Accounts of ancient Times can be rely'd on we have reafon to be- lieve that the ConfHtution of Mankind in general, as well as the State of the Earth and Heavens, whereon that muft depend, have at all times been much the fame as we now find them, h and may reft fatisfied that the original Promife has been, and will amply be made good, that while the Earth remaineth^ Seed- time * of Souls he intended to fend into the World, before the ' final Confummation of all things, might have a fpeedier •Probation.' [Stackhoufe B. of Div. p.309. I ft Edit. ] < and that Death being brought nearer to their view might c draw off their attachment from this World, and induce c them to place it upon another, which at the diftance of fo ' many hundreds of years it had little power to effecT:.* Worthlngton EfT. p. 73. * Sin brought Death in firft, and 6 yet Man lived almoft a thoufand years. But lie finned ' more, and then Death came nearer to him : for when all 1 the World was firft drowned in Wickednefs and then in c Water, God cut him fhorter by one half, and five hun- < dred years was his ordinary Period. And Man finned ftill, ' and had ftrange Imaginations, and built Towers in the * Air ; and then about P cleg's Time God cut him fhorter c by one half yet, too hundred and odd years was his de- ' termination. And yet the Generations of the World re- ' turned not unanimously to God ; and God cut him off ' another half yet, and reduced him to a hundred and * twentv years. And by Mofes's Time one half of the final e remanent Portion was pared away, reducing him to three- 4 fcore Natural Religion and Science. zog and Harvejl a?id Cold and Heat and Summer cndWinter and Day and Night fl jail not cea/e,* and therefore may conclude that the D'hlribu- tion and Enjoyment of what I call the Natural Advantages of Life is fo far from a conflant gradual Decline, that thefe have been at all times in themfelves pretty equal, and rather improving as they receive afMance, which they do very much, from the acquired ones, which we are in the next place to confider, 1 fcore years and ten. — But if God had gone on ffill in the ' fame method and fhorten'd our Days as we multiplied < our Sins, we mould have been but as an Ephemeron j ' Man fhould have lived the Life of a Flie or a Gourd. « — But God feeing Man's Tlyoughts zvere only evil coriti- ' nually, he was refolved no longer fo to Jlrive with bim 9 * nor deftroy the Kind, but punifh Individuals only and ' fingle Perfons ; and if they finned, or if they did obey, * regularly their Life mould be proportionable,' Tayhr. Life of Chri/l, p. 305. h See Sir T. P. Blount. Eir.4. p.188.192, tic. or Lord Bacon's Hift. of Life and Death. That the Stature of Man in this Age is the fame as it was near three thoufand years ago appears from Greaves' s account of the Monu- ment in the Egyptian Pyramid. Dcrham. Phyf. Theol. B.5. c.4. N.4. That we have had feveral very late instances of Perfons whofe Longevity exceeded that of the Patri- archal Age may be feen in JVorthington' s ElTay, p, 417, comp. Huet, Alnetan, Qiueft, L, 2. c. 12. S. 4, * Gen. 8,22, o Thci 2 1 o *fhe Progrefs of The late Invention of Arts and Sciences is ufually infifted on, and very juftly, in our Difputes with Atheifis againft the Eternity of the World ; and their continual Progrefs, though perhaps feldom attended to, feems to be a Point no lefs neceffary to complete the Argument. For if it can be fhewn either that thefe which we now have, or others of equal ufe and importance were difcover'd fooner and dropt again, and fubject to their feveral Revo- lutions, why mould not we grant from Analogy that the World itfelf has undergone the like ? that the fame T'ime and Chance has happen'd to all things concerning it and its Inhabitants ? But that there actually have been fuch Vicirli- tudes in Nature, or fo much as one valuable Art, or ufeful branch of Science wholly lofl iince the Creation I know no ground fufficient to believe. a In a Hiftory of the World which a For proof of this fee the pretended Inftances of loft Arts in Pancirollus, which upon examination will appear all to he either manifeftly falfe or frivolous, or of fuch trifles as have been dropt by difufe: to which may be ad- ded JVott on's Pref. to Reflect, on Ancient and Modern Learning. ' I will agree — that feveral Arts in the World 4 have been loft, and others after a time again revived ; < but then thefe have been fuch Arts as have, been more * curious than ufeful, and have rather been ornamental 6 than beneficial to Mankind : and there has been fome ' good Natural Religion and Science. 1 1 1 has been prov'd by a late unexceptionable Writer b to be of all others by far the mo ft ancient and authentic, and which carries its Accounts as high as either could be wifh'd or hoped for from Hiilory, even to the forming and firft peopling the World itfelf, and the original Divilion of the Nations; in this we have the Birth and Genealogy, the Names and Characters of the Founders of States and Kirig- 4 good reafon to be given of their difufe, either by their * growing out of fafhion, or by fome more eafy and com- * modious Invention. Thus the Art of Glafs -painting was ' loft about the time of the Reformation * when the ' Images of Saints were not fo highly efteem'd, and ' Churches began to be more gravely adorned. Thus the ' ufe of Archers in an Army has been laid afide fince the * Invention of Pikes and Guns. But who can imagine ' that the Art of the Smith and the Carpenter fhould 8 ever be forgot after the firft Invention ; unlefs we could ' fuppofe that Houfes and all forts of Utenfds and Con- ' veniences fhould grow out of fafhion, and it would be * the Mode for Men to live like Colts and Wild AiTes ? ' Unlefs Men could be fuppofed to forget the ufe of eating * and drinking, I am confident they could never forget * the Art of Ploughing and Sowing and Preffing the ' Grape.' Nic boll's Conf. Part. i. p. 86. iftEd. See more of this in Wotion's Pref. p. 14, &c. 2d Edit. b Sir J. Newton. Chronol. of Ancient Kingdoms. * This feems to be a vulgar Error. See Glafs fainting in Chambers's Cyclopedia, or Spcflacle de la Nature, V. 3. p. 219. of Cement, ib. p. 228. add Motte^ Abr. of Phil. Tranf. \ z Part 4. p 62,63. o 2 doms, 2 1 2 The Progrefs of doms, as well as the Inventors even of manual Arts deliver'd down, a and from the very air of Truth and that Simplicity which runs through the whole relation, have much more reafon to depend upon it than on the fabulous Antiquities of Greece and Egypt, as the fame excellent Author has demonftrated. From whom we learn that neither the planting of the World, nor the Introduction of Arts and Sciences * Cain builded a City, or the firft City. Gen.^.iy. add Gen. 10.8,9, & c ' J a bal was the Father of fuch as dwell in Tents and fuch as have Cattle ', and his Brother's name was Jubal, he was the Father of all fuch as handle the Harp and the Organ, and Tubal Cain was an Inflrufior of every Artificer in Brafs and Iron ; or a Forger of Arms* Gen. 4. 20, &c. After the Flood we are told that Noah began to be an Mufbandman and he planted a Vineyard ; Gen. 9. 20. which by his being furprifed in fuch a man- ner with the Effects of its Fruit feems to have been the firfr. of the kind. So late as Abraham's time we find there was enough of the beft Land unoccupied for both him and Lot to chufe out of Gen. 13. 9. which (as the Author of Bibliotheca Biblica obferves, p. 335.) is a moft illuftrious- Teftimony for the late peopling of the World and by confequence for the Truth of the Mofaic Hiftory of the Creation and Deluge, in as much as it appears by this that the moft plcafant and moft fruitful Country of the whole Earth and which in a few hundreds of years afterward was fo exceeding populous, was yet in the days of Abraham fo very thinly peopled that even large Tracts of Ground -were left in a manner uncultivated and without Proprietor. Were Natural Religion and Science. 2 r 3 were of fo early a Date as they have ufually been reprefented. b Moft Nations, like private Families, have at all times been unaccountably fond of carrying up their Pedigree as high as pprlible, and where no marks remain'd of the fucceflive Alterations in their State, were apt to imagine that it had always been the fame. Hence the many foolifh Pretences among the Ancients to their being Aborigines of the b * Though Noah and his Sons had doubtlefs fome knowledge of the Inventions of the Antediluvians and probably acquainted their Defcendants with fuch of them as were moft obvious and ufeful in common Life, yet it is not to be imagined that any of the more curi- ous Arts or fpeculative Sciences were improved in any degree, fuppofing them to have been known or invented, till fome confiderable time after the Difpcrfion. — For on their fettling in any Country, they found it imployment fufficient to cultivate the Land (which yet for want of feparate Property and fecurity in their Pofleffions in thofe early times, they improved no farther than barely to fupply their Neceflities ) and to provide themfelves Habitations and Neceflaries for their mutual comfort and fubfiftence. * Befides this they were often obliged to remove from one place to another, where they could more conveniently refide ; and it was a great while be- fore they came to embody themfelves together in Towns and Cities, and from thence to fpread into Provinces and to fettle the bounds and extent of their Territories. f Two or three Ages at leaft mull have been fpent in 03 * this f Vid. TbucU, L.i. fub. in. f itillingjitit. Qr, S. B, i. c. I. S. 16. 214 Tlje Progrefs of Countries they had inhabited time out of mind : hence were they led to make their feveral Gods the Founders of their Government. c They knew but very little of the World, and the Tradition which they had of that little was fo far blended with fiction and Romance that it ferv'd only to confound them. d Upon the removal of this Cloud by the more faithful, diligent and accurate Enquiry of the Moderns, we fee Hiftory beginning to clear up even at this diftance j the World puts on a very dif- ferent face, and all parts of it appear conform- able to the late well known courfe of things. We find the Marvellous in all their Annals, and more efpecially in the great point of their Antiquity^ exceedingly reduced, and our own plain accounts frill more and more confirmed : from which we may be convinc'd that both the peopling and cultivating of the Earth arofe at firft from a few low beginnings, and very gradually fpread itfelf j and that it has at all * this manner ; and it is not very likely they fhould * amufe themfelves with celeftial Obfervations in parti- f cular, when they had fo many more prefiing affairs to ? mind.' Univcrf. Hijl. B.i. c.2. p. 173. c Datur hscc venia Ai.t'quitati ut mifcendo humana Divinis Primordia Urbium auguftiora faciat. Liv> Pref. Hift. L 1 times Natural Religion and Science. 2 1 5 times proceeded by pretty near the fame flow regular fteps it does at prefent. Since we have look'd into paft times more narrowly we prove the Ancients far from being fo expert and knowing as by a fuperftitious reverence for every thing remote we once were accuftom'd to fuppofe : And as well from the prefent State of thofe particular Nations which ufed to brag moft of their extraordinary advancement and long porTeffion of the Sciences, as from the Remains of their Forefathers Skill, when fairly reprefented, we find no great reafon to envy them their heft Acquirements ; fo far I mean as concerns real Ufe ; for all the worth that Fafhion and Fancy may give things is out of the queftion. * Some of them indeed defcribe their Knowledge in high drains, and perhaps for their times and in comparifon with fome of their Neighbours, it may have been confider- able j and yet 'tis more than probable that fuch accounts are chiefly owing to their Ignorance d The Grounds of the Uncertainty of Ancient Hift- ory, may be feen in Stillingfleet, Or. Sac. B. I. c. i. S. 16, 18, Esfc. Of the Egyptian in particular, fee Sbazv's Travels p. 442. comp. Baker on Hift. and Chronol. Reflections, c. 10, and 11. and Shuckford^ V.2. B.8. * Why the Sciences of Men's Brains have been more fubject to Viciffitudes than than the Arts of their Hands, ice Sprat's Hift. R. S. p. 118, csV. 3 Edit. 04 of 2 1 6 The Progrefs of of the true State of the reft of Mankind -, as is the cafe remarkably with the Chinefe, a People fo much celebrated by themfelves and others, who yet upon more flrict examination have appear 'd in moft things of confequence, and where moft might have been expected, leaft to deferve a Character : So that nothing- but their as fmall acquaintance with the Europeans for- merly, as ours with them, could poffibly give rife to thofe extravagant Sentiments and Say- ings that are recorded of each other. e The fame may in a great meafure be afhrm'd of the c See the ift Part p. 18. to which may be added Jenkin^ V. i. p. 340, tsY. JVotton's and Baker's Reflections, under the Heads Pbyfic and AJironomy. Thefe and many other Authors fhew us how little able they were to make any proper Obfervations in their fo much bpafted Science of the Heavens, till fhewn the way of late by Miffionaries : as alio how monftroufly inaccurate were both their Chro- nological and Aftronomical Tables. Pere Du Halde, their Pancgyiift, fays, they have applied themfelves from the beginning of their Empire to AJlrononjy \ yet when he comes to explain himfelf, all their Study appears to be a little, low, judicial AJlrohgy, V.i. Fol. Eng. p. 394. So ignorant were they in Geography that their Literati feeing a Map of the World in the hands of the Jefuits took that one of the two Hcmifperes, which contain'd Europe, Afia and Africa, for the Kmpire of China, p. 280. Some of their curious Notions in Religion may be feen, p. 254. 65?.- 655. 657, Their fkill in Metaphyfus has been touch'd upon by Mr. Gurdon, B. Led. §. 14. P425, &Y.. Natural Religion and Science. 217 "Egyptian Learning. f Though this Country- has been filled the Mother of Arts s as well as Miftrefs of Religion : h and was no doubt as early polifhed as moll, yet if we be allow'd to judge of her improvement in other parts of Science from that moft concerning one, and that which therefore in all reafon mould have been moft cultivated, I mean Medicine, of which me alfo claims the firft Invention, i we mail not have much room to marvel at her high Their Mechanics may be judg'd of from the Jefuit's account of their taking the firft Watch he brought thither for a living Creature. Boyle on Final Caufes, p. 23c. Their Method of communicating any Science, from their yet being without any Alphabet ; as is obferv'd by the ingenious Author of the Divine Legation, V.2. p. 70. f * The truth is, there want not grounds of fufpicion c that the old Egyptian Learning was not of that elevation ' which the prefent diftance of our Age makes us apt to ' think it was : and a learned Man hath in a fet Difcourfe * endeavoured to mew the great Defects that there were * in it. * Neither can it I think be deny'd but accordino ' to the reports we have now concerning it, fome parts ' of their Learning were frivolous, a great deal magical. 4 and the reft fhort of that improvement which the ac * ceflion of the parts and induftry of after Ages gave unto 4 it.' Stillingfieet. Or. S. B.2. c.2. p. 81. add Wottori* Reflections, c.9. and Sir T.P.Blount's Efr.4. p. 153, is'c, e Macrob. Sat. L. 1. 15. h Id. L. 7. c. 13. et Ammian. Marc. L.22. i Plin. N. H. L.7. c.56. ad- * Cowing, de Hem. Med. c. 19, 1 1, i?> 2 j 8 e floe Progrefs of advances. — f It mult, evidently appear, fays a 1 very learned Writer, that the Egyptians could ■ have no fuch Phyficians in the days of Mofes * as Di odor us and Herodotus feem to fuppofe : c it is much more probable that Ages after thefe c times they were, like the Babylonians , entirely ■ deflitute of perfons fkilful in curing any Dif- * eafes that might happen amongfh them, and c that the bed method they could think of, c after confulting their Oracles, was when any * one was fick, they took care to have as many c Perfons fee and fpeak to him as pombly could, c that if any one who faw the fick Perfon, had c had the like Diftemper, he might fay what c was proper to be done in that Condition.' k k Sbuckford. Connect. B.9. P-367. Babyhmi ( tefte Herodot. L.i. et Strab. G. L. 16.) languentes in forum efFerebant, ut viri qui eos adirent confulerent hortarentur- que ad ea quae ipfi faciendo effugiffent fimilcm morbum, aut alium noviffent efFugiffc. — Idem facfjtabant Lufitani et Egyplii. P. Virg. de Inv. Rer. L. 1. c. 20. Conf-Strab. G. L. 3. et Plutarch, de Occult. Vivend. That the fame was done in other Countries, fee Harle's Hift. EfTay on the State of Phyf. in the O. T. p. 4. * The Egyptian Prac- ' tife of Phyfic depended much on Aftrological and 1 Magical Grounds, either the Influence of fome parti- * cular Planet, or fome Tutelar Daemon were ftill con- * nderd [ IFcttcn, p. 119. ] which precarious foundation ' muft needs depreciate their Skill, and ftop any increafe *• of Knowledge which might be made on other Principles.' Univerf. Natural Religion and Science. 219 From which Tingle inftance of the State of this moft necefTary Art in thofe Times and Places, as well as its nrft Rudiments in like manner defcribed by an able Judge, l we may I think be pretty well fatisfied in what Condition the reft then were in other parts of the World, as alfo of their gradual Improvement fince in all refpects. m Many are indeed carried on much fafter in fome Countries than in others, and fome now and then are foon brought to fo great Perfection in one Country as to feem almofh incapable of any increafe for feveral Ages ; which proves againft an exact equable Improve- ment under each Period and in each particular, which never was contended for ; but is no Ar- Vniverf.HlJl. V. i.p. 219. nor was the Method which they are faid to have taken of eftablifhing its Rules by Law [Diod. Sic. L.i. 74. Shuck ford, B. 9. p. 362. Chandler, Vind. of O. T. part 2. p. 442.] like to make any great progrefs in the Science. A tolerable account of the An- cient State of Phyfic may be feen in a Note to p. 85. of Dr. Young's Hilt. DhT. V.2. Add Harle's Eff. p. 80, isfc. or Barcbufen de Medicinae Orig. & ProgrefT. Diflert 1. &18. 1 Celfus Inventionem Artis fcienter ponit L.i. fcribens. ec Ssepecaufa apparet utpote Lippitudinis, Vulneris, nc~ " que ex his patet Mcdicina : quod fi fcientiam non fub- " jicit evidens caufa, multo minus ea poteft fubjiccrc «« quae in dubio eft. Cum igitur ilia incerta incompre- 4t Jienfibilifque fit, a certis potius & exploratis petendum " eft 220 *fhe Progrefs of sument againft Improvement in general, much lefs any Evidence that thefe grow daily worfe; and notwithftanding this or other Limitations which might be admitted, yet from fomeof the great out-lines (as we may fay) of Nature, from plain Appearances in many remarkable ./Eras, and mod confiderable Events, we feem to have llill ground fufficient to conclude that on the whole, they are and always have been in the main progrejjive. Now this Progrefs in Arts will necenarily bring with it a proportionable Improvement of all the other Natural Advantages; as Health, Strength, Plenty and Politenefs : each of them as is obferv'd in the fame place. * To thefe in its proper Seafon fucceeds Cbri- ftia?iity ; of which there fcarcely is occafion to remark that it furpafs'd them all as much as the Times of its Promulgation were fuperior in all kinds of Knowledge to the paft ; and * p' 67. p 3 which 230 The Progrefs of which was evidently as great an Improvement upon Natural Religion properly fo call'd, as it was upon any of the former Difpenfations, and might, I think, with juft as much pro- priety, be term'd a bare Revival or Republica- tion of the one as of the other. Though per- haps there may be fome room to doubt whether even thofe Ages, enlighten'd as they were above the former, were capable of receiving all the Improvement which it was fitted and defign'd to give ; whether the World was yet able to admit it in its utmoft Purity and Perfection. On the contrary, there feem to have been fo many Dregs of Jewifo Superftition and Gentile Philofophy as required a long time to purge away, and from the one of which it had no fooner got well clear, than it became immers'd and clouded in the other. * Even in its early Days we find it loaded with the refufe of each Syftem, which was brought in to explain Myfteries, or rather make them, in the Gofpel : till by Degrees itfelf is made a Matter of high Speculation and Refinement, and fuch nice Difputes -J- rais'd about the Natures of its Author and the precife Modus of their Union; * Part 2. p. 83.84. + See ConJ1antlne''s excellent Letter on this Subject in Eufeb. de Fit. Convt. c 66, 67,^. alfo Natural Religion and Science. 231 alio concerning the abitract Nature and feparate Subfiitence of the Human Soul, as ferv'd one of them to fill the Eaftern Church with Blood and Deiblation, and at length fubject it to the Mahometan Yoke, for which alone it feem'd at that time fitted, * the other to introduce the Doctrine of Purgatory, and with it a long train of Popijh Errors, which ended in a Weliern Tyranny no lefs fevere over both Soul and Body. Both thefe have indeed a long while opprefs'd the Chriftian World, and if they be altogether fo bad as we have been ufed to efteem them, are not at prefent eafily accounted for ; but we hope they may be found really not fuch, a and that the fame wife and good Ends * Part. 2. p. 88. Not. r » Popery (fays Mr. Worthington Eff. p. 156.) itfelf begins c to be afhamed of fome of its grafter Errors, and its ' Divines of late have been forced to explain them in a ' manner more agreeable to Truth and Scripture. [ and the fame thing may be obferv'd of the Mahometan Doctors in their Comments upon the Koran, as appears remarkably all through Sale's Notes j Moreover that ' pcrfecuting Spirit which was the Reproach and Scandal c of Chrijiians, is, God be praifed, in a good meafurc * abated among all forts and denominations of them ; and ' we do not now hear fo much of Chrijiians being Burnt ' and Tortured by Chrijiians. Nor do Papi/is at prefent * feem to thirft fo much after Protcjlant Blood, though * there is reafon to fufpecl: that they ftill retain too ' mnch of the old Leaven, durft they fuffer it to work r 4 * our 232 "The Progrefs of will appear to be accomplifh'd by them in due time, either before or at their expiration, as have been evident in moft other Difpenfations. b However, at the next great iEra which is, we think, juftly ftiled the Reformation, there ap- pear'd fufficient Tokens of this Progrefs in Knowledge we have been maintaining, and thefe fucceeding fo faff, one upon another that they cannot efcape the (lighter!: Obfervation. c Here the abovemention'd Branches of it are as:ain united and affording mutual amftance and fupport to one another. Science of all kinds, Human and Divine revives, and with it come new Methods of Communication (or rather it rifes as much above the pafb as thefe exceed all others before them) and fince has been con- ' out. It is obferved likewife that there is not that Ignorance ' and Immorality to be objected againft the Papijis now ' as formerly j Learning being no lefs propagated among c them than Protejiants : many good and pious Books are * Publifhed by their Clergy ; nor are they fo Scandalous ' in their Lives as in the Ages preceding the Reformation, c but they in general are exemplary in their Behaviour, ' and afford us Patterns in fome things which we might ' profit by.' The like has been obferv'd of the Mahome- tans above. b Of which fee more in Part 2. p. 88, and 91. c See fome of the particulars in Part 2. p. 92. and Worthingtoris account of the progrefs of Learning after its Revival. Eflay, p. 200, &c. To which we may add, that the Natural Religion and Science. 233 tinuing to improve and to draw with it all collateral advantages down to the prefent Times. The more we ftill know of human Nature and become better vers'd in the Art of Living, ( and who doubts but we do fo daily ? ) the more enlarg'd and adequate Notions muft we have of natural Religion, and thereby be better able to judge of and apply reveled : the more acquainted we are with the faculties of our own Soul, the better qualified muft we be to regu- late and improve them, to direct the reafoning Power, aflift the Memory, refine the Imagina- tion ; in each of which Points very confiderable Difcoveries have been made of late : the more we know of the Body, the more able we are to prefcribe a Regimen and remedy the feveral Diforders of it : and (though it feems to be the intent of Providence, for reafons obvious enough, that Phyfic in particular fhould not receive the fame degrees of Improvement with other Arts, yet) perhaps it would not be hard to prove, the Avenues to Learning of all kinds have been plan'd out and open'd by Ld. Bacon, the Nature and moft intimate RecefTes of the Human Mind unfolded and explain'd by Locke, the Frame and Conftitution of the Univerfe by Newton (to name no other Writers of our own ) in a more perfect Manner than ever was done or attempted fince the Foundation of the World, were 234 < ^ >e Progrefs of were this a place for it, that we are actually able to effect this in a more perfect manner now than formerly ; that 'tis rather our Obfer- vations on the Diforders and Defects in each of thefe that multiply, than the Diforders and Defects themfelves, excepting fome fuch as probably arife and propagate themfelves from fome particular reigning Vices. a The more we know of the World, the more we view its Order, Beauty, Symmetry ; the uniform Laws which it is govern'd by, the juft arrangement and mutual fubferviency of all its Parts, (and I need not obferve how much this kind of Learning has of late encreas'd b ) the more we fee the Glory, and Perfection of its Architect, and are more fully fatisfied that he defign'd its feveral Inhabitants for Happinefs in general, and muit approve of every regular confiftent method which they take to promote it. Such Obfervations on this World enable us likewife to argue from it to another, and a If fome new Diftempers have arifen of late 'tis likely others of an older date have ceas'd ; as is obferv'd by D. LeClerc. * Fuerunt ergo Morbi, nonnullorum Siderum ■ infiar, orti certo tempore, poftea extincti funt ; funtque 1 alii, quos ortos quidem non ita pridem novimus, fed *. quorum finem nondum videmus.' DifTert. de Lepra Mofaica p. 9. Several Inftances occur in Barchufen De Medic. Orig. et Progr. DiiT. 5. S.6. con- Natural Religion and Science. 235 conclude that that will probably go on in the like way, as confirming of the like Inhabitants, and conducted by the fame hand. As the pre- fent World has generally improved hitherto, we may expect that for the fame Reafons, be they what they will, it fhall continue to do fo ; and that the next will likewife be ftill more and more improving : and by the fame rule per- haps each Part and Member of it in its refpec- • tive Order and Proportion; every diftincTt Clafs, as it rifes above others through all that Scale of Beings which exift together, may preferve the fame Uniformity in point of Succejjion too, may follow upon each other in no lefs regular Progrefs in a growing Happinefs through all Eternity ; and thus the whole Creation be every way for ever Beautifying in its Maker's Eye, and drawing nearer to him by Degrees of re- femblance, as is fuggefted by an elegant Writer.* To thefe Deductions of Reafon Revelation adds new Light and Confirmation, ( as it is in like b Of this and the Benefit the World receives from it, fee Worthington EfT. p. 94, &c. * And if Natural Philofo- * phy in all its parts by purfuing this method fhall at length * be perfected, -the bounds of Moral Pbilcfopby will alfo * be enlarged/ Newt. Opt. B. 3. And thztfupernatural Light or Knowledge will be Increas'd in the fame way, its Hindrances being of the very fame kind, fee Bp. But- ler's Analogy p. 262, fifa. 2d Edit. * Spectator N° in, man- 236 The Progrefi of manner itfelf illuftrated and eftabliih'd by them) it carries on and completes thefe Notices of Natural Religion, and Improves the Profpect by exprefs Declarations of the unlimited Good- nefs of our Creator towards all his Works ; by giving us in particular a pofitive Aflurance that we {hall be exactly difpofed of in another State according to our refpective Deferts and Qualifications : fixing and afcertaining our Hopes of arriving at thofeBlerTedAfe/fow, where we fhall find room for the free exercife and full enjoyment of each good Moral Habit and intellectual Accomplishment : furnifhing ample Motives for our perfeverance in this Courfe, and guarding againft every Deviation from it, efpecially againft that very dangerous attendant on the nobleft Difpofitions, Pride and Self- fufficiency : keeping us in a ftrict Dependence on that God who is to be both our Guide thither and our great Reward there j in whofe Hands we always are and ought to wifh our- felves ; and to whofe Bounty alone we owe and fhould be always very fenfible that we do owe every good and every perfeB Gift. * Laftly, the more we trace the ways of Pro- vidence in the Moral World, as alfo the man- ner of conducting every Di/penfation of Reveled * James 1. 17. Re- Natural Religion and Science. 237 Religion (and we have had much better means of tracing each of them) we fee more of the Defigns and Purpofes of each than thofe before us could, and from the manner in which this Profpect has already open'd have ground to think it will flill more and more enlarge ; and though yet far from being able to comprehend the whole Scheme (which is not to be wonder'd at in Beings which fo lately fprung from Nothing) yet we do comprehend enough already to con- vince us that there is a wife and good one laid from the beginning, and executed in a regular gradation ; and from thence alfo can infer that it will ftill be farther anfwering its feveral Ends and ftill appearing more to do fo : that the Manner how this is to receive its Completion will unfold itfelf as we proceed in the ftudy of it, adding our own Obfervations to thofe of Times paft, and comparing Spiritual things with Spiritual -j as we do thofe of the Natural World with one another, whereby we have difcover'd feveral of its general Laws unknown to former Ages, and probably by them judg'd undifco- verable; and from fome others juft beginning to difcover themfelves, find more room daily to believe the Cafe will be the fame with thofe who mall come after us. And thus it may be made appear that the Means of Knowledge na- 238 The Progrefs of natural, moral and reveled have been imparted in a much more ample manner than ever to us on whom the Ends of the IVorld are come. Why a more proper Application of them does not follow, why a proportional improvement of thefe fame Advantages is not at all times made, as this feems not to have a neceffary Connection with the former, it mufl be ac- counted for on other Principles. Whether by all thefe Means the World might and ought to have more true Religion and found Morals now than formerly, will fcarcely admit a doubt : but whether it actually has or not, becomes a very different enquiry. Though perhaps fome- thing might be faid in favour of the prefent Times in both refpects. Firft, That we exceed the wifeft among ancient Heathens, who either practis'd or at lean: permitted and connived at the Worfhip of monflrous Deities and moil unnatural Rites, is readily allow'd, and with reafon attributed to the fuperiority of the Chrifiian Difpenfation, in comparifon with which former Ages are juftly term'd Days of Darknefs ; and that we of the Reformation as much excell the dark times of Monkery in rational true Piety might perhaps be as eafily granted, and with equal Juftice afcribed to the fuperior Knowledge that we Natural Religion and Science. 239 we have of our own Difpenfation. We have indeed lefs Shew and Ceremony now than ever, lefs of the Form of Godlinefs in general, but 'tis hoped not lefs of the real Power. Unprofitable Aufterities are rather chang'd for that more reafonable Service and Devotion which renders the Deity amiable and the Imitation of him ufeful to Mankind j which makes each Wor- shipper more happy in himfelf, and helpful to his Fellow-Creatures. There feems to be much lefs of Superjlition and reliance on fuch things as can at belt, be but Means to Religion, and often hardly that ; nay rather tend to take Men off the proper Principle, and fubftitute another very different in its room j teaching them to compound for real Goodnefs the Subftance of all true Religion, by that which has not fo much as even its Shadow ; and leading them to con- tend about that with fuch a Temper as could not poffibly be exercis'd or entertain'd in any thing that bore a near relation to the other. It feems, I fay, as if there were lefs of all this, and that there would be lefs yet, would all thofe who perceive its remains unite in oppofi- tion to it with that Zeal and Sobernefs which true Religion only can infpire'. As to that Spirit of Infidelity which fo re- markably prevails at prefent, thev who are con- fident 240 ^he Progrefs of fident that they underftand Religion thoroughly and profefs it in its utmoft purity, muft con- demn this Humour of examining all parts of it as abiblutely bad and of pernicious confequence : they who are not fo fanguine will conclude that there are very good Ends to be ferv'd by it, whatever be the Fate or the Intent of fuch (and fuch it muft be own'd there are) as moft injurioufly oppofe Religion : Thefe believe that there is the fame necellity for fufTering this Heretical turn in general, as for any particular Here/Ies, and that thereby already Truths of great importance are made manifeft. They fee and lament the confequences of long negledling to review Eftablifhments, and furfering the public Wifdom. of pall Ages to ferve here, and here only, for all following ones. a They think there a e But there are few Chriftian Princes who lay this to ' heart, and Divines have quite others things in their ' thoughts : their great Buftnefs is to maintain what is ' eftablifh'd, and to difpute with thofe who find fault with ' it. On the other hand, Knowledge or Refolution is * wanting, and there is not enough of Honefty or Great- ' nefs of Soul to confefs the Truth. Few Writers have 4 the courage to fpeak fo impartially as the famous Author 1 of the Hiftory of the Reformation in England has done, * in the Preface to his fccond Vol. It is thought by many ' Perfons that all would be ruin'd if the leaft alteration ' was made. Some of thefe Defedts — are now become * inviolable Cuftoms and Laws. Every body fancies true * and Natural Religion and Science. 241 has been fo much Wood, Hay, Stubble built on the Foundation as muft take a considerable time to be removed j efpecially when they fee fbme got no farther yet than to doubt whether there be occafion to have any thing at all removed, or even to deny that there is reafon either for attempting or fo much as wifhing farther Re- formation. They obferve Light and Liberty at the fame time advancing with an equal pace, and affording their mutual help, as they do generally, to feparate thefe from the Gold, Silver, Precious Stones ; many having taken the Fan in hand and refolv'd thoroughly to purge the Floor, though fbme be apt to throw away part of the good Seed together with the Chaff, which alfo generally has been the Cafe, and is a very natural one. Secondly, As to the prefent Morals, it may perhaps be a queltion whether they grow worfe upon the whole when it is confider'd, that the lefs Vices as well as UneafinefTes of paft times * and pure Chrijlianlty to be that which obtains in his 4 Country, or in the Society he lives in ; and it is not fo * much as put to the queftion whether or not fome things * mould be altered. As long as Cbrijlians are pofTefled ' with thefe Prejudices we muft not expert to fee Chrifti- ' anity reftored to an entire Purity.' Ca lifts of the prefent Corruption of Chrijiians, Part 2. p. 271. 0_ are 242 'The Progrefs of are foon forgot, and the moll flagrant , notorious ones only appear upon Record : — that we are apt to judge thofe Evils great eft which we feel ourfelves, and that Good leaft which feems to rival and eclipfe our own, and raifes Envy in the room of Admiration ; and that hence one of them is often aggravated, the other extenu- ated moft unduly. J On which account Vices may not probably be greater now in general, but we more immediately concern'd with them and fufFering under them, efpecially the reign- ing ones, ( of which there always have been fome * ) as thofe of Faction and Corruption, Luxury and Lewdnefs feem to be at prefent j and great ones indeed they are, efpecially in our own Country 5 which yet perhaps are not worfe than the reigning ones of former Times : and 'tis to be remember'd that they come at- tended with the foremention'd Advantages of Light and Liberty in fuch a degree as we can a See Bp. Fleetwood's firft Charge, p. 6, &c. and Blot's Serm. on Eccl. 7.10. with Brown's Caufes of Common Errors, B. 1. c.6, CsV. * * There is a certain Liil of Vices committed in all « Ages, and declaimed againft by all Authors, which ' will laft as long as Human Nature ; or digefted into * common places may fcrve for any Theme, and never ' be out of date until Dooms-day.' Brown's Vulgar Errors, p. 22. never Natural Religion and Science. 243 never be too thankful for, and which we hope will fpeedily correct them, the one enabling Men foon to fee their evil confequences, the other allowing them full fcope to cenfure and expofe them ; and through both thefe it may be that each other Vice becomes more open and apparent now, rather than of fuperior iize and ftrength. So that concerning the prefent Times we have fome room to think that they are not abfolutely worfe than all before them as to Morals. b Perhaps I may be allow'd to advance a ftep farther, and fuppofe them better b I believe it would be hard to produce modern in- ftances of Cruelty and Barbarity in any civilized State, whether in War or Peace, equal to fuch as were decreed publickly and executed without the lead feeming remorfe by the politeft People of Antiquity : Witnefs their fre- quent rcfufing Quarter, their Triumphs, torturing of Slaves; their Proscriptions, Poifonings, expofing Children, Rapes, &c. which need no aggravation. There is even at this Day a fort of Decency in all our public Councils and Deliberations : and I believe the boldeft of our Dema- gogues would hardly undertake in a popular Affembly to propofe any thing parallel to the Rape of the Sabines, the moft unjuft ufage of L. T. Collatinus i or the ungrate- ful treatment of Camillas, which, as a learned Father obferves, were pieces of Iniquity agreed to by the public Body of the Romans. Inftances of the fame kind with the two laft every one knows occur frequently among the Greeks as well as Romans in the politeft Ages of their Government, fee Sir T. P. Blount Kfl* p. I qj> in 244 ^ e Progrefs of in fome refpects ; that we have certain Virtues now in greater Perfection, particularly more of true Charity or Ufifaerfal Benevolence^ than ever fince the time of primitive Chrijlianity . c — But if this be deem'd a miftake and too partial fondnefs for the prefent Times, I truft it will be alfo judg'd a pardonable one amid fo much moft evident Partiality againft them ; efpecially as it is on the charitable fide, and tends to make them really better than they would be, did worfe opinions of them univerfally prevail : which brings me, in the laft place, to the Con- fequences that attend the other way of thinking. Thefe have been hinted at in the beginning of this Difcourfe, and might be fhewn more particularly to affect the Honour of God, our own Happinefs, and that of others ; in as much as the foregoing fuppofition cafts a Cloud over c I may add, that there feems to be a more perfect, refignation to the Will of God and aequiefcence in his Providence among all Ranks of Men ; a greater Firm- nefs in enduring Pain, mofe Chearfulnefs and Courage in fubmitting to Death, among the generality even of loweft Education : in fhort, that Mankind may be faid to grow more fpiritual and intelle£lual y in thefe and many other refpefts, than they have been in former Ages. ' I think it may be faid, in Honour of the prefent Age, ' that Controverfy is carried on with more Decency and * good Manners than in any former Period of time that ' can Natural Religion and Science. 245 all the Works of God, confounds our Notions of his Wifdom, Power and Goodnefs, raifes Diftruft, if not Difbelief of all his Perfections, and thereby deadens our Devotion toward him; damps and difcourages all Study, and deftroys the pleafure that would arife from a Survey of both the Natural and Moral World, and a Reflection on the Station we hold in them ; renders us far lefs fenlible of the Happineis within our power, and by confequence makes us receive lefs from them; not only hinders Men from growing better, but actually makes them worfe, and fuffers the World daily to decline through a perfwafion that it is defign'd to do fo ; it having been obferv'd that thole Writings which villamze Mankind have a per- nicious tendency towards propagating and pro- tecting Villany, and help moil of all to teach ' can be named ; which together with the Toleration ' granted by Law in this and other Proteftant Countries * for all Perfons to worfhip God in tjieir own way, and « that Chrijiian Charity and Moderation which is gener- ' ally fhewn towards thole that differ from us, feems al- ' ready to be attended with good Effect the fetting up i fo many Charity-Schools as have of late years been creeled * in thefe Kingdoms, — the forming of Religious Societies, * and other good means, have greatly contributed to the « promoting the Knowledge and pra&ife of Virtue and « Religion among us.' Worthingtori% Eflay, p. 157,158. 0^3 and 246 *£he Progrefi of and encourage it •> in the fame manner as thofe which perpetually dwell on the dark fide of things and difficulties that attend our fearch after the ways of God, ferve only to darken the view flill more and multiply thefe very Difficulties. How much better both the End and the Effect of thofe which place Human Nature in its faireft Light, and reprefent the lovely Form as worthy of its Author 5 as well as of thofe that difplay the Beauty and Beneficence of the Divine Oeconomy, and produce an Af- furance of that paternal Care and Conduct of us here, which brings the trueft Enjoyment and moft grateful Acknowledgement of prefent Benefits, and likewife begets a joyful Hope and Expectation of more fubftantial ones hereafter ! The Confequences of the foregoing Doctrine might be urg'd farther in regard both to the Atheift and Deift, to convince the one that all things have not gone at random, but that there are plain tokens of a Plan and Government, and from what has already part, reafon to think that more of it will ever appear and in a flill more perfect manner : to fhew the other, that as the feveral Difpenfations of what we call Reveled Religion have hitherto been in the main conformable to thofe of Providence in both the natural and moral World, this poffibly may Natural Religion and Science. 247 may come from the fame Author, and receive yet farther increafe, which thefe alfo do as they are daily better underftood. But if this be not the cafe in any degree here, we feem to have nothing left whereon to ground an Analogical Argument ( which yet is our beft, if not our only natural Argument) for an hereafter - y no vifible footfteps of Wifdom and Goodnefs to conduct us in our fearch after a Firft Caufe, no fettled foundation for our Hopes of Futurity, the bafis of all Natural Religion : All is Chaos and Confufion thus far, and there- fore may be fo, for ought we know, eternally ; either without any good confident Scheme at all, or that as foon as fix'd unfix'd again, and difappointed : — in (hort, the Divine Govern- ment, if there be one, muft on this Scheme be inferior to moil Human Adminiftrations. Thus- then we fee how neceflary it is to form right Notions of the pad State of the World, efpe- cially in regard to that important point, Religion^ in order to judge how it will be for the future, and in what manner we are to conduct our- felves. If it has hitherto been really progreffive, we find good reafon to expect the fame ftill farther. We have flrong motives to go into this Scheme ourfelves, and clear directions how to proceed in it, Inftead of looking back and o^4 la- 248 The Progrefs of labouring to confine it to the model of pail Times, we learn rather with the great Apofile^ to forget thofe things which are behind \ reaching forward unto thofe things that are before, and prejjing toward the Mark. * And to ufe the fame Apoflle's advice, Let us therefore as many as defire to be perfect y be thus minded. As we have the beft means of effecting this within our Power ; as we live under the mildeft, moft indulgent of all Governments, and enjoy the Blefling of Liberty in that perfection which has been unknown to former Ages ; a Blefling [ fuffer me once more to remind us of it ] which includes every thing valuable in Life, and above all things tends moft to accelerate the Progrefs abovementioned : Let us inftead of making it either a Covering for Sedition^ againft fuch a Government, or a Caufe of gratifying our Malicioufnefs againft each other, be diligent in ufjng it to the good purpofes for which it is fo liberally indulg'd us, and render ours as much fuperior to thofe Nations that are deprived of it, as moft other Countries are obferved to have been in like Circumftances. Let us concur with this aufpicious courfe of Providence, and each contribute our endear * Phil. 3. 13, & c . f Vid. Benfon on I Pet- 1- 16. yours Natural Religion and Science. 249 vours towards carrying on this Progrefs by every ferious, fair and free Enquiry : free, not only from all outward Violence and Clamour, but alfo from ( what our mod holy Religion with the greateft reafon equally condemns as being the Root from whence thefe fpring) all inward Bitternefs, Wrath, Hatred: learning to bear with one another's Miftakes in this as well as other matters ; nay rather the more here, fince thefe are of the higheft confequence, and this the only proper method to remove them : thus labouring as well to reform the Errors of our Brethren in Love, as to promote and con- firm their Knowledge of the Truth ; not for that in either cafe we have Dominion over their Faith , but as being Helpers of their Joy. * And thus mail Religion be at length fuffer'd to partake the Benefit of thofe Improvements which every thing befide enjoys. I defire it may be obferv'd here once for all, that when I mention Improvements in Religion I don't by any means intend a Difcovery of new Points, or improving upon the original Revelation itfelf J in any thing effential to the general Doctrine of Salvation : but only a more perfect compre- henfion of what was formerly deliver'd ; a view * 2 Cor. 1. 24. % Sec Part 2. p. 86, 87. Of 250 ¥be Progrefs of of the extent and excellence of this great Myftery conceaPd from former Ages, and which though given almoft all at once, yet was re- ceiv'd perhaps but partially, at leaft by the bulk of Mankind, as was obferv'd above, -j- and foon adulterated to fuch a degree, as ( I beg leave to repeat it ) may take yet more time to rectify -, efpecially when fo much Rubbifh has been iince continually thrown upon the Scrip- tures, both by Tranflators and Expofitors, as if we fet aiide the care of a particular Provi- dence (which has in this refpecl: [fo far I mean as relates to the Text ] been very remarkable ) might make us juftly wonder they have not funk under it. This has in thefe parts of the World been for fome time a clearing off by the help of a more found Philofophy, as well as by more fober Rules of Criticifm, a much more clofe, confident method of Interpretation; which mud produce as great a difference in them as if they were quite different Books. Though perhaps even here it would not be a difficult talk, were it not too invidious, to fuggeft means of yet farther Improvement. Perhaps we ought to attend ftill more to the Hebrew Idiom, and obferve the vaft difparity between the Eaftern way of fpeaking and our f ib. p. 85. own; Natural Religion and Science. 251 own ; for want of which, 'tis to be fear'd, we oft retain the Words without the Senfe, nay with a very different one, and by adhering too much to the Letter are apt to overftrain mod things, and carry them both beyond common Reafon and the nature of the Subject. Perhaps- our very Reverence for thefe facred Writings mifapply'd, our too unguarded Zeal to do them honour and fupport their Divine Authority againft that Church which fubftitutes another in its room, may have contributed to caft a Cloud over the whole, which makes us as it were afraid to look into them, and examine them with the fame freedom that we do and find we muil do every other Book which we defire to underftand : — I mean the Notion of an abfolute, immediate infpiration of each part and period, even where the Writers themfelves, by the very manner of exprefling themfelves > mod: effectually difclaim it : a which befide the bad effects it may be fuppofed to have at pre- fent, when once it appears, as foon perhaps it may, to have no good foundation in thefe holy Books," 'tis to be fear'd, it will produce a » See Inftances in Whitby on the N. T. Gen. Pref. p.6. al As I would not give any unneceflary Offence in fuch a tender point as this, which moft Writers are flill very unwilling to give up exprcfsly, though they fcem tbrc'd 252 'The Progrefs of worfe, by tending to difcredit that partial one whether of Guidance or Suggejlion, which upon fbme occafions they do claim, which is abfo- lutely requifite to fecure a due authority to them, fore'd to treat it either in a confufed or a contradi&ory way, I fhall beg leave to explain myfelf a little upon this Head. The true fenfe then of the Divine Authority of the Books of the O. T. and which perhaps is enough to de- nominate them in general 0io9mi/ro», feems to be this, that as in thofe times God has all along, befide the in- fpe&ion of his general Providence, interfered upon par- ticular occafions by giving exprefs Commiflions to fome Perfons ( thence call'd Prophets ) to declare his will in various manners and degrees of evidence [fee Smith. Sel. Difc N.6. ] as beft fuited the Occafion, Time and Nature of the fubjec~t, and in all other cafes left them and the reft of the World wholly to themfelves ; in like manner he has interpofed his more immediate afliftance ( and notify'd it to them, as they did to the World ) in the recording of thefe Revelations, fo far as that was ne~ ceffary, amidft the common ( but from hence term'd Sacred ) Hiftory of thofe times, and mix'd with various other Occurrences, in which the Hiftorian's own natural Qualifications were fufEcient to enable him to relate things with all the accuracy they required, and where a fuper- natural interpofition would have been unworthy of its Author : which mixture of Divine and Human in the fame Times, Things, Perfons and their Hiftory, feems much more conformable to the other Works of God, and affords many Circumftances which more clearly evince and will in all ages more inconteftibly confirm the Reality of a Divine concurrence ( by offering fo many means to confute every pretended inftance of it were it groundlefs) than Natural Religion and Science, 253 and which when prudently diftinguifii'd from the other has, and we truft ever will appear to have, ground fufficient to fupport itfelf. To this high, I had almoft faid, blind, reverence than if fuch Revelations had been all made at one time, by themfelves and by men altogether over-ruled in the delivery of them. This likewife feems in a good meafure to have been the cafe with the N. T. Writers;- who not- withstanding the things they were to deliver are moftly of greater confequence and more clofely united in point of Time, Place and other Circumftances ; notwithftand- ing the extraordinary afliftance of the Spirit which was to abide with them and lead them into all neceiTary Truth, and for the moft part either the thing itfelf (hews, or they give us fufficient intimation when they have recourfe to that afliftance ; yet from the very form in which they ufually deliver them it muft appear, that this Influence is no lefs frequently fufpended in the delivery of thefe fun- damental Truths ; and befide thefe, how oft do the fame Perfons condefcend to treat of other inferior, controverfial Matters, ufeful indeed fome to the then prefent, fome to all future times, but furely of a very different nature from the former, and in which that Influence and Afliftance does not feem fo requifite ! How juftly do they place the Evidence of Fads on their own Senfes only ! declaring tvhatthey have feen and heard, which at all times may, and which alone can be produced as proper Proof. In Reafon- ings how beautifully do they add their private Sentiments, and in affairs of fmaller moment even their Conjectures, to what they had received from the Lord himfelf ! where Circumftances fliew us the expediency of fuch Additions, and where Common Senfe was and will be always equally fufficient to diftinguifh one from the other, as it is to in- 254 ^ e ^rogrefs of for the words of Holy Scriptures, perhaps I may be allow'd to add another full as great relating to the Senfe : not the true, real one, for which we cannot furely have too much concern ; but one which lbmetimes widely varies from it, and yet is very apt to flip into its place, the commonly receiv'd, traditional one. This Doctrine we learn from thofe very Adverfaries which in the former we were driving to oppofe : and though indeed it have a fhew of deference to public Wifdom and interpret the whole Scriptures, fo far as they become ne- ceflary to be interpreted, without any other more infal- lible Guide. But Common Senfe is generally laid afide in Subjects of this nature. Many good Men think they can never do too much to decry it, to fet the Bible at variance with it, or carry the whole up beyond its reach, though by fchemes merely of their own Invention, rather than forming any judgement from what they really find in that facred Book. Not content with a Moral Evidence of its Truths which is clear, ftrong and every way fuffi- cient for the conviction of all fair Enquirers, they mull needs introduce another where there is no room for it, and infift on fuch univerfal abfolute Infallibility as never can be made out to thofe who are not already perfwaded of it (and who can have no other Evidence for fuch perfwafion than the fame moral one on which that Truth js ^rounded ) and which is at lalf either ufekfs or incon- fiftent with thofe natural Proofs which conftitute the Credibility of this and every other Hiftory fo circum- ftane'd. Is not a Moral Evidence enough to allure us of the Natural Religion and Science, 255 Humility^ yet in time probably may be attended with no better Confequences ; if Men cannot diftinguifh pure primitive Chrijiianity from that which oft may happen not to be fuch, and through which the other always fuffers ; and if in this, which of all things is moil: delerving of their care and caution, they will content themfelves with the Senfe of the Multitude, and take that for a fure, fufficient Rule, which they know to be far from even excufing thofc who have means of judging for themfelves, the Genuinenefs and Incorruptnefs of thefe Writings ? Why fhould it not then, where it can take place, be fufficient for the Authors themfelves to proceed on in writing, and equally afcertain the Truth of what they have written ? and why fhould the generality of the Compofition (were any great ftrefs ever to be laid upon it) be deem'd altogether Divine, when the Conveyance, which fo much affecls that, is allow'd to be no more than Human ? Moft Perfons now begin to fee that there is at leaft fome mixture of this latter in the Language, and I believe upon due confideration it will appear that there is no greater Difficulty to admit it in the Senfe on feveral Occafions. I am very fenfible that what is here hinted is too fuper- ficial to give any tolerable fatisfaction on fo nice a point, but can with great Truth aflure the Reader, that the in- tention of it is not to degrade or in the leaft difparage the Holy Scriptures, but rather to free them from an unneceflary load of Objections and render them more ufeful to the chief purpofes for which I humbly apprehend they were defign'd. and 256 'The Progrefs of Natural Religion ', &c. and which they would be extremely unwilling to abide by in almoft any other cafe, —r- But I fhould be forry to be found fo far contradicting my main Defign as to make things in any re- ipect worfe at prefent than they really are. On this Subiect I could hardly avoid hinting at fome few of thofe Rubs that feem to lie mod in our way to Perfection : but notwithstanding thefe or any others which could be produced, I mull beg leave to conclude that we have Encouragement enough left to proceed with chearfulnefs and vigour in it, till every thing which lets, in God's good time be taken away, and true Religion, Righteoufnefs and Virtue mine in perfect Beauty : //'// we all come in the Unity of the Faith and of the Knowledge of the Son of God j unto a perfedl Man, unto the mea~ jure of the Stature of the Fulnefi ofChrifi. f i-n 1 s. ERRATA. PAGE 1 8. line 10. after unreafonable in itfelf add which I thin'c may be fairly done after what has been wrote upon the fubjeft both by Dr. Jenkin V. i. c. i. and the Ingenious Author of an Enqitiry into the Evidence of the Chrijlian Religion, feft 8. — p. 63. Note, 1. 26. for Faith, in reed Faith in, — p. 71. 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