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<y to the Hiftory was fo notorious as to dejecT: and irritate 
 the latter, and which cannot I think be accounted for 
 other wife than by the Interpofition of God, nor that re- 
 markable Interpofition folved on other Principles than 
 Cains prefuming to omit the prefcribed Viclim (otherwife 
 his Portion of the Fruits of the Ground might well ap- 
 pear to be as juft and natural a Tribute of Devotion from 
 one in his province, as fome part of the Flock was from 
 his Brother, as we have not the leait intimation of any 
 difference in the fincerity of their Difpofitions whereon to 
 ground the above Diitinction between them) this, I fay, 
 feems a fufficient proof that Sacrifice was of Divine Infti- 
 tution , and is but ill refolved by Spencer L. 3. c, 4. S, 2. The? 
 
 fame
 
 of Reveled Religion. 59 
 
 The T'ime of their Worfhip feems likewife to 
 have had the fame origin, as well from God's 
 blefTing and fanctifying the Seventh day, -f and 
 the ancient method of reckoning by Weeks || 
 [a method much more ancient than the obfer- 
 vation of the (even. Planets to which Le Clerc 
 afcribes it. Not. ad Grot ': de Ver : 1. 16. p. 42. J 
 As from the earlieft obfervance of that Sabbath 
 in all Nations of the World, b without any 
 ground in nature for fuch praclife, or the lead 
 hint or probability of its arifing from Human 
 Invention. c 
 
 fame thing is inferred with a good deal of probability from 
 the mention of thofe Coats of Skins which the Lord jnadefor 
 Adam and his Wife, Gen. 3. 21. which feem moft likely 
 to have been of thofe Beafts that were offered in facrifice* 
 and might perhaps be in fome meafure of the fame intend- 
 ment with that Sacrifice} for the difcovery of which rather 
 difficult and difagreeable way of Worfhip one would think 
 they mould ftand in need of God's particular direction, as 
 much at leaft as for that other more eafy and obvious one 
 of clothing themfelves. Concerning the ufe and propriety 
 of this kind of clothing at that time, fee Leland's Anfw. 
 to Chrifiianity as old, &c. p. 503, &c. 
 f GVH.2.3. £.xW. 16. 25,26. 
 
 II Gen. 8.IO, 12. 39.27. Eccl"*. 22. 12. 
 
 b Jofeph. contra. Ap.L.2. Exod. 16. PhilodeOp. Mund. 
 Selden de Jur. N. L. 3. c. 10. 1 1 . &c. Eufeb. Evang. Przep. 
 13.12. Grot, de Ver. L. i.e. 16. comp. Univers. Hifi. 
 Note M. p. 602. and Mix's Reflexions. B. 1. c. 7. 
 
 c See Rymer'sReprcfent. of Reveled Religion y c.2. And the 
 fame may be faid of Tithes. Jenkin. V. 1. p. 102. Authors 
 
 on
 
 6o Of the fever alDifpenfatiom 
 
 And that in thofe days they had frequent 
 intercourfe with the Deity, and were made fen- 
 fible of his efpecial prefence in fome places, ap- 
 pears farther from his Difcourfe with Cain both 
 
 en each of thefe points may be feen in Dr. Waterland's. 
 firft Charge, p. 41 . &c. On Sacrifices in particular Carpzov. 
 Introd. p. 118. and Budde Hi/l. Eccl. P. i.S. 1. 30. **. 
 p. 115. The Diftinction that we meet with afterwards 
 [ Gen. 7. 28, &c ] between clean and unclean Beafts, 
 which manifeftly relates to Sacrifice, fhews likewife the 
 continuance of that kind of Worfhip, and feems to prove 
 that it was not owing to any human eftablifhment, any 
 more than this diftinftion itfelf could be. And that the 
 Men of thefe, as well as after Ages, had both fufficient 
 authority and inftruclion to ufe the Flefh of the former 
 fort of Beafts for Food, as well as clothe themfelves with 
 their Skins, appears to me as plain as that the tending and 
 taking care of fuch was their chief bufinefs and occupa- 
 tion. Nor can I comprehend what merit there could be 
 at any time in their making Offerings unto the Lord their 
 God of that zvhich coji them nothing, of that which they 
 could not eat ; or how they came to diftinguifh [ which 
 they did very early ] between Fat and Lean, between the 
 good choice pieces, and others, unlefs they had tafted them 
 themfelves : though 'tis upon this chimerical fuppofition 
 that the ufe of Animal Food was not included in the 
 original Grant of abfolute Dominion given to Mankind 
 over all the Creatures [fome of which could be of no other 
 fervice to them] that the great Grotius and others founded 
 their attempt to explain away all Animal Sacrifice before 
 the Deluge. c Eaedem pecudes, quse ad efum, etiam ad 
 s facrificia a Noacho zd\\\h\t2£: ; fcil, munds quotquot erant 
 ' Gen. 8, 20, Hie facrificiorum ufus cum Diluvio fit anti- 
 
 1 quiorj
 
 of Reveled Religion. 6 1 
 
 before and after the Murther of his Brother, * 
 as alfo from Cain's Complaint of being hid from 
 his Face, -f and his going out from the prefence 
 of the Lord. J Nor is it at all likely that Adam y 
 
 " quior, idem de pecudum cfu nobis perfuafum, contra 
 
 * quam multi fentiunt. Neque enim Abel in facrificium 
 c id obtuliflet Deo, quo vefci nefas credidifTet, et fruftra 
 ' pavifTet agnos quibus non licuiflet uti. Quin ipfa diftinctio 
 ' animalium in munda et immunda docet alia permifla 
 
 * fuifle, alia prohibita. Neque enim in animalibus natura 
 ( fuaquicquam immundum. Sed immundum id eft ex lege, 
 ' cujus efus interdicitur. Itaque illud, Gen. 1.29. Vobis erit 
 6 in clbum, non folum ad plantas referimus, fed etiam ad 
 ' Animalia, de quibus praeeedenti verfu actum fuerat. 
 Bochart. Hieroz. p.n. edit.4. Comp. Bip.Clayton's Anfw. 
 %o Dr. Delaney in the blood-eating Controverfy. — I am 
 extremely forry to find here that I have been differing 
 from the ingenious Author of Philemon to Hydafpes, who 
 in his fifth Part is fo far from allowing any kind of Sacri- 
 fice to be a Divine Inftitution, that he declares c the general 
 *■ Notion of the thing itfelf to be in every view of it fo 
 c glaring an Abfurdity, that he is amazed that it mould 
 ' ever enter into the head of any Rational Creature.' p. 10. 
 As I have the greateft deference for the Character and 
 Sentiments of (o very worthy and able a writer, I think 
 myfelf obliged to add a tew words more in confidering 
 fome of the Reafons offered to fupport this Declaration. 
 Firft, « The very Idea of a Divine Being implies in it fuch 
 4 a fuperior Excellency of Nature as to be wholly out of 
 * the reach of our good Offices.' He neither wants, nor 
 can receive Benefit from them. ib. Nor, Secondly, ' can 
 4 we fuppofe that the Gods fhould ever be pleafed with 
 J the mere wafte of their own Productions,' p. 13. 
 
 Thirdly, 
 *Gw,4- 6,9. t'v-H- t *»• *6>
 
 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<r»y, ewy, TTPoxoTrns yevofAtvrtf tiq vvvtciii 
 *xi rxq Xonrxq uostccs, xai tw svpevw ruv Tfp/vwv, Juv?i0w<r» 
 xxi xa9 'tx'jTaq £r,v, a X. pr '^ 0VTi< > 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: <f that is, if he will preferve 
 and profper me in my undertakings, he {hall 
 be my God rather than any other, and upon 
 that Condition only. And it appears not to 
 have been till after many fuch Revelations, 
 JBlemngs and Deliverances, and being reminded 
 of this Promife, J that he fet himfelf in earneft 
 to reform the Religion of his own Family by 
 driving out all ftrange Gods. 11 When Jacob faid 
 unto his Houfehold and to all that were with 
 him, Put away theflrange Gods that are among 
 you and be clean, and change your Garments, 
 and let us arife and go up to Bethel, and I will 
 make there an Altar unto God who anfwered me 
 
 * Gen. 35. 5. 
 
 * Weljied. Scheme of Providence, p. 51, &c. 
 
 -\ Gen. 2%. 21,22. $c.35.i. || c. 35. 2, 3. 
 
 m
 
 of Reveled Religion. 87 
 
 in the day of my diftrefs, and was with me in 
 the way which I went. h 
 
 Thus was God obliged to treat even with 
 the Patriarchs themfelves by way of pofitive 
 Covenant and exprefs Compact j to promife to 
 be their God if they would be his People ; to 
 give them a portion of prefent temporal BlefT- 
 ings as introductory to and an earned: of future 
 fpiritual ones, and engage them in his fervice 
 by immediate Rewards, till they could be led 
 on to higher views, and were prepared by the 
 bringing in of a better Hope to draw nigh unto 
 him. And we may obferve what care was al- 
 ways taken to fuit the feveral Difpenfations to 
 the ftate of the World, and introduce each as 
 foon as it was wanted, and in fuch a wav as 
 was moft necefTary to correct: Diforders and 
 reform Abufes as they rofe, and thereby keep 
 up a Face of Religion and gradually increafe 
 the Subftance of it : in the fame manner as 
 Providence always took care to impart to 
 Mankind ib much Knowledge of the World, 
 
 b The Idolatry here mentioned may perhaps be thought 
 chiefly to relate to the SbecbemiteWomcn injacob's Houfe- 
 hold, Gen. 34. 29. See Sbuckford, B. 7. p. 164. However, 
 that he himfelf had yet but very imperfect notions of the 
 Deity, particularly of his Omniprejhice^ is obferved by 
 Le Clerc on Gen. 28. 16. and to the fame purpofe CfrlU. 
 Alex. L.4. p. 115. there cited. 
 
 F 4 the
 
 88 Of the feveral Dijpenfations 
 
 the ways of cultivating it and Arts of living, 
 as was requifite to make Life a BlefTing to 
 them ; though their Knowledge of both kinds 
 was neither of fo refined a Nature nor fo high 
 a degree as it muft grow to by the experience 
 and Improvements of after Ages. Mankind 
 were fcarcely got out of their Childhood yet, 
 with regard to what may be called the Theory 
 of Religion ; and notwithftanding there might 
 always be fome extraordinary Perfons who had 
 a more enlarged profpect of things and enter- 
 tained more worthy fentiments of the Divine 
 Providence, fuch as Enoch, Noah, Abraham and 
 the like ; yet thefe were far fuperior to the 
 Times in which they lived, and we have reafon 
 to think that the generality, both in this and 
 fome later Ages, extended their Views no 
 farther than the prefent Life and its Conveni- 
 ences: a and though from the confufed Re- 
 mains of ancient Tradition they acknowledged 
 fome Power above them, and frequently ap- 
 plied thither for direction in their Affairs ; yet 
 
 * This feems to have been the cafe even with Abraham 
 himfelf for fome time, who upon having this extraordinary 
 promife made to him by God in a Vifion, Gen. 15. 1. 
 I am thy Jhield and thy exceeding great Reward; rifes no 
 higher in his anfwer than only to requeft an heir for his 
 Subftance. v. 2. 3. And Abram /aid, Lord God, what 
 
 zvilt
 
 of Reveled Religion. S 9 
 
 it was in the petty Affairs of this World only, 
 and their Belief and Worfhip were accordingly. 
 How many of thefe Superiour Powers there 
 might be, or how far their Influence might 
 reach they knew not : uncertain whether there 
 was one fupreme Governour of the whole 
 World, or many coordinate Powers prefiding 
 over each Country * or Climate or particular 
 Place j -f Gods of the Hills and of the Valleys, 
 as they were termed in after times. J They 
 thought the more of thefe they could engage 
 in their Intereft the better, and therefore where.*, 
 ever they came, like the Samaritans, they 
 fought the manner of the God of the Land, and 
 ferved him together with their own Gods. || 
 Thus was the World running apace into 
 Idolatry, and ready to lofe the very notion of 
 the true God and his Worfhip, had he not 
 been pleafed to interpofe and take effectual care 
 to prefer ve them in fome one Nation, to be 
 kept apart from the common Contagion, and 
 made as it were the Repofitary of true Religion 
 
 wilt thou give me feeing 1 go childlefs, and the Steward of 
 my houfe is this Eliexer of Damafcus ? And Abram faid t 
 Behold, to me thou hall given no feed ; and Is, one born in 
 tsy houfe is mine heir. 
 
 * 2 Kings 1 8. 34, 35. f See Numb. 23. 1 3, 27. 
 X 1 Kings 20. 23. 28. vid. Calmet. \\ 2 Kings 17. 33. 
 
 and
 
 no Of the fever al Difpenfations 
 
 and a Channel to convey it to the reft of Man- 
 kind as foon and in as high a degree as they 
 mould become capable of receiving it. To this 
 purpofe he makes way for the removal of 
 Jacob and his Family to one of the moft im- 
 proved and polifVd parts of the World at that 
 time, and introduces them into it in fo advan- 
 tageous a manner as to give them opportunity 
 of imparting fomewhat of the true Religion 
 with advantage to the moft confiderable Families 
 in it, and without any danger of fharing their 
 Corruptions. They are placed by themfelves 
 upon the Borders of Egypt, were they multi- 
 ply exceedingly, yet by their very occupation * 
 are ftill kept a feparate People, and afterwards 
 rendered more averfe to the Manners and Re- 
 ligion of their Neighbours by a long and a 
 ievere Oppremon. Which though it might at 
 firft perhaps have chiefly been occafioned by 
 their Oppofition to Idolatry, -J- yet became 
 very neceffary both to keep up that Oppofition, 
 and to inure them to Reftraint and Govern- 
 ment ; and that it might have the effects in- 
 tended, but not proceed fo far as to reduce 
 them to an entire fubjection and conformity to 
 that more potent Nation, through a defpair of 
 
 * See Gen. 46. 33, 34. 
 
 f Sec Mr. Chandler Vinci of O. T. p. 487. 
 
 any
 
 of Reveled Religion. 9 1 
 
 any Deliverance, the precife time of this their 
 Trial was foretold to Abraham * and as foon 
 as it had been accompli ilied, and they had cryed 
 for help to their God, *j- they are brought 
 back in as wonderful a way as they had been 
 fent thither; which alfo was foretold to Jacob, J 
 and repeated by Jofepb, || all the Circumftances 
 whereof are at large related in their Hiftory: And, 
 I muft add, with all thofe Characters of Truth 
 and Confiftency which might have been fhewn 
 ( were this a place for it ) to receive new con- 
 firmation from every fuch attempt to burlefque 
 and expofe it as is made by a late profligate 
 Writer. a The God of Ifrael having at length 
 magnified himfelf over the Egyptians and their 
 Gods, b by a feries of the moll altonifhing 
 Miracles, and refcued his People from them in 
 fuch a manner as mull: ftrike the utmoll: furprife 
 and terror into the whole Land, and fpread his 
 name much farther by means of the many 
 Strangers that ufed to travel thither c in order 
 to be acquainted with the Hiftory of that famous 
 
 * Jfisj.6. f Exod. 2. 23. %Gen. 46.4. and 48.21. 
 H Gen. 50.24,25. 
 
 1 Moral Pbifofopker. In trod, to v. 3. 
 b Exod. 12. 12. Ntunb. 33. 4. 2 Sam. 7. 23. 
 c Sec the notes below, with Mr. Chandler's Vind. of the 
 Hift. of the O.T. Part 2. p. 464. &c. and p. 499. 
 
 Nation,
 
 9 2 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom 
 
 Nation, from whom the greateft part of the 
 world derived their Policy and Religion : d 
 having thus, I fay, made his Name great among 
 the Heathen, as well as work'd fo confpicuous 
 a Deliverance for his chofen People as might, 
 one would think, have been fufficient to engage 
 them for ever in his fervice, he proceeds to 
 inftrucl: and exercife them for fome time in 
 the Wildemefs \ he exhorts and intreats them 
 to their Duty, and warns them againft all the 
 Vices of the People round about ; gives them 
 Statutes and Judgements more righteous * than 
 thofe of any other Nation, and fuch as were to 
 be a model to the reft of the world j e fends his 
 Angel before them to keep them in the way, -j- 
 takes upon himfelf the civil Government of 
 them, f and by his prefence guides, guards, 
 directs them in all their undertakings. He con- 
 duels them through the neighbouring Nations 
 with repeated Signs and Wonders, 3 and continues 
 
 * Vjd. Diod. Sic. L. i. Herodot. L. 2. c. 43, &c , 
 
 * Nehem. 9. 13. 
 
 ' V'7°f e ph- contr.y//). Selden de Jur. Gent. Sec. paflim. 
 
 f Exod. 23. 20. 
 
 f The Neceflity for this is well explain'd by Mr. War- 
 burton. Div. Leg. B. 5. S. 2. p. 366. — 374, &c. 
 
 a Numb. 14. 14. They have heard that thou, Lord, art 
 among this People, that thou, Lord, art feen face to face, and 
 that thy Cloud fiandeth over them, and that thou goejl be- 
 fore them by day time in a Pillar of a Cloud, and in a Pillar
 
 of Reveled Religion. 93 
 
 to try and difcipline them till they were at 
 length tolerably well attach'd to his Govern- 
 ment and eftablifhd in his worfhip; till they 
 were fit to poflefs the promis'd Land, and till 
 the prefent Inhabitants were ripe for Destruc- 
 tion. * At their entrance into it he gives them 
 more fuch Ordinances b both of a ceremonial 
 and moral kind as were bell: fuited to their 
 Temper and Circumftances, and adapted every 
 way to prevent the Dangers and correct the Ir- 
 regularities which they were conftantly liable to, c 
 
 cf Fire by night ; v. 15. — The Nations have heard the fame 
 of thee, add Deut.2.25. Jq/h.2. 10. iSam.4.. 8. 6.6. which 
 places, by the bye, furnifh us with an Anfwer to that Ob- 
 jection of the Moral Philofopher, V. 3. p. 183. that * had 
 
 * God given any fuch — Authority to the I fra elites as is 
 ' hereafter mention'd — he would have let the People of 
 
 * Palejline know it, and in fome authentic way or other 
 4 affured them, that he had given away their Country to 
 4 Strangers and Foreigners ; and that if they did not leave 
 
 * the Land and give up all their natural lawful Pofleflions^ 
 4 Rights and Properties peaceably and without oppofition, 
 
 * they muff be all cut to pieces, Men, Women, and 
 4 Children' : though this was not the truth of the cafe 
 of which more below. 
 
 * Gen. 15. 16. 
 
 b Deut.i.%, 5.27.31. Nehem.q.i^. 
 c See Dr. Burnet's Boyle's Lett. p. 541. Fol. and the 
 excellent Author of Div. Leg. V.2. B.4. S. 6. 4 It feems 
 
 * not to have been God's intention at firft to lay upon 
 c them fuch numbers of Ceremonies •, for it was only after 
 
 4 thr
 
 94 Of the federal Dijpenfations 
 
 as well as to prefigure d and by degrees prepare 
 them for a more perfect Difpenfation under 
 the Mejjiah. The moral part breath'd nothing 
 but Equity and Benevolence; it diffwaded them 
 from all kinds of Cruelty and Oppreffion by 
 reminding them of their late heavy Sufferings, 
 and inculcated the greatefl Humanity both to- 
 ward each other, toward Strangers, Servants, 
 Enemies, and even the Beafts of the field. e 
 The Ceremonial parts were folemn and fplen- 
 did, f apt to engage and fix the attention of a 
 People whofe heart was grofs , fitted to infpire 
 
 * the commifTion of the Sin of the Golden Calf, that God 
 ' laid on them that heavy and troublefome yoak, on pur- 
 ' pofe to employ all their time and fo keep them from 
 
 * falling into Idolatry again'. Alllx Rejiex. p. 203. Comp, 
 Spencer de Leg. Heb. L. 1. c. 4. S. 4. Burnet de Fid. et 
 Ojf.p.iy. from 7^.7.22.23. [on the other fide fee 
 Shuckfordy V.3. p. 151. ] If this be a true account of the 
 Jewijb Inftitution, then though it really was, what it is 
 term'd, a Yoke of Bondage , yet neverthelefs it might well 
 be impofed by God himfelf, as being the fittcft thing for 
 the People to whom, and the times in which it was de- 
 li ver'd, and confequently not unworthy of having God for 
 its Author, as a loofe modern Writer wou'd infinuate, 
 Moral Philofopher 9 V.I. p. 51, &c. 
 
 A See Dr. Burnett. Boyle's Lecl. Fol. 547. or Dr. Berri- 
 man, Serm.23. 
 
 • Exod. 22. 21.- 27. and 23. 5,6, 9,-12. ZW. 5. 14.10* 
 18.14.21.i6.il. and 22. 1.-4.6,7. 23.7.24.10, &rV. 25- 
 1. -4.26. 12.27.19. £o/. 14. 9,10. 19. 23. -37. and 25. 
 
 35-
 
 of Reveled Religion. 95 
 
 them with an awful Reverence, and withdraw 
 their Affections from the Pomp and Pageantry 
 of Idol Wormip, which had fo very furprifing- 
 ly bewitch'd the world about that time. It was 
 fill'd with operofe, magnificent Rites to keep 
 them duly employ'd and attach'd to it, and fo far 
 mix'd and incorporated with their civil Polity 
 that the fame things were Duties of Religion 
 and Acts of State, and the Service of God be- 
 came the conftant Bufinefs as well as Enter- 
 tainment of their Lives ; and ferv'd them in- 
 ftead of all other Entertainments. a Nor was 
 
 35.-38. fee Univ. Hijl. p.675. and 685. Leland'sAnCw. to 
 yCbrijtianity as old Sec. V. 2. p. 447 &c. Le Clerc on Gen.%. 
 9. IC Pbilo. de Char'itate. Jofeph. contr. Jp. L. 2. 
 
 f See Mr. JVelJled's Scheme of Prov. p. 70, f0c. or 
 Agreement of Cuftoms between the Eajl- Indians and 
 Jews, Art. 3. p. 23. 
 
 a See Univerfal Hijl. p. 694. and JVeljhd, p. 72, £sV. 
 or Edwards's Survey, V. I. p. 242, 255, fafr. or Limborcb 
 Amic. Collat. p. 317. We may add,. that the Ceremonial 
 part itfelf might have a moral view, reprefenting feverai 
 Duties to them in that emblematical and Parabolic way 
 which was well known and commonly made ufe of in 
 thofe times. See Inftances in Dr. Burnet Boyle's Lett* 
 p. 542. Fol. Other Rites were inftituted in Commemora- 
 tion of great and fignal Events, extraordinary acts of Pro- 
 vidence towards their Nation ; the keeping up a conftant 
 Remembrance of which could not but be of great ufe 
 for preferving the Love and Worfhip of God amongft 
 them, awakening their Gratitude and engaging their duti- 
 ful
 
 o6 Of thefevtral Dijpenfatiom 
 
 this Inftitution wholly confined to the Jews,. 
 The Law itfelf was given to Strangers, b and 
 thofe that accompanied them from Egypt ; the 
 Covenant was made with all the Gentiles that 
 fhould hereafter become Profelytes to their 
 Religion ; c and fufficient care was taken to com- 
 municate it to them, as we (hall fee prefently. 
 And though the Children of Jfrael were to 
 have no Commerce with the Seven Nations, 
 but were commanded to deftroy them and 
 poffefs themfelves of their Country on their 
 refuling to fubmit to their terms, and rejecting 
 offers of Peace : d yet to prevent their imagining 
 themfelves the only Favourites of Heaven, and 
 learning to defpife and hate the reft of Man- • 
 kind (as they were but too apt to do, and which 
 to a People under their circumftances was in 
 
 ful Obedience, Leland's Div. Auth. of the 0. and N. T 
 afTerted again*! the Moral Philofopher, p. 50. Nor were 
 the public Feajls, in which they were all obliged to meet 
 at one place, of lefs ufe to them, by keeping them united 
 together in one Body Politic, fee Le Clerc on Exod. 23.14. 
 
 b Deut. 29. 11. 31. 12. Jojh. 8.33. 35. Exod. 12. 19.49. 
 
 e Deut. 29. 14, 15. Neither with you only do I make this 
 Covenant and this Oath ; but with him that Jlandeth here 
 with us this day before the Lord, and alfo with him that is 
 not here with us this day. fee Lev. 24- 22. and fenkin, V. I . 
 p. 60 - 65. or Worthingtons Eflay, p. 130. 
 
 4 Deut. 20.10, 13 c. Jojh. 2. 12. and 11. 19, 20. and 16. 
 10. and 17.13- fee Univ. Hijf. p. 531. 532. Note I. 
 
 Ed-
 
 of Reveled Religion. 97 
 
 fbme meafure unavoidable ) they were told at 
 the fame time that it was for the incorrigible 
 wickednefs of thofe Nations e (who of all others 
 had been favour'd with the greater!: means of 
 information, viz. from the Examples of {o 
 many eminent men placed amongft them, and 
 from the Judgements of God fo remarkably fet 
 before them/ ) that the Lord had driven them 
 out, as he would do them alfo if they followed 
 their iteps : * that if any of thefe remain'd 
 long unfubdued they would infallibly prove a 
 fnare to them, «f- and that therefore as well for 
 their own fecurity,as in execution of the Divine 
 Vengeance, they were obliged to extirpate them, 
 at leaft the prefent Generation ; g or to deftroy 
 their National Polity ; h and at the fame time 
 were fufficiently warn'd to avoid their Crimes. 
 They were likewife often reminded of their 
 
 Edwards's Survey, p. 355, &c Patrick on Ex. 23. 32. 
 Sbuckford's Connexion, V. 3. B. 12. p. 433, l3c. Selden de 
 Jur. N. L. 6. c. 14. 
 
 e Lev. 18. 24, 25. and 20. 23. fee Leland againft Chri- 
 Jl'ianity as old he. V.2. p. 429, &c. 
 
 f See Jenkin V. 1. p. 56, 57. and 77. 78. 
 
 * Deut. 8- 19, 20. f Ex. 34. 12. Jojh. 23. 13. 
 
 g Jojh. it, 10. Judg. I. 25. 28. 35. I Kings 9. 20, 21. 
 2 Sam. 11. 12- iChron. 8- 7,8. fee Jenkin, V. 1. p. 71, 72. 
 
 * See Dr. Syfos's Connexion of Nat and Rev. Rel. 
 
 c - J 3- P- 33 2 > & 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 $e £7r» <S7XetreVj tf$-e *«» £? <m»ppr)crtctv t>)$ 
 
 ►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<TXV. Id. Ep. J . 
 Ht $t&xi Si htw; a»£t wn t&xXxiok; T£ XXI ispoig AO^OJf, Qi 
 Si f/.nvvoi<Ti-j »)/wtu a9avaTov H'U^y £»vai, Sixxg~xg te »<t;£ejv, 
 y.xi rivnv txs ^syig-xg Tipugixg, otxv rig a7ra/\Aap/0»j t* 
 cufxxrog, Govgias. Taicr' £j~iu w KaAA»xA£K 5 x tyu 
 uxrixowg ■nrif-fuw x\r$n Etvaj, xai ex tovtuv tuv Xoywv 
 tqiovSi Xoyifypxi <ru(Jt.Gxiv£iv. O $xvxr(& x.t.A. Phctdo. 
 IlxAxi®' (ttv xv ig~i rt; o Kay® 3 au-rt^ 5 » {j.ipvny.i§x, ug 
 tiiriv ivvtvSi x(pixoy.ivxi [aj \}/i/p^ai] xat uraAtv )•£ Jeu^o 
 atpixvvvrxt) xxi yiyvovrxi ex ruv teGvecotwi/. Id. lb. AS3 xa» 
 AEj'ETai (JLsyig-x w^eAejv n |3Aa7TTEiv Toy TiXsvrr.tTXvrx 
 
 tVVVJ; IV OlO^Y) TY\$ EXEJTE zsopuxg. XsyiTXi OS 8TW;-, CO? 
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 HXyi^H VT^f xyZW iTTl^ilCH £tf JV) TiVa TOTSTOV, Ot d'Et T8? 
 
 cruAA£j'£!/Ta? SixSixxccipvjxg ttg atls ^0£>£',;£<&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 x7roSnun<rxi 
 ffiv oOavaT^ evOeu^e £{$■ aAAov T07rou, xai aAtiGrj fpi t» 
 AEj'op.sva x.t.A. lb. TaTE yap aAAa vj$xiy.ovtg-£(>oi e»<nv 
 
 01 £X£» TCOV tvQxSi Xai T1<$V) TOV XoiTTOV "YOOVOV xQx'.'XTQi E»0"*, 
 
 EJ7T£p yt tx ktyopevx xXr$t) tctv. Phiedrus. Tkth to* 
 £V£xa j^pu, Tsraura? t»; Ao^bc; avw xai xarco (JLtlus-fiityovlxy 
 an/ttbirtiv a Ti{ -en «awu xa» j3ca^uTE^a <paiv«Ta» tir 
 
 12 «■ tr.
 
 132 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom 
 
 even the greateft Probability, a and concluding 
 that in all fuch Cafes 'tis much eafier for him 
 
 ccvrrw 0S© 3 . ivx jw.11 [axtyiv -sroWriv amy xai Ttfa^uav, f£ou 
 chiyw t£ xat Aetav. AAAa n rivx txv\ (3o?]9aay EVf»f, 
 £7roix.rixo(iO$ Au<r»» » Tivof aAA» -sm^w Af^nv aua]w»jw.v»j(7xo- 
 jU£v(^». ib. Axo»]v 5^' fp£co AeJ'f »u twu ts-ootzow. ro$- aAriOtf 
 auro* jt«o"*v. Id. in TwitfO. E^w (ppajrw, liraAatoi/ 
 
 «»t^>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.ov<ron xtx.Tnjriuy.Evu)v i rnvix.ix.VTtx. rr\q 
 aQtis TrAotvYig rriv ocp%7\v iXccy.Qtx.vsv n (rug-actf, $icc rr\q tuiv 
 tTepohdcco-xtx-Xuv onrocTriq, oi xxi an y.riSivoq fri twv Attq- 
 <ToXwv Af»7T0jW,£vtf, ^ujtxvrj Xonrov r)<5V] r% xt(pxXr\, tco rr\q 
 aXifttixq *.rip\jyy.XTi rr\v ij/fuj'wvu/xoy yvuGiv xvTixngvrltw 
 tTrs^ii^ovv. Eufeb. Hift. ECCI.L.3.C.26. — ' Reformations 
 « in Religion will fometimes laft long with regard to 
 ' fpeculative Doctrines; but with refpecl: to practical 
 
 * Morality, they foon attain to Perfection and their full 
 
 * growth ; and this is fucceeded by a fudden Depravation 
 ' of Manners, and a ftate of fo much corruption as would 
 
 * require a new Reformation. The ftrict Morals or Be- 
 
 * haviour of the primitive Chriftians ; their Sobriety, 
 
 * Chaftity, Humility, £ffc. (hone in their greateft fplendour 
 ' during the Lives of the Apoftlcs ; but degenerated fo 
 ' much daily from the period in queftion, that there was 
 
 * no difference in the fourth Century between the Man- 
 
 * ners and Conduct of the Chriftians and thofe of other 
 ' People.' Bayle Gen. Did. V. 7. comp. Moyle's Works, 
 V. 2. p. 204, &c. with Fitringa's Difertation on the State 
 of the Church from Nero's time till Trajan. Obferv. Sac. 
 L. 4. c 7.8. 
 
 n * It is with Religion as it is with Arts and Sciences, 
 
 * the firft Ellays are feld»m perfect ; they arrive not to 
 
 * their
 
 1 74 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom 
 
 When Chriftianity comes to be eftablifh'd in 
 
 he Roman Empire it partakes of its Pomp and 
 Pageantry, and foon admits the Pagan Ceremo- 
 nies. n n We find it immediately fplit into new 
 Herefies and Schifms, torn with ambitious 
 Contefts and Struggles for Power : ° perplexing 
 Doubts and Difficulties rais'd in points of Doc- 
 trine, fubtle Diftinclions and nice Refinements 
 made in its Precepts, and both often confound- 
 
 1 their height at firft, they require a gradual Improve- 
 
 * merit. And fo it is here: the primitive Cbrijlians were 
 
 * not grown up to that perfection of Knowledge and 
 « Understanding which was defign'd by the Author of 
 
 * of our Religion. Chriftianity was in its Infancy, at moft 
 ' in its Childhood, when thefe men wrote, and therefore 
 'it is no wonder that they fpake as Children , that they 
 « underftood as Children^ that they thought as Children. 
 ' This was according to the Oeconomy they were then 
 4 under. And befides they had not time and leifure to 
 ' fearch into the Chrijlian Doctrines, nor had they laid 
 ' in a fufficient ftock and fund for that purpofe, they 
 ' being but newly adopted into the Chrijlian Church : 
 
 * yet they were willing to appear in its behalf, to defend 
 ' it as well as they could, which was accepted by Hea- 
 ' ven.' Edwards's Patrologia, p. 57. ' Let me not be 
 ' cenfur'd though I (hould be fo bold as to fay that we 
 ' fhould have underftood the Scriptures much better if we' 
 ' had not had the Writings of the Fathers ; for they have 
 ' obfcured and depraved them by their different and con- 
 ' trary Comments ; They have raifed Controverfies, 
 ' they have taught men to quarrel and difpute about the 
 
 * fenfe of many Texts which otherwife are plain and 
 
 ob-
 
 of Reveled Religion. jye 
 
 ed in many an idle Controverfy : p till at length 
 almoft the whole Church of Chrijl feems to 
 be overwhelm'd with Popery and Mahomet anifm, 
 for which indeed it was too fully ripe. q Though 
 perhaps the latter of thefe two ( notwithitand- 
 the mixture of Impofture in it) may appear 
 to have been in the main a very coniiderable 
 Reformation r [concerning the former, fee N. z 
 below. ] 
 
 * obvious, and about feveral matters of practice which 
 ' are evident enough in themfelves, fome of which are 
 < fuperftitious, &c ib. p. 135. 
 
 n n See Dr. Middleton's Letter from Rome 4 th Edit. 
 ' Imperio ad fidem addudo, fed et Imperii pompa Eccle- 
 
 * fiam inficiente : Ethnicis ad Chriftum converfis, fed 
 ' et Chrifti religione ad Ethnicae formam depravata, &c. 
 Turetin de variis Chr. Rel. Fatis. Orat. Acad. 
 
 V. Ammian. Mar. L. 15. et 27. Socr. Eccl. H. L. 1. 
 c.22. 23. 
 
 p See Barbyrac Prsef. to Puf. S. 19. Ut in Mis tempori- 
 bus, fays Erafmus very juftly, ingeniofa res fuit ejfe Chri- 
 jlianum. add Eufeb. de Vit. Conjlant. L.2. c. 61. 
 
 1 See Sale's Prelim. Difc. to the Koran, Seel:. 2. add 
 Grot. dsFer. R. C. L.6. c.i. 
 
 r All Authors agree that what gave Mahomet the 
 greateft room to advance his new Religion was the dif- 
 fracted, ignorant, corrupt ftate of the Eaftern Church 
 at that time ; the miferable Contentions and moil horrid 
 Perfecutions on every Religious pretence, the diflb- 
 lutenefs of all Seels and Parties : and 'tis evident that he 
 contributed not only to reform the Morals of a great part 
 of the World, but likewife reduced them from Polvtheifm 
 
 and
 
 176 Of the fever al Dijpenfations 
 
 But this is a Subject too difagreeable to dwell 
 upon j nor am I inclined to aggravate the Im- 
 perfections of part Ages. All that I would 
 obferve is what appears from the moft tranfient 
 view of Ecclefiaitical Hiftory, namely that 
 the rife and progrefs of Chrifiianity has in the 
 main been fimilar to that of all other Difpen-* 
 fations ; that both the Name of Chriji and the 
 Nature of his Religion were difcover'd, or as 
 we may fay, both the external and internal 
 Propagation of Chrifiianity was carried on in 
 the fame gradual manner. 
 
 and grofs Idolatry to the belief and Worfhip of one God ; 
 which was the principal DocTxine he fet out with at firft, 
 and gain'd great Reputation by, and which he made the 
 ground of his pretended Miffion. His Syftem contains a 
 great deal of pure Chrijlianity, it enforces the Virtues of 
 Charity, Temperance, Juftice and Fidelity in the ftrongeft 
 manner, it prohibits Extortion and all kinds of Cruelty, 
 even to Brutes, and binds its Votaries to the ftricleft 
 Order, Regularity and Devotion. Several Seels of therri 
 believe in Chriji. [ v. D. Millius de Rel. Mobam. Dill. 10. 
 p. 344, EST*. Reland de R. M. p. 25, b'c. and Sir P. Rtcaut's 
 Hift, B.2. c. 11, &c. or Millar, p. 230. ] and cntertairi 
 as worthy Notions of him to the full as fome of the Papijls 
 do [ fee U Alcoran des Cordeliers, and Bayle Gen. Di£t. 
 p. 326. B.] One may fee to what height the Romijh Cor- 
 ruptions were grown in Mabo?net's time by hrs reproaching 
 the Chrijlians with their aflbciating to God their Doctors 
 and Monks [Alcoran, 9. 31. J and by his furprifing miftake 
 of the Virgin Mary for the third Perfon in the Trinity .* 
 
 [ fee Reland's 4 Treaties on Mahom. p. 174, tsV. or Skirt 
 
 Prelim-
 
 of Reveled Religion. t jj 
 
 As to the firft. The Jews who had before 
 been made ufe of to fpread the Knowledge of 
 the true God and his Providence and prepare 
 men for a more noble Inftitution by their fre- 
 quent Difperfions all over the Eaft, are here 
 much more fo ( when they were much better 
 qualify'd for it and lefs liable than ever to be 
 corrupted by the Heathen among whom fome 
 of them were fo long to converfe $ ) by their 
 Difperfion over the whole World at the De- 
 ftruction of their Temple and Government 
 by Titus, and under the following Emperors, 
 
 Prelim. Difc. p. 35. and his Koran, c. 5, p.98 ] and what 
 havock thofe moft lamentable Controverfies on this Subject 
 made, appears from the Confeflion of a learned Writer, 
 who tells us, that obliged him to drop his Defign of giving 
 us the Hiftory of thefe Churches. Pref. to Prid. Life 
 of Mahomet. 
 
 • See Lr Clerc's Caufes of Incredulity, p. 264, &c. 
 In fail none of them that we know of, however bad they 
 were and are in other refpecls, have fallen from their 
 own God to the Idolatrous Worfhip of their Neighbours 
 any where, during this their moft miferable Difperfion, 
 their feeming fo long to be utterly rejected by him, a 
 tenth part of which fuffering would have totally deftroy'd 
 the very Name of them in any former times. This muft 
 be thought a little remakable by every one who thinks 
 at all about k. Nor has their cafe been lefs extraordinry 
 in Chriftian Countries, where they have never been per- 
 mitted to reft long in any Kingdom, where frequently in 
 every Age men's eyes are turn'd upon them by fome new 
 general Pcrfecution ; and yet notwithftanding all this they 
 
 M arc
 
 178 Of the fever al Difpenfations 
 
 efpecially Adrian, l and thereby every where 
 publifh and prove the Truth of their own, as 
 well as the Gofpel Proprieties, u and become the 
 bell Evidences, becaufe unwilling ones, in favour 
 of the Chrifiian Religion. And as the Roman 
 Empire by its increafe and fettlement at the 
 time of Chrifts coming contributed remarkably 
 to this fame end, fo did it no lefs afterward by 
 its Decline andDifTolution, at which time Chrijl- 
 ianiij was fcatter'd abroad with it among; the 
 Northern Nations, and carried to the remoter! 
 Iiles, in the lame manner as the Grecian Arts 
 
 are umverfally believ'd to be more numerous in the whole 
 at prcfe nt than they have ever been in their moft flourtfh- 
 ing eftate in their own Land. 
 
 1 He fold them at Fairs for the fame price as Horfes 
 [ Hier. in jfer. p. 342. ] and would not fuffer any of them 
 fo much as to fet foot in or come in view of Jerufalem 9 
 fay fome [ Ait*. Civ. D. L. 16. 021, Ml. in P/48. ] or 
 of any part of Judea, according to others. [Hier, in Dan, 
 595. Tert. Apol. 021 . ] Nor could they obtain even this 
 privilege from any of the fucceedrng Emperors (except 
 Julian) but with great difficulty, and only for one Day 
 in a year to fee and bewail its wis, and that upon 
 paying a confiderable Sum. Univ. Hiji. B. 3. p. 40. Echard, 
 Eccl. Hift. 4.65. &c. £«/**. Eccl. Hift. ax. 6. comp. Baf- 
 nage Hift. I. B.6. c. 9. S. 28, 29. et Witfix Exerc. Acad. 
 12. 16. ' Thus all the Attempts of that perfidious Nation 
 c towards the recovery of their former Condition ferved 
 
 * only to heighten and aggravate thofe Calamities with 
 e which they had been fo often threatned by the Prophets, 
 
 • and to reduce them to the deplorable State in which 
 
 8 we now fee them, being a Crew of contemptible Vaga- 
 
 * bonds
 
 of Reveled Religion. 179 
 
 had been difpers'd over Afia upon the diilblu- 
 tion of Alexander's Empire. 
 
 By thefe and the like means was the Gofpel 
 divulg'd every where, and the found ot it might 
 be faid without an Hyperbole to have gone into 
 all the Earth, and its Words unto the ends of the 
 World : u and where it has prevailed, it pre- 
 vail'd more entirely than any other Religion 
 could, which (as an excellent Author obferves,*) 
 makes a great abatement in the Disproportion 
 that Heathenifm in general may feem to have 
 in its numbers above Christianity. And though 
 fome Nations at firft view feem to have quite 
 
 * bonds difperfed all over the World, without King, 
 6 Temple or Pontiff ; driven from their own Countrey, 
 
 * and not daring to fet foot in it even as Paflengers md 
 ' Strangers. The Edict of Adrian excluding all Jews from 
 ' Jerufalem, extended to luch of them as had embraced 
 
 * the Cbrijiian Religion, fo that they too being obliged 
 ' to quit the City, the Church was by that means ueliver'd 
 ' from the Servitude of the Law ; for till that time, not 
 
 * only the Bifhops of Jerufalcm had been chofen from 
 ' among the circumcifed Cbri/lians, but all the converted 
 ' Jews joined to the obfervance of the Gofpel that of the 
 ' Law.' Univ.Hi/i. ib. p. 41. 
 
 u Dent. 28. Matt. 23. 35,38, &c. Luke 21.24. Deut. 
 32.21. Rofti.io.iq. Jer. 15.4. 25. 9. Hcf.^.\. In what 
 a remarkable manner every Curfe dcfcribeJ by Moj'es has 
 been to the full inflicted on that ftill miferable People, may- 
 be feen in Patrick upon Deut. 28. 
 
 « Ro?n. 10.18. See the Authors below 
 
 * Jenkin, X.i. p. 34-. 
 
 M 2 lofl
 
 1 8 o Of the fever al Difpenfatiom 
 
 loft it again, or greatly abufed and corrupted 
 it ; yet upon a more ftrict furvey, we difcover 
 a great deal of it mixed in their feveral Syftems, 
 and hid under different Names, which we 
 have reafon to think, will at length be found 
 of them more fully, and like Seed fown revive 
 in its own feafon. Nor is it now in fo narrow 
 a compafs as is generally imagined. x Though 
 there be many large Countries where it is not 
 eftablifhed or formally profefs'd, yet are there 
 fome traces both of this and former Revelations 
 in moft Parts of the World, as appears from 
 feveral Modern Writers -J and though we often 
 find it blended with impure Rites,and grofs Super- 
 ftitions among a barbarous People ; yet at the 
 fame time we find that it has had a very con- 
 fiderable effect even upon them, and will we 
 truft in time lead them to a more pure and 
 perfect Profeffion of it, when they become 
 ripe for fuch a Manifeftation : and as fome 
 Corruptions both in the Natural and Civil 
 Body generally make way for a more perfect 
 Soundnefs and thorough Reformation,- and then 
 
 * V. Fabricii Lux Evang. toti orbi exoriens. c. 36,0V. 
 orM/k'sHift. ofPropag. c.7.8,^. 
 
 y See many of them cited and more refcrr d to by 
 Jeniin, Fabrlcm and Millar, add Young's Hift. Diff. V.2. 
 p. 218, &c 
 
 v ' are
 
 of Reveled Religion. 1 8 1 
 
 are themfelves cured : fo may it be in the Body- 
 Spiritual. Thus that thick Cloud of Popery 
 which has been fo long hanging over the 
 Weftern Church, made way for a brighter 
 Light perhaps than ever at the Reformation^ * 
 (which help'd greatly to amend at leaft the 
 Difcipline of that very Church who refufed 
 to admit any material Alteration in her Doct- 
 rines -j- ) and may ftill by its refemblance to 
 the Worfhip of Heathens lead them more eali- 
 ly and jnfenfibly out of their grofler Errors, 
 and be no improper introduction to a more 
 pure Religion among them, and when it has 
 ferved that end, its own Idolatrys be abolifhed 
 and by its Judgements alarm and convince the 
 Jews (to whom it has been hitherto a Rock 
 of Offence) and fo make way for a Hill purer, 
 as well as more enlarged eftate of Chrifiianity 
 among both Jews and Gentiles. z But not to 
 dwell on conjectures ; this we know afTuredly, 
 that every People, Nation and Language mall 
 at laft embrace the true Religion, and all 
 
 * See Worthington's Eflay, p. 152, &c. 
 •f See Hakewill's Apology p. 547. 
 
 * See Edwards's Survey, p. 715. or Scott's Chriftian 
 Life, Part 2. V.2. c.7. p. 489. Some great end will moft 
 undoubtedly be ferv'd by the permiflion of Popery fo long 
 even after the Myjlery of its Iniquity is feen through by 
 
 M 3 the
 
 1 8 2 Of the fever al Difpenfatiom 
 
 Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms 
 ofChrift. a 
 
 Secondly. As to what may be called more 
 particularly the internal Propagation of Chrifti- 
 anifo, or the Comprehenfion of the whole Gof- 
 pel Scheme, the fame method is carried on, 
 though not in fo vifible a manner or capable of 
 being diftinguifhed by fuch remarkable Periods. 
 That perfect Analogy between Religion and the 
 common courfe of Nature, which has been fo 
 beautifully difplay'd by a late excellent Writer -f* 
 holds no lefs true I believe in this refpe<ft, and 
 
 the generality of its own Profeffors, as feems to be in- a 
 great meafure the cafe at prefent. Even during its darkeft 
 Ages, which afford the very ftrongeft Objection to that 
 Trogrefs in Religion we fuppofe, Chrijlianity was ftill 
 fpreading wider and wider in the more diftant parts of the 
 World, and where Popijb Converts now become the Seed 
 of Chrijltans, who may not improperly be compared to 
 the Profelytes of the Gate among the Jews, being pro- 
 bably the firft fruits of the Harvcft God intends to have 
 smong the Heathens of thofe Parts, and after they are 
 fully converted may be moft fervicable to promote the 
 Converfion of others. [ fee Jurieu. Pref. to Accompl. of 
 Proph. or Millar 2V. p. 230. 364. ] We may affirm that 
 Popery there is ftill better than Paganifm y and by its fo 
 great refemblance of the Pagan Superftitions (particularly 
 in the point of Images ) it more eafily infinuates itfelf 
 among fuch People, and may be confider'd therefore in 
 Tome refpe&s as no very unfit Introduction to a more 
 
 per-^ 
 f The Ld. Bp. of BrifloL
 
 of Reveled Religion. 183 
 
 that as all Arts and Sciences, every inprovement 
 in natural and civil Life are ftill drawing nearer to 
 perfection, as we become daily better acquainted 
 with the Syftem of the World, as well as that of 
 the Univerfe,with the nature of the Heavens and 
 Earth, with that of our own Body and Mind ; 
 in fhort, as every branch of knowledge has 
 been all along enlarging and improving itfelf, 
 and every fucceflive Age not only enjoys the 
 Difcoveries of the foregoing, but adds ftill great- 
 er and more valuable ones of its own ; J fo it is 
 probable that the Knowledge of Religion alone 
 
 perfect State of Religion in future Ages, whenever they 
 fhall become capable of it. fee Colliber's Impartial En- 
 quiry, p. 138. 2 Edit, with Gage's Survey of the }VeJl~ 
 Indies. 
 
 • Pf.2.%. 22.27. 72.11. 86.9. J/ai.c.2.2. e.g. 7. 
 c.ii.9-11. c.40.5. c.49.6. c. 52.10. c.55.5. c.56.7. 
 c.60.12. c. 66.18, 22. £zr/\ 39.23. 29. Dan. 2.44. 7. 
 14, 27. Hof. I. io. 3.4. Mich. 5.4. Am. 9. 14. Zepb. 3.9. 
 Zech.q.io. 12.10. 14.9. Mai. 1. 11. Matt. 24. 14. Mark 
 13.10. Luke 3.6. 21.24. -/#?* 13. 47. Rom.S.ig, &c, 
 11. 25. 14. 11, &c. 1 Cor. 15.25. 2 Cor. 3. 14, &c. Rev. 
 11. 15. 14. 6. From fuch Texts as thefe Mr. Pforthington 
 infers that the Kingdom of Chr'iji will be an XJniverfal 
 Theocracy, whereof that under the Jezvs was in fome re- 
 fpe&s typical, EJf. 292, &c. Where there fhall be univerfal 
 Holinefs 302. and Obedience to the Gofpel Precepts in 
 their ftri&eft fenfe, 309. and either an Univerfal Language 
 or a perfect Union, in Faith and Worfhip, 308. 
 
 \ See Part. 3. 
 
 m 4 is
 
 1 8 4 Of the fever a I Difpenfations 
 
 is not at a ftand ; but on the contrary, that as 
 we continaally advance in the ftudy of God's 
 Works, fo we fhall come to a proportionably 
 better understanding of his Word'. As by all 
 thefe means Human Reafon is ftill growing 
 more perfect, fo by the fame means Divine 
 Revelation will gradually clear up, and Chrift- 
 ianity itfelf draw nearer to its fulnefs. What is 
 here fuppofed has been remarkably confirm'd 
 in fact fince the Reformation, about which time 
 thefe two extraordinary Difcoveries of Printing 
 and the ufe of the Compafs in Europe jointly 
 contributed to the Difperfion of Learning and 
 Enlarging of Commerce over the World; and at 
 the fame time gave a new publication of 
 Chriftianity and in much greater Purity than 
 it had been in before for many Centuries. 
 Ever fince which time all three have been 
 continually gaining ground. New light has been 
 given to the Prophetic and other more abilrufe 
 parts of Scripture in every fucceflive Age and 
 almond by every Writer, as a very able Judge 
 affures us. a The Grounds of our Religion are in 
 general much better understood, more clearly 
 and rationally explain'd and vindicated j and 
 from what appears at prefent we have reafon 
 
 3 Ntwtcn on Daniel c. i .
 
 vf Reveled Religion . 185 
 
 to think they will be ftill more and more fo. 
 b We may venture to fay that in our own 
 Nation there never were more free and wor- 
 thy Notions of God and his Providence } nor 
 were the Defigns and various Difpenfations 
 of Religion ever generally fo well underftood 
 
 b * At tandem, fuperiore praefertim feculo et hoc noftro, 
 ' cum Difciplinae omnes et quae pertinent ad Antiquitatis 
 . 5 Linguai unique demortuarum intelligentiam, et quae 
 
 * rerum ipfarum cognitionem tradunt, et quae veri in 
 
 * quavis arte inveniendi ac exponendi rationem docent, 
 ' ad multo majorem perfeftionem adduclae eflent j anti- 
 « quiflima ilia Religionis Divinitus revelatae monumenta 
 
 * multo melius explicari, certioraque ex iis confe&aria 
 
 * duci, Capitaque omnia Theologica redius tradi caeperunt 
 ' quam unquam antea ab Apoftolorum aerate factum fuerat. 
 ' Quod multo citius contigiflet, fi Majores noftri Judicio 
 c fuo malluiflent uti quam alieno j neque enim ingenia 
 ■ defuifle puto pofterioribus feculis, fed artem duntaxat, 
 c quae nimia caecaque admiratione priorum opprefla jacebat. 
 « Quare contigit idem Theologiae Chriftianae quod Phi- 
 ' lofophiae ; quae turn demum cum frudu, ut par erat 
 ' excoli et perfici caepit cum homines caepere recordari, 
 
 * fibi Rationem non minus efTe datam quam Arijloteli ; 
 
 * excuflaque admiratione Antiquitatis, Dogmata ejus ad 
 ' examen revocare. Ut igitur qui nunc pulcherrima 
 ' Recentiorum in Philofophia inventa oblivioni mandari 
 « vellent ut Arljioteka Decreta fola iterum obtinerent, 
 € tenebras luci praeferre merito cenferentur : ita qui nunc 
 < nos revocant ad Elementa ac prima veluti tentamina 
 « Patrum Graecorum aut Latinorum, plurifque ea fieri 
 f volunt quam quae nunc fcimus, ii virum adultae aetatis 
 
 ' per-
 
 1 8 6 Of the fever al Difpenfations 
 
 as at prefent. Never was Learning and real 
 Knowledge fb fully and equally difpers'd among 
 all Parties and Profemons of Men. Nor is 
 there any Seel:, however wild and extragavagant 
 it may have been at its firfr, fetting out, but 
 evidently partakes of thefe Improvements. 
 And though while the minds of Men are warm 
 and eager in the quell of Truth, while they 
 are in continual agitation and daily teeming with 
 new Inventions, many Monfters will fpring up 
 (as may naturally enough be expected} toge- 
 ther with it,and ftrange Errors and Abfurdities be 
 advane'd in fuch full Freedom of Enquiry and 
 Debate j and though this Increafe of Knowledge 
 be attended with an Increafe of Libertinifm 
 and Extravagance of all kinds, and an Evil Spirit 
 of Infidelity and Prophanenefs be at the fame 
 
 c pertinaci Audio longaque experientia edoclum ad pueri* 
 
 * tiae ruditatem redire volunt, majorique in pretio habere 
 ' quae puer animo agitabat, quam quae adultus maturo 
 
 * judicio penfitavit. Inimici funt Profeftus omnis in facris 
 ' Literhy adeoque ipfius Veritatis. Talenta Divinitus nobis 
 c data et nuper mirum in modum aucla minuere atque in- 
 *■ fodere omni ope conantur. £>uod 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 
 
 <e eft praefidium, id eft ab his quae in ipfis curationibus 
 " Experientia docuit, ficut in cseteris omnibus artibus. 
 64 Nam ne agricolam quidem aut gubernatorem difputa- 
 " tione, fed ufu fieri liquet. Aft iftae cogitationes nihil 
 " ad mcdicinam pertinent, cum de hie rebus qui diverfa 
 «' fenferunt non ab obfcuris caufis, neque a naturalibus 
 4C attionibus, fed ab Experhnzntis, prout cuique refpon- 
 6t derarjt in pevducendo homines in eandem fanitatem, 
 t£ medendi vias traxerint. Notarunt enim aegrorum qui 
 " fine medicis erant, alios propter aviditatem primis die- 
 4C bus cibum protinus fumpfifle, alios propter faflidium 
 *< abftinuifle, & levatum magis morbum eorum qui ab- 
 " ftinuiffent : jtemque alios in ipfa Febre aliquid edifle, 
 " alios paulo ante earn, alios poft remiflionem ejus, & 
 fct optime iis ceflifle qui poft fine.m Febris id feciflent. 
 ** Eadcm ratione alios inter principia ftatim ufos efle cibo 
 
 " pie-
 
 Natural Religion and Science. 221 
 
 '& 
 
 tend in fome refpect or other to improve and 
 adorn the Face of Nature, and lead us to apply 
 its Laws to our refpective Ufes much more 
 effectually than could be obtain'd without them, 
 By them we are enabled to reap its feveral Be- 
 nefits in ways more eafy and compendious, 
 with lefs time, labour and expence j the World 
 is ftock'd more plentifully with Inhabitants, 
 and each of them fupported in a way more 
 elegant and advantageous to itfelf and all around 
 it. In fhort 3 every thing in Life becomes more 
 comfortable and commodious, and Life itfelf 
 may be faid to attain a longer Date by means 
 of both a better and more early Education. ll 
 
 " pleniore, alios exiguo, & graviores eos fa£tos qui fe 
 * { implevuTent. Haec fimiliaque cum quotidie inciderent, 
 4C diligentes homines talia animadvertentes ad extremum 
 * c perceperunt quae jegrotantibus utilia forent. Sic Medi- 
 " cinam ortam inter omnes conftat." C. Celf. ap. Pol. 
 Virg. de R. I. L. i. c. 20. Add Wotton. Refl. c. 26. p. 341. 
 &c. 1*. Ed. Max. Tyr. DifT. 40. 234. Barchufen. Differt, 
 1. 3. p. 11. &c. 
 
 m See Nicholas Conf. Part 1. p. 81 , 82. i ft Ed. 
 
 1 1 6 There is a fenfe in which thefe latter Generations 
 ' in general have the advantage of the Ancients, and in 
 ' which they may be faid to out-live them — viz. in that 
 c they live more in lefs time. It is a common Obferva- 
 ' tion that Children ripen and become Men fooner in 
 ' thefe latter Ages than formerly they did. — Notwith- 
 * ftanding our prejudices in other refpccls, we efteem (o 
 
 1 well
 
 222 tfhe Progrefs of 
 
 That this has been the cafe in later Ages feems 
 too clear to be deny'd by any, who will be at 
 the leaft trouble to compare them with the 
 moft extravagant account of former ones. m m 
 'Tis no great Compliment to the prefent times 
 to fay we are improved in every manual Art, 
 as well as thofe of Government, n the focial 
 ones, and even our very Amufements ; n n the 
 thing mews itfelf every where j and 'tis no lefs 
 
 € well of ourfelves in this, that we think we are more 
 fi knowing in every Science and Profeffion of Life, and 
 
 * more capable of Buiinefs than our Anceftors, not far 
 ' backwards were at double our Age. And in confirma- 
 c tion hereof fome traces in Scripture may be obferved, 
 
 * whereby it appears that the State of Childhood continued 
 
 * much longer in the Infancy of the World than at pre- 
 ' fent, and feem'd to bear proportion to the greater length 
 c of Men's Lives. And the fame is obferved by Heathen 
 ' Authors.' Worthingtori's EfTay, p. 422, 423. 
 
 mm — t When Men began to unite into Societies, to 
 
 * cloath themfelves, and build Cottages, and apply them- 
 ' felves to Agriculture, the Perfons who fell upon the 
 ' firft hints of thefe rude Contrivances, were efteem'd 
 ' fuch mighty Benefactors to Mankind that they could 
 ' never fufliciently exprefs their Gratitude to them. Hence 
 ' they were made immortal, and Divine Honours were 
 ' paid to them ; and hence it is well known, arofe the 
 ' Godfhip of Jupiter, Bacchus, Minerva, Ceres, and the 
 c reft of that Tribe of Deities : But there is not a Ptougb- 
 4 boy now, that would not have been a God, even to Ju- 
 
 * piter himfelf ; had he lived in his Days, with his pre- 
 
 * fent Skill in Hufbandry. "Had the Myftery of Printing 
 
 " been
 
 Natural Religion and Science, 223 
 
 plain a priori that it muft be fo. If, as the 
 PJalmift fays, * One Day telleth another y and 
 one Night certifieth another : if according to 
 the Prophet, -f many run to andfro i (travel by 
 Sea and Land) and thereby Knowledge is in- 
 creafedy if by repeated Obfervation and Expe- 
 rience, the World grow (as it does unavoidably) 
 in any refpect more perfect, this will, by that 
 affinity and union long fince obferv'd between 
 
 <£ been invented in ancient Times, Gutt.?nherg of Ment-z. 
 " might have been a God of higher efteem throughout 
 '* Germany , than Mercury or 'Jupiter himfelf." [IP'or- 
 tbington's Effay, p. 169.] which we cannot think impro- 
 bable, fince his aiftftant Fuji or Faujl attain'd the Title 
 of Conjurer for it in fo late times and fuch a Place as 
 Paris. 
 
 n The Modern Governments are better calculated for 
 the general good of the governed, which is now known 
 to be the only end of Government, than the Ancient 
 ones were. That horrid Spirit of Heroifm and Defire of 
 Conqueft feems to be pretty well extinguifh'd : and * if at 
 ' prefent there are fewer Revolutions in Chriftendom, 
 
 * 'tis becaufe the Principles of fuund Morality are more 
 ' univerfally known ; Men are lefs favage and fierce, and 
 
 * their Underftanding is better cultivated ; and perhaps 
 
 * all this is owing to Men of Learning, who have poliih- 
 
 * ed Europe.' Exam, of MachiaveFs Prince, p. 18, 19. 
 Add Mr. JVorth'im 'ton's judicious Obfervations on this 
 Subject. EJfay, c. 8. p. 173, &c. 
 
 r - a See JVortbington. EjJ. p. 201. 
 
 * Pfal 19.2, f Dan. 12. 4, 
 
 the
 
 224 5T& Progrefs of 
 
 the parts of Science ° derive Perfection on each 
 Sifter Art. The fame effect will in a good 
 meafure follow if the World be but fuppofed 
 to continue in the fame natural State in which 
 it was created, and the Genius of Mankind 
 keep where it was originally; nay this mull 
 be the cafe if both do not grow worfe, and in 
 a very great degree, much greater than has ever 
 been pretended. But as this point can be no longer 
 call'd in queftion than till the matter is duly 
 ftated, we have not fo much occafion to give a 
 direct Proof of it by defcending to Particulars, 
 (which indeed would be infinite, and moft of 
 which appear too obvious to need naming p,) 
 as to point out what is more material and per- 
 haps lefs taken notice of, the farther connection 
 which this Progrefs of Arts has with our Re- 
 ligious Knowledge of each kind. 
 
 By Religion in general, I mean the way of 
 promoting our moft perfect Happinefs upon 
 the whole, in this Life, as well as qualifying 
 
 ° Omnes Artes quae ad Humanitatem pertinent, ha- 
 bent quoddam commune vinculum, & quafi cognatione 
 quadam inter fe continentur. Cic. pro Arch. P. Id. de Or. 
 L.3. Eft ilia Platonis vera — vox omnem Doftrinam ha- 
 rum ingenuarum & humanarum artium uno quodam fo- 
 cietatis vinculo contineri. Ubi enim perfe&a vis eft Ra- 
 tionis ejus qua caufae rerum atque exitus cognofcuntur, 
 mjrus quidam omnium quafi confenfus Doctrinarum con- 
 
 centufquc
 
 Natural Religion and Science. 225 
 us for and by particularly recommending our- 
 felves to the Divine Favour entitling us to 
 higher Degrees of it in the next. Now the 
 knowledge of this, whether natural or reveled, 
 will appear to have held pace in general with 
 all other Knowledge from the beginning, and 
 thefe three Branches of Science feem to have 
 been in the main Similar and fynchronous, as 
 indeed they ought to be, or elfe perpetual Dis- 
 appointment, Milery and Confufion would en- 
 fue, as was obierv'd in part before. * The firft 
 Race of Men had as much Knowledge impart- 
 ed to them, mod probably by God himfelf, 
 as they could either then want, or well be ca- 
 capable of; as much as they had either means 
 or leifure to employ ; and higher notices, could 
 they have been attended to, would we conceive 
 rather have diitradled and render'd them uneafy 
 in their then fituation, and tended to disqualify 
 them for their more immediate Occupations in 
 that part of Life. They were placed in a World 
 
 ccntufque repcritur. It would be mere impertinence to 
 bring Inftances in proof of this. 
 
 p The Reader may fee a Lift of them in Pancirollus 
 de Nov. Repert. as alfo in Edwards, Glanvill, Jfr'otton^ 
 SirT. P. Blount, Perault, Sprat's Hi/?. R. S. and others, 
 who have appeai'd for the Afodcrns, as I think with great 
 advantage, in the late Controverfy on this Subject. 
 
 * Part. I. p. 7, 8,9. 
 
 P ca-
 
 226 T'be Progrefs of 
 
 capable of affording all Gratifications fuited to 
 their mortal frame, and made for its fupport, 
 and were defign'd to glorify their Maker's 
 Goodnefs in the Enjoyment of them for fome 
 time here, as well as to expect a reparation of 
 its Decays, with farther and more full Manife- 
 stations of the fame Goodnefs fomewhere here- 
 after. Their firft Employ then was to learn 
 the prefent ufe and application of thefe natural 
 Benefits themfelves, as well as to lay a founda- 
 tion for communicating and extending them to 
 future Generations, which were to inhabit the 
 fame place for many Ages. And accordingly 
 their Notions of the World and of its Gover- 
 nour and confequent Opinions in Religion both 
 natural and poiitive were fuch as might be ex- 
 pected from Men in fuch circumftances.* As to 
 the latter, and more efpecially that great Article 
 of it which concern'd the Reftauration of Hu- 
 man Nature, they had only a general, indeter- 
 minate expectation of fome Redeemer or other, 
 who was fometime to arife among them: a 
 which yet was very Sufficient to keep up their 
 Hopes and fecure a Trull and Dependence on 
 
 * What thefe Opinions might be is largely and beauti- 
 fully defcribed by Dr. Winder. Hift. of Knowledge, V.i. 
 c. 2. S. 2. though whether our fir ft Parents thought fo clearly 
 on the SubjeSf, as this ingenious Author and thofe celebrated 
 Moderns he there mentions [ p. 36 ] I much qucftion. 
 
 their
 
 Natural Religion a?td Science. 22 
 
 their Creator, efpecially when revived by fo 
 many earnefts of prefent temporal Bleflings : 
 but when or where, or upon what plan that 
 Redemption was to be work'd they knew not ; 
 and perhaps it might be as unneceflary to im- 
 part this fully to them as it was probably above 
 their comprehenfion. To preferve an inter- 
 courfe with the Divine Being it is likewife pro- 
 bable that they had pofitive Directions about 
 confecrating to him a part of their Goods, to- 
 gether with the Times and Places for prefent- 
 ing this before him, by way of acknowledge- 
 ment of his prefent Bounty, and application for 
 the continuance of it, and alfo in deprecation 
 of his Difpleafure whenever they became fen- 
 fible of having incurr'd it by abufing them; 
 and laftly as a fettled lt.at.ed means of always 
 having accefs to him, and finding acceptance 
 with him. Hence was the Origin of Sacrifices, b 
 as they are diitinguiih'd into expiatory, enSlical 
 and eucharifiical\ and this feems to have been 
 the fubftance of the primitive Religion, which 
 was as plain and fimple as the Times. When 
 the Notions of Mankind grew more complex, 
 Religion by degrees became fo too, and fpread 
 
 a See Bp. Sherlock's Ufe and Intent of Proph. S.2. or 
 Dr. Winder's Hift. of Knowledge, p. 26, 27. 
 
 b See Part 2. p. 29. Noted, and p, 30. Note a. c- with 
 Dr. fVinder on the Subject p. 30. 
 
 p 2 it-
 
 223 'the Progrefs of 
 
 itfelf together with their other Notices, all 
 which were in ibme meafure fupplemental 
 and fubiidiary to it. Each * . v degree of 
 Knowledge in each part of Nature was a new 
 opening of the Human Mind, ftill more and 
 more difplaying the Divine Wifdom and Good- 
 nefs in the original Conftitution of things and 
 Conftruc~tion of Animals, as well as in the con- 
 itant regular Prefervation of each Species of 
 them, and pointing out their various Ends and 
 Ufes , thereby enabling Man, to whom they 
 were all fubjected, to enter ferther into this 
 Conftitution himfelf, as well by receiving the 
 Benefits thereof more perfectly, as by refem- 
 bling his Creator in diflributing the fame more 
 copiouily, and both ways paying his moft ac- 
 ceptable tribute of Duty and Devotion to the 
 common Parent. 
 
 When the Lives of Men began to morten, 
 we find Arts increafing much fafter in pro- 
 portion j as it was fit they fhould, fince other- 
 wife many Difcoveries would drop before they 
 could be brought to any tolerable Perfection, 
 or apply 'd to ufe ; there being then no other 
 Repoiitory for fuch befide the Memory of their 
 Inventors : till at length came the Art of 
 Writing, which drew along with it all the reft, 
 
 * Part. 2. p. 19. add Winder. Hifl. of Knowl. p. 221, 
 222. 
 
 help-
 
 Natural Religion and Scie?ice. 229 
 
 helping at once to fpread and to perpetuate them. 
 And it is worth obferving, as was juft hinted 
 before,* that about the fame time more frequent 
 and more full Revelations were communicated 
 to the World, which thereby became better 
 qualified to receive, keep and convey them, as 
 they were likewife difpens'd in a way belt fuited 
 to its own State, and which moft effectually 
 fupply'd its Wants, and tended to give greater 
 Light and Improvement to it as well as one 
 another : as may be feen particularly in Part 2. 
 We have feen in fome meafure how the cafe 
 ftoodboth with Religion and Science in the Ante- 
 diluvian and Patriarchal Ages, and are fuf- 
 fkiently acquainted with thofe alterations it re- 
 ceiv'd under the Ifraelites and Jews by various 
 additional Inftitutions and a fuccerTion of Pro- 
 phets : not very unlike to which was a Light 
 held forth to the Eaft by their great Oracles 
 Tjoroajler and Confucius, and to moil parts of 
 the Weft by a long feries of their Philofophers> 
 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. N. b. 1. 5. r. eight, 
 ■—p. 73- 1« 23. /or they r. many of them, and add in tnarg. * Winder 
 Hift. of Knowl. p. 1 10, cjV. Patrick in Gen. II. 2. — p. 102. N. a. 
 1. 14. for p. 96. r. 93. "-"p. 108. N. 1. 14. for Rom. r. Rome. — ■ 
 p. 112. 1.6. after perf«& pae, infe rt ) — p. 114. for p. 107. r. 97. 
 *— p. 120. N. b. 1. z. for p» 29. r. 57. ibid. N. c. /or P29. r. 56. 
 
 — p. 124. * for p. 25. r. 50. — p. 126. * 1. I. r. Sanhedrim. — • 
 p. 128. N. a. I.20. r. fequutus. — p, 129. N. b. 1. 8. r. Fol. 4. — 
 p. 131. Note. I.4. r. 7tpvQix;. — p. 132. N. I.7. r. pvQas. — 
 p. 136. 1. 17. after GoTCrnmeHt/or . r. , — p. 144. 1. 10. dele and. 
 
 — p. 145. L- 24. r. reafon.— p 159. 1. 12. for inftrufted r. intruded, 
 ^-p. 160. 1. 7. for God's r. God. — p. 172. N. 1. II, for Bub. r. 
 'iiud.'—ip. lyz. *for Part 2. r. p. $$. — p. 173. N. l.l.r. Siutpo^or. 
 *p. 174. 1. 2. for he r. the. — ■ p. 176. N. I. lafi r. Treatifes. — 
 p: 183. 1. I. r. improvement. — p. 184. 1. 2. r. continually. — ■ 
 ,p. 194. f/or p. 25. r. p. 50. — p. 216. N.e. 1. \. for p. iS. r. 36, 
 
 — p. 217. * r. Herm. —p. 22s. */or p. 7. 8,9. r. 10, 11. 12. — 
 p. 227. N. b.for p. 29. r. 56. ib./i»r p. 30. r. 58, 59. — p. 22". * 
 
 for p. 19. r. 158. — -p. 229. * /or p. 67. r. 15S. — p. 230. */or 
 p. 83, 84. r. p\ 169. — p. 231. * for p. 88. r. 175. — p. 232. N. b. 
 
 for p. 88. and 91. r. 175. and 181. ib. N. c. /or -p. 92. r. 182.— 
 P 2 49- 1 y&r P. §6, 87, r. p. 170, 131. — p. 250, f /w p. 85. 
 r. p, 167.
 
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