THE

WORKS

O F

SOAME JENYNS, ESCL,

IN FOUR VOLUMES.

INCLUDING SEVERAL PIECES NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED,

SHORT SKETCHES OF THE HISTORY OF THE AUTHOR'S FAMILY,

AND ALSO OF HIS LIFE;

Bv CHARLES NALSON COLE, ESQ.

VOL. IV.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND. M.DCC.XC.

98350

v.4-

J A

VIEW

OF THE

INTERNAL EVIDENCE

^ O F T H E

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

Almojl thoit pcrfuadeft me to be a Cbriftian.

Afts xxvi. 28.

VOL. IV. B

VIEW, &c.

MO S T of the writers, who have un- dertaken to prove the divine origin of the Chriftian Religion, have had recourfe to arguments drawn from thefe three heads : the prophecies ftill extant in the Old Tefta- ment — the miracles recorded in the New — or, the internal evidence arifing from that excellence, and thofe clear marks of fuperna- tural interpofition, which are fo confpicuous in the religion itfelf. The two former have been fufficiently explained and enforced by the ableft pens ; but the lad, which feems to carry with it the greateft degree of convic- tion, has never, I think, been confidered with that attention, which it deferves.

I mean not here to depreciate the proofs

arifing from either prophecies, or miracles :

they both have, or ought to have, their pro-

B 2 per

[ 4 ]

per weight j prophecies are permanent mi- racles, whofe authority is fufficiently con- firmed by their completion, and are there- fore folid proofs of the fupernatural origin of a religion, whofe truth they were intended to tcftify ; fuch are thofe to be found in va- rious parts of the fcriptures relative to the coming of the Mefliah, the deftruction of Jerufalem, and the unexampled ftate in which the Jews have ever fince continued, all fo circumftantially defcriptive of the events, that they feem rather hiftories of paft, than predictions of future tranfactions j and whoever will ferioufly confider the immenfe diflance of time between fome of them and the events which they foretell, the uninter- rupted chain by which they are conneded for many thoufand years, how exactly they correfpond with thofe events, and how to- tally unapplicable they are to all others in the hiftory of mankind j I fay, whoever con- fiders thefe circumftances, he will fcarcely be perfuaded to believe that they can be the productions of preceding artifice, or pofte-

rior

[ S ]

rior application, or can entertain the leaft doubt of their being derived from fuperna- tural infpiration.

The miracles recorded in the New Tef- tament to have been performed by Chrift and his Apoftles, were certainly convin- cing proofs of their divine comrniflion to thofe who faw them j and as they were feen by fuch numbers, and are as well at- tefted, as other hiftorical facts, and above all, as they were wrought on fo great and fo wonderful an occafion, they muft ftill be admitted as evidence of no inconfiderable force ; but, I think, they muft now depend for much of their credibility on the truth of that religion, whofe credibility they were at firft intended to fupport. To prove there- fore the truth of the Chriftian Religion, we fhould begin by fhewing the internal marks of divinity, which are ftamped upon it j be- caufe on this the credibility of the prophecies and miracles in a great meafure depends : for if we have once reafon to be convinced, that this religion is derived from a fuperna- B 3 tural

[ 6 ]

tural origin, prophecies and miracles will be- come fo far from being incredible, that it will be highly probable, that a fupernatural reve- lation fhould be foretold, and enforced by fupernatural means.

What pure Chriftianity is, diverted of all its ornaments, appendages, and corruption, I pretend not to fay j but what it is not, I will venture to affirm, which is, that it is not the offspring of fraud or ficTion : fuch, on a fu- perficial view, I know it muft appear to every man of good fenfe, whofe fenfe has been altogether employed on other fubjects ; but if any one will give himfelf the trouble to examine it with accuracy and candor, he will plainly fee, that however fraud and fic- tion may have grown up with it, yet it ne- ver could have been grafted on the fame ftock, nor planted by the fame hand.

To afcertain the true fyftem, and genuine doctrines of this religion, after the undecided controverfies of above feventeen centuries, and to remove all the rubbifh, which artifice and ignorance have been heaping upon it

during

[ 7 1

during all that time, would indeed be an ar- duous tafk, which I fhall by no means un- dertake j but to fhew, that it cannot pof- fibly be derived from human wifdom, or human impofture, is a work, I think, at- tended with no great difficulty, and requiring no extraordinary abilities, and therefore I fhall attempt that, and that alone, by ftating, and then explaining the following plain and undeniable proportions.

Firft, That there is now extant a book in- titled the New Teftament.

Secondly, That from this book may be extracted a fyftem of religion intirely new, both with regard to the object and the doc- trines, not only infinitely fuperior to, but unlike every thing, which had ever before •entered into the mind of man.

Thirdly, That from this book may like- wife be collected a fyftem of ethics, in which «very moral precept founded on reafon is carried to a higher degree of purity and per- fection, than in any other of the wifeft philo- fophers of preceding ages j every moral pre- 15 4 cept

cept founded on falfe principles is totally omitted, and many new precepts added pe- culiarly correfponding with the new object of this religion.

Laftly, That fuch a fyftem of religion and morality could not pofiibly have been the work of any man, or fet of men -, much lefs of thofe obfcure, ignorant, a~nd illiterate per- fons, who actually did difcover, and publifh it to the world j and that therefore it muft undoubtedly have been effected by the in- terpofition of divine power, that is, that i£ muft derive its o-igin from God.

PRO-

[ 9 ]

PROPOSITION I.

T 7 ERY little need be faid to eftablifli » my firft propofition, which is fmgly this : That there is now extant a book intitled the New Teftament j that is, there is a col- lection of writings diftinguilhed by that de- nomination, containing four hiftorical ac- counts of the birth, life, actions, difcourfes, and death of an extraordinary perfon named Jefus Chrift, who was born in the reign of Auguflus Csefar, preached a new religion throughout the country of Judsea, and was put to a cruel and ignominious death in the reign of Tiberius. Alfo one other hiftorical account of the travels, transactions, and ora- tions of fome mean and illiterate men, known by the title of his apoftles, whom he commiffioned to propagate his religion after his death ; which he foretold them he muft fuffer in confirmation of its truth. TQ thefe are added feveral epiftolary writings,

addrelTed

[ to 1

addrefied by thefe perfons to their fellow- labourers in this work, or to the feveral churches or focieties of Chriftians, which they had eftablifhed in the feveral cities through which they had pafied.

It would not be difficult to prove, that thefe books were written foon after thofe ex- traordinary events, which are the fubjedts of them ; as we find them quoted, and referred to by an uninterrupted fuccellion of writers from thofe to the prefent times : nor would it be lefs eafy to fhew, that the truth of all thofe events, miracles only excepted, can no more be reafonably queftioned, than the truth of any other facts recorded in any hif- tory whatever : as there can be no more reafon to doubt, that there exifted fuch a perfon as Jefus Chrift, fpeaking, acting, and differing in fuch a manner as is there de- fcribed, than that there were fuch men as Tiberius, Herod, or Pontius Pilate, his co- temporaries ; or to fufpect, that Peter, Paul, and James were not the authors of thofe cpiftks, to which their names are affixed,

than

[ » 1

than that Cicero and Pliny did not write thofe which are afcribed to them. It might alfo be made appear, that thefe books hav- ing been wrote by various perfons at dif- ferent times, and in diftant places, could not poflibly have been the work of a fingle im- poftor, nor of a fraudulent combination, be- ing all ftamped with the fame marks of an uniform originality in their very frame and compofition.

But all thefe circumflances I {hall pafs over unobferved, as they do not fall in with the courfe of my argument, nor are necef- fary for the fupport of it. Whether thefe books were wrote by the authors whofe names are prefixed to them, whether they have been enlarged, diminifhed, or any way corrupted by the artifice or ignorance of tranflators or tranfcribers; whether in the hiftorical parts the writers were inftrudted by a perpetual, a partial, or by any infpiration at all ; whether in the religious and moral parts, they received their doctrines from a divine influence, or from the inftrudtions

and

[ 12 ]

and converfation of their matter; whether in their fafts or fentiments there is always the moft exaft agreement, or whether in both- they fometimes differ from each other ; whether they are in any cafe miftaken, or always infallible; or ever pretended to be fo, I Ihall not here difpute : let the Deift avail himfelf of all thefe doubts and diffi- culties, and decide them in conformity to his own opinions, I fhall not contend, be- caufe they affed not my argument : all that I aflert is a plain faft, which cannot be de- nied, that fuch writings do now exift.

PRO-

C 13 ]

PROPOSITION II.

MY fecond propofition is not quite fo fimple, but, I think, not lefs unde- niable than the former, and is this : That from this book may be extracted a fyftem of religion entirely new, both with regard to the object, and the doctrines, not only infi- nitely fuperior to, but totally unlike every thing, which had ever before entered into the mind of man : I fay extracted, becaufe all the doctrines of this religion having been delivered at various times, and on various occafions, and here only hiftorically recorded, no uniform or regular fyftem of theology is here to be found ; and better perhaps it had been, if lefs labour had been employed by the learned, to bend and twift thefe divine materials into the polifhed forms of human fyftems, to which they never will fubmit, and for which they were never intended by their great author. Why he chofe not to leave 5 anv

[ «4 1

any fuch behind him we know not, but it might poffibly be, becaufe he knew, that the imperfection of man was incapable of receiv- ing fuch a fyftem, and that we are more pro- perly, and more fafely conducted by the diftant and fcattered rays, than by the too powerful funfhine of divine illumination : <c If I have told you earthly things," fays he, " and ye believe not, how Ihall ye believe " if I tell you of heavenly things* ?" that is, If my inftructions concerning your beha- viour in the prefent, as relative to a future life, are fo difficult to be underftood, that you can fcarcely believe me, how (hall you believe, if I endeavour to explain to you the nature of celeftial beings, the defigns of Providence, and the myfleries of his difpen- fationsj fubjeds which you have neither ideas to comprehend, nor language to ex^ prefs ?

Firft then, the object of this religion is entirely new, and is this ; to prepare us by a

* John iii. 12.

ftatc

[ '5 ]

ftate of probation for the kingdom of hea- ven. This is every where profefied by Chrift and his apoftles to be the chief end of the Chriftian's life ; the crown for which he is to contend, the goal to which he is to run, the harveft which is to pay him for all his labours : Yet previous to their preaching no fuch prize was ever hung out to mankind, nor any means prefcribed for the attainment of it.

It is indeed true, that fome of the philofo- phers of antiquity entertained notions of a future ftate, but mixed with much doubt and uncertainty : their legiflators alfo endeavour- ed to infufe into the minds of the people a belief of rewards and punifhments after death j but by this they only intended to give a fan&ion to their laws, and to enforce the practice of virtue for the benefit of man- kind in the prefent life : this alone feems to have been their end, and a meritorious end it was; but Chriftianity not only operates more effectually to this end, but has a no- bler defign in view, which is, by a proper

education

[ i« 3

education here to render us fit members of a celeftial fociety hereafter. In all former re- ligions the good of the prefent life was the firft object i in the Chriftian it is but the fe- cond j in thofe, men were incited to pro- mote that good by the hopes of a future re- ward ; in this,1 the practice of virtue is in- joined in order to qualify them for that re- ward. There is great difference, I appre- hend, in thefe two plans, that is, in adhering to virtue from its prefent utility in expecta- tion of future happinefs, and living in fuch a manner as to qualify us for the acceptance and enjoyment of that happinefs; and the conduct and difpofitions of thofe, who act on thefe different principles, muft be no lefs different : on the firft, the conftant practice of juftice, temperance, and fobriety, will be fufficient j but on the latter, we muR add to thefe an habitual piety, faith, refignation, and contempt of the world : the firft may make us very good citizens, but will never produce a tolerable Chriftian. Hence it is that Chriftianity infifts more ftrongly, than any

preceding

[ 17 1

preceding inftitution religious or moral, on purity of heart and a benevolent difpofition ; becaufe thefe are abfolutely neceflfary to its great end ; but in thofe whofe recommenda- tions of virtue regard the prefent life only, and whofe promifed rewards in another were low and fenfual,no preparatory qualifications were requifite to enable men to practife the one, or to enjoy the other : and therefore we fee this object is peculiar to this religion j and with it was entirely new.

But although this object, and the prineU pie on which it is founded were new, and perhaps undifcoverable by reafon, yet when difcovered they are fo confonant to it, that we cannot but readily affent to them. For the truth of this principle, that the prefent life is a ftate of probation, and education to prepare us for another, is confirmed by every thing which we fee around us : it is the only key which can open to us the defigns of Providence in the ceconomy of human af- fairs, the only clue, which can guide us through that pathlefs wildernefs, and the

VOL. IV. C only

[ 18 ]

only plan on which this world could pofllbly have been formed, or on which the hiftory of it can be comprehended or explained. It could never have been formed on a plan of happinefs : becaufe it is every where overfpread with innumerable miferies ; nor of mifery, becaufe it is interfperfed with many enjoyments : it could not have been conftituted for a fcene of wifdom and virtue, becaufe the hiftory of mankind is little more than a detail of their follies and wickednefs : nor of vice, becaufe that is no plan at all, being definitive of all exiftence, and confe- quently of its own. But on this fyftem all that we here meet with, may be eafily ac- counted for; for this mixture of happinefs and mifery, of virtue and vice, neceffarily refultsfrom a ftate of probation and educa- tion ; as probation implies trials, fufferings, and a capacity of offending, and education a propriety of chaftifement for thofe offences.

In the next place, the doctrines of this re- ligion are equally new with the object ; and contain ideas of God, and of man, of the pre-

fent,

[ '9 ]

fent, and of a future life ; and of the rela- tions which all thefe bear to each other, to- tally unheard of, and quite difiimilar from any which had ever been thought on, previ- ous to its publication. No other ever drew fojuft a portrait of the worthleffnefs of this world, and all its purfuits, nor exhibited fuch diftincl, lively, and exquifite pictures of the joys of another ; of the refurreftion of the dead, the laft judgment, and the triumphs of the righteous in that tremendous day, " when this corruptible Jfhall put on incor- " ruption, and this mortal fhall put on im- " mortality*." No other has ever repre- fcnted the Supreme Being in the charac- ter of three perfons united in one God f*

* i Cor. xv. 53.

f That there fubfifts fome fuch union in the divine rature, the whole tenourof the New Teftament feems to exprefs, and it \vas fo understood in the earlieft ages : but whether this union does, or does not imply equality, or whether it fubfifts in general, or only in particular circumftances, we are not informed, and therefore on thefe queftions it is not only unneceffary, but improper for us to decide.

C 2 No

C 20 ]

No other has attempted to reconcile thofe feeming contradictory but both true propo- fitions, the contingency of future events, and the foreknowledge of God, or the free will of the creature with the over-ruling grace of the Creator. No other has fo fully de- clared the neceflity of wickednels and pu- nifhment, yet fo effectually inftructed indi- viduals to refift the one, and to efcape the other : no other has ever pretended to give any account of the depravity of man, or to point out any remedy for it : no other has ventured to declare the unpardonable na- ture of fin without the influence of a media- torial interpofition, and a vicarious atone- ment from the fufferings of a fuperior be- ing*. Whether thefe wonderful doctrines

• That Chrift differed and died as an atonement for the fins of mankind, is a doclrine fo conftantly and fo itrongly enforced through every part of the New Tef- tament, that whoever will ferioufly perufe thofe writ- ings, and deny that it is there, may, with as much rea. fon and truth, after reading the works of Thucydides and Livy, aflert, that in them no mention is made of any fafts relative to the hiflories of Greece and Rome.

are

are worthy of our belief muft depend on the opinion, which we entertain of the authority of thofe, who publifhed them to the world ; but certain it is, that they are all fo far re- moved from every tracl; of the human ima- gination, that it feems equally impofiible, that they fhould ever have been derived from the knowledge or the artifice of man.

Some indeed there are, who, by pervert- ing the eftablifhed fignification of words, (which they call explaining) have ventured to expunge all thefe doctrines out of the fcriptures, for no other reafon than that they are not able to comprehend them ; and ar- gue thus : — The fcriptures are the word of God j in his word no proportions contra- dictory to reafon can have a place; thefe proportions are contradictory to reafon, and therefore they are not there. But if thefe t>old aflertors would claim any regard, they Ihould reverfe their argument, and fay,— • Thefe dodlrines make a part, and a material part of the fcriptures, they are contradidory to reafon 5 no propofitions contradictory to C 3 reafon

reafon can be a part of the word of God, and therefore neither the fcriptures, nor the pre- tended revelation contained in them, can be derived from him : This would be an argument worthy of rational and candid Deifts, and demand a refpectful attention ; but when men pretend to difprove fads by reafoning, they have no right to expect an anfwer.

And here I cannot omit obferving, that the perfonal character of the author of this religion is no lefs new, and extraordinary, than the religion itfelf, who " fpake as never " man fpake *," and lived as never man lived : in proof of this, I do not mean to al- ledge, that he was born of a virgin, that he faded forty days, that he performed a variety of miracles, and after being buried three days, that he arofe from the dead j becaufe thefe accounts will have but little effect on the minds of unbelievers, who, if they be- lieve not the religion, will give no credit to

* John vii. 46,

the

[ 23 3

the relation of thefe fadts ; but I will prove it from facts which cannot be difputed; for inftance, he is the only founder of a religion in the hiftory of mankind, which is totally unconnected with all human policy and go- vernment, and therefore totally unconducivc to any worldly purpofe whatever : all others, Mahomet, Numa, and even Mofes himfelf, blended their religious inftitutions with their civil, and by them obtained dominion over their refpective people ; but Chrift neither aimed at, nor would accept of any fuch power j he rejected every object, which all other men purfue, and made choice of all thofe which others fly from, and are afraid of : he refufed power, riches, honours, and pleafure, and courted poverty, ignominy, tortures, and death. Many have been the enthufiafts and impoftors, who have endea- voured to impofe on the world pretended re- velations, and fome of them from pride, ob- ftinacy, or principle, have gone fo far, as to lay down their lives, rather than retract ; but I defy hiftory to (hew one, who ever C 4 made

[ 24 1

made his own fufferings and death a necel- fary part of his original plan, and efiential to his miflion ; this Chrift actually did, hefore- faw, foretold, declared, their necefiity, and voluntarily endured them. If we ferioufly contemplate the divine leffons, the perfect precepts, the beautiful difcourfes, and the confident conduct of this wonderful perfon, we cannot pofllbly imagine, that he could have been either an idiot or a madman ; and <» yet, if he was not what he pretended to be, he can be confidered in no other light j and even under this character he would deferve fome attention, becaufe of fo fublime and rational an infanity there is no other inftance * in the hiftory of mankind.

If any one can doubt of the fuperior ex- cellence of this religion above all which preceded it, let him but perufe with atten- jtion thofe unparalleled writings in which it s tranfmitted to the prefent times, and com- pare them with the moft celebrated produc- tions of the pagan world ; and if he is not fenfible of their fuperior beauty, fimplicity,

and

and originality, I will venture to pronounce, that he is as deficient in tafte as in faith, and that he is as bad a critic as a Chriftian : for in what fchool of ancient philofophy can he find a lefibn of morality fo perfect as Chrift's fermon on the mount ? From which of them can he collect an addrefs to the Deity fo concife, and yet fo comprehenfive, fo expref- five of all that we want, and all that we could fleprecate, as that fhort prayer, which he formed for, and recommended to his difci- ples ? From the works of what fage of anti- quity can he produce fo pathetic a recom- mendation of benevolence to the diftrefTed, and enforced by fuch aflurances of a reward, as in thofe words of Chrift ? " Come, ye " blefied of my Father ! inherit the kingdom <( prepared for you from the foundation of " the world : for I was an hungred, and ye " gave me meat ; I was thirfty, and ye gave " me drink ; I was a ftranger, and ye took <{ me in j I was naked, and ye clothed me i " I was fick, and ye vifited me ; I was in <f prifon, and ye came unto me. Then fhall

"the

" the righteous anfwer him, faying— Lord, " when faw we thee an hungred, and fed " thee, or thirfty, and gave thee drink ? when " faw we thee a ftranger, and took thee in, " or naked, and clothed thee ? or when faw " we thee fick and in prifon, and came unto " thee ? Then (hall I anfwer and fay unto " them, — Verily I fay unto you, inafmuch " as you have done it to the lead of thefe " my brethren, ye have done it unto me*." Where is there fo juft, and fo elegant a reproof of eagernefs and anxiety in worldly puriuits, clofed with fo forcible an exhortation to con- fidence in the goodnefs of our Creator, as in thefe words ? — " Behold the fowls of the air ; " for they fow not, neither do they reap, nor " gather into barns, yet your heavenly Fa- " ther feedeth them. Are ye not much bet- " ter than they ? Confider the lilies of the " field, how they grow j they toil not, nei- " ther do they fpin ; and yet I fay unto you, " that even Solomon in all his glory was not

* Matt. xxv. 34.

Cf arrayed

I 27 ]

cc arrayed like one of thefe : wherefore, if Cf God fo clothe the grafs of the field, which " to-day is, and to-morrow is caft into the " oven, fhall he not much more clothe you ? " O ye of little faith * !" By which of their moft celebrated poets are the joys referved for the righteous in a future ftate, fo fub- limely defcribed, as by this fhort declaration, that they are fuperior to all defcription ? <f Eye hath not feen, nor ear heard, neither " have entered into the heart of man, the " things, which God hath prepared for them " that love himf." Where amidft the dark clouds of pagan philofophy can he fhew us fuch a clear profpec~b of a future ftate, the immortality of the foul, the refurrection of the dead, and the general judgment, as ia St. Paul's firft epiftle to the Corinthians ? Or from whence can he produce fuch co- gent exhortations to the practice of every virtue, fuch ardent incitements to piety and devotion, and fuch afliftances to attain them,

* Matt. vi. 26, 28. f i Cor. ii. 9.)

as

as thofe which are to be met with throughout every page of thefe inimitable writings ? To quote all the paflages in them relative to thefe fubjects, would be almoft to tranfcribe the whole j it is fufficient to obferve, that they are every where ftamped with fuch ap- parent marks of fupernatural afiiftance, as render them indifputably fuperior to, and to- tally unlike all human compofitions * what- ever ; and this fuperiority and diffimilarity is ftill more ftrongly marked by one re- markable circumftance peculiar to them- felves, which is, that whilft the moral parts, being of the moft general ufe, are intelligible to the meaneft capacities, the learned and inquifitive throughout all ages, perpetually find in them inexhauftible difcoveries, con- cerning the nature, attributes, and difpenfa- tions of Providence.

To fay the truth, before the appearance of Chriftianity there exifted nothing like reli- gion on the face of the earth ; the Jewifh only excepted : all other nations were im- merfcd in the grofieft idolatry, which had

little

[ 29 3

little or no connexion with morality, except to corrupt it by the infamous examples of their imaginary deities : they all worlhipped a mul- tiplicity of gods and dasmons, whofe favour they courted by impious, obfcene, and ridicu- lous ceremonies, and whofe anger they endea- voured to appeafe by the moft abominable cruelties. In the politeft ages of the politeft nations in the world, at a time when Greece and Rome had carried the arts of oratory, poetry, hiftory, architecture, and fculpture to the higheft perfection, and made no in- confiderable advances in thofe of mathema- tics, natural, and even moral philofophy, in religious knowledge they had made none at all ; a ftrong pi-efumption, that the nobleft efforts of the mind of man, unafiifted by re- velation, were unequal to the tafk. Some few indeed of their philofophers were wife enough to rejefb thefe general abfurdities, and dared to attempt a loftier Might : Plato introduced many fublime ideas of nature, and its firft caufe, and of the immortality of the foul, which being above his own and all

human

C 30 ]

human difcovery, he probably acquired from the books of Mofes or the converfation of fome Jewifh rabbles, which he might have met with in Egypt, where he refided, and itudied for feveral years : from him Ariftotle, and from both Cicero and fome few others drew moft amazing (lores of philofophical fcience, and carried their refearches into di- vine truths as far as human genius alone could penetrate. But thefe were bright con- ftellations, which appeared fmgly in feveral centuries, and even thefe with all this knowledge were very deficient in true theo- logy. From the vifible works of the crea- tion they traced the being and principal at- tributes of the Creator i but the relation •which his being and attributes bear to man they little underftood j of piety and devo- tion they had fcarce any fenfe, nor could they form any mode of worfhip worthy of the purity and perfection of the divine nature l they occafionally flung out many elegant encomiums on the native beauty, and ex- cellence of virtue: but they founded it not 5 on

on the commands of God, nor connected it with a holy life, nor hung out the happinefs of heaven as its reward, or its object. They fometimes talked of virtue carrying men to heaven, and placing them amongft the gods ; but by this virtue they meant only the in- vention of arts, or feats of arms : for with them heaven was open only to legiflators, and conquerors, the civilizers, or deftroyers of mankind. This was then the fummit of religion in the moft polifhed nations in the world, and even this was confined to a few philofophers, prodigies of genius and litera- ture, who were little attended to, and lefs underftood by the generality of mankind in their own countries j whilfl all the reft were involved in one common cloud of ignorance and fupeiilition.

At this time Chriftianity broke forth from the eaft like a rifing fun, and difpelled this univerfal darknefs, which obfcured every part of the globe, and even at this day pre- vails in all thofe remoter regions, to which

its

t 3* ]

its falutary influence has not as yet extended. From all thofe which it has reached, it has notwithftanding its corruptions, banifhed all thofe enormities, and introduced a more ra- tional devotion, and purer morals : it has taught men the unity, and attributes of the Supreme Being, the remiffion of fins, the refurre<5tion of the dead, life everlafting, and the kingdom of heaven ; doctrines as incon- ceivable to the wifeft of mankind, antecedent to its appearance, as the Newtonian fyftem is at this day to the moft ignorant tribes of fa- vages in the wilds of America ; doctrines, which human reafon never could have dif- covered, but which when difcovered, coincide with, and are confirmed by it -, and which, though beyond the reach of all the learn- ing and penetration of Plato, Ariftotle, and Cicero, are now clearly laid open to the eye of every peafantand mechanic with the bible in his hand. Thefe are all plain facts too glaring to be contradicted, and therefore, whatever we may think of the authority of

thefe

[ 33 ]

thefe books, the relations which they con- tain, or the infpiration of their authors, of thefe fads no man, who has eyes to read, or ears to hear, can entertain a doubt j be- caufe there are the books, and in them is this religion.

VOL. IV. D PRO-

t 34 ]

PROPOSITION III.

MY third proportion is this ; That from this book called the New Teftament, may be collected a fyftem of ethics, ia which every moral precept founded on rea- fon is carried to a higher degree of purity and perfection, than in any other of the an- tient philofophers of preceding ages j every moral precept founded on falfe principles is entirely omitted, and many new precepts ad- ded, peculiarly correfponding with the new object of this religion.

By moral precepts founded on reafon, I mean all thofe, which enforce the practice of fuch duties as reafon informs us muft im- prove our natures, and conduce to the hap- pinefs of mankind : fuch are piety to God, benevolence to men, juftice, charity, tempe- rance, and fobriety, with all thofe, which prohibit the commiflion of the contrary vices, all which debafe our natures, and, by mutual

injuries,

[ 35 ]

injuries, introduce univerfal diforder, and confequently univerfal mifery. By precepts founded on falfe principles, I mean thofe which recommend fictitious virtues produc- tive of none of thefe falutary effects, and therefore, however celebrated and admired, are in fact no virtues at all j fuch are va- lour, patriotifm, and friendfhip.

That virtues of the firft kind are carried to a higher degree of purity and perfection by the Chriftian religion than by any other, it is here unneceffary to prove, becaufe this is a truth, which has been frequently demon- flrated by her friends, and never once denied by the moft determined of her adverfaries ; but it will be proper to fliew, that thofe of the latter fort are moft judicioufly omitted ; becaufe they have really no intrinfic merit in them, and are totally incompatible with the genius and fpirit of this inftitudon.

Valour, for inftance, or active courage, is for the moft part conftitutional, and there- fore can have no more claim to moral merit, than wit, beauty, health, ftrength, or any D 2 other

other endowment of the mind or body j and fo far is it from producing any falutary ef- fects by introducing peace, order, or happi- nefs into fociety, that it is the ufual perpetra- tor of all the violences, which from reta- liated injuries diftract the world with blood- fhed and devastation. It is the engine by which the ftrong are enabled to plunder the weak, the proud to trample upon the hum- ble, and the guilty to opprefs the innocent 5 it is the chief inftrument which Ambition employs in her unjuft purfuits of wealth and power, and is therefore fo much extolled by her votaries : it was indeed congenial with the religion of pagans, whofe gods were for the moft part 'made out of deceafed heroes, exalted to heaven as a reward for the mif- chiefs which they had perpetrated upon earth, and therefore with them this was the firft of virtues, and had even engrofled that denomination to itfelf ; but whatever merit it may have affumed among pagans, with Chriftians it can pretend to none, and few or none are the occafions in which they are

permitted

[ 37 ]

permitted to exert it : they are fo far from being allowed to inflid evil, that they are forbid even to refift it : they are fo far from being encouraged to revenge injuries, that one of their firft duties is to forgive them ; fo far from being incited to deftroy their enemies, that they are commanded to love them, and to ferve them to the utmoft of their power. If Chriftian nations therefore were nations of Chriftians, all war would be impofiible and unknown amongft them, and valour could be neither of ufe nor eftima- tion, and therefore could never have a place in the catalogue of Chriftian virtues, being irreconcileable with all its precepts. I object not to the praife and honours beftowed on the valiant, they are the leaft tribute which can be paid them by thofe who enjoy fafety and affluence by the intervention of their dangers and fufferings: I aflfert only that active courage can never be a Chriftian vir- tue, becaufe a Chriftian can have nothing to do with it. Paflive courage is indeed fre- quently, and properly inculcated by this D 3 meek

88330

[ 3« 1

meek and fuffering religion, under the titles of patience and refignation : a real and fub- ftantial virtue this, and a direct contraft to the former ; for pafiive courage arifes from the nobleft difpofitions of the human mind, from a contempt of misfortunes, pain, and death; and a confidence in the protection of the Almighty ; active, from the meaneft ; from paflion, vanity, and felf- dependence : pafiive courage is derived from a zeal for truth, and a perfeverance in duty j active, is the offspring of pride and revenge, and the parent of cruelty and injuftice : in fhort, pafiive courage is the refolution of a philo- fopher; active, the ferocity of a favage. Nor is this more incompatible with the precepts, than with the object of this religion, which is the attainment of the kingdom of heaven ; for valour is not that fort of violence, by which that kingdom is to be taken j nor are the turbulent fpirits of heroes and con- querors admifiible into thofe regions of peace, fubordination, and tranquillity. Patriotifm alfo, that celebrated virtue fo

much

[ 39 ]

much praftifed in antient, and fo much pro- fefied in modern times, that virtue, which fo long preferved the liberties of Greece, and exalted Rome to the empire of the world : this celebrated virtue, I fay, muft alfo be .excluded ; becaufe it not only falls fhort of, but directly counteracts, the extenfive benevolence of this religion, A Chriftian is of no country, he is a citizen of the world ; and his neighbours and countrymen are the inhabitants of the remoteft regions, when- ever their diftrefles demand his friendly af- fiftance : .Chriftianity commands us to love all mankind, patriotifm to opprefs all other •countries to advance the imaginary profpe- rity of our own : Chriftianity enjoins us to imitate the univerfal benevolence of our Creator, who pours forth his bleffings on every nation upon earth ; patriotifm, to copy .the mean partiality of an Englifh parilh of- -ficer, who thinks injuftice and cruelty meri- torious, whenever they promote the interefts of his own inconfiderable village. This lias ever been a favourite virtue with man- D 4 kind,

[ 40 ]

kind, becaufe it conceals felf-intereft under the ma(k of public fpirit, not only from others, but even from themfelves, and gives a licence to inflict wrongs and injuries not only with impunity, but with applaufe ; but it is fo diametrically oppofite to the great characteriftic of this inftitution, that it never could have been admitted into the lift of Chriftian virtues.

Friendfhip likewife, although more con- genial to the principles of Chriftianity, arifing from more tender and amiable difpofitions, could never gain admittance amongft her benevolent precepts, for the fame reafon ; becaufe it is too narrow and confined, and appropriates that benevolence to a fingle object, which is here commanded to be ex- tended over all. Where friendftiips arife from fimilarity of fentiments, and difmte- refted affections, they are advantageous, agreeable, and innocent, but have little pre- tenfions to merit i for it is juftJy obferved, " If ye love them, which love you, what " thanks have ye ? for fmners alfo love thofe, 5 " that

[ 41 ]

ce that love them *." But if they are formed from alliances in parties, factions, and in- tereits, or from a participation of vices, the ufual parents of what are called friendfhips among mankind, they are then both mif- chievous and criminal, and confequently forbidden j but in their utmoft purity de- ferve no recommendation from this reli- gion.

To the judicious omifiion of thefe falfc virtues we may add that remarkable filencc, which the Chriftian legiflator every where prefer ves on fubjects efteemed by all others of the higheft importance, civil government, national policy, and the rights of war and peace ; of thefe he has not taken the lead notice, probably for this plain reafon, be- caufe it would have been impofiible to have formed any explicit regulations concerning them, which muft not have been inconfiftent with the purity of his religion, or with the practical obfervance of fuch imperfect crea-

* Luke vi. 32.

tures

[ 41 ]

tures as men ruling over, and contending •with each other : for inftance, had he abfo- lutely forbid all refiftance to the reigning powers, he had conftituted a plan of dcfpo- tifm, and made men flaves j had he allowed it, he muft have authorifed difobedience, and made them rebels : had he in direft terms prohibited all war, he muft have left his followers for ever an eafy prey to every infidel invader; had he permitted k, he muft have licenfed all that rapine and mur- der, with which it is unavoidably attended.

Let us now examine what are thofe new precepts in this religion peculiarly corre- fponding with the new object of it, that is, preparing us for the kingdom of heaven*, of thefe the chief are poornefs of fpirit, for- givenefs of injuries, and charity to all men; to thefe we may add repentance, faith, felf- abafement, and a detachment from the •world, all moral duties peculiar to this reli- gion, and abfolutely neceflary to the attain- ment of its end.

« Blefied

[ 43 ]

« Bleffed are the poor in fpirit ; for theirs " is the kingdom of heaven * :" by which poornefs of fpirit is to be underftood a dif- pofition of mind, meek, humble, fubmiffive to power, void of ambition, patient of inju- ries, and free from all refentment. This was fo new, and fo oppofite to the ideas of all pagan moralifts, that they thought this tem- per of mind a criminal and contemptible meannefs, which muft induce men to facri- fice the glory of their country, and their own honour, to a mameful pufillanimity ; and fuch it appears to almoft all who are called Chrif- tians even at this day, who not only reject it in practice, but difavow it in principle, not- withftanding this explicit declaration of their matter. We fee them revenging the fmallefl affronts by premeditated murder, as indivi- duals, on principles of honour; and, in their national capacities, deftroying each other with fire and fword, for the low confidera- tions of commercial interefts, the balance of

* Matt, v. 3.

rival

[ 44 ]

rival powers, or the ambition of princes : we fee them with their laft breath animating each other to a favage revenge, and, in the agonies of death, plunging with feeble arms their daggers into the hearts of their oppo- nents : and, what is ftill worfe, we hear all thefe barbarifms celebrated by hiftorians, flattered by poets, applauded in theatres, ap- proved in fenates, and even fanctified in pul- pits. But univerfal practice cannot alter the nature of things, nor univerfal error change the nature of truth : pride was not made for man j but humility, meeknefs, and refigna- tion, that is poornefs of fpirit, was made for man j and properly belongs to his dependent and precarious fituation ; and is the only difpofition of mind, which can enable him to enjoy eafe and quiet here, and happinefs hereafter : yet was this important precept entirely unknown until it was promulgated by him, who faid, " Suffer little children to " come unto me, and forbid them not j for " of fuch is the kingdom of heaven : Verily " I fay unto you, whoever fhall not receive

"the

[ 45 ]

" the kingdom of God as a little child, he *f (hall not enter therein *."

Another precept, equally new and no lefs excellent, is forgivenefs of injuries : " Ye " have heard," fays Chrift to his difciples, tc Thou (halt love thy neighbour, and hate <e thine enemy j but I fay unto you, love " your enemies j blefs them that curfe you, do " good to them that hate you, and pray for " them which defpitefully ufe you, and per- " fecute you j-." This was a leflbn fo new, and fo utterly unknown, till taught by his doctrines, and enforced by his example, that the wifeft moralifts of the wifeft nations and ages reprefented the defire of revenge as a mark of a noble mind, and the accomplifh- ment of it as one of the chief felicities at- tendant on a fortunate man. But how much more magnanimous, how much more bene- ficial to mankind, is forgivenefs ! it is more magnanimous, becaufe every generous and exalted difpofition of the human mind is re-

* Matt. x. 14. t Matt. v. 43.

quifite

[ 46 ]

quifite to the practice of it : for thefe alone can enable us to bear the wrongs and infuks of wickednefs and folly with patience, and to look down on the perpetrators of them with pity, rather than indignation ; thefe alone can teach us, that fuch are but a part of thofe fufferings allotted to us in this ftate of probation, and to know, that to overcome evil with good, is the moft glorious of all victories : it is the moft beneficial, becaufe this amiable conduct alone can put an end to an eternal fucceflion of injuries and retali- ations ; for every retaliation becomes a new injury, and requires another act of revenge for fatisfaction. But would we obferve this falutary precept, to love our enemies, and to do good to thofe who defpitefully ufe us, this obftinate benevolence would at laft conquer the moft inveterate hearts, and we fhould have -no enemies to forgive. How much more exalted a character therefore is a Chrif- tian martyr, fuffering with refignation, and praying for the guilty, than that of a Pagan hero, breathing revenge, and deftroying the

innocent !

[ 47 ]

innocent ! Yet, noble and ufeful as this vir- tue is, before the appearance of this religion it was not only unpractifed, but decried in principle as mean and ignominious, though fo obvious a remedy for moft of the miferies of this life, and fo necefiary a qualification for the happinefs of another.

A third precept, firft noticed and firft en- joined by this inftitution, is charity to all men. What this is, we may beft learn from this admirable defcription, painted in the following words : " Charity fuffereth long, " and is kind ; charity envieth not j charity " vaunteth not itfelf j is not puffed up ; doth " not behave itfelf unfeemly -3 feeketh not " her own ; is not eafily provoked j think- " eth no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but " rejoiceth in truth ; feareth all things ; be- " lieveth all things ; hopeth all things ; en- " dureth all things*." Here we have an accurate delineation of this bright conftella- tion of all virtues; which confifts not, as

* i Cor. xiii. 4.

man?

t 48 ]

many imagine, in the building of monafte* ries, endowment of hofpitals, or the diftri- bution of alms ; but in fuch an amiable dif- pofition of mind, as exercifes itfelf every hour in afts of kindnefs, patience, compla- cency, and benevolence to all around us, and which alone is able to promote happi- nefs in the prefent life, or render us capable of receiving it in another : and yet this is totally new, and fo it is declared to be by the author of it : "A new commandment I ce give unto you, that ye love one another ; " as I have loved you, that ye love one ano- " ther; by this fhall all men know that ye " are my difciples, if ye have love one to " another *." This benevolent difpofition is made the great charaderiftic of a Chrif- tian, the teft of his obedience, and the mark by which he is to be diftinguifhed. This love for each other is that charity juft now defcribed, and contains all thofe qualities, •which are there attributed to it 3 humility,

* John xiii. 34.

patience,

[ 49 ]

patience, meeknefs, and beneficence : with- out which we muft live in perpetual difcord, and confequemly cannot pay obedience to this commandment by loving one another ; a commandment fo fublime, fo rational, and fo beneficial, fo wifely calculated to correct the depravity, diminifh the wickednefs, and abate the miferies of human nature, that, did we univerfally comply with it, we Ihould foon be relieved from all the inquietudes arifing from our own unruly paflions, anger, envy, revenge, malice, and ambition, as well as from all thofe injuries to which we are perpetually expofed from the indulgence of the fame pafikms in others. It would alfo preferve our minds in fuch a flate of tran- quillity, and fo prepare them for the king- dom of heaven, that we fhould flide out of a life of peace, love, and benevolence, into that celeftial fociety, by an almoft imper- ceptible tranfition. Yet was this command- ment entirely new, when given by him, who fo intitles it, and has made it the capital duty of his religion, becaufe the moft indifpenfa- VOL. IV. E bly

bly necefiary to the attainment of its great object, the kingdom of heaven j into which if proud, turbulent, and vindictive fpirits were permitted to enter, they muft unavoid- ably deftroy the happinefs of that ftate by the operations of the fame paflions and vices, by which they difturb the prefent -y and therefore all fuch muft be eternally excluded, not only as a punifhment, but alfo from incapacity.

Repentance, by this we plainly fee, is another new moral duty ftrenuoufly infifted on by this religion, and by no other, becaufe abfolutely necefifary to the accompli ihment of its end ; for this alone can purge us from thofe tranfgreffions, from which we cannot be totally exempted in this ftate of trial and temptation, and purify us from that depra- vity in our nature, which renders us incapa- ble of attaining this end. Hence alfo we may learn, that no repentance can remove this incapacity, but fuch as entirely changes the nature and difpofttion of the offender ; which in the language of fcripture is called " being born again." Mere contrition for 5

[ 5i 3

part crimes, nor even the pardon of them, cannot effect this, unlefs it operates to this entire converfion or new birth, as it is pro- perly and emphatically named : for forrow can no more purify a mind corrupted by a long continuance in vicious habits, than it can reftore health to a body diftempered by a long courfe of vice and intemperance. Hence alfo every one, who is in the leaft acquainted with himfelf, may judge of the reafonablenefs of the hope that is in him, and of his fituation in a future Hate by that of his prefent. If he feels in himfelf a temper proud, turbulent, vindictive, and malevo- lent, and a violent attachment to the plea- fures or bufinefs of the world, he may be af- fured, that he muft be excluded from the kingdom of heaven; not only becaufe his conduct can merit no fuch reward, but be- caufe, if admitted, he would find there no objects fatisfactory to his paflions, inclina- tions, and purfuits, and therefore could only difturb the happinefs of others without en- joying any jfhare of it himfelf,

E 2 Faith

[ 5* 3

Faith is another moral duty injoined by this inftitution, of a fpecies fo new, that the philofophers of antiquity had no word ex- preflive of this idea, nor any fuch idea to be exprefied j for the word •nno-TK orjides, which we tranflate faith, was never ufed by any pagan writer in a fenfe the leaft fimilar to that, to which it is applied in the New Tef- tament: where in general it fignifies an humble, teachable, and candid difpofition, a truft in God, and confidence in his promifes ; when applied particularly to Chriftianity, it means no more than a belief of this fingle propofition, That Chrift was the fon of God ; that is, in the language of thofe writings, the Mefliah, who was foretold by the prophets, and expected by the Jews ; who was fent by God into the world to preach righteoufnefs, judgment, and everlafting life, and to die as an atonement for the fras of mankind. This was all that Chrift required to be believed by thofe who were willing to become his difci- ples : he, who does not believe this, is not a Chriftian, and he who does, believes the

whole

I 53 3

whole that is efiential to his profeffion, and all that is properly comprehended under the name of faith. This unfortunate word has indeed been fo tortured and fo mifapplied to mean every abfurdity, which artifice could impofe upon ignorance, that it has loft all pretenfions to the title of virtue j but if brought back to the fimplicity of its origi- nal fignification, it -veil deferves that name, becaufe it ufually arifes from the moft amia- ble difpofitions, and is always a dire£t con- traft to pride, obflinacy, and felf-conceit. If taken in the extenfive fenfe of an afient to the evidence of things not feen, it com- preheAds the exiftence of a God, and a fu- ture ftate, and is therefore not only itfelf a moral virtue, but the fource from whence all others muft proceed ; for on the belief of thefe all religion and morality muft entirely depend. It cannot be altogether void of moral merit, (as fome would reprefent it) becaufe it is in a degree voluntary j for daily .experience Jhews us, that men not only pre- tend to, but actually do believe, and difbe- E 3 lieve,

[ 54 1

lieve, almoft any propofitions, which beft fuit their interefts, or inclinations, and unfeign- edly change their fincere opinions with their fituations and circumftances. For we have power over the mind's eye, as well as over the body's, to fhut it againft the ftrongeft rays of truth and religion, whenever they be- come painful to us, and to open it again to the faint glimmerings of fcepticifm and infi^ delity when we " love darknefs rather than " light, becaufe our deeds are evil *." And this, I think, fufficiently refutes all objections to the moral nature of faith, drawn from the fuppofition of its being quite involuntary, and necefTarily dependent on the degree of evidence, which is offered to our underftand- ings.

Self-abafement is another moral duty in- culcated by this religion only; which re- quires us to impute even our own virtues to the grace and favour of our Creator, and to acknowledge, that we can do nothing good by our own powers, unlefs aflifted by his * John Hi. i p.

over-

t 55 3

ever-ruling influence. This doctrine feems at firft fight to infringe on our free-will, and to deprive us of all merit ; but, on a clofer examination, the truth of it may be demon- ftrated both by reafon and experience, and that in fad it does not impair the one, or de- preciate the other : and that it is productive of fo much humility, refignation, and depen- dance on God, that it juftly claims a place amongft the moft illuftrious moral virtues. Yet was this duty utterly repugnant to the proud and felf-fufficient principles of the antient philofophers as well as modern Deifts, and therefore before the publication of the gofpel totally unknown and uncompre- hended.

Detachment from the world is another moral virtue conftituted by this religion alone : fo new, that even at this day few of its profefTors can be perfuaded, that it is re- quired, or that it is any virtue at all. By this detachment from the world is not to be underftood a feclufion from fociety, ab- ftradion from all bufmefs, or retirement to a E 4 gloomy

[ 5« 3

gloomy cloyfter. Induftry and labour, chear* fulnefs and hofpitality are frequently recom- mended : nor is the acquifition of wealth and honours prohibited, if they can be obtained by honeft means, and a moderate degree of attention and care : but fuch an unremitted anxiety, and perpetual application as en- grofles our whole time and thoughts, are forbid, becaufe they are incompatible with the fpirit of this religion, and muft utterly difqualify us for the attainment of its great end. We toil on in the vain purfuits and frivolous occupations of the world, die in our harnefs, and then expect, if no gigantic crime (lands in the way, to ftep immediately into the kingdom of heaven : but this is im~ poflible i for without a previous detachment from the bufmefs of this world, we cannot be prepared for the happinefs of another. Yet this could make no part of the morality of pagans, becaufe their virtues were altoge- ther connected with this bufmefs, and con- filled chiefly in conducting it with honour to themfelves, and benefit to the public : but

Chriftianity

[ 57 ]

Chriftianity has a nobler object in view, which, if not attended to, muft be loft forever. This object is that celeftial manfion of which we fhould never lofe fight, and to which we ihould be ever advancing during our journey through life : but this by no means precludes us from performing the bufmefs, or enjoying the arnufements of travellers, provided they detain us not too long, or lead us too far out of our way.

It cannot be denied, that the great author of the Chriftian inflitution, firft and fingly ventured to oppofe all the chief principles of pagan virtue, and to introduce a religion directly oppofite to thofe erroneous though long-eftablifhed opinions, both in its duties and in its object. The mod celebrated vir- tues of the ancients were high fpirit, intrepid courage, and implacable refentment.

Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilist acer,

was the portrait of the moft illuftrious hero, drawn by one of the firft poets of antiquity. To all thefe admired qualities, thofe of a true Chriftian are an exact contraft j for this

religion

religion conftantly enjoins poornefs of fpirit, meeknefs, patience, and forgivenefs of inju- ries. " But I fay unto you, that ye refill " not evil -, but whoever fhall fmite thee on " the right cheek, turn to him the other " alfo *." The favourite characters among the Pagans were the turbulent, ambitious, and intrepid, who through toils and dangers acquired wealth, and fpent it in luxury, magnificence, and corruption j but both thefe are equally adverfe to the Chriftian fyftem, which forbids all extraordinary efforts to obtain wealth, care to fecure, or thought concerning the enjoyment of it. " Lay not " up for yourfelves treafures on earth, &c." ct Take no thought, faying, what (hall we " eat, or what (hall we drink, or wherewithal *' fhall we be cloathed ? for after all thefe "things do the Gentiles feekf." The chief objeft of the Pagans was immortal fame : for this their poets fang, their heroes fought, and their patriots died ; and this was hung out by their philofophers and legifla-

* Matt. v. 39. f Matt. vi. 31.

tors,

[ 59 ]

tors, as the great incitement to all noble and virtuous deeds. But what fays the Chriftian legiflator to his difciples on this fubject ? <e Blefled are ye, when men lhall revile you, *f and (hall fay all manner of evil againft you " for my lake; rejoice, and be exceeding glad, f< for great is your reward in heaven *." So widely different is the genius of the Pagan and Chriftian morality, that I will venture to affirm, that the moft celebrated virtues of the former are more oppofite to the fpirit, and more inconfiftent with the end of the latter, than even their moft infamous vices ; and that a Brutus wrenching vengeance out of his hands to whom alone it belongs, by murdering the opprefibr of his country, or a Cato murdering himfelf from an impatience of controul, leaves the world more unqua- lified for, and more inadmifTible into the kingdom of heaven, than even a Meflalina, or an Heliogabalus, with all their profligacy about them.

Nothing, I believe, has fo much contri-

* Matt. v. n ,

buted

[ 6° ]

buted to corrupt the true fpirit of the Chrif- tian inftitution, as that partiality, which we contract from our earlieft education for the manners of pagan antiquity : from whence we learn to adopt every moral idea, which is repugnant to it j to applaud falfe virtues, which that difavows ; to be guided by laws of honour, which that abhors ; to imitate characters, which that detefts i and to be- hold heroes, patriots, conquerors, and fui- cides with admiration, whofe conduct that utterly condemns. From a coalition of thefe oppofite principles was generated that mon- ftrous fyftem of cruelty and benevolence, of barbarifm and civility, of rapine and juf- tice, of fighting and devotion, of revenge and generofity, which harrafTed the world for feveral centuries with crufades, holy wars, knight-errantry, and fingle combats, and even (till retains influence enough, un- der the name of honour, to defeat the moft beneficent ends of this holy inftitution. I mean not by this to pafs any cenfure on the principles of valour, patriotifm, or honour ;

they

C 6t ]

they may be ufeful, and perhaps neceflaryv in the commerce and bufinefs of the prefent turbulent and imperfect ftate; and thofe who are actuated by them may be virtuous, honeft, and even religious men : all that I aflfert is, that they cannot be Chriftians. A profligate may be a Chriftian, though a bad one, becaufe he may be overpowered by paffions and temptations, and his actions may contradict his principles j but a man, whofe ruling principle is honour, however virtuous he may be, cannot be a Chriftian, becaufe he erects a (landard of duty, and de- liberately adheres to it, diametrically oppo- fite to the whole tenour of that religion.

The contrail between the Chriftian, and ail other inftitutions religious or moral, pre- vious to its appearance, is fufficiently evi- dent, and furely the fuperiority of the for- mer is as little to be difputed ; unlefs any one fhall undertake to prove, that humility, patience, forgivenefs, and benevolence are lefs amiable, and lefs beneficial qualities, than pride, turbulence, revenge, and malig- nity :

nity: that the contempt of riches is lefs no- ble, than the acquifition by fraud and vil- lainy, or the diftribution of them to the poor, lefs commendable than avarice or profufion ; or that a real immortality in the kingdom of heaven is an object lefs exalted, lefs rational, and lefs worthy of purfuit, than an imagi- nary immortality in the applaufe of men : that worthlefs tribute, which the folly of one part of mankind pays to the wickednefs of the other ; a tribute, which a wife man ought always to defpife, becaufe a good man can fcarce ever obtain.

CON*

63

CONCLUSION.

T F I miftake not, I have now fully efta- •*• blifhed the truth of my three propofi- tions.

Firft, That there is now extant a book intitled the New Teftament.

Secondly, That from this book may be extracted a fyflem of religion entirely new; both in its object, and its doctrines, not only fuperior to, but totally unlike every thing, which had ever before entered into the mind of man.

Thirdly, That from this book may like- wife be collected a fyftem of ethics, in which every moral precept founded on reafon is carried to a higher degree of purity and per- fection, than in any other of the wifeft phi- lofophers of preceding ages ; every moral precept founded on falfe principles totally omitted, and many new precepts added, pe- culiarly

[ 64 ]

culiarly correfponding with the new object of this religion.

Every one of thefe proportions, I am per-, fuaded, is incontrovertibly true ; and if true, this Ihort, but certain conclufion muft ine- vitably follow ; That fuch a fyftem of reli- gion and morality could not poflibly have been the work of any man, or fet of men, much lefs of thofe obfcure, ignorant, and il- literate perfons who actually did difcover, and publifli it to the world ; and that there- fore it muft have been effected by the fuper- natural 'interpofition of divine power and wifdom ; that is, that it muft derive its origin from God.

This argument feems to me little fhort of demonftration, and is indeed founded on the very fame reafoning, by which the material world is proved to be the work of his invifi- ble hand. We view with admiration the heavens and the earth, and all therein con- tained ; we contemplate with amazement the minute bodies of animals too fmall for per- ception

[ 65 ]

ception, and the immenfe planetary orbs too vail for imagination : We are certain that thefe cannot be the works of man -, and therefore we conclude with reafon, that they mull be the productions of an omnipotent Creator. In the fame manner we fee here a fcheme of religion and morality unlike and fuperipr to all ideas of the human mind, equally impofiible to have been difcovered by the knowledge, as invented by the artifice of man; and therefore by the very fame mode of reafoning, and with the famejuftice, we conclude, that it muft derive its origin from the fame omnipotent and omnifcient Being.

Nor was the propagation of this religion lefs extraordinary than the religion itfelf, or lefs above the reach of all human power, than the difcovery of it was above that of all hu- man underftanding. It is well known, that in the courfe of a very few years it was fpread over all the principal parts of Afia and of Europe, and this by the miniftry only of an inconfiderable number of the

VOL. IV. F moft

[ 66 ]

moft inconfiderable perfons; that at this time Paganifm was in the higheft repute, believed univerfally by the vulgar, and pa- tronifed by the great ; that the wifeft men of the wifeft nations aflifted at its facri- fices, and confulted its oracles on the moft important occafions : Whether thefe were the tricks of the priefts or of the devil, is of no confequence,, as they were both equally unlikely to be converted, or overcome ; the fact is certain, that on the preaching of a few fifhermen, their altars were deferted, and their deities were dumb. This miracle they undoubtedly performed, whatever we may think of the reft : and this is furely fufficient to prove the authority of their commifllon j and to convince us, that neither their under- taking nor the execution of it could poflibly be their own.

How much this divine inftitution has been corrupted, or how foon thefe corrup- tions began, how far it has been difcoloured by the falfe notions of illiterate ages, or blended with fiflions by pious frauds, or

how

[ 6? ]

Jiow early thefe notions and fictions were in- troduced, no learning or fagacity is now able precifely to afcertain i but furely no man, who ferioufly confiders the excellence and novelty of its doctrines, the manner in which it was at firft propagated through the world, the perfons who atchieved that wonderful work, and the originality of thofe writings in which it is ftill recorded, can poffibly be- lieve that it could ever have been the pro- duction of impofture, or chance ; or that from an impofture the moil wicked and blafphemous (for if an impofture, fuch it is) all the religion and virtue now exifting on earth can derive their fource.

But notwithftanding what has been here urged, if any man can believe, that at a time when the literature of Greece and Rome, then in their meridian luftre, were infuffi- cient for the tafk, the fon of a carpenter, to- gether with twelve of the meaneft and mod illiterate mechanics, his aflbciates, unaffifted by any fupernatural power, fhould be able to difcover or invent a fyftem of theology F 2 th$

[ 63 ]

the moft fublime, and of ethics the moft per- fed, which had efcaped the penetration and learning of Plato, Ariftotle, and Cicero j and that from this fyftem, by their own fagacity, they had excluded every falfe virtue, though univerfally admired, and admitted every true virtue, though defpifed and ridiculed by all the reft of the world : If any one can believe that thefe men could become impoftors, for no other purpofe than the propagation of truth, villains for no end but to teach ha- nefty, and martyrs without the lead profpect of honour or advantage j or that, if all this fhould have been poflible, thefe few incon- fiderable perfons fhould have been able, in the courfe of a few years, to have fpread this their religion over moft parts of the then known world, in oppofition to- the interefts, pleafures, ambition, prejudices, and even reafon of mankind; to have triumphed over the power of princes, the intrigues of ftates,. the force of cuftom, the blindnefs of zeal, the influence of priefts, the arguments of orators, and the philofophy of the work],

without

[ 69 ]

without any fupernatural affiftance; if any one can believe all thefe miraculous events, contradictory to the conftant experience of the powers and difpofitions of human nature, he muft be poffefled of much more faith than is necefiary to make him a Chrittian, and remain an unbeliever from mere credu- lity.

But fhould thefe credulous infidels after all be in the right, and this pretended reve- lation be all a fable; from believing it what harm could enfue ? Would it render princes more tyrannical, or fubjects more ungovernable ? the rich more infolent, or the poor more diforderly ? Would it make worfe parents or children, hufbands or wives, matters or fervants, friends or neighbours ? Or would it not make men more virtuous, and confequently more happy in every fitu- ation ? It could not be criminal; it could not be detrimental. It could not be cri- minal, becaufe it cannot be a crime to aflent to fuch evidence, as has been able to con- vince the beft and wifeft of mankind; by F 3 which,

which, if falfe, Providence muft have pcr^ mitted men to deceive each other, for the mod beneficial ends, and which therefore it would be furely more meritorious to believe, from a difpofition of faith and charity, which believeth all things, than to reject with fcorn from obftinacy and felf-conceit : It cannot be detrimental, becaufe ifChriftianity is a fa- ble, it is a fable, the belief of which is the only principle which can retain men in a fleady and uniform courfe of virtue, piety, and devotion, or can fupport them in the hour of diftrefs, of ficknefs, and of death. Whatever might be the operations of true deifm on the minds of pagan philofophers, that can now avail us nothing : for that light which once lightened the Gentiles, is now abforbed in the brighter illumination of the gofpel j we can now form no rational fyftem of deifm, but what muft be borrowed from that fource, and, as far as it reaches towards perfection, muft be exactly the fame ; and therefore if we will not accept of Chrif- tianity, we can have no religion at all. Ac- cordingly

cordingly we fee, that thofe who fly from this, fcarce ever flop at deifm ; but haften on with great alacrity to a total rejection of all religious and moral principles whatever.

If I have here demonflrated the divine origin of the Chriftian religion by an argu- ment which cannot be confuted j no others, however plaufible or numerous, founded on probabilities, doubts, and conjectures, can ever difprove it, becaufe if it is once fhewn to be true, it cannot be falfe. But as many arguments of this kind have bewildered fome candid and ingenuous minds, I fhall here beftow a few lines on thofe which have the mod weight, in order to wipe out, or at leaft to diminifh their perplexing influence.

But here I muft previoufly obferve, that the mod unfurmountable, as well as the moft ufual obftacle to our belief, arifes from our pafiions, appetites, and interefts j for faith be- ing an aft of the will as much as of the underftanding, we oftener di/believe for want of inclination, than want of evidence. The firft ftep towards thinking this revela- F 4 tion

[ 7* 3

tion true, is our hopes that it is foj for whenever we much wifh any proportion to be true, we are not far from believing it. It is certainly for the intereft of all good men, that its authority Ihould be well founded; and ftill more beneficial to the bad, if ever they intend to be better : be- caufe it is the only fyftem either of reafon or religion which can give them any aflurance of pardon. The punifhment of vice is a debt due to juftice, which cannot be re- mitted without compenfation : repentance can be no compenfation j it may change a wicked man's difpofitions, and prevent his offending for the future, but can lay no claim to pardon for what is paft. If any one by profligacy and extravagance contracts a debt, repentance may make him wifer, and hinder him from running into further dif- trefTes, but can never pay off his old bonds ; for which he mud be ever accountable, un- lefs they are difcharged by himfelf, or fome other in his ftead : this very difcharge Chriftianity alone holds forth on our re- pentance,

[ 73 ]

pentance, and, if true, will certainly per- form : the truth of it therefore muft ardently be wifhed for by all, except the wicked, who are determined neither to repent or reform. It is well worth every man's while, who either is, or intends to be virtuous, to believe Chriftianity, if he can j becaufe he will find it the fureft prefervative againft all vicious habits and their attendant evils, the beft re- fource under diftrefTes and difappointments, ill health, and ill fortune, and the firmed ba- fis on which contemplation can reft; and without fome, the human mind is never per- fectly at eafe. But if any one is attached to a favourite pleafure, or eagerly engaged in worldly purfuits incompatible with the pre- cepts of this religion, and he believes it, he muft either relinquifli thofe purfuits with imeafmefs, or perfift in them with remorfe and diflatisfaction, and therefore muft com- mence unbeliever in his own defence. With fuch I {hall not difpute, nor pretend to per- fuade men by arguments to make them- felves miferable : but to thofe, who, not

afraid

[ 74 3

afraid that this religion may be true, arc really affected by fuch objections, I will offer the following anfwers, which, though fhort, will, I doubt not, be fufficient to (hew them their weaknefs and futility.

In the firft place, then, fome have been fo bold as to ftrike at the root of all revelation from God, by afferting, that it is incredible, becaufe unneceflary, and unneceflary, be- caufe the reafon which he has beflowed on mankind is fufficiently able to difcover all the religious and moral duties which he re- quires of them, if they would but attend to her precepts, and be guided by her friendly admonitions.. Mankind have undoubtedly at various times from the remoteft ages re- ceived fo much knowledge by divine com- munications, and have ever been fo much inclined to impute it all to their own fuf- ficiency, that it is now difficult to determine what human reafon unaflifted can effect : But to form a true judgment on this fubject, let us turn our eyes to thofe remote regions of the globe, to which this fupernatural af-

fiftance

[ 75 1

fiftance has never yet extended, and we fhall there fee men endued with fenfe and reafon not inferior to our own, fo far from being capable of forming fyftems of religion and morality, that they are at this day totally unable to make a nail or a hatchet : from whence we may furely be convinced, that reafon alone is fo far from being fufficient to offer to mankind a perfect religion, that it has never yet been able to lead them to any degree of culture or civilization what- ever. Thefe have uniformly flowed from that great fountain of divine communica- tion opened in the eaft, in the earlieft ages, and thence been gradually diffufcd in falu- brious ftreams, throughout the various re- gions of the earth. Their rife and progrefs, by furveying the hiftory of the world, may eafily be traced backwards to their fource ; and wherever thefe have not as yet been able to penetrate, we there find the human fpe- cies not only void of all true religious and moral fentiments, but not the lead emerged from their original ignorance and

barbarity j

[ 76 3

barbarity ; which feems a demonflration, that although human reafon is capable of progreflion in fcience, yet the firft founda- tions muft be laid by fupernatural inftruc- tions: for furely no other probable caufe can be affigned, why one part of mankind Ihould have made fuch an amazing progrefs in religious, moral, metaphyfical, and philo- fophical enquiries ; fuch wonderful improve- ments in policy, legiflation, commerce, and manufactures, while the other part, formed with the fame natural capacities, and divided only by feas and mountains, fhould remain, during the fame number of ages, in a (late little fuperior to brutes, without government, without laws or letters, and even without clothes and habitations j murdering each oth.tr to fatiate their revenge, and devouring each other to appeafe their hunger : I fay no caufe can be afligned for this amazing dif- ference, except that the firft have received information from thofe divine communica- tions recorded in the fcriptures, and the lat- ter have never yet been favoured with fuch

afiiftance.

[ 77 ]

affiftance. This remarkable contraft feems an unanfwerable, though perhaps a new proof of the neceffity of revelation, and a fo- lid refutation of all arguments againft it, drawn from the fufficiency of human reafon. And as reafon in her natural ftate is thus in- capable of making any progrefs in know- ledge; fo when furnifhed with materials by fupernatural aid, if left to the guidance of her own wild imaginations, fhe falls into more numerous and more grofs errors, than her own native ignorance could ever have fuggefted. There is then no abfurdity fo extravagant, which fhe is not ready to adopt : flie has perfuaded fome, that there is no God ,- others, that there can be no fu- ture ftate : fhe has taught fome, that there is no difference between vice and virtue, and that to cut a man's throat and to relieve his necefiities are actions equally meritorious r fhe has convinced many, that they have no free-will, in oppofition to their own experi- ence j fome, that there can be no fuch thing a* foul, or fpirit, contrary to their own per- ceptions ;

ceptions ; and others, no fuch thing as mat- ter or body, in contradiction to their fenfes. By analyfing all things fhe can (hew, that there is nothing in any thing j by perpetual Cfting (he can reduce all exiftence to the in- vifible dufl of fcepticifm ; and by recurring to firft principles, prove to the fatisfaction of her followers, that there are no principles at all. How far fuch a guide is to be depended on in the important concerns of religion, and morals, I leave to the judgment of every confiderate man to determine. This is cer- tain, that human reafon in its higheft ftate of cultivation amongft the philofophers of Greece and Rome, was never able to form a religion comparable to Chriftianity ; nor have all thofe fources of moral virtue, fuch as truth, beauty, and the fitnefs of thingSj which modern philofophers have endea- voured to fubftitute in its ftead, ever been effectual to produce good men, and have themfelves often been the productions of fome of the worft.

Others there are, who allow, that a revela- 5 tion

t 79 ]

tion from God may be both necefiary, and credible j but alledge, that the Icriptures, that is the books of the Old and New Tef- tament, cannot be that revelation ; becaufe in them are to be found errors and incon- fiftencies, fabulous ftories, falfe facts, and falfe philofophy; which can never be de- rived from the fountain of all wifdom and truth. To this I reply, that I readily ac- knowledge, that the fcriptures are not reve- lations from God, but the hiftory of them : The revelation kfeif is derived from God ; but the hiftory of it is the production of men, and therefore the truth of it is not in the leaft affected by their fallibility, but de- pends on the internal evidence of its own fupernatural excellence. If in thefe books fuch a religion, as has been here defer ibed, actually exifts, no feeming, or even real de- fects to be found in them can difprove the divine origin of this religion, or invalidate rny argument. Let us, for inftance, grant that the Mofaic hiftory of the creation was, founded on the erroneous but popular prin- ciples

[ 80 ]

cipleS of thofe early ages, who imagined the earth to be a vaft plain, and the celeftial bo- dies no more than luminaries hung up in the concave firmament to enlighten it ; will it from thence follow, that Mofes could not be a proper inflrument in the hands of Pro- vidence, to impart to the Jews a divine law, becaufe he was not infpired with a fore- knowledge of the Copernican and New- tonian fyftems ? or that Chrift muft be an impoftor, becaufe Mofes was not an aftro- nomer ? Let us alfo fuppofe, that the ac- counts of Chrift's temptation in the wilder- nefs, the devil's taking refuge in the herd of fwine, with feveral other narrations in the New Teftament, frequently ridiculed by un- believers, were all but {lories accommodated to the ignorance and fuperflitions of the times and countries in which they were writ- ten, or pious frauds intended to imprefs on vulgar minds a higher reverence of the power and fanclity of Chrift; will this in the leaft impeach the excellence of his reli- gion, or the authority of its founder ? or is

Chriftianity

Chriftianity anfwerable for all the fables of which it may have been the innocent occa- fion ? The want t>f this obvious diftinftion has much injured the Chriftian caufe ; be- caufe on this ground it has ever been mod fuccefsfully attacked, and on this ground it is not eafily to be defended : for if the records of this revelation are fuppofed to be the re- velation itfelf, the leaft defect difcovered in them muft be fatal to the whole. What has led many to overlook this diftinction, is that common phrafe, that the fcriptures are the word of God ; and in one fenfe they cer- tainly are ; that is, they are the facred repo- fitory of all the revelations, difpenfations, promifes, and precepts, which God has vouchfafed to communicate to mankind ; but by this expreflion we are not to under- ftand, that every part of this voluminous collection of hiftorical, poetical, prophetical, theological, and moral writings, which we call the Bible, was dictated by the imme- diate influence of divine infpiration : the authors of thefe books pretend to no fuch VOL. IV. G infclli-

t 8s 1

infallibility, and if they claim it not fof themfelves, who has the authority to claim it for them ? Chrift required no fuch be- lief from thofe who were willing to be his difciples. He fays, <f He that believeth on " me, hath everlafting life * ;" but where does he fay, He that believeth not every word contained in the Old Teftament, which was then extant, or every word in the New Tefta- ment, which was to be wrote for the in^ ftru&ion of future generations, hath not everlafting life ? There are innumerable occurrences related in the fcriptures, fome of greater, fome of lefs, and fome of no impor- tance at all $ the truth of which we can have noreafon toqueftion, but the belief of them is furely not effemial to the faith of a Chrif- tian : I have no doubt but that St. Paul was fhipwrecked, and that he left his cloak and his parchments at Troas ; but the belief of thefe fafts makes no part of Chriftianity, nor is the truth of them any proof of its autho- rity. It proves only that this apoftle could

* John vi. 47.

not

[ «3 3

not in common life be under the perpetual influence of infallible infpiration; for, had he been fo, he would not have put to fea be- fore a ftorm, nor have forgot his cloak. Thefe writers were undoubtedly directed by fupernatural influence in all things neceffary to the great work, which they were ap- pointed to perform : At particular times, and on particular occafions, they were enabled to utter prophecies, to fpeak languages, and to work miracles j but in all other circum- ftances, they feem to have been left to the direction of their own underftandings, like other men. In the fciences of hiftory, geo- graphy, aftronomy, and philofophy, they ap- pear to have been no better inftructed than others, and therefore were not lefs liable to be mifled by the errors and prejudices of the times and countries in which they lived. They related facts like honeft men, to the beft of their knowledge or information, and they re- corded the divine lefibns of their mafter with the utmoft fidelity j but they pretended to no infallibility, for they fometimes differed G 2 in

[ 84 ]

in their relations, and they fometimes dif- agreed in their fentiments. All which proves only, that they did not act, or write, in a combination to deceive, but not in the leaft impeaches the truth of the revelation which they publifhedj which depends not on any external evidence whatever: for I will venture to affirm, that if any one could prove, what is impoflible to be proved, be- caufe it is not true, that there are errors in geography, chronology, and philofophy, in every page of the Bible ; that the prophecies therein delivered are all but fortunate guefles, or artful applications, and the miracles there recorded no better than legendary tales : if any one could fhew, that thefe books were never written by their pretended authors, but were pofterior impofitions on illiterate and credulous ages : all thefe wonderful dif- coveries would prove no more than this, tht God, for reafons to us unknown, had thought proper to permit a revelation by him communicated to mankind, to be mixed with their ignorance, and corrupted by their

frauds

frauds from its earlieft infancy, in the fame manner in which he has vifibly permitted it to be mixed, and corrupted from that pe- riod to the prefent hour. If in thefe books a religion fuperior to all human imagination actually exiits, it is of no confequence to the proof of its divine origin, by what means it was there introduced, or with what human errors and imperfections it is blended. A diamond, though found in a bed of mud, is ftill a diamond, nor can the dirt, which fur- rounds it, depreciate its value or deftroy its luftre.

To fome fpeculative and refined obfervers, it has appeared incredible, that a wife and benevolent Creator fhould have constituted a world upon one plan, and a religion for it on another i that is, that he fhould have re- vealed a religion to mankind, which not only contradicts the principal paflions and incli- nations which he has implanted in their na- tures, but is incompatible with the whole ceconomy of that world which he has cre- ated, and in which he has thought proper to G 3 place

t 86 ]

place them. This, fay they, with regard to the Chriftian is apparently the cafe : the love of power, riches, honour, and fame, are the great incitements to generous and mag- nanimous actions ; yet by this inftitution are all thefe depreciated and difcouraged. Go- vernment is effential to the nature of man, and cannot be managed without certain de- grees of violence, corruption, and impofi- tion j yet are all thefe ftrictly forbid. Na- tions cannot fubfift without wars, nor war be carried on without rapine, defolation, and murder j yet are thefe prohibited under the fevereft threats. The non-refiftance of evil muft fubject. individuals to continual op- prefiions, and leave nations a defencelefs prey to their enemies j yet is this recommended. Perpetual patience under infults and inju- ries muft every day provoke new infults and new injuries j yet is this enjoined. A ne- glect of all we eat and drink and wear, muft put an end to all commerce, manufactures, and induftry ; yet is this required. In Ihort, were thefe precepts univerfally obeyed, the

difpofitioq

C 87 ]

difpofition of all human affairs muft be en- tirely changed, and the bufinefs of the world, conftituted as it now is, could not go on. To all this I anfwer, that fuch indeed is the Chriftian revelation, though fome of its advocates may perhaps be unwilling to own it, and fuch it is conftantly declared to be by him who gave it, as well as by thofe who publiftied it under his immediate direction : To thefe he fays, " If ye were of the world, " the world would love his own ; but be- " caufe ye are not of the world, but I have " chofen you out of the world, therefore the u world hateth you *." To the Jews he declares, " Ye are of this world ; I am not " of this world f." St. Paul writes to the Romans, " Be not conformed to this " world J j" and to the Corinthians, " We " fpeak not the wifdom of this world §." St. James fays, " Know ye not, that the " friendftiip of the world is enmity with " God ? whofoever therefore will be a

* John xv. 19. f John viii. 23.

|. Rom. xii. 2. § i Cor. ii. 6.

G 4 "friend

[ 38 ]

<f friend of the world is the enemy of " God*." This irreconcileable difagree- ment between Chriftianity and the world is announced in numberlefs other places in the New Teftament, and indeed by the whole tenour of thofe writings. Thefe are plain declarations, which, in fpite of all the eva- fions of thofe good managers, who choofe to take a little of this world in their way to heaven, (land fixed and immoveable againft all their arguments drawn from public be- nefit and pretended neceflity, and muft ever forbid any reconciliation between the pur- fuitsofthis world and the Chriftian inftitu- tion : but they who reject it on this account, enter not into the fublime fpirit of this reli- gion, which is not a code of precife laws de- figned for the well-ordering fociety, adapted to the ends of worldly convenience, and amenable to the tribunal of human pru- dence ; but a divine leffon of purity and perfection, fo far fuperior to the low con- fiderations of conqueft, government, and

* Jam. iv. 4.

commerce.

[ «9 J

commerce, that it takes no more notice of them, than of the battles of game-cocks, the policy of bees, or the induftry of ants : they recollect not what is the firft and principal object of this inftitution j that this is not, as has been often repeated, to make us hap- py, or even virtuous in the prefent life, for the fake of augmenting our happinefs here ; but to conduct us through a ftate of dangers and fufferings, of fin and temptation, in fuch a manner as to qualify us for the enjoyment of happinefs hereafter. All other inftitu- tions of religion and morals were made for the world, but the characterise of this is to be againft itj and therefore the merits of Chriftian doctrines are not to be weighed in the fcales of public utility, like thofe of mo- ral precepts, becaufe worldly utility is not their end. If Chrift and his apoftles had pretended, that the religion which they preached would advance the power, wealth, and profperity of nations, or of men, they would have deferved but little credit ; but they conftantly profefs the contrary, and

every

[ 9° 3

every where declare, that their religion is ad- verfe to the world, and all its purfuits. Chrift fays, fpeakingof his difciples, " They *c are not of the world, even as I am not of " the world*." It can therefore be no im- putation on this religion, or on any of its precepts, that they tend not to an end which their author profefledly difclaims : nor can it furely be deemed a defect, that it is ad- verfe to the vain purfuits of this world ; for fo are reafon, wifdom, and experience j they all teach us the fame leflbn, they all demon- flrate to us every day, that thefe are begun on falfe hopes, carried on with difquietude, and end in difappointment. This profefied incompatibility with the little, wretched, and iniquitous bufmefs of the world, is therefore fo far from being a defecl: in this religion, that, was there no other proof of its divine origin, this alone, I think, would be abun- dantly fufficient. The great plan and bene- volent defign of this difpenfation is plainly this; to enlighten the minds, purify the reli-

* John xvii. 16.

g'on,

gion, and amend the morals of mankind in general, and to feledl the moft meritorious of them to be fucceffively tranfplanted into the kingdom of heaven: which gracious offer is impartially tendered to all, who by perfe- verance in meeknefs, patience, piety, cha- rity, and a detachment from the world, are willing to qualify themfelves for this holy and happy fociety. Was this univerfally ac- cepted, and did every man obferve ftri&ly every precept of the gofpel, the face of hu- man affairs and the ceconomy of the world would indeed be greatly changed ; but furely they would be changed for the better ; and we fhould enjoy much more happinefs, even here, than at prefent : for we muft not forget, that evils are by it forbid as well as refiftance ; injuries, as well as revenge ; all unwillingnefs to diffufe the enjoyments of life, as well as folicitude to acquire them ; all obftacles to ambition, as well as ambi- tion itfelf ; and therefore all contentions for power and intereft would be at an end ; and £he world would go on much more happily

than

than it now does. But this univerfal ac- ceptance offuchan offer was never expected from fo depraved and imperfect a creature as man, and therefore could never have been any part of the defign: for it was foreknown and foretold by him who made it, that few, very few would accept it on thefe terms. He fays, " Strait is the gate, and narrow is " the way which leadeth into life, and few " there be that find it*." Accordingly we fee, that very few are prevailed on, by the hopes of future happinefs, to relinquilh the purfuits of prefent pleafures or interefts, and therefore thefe purfuits are little interrupted by the fecefiion of fo inconfiderable a num- ber. As the natural world fubfifts by the ftruggles of the fame elements, fo does the moral by the contentions of the fame paf- fions, as from the beginning: the genera- lity of mankind are actuated by the fame motives, fight, fcuffle, and fcramble for power, riches, and pleafures with the fame eagernefs : all occupations and profeffions

« Matt. vii. 4.

are

[ 93 ]

are exercifed with the fame alacrity, and there are foldiers, lawyers, ftatefmen, pa- triots, and politicians, juft as if Chriftianity had never exifted. Thus we fee this won- derful difpenfation has anfwered all the purpofes for which it was intended : it has enlightened the minds, purified the religion, and amended the morals of mankind j and, without fubverting the conilitution, policy, or bufinefs of the world, opened a gate, though a ftrait one, through which all, who are wife enough to choofe it, and good enough to be fit for it, may find an entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Others have faid, that if this revelation had really been from God, his infinite power and goodnefs could never have fufFered it to have been fo foon perverted from its ori- ginal purity, to have continued in a (late of corruption through the courfe of fo many ages, and at laft to have proved fo ineffec- tual to the reformation of mankind. To thefe I anfwer, that all this, on examination, will be found inevitable, from the nature of

all

[ 94 3

all revelations communicated to fo imper- fect a creature as man, and from circum- ftances peculiar to the rife and progrefs of the Chriftian in particular : for when this was firft preached to the gentile nations, though they were not able to withftand the force of its evidence, and therefore received it; yet they could not be prevailed on to relinquifh their old fuperflitions, and former opinions, but chofe rather to incorporate them with it : by which means it was necefiarily mixed with their ignorance, and their learning ; by both which it was equally injured. The people defaced its worfhip by blending it with their idolatrous ceremonies, and the philofophers corrupted its doctrines by weaving them up with the notions of the Gnoftics, Myftics, and Manichseans, the prevailing fyftems of thofe times. By degrees its irrefiftible ex- cellence gained over princes, potentates, and conquerors to its interefts, and it was fup- ported by their patronage : but that patron- age foon engaged it in their policies and contefts, and deftroyed that excellence by

which

[ 95 ]

which it had been acquired. At length the meek and humble profeflbrs of the gofpel enflaved thefe princes, and conquered thefe conquerors their patrons, and erected for themfelves fuch a flupendous fabric of wealth and power, as the world had never feen z they then propagated their religion by the fame methods, by which it had been perfe- cutedj nations were converted by fire and fword, and the vanquifhed were baptized with daggers at their throats. Ail thefe events we fee proceed from a chain of caufes and confequences, which could not have been broken without changing the eftablifli- ed courfe of things by a conftant leries of miracles, or a total alteration of human na- ture : whilft that continues as it is, the pureft religion muft be corrupted by a conjunction with power and riches, and it will alfo then appear to be much more corrupted than it really is; becaufe many are inclined to think, that every deviation from its primi- tive ftate is a corruption. Chriflianity was at firft preached by the poor and mean, in holes

and

[ 96 1

and caverns, under the iron rod of perfecu- tion, and therefore many abfurdly conclude, that any degree of wealth or power in its mi- nifters, or of magnificence in its worfhip, are corruptions inconfiftent with the genuine fim- plicity of its original ftate : they are of- fended, that modern bi(hops fhould poflefs titles, palaces, revenues, and coaches, when it is notorious, that their predeceflbrs the apoftles were defpicable wanderers, without houfes or money, and walked on foot. The apoftles indeed lived in a ftate of poverty and perfecution attendant on their particular fituation, and the work which they had un- dertaken j this was their misfortune, but no part of their religion, and therefore it can be no more incumbent on their fucceflbrs to imitate their poverty and meannefs, than to be whipped, imprifoned, and put to death, in compliance with their example. Thefe are all but the fuggeftions of envy and male- volence, but no objections to thefe fortunate alterations in Chriftianity and its profeffors j

which,

[ 97 ]

which, if not abufed to the purpofes of ty- ranny and fuperftition, are in fact no more than the neceflary and proper effects of its more profperous fituation. When a poor man grows rich, or a fervant becomes a maf- ter, they (hould take care that their exalta- tion prompts them not to be unjuft or info- lent j but furely it is not requifite or right, that their behaviour and mode of living fhould be exactly the fame, when their fitua- tion is altered. How far this inftitution has been effectual to the reformation of man- kind, it is not eafy now to afcertain, becaufe the enormities which prevailed before the appearance of it are by time fo far re- moved from our fight, that they are fcarcely vifible 3 but thofe of the moft gigantic fize ftill Remain in the records of hiflory, as mo- numents of the reft : Wars in thofe ages were carried on with a ferocity and cruelty un- known to the prefent : whole cities and na- tions were extirpated by fire and fword ; and thoufands of the vanquiihed were crucified and impaled for having endeavoured only VOL. IV. H t«

[ 9» 3

to defend themfelves and their country. The lives of new-born infants were then intirely at the difpofal of their parents, who were at liberty to bring them up, or to expofe them to perifh by cold and hunger, or to be de- voured by birds and beafts ; and this was frequently praftifed without punifhment, and even without cenfure. Gladiators were em- ployed by hundreds to cut one another to pieces in public theatres for the diverfion of the moil polite aflemblies ; and though thefe combatants at firft confifted of criminals only, by degrees men of the highefl rank, and even ladies of the mod illuftrious fami- lies, enrolled themfelves in this honourable lift. On many occafions human facrifices were ordained j and at the funerals of rich and eminent perfons, great numbers of their flaves were murdered as viclims pleating to their departed fpirits. The moft infamous obfcenities were made part of their religious worfhip, and the moft unnatural lufts pub- lickly avowed, and celebrated by their moft admired poets. At the approach of Chrif-

tianity

t 99 ]

tianity all thefe horrid abominations vanifh- ed ; and amongft thofe who firft embraced it, fcarce a fingle vice was to be found : to iuch an amazing degree of piety, charity, temperance, patience, and refignation were the primitive converts exalted, that they feem literally to have been regenerated, and puri- fied from all the imperfections of human na- ture ; and to have purfued fuch a conftant and uniform courfe of devotion, innocence, and virtue, as, in the prefent times, it is al- moft as difficult for us to conceive as to imi- tate. If it is afked, why fhould not the belief of the fame religion now produce the fame effects ? the anfwer is fhort, becaufe it is not believed : The moft fovereign medi- cine can perform no cure, if the patient will not be perfuaded to take 5t» Yet notwith- ftanding all impediments, it has certainly done a great deal towards diminifliing the vices and correcting the difpofitions of mankind j and was it univerfally adopted in belief and practice, would totally eradicate both fin and punifhment. But this was ne- H 2 ver

r ,00 ]

vcr expe&ed, or defigned, or poflible, be* caufe, if their exiftence did not arife from fome necefBty to us unknown, they never would have been permitted to exift at all ; and therefore they can no more be extir- pated, than they could have been prevented : for this would certainly be incompatible with the frame and conftitution of this world, and in all probability with that of another. And this, I think, well accounts for that referve and obfcurity with which this religion was at firft promulgated, and that want of irre- fiftible evidence of its truth, by which it might pofiibly have been enforced. Chrift fays to his difciples, " To you it is given to <e know the myilery of the kingdom of God j " but unto them that are without, all thefc <c things are done in parables ; that feeing «c they may fee, and not perceive, and hear- f ' ing they may hear, and not underftand ; " left at any time they fhould be converted, " and their fins fhould be forgiven them *." That is, to you by peculiar favoirf it is given

* Mark iv, n, 12.

to know and understand the doctrines of my' religion, and by that means to qualify your- fclves for the kingdom of heaven ; but to the multitude without, that is to all man- kind in general, this indulgence cannot be extended ; becaufe that all men Ihould be exempted from fin and punifhment is utterly repugnant to the univerfal fyftem, and that conftitution of things, which infinite wifdom has thought proper to adopt.

Objections have likewife been raifed to the divine authority of this religion from the incredibility of fome of its doctrines, parti- cularly of thofe concerning the Trinity, and atonement for fin by the fufferings and death of Chrift j the one contradicting all the principles of human reafon, and the other all our ideas of divine juftice. To thefe ob- jections I (hall only fay, that no arguments founded on principles, which we cannot comprehend, can poflibly difprove a pro- pofition already proved on principles which we do underftand ; and therefore that on this fubject they ought not to be attended to : H 3 That

[ 10* ]

That three Beings fhould be one Being, is a propofition which certainly contradicts rea- fon, that is, our reafon j but it does not from thence follow, that it cannot be true i for there are many proportions which contradict our reafon, and yet are demonftrably true : one is the very firft principle of all religion, the being of a Godj for that any thing Jhould exift without a caufe, or that any thing fhould be the caufe of its own exift- ence, are proportions equally contradictory to our reafon ; yet one of them muft be true, or nothing could ever have exifted : in like manner the over-ruling grace of the Creator, and the Tree-will of his creatures, his certain fore-knowledge of future events, and the uncertain contingency of thofe events, are to our apprehenfions abfolute contradictions to each other j and yet the truth of every one of thefe is demonftrable from Scripture, reafon, and experience. All thefe difficulties arife from our imagining, that the mode of exiftence of all Beings muft fce fimilar to our own* that is, that they

C 103 ]

muft all exift in time, and fpace j and hence proceeds our embarrafTment on this fubject. We know, that no two Beings, with whofe mode of exiftence we are acquainted, can exift in the fame point of time, in the fame point of fpace, and that therefore they cannot be one : but how far Beings, whofe mode of exiftence bears no relation to time or fpace, may be united, we cannot comprehend : and therefore thepofiibilityof fuchan union we cannot pofi- tivelydeny.In like manner our reafon informs us, that the punifhment of the innocent, in- ftead of the guilty, is diametrically oppofite to juftice, rectitude, and all pretenfions to utility ; but we fhould alfo remember, that the fhort line of our reafon cannot reach to the bottom of this queftion : it cannot in- form us, by what means either guilt or pu- nifhment ever gained a place in the works of a Creator infinitely good and powerful, whofe goodnefs muft have induced him, and whofe power muft have enabled him, to ex- clude them : It cannot allure us, that fome fufferings of individuals are not neceflary to H 4 the

E '°4 ]

the happinefs and well-being of the whole T It cannot convince us, that they do not actu- ally arife from this necefiity, or that, for this caufe, they may not be required of us, and levied like a tax for the public benefit; or that this tax may not be paid by one Being, as well as another ; and therefore, if volun- tarily offered, be juftly accepted from the innocent inftead of the guilty. Of all thefe circumftances we are totally ignorant ; nor can our reafon afford us any information, and therefore we are not able to affert, that this meafure is contrary to juftice, or void of utility : for, unlefs we could firft refolve that great queftion, Whence came evil ? we can decide nothing on the difpenfations of Providence ; becaufe they mud neceffarily be connected with that undifcoverable prin- ciple j and, as we know not the root of the difeafe, we cannot judge of what is, or is not, a proper and effectual remedy. It is remarkable, that, notwithftanding all the feeming abfurdities of this doctrine, there i§ pne circumftance much in its favour j which.

is,

[ 105 3

ts, that it has been univerfally adopted in all ages, as far as hiftory can carry us back in our inquiries to the earlieft times ; in which we find all nations, civilized and bar- barous, however differing in all other reli- gious opinions, agreeing alone in the ex- pediency of appealing their offended Deities by facrifices, that is, by the vicarious fuffer- ings of men or other animals. This notion could never have been derived from reafon, becaufe it directly contradicts it ; nor from ignorance, becaufe ignorance could never have contrived fo unaccountable an expedi- ent, nor have been uniform in all ages and countries in any opinion whatfoever; nor from the artifice of kings or priefts, in order to acquire dominion over the people, be- caufe it feems not adapted to this end ; and we find it implanted in the minds of the moft remote favages at this day difcovered, who have neither kings or priefts, artifice or domi- nion, amongft them. It muft therefore be derived from natural inftincl: or fupernatural revelation, both which are equally the ope- rations

rations of divine power. If it is further urged, that however true thefe doctrines may be, yet it muft be inconfiftent with the juftice and goodnefs of the Creator, to re- quire from his creatures the belief of pro- pofitions which contradict, or are above the reach of that reafon, which he has thought proper to beftow upon them. To this I anfwer, that genuine Chriftianity requires no fuch belief: It has difcovered to us many important truths, with which we were before intirely unacquainted j and amongft them are thefe : that three Beings are fome way united in the divine eflence ; and that God will accept of the fufferings of Chrift as an atonement for the fins of mankind. Thefe, confidered as declarations of facts only, nei- ther contradict, or are above the reach of human reafon : The firft is a proportion as plain, as that three equilateral lines compofe one triangle ; the other is as intelligible, as that one man ftiould difcharge the debts of another. In what manner this union is form- ed, or why God accepts thefe vicarious pu-

nimmentSj

t 107 ]

nifh merits, or to what purpofes they may be fubfervient, it informs us not, becaufe no in- formation could enable us to comprehend thefe myfteries ; and therefore it does not re- quire that we fhould know or believe any thing about them. The truth of thefe doctrines muft reft intirely on the authority of thofe who taught them ; but then we fhould reflect that thofe were the fame perfons who taught us a fyftem of religion more fublime, and of ethics more perfect, than any which our fa- culties were ever able to difcover, but which when difcovered are exactly confonant to our reafon j and that therefore we fhould not haftily reject thofe informations which they have vouchfafed to give us, of which our reafon is not a competent judge. If an able mathematician proves to us the truth of feveral propofitions by demonftrations which we underftand, we hefitate not on his autho- rity to aflent to others, the procefs of whofe proofs we are not able to follow : why there- fore fhould we refufe that credit to Chrift

and

and his Apoftles, which we think reafonablc to give to one another ?

Many have objected to the whole fcheme of this revelation, as partial, fluctuating, indeter- minate, unjuft, and unworthy of an omnifcient and omnipotent author, who cannot be fup- pofed to have favoured particular perfons, countries, and times, with this divine commu- nication, while others no lefs meritorious have been altogether excluded from its benefits ; nor to have changed and counteracted his own defigns i that is, to have formed mankind able and difpofed to render themfelves mife- rable by their own wickednefs, and then to have contrived fo ftrange an expedient to reftore them to that happinefs which they need never have been permitted to forfeit ; and this to be brought about by the unne^ cefiary interpofition of a mediator. To all this I (hall only fay, that however unac- countable this may appear to us, who fee but asfmall apart of the Chriftian, as of the univerfal plan of creation, they are both in regard to all thefe circumftances exactly ana- 5 logous

t 109 ]

logous to each other. In all the difpenfa- tions of Providence, with which we are ac- quainted, benefits are diftributed in a fimilar manner j health and ftrength, fenfe and fci- ence, wealth and power, are all beftowed on individuals and communities in different de- grees and at different times. The whole ceconomy of this world confifts of evils and remedies ; and thefe for the moft part ad- miniftered by the inftrumentality of interme- diate agents. God has permitted us to plunge ourfelves into poverty, diftrefs, and mifery, by our own vices, and has afforded us the ad- vice, inftructions, and examples of others, to deter or extricate us from thefe calamities. He has formed us fubject to innumerable difeafes, and he has beftowed on us a variety of remedies. He has made us liable to hunger, thirft, and nakednefs, and he fup- plies us with food, drink, and clothing, ufu- fually by the adminiftration of others. He has created poifons, and he has provided antidotes. He has ordained the winter's cold to cure the peftilential heats of the fummer, and the furrv- mer's funfhine to dry up the inundations of the

winter.

[ no ]

winter. Why the conftitution of nature is fo formed, why all the vifible difpenfations of Providence are fuch, and why fuch is the Chriftian difpenfation alfo, we know not, nor have faculties to comprehend. God might certainly have made the material world a fyftem of perfect beauty and re- gularity, without evils, and without reme- dies ; and the Chriftian difpenfation a fcheme only of moral virtue, productive of happi- nefs, without the intervention of any atone- ment or mediation. He might have ex- empted our bodies from all difeafes, and our minds from all depravity, and we fhould then have flood in no need of medicines to reftore us to health, or expedients to recon- cile us to his favour. It feems indeed to our ignorance, that this would have been more confiftent with juftice and reafon j but his infinite wifdom has decided in another manner, and formed the fyftems both of Na- ture and Chriftianity on other principles; and thefe fo exactly fimilar, that we have caufe to conclude that they both muft pro- ceed

[ "i 3

ceed from the fame fource of divine power and wifdom, however inconfiftent with our reafon they may appear. Reafon is un- doubtedly our fureft guide in all matters, which lie within the narrow circle of her in- telligence : On the fubject of revelation her province is only to examine into its autho- rity ; and when that is once proved, fhe has no more to do, but to acquiefce in its doc- trines ; and therefore is never fo ill employ- ed, as when Ihe pretends to accommodate them to her own ideas of rectitude and truth. God, fays this felf-fufficient teacher, is per- fectly wife, juft, and good ; and what is the inference ? That all his difpenfatlons muft be conformable to our notions of perfect wif- dom, juftice, and goodnefs : but it Ihould firft be proved, that man is as perfect, and as wife as his Creator, or this confequence will by no means follows but rather the reverfe, that is, that the difpenfations of a perfect and all-wife Being muft probably appear unrea- fonable, and perhaps unjuft, to a Being im- perfect and ignorant i and therefore their

feeming

Iceming impoffibility may be a mark of their truth, and in fome meafure juftify that pious rant of a mad enthufiaft, " Credo, quia im- " poflibile." Nor is it the leaft furprifmg, that we are not able to underftand the fpi- ritual difpenfations of the Almighty, when his material works are to us no lefs incom- prehenfible ; our reafon can afford us no in- fight into thofe great properties of matter, gravitation, attraction, elafticity, and ele&ri- city, nor even into the efience of matter itfelf : Can reafon teach us "how the fun's luminous orb can fill a circle, whofe diameter contains many millions of miles, with a conftant in- undation of fuccefiive rays, during thoufands of years, without any perceivable diminution of that body, from whence they are conti- nually poured, or any augmentation of thofe bodies on which they fall, and by which they are conftantly abforbed ? Can reafon tell us how thofe rays, darted with a velo- city greater than that of a cannon-ball, cart ftrike the tendersft organs of the human frame without inflicting any degree of pain,

or

[ "3 ]

or by what means this percufliori only can convey the forms of diftant objefts to an immaterial mind ? or how any union can be formed between material and immaterial eflences, or how the wounds of the body can give pain to the foul, or the anxiety of the foul can emaciate and deftroy the body ? That all thefe things are fo, we have vifible and indifputable demonftration j but how they can be fo, is to us as incomprehenfible, as the moft abftrufe myfteries of revelation can poffibly be. In fhort, we fee fo fmall a part of the great whole -s we know fo little of the relation, which the prefent life bears to pre-exiftent and future Hates ; we can conceive fo little of the nature of God, and his attributes, or mode of exiftence ; we can comprehend fo little of the material, and fo much lefs of the moral plan on which the univerfe is conftituted, or on what principle it proceeds, that, if a revelation from fuch a being, on fuch fubje<5ts, was in every pare familiar to our underftandings, and confo- nant to our reafon, we Ihould have great VOL. IV. I caufc

[ H4 ]

caufe to fufpect its divine authority; and therefore, had this revelation been lefs in- comprehenfible, it would certainly have been more incredible.

But I (hall not enter further into the con- fideration of thefe abftrufe and difficult fpe- culations, becaufe the difcufiion of them would render this fhort eflay too tedious and laborious a tafk for the perufal of them, for whom it was principally intended j which are all thole bufy or idle perfons, whofe time and thoughts are wholly engrofled by the purfuits of bufinefs or pleafure, ambition or luxury, who know nothing of this religion, except what they have accidentally picked up by defultory converfation or fuperficial reading, and have thence determined with themfelves, that a pretended revelation, founded on fo ftrange and improbable a ftory, fo contradictory to reafon, fo adverfe to the world and all its occupations, fo incre- dible in its doctrines, and in its precepts fo impracticable, can be nothing more than the impofition of prieftcraft upon ignorant 5 and

t "5 1

and illiterate ages, and artfully continued as an engine well adapted to awe and govern the fuperftitious vulgar. To talk to fuch about the Chriftian religion, is to converfe with the deaf concerning mufic, or with the blind on the beauties of painting: they want all ideas relative to the fubject, and therefore can never be made to comprehend it : to enable them to do this, their minds muft be formed for thefe conceptions by contemplation, retirement, and abftracTion from bufinefs and diflipation ; by ill-health, difappointments, and diftrefles ; and pofiibly by divine interpofition, or by enthufiafm, which is ufually miftaken for it. Without fome of thefe preparatory aids, together with a competent degree of learning and applica- tion, it is impoflible that they can think or know, underftand or believe, any thing about it. If they profefs to believe, they deceive others ; if they fancy that they be- lieve, they deceive themfelves. I am ready to acknowledge, that thefe gentlemen, as far *s their information reaches, are perfectly in I 2 the

[ "6 ]

the right ; and if they are endued with good understandings, which have been intirely de- voted to the bufmefs or ainufements of the world, they can pafs no other judgment, and muft revolt from the hiftory and doctrines of this religion. " The preaching Chrift " crucified was to the Jews a ftumbling- " block, and to the Greeks foolifhnefs * i" and fo it muft appear to all, who, like them, judge from eftabliflied prejudices, falfe learn- ing, and fuperficial knowledge; for thofe who are quite unable to follow the chain of its prophecy, to fee the beauty and juftnefs of its moral precepts, and to enter into the wonders of its difpenfations, can form no other idea of this revelation, but that of a confufed rhapfody of fictions and abfurdi- ties.

If it is afked, Was Chriftianity then in- tended only for learned divines and pro- found philofophers ? I anfwer, No : it was at firft preached by the illiterate, and re- ceived by the ignorant j and to fuch are the

* i Cor. i. 26.

practical,

[ "7 1

pra&ical, which are the mod neceflary parts of it fufficiently intelligible : but the proofs of its authority undoubtedly are not, becaufe thefe muft be chiefly drawn from other parts, of a fpeculative nature, opening to our inquiries inexhauftible difcoveries con- cerning the nature, attributes, and difpenfa- tions of God, which cannot be underflood without fome learning and much attention. From thefe the generality of mankind muft necefiarily be excluded, and muft therefore truft to others for the grounds of their belief, if they believe at all. And hence perhaps it is, that faith, or eafmefs of belief, is fo frequently and fo ftrongly recommended in the gofpel ; becaufe if men require proofs, of which they themfelves are incapable, and thofe who have no knowledge on this important fub- ject will not place fome confidence in thofe who have; the illiterate and unattentive muft ever continue in a ftate of unbelief: but then all fuch fhould remember, that in all fciences, even in mathematics themfelves, there are many proportions, which on a I 3 curfory

[ "8 ]

curfory view appear to the mod acute un- derftandings, uninftrucled in that fcience, to be impoflible to be true, which yet on a clofer examination are found to be truths capable of the ftricteft demonflration 3 and that therefore, in difquifitions on which wa cannot determine without much learned in- veftigation, reafon uninformed is by no means to be depended on j and from hence they ought furely to conclude, that it may be at lead as poffible for them to be mif- taken in difbelieving this revelation, who know nothing of the matter, as for thofe great matters of reafon and erudition, Gro- tius, Bacon, Newton, Boyle, Locke, Addi- fon, and Lyttelton, to be deceived in their belief: a belief, to which they firmly adhered after the moft diligent and learned refearches into the authenticity of its records, the com- pletion of the prophecies, the fublimity of its doctrines, the purity of its precepts, and the arguments of its adverfaries j a belief, which they have teftified to the world by their writings, without any other motive,

than

[ "9 ]

than their regard for truth and the benefit of mankind. Should the few foregoing pages add but one mite to the treafures with which thefe learned writers have enriched the world j if they fhould be fo fortunate as to perfuadeany of thefe minute philofophers to place fome confidence in thefe great opi- nions, and to diftruft their own; if they fhould be able to convince them, that not- withftanding all unfavourable appearances, Chriftianity may not be altogether arti- fice and error j if they fhould prevail on them to examine it with fome attention, or, if that is too much trouble, not to reject it without any examination at all ; the purpofe of this little work will be fufficiently anfwered. Had the argu- ments herein ufed, and the new hints here flung out, been more largely difcufled, it might eafily have been extended to a more confiderable bulk ; but then the bufy would not have had leifure, nor the idle inclina- tion to have read it. Should it ever have the honour to be admitted into fuch good I 4 company,

[ 120 ]

company, they will immediately, I know, determine, that it muft be the work of fome enthufiaft or methodift, fome beggar, or fome madman. I (hall therefore beg leave to allure them, that the author is very far removed from all thefe characters : that he once perhaps believed as little as themfelves i but having fome leifure and more curiofity, he employed them both in refolving a quef- tion which feemed to him of fome impor- tance— Whether Chriftianity was really an impofture founded on an abfurd, incredible, and obfolete fable, as many fuppofe it ? Or whether it is, what it pretends to be, a reve- lation communicated to mankind by the in- terpofition of fupernatural power ? On a candid enquiry, he foon found, that the firfl was an abfolute impoffibility, and that its pretenfions to the latter were founded on the moft folid grounds : in the further purfuit of his examination, he perceived, at every ftep, new lights arifing, and fome of the brighteft from parts of it the moft obfcure, but productive of the cleareft proofs, becaufe

equally

[ I" ]

equally beyond the power of human artifice to invent, and human reafon to difcover. Thefe arguments, which have convinced him of the divine origin of this religion, he has here put together in as clear and concife a manner as he was able, thinking they might have the fame effect upon others, and being of opinion, that if there were a few more true Chriftians in the world, it would be be- neficial to themfelves, and by no means de- trimental to the public.

HORT

SHORT AND CURSORY

OBSERVATIONS

O N

SEVERAL PASSAGES

IN THE

NEW TESTAMENT.

CURSORY OBSERVATIONS.

MATT. V. 3.

01 T^U^OI TU •zzrj/gUjtto//, on avrut tfiy y ficuriXsiot ruv vgavuv.

Bleffed are the poor in fpirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,

T N this declaration of Chrift, two queftions -*• offer themfelves to our confideration : i ft, Who are the poor in fpirit ? — And 2d, What is the kingdom of heaven ?

By the poor in fpirit are here meant, thofe who, by their natural difpofitions, are meek, quiet, teachable, and fubmiflive ; or thofe who, by reflection and cultivation, have rendered their difpofitions fuch, and have eradicated from their hearts pride, envy, and ambition, thofe high-fpirited paflions, fo de- ftru&ive of the happinefs of fociety, as well as of their own. What portion of mankind

comes

[ "6 ]

comes under this defcription is known only to the fearcher of all hearts ; but we may reafonably conclude, that neither heroes, conquerors, or any of thofe whom the world dignifies with the titles of great men, can be of the number.

By the kingdom of heaven is here to be underftood, that celeftial community of the fpirits* of juft men made perfect, over which God more immediately prefides, and which is therefore fometimes called the kingdom of God 3 in which there are no wars, factions, ftruggles, or contentions, but all is benevo- lence, peace, concord, and fubordination : a kingdom frequently hung out to our view in the New Teftament, of which we are pro- mifed to be made fubjects in a future life, provided we fhall be properly qualified for it by our behaviour in the prefent.

To felect the moft excellent of mankind, and to qualify them for admiflion into this holy and happy fociety, feems to be the chief object of the Chriftian dilpenfation.

« Heb. xii. 23.

What

[ "7 3

What that qualification muft be, we are fufficiently informed by the author of it — Calling to him little children, he fays, " Of " fuch is the kingdom of God j" and again, " Verily I fay unto you, Whofoever lhall not " receive the kingdom of God as a little child, *' he fhall not enter therein *." It is alfo evi- dent from the nature of this community, that none but the poor in fpirit can be ad- mitted ; becaufe, were the proud, factious, turbulent, and ambitious to find entrance, they would immediately deftroy that tran- quillity and happinefs with which it is blefTed; and this kingdom, though not of this world, would foon become exactly fimi- lar to thofe which are.

It is faid, " Many are called, but few are " chofen " but we are not therefore to con- clude, that all who are not chofen are to be configned to a ftate of mifery } many who are deficient in this neceflary qualification, and therefore inadmiflible into this ftate of purity and perfection, may defer ve no greater punifh-

* Mark x, 14, 15.

ment

ment than the lofs of fo ineftimable an ac- quifition ; and Tome perhaps may have vir- tues which may entitle them to rewards of an inferior kind. Mankind are by no means divifible into two clafles only — the righteous and the wicked. We find them indeed fo divided in many paflages of the New Tefta- ment, all which muft be underftood but as general declarations, that the righteous (hall be rewarded, and the wicked punilhed, in a future life j but cannot be applied to indi- viduals, becaufe in faft no fuch line of dif- tindtion can be drawn between them. The generality of mankind are compleatly nei- ther the one or the other : none are fo good as to be guilty of no crimes, and few fo bad as to be poflefled of no virtues -, and in moft men they are intermixed, though in very different proportions. The juftice of Providence muft have prepared many inter- mediate dates of happinefs and mifery, in which every individual will receive reward or punilhment in exact proportion to his merits. Aftronomy has opened to our view

innumerable

innumerable worlds, fome of which are pro- bably happier, and fome more miferable than this which we at prefent inhabit ; in them there is ample room for the difplay of the divine juftice and benevolence, as in fome of them fuch a fituation may be allot- ted to every one as his conduct has de- ferved.

VOL. IV. K MATT.

[ 130 ]

MATT. V. 5. 01 -zir^ae^, on auroi ryv yip.

Blejfed are the meek, for they Jh all inherit the- earth.

IT appeals by no means eafy to reconcile the promife with facts and experience ; for earthly profperity, wealth, power, and pre-eminence, are fo far from being the in- heritance of the meek, that they feem to be entirely monopolized by the bold, turbu- lent, and ambitious j and we may fay with Cato, This world was made for Casfar.

To extricate themfelves from this diffi- culty, fome commentators have been in- duced to look out for another earth, which they at laft fortunately found in the words of St. Peter j who fays, ft Neverthelefs we, ac- <c cording to promife, look for new heavens <c and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righte- u oufnefs V To this new earth, they would

? 2 Pet. iii. 13.

perfuade

perfuade us, this promife may with propriety be applied, and that therein it will certainly be fulfilled.

But in explaining this paflfage, there is no occafion to have recourfe to fo far-fetched and fanciful an interpretation, nor to call in the afiiftance of a new world. By the meek inheriting the earth, nothing more is meant, than that perfons of meek, quiet, and peace- able difpofitions, enjoy more happinefs on earth, and fuffer lefs difquietude in the pre- fent life, than thofe of oppofite characters : and this is verified by the experience of every day; they acquire more friends, and fewer ene- mies, they meet with fewer injuries anddifap- pointments, and bear thole which they cannot avoid with lefs uneafinefs, and pafs thro' the world as they do through a crowd, lefs ob- ftructed, lefs bruifed and joftled, than thofe who force their way by violence and impe* tuofity. To which we may add, that a meek and quiet temper is the mod efficacious prefervative of health, the firft of all earthly bleflings, and without which we are incapa- K 2 ble

ble of enjoying any other. Wealth, power, and grandeur, are by no means eflential to earthly happinefs; but fhould we admit that they are, and are included in this pro- mife, we fhould not find it altogether unful- filled ; for, though the turbulent and over- bearing may fometimes feize on them by violence, they much oftener fail in their at- tempts, and fink by their own infolence into ruin and contempt j whilft thofe of eafy and conciliating manners, filently climb above them, lefs envied, and lefs oppofed, becaufc lefs noticed and lefs offending.

It is univerfally allowed, that nothing fo much advances our worldly interefls, and fo much afiifts us in our purfuits of wealth and honours, as good-breeding; and what is good -breed ing, but an affectation ofmeek- nefs, humility, and complacency ? if, there- fore, the pretence to thefe amiable qualities can do fo much, furely the pofTeflion of them will do a great deal more. In fadl it does, and feldom fails to gain us favour, increafe our friends, and advance our interefts. — Thus

we

[ 133 ]

we fee this promife is generally accomplifh- ed j the meek do inherit the earth, that is, have the beft chance of acquiring and enjoy- ing the bleffings of this life, as well as the happinefs of another.

K 3 MATT.

C '34 3

MATT. V. 7. 01 ci eXsypovsg, on auroi

Blejfed are the merciful, for they Jhall obtain mercy.

CRUELTY is the moft unpardonable \^ of all crimes, becaufe it is without temptation, and therefore without excufe. Mercy is the moft amiable attribute of God j and a virtue moft becoming the fituation of man, becaufe the fins which he perpetually commits, and the dangers with which he is conftantly furrounded, oblige him to ftand in need of it every hour : it is peculiarly congenial to the benevolent fpirit of the Chriftian religion, and as fuch is here en - forced by the Author of it, in this fhort but emphatical declaration ; in which it is re- markable, that we find nothing which limits our exercife of this amiable virtue within $ny bounds, qr confines it to any defcrip-

tion »

t '35 ]

tion ; not to our relations, our friends, our neighbours, our countrymen, nor even to mankind: from whence we may reafon- ably conclude, that he requires us to extend it to every thing that has life and fenfibility. The words feem to regard more the difpofi- tion of the actor than the object on which it is exerted : " Bleffed are the merciful," that is, thofe who are of a tender and compaf- fionate temper, who feel for the miferies of every thing that has life, and endeavour all in their power to relieve them. Whoever, therefore, can wantonly inflict pain on the meaneft animal, or receive a diabolical plea- fure from its fufferings, can have no claim to this blefiing, nor to obtain that mercy to which he is a ftranger.

K 4 MATT.

MATT. VI. 16. *Ora.v $t Miseuyrt, py yiv&rQt uxrirep o; UTTO-

KOtTUl.

Moreover, when ye f aft, "be not as the hypo- crites.

JESUS Chrift having been born and educated under the Jewifh inftitution, complied with all the ceremonies and cuf- toms of that law, and required none of his difciples to relinquifh them, in order to re- ceive the religion which he came to teach. Among thefe, fafting at particular feafons was one, which was commanded by their law, obferved by all, and particularly by the Pharifees, with fuperftitious rigour and hy- pocritical oftentation ; which he here with fome afperity reprehends. He reproves them, not for fafting, the ufe of which, as well as that of all the reft of their religious rites, he approved and encouraged j but it is obfervable, that in thefe words there is

nothing

[ 137 ]

nothing which requires it ; taking it for granted, that they would faft in obedience to their law, he only fays, " When ye faft, be " not as the hypocrites j" and then proceeds to inftruct them how to perform this duty in a proper manner : but does not command them to perform it at all.

This filence of their mafter, on a fubject which they thought fo important, induced many of the Jews, who had become his dif- ciples, to excufe themfelves from complying with this unpleafant ceremony ; as is evident from the queftion put to him by the difciples of John the Baptift, who faid, " Why do we " and the Pharifees faft often *, but thy dif- " ciples faft not ?" From hence it appears plainly, that though Chrift obferved this, as well as all the ceremonies of the Mofaic law, it was no part of his inftitution, nor was en- joined by him as a Chriftian, or a moral duty. This indeed, and every other mode of felf-punifhmenr, are fo oppofite to the J3enevolent fpirit of the religion which ha

* Matt. ix. 14.

taught,

[ '38 ]

taught, that it is impoffible they can make a part of it. Chriftianity requires us to make every one as happy as we are able, to relieve the poor, vifit the fick, and com- fort the diftrefled; but if every man was obliged to inflid fufferings upon himfelf, in- ftead of excluding mifery at every avenue, as we are benevolently commanded, we fiiould introduce as much as if every man was permitted to injure and torment his neighbour. There are many precepts in the New Teftament, which require us to fuffer with fortitude and refignation, for righteoufnefs fake, for truth, for our religion, or the benefit of mankind ; but we find none which enjoin fufferings for their own fake, or reprefent them as meritorious in them- felves. St. Peter exhorts his difciples to fuf- fer patiently for thefe great ends, <c becaufe " Chrift alfo fuffered for them, leaving us an €f example that we fhould follow his fteps V* but he does not advife us to fuffer for no end at all.

* i Pet. ii. 21.

Fafting,

[ '39 ]

Fading, with all the reft of their religious rites, are continued to the Jews after their converfion to Chriftianity, but were never impofed on the profelytes of any other na- tion; from whence it is evident, that Chrift never intended by the gofpel to abolifh the Mofaic law, with regard to the Jews, nor to extend it to any other people. Hence arifes that remarkable difference, which can- not efcape our notice, between the religion of Chrift and that of his Apoftles, and parti- cularly of St. Paul j a difference fo great, that, if we attend not to the caufe of it, we muft confider them as two religious inftitu- tions contradictory to each other. Chrift commands his difciples to perform the moft minute ceremonies of the Jewilh law, to pay tithes even of mint, annifeed, and cummin * j St. Paul reprefents the moft important, asufe- lefs and infignificant, and fays,<cCircumcifion " is nothing, and uncircumcifion is nothing, " but the keeping the commandments of " God t." The caufe is fufficiently evident ;

* Matt, xxiii. 23. f i Cor. vii. 19.

Chrift

[ 140 ]

Chrift preached to the Jews, and therefore his religion is founded on and incorporated with theirs, which he did not require them to relinquifh, in order to accept it, and af- fures them, that he did not come " to deftroy " their law, but to fulfil it." St. Paul preach- ed chiefly to the Gentiles, but was not com- miffioned to convert them to Judaifm, in order to their becoming Chriftians ; and therefore we do not find that he, or any of the Apoftles, impofed the obfervance of fafts, or any other ceremonials of the Mofaic law, on their Gentile profelytes.

MATT*

MATT. X. 25.

u

lr UUTUV a •ar£0-£<ra; STTI ryv yyv, avzv TV •ara- rpoq Vftciiv.

Are not twofparrows fold for a farthing ? And one of thefe Jhall not fall to the ground without your heavenly Father.

MANY have been the controverfies amongft philofophers, in all times, concerning a general and a particular Pro- vidence. Some have been of opinion, that the great Creator of all things fo framed the univerfal fyftem, that every part of it is carried on by a regular procefs of caufes and confequences, without his farther interpofi- tion ; and that he cannot interpofe, without changing the courfe of nature by a miracu- lous act of divine power, which he rarely, if ever, thinks proper to exert : that both the material and moral world are governed by general laws, which cannot be fufpendcd for

the

the fake of individuals, who muft therefore fubmit to this necefiity, though rewards and punifhments are not always diftributed in the prefent life in proportion to their merits } and that a machine fo conftituted is a more confpicuous inftance of infinite wifdom and power, than the one which flands in need of the continual interference of its author, for regulation and fupport. — Others have thought, that God not only created the world, but perpetually fuftains, invigorates, and directs every part of it; and that, if this energy of divine power was withdrawn but for a moment, the whole would inftantly be annihilated. — The latter is undoubtedly the truth, and is confirmed by reafon, fcrip- ture, and experience. Reafon teaches us that the revolutions of the vaft and innume- rable celeftial orbs, through immenfe fpaces, or the delicate movements in animal and vegetable bodies, can never poflibly be per- formed by any principles originally im- preffed on matter by attraction, cohefion, dafticity, or electricity } becaufe they act in

contradiction

contradiction to them all : and therefore they muft be effected by the continual direction of Tome omnipotent hand : it allures us, that the moral, as well as the material world, muft be under the continual influence of the fame power ; becaufe, without it, the great defigns of Providence could never be accompliflied. The moft important events in life are de- rived from the operations of matter and will — peace and war, plenty and famine, our health and difcafes, our happinefs and mi- fery, our fafety and deftruction. No plan, therefore, could be purfued, if thefe were all left to the blind movement of the one, or the capricious elections of the other ; but, hap- pily for us, they are both under the controul of an omnifcient and omnipotent governor, who difpenfes them as feems beft to his infi- nite wifdom i and this he can do by a perpe- tual though invifible infiuence,withoutthe ex- pence of any miracle j for, if his interference in any event conftitutes a miracle, every event is a miracle in nature, becaufe there can be no event without it.

The, whole tenour of the fcriptures implies 5 the

[ '44 ]

the conftant fupcrintendency of the Creator over all his works, his continual attention to the moft inconfiderable, as well as to the moft important events, to the fall of a fparrovv and to the fall of an empire, to ourfelves, our behaviour, our happinefs and fufferings, our enjoyments, and our wants ; thefe arc all reprefented as the effects of his will, and -therefore the objects of his knowledge and his care ; and on this principle we are every where enjoined to love him, to fear him, to praife him, to adore him, to obey his com- mands, to implore his forgivenefs, to thank him for his mercy, and to deprecate his wrath.

Experience teaches us the fame leflbn ; and a man muft be poffeffed of very little obfervation, and lefs faith, who does not recollect daily inftances of the apparent in- terpofition of Providence in the detection of crimes, the punifhment of guilt, and the protection of innocence, which fall within the circle of his own knowledge, and are recorded in the rnoft authentic hiftories of all ages,

MATT.

t 145 3

MATT. X. 34, 35

M?? i/0p<njTE on yXQov QaXetv e

aXe/v lipyvyv, aXXos pt,u.%a,i()tt,v yoco ^lyaurou avQguTrov KO^O, T% aura, KO , KOU vuptpyv xocjoe,

Wink not that 1 am to come to fend peace on earth -, I came not to fend peace, but ajword.

For I am come to Jet a man at variance again/} bis father, and the daughter again/} her mother, and the daughter-in-law againft her mother-in-law.

THIS prophecy of Chrift was foon compleated and dreadfully fulfilled, particularly in that city, and amongft that people to whom it was fpokenj for the Jews were fo far from accepting that pacific and benevolent religion which he taught, that they perverted it into a new caufe of increaf- ing thofe national contentions and private ani- VOL. IV. L mofities

[ i46 ]

mofities in which they were then univerfally involved, and were juftly puniflied for their enormous wickednefs, obftinacy, and incre- dulity, by the fwords of their enemies and their own, with fuch calamities as are unex- ampled in the hiftory of mankind. This is an undifputed fact ; but how is it reconcile- able with his frequent declarations on other occafions, and the whole tenour of the New Teftament, in which Chrift every where is ftyled the Prince of peace, and his Gofpel reprefented as introductive of peace and good-will towards men ?

The ufual folution of this difficulty is this j That fuch it was intended to be by its benevolent author, but that it was fo far perverted by the wickednefs of man, that the effects of it proved to be the very reverfe of its original defign, arid it became pro- ductive of all the evils which it was intended to prevent.— But this, I think, is by no means fatisfactory i becaufe I cannot be per- fuaded that the wife and beneficent inten- tions of Providence can ever be defeated by 5 the

[ '47 ]

the folly and wickednefs of man; their ef- fects, indeed, may fometimes be delayed by events, which to us may feem adverfe, but which, in fact, are necefiary to their final completion ; and this, in the prefent inftance, I take to be the cafe. The great end of Chrift's coming was to fend peace and good- will amongft men ; and this it has undoubt- edly effected to a certain degree : his mild and pacific religion has much abated their native ferocity, cruelty, and depravity, and is making a daily progrefs in this falutary workj but he found it neceflary to fend with it a fword, to lop off fome part of that enormous wickednefs, which, at its firft ap- pearance, had overfpread the world, and to make men by their fufferings capable of its reception ; as fome inveterate difeafes will admit of no remedy without a fevere and painful amputation.

This prophecy of Chrift, therefore, is not in the leafl contradictory to his own declara- tions, or the fenfe of the fcriptures, becaufe they relate to different objects i the firft fore- L a tells

tells the many miferies which he forefaw men would bring upon themfelves, by the abufe and perverfion of the religion which he taught them; the latter informs us of the pacific fpirit and benevolent defign of that religion, and the falutary effects which it muft ultimately produce on the morals and happinefs of mankind.

MATT.

[ 149 3

MATT. X. 41.

O o£%ojctei'C£ -ZeT^otpijrrjv eig ovo^a, is

6ov T&poQyTK A^i|/e7«/.

ft

He that receive fb a prophet, in the name of a

'prophet, Jhall receive a prophet's reward.

BY " a prophet" is here to be underftood, a holy, religious, and good man j and the meaning of the whole fentence is this : — " He " that receiveth a prophet," that is, he that entertains, afiifts, and patronifes a religious and good man ; " in the name of a prophet/' that is, becaufe he is, and has the name and character of a religious and good man j "fhall " receive a prophet's reward /' that is, is en- titled to, and fhall receive as great a reward as the religious and good man himfelf. That he ftiould receive an equal reward is per- fectly agreeable to divine juftice, becaufe, entertaining and patronifing a pious and vir- tuous man, from the fole confideration of his merit, demonftrates a heart as much de- L 3 voted

voted to piety and virtue as any action which the worthy object of his favour can poffibly perform.

If this is true, the converfe muft be true likewife; that is, that he that entertains, protects, and patronifes an impious, a profligate man, for the fake of his vices, is as criminal, and fhall receive as fevere a puniihment, as the moft abandoned of his favorites: and this with equal juftice, be- caufe the approbation of wickednefs in others, having no temptation for an excufe, is more atrocious, and demonftrates a more de- praved difpofnion, than even the practice of it. The feduction of pleafure, the lure of intereft, or the violence of our paiTions, may be fome, though a poor apology, for the commiflion of crimes j but to fit cooly by and view with pleafure the iniquities and profligacy of others, and to encourage them by our favour/ approbation, and rewards, indicates a difpofition more compleatly de- praved than the commiflion of them : but, depraved as it is, we fee inilances of it every

[ '5i 3

day ; we fee the moft impious and profane, the moft corrupt and diflblute, fometimes the idols of the vulgar, and more frequently the idols of the great; we fee them, without any introduction or recommendation, except their vices, entertained, carefied, and patro* nifed by the rich and powerful, who look with envy and admiration on a degree of profligacy in them, which they themfelves are unable to arrive at.

L 4 MATT,

t 15* 1

MATT. XI. 25.

'Ev etceivw ru> Kott *E%oftoXoyxpoii <roi rys yys> on K7reK(>vya$ Toturex. KTTO crotyuv KCCI CUVSTCOV, KCCI aTrBxaXvycts aura, v'^irioig.

Jefus anfwered and Jaidy I thank tkee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earthy becaufe ihou haft hid thefe things from the wife and frudent, and haft revealed them unto babes.

T T feems not a little extraordinary, that •*• Jefus fhould, in this folemn manner, re- urn thanks to his heavenly Father, for hav- ing hid from the wife and prudent the myf- teries of that gofpel, which he himfelf came into the world to promulgate, on the know- ledge of which the falvation of mankind de- pended; but this may be very well ac- counted for by a proper explanation of thefe words.

By the " wife," I apprehend, are to be here underftood, thofe felf-fufficient reafoners

who

[ '53 ]

who will believe no divine revelation which does not exactly tally with their own im- perfect ideas of truth, nor obey any precepts which are not conformable to their notions of juftice and the fitnefs of things. By the " prudent," are meant thofe, who pay little attention to any religion, but are perpetually employed in worldly occupations, and the purluits of intereft and ambition. Jefus, having experienced the obftinacy and per- verfenefs, with which perfons under both thefe defcriptions rejected the revelation which he offered them, and at the fame time the readinefs with which it was thankfully received by the meek, the humble, the teachable, and the innocent, returns thanks to his heavenly Father, (that is, in the form of an addrefs, adores and admires the wif- dom and juftice of God), for having fo con- trived the nature of the Gofpel, that it was lefs acceptable, and lefs intelligible to thofe who, from their evil difpofitions, deferved not to partake of the benefits which it con- fers, than to thofe who are more worthy to

receive

C 154 ]

receive them : and this feems to be nothing more than what we all do, or ought to do> which is, to thank, admire, and adore our gracious Creator, for having fo conftituted the eflence of all human vices and virtues, that each are naturally productive of their own punifhments and rewards.

MATT.

E '55 ]

MATT. XVI. 18.

Upon this rock will 1 build my church.

FROM this declaration of Chrift it plainly appears, that he intended to be the founder of a church, that is, a fociety of perfons believing his divine million, and openly profeffing the religion which he came to publifh to mankind ; which fociety fhould be vefted with the powers and privileges of a corporate body, and exercife them under his protection to the end of the world j but we do not find that, by any precepts deli- vered during his life, or any inftruflions left behind him at his death, he ever communi- cated to his difciples any plan of the forma- tion of this church, or any rules for the go- vernment of it when formed. The reafon of which I take to be this: — He knew the admi- niftration of this government muft fall into

the

C is" 1

the hands of men, be blended with their worldly interefts, and in confequence be foon corrupted and abufed, and therefore un- worthy of divine authority ; and that, if he appointed any particular form, or fpecific regulations for the management of it, he muft have given fome degree of fanction to thofe future corruptions and abufes. He knew, likewife, that it was unneceflary j be- caufe a community, once eftablifhed, muft naturally produce rule and fubordination, that is, a government, becaufe it cannot fubfift without one. He inftituted a church, becaufe, without fome inftitution of that kind, his religion muft quickly have been banifhed from the world, and known no where but in the clofets of a few fpeculative philofophers, and therefore had little influ- ence on the general conduct of mankind ; but he chofe rather to truft the form and re- gulations of it to the nature of man, and, the nature of government, than to any pofitive command. He did not ordain that when his religion fliould have fpread over every

quarter

[ '57 ]

quarter of the globe, this church fhould become equally extenfive, and be governed by one fupreme head, his fucceffbr and re- prefentative. He did not command, that in every refpective country this church fhould be placed under the dominion of bifhops or prefbyters, of councils, convoca- tions, or fynods. He has prefcribed no forms of worfhip, except one fhort prayer; no particular habits for the minifters who offi- ciate ; no places fet apart for the performance of religious duties, or decorations for thofc places to excite reverence and devotion in the performers. All thefe he has left to the decifion of future ages, to be ordered by dif- ferent communities, in different countries, in a manner that (hall beft fuit the tempers of the people, the genius of their government, and the opinions of the times ; provided no- thing is introduced inconfiftent with the pu- rity of his original inftitution. From hence evidently appears the ignorance and abfur- dity of thofe who reject all ecclefiaftical au- thority as human impofitions, and deny the

very

[ '58 ]

very exiftence of any Chriftian church, in contradiction to the exprefs declarations of its founder j and not lefs of thofe who refufe compliance with any national religious efta- blifhment, becaufe they cannot find the form and ceremonies of it exactly delineated and prefcribed in any part of the New Tefta- ment.

Chrift has inftituted ecclefiaftical, in the fame manner that God has civil govern- ment, that is, by making it neceffary, with- out directing the mode of its administration; becaufe, though the thing itfelf is neceflary, the mode is not fo.

MATT.

[ '59 3

MATT. XIX. 4, 5.

*O <5s a.7TOKptQBig9 IITTCV dvroig' ' vu]e, on o •ar0rtj<ra£ owr uwyq, K^CW KOU

-ssrarepa xa/ TIJI/

o; cuo

And he anfwered and Jaid, Have ye not y that he which made them at the begin- n'mg, made them male and female ;

And Jaldy For this cauje Jhall a man leave father and mother 3 and Jhall cleave to bis wife: and they twain Jhall be one flejh ?

SHOULD there be any controverfy concerning the lawfulnefs of polygamy under the Chriftian difpenfation, this decla- ration of its author is furely fufficiently de- cifive.in the negative} becaufe, if a man and a woman, by marriage, become one flefh, it feems impoffible that a greater number

than

[ 1 60 ]

than two fhould be incorporated by that union ; and, if a man is commanded to leave his father and mother, and cleave to one wife, he is furely not at liberty to cleave to ano- ther.

The queftion here put to Jefus was not, indeed, concerning polygamy, but divorce ; but his anfwer comprehended them both, and declares, by the cleareft implication, that the firft ought not to be permitted, and, in exprefs words, that the laft is abfo- lutely unlawful in all cafes, except in that of adultery.

The advocates for polygamy alledge,That the practice of it is recorded as far back as hiflory carries us, to the earlieft ages of the world ; that it was allowed during the whole period of the Jewifh theocracy, and conti- nued by that people till the coming of Chrift, and then not prohibited by any po- (itive command ; and that, therefore, though' from a change of circumftances in the prefent times it may not be expedient, it cannot

certainly be unlawful. This argument has

furely

[ i6i 3

furely much weight j but in anfwer it may be faid, That, although we do not find it any where in the New Teftament abfolutely for- bid, it is, in this and feveral other places, highly difapproved of by the cleareft impli- cations ; and indeed it is by no means cre- dible, that a cuftom fo licentious, fo inju- rious to one, and fo deftructive to the do- meftic happinefs of both fexes ; a cuftom, even at that time, rejected by almofl all the Gentile nations j fhould be adopted or per- mitted under the purity of the Chriftian in- ftitution.

The true ftate of the cafe I take to be this : — Multitudes of the Jews, unable to re- fift the preaching of Chrift, and the evidence of his divine miflion enforced by fo many miracles, every day became converts to his religion $ but, being extremely fond of the ceremonies and cuftoms of their own, could not fuddenly be prevailed on to relinquifh them. Of none were they more tenacious than of this of polygamy, in which they and their forefathers had been indulged for fo

VOL. IV. M many

many centuries, and which had been autho- rifed by the example of characters, to whom they looked up with the moft profound ve- neration j and therefore many of them, after their converfion, continued in the practice of it.

That they did fo, feems to be confirmed by what St. Paul writes to Titus, that " a " bifhop muft be blamelefs, the hufband of " one wife j" that is, that although polygamy might be overlooked in fome of the Jewilh converts, who could not be prevailed on to accept Chriftianity on any other terms, it could not be fuffered in any one who un- dertook fo important and fo facred an office as that of a bifhop ; whofe life ought to be exemplary, and his conduct free even from the imputation of all blame. — From hence it appears evident, that polygamy was al- ways confidered, by Chrift and his Apoftles, as incompatible with the religion which they taught j and that, although it might be to- lerated in fome of the Jewifh profelytes, who had immemorial cuftom to plead in its be- half,

C '63 3

half, yet, even in them, it was looked upon as extremely blameable, and was never claimed by or permitted to any of the Gen- tiles who were converted.

M 2 MATT.

I 1*4 J

MATT. XX. 15, 16. *H XK e&S'i pot "sroiy<ro6t o S'gXw \v roig Bpoig j

y c c<patcf crx

\GOvloU 01 l<r%UTOl, TtTOtoTOl, KOU 01

Is it pot lawful for me to do what I will *with mine own ? Is thine eye evil, becauje I am good ?

So the laftjhall lefrft, and the frjt loft.

IN order to underftand this parable of the ( houfeholder, who paid his labourers not in proportion to the time in which they worked, or the work which they had per- formed, but according to his own pleafure ; it is neceffary to remember to whom, and on •what occafion it was fpoken. Jefus had jufl before declared, that when he Ihould fit on his throne of glory, his twelve Apoftles ihould fit on twelve thrones, judging the

twelve

twelve tribes of Ifrael. Many of his au* ditors, who had but lately feen thefe men employed in the lowed occupations, and by no means eminent for their virtues or abi- lities, thought this a very partial declaration, and this promifed exaltation far fuperior to their merits. To thefe this parable was particularly addrefied; intended to teach them, that all power, glory, and happinefs, are the fole property of God, and that he alone has a right to difpofe of them accord- ing to his pleafurej that all which we enjoy is a free gift from his benevolence, and not a compenfation for our merits -, that our me- rits, if we have any, are derived from him ; that even thefe merits proceed from his grace, and the rewards of them from his bounty j that we ought to be thankful for the benefits we receive from his favor, and have no pretence to complain of his partiality, if we fee greater conferred on thofe who may appear to us to deferve them lefs j that we are bad judges of the merits of others, and worfe of our own, and that therefore, in a M 3 future

future life, many who are now laft in our eftimation, will be firft in happinefs and glory ; and many whom we now admire for their virtues, and imagine will be firft in that ftate, will be the laft, that is, leaft meritorious in the fight of their juft and all-difcerning judge. From whence we may learn, that it is the higheft prefumption in us to circum- fcribe the right of our Creator, in the diftri- bution of his favours, by our imperfcd no- tion of fitnefs and equity, to fet bounds to the operations of any one of his attributes by confronting it with another, to limit his power by the effects of his mercy, or the effects of his mercy by thofe of hisjuftice. His attributes are all above our comprehen- fion, and therefore we ought only to adore them in filence, and fubmit to his decifion with gratitude and refignation.

MATT,

[ 1*7 3

MATT. XXII. ai. TOTS Xeys; auroig' 'Airofiofe w

TKenJaid be unto them, Render unto C*far the things which are C<efar's j and unto God, the things which are God's.

IN order to enfnare Jefus into offending either their own nation, or the Roman government, under which they were then fubje&ed, the Jews faid unto him, " Tell *c us, therefore, what thinkeft thou, Is it law- " ful to give tribute unto Cseiar, or not ?" A queftion the moft infidious, and moft dan- gerous to decide on, that art or malice could have contrived j becaufe, in the decifion of it, the moft important political rights were to be determined : Whether they, being a people chofen by God, could lawfully fub- mit to the government of any but God ; .or fome one of their own nation, deputed by his M 4 immediate

[ ,i6« 3

immediate direction ? — Whether conquer}, which is but tmjuft, though fuccefsful vio- lence, can give a juft right to govern ? — Whether one nation can have a right to rule over, and confequently to impofe tri- bute on another ? — And, Whether any fo- vereign can lawfully compel fubjects to pay taxes, without their own confent ? If Chrift had thought it ever proper for him to give directions on political topics, he certainly would not have neglected this opportunity ; but he now, and at all times, induftrioufly avoided it, and faid, " Shew <e me the tribute money :" then replies to their queftion, by afking them another, cc Whofe is this image and fuperfcription ?" They anfwered, " Csefar's." Then faid he unto them, " Render, therefore, unto Csefar, tf the things which are Csefar's j and unto cc God, the things which are God's."

Many opinions, by the ingenuity of com- mentators, have been extracted from thefe few words of Chrift, Some have thought, that; by them, he intended to explode that

favorite

favorite notion, that they could not be law- fully governed by any except God. Some have afiferted, that, by here acknowledging the title of Casfar, he had eftablifhed the right of all conquerors to rule over the peo- ple whom they had fubdued. Others would perfuade us, that, by the things which are Csefar's, are to be underftood, taxes impofed by the Hate ; and, by the things which are God's, the revenues of the church : and it is furprifing, that no courtly divine has un- dertaken to prove, from this fhort decifion, that every fovereign has a right to feize on all the money which bears his image and fu- perfcription. But certainly none of thefe fanciful conjectures have any foundation in thefe words of Chrift j which are no more than an evafive anfwer to an infidious queflion, and a declaration of what he takes every opportunity of declaring, That he did not come to decide political contro- verfies, to fettle the rights of conquerors and the conquered, or of fovereigns and fub- jec~ls; and that the only inftructions which

he

[ '70 ]

he could give on that head were, to pay quietly tribute and fubmifiion to whatever government they lived under, without un- neceflary inquiries into the lawfulnefs of their claims ; but to inquire diligently after the will of God, and pay the ftricteft obedience to it on every occafion.

MATT.

MATT. XXVI. 39. Ka; "srooeXSuv [MKOOV, ITTS^BV BTTI U, 'ZsroccreL/p/o^ev©", KOII Xifiw Svvctrov Ifi, 'sra.jitXQsTCis «V £^t» TO

TVTO.

And he went a little farther, and fell on bis face, and prayed, faying, O my Father, if it be poffible, let this cup pafs from me.

TH E hypothetical words, inferted in this fervent addrefs of Chrift to his heavenly Father, feem to eftablifh the truth of two important propofitions : Firft, That there may be, and aftually are, evils inherent in the nature of things, which even Omnipo- tence cannot prevent 5 and, that we have rea- fonto conclude, that all which wefufTer in this life, except fuch as we bring upon ourfelves by our mifconducl: or mutual injuries, are of this kind j that is, fuch as cannot be pre- vented without the admiflion of greater evils, or the lofs of good more than equi- valent j

[ i7» J

valenti becaufe we cannot fuppofe that a Creator of infinite power and goodnefs, would admit any others into any part of his works.

The fecond propofition is, That the fuf- ferings and death of Chrift are likewife of this kind, abfolutely necefiary as an atone- ment for the fins of mankind, and therefore unpreventable by any power, without de- feating the great defign of the benevolent but dreadful talk which he had undertaken. As fuch they are reprefented, by himfelfand his Apoftles, throughout every part of the New Teftament ; not as contingencies, like thofe of other martyrs in the caufe of reli- gion, but as an eflfential part of the original plan of his mifiion. From whence this necefiity arifes, we have not faculties to conceive : but it muft be certainly from fome connexions between fuffering and fin, that is, between natural and moral evil, totally beyond the reach of our com- prehenfions.

Chrift, under the moft terrible appre-

henfions

[ 173 ]

henfions of his approaching execution, fell on his face, and prayed, faying, " O my " Father, if it be poflible, let this cup pafs <e from me $" that is, if it be poflible to procure the redemption of mankind without this facrifice : but it was not poflible, and therefore he voluntarily fubmitted to drink it, as the only means to accomplifh that be- nevolent end ; and, in proof of it, fays, " No c< man taketh my life from me, but I lay <f it down of myfelf *." No doubt of its poflibility could arife from any other caufe, for furely it was not only poflible, but very eafy, for the power of God to have delivered him out of the hands of man. He might have changed the hearts of his enemies : he might have defeated their malice, by placing him in a fituation beyond their reach, or by fending twelve legions of an- gels to his affiftance : " But how then fhall <f the fcriptures be fulfilled, that thus it muft " be f ?" that is, How then fhall the prophe-

• John x. i 8. f Matt. xxvi. 53.

cies

[ '74 ]

cies and promifes be fulfilled, which aflure us, that this important purpofe can be ef- fected by no other means, nor fatisfaftion made for the fins of the world on any other terms ?

MARK

[ i7S ]

MARK II. 27,

;a TOV ev yevero, »% o ai/^7r^ <<a TO <r

? faid unto them, The fabbatb was made for man, and not man for tbefabbath.

THIS was the reply which Chrift made to the Pharifees, who had fre- quently reproved him for healing the fick on the fabbath-day ; and, in the prefent in- ftance, for fuffering his difciples to pluck a few ears of corn as they walked through the fields on that day j by which we are to un- derftand, that his opinion on this fubjecl: was, that the keeping holy the fabbath-day was a wife and excellent inftitution, admirably con- trived for the benefit of mankind, but not of fuch indifpenfable importance, that we fhould think it is the chief duty of our lives, or that we were placed in this world on pur- pofe to perform it.

5 The

[ «7« 3

The Pharifees were a left of the Jews, noted for their fpiritual pride and hypocrify, who pretended to extraordinary fanftity, by a Uriel: and fuperftitious obfervance of every ceremony appointed by the Mofaic law, particularly that of keeping holy the fabbath, with a rigour beyond what the good of fo- ciety would admit, or the inftitution itfelf required ; and it is not a little remarkable, that the fectaries of all times have followed their example in this inftance ; they have all thought, or pretended to think, that a ri- gorous obfervance of this day is the firft of all Chriftian duties, and the neglect of it the moft enormous of all crimes ; whereas, properly fpeaking, it is no Chriftian duty at all, in any other fenfe, than that it is the duty of every Chriftian to comply with every inftitution, from whatfoever fource it may be derived, which tends to promote religion and virtue amongft mankind.

The keeping holy the fabbath-day was originally enjoined, by a pofitive command- ment, to the Jews in the Mofaic law ; and,

as

[ '77 3

as fuch, was obferved by (Thrift and his Apoftles, as was every other part of that law, and was afterwards retained by the Chriftians of all fucceeding ages, for its pe- culiar excellence and utility, when all the reft were laid afide. But I do not recollect that it is any where injoined by Chrift or his Apoftles, or even mentioned in the New Teftament, except in this and fome other places in which he reproves the Pharifees for their hypocritical and fuperftitious ob- fervance of it, by converting a day that was intended to be fet apart for reft, Joy, and thankfgiving, into a feafon of mortification and felf- denial of all comforts and conve- niences of life.

But this leflens not the force of our ob- ligation to keep this day in a proper man- ner ; that is, to abftain from labour and all worldly cares and occupations, and to em- ploy it in acts of devotion, charity, and hof- pitality ;*for which we have the example of Chrift and his Apoftles, and of every Chrif- tian church from their times to the prefent

VOL, IV. N day.

day. The excellence, likewife, of the infti- tution itfelf cannot fail to recommend it; for, certainly, there never was any other fo well calculated to promote the interefts of piety and virtue, to call off the worldly-minded from the perpetual toils of ambition and avarice, and to give leifure to thofe who are better difpofed, to improve and cultivate thofe better difpofitions ; to afford relief to the poor from incefiant labour, and to the rich from continual diffipation, and to pro- duce fome fenfe of religion in the vulgar, and fome appearance of it in the great.

[ '79 3

MARK VIII. 38. KV 27T«<(r;£iij/(ty pe xou rove Ipxs Xo- yw; v TV yevsa rau-nj T*J |t*o;%aX^ KM apu^- TuXyt KCX.I o viog TV oivQpuTrts e7rou<r%vvQri<rel<x,i O.UTOV ora,v eX^ Iv TV lofy T» "srtxj^og aura, ftefc TUV oiyfeXuv TUV ayiuv.

JW>ofoevery therefore,Jhall be ajhamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and finful generation, of him alfo Jhall the Son of man be ajhamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father.

MANY and fevere are the threats which we find denounced by Chrift againft hypocrites j that is, againft thofe who pretended an extraordinary fanctity in their manners and converfation, without hav- ing any true fenfe of religion or morality in their hearts. The words before us are a threat, likewife, againft hypocrites, but hypocrites of a very different fort ; thofe who pretend to be more profligate than they really are, N 2 and

C 1 80 ]

and therefore may properly be called hypo- crites in wickednefs. Thefe are much more numerous in the prefent times, and perhaps more mifchievous than the former ; as thofe do honour to religion and virtue by their pretences to them, thefe affront them by an open difavowal. Thofe make others better than themfelves, and thefe worfe, by their example. We meet with this ridiculous and criminal kind of hypocrify every day ; we fee men affecting to be guilty of vices for which they have no relifh, of profligacy for which they have not conftitutions, and of crimes which they have not courage to perform. They lay claim to the honour of cheating, at the time they are cheated, and endeavour to pafs for knaves, when, in fact, they are but fools. Thefe are the offenders of whom Chrift will be afhamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father j which will be a dreadful but juft punifliment, and a proper retaliation of that foolifh and im- pious modefty, which induced them to be aihamed of him and his word, in complaU

fancc

fance to a finful and adulterous generation ; and to be lefs afraid of incurring the dif- pleafure of the beft of all Beings, than the profane ridicule of the worft of men.

N 3 MARK

/

MARK XVI. 15, 16.

$ TOV xo<r~ (ZTravTcc, jc^ufaf/g TO eJay/eA;oi/

o os

And be faid unto fbemy Go ye into all the world, and preach tbe goffel to every creature.

He that believetb, and is baptifed, Jhall le Jawed ; but be that believeth not, Jhall be damned.

THI S is the commiflion, together with the promifes and threats annexed to it, which Chrift gave to his Apoftles when he fent them forth to preach the gofpel to every part of the world : in which thefe three important queftions offer themfelves to our ferious confideration ; What is meant by be- lieving ? What is meant by being faved ? and, What by being damned ? — Believing cannot here be underftood to fignify the giv-

ing

ing aflent to the tradition of one church, or to the creeds and articles of another, or even to the hiftorical facts recorded in the New Teftament j becaufe, at the time when this commifiion was delivered, no church ex- ifted, no creeds or articles were formed, nor was the New Teftament written. Believing, in the language of that book, is for the moft part ufed as a term fynonymous to that of .becoming a Chriftian. Thus it is related of the nobleman, whofe fon Jefus had cured, " Himfelf believed, and his whole houfe V and thus it is faid, that " many of the Jews, " which had feen the things which Jefus did, " believed on himf " that is, were converted to the religion which he taught, and became Chriftians ; for which purpofe nothing was then required, than to acknowledge that Jefus was the Son of God (that is, the Mef- fiah expected by the Jews and foretold by the prophets), and to receive baptifm as an external and vifible fign of their initiation

* John iv. 53. f John jd. 45.

N 4 Int»

into this holy fraternity, which was imme- diately adminiftered to them on their affent- ing to this fingle propofition, as we find it was by Philip to the eunuch, without afking any further queftions.

In the next place, What is meant by be- ing faved ? In order to underftand this ex- preffion, it is neceflary to recollect that, throughout the NewTeftament,we are every where informed, that mankind, in the prefent life, are in a ftate of guilt and depravity, under fentence of condemnation, and inca- pable of admifiion into the kbodom of He;?-

G , '

ven ; that, in order^4a--redeem them from this unhappy^^ion, Chrift came into the w°n(i>/and offered them a religion which effectual for that purpofej and that, whoever lhall believe on him (that is, ac- knowledge his divine authority, accept the religion which he taught, and teftify this ac- ceptance by baptifm) fhall by this, and the •atonement made for fin by his fufferings and death, be faved (that is, abfolved from their guilt, excufed from that fentence, freed from

that

that incapacity, and placed in a ftate, which> although it may be forfeited by their future mifbehaviour, is, in the language of fcrip- ture, called falvation). This I take to be the true meaning of being faved ; which, without fome retrofpect, can have no mean* ing at all.

By being damned, is not here to be un- derftood, being configned to a ftate of ever- lafling punifhment, according to the vulgar acceptation of that, phrafe in our tranflation, in which fcnfe, I believe, it is no where ufed by the writers of the New Teftament — the original word is xaT<zx/>t9>i<r£Taj, condemna- litur, which fignifies fimply, will be con- demned, or found guilty ', without referring to any punilhment whatever. In the pre- fent inftance, it means nothing more than the reverfe of being faved. " He that be- lieveth will be faved, but he that believeth not cannot be faved ;" that is, Whoever re- fufcs this gracious offer can receive no bene- fit from it, but muft remain in the fame flate of guilt, condemnation, and exclufion from

the

C 186 ]

the kingdom of Heaven, as if no fuch offer had been made j not as a punifhment, but as a neceffary confequence of his unbelief. This is not a threat, but a declaration j in which there is no more injuftice or fe verity, than in that of a phyfician, who, having pre- fcribed a fpecific medicine to a patient la- bouring under an inveterate difeafe, aflures him, that if he takes it, he will certainly re- cover j but if he will not, he will as certainly die. — This fair interpretation of this pafiage I think a full vindication of the juftice and goodnefs of God, from the blafphemous im- putations fometimes thrown on the divine conduct, in condemning his creatures to eternal mifery, merely for not aflenting to propofitions which many cannot believe, and more cannot underftand ; for which there is not the leaft foundation in the words before us.

LURK

LUKE XI. 3. vptv, BI xa; # ducei aurw TO siva; aur# <p;Xov, &a ye •njv civ auction corns.

I fay unto you, 'Though he will not rife and give him becaufe be is his friend; yet, becaufe of his importunity, he will rife and give him a$ many as lie needeth.

THIS parable, and alfo another of the importunate widow, in the fecond chap- ter, feems to reprefent the Deity as teazcd into compliance, and granting requefts, not from the reafonablenefs of the petition, or the merits of the petitioners, but merely to put an end to their troublefome im- portunities. This in man would cer- tainly be a weaknefs, but in the Supreme Judge and difpofer of all things is an ablb- lute impoflibilityj and therefore cannot be the intention of this parable. But, in order to underftand the fenfe of this, and many- other pafTages in both the Old and New

Teftamenr,

[ '88 ]

Teftament, we fhould remember, that, al- though thefe, as well as other writings of remoter ages, abound in more fublime ideas, and more beautiful figures, than the compo- ficions of later ages ; yet we mult not ex- pect to find in them the fame corre&nefs and precifion. In their fimiles, provided there were fome refemblancein their principal features, little regard was paid to their dif- agreement in all the reft. Thus the pfalmift compares the unity of brethren to the pre- cious ointment on the head of Aaron, which ran down to his beard, and even to the fkirts of his cloathing ; between which there is not the lead fimilitude, except that they were both precious and pleafant things* In their parables and fables, provided the great outlines correfponded with the mo- ral which they defigned to inculcate, they attended not to the collateral circumftances which were introduced into the ftory ; and therefore we ought never to draw any con- clufions from them. Thus, in the parable of the marriage of the king's fon, the

king,

C 189 ]

king, obferving that one of the guefts had not on a wedding garment, commanded him to be bound hand and foot, and caft into outer darknefs; by which we are taught, that whofoever comes to Chrift, that is, pretends to be a Chriftian, without the proper cloathing of righteoufnefs and faith, will incur his difpleafure, and be feverely punifhed. But we muft not compare the juft difpenfations of Providence, with the unjuft fentence of the king, who pu- nifhed a man For not having on a wedding garment, who had been but juft before picked up in the highway, and could not have been expefled to have been properly drefled for fuch an entertainment.

In like manner, in this parable, the fole intention is to inculcate the duty of fer- vent and importunate prayer, together with the deferved fuccefs which attends it. This is very well illuftrated by the perfevering importunity of the petitioner, and the com- pleat though late compliance of his friend. The motive which at laft induced him to

comply,

190

comply, after fo long and obftinate a refufal, is a collateral circumftance, which makes no part of the parable. The parable applies only to the faft, not to the motive which produced it ; and therefore that is not to be attended to.

LUKE XI. 24, 25, 1&.

TO a>ca0aoTci/ Tsrvtufttx, e%e\Qvi airo rtf SI avvopuv TOTTUV (JJTVV oaot.-

rov OIKOV pv, oev

Ka* eXQov evpiffKet <re<rapu(ASvov xou

TOTS •GToptveTcu Koti •ztr

Ja TtrcMiporsoa, saurx, KO.I

tiOMSl SKSl' KKt yiV^Otl TO, \G"Xpt\tt, T8 BKBlViS %eipOVOt TUV TZTOUTUV.

When the uncleanfprit is gone out of a man, he walkcth through dry places, Jeeking reft : and finding none, he faith, I will return to my boufe whence I came out.

And when he cometh, hefindeth itfwept and garni/hed.

'Then goeth he, and taketh to Urn f even other fpirits more wicked than himfelf, and they enter in and dwell there : and the laft ft ate of that man is worfe than thefirft.

IKNO W of no paflage throughout the . New Teftament fo obfcure as this, nor 5 one

one which the commentators have been fo little able to explain : — for which end, it is in the firft place necefTary to obferve, that, in the times in which the gofpels were written, an opinion was univerfally adopted, both by Jews and Gentiles, that madnefs, idiotifm, many of the difeafes, and much of the wick- ednefs of mankind, were occafioned by evil fpirits, who got pofieffion of their minds and bodies 5 and that thefe fpirits, when caft out by fome fuperior power, wandered about in folitary and uninhabited defarts, reftlefs and miferable, until they were able to return to their old, or to occupy fome new habita- tion.

This pafiage is plainly founded on this idea, and on this fuppofition will be found not altogether unintelligible; but may be fairly explained in the following manner :— - " When the unclean fpirit goeth out of a man, he, the fpirit, walketh in dry places, (that is, wandereth about in dry and fandy defarts) feeking reft ; and rinding none, he faith to himfelf, I will return to my houfe whence I came out (that is, to the

poflefiiori

r i« 1

poflfeflion of the fame perfon from whom I have been expelled) and when he cometh there, if he findeth it fwept and garnifhed, (that is, prepared and made ready for his reception by the perfon's relapfe into his former flate of depravity) then taketh he to him feven fpirits more wicked than himfelf, and they enter and dwell there (that is, they enter and fix their habitation there, and cannot again be caft out) j fo the laft flate of that man is worfe than the firft." — The meaning of all which, diverted of metaphor and reduced to common language, I take to be this : — When any one, who has, by the power of reafon and religion, expelled from his heart impious and malevolent difpofi- tions, infufed into it by the operations of evil fpirits, fhall fuffer himfelf again to fall tinder their dominion, they will return with fevenfold ftrength, and the man will Ipe many degrees more wicked than he was before.

That evil fpirits did, in thofe ages, take pofTefilon of the minds and bodies of human

VOL. IV. O beings,

[ *94 3

beings, we cannot doubt, if we give any credit to hiftory, facred or profane j and, although the fagacity of the prefent more enlightened times hath exploded this opi- nion with contempt and ridicule, yet we fee daily inftances, which muft induce us to believe, that their power is not even now totally at an end. We fee fome labouring under difeafes which the moft fkilful phy- ficians are unable to account for or to cure ; others perpetrating the molt horrid crimes without provocation, temptation, or ad- vantage : we fee the hand of the fuicide plunging the dagger into his own breaft, in contradiction to his reafon, his princi- ples, and his corporeal feelings : And muft we not conclude, that all thefe unaccountable actions proceed from the directions of fome external powers, which the actors are unable to refift ? In madnefs we plainly perceive two diftinct wills operating at the fame time, one of which compels a man to com- mit the moft outrageous acts, which the other difapproves, but cannot controul j nay,

fometimes

[ '95 1

fometimes forefees, for a confiderable time, that he fhall be fo compelled, but is unable to prevent it.

I cannot conclude this obfervation, with- out adding another, on the next fucceeding verfe, in which we are informed, that, <c as he " fpake thefe things, a certain woman of the ff company lift up her voice, and faid unto " him, Blefled is the womb that bare thee, and " the paps which thou haft fucked/' She had liftened to his excellent and intelligible dif- courfe for fome time, which Ihe perfectly un- derftood ; but when he fpake thefe things, which were above her comprehenfion, (he could no longer forbear lifting up her voice and uttering this pathetic exclamation, to ex- prefs her applaufe and admiration. This is a picture fo exactly copied from nature and experience, that we can have no doubt of its truth j and is here only mentioned as a mark of the fidelity with which the moil minute incidents are recorded by the Evan- gelical hiftorians.

O i L v K. e

LUKE XIV. 10.

GTUV Kyg, vo^svs^ vot,7r£<rov in; raf ecr%ct}ov TOTTOV.

"But when tbou art bidden, go and fit down in the hweft room.

/CHRISTIANITY is the beft-bred ^^ religion in the world, although the manners of fome of its moft rigid profefibrs feem to contradict this afTertion. There is not a fingle quality required in the compo- fition of a true Chrifiian, which is not equal- ly requifite in the character of a well-bred man j nor a fingle deviation from politenefs, which does not, under the Chrifiian law, become a crime, becaufe it tends to defeat the two great objects of that holy inftitu- tion, which are to promote peace and good- will on earth, and to qualify us for the kingdom of heaven*

Many were the leffons by which Chrift endeavoured to infufe this amiable virtue

into

t '97 ]

into the minds of his difciples ; in the com- mand before us he forbids every infolent attempt to precedence, as equally adverfe to Chriftianity as to good manners, as it denotes a proud heart and high fpirit, incon- fiftent with the humble precepts of that re- ligion. He fays, " Whofoever fhall com- " pel thee to go a mile, go with him twain," that is, In the intercourfes of foeial life, be ready to comply with every innocent pro- pofal, and in every office of civility perform twice as much, as is either required or ex- pected. This, therefore, is Chriftianity, as well as politenefs. — Again, he fays, " Whofo- ** ever lhall be angry with his brother, with- «e out a caufe," (that is, fhall enter into vio- lent, angry, and peevifh difputes about no- thing) " fhall be in danger of the judgment *f [or difpleafure of God] -, but whofoever *' (hall fay to his brother, Thou fool ! fhail " be in danger of hell-fire ;" that is,Who (hall make ufe of fuch opprobrious and affronting expreflions as may provoke retaliation and refentment, which may end in violence and O 3 bloodfhed,

bloodfhed, is anfwerable for the confe- quences, and therefore (hall be in danger of the fevered punilhment. — Thus we fee, that every virtue enjoined by Chriftianity as a duty, is recommended by politenefs as an accomplifhment. Gentlenefs, humility, de- ference, affability, and a readinefs to afiift and ferve on all occafions, are as neceffary in the compofition of a true Chriftian as in that of a well-bred man \ paffion, morofe- nefs, peevifhne fs, and fupercilious felf-fufR- ciency, are equally repugnant to the cha- racters of both : — who differ in this only, that the true Chriftian really is what the well-bred man but pretends to be, and would be flill better bred if he was.

Lu KE

C *99 1

LUKE XV. 7.

ft » »

OTl VTU %#P# S^Oil SV Tit)

xpctvu e?r; evt <x,pa,aTU\w p,&lotvoxvTi9 n STTI gy-

I fay unto you, That joy Jh all be in heaven over one finner that repentetb, more than over ninety and nine juft perfons ivbo need no re- pentance.

SOME modern enthufiafts entertain fuch favourable ideas of repentance, as to place it higher, in the catalogue of Chriftian virtues, than even perfect innocence itfelf. They leem to think, that a man mult be a finner before he can be a faint ; and that, if his repentance be fin cere, his merits will rife in proportion to his paft offences. Nay, fome have gone fo far as to recommend wickednefs as preparatory to repentance, and therefore neceflary to infure our fal- vation. Falfe and impious as thefe princi- O 4 pies

[ 200 ]

pies are, they may, perhaps, like mod errors, have fome foundation in truth mifunderftood j for we certainly fee in this, and many other parts of the New Teftament, an extraordi- nary degree of merit imputed, and an ex- traordinary degree of favour fhewn,to earned and fincere repentance ; although repent- ance, however fincere and fuccefsful, can do no more than place the fmner in the fame ftate as if he had never offended. How then comes it to pafs, that we find here a more joyful reception into heaven beftowed upon the fmner who hath repent- ed, than upon ninety-nine juft perfons who need no repentance ? This feems to be a difpenfation not eafily reconcileable with the wifdom and juftice of God ; and therefore I. do not apprehend that, by thefe words, any preference is given to finners who re- pent, above the righteous who need no re- pentance, becaufe, in fuch a ftate of perfec- tion no human being ever exifted ; and there- fore the competition can only lie between thofe who have committed great crimes,

of

of which they are truly fenfible, and have fincerely repented, and thofe who have been daily guilty of many fmaller offences, of which they are fo little confcious as to think they need norepentance.Thisis clearly exemplified by the parable of the Pharifee and the Publi- can/who went up to the temple to pray*. The Pharifee, unconfcious of his unworthinefs, thought he needed no repentance, and there- fore only thanked God that he was not as other men ; extortioners, unjuft, adulterous, or even as this Publican : the Publican, fen- fible of the many crimes which he had com- mitLed, and fincerely forry for them, ftood afar off, and would not fo much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but fmote upon his bread, faying, " God be merciful to me a finner." " I tell you," fays Chrift, " this man went *c down to his houfe juftified rather than the "other."

Perhaps, ajfo, there may be fomething in a fmcere repentance for paft offences, more acceptable to God, and more congenial to

* Luke xviii. 10.

tfa|

[ 202 ]

the true fpirit of Chriftianity, and therefore more productive of joy in heaven, than in any degree of original righteoufnefs of which human nature is capable. The painter and the fculptor (hew, that beauty cannot be formed by compaffes and a rule ; a face in •which every feature was faultlefs would be fliff, formal, and unpleafing j there muft be fome fmall deviations from exact fymmetry, to enable it to (trike the eye and captivate the heart of every beholder. Juft fo in our morals, was it poffible for any one to act at all times, and on all occafions, as he ought, his conduct would form a character rather ad- mirable than amiable, unnatural to man, and unlike that of a Chriftian, becaufe it would certainly be accompanied with fome kind of arrogance, felf-fufficiency, and independence, inconfiftent with the lowlinefs, humility, and diffidence, effential to that religion. Chrif- tianity does not expect that we fhould be guilty of no offences, but that we be forry for them. It does not require perfection, of which we are incapable 3 but a broken

and

and contrite heart, repentance for fins paft, and perpetual endeavours after future a- mendment, which is in every man's power. This is the fole principle on which this holy jnftitution is founded, and therefore it is not furprifing that there fliould be extraordinary joy in heaven on every inftance of the falu- tary effects of it, in the converfion and falva- tion of a finner.

Experience teaches us, that we receive more joy from the unexpected return of any good, than from the uninterrupted pofieffioti of it; from regaining a loft treafure, than from its undifturbed enjoyment -s or the re- covery of a beloved friend from a dangerous difeafe, than from the knowledge of his continual health. This is both natural and rational, Why then fhould not the angels in heaven be affected with the fame fenfations from the fame caufe ?

LUKE

LUKE XVI. 9. vpiv Xiyu9 Howpale lavrots \K rs [tapuvoe, ry\q ct$iKia,$9 i &%uv]cti vpaq elg rag cuuvtvs

And I fay unto you, fdake to yourfehey friends of the mammon of unrighteoufnefs ; that, •when ye fail, they may receivt you into ever- lafting habitations.

NO commentator, ancient or modern, has yet been able to give us a fatisfae- tory explanation of this exhortation, deli- vered by Chrift to a very numerous audi- ence : the moft plaufible is this-— That -by the mammon of unrighteoufnefs, we are to underftand ill-gotten wealth ; and the advice which Chrift here gives to thofe who have fo acquired it, is to employ it in acts of charity and beneficence, by which means, though they fail in other parts of their duty, they may obtain admiffion into everlafting life.-^-This interpretation might do very well,

if

[ *°5 3

if the words would bear it; but it is certainly impoffible, by any torture, to extract out of them fuch a meaning ; and if fuch a mean- ing could be allowed, it would not in the leaft correfpond with the preceding parable : in order to underftand which, as well as the words before us, it is neeeflary to recolleel:, both on what occafion they were fpoken, and to whom they were addrefled.

We find, in the foregoing chapter, that whilft Jefus was delivering thefe feveral parables to a very great multitude, he ob-- ferved amongft them fome Pharifees at- tending in the crowd ; a fet of men who were perpetually employed in external ads of. piety and devotion, and as conftantly bulled in every fpecies of extortion and fraud. To thefe Pharifees, equally remark- able for their religion and their roguery, this exhortation was with peculiar propriety ad^ drefifed ; in- which, I apprehend, we are t» underftand, by the mammon of unrighteouf- nefs, the kingdom of Satan ; the exiftence of which was univerfally believed in thofe

times,

times, and is frequently mentioned of al- luded to in the fcriptures, and placed in op- pofition to the kingdom of God. The ad- vice here given to thefe men is this — not to attempt^ at the fame time, to ferve God and Mammon; but, when they, by their iniquities, have loft all hopes of admiffion into the kingdom of light, to fecure a reception in the kingdom of darknefs, and to imitate the example of the unjuft fteward, in the parable which he had juft before delivered to them, who, having aban- doned all expectations of future fupport from his lord, on account of his mifbeha- viour, and endeavoured to conciliate to him- felf the goodnefs of his tenants, that when he was put out of the fte wardship, they might receive him into their houfesj for which artful precaution his lord commended him, becaufe he had done wifely, but totally rejected him becaufe he had not done hc»- neftly. — This, I think, is a juft and fair ex- planation of this abftrufe pafiage; which feems to be rather an ironical reproof of the 5 Pharifees

[ 207 ]

Pharifees for their hypocrify and avarice^ than a ferious dire&ion for their conduft, and bears fome refemblance to what Jofliua faid to the Ifraelitesi " If it feem evil unto " you to ferve the Lord, choofe you this day " whom you will ferve*:" fo Chrift fays, If you will not be fubje&s of the kingdom of God, make yourfelves friends in the king- dom of Satan.

* Jofliua xxiv. 15.

LUKE XVI. 25.

/7T£ oe 'A&oaotp* T&KVOV,

co ra ciyuQcx, <r» Iv ry fa/i <ra, r« KXKC&' vvv $e

feut Abraham Jaid, Son, remember that thou in thy life- time received/I thy good things, and likewife Lazarus evil things : but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

AL L the commentators on this parable feem to have ' miftakcn the intention and moral of it ; they have all underftood it, as defigned only to inform us, that no judg- ment can be formed of men's condition in a future Iife3 by the appearances in the prefent, of either their profperity or diftrefs : that the rich and great will, if criminal, certainly meet with the punifhment due to their offences, in another ftate, which, by the influence of theif power, they may have evaded in thisj and the poor and difeafed, if virtuous, will there re-

ceive

ceive retribution for all the miferies and ill- treatment which they have undefervedly fuf- fered. In order to accommodate the parable to this interpretation, they have conftantly painted the character of Dives in the blacked, and that of Lazarus in the brighteft co- lours ; for which there is not the leaft foun- dation in the parable itfelf, as there is not one word faid of the criminality of the one, or the merits of the other j Abraham, in his anfwer to the rich man, does not bid him to remember, that he acquired his wealth by fraud or rapine, or that he had expended it in profligacy or oppreffion ; and that, therefore, he ought not to complain of a pu- nifhment which he had fo juftly deferved. He fays nothing of the virtues of Lazarus, that he had been pious, fober, honeft, and patient; he only anfwers the complainant in a friendly manner, <f Son, remember that thou in thy " life-time receivedft good things, and like- " wife Lazarus evil things ; but now he is cc comforted, and thou art tormented :" t>y which, I apprehend, he means to addrefs VOL. IV. p him :—

•

him : — " Son, although thy prefent fituation is very wretched, and that of Lazarus no lefs happy, thou haft no reafon to arraign the partiality of God j but oughteft to remember, that thou, in a former ftate, enjoyedft all the pleafures of wealth and profperity, and that then Lazarus fuffered all the miferies of po- verty and difeafe, but that now he is comfort- ed, and thou art tormented, in conformity to that impartial and eternal law of Providence, which inftituted the perpetual rotation of good and evil."

From this parable we may learn, that the Supreme difpofer of all things diftributes good and evil amongft his creatures, not only with juftice, but with a greater degree of equality than we imagine •, and that this he is enabled to perform by having fo won- derfully contrived the difpofition of things, and the conftitution of man, that riches, power, wealth, and profperity, in this life, actually lead him into many vices, which will incur punifliment in another; and fick- nefs, poverty, and diftrefs, are as naturally

productive

productive of many virtues, which will there merit a reward j by which means happinefs and mifery are more equally diftributed, at the fame time that drift juftice is done to every individual according to his deferts, and no one can have any caufe to complain.

This idea of the rotation of good and evil, of enjoyments and fufferings, is con- firmed by the cleared allufions in feveral parts of the New Teftamentj for inftance, we there read, that " it is eafier for a ca- cf mel to go through the eye of a needle, " than for a rich man to enter into the " kingdom of God *j" not becaufe it is cri- minal to be rich, but becaufe, whilft riches beftow on their poflefibrs many prefent gra- tifications, they ufually make them proud, infolent, and profligate, which incapacitates them from becoming members of that holy and happy community. Again, it is faid, " Blefied are thofe that mourn, for they " lhall be comforted f;" not becaufe there is any merit in mourning, but becaufe

* Matt. xix. 24. f Matt- v- 4-

P % afflictions

arHiftions naturally tend to make men hum- ble, fober, patient, and virtuous in this life, for which they will defer ve and receive a recompence of comfort in another. This wife difpofition of Providence, in the gene- ral courfe of things, although it marks his impartiality, is no impediment to his juftice, becaufe it lays no one undtr compulfion, and may be interrupted by the conduct of every individual. The rich are not obliged to be wicked, nor the poor to be virtuous ; a rich man may employ his wealth in fuch a manner in this life, as to acquire happi- nefs by it in another ; and a poor man may be fo incorrigible as to make himfelf very miferable in both. All that we are to learn from it is, to take extraordinary care to avoid thofe crimes to which our fituation renders us peculiarly liable.

JOHN

JOHN III. 3.

0 'lyVXS, KKl StTTEV KUTCt)"

Ae/w croi, ecw py rig ovvccloti weiv rip @M<nX£iav ^

Jefus anfwered, and f aid unto him, Verily > verily, 1 Jay unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot Jee the kingdom of God.

THE meaning of which is this : — That mankind are born or come into the world with difpofitions fo depraved, fo prone to anger, malice, revenge, avarice, and am- bition, that it is impofiible for them ever to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, except they are fo totally changed as to' become new creatures. No partial alteration will do ; it mud be an entire change of temper, fentiments, habits, manners, inclinations, and purfuits. All thefe turbulent and high-fpi- rited paffions muft be eradicated, and meek- nefs, gentlenefs, and poornefs of fpirit, in- P 3 troduced

[ "4 ]

troduced in their room j anger muft give place to patience, malice to benevolence, revenge to forgivenefs, and all worldly pur- fuits to a conftant habit of piety and de- votion. This, in the language of fcripture, is properly and emphatically ftyled being born again; becaufe it is a kind of en- trance upon a new life, and a commence- ment of a date entirely different from the former. The necefllty for this change is fufficiently evident, becaufe, if men could be permitted to carry thefe evil difpofitions with them into the kingdom of God, they would not be happy themfelves, nor fuffer others to be fo.

We fee that even upon earth, if a wicked, malignant, and turbulent man was confined for life, in a virtuous, peaceable, and pious fociety, it would be no inconfiderable pu- nifhment ; and much more fevere would it - be in heaven, where the contraft is greater and the duration longer. Wickednefs and mifery are by nature fo clofely united, that they cannot be feparated, and therefore nei- ther

ther of them can have a place in the king- dom of God. If any one's difpofitions are cruel, malignant, envious, turbulent, fac- tious, and ambitious, though, in contradic- tion to their impulfe, he fhould perform all the duties of piety, benevolence, humility, and fubmiffion, he could not become a member of this holy and happy fociety, be- caufe his admiffion would be rather a pu- nifhment than a reward: before he could attain this ftate of felicity, he muft be qua- lified to enjoy it, and this can only be ef- fected by being born again. How a man is to be born again, Jefus further informs us in the fucceeding verfe j he there fays, " Except a man be born of water and of <f the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king- " dom of God j" that is, except a man be born again, by embracing the doctrines and obeying the precepts of his religion, for which purpofe the external fign of baptifm, ' and the internal afiiftance of the Holy Spirit, are abfolutely necefiary. By thefe, together with fincere repentance and reformation, he P 4 may

may become a new perfon, and perfectly qualified to be, and to make others happy in that blefied community; and when quali- fied, however great may have been his for- mer offences, he will be readily admitted, and there will be joy in heaven at his re- ception.

JOHN

JOHN VI. 44*

o "sref^x^ [AS, eXKUtrvj avrov.

No man can come to me, except the Father, which bathfent me, draw him.

MO S T of our commentators, appre- henfive left the obvious fenfe of thefe words would lead them into difficul- ties concerning the grace of God, and the free-will of man, which they were unable to folve, have endeavoured to explain them away, and fubftitute other fignifications, for which there is no authority. The true mean- ing I take to be this : — " No man/' fays Chrift, " can believe the doctrines, or obey the precepts, which I teach, except he is en- abled by the afliflance and grace of God :*' by which we are not to underftand any fudden irrefiftible impulfe, as fome enthufiafts would perfuade us; but, except God fhall be pleafed to difpofe his heart, and alfo the

circumftances

[ "8 ]

circumftances of his fituation, in fuch a man- ner as to draw him into the right road of faith and obedience. This is the declara- tion of Chrift, and the doctrine univerfally enforced by all the writers of the New Tef- tament. St. Paul fays, " Not that we are fuf- " ficientof ourfelves to think any thing as of " ourfelves, but our fufficiency is of God*." He fays alfo to the Philipians, " For it " is God which worketh in you both to will " and to do, of his good pleafure f". This is the conftant language of the fcriptures ; in which we are every where exhorted to feek, to depend on, to hope for, and to pray for this divine influence on our thoughts and actions, as necefiary to our thinking any thing right, or performing any thing good : and yet we are conftantly confidered, by the whole tenour of thofe writings, as free agents, poffeiTed of perfect liberty to do good or evil, and as fuch we are inftructed, admon ilhed, tempted by rewards, and threat- ened with punifhments. How contradic-

* 2 Cor. iii. 5. f Phil. ii. 13.

tory

tory foever thefe two proportions may feem, they are both undoubtedly true. Of the firft we cannot fail of being convinced by reafon, nor of the latter by experience. Reafon allures us, that no creature can think or act independant of his Creator, in whom he lives, and moves, and has his being, and from whom he receives power to think or act at all j and it feems indeed impoffible that a Creator, however omni- potent, Ihould beftow on his creatures ftich a degree of freedom as to make them inde- pendent of himfelf: for he muft infufe into their original frames fome difpofitions, goud or bad ; he muft give them reafon iu^-rior to their paffions, or pafiions uncontrouk-.i t>y their reafon j he muft endue them witi. a greater or lefs degree of wifdom or fol \ ; he muft place them within or beyond ms reach of temptations, and within the view of virtuous or vicious examples. All tin i'e circumftances muft proceed from his dif- penfations, and from thefe their elections

and

[ 220 ]

and confequent conduct muft be derived. Of the latter, which is, that we are pof- fefied of full liberty to choofe good or evil, to do, or forbear doing, any action 5 every moment's experience allures us with equal certainty. This is not a matter of argument, but of feeling ; and we can no more doubt of our being pofifefled of this power, than of our fight, hearing, or any of our corporeal fenfes.

How thefe two contradictory propofitions can be reconciled, is above the reach of our comprehenfions, and is but another mark, added to many, of their weaknefs and im- perfection. We have no faculties which are able to folve this difficulty, and there- fore ought to leave it to that omnifcient Being who framed, and is alone acquainted with the compofition of the human mind. Each of thefe opinions has been fup- ported by different feds of philofophers, with equal warmth ; but it is remarkable, that the Chriftian is the only religious or

moral

moral inftitution which ever ventured to afifert the truth of them both; which, as they are both undoubtedly true, fce.ns no inconfiderable proof of the fupernatural information and authority of that difpenlk- tion.

.

JOH H

[ 222 ]

JOHN VI. 53.

&v cx,VTO(g o If/i<r%s* AM,>

VftiVf suv LL'/I (poiy^JB Tyv cnxcKtx. TOU viou rou eevQouW) KOCI uriyfle UVTK TO ctlpa, VK

v

Then Jefusjald unto them. Verily, verify, I fay unto you, Except ye eat the flejh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

THESE remarkable words of Chrift, being the very fame which he after- wards ufed in the inftitution of the facra- ment of his laft fupper, we cannot but con- clude that they muft have the fame mean- ing. Modern expofitors have, indeed, in both places, explained them in fuch a man- ner, as to leave them no meaning at all j they would perfuade us, that they are merely figurative and metaphorical, and think, by eating the body, and drinking the blood of Chrift, nothing more is to be understood,

than

[ 223 ]

than being intimately united to him, by be- lieving his doctrines and obeying his pre- cepts ; and that, when applied to the bread and wine received in the facrament, they mean only that thefe are fymbols of his fuf- ferings and death. But they are furely too exprefiive, too much infifted on, and too often repeated, to admit of fo cold an inter- pretation j nor is it credible that Chrift would have made ufe of an expreffion for the fake of metaphor, which fhocked his hearers, offended his difciples, and has pro- duced the moil violent contentions amongft them from that time to the prefent hour.

The Evangelifts who heard them, and have fo emphatically recorded them, had very different ideas of the importance of thefe words, and fo had St. Paul, who re- proved the Corinthians who received un- worthily, by not difcerning the Lord's body ; that is, by not perceiving that they were then not eating and drinking bread and wine as their daily food, but fomething which, by powers fupernaturally annexed to 5 it,

it, would produce the moft important ef- fects on their prefent difpofitions and fu- ture happinefs. Our firft reformers, though they rejected tranfubftantiation, yet retained the highefl veneration for this facrament, the fanctity of the elements, and the im- portance of their effects on the communi- cants ; and I am inclined to think, that they nnderflood the fenfe of the fcriptures better, and the true fpirit of Chriftianity more cor- rectly, than our prefent reformers of refor- mation. Thefe fet up reafon as the mea- fure of truth, and then pare away the fcrip- tures to make them fit it : thofe fearched them with diligence and candour, to find out their true and genuine fignifi cations, without any regard to the decifions of hu- man reafon j from hence they formed their opinions and doctrines, and from them their creeds and articles -, and on this principle we ought to fubfcribe them— by which we do not afiert their truth, but their conformity to the fenfe of the fcriptures, which they were intended to explain: the truth and

authority

[ 225 3

authority of thofe writings is another quef- tion.

Several of our modern divines reprefent the facrament of the Lord's fupper as a mere commemoration of his fufferings and death ; by which they entirely deftroy the end and intent of it : for, although this is a pofitive inftitution, it is of a moral nature, becaufe it is defigned to drive the wicked into repentance and amendment ; and for this purpofe it is moft admirably contrived', becaufe, if they have not totally rejected the Chriftian fcheme, it lays them under infu- perable difficulties, as it obliges them either to augment their guilt, by the neglect of a pofitive command, or, by obeying it with- out repentance and reformation, to ratify their own condemnation. But ifjthefe very extraordinary words of Chrift have no mean- ing, or mean nothing more than a bare commemoration — if confecration confers no fanctity on the bread and wine — if thofe who receive them worthily receive no benefit, nor thofe who receive them unworthily in- VOL. IV. C <^r

[ 2*6 ]

cur no danger — the inftitution is vain and ufelefs, and has no more concern with our re- ligion or morals than the commemoration of gunpowder treafon, or of any other event re- corded in the hiftory of former times. — Al- though, therefore, we cannot believe, in contradiction to our fenfes, that by thefe em- phatical words of Chrift the material fub- ftance of the elements is changed; yet, furely, we may believe, without the impu- tation of credulity, that they have fomc meaning ; and that, by them, powers, pro- perty, and effects may be annexed to the proper ufe of the facrament, which may greatly contribute to our obtaining pardon for our pad offences, prevent us from falling into future tranfgrefiions, and eflentially afiift us in our progrefs to everlafting life.

JOHN

[ 227 ] JOHN VII. 46.

Never man fpake like this man.

I HAVE always been of opinion, that the mod convincing proof of the divine authority of the Chriftian revelation may be drawn from the originality of its doctrines, precepts, and the character of its author. This religion teaches us, that mankind come into the world in a ftate of depravity, guilt, and condemnation, from which they cannot be redeemed, but by the merits and medi- ation of Jefus Chrift, together with their own fincere repentance, reformation, and faith in him ; and that, on thefe terms, God will accept his fufferings and death, as an atonement for their fins ; but that thefe terms they are unable to comply with, with- out the fuperintendency of his grace and afiiftance, although they are endued with Q^2 perfeft

perfect free-will, and are accountable for the life of it. — All thefe doctrines are fo entirely new, that they had never entered into the head of any one before, and never any man, but this man, had thought or fpake any thing like them. Impofture always puts on the garb of truth, and refembles her as near as fhe can j but in all thefe propoficions there appears not even a pretence to proba- bility, and therefore, as they cannot be in- vention, we may reafonably conclude that they muft be true.

The moral precepts of this inftitution are, indeed, fimilar to thofe of all others? but in this refpect they alfo are entirely new, that they are carried to a higher degree of purity and perfection, than was ever thought of by the legislators and philofophers of preceding ages. They had fome diflant profpect of a future flate of rewards and punifhments, but they faw it through a glafs darkly, obfcured by clouds of doubt and uncertainty j but this man fpake of it with

certainty

[ 229 3

certainty and authority, removed all the in- tervening clouds, and (hewed it in the cleareft day-light.

The character of the great author of this difpenfation, is not lefs new than the reli- gion itfelf -, there is no inftance, in the hif- tory of mankind, of the founder of a religion, who propofed by it no benefit to himfelf, as well as to the world, who intended not to acquire wealth, power, and dominion over his followers ; nor an inftitution in the conftruction of which this intention is not evidently vifible. But Chrift difavows all pretences to fuch acquifitions, chofe nothing for himfelf, and promifed nothing to his difciples but poverty, difgrace, fufferings, and death.

The progrefs of this religion was equally new and unprecedented with all the reft ; for in the courfe of a few years it triumphed over all oppofition, from reafon and philofo- phy, from principalities and powers, and fpread itfelf over all the moft civilized and learned countries then in the world.

This

[ 230 ]

This verified the wife prediction of Gama- liel ; who faid to the High-pried, defirous of perfecuting the Apoftles, " Let them alone ; " for if this counfd or work be of men, it " will come to nought j but if it be of God, " ye cannot overthrow it *."

* Afts v. 38, 59.

JOHN

JOHN VIII. 57, 58.

HV ct 'lȣa;o; -aof aJrov*

aro;j o ly<rvg' Apyv pyv ysvea-Qai lyu »fu.

Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and baft thou feen Abra- ham ?

Jejus faid unto them, Verily, verily > I Jay unto you, Before Abraham was, lam.

IN this fhort reply of Jefus to the Jews, there is fomething exceedingly remark- able; of which the commentators have taken no notice, though it is furprifing that fo un- common an expreflion fhould have efcaped their obfervation.

Had he faid, " Before Abraham was, I " was," the obvious meaning would have been no more than this, that he had exifled from all eternity, and confequently before the time of Abraham, though he had not

made

made his appearance in this world before that age which was then prefent ; but the extraordinary phrafe here ufed, by applying the prefent tenfe to a pad event, muft im- ply a great deal more, and refer to the mode of that eternal exiftence. It feems, indeed, to amount to a plain declaration, that eter- nal exiftence is permanent and unfuccef- five -, not compofed of days, and months, and years, like ours in the prefent life, but one fixed unchangeable point, bearing no re- lation to time at all ; which we have no fa- culty to comprehend, nor language to ex- prefs.

If this is the true nature of eternity, of which I have no doubt, this extraordinary declaration is no inconfiderable proof of the fupernatural information of this extraordi- nary teacher -, becaufe, in the ages and fitu- ation in which he lived, he never could have acquired fuch an idea by any human means.

JOH N

JOHN XVIII. 40.

vv 'sraXiv Tzravref, Xeyovref My TVTOV, aXXoe, TOV Bctgot££ocF yv £s o Ba-

cried they all again> Jaying, Not this many but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

IT has frequently been well obferved, that the Supreme difpofer of all things never interpofes a fupernatural power, whenever his defigns can be accomplifhed by ordinary means j that is, by the pafllons and a&ions of free beings j the effefts of which are as certain and uniform, as thofe of matter and motion j and which, though to us not fb vifible, are as accurately known by him, who is perfectly acquainted with their frames and difpofitions, from whence their actions muft inevitably be derived.

This is remarkably exemplified in the Evangelical hiftory of the life and death

of

[ 234 ]

of Jefus Chrift ; in which we fee that, in or- der to afcertain his divine mifiion, and give a fanftity to the religion which he taught, miraculous works were every day performed, becaufe this could not have been effected without them ; but the whole progrefs of his perfecutions, fufferings, and death, were left to the ordinary operations of the male- volence, wickednefs, and ignorance of man- kind, the ufual inftruments which Provi- dence employed to bring about the mod important events : and by thefe we find that this, the mod important of all others, was effected, without the affiftance of any fu- pernatural power j for no fooner did Jefus enter upon his benevolent office of inftru<5r.- ing and reforming mankind, than he was mifunderflood by fome, and mifreprefentcd by others; he was reviled, infulted, and perfecuted, his doctrines were called blaf- phemy, and his miracles imputed to the devil. In a little time the Jevvifli prieft- hood (apprehenfive from his preaching of danger to their church) and the civil ma-

giilrates

giftrates (fearful of infurrection in the ftate) united to deflroy him. Falfe witneflfes were fuborned to accufe him, andone of his own difciples was corrupted to betray him. He was then brought before the judgment-feat of a Roman governor, who, though he de- clared that he found no fault in him, yet (fearing to offend the moft powerful part of the nation over which he prefided, and ftill more overawed by the name of Caefar) preferred his own intereft to the protection of friendlefs innocence, and condemned him to a cruel and ignominious death. But it be- ing cuftomary, at this time of the pafifover, to releafe one malefactor at the requifition of the people, and there being now one under fentence of condemnation, called Barabbas, this timid judge propofed an option to the populace, which of them he fhould releafe, hoping that they would do that juftice which he himfelf had not courage to per- form. But here a meek and virtuous cha- racter had no chance, in a competition for popularity with one who, though a robber,

had

had been the ringleader of an infurredtion j and therefore they all cried out, again and again, " Not this man, but Barabbas." All this was but the ordinary procefs of hu- man wickednefs, ignorance, and malevo- lence ; and no miraculous interference ap- pears in any part of this tranfaftion, be- caufe none was wanted. For, certainly, no miracle is requifite to produce oppofers of truth, enemies to reformation, perfecu- tors of innocence, and magiftracy tenacious of their authority ; a priefthood jealous of their power, a fervant bribed to betray his mafter, falfe witnefles, a felf-interefted judge, and a profligate and mifled popu- lace. Thefe are the growth of every age and country in the world, and were fully fufficient to accomplifh this important and aftonifhing event j and will ever remain a remarkable inftance, that the word actions of the worft of men are fometimes made ufe of, by the power and wifdom of God, to carry into execution his moft beneficent and falutary defigns,

JOHN

[ "-37 ] JOHN XX.

Asys;

Jejusjaitb unto him, Thomas, becauje thou haftfeenme, thou haft believed: hie/fid are they that have notjeen, and yet have believed.

WHAT! fays the felf-fufficient rea- foner, are thofe the mod bleffed xvho believe without proof ? And is the me- rit of faith greater, in proportion as the evU dence for it is lefs ? — To fuch querifts I fhall only anfwer, That they underfland not the nature of faith, nor in what the merit of it confifts. In the mere aflfent to a propo- fition, there is no merit; becaufe, if the proof is obfcure, it is weaknefs ; if clear, it is compulfion. It is not the aft, but the difpofition, which places faith fo high in the catalogue of Chriftian virtues, and ren- ders infidelity fo criminal. One of the chief

chara&eriftics

chara&eriftics of Chriftian charity is, that it believeth all things ; becaufe this rea- dinefs to believe muft proceed from an humble, fubmifiive, and teachable temper. Whereas incredulity, when the evidence is fufficient, generally arifes from men's vices, and at beft, from a felf-conceited, fufpicious, and untra&able difpofition, which is utterly incompatible with the whole tenour of that religion. This feems to have been the cafe of St. Thomas; who is here reproved for not believing the refurrecYion of Chrift, on the pofitive and unanimous testimony of all the Apoftles (with whofe honefty and veracity he was perfectly acquainted, and had no rea- fon to queftion) becaufe he had not feen him with his own eyes, and felt him with his own hands : and, perhaps, he was not indulged with fo inconteftible proof as the reft had been, in order to try and correct this incredulous and fufpicious difpofition. If this was really the fadt, we may from thence reafonably conclude, that many things are communicated to us, in the fcrip-

tures,

C 239 ]

tures, in a manner not fo perfectly clear and demonftrative as they might have been, for the fame caufe, that is, to try and cultivate in us a difpofition fo necefiary in the com- pofidon of a Chriftian.

ROMANS

ROMANS VIII. 29 Ort %z "Grooeyvu, KOCI -srpoupKre

For whom be did foreknow, he alfo did pre- deftinate.

MUCH unneceflary labour has been employed, by many learned divines and metaphyficians, to reconcile the fore- knowledge of God and the free-will of man ; which never can be at variance, be- caufe they have nothing to do with each other. The Apoftle here fays, " Whom he c< did foreknow, he alfo did predeftinate j" that is, Thofe whom he foreknew would be wicked, he foreknows will be punifhed j and thofe whom he forefees will be righteous, he forefees alfo will be rewarded : but they are not wicked and punifhed, or righteous and rewarded, becaufe he foreknows it j but he foreknows it becaufe they are fo. It is impoffible but that an omnifcient Being, c " in

[ 241 1

t{ in whom we live, and move, and have " our being," muft forefee all our thoughts and actions, and the confequences which attend them, and therefore muft fore- know our deftination in the preftnt, and in a future life : but his foreknowledge is not the caufe of it, nor in the leaft con- trouls the freedom of our elections, in which we enjoy as perfect liberty as if they were totally unknown j for the mere knowledge of one being, cannot poffibly have any in- fluence on the actions of another. If any man is well acquainted with the difpofitions of another, he may nearly guefs how he will conduct himfelf on any occafion ; if he knows they are profligate and prodigal, he may reafonably conclude that he will deftroy his health, wafte his fortune, and die in an hofpital or a gaol j this accordingly happens, but not becaufe he had forefeen it j that could not be the caufe of this man's mifbehaviour or misfortune j which could be derived only from his own folly and extravagance. What is but conjecture in VOL. IV. R man,

[ "-4* ]

man, in God is certain prefcience j but the elections of free agents are no "more con-

trouled by the one than the other. In this,

I perceive nothing abftrufe, difficult, or in the leafl inconfiftent with the juftice of God, or the free-will of man. The caufe of all our embarraflrnents on this fubject I take to be this : — From the nature of human con- ceptions and human language, we are un- der the neceffity of applying ideas and ex- preffions, relative to time, to the exigence, the attributes, and actions of the Supreme Being ; with which they have no kind of relation ; which leads us into innumerable abfurdities in 'our fpeculations on this fub- jecl:. With God there is no paft, prefent, and to come : he knows all things equally at all times, and therefore cannot properly be faid to foreknow or predeftinate any thing. This foreknowledge may be to him predeftination ; but with regard to us, as it affects not our conduct, it is in a moral fenfe abfoluteiy nothing.

ROMANS

[ 243 ] ROMANS XIII. i, 2.

ci). Ou yoLQ \$iv e^tricn. el py DITTO 0e»* KI v<rcx,i l^vcriou, VTTO TK Qex

o KVTiT<z<ra'C[Aev' ri\ ratriiXf TV TK

eavrou;

Let every foul bejubjefl unto the higher pow- ers : for there is no power but of God\ the powers that be are ordained of God.

If&ifaevtri therefore, reftftetb the power, rejifteth the ordinance of God : and they that refift Jhall receive to themf elves damnation,

/TpHROUGHOUT the whole New

JL Teftament we find, that both Chrift

and his Apoftles were particularly careful

to avoid giving any inftru&ions concerning

government, and on all fubjects of a poli-

tical nature 3 an example which the preach-

ers of his gofpel would do well to imitate

R 2 in

t *44 ]

in all times. The paffage here before us is almoft the only deviation from this general rule, and is a ftrong inftance of the wifdom and neceffity of this extraordinary caution ; for, although it is nothing more than a ge- neral exhortation to obedience, it has at all times been perverted to fpeak the language, and ferve the iniquitous purpofes, of con- tending parties. The advocates for arbi- trary power, and flatterers of princes, have endeavoured to prove from it, that all fo- vereigns are vefted, by divine appointment, with uncontroulable authority, accountable for the ufe of it to God alone, from whom they receive it ; which no fubject, however oppreffed, can refift, without refilling the ordinance of God, and incurring a pu- nifhment due to fo prefumptuous a crime. —On the other fide, the friends of li- berty, who are enemies to all power in any hands but their own, connect thefe words with thofe in the fucceeding verfe, which declare, that " rulers are not a terror " to good works, but to the evil j" and from

thence

thence would perfuade us, that whenever a government is fo much perverted from its original dcfign, as to become a terror to good works, and not to evil (that is, when- ever it is unjuftly and tyrannically adminifter- ed) it becomes then not only our right, but our duty, to refift it. But in this, as in moft controverlies, both fides are in the wrong ; for, if the arguments of the former were univerfally to prevail, there could be no liberty, if of the latter, no government, upon earth ; but certainly Chriftianity never intended to make men either (laves or re- bels. We have here a wife and falutary in- junction from St. Paul, to his difciples then at Rome, to fubmit quietly to any govern- ment under which they lived, without mak- ing any nice inquiry into the rights of thofe who govern, or factious objections to their adminiflration ; which is not in the lead difpenfed with by the following words; that " rulers are not a terror to good " works, but to evil/' which are added as a farther argument to induce all good men to R 3 fubmit

fubmit to and fupport government, becaufe it is inftituted for their protection ; and we cannot fuppofe that the Apoftle could mean by them to furnifh the Chriftians with an excufe for difobedience, as his whole inten- tion is clearly to enjoin them to fubmit peaceably to the Roman government, which was then, in the trueft fenfe, a terror to good works, and not to evil j and particularly to their good, works, for which they were daily opprefTed and perfecuted. The doctrine of St. Paul is plainly this, That every man ought to be fubjecl: to the powers that be (that is, to the eftablifhed government of the country in which he lives) for this wife and pious reafon, becaufe all power muft be de- rived from the appointment, or at leaft from the permiffion, of God ; and this not only for wrath, but for confcience fake, (that is, not only for. fear of incurring the difpleafure of that government, but as a duty required by him). This alfo is the doctrine ofChrift himfelf, which he enforced, both by his precepts and example, on all 5 occafions .

occafions. When Pilate faid unto him, " Knoweft thou not that I have power to " crucify thee, and have power to releafe " thee ?" he anfwered, " Thou couldft have " no power againft me, except it was " given thee from above ;" and therefore he fubmitted.

There may be cafes in which refiftance of the fupreme power may be juftified by ne- ceflity, but fuch ought never to be defined or pointed out before their arrival ; when they come, they will fpeak for themfelves, and men will be ready enough to hear them. Refiftance may fometimes be prac- tifed, but ought never to be preached, for we ftand in need of no leffons to teach us difobedience j and therefore we do not find, throughout the whole New Teftament, one definition or recommendation of civil li- berty, nor one command to fight or die in its defence. Thefe may be the glorious at- chievements of heroes and patriots -, but thefe are not lifted under the banners of Chrift ; the glory, as well as the duty, of his difci- R 4 pies

[ 248 ]

pies arc, to fuffer and fubmit. — We fliould remember alfo, that by refiftance, not only force and open rebellion is here to be under- flood, but all fecret machinations, and all turbulent and factious endeavours to diftrefs and impede government, arifing from mo- tives of felf-intereft, ambition, or difappoint- ment. Thefe are, in fact, rebellion, with this only difference, that they are more treacherous and cowardly, more likely to fucceed, and lefs to be punifhed, and are therefore equally forbid under the denunci- of the fame tremendous penalty.

i CORIN-

[ 249 J

i CORINTHIANS I. 10. u Je y^tag-, ot&X<pw, &ct rx ov TV Kvpiv ypuv 'Iijcrx X^5*», /we TO OLUTO Ae- 7^7e ts-uvltSt KQII py j Iv VfMV <r%;o-|tta/a.

Now Ibefeechyou> brethren, by the name of our Lord Jejus Cbrift, that ye allfyeak the fame thing, and that there be no divifions among you. '

FROM thefe words of St. Paul, it is evident, that many different opinions, and many controverfies concerning them, had found their way into the Chriftian churches, at fo early a period as his life- time. Thefe he endeavoured to fupprefs, by thus enjoining them to fpeak the fame things ; that is, to fettle fome uniform rule of faith and mode of worfhip, afcertained by fomething like creeds or articles, to which they could all afient j without which, no rule of faith, or form of worfhip, could be efta- blifhed, nor divifions amongft them be pre-

ventedj

[ 250 ]

vented, deflru&ive to every community civil or religious. It is true, indeed, that at the firft promulgation of the gofpel, Chrift himfelf impofed no fuch on his difciples, who chiefly confided of the moft ignorant and illiterate vulgar, from whom' nothing more was required than the bare acknow- ledgment that he was the Son of God, or •the Mefiiah, who had been long expected. As this is but a fingle proportion, no dif- ference of opinion concerning it could arife amongft thofe who believed, and therefore there could be no occafion for any tefts to reconcile them. In a little time the great, the wife, and the learned fages and philofo- phers became profelytes, and brought with them a variety of opinions from their re- fpective fchools in which they had been edu- cated j which were blended with the doc- trines of Chrift, and very foon corrupted the purity of his religion. It then became ne- ceflary to fix fome ftandard of truth, to which every Chriftian might refort; and when thefe doctrines were committed to writ- ing*

ing, in the books of the New Teftament, from the uncertainty of all human language, and the various interpretations which they will admit of, this necefiity was greatly in- creafed, and is daily increafing by time, which every day introduces new errors, and new difputes about them ; fo that it feems impoffiblej that, without fome ted, any reli- gion can be eftablilhed in any country ; and without fome eftablifhment no national reli- gion can fubfift at all.

Hence appears the abfurdity of thofe who would reject all religious tefts, becaufe Chrift impofed none on his difciples when there were no errors to encounter nor con- troverfies to decide, and therefore none were wanted : to reje6t them now, becaufe they were then unneceflary, is as ridiculous as to explode the ufe of all medicines, becaufe none were adminiftered before any difeafes had made their appearance. But, fay forne, If tefts are neceflary, let them be as com- prehenfive as poffible ; a declaration that we believe the fcriptures, would be fullv fuf-

ficient.

. They ought, undoubtedly, to be as comprehenfive as the end of their inftitution will admit i which is, to exclude all thofe from a community, whofe principles muft induce them to betray and fubvert it : but fuch a declaration would, by no means, an- fwer this purpofe, becaufe our difputes are not about the truth, but the meaning, of thofe writings ; and we fee many who be- lieve, or pretend to believe, them, and yet deny their afient to every material doctrine •which they contain, and juftify their diffent by their own interpretations : a teft, there- fore, muft fpecify and decide upon the par- ticular doctrines which are difputed, or it is entirely ufelefs and ineffectual. Such are the articles of our church, interpretations of the fenfe of the fcriptures, and explanations of the doctrines therein contained ; as fuch only we fubfcribe them, not as objects of our reafon or belief, any farther than we believe them to be fo. This, furely, is very different from afierting their truth in the firft in- ftance -, this depends on the veracity of the

booka

books which they profefs to explain ; and this on many other different confiderations, as the authenticity of thofe writings, the in- ipiration, and degrees of infpiration, of their authors, and the purity of their preferva- tion j with all which, in fublcribing to thefe articles, we have nothing to do. All that is incumbent on us is, to compare them with the books themfelves, which, if we fairly and candidly perform, I am perfuaded, we lhall find them more confonant with their real and genuine fenfe, and more exprefiivc of their true*meaning, than modern theolo- gical language and ideas will admit of. The compilers never confidered whether they are conformable to reafon ; if they exprefled the true fenfe of the fcriptures, this was all thev intended.

i COR IN-

[ SJ4 ]

i CORINTHIANS I. 25*

Or; TO fAu^ov TV ©e#, (rotywTSpov TUV a,v6pu->

' 7TUV ££•/.

The fooUjbneJs of God is wijer than men.

TH E R E is fomcthing, at firfl fight, in this expreffion, indecent, if not im- pious j but it means no more than this j that the doctrines of Chriftianity, revealed by God, though they were cc to the Jews a Cf {tumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolifh- " nefs," are wifer (that is, better fitted to in- ftrucl mankind in the principles of true re- ligion and found morality) than all the theo- logical leiibns of the Rabbis of the one> or the Philofophers of the other. St. Paul, who fays this, was, perhaps, as great a mailer of reafon as any man of his own or of all fucceeding ages ; but he never employed it on fubjefts to which it cannot properly be applied : he never endeavours by it to ex- plain the niyfleries of the Chriftian religion,

or

or to reject them becaufe he is not able ; he believed them himfelf, and taught them to others, juft as they had been delivered by his Lord and matter, without attempting to reconcile them to his own reafon, or that of his difciples.

Chrift frequently declared, that all man- kind come into this world in a ftate of de- pravity, guilt, and condemnation ; that he was the Meffiah, or the Son of God, who came to inftruct and reform them, and to lay down his life as a propitiation for their tranfgreffions j and that his heavenly Fa- ther, on their fincere repentance, would accept his fufferings and death as an atone- ment for their fins : that they were free agents, and as fuch accountable for their conduct -, and yet conftantly afferts, that they can do nothing of themfelves, but that all their thoughts and actions muft proceed from the influence of God, " in " whom they live, and move, and have their " being." Thefe doctrines appeared to the learned philofophers of Rome and Athens

to

to be fooliflmefs (that is, abfurdities, con- tradictory to every principle of human rea- fon) and fo they muft have done to St. Paul, had he brought them before the fame tribunal ; but he never prefumed to fet up human reafon as a judge of divine difpenfa- tions. He pretended not to controvert the truth of thefe doctrines, by arguing, that it was never poflible that a wife, benevolent, and juft Creator fhould call into being crea- tures in a ftate of depravity, guilr, and con- demnation, and punifh them for what they could not prevent ; nor that, if they could be criminal, he fhould accept the fufferings of the innocent as. a fatisfaction for the crimes of the guilty : nor did he alledge, that Omnipotence itfelf could not create beings at the fame time free agents, yet un- der perpetual influence and direction : .all thefe doubts and difficulties he left to the difcuffion of the reafoning divines and phi- lofophers of later ages j for himfelf, he was fatisfied of the truth of thefe doctrines, by the authority from whence they were de- rived j

rived j and as fuch, has tranfmitted them to us, in words as clear and explicit as the power of language can furniih. He does not attempt to explain thefe myfteries, nor enters into any metaphyfical fpeculations on the abftracl: nature of guilt and puniftiment, of fufferings or atonement, of free will, pre- deftination, and divine influence. He afiferts the facts only as he received them j which is all of which, in our prefent ftate, we can be informed.

VOL. IV. S i CORIN-

i CORINTHIANS VII. 27." AfiXtxra; KTTO yvvcuxog', py fy]~ Art tbcu loojedfrcm a wife ?Jeek not a wife.

ST. Paul, throughout this whole chap- ter, recommends celibacy to Chriilians of both fexes, as moft acceptable to God, and moft confident with the purity of their religion. Commentators, I know, in order to extricate themfelves from fome difficul- ties, have reprefented this advice but as local and temporal, occafioned only by the diftrefles and perfections under which the Chriftian churches at that time laboured: but, if we believe his own words, we muft fee that this was not his only, nor yet his prin- cipal reafon for giving it •, but that he meant it generally, becaufe he was of opinion that marriage, in Chriftians of both fexes, multi- plied their attachments, and increafed their cares concerning worldly affairs, and con- fequently diverted their attention from the

fole

[ 259 I

fole object of their profefiion, which is the attainment of everlafting life. He fays, " I would have you without carefulnefs. He " that is unmarried careth for the things " which belong to the Lord ; but he that ff is married careth for the things of the " world, how he may pleafe his wife. — The cc unmarried woman careth for the things of " the Lord, that (he may be holy both in " body and in fpirit ; but (he that is married " careth for the things of the world, how fhe " may pleafe her hufband." For this rea- fon, St. Paul here ventures to avow a doc- trine contradictory to the moral and politi- cal fentiments of the wifeft philofophers and legiflators of all times, deftructive of do- meftic happinefs and national profperity, and which, if univerfally adopted, would eradicate the human fpecies from the face of the earth.

From hence, if we believe that this great

Apoftle underftood the fpirit of the religion

which he taught, we cannot avoid drawing

this conclufion — That there may be actions,

S 2 the

the performance of which may efientially contribute to raife individuals nearer to Chriftian perfection, and to qualify them for happinefs in a future life, which may yet widely differ, both in their principles and their end, from moral virtues, and which, if univerfally practifed, would be exceed- ingly detrimental to mankind in their pre- fent ftate.

Of thefe celibacy is one; which, though deftrudtive of the happinefs, and even of the exiftence of mankind, may yet give leifure to fome few individuals to carry their piety, devotion, virtue, and refignation, to a more exalted height than can be arrived at, under the many cares, connections, and em- barraffments incident to the married ftate. In like manner, to fell all that a man hath, and give it to the poor, is an act which, if generally practifed, mud put an end to all trade, manufactures, and induftry, and intro- duce univerfal idlenefs and want ; yet, the performance of it muft proceed from fo ex- traordinary a degree of faith, obedience, and

felf-denial,

felf-denial, that it maydeferve, and receive, an extraordinary reward. Precepts of this fort, I apprehend, are not enjoined, but only occa- fionally flung out, to teach us the nature of Chriftian perfection j which is fo adverfe to the world, and all its ceconomy, purfuits, and occupations, that we are neither required or expected to attain it in our prefent ftate, but ought to make as near approaches to it as our natural depravity and imperfection will permit.

From hence I am inclined to think, that, if monaftic inftitutions were really what they pretend to be, voluntary retreats from all worldly cares, occupations, and con- nections, wholly appropriated to religious contemplation, piety, and devotion, they might confer very eflential benefits on the very few individuals who are capable of re- ceiving them, without any detriment to the bufmefs or population of the world. But the great objection to them is this—that they are not made for man, nor man for them. The generality of mankind are formed for S 3 aftion,

action, and not for contemplation, and come into the world to do its bufmefs, without perceiving the folly and infignificance of what they are employed in. If multitudes, therefore, are confined in thefe gloomy man- fions, in con tradiction to their inclinations and dipofitions, they muft foon become, like other prifons, feminaries of ignorance, lazi- nefs, profligacy, and vice.

i CORIN-

i CORINTHIANS XIII. 4, 5, 6, 7. 'H ciocTry oMoGvei xgyg-eveTut* 17

"sre07r£peveTcut v

* jre< roc eaur^f, » wa- ai, if Xoyi^s-au TO KQMGV, %aup€i ITTI TV Unimex,, (nj^xipsi os TV

, 'uravroe, -zsr^eue/, -sroivra. eX-

Charily Juffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itfelf> is not puffed up,

'Doth not behave iff elf toifffmfy, feeketh not her own, is not eafily provoked, thinketh no evil j

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoicetb in the truth ;

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

I

N this inimitable portrait of Charity,

drawn by the mafterly hand of St. Paul,

84 we

C 264 ]

we find every virtue which conftitutes the character of a Chriftian, who is a candi- date for the kingdom of heaven ; in which it is remarkable, that there is not one, which is not peculiarly calculated to qua- lify men to become members, and to enjoy and contribute to the felicity, of that holy and happy fociety.

" Charity fuffereth long, and is kind j" that is, is patient, meek, and benevolent, qua- lities the moft eflential to focial happinefs. " Charity envieth not ;" for, as the envious are miferable, in proportion to the happi- nefs. they fee others enjoy, they would be more miferable in heaven than they are upon earth. " Charity vaunteth not itfelf, " is not puffed up ;" becaufe nothing fo much difturbs the peace of fociety, as pride, iniblence, and ambition. " Doth not be- " have itfelf unfeemly j" that is, is not in converfation ill-bred, felf-fufficient, difpu- tatious, and overbearing j offences, perhaps, more adverfe to focial happinefs, than many crimes of a more enormous kind. " Seeketh << not her own, is not eafily provoked 3" that

is.

[ *«s 1

is, rather ehufes to give up fome part of her property, to which fhe has an undoubted right, than be the caufe of contefts, animo- fities, and litigations, and is not eafily pro- voked to enter into them, either by interefts or refentment. " Thinketh no evil j" that is, fufpects no evil intentions in the hearts of others, as (he feels none in her own. " Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in cc the truth j" that is, takes no pleafure in any kind of wickednefs, nor fees it with approba- tion in others ; but is happy in the practice of every virtue which is prefcribed by reafon and truth, and rejoiceth to fee others follow her example. (t Beareth all things," all injuries and infults, without anger, or a wifh for re- venge or retaliation. " Believeth all things," becaufe meek, docile, diffident of her own judgment, and unfufpicious of fraud and impofition. " Hopeth all things," however unfavourable are their prefent appearances, will turn out for the bed} and therefore « endureth all things," pain, ficknefs, pover- ty, and misfortunes, with patience, and per- fect refignation to the will of God.

We

[ *66 ]

We have here a compleat catalogue of all thofe virtues and difpofitions, which are necefiary to qualify a Chriftian for the king- dom of heaven j in any one of which, if he is deficient, he muft infallibly be ex- cluded, however eminent his merits may be of another kind j of this the fame Apoftle af- fures us, who fays, cc Though I fpeak with the *e tongues of men and angels, and have not cc charity, I am become as founding brafs, or " a tinkling cymbal ; and though I have the " gift of prophecy, and underftand all myf- " teries, and all knowledge, and though I " have all faith, fo that I could remove " mountains, and have not charity, I am " nothing. And though I beftow all my " goods to feed the poor, and though I " give my body to be burned, and have not " charity, it profiteth me nothing ;" that is, in regard to my attainment of the king- dom of heaven ; becaufe there neither elo- quence, nor prophecy, nor theological know- ledge, nor faith, nor martyrdom, nor bounty to the poor, are wanted ; but only fuch a 5 meek,

meek, humble, patient, peaceable, forgiving, and benevolent temper and behaviour, as is here fpecified under the denomination of charity, which alone can enable us to com- municate and participate happinefs, either 411 the prefent or a future ftate.

I CORIN-

i CORINTHIANS XIII. n. "Ore j)[Aip

yzyovtx, cuiy

When I was a child, I fpake as a child, I under ft cod as a ihild, I thought as a child ; but when 1 became a man, I "put away childijh things*

IF we trace a man through the different periods of his life, from the cradle to the grave, he appears in fuch a variety of fhapes, that we can fcarcely believe him to be the fame creature. Ac firft he is an helplefs in- fant in his nurfe's arms, without fpeech, un- derftanding, or thought -, then he is a child, fpeaking as a child, underftanding as a child, thinking as a child. He is next a rude, unformed, impetuous fchool-boy; and then transformed into a youth, graceful, amiable, and Amorous. At length, arrived at com-

pleat

t 269 1

pleat manhood, he puts away child! (K things, and becomes a philofopher, a war- rior, or a ftatefman. We then find him meafuring out the heavens, inveftigating other worlds, or bufied in the occupations of this. We fee him commanding fleets or armies, or haranguing at the bar, in the pulpit, or the fenate; and at lall return- ing back to his primitive (late of child- hood and imbecility. Yet, under all thele characters, he is but the fame fingle indi- vidual.

In what this identity confifts, or where it refides, it is by no means eafy to af- certain. It cannot be in the body, becaufe every naturalift knows that the component parts of the body are in perpetual motion, are continually difcharged by various eva- cuations, and replaced by the particles of our daily food ; fo that, in the courfe of a few years, not a fingle atom of our ori- ginal frame can poflibly remain. If a man lofes a leg or an arm, or even both,

legs

legs and arms, he is not lefs the fame* perfon j and therefore we have reafon to conclude, that his identity would not be affected by the lofs of his whole body ; and therefore in that it cannot refide.

It cannot be in the mind, becaufe the changes of the mind are as great and as frequent as thofe of the body, through- out the different ftages of human life; the ideas of a man and thofe of a child are as unlike as his features and his fta- ture > at different ages we put away all our former modes of thinking and acting, and adopt new opinions, purfuits, incli- nations, and attachments. Many difeafes deftroy all our mental faculties, derange our reafon, extinguifll our confcioufnefs, and obliterate our memories j and yet our identity remains unimpaired. If, there- fore, it is not to be found either in the body or the mind, there muft be fome permanent principle in the human com- petition, in which it does refide, totally

unaffected

unaffefted by the continual alterations of them both j — and this, I think, is a new and unanfwerable proof of the exiftence and du- ration of the foul.

i CORIN-

[ 27' ]

i CORINTHIANS XIII. 12.

Iv ouviyftwrt.

For now wejes through a glafsy darkjy.

SO darkly, indeed, do we fee the things of a future life, and fo erroneoufly thofe of the prefent, that we form very falfe eftimates of them both j and act (till more abfurdly than we judge. There are, who not convinced that there will be a future ftate of retribution after death, and none •who know not that the death of every man may be inftantaneous, and cannot be far orFj and yet they take no care to prepare them- felves for the former, and think fo little of the latter, that, on any unexpected event, it is become proverbial to fay, I thought of it no more than of my dying day. We fear nothing fo much as death ; and yet there is nothing which we think of fo little. We are more tenacious of riches the lefs we want them, and toil away the beft part of

our

[ 573 ]

our days to enable us to pafs a few in a quiet leifure, which no man could ever enjoy who had ever been bufy. We infufe into ouf children the fame falfe ideas, and thus tranf- mit abfurdities from generation to genera- tion. We educate them all for this life ; there is not one fchool for the next. " What man is there of you," fays Chrift, tf who, if his fon afk for a fifh, will give him <c a ferpent* ?" few, indeed, with regard to this world, are fo foolifh or fo cruel, but, with regard to another, it is univerfally praftifed. Every prudent parent endea- vours to infufe into his fon the wifdom of the ferpent, rather than the innocence of the fifli. He fpares no pains to qualify them for the higheft pofts in the kingdom of the earth, but his ambition extends not, like that of the mother of Zebedee, to gain them rank in the kingdom of heaven. Do we hear any father, however worthy and refpeftable, thus addrefs his fon, in the lan-

* Matt. vii. 10. VOL. IV. T guage

[ '74 ]

guage of a philofopher and a Chriftian ? I lhall leave you, my fon, an eftate, fmall indeed in the eftimation of the world, but fufficient to afford you, not only the necef- faries but the comforts of life, and even to ad- minifter them to the wants of others : wafte it not in vice and extravagance, nor yet labour to increafe it by frauds and rapine, nor even by honeft induftry in profefiions which will not allow you leifure, either to enjoy this life or prepare for another •, butr above all other methods, feek not to augment it by a mercenary marriage, which cannot fail to lead you into an inextricable labyrinth of wickednefs and mifery ; and remember, that mutual fidelity and affection will give you more happinefs than wealth is able to beftow.

The very reverfe of this is the leflbn in- culcated by every prudent parent, and ra- tified by univerfal approbation. — My fon, he fays, you will inherit an ample fortune; but let not this tempt you to fit down qui- etly in an indolent infignificance : there are

a variety

t *75 1

a variety of methods by which you may improve it, and advance yourfelf in the world -, by a difcreet marriage, you may double it, if you do not fooliflily facrifice your interefts j the law, the church, and the army are all open to your endeavours, and may reward them with the higheft pofts of honour and profit : the Eaft and the Weft are ftill unexhaufted, and ready to pour their treafures into the laps of the brave and enterprizing. By fuch inftructions are the feeds of avarice and ambition fown in the minds of youth, which afterwards in- fallibly produce the bitter fruits of iniquity and difappointmenk

That mankind fhould thus continue, through all ages and generations, to think, fpeak, and act in contradiction to their reafon, their principles, and their intereft, is a wonderful phenomenon j which can be occafioned folely by this fmgle circum- ftance, that they " fee through a glafs, " darkly :" whenever they fee clearly, they feldom judge wrong -, the defect is not in T 2 their

[ 276 ]

their reafon, but in their knowledge ; every- one would purfue his own intereft, if he knew what it was, and, in fad, every one does purfue it, but the generality totally miftake it. No man would choofe riches before happinefs, power before quiet, or fame before fafety, if he knew the true va- lue of each: no man would prefer the tranfitory and worthlefs enjoyment of this world to the permanent and fublime feli- city of a better, if he had a clear profpect of them both ; but we fee the former through a mid, which always magnifies, and the lat- ter appears to be at fo great a diftance, that we fcarce fee it at all j and therefore it makes little impreffion on our fenfes, and has as little influence on our conduct.

Why our all- wife and benevolent Creator fhould have thought proper thus to prcfent all objects to our view, " through a glafs, " darkly," is one of the many divine dif- penfations for which we are unable to ac- count j but this we may know, that if we faw the things of this world clearly, and in

a true

[ *77 1

a true light, the bufmefs and ceconomy of it, conftituted as it is, could not go on -3 our purfuits would all be at an end, when we faw there was nothing worth purfuing, our hopes would vanifh, our expectations be extinguilhed, and an univerfal ftagnation would enfue : and from hence we have rea- fon to conclude, that a diftincl profpect of the things of another world, while we refide in this, would be equally detrimental to the well being of both.

T 3 PHILIP-

PHILIPPIANS IV. 8.

To Xomcv, a<3£A<pc;, carat, egiv a,\yQv\, ova, c<ra OMXIK, orot, ayva, cxroe,

CtTCX. tUtyyfJLOt,, 6* Tiq OC.p£Ty KOU SI Tit;

Finally, bretJyren> wbaffoever things are true, whatfoever things are honcfty whatfoever things are juft, whatfoever things are pure, ix)hatfoever things are lovely, whatfoever things are of good report -, if there be any vir- tue, and if there be any praife, think on thefe things.

IT is not, I think, a little furprizing to fee many Chriftian divines, of the firft learning and abilities, employing that learn- ing and thofe abilities, and much of their time, in framing laborious fyftems of ethics from the law of nature, whilft they have the books of the New Teftament continu- ally lying open before their eyes. In Plato and Ariftotle, in Cicero and Seneca, this was a laudable and ufeful undertaking 3 but,

in

in a Chriftian, it is neither ufeful or me- ritorious, nor wifer than if any one ihould chufe to fhut his eyes in the brighteft day- light, only to try if he was able to grope out his way in the dark. It is now as impofiible for any man to form a reli- gious and moral inftitution by the mere efforts of human reafon, as to fee by a farthing candle in the midft of a meridian funfliine. He muft unavoidably adopt the doctrines and precepts of the Gofpel, .and then miftake them for his own. If his own are true and juft, they muft be exactly the fame; and if they differ, they are un- worthy of notice. If we believe the doc- trine and precepts transmitted to us in the New Teftament to be a revelation from God, we cannot, without prefumption, fearch out for any other, nor even accept the fame on an inferior authority. What- ever may be their authority, their unrivalled excellence is indifputable. The moral lef- fons of Chrift are all fo concife, fo clear, fb perfuafive, fo unencumbered with definitions T 4 and

[ 280 ]

and inquiries, and enforced by parables fo ap~ pofite and inftruc"bive, as brings them nearer to our hearts, and renders them not only fuperior to, but unlike all which had ever before been publifhed to the world. In omitting all unneceflary difquifitions on mo- ral and religious fubjecls, the Apoftles ima- tated the example of their matter. In the paflage now before us, St. Paul, writing to the brethren at Philippi, enjoins them to think on, that is, not to forget to prac- tife, <f whatfoever things are true, whatfor- "• ever things are honed, whatfoever things " are juft, whatfoever things are pure." He takes it for granted, that thofe to whom he wrote, as well as all mankind, knew what things are true, honeft, juft, and pure j and therefore he enters not into any meta- phyfical inquiries into the abftract nature of truth, honefty, juftice, and purity, which are always ufelefs, and fometimes detrimental, as they never induce men to be virtuous, and fometimes ferve to furnifh them with excufes for vices. Men want not know- ledge

ledge of their duty, but inclination to per- form it. A definition of virtue will never make any one lefs profligate, nor an en- quiry concerning the origin of property make any one more honeft -3 no more than a differtation on optics will make a man fee, or a receipt for diftilling brandy or brewing flrong beer will make him fober.

THES-

282 ]

THESSALONJANS II. u.

TVTO 'srepsi uvrotg o slg TO 7zr<f£u<ra; CLVTVS ru

And for this cauje God Jhall fend them ftrong deluficn, that they Jhould believe a lie.

IN this, and feveral other places in both the Old and New Teftament, God is reprefented as leading men into errors de- ilru&ive to their innocence and happinefs, fometimes by his own, and fometimes by the influence of intermediate fpirits. How is this reconcileable with his juftice and goodnefs ? How can any evil proceed from infinite goodnefs, or any delufion from the fountain of all truth ? No commentator or preacher on thefe texts, that I know of, has yet been able to anfwer thefe quef- tions in a manner fatisfactory to reafon or common fenfe

But this difficulty, like moft others in our

interpretations of fcripture, arifes from our

5 own

own ignorance and our infenfibility of it. We boldly and prefumptuoufly aflert, that God cannot do one thing, and that he will not do another, becaufe fuch things feem to us to be inconfiftent with thofe attributes which we have thought proper to beftow upon him ; but we know fo little of the na- ture of good and evil, of truth or falfhood, of God or man, or of the relations between a Creator and his creatures, that we are ut- terly incapable to prefcribe limits to his power, or rules to his will j as well might a worm pretend to decide on the councils of princes, and the policies of empires, as man to pafs judgment on the difpenfa- tions of the Almighty. We fay, God can- not be the caufe of any evil ; but we know not what is evil ; he may be, and is, the caufe of many things which appear, and really are, evils to us, however they may be neceffary to the production of univer- fal good. We fay, he cannot be the caufe of any delufion ; but why not ? truth is by no means the criterion of virtue, as

fome

[ "4 3

ibme philofophers would perfuade us; delu- fion, in itfelf, is neither good or evil ; its merit or criminality depends on the end for which it is intended : it is no crime to deceive men for their entertainment, much lefs for their benefit ; there is no immorality in writing a play, a poem, or romance, becaufe it is fiftion, but great merit, if it is calculated to promote virtue, or to difcourage vice. The whole of this life is a fuccefiion of delufions, kindly im- pofed upon us by our Creator, to enable us to fupport the fufferings, and carry on the bufinefs of it. The fallacy of each we difcover in its turn, but never till it has at- tained its end. It is all mere fcenery, a beautiful illufion, in which every objedr, being placed at a proper diftance, and feen through a falfe medium, appears as it ought, but never as it is. Wealth, ho- nours, and pleafures, are exhibited in the cleareft light, to incite our induftry; but the vanity of their pofleflions is hid for a time under a cloud, that we may not fink

into

into floth and inactivity. Thus we may be faid to believe a lie, that is, what is not true j unexperienced, we believe that the profperity of this world will make us com- pleatly happy, that the period of life is of long duration, and that the hour of death is ever at a great diftance ; in every one of which we find ourfelves conftantly deceived ; on which beneficent deception all our en- joyments, hopes, expectations, and purfuks intirely depend. If God, therefore, by means of thefe kind delufions, difpenfes imdeferved bleffings on mankind, why may he not fometimes inflict fuch punifhments upon them, as their offences may have de- ferved, by the fame means, either by his own power, or the operations of interme- diate fpirits ? We know that he has given us power to deceive and enfnare, as well as to deftroy, inferior animals ; a power which we daily exercife without fcruple, without arraigning his juftice or our own. Why then may he not, with equal juftice, grant the

fame

[ 286 ]

lame power over us, to beings of fuperior orders ?

We may further add, that there are many pafTages, in both the Old and New Teftament, fimilar to this before us, which are, in fact, nothing more than modes of expreflion ufually made ufe of by the wri- ters of thofe books, who generally impute every event and action, whether good or evil, juft or unjuft, to God himfelf, without any reference to fecond caufes. Every dif- pofition of men's hearts, and every act pro- ceeding from them, are afcribed immedi- ately to God j by which nothing more is to be underftood, than that fuch were men's hearts, and fuch things were done. This, in a large and extenfive view, is certainly right, becaufe the great Creator and dif- pofer of all things muft primarily be the caufe of all difpofitions, actions, and events ; becaufe the Firft Caufe muft be the caufe of every caufe from whence they can pro- ceed : but how this is confiftent with that

freewill,

freewill, of which we know and feel we ourfelves are poflefled, is far above the reach of our- imperfect comprehenfions ; reafon affures us that both are true, and fcripture every where confirms this con- clufion.

JAMES

[ 288 ]

JAMES IV. i.

KOCI ^a%#* ev vpiv ; IK ruv $ovuv vpuv TUV zp ev Toig usXetriv iy/,&>i> i

From whence come wars and fighting among you ? come they not hence, even of your lufts ?

AS war and peace fo eflcntially affeft the morals, as well as the happinefs of mankind, it feems extraordinary that the great Author of the Chriftian religion fhould have given no directions on fo important a fubjed. The Apoftle here decides no- thing concerning the lawfulnefs of wars amongft Chriftians, but only informs us from whence they proceed, which is from, their ungoverned pafiions, anger and re- venge, avarice and ambition j nor do we find, in any part of the New Teftament, that they are either abfolutely allowed or pofitive- ly forbid. This remarkable filence, I think, is not difficult to be accounted for 5 becaufe,

if

[ 289 J

if Chrift had encouraged, or even exprefsly permitted, his difciples to carry on wars and fightings, he would have given the fanc- tion of divine authority to all the wicked- nefs and mifery, which inevitably attend them ; and if he had abfolutely forbid them to fight on any occafion, he muft have left every country, in which his religion fhould prevail, a defencelefs prey to every infidel invader ; he prudently, therefore, ra- ther chofe to leave their defence to the operations of their own paflions and vices, which he knew, notwithftanding all his pa- cific precepts, would always be fufficient for that purpofe. — But although in this, as well as in many other inftances, Providence employs the iniquities of men to bring about beneficial ends, this leflens not their cri- minality, or juftifies thofe who commit them. All the precepts of Chrift, and every prin- ciple of the religion which he taught, are diametrically oppofite to thofe of war : thefe require a poor, meek, and humble fpiritj which thofe reprefent as infamous VOL. IV. U and

and contemptible : thefe exhort us to live peaceably with all men ; which is certainly incompatible with a ftate of war : thefe recommend patience and forbearance under the greateft infults j thofe the quickeft and moft violent refentment : thefe enjoin us to Jpve and ferve our enemies j thofe to deftroy them with fire and fword. How at the fame time we can ferve thefe two matters, or how their commands can be made confiftent with each other, I muft leave to fome pious and valiant Chriftian hero to explain.

FINIS.

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