f
INF" .>
THE
V I
REASONABLENESS
OP
CHRISTIANITY,
AS DELIVERED IN THE
SCRIPTURES.
BY
JOHN LOCKE, ESQ.
A NEW EDITION.
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CONTENTS.
THE Reasonableness of Christianity as delivered in the
Scriptures 1
A Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity, from
Mr. Edwards s Reflections 159
A second Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christia
nity 191
Index.
THE
REASONABLENESS
OF
CHRISTIANITY,
AS DELIVERED IN THE
SCRIPTURES
THE
PREFACE.
THE little satisfaction and consistency that is to be
found, in most of the systems of divinity I have met with,
made me betake myself to the sole reading of the scrip
tures (to which they all appeal) for the understanding
the Christian Religion. What from thence, by an at
tentive and unbiassed search, I have received, Reader,
I here deliver to thee. If by this my labour thou re-
ceivest any light, or confirmation in the truth, join with
me in thanks to the Father of lights, for his condescen
sion to our understandings. If upon a fair and un
prejudiced examination, thou findest I have mistaken
the sense and tenour of the Gospel, I beseech thee, as
a true Christian, in the spirit of the Gospel, (which is
that of charity,) and in the words of sobriety, set me
right, in the doctrine of salvation.
to 2
THE
REASONABLENESS
OF
CHRISTIANITY,
AS DELIVERED IN THE
SCRIPTURES.
IT is obvious to any one, who reads the New Testa
ment, that the doctrine of redemption, and conse
quently of the gospel, is founded upon the supposition
of Adam s fall. To understand, therefore, what we are
restored to by Jesus Christ, we must consider what the
scriptures show we lost by Adam. This I thought
worthy of a diligent and unbiassed search : since I found
the two extremes that men run into on this point,
either on the one hand shook the foundations of all
religion, or, on the other, made Christianity almost
nothing : for while some men would have all Adam s
posterity doomed to eternal, infinite punishment, for
the transgression of Adam, whom millions had never
heard of, and no one had authorised to transact for
him, or be his representative ; this seemed to others so
little consistent with the justice orj^oodness of the great
l
The Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 5
and infinite God, that they thought there was no re
demption necessary, and consequently, that there was
none ; rather than admit of it upon a supposition so
derogatory to the honour and attributes of that infinite
Being ; and so made Jesus Christ nothing but the re
storer and preacher of pure natural religion ; thereby
doing violence to the whole tenour of the New Testa
ment. And, indeed, both sides will be suspected to have
trespassed this way, against the written word of God,
by any one, who does but take it to be a collection of
writings, designed by God, for the instruction of the
illiterate bulk of mankind, in the way to salvation ;
and therefore, generally, and in necessary points, to
be understood in the plain direct meaning of the words
and phrases : such as they may be supposed to have had
in the mouths of the speakers, who used them accord
ing to the language of that time and country wherein
they lived ; without such learned, artificial, and forced
senses of them, as are sought out, and put upon them,
in most of the systems of divinity, according to the
notions that each one has been bred up in.
To one that, thus unbiassed, reads the scriptures,
what Adam fell from (is visible) was the state of per
fect obedience, which is called justice in the New Tes
tament ; though the word, which in the original sig
nifies justice, be translated righteousness : and by this
fail he lost paradise, wherein was tranquillity and the
tree of life; i. e. he lost bliss and immortality. The
penalty annexed to the breach of the law, with the sen
tence pronounced by God upon it, show this. The
penalty stands thus, Gen. ii. 17, " In the day that
" thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." How
was this executed ? He did eat : but, in the day he did
eat, he did not actually die ; but was turned out of pa
radise from the tree of life, and shut out for ever from
it, lest he should take thereof, and live for ever. This
shows, that the state of paradise was a state of immor
tality, of life without end ; which he lost that very day
that he eat : his life began from thence to shorten, and
waste, and to have an end ; and from thence to his ac
tual death, was but like the time of a prisoner, be-
6 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
tween the sentence passed, and the execution, which was
in view and certain. Death then entered, and showed
his face, which before was shut out, and riot known.
So St. Paul, Horn. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into
" the world, and death by sin ;" i. e. a state of death
and mortality : and, 1 Cor. xv. 22, " In Adam all die;"
i. e. by reason of his transgression, all men are mortal,
and come to die.
This is so clear in these cited places, and so much
the current of the New Testament, that nobody can
deny, but that the doctrine of the gospel is, that death
came on all men by Adam s sin ; only they differ about
the signification of the word death : for some will have
it to be a state of guilt, wherein not only he, but all his
posterity was so involved, that every one descended of
him deserved endless torment, in hell-fire. I shall say
nothing more here, how far, in the apprehensions of
men, this consists with the justice and goodness of God,
having mentioned it alxrye : but it seems a strange way
of understanding a law, which requires the plainest and
directest words, that by death should be meant eternal
life in misery. Could any one be supposed, by a law,
that says, " For felony thou shalt die ;" not that he
should lose his life ; but be kept alive in perpetual,
exquisite torments ? And would any one think himself
fairly dealt with, that was so used ?
To this, they would have it be also a state of necessary
sinning, and provoking God in every action that men
do : a yet harder sense of the word death than the other.
God says, that " in the day that thou eatest of the for-
" bidden fruit, thou shalt die ;" i. e. thou and thy
posterity shall be, ever after,, incapable of doing any
thing, but what shall be sinful and provoking to me
and shall justly deserve my wrath and indignation.
Could a worthy man be supposed to put such terms
upon the obedience of his subjects ? Much less can the
righteous God be supposed, as a punishment of one sin,
wherewith he is displeased, to put man under the ne
cessity of sinning continually, and so multiplying the
provocation. The reason of this strange interpretation,
we shall perhaps find, in some mistaken places of the
as delivered in the Scriptures. 7
New Testament. <JL must confess, by death here, I can
understand nothing but a ceasing to be, the losing of r
all actions of life and sense. Such a death came on
Adam, and all his posterity, by his first disobedience in
paradise ; under which death they should have lain for
ever, had it not been for the redemption by Jesus Christ/^
If by death, threatened to Adam, were meant the cor- ~~
ruption of human nature in his posterity, tis strange,
that the New Testament should not any-where take no
tice of it, and tell us, that corruption seized on all,
because of Adam s transgression, as well as it tells us
so of death. But, as I remember, every one s sin is
charged upon himself only.
Another part of the sentence was, " Cursed is the
" ground for thy sake : in sorrow shalt thou eat of it
" all the days of thy life ; in the sweat of thy face shall
" thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground ; for
" out of it wast thou taken ; dust thou art, and to dust
" shalt thou return," Gen. iii. 17 19. This shows,
that paradise was a place of bliss, as well as immorta
lity ; without drudgery, and without sorrow. But,
when man was turned out* he was exposed to the toil,
anxiety, and frailties of this mortal life, which should
end in the dust, out of which he was made, and to
which he should return ; and then have no more life or
sense, than the dust had, out of which he was made.
As Adam was turned out of paradise, so all his pos
terity were born out of it, out of the reach of the tree
of life ; all, like their father Adam, in a state of mor
tality, void of the tranquillity and bliss of paradise.
Rom. v. 12, " By one man sin entered into the world,
" and death by sin." But here will occur the common
objection, that so many stumble at: " How doth it
" consist with the justice and goodness of God, that
" the posterity of Adam should suffer for his sin ; the
" innocent be punished for the guilty ?" Very well, if
keeping one from what he has no right to, be called a
punishment; the state of immortality, in paradise, is
not due to the posterity of Adam, more than to any
other creature. Nay, if God afford them a temporary,
mortal life, tis his gift; they owe it to his bounty;
8 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
they could not claim it as their right, nor does he
injure them when he takes it from them. Had he
taken from mankind any thing that was their right, or
did he put men in a state of misery, worse than not
being, without any fault or demerit of their own ; this,
indeed, would be hard to reconcile with the notion we
have of justice ; and much more with the goodness, and
other attributes of the supreme Being, which he has de
clared of himself; and reason, as well as revelation,
must acknowledge to be in him ; unless we will con
found good and evil, God and Satan. That such a
state of extreme, irremediable torment is worse than
no being at all ; if every one s own sense did not deter
mine against the vain philosophy, and foolish metaphy
sics of some men; yet our Saviour s peremptory de
cision, Matt. xxvi. 24, has put it past doubt, that one
may be in such an estate, that it had been better for him
not to have been born. But that such a temporary life,
as we now have, with all its frailties and ordinary mi
series, is better than no being, is evident, by the high
value we put upon it ourselves. And therefore, though
all die in Adam, yet none are truly punished, but for
their own deeds. J Rom. ii. 6, " God will render to
" every one," How? " According to his deeds. To
" those that obey unrighteousness, indignation and
" wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of
" man that doth evil," ver. 9. 2 Cor. v. 10, " We
" must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
" every one may receive the things done in his body,
" according to that he has done, whether it be good or
" bad." ) And Christ himself, who knew for what he
should condemn men at the last day, assures us, in the
two places, where he describes his proceeding at the
great judgment, that the sentence of condemnation
passes only upon the workers of iniquity, such as neg
lected to fulfil the law in acts of charity, Matt. vii.
23, Luke xiii. 27, Matt. xxv. 41, 42, &c. "And
6 again, John v. 29, our Saviour tells the jews, that
* all shall come forth of their graves, they that have
done good to the resurrection of life ; and they that
" have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation,"
as delivered in the Scriptures. 9
But here is no condemnation of any one, for what his
fore-father Adam had done ; which it is not likely should
have been omitted, if that should have been a cause
why any one was adjudged to the fire, with the devil
and his angels. And he tells his disciples, that when
he comes again with his angels, in the glory of his
Father, that then he will render to every one according
to his works, Matt. xvi. 27.
Adam being thus turned out of paradise, and all his
posterity born out of it, the consequence of it was, that
all men should die, and remain under death for ever,
and so be utterly lost.
From this estate of death, Jesus Christ restores all
mankind to life ; 1 Cor. xv. 22, " As in Adam all die,
" so in Christ shall all be made alive." How this shall
be, the same apostle tells us in the foregoing ver. 21.
" By man death came, by man also came the resurrec-
" tion from the dead." Whereby it appears, that the
life, which Jesus Christ restores to all men, is that life,
which they receive again at the resurrection. Then they
recover from death, which otherwise all mankind should
have continued under, lost for ever; as appears by St.
Paul s arguing, 1 Cor. xv. concerning the resurrection.
flXnd thus men are, by the second Adam, restored to
life again ; that so by Adam s sin they may none of them
lose any thing, which by their own righteousness they ^ c
might have a title to :Qfor righteousness, or an exact 1
obedience to the law, sdems, by the scripture, to have
a claim of right to eternal life, /Rom. iv. 4. " To him
" that worketh," i. e. does tffe works of the law, " is
" the reward not reckoned of grace, but of DEBT."
And Rev. xxii. 14, "Blessed are they who do his com-
" mandments, that they may HAVE RIGHT to the tree
" of life, which is in the paradise of God. L If any of
the posterity of Adam were just, they shall not lose the
reward of it, eternal life and bliss, by being his mortal v 7
issue : Christ will bring them all to life again ; and then
they shall be put every one upon his own trial, and re
ceive judgment, as he is found to be righteous, or not.
And the righteous, as our Saviour says, Matt. xxv. 46,
shall go into eternal life. Nor shall any one miss it, who
10 The Reasonableness of Christianity ,
has done, what our Saviour directed the lawyer, who
asked, Luke x. 25, What he should do to inherit eternal
life ? " Do this," i. e. what is required by the law,
" and thou shalt live."
On the other side, it seems the unalterable purpose of
the divine justice, that no unrighteous person, no one
that is guilty of any breach of the law, should be in pa
radise : but that the wages of sin should be to every
man, as it was to Adam, an exclusion of him out of
that happy state of immortality, and bring death upon
him. And this is so conformable to the eternal and
established law of right and wrong, that it is spoken of
too, as if it could not be otherwise. St. James says,
chap. i. 15, " Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth
" death," as it were, by a natural and necessary pro
duction. " Sin entered into the world, and death by
sin," says St. Paul, Rom. v. 12 : and vi. 23, " The
" wages of sin is death." Death is the purchase of
any, of every sin. Gal. iii. 10, " Cursed is every one,
" who continueth not in all things which are written
" in the book of the law to do them." And of this St.
James gives a reason, chap. ii. 10, 11, " Whosoever
" shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point,
" he is guilty of all: for he that said, Do not commit
" adultery, said also, Do not kill :" i. e. he that offends
in any one point, sins against the authority which esta
blished the law.
Here then we have the standing and fixed measures
of life and death. Immortality and bliss, belong to the
righteous ; those who have lived in an exact conformity
to the law of God, are out of the reach of death ; but
an exclusion from paradise and loss of immortality is the
portion of sinners ; of all those who have any way broke
that law, and failed of a complete obedience to it, by
the guilt of any one transgression. And thus mankind
by the law are put upon the issues of life or death,
as they are righteous or unrighteous, just, or unjust ;
i. e. exact performers or transgressors of the law.
But yet, " all having sinned," Rom. iii. 23, " and
" come short of the glory of God," i. e. the kingdom
of God in heaven, (which is often called his glory,)
as delivered in the Scriptures. 11
" both jews and gentiles;" ver. 22, so that, " by the
" deeds of the law," no one could be justified, ver. 20,
it follows, that no one could then have eternal life and
bliss.
Perhaps, it will be demanded, " Why did God give
" so hard a law to mankind, that to the apostle s time
" no one of Adam s issue had kept it? As appears by
" Rom. iii. and Gal. iii. 21, 22."
Answ. It was such a law as the purity of God s na
ture required, and must be the law of such a creature
as man ; unless God would have made him a rational
creature, and not required him to have lived by the
law of reason ; but would have countenanced in him
irregularity and disobedience to that light which he had,
and that rule which was suitable to his nature ; which
would have been to have authorised disorder, confu
sion, and wickedness in his creatures rufor that this law 4^-
was the law of reason, or as it is called, of nature ; we
shall see by and by : and if rational creatures will not $
live up to the rule of their reason, who shall excuse
them ? _}If you will admit them to forsake reason in one
point, why not in another ? Where will you stop ? To
disobey God in any part of his commands, (and tis
he that commands what reason does,) is direct rebellion ;
which, if dispensed with in any point, government and
order are at an end ; and there can be no bounds set
to the lawless exorbitancy of unconfined man. The
law therefore was, as St. Paul tells us, Rom. viil 12,
" holy, just, and good," and such as it ought, and could
not otherwise be.
This then being the case, that whoever is guilty of
any sin should certainly die, and cease to be ; the be
nefit of life, restored by Christ at the resurrection,
would have been no great advantage, (for as much as,
here again, death must have seized upon all mankind,
because all have sinned ; for the wages of sin is every
where death, as well after as before the resurrection,) if
God had not found out a way to justify some, i. e. so
many as obeyed another law, which God gave ; which
in the New Testament is called " the law of faith,"
Rom. iii. 27, and is opposed to " the law of works."
] 2 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
And therefore the punishment of those who would not
follow him, was to lose their souls, i. e. their lives,
Mark viii. 35 38, as is plain, considering the occasion
it was spoke on.
The hetter to understand the law of faith, it will he
convenient, in the first place, to consider the law of
works. The law of works then, in short, is that law
which requires perfect obedience, without any remis
sion or abatement ; so that, by that law, a man cannot
be just, or justified, without an exact performance of
every tittle. Such a perfect obedience, in the New
Testament, is termed ^xatoo-J^, which we translate
righteousness.
The language of this law is, " Do this and live,
" transgress and die." Lev. xviii. 5, "Ye shall keep
" my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do,
" he shall live in them." Ezek. xx. 11, " I gave
" them my statutes, and showed them my judgments,
" which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
" Moses, says St. Paul, Rom. x. 5, describeth the
" righteousness, which is of the law, that the man,
" which doth these things, shall live in them." Gal.
iii. 12. " The law is not of faith ; but that man, that
" doth them, shall live in them." On the other side,
transgress and die ; no dispensation, no atonement. Ver-
10, " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
" things which are written in the book of the law to do
" them."
Where this law of works was to be found, the New
Testament tells us, viz. in the law delivered by Moses,
John i. 17, " The law was given by Moses, but grace
" and truth came by Jesus Christ." Chap. vii. 19,
" Did not Moses give you the law ?" says our Saviour,
" and yet none of you keep the law." And this is the
law, which he speaks of, where he asks the lawyer,
Luke x. 26, " What is written in the law ? How readest
" thou ? ver. 28, This do, and thou shalt live." This
is that which St. Paul so often styles the law, without
any other distinction, Rom. ii. 13, " Not the hearers
" of the law are just before God, but the doers of the
" law are justified." Tis needless to quote any more
as delivered in the Scriptures. 13
places ; his epistles are full of it, especially this of the
Romans.
" But the law given by Moses, being not given to
" all mankind, how are all men sinners ; since, with-
" out a law, there is no transgression ?" To this the
apostle, ver. 14, answers, " For when the gentiles,
" which have not the law, do (i. e. find it reasonable
" to do) by nature the things contained in the law;
" these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves ;
" which show the work of the law written in their
" hearts ; their consciences also bearing witness, and
" amongst themselves their thoughts accusing or ex-
" cusing one another." By which, and other places in
the following chapter, tis plain, that under the law of
works, is comprehended also the law of nature, know-
able by reason, as well as the law given by Moses. For,
says St. Paul, Rom. iii. 9, 23, " We have proved both
" jews and gentiles, that they are all under sin : for all
" have sinned, and come short of the glory of God :"
which they could not do without a law.
Nay, whatever God requires any- where to be done,
without making any allowance for faith, that is a part
of the law of works : so that forbidding Adam to eat of
the tree of knowledge was part of the law of works.
Only we must take notice here, that some of God s
positive commands, being for peculiar ends, and suited
to particular circumstances of times, places, and per
sons ; have a limited and only temporary obligation by
virtue of God s positive injunction ; such as was that
part of Moses s law, which concerned the outward
worship or political constitution of the jews ; and is
called the ceremonial and judicial law, in contradistinc
tion to the moral part of it ; which being conformable
to the eternal law of right, is of eternal obligation ; and
therefore remains in force still, under the gospel ; nor
is abrogated by the law of faith, as St. Paul found
some ready to infer, Rom. iii. 31, "Do we then make
" void the law, through faith ? God forbid ; yea we
" establish the law."
Nor can it be otherwise : for, were there no law of
works, there could be no law of faith. For there could
14 The Reasonableness of Christianity >
be no need of faith, which should be counted to men
for righteousness ; if there were no law, to be the rule
and measure of righteousness, which men failed in their
obedience to. Where there is no law, there is no sin ;
all are righteous equally, with or without faith.
The rule, therefore, of right, is the same that ever
it was ; the obligation to observe it is also the same :
the difference between the law of works, and the law of
faith/ is only this : that the law of works makes no al
lowance for failing on any occasion, j Those that obey
are righteous ; those that in any part disobey, are un
righteous, and must not expect life, the reward of righ
teousness. But, by the law of faith, faith is allowed to
supply the defect of full obedience : and so the be
lievers are admitted to life and immortality, as if they
were righteous. Only here we must take notice, that
when St. Paul sa^s, that the gospel establishes the law,
he means the moral part of the law of Moses ; for that
he could not mean the ceremonial, or political part of
it, is evident, by what I quoted out of him just now,
where he says, That the gentiles do, by nature, the
things contained in the law,, their consciences bearing
witness. For the gentiles neither did, nor thought of,
the judicial or ceremonial institutions of Moses ; twas
only the moral part their consciences were concerned
in. As for the rest, St. Paul tells the Galatians, chap,
iv. they are not under that part of the law, which ver.
3, he calls elements of the world ; and ver. 9, weak and
beggarly elements. And our Saviour himself, in this
gospel sermon on the mount, tells them. Matt. v. 17,
That, whatever they might think, he was not come to
dissolve the law, but to make it more full and strict :
for that which is meant by?rAjpwo-at is evident from the
following part of that chapter, where he gives the pre
cepts in a stricter sense, than they were received in be
fore. But they are all precepts of the moral law, which
he re-inforces. What should become of the ritual law,
he tells the woman of Samaria, in these words, John iv.
21, 23, " The hour cometh. when you shall, neither in
" this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the
" Father. But the true worshippers shall worship the
as delivered in the Scriptures. 15
" Father in spirit and in truth ; for the Father seeketh
" such to worship him."
Thus then, as to the law, in short : the civil and
ritual part of the law, delivered by Moses, obliges not
Christians, thowgh, to the jews, it were a part of the
law of works; it being a part of the law of nature, that
man ought to obey every positive law of God, whenever
he shall please to make any such addition to the law of
his nature. But the moral part of Moses s law, or
the moral law, (which is every- where the same, the
eternal rule of right,) obliges Christians, and all men,
every-where, and is ^to all men the standing law of
works. But Christian believers have the privilege to be
under the law of faith too ; which is that law, whereby
God justifies a man for believing, though by his works
he be not just or righteous, i. e. though he come short
of perfect obedience to the law of works. iQod alone
does or can justify, or make just, those who by their
works are not so : which he doth, by counting their
faith for righteousness, I. e. for a complete performance
of the law. Rom. iv. 3, " Abraham believed God, and
" it was counted to him for righteousness." Ver. 5,
" To him that believeth on him that justifieth the un-
" godly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Ver. 6,
" Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the
" man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without
" works ;" i. e. without a full measure of works, which
is exact obedience. Ver. 7, Saying, " Blessed are they
" whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are co-
" vered." Ver. 8, " Blessed is the man, to whom the
" Lord will not impute sin."
This faith, for which God justified Abraham, what
was it ? It was the believing God, when he engaged his
promise in the covenant he made with him. This will
be plain to any one, who considers these places toge
ther, Gen. xv. 6, " He believed in the Lord,, or be-
" lieved the Lord." For that the Hebrew phrase,
" believing in," signifies no more but believing, is
plain from St. Paul s citation of this place, Rom. iv. 3,
where he repeats it thus : " Abraham believed God,"
16 The Reasonablesness of Christianity,
which he thus explains, ver. 18 22, " Who against
" hope believed in hope, that he might become the fa-
" ther of many nations : according to that which was
" spoken, So shall thy seed be. And, being not weak
" in faith, he considered not his own body now dead,
" when he was about an hundred years old, nor yet the
" deadness of Sarah s womb. He staggered not at the
" promise of God, through unbelief ; but was strong
" in faith giving glory to God. And being fully per-
" suaded, that what he had promised he was also able to
" perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for
" righteousness." By which it is clear, that the faith
which God counted to Abraham for righteousness, was
nothing but a firm belief of what God declared to him ;
and a steadfast relying on him, for the accomplishment
of what he had promised.
" Now this," says St. Paul, ver. 23, 24, * was not
" writ for his [Abraham s] sake alone, but for us also ;"
teaching us, that as Abraham was justified for his faith,
so also ours shall be accounted to us for righteousness,
if we believe God, as Abraham believed him. Whereby
it is plain is meant the firmness of our faith, without
staggering, and not the believing the same propositions
that Abraham believed ; viz. that though he and Sarah
were old, and past the time and hopes of children, yet
he should have a son by her, and by him become the
father of a great people, which should possess the land
of Canaan. This was what Abraham believed, and
was counted to him for righteousness. But nobody, I
think, will say, that any one s believing this now, shall
be imputed to him for righteousness. w The law of faith
then, in short, is for every one to believe what God re
quires him to believe, as a condition of the covenant he
makes with him : and not to doubt of the performance
of his promises^ This the apostle intimates in the close
here, ver. 24, * 7 But for us also, to whom it shall be
" imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus
" our Lord from the dead." We must, therefore, ex
amine and see what God requires us to believe now,
under the revelation of the gospel ; for the belief of
as delivered in the Scriptures. 17
invisible, eternal, omnipotent God, maker of heaven
and earth, &c. was required before, as well as now.
What we are now required to believe to obtain eter
nal life, is plainly set down in the gospel. St. John
tells us, John iii. 36, " He that believeth on the Son,
" hath eternal life ; and he that believeth not the Son,
" shall not see life." What this believing on him is,
we are also told in the next chapter : " The woman
" said unto him, I know that the Messiah cometh:
" when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus
" saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he. The
" woman then went into the city, and saith to the men,
" come see a man that hath told me all things that
" ever I did : is not this the Messiah ? and many of the
" Samaritans believed on him for the saying of the
" woman, who testified, he told me all that ever I did.
" So when the Samaritans were come unto him, many
" more believed because of his words, and said to the
" woman. We believe not any longer, because of thy
" saying ; for we have heard ourselves, and we know
" that this man is truly the Saviour of the world, the
"JMessiah." John iv. 25, 26, 29, 39, 40, 41, 42.
j_ By which place it is plain, that believing on the Son
i!T the believing that Jesus was the Messiah ; giving
credit to the miracles he did, and the profession he
made of himself. / For those who are said to BELIEVE
ON HIM, for the laying of the woman, ver. 39, tell the
woman that they now believed not any longer, because
of her saying : but that having heard him themselves,
they knew, i. e. BELIEVED, past doubt, THAT HE WAS
THE MESSIAH.
This was the great proposition that was then con
troverted, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, " Whether he
" was the Messiah or no ? " And the assent to that was
that which distinguished believers from unbelievers.
When many of his disciples had forsaken him, upon
his declaring that he was the bread of life, which came
down from heaven, " He said to his apostles, Will ye
" also go away ? " Then Simon Peter answered him,
" Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
* eternal life. And we believe, and are sure, that
c
18 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God,"
John vi. 69. This was the faith which distinguished
them from apostates and unbelievers, and was sufficient
to continue them in the rank of apostles : and it was
upon the same proposition, " That Jesus was the Mes-
" siah, the Son of the living God," owned by St. Peter,
that our Saviour said, he would build his church, Matt,
xvi. 1618.
To convince men of this, he did his miracles : and
their assent to, or not assenting to this, made them
to be, or not to be, of his church ; believers, or not
believers : " The jews came round about him, and
" said unto him, How long dost thou make us doubt?
" If thou be the Messiah, tell us plainly. Jesus an-
" swered them, I told you, and ye believed not : the
" works that I do in my Father s name, they bear
" witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are
" not of my sheep," John x. 24 26. Conformable
hereunto, St. John tells us, that " many deceivers are
" entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus,
" the Messiah, is come in the flesh. This is a de-
" ceiver and an antichrist ; whosoever abideth not in
" the doctrine of the Messiah, has not God. He that
" abideth in the doctrine of the Messiah," i. e. that
Jesus is he, " hath both the Father and the Son,"
% John 7, 9. That this is the meaning of the place, is
plain from what he says in his foregoing epistle, " Who-
" soever believeth that Jesus is the Messiah, is born
" of God," 1 John v. ] . And therefore, drawing to a
close of his gospel, and showing the end for which he
writ it, he has these words : " Many other signs truly
" did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are
" not written in this book : but these are written that
" ye may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of
" God ; and that believing, you might have life
" through his name/* John xx. 30, 31. Whereby it
is plain, that the gospel was writ to induce men into a
belief of this proposition, "That Jesus of Nazareth was
" the Messiah ; " which if they believed, they should
have life.
as delivered in the Scriptures. 19
Accordingly the great question among the jews was,
whether he were the Messiah or no? and the great
point insisted on and promulgated in the gospel, was,
that he was the Messiah. The first glad tidings of his
birth, brought to the shepherds by an angel, was in
these words : " Fear not : for, behold, I bring you
" good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all
" people : for to you is born this day, in the city of
" David, a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord,"
Luke ii. 11. Our Saviour discoursing with Martha
about the means of attaining eternal life, saith to her,
John xi. 27, " Whosoever believeth in me, shall never
" die. Believest thou this ? She saith unto him, Yea,
" Lord, I believe that thou art the Messiah, the Son of
" God, which should come into the world." This
answer of hers showeth, what it is to believe in Jesus
Christ, so as to have eternal life ; viz. to believe that
he is the Messiah, the son of God, whose coming was
foretold by the prophets. And thus Andrew and Philip
express it : Andrew says to his brother Simon, " we have
" found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the
" Christ. Philip saith to Nathanael, we have found
" him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did
" write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph/ John
i. 41, 45. According to what the evangelist says in
this place, I have, for the clearer understanding of the
scripture, all along put Messiah for Christ : Christ be
ing but the Greek name for the Hebrew Messiah, and
both signifying the Anointed.
And that he Was the Messiah, was the great truth he
took pains to convince his disciples and apostles of;
appearing to them after his resurrection : as may be
seen, Luke xxiv. which we shall more particularly con
sider in another place. There we read what gospel our
Saviour preached to his disciples and apostles ; and that
as soon as he was risen from the dead, twice, the very
day of his resurrection.
And, if we may gather what was to be believed by
all nations from what was preached unto them, we may
certainly know what they were commanded, Matt. ult.
to teach all nations, by what they actually did teach all
c 2
20 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
nations. We may observe, that the preaching of the
apostles every-where in the Acts, tended to this one
point, to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. Indeed,
now, after his death, his resurrection was also commonly
required to be believed, as a necessary article, and some
times solely insisted on : it being a mark and undoubted
evidence of his being the Messiah, and necessary now
to be believed by those who would receive him as the
Messiah. For since the Messiah was to be a Saviour
and a king, and to give life and a kingdom to those
who received him, as we shall see by and by; there
could have been no pretence to have given him out for
the Messiah, and to require men to believe him to be
so, who thought him under the power of death, and cor
ruption of the grave. And therefore those who believed
him to be the Messiah, must believe that he was risen
from the dead : and those who believed him to be risen
from the dead, could not doubt of his being the Messiah.
But of this more in another place.
Let us see therefore, how the apostles preached Christ,
and what they proposed to their hearers to believe. St.
Peter at Jerusalem, Acts ii. by his first sermon, convert
ed three thousand souls. What was his word, which,
as we are told, ver. 41, "they gladly received, and
" thereupon were baptized ? " That may be seen from
ver. 22 to 36. In short, this ; which is the conclusion,
drawn from all that he had said, and which he presses
on them, as the thing they were to believe, viz. " There-
" fore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that
" God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have cru-
" cified, Lord and Messiah," ver. 36.
To the same purpose was his discourse to the jews,
in the temple, Acts iii. the design whereof you have,
ver. 18. " But those things that God before had showed,
" by the mouth of all his prophets, that the Messiah
" should suffer, he hath so fulfilled."
In the next chapter, Acts iv> Peter and John being
examined, about the miracle on the lame man, profess
it to have been done in the name of Jesus of Nazareth,
who was the Messiah, in whom alone there was salva
tion, ver. 10 12, The same thing they confirm to
as delivered in the Scriptures. 21
them again, Acts v. 29 32. "And daily in the temple,
" and in every house, they ceased not to teach and
" preach Jesus the Messiah," ver, 42.
What was Stephen s speech to the council, Acts vii.
but a reprehension to them that they were the betrayers
and murderers of the Just One ? Which is the title, by
which he plainly designs the Messiah whose coming
was foreshown by the prophets, ver. 51, 52. And that
the Messiah was to be without sin, (which is the import
of the word Just,) was the opinion of the jews, appears
from John ix. ver. 22, compared with 24.
Act viii. Philip carries the gospel to Samaria : " Then
" Philip went down to Samaria, and preached to them."
What was it he preached ? You have an account of it
in this one word, " the Messiah," ver. 5. This being
that alone which was required of them, to believe that
Jesus was the Messiah ; which when they believed they
were baptized. " And when they believed Philip s
" preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and
" the name of Jesus the Messiah, they were baptized,
" both men and women/ ver. 12.
Philip being sent from thence by a special call of
the Spirit, to make an eminent convert ; out of Isaiah
preaches to him Jesus, ver. 35. And what it was he
preached concerning Jesus, we may know by the pro
fession of faith the eunuch made, upon which he was
admitted to baptism, ver. 37. "I believe that Jesus
" Christ is the Son of God : " which is as much as to
say, I believe that he, whom you call Jesus Christ, is
really and truly the Messiah, that was promised. For,
that believing him to be the Son of God, and to be the
Messiah, was the same thing, may appear, by compar
ing John i. 45, with ver. 49, where Nathanael owns
Jesus to be the Messiah, in these terms : " Thou art
" the Son of God ; thou art the king of Israel." So
the jews, Luke xxii. 70, asking Christ, whether he
were the Son of God, plainly demanded of him, whether
he were the Messiah ? Which is evident, by comparing
that with the three preceding verses. They ask him,
ver. 67, Whether he were the Messiah ? He answers,
" If I tell you, you will noi believe : " but withal tells
22 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
them, that from thenceforth he should be in possession of
the kingdom of the Messiah, expressed in these words,
ver. 69. " Hereafter shall the Son of Man sit on the
" right hand of the power of God : " which made them
all cry out, " Art thou then the Son of God ? " i. e. Dost
thou then own thyself to be the Messiah ? To which he
replies, " Ye say that I am." That the Son of God
was the known title of the Messiah at that time,
amongst the jews, we may see also from what the jews
say to Pilate, John xix. 7. " We have a law, and by
" our law he ought to die, because he made himself
" THE SON OF GOD ; " i. e. by making himself the
Messiah, the prophet which was to come, but falsely ;
and therefore he deserves to die by the law, Dent, xviii.
20. That this was the common signification of the
Son of God, is farther evident, from what the chief
priests, mocking him, said, when he was on the cross,
Matt, xxvii. 42. " He saved others, himself he cannot
" save : if he be the king of Israel, let him now come
" down from the cross, and we will believe him. He
" trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will
" have him ; for he said, I am the SON OF GOD ; " i. e.
He said, he was the Messiah : but tis plainly false ;
for, if he were, God would deliver him : for the Messiah
is to be king of Israel, the Saviour of others ; but this
man cannot save himself. The chief priests mention
here the two titles, then in use, whereby the jews
commonly designed the Messiah, viz. " Son of God,
and king of Israel." That of Son of God was so
familiar a compellation of the Messiah, who was then
so much expected and talked of, that the Romans, it
seems, who lived amongst them, had learned it, as
appears from ver. 54. " Now when the centurion and
" they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the
" earthquake, and those things that were done, they
" feared greatly, saying, truly this was the SON OF
" GOD ; " this was that extraordinary person that was
looked for.
Acts ix. St. Paul, exercising the commission to preach
the gospel, which he had received in a miraculous way,
ver. 20. " Straitway preached Christ in the synagogues,
as delivered in the Scriptures. 23
ec that he is the Son of God ; " i. e. that Jesus was the
Messiah : for Christ, in this place, is evidently a proper
name. And that this was it, which Paul preached,
appears from ver. 22. " Saul increased the more in
" strength, and confounded the jews, who dwelt in
" Damascus, proving that this is the very Christ," i. e.
the Messiah.
Peter, when he came to Cornelius at Caesarea, who,
by a vision, was ordered to send for him, as St. Peter
on the other side was by a vision commanded to go to
him ; what does he teach him ? His whole discourse,
Acts x. tends to show what, he says, God commanded
the apostles, " To preach unto the people, and to
" testify, that it is he Jesus] which was ordained of
" God to be the judge of the quick and the dead.
" And that it was to him, that all the prophets give
" witness, that, through his name, whosoever believ-
" eth in him, shall have remission of sins," ver. 42, 43.
" This is the word, which God sent to the children of
" Israel ; that WORD, which was published throughout
" all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the bap-
" tism which John preached," ver. 36, 37. And these
are the words, which had been promised to Cornelius,
Acts xi. 14, " Whereby he and all his house should be
" saved : " which words amount only to thus much :
that Jesus was the Messiah, the Saviour that was pro
mised. Upon their receiving of this, (for this was all
was taught them,) the Holy Ghost fell on them, and
they were baptized. Tis observable here, that the
Holy Ghost fell on them, before they were baptized,
which, in other places, converts received not till after
baptism. The reason whereof seems to be this, that
God, by bestowing on them the Holy Ghost, did thus
declare from Heaven, that the gentiles, upon believing
Jesus to be the Messiah, ought to be admitted into the
church by baptism, as well as the jews. Whoever reads
St. Peter s defence, Acts xi. when he was accused by
those of the circumcision, that he had not kept that
distance, which he ought, with the uncircumcised, will
be of this opinion ; and see by what he says, ver. 15, 16,
17, that this was the ground, and an irresistible autho-
24 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
rity to him for doing so strange a thing, as it appeared
to the jews, (who alone yet were members of the Chris
tian church,) to admit gentiles into their communion,
upon their believing. And therefore St. Peter, in the
foregoing chapter, Acts x. before he would baptize
them, proposes this question, " to those of the circum*
" cision, which came with him, and were astonished,
" because that on the gentiles also was poured out the
" gift of the Holy Ghost : can any one forbid water, that
" these should not be baptized, who have received the
" Holy Ghost as well as we ? " ver. 47. And when some
of the sect of the pharisees, who believed, thought it need
ful that the converted gentiles should be circumcised
and keep the law of Moses, Acts xv. " Peter rose up
" and said unto them, men and brethren, you know that
" a good while ago God made choice amongst us, that
" the gentiles/ 5 viz. Cornelius, and those here converted
with him, " by my mouth should hear the gospel and
" believe. And God, who knoweth the hearts, bare
u them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as
" he did unto us, and put no difference between us and
" them, purifying their hearts by faith," v. 7 9- So that
both jews and gentiles, who believed Jesus to be the
Messiah, received thereupon the seal of baptism ; where
by they were owned to be his, and distinguished from
unbelievers. From what is above said, we may observe
that this preaching Jesus to be the Messiah is called
the Word, and the Word of God : and believing it,
receiving the Word of God. Vid. Acts x. 36, 37. and
xi. 1, 19, 20. and the word of the gospel, Acts xv. 7.
And so likewise in the history of the gospel, what Mark,
chap. iv. 14, 15, calls simply the word, St. Luke calls
the word of God, Luke viii. 11. And St. Matthew,
chap. xiii. 19, the word of the kingdom ; which were,
it seems, in the gospel-writers synonymous terms, and
are so to be understood by us.
But to go on : Acts xiii. Paul preaches in the syna
gogue at Antioch, where he makes it his business to
convince the jews, that " God, according to his pro-
" mise, had of the seed of David raised to Israel a Sa-
" viour Jesus. 1 v. 24, That he was He of whom the pro-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 25
phets writ, v. 25 29, i. e. the Messiah : and that, as
a demonstration of his being so, God had raised him
from the dead, v. 30. From whence he argues thus,
v. 32, 33. We evangelize to you, or bring you this
gospel, " how that the promise which was made to our
" fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, in that he
" hath raised Jesus again ; " as it is also written in the
second psalm, " Thou art my Son, this day I have be-
" gotten thee." And having gone on to prove him to be
the Messiah, by his resurrection from the dead, he makes
this conclusion, v. 38, 39. " Be it known unto you,
" therefore, men and brethren, that through this man
" is preached unto you forgiveness of sins ; and by him
" all who believe are justified from all things, from
" which they could not be justified by the law of Moses."
This is in this chapter called " the Word of God," over
and over again : compare v. 42, with 44, 46, 48, 49, and
chap. xii. v. 24.
Acts xvii. 2 4. At Thessalonica, " Paul, as his
" manner was, went into the synagogue, and three sab-
" bath days reasoned with the jews out of the scriptures ;
" opening and alleging, that the Messiah must needs
" have suffered, and risen again from the dead : and that
" this Jesus, whom I preach unto you. is the Messiah.
" And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul
" and Silas : but the jews which believed not, set the
" city in an uproar." Can there be any thing plainer,
than that the assenting to this proposition, that Jesus
was the Messiah, was that which distinguished the be
lievers from the unbelievers ? For this was that alone,
which, three sabbaths, Paul endeavoured to convince
them of, as the text tells us in direct words.
From thence he went to Berrea, and preached the
same thing: and the Berreans are commended, v. 11,
for searching the scriptures, whether those things, i. e,
which he had said, v. 2, 3, concerning Jesus s being
the Messiah, were true or no.
The same doctrine we find him preaching at Corinth,
Acts xviii. 4 6. " And he reasoned in the synagogue
" every sabbath, and persuaded the jews and the Greeks.
" And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Mace-
26 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" donia, Paul was pressed in spirit, and testified to the
" jews, that Jesus was the Messiah. And when they
" opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his rai-
" ment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your
" own heads, I am clean ; from henceforth I will go
" unto the Greeks."
Upon the like occasion he tells the jews at Antioch,
Acts xiii. 46, " It was necessary that the word of God
" should first have been spoken to you ; but seeing you
" put it off from you, we turn to the gentiles." Tis plain
here, St. Paul s charging their blood on their own heads,
is for opposing this single truth, that Jesus was the
Messiah ; that salvation or perdition depends upon be
lieving or rejecting this one proposition. I mean, this
is all that is required to be believed by those who ac
knowledge but one eternal and invisible God, the maker
of heaven and earth, as the jews did. For that there is
something more required to salvation, besides believing,
we shall see hereafter. In the mean time, it is fit here
on this occasion to take notice, that though the apostles
in their preaching to the jews, and the devout, (as we
translate the word r&optvoi, who were proselytes of the
gate, and the worshippers of one eternal and invisible
God,) said nothing of the believing in this one true God,
the maker of heaven and earth ; because it was needless
to press this to those who believed and professed it al
ready (for to such, tis plain, were most of their dis
courses hitherto.) JYet when they had to do with ido
latrous heathens, who were not yet come to the know
ledge of the one only true God ; they began with that,
as necessary to be believed ; it being the foundation on
which the other was built, and without which it could
signify nothing.
Thus Paul speaking to the idolatrous Lystrians, who
would have sacrificed to him and Barnabas, says, Acts
xiv. 15, " We preach unto you, that ye should turn
" from these vanities unto the living God, who made
" heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are
" therein : who in times past suffered all nations to walk
" in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself
" without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain
as delivered in the Scriptures. 27
" from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts
" with food and gladness."
Thus also he proceeded with the idolatrous Athenians,
Acts xvii. telling them, upon occasion of the altar, dedi
cated to the unknown God, " whom you ignorantly
" worship, him declare I unto you. God who made the
" world, and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of
u heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with
" hands. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God,
" we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto
" gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art, or man s device.
" And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but
" now commandeth all men every-where to repent ; be-
" cause he hath appointed a day in which he will judge
" the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath
(( ordained : whereof he hath given assurance unto all
" men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." So
that we see, where any thing more was necessary to be
proposed to be believed, as there was to the heathen
idolaters, there the apostles were careful not to omit it.
Acts xviii. 4, " Paul at Corinth reasoned in the syna-
" gogue every sabbath-day, and testified to the jews,
" that Jesus was the Messiah." Ver. 11, " And he
" continued there a year and six months, teaching the
" word of God amongst them ; " i. e. The good new?,
that Jesus was the Messiah ; as we have already shown
is meant by " the Word of God."
Apollos, another preacher of the gospel, when he was
instructed in the way of God more perfectly, what did
he teach but this same doctrine ? As we may see in this
account of him, Acts xviii. 27. That, " when he was
come into Achaia, he helped the brethren much, who
" had believed through grace. For he mightily con-
" vinced the jews, and that publicly, showing by the
" scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah."
St. Paul, in the account he gives of himself before
Festus and Agrippa, professes this alone to be the doctrine
he taught after his conversion : for, says he, Acts xxvi.
22, " Having obtained help of God, I continue unto
" this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none
" other things than those which the prophets and Moses
" did say should come : that the Messiah should suffer, and
28 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" thathe shouldbethe first that should rise from the dead,
" and should show light unto the people, and to the gen-
" tiles." Which was no more than to prove that Jesus
was the Messiah. This is that, which, as we have above
observed, is called the Word of God ; Acts xi. 1. com
pared with the foregoing chapter, from v. 34. to the
end. And xiii. 42. compared with 44, 46, 48, 49, and
xvii. 13. compared with v. 11, 13. It is also called,
" the Word of the Gospel," Acts xv. 7. And this is that
Word of God, and that Gospel, which, wherever their
discourses are set down, we find the apostles preached ;
and was that faith, which made both jews and gentiles
believers and members of the church of Christ ; purifying
their hearts, Acts xv. 9, and carrying with it remission
of sins, Acts x. 43. So that all that was to be believed
for justification, was no more but this single proposition,
that " Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, or the Mes-
" siah." All, I say, that was to be believed for justifi
cation : for that it was not all that was required to be
done for justification, we shall see hereafter.
Though we have seen above from what our Saviour
has pronounced himself, John iii. 36, " that he that be*
" lieveth on the Son hath everlasting life ; and he that
" believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath
" of God abideth on him;" and are taught from John iv.
39, compared with v. 42, that believing on him, is be
lieving that he is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world ;
and the confession made by St. Peter, Matt. xvi. 16, that
he is " the Messiah, the Son of the living God," being the
rock, on which our Saviour has promised to build his
church ; though this I say, and what else we have al
ready taken notice of, be enough to convince us what it
is we are in the gospel required to believe to eternal life,
without adding what we have observed from the preach
ing of the apostles ; yet it may not be amiss, for the
farther clearing this matter, to observe what the evan
gelists deliver concerning the same thing, though in
different words ; which, therefore, perhaps, are not so
generally taken notice of to this purpose.
We have above observed, from the words of Andrew
and Philip compared, that " the Messiah, and him of
(f whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write,"
as delivered in the Scriptures. 29
signify the same thing. We shall now consider that
place, John i. a little farther. Ver. 41, "Andrew says
" to Simon, we have found the Messiah." Philip, on
the same occasion, v. 45, says to Nathanael, " we have
" found him of whom Moses in the law and the pro-
" phets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Nathanael, who disbelieved this, when, upon Christ s
speaking to him, he was convinced of it, declares his
assent to it in these words : " Rabbi, thou art the Son
" of God, thou art the king of Israel." From which
it is evident, that to believe him to be " Him of whom
" Moses and the prophets did write," or to be " the
" Son of God," or to be " the king of Israel," was in
effect the same as to believe him to be the Messiah :
and an assent to that, was what our Saviour received for
believing. For, upon Nathanael s making a confession
in these words, " Thou art the Son of God, thou art the
" king of Israel, Jesus answered and said to him, Be-
" cause I said to thee I saw thee under the fig-tree, dost
" thou BELIEVE ? Thou shalt see greater things than
" these," ver. 51. I desire any one to read the latter
part of the first of John, from ver. 25, with attention,
and tell me, whether it be not plain, that this phrase,
The Son of God, is an expression used for the Messiah.
To which let him add Martha s declaration of her faith,
John xi. 27, in these words : " I believe that thou art
" the Messiah, THE SON OF GOD, who should come
" into the world ;" and that passage of St. John xx. 31,
" That ye might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, THE
" SON OF GOD ; and that, believing, ye might have life
." through his name :" and then tell me whether he can
doubt that Messiah, the Son of God, were synonymous
terms, at that time, amongst the jews.
The prophecy of Daniel, chap. ix. when he is called
" Messiah the Prince ;" and the mention of his govern
ment and kingdom, and the deliverance by him, in
Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophecies, understood of the
Messiah ; were so well known to the jews, and had so
raised their hopes of him about this time, which, by
their account, was to be the time of his coming, to re-
30 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
store the kingdom of Israel ; that Herod no sooner heard
of the magi s inquiry after " Him that was born king
" of the jews," Matt. ii. but he forthwith " demanded
" of the chief priests and scribes, where the Messiah
" should be born," ver. 4. Not doubting but, if there
were any king born to the jews, it was the Messiali :
whose coming was now the general expectation, as ap
pears, Luke iii. 15, " The people being in expectation,
" and all men musing in their hearts, of John, whether
" he were the Messiah or not." And when the priests
and levites sent to ask him who he was ; he, understand
ing their meaning, answers, John i. 20, " That he was
" not the Messiah ; " but he bears witness, that Jesus
" is the Son of God," i. e. the Messiah, ver. 34.
This looking for the Messiah, at this time, we see
also in Simeon ; who is said to be * waiting for the con-
" solation of Israel," Luke ii. 21. And having the
child Jesus in his arms, he says he had " seen the sal-
" vation of the Lord," ver. 30. And, " Anna coming
" at the same instant into the temple, she gave thanks
" also unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them
" that looked for redemption in Israel," ver. 38. And
of Joseph of Arimathea, it is said, Mark xv. 43, That
t( he also expected the kingdom of God:" by all which
was meant the coming of the Messiah ; and Luke xix.
11, it is said, " They thought that the kingdom of God
" should immediately appear."
This being premised, let us see what it was that John
the Baptist preached, when he first entered upon his
ministry. That St. Matthew tells us, chap. iii. 1, 2,
" In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the
" wilderness of Judea, saying, repent ; for the kingdom
" of heaven is at hand." This was a declaration of the
coming of the Messiah : the kingdom of heaven, and
the kingdom of God, being the same, as is clear out of
several places of the evangelists ; and both signifying the
kingdom of the Messiah. The profession which John
the Baptist made, when sent to the jews, John i. 19, was,
that " he was not the Messiah;" but that Jesus was.
This will appear to any one, who will compare ver*
as delivered in the Scriptures. 31
26 34, with John iii. 27, 30. The jews being very
inquisitive to know, whether John were the Messiah ; he
positively denies it ; but tells them, he was only his fore
runner ; and that there stood one amongst them, who
would follow him, whose shoe-latchet he was not worthy
to untie. The next day, seeing Jesus, he says, he was
the man ; and that his own baptizing in water was only
that Jesus might be manifested to the world ; and that
he knew him not, till he saw the Holy Ghost descend
upon him : he that sent him to baptize, having told
him, that he on whom he should see the Spirit descend,
and rest upon, he it was that should baptize with the
Holy Ghost ; and that therefore he witnessed, that " this
" was the Son of God," ver. 34, i. e. the Messiah ; and,
chap. iii. 26, &c. they come to John the Baptist, and
tell him, that Jesus baptized, and that all men went to
him. John answers, He has his authority from heaven ;
you know I never said, I was the Messiah, but that I
was sent before him. He must increase, but I must de
crease ; for God hath sent him, and he speaks the words
of God ; and God hath given all things into the hands
of his Son, " And he that believes on the Son, hath
" eternal life;" the same doctrine, and nothing else but
what was preached by the apostles afterwards : as we
have seen all through the Acts, v. g. that Jesus was the
Messiah. And thus it w r as, that John bears witness of
our Saviour, as Jesus himself says, John v. 33.
This also was the declaration given of him at his
baptism, by a voice from heaven : " This is my be-
" loved Son in whom I am well pleased." Matt. iii. 17.
Which was a declaration of him to be the Messiah, the
Son of God being (as we have showed) understood to
signify the Messiah. To which we may add the first
mention of him after his conception, in the words of
the angel to Joseph, Matt. i. 21. " Thou shalt call
" his name Jesus," or Saviour ; " for he shall save
" his people from their sins." It was a received doc
trine in the Jewish nation, that at the coming of the
Messiah, all their sins should be forgiven them. These
words, therefore, of the angel, we may look upon as a
declaration, that Jesus was the Messiah; whereof these
32 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
words, " his people," are a farther mark : which sup
pose him to have a people, and consequently to be a
king.
After his baptism, Jesus himself enters upon his mi
nistry. But, before we examine what it was he pro
posed to be believed, we must observe, that there is a
threefold declaration of the Messiah.
1. By miracles. The spirit of prophecy had now for
many ages forsaken the jews ; and, though their com
monwealth were not quite dissolved, but that they lived
under their own laws, yet they were under a foreign
dominion, subject to the Romans. In this state their
account of the time being up, they were in expectation
of the Messiah, and of deliverance by him in a kingdom
he was to set up, according to their ancient prophecies
of him : which gave them hopes of an extraordinary
man yet to come from God, who, with an extraordinary
and divine power, and miracles, should evidence his
mission, and work their deliverance. And, of any such
extraordinary person, who should have the power of
doing miracles, they had no other expectation, but only
of their Messiah. One great prophet and worker of
miracles, and only one more, they expected ; who was to
be the Messiah. And therefore we see the people jus
tified their believing in him, i. e. their believing him
to be the Messiah, because of the miracles he did ; John
vii. 41. " And many of the people believed in him,
" and said, When the Messiah cometh, will he do more
" miracles, than this man hath done ? " And when the
jews, at the feast of dedication, John x. 24, 25, com
ing about him, said unto him, " How long dost thou
" make us doubt? If thou be the Messiah, tell us
" plainly; Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye
" believed not ; the works that I do in my Father s
" name bear witness of me." And, John v. 36, he
says, " I have a greater witness than that of John ; for
" the works, which the Father hath given me to do,
" the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that
" the Father hath sent me/ Where, by the way, we
may observe,, that his being " sent by the Father," is
but another way of expressing the Messiah ; which is
as delivered in the Scriptures. 33
evident from this place here, John v. compared with
that of John x. last quoted. For there he says, that his
works bear witness of him : And what was that witness?
viz. That he was " the Messiah." Here again he says,
that his works bear witness of him : And what is that
witness? viz. " That the Father sent him." By which
we are taught, that to be sent by the Father, and to be
the Messiah, was the same thing, in his way of declar
ing himself. And accordingly we find, John iv. 53, and
xi. 45, and elsewhere, many hearkened and assented to
his testimony, and believed on him, seeing the things
that he did.
2. Another way of declaring the coming of the Mes*
siah, was by phrases and circumlocutions, that did sig
nify or intimate his coming; though not in direct
words pointing out the person. The most usual of these
were, "The kingdom of God, and of heaven ;" because
it was that which was often spoken of the Messiah, in
the Old Testament, in very plain words : and a king
dom was that which the jews most looked after and
wished for. In that known place, Isa. ix. " The GO-
" VERNMENT shall be upon his shoulders; he shall be
" called the PRINCE of peace : of the increase of his
" GOVERNMENT and peace there shall be no end ; upon
" the THRONE of David, and upon his KINGDOM, to
" order it, and to establish it with judgment, and with
" justice, from henceforth even for ever." Micah v. 2,
" But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be lit-
" tie among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee
" shall he come forth unto me, that is to be the RULER
" in Israel." And Daniel, besides that he calls him
" Messiah the PRINCE," chap. ix. 25, in the account
of his vision " of the Son of man," chap. vii. 13, 14,
says, " There was given him dominion, glory, and a
" KINGDOM, that all people, nations, and languages
" should serve him : his dominion is an everlasting do-
" minion, which shall not pass away; and his KING-
" DOM that which shall not be destroyed." So that the
kingdom of God, and the kingdom of heaven, were
common phrases amongst the jews, to signify the times
of the Messiah, Luke xiv. 15, " One of the jews that
p
34 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" sat at meat with him, said unto him, Blessed is he
" that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." Chap,
xvii. 20, The pharisees demanded, " when the king-
" dom of God should come?" And St. John Baptist
" came, saying, Repent ; for the kingdom of heaven is
" at hand ; " a phrase he would not have used in preach
ing, had it not been understood.
There are other expressions that signified the Mes
siah, and his coming, which we shall take notice of, as
they come in our way.
3. By plain and direct words, declaring the doctrine
of the Messiah, speaking out that Jesus was he ; as we
see the apostles did, when they went about preaching
the gospel, after our Saviour s resurrection. This was
the open clear way, and that which one would think
the Messiah himself, when he came, should have taken ;
especially, if it were of that moment, that upon men s
believing him to be the Messiah depended the forgive
ness of their sins. And yet we see, that our Saviour
did not : but on the contrary, for the most part, made
no other discovery of himself, at least in Judea, and at
the beginning of his ministry, but in the two former
ways, which were more obscure ; not declaring himself
to be the Messiah, any otherwise than as it might be
gathered from the miracles he did, and the conformity
of his life and actions with the prophecies of the Old
Testament concerning him : and from some general dis
courses of the kingdom of the Messiah being come, un
der the name of the " kingdom of God, and of hea-
" ven." Nay, so far was he from publicly owning
himself to be the Messiah, that he forbid the doing of
it : Mark viii. 27- 30. " He asked his disciples,
" Whom do men say that I am ? And they answered}
" John the Baptist ; but some say Elias ; and others,
" one of the prophets." (So that it is evident, that even
those, who believed him an extraordinary person, knew
not yet who he was, or that he gave himself out for the
Messiah ; though this was in the third year of his mi
nistry, and not a year before his death.) " And he saith
" unto them, But whom say ye that 1 am ? And Peter
u answered and said unto him, Thou art the Messiah.
as delivered in the Scriptures. 35
" And he charged them, that they should tell no man
" of him." Luke iv. 41. " And devils came out of
" many, crying, Thou art the Messiah, the Son of
" God : and he, rebuking them, suffered them not to
" speak, that they knew him to be the Messiah."
Mark iii. 11, 12. " Unclean spirits, when they saw
" him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou
" art the Son of God : and he straitly charged them,
" that they should not make him known/ Here again
we may observe, from the comparing of the two texts,
that " Thou art the Son of God," or, " Thou art the
" Messiah," were indifferently used for the same thing.
But to return to the matter in hand.
This concealment of himself will seem strange, in
one who was come to bring light into the world, and
was to suffer death for the testimony of the truth. This
reservedness will be thought to look, as if he had a
mind to conceal himself, and not to be known to the
world for the Messiah, nor to be believed on as such.
But we shall be of another mind, and conclude this pro
ceeding of his according to divine wisdom, and suited
to a fuller manifestation and evidence of his being the
Messiah ; when we consider that he was to fill out the
time foretold of his ministry ; and after a life illustrious
in miracles and good works, attended with humility,
meekness, patience., and sufferings, and every way con
formable to the prophecies of him ; should be led as a
sheep to the slaughter, and with all quiet and submission
be brought to the cross, though there were no guilt,
nor fault found in him. This could not have been, if,
as soon as he appeared in public, and began to preach,
he had presently professed himself to have been the
Messiah ; the king that owned that kingdom, he pub
lished to be at hand. For the sanhedrim would then
have laid hold on it, to have got him into their power,
and thereby have taken away his life ; at least they
would have disturbed his ministry, and hindered the
work he was about. That this made him cautious, and
avoid, as much as he could, the occasions of provoking
them and falling into their hands, is plain from John
vii. 1. " After these things Jesus walked in Galilee ; "
D 2
36 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
out of the way of the chief priests and rulers ; " for
" he would not walk in Jewry, because the jews sought
" to kill him." Thus, making good what he foretold
them at Jerusalem, when, at the first passover after his
beginning to preach the gospel, upon his curing the
man at the pool of Bethesda, they sought to kill him,
John v. 16, " Ye have not," says he, ver. 38, " his
" word abiding amongst you ; for whom he hath sent,
" him ye believe not/ This was spoken more particu
larly to the jews of Jerusalem, who were the forward
men, zealous to take away his life : and it imports,
that, because of their unbelief and opposition to him,
the word of God, i. e. the preaching of the kingdom of
the Messiah, which is often called " the word of God,"
did not stay amongst them, he could not stay amongst
them, preach and explain to them the kingdom of the
Messiah.
That the word of God, here, signifies " the word of
" God," that should make Jesus known to them to be
the Messiah, is evident from the context : and this
meaning of this place is made good by the event. For,
after this, we hear no more of Jesus at Jerusalem, till
the pentecost come twelvemonth ; though it is not to
be doubted, but that he was there the next passover,
and other feasts between ; but privately. And now at
Jerusalem, at the feast of pentecost, near fifteen months
after, he says little of any thing, and not a word of the
kingdom of heaven being come, or at hand ; nor did he
any miracle there. And returning to Jerusalem at the
feast of tabernacles, it is plain, that from this time till
then, which was a year and a half, he had not taught
them at Jerusalem.
For, 1. it is said, John vii. 2, 15, That, he teach
ing in the temple at the feast of tabernacles, " the jews
" marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters,
" having never learned ? " A sign they had not been
used to his preaching : for, if they had, they would not
now have marvelled,
2. Ver. 19, He says thus to them : " Did not Moses
" give you the law, and yet none of you keep the law ?
" Why go ye about to kill me ? One work," or mira-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 37
cle, " I did here amongst you, and ye all marvel.
" Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, and ye
" on the sabbath-day circumcise a man : if a man on
" the sabbath-day receive circumcision, that the law of
" Moses should not be broken, are ye angry with me,
" because I have made a man every way whole on the
" sabbath-day ? " Which is a direct defence of what h j
did at Jerusalem, a year and a half before the work h^
here speaks of. We find he had not preached to them
there, from that time to this ; but had made good what
he had told them, ver. 38, " Ye have not the word of
" God remaining among you, because whom he hath
" sent ye believe not." Whereby, I think, he signifies
his not staying, and being frequent amongst them at
Jerusalem, preaching the gospel of the kingdom ; be
cause their great unbelief, opposition, and malice to
him, would not permit it.
This was manifestly so in fact : for the first miracle
he did at Jerusalem, which was at the second passover
after his baptism, brought him in danger of his life.
Hereupon we find he forbore preaching again there,
till the feast of tabernacles, immediately preceding his
last passover : so that till the half a year before his pas
sion, he did but one miracle, and preached but once
publicly at Jerusalem. These trials he made there;
but found their unbelief such, that if he had staid and
persisted to preach the good tidings of the kingdom,
and to show himself by miracles among them, he could
not have had time and freedom to do those works which
his Father had given him to finish, as he says, ver. 36,
of this fifth of St. John.
When, upon the curing of the withered hand on the
sabbath-day, " The pharisees took counsel with the
" herodians, how they might destroy him, Jesus with-
" drew himself, with his disciples, to the sea : and a
" great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from
" Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and
" from beyond Jordan, and they about Tyre and Sidon,
" a great multitude ; when they had heard what great
" things he did, came unto him, and he healed them all,
" and CHAttGEDTHEM,THATTHEYStfOUJJ)NOTMAKE
38 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" HIM KNOWN : that it might he fulfilled which was
" spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying 1 , Behold, my
" servant, whom I have chosen ; my beloved, in whom
" my soul is well pleased : 1 will put my spirit upon
" him, and he shall show judgment to the gentiles.
" He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man
" hear his voice in the streets." Matt. xii. Mark iii.
And, John xi. 47, upon the news of our Saviour s
raising Lazarus from the dead, " The chief priests and
" pharisees convened the sanhedrim, and said, What
" do we ? For this man does many miracles." Ver. 53,
" Then from that day forth they took counsel together
" for to put him to death." Ver. 54, " Jesus therefore
" walked no more openly amongst the jews." His
miracles had now so much declared him to be the Mes
siah, that the jews could no longer bear him, nor he
trust himself amongst them ; " But went thence unto a
" country near to the wilderness, into a city called
" Ephraim ; and there continued with his disciples."
This was but a little before his last passover, as appears
by the following words, ver. 55. " And the jews pass-
" over was nigh at hand/ and he could not, now his
miracles had made him so well known, have been se
cure, the little time that remained, till his hour was
fully come, if he had not, with his wonted and neces
sary caution, withdrawn ; " And walked no more
" openly amongst the jews," till his time (at the next
passover) was fully come ; and then again he appeared
amongst them openly.
Nor would the Romans have suffered him, if he had
gone about preaching, that he was the king whom the
jews expected. Such an accusation would have been
forwardly brought against him by the jews, if they
could have heard it out of his own mouth ; and that had
been his public doctrine to his followers, which was
openly preached by the apostles after his death, when he
appeared no more. And of this they were accused,
Acts xvii. 59. " But the jews, which believed not,
" moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fel-
" lows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and
" set all the city in an uproar, and assaulted the house
as delivered in the Scriptures. 39
" of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
" And when they found them [Paul and Silas] not,
" they drew Jason, and certain brethren, unto the
" rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned
" the world upside down, are corne hither also ; whom
" Jason hath received : and these all do contrary to the
" decrees of Caesar, saying, That there is another king,
" one Jesus. And they troubled the people, and the
" rulers of the city, when they heard these things : and
" when they had taken security of Jason and the other,
" they let them go."
Though the magistrates of the world had no great re
gard to the talk of a king who had suffered death, and
appeared no longer any where ; yet, if our Saviour had
openly declared this of himself in his life time, with a
train of disciples and followers every where owning and
crying him up for their king ; the Roman governors of
Judea could not have forborne to have taken notice of
it, and have made use of their force against him. This
the jews were not mistaken in ; and therefore made
use of it as the strongest accusation, and likeliest to pre
vail with Pilate against him, for the taking away his
life ; it being treason, and an unpardonable offence,
which could not escape death from a Roman deputy,
without the forfeiture of his own life. Thus then they
accuse him to Pilate, Luke xxiii. 2. " We found this
" fellow perverting the nation, forbidding to give tri-
" bute to Caesar, saying, that he himself is a king ;"
or rather " the Messiah, the King."
Our Saviour, indeed, now that his time was come,
(and he in custody, and forsaken of all the world, and
so out of all danger of raising any sedition or dis
turbance,) owns himself to Pilate to be a king ; after
first having told Pilate, John xviii. 36, " That his
" kingdom was not of this world;" and, for a king
dom in another world, Pilate knew that his master at
Rome concerned not himself. But had there been any
the least appearance of truth in the allegations of the
jews, that he had perverted the nation, forbidding to
pay tribute to Caesar, or drawing the people after him,
as their king ; Pilate would not so readily have pro
40 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
nounced him innocent. But we see what he said to his
accusers, Luke xxiii. 13, 14. " Pilate, when he had
" called together the chief priests and the rulers of the
" people, said unto them, You have brought this man
" unto me as one that perverteth the people ; and
" behold, I, having examined him before you, have
" found no fault in this man, touching those things
" whereof you accuse him : no, nor yet Herod, for I
" sent you to him ; and, lo, nothing worthy of death
" is done by him." And therefore, finding a man of
that mean condition, and innocent life, (no mover of
seditions, or disturber of the public peace) without a
friend or a follower, he would have dismissed him, as a
king of no consequence ; as an innocent man, falsely
and maliciously accused by the jews.
How necessary this caution was in our Saviour, to
say or do nothing that might justly offend, or render
him suspected to the Roman governor ; and how glad
the jews would have been to have had any such thing
against him, we may see, Luke xx. 20. The chief
priests and the scribes " watched him, and sent forth
" spies, who should feign themselves just men, that
" might take hold of his words, that so they might
" deliver him unto the power and authority of the
governor." And the very thing wherein they hoped
to- entrap him in this place, was paying tribute to
Caesar; which they afterwards falsely accused him of.
And what would they have done, if he had before them
professed himself to have been the Messiah, their King
and deliverer ?
And here we may observe the wonderful providence
of God, who had so ordered the state of the jews, at
the time when his son was to come into the world, that
though neither their civil constitution nor religious wor
ship were dissolved, yet the power of life and death was
taken from them ; whereby he had an opportunity to
publish " the kingdom of the Messiah ; " that is, his own
royalty, under the name of" the kingdom of God, and of
" heaven;" which the jews well enough understood,
and would certainly have put him to death for, had the
power been in their own hands. But this being no mat-
as delivered in the Scriptures t 41
ter of accusation to the Romans, hindered him not from*
speaking of the " kingdom of heaven," as he did, some
times in reference to his appearing in the world, and
being believed on by particular persons ; sometimes in
reference to the power should be given him by the Fa
ther at his resurrection ; and sometimes in reference to
his coming to judge the world at the last day, in the
full glory and completion of his kingdom. These were
ways of declaring himself, which the jews could lay no
hold on, to bring him in danger with Pontius Pilate, and
get him seized and put to death.
Another reason there was, that hindered him as much
as the former, from professing himself, in express words,
to be the Messiah ; and that was, that the whole nation
of the jews, expecting at this time their Messiah, and
deliverance, by him, from the subjection they were in
to a foreign yoke, the body of the people would cer
tainly, upon his declaring himself to be the Messiah,
their king, have rose up in rebellion, and set him at
the head of them. And indeed, the miracles that he
did, so much disposed them to think him to be the
Messfoh, that, though shrouded under the obscurity of
a mean condition, and a very private simple life ;
though he passed for a Galilean (his birth at Bethle
hem being then concealed), and assumed not to himself
any power or authority, or so much as the name of the
Messiah ; yet he could hardly avoid being set up by a
tumult, and proclaimed their king. So John tells us,
chap. vi. 14, 15, " Then those men, when they had
" seen the miracles that Jesus did, said, This is of a
" truth that prophet that should come into the world.
" When therefore Jesus perceived that they would
" come to take him by force to make him king, he
"departed again into a mountain, himself alone."
This was upon his feeding of five thousand with five
barley loaves and two fishes. So hard was it for him,
doing those miracles which were necessary to testify
his mission, and which often drew great multitudes af
ter him, Matt. iv. 25, to keep the heady and hasty
multitude from such disorder, as would have involved
him in it ; and have disturbed the course, and cut short
42 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
the time of his ministry ; and drawn on him the repu
tation and death of a turbulent, seditious malefactor ;
contrary to the design of his coming, which was, to be
offered up a lamb blameless,, and void of offence ; his
innocence appearing to all the world, even to him that
delivered him up to be crucified. This it would have
been impossible to have avoided, if, in his preaching
every- where, he had openly assumed to himself the title
of their Messiah ; which was all was wanting to set the
people in a flame ; who drawn by his miracles, and the
hopes of finding a Deliverer in so extraordinary a man,
followed him in great numbers. We read every-where
of multitudes, and in Luke xii. 1, of myriads that
were gathered about him. v_This conflux of people,
thus disposed, would not have failed, upon his declaring
himself to be the Messiah, to have made a commotion,
and with force set him up for their King. It is plain,
therefore, from these two reasons, why (though he came
to preach the gospel, and convert the world to a belief
of his being the Messiah ; and though he says so much
of his kingdom, under the title of the kingdom of God,
and the kingdom of heaven) he yet makes it not his bu
siness to persuade them, that he himself is the Messiah,
nor does, in his public preaching, declare himself to
be him. He inculcates to the people, on all occasions,
that the kingdom of God is come : he shows the way of
admittance into this kingdom, viz. repentance and
baptism ; and teaches the laws of it, viz. good life, ac
cording to the strictest rules of virtue and morality.
But who the King was of this kingdom, he leaves to his
miracles to point out, to those who would consider
what he did, and make the right use of it now ; or to
witness to those who should hearken to the apostles
hereafter when they preached it in plain words, and
called upon them to believe it, after his resurrection,
when there should be no longer room to fear, that it
should cause any disturbance in civil societies, and the
governments of the world. ; But he could not declare
himself to be the Messiah, without manifest danger of
tumult and sedition : and the miracles he did declared
it so much, that he was fain often to hide himself, and
a* delivered in the Scriptures. 43
withdraw from the concourse of the people. The leper
that he cured, Mark i, though forbid to say any thing,
yet " blazed it so abroad, that Jesus could no more
" openly enter into the city, but was without in desert
" places," living in retirement, as appears from Luke
v. 16, and there " they came to him from every quar-
" ter." And thus he did more than once.
This being premised, let us take a view of the pro
mulgation of the gospel by our Saviour himself, and see
what it was he taught the world, and required men to
believe.
The first beginning of his ministry, whereby he
showed himself, seems to be at Cana in Galilee, soon
after his baptism ; where he turned water into wine : of
which St. John, chap. ii. 11, says thus: " This begin-
" ning of miracles Jesus made, and manifested his
" glory, and his disciples believed in him." His dis
ciples here believed in him, but we hear not of any
other preaching to them, but by this miracle, whereby
he " manifested his glory," i. e. of being the Messiah,
the Prince. So Nathanael, without any other preach
ing, but only our Saviour s discovering to him, that he
knew him after an extraordinary manner, presently ac
knowledges him to be the Messiah ; crying, " Rabbi,
" thou art the Son of God ; thou art the King of
" Israel."
From hence, staying a few days at Capernaum, he
goes to Jerusalem, to the passover, and there he drives
the traders out of the temple, John ii. 12 15, saying,
" Make not my Father s house a house of merchan-
* dize." Where we see he uses a phrase, which, by
interpretation, signifies that he was the " Son of God,"
though at that time unregarded. Ver. 16, Hereupon
the jews demand, " What sign dost thou show us, since
" thou doest these things?" Jesus answered, " Destroy
" ye this temple, and in three days I will raise it
" again." This is an instance of what way Jesus took
to declare himself: for it is plain, by their reply, the
jews understood him not, nor his disciples neither ; for
it is said, ver. 22, " When, therefore, he was risen
" from the dead, his disciples remembered, that he
44 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" said this to them : and they believed the scripture,
" and the saying of Jesus to them."
This, therefore, we may look on in the beginning, as
a pattern of Christ s preaching, and showing himself to
the jews, which he generally followed afterwards ; viz.
such a manifestation of himself, as every one at present
could not understand ; but yet carried such an evidence
with it, to those who were well disposed now, or would
reflect on it when the whole course of his ministry was
over, as was sufficient clearly to convince them that he
was the Messiah.
The reason of this method used by our Saviour, the
scripture gives us here, at this his first appearing in
public, after his entrance upon his ministry, to be a
rule and light to us in the whole course of it : for the
next verse taking notice, that many believed on him,
" because of his miracles," (which was all the preach
ing they had,) it is said, ver. 24, " But Jesus did not
" commit himself unto them, because he knew all
" men;" i. e. he declared not himself so openly to be
the Messiah, their King, as to put himself into the power
of the jews, by laying himself open to their malice ;
who, he knew, would be so ready to lay hold on it to
accuse him ; for, as the next verse 25, shows, he knew
well enough what was in them. We may here further
observe, that " believing in his name " signifies believ
ing him to be the Messiah. Ver. 22, tells us, That
" many at the passover believed in his name, when they
" saw the miracles that he did." What other faith
could these miracles produce in them who saw them,
but that this was he of whom the scripture spoke, who
was to be their Deliverer?
Whilst he was now at Jerusalem, Nicodemus, a ruler
of the jews, comes to him, John iii. 1 21, to whom he
preaches eternal life by faith in the Messiah, ver. 15 and
17, but in general terms, without naming himself to be
that Messiah, though his whole discourse tends to it.
This is all we hear of our Saviour the first year of his
ministry, but only his baptism, fasting, and temptation
in the beginning of it, and spending the rest of it after
the passover, in Judea with his disciples, baptizing
as delivered in the Scriptures. 45
there. But " when he knew that the pharisees re-
" ported, that he made and baptized more disciples
" than John, he left Judea," and got out of their way
again into Galilee, John iv. 1, 3.
In his way back, by the well of Sichar, he discourses
with the Samaritan woman ; and after having opened to
her the true and spiritual worship which was at hand,
which the woman presently understands of the times of
the Messiah, who was then looked for ; thus she answers,
ver. 25, " I know that the Messiah cometh : when he
" is come, he will tell us all things." Whereupon our
Saviour, though we hear no such thing from him in
Jerusalem or Judea, or to Nicodemus ; yet here, to this
Samaritan woman, he in plain and direct words owns
and declares, that he himself, who talked with her, was
the Messiah, ver. 26.
This would seem very strange, that he should be more
free and open to a Samaritan, than he was to the jews,
were riot the reason plain, from what we have observed
above. He was now out of Judea,, among a people with
whom the jews had no commerce ; ver. 9, who were not
disposed, out of envy, as the jews were, to seek his life,
or to accuse him to the Roman governor, or to make an
insurrection, to set a jew up for their King. What the
consequence was of his discourse with this Samaritan
woman, we have an account, ver. 28, 39 42. " She left
" her water-pot, and went her way into the city, and
" saith to the men, Come, see a man who told me all
" things that ever I did : Is not this the Messiah ? And
" many of the Samaritans of that cityBELiEVED ON HIM
" for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told
" me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were
" come unto him, they besought him, that he would
" tarry with them : and he abode there two days. And
" many more believed, because of his own word ; and
" said unto the woman, Now we believe not because of
" thy saying : for we have heard him ourselves ; and we
" know/ (i.e. are fully persuaded) " that this is indeed
" the Messiah, the Saviour of the world/ By compar
ing ver. 39, with 41 and 42, it is plain, that " believ-
46 The Reasonableness of Christianity*
" ing on him" signifies no more than believing him to
be the Messiah.
From Sichar Jesus goes to Nazareth, the place he was
bred up in ; and there reading in the synagogue a pro
phecy concerning the Messiah, out of the Ixi. of Isaiah,
he tells them, Luke iv. 21, " This day is this scripture
" fulfilled in your ears."
But being in danger of his life at Nazareth, he leaves
it for Capernaum : and then, as St. Matthew informs
us, chap. iv. 17, " He began to preach and say, Re-
" pent ; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. " Or,
as St. Mark has it, chap. i. 14, 15, " Preaching the
" gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time
" is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand ;
" repent ye, and believe the gospel ; " i. e. believe this
good news. This removing to Capernaum, and seating
himself there in the borders of Zabulon and Naphtali,
was, as St. Matthew observes, chap. iv. 13 16, that a
prophecy of Isaiah might be fulfilled. Thus the ac
tions and circumstances of his life answered the prophe
cies, and declared him to .be the Messiah. And by what
St. Mark says in this place, it is manifest, that the
gospel which he preached and required them to believe,
was no other but the good tidings of the coming of the
Messiah, and of his kingdom, the time being now ful
filled.
In his way to Capernaum, being come to Cana, a
nobleman of Capernaum came to him, ver. 47, " And
" besought him that he would come down and heal his
" son ; for he was at the point of death." Ver. 48,
" Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and
" wonders, ye will not believe." Then he returning
homewards, and finding that his son began to " mend
c< at the same hour which Jesus said unto him, Thy son
" liveth; he himself believed, and his whole house,"
ver. 53.
Here this nobleman is by the apostles pronounced to
be a believer. And what does he believe ? Even that
which Jesus complains, ver. 48, " they would not BE-
" LIEVE, except .they saw signs and wonders ; which
as delivered in the Scriptures. 47
could be nothing but what those of Samaria in the same
chapter believed, viz. that he was the Messiah. For we
no- where in the gospel hear of any thing else, that had
been proposed to be believed by them.
Having done miracles, and cured all their sick at
Capernaum, he says, " Let us go to the adjoining towns,
" that I may preach there also ; for therefore came I
" forth," Mark i. 38. Or, as St. Luke has it, chap. iv.
43, he tells the multitude, who would have kept him,
that he might not go from them, " I must evangelize,"
or tell the good tidings of " the kingdom of God to
" other cities also ; for therefore am I sent." And St.
Matthew, chap. iv. 23, tells us how he executed this
commission he was sent on : " And Jesus went about all
" Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching
" the gospel of the kingdom, and curing all diseases."
This then was what he was sent to preach every- where,
viz. the gospel of the kingdom of the Messiah ; and by
the miracles and good he did he let them know who
was the Messiah.
Hence he goes up to Jerusalem, to the second pass-
.over, since the beginning of his ministry. And here,
discoursing to the jews, who sought to kill him upon
occasion of the man whom he had cured carrying his bed
on the sabbath-day, and for making God his Father, he
tells them that he wrought these things by the power
of God, and that he shall do greater things ; for that the
dead shall, at his summons, be raised ; and that he, by
a power committed to him from his Father, shall judge
them ; and that he.is sent by his Father, and that who
ever shall hear his word, and believe in him that sent
him, has eternal life. This though a clear description
of the Messiah, yet we may observe, that here, to the
angry jews, who sought to kill him, he says not a word
of his kingdom, nor so much as names the Messiah ; but
yet that he is the Son of God, and sent from God, he
refers them to the testimony of John the Baptist ; to the
testimony of his own miracles, and of God himself in
the voice from heaven, arid of the scriptures, and of
Moses. He leaves them to learn from these the truth
they were to believe, viz. that he was the Messiah sent
48 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
from God. This you may read more at large, John v.
147.
The next place where we find him preaching, was on
the mount, Matt. v. and Luke vi. This is by much the
longest sermon we have of his, any-where ; and, in all
likelihood, to the greatest auditory : for it appears to have
been to the people gathered to him from Galilee, and
Judea, and Jerusalem, and from beyond Jordan, and
that came out of Idumea, and from Tyre and Sidon,
mentioned Mark iii. 7, 8. and Luke vi. 17. But in this
whole sermon of his, we do not find one word of be
lieving, and therefore no mention of the Messiah, or any
intimation to the people who himself was. The reason
whereof we may gather from Matt. xii. 16, where "Christ
" forbids them to make him known ; " which supposes
them to know already who he was. For that this 12th
chapter of St. Matthew ought to precede the sermon in
the mount, is plain, by comparing it with Mark ii. be
ginning at ver. 13, to Mark iii. 8, and comparing those
chapters of St. Mark with Luke vi. And I desire my
reader, once for all, here to take notice, that I have all
along observed the order of time in our Saviour s preach
ing, and have not, as I think, passed by any of his dis
courses. In this sermon, our Saviour only teaches them
what were the laws of his kingdom, and what they must
do who were admitted into it, of which I shall have oc
casion to speak more at large in another place, being
at present only inquiring what our Saviour proposed as
matter of faith to be believed.
After this, John the Baptist sendsHo him this message,
Luke vii. 19, asking, " Art thou he that should come,
" or do we expect another? " That is, in short, Art thou
the Messiah ? And if thou art, why dost thou let me, thy
forerunner, languish in prison ? Must I expect deliver
ance from any other? To which Jesus returns this an
swer, ver. 22, 23, " Tell John what ye have seen and
" heard ; the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
" cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the
" poor the gospel is preached ; and blessed is he who
" is not offended in me." What it is to be " offended,
" or scandalized in him," we may see by comparing
as delivered in the^ Scriptures. 49
Matt. xiii. 28, and Mark iv. 17, with Luke viii. 13.
For what the two first call " scandalized," the last call
" standing off from, or forsaking," i. e. not receiving
him as the Messiah (vid. Mark vi. 16.) or revolting
from him. Here Jesus refers John, as he did the jews
before, to the testimony of his miracles, to know who
he was ; and this was generally his preaching, whereby
he declared himself to be the Messiah, who was the
only prophet to come, whom the jews had any expec
tation of; nor did they look for any other person to be
sent to them with the power of miracles, but only the
Messiah. His miracles, we see by his answer to John
the Baptist, he thought a sufficient declaration amongst
them, that he was the Messiah. And therefore, upon
his curing the possessed of the devil, the dumb, and
blind, Matt. xii. the people, who saw the miracles, said,
ver. 23, " Is not this the son of David?" As much as
to say, Is not this the Messiah? Whereat the pharisees
being offended, said, " He cast out devils by Beelzebub."
Jesus, showing the falsehood and vanity of their blas
phemy, justifies the conclusion the people made from
this miracle, saying, ver. 28, That his casting out devils
by the Spirit of God, was an evidence that the kingdom
of the Messiah was come.
One thing more there was in the miracles done by
his disciples, which showed him to be the Messiah ; that
they were done in his name. " In the name of Jesus of
" Nazareth, rise up and walk," says St. Peter to the
lame man, whom he cured in the temple, Acts iii. 6.
And how far the power of that name reached, they them
selves seem to wonder, Luke x. 17. " And the seventy
" returned again with joy, saying. Lord, even the devils
" are subject to us in thy name."
From this message from John the Baptist, he takes
occasion to tell the people that John was the forerunner
of the Messiah ; that from the time of John the Baptist
the kingdom of the Messiah began ; to which time all
the prophets and the law pointed, Luke vii. and
Matt. xi.
Luke viii. 1, " Afterwards he went through every
" city and village, preaching and showing the good tid
E
50 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" ings of the kingdom of God." Here we see as every
where, what his preaching was., and consequently what
was to be believed.
Soon after, he preaches from a boat to the people on
the shore. His sermon at large we may read, Matt. xiii.
Mark iv. and Luke viii. But this is very observable,
that this second sermon of his, here, is quite different
from his former in the mount : for that was all so plain
and intelligible, that nothing could be more so ; whereas
this is all so involved in parables, that even the apostles
themselves did not understand it. If we inquire into
the reason of this, we shall possibly have some light,
from the different subjects of these two sermons. There
he preached to the people only morality ; clearing the
precepts of the law from the false glosses which were
received in those days, and setting forth th duties of a
good life in their full obligation and extent, beyond
what the judiciary laws of the Israelites did, or the civil
laws of any country could prescribe, or take notice of.
But here, in this sermon by the sea-side, he speaks of
nothing but the kingdom of the Messiah, which he does
all in parables. One reason whereof St. Matthew gives
us, chap. xiii. 35, " That it might be fulfilled which was
" spoken by the prophets," saying, " I will open my
" mouth in parables, I will utter things that have been
" kept secret from the foundations of the world." An
other reason our Saviour himself gives of it, ver. 11, 12,
" Because to you is given to know the mysteries of the
" kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For
" whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall
" have more abundantly ; but whosoever hath not," i. e.
improves not the talents that he hath, " from him shall
" be taken away even that he hath."
One thing it may not be amiss to observe, that our
Saviour here, in the explication of the first of these pa
rables to his apostles, calls the preaching of the king
dom of the Messiah, simply, " The word," and Luke
viii. 21, "The word of God:" from whence St. Luke,
in the Acts, often mentions it under the name of the
" word," and " the word of God/ as we have else
where observed. To which I shall here add that of Acts
as delivered in the Scriptures. 1
viii. 4, " Therefore they that were scattered abroad,
" went every- where preaching the word ;" which word,
as we have found by examining what they preached all
through their history, was nothing but this, that " Jesus
" was the Messiah :" I mean, this was all the doctrine
they proposed to be believed : for what they taught, as
well as our Saviour, contained a great deal more ; but that
concerned practice, and not belief. And therefore our
Saviour says, in the place before quoted, Luke viii. 21,
" they are my mother and my brethren, who hear the
" word of God, and do it :" obeying the law of the
Messiah their king being no less required, than their
believing that Jesus was the Messiah, the king and de
liverer that was promised them.
Matt. ix. 13, we have an account again of this preach
ing ; what it was, and how : " And Jesus went about all
" the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
" and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing
every sickness and every disease among the people."
He acquainted them, that the kingdom of the Messiah
was come, and left it to his miracles to instruct and con
vince them, that he was the Messiah.
Matt. x. when he sent his apostles abroad, their com
mission to preach we have, ver. 7 5 8, in these words :
" As ye go, preach saying, The kingdom of heaven is
" at hand : heal the sick," &c. All that they had to
preach was, that the kingdom of the Messiah was come.
Whosoever should not receive them, the messengers
of these good tidings, nor hearken to their message, in
curred a heavier doom than Sodom and Gomorrah, at
the day of judgment, ver. 14, 15. But ver. 32, " Who-
" soever shall confess me before men, I will confess
" him before my Father who is in heaven." What
this confessing of Christ is, we may see by comparing
John xii. 42. with ix. 22. " Nevertheless, among the
" chief rulers also many believed on him ; but because
" of the pharisees they did not CONFESS HIM, lest they
" should be put out of the synagogue. And chap. ix.
22, " These words spake his parents, because they feared
" the jews ; for the jews had agreed already, that if any
" man did CONFESS THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH,
E 2
5 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" he should be put out of the synagogue." By which
places it is evident, that to confess him was to confess
that he was the Messiah. From which, give me leave
to observe also, (what I have cleared from other places,
but cannot be too often remarked, because of the differ
ent sense has been put upon that phrase) viz. " that
" believing on, or in him," (for sis avrov is rendered
either way by the English translation,) signifies believing
that he was the Messiah. For many of the rulers (the
text says) " believed on him :" but they durst not con
fess what they believed, " for fear they should be put
" out of the synagogue." Now the offence for which
it was agreed that any one should be put out of the
synagogue, was, if he " did confess, that Jesus was the
" Messiah." Hence we may have a clear understand
ing of that passage of St. Paul to the Romans, where he
tells them positively, what is the faith he preaches, Horn.
x. 8, 9, " That is the word of faith which we preach,
" that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
" Jesus, and believe in thine heart, that God hath raised
" him from the dead, thou shalt be saved;" and that
also of 1 John iv. 14, 15, " We have seen, and do tes-
" tify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of
" the world : whosoever shall confess, that Jesus is the
" Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God."
Where confessing Jesus to be the Son of God, is the
same with confessing him to be the Messiah ; those two
expressions being understood amongst the jews to sig
nify the same thing, as we have shown already.
How calling him the Son of God, came to signify
that he was the Messiah, would not be hard to show.
But it is enough, that it appears plainly, that it was so
used, and had that import among the jews at that time :
which if any one desires to have further evidenced to
him, he may add Matt. xxvi. 63. John vi. 69. and xi.
27. and xx. SI. to those places before occasionally taken
notice of.
As was the apostles commission, such was their per
formance; as we read, Luke xi. 6, "They departed
" and went through the towns, preaching the gospel,
" and healing every-where." Jesus bid them preach,
as delivered in the Scriptures. 53
" saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." And
St. Luke tells us, they went through the towns preach
ing the gospel ; a word which in Saxon answers well
the Greek Euayyg Atoi/, and signifies, as that does, " good
" news." So that what the inspired writers call the
gospel, is nothing but the good tidings, that the Messiah
and his kingdom was come ; and so it is to be under
stood in the New Testament, and so the angel calls it,
" good tidings of great joy," Luke ii. 10, bringing the
first news of our Saviour s birth. And this seems to be
all that his disciples were at that time sent to preach.
So, Luke ix. 59, 60, to him that would have excused
his present attendance, because of burying his father ;
" Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead,
" but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." When
I say, this was all they were to preach, I must be under
stood that this was the faith they preached ; but with it
they joined obedience to the Messiah, whom they re
ceived for their king. So likewise, when he sent out the
seventy, Luke x. their commission was in these words,
ver. 9, " Heal the sick, and say unto them, The king-
" dom of God is come nigh unto you."
After the return of his apostles to him, he sits down
with them on a mountain ; and a great multitude being
gathered about them, St. Luke tells us, chap. ix. 11,
" The people followed him, and he received them, and
" spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed
" them that had need of healing." This was his
preaching to this assembly, which consisted of five
thousand men, besides women and children : all which
great multitude he fed with five loaves and two fishes,
Matt. xiv. 21. And what this miracle wrought upon
them, St. John tells us, chap. vi. 14, 15, " Then these
" men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did,
" said, This is of a truth that prophet that should
" come into the world," i. e. the Messiah. For the
Messiah was the only person that they expected from
God, and this the time they looked for him. And
hence John the Baptist, Matt. xi. 3, styles him, " He
" that should come ;" as in other places, " come from
54 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" God," or " sent from God," are phrases used for
the Messiah.
Here we see our Saviour keep to his usual method of
preaching : he speaks to them of the kingdom of God,
and does miracles ; by which they might understand
him to be the Messiah, whose kingdom he spake of.
And here we have the reason also, why he so much
concealed himself, and forbore to own his being the
Messiah. For what the consequence was, of the mul
titude s but thinking him so, when they were got to
gether, St. John tells us in the very next words: " When
" Jesus then perceived, that they would come and take
" him by force to make him a king, he departed again
" into a mountain himself alone." If they were so
ready to set him up for their king, only because they
gathered from his miracles that he was the Messiah,
whilst he himself said nothing of it : what would not
the people have done, and what would not the scribes
and pharisees have had an opportunity to accuse him
of, if he had openly professed himself to have been the
Messiah, that king they looked for ? But this we have
taken notice of already.
From hence going to Capernaum, whither he was
followed by a- great part of the people, whom he had
the day before so miraculously fed ; he, upon the occa
sion of their following him for the loaves, bids them
seek for the meat that endureth to eternal life : and
thereupon, John vi. 22 69, declares to them his being
sent from the Father ; and that those who believed in
him, should be raised to eternal life : but all this very
much involved in a mixture of allegorical terms of eat
ing, and of bread ; bread of life, which came down
from heaven, &c. Which is all comprehended and
expounded in these short and plain words, ver. 47 and
54, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth
" on me hath everlasting life, and I will raise him up
" at the last day." The sum of all which discourse is,
that he was the Messiah sent from God ; and that those
who believed him to be so, should be raised from the
dead at the last day, to eternal life. These whom he
as delivered in the Scriptures. 55
spoke to here were of those who, the day before, would
by force have made him king ; and therefore it is no
wonder he should speak to them of himself, and his
kingdom and subjects, in obscure and mystical terms ;
and such as should offend those who looked for nothing
but the grandeur of a temporal kingdom in this world,
and the protection and prosperity they had promised
themselves under it. The hopes of such a kingdom,
now that they had found a man that did miracles, and
therefore concluded to be the Deliverer they expected ;
had the day before almost drawn them into an open in
surrection, and involved our Saviour in it. This he
thought fit to put a stop to ; they still following him,
tis like, with the same design. And therefore, though
he here speaks to them of his kingdom, it was in a
way that so plainly baulked their expectation, and
shocked them, that when they found themselves disap
pointed of those vain hopes, and that he talked of their
eating his flesh, and drinking his blood, that they might
have life ; the jews said, ver. 52, " How can this man
" give us his flesh to eat ? And many, even of his dis-
" ciples said, It was an hard saying : Who can hear it?"
And so were scandalized in him, and forsook him, ver.
60, 66. But what the true meaning of this discourse of our
Saviour was, the confession of St. Peter, who understood
it better, and answered for the rest of the apostles, shows:
when Jesus answered him, ver. 67, " Will ye also go
" away?" Then Simon Peter answered him, " Lord, to
" whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal
" life :" i. e. thou teachest us the way to attain eternal
life ; and accordingly, " we believe, and are sure, that
" thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
This was the eating his flesh and drinking his blood,
whereby those who did so had eternal life.
Some time after this, he inquires of his disciples,
Mark viii. 27, who the people took him for ? They tell
ing him, " for John the Baptist," or one of the old
prophets risen from the dead ; he asked, What they
themselves thought ? And here again, Peter answers in
these words, Mark viii. 29, " Thou art the Messiah,"
Luke ix, 20, " The Messiah of God." And Matt,
56 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
xvi. 16, " Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living
" God: * Which expressions, we may hence gather,
amount to the same thing. Whereupon our Saviour
tells Peter, Matt. xvi. 17, 18, That this was such a
truth " as flesh and blood could not reveal to him, but
" only his Father who was in heaven ;" and that this
was the foundation, on which he was " to build his
" church :" by all the parts of which passage it is
more than probable, that he had never yet told his
apostles in direct words, that he was the Messiah ; but
that they had gathered it from his life and miracles.
For which we may imagine to ourselves this probable
reason ; because that, if he had familiarly, and in di
rect terms, talked to his apostles in, private, that he
was the Messiah the Prince, of whose kingdom he
preached so much in public every-where ; Judas,
whom he knew false and treacherous, would have been
readily made use of, to testify against him, in a matter
that would have been really criminal to the Roman go
vernor. This, perhaps, may help to clear to us that
seemingly abrupt reply of our Saviour to his apostles,
John vi. 70, when they confessed him to be the Mes
siah : I will, for the better explaining of it, set down
the passage at large. Peter having said, " We believe
" and are sure that thou art the Messiah, the Son of the
" living God ; Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen
" you twelve, and one of you is JW goAo? ?" This is a
reply, seeming at first sight, nothing to the purpose ;
when yet it is sure all our Saviour s discourses were wise
and pertinent. It seems therefore to me to carry this
sense, to be understood afterwards by the eleven (as
that of destroying the temple, and raising it again in
three days was) when they should reflect on it, after his
being betrayed by Judas : you have confessed, and be
lieve the truth concerning me ; I am the Messiah your
king : but do not wonder at it, that I have never
openly declared it to you ; for amongst you twelve,
whom 1 have chosen to be with me, there is one who is
an informer, or false accuser, (for so the Greek word
signifies, and may, possibly, here be so translated, ra
ther than devil) who, if I had owned myself in plain
as delivered in the Scriptures. 57
words to have been the " Messiah, the king of Israel/
would have betrayed me, and informed against me.
That he was yet cautious of owning himself to his
apostles, positively, to be the Messiah, appears farther
from the manner wherein he tells Peter, ver. 18, that
he will build his church upon that confession of his,
that he was the Messiah : I say unto thee, " Thou art
" Cephas," or a rock, " and upon this rock I will build
" my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
" against it." Words too doubtful to be laid hold on
against him, as a testimony that he professed himself
to be the Messiah ; especially if we join with them the
following words, ver. 19, " And I will give thee the
" keys of the kingdom of heaven, and what thou shalt
" bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven ; and what
" thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven."
Which being said personally to Peter, render the fore- \
going words of our Saviour (wherein he declares the
fundamental article of his church to be the believing
him to be the Messiah) the more obscure and doubtful,
and less liable to be made use of against him ; but yet
such as might afterwards be understood. And for the
same reason, he yet, here again, forbids the apostles to
say that he was the Messiah, ver. 20.
From this time (say the evangelists) " Jesus began to
" show to his disciples," i. e. his apostles, (who are often
called disciples,) " that he must go to Jerusalem, and
" suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and
" scribes ; and be killed, and be raised again the third
" day/ Matt. xvi. 21. These, though all marks of
the Messiah, yet how little understood by the apostles,
or suited to their expectation of the Messiah, appears
from Peter s rebuking him for it in the following words,
Matt. xvi. 22. Peter had twice before owned him to
be the Messiah, and yet he cannot here bear that he
should suffer, and be put to death, and be raised again.
Whereby we may perceive, how little yet Jesus had ex
plained to the apostles what personally concerned him
self. They had been a good while witnesses of his life
and miracles : and thereby being grown into a belief
that he was the Messiah, were, in soi^e degree, prepared
58 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
to receive the particulars that were to fill up that cha
racter, and answer the prophecies concerning- him. This,
from henceforth/ he began to open to them (though in
a way which the jews could not form an accusation out
of;) the time of the accomplishment of all, in his suffer
ings, death, and resurrection, now drawing on. For
this was in the last year of his life : he being to meet the
jews at Jerusalem but once more at the passover, and
then they should have their will upon him : and, there
fore,, he might now begin to be a little more open con
cerning himself: though yet so, as to keep himself out
of the reach of any accusation, that might appear just
or weighty to the Roman deputy.
After his reprimand to Peter, telling him, " That he
" savoured not the things of God, but of man," Mark
viii. 84, he calls the people to him, and prepares those,
who would be his disciples, for suffering, telling them,
ver. 38, " Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my
* words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of
" him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he
" cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy an-
" gels :" and then subjoins, Matt. xvi. 27, 28, two
great and solemn acts, wherein he would show himself
to be the Messiah, the king : " For the Son of man shall
" come in the glory of his Father, with his angels ; and
" then he shall render to every man according to his
" works." This is evidently meant of the glorious ap
pearance of his kingdom, when he shall come to judge
the world at the last day ; described more at large,
Matt. xxv. " When the Son of man shall come in his
" glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
" sit upon the* THRONE of his glory. Then shall the
" KING say to them on his right hand," &c.
But what follows in the place above quoted, Matt,
xvi. 28, " Verily, verily, there be some standing here,
" who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of
" man coming in his kingdom ;" importing that do
minion, which some there should see him exercise over
the nation of the jews ; was so covered, by being an
nexed to the preaching, ver. 27, (where he spoke of the
manifestation and glory of his kingdom, at the day of
as delivered in the Scriptures. 59
judgment,) that though his plain meaning here in ver.
28, be, that the appearance and visible exercise of his
kingly power in his kingdom was so near, that some 4
there should live to see it ; yet if the foregoing words
had not cast a shadow over these latter, but they had
been left plainly to be understood, as they plainly sig
nified ; that he should be a King, and that it was so
near, that some there should see him in his kingdom ;
this might have been laid hold on, and made the matter
of a plausible and seemingly just accusation against him,
by the jews before Pilate. This seems to be the reason
of our Saviour s inverting here the order of the two so
lemn manifestations to the world, of his rule and power ;
thereby perplexing at present his meaning, and securing
himself, as was necessary, from the malice of the jews,
which always lay at catch to entrap him, and accuse
him to the Roman governor ; and would, no doubt, have
been ready to have alleged these words, " Some here
" shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man
" coming in his kingdom," against him, as criminal,
had not their meaning been, by the former verse, per
plexed, and the sense at that time rendered unintelligi
ble, and not applicable by any of his auditors to a sense
that might have been prejudicial to him before Pontius
Pilate. For how well the chief of the jews were dis
posed towards him, St. Luke tells us, chap. xi. 54,
" Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something
" out of his mouth, that they might accuse him ;"
which may be a reason to satisfy us of the seemingly
doubtful and obscure way of speaking, used by our Sa
viour in other places; his circumstances being such,
that without such a prudent carriage and reservedness,
he could not have gone through the work which he came
to do ; nor have performed all the parts of it, in a way
correspondent to the descriptions given of the Messiah ;
and which would be afterwards fully understood to be
long to him, when he had left the world.
After this, Matt. xvii. 10, &c. he, without saying
it in direct words, begins, as it were, to own himself to
his apostles to be the Messiah, by assuring them, that as
60 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
the scribes, according to the prophecy of Malachi,
chap. iv. 5, rightly said, that Elias was to usher in the
Messiah ; so indeed Elias was already come, though the
jews knew him riot, and treated him ill ; whereby " they
" understood that he spoke to them of John the Bap-
" tist," ver. 13. And a little after he somewhat more
plainly intimates, that he is the Messiah, Mark ix. 41,
in these words : " Whosoever shall g ive you a cup of
" water to drink in my name, because ye belong to the
" Messiah." This, as I remember, is the first place
where our Saviour ever mentioned the name of
Messiah ; and the first time that he went so far to
wards the owning, to any of the Jewish nation, himself
to be him.
In his way to Jerusalem, bidding one follow him,
Luke ix. 59, who would first bury his father, ver. 60,
" Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead ;
but go thou and preach the kingdom of God." And
Luke x. 1, sending out the seventy disciples, he says to
them, ver. 9, " Heal the sick, and say, The kingdom
" of God is come nigh unto you." He had nothing
else for these, or for his apostles, or any one, it seems,
to preach, but the good news of the coming of the king
dom of the Messiah. And if any city would not receive
them, he bids them, ver. 10, " Go into the streets of
" the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city,
" which cleaveth on us, do we wipe off against you ;
" notwithstanding, be ye sure of this, that the king-
" dom of God is come nigh unto you." This they were
to take notice of, as that which they should dearly an
swer for, viz. that they had not with faith received the
good tidings of the kingdom of the Messiah.
After this, his brethren say unto him, John vii. 2, 3,
4, (the feast of tabernacles being near,) " Depart hence,
" and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the
" works that thou doest : for there is no man that does
" any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be
" known openly. If thou do these things, show thy-
" self to the world." Here his brethren, which, the
next verse tells us, " did not believe in him," seem to
as delivered in the Scriptures. 61
upbraid him with the inconsistency of his carriage ; as
if he designed to be received for the Messiah, and yet
was afraid to show himself: to whom he justified his
conduct (mentioned ver. 1.) in the folio wing verses, by
telling them, "That the world" (meaning the jews
especially) " hated him, because he testified of it, that
" the works thereof are evil ; and that his timew as
" not yet fully come," wherein to quit his reserve, and
abandon himself freely to their malice and fury. There
fore, though he " went up unto the feast," it was " not
" openly, but, as it were, in secret," ver. 10. And
here, coming into the temple about the middle of the
feast, he justifies his being sent from God ; and that he
had not done any thing against the law, in curing the
man at the pool of Bethesda, John v. 1 16, on the
sabbath-day ; which, though done above a year and a
half before, they made use of as a pretence to destroy
him. But what was the true reason of seeking his life,
appears from what we have in this viith chapter, ver.
25 34, " Then said some of them at Jerusalem, Is not
" this he whom they seek to kill ? But lo, he speaketh
" boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the
" rulers know indeed, that this is the very MESSIAH ?
" Howbeit, we know this man whence he is ; but when
" the Messiah cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.
" Then cried Jesus in the temple, as he taught, Ye
" both know me and ye know whence I am : and I
" am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true,
" whom ye know not. But I know him; for I am
" from him, and he hath sent me. Then they sought
" [an occasion] to take him, but no man laid hands on
" him, because his hour was not yet come. And many
" of the people believed on him, and said, When the
" Messiah cometh, will he do more miracles than these,
" which this man hath done ? The pharisees heard that
" the people murmured such things concerning him ;
" and the pharisees and thief priests sent officers to take
" him. Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while
" am I with you, and then I go to him that sent me :
" ye shall seek me, and not find me ; and where I am,
" there you cannot come. Then said the jews among
62 The Reasonableness of Christianity ,
" themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not
" find him ?" Here we find that the great fault in our
Saviour, and the great provocation to the jews, was his
being taken for the Messiah ; and doing such things as
made the people " believe in him ;" i. e. believe that
he was the Messiah. Here also our Saviour declares, in
words very easy to be understood, at least after his re
surrection, that he was the Messiah : for, if he were
" sent from God," and did his miracles by the Spirit
of God, there could be no doubt but he was the Messiah.
But yet this declaration was in a way that the pharisees
and priests could not lay hold on, to make an accu
sation of, to the disturbance of his ministry, or the
seizure of his person, how much soever they desired it :
for his time was not yet come. The officers they had
sent to apprehend him, charmed with his discourse, re
turned without laying hands on him, ver. 45, 46. And
when the chief priests asked them, " Why they brought
" him not?" They answered, " Never man spake like
" this man." Whereupon the pharisees reply, " Are
" ye also deceived ? Have any of the rulers, or of the
" pharisees, believed on him ? But this people, who
" know not the law, are cursed." This shows what
was meant " by believing on him," viz. believing that
he was the Messiah. For, say they, have any of the
rulers, who are skilled in the law, or of the devout and
learned pharisees, acknowledged him to be the Messiah?
For as for those who in the division among the people
concerning him, say, " That he is the Messiah," they
are ignorant and vile wretches, know nothing of the
scripture, and being accursed, are given up by God,
to be deceived by this impostor, and to take him for
the Messiah. Therefore, notwithstanding their desire
to lay hold on him, he goes on ; and ver. 37, 38, " In
" the last and great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
" cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto
" me and drink : he that believeth on me, as the scrip-
" ture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of
" living water/* And thus he here again declares him
self to be the Messiah ; but in the prophetic style, as
we may see by the next verse of this chapter, and those
as delivered in the Scriptures. 63
places in the Old Testament, that these words of our
Saviour refer to.
In the next chapter, John viii. all that he says con
cerning himself, and what they were to believe, tends
to this, viz. that he was sent from God his Father ; and
that, if they did not believe that he was the Messiah,
they should die in their sins : but this, in a way, as St.
John observes, ver. 27, that they did not well under
stand. But our Saviour himself tells them, ver. 28,
" When ye have lift up the Son of man, then ye shall
* know that I am he."
Going from them, he cures the man born blind,
whom meeting with again, after the jews had questioned
him, and cast him out, John ix. 35 38, " Jesus said
" to him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
" He answered, Who is he, Lord, that I might be-
" lieve on him ? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast
" both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
" And he said, Lord, I believe." Here we see this
man is pronounced a believer, when all that was pro
posed to him to believe, was, that Jesus was " the Son
" of God," which was, as we have already shown, to
believe that he was the Messiah.
In the next chapter, John x. 1 21, he declares the
laying down of his life both for jews and gentiles ;
but in a parable which they understood not, ver.
620.
As he was going to the feast of the dedication, the
pharisees ask him, Luke xvii. 20, " When the king-
" dom of God," i. e. of the Messiah, " should come ?"
He answers, That it should not come with pomp and
observation, and great concourse ; but that it was al
ready begun amongst them. If he had stopt here, the
sense had been so plain, that they could hardly have
mistaken him ; or have doubted, but that he meant,
that the Messiah was already come, and amongst them ;
and so might have been prone to infer, that Jesus took
upon him to be him. But here, as in the place before
taken notice of, subjoining to this future revelation of
himself, both in his coming to execute vengeance on
the jews,, and in his coming to judgment, mixed toge-
64 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
ther, he so involved his sense, that it was not easy to
understand him. And therefore the jews came to him
again in the temple, John x. 23, and said, " How long
" dost thou make us doubt ? If thou be the Christ tell us
" plainly. Jesus answered, I told you, and ye BELIEVED
" not : the works that I do in my Father s name, they
" bear witness of me. But ye BELIEVED not, because
" ye are not of my sheep, as I told you." The BELIEV
ING here, which he accuses them of not doing, is plainly
their not BELIEVING him to be the Messiah, as the fore
going words evince ; and in the same sense it is evidently
meant in the following verses of this chapter.
From hence Jesus going to Bethabara, and thence re
turning into Bethany ; upon Lazarus s death, John xi.
25 27, Jesus said to Martha, " I am the resurrection
" and the life ; he that belie vet h in me, though he were
" dead, yet shall he live ; and whosoever liveth and be-
" lieveth in me shall not die for ever." So I understand
7ro9ai/y] eif rov al&W, answerable to fyg-s-rxi si; TOV alwva, of
the septuagint, Gen. iii. 22, or John vi. 51, which we
read right, in our English translation, " live for ever."
But whether this saying of our Saviour here, can with
truth be translated, " He that liveth and believeth in
" me shall never die," will be apt to be questioned.
But to go on, " Believest thou this ? She said unto him,
" Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Messiah, the
" Son of God, which should come into the world."
This she gives as a full answer to our Saviour s demands ;
this being that faith, which, whoever had, wanted no
more to make them believers.
We may observe farther, in this same story of the
raising of Lazarus, what faith it was our Saviour ex
pected, by what he says, ver. 41, 42, " Father, I thank
" thee, that thou hast heard me ; and I know that thou
" hearest me always. But because of the people who
" stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou
" hast sent me." And what the consequence of it was,
we may see, ver. 45, " Then many of the jews who
" came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus
" did, believed on him ;" which belief was, that he was
" sent from the Father ;" which, in other words, was,
as delivered in the Scriptures. 65
that he was the Messiah. That this is the meaning, in
the evangelists, of the phrase, of " believing on him,"
we have a demonstration in the following words, ver.
47 48, " Then gathered the chief priests and pharisees
" a council, and said, What do we ? For this man does
" many miracles ; and if we let him alone, all men will
" BELIEVE ON HIM." Those who here say, all men
would BELIEVE ON HIM, were the chief priests and pha
risees, his enemies, who sought his life, and therefore
could have no other sense nor thought of this faith in
him, which they spake of; but only the believing him
to be the Messiah : and that that was their meaning, the
adjoining words show : " If we let him alone, all the
" world will believe on him ;" i. e. believe him to be
the Messiah. " And the Romans will come and take
" away both our place and nation." Which reasoning
of theirs was thus grounded : If we stand still, and let
the people " believe on him," i. e. receive him for the
Messiah : they will thereby take him and set him up for
their king, and expect deliverance by him ; which will
draw the Roman arms upon us, to the destruction of us
and our country. The Romans could not be thought to
be at all concerned in any other belief whatsoever, that
the people might have on him. It is therefore plain,
that " believing on him," was, by the writers of the
gospel, understood to mean the " believing him to be
" the Messiah." The sanhedrim therefore, ver. 53, 54,
from that day forth consulted to put him to death.
" Jesus therefore walked not yet" (for so the word m
signifies, and so I think it ought here to be translated)
" boldly," or open-faced, " among the jews," i. e. of
Jerusalem. " En cannot wellhere be translated "no more,"
because, within a very short time after, he appeared
openly at the passover, and by his miracles and speech
declared himself more freely than ever he had done ;
and all the week before his passion, taught daily in the
temple, Matt, xx. 17. Mark. x. 32. Luke xviii. 31, &c.
The meaning of this place seems therefore to be this :
that his time being not yet come, he durst not yet
show himself openly and confidently before the scribes
and pharisees., and those of the sanhedrim at Jerusalem,
*
66 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
who were full of rrialice against him, and had resolved
his death : " But went thence into a country near the
" wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there
" continued with his disciples," to keep himself out of
the way until the passover, " which was nigh at hand,"
ver. 55. In his return thither, he takes the twelve aside,
and tells them before-hand what should happen to him
at Jerusalem, whither they were now going ; and that
all things that are written by the prophets, concerning
the Son of man, should be accomplished ; that he should
be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes : and that they
should condemn him to death and deliver him to the
gentiles ; that he should be mocked, and spit on, and
scourged and put to death ; and the third day he should
rise again. But St. Luke tells us, chap, xviii. 34, That
the apostles " understood none of these things, and this
" saying was hid from them ; neither knew they the
" things which were spoken/ They believed him to
be the Son of God, the Messiah sent from the Father ;
but their notion of the Messiah was the same with the
rest of the jews, that he should be a temporal prince and
deliverer : accordingly we see, Mark x. 35, that, even
in this their last journey with him to Jerusalem, two of
them, James, and John, coming to him, and falling at
his feet, said, " Grant unto us that we may sit one on
" thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy
" glory :" or, as St. Matthew has it, chap. xx. 21, " in
" thy kingdom." That which distinguished them from
the unbelieving jews, was, that they believed Jesus to
be the very Messiah, and so received him as their King
and Lord.
And now, the hour being come that the Son of man
should be glorified, he, without his usual reserve, makes
his public entry into Jerusalem, riding on a young ass !
" As it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion ; behold,
" thy King cometh, sitting on an ass s colt." But
" these things," says St. John, chap. xii. 16, " his dis-
" ciples understood not, at the first; but when Jesus
" was glorified, then remembered they that these things
" were written of him, and that they had done these
" things unto him." Though the apostles believed
as delivered in the Scriptures. 67
him to be the Messiah, yet there were many occurrences
of his life, which they understood not (at the time when
they happened) to be foretold of the Messiah ; which,
after his ascension, they found exactly to quadrate. Thus
according to what was foretold of him, he rode into the
city, " all the people crying-, Hosanna, blessed is the
" King of Israel, that cometh in the name of the Lord."
This was so open a declaration .of his being the Messiah,
that, Luke xix. 39> " Some of the pharisees from among
" the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy dis-
" ciples." But he was so far now from stopping them,
or disowning this their acknowledgment of his being
the Messiah, that he said unto them, " I tell you, that
" if these should hold their peace, the stones would im-
" mediately cry out." And again upon the like occa
sion of their crying, " Hosanna to the Son of David," in
the temple, Matt. xxi. 15, 16, " When the chief priests
" and scribes were sore displeased, and said unto him,
" Hearest thou what they say ? Jesus said unto them,
" Yea ; have ye never read, Out of the mouths of babes
" and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" And now,
ver. 14, 15, "He cures the blind and the lame openly
" in the temple. And when the chief priests and
" scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the
" children crying in the temple, Hosanna, they were
" enraged." One would not think, that after the mul
titude of miracles that our Saviour had now been doing
for above three years together, the curing the lame and
blind should so much move them. But we must re
member, that though his ministry had abounded with
miracles, yet the most of them had been done about
Galilee, and in parts remote from Jerusalem. There is
but one left on record, hitherto done in that city ; and
that had so ill a reception, that they sought his life for
it : as we may read John v. 16. And therefore we hear
not of his being at the next passover, because he was
there only privately, as an ordinary jew : the reason
whereof we may read, John vii. 1, " After these things
" Jesus walked in Galilee ; for he would not walk in
" Jewry, because the jews sought to kill him."
Hence we may guess the reason why St. John omitted
F 2
68 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
the mention of his being at Jerusalem, at the third pass-
over, after his baptism ; probably because he did nothing
memorable there. Indeed when he was at the feast of
tabernacles, immediately preceding this his last pass-
over, he cured the man born blind : but it appears not to
have been done in Jerusalem itself, but in the way, as he
retired to the mount of Olives ; for there seems to have
been nobody by when he did it, but his apostles. Com
pare ver. 2. with ver. 8, 10, of John ix. This, at least,
is remarkable, that neither the cure of this blind man,
nor that of the other infirm man, at the passover, above
a twelve-month before, at Jerusalem, was done in the
sight of the scribes, pharisees, chief priests, or rulers.
Nor was it without reason, that in the former part of his
ministry, he was catitious of showing himself to them to
be the Messiah. But now, that he was come to the last
scene of his life, and that the passover was come, the ap
pointed time, wherein he was to complete the work he
came for, in his death and resurrection, he does many
things in Jerusalem itself before the face of the scribes,
pharisees, and whole body of the Jewish nation, to ma
nifest himself to be the Messiah. And, as St. Luke says,
chap. xix. 47, 48, " he taught daily in the temple : but
" the chief priests, and the scribes, and the chief of the
" people, sought to destroy him ; and could not find
" what they might do ; for all the people were very at-
" tentive to hear him." What he taught we are left to
guess, by what we have found him constantly preach
ing elsewhere : but St. Luke tells us, chap. xx. 1, " He
" taught in the temple, and evangelized;" or, as we
translate it, " preached the gospel;" which, as we have
showed, was the making known to them the good news
of the kingdom of the Messiah. And this we shall find
he did, in what now remains of his history.
In the first discourse of his, which we find upon re
cord, after this, John xii. 20, &c. he foretels his cru
cifixion, and the belief of all sorts, both jews and gen
tiles, on him after that. Whereupon the people say to
him, ver. 34, " We have heard out of the law, that the
" Messiah abideth for ever : and how sayest thou, that
<e the Son of man must be lifted up ? Who is this Son
as delivered in the Scriptures. 69
" of man?" In his answer, he plainly designs himself
under the name of Light ; which was what he had de
clared himself to them to be, the last time that they
had seen him in Jerusalem. For then at the feast of
tabernacles, but six months before, he tells them in the
very place where he now is, viz. in the temple, " I am
" the Light of the world ; whosoever follows me shall
" not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life ;"
as we may read, John viii. 12. And ix. 5, he says, "As
" long as I am in the world, I am the LIGHT of the
" world." But neither here, nor any- where else, does
he, even in these four or five last days of his life, (though
he knew his hour was come, and was prepared to his
death, ver. 27, and scrupled not to manifest himself to
the rulers of the jews to be the Messiah, by doing mi
racles before them in the temple,) ever once in direct
words own himself to the jews to be the Messiah ; though
by miracles and other ways he did every-where make it
known unto them, so that it might be understood.
This could not be without some reason ; and the pre-
servation_ jof .his life, which he came now to Jerusalem
on purpose to lay down, could not be it. What other
could it then be, but the same which liad made him use
caution in the former part of his ministry ; so to con
duct himself, that he might do the work which he came
for, and in all parts answer the character given of the
Messiah, in the law and the prophets ? He had fulfilled
the time of his ministry ; and now taught and did
miracles openly in the temple, before the rulers and
the people, not fearing to be seized. But he would
not be seized for any thing that might make him a
criminal to the government : and therefore he avoided
giving those, who, in the division that was about him,
inclined towards him, occasion of tumult for his sake :
or to the jews, his enemies, matter of just accusation,
against him, out of his own mouth, by professing him
self to be the Messiah, the King of Israel, in direct
words. It was enough that by words and deeds he de
clared it so to them, that they could not but under
stand him ; which it is plain they did, Luke xx. 16, 19.
Matt. xxi. 45. But yet neither his actions, which were
70 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
only doing of good ; nor words, which were mystical
and parabolical (as we may see, Matt. xxi. and xxii,
and the parallel places of Matthew and Luke;) nor
any of his ways of making himself known to be the
Messiah ; could be brought in testimony, or urged
against him, as opposite or dangerous to the govern
ment. This preserved him from being condemned as a
malefactor; and procured him a testimony from the
Roman governor, his judge, that he was an innocent
man, sacrificed to the envy of the Jewish nation. So
that he avoided saying that he was the Messiah, that to
those who would call to mind his life and death, after
his resurrection, he might the more clearly appear to be
so. It is farther to be remarked, that though he often
appeals to the testimony of his miracles, who he is, yet
he never tells the jews, that he was born at Bethlehem,
to remove the prejudice that lay against him, whilst he
passed for a Galilean, and which was urged as a proof
that he was riot the Messiah, John vii. 41, 42. The
healing of the sick, and doing good miraculously, could
be no crime in him, nor accusation against him. But
the naming of Bethlehem for his birth-place might have
wrought as much upon the mind of Pilate, as it did on
Herod s ; and have raised a suspicion in Pilate, as pre
judicial to our Saviour s innocence as Herod was to the
children born there. His pretending to be born at Beth
lehem, as it was liable to be explained by the jews
could not have failed to have met with a sinister inter
pretation in the Roman governor, and have rendered
Jesus suspected of some criminal design against the go
vernment. And hence we see, that when Pilate asked
him, John xix. 9, " Whence art thou ? Jesus gave him
no answer."
Whether our Saviour had not an eye to this straitness,
this narrow room that was left to his conduct, between
the new converts and the captious jews, when He says,
Luke xii. 50, " I have a baptism to be baptized with,
" and TTW? a-vvixopai, how am I straitened until it be ac-
" complished!" I leave to be considered. " I am
" come to send fire on the earth," says our Saviour,
" and what if it be already kindled?" i. e. There be-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 71
gin already to be divisions about me, John vii. 12, 43,
and ix. J6, and x. 19. And I have not the freedom,
the latitude, to declare myself openly to be the Messiah ;
though I am he, that must not be spoken on, until af
ter my death. My way to my throne is closely hedged
in on every side, and much straitened ; within which I
must keep, until it bring me to my cross in its due
time and manner ; so that it do not cut short the time,
nor cross the end of my ministry.
And therefore, to keep up this inoffensive character,
and not to let it come within the reach of accident or
calumny, he withdrew, with his apostles, out of the
town, every evening ; and kept himself retired out of
the way, Luke xxi. 37. " And in the day-time he was
" teaching in the temple, and every night he went out
* e and abode in the mount, that is called the Mount of
" Olives/ that he might avoid all concourse to him in
the night, and give no occasion of disturbance, or sus
picion of himself, in that great conflux of the whole na
tion of the jews, now assembled in Jerusalem at the
passover.
But to return to his preaching in the temple : he bids
them, John xii. 36, " To believe in the Light, whilst
" they have it." And he tells them, ver. 46, " I am
* 6 the Light come into the world, that every one who
" believes in me, should not remain in darkness;"
which believing in him, was the believing him to be
the Messiah, as I have elsewhere showed.
The next day, Matt, xxi, he rebukes them for not
having believed John the Baptist, who had testified that
he was the Messiah. And then, in a parable, declares
himself to be the " Son of God," whom they should de
stroy ; and that for it God would take away the king
dom of the Messiah from them, and give it to the gen
tiles. That they understood him thus, is plain from.
Luke xxi. 16, " And when they heard it, they said,
" God forbid." And ver. 19, " For they knew that
" he had spoken this parable against them."
Much to the same purpose was his next parable,
concern ng " the kingdom of heaven," Matt. xxi.
1 10. That the jews not accepting of the kingdom
72 The Reasonableness of Christianity ,
of the Messiah, to whom it was first offered, other
should be brought in.
The scribes and pharisees and chief priests, not able
to bear the declaration he made of himself to be the
Messiah (by his discourses and miracles before them,
/^Trpoo-Ofv auroJv, John xii. 37, which he had never done
before) impatient of his preaching and miracles, and
being not able otherwise to stop the increase of his fol
lowers, (for, " said the pharisees among themselves,
" Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing ? Behold, the
" world is gone after him,") John xii. 19. So that
" the chief priests, and the scribes, and the chief of the
" people sought to destroy him," the first day of his
entrance into Jerusalem, Luke xix. 47. The next day
again, they were intent upon the same thing, Mark xi.
17, 18, " And he taught in the temple ; and the scribes
* and the chief priests heard it, and sought how they
" might destroy him ; for they feared him, because all
" the people were astonished at his doctrine."
The next day but one, upon his telling them the
kingdom of the Messiah should be taken from them,
" The chief priests and scribes sought to lay hands on
" him the same hour, and they feared the people,"
Luke xx. 19." If they had so great a desire to lay hold
on him, why did they not ? They were the chief priests
and the rulers, the men of power. The reason St. Luke
plainly tells us in the next verse : " And they watched
" him, and sent forth spies, who should feign them-
" selves just men, that they might take hold of his
" words, that so they might deliver him unto the
" power and authority of the governor." They wanted
matter of accusation against him, to the power they were
under ; that they watched for, and that they would have
been glad of, if they could have " entangled him in his
" talk;" as St. Matthew expresses it, chap. xxii. 15.
If they could have laid hold on any word, that had
dropt from him, that they might have rendered him
guilty, or suspected to the Roman governor; that would
have served their turn, to have laid hold upon him, with
hopes to destroy him. For their power not answering
their malice, they could not put him to death by their
as delivered in the Scriptures. 73
own authority, without the permission and assistance of
the governor ; as they confess, John xviii. 31, " It is
" not lawful for us to put any man to death." This
made them so earnest for a declaration in direct words,
from his own mouth, that he was the Messiah. It was
not that they would more have believed in him, for such
a declaration of himself, than they did for his miracles,
or other ways of making himself known, which it ap
pears they understood well enough. But they wanted
plain direct words, such as might support an accusation,
and be of weight before an heathen judge. This was
the reason why they pressed him to speak out, John x.
24, " Then came the jews round about him, and said
" unto him, How long dost thou hold us in suspense ?
" If thou be the Messiah, tell us PLAINLY, TrappW* ;"
i. e. in direct words : for that St. John uses it in that
sense we may see, chap. xi. 11 14, " Jesus saith to
" them, Lazarus sleepeth. His disciples said, If he
" sleeps, he shall do well. Howbeit, Jesus spake of
" his death ; but they thought he had spoken of taking
" rest in sleep. Then said Jesus to them plainly, wap-
" p c ti<na, Lazarus is dead." Here we see what is meant
by Trapp rxna, PLAIN, direct words, such as express the
same thing without a figure ; and so they would have
had Jesus pronounce himself to be the Messiah. And
the same thing they press again, Matt. xxvi. 6 3, the
high priest adjuring him by the living God, to tell
them whether he were the Messiah the Son of God;
as we shall have occasion to take notice by-and-by.
This we may observe in the whole management of
their design against his life. It turned upon this, that
they wanted and wished for a declaration from him in
direct words, that he was the Messiah ; something from
his own mouth that might offend the Roman power, and
render him criminal to Pilate. In the 21st verse of this
xxth of Luke, " They asked him, saying, Master, we
" know that thou sayest and teachest rightly ; neither
" acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the
" way of God truly. Is it lawful for us to give tribute
" to Caesar, or no ?" By this captious question they
hoped to catch him, which way soever he answered,
74 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
For if he had said they ought to pay tribute to Caesar,
it would be plain he allowed their subjection to the Ro
mans ; and so in effect disowned himself to be their
King and Deliverer; whereby he would have contra
dicted what his carriage and doctrine seemed to aim at,
the opinion that was spread amongst the people, that
he was the Messiah. This would have quashed the
hopes, and destroyed the faith of those that believed on
him ; and have turned the ears and hearts of the people
from him. If on the other side he answered, No, it is
not lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, they had out of
his own mouth wherewithal to condemn him before
Pontius Pilate. But St. Luke tells us, ver. 23, " He
" perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why
" tempt ye me ?" i. e. Why do ye lay snares for me ?
" Ye hypocrites, show me the tribute money ;" so it is,
Matt. xxii. 19, " Whose image and inscription has it ?
" They said Caesar s." He said unto them, " Render
" therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar s, and
u to God the things that are God s." By the wisdom
and caution of which unexpected answer, he defeated
their whole design : " and they could not take hold of
" his words before the people ; and they marvelled at
" his answer j and held their peace." Luke xx. 26.
<( And leaving him, they departed." Matt. xxii. 22.
He having, by this reply (and what he answered to
the sadducees, concerning the resurrection, and to the
lawyer about the first commandment, Mark xii.) an
swered so little to their satisfaction or advantage, they
durst ask him no more questions, any of them. And now,
their mouths being stopped, he himself begins to ques
tion them about the Messiah ; asking the pharisees,
Matt. xxii. 41, " What think ye of the Messiah ? whose
" son is he ? They say unto him, the Son of David."
Wherein though they answered right, yet he shows them
in the following words, that, however they pretended to
be studiers and teachers of the law, yet they understood
not clearly the scriptures concerning the Messiah ; and
thereupon he sharply rebukes their hypocrisy, vanity,
pride, malice, covetousness, and ignorance ; and par
ticularly tells them, ver. 13, " Ye shut up the king-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 75
" dom of heaven against men : for ye neither go in
" yourselves, nor suffer ye them that are entering, to
" go in." Whereby he plainly declares to them, that
the Messiah was come, and his kingdom begun; but
that they refused to believe in him themselves, and
did all they could to hinder others from believing in
him ; as is manifest throughout the New Testament ;
the history whereof sufficiently explains what is meant
here by " the kingdom of heaven," which the scribes
and pharisees would neither go into themselves, nor
suffer others to enter into. And they could not choose
but understand him, though he named not himself in
the case.
Provoked anew by his rebukes, they get presently to
council, Matt. xxvi. 3, 4. " Then assembled together
" the chief priests, and the scribes and the elders of
" the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who
" was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might
" take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him* But they said,
" Not on the feast-day, lest there should be an uproar
" among the people. For they feared the people/
says Luke, chap. xxii. 2.
Having in the night got Jesus into their hands, by
the treachery of Judas, they presently led him away
bound to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Annas,
probably, having examined him, and getting nothing
out of him for his purpose, sends him away to Caiaphas,
John xviii. 24, where the chief priests, the scribes, and
the elders were assembled, Matt. xxvi. 57. John xviii.
13, 19. " The high priest then asked Jesus of his dis-
" ciples, and of his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I
" spake openly to the world : I ever taught in the syna-
" gogue, and in the temple, whither the jews always
" resort, and in secret have I said nothing." A proof
that he had not in private, to his disciples, declared
himself in express words to be the Messiah, the Prince.
But he goes on : " Why askest thou me ?" Ask Judas,
who has been always with me. " Ask them who heard
" me, what I have said unto them ; behold, they know
" what I said." Our Saviour, we see here, warily de
clines, for the reasons above-mentioned, all discourse
of his doctrine* The sanhedrim, Matt, xxvi, 59,
76 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" sought false witness against him :" but when " they
" found none that were sufficient," or came up to the
point they desired, which was to have something against
him to take away his life (for so I think the words
Ira* and trn mean, Mark xiv. 56, 59.) they try again
what they can get out of him himself, concerning his
being the Messiah ; which, if he owned in express words,
they thought they should have enough against him at
the tribunal of the Roman governor, to make him " Ise-
" sae majestatis reum," and to take away his life. They
therefore say to him, Luke xxii. 67. " If thou be the
" Messiah, tell us." Nay, as St. Matthew hath it, the
high priest adjures him by the living God, to tell him
whether he were the Messiah. To which our Saviour
replies, " If I tell you, ye will not believe ; and if I
" also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go."
If I tell you, and prove to you, by the testimony given
me from heaven, and by the works that I have done
among you, you will not believe in me, that I am the
Messiah. Or if I should ask where the Messiah is to be
born, and what state he should come in ; how he should
appear, and other things that you think in me are not
reconcileable with the Messiah ; you will not answer
me, nor let me go, as one that has no pretence to be
the Messiah, and you are not afraid should be received
for such. But yet I tell you, " Hereafter shall the Son
" of man sit on the right hand of the power of God,"
ver. 70. " Then say they all, Art thou then the Son of
" God ? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am."
By which discourse with them, related at large here by
St. Luke, it is plain, that the answer of our Saviour,
set down by St. Matthew, chap. xxvi. 64, in these
words, " Thou hast said ;" and by St. Mark, chap. xiv.
62, in these, " I am ;" is in answer only to this ques
tion, "Art thou then the Son of God?" and not to
that other, " Art thou the Messiah ?" which preceded,
and he had answered to before ; though Matthew and
Mark, contracting the story, set them down together, as
if making but one question, omitting all the interven
ing discourse ; whereas it is plain out of St. Luke, that
they were two distinct questions, to which Jesus gave
two distinct answers. In the first whereof he, accord-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 77
ing to his usual caution, declined saying in plain ex
press words, that he was the Messiah ; though in the
latter he owned himself to be " the Son of God."
Which though they, being jews, understood to signify
the Messiah, yet he knew could be no legal or weighty
accusation against him before a heathen ; and so it
proved. For upon his answering to their question,
" Art thou then the Son of God ? Ye say that I am ;"
they cry out, Luke xxii. 71, " What need we any fur-
" ther witness ? For we ourselves have heard out of his
" own mouth." And so thinking they had enough
against him, they hurry him away to Pilate* Pilate
asking them, John xviii. 29 32, " What accusation
" bring you against this man ? They answered and said,
" If he were not a malefactor we would not have deli-
" vered him up unto thee." Then said Pilate unto
them, " Take ye him, and judge him according to your
" law." But this would not serve their turn, who aimed
at his life, and would be satisfied with nothing else.
" The jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for
" us to put any man to death." And this was also,
" That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which
" he spake, signifying what death he should die." Pur
suing therefore their design of making him appear, to
Pontius Pilate, guilty of treason against Caesar, Luke
xxiii. 2, " They began to accuse him, saying, We
" found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbid-
" ding to give tribute to Caesar ; saying, that he him-
" self is the Messiah, the King ;" all which were infe
rences of theirs, from his saying, he was " the Son of
" God :" which Pontius Pilate finding (for it is conso
nant that he examined them to the precise words he had
said), their accusation had no weight with him. How
ever, the name of king being suggested against Jesus,
he thought himself concerned to search it to the bot
tom, John xviii. 33 37. " Then Pilate entered again
" into the judgment-hall, and called Jesus, and said
" unto him, Art thou the king of the jews ? Jesus an-
" svvered him, Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others
" tell it thee of me ? Pilate answered, Am 1 a jew ?
(< Thine own nation and the chief priests have deli-
78 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" vered thee unto me : what hast thou done ? Jesus an-
" swered, My kingdom is not of this world : if my king-
" dom were of this world, then would my servants
" fight, that I should not be delivered to the jews ;
" but now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate there-
" fore said unto him. Art thou a king then ? Jesus an-
" swered, Thou sayest that I am a king. For this end
" was I born, and for this cause came I into the world,
" that I should bear witness to the truth : every one
" that is of the truth heareth my voice." In this dia
logue between our Saviour and Pilate, we may observe,
1. That being asked, Whether he were " The king of
the jews ?" he answered so, that though he deny it not,
yet he avoids giving the least umbrage, that he had
any design upon the government. For, though he al
lows himself to be a king, yet, to obviate any suspicion,
he tells Pilate, " his kingdom is not of this world ;"
and evidences it by this, that if he had pretended to any
title to that country, his followers, which were not
a few, and were forward enough to believe him their
king, would have fought for him, if he had had a mind
to set himself up by force, or his kingdom were so to
be erected. " But my kingdom," says he, " is not
from hence," is not of this fashion, or of this place.
, 2. Pilate being, by his words and circumstances, sa
tisfied that he laid no claim to his province, or meant
any disturbance of the government; was yet a little
surprised to hear a man in that poor garb, without re
tinue, or so much as a servant, or a friend, own himself
to be a king ; and therefore asks him, with some kind
of wonder, " Art thou a king then?"
3. That our Saviour declares, that his great business
into the world was, to testify and make good this great
truth, that he was a king ; i. e. in other words, that he
was the Messiah.
4. That whoever were followers of truth, and got
into the way of truth and happiness, received this doc
trine concerning him, viz. That he was the Messiah,
their King.
Pilate being thus satisfied that he neither meant, nor
could there arise, any harm from his pretence, what-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 79
ever it was, to be a king; tells the jews, ver. 31, " I
" find no fault in this man." But the jews were the
more fierce, Luke xxiii. 5. saying, " He stirreth up the
" people to sedition, by his preaching through all
" Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place. * And
then Pilate, learning that he was of Galilee, Herod s
jurisdiction, sent him to Herod ; to whom also " the
" chief priests and scribes," ver. 10, " vehemently ac-
" cused him." Herod, finding all their accusations
either false or frivolous, thought our Saviour a bare ob
ject of contempt; arid so turning him only into ridi
cule, sent him back to Pilate : who, calling unto him
the chief priests, and the rulers, and the people, ver.
14, " Said unto them, Ye have brought this man unto
" me, as one that perverteth the people ; and behold, I
" having examined him before you, have found no
" fault in this man, touching these things whereof ye
" accuse him ; no, nor yet Herod ; for I sent you to
" him : and lo, nothing worthy of death is done by
" him." And therefore he would have released him :
" For he knew the chief priests had delivered him
" through envy," Mark xv. 10. And when they de
manded Barabbas to be released, but as for Jesus, cried,
" Crucify him ;" Luke xxiii. 9/2 ; " Pilate said unto
" them the third time, Why ? What evil hath he done ?
" I have found no cause of death in him ; I will, there-
" fore, chastise him, and let him go.
We may observe, in all this whole prosecution of the
jews, that they would fain have got it out of Jesus s own
mouth, in express words, that he was the Messiah :
which not being able to do, with all their heart and en
deavour ; all the rest that they could allege against him
not amounting to a proof before Pilate, that he claimed
to be king of the jews ; or that he had caused, or
done any thing towards a mutiny or insurrection among
the people (for upon these two, as we see, their whole
charge turned) ; Pilate again and again pronounced him
innocent : for so he did a fourth, and a fifth time ;
bringing him out to them, after he had whipped him,
John xix. 4, 6. And after all, " when Pilate saw that
" he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult
80 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" was made, he took water, and washed his hands be-
" fore the multitude, saying-, I am innocent of the
" blood of this just man : see you to it :" Matt, xxvii.
24. Which gives us a clear reason of the cautious and
wary conduct of our Saviour, in not declaring- himself,
in the whole course of his ministry, so much as to his
disciples, much less to the multitude, or to the rulers
of the jews, in express words, to be the Messiah the
King ; and why he kept himself always in prophetical
or parabolical terms (he and his disciples preaching
only the kingdom of God, i. e. of the Messiah, to be
come), and left to his miracles to declare who he was ;
though this was the truth, which he came into the
world, as he says himself, John xviii. 37, to testify and
which his disciples were to believe.
When Pilate, satisfied of his innocence, would have
released him ; and the jews persisted to cry out, " Cru-
" cify him, crucify him," John xix. 6, " Pilate says
" to them, Take ye him yourselves, and crucify him :
" for I do not find any fault in him." The jews then,
since they could not make him a state criminal, by
alleging his saying, that he was " the Son of God,"
say, by their law it was a capital crime, ver. 7. " The
" jews answered to Pilate, AVe have a law, and by our
" law he ought to die ; because he made himself the
" Son of God," i. e. because, by saying " he is the Son
" of God," he has made himself the Messiah, the pro
phet, which was to come. For we find no other law
but that against false prophets, Deut. xviii. 20, whereby
" making himself the Son of God," deserved death.
After this, Pilate was the more desirous to release him,
ver. 12, 13. " But the jews cried out, saying, If thou
" let this man go, thou art not Caesar s friend ; whoso-
" ever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar."
Here we see the stress of their charge against Jesus ;
whereby they hoped to take away his life, viz. that he
" made himself king." We see also upon what they
grounded this accusation, viz. because he had owned
himself to be " the Son of God." For he had in their
hearing, never made or professed himself to be a king.
We see here, likewise, the reason why they were SQ de-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 81
sirous to draw from his own mouth a confession in express
words, that he was the Messiah ; viz. That they might
have what might be a clear proof that he did so. And,
last of all, we see reason why, though in expressions
which they understood, he owned himself to them to be
the Messiah ; yet he avoided declaring it to them in such
words as might look criminal at Pilate s tribunal. He
owned himself to be the Messiah plainly, to the under
standing of the jews ; but in ways that could not, to the
understanding of Pilate, make it appear that he had laid
claim to the kingdom of Judea ; or went about to make
himself king of that country. But whether his saying
that he was " the Son of God," was criminal by their
law, that Pilate troubled not himself about.
He that considers what Tacitus, Suetonius, Seneca de
benef. 1. 3. c. 26. say of Tiberius and his reign, will
find how necessary it was for our Saviour, if he would
not die as a criminal and a traitor, to take great heed to
his words and actions ; that he did or said not any thing
that might be offensive, or give the least umbrage to
the Roman government. It behoved an innocent man,
who was taken natice of, for something extraordinary in
him, to be very wary under a jealous and cruel prince,
who encouraged informations, and filled his reign with
executions for treason ; under whom, words spoken in
nocently, or in jest, if they could be misconstrued, were
made treason, and prosecuted with a rigour, that made
it always the same thing to be accused and condemned.
And therefore we see, that when the jews told Pilate,
John xix. 12, that he should not be a friend to Caesar,
if he let Jesus go (for that whoever made himself king,
was a rebel against Caesar:) he asks them no more
whether they would take Barabbas, and spare Jesus, but
(though against his conscience) gives him up to death,
to secure his own head.
One thing more there is, that gives us light into this
wise and necessarily cautious management of himself,
which manifestly agrees with it and makes a part of it :
and that is, the choice of his apostles : exactly suited to
the design and foresight of the necessity of keeping the
declaration of the kingdom of the Messiah, which was
G
82 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
now expected, within certain general terms, during his
ministry. It was not fit to open himself too plainly or
forwardly to the heady jews, that he himself was the
Messiah ; that was to be left to the observation of those
who would attend to the purity of his life, the testimony
of his miracles, and the conformity of all with the pre
dictions concerning him : by these marks, those he lived
amongst were to find it out, without an express promul
gation that he was the Messiah until after his death.
His kingdom was to be opened to them by degrees, as
well to prepare them to receive it, as to enable him to
be long enough amongst them, to perform what was the
work of the Messiah to be done ; and fulfil all those
several parts of what was foretold of him in the Old
Testament, and we see applied to him in the New.
The jews had no other thoughts of their Messiah, but
of a mighty temporal prince, that should raise their na
tion into an higher degree of power, dominion, and pro
sperity than ever it had enjoyed. They were filled with
the expectation of a glorious earthly kingdom. It was
not, therefore, for a poor man, the son of a carpenter,
and (as they thought) born in Galilee, to pretend to it.
None of the jews, no, not his disciples, could have
borne this, if .he had expressly avowed this at first, and
began his preaching and the opening of his kingdom this
way, especially if he had added to it, that in a year or
two, he should die an ignominious death upon the cross.
They are therefore prepared for the truth by degrees.
First, John the Baptist tells them, " The kingdom of
" God " (a name by which the jews called the kingdom
of the Messiah) " is at hand." Then our Saviour comes,
and he tells them " of the kingdom of God;" some
times that it is at hand, and upon some occasions, that
it is come ; but says, in his public preaching, little or
nothing of himself. Then come the apostles and evan
gelists after his death, and they, in express words, teach
what his birth, life, and doctrine had done before, and
had prepared the well-disposed to receive, viz. That
" Jesus is the Messiah."
To this design and method of publishing the gospel,
was the choice of the apostles exactly adjusted ; a com-
as delivered in the Scriptures* .; 83
pany of poor, ignorant, illiterate men ; who, as Christ
himself tells us, Matt. xi. 25, and Luke x. 21, were not
of the " wise and prudent " men of the world : they
were, in that respect, but mere children. These, con
vinced by the miracles they saw him daily do, and the
unblameable life he led, might be disposed to believe
him to be the Messiah : and though they, with others,
expected a temporal kingdom on earth, might yet rest
satisfied in the truth of their master (who had honoured
them with being near his person) that it would come,
without being too inquisitive after the time, manner, or
seat of his kingdom, as men of letters, more studied in
their rabbins, or men of business, more versed in the
world, would have been forward to have been. Men,
great or wise in knowledge, or ways of the world, would
hardly have been kept from prying more narrowly into
his design and conduct ; or from questioning him about
the ways and measures he would take, for ascending
the throne ; and what means were to be used towards it,
and when they should in earnest set about it. Abler
men, of higher births or thoughts, would hardly have
been hindered from whispering, at least to their friends
and relations, that their master was the Messiah ; and
that, though he concealed himself to a fit opportunity,
and until things were ripe for it, yet they should, ere
long, see him break out of his obscurity, cast off the
cloud, and declare himself, as he was, Ring of Israel.
But the ignorance and lowness of these good, poor men,
made them of another temper. They went along, in an
implicit trust on him, punctually keeping to his com
mands, and not exceeding his commission. When he
sent them to preach the gospel, he bid them preach
" the kingdom of God " to be at hand ; and that they
did, without being more particular than he had ordered,
or mixing their own prudence with his commands, to
promote the kingdom of the Messiah. They preached
it, without giving, or so much as intimating that their
master was he : which men of another condition, and
an higher education, would scarce have forborne to have
done. When he asked them, who they thought him
G 2
84 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
to be ; and Peter answered, " The Messiah, the Son of
" God/ Matt. xvi. 16, he plainly shows by the follow
ing words, that he himself had not told them so ; and
at the same time, ver. 20. forbids them to tell this their
opinion of him to any body. How obedient they were
to him in this, we may not only conclude from the si
lence of the evangelists concerning any such thing, pub
lished by them any-where before his death ; but from the
exact obedience three of them paid to a like command
of his. He takes Peter, James, and John, into a moun
tain ; and there Moses and Elias coming to him, he is
transfigured before them, Matt. xvii. 9. He charges
them,, saying, " See that ye tell no man what ye have
" seen, until the Son of man shall be risen from the dead."
And St. Luke tells us, what punctual observers they were
of his orders in this case, chap. ix. 36, " They kept it
" close, and told no man in those days, any of those
" things which they had seen."
Whether twelve other men, of quicker parts, and of
a station or breeding, which might have given them any
opinion of themselves, or their own abilities, would have
been so easily kept from meddling, beyond just what was
prescribed them, in a matter they had so much interest
in ; and have said nothing of what they might, in hu
man prudence, have thought would have contributed to
their master s reputation, and made way for his advance
ment to his kingdom ; I leave to be considered. And
it may suggest matter of meditation, whether St. Paul
was not for this reason, by his learning, parts, and
warmer temper, better fitted for an apostle after, than
during our Saviour s ministry : and therefore, though a
chosen vessel, was not by the divine wisdom called, until
after Christ s resurrection.
I offer this only as a subject of magnifying the ad
mirable contrivance of the divine wisdom, in the whole
work of our redemption, as far as we are able to trace
it, by the footsteps which God hath made visible to hu
man reason. For though it be as easy to omnipotent
power to do all things by an immediate over-ruling will,,
and so to make any instruments work, even contrary to
as delivered in the Scriptures. 85
their nature, in subserviency to his ends ; yet his wis
dom is not usually at the expence of miracles, (if I may
so say,) but only in cases that require them, for the evi
dencing of some revelation or mission to be from him.
He does constantly (unless where the confirmation of
some truth requires it otherwise) bring about his pur
poses by means operating according to their natures. If
it were not so, the course and evidence of things would
be confounded, miracles would lose their name and
force ; and there could be no distinction between na
tural and supernatural.
There had been no room left to see and admire the
wisdom, as well as innocence of our Saviour, if he had
rashly every-where exposed himself to the fury of the
jews, and had always been preserved by a miraculous
suspension of their malice, or a miraculous rescuing
him out of their hands. It was enough for him once
to escape from the men of Nazareth, who were going
to throw him down a precipice, for him never to preach
to them again. Our Saviour had multitudes that fol
lowed him for the loaves ; who barely seeing the mira
cles that he did, would have made him king. If to the
tairacles he did, he had openly added, in express words,
that he was the Messiah, and the king they expected
to deliver them, he would have had more followers,
and warmer in the cause, and readier to set him up at
the head of a tumult. These indeed God, by a mira
culous influence, might have hindered from any such
attempt : but then posterity could not have believed,
that the nation of the jews did, at that time, expect
the Messiah, their king and deliverer ; or that Jesus,
who declared himself to be that king and deliverer,
showed any miracles amongst them, to convince them
of it ; or did any thing worthy to make him be cre
dited or received. If he had gone about preaching to
the multitude, which he drew after him, that he was
the " Messiah, the king of Israel," and this had been
evidenced to Pilate ; God could indeed, by a superna
tural influence upon his mind, have made Pilate pro
nounce him innocent, and not condemn him as a male
factor, who had openly for three years together, preached
86 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
sedition to the people, and endeavoured to persuade
them, that he was " the Messiah, their king-," of the
royal blood of David, come to deliver them. But then I
ask, Whether posterity would not either have suspected
the story, or that some art had been used to gain that
testimony from Pilate ? Because he could not (for no
thing) have been so favourable to Jesus, as to be willing
to release so turbulent and seditious a man ; to declare
him innocent, and to cast the blame and guilt of his
death, as unjust, upon the envy of the jews.
But now, the malice of the chief priests, scribes and
pharisees ; the headiness of the mob, animated with
hopes, and raised with miracles ; Judas s treachery, and
Pilate s care of his government, and of the peace of his
province, all working naturally as they should ; Jesus,
by the admirable wariness of his carriage, and an ex
traordinary wisdom, visible in his whole conduct ; wea
thers all these difficulties, does the work he comes for,
uninterruptedly goes about preaching his full appointed
time, sufficiently manifests himself to be the Messiah,
in all the particulars the scriptures had foretold of him ;
and when his hour is come, suffers death : but is ac
knowledged, both by Judas that betrayed, and Pilate
that condemned him, to die innocent. For, to use his
own words, Luke xxiv. 46, " Thus it is written, and thus
" it behoved the Messiah to suffer." And of his whole
conduct we have a reason and clear resolution in those
words to St. Peter, Matt. xxvi. 53, " Thinkest thou
" that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall
" presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ?
" But how then shall the scripture be fulfilled, that thus
" it must be?"
Having this clew to guide us, let us now observe, how
our Saviour s preaching and conduct comported with it
in the last scene of his life. How cautious he had been
in the former part of his ministry,, we have already ob
served. We never find him to use the name of the Mes
siah but once, until he now came to Jerusalem, this last
passover. Before this, his preaching and miracles were
less at Jerusalem) where he used to make but very short
stays) than any-where else. But now he comes six days
as delivered in the Scriptures. 87
before the feast, and is every day in the temple teach
ing; and there publicly heals the blind and the lame,
in the presence of the scribes, pharisees, and chief
priests. The time of his ministry drawing- to an end, and
his hour coming, he cared not how much the chief
priests, elders, rulers, and the sanhedrim, were provoked
against him by his doctrine and miracles : he was as
open and bold in his preaching, and doing the works of
the Messiah now at Jerusalem, and in the sight of the
rulers, and of all the people ; as he had been before
cautious and reserved there, and careful to be little taken
notice of in that place, and not to come in their way
more than needs. All that he now took care of was,
not what they should think of him, or design against
him, (for he knew they would seize him,) but to say or do
nothing that might be a just matter of accusation against
him, or render him criminal to the governor. But, as
for the grandees of the Jewish nation, he spares them
not, but sharply now reprehends their miscarriages
publicly in the temple ; where he calls them more than
once, " hypocrites ;" as is to be seen. Matt, xxiii. And
concludes all with no softer a compellation than " ser-
" pents," and " a generation of vipers."
After this severe reproof of the scribes and pharisees,
being retired with his disciples into the " Mount of
<e Olives " over against the temple, and there foretelling
the destruction of it ; his disciples ask him, Matt. xxiv.
3, &c. " When it should be, and what should be the
" sign of his coming?" He says, to them, " Take heed
" that no man deceive you : for many shall come in my
" name/ (i. e. taking on them the name and dignity of
the Messiah, which is only mine,) saying, " I am the
" Messiah, and shall deceive many." But be not you by
them misled, nor by persecution driven away from this
fundamental truth, that I am the Messiah : " for many
** shall be scandalized," and apostatize ; " but he that
" endures to the end, the same shall be saved : and this
" gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
" world:" i. e. the good news of me, the Messiah, and
my kingdom, shall be spread through the world. This
was the great and only point of belief they were warned
88 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
to stick to ; and this is inculcated again, ver. 23 26,
and Mark xiii. 21 23, with this emphatical application
to them, in both these evangelists, " Behold, I have told
" you beforehand ; remember, you are forewarned."
This was in answer to the apostles inquiry, concern
ing his " coming, and the end of the world," ver. 3.
For so we translate TVS erumXsiW tS aluvog . We must un
derstand the disciples here to put their question, accord
ing to the notion and way of speaking of the jews. For
they had two worlds, as we translate it, o vw alw, xou o
p&Xuv cawi/; " the present world," and the "world to come."
The kingdom of God, as they called it, or the time of the
Messiah, they called o ptxxw ouuv 9 " the world to come,"
which they believed was to put an end to " this world ;"
and that then the just should be raised from the dead, to
enjoy in that " new world" a happy eternity, with those
of the Jewish nation, who should be then living.
These two things, viz. the visible and powerful ap
pearance of his kingdom, and the end of the world,
being confounded in the apostles question, our Saviour
does not separate them, nor distinctly reply to them
apart; but, leaving the inquirers in the common opi
nion, answers at once concerning his coming to take
vengeance on the Jewish nation, and put an end to their
church worship and commonwealth ; which was their
o vuv ouw, " present world," which they counted should
last till the Messiah came ; and so it did, and then had
an end put to it. And to this he joins his last coming
to judgment, in the glory of his Father, to put a final
end to this world, and all the dispensation belonging
to the posterity of Adam upon earth. This joining
them together, made his answer obscure, and hard to be
understood by them then ; nor was it safe for him to
speak plainer of his kingdom, and the destruction of
Jerusalem ; unless he had a mind to be accused for hav
ing designs against the government. For Judas was
amongst them : and whether no other but his apostles
were comprehended under the name of " his disciples,"
who were with him at this time, one cannot determine.
Our Saviour, therefore, speaks of his kingdom in no
other style, but that which he had all along hitherto
as delivered in the Scriptures. 89
used, viz. " the kingdom of God," Luke xxi. 31,
" When you see these things come to pass, know ye
" that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." And
continuing on his discourse with them, he has the same
expression, Matt. xxv. 1, " Then the kingdom of
" heaven shall be like unto ten virgins." At the end of
the following parable of the talents, he adds, ver. 31,
" When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and
" all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon
" the throne of his glory. And before him shall be
" gathered all the nations. And he shall set the sheep
" on his right hand, and the goats on his left. Then
" shall the KING say," &c. Here he describes to his
disciples the appearance of his kingdom, wherein he
will show himself a king in glory upon his throne; but
this in such a way, and so remote, and so unintelligible
to an heathen magistrate ; that, if it had been alleged
against him, it would have seemed rather the dream of
a crazy brain, than the contrivance of an ambitious or
dangerous man, designing against the government : the
way of expressing what he meant, being in the pro
phetic style, which is seldom so plain as to be under
stood, till accomplished. It is plain, that his disciples
themselves comprehended not what kingdom he here
spoke of, from their question to him after his resurrec
tion, " Wilt thou at this time restore again the king-
" dom unto Israel?"
Having finished these discourses, he takes order for
the passover, and eats it with his disciples ; and at sup
per tells them, that one of them should betray him ;
and adds, John xiii. 19, " I tell it you now, before it
" come, that when it is come to pass, you may know
" that I am." He does not say out, " the Messiah;"
Judas should not have that to say against him, if he
would; though that be the sense in which he uses this
expression, iyu ilpi, " I am," more than once. And
that this is the meaning of it, is clear from Mark xii. 6,
Luke xxi. 8. In both which evangelists the words are,
" For many shall come in my name, saying, lyu el pi,
" 1 am ;" the meaning whereof we shall find explained
in the parallel place of St. Matthew, chap. xxiv. 5,
90 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" For many shall come in my name, saying, ty
" o Xptro?j I am the Messiah." Here, in this place of
John xiii. Jesus foretels what should happen to him,
viz. that he should be betrayed by Judas ; adding this
prediction to the many other particulars of his death
and suffering, which he had at other times foretold to
them. And here he tells them the reason of these his
predictions, viz. that afterwards they might be a con
firmation to their faith. And what was it that he would
have them believe, and be confirmed in the belief of?
Nothing but this, on iyu> i\pi o X.girog, " that he was the
" Messiah." The same reason he gives, John xiv. 28,
" You have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and
" come again unto you : and now I have told you, be-
" fore it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, ye
" might believe."
When Judas had left them, and was gone out, he
talks a little freer to them of his glory and his king
dom, than ever he had done before. For now he speaks
plainly of himself, and of his kingdom, John xiii. 31,
" Therefore when he [Judas] was gone out, Jesus said,
" Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is also glo-
" rified in him. And, if God be glorified in him, God
" shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straitway
" glorify him." And Luke xxii. 29, " And I will
" appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath
" appointed unto me ; that ye may eat and drink with
" me at my table, in my kingdom." Though he has
every-where, all along through his ministry, preached
the " gospel of the kingdom," and nothing else but
that and repentance, and the duties of a good life : yet
it has been always " the kingdom of God," and " the
" kingdom of heaven:" and I do not remember, that
" any-where, till now, he uses any such expression, as
" my kingdom." But here now he speaks in the first
person, " I will appoint you a kingdom," and, " in my
" kingdom :" and this we see is only to the eleven, now
Judas was gone from them.
With these eleven, whom he was just now leaving, he
has a long discourse, to comfort them for the loss of
him ; and to prepare them for the persecution of the
as delivered in the Scriptures. 9l
world, and to exhort them to keep his commandments,
and to love one another. And here one may expect all
the articles of faith should be laid down plainly, if any
thing else were required of them to believe, but what
he had taught them, and they believed already, viz.
" That he was the Messiah." John xiv. 1, " Ye be-
" lieve in God, believe also in me." Ver. 29, " I have
" told you before it come to pass, that when it is
" come to pass, ye may believe." It is believing on
him without any thing else. John xvi. 31, " Jesus an-
" swered them. Do ye now believe ? " This was in
answer to their profession, ver. 30, " Now are we sure
" that thou knowest all things, and needest not that
" any man should ask thee : by this we believe that thou
" earnest forth from God."
John xvii. 20, " Neither pray I for these alone, but
" for them also which shall believe on me through their
" word." All that is spoke of believing, in this his
last sermon to them, is only " believing on him," or
believing that " he came from God ; " which was no
other than believing him to be the Messiah.
Indeed, John xiv. 9, our Saviour tells Philip, " He
" that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." And adds,
ver. 10, " Believest thou not that I am in the Father,
" and the Father in me ? The words that I speak unto
" you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwell-
" eth in me, he doth the works." Which being in
answer to Philip s w r ords, ver. 9, " Show us the Father,"
seem to import thus much : " No man hath seen God
" at any time," he is known only by his works. And
that he is my Father, and I the Son of God, i. e. the
Messiah, you may know by the works I have done ;
which it is impossible I could do of myself, but by the
union I have with God my Father. For that by
being " in God," and " God in him," he signifies such
an union with God, that God operates in and by him,
appears not only by the words above cited out of ver. 10
(which can scarce otherwise be made coherent sense),
but also from the same phrase, used again by our Saviour
presently after, ver. 20, " At that day/ viz. after his
resurrection, when they should see him again, "you shall
92 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" know that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I
" in you ; " i. e. by the works that I shall enable you to
do, through a power I have received from the Father :
which whosoever sees me do, must acknowledge the Fa
ther to be in me ; and whosoever sees you do. must ac
knowledge me to be in you. And therefore he says,
ver. 12, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believ-
" eth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, be-
" cause I go unto my Father." Though I go away,
yet I shall be in you, who believe in me ; and ye shall
be enabled to do miracles also, for the carrying on of my
kingdom, as I have done ; that it may be manifested to
others, that you are sent by me, as I have evidenced to
you, that I am sent by the Father. And hence it is
that he says, in the immediately preceding ver. 11,
" Believe me, that I am in the Father, and the Father
" in me ; if not, believe me for the sake of the works
" themselves." Let the works that I have done convince
you, that I am sent by the Father ; that he is with me,
and that I do nothing but by his will ; and by virtue of
the union I have with him ; and that consequently I am
the Messiah, who am anointed, sanctified, and separated
by the Father, to the work for which he sent me.
To confirm. them in this faith, and to enable them to
do such works as he had done, he promises them the
Holy Ghost, John xiv. 25, 26. " These things I have
" said unto you, being yet present with you." But
when I am gone, " The Holy Ghost, the Paraclet,"
(which may signify Monitor, as well as Comforter, or
Advocate,) " which the Father shall send you in my
" name, he shall show you all things, and bring to your
" remembrance all things which I have said." So that
considering all that I have said, and laying it together,
and comparing it with what you shall see come to pass ;
you may be more abundantly assured, that I am the
Messiah ; and fully comprehend, that I have done and
suffered all things foretold of the Messiah, and that
were to be accomplished and fulfilled by him, according
to the scriptures. But be not filled with grief, that I leave
you, John xvi. 7, " It is expedient for you, that I go
" away ; for if I go not away, the Paraclet will not
as delivered in the Scriptures. 93
<tf come unto you." One reason why, if he went not away,
the Holy Ghost could not come, we may gather from
what has been observed,, concerning the prudent and
wary carriage of our Saviour all through his ministry,
that he might not incur death with the least suspicion r
of a malefactor. And therefore, though his disciples
believed him to be the Messiah, yet they neither under
stood it so well, nor were so well confirmed in the belief
of it, as after that, he being crucified and risen again,
they had received the Holy Ghost ; and with the gifts
of the Holy Spirit, a fuller and clearer evidence and
knowledge that he was the Messiah. They then were
enlightened to see how his kingdom was such as the
scriptures foretold ; though not such as they, till then,
had expected. And now this knowledge and assurance,
received from the Holy Ghost, was of use to them after
his resurrection ; when they could now boldly go about,
and openly preach, as they did, that Jesus was the Mes
siah ; confirming that doctrine by the miracles which
the Holy Ghost empowered them to do. But till he
was dead and gone, they could not do this. Their go
ing about openly preaching, as they did after his resur
rection, that Jesus was the Messiah, and doing miracles
every-where, to make it good, would not have consisted
with that character of humility, peace and innocence,
which the Messiah was to sustain, if they had done it
before his crucifixion. For this would have drawn upon
him the condemnation of a malefactor, either as a stirrer
of sedition against the public peace, or as a pretender
to the kingdom of Israel. Hence we see, that they,
who before his death preached only the " gospel of
" the kingdom ; " that " the kingdom of God was at
" hand ; " as soon as they had received the Holy Ghost,
after his resurrection, changed their style, and every
where in express words declare, that Jesus is the Mes
siah, that King which was to come. This, the following
words here in St. John xvi. 8 14, confirm ; where he
goes on to tell them, " And when he is come, he will
" convince the world of sin ; because they believed not
" on me." Your preaching then, accompanied with
miracles, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost, shall be a
94 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
conviction to the world, that the jews sinned in not be
lieving me to be the Messiah. " Of righteousness," or
justice ; " because I go to my Father, and ye see me no
" more." By the same preaching and miracles you shall
confirm the doctrine of my ascension ; and thereby con
vince the world, that I was that just one, who am, there
fore, ascended to the Father into heaven, where no un
just person shall enter. " Of judgment ; because the
" prince of this world is judged." And by the same
assistance of the Holy Ghost ye shall convince the world,
that the devil is judged or condemned by your casting
of him out, and destroying his kingdom, and his wor
ship, where-ever you preach. Our Saviour adds, " I
<e have yet many things to say unto you, but you
" cannot bear them now." They were yet so full of a
temporal kingdom, that they could not bear the dis
covery of what kind of kingdom his was, nor what a
king he was to be : and therefore he leaves them to the
coming of the Holy Ghost, for a farther and fuller dis
covery of himself, and the kingdom of the Messiah ; for
fear they should be scandalized in him, and give up the
hopes they now had in him, and forsake him. This
he tells them, ver. 1, of this xvith chapter: " These
" things I have said unto you, that you may not be
" scandalized." The last thing he had told them^ be
fore his saying this to them, we find in the last verses
of the preceding chapter : " When the Paraclet is come,
" the Spirit of truth, he shall witness concerning me."
He shall show you who I am, and witness it to the
world ; and then, " Ye also shall bear witness, because
* 4 ye have been with me from the beginning." He
shall call to your mind what I have said and done, that
ye may understand it, and know, and bear witness con
cerning me. And again here, John xvi. after he had
told them they could not bear what he had more to say,
he adds, ver. 13, " Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth
" is come, he will guide you into all truth ; and he will
* show you things to come : he shall glorify me." By
the Spirit, when he comes, ye shall be fully instructed
concerning me ; and though you cannot yet, from what
I have said to you, clearly comprehend my kingdom
as delivered in the Scriptures. 95
and glory, yet he shall make it known to you wherein
it consists : and though I am now in a mean state, and
ready to be given up to contempt, torment, and death,
so that ye know not what to think of it ; yet the Spirit,
when he comes, " shall glorify me," and fully satisfy
you of rny power and kingdom ; and that I sit on the
right hand of God, to order all things for the good and
increase of it, till I come again at the last day, in the
fulness of glory.
Accordingly, the apostles had a full and clear sight
and persuasion of this,, after they had received the Holy
Ghost ; and they preached it every-where boldly and
openly, without the least remainder of doubt or uncer
tainty. But that, even so late as this, they understood
not his death and resurrection, is evident from ver. 17,
18, " Then said some of his disciples among themselves,
" What is it that he saith unto us ; A little while, and
" ye shall not see me ; and again, a little while, and ye
" shall see me ; and because I go to the Father ? They
" said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little
" while ? We know not what he saith." Upon which
he goes on to discourse to them of his death and resur
rection, and of the power they should have of doing mi
racles. But all this he declares to them in a mystical
and involved way of speaking : as he tells them himself,
ver. 25, " These things have I spoken to you in pro-
" verbs ; " i. e. in general, obscure, ^enigmatical, or
figurative terms (all which, as well as allusive apolo
gues, the jews called proverbs or parables). Hitherto
my declaring of myself to you hath been obscure, and
with reserve : and I have not spoken of myself to you in
plain and direct words, because ye " could not bear it."
A Messiah, and not a King, you could not understand :
and a King living in poverty and persecution, and dy
ing the death of a slave and malefactor upon a cross ;
you could not put together. And I had told you in
plain words, that I was the Messiah, and given you a
direct commission to preach to others, that I professedly
owned myself to be the Messiah, you and they would
have been ready to have made a commotion, to have set
me upon the throne of my father David, and to fight for
96 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
me; and that your Messiah, your King, in whom are
your hopes of a kingdom, should not be delivered up
into the hands of his enemies, to he put to death ; and
of this Peter will instantly give you a proof. But " the
" time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you
" in parables ; but I shall show unto you plainly of the
" Father." My death and resurrection, and the coming
of the Holy Ghost, will speedily enlighten you, and then
I shall make you know the will and design of my Fa
ther ; what a kingdom I am to have, and by what means,
and to what end, ver. 27. And this the Father himself
will show unto you : " For he loveth you, because ye
" have loved me, and have believed that I came out
" from the Father." Because ye have believed that I
am " the Son of God, the Messiah;" that he hath
anointed and sent me ; though it hath not yet been fully
discovered to you, what kind of kingdom it shall be, nor
by what means brought about. And then our Saviour,
without being asked, explaining to them what he had
said, and making them understand better what before
they stuck at, and complained secretly among them
selves that they understood not ; they thereupon declare,
ver. 30, " Now are we sure that thou knowest all things,
" and needest not that any man should ask thee." It is
plain, thou knowest men s thoughts and doubts before
they ask. " By this we believe that thou earnest forth
" from God. Jesus answered, Do ye now believe?"
Notwithstanding that you now believe, that I came from
God, and am the Messiah, sent by him: " Behold, the
" hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scat-
" tered ;" and as it is Matth. xxvi. 31, and " shall all
" be scandalized in me. 53 What it is to be scandalized
in him, we may see by what followed hereupon, if that
which he says to St. Peter, Mark xiv. did not suffi
ciently explain it.
This I have been the more particular in ; that it may
be seen, that in this last discourse to his disciples (where
he opened himself more than he had hitherto done ; and
where, if any thing more was required to make them
believers than what they already believed, we might
have expected they should have heard of it) there were
as delivered in the Scriptures. 97
no new articles proposed to them, but what they be
lieved before, viz. that he was the Messiah, the Son of
God, sent from the Father ; though of his manner of
proceeding, and his sudden leaving of the world, and
some few particulars, he made them understand some
thing more than they did before. But as to the main
design of the gospel, viz. that he had a kingdom, that
he should be put to death, and rise again, and ascend
into heaven to his Father, and come again in glory to
judge the world ; this he had told them : and so had
acquainted them with the great counsel of God, in send
ing him the Messiah, and omitted nothing that was ne
cessary to be known or believed in it. And so he tells
them himself, John xv. 1,5, " Henceforth I call you
" not servants : for the servant knoweth not what his
" Lord does : but I have called you friends ; for ALL
" THINGS that I have heard of my Father, I have made
" known unto you ; " though perhaps ye do not so
fully comprehend them, as you will shortly, when I am
risen and ascended.
To conclude all, in his prayer, which shuts up this
discourse, he tells the Father, what he had made known
to his apostles ; the result whereof we have John xvii. 8,
" I have given unto them the words which thou gavest
" me, and they have received them, and THEY HAVE
" BELIEVED THAT THOU DIDST SEND ME." Which is,
in effect, that he was the Messiah promised and sent by
God. And then he prays for them, and adds, ver.
20, 21, " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them
" also who shall believe on me through their word."
What that word was, through which others should be
lieve in him, we have seen in the preaching of the apo
stles, all through the history of the Acts, viz. this one
great point, that Jesus was the Messiah. The apostles,
he says, ver. 25, " know that thou hast sent me ; " i. e.
are assured that I am the Messiah. And in ver. 21 and
23, he prays, " That the world may believe" (which,
ver. 23, is called knowing) " that thou has sent me."
So that what Christ would have believed by his disci
ples, we may see by this his last prayer for them, when
H
98 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
he was leaving the world, as by what he preached whilst
he was in it.
And, as a testimony of this, one of his last actions,
even when he was upon the cross, was to confirm his
doctrine, by giving* salvation to one of the thieves that
w r as crucified with him, upon his declaration that he
believed him to be the Messiah : for so much the words
of his request imported, when he said, <: Remember me,
" Lord, when thou comest into thy kingdom," Luke
xxiii. 42. To which Jesus replied, ver. 43, " Verily,
" I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in
" paradise." An expression very remarkable : for as
Adam, by sin, lost paradise, i. e. a state of happy im
mortality ; here the believing thief, through his faith in
Jesus the Messiah, is promised to be put in paradise,
and so re-instated in an happy immortality.
Thus our Saviour ended his life. And what he did
after his resurrection, St. Luke tells us, Acts i. 3, That
he showed himself to the apostles, " forty days, speak-
" ing things concerning the kingdom of God." This
was what our Saviour preached in the whole course of
his ministry, before his passion : and no other mysteries
of faith does he now discover to them after his resurrec
tion. All he says, is concerning the kingdom of God ;
and what it was he said concerning that, we shall see
presently out of the other evangelists ; having first only
taken notice, that when now they asked him, ver. 6,
" Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the king-
" dom of Israel ? He said unto them, ver. 7, It is not
" for you to know the times and the seasons, which the
" Father hath put in his own power : but ye shall re-
* ceive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
" you ; and ye shall be witnesses unto me, unto the
" utmost parts of the earth." (iTheir great business was
to be witnesses to Jesus, of his life, death, resurrection,
and ascension ; which, put together, were undeniable
proofs of his being the Messiah. This was what they
were to preach, and what he said to them, concerning
the kingdom of God ; as will appear by what is record
ed of it in the other evangelists.
as delivered in the Scriptures. 99
When on the day of his resurrection he appeared to
the two going to Emmaus, Luke xxiv. they declare,
ver. 21, what his disciples faith in him was : " But we
" trusted that it had been he that should have redeemed
" Israel : " i. e. we believed that he was the Messiah,
come to deliver the nation of the jews. Upon this,
Jesus tells them they ought to believe him to be the
Messiah, notwithstanding what had happened: nay,
they ought, by his sufferings and death, to be confirmed
in that faith, that he was the Messiah. And ver. 26, 27,
" Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he ex-
" pounded unto them, in all the scriptures, the things
" concerning himself, " how, " that the Messiah ought
" to have suffered these things, and to have entered into
" his glory." Now he applies the prophecies of the
Messiah to himself, which we read not, that he did ever
do before his passion. And afterwards appearing to the
eleven, Luke xxiv. 36, he said unto them,, ver. 44 47,
" These are the words, which I spake unto you, while
" I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled
" which are written in the law of Moses, and in the
" prophets, and in the psalms concerning me. Then
" opened he their understanding, that they might un-
" derstand the scripture, and said unto them : Thus it
" is written, and thus it behoved the Messiah to suffer,
" and to rise from the dead the third day ; and that re-
" pentance and remission of sins should be preached in
" his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
Here we see what it was he had preached to them, though
not in so plain open words before his crucifixion ; and
what it is he now makes them understand ; and what it
was that was to be preached to all nations, viz. That he
was the Messiah that had suffered, and rose from the
dead the third day, and fulfilled all things that were
written in the Old Testament concerning the Messiah ;
and that those who believed this, and repented, should
receive remission of their sins, through this faith in him.
Or, as St. Mark has it, chap. xvi. 15, " Go into all the
" world, and preach the gospel to every creature ; he
" that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved ; but
" he that believeth not, shall be damned/ ver, 16.
H g~
100 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
What the " gospel," or " good news," was, we have
showed already, viz. The happy tidings of the Messiah
being come. Ver. 20, And " they went forth and preached
" every -where, the Lord working with them, and con-
" firming the word with signs following." What the
" word " was which they preached, and the Lord con
firmed with miracles, we have seen already, out of the
history of their Acts. I have already given an account
of their preaching every-where, as it is recorded in the
Acts, except some few places, where the kingdom of
" the Messiah " is mentioned under the name of " the
" kingdom of God ; " which I forbore to set down, till
I had made it plain out of the evangelists, that that was
no other but the kingdom of the Messiah.
It may be seasonable therefore, now, to add to those
sermons we have formerly seen of St. Paul, (wherein he
preached no other article of faith, but that Jesus was
" the Messiah," the King, who being risen from the
dead, now reigneth, and shall more publicly manifest
his kingdom, in judging the world at the last day,) what
farther is left upon record of his preaching. Acts xix.
8, at Ephesus, " Paul went into the synagogues, and
" spake boldly for the space of three months ; disputing
" and persuading, concerning the kingdom of God."
And, Acts xx. 25, at Miletus he thus takes leave of the
elders of Ephesus : "And now, behold, I know that ye
" all, among whom I have gone preaching the king-
" dom of God, shall see my face no more." What this
preaching the kingdom of God was, he tells you,
ver. 20, 21, " I have kept nothing back from you,
66 which was profitable unto you ; but have showed you,
" and have taught you publickly, and from house to
" house ; testifying both to the jews, and to the Greeks,
" repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord
" Jesus Christ." And so again, Acts xxviii. 23, 24,
" When they [the jews at Rome] had appointed him
16 [Paul] a day, there came many to him into his lodg-
" ing ; to whom he expounded and testified the king-
" dom of God ; persuading them concerning Jesus,
" both out of the law of Moses, and out of the pro-
" phets, from morning to evening. And some believed
as delivered in the Scriptures. 101
" the things which were spoken, and some believed not."
And the history of the Acts is concluded with this ac
count of St. Paul s preaching : " And Paul dwelt two
" whole years in his own hired house, and received all
" that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of
" God, and teaching those things which concern the
" Lord Jesus the Messiah." We may therefore here
apply the same conclusion to the history of our Saviour,
writ by the evangelists, and to the history of the apos
tles, writ in the Acts, which St. John does to his own
gospel, chap. xx. 30, 31, " Many other signs did Jesus
" before his disciples ; " and in many other places the
apostles preached the same doctrine, " which are not
" written" in these books ; " but these are written that
" you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son
" of God ; and that believing you may have life in his
name."
What St. John thought necessary and sufficient to be
believed, for the attaining eternal life, he here tells us.
And this not in the first dawning of the gospel ; when,
perhaps, some will be apt to think less was required to
be believed, than after the doctrine of faith, and mys
tery of salvation, was more fully explained, in the
epistles writ by the apostles, for it is to be remembered,
that St. John says this, not as soon as Christ was
ascended ; for these words, with the rest of St. John s
gospel, were not written till many years after not only
the other gospels, and St. Luke s history of the Acts,
but in all appearance, after all the epistles writ by the
other apostles. So that above threescore years after our
Saviour s passion (for so long after, both Epiphanius and
St. Jerom assure us this gospel was written) St. John
knew nothing else required to be believed, for the at- f
taining of life, but that " Jesus is the Messiah, the Son
" of God."
To this, it is likely, it will be objected by some, that
to believe only that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, is
but an historical, and not a justifying, or saving faith.
To which I answer, That I allow to the makers of
systems and their followers to invent and use what dis
tinctions they please, and to call things by what names
102 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
they think fit. But I cannot allow to them, or to any
man, an authority to make a religion for me, or to alter
that which God hath revealed. And if they please to
call the believing that which our Saviour and his apos
tles preached, and proposed alone to be believed, an
historical faith ; they have their liberty. But they must
have a care, how they deny it to be a justifying or saving
faith, when our Saviour and his apostles have declared
it so to be ; and taught no other which men should re
ceive, and whereby they should be made believers unto
eternal life : unless they can so far make bold with our
Saviour, for the sake of their beloved systems,, as to say,
that he forgot what he came into the world for ; and
that he and his apostles did not instruct people right in
the way and mysteries of salvation. For that this is
the sole doctrine pressed and required to be believed
in the whole tenour of our Saviour s and his apostles
preaching, we have showed through the whole history
of the evangelists and the Acts. And I challenge them
to show that there was any other doctrine, upon their
assent to which, or disbelief of it, men were pronounced
believers or unbelievers ; and accordingly received into
the church of Christ, as members of his body ; as far as
mere believing, could make them so : or else kept out
of it. This was the only gospel-article of faith which
was preached to them. And if nothing else was preached
every-where, the apostle s argument will hold against
any other articles of faith to be believed under the gos
pel, Rom. x. 14, " How shall they believe that whereof
" they have not heard ? " For to preach any other doc
trines necessary to be believed, we do not find that any
body was sent.
Perhaps it will farther be urged, that this is not a
" saving faith ; " because such a faith as this the devils
may have, and it was plain they had ; for they believed
and declared " Jesus to be the Messiah." And St. James,
eh. ii. 19, tells us, " The devils believe and tremble ; "
and yet they shall not be saved. To which I answer, 1.
That they could not be saved by any faith, to whom it
was not proposed as a means of salvation, nor ever pro
mised to be counted for righteousness. This was an act
as delivered in the Scriptures* 103
of grace shown only to mankind. ^God dealt so favour
ably with the posterity of Adam, that if they would
believe Jesus to be the Messiah, the promised Ring and
Saviour, and perform what other conditions were re
quired of them by the covenant of grace ; God would
justify them, because of this belief. He would account
this faith to them for righteousness, and look on it as
making up the defects of their obedience ; which being
thus supplied, by what was taken instead of it, they
were looked on as just or righteous ; and so inherited
eternal life. But this favour shown to mankind, was
never offered to the fallen angels. They had no such
proposals made to them : and therefore, whatever of this
kind was proposed to men, it availed not devils, what
ever they performed of it. This covenant of grace was
never offered to them.
2. I answer ; that though the devils believed, yet
they could not be saved by the covenant of grace ; be
cause they performed not the other condition required
in it, altogether as necessary to be performed as this of
believing: and that is repentance. Repentance is as
absolute a condition of the covenant of grace as faith ;
and as necessary to be performed as that. John the
Baptist, who was to prepare the way for the Messiah,
" Preached the baptism of repentance for the remission
" of sins," Mark i. 4.
As John began his preaching with " Repent; for
" the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Mat. iii. & ; so
did our Saviour begin his, Matt. iv. 17, " From that
" time began Jesus to preach, and to say, Repent ; for
" the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Or, as St. Mark
has it in that parallel place, Mark i. 14, 15, " Now,
" after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into
** Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
" and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of
" God is at hand : repent ye, and believe the gospel."
This was not only the beginning of his preaching, but
the sum of all that he did preach ; viz. That men
should repent, and believe the good tidings which he
brought them ; that " the time was fulfilled " for the
coming of the Messiah. And this was what his apostles
104 The Reasonableness of Christianity.
preached, when he sent them out, Mark vi. 12, " And
" they, going out, preached that men should repent."
Believing Jesus to be the Messiah, and repenting, were
so necessary and fundamental parts of the covenant of
grace, that one of them alone is often put for both. For
here St. Mark mentions nothing but their preaching
repentance : as St. Luke, in the parallel place, chap. ix.
6, mentions nothing but their evangelizing, or preach
ing the good news of the kingdom of the Messiah : and
St. Paul often, in his epistles, puts faith for the whole
duty of a Christian. But yet the tenour of the gospel is
what Christ declares, Luke xii. 3, 5, " Unless ye re-
" pent, ye shall all likewise perish." And in the pa
rable of the rich man in hell, delivered by our Saviour,
Luke xvi. repentance alone is the means proposed, of
avoiding that place of torment, ver. 30, 31. And what
the tenour of the doctrine which should be preached to
the world should be, he tells his apostles, after his re
surrection, Luke xxiv. 27, viz. " That repentance and
" remission of sins " should be preached " in his name,"
who was the Messiah. And accordingly, believing Jesus
to be the Messiah, and repenting, was what the apostles
preached. So Peter began, Acts ii. 38, " Repent, and
" be baptized." These two things were required for
the remission of sins, viz. entering themselves in the
kingdom of God; and owning and professing them
selves the subjects of Jesus, whom they believed to be
the Messiah, and received for their Lord and King ; for
that was to be " baptized in his name :" baptism being
an initiating ceremony, known to the jews, whereby
those, who leaving heathenism, and professing a sub
mission to the law of Moses, were received into the
commonwealth of Israel. And so it was made use of
by our Saviour, to be that solemn visible act, whereby
those who believed him to be the Messiah, received him
as their king, and professed obedience to him, were
admitted as subjects into his kingdom : which, in the
gospel, is called " the kingdom of God ; " and in the
Acts and epistles, often by another name, viz. the
Church."
The same St, Peter preaches again to the jews, Acts
as delivered in the Scriptures, 105
iii. 19, " Repent, and be converted, that your sins may
" be blotted out."
What this repentance was which the new covenant
required, as one of the conditions to be performed by
all those who should receive the benefits of that cove
nant ; is plain in the scripture, to be not only a sorrow
for sins past, but (what is a natural consequence of such
sorrow, if it be real) a turning from them into a new
and contrary life. And so they are joined together, Acts
iii. 19, " Repent and turn about;" or, as we render it,
" be converted." And Acts xxvi. 20, " Repent and
" turn to God."
And sometimes " turning about " is put alone to sig
nify repentance, Matt. xiii. 15, Luke xxii. 32, which
in other words is well expressed by " newness of life."
For it being certain that he, who is really sorry for his
sins, and abhors them, will turn from them, and forsake
them ; either of these acts, which have so natural a
connection one with the other, may be, and is often put
for both together. Repentance is an hearty sorrow for
our past misdeeds, and a sincere resolution and endea
vour, to the utmost of our power, to conform all our
actions to the law of God. So that repentance does not
consist in one single act of sorrow, (though that being
the first and leading act gives denomination to the
whole,) but in " doing works meet for repentance ;" in
a sincere obedience to the law of Christ, the remainder
of our lives. This was called for by John the Baptist,
the preacher of repentance, Matt. iii. 8, " Bring forth
" fruits meet for repentance." And by St. Paul here,
Acts xxvi. 20, " Repent and turn to God, and do works
" meet for repentance." There are works to follow
belonging to repentance, as well as sorrow for what is
past.
These two, faith and repentance, i. e. believing Jesus
tol>e the Messiah, and a good life, are the indispensable
conditions of the new covenant, to be performed by all
those who would obtain eternal life. (The reasonable
ness, or rather necessity of which, that we may the
better comprehend, we must a little look back to what
was said in the beginning.
106 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
Adam being the Son of God, and so St. Luke calls
him, chap. iii. 38, had this part also of the likeness and
image of his father, viz. that he was immortal. But
Adam, transgressing the command given him by his
heavenly Father, incurred the penalty ; forfeited that
state of immortality, and became mortal. After this,
Adam begot children : but they were " in his own
" likeness, after his own image ; " mortal, like their
father.
God nevertheless, out of his infinite mercy, willing
to bestow eternal life on mortal men, sends Jesus Christ
into the world ; who being conceived in the womb of a
virgin (that had not known man) by the immediate
power of God, was properly the Son of God ; according
to what the angel declared unto his mother, Luke i.
30 35, " The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
" the power of the Highest shall over-shadow thee :
" therefore also that holy thing, which shall be born of
" thee, shall be called the SON OF GOD." So that be
ing the Son of God, he was like the Father, immortal ;
as he tells us, John v. 26, " As the Father hath life in
" himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in
" himself."
And that immortality is a part of that image, wherein
those (who were the immediate sons of God, so as to
have no other father) were made like their father, ap
pears probable, not only from the places in Genesis
concerning Adam, above taken notice of, but seems to
me also to be intimated in some expressions, concerning
Jesus the Son of God, in the New Testament. Col. i.
15, he is called " the image of the invisible God." In
visible seems put in, to obviate any gross imagina
tion, that he (as images used to do) represented God in
any corporeal or visible resemblance. And there is far
ther subjoined, to lead us into the meaning of it, " The
" first-born of every creature ; " which is farther ex
plained, ver. 18, where he is termed " The first-born
" from the dead ; " thereby making out, and showing
himself to be the image of the invisible ; that death hath
no power over him ; but being the Son of God, and
not having forfeited that sonship by any transgression ;
(is delivered in the Scriptures.
was the heir of eternal life, as Adam should have been,
had he continued in his filial duty. In the same sense
the apostle seems to use the word image in other places,
viz. Rom. viii. 29, " Whom he did foreknow, he also
" did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his >?r
" Son, that he might be the first-born among many H 3
" brethren." This image, to which they were con
formed, seems to be immortality and eternal life : for it
is remarkable, that in both these places, St. Paul speaks
of the resurrection ; and that Christ was " The first-born
" among many brethren ;" he being by birth the Son
of God, and the others only by adoption, as we see in
this same chapter ver. 15 17, " Ye have received the
" Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father;
" the Spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit, that
" we are the children of God. And if children, then
" heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ ; if so be that we
" suffer with him, that we may also be glorified toge-
" ther." And hence we see, that our Saviour vouch
safes to call those, who at the day of judgment are,
through him, entering into eternal life, his brethren ;
Matt. xxv. 40, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
" of the least of these my brethren." May we not in
this find a reason, why God so frequently in the New
Testament, and so seldom, if at all, in the Old, is men
tioned under the single title of THE FATHER? And there
fore our Saviour says, Matt. xi. " No man knoweth the
" Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
" will reveal him." God has now a son again in the
world, the first-born of many brethren, who all now,
by the Spirit of adoption, can say, Abba, Father. And
we, by adoption, being for his sake made his brethren,
and the sons of God, come to share in that inheritance,
which was his natural right; he being by birth the Son
of God : which inheritance is eternal life. And again,
ver. 23, " We groan within ourselves, waiting for the
" adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body ; "
whereby is plainly meant, the change of these frail
mortal bodies, into the spiritual immortal bodies at the
resurrection ; " When this mortal shall have put on
" immortality," 1 Cor. xv. 54 ; which in that chapter,
108 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
ver. 42 44, he farther expresses thus ; " So also is the
" resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption,
" it is raised in incorruption ; it is sown in dishonour,
" it is raised in glory ; it is sown in weakness, it is
" raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised
" a spiritual body," &c. To which he subjoins, ver.
49, " As we have born the image of the earthly," (i. e.
as we have been mortal, like earthy Adam, our father,
from whom we are descended, when he was turned out
of paradise,) " we shall also bear the image of the hea-
" venly ; " into whose sonship and inheritance being
adopted, we shall, at the resurrection, receive that
adoption we expect, " even the redemption of our bo-
* dies ; " and after his image, which is the image of
the Father, become immortal. Hear what he says
himself, Luke xx. 35, 36, " They who shall be ac-
* e counted worthy to obtain that world, and the resur-
" rection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given
" in marriage. Neither can they die any more ; for
" they are equal to the angels, and are the SONS OF
" GOD, being the sons of the resurrection." And he
that shall read St. Paul s arguing, Acts xiii. 32, 33,
will find that the great evidence that Jesus was the
" Son of God," was his resurrection. Then the image
of his Father appeared in him, when he visibly entered
into the state of immortality. For thus the apostle rea
sons, " We preach to you, how that the promise which
" was made to our fathers, God hath fulfilled the same
" unto us, in that he hath raised up Jesus again ; as it
" is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my
" Son, this day have I begotten thee."
This may serve a little to explain the immortality of
the sons of God, who are in this like their Father,
made after his image and likeness. But that our Saviour
was so, he himself farther declares, John x. 18, where
speaking of his life, he says, " No one taketh it from
" me, but I lay it down of myself; I have power to lay
" it down, and I have power to take it up again."
Which he could not have had, if he had been a mortal
man, the son of a man, of the seed of Adam ; or else had
by any transgression forfeited his life. " For the wages
as delivered in the Scriptures. 109
" of sin is death :" and he that hath incurred death for
his own transgression, cannot lay down his life for an
other, as our Saviour professes he did. For he was the
just one, Acts vii. 52, and xxii. 14, " Who knew no
" sin;" 2 Cor.v. 211, " Who did no sin, neither was guile
" found in his mouth." And thus, " As by man came
" death, so by man came the resurrection of the dead.
" For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made
" alive."
For this laying down his life for others, our Saviour
tells us, John x. 17, " Therefore does my Father love
" me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it
" again." And this his obedience and suffering was re-
warded with a kingdom : which he tells us, Luke xxii.
" His Father had appointed unto him:" and which, it is
evident out of the epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xii. 2,
he had a regard to in his sufferings : " Who for the joy
" that was set before him, endured the cross, despising
" the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
" throne of God." Which kingdom, given him upon
this account of his obedience, suffering, and death, he
himself takes notice of in these words, John xvii. 1 4,
" Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father,
" the hour is come: glorify thy Son, that thy Son also
" may glorify thee : as thou hast given him power over
" all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
" as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that
" they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus,
" the Messiah, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified
" thee on earth : I have finished the work which thou
" gavest me to do." And St. Paul, in his epistle to the
Philippians, chap. ii. 8 11, " He humbled himself,
" and became obedient unto death, even the death of
" the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
" him, and given him a name that is above every name ;
" that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
" things in heaven, and things in earth, and things un-
" der the earth ; and that every tongue should confess,
" that Jesus Christ is Lord."
Thus God, we see, designed his Son Jesus Christ
a kingdom, an everlasting kingdom in heaven. But
110 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
though, " as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be
" made alive ; " and all men shall return to life again
at the last day ; yet all men having sinned, and thereby
" come short of the glory of God," as St. Paul assures
us, Rom. iii. 23, i. e. not attaining to the heavenly
kingdom of the Messiah, which is often called the glory
of God ; (as may be seen, Rom. v. 2, and xv. 7 ; and ii.
7; Matt. xvi. 27; Mark vii. 38. For no one who is
unrighteous, i. e. comes short of perfect righteousness,
shall be admitted into the eternal life of that kingdom ;
as is declared, 1 Cor. vi. 9, " The unrighteous shall not
" inherit the kingdom of God ; ") and death, the wages
of sin, being the portion of all those who had trans
gressed the righteous law of God ; the son of God would
in vain have come into the world to lay the founda
tions of a kingdom, and gather together a select people
out of the world, if, (they being found guilty at their
appearance before the judgment-seat of the righteous
Judge of all men at the last day,) instead of entrance
into eternal life in the kingdom he had prepared for
them, they should receive death, the just reward of sin
which every one of them w r as guilty of; this second
death would have left him no subjects ; and instead of
those ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands
of thousands, there would not have been one left him to
sing praises unto his name, saying, " Blessing, and ho-
" nour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth
" on the throne, and unto the lamb for ever and ever."
God therefore, out of his mercy to mankind, and for
the erecting of the kingdom of his Son, and furnishing
it with subjects out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation ; proposed to the children of men,
that as many of them as would believe Jesus his Son
(whom he sent into the world) to be the Messiah, the
promised Deliverer; and would receive him for their
King and Ruler ; should have all their past sins, disobe
dience, and rebellion forgiven them : and if for the fu
ture they lived in a sincere obedience to his law, to
the utmost of their power; the sins of human frailty for
the time to come, as well as all those of their past
lives; should, for his Son s sake, because they gave
as delivered in the Scriptures. Ill
themselves up to him, to be his subjects, be forgiven
them : and so their faith, which made them be bap
tized into his name, (i. e. enrol themselves in the king
dom of Jesus the Messiah, and profess themselves his
subjects, and consequently live by the laws of his king
dom,) should be accounted to them for righteousness ;
i. e. should supply the defects of a scanty obedience in
the sight of God ; who, counting faith to them for righ
teousness, or complete obedience, did thus justify, or
make them just, and thereby capable of eternal life.
Now, that this is the faith for which God of his free
grace justifies smful man, (for "it is God alone that jus-
" tifieth," Rom. viii. 33, Rom. iii. 26,) we have already
showed, by observing through all the history of our Sa
viour and the apostles, recorded in the evangelists, and
in the Acts, what he and his apostles preached, and pro
posed to be believed. We shall show now, that besides
believing him to be the Messiah, their King, it was far
ther required, that those who would have the privilege,
advantage, and deliverance of his kingdom, should enter
themselves into it ; and by baptism being made deni
zens, and solemnly incorporated into that kingdom, live
as became subjects obedient to the laws of it. For if
they believed him to be the Messiah, their King, but
would not obey his laws, and would not have him to
reign over them ; they were but the greater rebels ; and
God would not justify them for a faith that did but in
crease their guilt, and oppose diametrically the king
dom and design of the Messiah ; " Who gave himself
" for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
" purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good
" works," Titus ii. 14. An? therefore St. Paul tells the
Galatians, That that which availeth is faith ; but " faith
" working by love." And that faith without works, i. e.
the works of sincere obedience to the law and will of
Christ, is not sufficient for our justification, St. James
shows at large, chap. ii.
Neither, indeed, could it be otherwise ; for life, eter
nal life, being the reward of justice or righteousness
only, appointed by the righteous God (who is of purer
eyes than to behold iniquity) to those who only had no
112 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
taint or infection of sin upon them, it is impossible that
he should justify those who had no regard to justice at
all whatever they believed. This would have been to
encourage iniquity, contrary to the purity of his na
ture ; and to have condemned that eternal law of right,
which is holy, just, and good; of which no one precept
or rule is abrogated or repealed ; nor indeed can be,
whilst God is an holy, just, and righteous God, and man
a rational creature. The duties of that law, arising from
the constitution of his very nature, are of eternal obliga
tion ; nor can it be taken away or dispensed with,
without changing the nature of things, overturning the
measures of right and wrong, and thereby introducing
and authorizing irregularity, confusion, and disorder in
the world. Christ s coming into the world was not for
such an end as that ; but, on the contrary, to reform the
corrupt state of degenerate man ; and out of those who
would mend their lives, and bring forth fruit meet for
repentance, erect a new kingdom.
This is the law of that kingdom, as well as of all
mankind ; and that law, by which all men shall be
judged at the last day. Only those who have believed
Jesus to be the Messiah, and have taken him to be their
King, with a sincere endeavour after righteousness, in
obeying his law ; shall have their past sins not imputed
to them; and shall have that faith taken instead of
obedience, where frailty and weakness made them
transgress, and sin prevailed after conversion ; in those
who hunger and thirst after righteousness,, (or perfect
obedience,) and do not allow themselves in acts of dis
obedience and rebellion, against the laws of that king
dom they are entered into.
He did not expect, it is true, a perfect obedience, void
of slips and falls : he knew our make, and the weakness
of our constitution too well, and was sent with a supply
for that defect. Besides, perfect obedience was the righ
teousness of the law of works ; and then the reward
would be of debt, and not of grace ; and to such there
was no need of faith to be imputed to them for righ
teousness. They stood upon their own legs, were just
already, and needed no allowance to be made them for
as delivered in the Scriptures. 113
believing Jesus to be the Messiah, taking him for their
king, and becoming his subjects. But that Christ does
require obedience, sincere obedience, is evident from
the law he himself delivers (unless he can be supposed
to give and inculcate laws, only to have them disobey
ed) and from the sentence he will pass when he comes
to judge.
The faith required was, to believe Jesus to be the
Messiah, the Anointed : who had been promised by
God to the world. Among the jews (to whom the pro
mises and prophecies of the Messiah were more imme
diately delivered) anointing was used to three sorts of
persons, at their inauguration ; whereby they were set
apart to three great offices, viz. of priests, prophets, and
kings. Though these three offices be in holy writ at
tributed to our Saviour, yet I do not remember that he
any-where assumes to himself the title of a priest, or
mentions any thing relating to his priesthood ; nor does
he speak of his being a prophet but very sparingly, and
only once or twice, as it were by the by : but the gos
pel, or the good news of the kingdom of the Messiah, is
what he preaches every-where, and makes it his great
business to publish to the world. This he did not only
as most agreeable to the expectation of the jews, who
looked for the Messiah, chiefly as coming in power to
be their king and deliverer : but as it best answered the
chief end of his coming, which was to be a king, and,
as such, to be received by those who would be his sub
jects in the kingdom which he came to erect. And
though he took not directly on himself the title of king,
until he was in custody, and in the hands of Pilate ; yet
it is plain, " King" and " King of Israel," were the
familiar and received titles of the Messiah. See John
i. 50, Luke xix. 38, compared with Matt. xxi. 9 ; and
Mark xi. 9, John xii. 13, Matt. xxi. 5, Luke xxiii. 2,
compared with Matt, xxvii. 11 ; and John xviii. 33 37,
Mark xv. 12, compared with Matt, xxvii. 22, 42.
What those were to do, who believed him to be the
Messiah, and received him for their king, that they
might be admitted to be partakers with him of his
kingdom in glory, we shall best know by the laws he
i
114 The Reasonableness of Christianity 9
gives them, and requires them to obey ; and by the sen
tence which he himself will give, when sitting on his
throne they shall all appear at his tribunal, to receive
every one his doom from the mouth of this righteous
judge of all men.
What he proposed to his followers to be believed, we
have already seen, by examining his and his apostles
preaching, step by step, all through the history of the
four evangelists, and the Acts of the Apostles. The
same method will best arid plainest show us, whether he
required of those who believed him to be the Messiah,
any thing besides that faith, and what it was. For, he
being a king, we shall see by his commands what he
expects from his subjects : for, if he did not expect
obedience to them, his commands would be but mere
mockery ; and if there were no punishment for the
transgressors of them, his laws would not be the laws
of a king, and that authority to command, and power
to chastise the disobedient, but empty talk, without
force, and without influence.
We shall therefore from his injunctions (if any such
there be) see what he has made necessary to be per
formed, by all those who shall be received into eternal
life, in his kingdom prepared in the heavens. And in
this we cannot be deceived. What we have from his
own mouth, especially if repeated over and over again,
in different places and expressions, will be past doubt
and controversy. I shall pass by all that is said by St.
John Baptist, or any other before our Saviour s entry
upon his ministry, and public promulgation of the laws
of his kingdom.
He began his preaching with a command to repent,
as St. Matthew tells us, iv. 17. " From that time Jesus
" began to preach, saying, Repent ; for the kingdom
" of heaven is at hand." And Luke v. 32, he tells the
scribes and pharisees," I come not to call the righteous ;"
(those who were truly so, needed no help, they had a
right to the tree of life), " but sinners, to repentance."
In his sermon, as it is called, in the mount, Luke vi.
and Matt. v. &c. he commands they should be exem
plary in good works : " Let your light so shine amongst
as delivered in the Scriptures. 115
" men, that they may see your good works, and glorify
" your Father which is in heaven," Matt. v. 15. And
that they might know what he came for, and what he
expected of them, he tells them, ver. 17 20, " Think
" not that I am come to dissolve," or loosen, " the law,
" or the prophets : I am not come to dissolve," or loosen,
" but to make it full," or complete ; by giving it you in
its true and strict sense. Here we see he confirms, and at
once re-in forces all the moral precepts in the Old Testa
ment. " For verily I say to you, Till heaven and earth
" pass, one jot or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from
" the law, till all be done. Whosoever therefore shall
" break one of these least commandments, and shall
" teach men so, he shall be called the least (i, e. as it
" is interpreted, shall not be at all) in the kingdom of
" heaven." Ver. 21, " I say unto you, That except
" your righteousness," i. e. your performance of the
eternal law of right, " shall exceed the righteousness
" of the scribes and pharisees, ye shall in no case enter
" into the kingdom of heaven." And then he goes on
to make good what he said, ver. 17, viz, " That he was
" come to complete the law," viz. by giving its full
and clear sense, free from the corrupt and loosening
glosses of the scribes and pharisees, ver. 22 26. He
tells them, That not only murder, but causeless anger,
and so much as words of contempt, were forbidden. He
commands them to be reconciled and kind towards
their adversaries ; and that upon pain of condemnation.
In the following part of his sermon, which is to be read
Luke vi. and more at large, Matt. v. vi. vii. he not
only forbids actual uncleanness, but all irregular desires,
upon pain of hell-fire ; causeless divorces ; swearing in
conversation, as well as forswearing in judgment; re
venge ; retaliation ; ostentation of charity, of devotion,
and of fasting ; repetitions in prayer, covetousness,
worldly care, censoriousness : and on the other side
commands loving our enemies, doing good to those
that hate us, blessing those that curse us, praying for
those that despitefuliy use us ; patience and meekness
under injuries, forgiveness, liberality, compassion : and
closes all; his particular injunctions, with this general
116 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
golden rule, Matt. vii. 12, " All things whatsoever ye
** would that men should do to you, do you even so to
" them, for this is the law and the prophets." And to
show how much he is in earnest, and expects obedience
to these laws, he tells them, Luke vi. 35, That if they
obey, " great shall be their REWARD ;" they " shall be
" called the sons of the Highest." And to all this, in
the conclusion, he adds the solemn sanction ; " Why
" call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things that
" I say ?" It is in vain for you to take me for the Mes
siah your King, unless you obey me. " Not every one
" who calls me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king-
" dom of heaven/ or be the Sons of God ; " but he
" that doth the will of my father which is in heaven."
To such disobedient subjects, though they have prophe
sied and done miracles in my name, I shall say at the day
of judgment, " Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity ;
" I know you not."
When, Matt. xii. he was told, that his mother and
brethren sought to speak with him, ver. 49, " Stretch-
" ing out his hands to his disciples, he said, Behold my
" mother and my brethren ; for whosoever shall do the
" will of my Father, who is in heaven, he is my bro-
" ther, and sister, and mother." They could not be
children of the adoption, and fellow heirs with him of
eternal life, who did not do the will of his heavenly
Father.
Matt. xv. and Mark vi. the pharisees finding fault,
that his disciples eat with unclean hands, he makes this
declaration to his apostles : " Do not ye perceive, that
" whatsoever from without entereth into a man cannot
" defile him, because it entereth not into his heart, but
" his belly? That which cometh out of the man, that
" defileth the man ; for from within, out of the heart of
" men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
" murders, thefts, false witnesses, covetousness, wick-
" edness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy,
" pride, foolishness. All these ill things come from
" within, and defile a man."
He commands self-denial, and the exposing ourselves
to suffering and danger, rather than to deny or disown
as delivered in the Scriptures. 117
him : and this upon pain of losing our souls ; which are
of more worth than all the world. This we may read,
Matt. xvi. 24 27, arid the parallel places, Mark viii.
and Luke ix.
The apostles disputing among them, who should be
greatest in the kingdom of the Messiah, Matt, xviii. 1,
he thus determines the controversy, Mark ix. 35, " If
" any one will be first, let him be last of all, and servant
" of all :" and setting a child before them adds, Matt,
xyiii. 3, " Verily I say unto you, Unless ye turn, and
" become as children, ye shall not enter into the king-
" dom of heaven."
Matth. xviii. 15, " If thy brother shall trespass
" against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee
" and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained
" thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take
" with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two
" or three witnesses every word may be established.
" And if he shall neglect to Jiear them, tell it to the
" church : but if he neglect to hear the church, let him
" be unto thee, as an heathen and publican." Ver. 21,
" Peter said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against
" me and I forgive him ? Till seven times ? Jesus said
" unto him, I say not unto thee, till seven times ; but
" until seventy times seven." And then ends the pa-*
rable of the servant, who being himself forgiven, was
rigorous to his fellow-servant, with these words, ver. 34,
" and his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the
(( tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him.
" So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you,
* if you from your hearts forgive not every one his bro-
" ther their trespasses."
Luke x. 25, to the lawyer, asking him, " What shall
" I do to inherit eternal life ? He said, What is written
" in the law? How readest thou?" He answered,
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
" and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
" with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."
Jesus said, " This do, and thou shalt live." And when
the lawyer, upon our Saviour s parable of the good Sa
maritan, was forced to confess, that he that showed
118 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
mercy was his neighbour ; Jesus dismissed him with this
charge, ver. 37, " Go, and do thou likewise."
Luke xi. 41, " Give alms, of such things as ye have ;
" behold all things are clean unto you."
Luke xii. 15, " Take heed, and beware of covetous-
" ness." Ver. 22, " Be not solicitous what ye shall
** eat, or what ye shall drink, nor what ye shall put
" on ;" be not fearful, or apprehensive of want ; " for
" it is your Father s pleasure to give you a kingdom.
" Sell that you have, and give alms : and provide your-
* selves bags that wax not old, a treasure in the heavens,
" that faileth not : for where your treasure is, there will
" your heart be also. Let your loins be girded, and
" your lights burning ; and ye yourselves like unto men
" that wait for the Lord when he will return. Blessed
" are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh,
" shall find watching. Blessed is that servant, whom
" the Lord having made ruler of his househould, to give
" them their portion of meat in due season, the Lord,
" when he cometh, shall find so doing. Of a truth I
" say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all
" that he hath. But if that servant say in his heart,
** my Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to
" beat the men servants, and maidens, and to eat and
" drink, and to be drunken ; the Lord of that servant
" will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and
" at an hour when he is not aware ; and will cut him
" in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with un-
tf believers. And that servant who knew his lord s
" will, and prepared not himself, neither did according
" to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But
" he that knew not and did commit things worthy of
" stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto
" whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be
" required : and to whom men have committed much,
" of him they will ask the more."
Luke xiv. 11, " Whosoever exalteth himself shall be
" abased : and he that humbleth himself shall be ex-
" alted."
Ver. 12, " When thou makest a dinner, or supper, call
" not thy friends, or thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen,
as delivered in the Scriptures. 119
" nor thy neighbours ; lest they also bid thee again, and
" a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest
" a feast, call the poor, and maimed, the lame and the
" blind ; and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot re-
" compense thee ; for thou shalt be recompensed at the
" resurrection of the just."
Ver. 33, " So likewise, whosoever he be of you, that
" is not ready to forego all that he hath, he cannot be
" my disciple." *vi
Luke xiv. 9, " I say unto you, make to yourselves
" friends of the mammon of unrighteousness : that when
" ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habi-
" tations. If ye have not been faithful in the unrighte-
u ous mammon, who will commit to your trust the
" true riches ? And if ye have not been faithful in that
" which is another man s, who shall give you that
" which is your own ?"
Luke xvii. 3, "If thy brother trespass against thee,
" rebuke him ; and if he repent forgive him. And
" if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and
" seven times in a day turn again unto thee, saying, I
" repent, thou shalt forgive him."
Lukexviii. 1, " He spoke a parable to them to this end,
" that men ought always to pray, and not to faint."
Ver. 18, " One comes to him and asks him, saying,
" Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? Jesus
" said unto him, If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
" commandments. He says, Which ? Jesus said, Thou
" knowest the commandments. Thou shalt not kill ;
" thou shalt not commit adultery ; thou shalt not steal ;
" thou shalt not bear false witness ; defraud not ; ho-
" nour thy father and thy mother ; and thou shalt love
" thy neighbour as thyself. He said, all these have I
" observed from my youth. Jesus hearing this, loved
" him, and said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing :
" sell all that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and
" thou shalt have treasure in heaven ; and come, follow
" me." To understand this right, we must take no
tice, that this young man asks our Saviour, what he
must do to be admitted effectually into the kingdom
of the Messiah ? The jews believed, that when the Mes-
120 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
siah came, those of their nation that received him, should
not die ; but that they, with those who, being dead,
should then be raised again by him, should enjoy eter
nal life with him. Our Saviour, in answer to this de
mand, tells the young man, that to obtain the eternal
life of the kingdom of the Messiah, he must keep the
commandments. And then enumerating several of the
precepts of the law, the young man says, he had ob
served these from his childhood. For which the text
tells us, Jesus loved him. But our Saviour, to try whe
ther in earnest he believed him to be the Messiah, and
resolved to take him to be his king, and to obey him as
such, bids him give all that he has to the poor, and
come, and follow him ; and he should have treasure in
heaven. This I look on to be the meaning of the
place; this, of selling all he had, and giving it to the
poor, not being a standing law of his kingdom ; but
a probationary command to this young man ; to try
whether he truly believed him to be the Messiah, and
was ready to obey his commands, and relinquish all to
follow him, when he, his prince, required it.
And therefore we see, Luke xix. 14, where our Sa
viour takes notice of the jews not receiving him as the
Messiah, he expresses it thus : " We will not have this
" man to reign over us." It is not enough to believe
him to be the Messiah, unless we also obey his laws, and
take him to be our king to reign over us.
Matt. xxii. 11 13, he that had not on the wedding-
garment, though he accepted of the invitation, and
carne to the wedding, was cast into utter darkness. By
the wedding-garment, it is evident good works are meant
here; that wedding-garment of fine linen, clean, and
white, which we are told, Rev. xix, 8, is the ^XOIW^T,
" righteous acts of the saints ;" or, as St. Paul calls it,
Ephes. iv. 1, " The walking worthy of the vocation
" wherewith we are called." This appears from the
parable itself: " The kingdom of heaven," says our
Saviour, ver. 2, " is like unto a king, who made a mar-
" riage for his son." And here he distinguishes those
who were invited, into three sorts : 1. Those who were
invited, and came not ; i. e. those who had the gospel,
as delivered in the Scriptures.
the good news of the kingdom of God proposed to
them, but believed not. 2. Those who came, but had
not on a wedding-garment ; i. e. believed Jesus to be
the Messiah, but were not new clad (as I may so say)
with a true repentance, and amendment of life : nor
adorned with those virtues, which the apostle, Col. iii.
requires to be put on. 3. Those who were invited, did
come, and had on the wedding-garment ; i. e. heard the
gospel, believed Jesus to be the Messiah, and sincerely
obeyed his Jaws. These three sorts are plainly designed
here ; whereof the last only were the blessed, who were
to enjoy the kingdom prepared for them.
Matt, xxiii. " Be not ye called Rabbi ; for one is
" your master, even the Messiah, and ye are all brethren.
" And call no man your father upon the earth : for
" one is your Father which is in heaven. Neither be
" ye called masters : for one is your master, even the
" Messiah. But he that is greatest amongst you, shall
" be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself,
" shall be abased ; and he that shall humble himself,
shall be exalted."
Luke xxi. 34, " Take heed to yourselves, lest your
" hearts be at any time overcharged with surfeiting and
" drunkenness, and cares of this life."
Luke xxii. 25, " He said unto them, the kings of
" the gentiles exercise lordship over them ; and they
" that exercise authority upon them, are called bene-
" factors. But ye shall not be so. But he that is
" greatest among you, let him be as the younger ; and
" he that is chief, as he that doth serve."
John xiii. 34, " A .new commandment I give unto
" you, That ye love one another : as I have loved you,
* that ye also love one another. By this shall all men
" know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one an-
" other." This command, of loving one another, is 1
repeated again, chap. xv. 12, and 17.
John xiv. 15, " If ye love me, keep my comrnand-
" ments." Ver. 21, " He that hath my command-
" ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me :
" and he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father,
" and I will love him, and manifest myself to him."
122 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
Ver. 23, " If a man loveth me he will keep my words/
Ver. 24, " He that loveth me not, keepeth not my
" sayings."
John xv. 8, " In this is my Father glorified, that ye
" bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disciples." Ver.
14, " Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I com-
" mand you."
Thus we see our Saviour not only confirmed the
moral law ; and clearing it from the corrupt glosses of
the scribes and pharisees, showed the strictness as well
as obligation of its injunctions ; but moreover, upon
occasion, requires the obedience of his disciples to seve
ral of the commands he afresh lays upon them ; with the
inforcement of unspeakable rewards and punishments in
another world, according to their obedience or disobe
dience. There is not, I think, any of the duties of mo
rality, which he has not, somewhere or other, by him
self and his apostles, inculcated over and over again to
his followers in express terms. And is it for nothing
that he is so instant with them to bring forth fruit ?
Does he, their King, command, and is it an indifferent
thing ? Or will their happiness or misery not at all de
pend upon it, whether they obey or no ? They were re
quired to believe him to be the Messiah ; which faith is
of grace promised to be reckoned to them, for the com
pleting of their righteousness, wherein it was defective :
but righteousness, or obedience to the law of God, was
their great business, which, if they could have attained
by their own performances, there would have been no
need of this gracious allowance, in reward of their
faith : but eternal life, after the resurrection, had been
their due by a former covenant, even that of works ; the
rule whereof was never abolished, though the rigour
was abated. The duties enjoined in it were duties still.
Their obligations had never ceased ; nor a wilful neg
lect of them was ever dispensed with. But their past
transgressions were pardoned, to those who received Je
sus, the promised Messiah, for their king ; and their fu
ture slips covered, if renouncing their former iniquities,
they entered into his kingdom, and continued his sub
jects with a steady resolution and endeavour to obey his
as delivered in the Scriptures* 123
laws. This righteousness therefore, a complete obedi
ence, and freedom from sin, are still sincerely to be
endeavoured after. And it is no-where promised, that
those who persist in a wilful disobedience to his laws,
shall be received into the eternal bliss of his kingdom,
how much soever they believe in him.
A sincere obedience, how can any one doubt to be,
or scruple to call, a condition of the new covenant, as
well as faith ; whoever reads our Saviour s sermon in
the mount, to omit all the rest ? Can any thing be more
express than these words of our Lord ? Matt. vi. 1 4,
" If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Fa-
" ther will also forgive you : but if you forgive not men
" their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
" trespasses." And John xiii. 17, " If ye know these
" things, happy are ye if you do them." This is so in-
indispensable a condition of the new covenant, that be
lieving without it, will not do, nor be accepted ; if our
Saviour knew the terms on which he would admit men
into life. " Why call ye me, Lord, Lord," says he,
Luke vi. 46, " and do not the things which I say ?" It
is not enough to believe him to be the Messiah, the Lord,
without obeying him. For that these he speaks to here,
were believers, is evident from the parallel place, Matt,
vii. 21 23, where it is thus recorded : " Not every one
" who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
" of heaven ; but he that doth the will of my father,
66 which is in heaven." No rebels, or refractory dis
obedient, shall be admitted there, though they have so
far believed in Jesus, as to be able to do miracles in his
name : as is plain out of the following words : " Many
" will say to me in that day, Have we not prophesied in
" thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in
" thy name have done many wonderful works ? And
" then will I profess unto them, I never knew you ; d-
" part from me, ye workers of iniquity."
This part of the new covenant, the apostles also, in
their preaching the gospel of the Messiah, ordinarily
joined with the doctrine of faith.
St. Peter, in his first sermon, Acts ii. when they were
pricked in heart, and asked, "What shall we do?"
The Reasonableness of Christianity,
says, ver. 38, " Repent, and be baptized, every one of
" you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of
" sins." The same he says to them again in his next
speech, Acts iv. 26, " Unto you first, God having raised
" up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you." How was
this done? " IN TURNING AWAY EVERY ONE FROM
" YOUR INIQUITIES."
The same doctrine they preach to the high priest and
rulers, Acts v. 30, " The God of our fathers raised up
" Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged on a tree. Him
" hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince
" and a Saviour, for to give REPENTANCE to Israel, and
" forgiveness of sins ; and we are witnesses of these
" things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God
" hath given to them that obey him."
Acts xvii. 30, St. Paul tells the Athenians, That now
under the gospel, " God commandeth all men every -
" where to REPENT."
Acts xx. 21, St. Paul, in his last conference with the
elders of Ephesus, professes to have taught them the
whole doctrine necessary to salvation : " I have," says
he, " kept back nothing that was profitable unto you ;
" but have showed you, and have taught you publicly,
" and from house to house ; testifying both to the jews
" and to the Greeks :" and then gives an account what
his preaching had been, viz. " REPENTANCE towards
" God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus the Messiah."
This was the sum and substance of the gospel which St.
Paul preached, and was all that he knew necessary to
salvation ; viz. " Repentance, and believing Jesus to
* be the Messiah :" and so takes his last farewell of
them, whom he shall never see again, ver. 32, in these
words, " And now, brethren, I commend you to God,
" and to the word of his grace, which is able to build
" you up, and to give you an inheritance among all
" them that are sanctified." There is an inheritance
conveyed by the word and covenant of grace ; but it is
only to those who are sanctified.
Acts xxiv. 24, " When Felix sent for Paul," that he
and his wife Drusilla might hear him, " concerning the
" faith in Christ ;" Paul reasoned of righteousness, or
as delivered in the Scripures. 125
justice ; and temperance ; the duties we owe to others,
and to ourselves; and of the judgment to come; until
he made Felix to tremble. Whereby it appears, that
" temperance and justice" were fundamental parts of
the religion that Paul professed, and were contained in
the faith which he preached. And if we find the duties
of the moral law not pressed by him every- where, we
must remember, that most of his sermons left upon re
cord, were preached in their synagogues to the jews,
who acknowledged their obedience due to all the pre
cepts of the law ; and would have taken it amiss to have
been suspected not to have been more zealous for the
law than he. And therefore it was with reason that his
discourses were directed chiefly to what they yet wanted,
and were averse to, the knowledge and embracing of
Jesus, their promised Messiah. But what his preaching
generally was, if we will believe him himself, we may
see, Acts xxvi. where giving an account to king Agrip-
pa, of his life and doctrine, he tells him, ver. 20, " I
" showed unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem,
" and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to
" the gentiles, that they should repent and turn to
" God, and do works meet for repentance."
Thus we see, by the preaching of our Saviour and his
apostles, that he required of those who believed him to
be the Messiah, and received him for their Lord and
Deliverer, that they should live by his laws : and that
(though in consideration of their becoming his subjects,
by faith in him, whereby they believed and took him to
be the Messiah, their former sins should be forgiven,
. yet) he would own none to be his, nor receive them as
true denizens of the new Jerusalem, into the inheritance
of eternal life ; but leave them to the condemnation of
the unrighteous ; who renounced not their former mis
carriages, and lived in a sincere obedience to his com
mands. What he expects from his followers, he has
sufficiently declared as a legislator : and that they may
not be deceived, by mistaking the doctrine of faith,
grace, free-grace, and the pardon and forgiveness of
sins, and salvation by him, (which was the great end of
126 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
his coming,) he more than once declares to them, for
what omissions and miscarriages he shall judge and con
demn to death, even those who have owned him, and
done miracles in his name : when he comes at last to
render to every one according to what he had DONE in
the flesh, sitting upon his great and glorious tribunal,
at the end of the world.
The first place where we find our Saviour to have
mentioned the day of judgment, is John v. 28, 29 3 in
these words : " the hour is coming, in which all that
" are in their grave shall hear his [i. e. the Son of
" God s] voice, and shall come forth; they that have
" DONE GOOD, unto the resurrection of life ; and they
" that have DONE EVIL, unto the resurrection of dam-
" nation." That which puts the distinction, if we will
believe our Saviour, is the having done good or evil.
And he gives a reason of the necessity of his judging or
condemning those " who have done evil," in the fol
lowing words, ver. 30, ^l can of myself do nothing.
" As I hear I judge ; and my judgment is just ; be-
" cause I seek not my own will, but the will of my Fa-
" ther who hath sent me." He could not judge of
himself; he had but a delegated power of judging from
the Father, whose will he obeyed in it ; and who was
of purer eyes than to admit any unjust person into the
kingdom of heaven^}
Matt. vii. 22, 23, speaking again of that day, he tells
what his sentence will be, " Depart from me, ye WOIIK-
" ERS of iniquity." Faith in the penitent and sincerely
obedient, supplies the defect of their performances ; and
so by grace they are made just. But we may observe,
none are sentenced or punished for unbelief, but only
for their misdeeds. " They are workers of iniquity"
on whom the sentence is pronounced.
Matt. xiii. 41, " At the end of the world, the Son of
" man shall send forth his angels ; and they shall ga-
" ther out of his kingdom all scandals, and them which
" DO INIQUITY ; and cast them into a furnace of fire ;
" there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." And
again, ver. 49> " The angels shall sever the WICKED
as delivered in the Scriptures. 127
" from among the JUST ; and shall cast them into the
" furnace of fire."
Matt. xvi. 24, " For the Son of man shall come in
" the glory of his Father, with his angels : and then he
" shall reward every man according to his WORKS."
Luke xiii. 26, " Then shall ye begin to say, We have
" eaten and drank in thy presence, and thou hast taught
" in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know
" you not ; depart from me, ye workers of iniquity."
Matt. xxv. 31 46, " When the Son of man shall
" come in his glory ; and before him shall be gathered
" all nations ; he shall set the sheep on his right hand,
" and the goats on his left. Then shall the king say
" to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my ! "v
" Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
" the foundation of the world ; for I was an hungered,
" and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me
" drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked,
" and ye clothed me ; I was sick, and ye visited me ; I
" was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the
" righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we
" thee an hungered, and fed thee ? &c. And the King
" shall answer and say unto them, Verily, I say unto
" you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the
" least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
" Then shall he say unto them on the left hand, Depart
" from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for
" the devil and his angels : for I was an hungered, and
" ye gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me
" no drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ;
" naked, and ye clothed me not ; sick, and in prison,
(f . and ye visited me not. Insomuch that ye did it not
" to one of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall
" go into everlasting punishment; but the righteous
" into life eternal."
These, I think, are all the places where our Saviour
mentions the last judgment, or describes his way of pro
ceeding in that great day ; wherein, as we have ob- "
served, it is remarkable, that every- where the sentence -{
follows doing or not doing, without any mention of be
lieving or not believing. Not that any, to whom the
128 The Reasonableness of Christianity 9
gospel hath been preached, shall he saved, without be
lieving Jesus to be the Messiah : for all being sinners,
and transgressors of the law, and so unjust ; are all liable
to condemnation ; unless they believe, and so through
grace are justified by God, for this faith, which shall be
accounted to them for righteousness. But the rest
wanting this cover, this allowance for their transgres
sions, must answer for all their actions ; and being found
transgressors of the law, shall, by the letter and sanction
of that law, be condemned for not having paid a full
obedience to that law ; and not for want of faith. That
is not the guilt on which the punishment is laid ; though
it be the want of faith, which lays open their guilt un
covered ; and exposes them to the sentence of the law,
against all that are unrighteous.
The common objection here, is, If all sinners shall be
condemned, but such as have a gracious allowance made
them ; and so are justified by God, for believing Jesus
to be the Messiah, and so taking him for their King,
whom they are resolved to obey to the utmost of their
power ; " What shall become of all mankind, who
" lived before our Saviour s time, who never heard of
" his name, and consequently could not believe in
" him ?" To this the answer is so obvious and natural,
that one would wonder how any reasonable man should
think it worth the urging. No-body was, or can be
required to believe, what was never proposed to him to
believe. Before the fulness of time, which God from
the counsel of his own wisdom had appointed to send
his Son in, he had, at several times, and in different
manners, promised to the people of Israel, an extraor
dinary person to come ; who, raised from amongst them
selves, should be their Ruler and Deliverer. The time,
and other circumstances of his birth, life, arid person,
he had in sundry prophecies so particularly described,
and so plainly foretold, that he was well known, and
expected by the jews, under the name of the Messiah,
or Anointed, given him in some of these prophecies.
All then that was required, before his appearing in the
world, was to believe what God had revealed, and to
rely with a full assurance on God, for the performance
fts delivered in the Scriptures.
of his promise ; and to believe, that in due time he
would send them the Messiah, this anointed King, this
promised Saviour and Deliverer, according to his word.
This faith in the promises of God, thi? relying and ac
quiescing in his word and faithfulness, the Almighty
takes well at our hands, as a great mark of homage, paid
by us poor frail creatures, to his goodness and truth, as
well as to his power and wisdom : and accepts it as an
acknowledgment of his peculiar providence, and be- HO
nignity to us. And therefore our Saviour tells us, John
xii. 44, " He that believes on me, believes not on me,
" but on him that sent me." The works of nature show
his wisdom and power ; but it is his peculiar care of
mankind most eminently discovered in his promises to
them, that shows his bounty and goodness ; and conse
quently engages their hearts in love and affection to
him. This oblation of an heart, fixed with dependence
on, and affection to him, is the most acceptable tribute
we can pay him, the foundation of true devotion, and
life of all religion. What a value he puts on this de
pending on his word, and resting satisfied in his pro
mises, we have an example in Abraham ; whose faith
" was counted to him for righteousness," as we have
before remarked out of Rom. iv. And his relying firmly
on the promise of God, without any doubt of its per
formance, gave him the name of the father of the faith
ful ; and gained him so much favour with the Almighty,
that he was called the " friend of God ;" the highest
and most glorious title that can be bestowed on a crea
ture. The thing promised was no more but a son by
his wife Sarah ; and a numerous posterity by him, which
should possess the land of Canaan. These were but
temporal blessings, and (except the birth of a son) very
remote, such as he should never live to see, nor in his
own person have the benefit of. But because he ques
tioned not the performance of it ; but rested fully satis
fied in the goodness, truth, and faithfulness of God,
who had promised, it was counted to him for righte
ousness. Let us see how St. Paul expresses it, Rom. iv.
18 22, " Who, against hope, believed in hope, that
6S he might become the father of many nations ; ac-
K
130 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
"cording to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed
" be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not
" his own body now dead, when he was above an hun-
" dred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah s
" womb. He staggered not at the promise of God
" through unbelief, but was strong in faith : giving
" glory to God, and being fully persuaded, that what
" he had promised he was able to perform. And
" THEREFORE it was imputed to him for righteousness."
St. Paul having here emphatically described the strength
and firmness of Abraham s faith, informs us, that he
thereby " gave glory to God;" and therefore it was
" accounted to him for righteousness." This is the
way that God deals with poor frail mortals. He is
graciously pleased to take it well of them, and give it
the place of righteousness, and a kind of merit in his
sight ; if they believe his promises, and have a steadfast
relying on his veracity and goodness. St. Paul, Heb.
xi. 6, tells us, " Without faith it is impossible to please
" God : " but at the same time tells us what faith that
is. " For," says he, " he that cometh to God, must
* believe that he is ; and that he is a re warder of them
V that diligently seek him." He must be persuaded of
God s mercy- and goodwill to those who seek to obey
him ; and rest assured of his rewarding those who rely
on him, for whatever, either by the light of nature, or
particular promises, he has revealed to them of his ten
der mercies, and taught them to expect from his bounty.
This description of faith (that we might not mistake
what he means by that faith, without which we cannot
please God, and which recommended the saints of old)
St. Paul places in the middle of the list of those who
were eminent for their faith ; and whom he sets as pat
terns to the converted Hebrews, under persecution, to
encourage them to persist in their confidence of deli
verance by the coming of Jesus Christ, and in their be
lief of the promises they now had under the gospel. By
those examples he exhorts them not to " draw back "
from the hope that was set before them, nor apostatize
from the profession of the Christian religion. This is
plain from ver. 35 38, of the precedent chapter:
as delivered in the Scriptures*
" Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath
" great recompence of reward. For ye have great need
" of persisting or perseverance ;" (for so the Greek word
signifies here, which our translation renders " patience."
Vide Luke viii. 15.) " that after ye have done the will of
" God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little
" while, and he that shall come will come, and will not
" tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. But if any
" man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."
The examples of faith, which St. Paul enumerates and
proposes in the following words, chap. xi. plainly show,
that the faith whereby those believers of old pleased God,
was nothing but a steadfast reliance on the goodness and
faithfulness of God, for those good things, which either
the light of nature, or particular promises, had given
them grounds to hope for. Of what avail this faith was
with God, we may see, ver. 4, " By faith Abel offered
" unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain ; by
" which he obtained witness that he was righteous."
Ver. 5, " By faith Enoch was translated, that he should
" not see death : for before his translation he had this
" testimony, that he pleased God." Ver. 7, " Noah
" being warned of God of things not seen as yet ;" being
wary, " by faith prepared an ark, to the saving of his
" house; by the which he condemned the world, and
" became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
And what it was that God so graciously accepted and
rewarded, we are told, ver. 11, " Through faith also
" Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and
" was delivered of a child, when she was past age."
How she came to obtain this grace from God, the
apostle tells us, " Because she judged him faithful who
" had promised." Those therefore, who pleased God,
and were accepted by him before the coming of Christ,
did it only by believing the promises, and relying on
the goodness of God, as far as he had revealed it to
them. For the apostle, in the following words, tells us,
ver. 13, " These all died in faith, not having received
" (the accomplishment of) the promises ; but having
" seen them afar off: and were persuaded of them, and
" embraced them." This was all that was required of
K 2
The Reasonableness of Christianity,
them ; to be persuaded of, and embrace the promises
which they had. They could be " persuaded of" no
more than was proposed to them ; " embrace" no more
than was revealed ; according to the promises they had
received, and the dispensations they were under. And
if the faith of things " seen afar off;" if their trusting
in God for the promises he then gave them ; if a belief
of the Messiah to come ; were sufficient to render those
who lived in the ages before Christ acceptable to God,
and righteous before him : I desire those who tell us,
that God will not (nay, some go so far as to say, cannot)
accept any, who do not believe every article of their
particular creeds and systems, to consider, why God,
out of his infinite mercy, cannot as well justify men
now, for believing Jesus of Nazareth to be the promised
Messiah, the King and Deliverer ; as those heretofore,
who believed only that God would, according to his
promise, in due time, send the Messiah, to be a King
and Deliverer.
There is another difficulty often to be met with,
which seems to have something of more weight in it :
and that is, that " though the faith of those before
" Christ (believing that God would send the Messiah,
<( to be a Prince and a Saviour to his people, as he had
" promised), and the faith of those since his time (be-
" lieving Jesus to be that Messiah, promised and sent
" by God), shall be accounted to them for righteous-
" ness ; yet what shall become of all the rest of man-
" kind, who, having never heard of the promise or news
" of a Saviour ; not a word of a Messiah to be sent,
" or that was come ; have had no thought or belief con-
" cerning him?"
To this I answer ; that God will require of every man,
" according to what a man hath, and not according to
" what he hath not." He will not expect the im
provement of ten talents, where he gave but one ; nor
require any one should believe a promise of which he
has never heard. The apostle s reasoning, Rom. x. 14,
is very just : " How shall they believe in him, of whom
" they have not heard?" But though there be many
who being strangers to the commonwealth of Israel,
as delivered in the Scriptures. 133
were also strangers to the oracles of God, committed to
that people ; many, to whom the promise of the Mes
siah never came, and so were never in a capacity to be
lieve or reject that revelation ; yet God had, by the
light of reason, revealed to all mankind, who would
make use of that light, that he was good and merciful.
The same spark of the divine nature and knowledge in
man, which making him a man, showed him the law he
was under, as a man ; showed him also the way of aton
ing the merciful, kind, compassionate Author and Fa
ther of him and his being, when he had transgressed
that law. He that made use of this candle of the Lord,
so far as to find what was his duty, could not miss to
find also the way to reconciliation and foregiveness, when
he had failed of his duty : though, if he used not his
reason this way, if he put out or neglected this light, he
might, perhaps, see neither.
The law is the eternal, immutable standard of right.
And a part of that law is, that a man should forgive,
not only his children, but his enemies, upon their re
pentance, asking pardon, and amendment. And there
fore he could not doubt that the author of this law, and
God of patience and consolation, who is rich in mercy,
would forgive his frail offspring, if they acknowledged
their faults, disapproved the iniquity of their transgres
sions, begged his pardon, and resolved in earnest, for
the future, to conform their actions to this rule, which
they owned to be just and right. This way of reconci
liation, this hope of atonement, the light of nature re
vealed to them : and the revelation of the gospel, having
said nothing to the contrary, leaves them to stand and
fall to their own Father and Master, whose goodness and
mercy is over all his works.
I know some are forward to urge that place of the
Acts, chap. iv. as contrary to this. The words, ver. 10
and 12, stand thus: " Beit known unto you all, and
" to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus
" Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God
" raised from the dead, even by him, doth this man "
[i, e. the lame man restored by Peter] " stand here be-
134 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" fore you whole. This is the stone which is set at
" nought by you builders, which is become the head of
" the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other :
" for there is none other name under heaven given
" among men, in which we must be saved." Which,
in short, is, that Jesus is the only true Messiah, neither
is there any other person, but he, given to be a mediator
between God and man ; in whose name we may ask,
and hope for salvation.
It will here possibly be asked, " Quorsum perditio
" hsec ? " What need was there of a Saviour ? What ad
vantage have we by Jesus Christ ?
It is enough to justify the fitness of any thing to be
done, by resolving it into the " wisdom of God," who
has done it ; though our short views, and narrow un
derstandings, may utterly incapacitate us to see that wis
dom, and to judge rightly of it. We know little of this
visible, and nothing at all of the state of that intellectual
world, wherein are infinite numbers and degrees of spi
rits out of the reach of our ken, or guess ; and therefore
know not what transactions there were between God
and our Saviour, in reference to his kingdom. We know
not what need there was to set up an head and a chieftain,
in opposition to " the prince of this world, the prince
" of the power of the air," &c. whereof there are more
than obscure intimations in scripture. And we shall
take too much upon us, if we shall call God s wisdom or
providence to account, and pertly condemn for needless
all that our weak, and perhaps biassed, understanding
cannot account for.
Though this general answer be reply enough to the
forementioned demand, and such as a rational man, or
fair searcher after truth, will acquiesce in ; yet in this
particular case, the wisdom and goodness of God has
shown itself so visibly to common apprehensions, that it
hath furnished us abundantly wherewithal to satisfy the
curious and inquisitive ; who will not take a blessing,
unless they be instructed what need they had of it, and
why it was bestowed upon them. The great and many
advantages we receive by the coming of Jesus the Mes-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 135
si ah, will show, that it was not without need, that he was
sent into the world.
The evidence of our Saviour s mission from heaven is
so great, in the multitude of miracles he did before all
sorts of people, that what he delivered cannot but be re
ceived as the oracles of God, and unquestionable verity.
For the miracles he did were so ordered by the divine
providence and wisdom, that they never were, nor
could be denied by any of the enemies, or opposers of
Christianity.
Though the works of nature, in every part of them,
sufficiently evidence a deity ; yet the world made so
little use of their reason, that they saw him not, where,
even by the impressions of himself, he was easy to be
found. Sense and lust blinded their minds in some, and
a careless inadvertency in others, and fearful apprehen
sions in most, (who either believed there were, or could
not but suspect there might be, superiour unknown be
ings,) gave them up into the hands of their priests, to
fill their heads with false notions of the Deity, and their
worship with foolish rites, as they pleased : and what
dread or craft once began, devotion soon made sacred,
and religion immutable. In this state of darkness and
ignorance of the true God, vice and superstition held
the world. Nor could any help be had, or hoped for,
from reason ; which could not be heard, and was judged
to have nothing to do in the case ; the priests, every
where, to secure their empire, having excluded reason
from having any thing to do in religion. And in the
crowd of wrong notions, and invented rites, the world had
almost lost the sight of the one only true God. The rational
and thinking part of mankind, it is true, when they
sought after him, they found the one supreme, invisible
God ; but if they acknowledged and worshipped him,
it was only in their own minds. They kept this truth
locked up in their own breasts as a secret, nor ever durst
venture it amongst the people ; much less amongst the
priests, those wary guardians, of their own creeds and
profitable inventions. Hence we see, that reason, speak
ing ever so clearly to the wise and virtuous, had never
authority enough to prevail on the multitude ; and to
136 The Reasonableness of Christianity ,
persuade the societies of men, that there was but one
God, that alone was to be owned and worshipped. The
belief and worship of one God, was the national religion
of the Israelites alone : and if we will consider it, it was
introduced and supported amongst the people by reve
lation. They were in Goshen, and had light, whilst the
rest of the word were in almost Egyptian darkness,
" without God in the world." There was no part of
mankind, who had quicker parts, or improved them
more ; that had a greater light of reason, or followed it
farther in all sorts of speculations, than the Athenians ;
and yet we find but one Socrates amongst them, that
opposed and laughed at their polytheism, and wrong opi
nions of the Deity ; and we see how they rewarded him
for it. Whatsoever Plato, and the soberest of the phi
losophers, thought of the nature and being of the one
God, they were fain, in their outward professions and
worship, to go with the herd, and keep to their religion
established by law : which what it was, and how it had
disposed the minds of these knowing and quick-sighted
Grecians, St. Paul tells -us, Acts xvii. 2229, " Ye
" men of Athens," says he, " I perceive, that in all
" things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by,
" and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this
" inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom there-
" fore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
" God that made the world, and all things therein, see-
" ing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth
" not in temples made with hands : neither is wor-
" shipped with men s hands, as though he needed any
" thing, seeing that he giveth unto all life, and breath,
and all things ; and hath made of one blood all the
" nations of men, for to dwell on the face of the earth ;
* and hath determined the times before appointed, and
" the bounds of their habitations ; that they should seek
" the Lord, if haply they might feel him out and find
" him, though he be not far from every one of us."
Here he tells the Athenians, that they, and the rest of
the world (given up to superstition) whatever light there
was in the works of creation and providence, to lead
them to the true God ; vet few of them found him,
as delivered in the Scriptures. 137
He was every- where near them ; yet they were but like
people groping and feeling for something in the dark,
and did not see him with a full and clear day-light ;
" but thought the Godhead like to gold and siver, and
" stone, graven by art and man s device."
In this state of darkness and errour, in reference to the
Ci true God," our Saviour found the world. But the
clear revelation he brought with him, dissipated this
darkness ; made the " one invisible true God " known
to the world : and that with such evidence and energy,
that polytheism and idolatry have no-where been able
to withstand it : but wherever the preaching of the
truth he delivered, and the light of the gospel hath
come, those mists have been dispelled. And, in effect,
we see, that since our Saviour s time, the " belief of one
<( God " has prevailed and spread itself over the face of
the earth. For even to the light that the Messiah
brought into the world with him, we must ascribe the
owning and profession of one God, which the mahometan
religion hath derived and borrowed from it. So that
in this sense it is certainly and manifestly true of our
Saviour, what St. John says of him, 1 John iii. 8, "For
" this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
" might destroy the works of the devil." This light the
world needed, and this light is received from him : that
there is but " one God," and he " eternal, invisible ; "
not like to any visible objects, nor to be represented by
them.
If it be asked, whether the revelation to the patriarchs
by Moses did not teach this, and why that was not
enough ? The answer is obvious ; that however clearly
the knowledge of one invisible God, maker of heaven
and earth, was revealed to them ; yet that revelation
was shut up in a little corner of the world ; amongst a
people, by that very law, which they received with it,
excluded from a commerce and communication with
the rest of mankind. The gentile world, in our Sa
viour s time, and several ages before, could have no at
testation of the miracles on which the Hebrews built
their faith, but from the jews themselves, a people not
known to the greatest part of mankind; contemned
138 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
and thought vilely of, by those nations that did know
them ; and therefore very unfit and unable to propagate
the doctrine of one God in the world, and diffuse it
through the nations of the earth, by the strength and
force of that ancient revelation, upon which they had
received it. But our Saviour, when he came, threw
down this wall of partition ; and did not confine his
miracles or message to the land of Canaan, or the wor
shippers at Jerusalem. But he himself preached at Sa
maria, and did miracles in the borders of Tyre and
Sidon, and before multitudes of people gathered from
all quarters. And after his resurrection, sent his apo
stles amongst the nations, accompanied with miracles ;
which were done in ail parts so frequently, and before
so many witnesses of all sorts, in broad day-light, that,
as I have before observed, the enemies of Christianity
have never dared to deny them ; no, not Julian himself :
who neither wanted skill nor power to inquire into the
truth : nor would have failed to have proclaimed and
exposed it, if he could have detected any falsehood in
the history of the gospel ; or found the least ground to
question the matter of fact published of Christ and his
apostles. The number and evidence of the miracles
done by our Saviour and his followers, by the power and
force of truth, bore down this mighty and accomplished
emperor, and all his parts, in his own dominions. He
durst not deny so plain a matter of fact, which being
granted, the truth of our Saviour s doctrine and mission
unavoidably follows ; notwithstanding whatsoever artful
suggestions his wit could invent, or malice should offer
to the contrary.
/tNext to the knowledge of one God; maker of all
things ; " a clear knowledge of their duty was wanting
t( to mankind." This part of knowledge, though cul
tivated with some care by some of the heathen philoso
phers, yet got little footing among the people. All
men, indeed, under pain of displeasing the gods, were
to frequent the temples : every one went to their sacri
fices and services : but the priests made it not their
business to teach them virtue. If they were dili
gent in their observations and ceremonies ; punctual
as delivered in the Scriptures. 139
in their feasts and solemnities, and the tricks of religion ;
the holy tribe assured them the gods were pleased, and
they looked no farther. Few went to the schools of the
philosophers to be instructed in their duties, and to
know what was good and evil in their actions. The
priests sold the better pennyworths, and therefore had
all the custom. Lustrations and processions were much
easier than a clean conscience, and a steady course of
virtue ; and an expiatory sacrifice that atoned for the
want of it, was much more convenient than a strict and
holy life. No wonder then, that religion was every
where distinguished from, and preferred to virtue ; and
that it was dangerous heresy and profaneness to think
the contrary. So much virtue as was necessary to hold
societies together, and to contribute to the quiet of
governments, the civil laws of commonwealths taught,
and forced upon men that lived under magistrates.
But these laws being for the most part made by such,
who had no other aims but their own power, reached
no farther than those things that would serve to tie
men together in subjection ; or at most were directly to
conduce to the prosperity and temporal happiness of
any people. But natural religion, in its full extent, was
no-where, that I know, taken care of, by the force of
natural reason. It should seem, by the little that has
hitherto been done in it, that it is too hard a task for
unassisted reason to establish morality in all its parts,
upon its true foundation, with a clear and convincing
light. And it is at least a surer and shorter way, to
the apprehensions of the vulgar, and mass of mankind,
that one manifestly sent from God, and coming with
visible authority from him, should, as a king and law
maker, tell them their duties ; and require their obe
dience ; than leave it to the long and sometimes intri
cate deductions of reason, to be made out to them.
Such trains of reasoning the greatest part of mankind
have neither leisure to weigh ; nor, for want of educa
tion and use, skill to judge of. We see how unsuccessful
in this the attempts of philosophers were before our
Saviour s time. How short their several systems came
of the perfection of a true and complete morality, is
140 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
very visible. And if, since that, the Christian philoso
phers have much out-done them : yet we may observe,
that the first knowledge of the truths they have added,
is owing to revelation : though as soon as they are heard
and considered, they are found to be agreeable to rea
son ; and such as can by no means be contradicted.
Every one may observe a great many truths, which he
receives at first from others, and readily assents to, as
consonant to reason, which he would have found it
hard, and perhaps beyond his strength, to have dis
covered himself. Native and original truth is not so
easily wrought out of the mine, as we, who have it de
livered already dug and fashioned into our hands, are
apt to imagine. And how often at fifty or threescore
years old are thinking men told what they wonder how
they could miss thinking of? Which yet their own
contemplations did not, and possibly never would have
helped them to. Experience shows, that the knowledge
of morality, by mere natural light, (how agreeable so
ever it be to it,) makes but a slow progress, and little
advance in the world. Arid the reason of it is not hard
to be found in men s necessities, passions, vices, and
mistaken interests ; which turn their thoughts another
way : and the designing leaders, as well as following
herd, find it not to their purpose to employ much of
their meditations this way. Or whatever else was the
cause, it is plain, in fact, that human reason unassisted
failed men in its great and proper business of morality.
It never from unquestionable principles, by clear deduc
tions, made out an entire body of the " law of nature."
And he that shall collect all the moral rules of the phi
losophers, and compare them with those contained in
the New Testament, will find them to come short of
the morality delivered by our Saviour, and taught by
his apostles ; a college made up, for the most part, of
ignorant, but inspired fishermen.
Though yet, if any one should think, that out of the
sayings of the wise heathens before our Saviour s time,
there might be a collection made of all those rules of
morality, which are to be found in the Christian reli
gion ; yet this would not at all hinder, but that the
as delivered In the Scriptures. 141
world, nevertheless, stood as much in need of our Sa
viour, and the morality delivered by him. Let it be
granted (though not true) that all the moral precepts
of the gospel were known by somebody or other, amongst
mankind before. But where, or how, or of what use, is
not considered. Suppose they may be picked up here
and there ; some from Solon and Bias in Greece, others
from Tully in Italy : and to complete the work, let
Confucius, as far as China, be consulted ; and Anachar-
sis, the Scythian, contribute his share. What will all
this do, to give the world a complete morality, that may
be to mankind the unquestionable rule of life and man
ners ? I will not here urge the impossibility of collecting
from men, so far distant from one another, in time and
place, and languages. I will suppose there was a Sto-
beus in those times, who had gathered the moral sayings
from all the sages of the world. What would this
amount to, towards being a steady rule ; a certain trans
cript of a law that we are under? Did the saying of
Aristippus, or Confucius, give it an authority ? Was
Zeno a law-giver to mankind ? If not, what he or any
other philosopher delivered, was but a saying of his.
Mankind might hearken to it, or reject it, as they pleas
ed ; or as it suited their interest, passions, principles or
humours. They were under no obligation ; the opinion
of this or that philosopher was of no authority. And
if it were, you must take all he said under the same cha
racter. All his dictates must go for law, certain and
true ; or none of them. And then, if you will take any
of the moral sayings of Epicurus (many whereof Seneca
quotes with esteem and approbation) for precepts of the
law of nature, you must take all the rest of his doctrine
for such too ; or else his authority ceases : and so no
more is to be received from him, or any of the sages of
old, for parts of the law of nature, as carrying with it an
obligation to be obeyed, but what they prove to be so.
But such a body of ethics, proved to be the law of na
ture, from principles of reason, and teaching all the
duties of life ; I think nobody will say the world had
before our Saviour s time. It is not enough, that there
were up and down scattered sayings of wise men, con-
142 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
formable to right reason. The law of nature, is the law
of convenience too : and it is no wonder that those men
of parts, and studious of virtue, (who had occasion to
think on any particular part of it,) should, by meditation,
light on the right even from the observable convenience
and beauty of it ; without making out its obligation
from the true principles of the law of nature, and founda
tions of morality. But these incoherent apophthegms
of philosophers, and wise men, however excellent in
themselves, and well intended by them ; could never
make a morality, whereof the world could be con
vinced ; could never rise to the force of a law, that
mankind could with certainty depend on. Whatsoever
should thus be universally useful, as a standard to which
men should conform their manners, must have its au
thority, either from reason or revelation. It is not every
writer of morality, or compiler of it from others, that
can thereby be erected into a law-giver to mankind;
and a dictator of rules, which are therefore valid, be
cause they are to be found in his books ; under the au
thority of this or that philosopher. He, that any one
will pretend to set up in this kind, and have his rules
pass for authentic directions, must show, that either he
builds his doctrine upon principles of reason, self-evi
dent in themselves ; and that he deduces all the parts
of it from thence, by clear and evident demonstration :
QVj must show his commission from heaven, that he
comes with authority from God, to deliver his will and
commands to the world. In the former way, no-body
that I know, before our Saviour s time, ever did, or
went about to give us a morality. It is true, there is a
law of nature : but who is there that ever did, or under
took to give it us all entire, as a law ; no more, nor no
less, than what was contained in, and had the obligation
of that law ? Who ever made out all the parts of it, put
them together, and showed the world their obligation ?
Where was there any such code, that mankind might
have recourse to, as their unerring rule, before our Sa
viour s time ? If there was not, it is plain there was
need of one to give us such a morality ; such a law,
which might be the sure guide of those who had a desire
as delivered in the Scriptures* 143
to go right ; and, if they had a mind, need not mistake
their duty, but might be certain when they had per
formed, when failed in it. Such a law of morality Jesus
Christ hath given us in the New Testament ; but by the
latter of these ways, by revelation. We have from him
a full and sufficient rule for our direction, and conform
able to that of reason. But the truth and obligation of
its precepts have their force, and are put past doubt
to us, by the evidence of his mission. He was sent by
God : his miracles show it ; and the authority of God
in his precepts cannot be questioned. Here morality
has a sure standard, that revelation vouches, and reason
cannot gainsay, nor question ; but both together witness
to come from God the great law-maker. And such an
one as this, out of the New Testament, I think the world
never had, nor can any one say, is any-where else to be
found. Let me ask any one, who is forward to think
that the doctrine of morality was full and clear in the
world, at our Saviour s birth ; whither would he have
directed Brutus and Cassius, (both men of parts and vir
tue, the one whereof believed, and the other disbelieved
a future being,) to be satisfied in the rules and obliga
tions of all the parts of their duties ; if they should have
asked him, Where they might find the law they were to
live by, and by which they should be charged, or ac
quitted, as guilty, or innocent ? If to the sayings of the
wise, and the declarations of philosophers, he sends them
into a wild wood of uncertainty, to an endless maze,
from which they should never get out : if to the reli
gions of the world, yet worse : and if to their own rea
son, he refers them to that which had some light and
certainty ; but yet had hitherto failed all mankind in a
perfect rule ; and we see, resolved not the doubts that
had arisen amongst the studious and thinking philoso
phers ; nor had yet been able to convince the civilized
parts of the world, that they had not given, nor could,
without a crime, take away the lives of their children,
by exposing them.
If any one shall think to excuse human nature, by
laying blame on men s negligence, that they did not
carry morality to an higher pitch ; and make it out en-
144 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
tire in every part, with that clearness of demonstration
which some think it capable of; he helps not the matter.
Be the cause what it will, our Saviour found mankind
under a corruption of manners and principles, which
ages after ages had prevailed, and must be confessed,
was not in a w r ay or tendency to be mended. The rules
of morality were in different countries and sects dif
ferent. And natural reason no- where had cured, nor was
like to cure the defects and errours in them. Those just
measures of right and wrong, which necessity had any
where introduced, the civil laws prescribed, or philoso
phy recommended, stood on their true foundations. They
were looked on as bonds of society, and conveniencies
of common life, and laudable practices. But where was
that their oljligation was thoroughly known and al
lowed, and they received as precepts of a law ; of the
highest law, the law of nature ? That could not be,
without a clear knowledge and acknowledgment of
the law-maker, and the great rewards and punishments,
for those that would, or would not obey him. But the
religion of the heathens, as was before observed, little
concerned itself in their morals. The priests, that de
livered the oracles of heaven, and pretended to speak
from the god s, spoke little of virtue and a good life.
And, on the other side, the philosophers, who spoke
from reason, made not much mention of the Deity in
their ethics. They depended on reason and her oracles,
which contain nothing but truth : biit_jet_some parts
of that truth lie too deepjjorour natural powefr easily
to reach, and makeTplam andTvisible to mankind ; with
out some light from above to direct them. When truths
are once known to us, though by tradition, we are apt
to be favourable to our own parts ; and ascribe to our
own understandings the discovery of what, in reality,
we borrowed from others : or, at least, finding we can
prove, what at first we learn from others, we are for
ward to conclude it an obvious truth, which, if we
had sought, we could not have missed. Nothing seems
hard to our understandings that is once known : and
because what we see, we see with our own eyes ; we are
apt to overlook, or forget the help we had from others
as delivered in the Scriptures. 145
who showed it us, and first made us see it ; as if we
were not at all beholden to them, for those truths they
opened the way to, and led us into* For knowledge
being only of truths that are perceived to be so, we are
favourable enough to our own faculties, to conclude,
that they of their own strength would have attained
those discoveries, without any foreign assistance ; and
that we know those truths, by the strength and native
light of our own minds, as they did from whom we re
ceived them by theirs, only they had the luck to be be
fore us. Thus the whole stock of human knowledge is
claimed by every one, as his private possession, as soon
as he (profiting by others discoveries) has got it into
his own mind : and so it is ; but not properly by his
own single industry, nor of his own acquisition. He
studies, it is true, and takes pains to make a progress in
what others have delivered : but their pains were of
another sort, who first brought those truths to light,
which he afterwards derives from them. He that tra
vels the roads now, applauds his own strength and legs
that have carried him so far in such a scantling of time ;
arid ascribes all to his own vigour; little considering
how much he owes to their pains, who cleared the
woods, drained the bogs, built the bridges, and made
the ways passable ; without which he might have toiled
much with little progress. A great many things which
we have been bred up in the belief of, from our cradles,
(and are notions grown familiar, and, as it were, natural
to us, under the gospel,) we take for unquestionable ob
vious truths, and easily demonstrable; without consi
dering how long we might have been in doubt or igno
rance of them, had revelation been silent. And many
are beholden to revelation, who do not acknowledge
It is no diminishing to revelation, that reason gives its
suffrage too, to the truths revelation has discovered. ,
Ijut it io our mistake to think, that because reason con-/*
firms thern to us, we had the first certain knowledge of
them from thence; and in that clear evidence we now
possess them.. The contrary is manifest, in the defec
tive morality of the gentiles, before our Saviour s time ;
and the want of reformation in the principles and mea
sures of it, as well as practice. Philosophy seemed tq
L
146 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
t & have spent its strength, and done its utmost : or if it
A should have gone farther, as we see it did not, and
from undeniable principles given us ethics in a science
like mathematics, in every part demonstrable; this
yet would not have been so effectual to man in this
imperfect state, nor proper for the cure. The greatest
part of mankind want leisure or capacity for demonstra
tion ; nor can carry a train of proofs, which in that way
they must always depend upon for conviction, and can
not be required to assent to, until they see the demon
stration. Wherever they stick, the teachers are always
put upon proof, and must clear the doubt by a thread
of coherent deductions from the first principle, how
long, or how intricate soever they be. And you may as
soon hope to have all the day-labourers and tradesmen,
the spinsters and dairy-maids, perfect mathematicians,
as to have them perfect in ethics this way. Hearing
plain commands, is the sure and only course to bring
them to obedience and practice. The greatest part can
not know, and therefore they must believe. And I ask,
whether one coming from heaven in the power of God,
in full and clear evidence and demonstration of mira
cles, giving plain and direct rules of morality and obe
dience ; be riot likelier to enlighten the bulk of mankind,
and set them right in their duties, and bring them
to do them, than by reasoning with them from general
notions and principles of human reason ? And were all
the duties of human life clearly demonstrated, yet I
conclude, when well considered, that method of teach
ing men their duties would be thought proper only for
a few, who had much leisure, improved understandings,
and were used to abstract reasonings. But the instruc
tion of the people were best still to be left to the pre
cepts and principles of the gospel. The healing of the
sick, the restoring sight to the blind by a word, the rais
ing and being raised from the dead, are matters of fact,
which they can without difficulty conceive, and that he
who does such things, must do them by the assistance of
a divine power. These things lie level to the ordinariest
apprehension : he that can distinguish between sick
and well, lame and sound, dead and alive, is capable of
this doctrine. To one who is once persuaded that Jesus
as delivered in the Scriptures. 147
Christ was sent by God to be a King-, and a Saviour of
those who do believe in him ; all his commands become
principles ; there needs no other proof for the truth of
what he says, but that he said it. And then there needs
no more, but to read the inspired books, to be instruct
ed : all the duties of morality lie there clear, and plain,
and easy to be understood. And here I appeal, whether
this be not the surest, the safest, and most effectual way
of teaching : especially if we add this farther considera
tion, that as it suits the lowest capacities of reasonable
creatures, so it reaches and satisfies, nay, enlightens the
highest. The most elevated understandings cannot but^
submit to the authority of this doctrine as divine; which *
coming from the mouths of a company of illiterate men,
hath not only the attestation of miracles, but reason to
confirm it : since they delivered no precepts but such,
as though reason of itself had not clearly made out, yet
it could not but assent to, when thus discovered, and
think itself indebted for the discovery. The credit and
authority our Saviour and his apostles had over the minds
of men, by the miracles they did, tempted them not to
mix (as we find in that of all the sects and philosophers,
and other religions) any conceits, any wrong rules, any
thing tending to their own by-interest, or that of a party,
in their morality. No tang of prepossession, or fancy ;
no footsteps of pride, or vanity ; no touch of ostentation,
or ambition : appears to have a hand in it. It is all
pure, all sincere ; nothing too much, nothing wanting ;
but such a complete rule of life, as the wisest men
must acknowledge, tends entirely to the good of man-
kind, and that all would be happy, if all would prac
tise it.
3. The outward forms of worshipping the Deity,
wanted a reformation. Stately buildings, costly orna
ments, peculiar and uncouth habits, and a numerous
huddle of pompous, fantastical, cumbersome ceremonies,
every-where attended divine worship. This, as it had
the peculiar name, so it was thought the principal
part, if not the whole of religion. Nor could this, pos
sibly, be amended, whilst the Jewish ritual stood ; and
there was so much of it mixed with the worship of the
true God. To this also our Saviour, with the know*
148 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
ledge of the infinite, invisible, supreme Spirit, brought
a remedy, in a plain, spiritual, and suitable worship.
Jesus says to the woman of Samaria, " The hour Cometh,
" when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
" Jerusalem, worship the Father. But the true wor-
shippers shall worship the Father, both in Spirit and
" in truth ; for the Father seeketh such to worship him."
To be worshipped in spirit and truth, with application
of mind, and sincerity of heart, was what God hence
forth only required. Magnificent temples, and confine
ment to certain places, were now no longer necessary
for his worship, which by a pure heart might be per
formed any-where. The splendour and distinction of
habits, and pomp of ceremonies, and all outside perform
ances, might now be spared. God, who was a spirit,
and made known to be so, required none of those, but
the spirit only ; and that in public assemblies, (where
some actions must lie open to the view of the world), all
that could appear and be seen, should be done decently,
and in order > and to edification. Decency, order and
edification, were to regulate all their public acts of wor
ship, and beyond what these required, the outward ap
pearance (which was of little value in the eyes of God)
was not to go. Having shut indecency and confusion
out of their assemblies, they need not be solicitous about
useless ceremonies. Praises and prayer* humbly offered
up to the Deity, were the worship he now demanded ;
and in these every one was to look after his own heart,
and to know that it was that alone which God had re
gard to, and accepted.
4. Another great advantage received by our Saviour,
is the great encouragement he brought to a virtuous
and pious life ; great enough to surmount the difficul
ties and obstacles that lie in the way to it, and reward
the pains and hardships of those who stuck firm to their
duties, and suffered for the testimony of a good con
science. The portion of the righteous has been in all
ages taken notice of, to be pretty scanty in this world.
Virtue and prosperity do not often accompany one an
other ; and therefore virtue seldom had many followers.
And it is no wonder she prevailed not much in a state,
where the inconveniencies that attended her were visi*
as delivered in the Scriptures. 149
ble, and at hand ; and the rewards doubtful, and at a
distance. Mankind, who are and must be allowed to
pursue their happiness, nay, cannot be hindered ; could
not but think themselves excused from a strict observa
tion of rules, which appeared so little to consist of their
chief end, happiness ; whilst they kept them from the en
joyments of this life ; and they had little evidence and
security of another. It is true they might have argued
the other way, and concluded. That because the good
were most of them ill-treated here, there was another
place where they should meet with better usage ; but
it is plain they did not : their thoughts of another life
were at best obscure, and their expectations uncertain.
Of manes, and ghosts, and the shades of departed men,
there was some talk ; but little certain, and less minded.
They had the names of Styx and Acheron, of Elysian
fields and seats of the blessed : but they had them gene
rally from their poets, mixed with their fables. And
so they looked more like the inventions of wit, and or
naments of poetry, than the serious persuasions of the
grave and the sober. They came to them bundled up
among their tales, and for tales they took them. And
that which rendered them more suspected, and less use
ful to virtue, was, that the philosophers seldom set their
rules on men s minds and practices, by consideration of
another life. The chief of their arguments were from
the excellency of virtue ; and the highest they generally
went, was the exalting of human nature, whose perfec
tion lay in virtue. And if the priest at any time
talked of the ghosts below, and a life after this ; it was
only to keep men to their superstitious and idolatrous
rites ; whereby the use of this doctrine was lost to the
credulous multitude, and its belief to the quicker-
sighted ; who suspected it presently of priestcraft. Be
fore our Saviour s time the doctrine of a future state,
though it were not wholly hid, yet it was not clearly
known in the world. It was an imperfect view of rea
son, or, perhaps, the decayed remains of an ancient
tradition, which seemed rather to float on men s fan
cies, than sink deep into their hearts. It was some
thing they knew not what, between being and not be-
150 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
ing. Something in man they imagined might escape
the grave; but a perfect complete life, of an eternal
duration, after this, was what entered little into their
thoughts and less into their persuasions. And they
were so far from being clear herein, that we see no na
tion of the world publicly professed it, and built upon it :
no religion taught it ; and it was no-where made an
article of faith, and principle of religion, until Jesus
Christ came ; of whom it is truly said, that he, at his
appearing, " brought life and immortality to light. *
And that not only in the clear revelation of it, and in
instances shown of men raised from the dead ; but
he has given us an unquestionable assurance and pledge
of it in his own resurrection and ascension into heaven.
How has this one truth changed the nature of things in
the world, and given the advantage to piety over all
that could tempt or deter men from it ! The philoso
phers, indeed, showed the beauty of virtue ; they set
her off so, as drew men s eyes and approbation to her ;
but leaving her unendowed, very few were willing to
espouse her. The generality could not refuse her their
esteem and commendation ; but still turned their backs
on her, and forsook her, as a match not for their turn.
But now there being put into the scales on her side,
" an exceeding and immortal weight of glory ;" interest
is come about to her, and virtue now is visibly the most
enriching purchase, and by much the best bargain.
That she is the perfection and excellency of our nature;
that she is herself a reward, and will recommend our
names to future ages, is not all that can now be said of
her. It is not strange that the learned heathens satisfied
not many with such airy commendations. It has an
other relish and efficacy to persuade men, that if they
live well here, they shall be happy hereafter. Open their
eyes upon the endless, unspeakable joys of another life,
and their hearts will find something solid and powerful
to move them. The view of heaven and hell will cast
a slight upon the short pleasures and pains of this pre
sent state, and give attractions and encouragements to
virtue which reason and interest, and the care of our
selves, cannot but allow arid prefer. Upon this founda-
as delivered in the Scriptures. 151
tion, and upon this only, morality stands firm, and
may defy all competition. This makes it more than a
name ; a substantial good, worth all our aims and en
deavours ; and thus the gospel of Jesus Christ has deli
vered it to us.
5. To these I must add one advantage more by Jesus
Christ, and that is the promise of assistance. If we do
what we can, he will give us his Spirit to help us to do
what, and how we should. It will be idle for us, who
know not how our own spirits move and act us, to ask
in what manner the Spirit of God shall work upon us.
The wisdom that accompanies that Spirit knows better
than we, how we are made, and how to work upon us.
If a wise man knows how to prevail on his child, to
bring him to what he desires ; can we suspect that the
spirit and wisdom of God should fail in it ; though we
perceive or comprehend not the ways of his operation ?
Christ has promised it, who is faithful and just ; and
we cannot doubt of the performance. It is not requisite
on this occasion, for the enhancing of this benefit, to
enlarge on the frailty of our minds, and weakness of our
constitutions ; how liable to mistakes, how apt to go
astray, and how easily to be turned out of the paths of
virtue. If any one needs go beyond himself, and the
testimony of his own conscience in this point ; if he
feels not his own errours and passions always tempting,
and often prevailing, against the strict rules of his duty;
he need but look abroad into any stage of the world, to
be convinced. To a man under the difficulties of his
nature, beset with temptations, and hedged in with
prevailing custom ; it is no small encouragement to set
himself seriously on the courses of virtue, and practice
of true religion ; that he is from a sure hand, and an
Almighty arm, promised assistance to support and carry
him through.
There remains yet something to be said to those, wh#
will be ready to object, " If the belief of Jesus of Na-
" zareth to be the Messiah, together with those con-
" comitant articles of his resurrection, rule, and com-
" ing again to judge the world, be all the faith required,
" as necessary to justification, to what purpose were
" the epistles written ; I say, if the belief of those many
152 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
" doctrines contained in them be not also necessary to
" salvation ; and what is there delivered a Christian
" may believe or disbelieve, and yet, nevertheless, be a
* member of Christ s church, and one of the faithful ?"
To this I answer, that the epistles are written upon
several occasions : and he that will read them as he
ought, must observe what it is in them, which is princi
pally aimed at ; find what is the argument in hand, and
how managed ; if he will understand them right, and
profit by them. The observing of this will best help us
to the true meaning and mind of the writer ; for that is
the truth which is to be received and believed ; and
not scattered sentences in scripture-language, accom
modated to our notions and prejudices. We must
look into the drift of the discourse, observe the cohe
rence and connexion of the parts, and see how it is
consistent with itself and other parts of scripture; if
we will conceive it right. We must not cull out, as
best suits our system, here and there a period or verse ;
as if they were all distinct and independent aphorisms ;
and make these the fundamental articles of the Christian
faith, and necessary to salvation ; unless God has made
them so. There be many truths in the bible, which a
good Christian, may be wholly ignorant of, and so not
believe : which, perhaps, some lay great stress on, and
call fundamental articles, because they are the distin
guishing points of their communion. The epistles,
most of them, carry on a thread of argument, which, in
the style they are writ, cannot every- where be observed
without great attention, and to consider the texts as
they stand, and bear a part in that, is to view them in
their due light, and the way to get the true sense of
them. JThey were writ to those who were in the faith,
and true Christians already : and so could not be de
signed to teach them the fundamental articles and points
necessary to salvation. The epistle to the Romans was
writ to all " that were at Rome, beloved of God, called
" to be saints, whose faith was spoken of through the
" world," chap. i. 7, 8. To whom St. Paul s first
epistle to the Corinthians was, he shows, chap. i. 2, 4,
&c. " Unto the church of God which is at Corinth,
* c to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to
at delivered in the Scriptures. 153
< be saints ; with all them that in every place call upon
" the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and
a ours. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the
" grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ ; that
" in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance,
" and in all knowledge : even as the testimony of Christ
" was confirmed in you. So that ye come behind in
" no gift ; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
" Christ." And so likewise the second was, %c To the
tf church of God at Corinth, with all the saints in
" Achaia," chap. i. 1. His next is to the churches of
Galatia. That to the Ephesians was, " To the saints
" that were at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ
" Jesus." So likewise,, " To the saints and faithful
" brethren in Christ at Colosse, who had faith in Christ
" Jesus, and love to the saints. To the church of the
* Thessalonians. To Timothy his son in the faith.
" To Titus his own son after the common faith. To
" Philemon his dearly beloved, and fellow-labourer."
And the author to the Hebrews calls those he writes to
" Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling,"
chap. iii. 1. From whence it is evident, that all those
whom St. Paul writ to, were brethren, saints, faithful
in the church, and so Christians already ; arid therefore,
wanted not the fundamental articles of the Christian re
ligion ; without a belief of which they could not be
saved ; nor can it be supposed, that the sending of such
fundamentals was the reason of the apostle s writing to
any of them. To such also St. Peter writes, as is plain
from the first chapter of each of his epistles. Nor is it
hard to observe the like in St. James s and St. John s
epistles. And St. Jude directs his thus : * To them
" that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved
" in Jesus Christ, and called/ 1 The epistles, there^
fore, being all written to those who were already be- v
lievers and Christians, the occasion and end of writing
them could not be to instruct them in that which was
necessary to make them Christians. This, it is plain,
they knew and believed already ; or else they could not
have been Christians and believers. And they were writ
upon particular occasions ; and without those occasions,
154 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
had not been writ ; and so cannot be thought necessary
to salvation : though they resolving doubts, and re
forming mistakes, are of great advantage to our know
ledge and practice. I do not deny, but the great doc
trines of the Christian faith are dropt here and there,
and scattered up and down in most of them. But it is
not in the epistles we are to learn what are the funda
mental articles of faith, where they are promiscu
ously and without distinction mixed with other truths,
in discourses that were (though for edification, indeed,
yet) only occasional. We shall find and discern those
great and necessary points best, in the preaching of our
Saviour and the apostles, to those who were yet strangers,
and ignorant of the faith ; to bring them in, and
convert them to it. And what that was, we have seen
already, out of the history of the evangelists, and the
acts ; where they are plainly laid down, so that nobody
can mistake them. The epistles to particular churches,
besides the main argument of each of them, (which was
some present concernment of that particular church, to
which they severally were addressed,) do in many places
explain the fundamentals of the Christian religion, and
that wisely ; by proper accommodations to the appre
hensions of those they were writ to ; the better to make
them imbibe the Christian doctrine, and the more easily
to comprehend the method, reasons, and grounds of the
great work of salvation. Thus we see, in the epistle to
the Romans, adoption (a custom well known amongst
those of Rome) is much made use of, to explain to them
the grace and favour of God, in giving them eternal
life ; to help them to conceive how they became the
children of God, and to assure them of a share in the
kingdom of heaven, as heirs to an inheritance. Whereas
the setting out, and confirming the Christian faith to
the Hebrews, in the epistle to them, is by illusions and
arguments, from the ceremonies, sacrifices, and oeco-
nomy of the jews, and references to the records of the
Old Testament. And as for the general epistles, they,
we may see, regard the state and exigencies, and some
peculiarities of those times. These holy writers, in
spired from above, writ nothing but truth ; and in most
as delivered in the Scriptures
places, very weighty truths to us now; for the ex
pounding, clearing, and confirming of the Christian doc
trine, and establishing those in it who had embraced it.
But yet every sentence of theirs must not be taken up,
and looked on as a fundamental article, necessary to
salvation ; without an explicit belief whereof, no-body
could be a member of Christ s church here, nor be ad
mitted into his eternal kingdom hereafter. If all, or
most of the truths declared in the epistles, were to be
received and believed as fundamental articles, what then
became of those Christians who were fallen asleep (as
St. Paul witnesses in his first to the Corinthians, many
were) before these things in the epistles were revealed
to them ? Most of the epistles not being written till
above twenty years after our Saviour s ascension, and
some after thirty.
But farther, therefore, to those who will be ready to
say, " May those truths delivered in the epistles, which
" are not contained in the preaching of our Saviour
" and his apostles, and are therefore, by this account,
" not necessary to salvation ; be believed or disbelieved,
" without any danger ? May a Christian safely question
or doubt of them ? "
To this I answer, That the law of faith, being a co
venant of free grace, God alone can appoint what shall
be necessarily believed by every one whom he will
justify. What is the faith which he will accept and ac
count for righteousness, depends wholly on his good
pleasure. For it is of grace, and not of right, that this
faith is accepted. And therefore he alone can set the
measures of it : and what he has so appointed and de
clared is alone necessary. No-body can add to these
fundamental articles of faith ; nor make any other ne
cessary, but what God himself hath made, and declared
to be so. And what these are which God requires of
those who will enter into, and receive the benefits of
the new covenant, has already been shown. An explicit
belief of these is absolutely required of all those to
whom the gospel of Jesus Christ is preached, and salva
tion through his name proposed.
156 The Reasonableness of Christianity,
. The other parts of divine revelation are objects of
faith, and are so to be received. They are truths,
whereof no one can be rejected ; none that is once
known to be such, may, or ought to be disbelieved.
For to acknowledge any proposition to be of divine re
velation and authority ; and yet to deny, or disbelieve it ;
is to offend against this fundamental article and ground
of faith, that God is true. But yet a great many of the
truths revealed in the gospel, every one does, and must
confess, a man may be ignorant of; nay, disbelieve,
without danger to his salvation : as is evident in those,
who, allowing the authority, differ in the interpretation
and meaning of several texts of scripture, not thought
fundamental : in all which, it is plain, the contending
parties on one side or the other, are ignorant of, nay,
disbelieve the truths delivered in holy writ ; unless
contrarieties and contradictions can be contained in the
same words ; and divine revelation can mean contrary
to itself.
Though all divine revelation requires the obedience
of faith, yet every truth of inspired scriptures is not one
of those, that by the law of faith is required to be ex
plicitly believed to justification. What those are, we
have seen by what our Saviour and his apostles proposed
to, and required in those whom they converted tothefaith.
Those are fundamentals, which it is not enough not to
disbelieve : every one is required actually to assent to
them. But any other proposition contained in the scrip
ture, which God has not thus made a necessary part of
the law of faith, (without an actual assent to which, he
will not allow any one to be a believer,) a man may be
ignorant of, without hazarding his salvation by a defect
in his faith. He believes all that God has made neces
sary for him to believe, and assent to ; and as for the rest
of divine truths, there is nothing more required of him,
but that he receive all the parts of divine revelation,
with a docility and disposition prepared to embrace and
assent to all truths coming from God ; and submit his
mind to whatsoever shall appear to him to bear that cha
racter. Where he, upon fair endeavours, understands
as delivered in the Scriptures* 157
it not, how can he avoid being ignorant ? And where
he cannot put several texts, and make them consist to
gether, what remedy ? He must either interpret one by
the other, or suspend his opinion. He that thinks that
more is, or can be required of poor frail man in matters
of faith, will do well to consider what absurdities he will
run into. God, out of the infiniteness of his mercy,
has dealt "with man, as a compassionate and tender
Father. He gave him reason, and with it a law : that
could not be otherwise than what reason should dictate!
unless we should think, that a reasonable creature should
have an unreasonable law. But, considering the frailty
of man, apt to run into corruption and misery, he pro
mised a Deliverer, whom in his good time he sent ; and
then declared to all mankind, that whoever would be
lieve him to be the Saviour promised, and take him
now raised from the dead^ and constituted the Lord and
Judge of all men, to be their King and Ruler, should
be saved. This is a plain intelligible proposition : and
the all-merciful God seems herein to have consulted the
poor of this world, and the bulk of mankind. These
are articles that the labouring and illiterate man may \ H;
comprehend. This is a religion suited to vulgar capa
cities ; and the state of mankind in this world, destined
to labour and travel. The writers and wranglers in re
ligion fill it with niceties, and dress it up with notions*
which they make necessary and fundamental parts of it ;
as if there were no way into the church, but through the
academy or lyceum. The greatest part of mankind
have not leisure for learning and logic, and superfine
distinctions of the schools. Where the hand is used to
the plough and the spade, the head is seldom elevated
to sublime notions, or exercised in mysterious reason
ing. It is well if men of that rank (to say nothing of
the other sex) can comprehend plain propositions, and
a short reasoning about things familiar to their minds* \
and nearly allied to their daily experience. Go beyond
this, and you amaze the greatest part of mankind ; and
may as well talk Arabic to a poor day-labourer, as the
notions and language that the books and disputes of re
ligion are filled with ; and as soon you will be under-
158 The Reasonableness of Christianity.
stood. The dissenting congregation are supposed by
their teachers to be more accurately instructed in mat
ters of faith, and better to understand the Christian re
ligion, than the vulgar conformists, who are charged
with great ignorance ; how truly, I will not here deter
mine. But I ask them to tell me seriously, " Whether
" half their people have leisure to study ? Nay, Whe-
" ther one in ten, of those who come to their meetings
" in the country, if they had time to study them, do
" or can understand the controversies at this time so
" warmly managed amongst them, about ( justifica-
" tion, the subject of this present treatise ? " I have
talked with some of their teachers, who confess them
selves not to understand the difference in debate between
them. And yet the points they stand on, are reckoned
of so great weight, so material, so fundamental in reli
gion, that they divide communion, and separate upon
them. Had God intended that none but the learned
scribe, the disputer, or wise of this world, should be
Christians, or be saved, thus religion should have been
prepared for them, filled with speculations and niceties,
obscure terms, and abstract notions. But men of that
expectation, men furnished with such acquisitions, the
apostle tells us, 1 Cor. i. are rather shut out from the
simplicity of the gospel ; to make way for those poor,
ignorant, illiterate, who heard and believed promises of
a Deliverer, and believed Jesus to be him ; who could
conceive a man dead and made alive again ; and believe
that he should, at the end of the world, come again and
pass sentence on all men, according to their deeds.
That the poor had the gospel preached to them ; Christ
makes a mark, as well as business of his mission, Matt,
xi. 5. And if the poor had the gospel preached to
them, it was, without doubt, such a gospel as the poor
could understand ; plain and intelligible ; and so it was,
as we have seen, in the preachings of Christ and his
apostles.
VINDICATION
OF THE
REASONABLENESS
OF
CHRISTIANITY, &c
FROM MR. EDWARDS S
REFLECTIONS.
( 161 )
VINDICATION
OF THE
REASONABLENESS
OF
C II R I S T I A N I T Y, &c,
MY Book had not been long out, before it fell under
the correction of the author of a Treatise, entitled,
" Some Thoughts concerning the several Causes arid
" Occasions of Atheism, especially in the present
" Age." No contemptible adversary, I ll assure you ;
since, as it seems, he has got the faculty to heighten
every thing that displeases him, into the capital crime
of atheism; and breathes against those, who come in
his way, a pestilential air, whereby every the least dis
temper is turned into the plague, and becomes mortal.
For whoever does not just say after Mr. Edwards, can
not, it is evident, escape being an atheist, or a promoter
of atheism. I cannot but approve of any one s zeal, to
guard and secure that great and fundamental article of
all religion and morality, " That there is a God :" but
162 A Vindication of the
atheism being a crime, which, for its madness as well as
guilt, ought to shut a man out of all sober and civil
society, should be very warily charged on any one, by
deductions and consequences, which he himself does not
own, or, at least, do not manifestly and unavoidably flow
from what he asserts. This caution, charity, I think,
obliges us to : and our author would possibly think him
self hardly dealt with, if, for neglecting some of those
rules he himself gives, p. 31 and 34, against atheism,
he should be pronounced a promoter of it : as rational
a charge, I imagine, as some of those he makes ; and as
fitly put together, as " the Treatise of the Reasonableness
" of Christianity, &c." brought in among the causes
of atheism. However I shall not much complain of
him, since he joins me, p. 104, with no worse com
pany, than two eminently pious and learned * prelates
of our church, whom he makes favourers of the same
conceit, as he calls it. But what has that conceit to do
with atheism ? Very much. That conceit is of kin to
socinianism, and socinianism to atheism. Let us hear
Mr. Edwards himself. He says, p. 113, I am " all over
" socinianized :" and therefore, my book fit to be
placed among the causes of atheism. For in the 64th,
and following -pages, he endeavours to show, That " a
" socinian is an atheist ;" or, lest that should seem harsh,
" one that favours the cause of atheism," p. 75. For
so he has been pleased to mollify, now it is published as
a treatise, what was much more harsh, and much more
confident in it, when it was preached as a sermon. In
this abatement, he seems a little to comply with his own
advice, against his fourth cause of atheism ; which we
have in these words, p. 34, u Wherefore, that we may
" effectually prevent this folly in ourselves, let us banish
" presumption, confidence, and self-conceit ; let us ex-
" tirpate all pride and arrogance ; let us not list ourselves
44 in the number of capricious opinionators."
I shall leave the socinians themselves to answer his
charge against them, and shall examine his proof of my
being a socinian. It stands thus, p. 112, " When he"
* Bp. Taylor, and the Author of <f The Naked Truth/
Reasonableness of Christianity, $$c. 163
(the author of the Reasonableness of Christianity, &.)
" proceeds to mention the advantages and benefits of
" Christ s coming into the world, and appearing in the
" flesh, he hath not one syllable of his satisfying for us ;
" or, by his death, purchasing life or salvation, or any
" thing that sounds like it. This, and several other
" things, show, that he is all over socinianized." Which
in effect is, that because I have not set down all that
this author perhaps would have done, therefore I am a
socinian. But what if I should say, I set down as much
as my argument required, and yet am no socinian ?
Would he, from my silence and omission, give me the
lie, and say 1 am one ? Surmises that may be overturned
by a single denial, are poor arguments, and such as some
men would be ashamed of: at least, if they are to be
permitted to men of this gentleman s skill and zeal,
who knows how to make a good use of conjectures,
suspicions, and uncharitable censures in the cause of
God ; yet even there too (if the cause of God can need
such arts) they require a good memory to keep them
from recoiling upon the author. He might have taken
notice of these words in my book, (page 9 of this vol.)
" From this estate of death, JESUS CHRIST RESTORES
" all mankind to life." And a little lower, " The life
" which Jesus Christ restores to all men/ And p. 109,
" He that hath incurred death for his own transgression,
66 cannot LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR ANOTHER, as our
" Saviour professes he did." This, methinks, SOUNDS
SOMETHING LIKE " Christ s purchasing life for us by his
" death." But this reverend gentleman has an answer
ready ; it was not in the place he would have had it in,
it was not where I mention the advantages and benefits
of Christ s coming. And therefore, I not having there
one syllable of Christ s purchasing life and salvation for
us by his death, or any thing that sounds like it : this
and several other things that might be offered, show that
I am " all over socinianized." A very clear and inge
nuous proof, and let him enjoy it.
But what will become of me, that I have not men
tioned satisfaction !
Possibly, this reverend gentleman would have had
M 2
164 A Vindication of the
charity enough for a known writer of the brotherhood,
to have found it by an " inuendo," in those words
above quoted, of laying down his life for another. But
every thing is to be strained here the other way. For
the author of " the Reasonableness of Christianity, &c. M
is of necessity to be represented as a socinian ; or else his
book may be read, and the truths in it, which Mr. Ed
wards likes not, be received, and people put upon ex
amining. Thus one, as full of happy conjectures and
suspicions as this gentleman, might be apt to argue.
But what if the author designed his treatise, as the title
shows, chiefly for those who were not yet thoroughly,
or firmly, Christians, proposing to work on those, who
either wholly disbelieved, or doubted of the truth of the
Christian religion ? Would any one blame his prudence,
if he mentioned only those advantages, which all chris-
tians are agreed in ? Might he not remember and ob
serve that command of the apostle, Rom. xiv. 1, " Him
" that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubt-
" ful disputations ;" without being a socinian ? Did he
amiss, that he offered to the belief of those who stood
off, that, and only that, which our Saviour and his apo
stles preached, for the reducing the unconverted world :
and would any one think he in earnest went about to
persuade men to be Christians, who should use that as an
argument to recommend the gospel, which he has ob
served men to lay hold on, as an objection against it ?
To urge such points of controversy, as necessary articles
of faith, when we see our Saviour and the apostles, in
their preaching, urged them not as necessary to be be
lieved to make men Christians, is (by our own autho
rity) to add prejudices to prejudices, and to block up
our own way to those men, whom we would have access
to, and prevail upon. But some men had rather you
should write booty, and cross your own design of re
moving men s prejudices to Christianity, than leave out
one tittle of what they put into their systems. To such,
I say, convince but men of the mission of Jesus Christ,
make them but see the truth, simplicity, and reasonable
ness, of what he himself taught, and required to be be
lieved by his followers ; and you need not doubt, but
Reasonableness of Christianity , 8$c. 165
being once fully persuaded of his doctrine, and the ad
vantages which all Christians agree are received by him,
such converts will not lay by the scriptures, but by a
constant reading and study of them get all the light they
can from this divine revelation, and nourish themselves
up in the words of faith, and of good doctrine, as St.
Paul speaks to Timothy. But some men will not bear
it, that any one should speak of religion, but according
to the model that they themselves have made of it.
Nay, though he proposes it upon the very terms, and
in the very words which our Saviour and his apostles
preached it in, yet he shall not escape censures and the
severest insinuations. To deviate in the least, or to
omit any thing contained in their articles, is heresy,
under the most invidious names in fashion, and tis well
if he escapes being a downright atheist. Whether this
be the way for teachers to make themselves hearkened
to, as men in earnest in religion, and really concerned
for the salvation of men s souls, I leave them to consider.
What success it has had, towards persuading men of the
truth of Christianity, their own complaints of the preva-
lency of atheism, on the one hand, and the number of
deists on the other, sufficiently show.
Another thing laid to my charge, p. 105 and 107, is
my " forgetting, or rather wilful omitting, some plain
" and obvious passages," and some " famous testimo-
" nies in the evangelists ; namely, Matt, xxviii. 19,
" Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
" the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
And John i. 1, " In the beginning was the Word, and
" the word was with God, and the word was God."
And verse 14, " And the word was made flesh." Mine,
it seems, in this book, are all sins of omission. And yet,
when it came out, the buz, the flutter, and noise which
was made, and the reports which were raised, would
have persuaded the world, that it subverted all morality,
and was designed against the Christian religion. I must
confess, discourses of this kind, which I met with,
spread up and down, at first amazed me ; knowing
the sincerity of those thoughts, which persuaded me
to publish it (not without some hope of doing some
166 A Vindication of the
service to decaying piety, and mistaken and slandered
Christianity.) I satisfied myself against those heats, with
this assurance, that, if there was any thing in my book
against what any one called religion, it was not against
the religion contained in the gospel. And for that, I
appeal to all mankind.
But to return to Mr. Edwards, in particular, I must
take leave to tell him, that if " omitting plain and ob-
" vious passages, the famous testimonies in the evange-
" lists," be a fault in me, I wonder why he, among so
many of this kind that I am guilty of, mentions so few.
For I must acknowledge I have omitted more, nay,
many more, that are " plain and obvious passages, and
" famous testimonies in the evangelists," than those he
takes notice of. But if I have left out none of those
" passages or testimonies," which contain what our
Saviour and his apostles preached, and required assent to,
to make men believers, I shall think my omissions (let
them be what they will) no faults in the present case.
Whatever doctrines Mr. Edwards would have to be be
lieved, if they are such as our Saviour and his apostles
required to be believed, to make a man a Christian, he
will be sure to find them in those preachings and " fa-
" mous testimonies," of our Saviour and his apostles,
that I have quoted. And if they are not there, he may
rest satisfied, that they were not proposed by our Saviour
and his apostles, as necessary to be believed, to make
men Christ s disciples.
If the omission of other texts in the evangelists (which
are all true also, and no one of them to be disbelieved)
be a fault, it might have been expected that Mr. Ed
wards should have accused me for leaving out Matth. i.
18 23, and Matth. xxvii. 24, 35, 50, 60, for these are
" plain and obvious passages and famous testimonies in
" the evangelists ;" and such, whereon these articles of
the apostles creed, viz. " born of the virgin Mary, suf-
" fered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and
" buried," are founded. These, being articles of the
apostles creed, are looked upon as " fundamental doc-
" trines :" and one would wonder, why Mr. Edwards
so quietly passes by their omission ; did it not appear,
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 167
that he was so intent on fixing his imputation of so-
cinianism upon me, that, rather than miss that, he was
content to drop the other articles of his creed. For I
must observe to him, that if he had blamed me for the
omission of the places last quoted out of St. Matthew,
(as he had as much reason as for any other,) it would
plainly have appeared, how idle and ill-grounded his
charging socinianism on me was. But, at any rate, he
was to give the book an ill name : not because it was
socinian ; for he has no more reason to charge it with
socinianism for the omissions he mentions, than the
apostles creed. It is therefore well for the compilers of
that creed, that they lived not in Mr. Edwards s days :
for he would, no doubt, have found them " all over
" socinianized," for omitting the texts he quotes, and
the doctrines he collects out of John i. and John xiv.
p. 107, 108. Socinianism then is not the fault of the
book, whatever else it be. For I repeat it again, there
is not one word of socinianism in it. I, that am not so
good at conjectures as Mr. Edwards, shall leave it to
him to say, or to those who can bear the plainness and
simplicity of the gospel, to guess, what its fault is.
Some men are shrewd guessers, and others would be
thought to be so ; but he must be carried far by his for
ward inclination, who does not take notice, that the
world is apt to think him a diviner, for any thing ra
ther than for the sake of truth, who sets up his own
suspicions against the direct evidence of things ; and
pretends to know other men s thoughts and reasons,
better than they themselves. I had said, that the epis
tles, being writ to those who were already believers,
could not be supposed to be writ to them to teach them
fundamentals, without which they could not be be
lievers.
And the reason I gave, why I had not gone through
the writings in the epistles, to collect the fundamental
articles of faith, as I had through the preachings of
our Saviour and the apostles, was, because those funda
mental articles were in those epistles promiscuously,
and without distinction, mixed with other truths. And,
therefore, we shall find and discern those great and ne-
168 A Vindication of the
cessary points best in the preachings of our Saviour and
the apostles, to those who were yet ignorant of the faith,
and unconverted. This, as far as I know my own
thoughts, was the reason why I did (as Mr. Edwards
complains, p. 109) " not proceed to the epistles, and
" not give an account of them, as I had done of the
" gospels and acts." This, I imagined, I had in the
close of my book so fully and clearly expressed, parti
cularly p. 152 of this vol. that I supposed no-body,
how willing soever, could have mistaken me. But this
gentleman is so much better acquainted with me, than
I am with myself ; sees so" deeply into my heart, and
knows so perfectly every thing that passes there ; that
he, with assurance, tells the world, p. 109, " That I
" purposely omitted the epistolary writings of the apo-
" sties, because they are fraught with other fundamen-
" tai doctrines, besides that one which I mention."
And then he goes to enumerate those fundamental arti
cles, p. 110, 111, viz. "The corruption and degeneracy
" of human nature, with the true original of it, (the
" defection of our first parents,) the propagation of sin
" and mortality, our restoration and reconciliation by
" Christ s blood, the eminency and excellency of his
ts priesthood, the efficacy of his death, the full satisfac-
" tion made, thereby, to divine justice, and his being
" made an all-sufficient sacrifice for sin. Christ s
" righteousness, our justification by it, election, adop-
" tion, sarictification, saving faith, the nature of the
" gospel, the new covenant, the riches of God s mercy
" in the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, the certainty
" of the resurrection of human bodies, and of the future
" glory."
Give me leave now to ask you seriously, whether these,
which you have here set down under the title of " fun-
" damental doctrines," are such (when reduced to pro
positions) that every one of them is required to be be
lieved to make a man a Christian, and such as, without
the actual belief thereof, he cannot be saved. If they
are not so, every one of them, you may call them " fun-
" damental doctrines," as much as you please, they are
not of those doctrines of faith I was speaking of, which
Reasonableness of Christianity, $c. 169
are only such as are required to be actually believed to
make a man a Christian. If you say, some of them are
such necessary points of faith, and others not, you, by
this specious list of well-sounding, but unexplained
terms, arbitrarily collected, only make good what I have
said, viz. that the necessary articles of faith are, in the
epistles, promiscuously delivered with other truths, and,
therefore, they cannot be distinguished but by some
other mark, than being barely found in the epistles. If
you say, that they are all of them necessary articles of
faith, I shall then desire you to reduce them to so many
plain doctrines, and then prove them to be every one of
them required to be believed by every Christian man, to
make him a member of the Christian church. For, to
begin with the first, it is not enough to tell us, as you
do, that " the corruption and degeneracy of human na-
" ture, with the true original of it, (the defection of our
" first parents,) the propagation of sin and mortality,
" is one of the great heads of Christian divinity." But
you are to tell us, what are the propositions we are re
quired to believe concerning this matter: for nothing
can be an article of faith, but some proposition ; and
then it will remain to be proved, that these articles are
necessary to be believed to salvation. The apostles creed
was taken, in the first ages of the church, to contain all
things necessary to salvation ; I mean, necessary to be
believed : but you have now better thought on it, and
are pleased to enlarge it, and we, no doubt, are bound
to submit to your orthodoxy.
The list of materials for his creed (for the articles are
not yet formed) Mr. Edwards closes, p. Ill, with these
words, " These are the matters of faith contained in the
" epistles, and they are essential and integral parts of
" the gospel itself." What, just these ? Neither more
nor less ? If you are sure of it, pray let us have them
speedily, for the reconciling of differences in the Chris
tian church, which has been so cruelly torn, about the
articles of the Christian faith, to the great reproach of
Christian charity, and scandal of our true religion.
Mr. Edwards, having thus, with two learned terms of
" essential and integral parts," sufficiently proved the
170 A Vindication of the
matter in question, viz. That all those he has set down
are articles of faith necessary to be believed to make a
man a Christian, he grows warm at my omission of them.
This I cannot complain of as unnatural : the spirit of
creed-making always rising from an heat of zeal for our
own opinions, and warm endeavours, by all ways possi
ble, to decry and bear down those who differ in a tittle
from us. What then could I expect more gentle and
candid, than what Mr. Edwards has subjoined in these
words ? " And therefore it is no wonder that our au-
" thor, being sensible of this," (viz. That the points he
has named were essential and integral parts of the gospel,)
" would not vouchsafe to give us an abstract of those
" inspired writings [the epistles] ; but passes them by
" with some contempt." Sir, when your angry fit is
over, and the abatement of your passion has given way
to the return of your sincerity, I shall beg you to read
this passage in page 154 of this vol. " These holy writ-
" ers (viz. the pen-men of the scriptures) INSPIRED
" from above, writ nothing but truth, and, in most
" places, very weighty truths to us now, for the ex-
" pounding, clearing, and confirming of the Christian
" doctrine ; and establishing those in it who had em-
" braced it/ And again, p. 156, " The other parts
" of DIVINE REVELATION are objects of faith, and are
" so to be received. They are truths, of which none
" that is once known to be such, i. e. revealed, may or
" ought to be disbelieved." And if this does not satisfy
you, that I have as high a veneration for the epistles, as
you or any one can have, I require you to publish to the
world those passages, which show my contempt of them.
In the mean time, I shall desire my reader to examine
what I have writ concerning the epistles, which is all
contained between p. 151 and 158 of this vol. and then
to judge whether I have made bold with the epistles in
what I have said of them, or this gentleman made bold
with truth in what he has writ of me. Human frailty
will not, I see, easily quit its hold ; what it loses in one
part, it will be ready to regain in another ; and not be
hindered from taking reprisals, even on the most privi
leged sort of men. Mr, Edwards, who is intrenched
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 171
in orthodoxy, and so is as safe in matters of faith almost
as infallibility itself, is yet as apt to err as others in
matters of fact.
But he has not yet done with me about the epistles :
all his fine draught of my slighting that part of the
scripture will be lost, unless the strokes complete it
into socinianism. In his following words you have the
conclusion of the whole matter. His words are these :
" And more especially, if I may conjecture/ 7 (by all
means, sir, conjecturing is your proper talent : you have
hitherto done nothing else ; and I will say that for you,
you have a lucky hand at it :) " he doth this (i. e. pass
" by the epistles with contempt) because he knew that
" there are so many and frequent, and those so illustri-
" ous and eminent attestations to the doctrine of the
" ever to be adored Trinity, in these epistles." Truly,
sir, if you will permit me to know what I know, as well
as you do allow yourself to conjecture what you please,
you are out for this once ; the reason why I went not .
through the epistles, as I did the gospels and the acts,
was that very reason I printed, and that will be found
so sufficient a one to all considerate readers, that I be
lieve, they will think you need not strain your con
jectures for another. And, if you think it to be so easy
to distinguish fundamentals from non-fundamentals in
the epistles, I desire you to try your skill again, in giv
ing the world a perfect collection of propositions out of
the epistles, that contain all that is required, and no
more than what is absolutely required to be believed by
all Christians, without which faith they cannot be of
Christ s church. For I tell you, notwithstanding the
show you have made, you have not yet done it, nor
will you affirm that you have.
His next page, p. 112, is made up of the same, which
he calls, not uncharitable conjectures. I expound, he
says, " John xiv. 9, &c. after the antitrinitarian mode:"
and I make " Christ and Adam to be sons of God, in
" the same sense, and by their birth, as the racovians
** generally do." I know not but it may be true, that
the antitrinitarians and racovians understand those
places as I do : but it is more than I know, that they
172 A Vindication of the
do so. I took not my sense of those texts from those
writers, but from the scripture itself, giving light to its
own meaning, by one place compared with another :
what in this way appears to me its true meaning, I shall
not decline, because I am told that it is so understood
by the racovians, whom I never yet read ; nor embrace
the contrary, though the " generality of divines " I
more converse with should declare for it. If the sense,
wherein I understand those texts, be a mistake, I shall
be beholden to you, if you will set me right. But they
are not popular authorities, or frightful names, whereby
I judge of truth or falsehood. You will now, no doubt,
applaud your conjectures ; the point is gained, and I
am openly a socinian, since I will not disown, that I
think the Son of God was a phrase, that among the
jews, in our Saviour s time, was used for the Messiah,
though the socinians understand it in the same sense ;
and therefore I must certainly be of their persuasion in
every thing else. I admire the acuteness, force, and
fairness of your reasoning, and so I leave you to triumph
in your conjectures. Only I must desire you to take
notice, that that ornament of our church, and every
way eminent prelate, the late archbishop of Canterbury,
understood that phrase in the same sense that I do, with
out being a socinian. You may read what he says con
cerning Nathanael, in his first " Sermon of Sincerity,"
published this year : his words are these, p. 4, " And
** being satisfied that he [our Saviour] was the Messiah,
" he presently owned him for such, calling him the
" SON of GOD, and the King of Israel."
Though this gentleman knows my thoughts as per
fectly as if he had for several years past lain in my bo
som, yet he is mightily at a loss about my person : as if
it at all concerned the truth contained in my book,
what hand it came from. However, the gentleman is
mightily perplexed about the author. Why, sir, what
if it were writ by a scribbler of Bartholomew-fair drolls,
with all that flourish of declamatory rhetoric, and all
that smartness of wit and jest about captain Tom, uni-
tarians, units, and cyphers, &c. which are to be found
between pages 115 and 123 of a book that came out
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 173
during the merry time of rope dancing, and puppet
plays ? What is truth, would, I hope, nevertheless be
truth in it, however oddly spruced up by such an author:
though perhaps, it is likely some would be apt to say,
such merriment became not the gravity of my subject,
and that I writ not in the style of a graduate in divinity.
I confess (as Mr. Edwards rightly says) my fault lies
on the other side, in a want of " vivacity and elevation :"
and I cannot wonder, that one of his character and
palate, should find out and complain of my flatness,
which has so over-charged my book with plain and di
rect texts of scripture, in a matter capable of no other
proofs. But yet I must acknowledge his excess of civi
lity to me ; he shows me more kindness than I could
expect or wish, since he prefers what I say to him myself
to what is offered to him from the word of God ; and
makes me this compliment, that I begin to mend,
about the close, i. e. when I leave off quoting of scrip
ture : and the dull work was done, of " going through
" the history of the Evangelists and Acts," which he
computes, p. 105, to take up three quarters of my book.
Does not all this deserve, at least, that I should, in re
turn, take some care of his credit ? Which I know not
how better to do, than by entreating him, that when he
takes next in hand such a subject as this, wherein the
salvation of souls is concerned, he would treat it a little
more seriously, and with a little more candour; lest
men should find in his writings, another cause of
atheism, which in this treatise, he has not thought fit to
mention. " Ostentation of wit " in general he has made
a " cause of atheism/ p. 28. But the world will tell
him, that frothy light discourses concerning the serious
matters of religion ; and ostentation of trifling and mis
becoming wit in those who come as ambassadors from
God, under the title of successors of the apostles, in the
great commission of the gospel ; are none of the least
causes of atheism.
Some men have so peculiar a way of arguing, that
one may see it influences them in the repeating another
man s reasoning, and seldom fails to make it their own.
In the next paragraph I find these words; " what makes
174- A Vindication of the
" him contend for one single article, with the exclusion
" of all the rest ? He pretends it is this, that all men
" ought to understand their religion." This, I con
fess, is a reasoning I did not think of; nor could it
hardly, I fear, have been used but by one who had first
took up his opinion from the recommendation of
fashion or interest, and then sought topics to make it
good. Perhaps the deference due to your character,
excused you from the trouble of quoting the page, where
I pretend, as you say ; and it is so little like my way of
reasoning, that I shall not look for it in a book where I
remember nothing of it, and where, without your di
rection, I fear the reader will scarce find it. Though I
have not " that vivacity of thought, that elevation of
" mind," which Mr. Edwards demands, yet common
sense would have kept me from contending that there
is but one article, because all men ought to understand
their religion. Numbers of propositions may be harder
to be remembered,, but it is the abstruseness of the no
tions, or obscurity, inconsistency, or doubtfulness of the
terms or expressions that makes them hard to be under
stood ; and one single proposition may more perplex the
understanding than twenty others. But where did you
find " I contended for one single article, so as to exclude
" all the rest ?" You might have remembered that I
say, p. 1, 17, That the article of the one only true
God, was also necessary to be believed. This might
have satisfied you, that I did not so contend for one ar
ticle of faith, as to be at defiance with more than one.
However, you insist on the word one with great vigour,
from p. 108 to 121. And you did well, you had else
lost all the force of that killing stroke reserved for the
close, in that sharp jest of Unitarians, and a clench or
two more of great moment.
Having found, by a careful perusal of the preachings
of our Saviour and his apostles, that the religion they
proposed, consisted in that short, plain, easy arid intelli
gible summary which I set down, p. 157, in these words :
" Believing Jesus to be the Saviour promised, and tak-
" ing him, now raised from the dead, and constituted
" the Lord and Judge of men, to be their King and
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 175
" Ruler ;" I could not forbear magnifying the wisdom
and goodness of God (which infinitely exceeds the
thoughts of ignorant, vain, and narrow-minded man) in
these following words : " The All-merciful God seems
" herein to have consulted the poor of this world, and
" the bulk of mankind : THESE ARE ARTICLES that the
" labouring and illiterate man may comprehend."
Having thus plainly mentioned more than one article,
I might have taken it amiss, that Mr. Edwards should
be at so much pains as he is, to blame me for " con-
" tending for one" article ; because I thought more
than one could not be understood ; had he not had many
fine things to say in his declamation upon one article,
which affords him so much matter, that less than seven
pages could not hold it. Only here and there, as men
of oratory often do, he mistakes the business, as p. 115,
where he says, " I urge, that there must be nothing in
" Christianity that is not plain, and exactly levelled to
" all men s mother-wit." I desire to know where I
said so, or that " the very manner of every thing in
" Christianity must be clear and intelligible, every thing
" must be presently comprehended by the weakest nod-
" die, or else it is no part of religion, especially of
" Christianity ;" as he has it, p. 119. I am sure it is not
in p. 133 136, 149 151, of my book : these, therefore,
to convince him that I am of another opinion, I shall
desire somebody to read to Mr. Edwards, for he himself
reads my book with such spectacles, as make him find
meanings and words in it, neither of which I put there.
He should have remembered, that I speak not of all the
doctrines of Christianity, nor all that is published to the
world in it; but of those truths only, which are abso-4
lutely required to be believed to make any one a Chris
tian. And these, I find, are so plain and easy, that I
see no reason why every body, with me, should not mag
nify the goodness and condescension of the Almighty,
who having, out of his free grace, proposed a new law
of faith to sinful and lost man ; hath, by that law, re
quired no harder terms, nothing as absolutely necessary
to be believed, but what is suited to vulgar capacities,
and the comprehension of illiterate men.
176 A Vindication of the
You are a little out again, p. 118, where you ironi
cally say, as if it were my sense, " Let us have but one
" article, though it be with defiance to all the rest."
Jesting apart, sir, this is a serious turn, that what our
Saviour and his apostles preached, and admitted men
into the church for believing, is all that is absolutely
required to make a man a Christian. But this is, with
out any " defiance to all the rest," taught in the word
of God. This excludes not the belief of any of those
many other truths contained in the scriptures of the Old
and New Testaments, which it is the duty of every
Christian to study, and thereby build himself up in our
most holy faith ; receiving with stedfast belief, and ready
obedience, all those things which the spirit of truth
hath therein revealed. But that all the rest of the in
spired writings, or, if you please, " articles, are of equal
" necessity" to be believed to make a man a Christian,
with what was preached by our Saviour and his apostles,
that I deny. A man, as I have shown, may be a Chris
tian and believer, without actually believing them,
because those whom our Saviour and his apostles, by
their preaching and discourses, converted to the faith,
were made Christians and believers, barely upon the re
ceiving what they preached to them.
I hope it is no derogation to the Christian religion,
to say, that the fundamentals of it, i. e. all that is ne
cessary to be believed in it, by all men, is easy to be
understood by all men. This I thought myself autho
rized to say, by the very easy and very intelligible arti*
cles, insisted on by our Saviour and his apostles ; which
contain nothing but what could be understood by the
bulk of mankind : a term which, I know not why, Mr.
Edwards, p. 117, is offended at ; and thereupon is, after
his fashion, sharp upon me about captain Tom and his
myrmidons, for whom, he tells me, I am " going to
" make a religion." The making of religions and creeds
I leave to others. I only set down the Christian religion
as I find our Saviour and his apostles preached it, and
preached it to, and left it for, the " ignorant and un-
" learned multitude." For I hope you do not think,
how contemptibly soever you speak of the " venerable
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 177
* mob," as you are pleased to dignify them, p. 117,
that the bulk of mankind, or, in your phrase, the
" rabble," are not concerned in religion, or ought to
understand it, in order to their salvation. Nor are you,
1 hope, acquainted with any who are of that Muscovite
divine s mind, who, to one that was talking to him
about religion, and the other world, replied, That for
the czar, indeed, and bojars, they might be permitted
to raise their hopes to heaven ; but that for such poor
wretches as he, they were not to think of salvation*
I remember the pharisees treated the common people
with contempt, and said, " Have any of the rulers, or
" of the pharisees, believed in him ? But this people,
" who knoweth not the law, are cursed." But yet
these, who in the censure of the pharisees, were cursed,
were some of the poor ; or, if you please to have it so,
the mob, to whom the " gospel was preached " by our
Saviour, as he tells John s disciples, Matt. xi. 5.
Pardon me, sir, that I have here laid these examples
and considerations before you ; a little to prevail with
you not to let loose such a torrent of wit and eloquence
against the " bulk of mankind," another time, and that
for a mere fancy of your own : for I do not see how they
here came in your way ; but that you were resolved to
set up something to have a fling at, and show your
parts, in what you call your " different strain," though
besides the purpose. I know nobody was going to " ask
" the mob, What you must believe? * And as for me,
I suppose you will take my word for it, that I think no
mob, no, not your " venerable mob," is to be asked,
what I am to believe; nor that " Articles of faith" are
to be " received by the vote of club-men," or any other
sort of men, you will name instead of them.
In the following words, p. 115, you ask, " Whether
" a man may not understand those articles of faith,
" which you mentioned out of the gospels and epistles,
" if they be explained to him, as well as that one, I
" speak of? " It is as the articles are, and as they are
explained. There are articles that have been some
hundreds of years explaining ; which there are many,
and those not of the most illiterate, who profess they dp
K
1 78 A Vindication of the
not yet understand. And to instance in no other, but
" He descended into hell," the learned are not yet
agreed in the sense of it, though great pains have been
taken to explain it.
Next, I ask, Who are to explain your articles ?
The papists will explain some of them one way, and the
reformed another. The remonstrants, and anti-remon
strants, give them different senses. And probably, the
trinitarians and Unitarians will profess, that they un
derstand not each others explications. And at last, I
think it may be doubted, whether any articles, which
need men s explications, can be so clearly and certainly
understood, as one which is made so very plain by the
scripture itself, as not to need any explication at all.
Such is this, that Jesus is the Messiah. For though you
learnedly tell us, that Messiah is a Hebrew word, and no
better understood by the vulgar, than Arabic; yet I
guess it is so fully explained in the New Testament, and
in those places I have quoted out of it, that nobody,
who can understand any ordinary sentence in the scrip
ture, can be at a loss about it. And it is plain, it needs
no other explication, than what our Saviour and the
apostles gave it in their preaching ; for, as they preached
it, men received it, and that sufficed to make them be
lievers.
To conclude, when I heard that this learned gentle
man, who had a name for his study of the scriptures,
and writings on them, had done me the honour to con
sider my treatise, I promised myself, that his degree,
calling, and fame in the world, would have secured to
me something of weight in his remarks, which might
have convinced me of my mistakes ; and, if he had found
any in it, justified my quitting of them. But having ex
amined what, in his, concerns my book, I to my wonder
find, that he has only taken pains to give it an ill name,
without so much as attempting to refute any one
position in it, how much soever he is pleased to make a
noise against several propositions, which he might be
free with, because they are his own : and I have no rea
son to take it amiss if he has shown his zeal and skill
against them. He has been so favourable to what is
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 1 79
mine, as not to use any one argument against any pas
sage in my book. This, which I take for a public testi
mony of his approbation, I shall return him my thanks
for, when I know whether I owe it to his mistake, con
viction, or kindness. But if he writ only for his book
seller s sake, he alone ought to thank him.
AFTER the foregoing papers were sent to the press,
the " Witnesses to Christianity," of the reverend and
learned Dr. Patrick, now lord bishop of Ely, fell into
my hands. I regretted the not having seen it, before I
writ my treatise of the " Reasonableness of Christianity,
" &c." I should then, possibly, by the light given me
by so good a guide, and so great a man, with more con
fidence directly have fallen into the knowledge of
Christianity ; which, in the way T sought it, in its source,
required the comparing of texts with texts, and the
more than once reading over the Evangelists and Acts,
besides other parts of scripture. But I had the ill luck
not to see that treatise, until so few hours since, that I
have had time only to read as far as the end of the in
troduction or first chapter: and there Mr. Edwards
may find, that this pious bishop (whose writings show
he studies, as well as his life that he believes, the scrip
tures) owns what Mr. Edwards is pleased to call, " a
" plausible conceit," which, he says, " I give over and
" over again in these formal words, viz. That nothing
" is required to be believed by any Christian man, but
" this, That Jesus is the Messiah."
The liberty Mr. Edwards takes, in other places, de
serves not it should be taken upon his word, " That
" these formal words " are to be found " over and over
" again " in my book, unless he had quoted the pages.
But I will set him down the " formal words, * which
are to be found in this reverend prelate s book, p. 14,
" To be the Son of God, and to be Christ, being but
" different expressions of the same thing." Arid, p. 10,
4< It is the very same thing to believe, that Jesus is the
" Christ, and to believe, that Jesus is the Son of God;
" express it how you please. This ALONE is the faith
" which can regenerate a man, and put a divine spirit
180 A Vindication, fyc.
" into him ; that is, make him a conqueror over the
" world, as Jesus was." I have quoted only these few
words ; but Mr. Edwards, if he pleases, or any body
else, may, in this first chapter, satisfy himself more
fully, that the design of it is to show, that in our Sa
viour s time, " Son of God," was a known and received
name and appellation of the Messiah, and so used in
the holy writers. And that the faith that was to make
men Christians, was only the believing, * that Jesus is
" the Messiah." It is to the truth of this proposition
that he " examines his witnesses/* as he speaks, p. 21.
And this, if I mistake not, in his epistle dedicatory, he
calls " Christianity ; " fol. A 3, where he calls them
" witnesses to Christianity." But these two proposi
tions, viz. That " SON OF GOD," in the gospel, stands
for Messiah ; and that the faith, which alone makes
men Christians, is the believing " Jesus to be the Mes-
" siah," displeases Mr. Edwards so much in my book,
that he thinks himself authorized from them, to charge
me with socinianism, and want of sincerity. How he
will be pleased to treat this reverend prelate, whilst he
is alive (for the dead may, with good manners, be made
bold with) must be left to his decisive authority. This,
I am sure, which way soever he determine, he must,
for the future, either afford me more good company, or
fairer quarter.
A SECOND
VINDICATION
OF THE
REASONABLENESS
OF
CHRISTIANITY, &c.
PREFACE
TO THfi
READER,
IT hath pleased Mr. Edwards, in answer to the " Rea-
" sonableness of Christianity, &c." and its " Vindi-
" cation," to turn one of the most weighty and import
ant points that can come into question (even no less,
than the very fundamentals of the Christian religion),
into a mere quarrel against the author : as every one,
with Mr. Bold, may observe. In my reply to him., I
have endeavoured, as much as his objections would al
low me, to bring him to the subject-matter of my book,
and the merits of the cause ; though his peculiar way of
writing controversy has made it necessary for me in fol
lowing him step by step, to wipe off the dirt he has
thrown on me, and clear myself from those falsehoods he
has filled his book with. This I could not but do, in
dealing with such an antagonist ; that by the untruths
I have proved upon him, the reader may judge of those
other allegations of his, whereof the proof lying on his
side, the bare denial is enough on mine, and, indeed,
are wholly nothing to the truth or falsehood of what is
contained in my " Reasonableness of Christianity, &c."
To which I shall desire the reader to add this farther
consideration from his way of writing, not against my
184 Preface to the Reader.
book, but against me, for writing it, that if he had had
a real concern for truth and religion in this dispute, he
would have treated it after another manner ; and we
should have had from him more argument, reasoning,
and clearness, and less boasting declamation, and rail
ing. It has been unavoidable for me to take notice of
a great deal of this sort of stuff, in answering a writer,
who has very little else to say in the controversy, and
places his strength in things beside the question : but
yet I have been so careful, to take all occasions to ex
plain the doctrine of my book, that I hope the reader
will not think his pains wholly lost labour, in perusing
this reply ; wherein he will find some farther, and, I
hope, satisfying account, concerning the writings of the
New Testament, and the Christian Religion contained
in it.
Mr. Edwards s ill language, which I thought person
ally to me (though I know not how I had provoked a
man whom I had never had to do with), I am now satis
fied, by his rude and scurrilous treating of Mr. Bold, is
his way and strength in management of controversy ;
and therefore requires a little more consideration in this
disputant, than otherwise it would deserve. Mr. Bold,
with the calmness of a Christian, the gravity of a divine,
the clearness of a man of parts, and the civility of a
well-bred man, made some " animadversions " on his
u Socinianism unmasked ;" which, with a sermon preach
ed on the same subject with my " Reasonableness of
" Christianity," he published: and how he has been
used by Mr. Edwards, let the world judge.
I was extremely surprised with Mr. Bold s book, at a
time when there was so great an outcry against mine,
on all hands. But, it seems, he is a man that does not
take up things upon hearsay ; nor is afraid to own truth,
whatever clamour or calumny it may lie under. Mr.
Edwards confidently tells the world, that Mr. Bold has
been drawn in to espouse this cause, upon base and mean
considerations. Whose picture of the two, such a de
scription is most likely to give us, I shall leave to the
reader to judge, from what he will find in their writings
on this subject. For as to the persons themselves, I am
Preface to the Reader. 185
equally a stranger to them both : I know not the face
of either of them : and having hitherto never had any
communication with Mr. Bold, I shall begin with him,
as I did with Mr. Edwards in print ; and here publicly
return him this following acknowledgment, for what he
has printed in this controversy.
To Mr. BOLD.
SIR,
THOUGH I do not think I ought to return thanks
to any one, for being of my opinion, any more than
to fall out with him, for differing from me; yet I
cannot but own to all the world, the esteem, that I think
is due to you, for that proof you have given, of a mind
and temper becoming a true minister of the gospel ; in
appearing as you have done, in the defence of a point,
a great point of Christianity, which it is evident you
could have no other temptation to declare for, but the
love of truth. It has fared with you herein no better
than with me. For Mr. Edwards not being able to
answer your arguments, he has found out already, that
you are a mercenary, defending a cause against your per
suasion for hire ; and that you " are sailing to Racovia
" by a side-wind :" such inconsistencies can one (whose
business it is to rail for a cause he cannot defend) put
together to make a noise with : and he tells you plainly,
what you must expect, if you write any more on this
argument, viz. to be pronounced a downright apostate
and renegade.
As soon as I saw your sermon and animadversions, I
wondered what scarecrow Mr. Edwards would set up
wherewith he might hope to deter men of more caution
than sense, from reading of them ; since socinianism,
from which you were known to be as remote as he, I
concluded would not do. The unknown author of the
" Reasonableness of Christianity," he might make a
socinian, mahometan, atheist, or what sort of raw-head
and bloody-bones he pleased. But I imagined he had
had more sense than to venture any such aspersions, on
186 Preface to the Reader.
a man whom, though I have not yet the happiness per
sonally to know ; yet, I know, hath justly a great and
settled reputation amongst worthy men : and I thought
that that coat, which you had worn with so much repu
tation, might have preserved you from the bespatterings
of Mr. Edwards s dunghill. But what is to be expected
from a warrior that hath no other ammunition, and yet
ascribes to himself victory from hence, and, with this
artillery, imagines he carries all before him ? And so
Skimmington rides in triumph, driving all before him,
by the ordures that he bestows on those that come in his
way. And, were not Christianity concerned in the case,
a man would scarce excuse to himself the ridiculousness
of entering into the list with such a combatant. I do
not, therefore, wonder that this mighty boaster, having
no other way to answer the books of his opponents, but
by popular calumnies, is fain to have recourse to his
only refuge, and lay out his natural talent in vilifying
and slandering the author. But I see, by what you have
already writ, how much you are above that ; and as you
take not up your opinions from fashion or interest, so
you quit them not, to avoid the malicious reports of
those that do : out of which number, they can hardly
be left, who (unprovoked) mix, with the management
of their cause, injuries and ill-language, to those they
differ from. This, at least, I am sure, zeal or love for
truth can never permit falsehood to be used in the de
fence of it.
Your mind, I see, prepared for truth, by resignation
of itself, not to the traditions of men, but the doctrine
of the gospel, has made you more readily entertain, and
more easily enter into the meaning of my book, than
most I have heard speak of it. And since you seem to
me to comprehend what I have laid together, with the
same disposition of mind, and in the same sense that
I received it from the holy scriptures, I shall, as a mark
of my respect to you, give you a particular accoun
of it.
The beginning of the year in which it was published
the controversy that made so much noise and heat
amongst some of the dissenters, coming one day acci-
Preface to the Reader. 187
dentally into my mind, drew me, by degrees, into a
stricter and more thorough inquiry into the question
about justification. The scripture was direct and plain,
that it was faith that justified : The next question then,
was, What faith that was that justified ; what it was
which, if a man believed, it should be imputed to him
for righteousness? To find out this, I thought the*right
way was, to search the scriptures ; and thereupon be
took myself seriously to the reading of the New Testa-j
ment, only to that purpose. What that produced, you
and the world have seen.
The first view I had of it seemed mightily to satisfy
my mind, in the reasonableness and plainness of this
doctrine ; but yet the general silence I had in my little
reading met with, concerning any such thing, awed ine
with the apprehension of singularity ; until going on in|
the gospel-history, the whole tenour of it made it so clearA
and visible, that I more wondered that every body did,
not see and embrace it ; than that I should assent to
what was so plainly laid down, and so frequently incul
cated in holy writ, though systems of divinity said no
thing of it. That which added to my satisfaction was,
that it led me into a discovery of the marvellous and*
divine wisdom of our Saviour s conduct, in all the ci
cumstances of his promulgating this doctrine ; as well as
of the necessity that such a law-giver should be sent from
God, for the reforming the morality of the world ; two
points, that, I must confess, I had not found so fully
and advantageously explained in the books of divinity I
had met with, as the history of the gospel seemed to
me, upon an attentive perusal, to give occasion and mat
ter for. But the necessity and wisdom of our Saviour s
opening the doctrine (which he came to publish) as he
did in parables and figurative ways of speaking, carries
such a thread of evidence through the whole history of
the evangelists, as, I think, is impossible to be resisted ;
and makes it a demonstration, that the sacred historians
did not write by concert, as advocates for a bad cause,
or to give colour and credit to an imposture they would
usher into the world : since they, every one of them, in
some place or other, omit some passages of our Saviour s
188 Preface to the Reader.
life, or circumstance of his actions ; which show the
wisdom and wariness of his conduct ; and which, even
those of the evangelists who have recorded, do barely
and transiently mention, without laying any stress on
them, or making the least remark of what consequence
they are, to give us our Saviour s true character, and to
prove the truth of their history. These are evidences
of truth and sincerity, which result alone from the na
ture of things, and cannot be produced by any art or
contrivance.
How much I was pleased with the growing discovery,
every day, whilst I was employed in this search, I need
not say. The wonderful harmony, that the farther I
went disclosed itself, tending to the same points, in all
the parts of the sacred history of the gospel, was of no
small weight with me and another person, who every
day, from the beginning to the end of my search, saw
the progress of it, and knew, at my first setting out,
that I was ignorant whither it would lead me ; and there
fore, every day asked me, What more the scripture had
taught me? So far was I -from the thoughts of socinian-
ism, or an intention to write for that, or any other party,
or to publish any thing at all. But, when I had gone
through the whole, and saw what a plain, simple, reason
able thing Christianity was, suited to all conditions and
capacities ; and in the morality of it now, with divine
authority, established into a legible law, so far surpassing
all that philosophy and human reason had attained to,
or could possibly make effectual to all degrees of man
kind ; I was flattered to think it might be of some use
in the world ; especially to those, who thought either
that there was no need of revelation at all, or that the
revelation of our Saviour required the belief of such ar
ticles for salvation, which the settled notions, and their
way of reasoning in some, and want of understanding
in others, made impossible to them. Upon these two
topics the objections seemed to turn, which were with
most assurance made by deists, against Christianity ; but
against Christianity misunderstood. It seemed to me,
that there needed no more to show them the weakness
of their exceptions, but to lay plainly before them the
Preface to the Reader. 189
doctrine of our Saviour and his apostles, as delivered in
the scriptures, and not as taught by the several sects of
Christians.
This tempted me to publish it, not thinking it de
served an opposition from any minister of the gospel ;
and least of all, from any one in the communion of the
church of England. But so it is, that Mr. Edvvards s
zeal for .he knows not what (for he does not yet know
his own creed, nor what is required to make him a Chris
tian) could not brook so plain, simple, and intelligible a
religion ; but yet, not knowing what to say against it,
and the evidence it has from the word of God, he thought
fit to let the book alone, and fall upon the author. What
great matter he has done in it, I need not tell you, who
have seen and showed the weakness of his wranglings.
You have here, Sir, the true history of the birth of my
" Reasonableness of Christianity, as delivered in the
" Scriptures," and my design in publishing it, &c.
What it contains, and how much it tends to peace and
union among Christians, if they would receive Chris
tianity as it is, you have discovered. I am,
SIR,
Your most humble servant,
A. B.
My readers will pardon me, that, in my preface to
them, I make this particular address to Mr. Bold. He
hath thought it worth his while to defend my book.
How well he has done it, I am too much a party to say.
I think it so sufficient to Mr. Edwards, that I needed
not to have troubled myself any farther about him, on
the account of any argument that remained in his book
to be answered. But a great part of the world judging
of the contests about truth^ as they do of popular elec
tions, that the side carries it where the greatest noise is;
it was necessary they should be undeceived, and be let
see, that sometimes such writers may be let alone, not
because they cannot, but because they deserve not to
be answered.
1 90 Preface to the Reader.
This farther I ought to acknowledge to Mr. Bold,
and own to the world, that he hath entered into the true
sense of my treatise, and his notions do so perfectly agree
with mine, that I shall not be afraid, by thoughts and
expressions very like his, in this my second vindication,
to give Mr. Edwards (who is exceedingly quick-sight
ed, and positive in such matters) a handle to tell the
world, that either I borrowed this my " vindication"
from Mr. Bold, or writ his " animadversions" for him.
The former of these I shall count no discredit, if Mr.
Edwards think fit to charge me with it; and the latter,
Mr. Bold s character is answer enough to. Though
the impartial reader, I doubt not, will find, that the
same uniform truth considered by us, suggested the
same thoughts to us both, without any other communi
cation.
There is another author who in a civ Her style hath
made it necessary for me to vindicate my book from a
reflection or two of his, wherein he seems to come short
of that candour he professes. All that I shall say on this
occasion here, is, that it is a wonder to me, that having
published what I thought the scripture told me was the
faith that made a Christian, and desired, that if I was
mistaken, anyone that thought so, would have the good
ness to inform me better ; so many with their tongues,
and some in print, should intemperately find fault
with a poor man out of his way, who desires to be set
right ; and no one, who blames his faith, as coming
short, will tell him what that faith is, which is required
to make him a Christian. But I hope, that amongst so
many censurers, I shall at last find one, who knowing
himself to be a Christian upon other grounds than I am,
will have so much Christian charity, as to show me
what more is absolutely necessary to be believed, by
me, and every man, to make him a Christian.
A SECOND
VINDICATION
OF THE
REASONABLENESS
OF
C II R I S T I A N I T Y, &c
A CAUSE that stands in need of falsehoods to support
it, and an adversary that will make use of them, de
serve nothing but contempt; which I doubt not but
every considerate reader thought answer enough to
" Mr. Edwards s Socinianism unmasked." But, since,
in his late " Socinian creed," he says, " I would have
" answered him if I could," that the interest of Chris
tianity may not suffer by my silence, nor the contempti-
bleness of his treatise afford him matter of triumph
among those who lay any weight on such boasting, it is
fit it should be shown what an arguer he is, and how
well he deserves, for his performance, to be dubbed, by
himself, " irrefragable."
Those who, like Mr. Edwards, dare to publish in
ventions of their own, for matters of fact, deserve a
192 A Second Vindication of the
name so abhorred, that it finds not room in civil con
versation. This secures him from the proper answer,
due to his imputations to me, in print, of matters of fact
utterly false, which, without any reply of mine, fix upon
him that name (which, without a profligate mind, a
man cannot expose himself to) till he hath proved them.
Till then, he must wear what he has put upon himself.
This being 1 a rule, which common justice hath prescribed
to the private judgments of mankind, as well as to the
public judicature of courts, that all allegations of facts,
brought by contending parties, should be presumed to
be false, till they are proved.
There are two ways of making a book unanswerable.
The one is by the clearness, strength, and fairness of the
argumentation. Men who know how to write thus, are
above bragging what they have done, or boasting to the
world that their adversaries are baffled. Another way to
make a book unanswerable, is to lay a stress on matters
of fact foreign to the question, as well as to truth ; and
to stuff it with scurrility and fiction. This hath been
always so evident to common sense, that no man, who
had any regard to truth, or ingenuity, ever thought
matters of fact besides the argument, and stories made
at pleasure, the way of managing controversies. Which
showing only the want of sense and argument, could,
if used on both sides, end in nothing but downright
railing : and he must always have the better of the
cause, who has lying and impudence on his side.
The un masker, in the entrance of his book, sets a
great distance between his and my way of writing. I
am not sorry that mine differs so much as it does from
his. If it were like his, I should think, like his, it
wanted the author s commendations. For, in his first
paragraph, which is all laid out in his own testimony of
his own book, he so earnestly bespeaks an opinion of
mastery in politeness, order, coherence, pertinence,
strength, seriousness, temper, and all the good qualities
requisite in controversy, that I think, since he pleases
himself so much with his own good opinion, one in
pity ought not to go about to rob him of so considerable
an admirer. I shall not, therefore, contest any of those
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 193
excellencies he ascribes to himself, or faults he blames
in me, in the management of the dispute between us,
any farther than as particular passages of his book, as I
come to examine them, shall suggest unavoidable remarks
to me. I think the world does not so much concern
itself about him, or me, that it need be told in that in
ventory, he has given of his own good parts, in his first
paragraph, which of us two has the better hand at
" flourishes, jesting, and common-places ; " if I am,
as he says, p. 2, troubled with " angry fits, and passionate
" ferments, which, though I strive to palliate, are easily
" discernible, &c." and he be more laudably ingenuous
in the openness of that temper, which he shows in every
leaf; I shall leave to him the entire glory of boasting
of it. Whatever we brag of our performances, they will
be just as they are, however lie may think to add to his,
by his own encomium on them. The difference in style,
order, coherence, good breeding, (for all those, amongst
others, the unmasker mentions,) the reader will observe,
whatever I say of them ; and at best they are nothing
to the question in hand. For though I am a " tool,
" pert, childish, starch d, impertinent, incoherent, tri-
" fling, weak, passionate, &c." commendations I meet
with before I get to the 4th page, besides what follows,
as " upstart racovian," p. 24, " flourishing scrib-
" bier," p. 41, "dissembler," 106, "pedantic," 107:
I say, although I am all this, and what else he liberally
bestows on me in the rest of his book, I may have
truth on my side, and that in the present case serves
my turn.
Having thus placed the laurels on his own head, and
sung applause to his own performance, "he, p. 4, enters,
as he thinks, upon his business, which ought to be, as he
confesses, p. 3, " to make good his former charges."
The first whereof he sets down in these words : That
" I unwarrantably crowded all the necessary articles
" of faith into one, with a design of favouring soci-
" nianism."
If it may be permitted to the subdued, to be so bold
with one, who is already conqueror, I desire to know,
where that proposition is laid down in these terms, as
o
194 A Second Vindication of the
laid to my charge. Whether it be true, or false, shall,
if he pleases, be hereafter examined : but it is not, at
present, the matter in question. There are certain
propositions, which he having 1 affirmed, and I denied,
are under debate between us : and that the dispute may
not run into an endless ramble, by multiplying of new,
before the points in contest are decided, those ought
first to be brought to an issue.
To go on, therefore, in the order of his " Socinianism
" unmasked," (for, p. 3, he has, out of the Mishna,
taught me good breeding, " to answer the first, and so
" in order/ ) The next thing he has against me is p. 5,
which that the reader may understand the force of, I
must inform him,, that in p. 105 of his " Thoughts
" concerning the causes of atheism," he said, that I
" give this plausible conceit," as he calls it, " over
" and over again, in these formal words/ viz. " That
" nothing is required to be believed by any Christian
" man, but this, that Jesus is the Messiah." This I
denied. To make it good, " Socinianism unmasked/*
p. 5, he thus argues. First, " It is observable, that this
" guilty man would be shifting off the indictment, by
" excepting against the formality of words, as if such
" were not to be found in his book ; but when doth he
" do this ? In the close of it, when this matter was ex-
" hausted, and he had nothing else to say/ Vind.
p. 113, " then he bethinks himself of his salvo, &c."
Answ. As if a falsehood were ever the less a falsehood,
because it was not opposed, or would grow into a truth,
if it were not taken notice of, before the 38th page of
the answer. I desire him to show me these " formal
" words over and over again," in my " Reasonableness
" of Christianity : " nor let him hope to evade, by saying,
I would be " shifting, by excepting against the forma-
" lity of the words."
To say, that " I have, over and over again, those for-
" mal words," in my book, is an assertion of a matter
of fact ; let him produce the words, and justify his
allegation, or confess, that this is an untruth published
to the world : and since he makes so bold with truth,
in a matter visible to every body, let the world be
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 195
judge, what credit is to be given to his allegations of
matters of fact, in things foreign to what I have print
ed ; and that are not capable of a negative proof. A
sample whereof the reader has at the entrance, in his
introduction, p. A. 4, and the three or four following
pages. Where he affirms to the world, not only what
I know to be false ; but that every one must see, he
could not know to be true. For he pretends to know
and deliver my thoughts. And what the character is
of one that confidently affirms what he does not know,
nobody need be told.
But he adds, " I had before pleaded to the indict-
" ment, and thereby owned it to be true/ This is to
make good his promise, p. 3, to keep at a distance from
my " feeble stragglings." Here this strong arguer must
prove, that what is not answered or denied, in the very
beginning of a reply, or before the llth page, " is
" owned to be true/ In the mean time, till he does
that, I shall desire such of my readers, as think the un-
masker s veracity worth examining, to see in my Vindi
cation, from p. 174, &c. wherein is contained, what I
have said about one article, whether I have owned what
he charged me with, on that subject.
This proposition then remains upon him still to be
proved, viz.
I. " That I have, over and over again, these formal
" words in my Reasonableness of Christianity, viz.
" That nothing is required to be believed by any
" Christian man, but this, That Jesus is the Mes-
" siah."
He goes on, p. 5, " And indeed he could do no
" other, for it was the main work he set himself about,
" to find but one article of faith in all the chapters of
" the four evangelists, and the acts of the apostles ; "
this is to make good his promise, p. 3, " To clear his
" book from those sorry objections and cavils 1 had
" raised against it." Several of my " sorry objections
" and cavils " were to represent to the reader, that a
great part of what is said was nothing but suspicions and
o 2
196 A Second Vindication of the
conjectures ; and such he could not but then own them
to be. But now he has rid himself of all his conjec
tures ; and has raised them up into direct, positive af
firmations, which, being said with confidence without
proof, who can deny but he has cleared, thoroughly
cleared, that part from my " sorry objections and ca-
" vils ? " He says, " it was the main work I set myself
" about, to find but one article of faith." This I must
take the liberty to deny ; and I desire him to prove it.
A man may " set himself to find two," or as many as
there be, and yet find but one : or a man may " set
" himself to find but one/ and yet find two more. It
is no argument, from what a man has found, to prove
what was his main work to find, unless where his aim
was only to find what there was, whether more or less.
For a writer may find the reputation of a poor con
temptible railer ; nay of a downright impudent lyar ;
and yet nobody will think it was his main work to find
that. Therefore, sir, if you will not find what it is like
you did not seek, you must prove those many confident
assertions you have published, which I shall give you
in tale, whereof this is the second, viz.
II. " That the main business I set myself about, was
" to find but one article of faith."
In the following part of this sentence, he quotes my
own words with the pages where they are to be found :
the first time, that, in either of his two books against
me, he has vouchsafed to do so, concerning one article,
wherewith he has made so much noise. My words in
(p. 102 of) my " Reasonableness of Christianity" stand
thus : " for that this is the sole doctrine pressed and re-
" quired to be believed, in the whole tenour of our Sa-
" viour s and his apostles preaching, we have showed,
" through the whole history of the Evangelists and Acts,
" and I challenge them to show, that there was any
" other doctrine upon their assent to which, or disbelief
" of it, men were pronounced believers, or unbelievers,
* and accordingly received into the church of Christ,
" as members of his body, as far as mere believing
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 197
" could make them so ; or else kept out. This was the
" only gospel article of faith, which was preached to
" them." Out of this passage, the unmasker sets down
these words, " This is the SOLE doctrine pressed and
" required to be believed, in the whole tenour of our
" Saviour s and his apostles preaching," p. 129, " this
" was the ONLY gospel article of faith, which was
" preached to them."
I shall pass by all other observations, that this way of
citing these words would suggest, and only remark, that,
if he brought these words, to prove the immediately
preceding assertion of his, viz. That " to find out but
" one article of faith was the main work I set myself
" about/ this argument, reduced into form, will stand
thus :
He who says, that this is the sole doctrine pressed and
required to be believed in the whole tenour of our Sa
viour s and his apostles preaching, upon their assent to
which, or disbelief of it, men were pronounced believers,
or unbelievers, and accordingly received into the church
of Christ, as members of his body, as far as mere believ
ing could make them so, or else kept out ; sets himself
to find out but one article of faith, as his main work.
But the vindicator did so : ergo,
If this were the use he would make of those words of
mine cited, I must desire him to prove the major. But
he talks so freely, and without book every-where, that I
suppose he thought himself, by the privilege of a de-
claimer, exempt from being called strictly to an account,
for what he loosely says, and from proving what he
should be called to an account for. Rail lustily, is a
good rule ; something of it will stick, true or false,
proved or not proved.
If he alleges these words of mine, to answer my de
mand, Vind. p. 175, where he found that " I contended
" for one single article of faith, with the exclusion and
" defiance of all the rest," which he had charged me
with ; I say, it proves this as little as the former. For
to say, " That I had showed through the whole history
" of the Evangelists, and the Acts, that this is the sole
" doctrine, or only gospel article pressed and required
198 A Second Vindication of the
" to be believed in the whole ten our of our Saviour and
" his apostles preaching; upon their assent to which,
" or disbelieving of it, men were pronounced believers
" or unbelievers, and accordingly received into the
" church of Christ, or kept out ; " is the simple asser
tion of a positive matter of fact, and so carries in it no
defiance, no,, nor exclusion of any other doctrinal, or
historical truth, contained in the scripture : and there
fore it remains still on the unmasker to show, where it
is I express any defiance of any other truth contained
in the word of God ; or where I exclude any one doctrine
of the scriptures. So that if it be true, that " I contend
" for one article," my contention may be without any
defiance, or so much as exclusion, of any of the rest,
notwithstanding any thing contained in these words.
Nay, if it should happen that I am in a mistake, and that
this was not the sole doctrine, which our Saviour and
his apostles preached, and, upon their assent to which,
men were admitted into the church : yet the un masker s
accusation would be never the truer for that, unless it
be necessary, that he that mistakes in one matter of fact,
should be at defiance with all other truths ; or, that he
who erroneously says, that our Saviour and his apostles
admitted men into the church, upon the believing him
to be the Messiah, does thereby exclude all other truths
published to the jews before, or to Christian believers
afterwards.
If these words be brought to prove that I contended
" for one article/ barely " one article," without any
defiance or exclusion annexed to that contention ; I say
neither do they prove that, as is manifest from the words
themselves, as well as from what I said elsewhere, con
cerning the article of one God. For here, I say, this
is the only gospel article, &c. upon which men were
pronounced believers ; which plainly intimates some
other article, known and believed in the world before,
and without the preaching of the gospel.
To this the unmasker thinks he has provided a salvo,
in these words, " Socinianism unmasked," p. 6, " And
" when I told him of this one article, he knew well
" enough, that I did not exclude the article of the
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 199
" Deity, for that is a principle of natural religion/
If it be fit for an un masker to perceive what is in
debate, he would know, that the question is not, what
he excluded, or excluded not, but what articles he
charged me to have excluded.
Taking it therefore to be his meaning, (which it must
be, if he meant any thing to the purpose), viz. That
when he charged me so often and positively, for contest
ing for " one article," viz. that " Jesus was the Mes-
" siah," he did not intend to accuse me for excluding
" the article of the Deity." To prove that he did not so
intend it, he tells me, that " I knew that he did not."
Answ. How should I know it? He never told me so,
either in his book, or otherwise. This I know, that he
said, p. 115, that " I contended for one article, with the
" exclusion of all the rest." If then the belief of the
Deity be an article of faith, and be not the article of
Jesus being the Messiah, it is one " of the rest ;" and
if " all the rest " were excluded, certainly that, being
one of " all the rest," must be excluded. How then
he could say, " I knew that he excluded it not/ i. e.
meant not that I excluded it, when he positively says, I
did " exclude it," I cannot tell, unless he thought that
I knew him so well, that when he said one thing, I knew
that he meant another, and that the quite contrary.
He now, it seems, acknowledges that I affirmed,
that the belief of the Deity, as well as of Jesus being
the Messiah, was required to make a man a believer.
The believing in " one God, the Father Almighty,
" maker of heaven and earth," is one article ; and in
" Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord," is another ar
ticle. These, therefore, being " two articles," and
both asserted by me, to be required to make a man a
Christian, let us see with what truth or ingenuity the un-
masker could apply, besides that above mentioned, these
following expressions to me, as he does without any ex
ception : " Why then must there be one article and no
" more?" p. 115. " Going to make a religion for his
" myrmidons, he contracts all into one article, and will
" trouble them with no more," p. 117. " Away with
" systems, away with creeds, let us have but one article,
200 A Second Vindication of the
" though it be with defiance to all the rest," p. 118.
" Thus we see, why he reduces ail belief to that one
" article before rehearsed," p. 120. And all this with
out any the least exception of the article of a Deity, as
he now pretends. Nor could he, .indeed, as is evident
from his own words, p. 121, 122 : " To conclude, this
" gentleman and his fellows are resolved to be unita-
" rians ; they are for one article of faith, as well as
" One person in the Godhead : But, if these learned
" men were not prejudiced, they would perceive, that,
" when the catholic faith is thus brought down to one
" single article, it will soon be reduced to none ; the
" unit will dwindle into a cypher." By which the
reader may see that his intention was,, to persuade the
world, that I reduced ALL BELIEF, the CATHOLIC
FAITH, (they are in his own words,) " to one single ar-
" tide, and no more." For if he had given but the
least hint, that I allowed of Two, all the wit and
strength of argument, contained in Unitarians., unit and
cypher, with which he winds up all, had been utterly
lost, and dwindled into palpable nonsense.
To demonstrate that this was the sense he would be
understood in, we are but to observe what he says again,
p. 50 of his " Socinianism unmasked," where he tells
his readers, that " I and my friends have new-modelled
" the apostles creed ; yea, indeed, have presented them
" with ONE article, instead of TWELVE." And hence
we may see, what sincerity there is, in the reason he
brings, to prove that he did not exclude the " article
" of the Deity." " For, says he, p. 6, that is a prin-
" ciple of natural religion."
Answ. Ergo, he did not in positive words, without
any exception, say, I reduced " all belief, the catholic
" faith, to one single article, and no more." But to
make good his promise, " not to resemble me in the
" little artifices of evading," he wipes his mouth, and
says at the bottom of this page, " But the reader sees
" his [the vindicator s] shuffling." Whilst the article
of " One God" is a part of " ALL belief, a part of the
" catholic faith," ALL which he affirmed I excluded,
but the one article concerning the Messiah ; every one
Reasonableness of Christianity , 8$c. 01
will see where the shuffling is : and, if it be not clear
enough from those words themselves, let those above
quoted, out of p. 50, of his " Socinianism unmasked/
where he says, that " I have new modelled the apostles
" creed, and presented the world with ONE article in-
" stead of TWELVE," be an interpretation of them.
For, if the article of " one eternal God, maker of hea-
" ven and earth," be one of the articles of the apostles
creed, and the one article I presented them with, be
not that, it is plain, he did, and would be understood
to mean, that by my one article, I excluded that of the
one eternal God, which branch soever of religion, either
natural, or revealed, it belongs to.
I do not endeavour to " persuade the reader," as he
says, p. 6, " that he misunderstood me," but yet every
body will see that he misrepresented me. And I chal
lenge him to say, that those expressions above quoted
out of him, concerning " one article," in the obvious
sense of the words, as they stand in his accusation of
me, were true.
This flies so directly in his face, that he labours
mightily to get it off, and therefore adds these words,
" My discourse did not treat (neither doth his book run
" that way) of principles of natural religion, but of the
" revealed, and particularly the Christian : accordingly,
" this was it that I taxed him with, That, of all the
" principles and articles of Christianity, he chose out
" but one, as necessary to be believed to make a man a
" Christian."
Answ. His book was of atheism, which one
may think should make his " discourse treat of natural
" religion." But I pass by that, and bid him tell me
where he taxed me, " That, of all the principles and ar-
" tides of Christianity, I chose out but one : " let him
show, in all his discourse, but such a word, or any thing
said, like " one article of Christianity," and I will grant
that he meant particularly, but spoke generally ; misled
his reader, and left himself a subterfuge. But if there
be no expression to be found in him, tending that way,
all this is but the covering of one falsehood with another,
which thereby only becomes the grosser. Though if he
202 A Second Vindication of the
had in express words taxed me, That, of all the prin
ciples and articles of the Christian religion, I chose
out but one, that would not at all help him, till he far
ther declares, that the belief of one God is not an " ar-
" tide of the Christian religion." For, of " ALT, the
" articles of the Christian religion," he says, " I chose
" but one ; " which not being that of a Deity, his words
plainly import, that that was left out amongst the rest,
unless it be possible for a man to choose but one article
of the Christian religion, viz. That " Jesus is the Mes-
" siah ; " and at the same time, to choose two articles
of the Christian religion, viz. That there is one eternal
God, and that Jesus is the Messiah. If he had spoken
clearly, and like a fair man, he should have said, That
he taxed me with choosing but one article of revealed
religion. This had been plain and direct to his purpose :
but then he knew the falsehood of it would be too ob
vious : for, in the seven pages, wherein he taxes me so
much with One article, Christianity is several times
named, though not once to the purpose he here pre
tends. But revelation is not so much as once mentioned
in them, nor, as I remember, in any of the pages he
bestows upon me.
To conclude, the several passages above quoted out
of him, concerning one sole article, are all in general
terms, without any the least limitation or restriction ;
and, as they stand in him, fit to persuade the reader,
that I excluded all other articles whatsoever, but that
one, of " Jesus the Messiah :" and if, in that sense, they
are not true, they are so many falsehoods of his, repeated
there, to mislead others into a wrong opinion of me.
For, if he had a mind his readers should have been rightly
informed, why was it not as easy once to explain him
self, as so often to affirm it in general and unrestrained
terms ? This, all the boasted strength of the un masker
will not be able to get him out of. This very well be
comes one, who so loudly charges me with shuffling.
Having repeated the same thing over and over again,
in as general terms as was possible, without any the
least limitation, in the whole discourse, to have nothing
else to plead when required to prove it, but that it was
Reasonableness of Christianity, $c. 203
meant in a limited sense, in an unmasker, is not shuf
fling. For, by this way, he may have the convenience
to say, and unsay, what he pleases ; to vent what stuff
he thinks for his turn ; and, when he is called to account
for it, reply, He meant no such thing. Should any one
publish, that the unmasker had but " one article of faith,
" and no more," viz. That the doctrines in fashion,
and likely to procure preferment, are alone to be re
ceived ; that all his belief was comprised in this " one
" single article : " and when such a talker was de
manded to prove his assertion, should he say, he meant
to except his belief of the apostles creed : would he not,
notwithstanding such a plea, be thought a shuffling
lyar ? And, if the unmasker can no otherwise prove
those universal propositions above cited, but by saying,
he meant them with a tacit restriction, (for none is ex
pressed,) they will still, and for ever remain to be ac
counted for, by his veracity.
What he says in the next paragraph, p. 7, of my
" splitting one article into two," is just of the same
force, and with the same ingenuity. I had said, That
the belief of one God was necessary ; which is not de
nied : I had also said, " That the belief of Jesus of Na-
" zareth to be the Messiah, together with those con-
" comitant articles of his resurrection, rule, and com-
" ing again to judge the world, was necessary, p. 151.
" And again, p. 157, That God had declared, whoever
" would believe Jesus to be the Saviour promised, and
" take him now raised from the dead, and constituted
" the Lord arid Judge of all men, to be their King and
" Ruler, should be saved." This made me say, " These,
" and those articles " (in words of the plural number)
more than once ; evidence enough to any but a caviller,
that I " contend not for one single article, and no
" more." And to mind him of it, I, in my Vindica
tion, reprinted one of those places, where I had done so ;
and, that he might not, according to his manner, over
look what does not please him, the words, THESE ARE
ARTICLES, were printed in great characters. Where
upon he makes this remark, p. 7, " And though since
" he has tried to split this one into two, p. 28, yet
A Second Vindication of the
" he labours in vain : for to believe Jesus to be the
" Messiah, amounts to the same with believing him to
" be King and Ruler ; his being anointed, (i. e. being
" the Messiah,) including that in it : yet he has the va-
" nityto add in great characters, THESE AUE ARTICLES;
" as if the putting them into these great letters, would
" make one article two."
Ans. Though no letters will make one article two;
yet that there is one God, and Jesus Christ his only Son
our Lord, who rose again from the dead, ascended into
heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, shall come
to judge the quick and the dead, are, in the apostles
creed, set down as more than one article, and therefore
may, very properly, be called THESE ARTICLES, without
splitting one into two.
What, in my " Reasonableness of Christianity," I
have said of one article, I shall always ow r n ; and in what
sense I have said it, is easy to be understood ; and with
a man of the least candour, whose aim was truth, and
not wrangling, it would not have occasioned one word
of dispute. But as for this unmasker, who makes it his
business, not to convince me of any mistakes in my
opinion, but barely to misrepresent me ; my business
at present with him is, to show the world, that what he
has captiously and scurrilously said of me, relating to
one article, is false ; arid that he neither has, nor can
prove one of those assertions concerning it, above cited
out of him, in his own words. Nor let him pretend a
meaning against his direct words : such a caviller as he,
who would shelter himself under the pretence of a mean
ing, whereof there are no footsteps ; whose disputes are
only calumnies directed against the author, without ex
amining the truth or falsehood of what I had published ;
is not to expect the allowances one would make to a fair
and ingenuous adversary, who showed so much concern
for truth, that he treated of it with a seriousness due to
the weightiness of the matter, and used other argu
ments, besides obloquy, clamour and falsehoods, against
what he thought errour. And therefore I again posi
tively demand of him to prove these words of his to be
true, or confess that he cannot ; viz.
Reasonableness of Christianity, $$c. 205
III. " That I contend for one article of faith, with
" the exclusion and defiance of all the rest."
Two other instances of this sort of arguments, I gave
in the 175th page of my Vindication, out of the 115th
and 119th pages of his " Thoughts concerning the causes
" of atheism ; " and I here demand of him again to show,
since he has not thought fit hitherto to give any answer
to it,
IV. " Where I urge, that there must be nothing in
" Christianity, that is not plain, and exactly le-
" veiled to all men s mother- wit, and every com-
" mon apprehension."
Or, where he finds, in my " Reasonableness of chris-
" tianity," this other proposition :
V. " That the very manner of every thing in chris-
" tianity, must be clear and intelligible ; every
" thing must immediately be comprehended by
" the weakest noddle ; or else it is no part of re-
" ligion, especially of Christianity."
These things he must prove that I have said ; I put
it again upon him to show where I said them, or else
to confess the forgery : for till he does one or the other,
he shall be sure to have these, with a large catalogue of
other falsehoods, laid before him.
Page 26, of his " Socinianism unmasked," he endea
vours to make good his saying, that " I set up one arti-
" cle, with defiance to all the rest," in these words : " for
" what is excluding them wholly,, but defying them ?
" Wherefore, seeing he utterly excludes all the rest, by
" representing them as USELESS to the making a man a
" Christian, which is the design of his whole under-
" taking, it is manifest that he defies them."
Answ. This at least is manifest from hence, that
the unmasker knows not, or cares not what he says.
For whoever, but he, thought, that a bare exclusion, or
passing by was defiance ? If he understands so, I would
advise him not to seek preferment. For exclusions will
206 A Second Vindication of the
happen ; and if every exclusion be defiance, a man had
need be well assured of his own good temper, who shall
not think his peace and charity in danger, amongst so
many enemies that are at defiance with him. Defiance,
if, with any propriety, it can be spoken of an article of
faith, must signify a professed enmity to it. For, in its
proper use, which is to persons, it signifies an open and
declared enmity, raised to that height, that he, in whom
it is, challenges the party defied to battle, that he may
there wreak his hatred on his enemy, in his destruction.
So that " my defiance of all the rest " remains still to be
proved.
But, secondly, There is another thing manifest from
these words of his, viz. that, notwithstanding his great
brags in his first paragraph, his main skill lies in fancy
ing what would be for his turn, and then confidently fa
thering it upon me. It never entered into my thoughts,
nor, I think, into any body s else, (I must always except
the acute unmasker, who makes no difference between
useful and necessary,) that all but the fundamental arti
cles of the Christian faith were useless to make a man a
Christian ; though, if it be true, that the belief of the
fundamentals alone (be they few, or many) is all that is
necessary to his being made a Christian, all that may
any way persuade him to believe them, may certainly
be useful towards the making him a Christian : and
therefore here again, I must propose to him, and leave
it with him to be showed where it is.
VI. " I have represented all the rest as useless to the
" making a man a Christian?" And how it ap
pears, that " this is the design of my whole under-
" taking?"
In his " Thoughts concerning the causes of atheism,"
he says, page 115, " What makes him contend for one
" single article, with the exclusion of all the rest ? He
" pretends it is this, that all men ought to understand
" their religion." This reasoning I disowned, p. 174,
of my Vindication, and intimated, that he should have
quoted the page where I so pretended.
Reasonableness of Christianity, $c. 207
To this, p. 26, he tells me with great confidence,
and in abundance of words, as we shall see by and by,
that 1 had done so ; as if repetition were a proof. He
had done better to have quoted one place, where I so
pretend. Indeed, p. 27, for want of something better,
he quotes these words of mine out of p. 157, of the
Reasonableness of Christianity : " The all-merciful God
" seems herein to have consulted the poor of this
" world, and the bulk of mankind. THESE AIIE ARTI-
" CLES that the labouring and illiterate man may com-
" prehend." I ask, whether it be possible for one to
bring any thing more direct against himself? The thing
he was to prove was, that " I contended for one single
" article, with the exclusion of all the rest, because I
" pretended, that all men ought to understand their
" religion :" i. e. the reason I gave, why there was to
be " but one single article in religion, with the exclu-
" sion of all the rest," was, because men ought to un
derstand their religion. And the place he brings, to
prove my contending upon that ground, " for one single
" article, with the exclusion of all the rest," is a passage
wherein I speak of more than one article, and say, " these
" articles." Whether I said, " these articles," properly
or improperly, it matters not, in the present case (and
that we have examined in another place) it is plain,
I meant more than one article, when I said, " these ar-
" tides;" and did not think, that the labouring and
illiterate man could not understand them, if they were
more than one : and therefore, I pretended not, that
there must be but one, because by illiterate men more
than one could not be understood. The rest of this pa
ragraph is nothing but a repetition of the same asser
tion, without proof, which, with the unmasker, often
passes for a way of proving, but with nobody else.
But, that I may keep that distance, which he boasts,
there is betwixt his and my way of writing, I shall not
say this without proof. One instance of his repetition,
of which there is such plenty in his book, pray take
here. His business, p. 26, is to prove, that " I pre-
** tended that I contended for one single article, with
" the exclusion of all the rest^ because all men ought to
208 A Second Vindication of the
" understand their religion:" p. 174, of my -Vindica
tion, I denied that I had so pretended. To convince me
that I had, thus he proceeds :
Unmasker. " He founds his conceit " of one article,
" partly upon this, that a multitude of doctrines is ob-
" scure, and hard to be understood."
Answer. You say it, and had said it before : but I
ask you, as I did before. Where I did so ?
Umn. " And therefore he trusses all up in one article,
" that the poor people and bulk of mankind may
" bear it."
Answ. I desire again to know where I made that in
ference, and argued so, for " one article?"
Unm. " This is the scope of a great part of his
book."
Answ. This is saying again, show it once.
Unm. " But his memory does not keep pace with his
" invention, and thence he says, he remembers nothing
" of this in his book," Vind. p. 174.
Answ. This is to say that it is in my book. You have
said it more than once- already ; I demand of you to
show me where.
Unm. " This worthy writer does not know his own
" reasoning, that he uses."
Answ. I ask, Where does he use that reasoning ?
Unm. " As particularly thus, that he troubles chris-
" tian men with no more, but one article : BECAUSE
" that is intelligible, and all people, high and low, may
" comprehend it."
Answ. We have heard it affirmed by you, over and
over again, but the question still is, " Where is that way
" of arguing to be found in my book ?"
Unm. " For he has chosen out, as he thinks, a plain
" and easy article. Whereas the others, which are com-
" monly propounded, are not generally agreed on, (he
" saith,) and are dubious and uncertain. But the be-
" lieving that Jesus is the Messiah, has nothing of
" doubtfulness or obscurity in it."
Answ. The word " For," in the beginning of this
sentence, makes it stand for one of your reasons ; though
it be but a repetition of the same thing in other words.
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 209
Unm. " This the reader will find to be the drift and
" design of several of his pages."
Answ. This must signify " that I trouble men with no
" more but one article, because only one is intelligible,"
and then it is but a repetition. If any thing else be
meant by the word This, it is nothing to the purpose.
For that I said, that all things necessary to be be
lieved are plain in scripture, and easy to be understood,
I never denied ; and should be very sorry, and recant
it, if I had.
Unm. " And the reason why I did not quote any sin-
" gle one of them, was, because he insists on it, so long
" together : and spins it out after his way, in p. 156 of
" his " Reasonableness of Christianity," where he sets
" down the short, plain, easy, and intelligible summary
" (as he calls it) of religion," couched in a single ar
ticle : he immediately adds : " the all-merciful God
" seems herein to have consulted the poor of this world,
" and the bulk of mankind : these are articles" (whereas
he had set down but one) " that the labouring and il-
" literate man may comprehend."
Answ. If " my insisting on it so long together" was
" the cause why, in your thoughts of the causes of
" atheism," you did not quote any single passage ; me-
thinks here, in your " Socinianism unmasked," where
you knew it was expected of you, my " insisting on it,"
as you say, " so long together," might have afforded,
at least, one quotation to your purpose.
Unm. "He assigns this, as a ground, why it was
" God s pleasure, that there should be but ONE POINT
" of faith, BECAUSE thereby religion may be under-
" stood the better ; the generality of people may com-
" prehend it."
Answ. I hear you say it again, but want a proof still,
and ask, " where I assign that ground ?"
Unm. " This he represents as a great kindness done
" by God to man ; whereas the variety of articles would
" be hard to be understood."
Answ. Again the same cabbage ; an affirmation, but
no proof.
P
210 A Second Vindication of the
Unm. "This he enlarges upon, and flourishes it
" over, after his fashion : and yet desires to know,
" When he said so?" p. 175 Vind.
Answ. And if I did, let the world here take a sample
of the un masker s ability, or truth, who spends above
two whole pages, 26, 27, in repetitions of the same as
sertion, without the producing any but one place for
proof; and that too against him, as I have shown. But
he has not yet done with confounding me by dint of re
petition ; he goes on.
Unm. " Good sir, let me be permitted to acquaint you,
" that your memory is as defective as your judgment."
Answ. I thank you for the regard you have had to it ;
for often repetition is a good help to a bad memory.
In requital, I advise you to have some eye to your own
memory and judgment too. For one, or both of them,
seem a little to blame, in the reason you subjoin to the
foregoing words, viz.
Unm. "For in the very Vindication, you attribute it
" to the goodness and condescension of the Almighty,
" that he requires nothing, as absolutely necessary to be
" believed, but what is suited to vulgar capacities, and
" the comprehension of illiterate men."
Answ. I will, for the un masker s sake, put this argu
ment of his into a syllogism. If the vindicator, in his
vindication, attributes it to the goodness and condes
cension of the Almighty, that he requires nothing to be
believed, but what is suited to vulgar capacities, and the
comprehension of illiterate men ; then he did, in his
" Reasonableness of Christianity," pretend, that the
reason, why he contended for One article, with the ex
clusion of all the rest, was because all men ought to
understand their religion.
But the vindicator, in his vindication, attributes it
to the goodness and condescension of Almighty God,
that he requires nothing to be believed, but what is
suited to vulgar capacities, and the comprehension of
illiterate men.
" Ergo," in his u Reasonableness of Christianity,"
lie pretended, that the reason why he contended for one
Reasonableness of Christianity, $$c. 211
article, with the exclusion of all the rest, was, because
all men ought to understand their religion.
This was the proposition to be proved, and which, as
he confesses here, p. 26, I denied to remember to be in
my " Reasonableness of Christianity." Who can but
admire his logic !
But, besides the strength of judgment, which you have
showed in this clear and cogent reasoning, Does not
your memory too deserve its due applause? You tell
me, in your " Socinianism unmasked," that in p. 175
of my Vindication, 1 desired to know when I said so.
To which desire of mine, you reply in these words be
fore cited : " Good sir, let me be permitted to acquaint
" you, that your memory is as defective as your judg-
" inent ; for, in the very Vindication, you attribute it
" to the goodness and condescension of the Almighty,
" that he requires nothing, as absolutely necessary to be
" believed, but what is suited to vulgar capacities, and
" the comprehension of illiterate men," p. 30.
Sure the urimasker thinks himself at cross questions.
I ask him, in the 29th page of my Vindication, WHEN
I said so ? And he answers, that I had said so in the 30th
page of my Vindication ; i. e. when I writ the 29th
page, I asked the question, When I had said, what he
charged me with saying? And I am answered, I had
said in the 30th page ; which was not yet written : i. e.
I asked the question to-day, WHEN I had said so ? And
I am answered, I had said it to-morrow. As opposite
and convincing an answer, to make good his charge, as
if he had said, To-morrow I found a horse-shoe. But,
perhaps this judicious disputant will ease himself of this
difficulty, by looking again into the 175th page of my
Vindication, out of which he cites these words for mine :
" I desire to know, When I said so?" But my words
in that place are, " I desire to know, WHERE I said so ?"
A mark of his exactness in quoting, when he vouchsafes
to do it. For unmaskers, when they turn disputants,
think it the best way to talk at large, and charge home
in generals : but do not often find it convenient to quote
pages, set down words, and come to particulars. But,
p 2
212 A Second Vindication of the
if he had quoted my words right, his answer had been
just as pertinent. For I ask him, WHERE, in my
" Reasonableness of Christianity," I had said so ? And
he answers, I had said so in my Vindication. For where,
in my question, refers to my " Reasonableness of chris-
" tianity," which the un masker had seen, and charged
with this saying ; and could not refer to my Vindication,
which he had not yet seen, nor to a passage in it, whicli
was not then written. But this is nothing with an un-
masker; therefore, what is yet worse, those words of
mine, Vindication, p. 1 75, relate not to the passage he
is here proving, I had said, but to another different from
it ; as different as it is to say, " That, because all men
" are to understand their religion, therefore there is to
" be but one article in it ;" and to say, " that there
" must be nothing in Christianity that is not plain, and
" exactly levelled to all men s mother- wit :" both which
he falsely charges on me ; but it is only to the latter of
them, that my words, " I desire to know, where I said
" so ?" are applied.
Perhaps the well-meaning man sees no difference be
tween these propositions, yet I shall take the liberty to
ask him again, Where I said either of them, as if they
were two? Although he should accuse me again, of
" excepting against the formality of words," and doing
so foolish a thing, as to expect, that a disputing un-
masker should account for his words, or any proposition
he advances. It is his privilege to plead, he did not
mean as his words import, and without any more ado
he is assoiled ; and he is the same unmasker he was be
fore. But let us hear him out on the argument he was
upon, for his repetitions on it are not yet done. His
next words are,
Unm. " It is clear then, that you found your ONE
* article on this, that it is suited to the vulgar capa-
" cities : whereas the other articles mentioned by me,
" are obscure and ambiguous, and therefore surpass the
" comprehension of the illiterate."
Arisw. The latter part, indeed, is now the first time
imputed to me ; but all the rest is nothing but an un-
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc. 213
proved repetition, though ushered in with " it is clear
" then ;" words that should have a proof going before
them.
Unm. " But yet you pretend, that you have forgot
" that any such thing was said by you."
Answ. I have indeed forgot, and notwithstanding all
your pains, by so many repetitions, to beat it into my
head, I fear I shall never remember it.
Unm. " Which shows that you are careless of your
" words, and that you forget what you write."
Answ. So you told me before, and this repeating of
it does no more convince me than that did.
Unm. " What shall we say to such an oblivious au-
" thor?"
Answ. Show it him in his book, or else he will never
be able to remember that it is there, nor any body else
be able to find it.
Unm. " He takes no notice of what falls from his
" own pen."
Answ. So you have told him more than once. Try
him once with showing it him, amongst other things
which fell from his own pen, and see what then he will
say : that perhaps may refresh his memory.
Unm. " And therefore, within a page or two, he
" confutes himself, and gives himself the lye."
Answ. It is a fault he deserves to be told of, over
and over again. But he says, he shall not be able to
find the two pages wherein he " gives himself the lye,"
unless you set down their numbers, and the words in
them, which confute, and which are confuted.
I beg my reader s pardon, for laying before him so
large a pattern of our unmasker s new-fashioned stuff;
his fine tissue of argumentation not easily to be match
ed, but by the same hand. But it lay all together in
p. 26, 27, 28 ; and it was fit the reader should have
this one instance of the excellencies he promises in his
first paragraph, in opposition to my " impertiriencies,
" incoherences, weak and feeble strugglings." Other
excellencies he there promised, upon the same ground,
which I shall give my reader a taste of in fit places :
not but that the whole is of a piece, and one cannot miss
A Second Vindication of the
some of them in every page ; but to transcribe them all,
would be more than they are worth. If any one desires
more plenty, I send him to his book itself. But saying
a thousand times, not being proved once, it remains
upon him still to show,
VII. Where, in my " Reasonableness of Christianity,"
" I pretend that I contend for one single article,
" with the exclusion of all the rest, because all
" men ought to understand their religion."
And in the next place, where it is that I say,
VIII. " That there must be nothing in Christianity
" that is not plain and exactly level to all men s
" mother-wit."
Let us now return to his 8th page : for the bundling
together, as was fit, all that he has said, in distant places,
upon the subject of One article, has made me trespass a
little, against the Jewish character of a well bred man,
recommended by him to me, out of the Mishna. Though
I propose to myself to follow him, as near as I can, step
by step as he proceeds.
In the 110th and lllth pages of his " Thoughts con-
" cerning the causes of atheism," he gave us a list of
his "fundamental articles:" upon which, I thus ap
plied myself to him, Vind. p. 168, &c. " Give me leave
" now to ask you seriously, Whether these you have
" here set down under the title of " fundamental doc-
" trines," are such (when reduced to propositions) that
" every one of them is required to make a man a chris-
" tian, and such as, without the actual belief thereof,
" he cannot be saved ? If they are not so, every one of
" them, you may call them " fundamental doctrines,"
" as much as you please, they are not of those doctrines
" of faith I was speaking of; which are only such as
" are required to be actually believed, to make a man
" a Christian." And again, Vind. p. 169, 1 asked him,
" Whether just these, neither more nor less," were those
necessary articles ?
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 215
To which we have his answer, " Socinianism un-
" masked," p. 8, &c. From p. 8 to 20, he has quoted
near forty texts of scripture, of which he saith, p. 21,
" Thus I have briefly set before the reader, those evan-
" gelical truths, those Christian principles, which belong
" to the very essence of Christianity : I have proved
" them to be such, and I have reduced most of them
" to certain propositions, which is a thing the vindi-
" cator called for."
Answ. Yes : but that was not all the vindicator call
ed for, and had reason to expect. For I asked, " Whe-
u ther those the unmasker gave us, in his Thoughts
" concerning the causes of atheism," were the funda
mental articles, " without an actual belief whereof, a
" man could not be a Christian ; just all, neither more
" nor less ?" This I had reason to demand from him,
or from any one, who questions that part of my book;
and I shall insist upon it, until he does it, or confesses
he cannot. For having set down the articles, which the
scripture, upon a diligent search, seemed to me to re
quire as necessary, and only necessary ; I shall riot lose
my time in examining what another says against those
fundamentals, which I have gathered out of the preach
ings of our Saviour and his apostles, until he gives me
a list of his fundamentals, which he will abide by ; that
so, by comparing them together, I may see which is the
true catalogue of necessaries. For after so serious and
diligent a search, which has given me light and satisfac
tion in this great point, I shall not quit it, and set my
self on float again, at the demand of any one, who would
have me be of his faith, without telling me what it is.
Those fundamentals the scripture has so plainly given,
and so evidently determined, that it would be the
greatest folly imaginable, to part with this rule for ask
ing ; and give up myself blindly to the conduct of one,
who either knows not, or will not tell me, what are the
points necessary to be believed to make me a Christian.
He that shall find fault with my collection of funda
mentals, only to unsettle me, and not give me a better
of his own, I shall not think worth minding, until, like
a fair man, he puts himself upon equal terms, and makes
A Second Vindication of the
up the defects of mine, by a complete one of his own.
For a deficiency, or errour, in one necessary, is as fatal,
and as certainly excludes a man from being a Christian,
as in an hundred. When any one offers me a complete
catalogue of his fundamentals, he does not unreasonably
demand me to quit mine for nothing : I have then one,
that being set by mine, I may compare them ; and so
be able to choose the true and perfect one, and relinquish
the other.
He that does not do this, plainly declares, that,
(without showing me the certain way to salvation) he
expects, that I should depend on him with an implicit
faith, whilst he reserves to himself the liberty to require
of me to believe, what he shall think fit, as he sees occa
sion ; and in effect says thus, " Distrust those funda-
" mentals, which the preachings of Our Saviour and his
" apostles have showed to be all that is necessary to be
" believed to make a man a Christian ; and, though I
" cannot tell you, what are those other articles which
" are necessary and sufficient to make a man a Christian,
" yet take me for your guide, and that is as good as if
" I made up, in a complete list, the defects of your fun-
" damentals ?" To which this is a sufficient answer,
" Si quid novisti rectius, imperti ; si non, his titere
" mecum."
The unmasker, of his own accord, p. 110 of his
" Thoughts concerning the causes of atheism," sets
down several, which he calls " fundamental doctrines."
I ask him, whether those be all ? For answer, he adds
more to them in his " Socinianism unmasked :" but in
a great pet refuses to tell me, whether this second list of
fundamentals be complete : and, instead of answering
so reasonable a demand, pays me with ill language, in
these words, p. 22, subjoined to those last quoted, " If
" what I have said will not content him, I am sure I
" can do nothing that will ; and therefore, if he should
" capriciously require any thing more, it would be as
" great folly in me to comply with it, as it is in him to
" move it." If I did ask a question, which troubles you,
be not so angry ; you yourself were the occasion of it.
I proposed my collection of fundamentals, which I had,
Reasonableness of Christianity* 8$c. 21 7
with great care, sought ; and thought I had found clear
in the scripture ; you tell me no, it is imperfect, and
offer me one of your own. I ask, whether that be per
fect ? Thereupon you grow into choler, and tell me it
is a foolish question. Why ! then I think it was not
very wise in you so forwardly to offer one, unless you
had one ready, not liable to the same exception. Would
you have me so foolish, to take a list of fundamentals
from you, who have not yet one for yourself; nor are
yet resolved with yourself, w r hat doctrines are to be put
in, or left out of it ? Farther, pray tell me, if you had
a settled collection of fundamentals, that you would
stand to, why should I take them from you, upon your
word, rather than from an anabaptist, or a quaker, or
an arminian, or a socinian, or a lutheran, or a papist;
who, I think, are not perfectly agreed with you, or
one another in fundamentals ? And yet, there is none
amongst them, that I have not as much reason to be
lieve, upon his bare word, as an unmasker, who, to my
certain knowledge, will make bold with truth. If you
set up for infallibility, you may have some claim to have
your bare word taken, before any other but the pope.
But yet, if you demand to be an unquestionable pro
poser, of what is absolutely necessary to be believed to
make a man a Christian, you must perform it a little
better, than hitherto you have done. For it is not
enough, sometimes to give us texts of scripture ; some
times propositions of your own framing, and sometimes
texts of scripture, out of which they are to be framed ;
as p. 14, you say, " These and the like places afford us
" such fundamental and necessary doctrines as these :"
and again,, p. 16, after the naming several other texts of
scripture, you add, " which places yield us such pro-
" positions as these ;" and then in both places set down
what you think fit to draw out of them. And p. 15,
you have these words : " and here, likewise, it were easy
" to show, that adoption, justification, pardon of sins,
" &c. which are privileges and benefits bestowed upon
" us by the Messiah, are necessary matters of our be-
" lief." By all which, as well as the whole frame, where
in you make show of giving us your fundamental arti-
218 A Second Vindication of the
cles, it is plain, that what you have given us there, is
nothing less than a complete collection of fundamentals,
even in your own opinion of it.
But, good sir, Why is it a foolish question in me ?
You have found fault with my summary for being short ;
the defect in my collection of necessary articles, has
raised your zeal into so severe censures, and drawn upon
me, from you, so heavy a condemnation, that, if half you
have said of me be true, I am in a very ill case, for hav
ing so curtailed the fundamental doctrines of Christia
nity. Is it folly, then, for me to ask from you a com
plete creed ? If it be so dangerous (as certainly it is) to
fail in any necessary article of faith, Why is it folly in
me, to be instant with you, to give me them all ? Or
why is it folly in you, to grant so reasonable a demand?
A short faith, defective in necessaries, is no more tole
rable in you, than in me ; nay, much more inexcusable,
if it were for no other reason but this, that you rest in it
yourself, and would impose it on others ; and yet do not
yourself know,, or believe it to be complete. For if you
do, why dare you not say so, and give it us all entire, in
plain propositions ; and not, as you have in a great
measure done here, give only the texts of scripture,
from whence, you say, necessary articles are to be
drawn ? Which is too great an uncertainty for doctrines
absolutely necessary. For, possibly, all men do not un
derstand those texts alike, and some may draw articles
out of them quite different from your system ; and so,
though they agree in the same texts, may not agree in
the same fundamentals; and till you have set down
plainly and distinctly your articles, that you think con
tained in them, cannot tell whether you will allow them
to be Christians, or no. For you know, sir, several infer
ences are often drawn from the same text : and the dif
ferent systems of dissenting (I was going to say chris-
tians, but that none must be so, but those who receive
your collection of fundamentals, when you please to give
it them) professors are all founded on the scripture,
Why, I beseech you, is mine a foolish question to ask,
" What are the necessary articles of faith ?" It is of no
less consequence than, nor much different from the
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c.
jailer s question in the sixteenth of the Acts, " What shall
" I do to be saved ?" And that was not, that ever I
heard, counted by any one a foolish question. You
grant, there are articles necessary to be belived for sal
vation : Would it not then be wisdom to know them ?
Nay, is it not our duty to know arid believe them ? If
not, why do you, with so much outcry, reprehend me,
for not knowing them ? Why do you fill your books with
such variety of invectives, as if you could never say
enough, nor bad enough against me, for having left out
some of them? And, if it be so dangerous, so criminal
to miss any of them. Why is it a folly in me, to move
you to give me a complete list ?
If fundamentals are to be known, easy to be known,
(as without doubt, they are,) then a catalogue may be
given of them. But, if they are not, if it cannot cer
tainly be determined, which are they ; but the doubtful
knowledge of them depends upon guesses ; Why may
not I be permitted to follow my guesses, as well as you
yours ? Or why, of all others, must you prescribe your
guesses to me, when there are so many that are as ready
to prescribe as you, and of as good authority ? The pre
tence, indeed, and clamour is religion, and the saving
of souls : but your business, it is plain, is nothing but
to over-rule and prescribe, and be hearkened to as a
dictator : and not to inform, teach, and instruct in the
sure way to salvation. Why else do you so start and
fling, when I desire to know of you, what is necessary
to be believed to make a man a Christian, when this is
the only material thing in controversy between us ; and
my mistake in it has made you begin a quarrel with me,
and let loose your pen against me in no ordinary way of
reprehension ?
Besides, in this way which you take, you will be in
no better a case than I. For, another having as good a
claim to have his guesses give the rule, as you yours ;
or to have his system received, as well as you yours ;
he will complain of you as well; and upon as good
grounds, as you do of me ; and (if he have but as much
zeal for his orthodoxy, as you show for yours) in as
civil, well-bred, and christian-like language.
A Second Vindication of the
In the next place, pray tell me, Why would it be folly
in you, to comply with what I require of you ? Would
it not be useful to me, to be set right in this matter ? If
so, Why is it folly in you to set me right ? Consider me,
if you please, as one of your parishioners, who (after you
have resolved which catalogue of fundamentals to give
him, either that in your " Thoughts of the Causes of
" Atheism/ or this other here, in your " Socinianism
" unmasked ;" for they are not both the same, nor either
of them perfect) asked you, " Are these all fundamental
" articles necessary to be believed to make a man a
" Christian ; and are there no more but these ?" Would
you answer him, that it was folly in you to comply
with him, in what he desired? Is it of no moment
to know, what is required of men to be believed ; with
out a belief of which, they are not Christians, nor can be
saved ? And is it folly in a minister of the gospel, to in
form one committed to his instruction, in so material a
point as this, which distinguishes believers from unbe
lievers ? Is it folly in one, whose business it is to bring
men to be Christians, and to salvation, to resolve a ques
tion, by which they may know, whether they are chris-
tians or no ; and, without a resolution of which, they
cannot certainly know their condition, and the state
they are in ? Is it besides your commission and business,
and therefore a folly, to extend your care of souls so far
as this, to those who are committed to your charge ?
Sir, I have a title to demand this of you, as if I were
your parishioner : you have forced yourself upon me for
a teacher, in this very point, as if you wanted a pa
rishioner to instruct : and therefore I demand it of
you, and shall insist upon it, till you either do it, or
confess you cannot. Nor shall it excuse you, to say it
is capriciously required. For this is no otherwise ca
pricious, than all questions are capricious to a man,
that cannot answer them ; and such an one, I think,
this is to you. For, if you could answer it, nobody
can doubt, but that you would, and that with confi
dence : for nobody will suspect it is the want of that
makes you so reserved. This is, indeed, a frequent way
of answering questions, by men, that cannot otherwise
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 221
cover the absurdities of their opinions, and their inso
lence of expecting to be believed upon their bare words,
by saying they are capriciously asked, and deserve no
other answer.
But how far soever capriciousness (when proved, for
saying is not enough) may excuse from answering a ma
terial question, yet your own words here will clear this
from this being a capricious question in me. For that
those texts of scripture which you have set down, do not,
upon your own grounds, contain all the fundamental
doctrines of religion, all that is necessary to be believed
to make a man a Christian ; what you say a little lower,
in this very page, as well as in other places, does demon
strate. Your words are, " I think I have sufficiently
" proved, that there are other doctrines besides that
" [Jesus is the Messiah] which are required to be believ-
" ed to make a man a Christian ; Why did the apostles
" write these doctrines? Was it not, that those they writ
" to, might give their assent to them ?" This argument,
for the necessity of believing the texts you cite from
their being set down in the " New Testament," you
urged thus, p. 9, " Is this set down to no purpose in these
" inspired epistles ? Is it not requisite that we should
" know it and believe ?" And again, p. 29> " they are in
" our bibles to that very purpose, to be believed." If
then it be necessary to know and believe those texts of
scripture you have collected, because the apostles writ
them, and they were not " set down to no purpose : and
" they are set down in our bibles on purpose to be be-
" lieved:" I have reason to demand of you other texts,
besides those you have enumerated, as containing points
necessary to be believed ; because there are other texts
which the apostles writ, and were not " set down to no
" purpose, and are in our bibles, on purpose to be be-
" lieved," as well as those which you have cited.
Another reason of doubting, and consequently of de
manding, whether those propositions you have set down
for fundamental doctrines, be every one of them necessary
to be believed, and all that are necessary to be believed
to make a man a Christian, I have from your next argu
ment ; which, joined to the former, stands thus, p. 22 :
A Second Vindication of the
" Why did the apostles write these doctrines ? Was it
" not that those they writ to, might give their assent to
" them ? Nay, did they not require assent to them ?
" Yes verily ; for this is to be proved from the nature
" of the things contained in these doctrines, which are
" such as had immediate respect to the occasion, au-
t( thor, way, means and issue, of their redemption and
" salvation." If therefore all " things which have an
" immediate respect to the occasion, author, way,
" means and issue of men s redemption and salvation,"
are those and those only, which are necessary to be be
lieved to make a man a Christian ; may a man not justly
doubt, whether those propositions, which the unmasker
has set down, contain all those things, and whether there
be not other things contained in other texts of scripture,
or in some of those cited by him, but otherwise under
stood, that have as immediate a " respect to the occa-
" sion, author, way, means arid issue, of men s redemp-
" tion and salvation," as those he has set down ? and
therefore I have reason to demand a completer list.
For at best, to tell us of " all things that have an im-
" mediate respect to the occasion, author, way, means
" and issue, of men s redemption and salvation," is but
a general description of fundamentals, with which some
may think some articles agree, and others, others : and
the terms, " immediate respect," may give ground
enough for difference about them, to those who agree
that the rest of your description is right. My demand
therefore is not a general description of fundamentals,
but, for the reasons above mentioned, the particular ar
ticles themselves, which are necessary to be believed to
make a man a Christian.
It is not my business at present, to examine the va
lidity of these arguments of his, to prove all the proposi
tions to be necessary to be believed, which he has here,
in his " Socinianism unmasked," set down as such.
The use I make of them now, is to show the reason they
afford me to doubt, that those propositions, which he
has given us, for doctrines necessary to be believed, are
either not all such, or more than all, by his own rule :
and therefore, I must desire him to give us a completer
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 223
creed, that we may know, what in his sense, is neces
sary, and enough to make a man a Christian.
Nor will it be sufficient, in this case, to do what he
tells us he has done, in these words, p. 21, "I have
" briefly set before the reader those evangelical truths,
" those Christian principles, which belong to the very
" essence of Christianity ;" and " I have reduced
" most of them to certain propositions, which is a thing
" the vindicator called for," p. 16. With submission,
I think he mistakes the vindicator. What I called for,
was, not that, " most of them should be reduced to cer-
" tain propositions," but that all of them should : and
the reason of my demanding that was plain, viz. that
then, having the unmasker s creed in clear and distinct
propositions, I might be able to examine whether it was
what God in the scriptures indispensably required of
every man to make him a Christian, that so I might
thereby correct the errours or defects of what I at pre
sent apprehend the scripture taught me in the case.
The unmasker endeavours to excuse himself from
answering my question by another exception against it,
p. 24, in these words : " Surely none, but this upstart
" racovian, will have the confidence to deny, that these
" articles of faith are such as are necessary to constitute
" a Christian, as to the intellectual and doctrinal part of
" Christianity ; such as must, IN SOME MEASURE, be
" known and assented to by him. Not that a man is
" supposed, every moment, actually to exert his assent
" and belief; for none of the moral virtues, none of the
" evangelical graces, are exerted thus always. Where-
" fore that question," in p. 168, " though he says he
" asks it" (seriously) " might have been spared," " Whe-
(( ther every one of these fundamentals is required to
66 be believed to make a man a Christian, and such as,
" without the actual belief thereof, he cannot be saved ?"
" Here is seriousness pretended where there is none ;
" for the design is only to cavil, and (if he can) to ex-
pose my assertion. But he is not able to do it ; for
all his critical demands are answered in these few
/ words, viz. That the intellectual (as well as moral
4 endowments) are never supposed to be always in act :
A Second Vindication of the
" they are exerted upon occasion, not all of them at a
" time. And therefore he mistakes, if he thinks, or
" rather as he objects without thinking, that these doc-
" trines, if they be fundamental and necessary, must be
" always actually believed. No man, besides himself,
" ever started such a thing."
This terrible long combat has the unmasker managed
with his own shadow, to confound the seriousness of my
question ; and, as he says himself, is come off, not only
safe and sound, but triumphant. But for all that, sir,
may not a man s question be serious, though he should
chance to express it ill ? I think you and I were not best
to set up for critics in language, and nicety of expres
sion, for fear we should set the world a laughing. Yet
for this once, I shall take the liberty to defend mine
here. For I demand in what expression of mine, I said
or supposed, that a man should, every moment, actually
exert his assent to any proposition required to be be
lieved ? Cannot a man say, that the unmasker cannot
be admitted to any preferment in the church of Eng
land, without an actual assent to, or subscribing of the
thirty-nine articles ; unless it be supposed, that he must
every moment, from the time he first read, assented to,
and subscribed those articles, until he received institu
tion and induction, " actually exert his assent" to every
one of them, and repeat his subscription? In the same
sense it is literally true, that a man cannot be admitted
into the church of Christ, or into heaven, without actu
ally believing all the articles necessary to make a man
a Christian, without supposing that he must cc actually
" exert that assent every moment," from the time that
he first gave it, until the moment that he is admitted
into heaven. He may eat, drink, make bargains, study
Euclid, and think of other things between ; nay, some
times sleep, and neither think of those articles, nor any
thing else ; and yet it be true, that he shall not be ad
mitted into the church, or heaven, without an actual
assent to them : that condition of an actual assent, he
has performed, and until he recall that assent, by actual
unbelief, it stands good : and though a lunacy, or le
thargy, should seize on him presently after, and he
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc.
should never think of it again as long as he lived, yet it
is literally true, he is not saved without an actual assent.
You might therefore have spared your pains, in saying,
" that none of the moral virtues, none of the evangelical
" graces, are exerted THUS always," until you had met
with somebody who said THUS. That I did so, I think,
would have entered into no body s thoughts but yours,
it being evident from p. 156, of my book, that by actual,
I meant explicit. You should rather have given a di
rect answer to my question, which I here again seriously
ask you, viz. Whether
IX. Those you called " fundamental doctrines/ in
your " Thoughts concerning the causes of athe-
" ism," or those Christian principles, which be-
" long to the very essence of Christianity/ so
many as you have given us of them in your " So-
" cinianism unmasked," (for you may take which
of your two creeds you please,) are just those, nei
ther more or less, that are every one of them re
quired to be believed to make a man a Christian,
and such as, without the actual, or (since that word
displeases you) the explicit belief whereof, he can
not be saved ?
When you have answered this question, we shall then
see which of us two is nearest the right: but if you shall
forbear railing, which, I fear, you take for arguing,
against that summary of faith, which our Saviour and
his apostles taught, and which only they proposed to
their hearers to be believed, to make them Christians^
until you have found another perfect creed, of only ne
cessary articles, that you dare own for such ; you are like
to have a large time of silence. Before I leave the pas
sage above cited, I must desire the reader to take no
tice of what he says, concerning his list of fundamentals,
viz. That " these his articles of faith," necessary to con
stitute a Christian, are such as must, IN SOME MEASURE,
be known and assented to by him : a very wary expres
sion concerning fundamentals ! The question is about
articles necessary to be explicitly believed to make a
226 A Second Vindication of the
man a Christian. These, in his list, the unmasker tells
us, are " necessary to constitute a Christian, and must,
" IN SOME MEASURE, be known and assented to." I
would now fain know of the reader, Whether he under
stands thereby, that the masker means, that these his
necessary articles must be explicitly believed or not?
If he means an explicit knowledge and belief, why does
he puzzle his reader, by so improper a way of speaking?
For what is as complete and perfect as it ought to be,
cannot properly be said to be " in some measure." If
his, " in some measure/ falls short of explicitly know
ing and believing his fundamentals, his necessary ar
ticles are such as a man may be a Christian, without ex
plicitly knowing and believing, i. e. are no fundamen
tals, no necessary articles at all. Thus men, uncertain
what to say, betray themselves by their great caution.
Having pronounced it folly in himself to make up
the defects of my short, and therefore so much blamed
collection of fundamentals, by a full one of his own,
though his attempt shows he would if he could ; he goes
on thus, p. 22, " From what I [the unmasker] have
" said, it is evident, that the vindicator is grossly mis-
" taken, when he saith, * Whatever doctrines the
" apostles required to be believed to make a man a
" Christian, are to be found in those places of scripture
" which he has quoted in his book. " And a little
lower, " I think I have sufficiently proved, that there
" are other doctrines besides that, which are required
" to be believed to make a man a Christian."
Answ. Whatever you have proved, or (as you never
fail to do) boast you have proved, will signify nothing,
until you have proved one of these propositions ; and
have shown either,
X. That what our Saviour and his apostles preached,
and admitted men into the church for believing, is
not all that is absolutely required to make a man a
Christian. Or,
That the believing him to be the Messiah, was not the
only article they insisted on, to those who acknow
ledged one God ; and, upon the belief whereof
Reasonableness of Christianity, fyc.
they admitted converts into the church, in any one
of those many places quoted by me out of the his
tory of the New Testament.
I say, any one : for though it be evident, throughout
the whole gospel, and the Acts, that this was the one
doctrine of faith, which, in all their preachings every
where, they principally drive at : yet, if it were not so,
but that in other places they taught other things, that
would not prove that those other things were articles of
faith, absolutely necessarily required to be believed to
make a man a Christian, unless it had been so said. Be
cause, if it appears that ever any one was admitted into
the church, by our Saviour or his apostles, without
having that article explicitly laid before him, and with
out his explicit assent to it, you must grant, that an ex
plicit assent to that article is not necessary to make a
man a Christian : unless you will say, that our Saviour
and his apostles admitted men into the church that were
not qualified with such a faith as was absolutely neces
sary to make a man a Christian ; which is as much as to
say, that they allowed and pronounced men to be chris-
tians, who were not Christians. For he that wants
what is necessary to make a man a Christian, can no
more be a Christian, than he that wants what is neces
sary to make him a man, can be a man. For what is
necessary to the being of any thing, is essential to its
being ; and any thing may be as well without its es
sence, as without any thing that is necessary to its be
ing : and so a man be a man, without being a man ;
and a Christian a Christian, without being a Christian ;
and an unmasker may prove this, without proving it.
You may, therefore, set up, by your unquestionable au
thority, what articles you please, as necessary to be be
lieved to make a man a Christian : if our Saviour and
his apostles admitted converts into the church, without
preaching those your articles to them, or requiring an
explicit assent to what they did not preach and expli
citly lay down, I shall prefer their authority to yours,
and think it was rather by them, than by you, that
God promulgated the law of faith, and manifested what
Q 3
A Second Vindication of the
that faith was, upon which he would receive penitent
converts.
And though, by his apostles, our Saviour taught a
great many other truths, for the explaining this funda
mental article of the law of faith, that Jesus is the Mes
siah ; some whereof have a nearer, and some a more
remote connexion with it, and so cannot be denied by
any Christian, who sees that connexion, or knows they
are so taught : yet an explicit belief of any one of them,
is no more necessarily required to make a man a Chris
tian, than an explicit belief of all those truths, which
have a connexion with the being of a God, or are re
vealed by him, is necessarily required to make a man
not to be an atheist : though none of them can be de
nied by any one who sees that connexion, or ackflow-
ledges that revelation, without his being an atheist.
All these truths, taught us from God, either by reason
or revelation, are of great use, to enlighten our minds,
confirm our faith, stir up our affections, &c. And the
more we see of them, the more we shall see, admire,
and magnify the wisdom, goodness, mercy, and love of
God, in the work of our redemption. This will oblige
us to search and study the scripture, wherein it is con
tained and laid open to us.
All that we find in the revelation of the " New Tes-
" lament," being the declared will and mind of our
Lord and Master, the Messiah, whom we have taken to
be our king, we are bound to receive as right and truth,
or else we are not his subjects, we do not believe him to
be the Messiah, our Ring, but cast him off, and with the
jews say, " We will not have this man reign over us."
But it is still w r hat we find in the scripture, not in this
or that system ; what we, sincerely seeking to know the
will of our Lord, discover to be his mind. Where it is
spoken plainly, we cannot miss it ; and it is evident he
requires our assent : where there is obscurity, either in
the expressions themselves, or by reason of the seeming
contrariety of other passages, there a fair endeavour, as
much as our circumstances will permit, secures us from
a guilty disobedience of his will, or a sinful errour in
faith, which way soever our inquiry resolves the doubt,
Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 229
or perhaps leaves it unresolved. If he had required
more of us in those points, he would have declared his
will plainer to us, and discovered the truth contained
in those obscure, or seemingly contradictory places, as
clearly, and as uniformly as he did that fundamental
article, that we were to believe him to be the Messiah,
our King.
As men, we have God for our King, and are under
the law of reason : as Christians, we have Jesus the Mes
siah for our King, and are under the law revealed by
him in the gospel. And though every Christian, both
as a deist and a Christian, be obliged to study both the
law of nature and the revealed law, that in them he may
know the will of God, and of Jesus Christ, whom he
hath sent ; yet, in neither of these laws, is there to be
found a select set of fundamentals, distinct from the rest,
which are to make him a deist, or a Christian. But he
that believes one eternal, invisible God, his Lord and
King, ceases thereby to be an atheist ; and he that be
lieves Jesus to be the Messiah, his king, ordained by
God, thereby becomes a Christian, is delivered from the
power of darkness, and is translated into the kingdom of
the Son of God ; is actually within the covenant of
grace, and has that faith, which shall be imputed to him
for righteousness ; and, if he continues in his allegiance
to this his King, shall receive the reward, eternal life.
He that considers this, will not be so hot as the un-
masker, to contend for a number of fundamental ar
ticles, all necessary, every one of them, to be explicitly
believed by every one for salvation, without knowing
them himself, or being able to enumerate them to an
other. Can there be any thing more absurd than to say,
there are several fundamental articles, each of which
every man must explicitly believe, upon pain of damna- /
tion, and yet not be able to say, which they be ? The
unmasker has set down no small number ; but yet dares
not say, these are all. On the contrary, he has plainly
confessed there are more ; but will not, i. e. cannot tell
what they are, that remain behind ; nay, has given a
general description of his fundamental articles, by which
it is not evident, but there may be ten times as many as
230 A Second Vindication of the
those he had named ; and amongst them (if he durst, or
could name them) probably several that many a good
Christian 5 who died in the faith, and is now in heaven,
never once thought of; and others, which many, of as
good authority as he, would, from their different sys
tems, certainly deny and contradict.
This, as great an absurdity as it is, cannot be other
wise, whilst men will take upon them to alter the terms
of the gospel ; and when it is evident, that our Saviour
and his apostles received men into the church, and pro
nounced them believers, for taking him to be the Mes
siah, their King and deliverer, sent by God, have a bold
ness to say, " this is not enough." But, when you would
know of them, what then is enough, they cannot tell
you : the reason whereof is visible, viz. because they be
ing able to produce no other reason for their collection
of fundamental articles, to prove them necessary to be
believed, but because they are of divine authority, and
contained in the holy scriptures ; and are, as the un-
masker says, " writ there on purpose to be believed ; "
they know not where toi stop, when they have once be
gun : those texts that they leave out, or from which
they deduce none of their fundamentals, being of the
same divine authority, and so upon that account equally
fundamental with what they culled out, though not so
well suited to their particular systems.
Hence come those endless and unreasonable conten
tions about fundamentals, whilst each censures the de
fect, redundancy, or falsehood of what others require,
as necessary to be believed : and yet he himself gives not
a catalogue of his own fundamentals, which he will say
is sufficient and complete. Nor is it to be wondered ;
since, in this way, it is impossible to stop short of put
ting every proposition, divinely revealed, into the list
of fundamentals ; all of them being of divine, and so of
equal authority; and, upon that account, equally ne
cessary to be believed by every one that is a Christian,
though they are not all necessary to be believed, to make
any one a Christian. For the New Testament contain
ing the laws of the Messiah s kingdom, in regard of all
the actions, both of mind and body, of all his subjects ;
" ~ : --* f Reasonableness of Christianity, &;c . 23 1
every Christian is bound, by his allegiance to him, to be
lieve all that he says in it to be true ; as well as to assent,
that all he commands in it is just and good : and what
negligence, perverseness, or guilt there is, in his mis
taking in the one, or failing in his obedience to the
other, that this righteous judge of all men, who cannot
be deceived, will at the last day lay open, and reward
accordingly.
It is no wonder, therefore, there have been such fierce
contests, and such cruel havock made amongst Christians
about fundamentals ; whilst every one would set up his
system, upon pain of fire and faggot in this, and hell-
tire in the other world. Though, at the same time,
whilst he is exercising the utmost barbarities against
others, to prove himself a true Christian, he professes
himself so ignorant, that he cannot tell, or so uncharit
able, that he will not tell, what articles are absolutely
necessary and sufficient to make a man a Christian. If
there be any such fundamentals, as it is certain there
are, it is as certain they must be very plain. Why then
does every one urge and make a stir about fundamen
tals, and no body give a list of them ? but because (as
I have said) upon the usual grounds, they cannot : for
I will be bold to say, that every one who considers the
matter, will see, that either only the article of his being
the Messiah their King, which alone our Saviour and
his apostles preached to the unconverted world, and re
ceived those that believed it into the church, is the only
necessary article to be believed by an atheist, to make
him a Christian ; or else, that all the truths contained in
the New Testament, are necessary articles to be believed
to make a man a Christian : and that between these two,
it is impossible any-where to stand ; the reason whereof
is plain. Because, either the believing Jesus to be the
Messiah, i. e. the taking him to be our King, makes us
subjects and denizens of his kingdom, that is, chris-
tians : or else an explicit knowledge of, and actual obe
dience to the laws of his kingdom, is what is required
to make us subjects ; which, I think, it was never said
of any other kingdom. For a man must be a subject
before he is bound to obey.
A Second Vindication of the
Let us suppose it will be said here, that an obedience
to the laws of Christ s kingdom, is what is necessary to
make us subjects of it, without which we cannot be ad
mitted into it, i. e. be Christians : and, if so, this obe
dience must be universal ; I mean, it must be the same
sort of obedience to all the laws of this kingdom :
which, since no body says is in any one such as is wholly
free from errour, or frailty, this obedience can only lie
in a sincere disposition and purpose of mind, to obey
every one of the laws of the Messiah, delivered in the
New Testament, to the utmost of our power. Now,
believing right being one part of that obedience, as well
as acting right is the other part, the obedience of assent
must be implicitly to all that is delivered there, that it
is true. But for as much as the particular acts of an ex
plicit assent cannot go any farther than his understand
ing, who is to assent ; what he understands to be truth,
delivered by our Saviour, or the apostles commissioned
by him, and assisted by his Spirit, that he must necessa
rily believe : it becomes a fundamental article to him,
and he cannot refuse his assent to it, without renounc
ing his allegiance. For he that denies any of the doc
trines that Christ has delivered, to be true, denies him to
be sent from God, and consequently to be the Messiah ;
and so ceases to be a Christian. From whence it is evi
dent, that if any more be necessary to be believed to
make a man a Christian, than the believing Jesus to be
the Messiah, and thereby taking him for our King, it
cannot be any set bundle of fundamentals, culled out
of the scripture, with an omission of the rest, according
as best suits any one s fancy, system, or interest : but it
must be an explicit belief of all those propositions,
which he, according to the best of his understanding,
really apprehends to be contained and meant in the
scripture; and an implicit belief of all the rest, which
he is ready to believe, as soon as it shall please God,
upon his use of the means, to enlighten him, and make
them clear to his understanding. So that in effect, al
most every particular man in this sense has, or may
have, a distinct catalogue of fundamentals, each where
of it is necessary for him explicitly to believe, now that
Reasonableness of Christianity > 8$c. 233
he is a Christian ; whereof if he should disbelieve or deny
any one, he would cast off his allegiance, disfranchise
himself, and be no longer a subject of Christ s kingdom.
But, in this sense, no body can tell what is fundamental
to another, what is necessary for another man to believe.
This catalogue of fundamentals, every one alone can
make for himself: no body can fix it for him ; no body
can collect or prescribe it to another : but this is, ac
cording as God has dealt to every one the measure of
light and faith ; and has opened each man s understand
ing, that he may understand the scriptures. Whoever
has used what means he is capable of, for the informing
of himself, with a readiness to believe and obey what
shall be taught and prescribed by Jesus, his Lord and
King, is a true and faithful subject of Christ s kingdom ;
and cannot be thought to fail in any thing necessary to
salvation.
Supposing a man and his wife, barely by seeing the
wonderful things that Moses did, should have been per
suaded to put themselves under his government ; or by
reading his law, and liking it ; or by any other motive,
had been prevailed on sincerely to take him for their
ruler and law-giver ; and accordingly (renouncing their
former idolatry and heathenish pollutions) in token
thereof had, by baptism and circumcision, the initiating
ceremonies, solemnly entered themselves into that com
munion, under the law of Moses ; had they not, thereby,
been made denizens of the commonwealth of Israel,
and invested with all the privileges and prerogatives of
true children of Abraham, leaving to their posterity a
right to their share in the promised land, though they had
died before they had performed any other act of obedi
ence to that law; nay, though they had not known
whose son Moses was, nor how he had delivered the
children of Israel out of Egypt, nor whither he was lead
ing them ? I do not say, it is likely they should be so
far ignorant. But, whether they were or no, it was
enough that they took him for their prince and ruler,
with a purpose to obey him, to submit themselves en
tirely to his commands and conduct ; and did nothing
afterwards^ whereby they disowned or rejected his au-
234 A Second Vindication of the
thority over them. In that respect, none of. his laws
were greater or more necessary to be submitted to, one
than another, though the matter of one might be of
much greater consequence than of another. But a dis
obedience to any law of the least consequence, if it
carry with it a disowning of the authority that made it,
forfeits all, and cuts off such an offender from that com
monwealth, and all the privileges of it.
This is the case, in respect of other matters of faith,
to those who believe Jesus to be the Messiah, and take
him to be their King, sent from God, and so are already
Christians. It is not the opinion, that any one may have
of the weightiness of the matter, (if they are, without
their own fault, ignorant that our Saviour hath revealed
it,) that shall disfranchise them, and make them forfeit
their interest in his kingdom : they may still be good
subjects, though they do not believe a great many things,
which creed-makers may think necessary to be believed.
That which is required of them is a sincere endeavour
to know his mind, declared in the gospel, and an ex
plicit belief of all that they understand to be so. Not
to believe what he has revealed, whether in a lighter, or
more weighty matter, calls his veracity into question,
destroys his mission, denies his authority, and is a flat
disowning him to be the Messiah, and so overturns that
fundamental and necessary article whereby a man is a
Christian. But this cannot be done by a man s ignorance
or unwilful mistake of any of the truths published by
our Saviour himself, or his authorized and inspired mi
nisters, in the New Testament. Whilst a man knows
not that it was his will or meaning, his allegiance is
safe, though he believe the contrary.
If this were not so, it is impossible that any one should
be a Christian. For in some things we are ignorant,
and err all, not knowing the scriptures. For the holy
inspired writings, being all of the same divine autho
rity, must all equally in every article be fundamental,
and necessary to be believed ; if that be a reason, that
makes any one proposition in it necessary to be believed.
But the law of faith, the covenant of the gospel, being a
covenant of grace, and not of natural right, or debt 5
Reasonableness of Christianity , c. 235
nothing can be absolutely necessary to be believed, but
what, by this new law of faith, God of his good pleasure
hath made to be so. And this, it is plain, by the preach
ing of our Saviour and his apostles, to all that believed
not already in him, was only the believing the only true
God, and Jesus to be the Messiah, whom he hath sent.
The performance of this puts a man within the cove
nant, arid is that, which God will impute to him for
righteousness. All the other acts of assent to other
truths, taught by our Saviour, and his apostles, are not
what make a man a Christian ; but are necessary acts of
obedience to be performed by one, who is a Christian ;
and therefore, being a Christian, ought to live by the
laws of Christ s kingdom.
Nor are we without some glimpse of light, why it
hath pleased God of his grace, that the believing Jesus
to be the Messiah should be that faith which he would
impute to men for righteousness. It is evident from
scripture, that our Saviour despised the shame and en- j| \y
dured the cross for the joy set before him ; which joy,
it is also plain, was a kingdom. But, in this kingdom,
which his Father had appointed to him, he could have
none but voluntary subjects ; such as leaving the king
dom of darkness, and of the prince of this world, with
all the pleasures, pomps, and vanities thereof would put
themselves under his dominion, and translate themselves
into his kingdom ; which they did, by believing and
owning him to be the Messiah their King, and thereby
taking him to rule over them. For the faith for which ^
God justifieth, is not an empty speculation, but a faith
joined with repentance, and working by love. And for
this, which was, in effect, to return to God himself, and
to their natural allegiance due to him, and to advance
as much as lay in them, the glory of the kingdom, which
he had promised his Son ; God was pleased to declare,
he would accept them, receive them to grace, and blot
out all their former transgressions.
This is evidently the covenant of grace, as delivered
in the scriptures : and if this be not, I desire any one to
tell me what it is, and what are the terms of it. It is
a law of faith, whereby God has promised to forgive all
236 A Second Vindication of the
our sins, upon our repentance and believing something ;
and to impute that faith to us for righteousness. Now I
ask, what it is by the law of faith, we are required to be
lieve ? For until that be known, the law of faith is not
distinctly known ; nor the terms of the covenant upon
which the all-merciful God graciously offers us salvation.
And, if any one will say, this is not known, nay, is not
easily and certainly to be known under the gospel, I
desire him to tell me, what the greatest enemies of
Christianity can say worse against it ? For a way pro
posed to salvation, that does not certainly lead thither,
or is proposed, so as not to be known, are very little
different as to their consequence ; and mankind would
be left to wander in darkness and uncertainty, with the
one as well as the other.
I do not write this for controversy s sake ; for had I
minded victory, I would not have given the unmasker
this new matter of exception. I know whatever is said,
he must be bawling for his fashionable and profitable
orthodoxy, and cry out against this too, which I have
here added, as socinianism ; and cast that name upon
all that differs from what is held by those he would re
commend his zeal to in writing. I call it bawling, for
whether what he has said be reasoning, I shall refer to
those of his own brotherhood, if he be of any brother
hood, and there be any that will join with him in his set
of fundamentals, when his creed is made.
Had I minded nothing but how to deal with him, I
had tied him up short to his list of fundamentals, with
out affording him topics of declaiming, against what I
have here said. But I have enlarged on this point, for
the sake of such readers, who, with the love of truth,
read books of this kind, and endeavour to inform them
selves in the things of their everlasting concernment :
it being of greater consideration with me to give any
light and satisfaction to one single person, who is really
concerned to understand, and be convinced of the
religion he professes, than what a thousand fashion
able, or titular professors of any sort of orthodoxy
shall say, or think of me, for not doing as they do;
i. e. for not saying after others, without understanding
Reasonableness of Christianity , &$c. 3?
what is said, or upon what grounds, or caring to un
derstand it.
Let us now consider his argument, to prove the ar
ticles he has given us to he fundamentals. In his
" Thoughts concerning the causes of atheism," p. 119,
he argues from 1 Tim. iii. 16, where he says " Chris-
" tianity is called a mystery ; that all things in chris-
" tianity are not plain, and exactly level to every com-
" mon apprehension ; and that every thing in christi-
" anity is not clear, and intelligible and comprehensible
" by the weakest noddle." Let us take this for proved
as much as he pleases ; and then let us see the force of
this subtile disputant s argument, for the necessity there
is, that every Christian man should believe those, which
he has given us for fundamental articles, out of the
epistles. The reason of that obligation, and the neces
sity of every man s and woman s believing in them, he
has laid in this, that they are to be found in the epistles,
or in the bible. This argument for them we have,
over and over again, in his " Socinianism unmasked,"
as here, p. 9, thus : " Are they set down to no purpose,
" in these inspired epistles ? Why did the apostles write
" these doctrines, was it not, that those they writ to*
" might give their assent to them ? " p. 22. " They
" are in our bibles, for that very purpose, to be belie v-
" ed," p. 25. Now I ask, Can any one more directly
invalidate all he says here, for the necessity of believing
his articles ? Can any one more apparently write booty,
than by saying, that " these his doctrines, these his
" fundamental articles " (which are, after his fashion, set
down between the 8th and 20th pages of this his first
chapter) are of necessity to be believed by every one,
before he can be a Christian, because they are in the
epistles and in the bible ; and yet affirm, that in Chris
tianity, i. e. in the epistles and in the bible, there are
mysteries, there are things " not plain, not clear, not
" intelligible to common apprehensions?" If his ar
ticles, some of which contain mysteries, are necessary
to be believed to make a man a Christian, because they
are in the bible ; then, according to this rule, it is ne
cessary for many men to believe what is not intelligible
238 A Second Vindication of the
to them ; what their noddles cannot apprehend, (as the
unmasker is pleased to turn the supposition of vulgar
people s understanding the fundamentals of their reli
gion into ridicule,) i. e. it is necessary for many men to
do, what is impossible for them to do, before they can be
Christians. But if there be several things in the bible,
and in the epistles, that are not necessary for men to be
lieve, to make them Christians : then all the unmasker s
arguments, upon their being in the epistles, are no
proofs, that all his articles are necessary to be believed
to make a man a Christian, because they are set down in
the epistles ; much less, because he thinks they may be
drawn, according to his system, out of what is set down
in the epistles. Let him, therefore, either confess these
and the like questions, " Why did the apostles write
" these ? Was it not, that those they write to, might
" give their assent to them ? Why should not every one
" of these evangelical truths be believed and embraced ?
" They are in our bibles, for that very purpose ; " and
the like ; to be impertinent and ridiculous. Let him
cease to propose them with so much ostentation, for
they can serve only to mislead unwary readers : or let
him unsay what he has said, of things " not plain to
" common apprehensions, not clear and intelligible."
Let him recant what he has said of mysteries in Chris
tianity. For I ask with him, p. 8, " where can we be
" informed, but in the sacred and inspired writings ? "
It is ridiculous to urge, that any thing is necessary to
be explicitly believed, to make a man a Christian, be
cause it is writ in the e 
