The works of Soame Jenyns,esq. ..

THE

WORKS

O F

SOAME JENYNS, ESCL,

IN FOUR VOLUMES.

INCLUDING SEVERAL PIECES
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED,

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

AND ALSO OF HIS LIFE;

Bv CHARLES NALSON COLE, ESQ.

VOL. IV.

LONDON:

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

98350

v.4-

J A

VIEW

OF THE

INTERNAL EVIDENCE

^ O F T H E

CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

Almojl thoit pcrfuadeft me to be a Cbriftian.

Afts xxvi. 28.

VOL. IV. B

VIEW, &c.

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

I mean not here to depreciate the proofs

arifing from either prophecies, or miracles :

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

B 2 per

[ 4 ]

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

rior

[ S ]

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

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

[ 6 ]

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

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

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

during

[ 7 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRO-

[ 9 ]

PROPOSITION I.

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

addrelTed

[ to 1

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

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

than

[ » 1

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

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

and

[ 12 ]

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

PRO-

C 13 ]

PROPOSITION II.

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

[ «4 1

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

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

* John iii. 12.

ftatc

[ '5 ]

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

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

education

[ i« 3

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

preceding

[ 17 1

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

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

VOL. IV. C only

[ 18 ]

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

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

fent,

[ '9 ]

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

* i Cor. xv. 53.

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

C 2 No

C 20 ]

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

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

are

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

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

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

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

* John vii. 46,

the

[ 23 3

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

[ 24 1

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

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

and

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

"the

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

* Matt. xxv. 34.

Cf arrayed

I 27 ]

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

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

as

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

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

little

[ 29 3

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

human

C 30 ]

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

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

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

its

t 3* ]

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

thefe

[ 33 ]

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

VOL. IV. D PRO-

t 34 ]

PROPOSITION III.

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

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

injuries,

[ 35 ]

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

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

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

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

permitted

[ 37 ]

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

88330

[ 3« 1

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

much

[ 39 ]

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

[ 40 ]

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

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

[ 41 ]

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

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

* Luke vi. 32.

tures

[ 41 ]

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

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

« Blefied

[ 43 ]

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

* Matt, v. 3.

rival

[ 44 ]

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

"the

[ 45 ]

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

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

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

quifite

[ 46 ]

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

innocent !

[ 47 ]

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

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

* i Cor. xiii. 4.

man?

t 48 ]

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

* John xiii. 34.

patience,

[ 49 ]

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

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

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

[ 5i 3

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

E 2 Faith

[ 5* 3

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

whole

I 53 3

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

[ 54 1

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

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

over-

t 55 3

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

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

[ 5« 3

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

Chriftianity

[ 57 ]

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

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

Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilist acer,

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

religion

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

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

tors,

[ 59 ]

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

Nothing, I believe, has fo much contri-

* Matt. v. n ,

buted

[ 6° ]

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

they

C 6t ]

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

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

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

CON*

63

CONCLUSION.

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

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

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

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

[ 64 ]

culiarly correfponding with the new object of
this religion.

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

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

[ 65 ]

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

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

VOL. IV. F moft

[ 66 ]

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

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

how

[ 6? ]

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

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

[ 63 ]

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

without

[ 69 ]

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

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

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

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

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

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

[ 7* 3

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

[ 73 ]

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

afraid

[ 74 3

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

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

fiftance

[ 75 1

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

barbarity j

[ 76 3

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

afiiftance.

[ 77 ]

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

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

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

t 79 ]

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

[ 80 ]

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

Chriftianity

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

t 8s 1

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

* John vi. 47.

not

[ «3 3

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

[ 84 ]

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

frauds

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

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

t 86 ]

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

difpofitioq

C 87 ]

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

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

|. Rom. xii. 2. § i Cor. ii. 6.

G 4 "friend

[ 38 ]

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

* Jam. iv. 4.

commerce.

[ «9 J

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

every

[ 9° 3

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

* John xvii. 16.

g'on,

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

than

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

« Matt. vii. 4.

are

[ 93 ]

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

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

all

[ 94 3

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

which

[ 95 ]

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

and

[ 96 1

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

which,

[ 97 ]

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

[ 9» 3

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

tianity

t 99 ]

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

r ,00 ]

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

* Mark iv, n, 12.

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

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

[ 10* ]

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

C 103 ]

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

E '°4 ]

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

is,

[ 105 3

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

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

nimmentSj

t 107 ]

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

and

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

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

t 109 ]

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

winter.

[ no ]

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

[ "i 3

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

feeming

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

or

[ "3 ]

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

[ H4 ]

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

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

t "5 1

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

[ "6 ]

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

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

* i Cor. i. 26.

practical,

[ "7 1

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

[ "8 ]

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

than

[ "9 ]

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

[ 120 ]

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

equally

[ I" ]

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

HORT

SHORT AND CURSORY

OBSERVATIONS

O N

SEVERAL PASSAGES

IN THE

NEW TESTAMENT.

CURSORY OBSERVATIONS.

MATT. V. 3.

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

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

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

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

comes

[ "6 ]

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

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

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

« Heb. xii. 23.

What

[ "7 3

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

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

* Mark x, 14, 15.

ment

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

innumerable

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

VOL. IV. K MATT.

[ 130 ]

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

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

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

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

? 2 Pet. iii. 13.

perfuade

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

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

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

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

we

[ 133 ]

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

K 3 MATT.

C '34 3

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

Blejfed are the merciful, for they Jhall obtain
mercy.

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

tion »

t '35 ]

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

K 4 MATT.

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

KOtTUl.

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

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

nothing

[ 137 ]

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

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

* Matt. ix. 14.

taught,

[ '38 ]

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

* i Pet. ii. 21.

Fafting,

[ '39 ]

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

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

Chrift

[ 140 ]

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

MATT*

MATT. X. 25.

u

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

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

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

the

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

contradiction

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

The, whole tenour of the fcriptures implies
5 the

[ '44 ]

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

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

MATT.

t 145 3

MATT. X. 34, 35

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

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

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

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

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

[ i46 ]

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

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

[ '47 ]

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

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

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

MATT.

[ 149 3

MATT. X. 41.

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

6ov T&poQyTK A^i|/e7«/.

ft

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

'prophet, Jhall receive a prophet's reward.

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

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

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

[ '5i 3

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

L 4 MATT,

t 15* 1

MATT. XI. 25.

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

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

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

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

who

[ '53 ]

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

receive

C 154 ]

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

MATT.

E '55 ]

MATT. XVI. 18.

Upon this rock will 1 build my church.

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

the

C is" 1

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

quarter

[ '57 ]

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

very

[ '58 ]

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

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

MATT.

[ '59 3

MATT. XIX. 4, 5.

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

-ssrarepa xa/ TIJI/

o; cuo

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

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

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

than

[ 1 60 ]

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

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

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

certainly be unlawful. This argument has

furely

[ i6i 3

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

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

VOL. IV. M many

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

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

C '63 3

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

M 2 MATT.

I 1*4 J

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

y c c<patcf crx

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

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

So the laftjhall lefrft, and the frjt loft.

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

twelve

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

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

MATT,

[ 1*7 3

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

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

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

[ ,i6« 3

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

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

favorite

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

he

[ '70 ]

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

MATT.

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

TVTO.

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

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

[ i7» J

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

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

Chrift, under the moft terrible appre-

henfions

[ 173 ]

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

• John x. i 8.
f Matt. xxvi. 53.

cies

[ '74 ]

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

MARK

[ i7S ]

MARK II. 27,

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

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

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

5 The

[ «7« 3

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

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

as

[ '77 3

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

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

VOL, IV. N day.

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

[ '79 3

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

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

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

C 1 80 ]

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

fancc

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

N 3 MARK

/

MARK XVI. 15, 16.

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

o os

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

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

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

ing

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

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

N 4 Int»

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

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

G , '

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

that

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

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

the

C 186 ]

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

LURK

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

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

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

Teftamenr,

[ '88 ]

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

king,

C 189 ]

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

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

comply,

190

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

LUKE XI. 24, 25, 1&.

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

rov OIKOV pv, oev

Ka* eXQov evpiffKet <re<rapu(ASvov xou

TOTS •GToptveTcu Koti •ztr

Ja TtrcMiporsoa, saurx, KO.I

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

poflefiiori

r i« 1

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

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

VOL. IV. O beings,

[ *94 3

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

fometimes

[ '95 1

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

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

O i L v K. e

LUKE XIV. 10.

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

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

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

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

into

t '97 ]

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

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

Lu KE

C *99 1

LUKE XV. 7.

ft » »

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

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

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

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

[ 200 ]

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

of

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

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

* Luke xviii. 10.

tfa|

[ 202 ]

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

and

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

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

LUKE

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

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

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

if

[ *°5 3

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

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

times,

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

[ 207 ]

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

* Jofliua xxiv. 15.

LUKE XVI. 25.

/7T£ oe 'A&oaotp* T&KVOV,

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

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

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

ceive

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

•

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

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

productive

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

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

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

P % afflictions

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

JOHN

JOHN III. 3.

0 'lyVXS, KKl StTTEV KUTCt)"

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

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

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

[ "4 ]

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

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

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

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

JOHN

JOHN VI. 44*

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

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

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

circumftances

[ "8 ]

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

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

tory

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

and

[ 220 ]

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

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

moral

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

.

JOH H

[ 222 ]

JOHN VI. 53.

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

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

v

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

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

than

[ 223 ]

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

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

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

authority

[ 225 3

authority of thofe writings is another quef-
tion.

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

[ 2*6 ]

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

JOHN

[ 227 ]
JOHN VII. 46.

Never man fpake like this man.

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

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

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

certainty

[ 229 3

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

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

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

This

[ 230 ]

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

* Afts v. 38, 59.

JOHN

JOHN VIII. 57, 58.

HV ct 'lȣa;o; -aof aJrov*

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

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

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

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

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

made

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

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

JOH N

JOHN XVIII. 40.

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

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

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

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

of

[ 234 ]

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

giilrates

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

had

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

JOHN

[ "-37 ]
JOHN XX.

Asys;

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

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

chara&eriftics

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

tures,

C 239 ]

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

ROMANS

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

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

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

[ 241 1

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

[ "-4* ]

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

trouled by the one than the other. In this,

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

ROMANS

[ 243 ]
ROMANS XIII. i, 2.

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

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

eavrou;

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

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

/TpHROUGHOUT the whole New

JL Teftament we find, that both Chrift

and his Apoftles were particularly careful

to avoid giving any inftru&ions concerning

government, and on all fubjects of a poli-

tical nature 3 an example which the preach-

ers of his gofpel would do well to imitate

R 2 in

t *44 ]

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

thence

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

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

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

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

[ 248 ]

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

i CORIN-

[ 249 J

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

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

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

ventedj

[ 250 ]

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

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

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

ficient.

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

booka

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

i COR IN-

[ SJ4 ]

i CORINTHIANS I. 25*

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

' 7TUV ££•/.

The fooUjbneJs of God is wijer than men.

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

or

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

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

to

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

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

VOL. IV. S i CORIN-

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

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

fole

[ 259 I

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

From hence, if we believe that this great

Apoftle underftood the fpirit of the religion

which he taught, we cannot avoid drawing

this conclufion — That there may be actions,

S 2 the

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

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

felf-denial,

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

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

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

i CORIN-

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

"sre07r£peveTcut v

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

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

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

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

Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoicetb in the
truth ;

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

I

N this inimitable portrait of Charity,

drawn by the mafterly hand of St. Paul,

84 we

C 264 ]

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

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

is.

[ *«s 1

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

We

[ *66 ]

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

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

I CORIN-

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

yzyovtx, cuiy

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

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

pleat

t 269 1

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

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

legs

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

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

unaffected

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

i CORIN-

[ 27' ]

i CORINTHIANS XIII. 12.

Iv ouviyftwrt.

For now wejes through a glafsy darkjy.

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

our

[ 573 ]

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

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

[ '74 ]

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

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

a variety

t *75 1

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

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

[ 276 ]

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

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

a true

[ *77 1

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

T 3 PHILIP-

PHILIPPIANS IV. 8.

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

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

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

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

in

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

[ 280 ]

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

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

THES-

282 ]

THESSALONJANS II. u.

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

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

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

But this difficulty, like moft others in our

interpretations of fcripture, arifes from our

5 own

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

fome

[ "4 3

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

into

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

fame

[ 286 ]

lame power over us, to beings of fuperior
orders ?

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

freewill,

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

JAMES

[ 288 ]

JAMES IV. i.

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

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

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

if

[ 289 J

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

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

FINIS.

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