Man to be too Just or too Wise and whether there can be a vicious excess in Righteousness or Wisdom If a Man may be over-righteous he may likewise love God too much for to be righteous and to love God is the same thing Now God requires that we should love him with all our Heart and consequently that we should be as righteous as it is possible for us to be But far from being over-righteous we can never be righteous enough And if we can never be righteous enough is there any occasion to exhort us that we should not be over-righteous I wish Men had at least that reverence for the Scripture as not to make it speak Absurdities I know the ordinary Evasion Vicious Men will say that when Piety runs to excess it leads to Superstition or Pride and becomes troublesome and ridiculous Every body says that but without Reason I have refuted that Opinion and shewed that true Piety never degenerates into Superstition or Pride and that Devout Men who are Superstitious or troublesome have but a false Devotion or a misguided Zeal This may direct us to the true meaning of the Sentence in Question Solomon does not speak here of true Justice and Wisdom For whether he may have an eye here upon Superstitious or Hypocritical Persons whose Righteousness is but imaginary which Sense is adopted by many Interpreters or whether he speaks of those who exercise Justice with too much severity as some think or whether as it is conceived by others he gives this advice to busy and presumptuous People who meddle in things which do not concern them and fancy themselves able to determine all Matters however it is plain that Solomon does not speak here of good Men who exactly follow the Rules of true Justice and Wisdom If we stick to the last of these Three Expositions which seems to agree best with Solomon's design then the meaning of this place is clear and rational and has nothing in it contrary to Piety whereas the sense which is put upon these Words by the Libertines is both Absurd and Impious Those who would either justify or excuse Corruption use to object in the second place That since the Scripture teaches that all Men and even good Men are deeply ingaged in Corruption it must follow from thence that Holiness and Good-works are not so very necessary and that the practice of these is impossible Now to prove this universal Corruption of all Men they bring several Declarations of Scripture and this among the rest There is not one that doeth good no not one c. Psal 14. Rom. 3. If their meaning in citing these Words was only to shew that there is no Man altogether free from Sin and if it was granted on the other-hand that good Men do not sin in the same manner that the wicked do I would not quarrel much about this Interpretation tho' not altogether exact or agreeable to the scope of David in the 19th Psalm But there is another design in it which is to inferr from these Words that Men differ very little from one another that they are all guilty of many great Sins and that none do or can practise the Duties of Holiness In a word this is intended for the Apology of Corruption and to silence those who oppose it If what David says in this place is to be strictly understood it will follow that there is not one good Man upon Earth that all Men are perverted that they are all become abominable by their Sins and that there is not one single Person that is just or that fears God But this Consequence raises Horrour it is contrary to Truth and Experience and to what the Scripture declares in a Thousand places where it speaks of Good Men and distinguishes them from the Wicked Nay this Consequence may be destroy'd from what we read in that very Psalm which mentions the Just who are protected by God and the Wicked who persecute them This complaint of David must therefore be understood with some restrictions By reading the XIV Psalm we may perceive that David intends to describe in it the extream Corruption of Men in his time There he draws the Picture of Impiety and Atheism and speaks of those Fools who say in their hearts that there is no God and whose life is a continued chain of Sins It must be observed in the next place that when St. Paul cites these words out of the XIV Psalm in the Epistle to the Romans Chap. III. he does it with a design to shew that the Jews were not much better than the Heathens and that they had as much need of a Saviour * V. 9. What then are we better than they No in no wise for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin This is the Assertion which St. Paul maintains and which he proves from that complaint which David made of Old †V. 19. There is not one that does good c. From whence he concludes that all mouths must be stopped and that all the World is become guilty before God so that the Law of Moses could neither justify nor sanctifie the Jews But he teaches at the same time that Christ was come to rescue Men out of that miserable Condition And it were a strang thing if we must dill say of Christians that there is none that does good no not one 2. This answer is to be applied to that place in the Ephesians where it is said * Ephes II. 1. i. that we are dead in trespasses and sins for to the same end these words are quoted I do not deny but all Men abstracting from the Divine Grace are to be considered as dead in their Sins That is St. Paul's meaning in that place he speaks here of the Natural state of Men and particularly of Heathens which was a State of Corruption and Death in which they had perished had not God taken pity upon them But the Apostle intends to make the Ephesians sensible of that unparallel'd Mercy of God by which they were converted to Christianity being but poor Heathens before who were dead in their sins and obnoxious to the Wrath of God He does not say to them you are dead in your sins it is falsifying the Text to cite it so and to say we are dead in our sins but you were dead he speaks of the time past when they were Heathens * and 5. c Among whom says he speaking of the Jews we had our Conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind but now he adds God has quickned us together with Christ both you that were Heathens and we that were Jews are raised again from this spiritual death by virtue of God's great Mercy This is the true meaning of that place which gives us a lively Idea of Mens Natural Corruption and of that happy State to which Christ
in Sin and Impenitency Who can be sure that God will give him â—he Grace to recover himself as those Hoâ—y Men did Those who presume to sin as they did in hopes that they shall in like manner wipe off their Sins by Repentance and Amendment reason just like a Man who should swallow down Poyson and conclude it would not kill him because some who have been Poysoned have Escaped Death But that which deserves here our greatest Consideration is the time which those Saineâ— lived in There is great difference between 〈◊〉 Christians and the good Men under the Old Testament Men before Christ haâ— not by a great deal that Light which we have and did not know as we do the Duties of Holiness Our Saviour teacheâ— us that distinction when he says * Mat. XII 1. The John the Baptist was the greatest among they who were born of a Woman but that the leâ—â— in the Kingdom of Heaven was greater theâ— John the Baptist that is to say that Christians have a much greater Light than either John Baptist or all the ancient Prephets had Now the measure of Knowledge ought to be the measure of Piety and therefore Christians ought to excel the Jews in Holiness What God did bear with as that time would be in us altogether intoleable and how can it be lawful for us to imitate the Ancients in their Vices when we are bound to surpass their Vertues This Principle is of great moment and without it we can hardly silence Profane Persons a Libertine insisting upon Presidents will say That Polygamy he keeping of Concubines Murder Divorce upon the slightest pretences and such like Disorders are not so criminal as they are imagined to be he will produce the Instances of Abraham and Jacob of the Judges of Israel of David and the Jews Far be it from us to detract from the honour and praise due to those Ancient Worthies they have done much for the Time they live in But God forbid too that we should lessen the Glory and the Advantages of the Christian Religion If we speak like Christians we will say That God in his Goodness did pass over many things by reason of the Time and of the natural Temper of the Jews who were a gross and carnal People Our Saviour's Answer to the Pharisees coneerning Divorce is very much to our purpose * Mat. XIX Moses suffered you to put away your Wives but from the beginning it was not so And then he adds that whosoever should imitate the Jews and do that which had been done and tolerated till then should be guilty of Adultery We may easily apply this Answer to the instance of St. Peter since before our Saviour's Ascension the Apostles were weak as yet and possessed with various Prejudices But I think my self bound to add a Word or two concerning the Example of St. Paul because it is commonly mistaken That Apostle says †1 Tim. I. 13 15. that he was a Blasphemer a Persecutor who was not worthy to be called an Apostle and that he was the chief of Sinners At the first hearing of these Words many imagine that St. Paul had been a profligate Man a Swearer and a Godless Wretch and yet he means nothing else but that he had once persecuted the Church For otherwise St. Paul before his Conversion to Christianity was a good Man and his Life was blameless and exemplary for this he appeals to God and the Jews Acts XXIII 1. and XXVI 4. If he did persecute the Church then it was through a blind Zeal and Ignorance and for that reason as he tells us himself ver 13. he obtained mercy from God Is not this quite another Case than that of those Christians who knowingly and wilfully allow themselves in Sin It is another mistake to make St. Paul say as some do that he is the greatest of Sinners he does not say that he says only that he is the chief or the first of those Sinners whom Jesus Christ did save His meaning is that he holds the first rank among converted Sinners that he is a remarkable Instance of the Divine Mercy and that Jesus had begun by him to shew his Clemency and Goodness Thus he explains himself Verse 16. For this cause says he I obtained Mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him This is exactly what he meant for as to what some imagine that St. Paul out of Humility acknowledges himself the greatest of all Sinners I think that explication is wrong and that it neither agrees with Truth nor Piety nor good Sense A good Man is not bound to think himself worse than the greatest sinners on the contrary he ought to bless God for that Good which the Divine Grace has wrought if him But as the last Refuge of Sinners is the Mercy of God so they commonly abuse those Places which set forth the greatness of that Mercy They found this principally upon these Words Where Sin does abound Grace does much more abound Under the Covert of this short Sentence the most flagitious Sinners think themselves safe But the bare reading of St. Paul's Discourse will soon convince us that this is to wrest the Scripture into a false and pernicious Sense The Apostle's Design is to shew that all Men being rendred Sinners in Adam and by the Law the Goodness of God was so great that he was willing to Save them through Jesus Christ In order to establish this Truth he had prove thâ— before Christ Sin and Death reigned erery where not only among the Heathen but also among the Jews upon this â—â—adds that where Sin did abound Grace â—â—mercy more abound to signify God's havâ—â—â— mercy on them when they were involved in Sin and Death In a Word St. Pâ—â— sets the happy Condition to which Mâ—â— were advanced by Jesus Christ in opposition to that which they were in before This is the sense of that place and the drift of the whole Epistle Can any one infer from thence that now we may freely sin and that Grace will exert in self rewards us whatever sins we may commit It is fit to observe besides that whiâ—â— St. Paul speaks of Grace he does not only mean the pardoning but likewise the saâ—ctifying Grace which destroys the pretention of the Libertines The Apoâ—â— himself confutes it with a great deal of vehemence He foresaw that some would â—gue like those we now contend with aâ—â— he makes this Objection to himself * Rom. 6.1 2 3 11 12. Whâ—â— then shall we continue in sin that Grace may bound And this is his Answer God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live 〈◊〉 longer therein We who have been baptized into Christ's death that we should walk in newness of Life Reckon ye also your selves dead unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your Mortal Body
for Morality it is there touched but very superficially And yet these are essential Articles in Divinity the Knowledge of which is necessary to those who are called to preach the Gospel to guide a Church or to direct Mens Consciences 3. Divinity-Books are for the most part too Scholastical The Method of the Schoolmens way of handling Divinity may justly be looked upon as a Defiance to Sense and Religion yet that Method has prevailed to that degree that for some Ages it was not lawful to swerve from it Of late Years indeed the School men have lost a great deal of heir Credit and in Divinity as well as in Philosophy many Persons have no longer that blind Deference for them which was paid heretofore Yet for all that a great Number of Divines do still set up that Method for their Rule and it is still as it were sacred in Colleges and Universities Common-Places to this Day savour too much of the Barbarism of the Schools and we find there but too many Remainders of that dry and crabbed Theology which had its Birth in the Ages of Ignorance Instead of those simple and clear Ideas which render the Truth and Majesty of the Christian Religion sensible and which satisfie a Man's Reason and move his Heart we meet with nothing in several Bodies of Divinity but Metaphisical Notions curious and needless Questions Distinctions and obscure Terms In a word we find there such intricate Theology that the very Apostles themselves if they came into the World again would not be able to understand it without the help of a particular Revelation This Scholastick Divinity has done more mischief to Religion than we are able to express There is not any thing that has more Corrupted the Purity of the Christian Religion that has more obscured Matters multiplied Controversies disturbed the Peace of the Church or given rise to so many Heresies and Schisms This is the thing which confirms so many Ecclesiasticks in their Ignorance and Prejudices and which keeps them from applying themselves to the solid Parts of Divinity and to that which is proper to sanctify Men. Now all these Defects are visible Causes of Corruption which may be proved by this single Consideration that it is in Common-Places that Church-men learn their Divinity Supposing then that those Books do not give them a true Idea of Religion what Religion or what Divinity can such Men Teach their People One scholastick and injudicious Author who is in Credit in Country and who is patronized by a Professor is enough to spoil the Minds of Young Divines and to bring into repute the most absurd and dangerous Opinions and Systems Tho' Catechisms are not usually reckoned among Divinity-Books yet it will not be useless to say something of them here Some great Men have bestowed their pains upon Works of this kind to very good purpose and yet in this respect there is stall something to be desired for publick Edification 1. It is to be wished that those Subject should only be treated in Catechisms which ought to be handle there and that all the Matters and Questions which are above the reach of the People and of Children or which are not necessary to Salvation should be banished from thence 2. That some essential Articles about which Catechisms are very jejune should be added to them and particularly these Three A general Idea of the History of the Bible the main Proofs of the Fundamental Truths of Religion and an exact Explication of the Duties of Morality This last Article is for the most part extreamly neglected in Catechisms nothing can be more dry and superficial than what they say upon the Decalogue 3. It would be fitting to make some alteration in the method observed in Catechisms for they are not all familiar enough School Terms or figurative Phrases are used in them which either the People do not understand or to which they affix false Ideas For instance I would not have it said That the Eucharist is the symbol of our spiritual Nourishment and of our Vnion with Jesus Christ For besides that this is not an exact Definition this Style is not proper for a Catechism These Words Symbol spiritual Nourishment Vnion with Jesus Christ are figurative and obscure Terms Would not the thing be plainer both to Children and to every Body if we should say That the Eucharist is a sacred Action and Cerremony wherein Christians eat Bread and drink Wine which are distributed in remembrance of the Death of Christ and of the Redemption wrought by him In those Works which are intended for Youth and for the Common People it concerns and Author to be clear and accurate to omit nothing that is essential to say nothing that is needless to use plain and proper Expressions and to propose nothing but what is natural and easy to be apprehended Catechisms are designed to give Children the first Tinctures and Ideas of Religion Now those Ideas we know commonly stick by them as long as they live if then they are not clear and true it is not possible for them ever to be well acquainted with their Religion III. The third sort of Books are those of Morality This important Part of Religion which regulates Manners has been treated with a great deal of solidity and force in several Excellent Works Nay it is observed that Morality is more cultivated of late than it has been heretofore But it were to be wished that the good Books of Morality we have at this Day were of a more general Usefulness than they are The best Works of this kind are above the Peoples Capacity There are various things in them relating either to the Reasoning part the turn of Thoughts or the Style which cannot be understood but by knowing and discerning Persons Almost all the Able Men who write upon Morals have this Fault that they speak too much like Ingenuous Men and do not accomodate themselves enough to the Capacity of the Readers They do not consider that they ought to be useful to every body that what seems clear to them is obscure to the greatest part of those who peruse their Writings and that a Book of Morality which is only understood by Men of Parts of Learning is of a very limited usefulness They should therefore at least in some of their Works endeavour to speak in a popular manner and to handle Matters with all possible clearness and simplicity This would be no disparagement to them and the doing it well would I think require all the Abilities Parts and Talents of the best Writers It is more difficult than is seems to speak or write in such a manner as that a Man shall say all that is proper to be said and at the same time be intelligible to all sorts of Persons But if there are good Books of Morality there are many on the other hand which have considerable Faults in them and those Faults are of great Consequence because Morality ill Explained is