other way by which they might and did attain to the Knowledge of 'em without such Philosophical Disquisitions And indeed the very attempt to search into the Causes and Reasons of a Thing seems to suppose that we have at least some knowledge of the Thing before-hand as to matter of fact for Men would scarce go about to enquire into the Reasons and Causes of the Laws of Nature if they had not some consciousness to themselves that there were such Things in Nature and we cannot for the reason before-mention'd say that they then only first came to be known when the Causes of 'em were thus search'd into And though 't is true that the whole Order of Nature duly consider'd doth generally conspire to the confirmation of this Truth that the doing our duty is the best way to secure our Interest yet such is the intricacy many times of Divine Providence and the visible inequality in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments in this life that without the Motives and Encouragements of some other Arguments Men would hardly be perswaded to the practice of that of which they did not see the present Advantage And though Vice and Wickedness especially in any high degree do naturally tend to the prejudice of our Healths and ruine of our Estates yet if there were no other way to attain to the knowledge of our Duty or of our obligation to it we might perhaps sometimes with too much reasos plead ignorance thereof and might pretend a liberty to be vicious at least so far as might be without any considerable prejudice to our Healths or Fortunes not but that Rewards and Punishments are naturally interwoven in the frame and order of the Universe without us and the constitution of humane Nature within us that so though sometimes there may be an unequal distribution of outward Rewards and Punishments yet that Vertue might always be sure at least of a secret recompence and Vice not altogether go unpunish'd even here in this Life But though our duty be always our real Interest and Honesty the best Policy yet such is the disorder and confusion which Sin has introduc'd into humane Nature such the general depravation of Mankind that the truth of these Propositions is not readily many times acknowledg'd by us but Men commonly without any regard either to the present nature of things or their future consequences do make Lust and Passion and a mistaken Self-Interest the Rule of all their Actions 2. I would here propound it to consideration whether our now being able to resolve these Laws of Nature into their further Causes as it is call'd and to demonstrate their Obligations from reasons fetch'd from the Constitution of the Universe whether I say this doth not depend upon that clearer Revelation which God hath made of those things in Scripture for hereby we come to a clearer Knowledge of the Nature and End of the Creation how that the whole Universe acts in subserviency to the glory of God and to the promoting those noble ends of Providence of promoting Vertue and discouraging Vice in the World hereby we are also more fully assur'd of a future state of Rewards and Punishments And these also must be comprehended in the full and adequate Sanction of the Laws of Nature for without these the other of temporal Rewards and Punishments would be found many times deficient and ineffectual for what they were there design'd Now these things being more clearly reveal'd and sully confirm'd to us by holy Scripture and the belief hereof made habitual to us by the long succession of many Ages hence probably that method becomes now more evident to us than otherwise it would have been yet if this should be granted that at least the evidence of that Proposition studium communis boni totius systematis agentium naturalium conducit ad bonum singularum partium quo nostra velut partis unius continetur foelicitas doth in some measure depend upon some further Revelations made known to us by the Christian Religion yet it would be no small or inconsiderable advantage hereby gain'd to Vertue if it be prov'd that that Proposition is of equal extent with the Christian World both as to its Truth and Evidence and both these methods of probation being join'd together seem an undeniable Argument of the Divinity of these Laws in that the God of Nature hath both made 'em natural to the minds of Men which is that which I here mean by Impression and hath also further added the respective Sanctions of rewards and punishments thereunto in the natural frame of the Universe Not as if that other way of resolving these Laws of Nature into those natural Notions and Obligations resulting therefrom was destitute of its proper Sanctions of rewards and punishments but then we say according to this method they are not resolv'd only into these penal Sanctions but that the will of the Law-giver being publish'd with an intent to be obey'd is the intrinsick form of a Law though it did not come attended with outward force not but that these penal Sanctions do also further declare and inforce the Law If it be here objected that it is not easy to conceive the way and manner how these natural Notions are or can be imprinted upon the minds of Men. I answer there is no more difficulty in conceiving how these truths and obligations may be the natural results of our Minds rightly qualify'd at first than it is to conceive how those Ioys and Torments which ariso from the sense of our Innocence and Guilt should be the natural results of our Consciences afterwards which yet are acknowledg'd by those who make the objection That a Vertuous and holy Life doth naturally tend to promote the honour of God and the good of all Men in general and of our selves in particular is readily granted especially by those who believe the Christian Religion but then this Proposition doth suppose First That we know what it is to be Vertuous Secondly That this Vertuous and holy Life is a duty incumbent on us and both these in order of nature before we understand that these tend to the glory of God and the good of Men otherwise the Virtuoso's of our Age those who pretend to be Philosophically Religious might perhaps plead this in excuse of their present Wickedness that they are only at present making an Experiment whether Vice may not as well tend to the publick good as Vertue but as soon as they find the contrary by Experience then they will become devout Proselytes to Vertue But Mr. Tyrrell p. 199. tells us That though all Men do not ordinarily reduce the Laws of Nature into that single Proposition of endeavouring the common good of all rational beings or may not have an explicit Notion of it yet it a Man be but thoroughly convinc'd that he is not made for himself alone that he doth truly observe the Laws of Nature towards himself by a temperate and rational Life
as in reason it can desire and so satisfy its own just demands 1. The Law of Nature is a Divine Law and brings us under the obligation of its Commands so that whatever is directly contrary hereunto cannot be made part of any suture Revelation because one Divine Light is not contrary to another 2. The rational exercise of their Faculties might be and probably was made use of by the Prophets and Apostles in their revealing the Will of God to Man yet still under the Influence and Superintendence of the Holy Spirit guideing and directing them in such a measure as was necessary in order to such an end 3. This light of natural Reason together with the concurrence of those other means design'd by God in order thereunto may be made use of for the better understanding of God's reveal'd will in Scripture now after such fair Concessions made to it it ought not to exalt it self above or make it self equal to that of Divine Revelation Theism in a Christian state where Men have not only all the Opportunities of knowing and understanding the Christian Religion but also live in the outward profession of it this of all things is the most unreasonable for even the best and wisest Asserters of the Light of Nature and Human Reason do grant that in those places where Christianity is known Reason it self will find more and much stronger Arguments for the Christian than for any other Belief what soever These Theists must also prove one of these two things either 1st That there never were any such persons as the Prophets our Blessed Saviour and his Apostles in the World which is contrary to the universal Consent and Confession of all both Friends and Enemies Or else 2ly That they never made any new revelation of God's Will to Mankind which they can never be able to do As for the practical Duties of Religion we grant they are founded in Nature and agreeable to Reason but then withal we say That Revelation hath both added to the clearness of the Truth and to the necessity of the Obligation of those Duties But here they tell us That Natural Reason has discover'd enough and that there is no need of any farther Revelation to be made to Man but it is a very weak and illogical way of arguing against a Matter of Fact from a supposed needlesness that there should be any such thing we ought rather in this case to argue thus It doth sufficiently appear That God hath made such and such Declarations of his Will to Man therefore it was not needless because God doth nothing in vain Farther It is disingenuous and ungratesul for Natural Reason thus to boast it self upon its own sufficiency and not acknowledge its Benefactor seeing it now owes its present improvement in a great measure to the Benefits and Advantages it has received from Divine Revelation The Author of the Discourse of Human Reason with relation to matters of Religion printed 1690. tell us That the whole Substance of Christianity it self according to St. Iohn's account of it is most certainly founded upon that universal light which enlightens every man that cometh into the World Pa. 4. of his Presatory Letter But to this I answer 1. That St. Iohn there doth not speak of the Light of Nature but of Christ and tho' Christ be the Author of that Light yet his thus enlightning every one that comes into the World doth not supersede the necessity or lessen the excellency of Divine Revelation 2. The whole Substance of Christianity cannot be founded therein because Christianity contains in it Articles of Faith above the natural power of Reason to find out as well as matters of Practice 3. Tho' the practical part be founded in this universal Light of Nature yet Christianity may carry on the Superstructure higher than meer Nature was ever able to do 4. It is not most certain that that is the right Translation of that place of St. Iohn it may be also render'd thus He was that true Light which coming into the World enlightens every man that is every man that hath the Happiness to hear the glad tydings of the Gospel The said Author pag. 92. having before made an exact and full enumeration as he thinks it of the Principles of all or rather of meer Natural Religion In the Belief and Sense says he of these general Traths and in the practice of the Duties that result from 'em according to their full extent and tendency consists all true Religion and whatever else is introduc'd into any Religion either notional or practical I say what either doth not necessarily flow from some of these Branches or tend to enforce the observance of 'em is no essential part of true Religion but the meer Product of Superstition Folly or Design But according to his Scheme of Principles what shall we think of those Articles of the Christian Faith the Trinity the Incarnation and resurrection of the Body for these are neither included in that Enumeration nor do they necessarily flow from any Branch thereof If he say that these may tend to enforce the observance of those Duties before-mentioned this I grant but it seems a preposterous way of proving Articles of Faith to bring 'em in only by the by because the belief thereof may enforce the practice of Christian Duties though this also is true that they do so yet the true reason of our belief of 'em is because they are revealed in Scripture What Monsieur le Clerk's design or whoever else was the Author of those five Letters concerning the Divine Inspiration of holy Scriptures lately translated into English was I shall not here enquire Truth indeed forbids me to think him a Deist in the first sence before mention'd but Charity it self doth not forbid to think him one in the second that is one who would bring Divine Inspiration into as narrow a room as he could and believe as little of it in Scripture as possible Yet we ought not to be too severe in charging the consequences of an Opinion upon its Author especially when he disowns 'em to be his Opinions but on the other side we ought to be very watchful over our selves that we do not broach or defend any Opinion that may any ways tend to unhinge the Principles and undermine the Foundations of Christianity and we ought the more to suspect and carefully examine such from whence men generally draw dangerous consequences That a Papist should industriously set himself to lessen the Authority of holy Scripture and upon all occasions seek advantage against it is not so much to be wonder'd at because hereby he serves a turn and by this means endeavours to advance the Authority of his own Church that what is pretended to be wanting in Scripture may be supplied by Roman Tradition But then why they who call themselves Protestants should joyn in such a Design and pick up all the little Arguments of ill-designing Men against Scripture this is not
not of any thing really extant in Nature These were their undoubted opinions and apprehensions herein but whether their own natural Pride of temper was the cause of these their extravagant opinions or whether some other false Scheme of Principles which they had entertain'd had in some sort betray'd 'em into this excess of self-conceit I shall not here determine Tho' perhaps the ignorance of a future state of Rewards and Punishments after this life joyn'd with their attempt to give an account of that great question which so much puzled the Heathen World Cur bonis malè malis bené This perhaps might in some measure oblige 'em being not fully assur'd of a future State to entertain such false opinions of Man's self-sufficiency so placing all things within his own power that he needed not to be beholden to any other assistance but from himself or to any future expectations to make him happy As for the calamities that befal Men here in this Life they no ways alter the case in reference to happiness or unhappiness for those they say only reach the Body which according to them has no nearer relation to the Soul than their Cloaths have to it Thus the Stoicks plac'd their happiness where some sort of Phanaticks among us place their Holiness meerly in the inward Man without any regard to the outward as if we could be either Happy or Holy without any respect at all to one of the essential Parts of our Constitution as if the inward Man of the one could be holy in the midst of all outward Debaucheries and the inward Man of the other happy in the midst of bodily torments Thus tho' we grant the Soul to be the Soveraign yet the Body may justly challenge the Liberty of the Subject The other Sect of Philosophers who have erred in the other extream is that of Epicurus who attributes too much to the Body But this may some say is too favourable an expression when as indeed he doth destroy both all Soul in Man and excludes God out of the World But my charge here doth not rise so high it is sufficient for my purpose what is generally granted by all that in the account he gives of Man the Body is too predominant and the indolency of the Body seems far to surpass the tranquillity of the mind For it cannot be made appear That Epicurus by his tranquillity meant that peace of Conscience and Serenity of Soul which is the result of a Vertuous and Holy Life but only that quiet of mind in opposition to the disturbance of business or those perplexities of mind which may arise either from Bodily Distempers or some secret fears and jealousies Now if that peace and comfort of a good Conscience in the sense before described be not meant by tranquillity of mind then tho' perhaps the word may sound well yet indeed it falls short of the true and real happiness of the Soul and rises little higher than the concerns of the Body We do naturally either make our selves in some measure like him whom we worship or we fancy him whom we worship like our selves Thus Epicurus placing the happiness of the Deity in an idle unconcern'd freedom from business did hence probably assert ours to consist in the same or else being first strongly perswaded of the excellency of the thing and being mightily pleased with the agreeableness thereof himself did thence ascribe it also to the Deity as that wherein all happiness both Humane and Divine did consist It is indeed unreasonable and uncharitable to urge the consequences of an opinion upon the Author when he does expressly deny those consequences to be his opinion yet I think that he that in words acknowledges a God and yet his Principles are such as are generally embrac'd by real Atheists such an one is not capable of any just Apology For there is not the same Reason of all consequences some are next and immediate others are distant and remote these of the last sort ought not to be urg'd upon the Author of the opinion but those of the former may That Epicurus did assert the Being of God and entertained great and honourable thoughts of his Nature is very certain as appears out of Diog. Laertius So that none so charge him with Atheism as if he did not in words acknowledge a God that which is here asserted is this that that opinion of God which flatters him with high and honourable thoughts concerning himself his own intrinsick excellencies his own happiness and immortality which yet are but irrespective Attributes such as bear no relation to us and in the mean time to assert that he no ways concerns himself at present nor will hereafter take any notice to punish or reward Humane Actions This notion of God lays no Obligation on a Man to holiness of Life or Obedience to that God whom in words he thus admires and is such a Notion of God as even an Atheist provided he be not a perfect Mad Man ought to assert both because perhaps it may some ways tend to still and quiet the clamours of natural Conscience and also as it is safe and customary in respect of those with whom he lives For we never yet heard of a Kingdom or Common-wealth of Atheists such as make it their business positively and openly to assert and defend the Opinion of Atheism But here 't is reply'd That whatever his Principles were in themselves or what ever bad use others might make of them yet that he for his part was a severe practiser of Vertue and Religion But it may be justly questioned whether the joynt belief of a Corporeal God and a mortal Soul had ever any good influence upon an holy Life But suppose Epicurus in general to be a very Vertuous and Pious Person and that those contrary imputations of Vice and Luxury were mere Scandals cast upon him by the Stoicks yet we must consider how far and upon what grounds and for what ends he thus led a vertuous life Now it doth not appear that it was any further than only in order to a pleasant Life and tho' 't is true that Religion and Vertue are the most proper means in order to this end yet it is not probable that he so understood his own principles nor indeed were they capable of being so understood For supposing that there lyes no obligation upon us to any duty any further than as it promotes a pleasant Life in that sense wherein he takes it it is easily conceivable how some degrees of Vice may consist with these Principles provided that they so partake of this days pleasure that they do not incapacitate themselves for those of to morrow And tho' he tells us that the Gods are delighted with the Vertues of Men yet this is but cold encouragement to the practice of the more difficult Duties of Religion seeing tho' they do so far take notice of Mens vertuous actions as therewith to delight themselves yet not so
far as for the sake thereof to reward the Men. So that if Epicurus was vertuous beyond these degrees that we must impute to the Man rather than to the Philosopher rather to his vertuous temper than to his principles So that whatever he was as to his own person yet I believe his followers made but right consequences from his false principles when they inserr'd Let us eat and drink for to morrow we dye Nor can the particular excellencies of some of that Sect be any just vindication of any false principle or wicked practice in the first Founder of it any more than Alexander's great Courage and Conduct in War can be made use of as an argument to prove the truth of his Master Aristotle's opinion concerning the Eternity of the World Marcus Antoninus was as great an example of all natural and moral excellencies in the Sect of the Stoicks as any other could possibly be in the Sect of the Epicureans and yet in respect of any ones particular endowments being able to vindicate an error in his Founder we may say here as it was proverbially said of a desperate and ruin'd state Ne Marcus quidem And whereas 't is said That Epicurus took great satisfaction at his Death by reflecting upon his Life and his I suppose Physiological Inventions the greatest invention that he seem'd remarkable for was his solving the liberty of the Will meerly by the motion of senseless Atoms declining uncertainly from the Perpendicular now this seems no such pious invention as to take such solid comfort in at his Death I shall here only add these two general Observations First That Vertue according to his principles must be founded on very weak and uncertain grounds and reasons especially as to the more difficult duties of an holy Life they being at present both unpleasant and afterwards unrewardable So that if the Epicureans did give themselves to the practice of such Vertues out of an absolute sense of Duty or from the consideration of the excellency of the thing it self then were they the most Heroickly Vertuous not only of any sort of Philosophers but also of any other People in the world for then were they vertuous without either hopes of reward or fear of punishment Besides I know not what motions such men can have according to those principles to return to the Practice of an holy Life who by a constant and habitual course in á well regulated extravagance have made such a degree of Vice easy and pleasant to ' em Secondly Happiness according to Epicurus is impossible for he founds it in an impossible condition in rooting out all fear of Death and all doubtful suspicions that may succeed it Now the hopes and fears of future good and evil are anticipations so implanted in us that the rooting them out is a thing absolutely impossible now he tells us that we cannot attain sincere pleasure without Physiology that is I suppose such an Hypothesis of Natural Philosophy as his own which excludes all Divine Providence out of the World and takes away the immortality of the Soul Neque prodesset aliquid humanam sibi parare securitatem cum superna quae sub terrâ sunt suspecta essent Diog. Laert. Now what the Stoicks were among the Heathens that in some resemblance are the Enthusiasts among Christians and then as for the Epicureans we have a sort of Men amongst us who cannot be said so properly to resemble 'em as really to be the same Now whereas the great design of the Gospel was to root out sin and plant the most exemplary Vertue and Piety in the World the Enthusiasts instead of this make the design thereof to consist in something pretendedly above it As First In a Pompous sett of high flown Notions and speculative Truths as if the Sun of Righteousness came only to enlighten the understanding but not either to regulate the Will or warm the Affections as if it was enough to be seraphical in our understandings tho' in the mean time our Wills be vicious and irregular Though this is not so to be understood as if it was indifferent for us what we believe provided that we be careful and conscientious in the way we are in For it is impossible for us to lead a truly good and holy Life without a firm belief of the Christian Articles but then we must not rest in a bare belief of Truth for Truth without Practice becomes not only useless but of bad consequence to us Secondly The Enthusiasts place a great deal of Considence in vain pretences to Divine Revelation as if their Souls were the only Seats of the Deity and as if they were the only Ministers of State here below and Heavens great Privy Councellors As if God's written Word were only a dead Letter unless enlivened by their Interpretations all which tho' different Comments must be of greater Authority than the Text it self not only when they contradict that but also one another Thirdly The Enthusiasts entertain such an imaginary Opinion of Perfection as states 'em not only above all Humane but Divine Laws as if their Wills and Actions were the only Rules of Right and Wrong and that what ever they did was therefore good because done by them Thus are they grown such Giants in Religion as that they have baffled all checks of Conscience and Obedience to Laws which they look upon as mean and low dispensations quite to be laid aside when once Men arrive at this State of Perfection Fourthly Enthusiasm consists in an ill-guided Zeal prodigiously Partial and Indulgent to those of its own perswasion but Furious and Cruel to those who differ from ' em Now as the Stoicks pretended by their false Opinions of Humane Nature to be more than Men So the Enthusiasts by the like mistakes concerning true Religion pretend to be more than Christians tho' indeed they both come short of what they severally pretended to Having thus briefly stated the Question betwixt the Stoicks and Epicureans I shall here further enquire how far God makes use of the lower faculties of the Soul in the communications of himself to Mankind I shall not here go about to explain the manner how God now under the Gospel works upon the minds of Men by the gracious influences of his Holy Spirit for these may be more happily experienc'd than successfully explain'd however I conceive it would be a very preposterous method to do it by beginning at the lower faculties of the Soul for these are not immediately and in the first place wrought upon but by the mediation of an enlightned Understanding and a rectifi'd Will and from those Fountains is Grace and Goodness deriv'd into the Soul Thus our Remedy is apply'd in a way answerable to our Disease the Corruption and Depravation of our Nature Now this consists more especially in these two things in ignorance of the Understanding and impotence and irregularity of the Will answerably hereunto in the Restitution of Man God first
can commit any sin provided they do but follow their own natural Inclinations According to him there is no sin but when a Man is guilty of such a strange piece of Self-denial as not to comply with his own natural Appetites when there is nothing as in this case that forbids him so to do Thus p. 260. he tells us That no actions with respect to the Worship of God by the mere Light of Nature can be counted sin Praeter illas à quibus vel omnium hominum natura abhorret vel in certis hominibus illas quae ipsorum naturae sunt contrariae Where by Nature he means nothing but natural Affections Appetites and Inclinations But certainly a Man must have a new Nature and a new Bible given him before this will pass either for Reason or Religion But then for the better understanding of that place before cited some say That St. Paul there doth not speak in his own Person but in the Person of a Iew brought up under such Masters who did not understand coveting as it includes the inward act only to be a sin Others say That sin was known to be so by the Law of Nature before the giving of Moses his Law thus Theophylact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. How was the Deluge brought upon the World And why were the Sodomites destroy'd by fire if Lust was not known to be a sin before the Law So that the Law did not first make Lust to be a sin but did more expresly declare it to be so He quotes indeed several other places of Scripture but to as little purpose p. 254. Si pietatis officia specialia c. if the special Offices of Piety were known by the Light of Nature then there must be some certain foundation from whence they might be drawn Here he mentions three 1. Natural Instinct 2. The Sanctity of God 3. Divine Power or Dominion As for the first Natural Instinct this indeed he says is not the rule of humane Actions to them who live under the Gospel but according to his Principles it must be to them who only enjoy the Light of Nature Nor Secondly says he can the Sanctity of God be the rule of our Actions but the reason he there gives is a very strange one and very odly express'd viz. because God acts nothing but by instinct of his Nature nor is there any thing holy in God but what his Nature desires But to this I Answer First That God sometimes acts as an absolute Soveraign of the Universe and Governour of the World and in these cases his Actions are not in all particulars to be the rule of ours Secondly It seems an irreverend way of speaking to say That God acts out of Instinct of Nature which is commonly and properly attributed to meer Animals yet granting the Expression in sano sensu it cannot be suppos'd that God doth daily alter the Determination of his Will concerning the same Object Thirdly Yet this we may safely say That the holiness of God is the rule of our Actions so far as either by the Light of Nature or Divine Revelation it is made known to us to be so But in the Third placo He resolves all into the absolute Power and Dominion of God That nothing is just and good but that only which he commands and for no other reason but because he does so And yet in the very next Sentence p. 255. as if something from within had whisper'd better things to him he tells us That God indeed may command any thing Madò Dei naturae non sit contrarium ut talia siant c. provided it be not contrary to his Nature that it should be done This indeed is a very pious and prudent a true and rational Assertion but then it contradicts the design of the whole Chapter Some things indeed may be more evidently and directly contrary to the Nature of God as not to love or not to obey him but then to forbid all due resemblance of himself all Vertue and Goodness and to command all filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit in rational Creatures this certainly is also contrary to the Divine Nature He then proceeds as he says to examine the principal parts both of Natural and Christian Religion in order to see whether there lies any obligation upon us to 'em but meerly by the Divine Command And here I grant That those Truths and those Duties viz. the belief of a Trinity and Faith in Christ that depend meerly upon Divine Revelation cannot be known to be such by the Light of Nature But then the reason is not the same in those other Moral Duties which Christianity did not first reveal but only further illustrate and confirm to us Nor shall I here follow him through all the parts of Natural Religion which he there instances in I shall only pitch upon one which yet seems of the greatest weight and moment that of Iustice. This he says cannot be recommended to us from the Nature of God because it doth not appear by Nature Deum neminem injuriâ afficere That God does no Body any wrong For he says that if that be injury when we hurt those who have not deserved any such thing at our hands Quid infantes in Deum peccaverunt Wherein have Infants sin'd against God who yet many times are grievously afflicted by him To this I answer 1. That I before premised this That God sometimes acts as a Soveraign or Lord of the World and in this case some actions may be injurious or unjust in Men which are not so in God 2. The consideration of original sin might give easie Solutions to what he there urges But because he doth not acknowledge any such thing I shall not therefore here insist upon it 3. It is no ways contrary to Divine Iustice to inflict very high degrees of Asflictions on rational Creatures provided that the Mercies they injoy be more than the Miseries they undergo And he will never prove that God ever inflicted such Miseries upon Infants but that if they had the power of Election they would rather chuse to undergo 'em than their own Annihilation But he lays great stress upon that action of the Israelites robbing of the Egyptians which was done by God's Command or Allowance and therefore was no sin Therefore nothing is just or unjust in it self but only as God commands or forbids it In Answer to this some say That God herein acted as the universal Creator and original Proprietor of all things and here transfer'd the Property as he justly might from the Egyptians to the Israelites Others say That as Soveraign Legislator he dispens'd with the Law in this particular yet it will not follow hence that there is nothing good or evil but with respect to God's positive Command For I humbly conceive there are some other rationes boni mali more sacred and indispensable than those of Property If the Reader here Object That my Stile
much strength retorted upon themselves 1. The Foundation of the Argument is this That that is justly suspected as false in Religion the Belief or Practice whereof is joyned with either publick or private Advantage to those concern'd Now nothing is more false than this for this is one main Foundation of our Natural Religion and part even of the Gentile's Creed viz. A Belief that God is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him That such is the Goodness of God towards us that he has joyned our Duty and our Interest together not only as to the future but also as to the present Life And God in so ordering the Frame of our Religion has but seconded and confirmed the common sense of Mankind and acted according to the Principles of Humane Nature for such is the Constitution thereof that Good and Convenience is the necessary Object of all our Desires Now if any thing of present or future Advantage be made an Argument of the falseness of things in Matters of Religion we may then upon the same grounds question the Truth and Reasonableness of all humane Actions because Men necessarily propound some kind of advantage to themselves in 'em all But this would lay a Foundation of Scepticism in Humane Nature and cause us to reject or doubt of things for those very reasons for which we ought to receive ' em 2. This Objection taken from the Advantages that attend Religion is a very contingent and accidental one such as could be of no force in the first Ages of the Church when Christianity exposed its Professors to nothing but Persecution their Names to Sandal and Reproach their Estates to Ruine and their Bodies to Martyrdom 3. I shall show the unfitness of the Objection as made by them that urge it indeed if those Men were so Heroical in their pursuits of Vertue and Holiness as to embrace 'em meerly upon the account of their Intrinsick Excellence then might there something more be pleaded for 'em But since they are Men of Debauched Lives and if possible to justifie their own Wickedness would insinuate into the Minds of others a secret belief That Religion is nothing but a meer Cheat This is the greatest instance not only of Profaneness but of Folly too because the Argument may be retorted with as much strength upon themselves thus If the Belief of a God and Religion be therefore suspected to be false because it is the Interest of those that believe 'em that there should be both Then why may not the Denial of a God be rejected for the same reasons because it is as much the Interest of wicked Men that there should be no God as it is of good Men that there should be one So that if there be any force in the Argument it proves as much against themselves as it doth against us As for those who tell us That the Notion of God includes in it a Contradiction and that it is and ever was impossible that there should be one these Men indeed take the most effectual way of defending their Cause in case they could prove their Assertion For whoever grants the possibility of the Being of God must either grant that he really is or else will be forced to contradict himself for what is possible may be reduced into Act. But if God be not now and actually was not existent from all Eternity it is impossible for such a Being as is included in his notion ever to begin to be And this seems to be Bradwardine's Argument Cap. 1. p. 3. So that an Atheist must prove not only that there is no God but that it was from Eternity impossible that there should be one neither of which he will ever be able to prove The Being of God is not the less credible because it is not capable of such proofs as some other things are all things will not admit of Mathematical Demonstrations nor indeed is it expected that they should nor are they on this account less true and certain than those that do For sometimes the very possibility of Demonstration argues some degree of uncertainty or obscurity in the thing to be demonstrated thus Indemonstrables are always the most certain therefore the Being of God is not therefore the less certain because it cannot be demonstrated Some indeed are so gross in their Reasonings that they make the Invisibility of Spirits an Argument against their Existence whereas indeed the very Reasons upon which we believe their Existence are inconsistent with their Visibility That some Heathens did worship that one supream and true God is certainly evident both from the Testimony of Profane and Sacred History Act. 17. 23. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship him declare I unto you So that the Athenians either worshipped the true God or St. Paul declar'd to 'em a false one yet 't is generally agreed that such Heathens might be and were guilty of Idolatry Nothing therefore hinders but that the Papists may be guilty of Idolatry though they do not only acknowledge the true God but the Christian Trinity nor do I see how their Idolatry as such that is such as is consistent with the Belief of the true God is capable of any mitigation because no one charges them with any other than what they are truly guilty of Some Protestants indeed say That some of the Heathens are capable of the same defence that the Papists make for themselves that is That they only give an Inferiour Worship to Saints and other Inferiour Daemons but pay the Supream Worship to the Supream God only Now this Plea seems to hold as much for the one as for the other and must either acquit both or neither Nor can the Papists their being more particularly instructed in the Knowledge of the Nature and Will of God be any Mitigation of their Offence but rather an Aggravation of it Falsehood is neither in its own Nature fit nor was it ever intended by God as a proper means whereby to defend truth For this neither stands in need of a Lye nor can it really be defended by it nor is it our Interest or Prudence to attempt the defence of a good Cause by weak Arguments for this will only give occasion to our Adversaries when they see that they can easily answer these to think worse of our cause and that all the rest of our reasonings are of the same nature Yet granting that some Arguments sometimes made use of to prove the Being of God are not absolutely cogent and conclusive yet are they not presently to be rejected as useless and that upon these two accounts First Because they that urge them do not make use of any single Argument as if the Cause did wholly depend upon it Secondly In things of a Moral Concernment there may be such a thing as an Accumulative Demonstration as Bishop Taylor tells us in another Case Pag. 124. Lib. 1. Cases of Consc. Therefore supposing a Man in his attempt to prove
in his Estate he must comply with the humours of such as may hurt him and even imitate their Vices and Corruptions In Answer hereto I shall not here mention some small Passages of those two Emperours which some Historians take notice of as possible occasions of those Disgusts that grew among their Men of War but shall suppose that these Soldiers did really hate the Vertues of these Emperours For it will not follow from hence that Vertue is equally liable to the hatred of Men. Thus Thieves hate the Magistrates because they execute Iustice upon 'em yet hereby do they get more Love from the publick than they contract hatred from the Offenders Thus though those two Emperours were hated by some few dissolute and disorderly Bands of Soldiers yet never did any Emperours fall more lamented by the generality of the Empire than they And though sometimes a private Person as I before intimated may be the cause of some inconveniences to himself by his Natural Ability or Moral Vertues yet this cannot take place in a Prince because he is already in that Supream Authority which others perhaps only aim at nay thus by being eminently Vertuous he will present all growing Popularity in the most Ambitious of his Subjects and eclipse their histre even in the Opinion of those why would otherwise be their great Admirers I shall here only add the Apology that the â—lorentines themselves make the their Country-man Machiavil viz. That he himself did not really believe his own Assertions in his wicked Maximes of Policy and Religion only designing hereby if possible to ruine the House of the Medices who had oppress'd the Common-wealth of Florence he broach'd these Pestilent Doctrines in hopes they would embrace 'em and so ruine themselves by the practice of them As for that Opinion of Machiavil That the Christian Religion has so effeminated the Spirits of its Professors that Christendom is now become an easie prey to all Invaders this is so false and soolish so contrary both to Reason and Experience that it scarce deserves a Confutation Christianity forbids indeed all private Revenge and teaches us Meekness and Humility towards all Men but this is no way destructive of true Valour and ' Generosity For a firm belief of God and the Immortality of the Soul and a due care of engaging in a just Cause are certainly the best foundations of true Courage There is nothing that a Christian fears more than to commit sin now if the fear of offending God and violating his Laws be counted Cowardise then who would be asham'd of such an Honorary Accusation but there is no necessity to purchase one Vertue at the expence of another or to forfeit our Magnanimity to maintain true Christian Meekness For the most Stout are always the most Generous Meek and Merciful and Cruelty is commonly a certain sign of a Pusillanimous Spirit and as for Experience both Ancient and Modern Histories testifie that neither Turks nor any other Infidels have any advantage over Christian Kingdoms upon this Account CHAP. VII Of Moral Vertue MOral Vertue is a thing so natural and only proper to Mankind that a Discourse of Humane Nature without this would seem defective in one of its most principal parts the retaining of this Vertuous Innocence was the Duty of Adam in Paradise and the regaining of it as far as this present state of Imperfection will admit is still ours now So that this universal rectitude of our Natures was the first and most absolute Duty incumbent on Man for Faith and Repentance those two great Evangelical Duties though they be absolutely necessary in this laps'd State of Mankind yet their necessity did only commence with Man's Fall for in Innocence there had been no need of either but Vertue and Holiness Piety towards God and Honesty and Charity to Men these were Duties at first and will be so to all Eternity hereafter when Faith shall be swallowed up in Vision and when all sin shall be done away and so no need of Repentance Thus Vertue was part of that Divine Image wherein we were first created and whoever in this sense speaks against it Blasphemes God Moral Vertue therefore as distinguish'd from original Righteousness and Evangelical Holiness may be thus describ'd It is an habit of the Mind founded indeed in Nature but perfected by frequent use and exercise whereby the Man is enabled by the mere strength of Natural Principles to do that which is most agreeable to the Duty and Dignity of his Nature in those three Relations he bears to him-self to others and to God I shall give a short Paraphrase upon the Desinition First It is an Habit and so distinguished from original Righteousness which was not an Adventitious Quality or super-induc'd upon Man in esse completo but it was as essential to Man in Innocence as roundness is to a Globe Here I call it an Habit rather than a Power or Energy because though External Causes and such is frequent Exercise by which Vertue is gotten be not of the Essence of a thing and so according to the exact Rules of Desining ought not to enter into the Definition yet it is very difficult to come to the knowledge of the Essences of things of this Nature and they are usually defin'd by their Causes and Effects by their Ends and Objects and the manner of their Operations Secondly Though a Man should be born with this Quality of Vertue yet notwithstanding he would be truly Vertuous yet here we speak of things as they are not as it is possible for us to suppose and imagine them because none naturally are born so Thirdly Habit is not a meer dull in-active thing but Action is included in the Notion of it especially in these Habits of Vertue wherein besides the general relation they bear to Action they also include a necessary obligation thereunto in the very Nature and Notion of ' em Indeed some tell us That original Righteousness or that first Grace by which Adam was enabled to rule his lower Faculties was only given as a Bridle into his Hand whereby he was to govern his Unruly Appetites which like a Wild Horse would otherwise easily have cast off their Rider and that this was only super-added to Man already perfect But this Opinion seems not so well to vindicate the Goodness of the Divine Providence herein for though Man had a super-added power of governing his Passions yet if they were naturally headstrong and exorbitant he was in much greater probability of falling than standing Founded in Nature and so neither by Inspiration from God nor by the Influence or Influx of the Stars 1. Not by Inspiration from God which either was or at least was more generally suppos'd to be the Opinion of Plato that Vertue could not be taught but was more immediately inspir'd by God But the later Platonists do either not make this his Opinion or if they do they do not then seem much to favour it Alcinous
Cum igitur virtus res divina sit c. upon which the Commentator's words are Omnis rei cujuscunque sit summa excellentia quae à Deo esse putatur divina appellatur quo modo rudiore quâdam Minervâ intelligi potest quod hoc loco dicitur virtutem quae hominis est perfectio rem quandam esse divinam Not but that every good and perfect Gift comes from God either immediately or mediately but perhaps this was a way of Expression common to Plato with the Iews of calling any thing that was great and excellent in its kind by the Name of Divine so that all that was probably meant by this Phrase was only to express the excellency of the thing and the great Opinion he had of it or else that Divine Providence had some more particular concern in the disposing and inclining Men to it either by giving them a more happy Constitution of Body or a more Ingenuous Temper of Mind or by affording more advantagious Circumstances of time and place yet so as that the most happy Occurrences do not necessitate Men to be Vertuous without their own Industry and Inclination nor the most Unhappy force 'em to be wicked without their own fault However if this be Plato's Opinion That Vertue is so from God that it cannot be gotten by Humane Industry in conjunction with the ordinary Influences of Divine Providence this Opinion is neither reasonable in it self nor is it sufficiently prov'd by that Argument made use of by Socrates for that purpose If says he Vertue was possible to be taught then would Good Men more especially teach their Sons that so they might inherit their Father's Vertues as well as Fortunes but the contrary frequently appears To this I Answer First That nothing can be prov'd from particular Instances seeing as many may be brought to the contrary where Vertue has been as it were propagated with the Family and we may furnish our selves even from our own Observation with Examples of the happy success of a Vertuous Education Secondly Vertuous Parents tho they may desire their Children may be such too yet many times such is their Tenderness and Indulgence to 'em that they do not make use of those Methods which are most proper thereunto which are commonly joyn'd with some degrees of Severity Thirdly Vertue though it may be taught and is capable of being learn'd yet is it a very conditional thing and depends upon the concurrence of many Circumstances together for the producing the effect and that which often defeats all the rest is the liberty of the Will which many Men use in opposition to all those Moral means which are otherwise sufficient in themselves and design'd by others to moderate their Passions and reduce 'em to Vertue Nor 2. Doth Vertue proceed from any Natural Influx of the Stars for if we consider the Nature of the Heavens and natural Causes and compare 'em with the Nature of the Soul and the Native Liberty of the Will it will be impossible to conceive how any Sydereal Influences can any ways certainly or necessarily determine the Minds of Men. And the same Arguments that prove the Vanity of Iudicial Astrology in other respects do much more evince the folly of their pretences who go into Heaven to fetch down Vertue from thence when indeed it is nearer us even in our Mouths imprinted upon our very Hearts and Natures I shall here give you Savanorola's Argument in a case much what to this purpose If says he the Christian Faith and Life proceed from the Stars then their Faith is either true or false if it be true then it cannot proceed from thence because it condemns that Opinion and asserts the Vanity of Iudicial Astrology if it be false and proceed from the Stars then it follows that the Stars incline Men to falshood and the falshood of the Effect will be no good reason why we should believe the truth of the Cause Whereby Men by the mere strength of Nature c. And thus Vertue is distinguished from Grace thus the Heathen Moralists have discours'd very well of Vertue in their Writings and given great Instances thereof in their Practices who yet were very Strangers to all Supernatural Revelation And this Notion of it seems fitly to assign the just Limits betwixt the Gentile and the Christian Religion it deprives not the one of what it may justly challenge as its right it allows to men in the state of Nature some inclinations and abilities too to Vertue but yet that without supernatural assistance he can never arrive at Evangelical Perfection it doth not so far depress humane nature Modices to make it perfectly stupid nor on the other hand doth it raise it to a pitch of Pelagianisin it grants Heathens to be Men and reminds Christians of their Original Sin and the present depravation of their Natures And though the Heathen Moralists do sometimes mention such a thing as afflatus divinus yet it cannot be in reason extended so far as to signify that which Christian Writers commonly understand by that expression To perform that which is most agreeable to the duty and dignity of his nature Thus though vertue in the proper acceptation of it be distinguish'd from Grace as to the Principle from whence it flows the one proceeding from nature the other from a more divine original yet do they agree in their end and Friendly conspire together to carry on the same designs of Providence in the World viz. the glory of God and the good of Men. Now the dignities or excellencies of humane nature are of two sorts 1. Natural and original 2. Such as are the results of the divine benignity afterwards 1. Natural and Original and under this head I shall only consider the excellencies of the Soul in particular 1. As to the excellency of its nature and essence that it is a spiritual being and ray of Divinity now considering this natural preheminence of the Soul above the Body we act unworthy of the dignity and excellence of the Soul when we make it only a Slave to the Body and only as it were the Bodies Purveyor to make provision for the flesh to fulfil the Lusts thereof 2. As to its intellectual Endowments Man only of all this lower Creation is endowed with a power of reasoning now certainly God never gave us such excellent faculties only to employ 'em upon mean objects and debase 'em by unworthy Employments Phil. 4. 8. What soever things are true what soever things are just c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 think on these things 3. As to its moral Endowments that is all those natural Inclinations and Capacities the Soul has to Vertue and Goodness that inward sense of Honesty that tactus quidam divinitat is as Iamblicus calls it now this also obliges us to be true to that inward sense of obligation that lies upon us 2. Such dignities as are the result of divine benignity afterwards and these I shall consider