ever profess'd a Reveal'd Religion none but the Socinians have oppos'd it The very Jews themselves were not without it The Author of the ancient Book Cosri par 4. c. 27. says that Abraham came first to the knowledge of God by Reason but that after God had Reveal'd himself to him he gave over all his Arguments to stick to the Revelation And that the old Rabbins understood the 12. of Genesis v. 1. Get thee out of thy Country and Gen. 15.5 And he brought him forth abroad in an Allegorical sence as if God by these Words had commanded him to go from himself his humane way of apprehensions his weak ratiocinations and leave himself wholly to his conduct I confess the Allegory is more pious than solid It has a tincture of Rabbinism all over But still it is home to the point which I was to prove that the Jews in this had the same notion with the Christians that when Reason is satisfy'd that the Almighty speaks it ought to submit and stifle all its pretended contradictions Socin If the Ancient Jews were so much for believing how come the Modern to be so incredulous They are as mighty sticklers as we for the Unity of the Great God They deny CHRIST to be God Yet to them were committed the Oracles of God How comes it then that they are not affected with that Revelation of a Trinity which you pretend to be so plain and express Orthod It will carry us too far out of our subject to lay down the Causes of their Incredulity But yet it must be said that in their disputes with us they have been more sincere than you as to the main point on which this Controversy turns For they have not pretended to Reason about this or build their denial upon imaginary Contradictions the weak efforts of a Reason at a stand but they have rejected all the new Dispensation and disown'd CHRIST to be the MESSIAS In a word they have disputed the Revelation A Topick which you cannot pretend to because you admit the Sacred Writings of the New Testament I shall say no more to this but dispatch the third consideration and see the use of Reason after Faith is admitted and put your patience to a new trial Socin You command my attention Orthod I say then that Reason thus resign'd ceases not to act The noble Faculty has still a large Field to exercise it self in For though it supposes the Axiomata the first Principles of Christianity the Divine Mysteries to be so certain as not to be capable of the least doubt but to be admitted with the most humble adoration and sincere and firm assent that can be yet there are some Universal and some Particular dependent inferior Truths which it has the liberty to consider There are things which we know by Faith alone others by Reason alone and others by Faith and Reason together Of the first sort are the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity Incarnation Resurrection c. It is of these that St. Ambrose de vocat Gent. says excellently Magna est fortitudo consensionis cui ad sequendum veritatem Auctoritas sufficit etiam latente ratione That assent has a great force which though we cannot see the Reason of things yet makes us to embrace the Truth on the bare account of Authority A doctrine so known so reverenc'd in the Primitive Church that St. Austin is so far from pretending that we can dispute about them that when the Philosophers would argue against them who had embrac'd Christianity he makes them answer thus Serm. 189. de temp Accepto Baptismo hoc dicimus Fidelis factus sum Credo quod Nescio Having receiv'd Baptism we say this I am become a Christian I believe what I cannot understand In this Reason has nothing to do I am altogether determin'd by Faith It is from thence that the School-men have laid this as a Principle in their barbarous way of speaking that Habitus Fidei non est discursious sed animus unico actu fertur in objectum materiale propter formale Which in plain English is this that Faith depends not from Reason and Discourse but that the Soul of Man by the same act embraces the truth propos'd a secondary sort of an object upon the account of the first which is God revealing it to us Of the second sort is whatsoever is not of Faith but only serves to illustrate and confirm to defend and propagate it All our Arguments are the product of Reason There is a Divine Oeconomy and Coherence in the Sacred Writings which it perceives and from which it draws inferences An Analogy of Faith which by the concord and relation of the several parts make up the whole body of Divinity It is a judicious observation of St. Austin de Trin. lib. 14. c. 1. that as there are things which can never be understood except they are believ'd so there are things which can never be believ'd except they are understood And such are Prophecies of which it is said 2 Pet. 1.19 We have also a more sure word of Prophecy whereunto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawn and the day Star arise in your Hearts A Prophecy cannot be believ'd except Reason has made way to Faith by being convinc'd of its accomplishment Thus CHRIST argu'd Luk. 24.44 These are the words which I spoke to you whilst I was with you that all things must be fulfill'd which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me For though Prophecy has the Sanction of the Divine Authority and is to be assented unto even as to its future accomplishment because none of the Words of God can fall to the ground yet when you tell me that it is accomplish'd it is altogether the work of my Reason to examine whether it is so or no God by his Prophets and indeed by the two first Dispensations that of Nature and that of the Law has promis'd that a MESSIAS should come for the Redemption of Mankind The Prophecies concerning him are many and express Some describe his Nature others his Person Some his miraculous Works others his Heavenly Doctrine Some the time and place of his coming others his Life Death Resurrection Ascension c. All this is true and Antecedently commands our belief because God has spoke it But whether this or that Person is the MESSIAS must depend from an examination in whom all these things are fullfill'd Whether in this or that Man And this is certainly the Work of Reason The same must be said of Miracles There is not a more forcible Argument that the Author of Nature has Reveal'd a Doctrine than when he alters or suspends its ordinary course to confirm it But still I have a Liberty to try whether the Spirits are of God Whether it is a real Miracle and not an Illusion Whether the Matter of Fact is true Thus Act.
call'd by the Ancients 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and by the Apostle 1 Cor. 2.4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the demonstration of the Spirit to distinguish it from the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the demonstration of Power which consists in miraculous operations And therefore that Record is truly divine in which God has left such splendid and lasting monuments of his Holy Spirit But if a Book may truly be call'd Divine which transcends all Books whatsoever that Collection which we have of the Sacred Writings justly deserves that name For besides that it can be made to appear that all the Theology all the Philosophy all the Rites all the Laws all the Manners and Customs all the Heroes of the Heathens are deriv'd from thence and that this Truth is not unperceiveable though oppress'd and eclips'd with the interposition of innumerable Fables and Lyes pray what Book can compare with this for Antiquity for certainty in the discovery of the Creation of the World the formation of all things the History of the first Ages but above all for that vast number of Precepts of Morality of excellent rules of Piety and Holiness by which Man is acquainted with his duty to God and to his fellow Creatures and has the promise of an Eternal State as a Reward of his Obedience What Man ever spoke or could ever speak in the Stile of the Sacred Writings It is every where Inimitable and does not surprise by a numerous train of pompous expressions but by a natural and inward Majesty which no mortal Oratory can personate It speaks to the Heart as well as to the Ears and converts as well as instructs us God has shew'd himself no where better than in his Word In his operations he acts but in this he speaks like God Whosoever reads attentively the Holy Scriptures must needs upon the whole conclude that it is a Work which infinitely exceeds the most refin'd Reason the most intense Capacity and the vastest Industry of Man I will say no more only let me beg of you to lay this all together and then tell me whether I am an Enemy to Reason and whether it has receiv'd any injury from me Socin Your way of speaking shews the Excellency of Reason and you make an admirable use of it against it self You leave me but one thing to desire and that is that I could be so far satisfy'd with what you have said as to assent to it But it is not in my power Nor think I my self overcome though I cannot answer your Arguments For when all is done my Reason must be the Judge and it will not suffer me to believe your Mysteries I know that you will tell me that this is obstinacy and that at this rate no Man will ever be convinc'd of his errors but will make this his last refuge that he cannot indeed contradict the truth offer'd but that his Reason will not suffer him to submit I grant all this But still as long as I act sincerely in it I may be pity'd but I cannot be blam'd Orthod You have often told me of your sincerity in this matter But I am afraid you have not the true notion of it Socin I understand by it a serious mind willing to know the truth and taking all the ways that it can to attain it I have study'd my own heart and if I can pretend to any knowledge of my self I think that I am in that very disposition Orthod There is a great deal more in it than all this comes to Self-love will turn it self into a thousand shapes and represent us to our selves quite otherwise than really we are Information indeed is the way to Truth But other qualifications must be suppos'd without which it is not attainable Bare arguing will never do The Soul must be purify'd of those lusts which are so many clouds interposing between us and the Truth I shall never believe a Man sincere in this till a substantial Piety with an uniform humble and mortify'd Life has made way to Divine Illuminations I take the grand obstacle to Faith not so much to consist in what we call Reason as in the indisposition of the heart which resists the impressions of the Grace and Spirit of God Sincerity in our obedience to CHRIST's holy precepts is the Touch-stone of that other which we pretend to One may practise Religion though he understands it not but it can never be understood except it be seriously practis'd As long as we live a life of sense and neglect the duties of Religion we shall ever wrangle with the points propos'd to our belief Oblige me in not separating two things so wholly depending on one another Socin I perfectly agree with you in this But I believe that God is merciful and that there is an allowance for invincible errors Orthod I believe so too But the error which you have espous'd is certainly a damnable error and is not Invincible He who never had a revelation of the Gospel and lives up to the light of nature will no doubt find that the mercies of God are not so consin'd as some Zealots have made them But you have had it and that too attested with the blood of Martyrs and the voice of the Catholick Church which at this very time from all the parts of the World exclaims against and condemns you How guilty is that confidence which under the pretence of contradictions and poor Criticisms dares refuse an assent to God speaking in his Holy Scriptures and to his Church declaring her sence of those matters in all her decrees Your errour indeed is invincible not because you cannot but because you will not be overcome Socin But who is a better judge than my self whether I can or no Orthod All this is trifling with God and your self Every Man will give the same Answer and by this defend not only the most pernicious errours but even the most sinful habits However take the great help which God has provided in this case and that is Prayer Be never wanting in your publick and private Adorations of God to pour your Heart before him with humility and fervency that he would open your Eyes and remove from you blindness and hardness of Heart Alass my Friend the night of your Life and mine is far spent The day is at hand Few steps more and we launch into Eternity Have pity on your own Soul and hasten to secure your self Socin I cannot however but express my acknowledgment for your good and serious advice I promise you that I will consider of it in earnest But it grows late and I fear we have no more time than what will serve to take another turn in this fine Garden and then draw home Orthod Besure to be as good as your word Socin I will Orthod Then I am almost confident that you will have done Socinianizing FINIS
and the Revelation so express what I imagine to be contradiction is only the weakness of my Reason which must not stand against the Authority of God Suffer me to retort the Argument upon you I propose the Mystery of the Blessed Trinity and produce the Divine Revelation for it You cry out Contradiction Impossibility Incomprehensibility I say all this in the case of Creation You justly over-rule it by the Authority of the Revelation why must I be deny'd the same privilege and conclude that as I admit the one so you ought to admit the other Socin But then what signifies Reason if it ought not to be judge in Religious Matters And what Oppression must it lie under if it is over-rul'd by every thing which the Church will call Mystery Orthod The Church calls nothing Mystery but what is really such Some sublime important Truth which has an influence on Religion and a perfect coherence with it Of which we see some part the rest remaining abstruse and Reason being at a stand in its several inquiries about it Thus 1 Tim. 3.16 And without Controversy great is the Mystery of Godliness God was manifest in the Flesh What is propos'd to us is very plain God assuming our Nature and being made Man This is a strong engagement to all the duties of Religion And yet which way soever you take it it is still a great Mystery Reason is infinitely puzzl'd and has innumerable questions ready to offer which it can never be satisfy'd in because God has reveal'd so much and no more It s duty is to submit and make to the veracity of God a sacrifice of its curiosity The same may be said of the Resurrection from the Dead which St. Paul calls 1 Cor. 15.51 a Mystery He shews clearly the certainty and advantage of a glorious coming to Life again Yet it is still a Mystery Take away the Divine Revelation and Reason humane Reason will charge the doctrine of the Resurrection with contradiction nonsence impossibility The same pretended objections will lie against the Mystery of the Holy Trinity only with this difference that you are contented in the other points to bring your Reason to the obedience of Faith but in this you will be refractary It is strange to see Men's odd ways of manageing Reason In the study of Natural things when they can go no farther then they enlarge upon the weakness of Reason the misery of our Nature the shortness of our sight and the inability of our faculties They a knowledge that God has hid abundance of objects from our eyes But in the search after Mysteries then Reason is strong it soars as high and can look on the Sun as stedfastly as the Eagle Nothing ought to be Mysterious Faith must not be our guide It is no more the light of the Soul but usurpation and tyranny Socin You have a perpetual inclination to misrepresent us We affirm and we have affirm'd it a thousand times that we ought to be guided by Faith But Faith must be rational It is says St. Paul Rom. 12.1 our Reasonable service If it is not such it is neither worthy of God who requires it nor of Man who pays that debt to him I ought not to believe at random or give my assent to every thing which even the Scripture proposes But I must examine how it is consistent with the principles of that Reason which he has given me Thus far I must believe and no further Reason first and last is to be the judge Orthod Pray let us avoid those perpetual Equivocations Faith and Reason are always consistent I do not speak of Reason as it is in us but as it is in it self with that admirable coherence of Principles flowing from one another and concentring in God who is its Author Had we Reason in that state and to that degree such I believe was that of innocent ADAM I should be reconcil'd to all your noise of Contradictions But Reason as it is in us is obscure apt to be intangl'd in the smallest thread and uncertain where and how to fix it self But let it be consider'd either of these ways the consistency of Faith and Reason must be always understood in subordination of the latter to the former What a monstrous attempt is this to determine Faith by Reason and not Reason by Faith Socin What a pleasant distinction is this of Reason consider'd in it self or as it is in us Of ADAM's Reason and ours As if ADAM was not such another Man as I am and Reason consider'd in it self could be different from what it is in me and all Mankind Orthod Yes indeed Innocent ADAM just come out of the hands of his Maker and taught immediately by that Infinite Spirit who had given him his being did Reason better than you or I. His perceptions were clearer His apprehensions quicker His abilities greater Passion and Prejudice had not found the way to his Soul Wine and Lust had not inflam'd him Ambition and the Thirst of Gold had not deprav'd him In a word he was little Inferiour to the Angels themselves both in Purity and Knowledge And why may not Reason be consider'd in it self in that Divine Relation which it has to the Supream Truth calm and free in its propositions sincere and true in its inferences without a desire of appearing what it is not from what it is when clog'd with the impressions of a sinful Body captivated by a corrupted Will led into a thousand silly errours ever seeking and never finding a place to rest in These are the sad effects of the first Transgression Man was made upright at the beginning but they sought out many inventions says one to whom the Scripture gives the character of the most Knowing of Men. I tell you that in this crazy Age of the World and in the great decay of Christianity what we call Reason are only the miserable relicks of it Socin You know by whom it is deny'd that ADAM's Transgression had any other influence on his Posterity than to shew them an ill example For my part I believe that the World is the same as ever it was and that if ADAM had not sinn'd we had still been subject to the same Infirmities Your Doctrine of Original Sin is as Mysterious as the rest Orthod It is so far from being Mysterious that nothing discovers it self with greater clearness All the Pride of Man cannot hide it Our own unhappy experience contradicts our pretended demonstrations against it and in this our Heart evidently opposes our Mind But we have lost the main question let us return to it I say then that you give Reason too great a Scope and that in our present state it ought not to determine Faith but be determin'd by it Socin But still we talk of Faith and Reason and have not yet agreed what they are Pray tell me what is Reason But tell it me plainly Let us have no Cartesianism no Metaphysical Abstractions no Notions
no Ideas If I cannot walk in a smooth and open Path I am resolv'd to stay at Home Orthod I am my self of your Mind I take then Reason to be a Faculty of the Soul by which we endeavour to find out the Truth either by way of Inference or by a plain and simple Perception What have you to Except against this Socin Nothing at all For I think that all our Knowledge comes these two ways Yet if the word Endeavour falls upon the last as well as upon the first part of the definition it seems somewhat incongruous For simple Perceptions offer themselves to us and are almost the only things of which the Certainty is not disputed But yet as it is by comparing the least Known with the most Known Principles that we do Reason and that every thing which we call a simple Perception is not such I willingly agree in it Then go on and tell me what is Faith Orthod Faith is the Gift of God by which he Inlightens our Mind and inclines our Heart to assent to what he proposes to us to believe Socin This I do not like so well as the other Though I know it comes from St. Austin and is commonly receiv'd by the admirers of that Father Faith is the Gift of God as all things are in a general sense But if by it you suppose an immediate Act of his Grace by which we believe then Faith is no more our choice or a favour offer'd to all Men but confin'd only to few How can it be said that God inlightens our Mind when what you call Mysteries are as obscure and unknown after as before we believe And for that expression of inclining our Will it is not sufferable it borders so much upon the Doctrine of Calvin which you know the Church of England is not fond of It shews an impossibility of believing in them whose Hearts are not inclin'd and consequently it makes unbelief to be no Sin Orthod The Definition is I confess of St. Austin But I maintain that it is both Christian and Catholick The Scripture has taught and the Church embrac'd it Joh. 6.4 No Man can come unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him Ibid. v. 65. No Man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my Father Phil. 1.29 To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake Rom. 12.3 We are commanded to think soberly according as God has dealt to every Man the measure of Faith Hence the Church has express'd her self in these words Can. 7. of the Council of Aurange If any thinks that by the strength of Nature he can think or do any good thing relating to Salvation or assent to the Truth reveal'd without the illumination or inspiration of the Holy Spirit HERAETICO FALLITUR SPIRITU HE IS DECEIV'D BY AN HERETICAL SPIRIT not understanding this place of the Apostle 2 Cor. 3.5 Not that we are sufficient of our selves to do any thing as of our selves But our sufficiency is of God This does not hinder Faith from being our choice any more than it does Vertue the assistance of God helping but not altering our Nature The obscurity of Mysteries even when we believe is no objection against the inlightning of the Mind For this supposes not a clear insight into the Nature of the thing but only a conviction that there is such a thing reveal'd 1 Cor. 13.12 For now we see through a Glass darkly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in aenigmate as in a riddle ... Now. I know in part but then shall I know even as I am also known But how can you give to the inclining of the will the name of insufferable and bordering upon Calvinianism when you cannot but know that it is the Work of God and the Prayer of Man to him Psal 119.27 Make me to understand the way of thy Precepts v. 35. Make me to go in the Path of thy Commandments v. 36. Incline my Heart to thy Testimonies Prov. 16.1 The preparation of the Heart is from the Lord. The Church you say is not fond of Calvin's Principles True but our abhorrency from Clavinianism must not drive us to Pelagianism I may detest an opinion inconsistent with the goodness of God without throwing my self into an excess injurious to the Grace of CHRIST The Definition then is good and safe but because I am willing if possible to remove all your prejudices I will put it in fewer words Faith then is a Firm assent to what God has reveal'd to us Socin I cannot quarrel with this It is well that once at least you will be plain Orthod It is well that there is something which you will not deny This Definition though not so exact as it ought to be is enough to shew you the insufficiency of Reason For if Reason can embrace all that is necessary for a Man to know there can be no necessity of Revelation This of it self supposes and is a convincing proof of our ignorance For if there are objects which Reason cannot reach but must owe their discovery to a higher and more infallible Principle then Reason is palpably weak and imperfect There cannot be a more sensible Argument of its Deficiency But there is another inconvenience as discernible as this Reason not only cannot reach the object which Revelation presents but also the object once presented it cannot be conversant about it nor examine the several parts or prospects of it It cannot come to a view near enough to employ its Faculties in it The account of which is very plain and it is this That as Reason with all its sagacity and penetration could never find out such an object and knows only that there is such a thing because God presents it and must rely for the truth of it upon God's veracity so the nature of the object propos'd must still remain obscure because there is as great an impossibility in finding out the nature of the object as the object it self In natural things Reason meets with an object fit for its inquiry and not only finds out the object but even penetrates what can be known of it because both are commensurate Or to avoid hard words which neither you nor I love because there is a fair proportion between the object and the powers and faculties of Reason But in things supernatural which word is enough to decide the difference if you would but consider of it there is so infinite a distance between the object propos'd and the weak perceptions of Reason that if we are just to our selves and have any respect for the order which the All-wise God has establish'd we cannot so much as pretend to an inquiry into the Nature of the thing offer'd This highly vindicates the wise and sober Answer of abundance of Learned Men amongst us who in the disputes about the Blessed Trinity and Incarnation have told you that these are Mysteries
a light which God has given us to know him and our selves But that light suffers frequent Eclipses It shines dim and is often put out We are not wise all the hours of the day Sometimes our thoughts rise as the Sea when it overflows the neighbouring Shoars and sometimes again they sink into a small and contemptible Channel We own and disown admit and reject are pleas'd this minute with a conclusion and the next lay it aside look upon those things as Errors which we formerly embrac'd as Truths and take those for Truths which we once rejected as Errors Secondly You must grant me that Reason is not the same in all Men I mean as to its vigor and efficacy In some a happy Nature with the addition of a careful Education Reading Conversation and Experience makes it quick and active It is admirable to see how some Men will like lightning run through a mass of propositions and understand a thing as soon as it is offer'd But in others it is heavy and dull oppress'd by the matter in which it is inclos'd almost sunk and as the Physicians say of Blood incapable of circulating through the abundance of viscous humours by which it is detain'd The far greater part of Mankind is of this sort Of the common Saylors Souldiers Labourers Women it may be said that the Body is truly the gaol of the Soul from which it seldom breaks out to exert any acts answerable to the dignity of its nature Thirdly I beg also that you would not deny that though there is so visible a difference in the exercise of Reason and some Men do almost as far exceed others as these exceed irrational Creatures yet there is some universal Principle fitted to every one's capacity and in which all Mankind agree Such is the search after Happiness The grossest and most illiterate of the Sons of ADAM are as much convinc'd of this as your self whose erudition is certainly great This is not learned from Books or taken up upon the credit of Authors but is an invincible inclination which every one finds in his own Heart Socin I grant all this but your compliment to me Orthod All this granted I proceed and presume to be positive that Reason can never shew to Man the way to Happiness For though it concludes very well from the Works of Creation that there is a God who is the Author and giver of that happiness and that the service of God is the way to obtain it yet what we ought to believe of that God how he is willing to be serv'd and which way we can appease his anger and secure his favour to us is altogether above the reach of Reason Rom. 11.13 His ways are past finding out The Doctrine of a Covenant of Grace of a Redeemer in whom we are pardon'd and accepted and who by the Sacrifice of himself should reconcile us to God are Mysterious depths to which Reason the most clear sighted Reason has not the least access It was necessary then that Authority should supply that want and God reveal what it was impossible Man should acquaint himself with Revelation is that which informs our understandings cures our ignorance rectifies our mistakes and by a short and infallible way leads us to happiness This the Philosophers aim'd at by the strength of Natural Reason but very unsuccessfully You know what Socrates and Plato what the School of Epicurus what Zeno and the Porticus said to it Their Systems were vain foolish flat and unpracticable This important discovery was to be the work of him who had the words of Eternal Life And the wisest and best Definition that ever was given of it is Joh. 17.3 And this is Life Eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent I call this a short and an infallible way It is infallible because propos'd by him who can neither deceive nor be deceiv'd It is short because it cuts off all the Ambages and uncertainties which Reason is intangl'd in and rests upon a rock and that is the Authority of God You make Faith so difficult a thing and exclaim loud when we endeavour to bring you over to it But for my part when I take a view of those Principles which Mankind rely upon I find it much easier to believe than to reason Can I be safer than when God himself is my Guide Shall I find more truth any where than in what God proposes Or are the Mazes or Labyrinths of humane Argumentations easier to run through than the Asseverations of Scriptures This has made St. Austin to say de Trin. l. 14. c. 1. that many of the Faithful have Faith in a very high degree though they have little or no Learning Socin That is it is easier to swallow any thing than to inquire whether it is true or no Orthod No For if you Consider this Principle of the Authority of the Divine Revelation you will find that it prevents all sorts of mistakes and makes us give over reasoning and disputing not because we design to avoid the labour and trouble of it but because we are satisfy'd that here lies the Truth and that it is impossible to find it any where else That whatsoever God is pleas'd to reveal is true is a proposition to which all Mortals in any capacity whatever give a most ready assent There is none of us but what has in some measure or other Notions of God agreeable to that Divine Being In some they are more ripe and refin'd than in others in Christians most of all But all agree that as he is Wise and Holy so he is True and that what he delivers to us has an indelible Character of Truth This has not only been taught by us but by the Heathens themselves Homer and Hesiod have acknowledg'd it Euripides owns in Helen v. 1164. seq that he has found nothing certain amongst Men but this that the words of the Gods are true And I think it is Porphyrius a Man of mighty prejudice against Christianity who comparing the ways of the Greeks and of the Jews towards the attainment of the Truth says that the latter who sought after it by Faith that is by the means of a Divine Revelation were much more in the right than the former who made use only of Reason to attain it This once admitted which indeed cannot be deny'd I hope to let you see that I am not unjust to Reason You will give me leave to consider it before in and after the admitting of the Revelation Socin Consider it which way you will Orthod Faith then pre-supposes Reason They must be Rational Creatures whom it is infus'd into and without the one we are not capable of the other Though the Almighty has an absolute power over us yet he is pleas'd not to force our assent but proposes the Faith and perswades us to it It comes by hearing says St. Paul Rom. 10.17 that is it is