depends on its Capacity of Knowledge and Circumstances it is then naturally in or how far it is liable to be mistaken in it self or impos'd upon by such Agents as will certainly as much as they can deceive it and when and where and how far God will permit or interpose by his special Acts of Information and Perswasion But that God should decree absolutely or will any Evil is an Opinion so full of Absurdities yea and in its tendency so apt to over-throw all Religion that no single probability or other difficulty can perswade a considerate Man to believe it therefore I think I need say no more in this matter 51. And now after all these Considerations I cannot but reflect and consider with Grief the miserable State of Christianity and the Professors thereof as well as of the rest of Mankind of the generality of those that call themselves the Reformed and Protestants as well as of the Papists between whom I can see but very little difference they agree so much still in many the same Unreasonable Doctrines as the Fundamentals of Religion as well as consent in the like wicked Practices as the Upholders and Effects of those Doctrines How much is the World and many the highest Pretenders to Religion in it alienated and changed from True Religion and the Scope and Design thereof in its Primitive Purity and Plainness How much more busie and concern'd are Men in contriving and contending for idle and uncertain Speculations and Niceties than in doing the plain undoubted and necessary Duties of the Gospel Natural Religion or the Practice of Love Goodness Mercy Brotherly Kindness Patience Meekness Humility Truth c They seem much more intent in considering according as every ones Fancy and Education leads him how Men are or may be saved or not saved than in working out their own or in furthering other Mens Salvation Whilst they place the main business in hitting the right notion how Salvation is wrought and in this they are also commonly mistaken they labour very little in conforming to the easily known Will of God according to the Precepts and Pattern he hath given us in the Man Christ Jesus whose pure holy Life seems hard and uneasie to the Rebellious Will but to be saved in the Theory is look'd upon now as more pleasant and desireable And how apt are Men now a-days to judge and condemn one another and that merely on the account of their Differences even in their idle Speculations in which Censures some are so ridged that they will hardly allow any but themselves and a few whose Noses are just of the same length and fashion to have smell'd out the way of Happiness or to be fit for Christian Brotherly Communion with them But we will not be afraid to affirm That whosoever truely loves God and his Neighbour shall certainly be saved or happy nay is pass'd from Death to Life Whosoever does not cannot be happy till he does tho' he may have the finest yea the best System of Divinity in his Head Tho' he have all Faith even to remove a Mountain of Contradictions to believe the greatest Mysteries Absurdities or Nonsense imaginable That one pure simple Act and Habit of Child-like Love to God is really more influencing to persevering Obedience and pleasing to God than the most Catholick Orthodoxy in the World He more truely knows God even by experience that loves him tho' but a Child than the most eloquent and subtile Teacher in the World that does not love But I am afraid nay I think I need not question it that the life of Religion is very much eat out and weakned by those many unreasonable Doctrines Whilst we have it taught either implicitly or expresly That God is the Author of Evil. One that made the greatest part of the Creation for that very end to be inevitably miserable for ever and consequently that they must needs be and continue Sinners to make them so That he is one that loves the Miseries of his Creatures and takes such pleasure in their Pains that he will bear with their Rebellion for ever rather than not have them unhappy That he made the most of them on purpose to shew his Power and Sovereignty in their everlasting Disorders Yea that that little number that he is said to be dearly hired and hardly perswaded to spare are continually afflicted with one Mischief or other from his hand tho' they are seeking him and crying after him continually he is not so ready to hear but often hides himself from them And yet that tho' this little number is sohardly saved they are infallibly sure of Salvation do or not do what they will Who would not rather be astonished and confounded and render'd inactive than influenced to love and obey God by these Doctrines When farther I am told that I cannot keep God's Commandments but that Christ hath keept them for me consequently my keeping them is not so necessary if suppos'd possible and God reckons Christ's Perfect Righteousness to be mine and I am perfect in him tho' I am not like minded all is done for me without me if I can but believe that is fancy so Ah but my Heart misgives me may one that considers say I fear that if Christ hath done all for me without me he will be happy also for me without me and I shall go to Heaven but by Proxy Who will be humbled before God and thankful for his free Beneficence and Forgiveness when we are perswaded that Christ hath purchased it at a full rate of him by his Doings yea and Sufferings for us and we may demand Happiness of God as our due But I fear many such Confidents will be put off with I know you not Nay how do we acknowledge God just and good and ready to forgive when we are perswaded that tho' he does not satisfie himself in punishing us for our Sins yet he will have them punished somewhere or other and rather than any where in the most Innocent Man Jesus on whom they say he laid all the Punishment or Misery due for the Sins of all Men and yet nevertheless most of them are damn'd and all of them die and that he reckon'd him guilty of others Sins tho' he were not so O Justice how unjustly hath the Malice of the Adversary represented the Fountain of Goodness and Justice But what shall the Generality of Mankind do What Encouragement shall they have to their Duty How shall they be stir'd up to seek Life and Happy Immortality especially the poor Convinced Souls that cannot get up so high as to read their Names in the Eternal Decree of Life or see yet much of the Effects thereof in themselves When they are told unless they are of that little number Christ has made Satisfaction for and ten thousand to one whether they be or no all their Repentance is in vain and their best Works are Sins in the sight of God tho' perhaps splendid Ones When they are taught that greater Goodness Justice Mercy Truth c. in one Man is less acceptible to God than much less in another and so God a Respecter of Persons Supposing I cannot perswade my self as I think all Predestinarians do that I am one of the Elect or do not believe that God has absolutely decreed either to save or damn any I am nevertheless convinced of my Sin and Duty as the way of Unhappiness or Happiness and would fain be happy Shall not I do my Duty on a Fancy that God has not decreed the Event or must I despair in it the former were but Madness the latter a miserable Condition But I must leave these things to the Thoughts of the Considerate and to them I would propose this Question What has been the reason that no more of Mankind have embraced Christianity and where has the fault been I think surely Original Goodness has not hinder'd nor has the fault been in the Christian Religion it self or in the want of the Love of Happiness in Mankind I believe you must confess that the generality of its Professors have discredited Christianity and given the World a false Draught or Picture thereof Till which is mended what hopes can we have of the Conversion to Christianity of those who have not from their inconsiderate years its Deformed Doctrines impos'd upon them and the disagreeing Lives of its Professors recommended to them What Expectations can we have of convincing Jews Turks and Pagans when not only the above-named Doctrines and an hundred more perhaps have represented Christianity as full of Contradictions and Absurdities and unsuitable to the Condition and Nature of Man But we even seem to differ in our Notions whether there be One or More Objects of Divine Worship insomuch that if those that have not yet embraced Christianity were to hear our Discourses and Forms of Worship they could not I believe but think that a great part of Christians believe and worship more Gods than One and even enjoin such a Faith and Practice upon pain of Damnation yea some of them having no better Arguments urge it by the Rack of Persecution while their Lives also are as different from Unity in pure Christian Morality Which now adays is distinguish'd from Religion O Times and a Moral Man is spoken of with Contempt in comparison with the Religious as a different Person But I must confess I look upon nothing as a Doctrine of Christianity or think can reasonably be represented as such or proved so to be by Scripture which does not naturally tend to promote Morality or Influence to those Good Manners which become our relation to God and which are convenient and profitable towards the true Interest of Mankind I would that Men would once come to try Doctrines by their natural Inferences and Tendencies then I should hope Truth would more appear But I must here conclude tho' I have been very short on every Particular I have been discoursing as unable now to write all I could wish to say of the Natural of the True Christian and of our Laodicean Religion promising my Reader an Answer to what he shall rationally object against whatever has been said in this Discourse and therewith a fuller Demonstration of things if God give me Life and Opportunity supposing that my whole Life must be spent in labouring against our common Errors if the Appearance of Christ don't bring on their Period sooner FINIS
less esteem of what is uncontroverted the Sum and Substance End and Design thereof Nor have we any reason since we may read the Book it self to look upon the Bible as it is most abused and deform'd by Expositors who if we were to take it from them have represented it to us but as a contradictory or confused Rule 41. For we find many things taught by them who take upon them to expound the Scripture as Doctrines clearly express'd as they say therein that have not only no apt Tendency to the Great End the Love of God and Man but some of them naturally tend or incline to the contrary Which Consideration bringeth me to the last thing I designed to speak to the last Stumbling block I shall endeavour to take out of the Deists way viz. The Consideration of divers Doctrines now confidently taught as Orthodox and main Points of Christian Faith which to render Christianity more reasonable more like it self I shall not only readily disown but endeavour to shew that they cannot reasonably be thought to be Doctrines of the Gospel necessary to Christianity or True That they cannot be accounted for or proved Points of a Rational Faith or truly deduced from the Bible But are Mistakes taken up through Prejudice from Tradition and confirm'd by mistaken Texts of Scripture It being an Evil but common Custom among Men to take up Opinions before they carefully read the Scripture or consider the Agreement or Disagreement of things and then to labour to make the Scripture prove and confirm them endeavouring to bring Scripture to their unreasonable Opinions when they should rather have brought their Opinions from Scripture and Reason Scripture so understood as to be reconcileable to it self and to Right Reason And as this word reconcileable brings into my Mind the notion of Reconciliation which I take to be misunderstood by many I shall first begin with that Point and endeavour to shew the Mistakes about it 42. It is the fancy of some that Christ has reconciled God to Sinners Let us a little consider the matter Reconciliation is a making Friends of some or other at variance When there is Disagreement Enmity or Hate in a Person that did agree love and was a Friend the taking away or changing these for Agreement Friendship and Love is properly Reconciliation Now to say that Christ hath reconciled God to us is as much as to say God was a Friend and did love Man but then became an Enemy and hated him and then was made a Friend and loved him again But this can with no good reason be said of God because he is unchangeable and these things imply a Change Foolish Men are very apt to look upon God to be such a one as themselves now willing one thing then another now angry then pleas'd because they find themselves so But such things are Imperfections incompatible with a Self-sufficient Being God has properly no Passions must be confess'd tho' Men do commonly speak of him as if he had and he is in Scripture so represented sometimes after the manner of Men. But he is the same still has the same Will the same Love to whatever is his own and cannot have less He represents himself as he is hating Sin or that unjust and unhappy Action of the Creatures willing contrary to its Maker's Will but he never hates the Creature his own Work but loves it He cannot be suppos'd to be reconciled to Sin he never loved or can love Injustice To suppose him so reconciled as to approve like or allow Sin in his Creature would be to suppose him to will Evil or contrary to his own Will And he is not reconciled to his Creature because he was never deconciled or an Enemy to it His Goodness and Bounty is over all his Works he is always ready to do Good to his Creatures and make them happy it is they that are Enemies to him and to themselves and to their own Happiness A Man that runs into a Cave and hides himself from the Light and Warmth of the Sun and is perswaded at length to come out and receive the Benefit of its Heat and Splendour may as well say the Sun was angry with him and his his Face and withheld his Beams but now is reconciled to him and shines on him again as to fancy that the Ever-overflowing-fountain of Good withholds his Streams from the Works of his hands He is the most loving Father that is always ready to do Good to his Children but they Rebellious will not always receive it Therefore we may boldly nay we must on good Consideration say that whatever Christ hath done and suffered does not make God any more willing Sinners should obey him or be saved than he was before If he could at any time will Sinners not to obey him he might be suppos'd not to will them to be saved but to will Sinners not to obey him is all one as to will his Will to be done and not done at the same time which is a Contradiction We find foollish Men commonly representing God as one full of Wrath Anger Hatred to his poor silly Fallen Creatures severe furious and hard to be appeas'd but Christ as one full of Love Mercy Pitty Good-will to Sinners but we must not think God to have less Love Goodness Mercy c. than Christ that would be unreasonable when there can be no less than an Infinite Distance between God and the most Perfect Creature in Goodness Mercy Kindness and all Perfections yea as much as God is above Man so much greater must we think is the Mercy Goodness and Love of the Father to Sinners than that of the Son who is but the Image of him that is greater than all God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life The Love of God was the Cause of Christ's both Sonship and Mission and the Cause must be greater than the Effect God could have no external Cause or Motive to love us but loveth us freely for he is Love which can be said of no Second No Man hath greater Love than Christ for he laid down his Life for us even while we were Enemies but he had a Motive to Love greater than from himself viz. his Duty to obey and imitate God his Father Moreover if God has commanded all Sinners to repent believe and be saved he must be supposed to will that they should do so or he deceives them which cannot be admitted If he wills them to repent and be saved he is not their Enemy but their Friend What then you will say did Christ come to reconcile I say with the Scripture to reconcile us to God who were Enemies to him by wicked Works to reconcile us to our best Friend and Father from whom we had gone astray and been prodigal Sons to reconcile us to our Duty yea to our own Happiness which can no way
Again Christ is call'd a Propitiation not that he makes God merciful or propitious to us but that he makes us capable to experience God's Mercy and Kindness teaching us the way of Repentance and Obedience wherein God is found merciful and ready to forgive The Propitiatory or Mercy-Seat from whence Christ is call'd a Propitiation was the Cover of the Ark or Coffer wherein were the Ten Words or Commandments which did not tipifie Christ as hiding the Commands or Law from God or interposing between God and the Commands but signified rather that those who will come to the Seat of God's Mercy will find the Commands must be kept and tho' they have run from or broke the Commands if they will repent and return to the Commands there they will find God's Mercy above or greater than the Command or their Sin So Christ the living Table from whose Mouth and in whose Life the Commandments of God were most fairly given to Men comes declaring God merciful ready to forgive but gives us to understand whom he will forgive and shew Mercy to even the Merciful those that forgive or are ready to be conformable to the Will or Commands of God and not the Impenitent 43. There is another opinion that has prevailed much in the World which is this That Christ by what he did or suffer'd or by both hath made perfect or full Satisfaction to God for the breach of his Laws by Sinners But this opinion by a little Consideration I think will appear to be a groundless absurd and impossible Fancy and accompanied with divers evil Tendencies As first it is incompatable with and destroys the notion of Divine Forgiveness For where-ever a debt is fully paid it cannot also be truely said to be forgiven there is no Forgiveness but where something due is abated which I think is evident to all Men. If I owe a Sum of Money tho' I am not able or never do pay it yet if I have a Friend that can and does pay it for me my Creditor does not forgive me The greatest Pretence of an Answer to this Objection against Christ satisfying I ever heard is this That tho' Christ hath fully satisfied or pay'd the Debt for Sinners yet God may be said to forgive because Christ is a Person that God hath found out given or prepar'd for this purpose To which I answer If Christ be intirely the Gift of God or hath nothing but what he receives from God he hath nothing to pay another's Debt with all he has and is is lent him of God and is due on his own account so that all his possible Obedience is but just enough to keep himself from needing Forgiveness He that owes all he has cannot spare to pay anothers Debts without rendering himself incapable of paying his own If Christ hath any thing or is any thing which he has not or is not from God which I think none will say whereby he might be fancied capable of Works of Supererogation wherewith to make God amends for the Debts of Sinners God would be nevertheless paid their Debts and so the Sinner not forgiven As if a Person owe me Money and can't pay it tho' I find out and perswade another to pay the Debt I have my due and I have not forgiven it But let us consider this point a little more closely as the matter is in it self and without Allusions The Law of God to his Creatures requires Perfect Perpetual and Personal Obedience that is that every Creature according to its Capacity always should will as God wills The End of the Law of God is Obedience or that it never be broken now the Creature having disobey'd or will'd otherwise than God wills nothing can possibly make it true that it hath not disobey'd consequently there can be no Perfect Satisfaction to the Demands of the Law when once 't is broken He that never breaks the Law is indeed just and fully satisfies it he that has broke it may possibly come to keep it for the future but this Law saith thou shalt and thou shalt not without excepting at any time what the Creature is capable of so that future Obedience cannot satisfie for former Disobedience because the Obedience of all the Creatures time is due and the perfect and perpetual Obedience of every Creature is but just enough What is done amiss can never be undone the Obedience that is unpaid can never be paid for the time past because the time past wherein I ought to have been obedient is irrevocable Now if a Man 's own Imperfect Partial Obedience or that which was not always can't Satisfie or be Enough or Equivalent for and with Perfect Full and Perpetual Obedience much less can the Obedience of one be the same with his own and anothers Obedience and so satisfie or be enough for the unperformed Duty of another If I have sinned tho' Christ hath obey'd Christ's Obedience doth not make it true that I have not sinn'd it is not as much Obedience as his own and mine too which the Law requires nor makes it that which was or is due to God not to have been due or now not due If I have sinn'd the Law is broke and nothing can possibly make it unbroke and unless it were wholly unbroke there is not enough done or Satisfaction made to the Law Some sort of Sins as they are against Man may indeed be satisfied for to Man because Man may get or loose and sometimes receive an advantage greater than his loss But the Evil of Sin lies not in God's getting or loosing by Obedience or Disobedience for God cannot be profited All the Creature has he has from God and all God requires him is but his Duty and the least breach of the Law makes it not kept enough He that is once guilty of a breach of God's Law it remains for ever true of him that he has broke it and is guilty All that can possibly be done on the part of the Sinner when the Command has been broke is that it be kept for the future and more than is possible in this case cannot be done Therefore the best that can be conceived as to what has been done amiss is that it be forgiven He that comes at length to keep God's Law perfectly may be said then to satisfie it not to have satisfied it Christ we believe did always perfectly satisfie the Law of God for himself and as he is the Instrument that brings Men to Repentance and Obedience he is said to bring in everlasting Righteousness So he is said to justifie as he brings Men to be just But Christ's keeping the Law cannot possible be said to be another's keeping it that don't keep it or serve instead of it It is not enough that one Person fulfil the Law all should do so There can be no obeying by Proxy in this matter such a Fancy would be no better than being saved or going to Heaven only by Proxy Again if
when but deliver'd were accompanied with Circumstances making them at least credible that they might be but when fulfilled they were seen beyond dispute to have been Revelations of God The most principal and full of which Old Testament Predictions related to Christ and his Ministry and were found exactly fulfilled in him and consequently to be of God Which Consideration brings me to the New Testament or the Writings of the Apostles and Disciples of Jesus Christ the Master and Teacher of the Christian Religion which is the main thing I would perswade him that already believes Natural Religion not to be offended at The Doctrinal and Preceptive Part contain'd in these Books I 'm sure none that considers it can in reason dislike it is so rational and natural And tho' the whole Bible teaches in its Precepts principally Natural Religion or Exact Morality yet the Doctrine of Christ as deliver'd down to us by his Apostles and Disciples seems to out-shine whatever was taught before in Clearness and also to out-do all former Manifestations in the Fulness thereof What has he taught or what has he commanded but what is clearly evident and strongly reasonable to any that without Prejudice will use their Reason and consider it and what can be desired to a most perfect Rule of Life more than he hath given in his short yet comprehensive Precepts As to the Historical Part of the New Testament I think I may boldly say it hath in divers Respects the advantage of any other History As the Notableness of the Matters of Fact The Number and Character of the Witnesses Their sufficient Agreement and Harmony in their Testimony The Time and Place of the things done The Reception of this History and Doctrine by succeeding Ages The Change wrought in the World thereby The Succession and Continuation of the Professors of Christianity All which things cannot be suppos'd so to concur in opposition to the Carnal Interest and sinful Inclinations of the World to give credit to a mere Romance or feigned Story He would be as unreasonable that should deny that there was such a Person as Jesus Christ and that he taught so and so and did such and such Miracles with the Consequences thereof as he that should deny that there was such a Person as Charles the First King of England and that there was a Civil War between him and the Parliament But I leave these things having just named them to the Consideration of thinking Readers who if they have any desire to be more fully satisfied in these matters may consult several learned and well known Authors who have handled this matter largely But I shall come to consider as soon as I can some particular things at which the Naturalist seems more justly offended relating to Jesus Christ's Person or Office that so if possible all things may be made clear that the Deist at length may see Christianity most rational and no longer refuse to embrace it But 37. Of Jesus Christ we shall first lay down this Proposition That the greatest most adequate and suitable Means God has given among Men towards their Recovery from Disobedience and the clearest Arguments he hath offered them to perswade them to will as he wills in order to their Happiness he hath given in and by the Man Christ Which I think will appear by the time we have a little consider'd his Work and his Person And concerning the Work of Christ which I think most proper to speak of first I shall lay down this Proposition That the Sum and Substance End and Design of all Christ has done does or will do in relation to Fallen Man's Recovery is to convince Man that he hath done Evil in willing contrary to God's Will and to perswade him to change his Mind and will as God wills for the future to the Manifestation of God's Perfections and Man's Happiness The Ways and Methods Christ took to perform this Work if we consider will appear very rational and suitable to the Nature of Man and the End of his Being First Man is to be fully inform'd of the Truth of things relating to his Disobedience or Obedience Unhappiness or Happiness But Christ hath given the fullest Discovery of the Mind and Will of God in relation to his Creatures He hath given the most fair Edition and Interpretation of God's Laws rectifying the inveterate Mistakes of Mankind He hath discovered the false Glosses and Interpretations sinful Men had put upon the foregoing Revelations of God's Will and reconciled Revelation to the Natural Light in such a manner that those that heard him were forced to confess he spake as never Man spake before And we who have but a short account of what he said have yet enough to shew us that he was as it were the Oracle of Moral Wisdom Such an Excellency appears in his comprehensive Account of the whole Law of God Such an admirable Method in his Directory of the Order of our Desires To be short such a Pre-eminence in all those Sayings we have as coming from his own Mouth that me-thinks an ordinary Considerer may see a Wisdom distinguishable from that of all his Servants tho' some of them at least equall'd him in the Greatness of Miraculous Works He hath both represented God far more clearly than he was before represented what he is and will be found to be to his Creatures and his Creatures what they ought to be to him and one another And particularly Goodness was never so unvailed and made to shine forth before the Goodness of God what it is and will be and the Goodness of Man what it must or should be The Goodness of God was never before seen to be so much greater than the Sin of Man as by this Messenger who comes declaring God most ready to forgive and communicate his Benefits to sinful Men as he would have done had they never sinned if they are but willing to be forgiven and repent That God wills not our Unhappiness as we are inclinable to will Evil to those that cross our Wills He hath taught us to come to God as to a Father expecting infinitely more Goodness beyond our measuring than we can from our Natural Fathers And that we ought to imitate him in Goodness Love Mercy Forgiveness even in that which some have counted a Paradox Loving our Enemies blessing them that curse us and doing Good to those that persecute us and despitefully use us The Men of old were apt to pray against or curse their Enemies and Men now are too much of that Spirit in whom the Love of God does not prevail being ready to think it unreasonable or impossible to love their Enemies But that it is both reasonable and more easie to love our very Enemies than to hate them we may be perswaded by divers Considerations If it be an Excellency to be like God the most perfect and happy Being Christ tells us that he makes his Sun to shine upon the Good and the Bad