Church of all sorts that it should be adviseable for her to put more Power in their hands than they have The next Cause he mentions of Deism Page 10. is the Clergy's Prevarication in this Revolution as to their Principles of Passive Obedience in which Case whatever Cause of Scandal may have been given has been very much aggravated by the Enemies of the Church of all sorts But methinks an equitable Considerer of things would rather argue thus That if some of them did in this leave some Principles they were fond of before 't was a Sense of the Good of their Country that changed their Minds because we see that they did stick to their Religion with a great deal of Zeal when it was very hazardous for them and we have just Reason to think that very many of them would have chearfully lost all they had in the Cause and have resisted even unto blood But after all there were not many of the Clergy that were so far for Passive Obedience that had the Case been put to them as ours really was at the Revolution of a King that was actually overturning the whole Constitution and either designed to inslave us by a Foreign Power or which was much the same thing so far hugged and encouraged a Monstrous Power in one of his Neighbours that in a very little time it had not been in his own Power to save either us or himself I believe had the Case been put thus there were not very many who would have said that it was unlawful for a People in such Circumstances to save themselves of which beside others I have this Reason That this was the Opinion of some Authors in great Reputation among our Clergy Grotius Barclay Dr. Falkner They did indeed preach up Passive Obedience in general Terms as the Scripture and the Laws of England deliver it and as for such Cases they were odious and not very fit to be mentioned but sufficiently excepted in the Nature of the Thing and such as common Sence would easily find out whenever any Case of that kind should happen As for those who went farther than this or carried the Matter with Heat and Violence I shall leave them to stand or fall according as they can approve the Sincerity of their Hearts to our Great Master who can make Allowance for Mistake and Prejudice and other Human Infirmities though Men won't But our Author is still angry and says that the Clergy are Enemies to the Government for a King de facto only and still Subjects to King James which if it be true I am sure there is no great matter of Priest-Crast in it for it is apparently against the Interest of their Church But by this as well as other things we may guess our Author knows very few of the Clergy especially those that have been preferred since this Revolution of which number are above two Thirds of the Bishops whom this Author calls Jacobites but some of his Friends use to call the Dead Weight for the Government in the House of Lords which contrary Reproaches are a good Sign that they carry themselves like Moderate and Honest Men and good Patriots of their Country He makes a great Stir in several places with Dr. S k as if he were the only Clergy-man almost he had heard of or that all the rest were guided by his Notions But I can assure him the Dean has more Reputation for his Books of Death and Judgment than he has for his Case of Allegiance It is a hard Matter to answer for so great a Body of Men as the Clergy of the Ch. of England especially in a Case where they are not all of one Mind and should I endeavour to clear them all from the Aspersions he there throws it 's possible I should have as little Truth of my side as he has Truth or Justice in aspersing them all or as those have who censure all Men of our Author's Stamp as Persons against Kingly Government and that design to make England a Commonwealth and yet that there are some such he himself will I am perswaded hardly deny As for what he charges upon them their making the King to be only so de facto if by it he mean that they look upon the King to be an Usurper and that tho' they may submit to him while he has them in his Power yet that this is to be only till they can have a good Opportunity of serving him who is their Rightful King This I believe is a gross Calumny and such as can be charged upon very few But there may be perhaps some others whom our Author will call de facto Men who tho' they should be mistaken in the Principles they go upon yet however may upon those Principles serve the Goverment as well as any that live under it Some it 's possible there are who do not approve of all that was done in the Revolution on and therefore would not themselves concur in it but yet when the thing is done and the Government settled by the Consent of the Majority may think themselves bound to submit to it and when they have given their Oath to stick to it as much as if the Original of it were never so uncontestable Others it 's likely there may be who do not think particular private Persons bound to examine the Titles of Princes that as in private Cases it is not their own Judgment but the Determination of the Judges that is to direct their Consciences to whom they are bound to pay their Rent or any other Due so in this great Due of Allegiance it is the highest Authority we have that of the Parliament must direct them to whom to pay it and whether that great Court be right or wrong in their Determinations they are not proper Judges And to mention no more there may be some others who may think that tho' every thing at the Revolution was not exactly agreeable to common Forms yet since it was agreeable to the great Law of Necessity we should thank God for the great Benefits it brought us and stick to it against all the World Upon these Hypotheses and several other it 's like some People may have come into the Government and tho' they should not be in every thing in the right yet it will be a hard matter to shew any Reason why they may not be good Subjects and very faithful to the Government and 't is neither just nor charitable nor for the Interest of the Government to censure all these as Subjects to King James But our Author still threatens the Clergy with an Oath of Abjuration Page 16. But whether he and his Friends will be able to persuade the Parliament to appoint such a one Time must tell us it is a Matter has been proposed more than once but has never yet been judged for the Good of the King and Kingdom It was the Wisdom of our Parliament at the Beginning of
as this and nothing but the mighty Power of God concurring with them could ever have brought it to effect The less internal Credibility there is in the Nature of the Things themselves the more external Evidence is necessary to gain 'em Belief especially if for the Belief of these Men must go against their former Prejudices and hazard the Loss of all they have I have now considered the chief Causes of Deism assigned by our Author there are some other matters still behind but it was not my Intent to take notice of every thing that might be found fault with in his Pamphlet but only to make some Reflexions upon those Calumnies or Mistakes in it that were like to do the greatest Mischief As for those things that remain they are either only Repetitions of what has been spoke to already or else Matters of small consequence or such things as the World will easily see through and therefore I do not judge it proper to trouble either him or my self about them I hope I need not beg pardon either of God or the World for the manner of handling these Matters and I am sure I need not beg pardon of the Person who wrote the Pamphlet I reflect upon A Man that has a hearty Concern for Religion cannot but sometimes shew that Concern where he sees Religion in Danger and upon that account speak his Mind plainly But I am so great an Enemy to all Wrath and Bitterness in Writing that I do not think it justifiable even in replying to one of the spitefullest Pamphlets I ever saw for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God The Cause of God and Religion does not need the Passions of Men to defend it And whoever brings them into the Controverfie whatever Good he may do it one way will certainly do it Prejudice another Having now dismissed our Author I think it proper before I conclude to prevent any Prejudice which such a Representation of things as he has given may do to the Christian Religion to say something to that In doing this I shall not insist upon those many Arguments commonly brought to prove the Truth of it such as the exact fulfilling of the Prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Birth and Life and Death of our Blessed Saviour the many Miracles that were done in Confirmation of this Religion for several Ages together especially the Resurrection of our Saviour himself from the Dead the Purity of its Precepts the Nobleness and Excellency of its Promises the Divine and Heavenly Nature of it which whoever well considers will find it to be a Doctrine worthy the Care of a good God These things have been largely insisted upon by others and do indeed effectually prove what they are brought for But I shall at present pass them over and desire leave only to insist upon this one thing which I chose to do because it contains in it a full Answer to the whole Method of arguing which our Author puts in the mouths of his Deists and that is this That the Persons who were the first Preachers and Promoters of our Religion and who have delivered us an Account of the Miracles done in Confirmation of it were Persons who could not propose to themselves any Interest of their own in what they did they could have no Expectations but of that Reward which their Religion promises them in the other World as for the things of This we see plainly they did not pretend to them Their Master had told them that Persecution was like to be the Portion of his Disciples which accordingly they did very sufficiently meet with being persecuted from one Place to another till at last they laid down their Lives in Confirmation of that Truth they had preached But we see however that while they had their Lives they went very zealously and cheerfully on being joyful if they could but do their Master's Business and contribute toward the saving of Souls whatever became of themselves Of this S. Paul gives us a pathetical Account in his Farewel-Speech to the Church of Ephesus as you may see at large in the 20th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles You know says he from the first day that I came into Asia how I have been with you at all times serving the Lord with all lowliness and many tears and temptations which happened to me from the lying in wait of the Jews And now behold being led by the spirit I go up to Jerusalem not knowing what shall befall me there only that the Holy Ghost hath told me that in every City bonds and imprisonments abide me But I regard not these things neither count I my life dear so I may but finish my course with joy and the Ministry that I have received of the Lord Jesus to preach the Gospel of the grace of God These and many other things he there speaks to them with that Air of Seriousness and Concern and true Greatness of Soul which became an Apostle of Christ and plainly shewed that he was in good earnest The truth is it seems to be impossible that there should be so much Zeal and Earnestness to promote that which they were not fully convinced in their Conscience to be true and much more impossible that they should with so much Joy suffer for that which if it were false they must know to be an Imposture and an Impudent Lye But it may be some may object that the bare Suffering for any Cause is not a sufficient Evidence of the Truth of it because we see that there is scarce any Religion but what has had those who have Suffered for it And therefore if that were a good Argument of the Truth of any Religion it would prove Contradictions to be true it being a very common thing in the World to see some Men suffer for Affirming and others for Denying the same thing As to this it may be answered That there seems in several Respects to be a great Difference betwixt the Sufferings of the first Christians for their Religion and the Sufferings of any other Party but this I would not insist upon All that I would prove from their Sufferings is That they were honest Men and did really believe That for which they Suffered to be Truth and this I think cannot well be denied if we grant 'em to have had Flesh and Blood as we now have And this may perhaps be said for those that suffer on other Accounts That they are honest Men too And therefore the best way to see the difference is to consider the different Natures of the Things for which they suffer As for Matters of Opinion or the Sense of doubtful Expression in a Book or the like these are Cases in which an honest Man may be mistaken and therefore if he suffer in such a Case tho' it may prove him an honest Man yet it does not prove him to be in the right because in Cases of this kind the honestest Man
REFLEXIONS Upon a PAMPHLET INTITULED An Account of the Growth of DEISM in ENGLAND REFLEXIONS Upon a PAMPHLET INTITULED An Account of the Growth of DEISM in ENGLAND Together with some CONSIDERATIONS About the Christian Religion Qui bonâ fide colit Deos amat Sacerdotes Stat. Epist Dedic in V. Lib. Sylv. LONDON Printed for John Newton at the Three Pigeons over-against the Inner-Temple-Gate in Fleetstreet 1696. REFLEXIONS Upon a PAMPHLET INTITULED An Account of the Growth of DEISM in ENGLAND IT has now for a great while been the Complaint of Good Men that Atheism and Infidelity grow mightily among us which is indeed a very melancholly Consideration but I am afraid is but too true did not the Profane and Blasphemous Discourse which one is often forced to hear sufficiently shew this The Air and Humour of the Age is so very different from that Seriousness Plainness and Simplicity which a through Belief and Consideration of the Christian Religion would inspire Men with that one who takes notice of the Difference cannot easily imagine that this Religion is so generally believed as 't is professed Add to this the great Corruption of Manners the great Difficulty there is to breed up Young People soberly and vertuously or to find those of Riper Years who are Men of Honesty Integrity and Publick Spirit to be employed in the Service of their Country Now when a Nation is so much corrupted as ours is at present it can hardly proceed but from one of these two Causes either first from a Corruption in their Religion by making that consist in outward Observations or giving Men hopes to please God and get to Heaven by some other Method besides real Holiness and a Care of their Lives by which means the Conscience is left loose in that respect or else secondly from a Disbelief of the Religion it self for tho' some Men make a shift to do it it is an uneasie thing to go against Conscience and therefore a general Corruption of Manners can hardly be without one of these two Causes which leave Men at Liberty to indulge themselves without Disturbance from it As for the first of these the Corruption of our Religion by making that consist in outward Observations or giving Men Hopes of getting to Heaven by any other Method but real Holiness of Life it is what cannot be charged upon the Present Age or Church wherein whatever Zeal may have been shewed upon other Accounts for things in themselves indifferent yet it has always been plainly taught that nothing but inward Piety can recommend us to God or make our Peace with him and that there is no way of getting to Heaven without the real Reformation of our Lives And these things have been shewed so distinctly plainly and clearly both in Opposition to the Superstitious Observations of Popery and to some Popular Errors about Religion among our selves that perhaps no Age can shew the like as may appear to any that has been but a little conversant in the Sermons and Books that have been published by the Divines of the Church of England And I believe one great Reason why so many Loose People have made Infidelity their Resuge is because it has been so clearly shewed them that there is no Hopes for such Persons from our Religion which they would not so easily have left had we had but any Trick to save them and let them enjoy their Sins together And therefore we see that most of our Debauched People take this way contrary to what may be observed in some other Countries where People of as ill Morals as they yet speak with Reverence and Respect about their Religion Of which Difference I can think of no other Reason but this That the one has no Hopes from his Religion and therefore treats it accordingly the other has still some Reserve in his Eye that may stand him in stead after a Wicked Life Absolution and Extreme Unction or at most some Money for Masses when he is dead And upon this Account his ill Morals often increase his Zeal for his Religion and set him upon endeavouring by that to make God what amends he can for those Sins he is resolved to enjoy The Effect I believe is apt to be quite contrary with Serious and Considering Persons who among us cannot but have a Reverence for that Religion which they see so worthy of God which does not consist in little Tricks or outward Observations but in solid and substantial Goodness such as is for the Good of the World for the Advancement of our own Nature and tends to make us pious and holy and as like God as may be Considering Persons will be very apt to have a Reverence for such a Religion as this And on the other side such Persons if they live in Countries where this is degenerated into outward useless Observations where Men may get their Sins pardoned and make their Peace with God by such things as even a Wise Man would have no regard to no wonder if they cannot esteem it and if they have opportunity to know nothing of Christianity but as it is thus practised it is no wonder at all if they do fall into Deism as our Travellers tell us that this is a very common thing among such Persons in Italy and some other Countries There has lately appeared a Pamphlet which pretends to give an Account of the Growth of Deism in England that is indeed the Title of it but I believe not the Author's Design who seems to have had no other Aim but to say as many ugly things as he could against the present Established Church and Clergy Whether the Author be a Christian or no I shall not pretend to determine I would willingly suppose he is since he seems to say so but I believe he himself will not deny that he has more Zeal against the Church of England than he has for the Christian Religion and if he be a Christian I would leave it upon his Conscience how he will be able to answer it to Jesus Christ that he should with such aggravating Circumstances and so much Virulence expose that to the View of the World which he himself says commonly makes Men Deists and yet be at so very little pains to give any Antidote against it It looks as if he were uneasie that such good Arguments against Christianity should lie hid only amongst his Clubs of Atheists and Deists and that he was willing to try how many Proselites they were like to gain by being exposed to publick View Our Author's Design being only to expose Christianity or else expose the Clergy which I rather believe we cannot expect a full Account of the Growth of Deism from him I shall therefore first in short take notice of what I judge to have been the Causes of the Increase of it and then consider those assigned by his Author 1. The great and chief Cause of Deism at present was the general Corruption of Manners
the Government to frame the Oath of Allegiance in as general Terms as they could and to give as great a Latitude to the different Opinions and Apprehensions of Men as possible for which they had this very good Reason That the Government was so apparently for the Good of the Kingdom and so necessary to its Preservation that all Lovers of their Country would be glad to joyn with it if so be there was nothing to shock their Conscience and therefore to gain all sorts of People it was necessary to allow as great a Latitude for that as they could And the same Reason will hold still for the Government blessed be God is still in the Interest of the Nation and therefore it will be the Desire of all Lovers of Peace to preserve it unless the Government makes them Enemies to it by its first becoming Enemies to them by shocking their Consciences and turning them out of Employments as Persons not fit to be trusted And certainly it must be the Interest of any Government to make it self as many Friends as it can which is most effectually done by studying in all it does the Publick Good and next to that by provoking and disobliging as few as possible I don't question but several true Lovers of the King and Government may have desired and promoted such an Oath of Abjuration but upon considering the Matter as far as my Understanding will go I cannot think of any Advantage it is like to bring for it will not make the King one Friend he had not before but no body can tell how many Enemies it may raise All the Good that is like to come by it is that we may then be able to distinguish betwixt Men But how be able to distinguish Not who are Friends to the Government and who are not but who are for it upon one Principle and who are for it upon another which will be Knowledge dear enough bought if it must be by provoking all those who do not come into the Government upon one and the same Principle though it be the right In short multiplicity of Oaths has always an ill Influence upon Religion and does naturally tend to take away that Reverence which Men should have for a thing of so sacred a nature and it would be a thing very worthy the Care of the Wisdom of the Nation to look into that great number of Oaths of all sorts which Men in any Employment are to take and which in a great measure are reckon'd only things of course and therefore tho' not in their own nature yet by accident are apt to insnare Mens Consciences to make them either swallow them down without considering or else set their Wits at work for such Salvo's and Interpretations as make the Oaths vain and useless and are very contrary to that Plainness and Simplicity with which Men should enter into so sacred an Obligation To conclude this Matter If such an Oath should be imposed and upon that be generally taken by the Clergy and their Friends this Author would be for writing another Pamphlet about Deism and tell all the World they had renounced their Principles which though it be false if he means any Principles of the Church yet however such a Clamour as this would very likely be a great Prejudice to Religion But if on the other side they should generally refuse it then they would be represented as Enemies to the Government and considering the common Resentments and Passions of Human Nature perhaps many of them be made so which may prove no more for the true Interest of the State than it would of the Church I have dwelt the longer upon this because it is frequently made use of as an Argument of the Clergy's not being in the Interest of the Government because many of them seem to be against such an Oath but I hope by what has been said it may appear that true Lovers of the King and Government may be against it too and the more against it for their being so But I now come to consider another of those Causes of Deism mentioned by our Author which is The great Zeal the Clergy have shewed for Modes and Ceremonies and other things of an indifferent nature who he says have been more concerned about them than about the substantial Points of Piety and Holiness which he is pleased to call Priest-Crast or the carrying on an Interest of their own under pretence of Religion About which matter he quotes two Passages out of Sir Matthew Hale's Letters To which I shall only reply That Sir Matthew does in those Passages talk like himself that is like one of the best Christians this Age has produced And had our Author spoke about these Matters with that Spirit and Concern for Religion the good Judge does he should have had no Reflexions from me It has been often matter of great Concern to me to consider the Infirmity of Humane Nature how apt Men have been in all Ages and Nations to fall into Superstition to leave off the Thoughts of Piety and Holiness the Subduing their Passions and the Sanctification of their Souls together with the other noble Vertues of Justice and Charity Meekness and Humility and the like which even common Reason would teach us must be the best way to please a holy and good God and instead of these to expect to recommend themselves to him by little Tricks and Observations of their own inventing But especially it has been a great Trouble that so pure and holy a Religion as that which Christ has delivered to us should suffer so much under the same fate Much of this may have been owing to Weakness of Understanding and more I am afraid to the Corruption of Nature when Men have been unwilling to take so much Pains as to deny their Appetites and govern their Souls under the influence of Religion but yet still desired to please God and get to Heaven which because they would not do one way they must artempt to do another This has in most Ages given Men a strong Bent to Superstition as being their only Refuge and for this Reason it is chiefly that it is so hard a matter to keep any Nation from running into this or else into Irreligion and Atheism Men being so apt upon these Accounts to run into Superstition of themselves this may have been helped forward by the Ignorance of some and the Designs of some other of those who should have taught them better and when Corruptions of this kind were once brought in it would hardly be in the Power of those that were wiser and better to remove them again as I remember St. Austin makes a great Complaint of this kind against the Christians of his time that they were so set upon many Superstitious Observations that he durst not oppose them as seeing he was only like to lose himself and should not be able to do any Good upon them But not to dwell upon this any longer
upon Methinks this is but a poor pitiful thing and a melancholy prospect to any that regards the Dignity of his Nature and yet is the very best that such a Man can propose and a Favour that after all he cannot be certain of This is indeed it must be confessed much better than to be eternally miserable and that is the Reason that so many wicked Men fly to it as their Refuge and indeed they were in the right of it if either the one or the other were unavoidable But since by the Mercy of God this may be avoided only by leaving our Sins it must be great Stupidity for a Man to look upon it to be his Interest to die like the Beasts that perish so he may but indulge himself a little while here rather than have the Principles of Christianity true according to which it is in his Power by the Grace of God to be happy for ever and in prospect of that to make his Life very comfortable in this World 3. I would desire them to consider seriously whether they have thought upon the Matter as they ought to do whether they have throughly and with Attention weighed the Principles of Religion and the Arguments for them to see whether they are true or no. It 's plain that these things have been the Belief of many wise considering Men for several Ages who have ventured all they have in the World upon it and lost all for it and therefore the Matter should be at least well examined before they venture to declare against it for before that be done they can't tell but after all it may prove true and if it do they are undone for ever But then the Business must not be weighed slightly or put off with a Jest or judged only by Objections which Wit may raise against any thing and of which perhaps by reason of the Sublimity of the Matter we are not proper Judges but the whole Evidence must be taken together and after all we must not expect strict Demonstration in a Case which supposing it true will not admit of it but be content with such Reasons and Proofs as an honest impartial Man would be in a matter of this kind But above all it is necessary that we purge our Minds from all earthly and sensual Passions we must endeavour after a great Sincerity and Purity of Soul for Religion the Christian Religion especially is a thing of a spiritual and sublime Nature directly contrary to all those mean Passions and Inclinations that debase the Soul and therefore till that be purified a Man is no proper Judge in this matter he cannot relish or see the Excellency of this Religion Common Sense must indeed judge of the external Arguments that prove the Truth of it and from them a very wicked Man may conclude that this is the True Religion but still a Man can hardly discern at least not taste and inwardly feel the Excellency of it without purity of Soul which must take away much of the Force of those Arguments brought for the Truth of it To conclude this Matter A guilty defiled Soul must needs be of a Party against the Christian Religion and therefore is not fit to be a Judge Consider therefore seriously with your selves whether all this I have now spoke of have been done and whether it be not the greatest Madness in the World to venture your Souls upon it if it have not Having now finished what I designed I would humbly take leave before I conclude in a few Words to address my self to the Reverend Clergy of this Kingdom who are the Persons principally struck at in that Pamphlet upon which I have been reflecting That since their Enemies take all Occasions not only to make them vile but from thence also to reflect upon Our Holy Religion they would make it their great Care to cut off all such Occasions from those who seek it It has been a great Misfortune to the Present Establish'd Church that it has had so many Enemies of all sorts who have been ready to pry into the Lives and Actions of the Clergy to expose all their Failings and misrepresent Things that might well bear a good Construction not after all but that in so great a Body of Men we must expect there will be some neither so good nor so wise and discreet as the true Friends of Religion would be glad to see them but I hope that if there have been any who have not hitherto been so careful as they ought to be they will now especially lay to heart the great Obligations their Holy Profession brings upon them because not only their own Honour and that of the Church but even of our common Christianity is concerned in it A grave and serious a diligent and industrious a peaceable and unanimous Clergy are the likeliest means to recover the Reputation of Religion and to make it sensibly lovely in the Eyes of the World whereas on the other side every loose or careless ambitious or contentious Clergyman does indeed only expose and betray that Cause which he is bound to promote But especially as there is nothing more essential to our Religion than Meekness and Love and Gentleness so there is nothing more shocking than to see the contrary Character appear in the Sermons or Writings of Church-men tho' it be in the Defence of Truth It is very bad for Persons of that Holy Profession to be guilty of Vices in the private Conduct of their Lives but to Preach or to Write bitterly against each other is to proclaim to the World a Spirit directly contrary to that of their Religion and to call as many as they can to take notice of it In short Religion is a thing cannot be long kept up as Secular Factions may be by Interest or Grandeur or any thing of that kind no it must have real internal Esteem in the Hearts of Men otherwise the Effect is very like to be that they will leave that for some other or else look upon all Religion to be only Trick and Design It is true indeed that no Actions of Men can alter the Natures of Things or make that Religion to be true or false now which was determinately one of them many hundred Years ago But it is not every body that either can or will consider things aright that requires some Pains and Time and Freedom from Prejudice but a Good Life especially in Clergy-men is a sensible and a visible thing every body knows that the great End of Religion is to make Men Pious and Holy and therefore they will very naturally incline there where they see most of that To conclude all in a Word The best way that either Ministers or People can serve their Religion is by adorning it with a holy Conversation and it concerns all as they will at the Great day answer for the Scandal brought upon it that they do not by their ill Lives and as much as possible not by any Indiscretion cause the Enemies of the Lord to Blaspheme FINIS
brought in in the late Reign and incouraged during that time both in Clergy and People and in order perhaps to prepare the way for Popery carried on so far then that it is now a very hard Matter to reform it 2. Another thing that much promoted it were the Divisions and Factions both in Church and State the grols Enthusiasm of the late Times and the many ill things done under the pretence of Conscience And then on the other side the open Profaneness of some in Opposition to them Add to this that both Sides too much made it their Business to expose one another and so made each other appear indeed much worse than they were by which means great occasion was given to ill men first to look on all Sides as Knaves and then to laugh at all Pretences to Religion 3. Another thing that accidentally came in to help it forward might be this That at the same time such Offence was given and there was such great Corruption of Manners Mr. Hobbs's Philosophy and that of some others came much in Vogue which brought in some loose Principles and encouraged Men in a Sceptical Humour and made them suspect every thing and when once Men of ill Lives are unhinged in their Principles they will hardly be at the pains to think deep enough to set themselves right again especially when their Religion is so contradictory to their Lusts 4. Another thing that may have promoted it is the Detection of the gross Forgeries of the Church of Rome as to Miracles and other things which tho' found out in the Last Age yet then only increased Mens Zeal against Popery but now when Men were become more indifferent in Religion it had a very different Effect and inclined many People to suspect the Evidence of Christianity it self tho' very absurdly the Cases being so very different 5. Another great Cause of it may be this That Religion has been openly exposed commonly in our Plays They have not indeed brought our Saviour upon the Stage and exposed him in Person but it has been almost as bad they have made it their Business to laugh at the true Life of Religion at all Sense of Conscience or talking seriously about Spiritual Matters They have encouraged Looseness and Debauchery and made it their Bufiness to make 'em as easie to the World as possible In short the whole Genius and Spirit of our Modern Plays is as contrary to that of the Christian Religion as Darkness is to Light and then it 's no wonder if People that are much conversant in these do in some time lose all Sense of the other 6. I shall name at present but this one more which though not much taken notice of may have had a considerable Influence this way upon Young Gentlemen especially and that is this That by the false Laws of Honour now in Vogue they see they cannot live and act like Gentlemen and at the same time keep to the plain Rules of their Religion Christ commands us to forgive Injuries not to render Evil for Evil but if a Gentelman at present won't cut his Neighbours Throat for a small Affront he must be contented to suffer himself what is very hard to be born to be exposed and counted a Coward and be perhaps kicked out of Company by which means the Christian Religion is really in a State of Persecution Now this is a great Snare to Young Gentlemen and must make very many of them resolve rather to leave their Religion in that Point than undergo what is so hard to be born and tho' the case do never happen to them yet the very Resolution must debauch the Conscience take away much if not all the Authority Religion has over it which must needs make that very uneasie and so incline him for his own Quiet to throw it quite off or come to despise it as not being fit to be the Rule of the Life and Actions of a Gentleman Had our Authors Design been to give us a full Account of the Growth of Deism in England he could hardly have missed either of these or some other Causes besides those he mentions which I shall now take the Liberty a little to reflect upon He lays then the whole Guilt of the Growth of Deism upon the Clergy A very severe Charge and which if true must justly make them the Hatred both of God and Man Certainly Clergy-men of all Persons ought to take care of themselves that they may not if possible so much as by any Infirmity prejudice Men against that Holy Religion which they are Commissioned by God to keep up and propagate in the World And they will have very much to answer for to their great Master if they do like Eli's Sons make themselves Vile and make people abhor the offerings of the Lord. But then for the same Reason that it is so great a Sin in them to make themselves vile it is so in others to endeavour to render them so for if they are made vile and contemptible the Mischief and Prejudice to Religion is the same whether they are made so by their own Fault or other Peoples The very same Obligation that lies upon Ministers to take Care of themselves the same lies upon other People not to defame them or misrepresent their Actions or aggravate their Infirmities because upon their Reputation the Good of Religion does indeed very much depend If they lose their Reputation by their own Fault they must be accountable for all the ill Effects of it but if other People will do it either by inventing or aggravating Matters the Guilt must light there where the Fault is I would therefore once more apply my self to our Author that he would seriously ask his own Conscience whether tho' he represents the only Cause of Deism to be the ill Opinion Men have of Clergy-men yet he does not in this Pamphlet make it his Endeavour to render them as vile as he can and whose Work he can suppose he has been doing in it For either the Foundation of his Book must be simple and impertinent that the ill Opinion the World has of Clergy-men is the Cause of the Growth of Deism or else he himself must grant that the exposing them with so much Virulence must certainly serve the same end 2. I would ask him Whether he has observed those Rules in this Pamphlet which every honest Man should observe when he speaks ill of any and much more in a Case of such Importance as this is Every Man that would meddle with Matters of this Nature should take care 1. That he speak nothing but what is exact Truth 2. That he relate Matters in a plain and natural way without putting false Colours upon them without putting in or leaving out Circumstances that may quite alter the Matter that he don't aggravate little things or use tragical or ridiculous Expressions to disguise but in short that he represent things as they really are 3. When a
thing is capable of a double Construction he must not presently suppose the worst especially he must have a Care that he don't as is too often done tack his ill Construction to the thing and so represent it as part of the Matter of Fact 4. Though a thing bereally ill he ought to make so much Allowance for Ignorance or Prejudice or it may be Passion or other Infirmities as a good Man may be guilty of and to consider whether some of these may not justly be brought in to alleviate the matter 5. That he should at least let every Man bear his own Burthen and no more not censure one for the Fault of another or bring in a whole Body of Men for what concerns only some and it may be but a few of them Had our Author observed these good Rules we should hardly have seen this Pamphlet And now I have mentioned these I believe I may leave it without fear of any great Danger from it However I shall take notice of some Paragraphs in it before I proceed to what I farther designed His first Instance that he gives of the Progress of Deism is taken from the time of King Charles the First Page â— for from that time chiefly begins the Hatred of the Party against Clergyment His Instance is of a Young Gentleman sent to travel into Popish Countries and principled by his Tutor to have a Care of Popery because it 's a Religion which in almost all its Branches is only calculated and designed to serve a Turn c. Well the Young Gentleman when he has done his Travels returns to Old England and finds Archbishop Laud and the Presbyterians quarrelling about Power and this gives him a Prejudice against the Religion of his Country and so he turns Deist Now sure this Young Gentleman had not a good Tutor or else he discharged him as is commonly done too soon I suppose when he was sent to Spain or Italy his Tutor did not bid him disbelieve the Apostles Creed because the Errors of Popery were invented to serve a Turn but his Meaning was That he should have a Care and not easily without good Evidence believe any thing that had such an Objection against it And he was in the right to bring this Caution home with him If they were quarrelling about Power not to believe either till he had examined the Matter But there were a thousand other things in which they agreed and which did not serve the End of Power or any other Interest why did he throw them off But especially Why did he throw off the Holy Scriptures before he knew whether their Master did encourage them in such ambitious Designs Page 7. It was not very wisely done in a Matter of such Concernment Page 5. Yet this was one of our Author's Men of Probity and Sobriety But I rather think his Manners were corrupted in his Travels and so he had no great mind to Religion otherwise he would not have parted with it so easily As for Archbishop Laud who is struck at here and so often in this Pamphlet I shall not pretend to justifie all he did if he were guilty of Miscarriages he suffered severe enough for them and the Party might now very well let him rest But as for his Zeal in defending the Government of the Church were it in it self an indifferent matter what the Government of it should be yet since Episcopacy was Established it would not have been very wise without Good Reasons to have hazarded so many Evils as might come by a Change But he had this farther to say for himself that his Zeal was to preserve that Government which the Church of Christ had universally had in all Ages from the Apostles Days that which apparently had been the Government in England ever since there were Christians here that Government under which this Church had been reformed and had so long flourished and therefore that one in his Place should have betrayed his Trust had he not done all he could to preserve it Our Author invidiously takes notice of the Bishops Courts Style c. Page 6. If the Nation has thought fit to shew their Respect to their Religion by bestowing some Honours or Conveniences on the Ministers of it which they cannot and do not pretend to by the Laws of Christ it will be a hard matter for this Author to shew any Reason why they may not make use of them But as for what follows it is very surprizing and shews that our Author should have taken some Care to know the Principles of the Church better before he railed at it so much His words are these Page 7. But the Bishop is the Higher Power because by the Principles of Episcopacy he can Excommunicate the King i. e. forbid him the very Conversation of his Subjects and thereby render them uncapable to make good their Oath of Allegiance in yielding their Aid and Assistance It is like enough some may be of Opinion that it is the Duty of a good Christian Bishop or Minister to refuse giving the Holy Sacrament even to a King if he be notoriously Scandalous in his Life but to Excommunicate him so as to forbid him the Conversation of his Subjects is to Depose him at least if he remains contumacious which upon second Thoughts our Author himself will hardly take to be the Doctrine of the Church of England It is not my intent to follow him through every particular of such a loose discourse but only to take notice of what occurs most remarkable He does in several Places fall upon the business of the Persecution of Dissenters to which I shall make no other Reply but that I am sorry that all Parties have given each other so much Provocation and have therefore been so apt to be hard upon one another at every little Advantage the Times afford and I am very sorry that so much Heat and Animosity still remains on all Sides and is still like to do if Men go on to write such Books as these of our Author on purpose to inflame He expresses himself very angry at the Test and calls it a Church-device to which I shall make no other Answer but that it is not an Act of Convocation but an Act of Parliament and when made looked upon to be a good Act by Persons not thought to be much influenced by the Counsels of Church-Men And after all it will be a hard Matter for our Author or any else to give any good Reason why a State or Kingdom may not to preserve Unity and consequently Peace and Quiet give that Encouragement to the Established Religion That none shall enjoy any Office of Honour or Profit who is not of it and who does not as a Testimony of that bring a Certificate of his actually joining in Communion with it in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper And I would be very glad to see so much Moderation in those who dissent from the
tells us that there is but one God and yet gives the Name and the Attributes of God to the Father to Jesus Christ the Son and the Holy Ghost How far each of these is distinct from the other it no where tells us only that each of them is God and yet there is but one God Here then we must stick That the Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost God and yet there are not three Gods but one God and must conclude with our selves that there is some way which God has not thought fit to reveal to us perhaps because we are not now capable of understanding it whereby these three are one Now in all this there is no Absurdity or Contradiction but the only Difficulty is whether this be sufficient But if God has revealed this and revealed no more that ought to be no Difficulty this is not sufficient to gratifie Mens Curiosity or to answer all those Questions that we would indeed be glad to hear resolved but without going farther here is sufficient in this to answer those Ends which we may suppose God had in Revealing it For 1. If the Father Son and Holy Ghost are God here is sufficient Foundation for Divine Worship to be paid to each of Them So that this Doctrine of the Trinity is not as our Author represents it a Doctrine of meer Speculation but is a Foundation of one of the greatest Religious Duties the Worship of God If Jesus Christ be represented to me in Scripture as God as God blessed for ever I ought then to Worship him tho' I don't know how far he is distinct from the Father or the Holy Ghost or how these three are but one God 2. We may from the Revelation of so much understand the chief Points of the Christian Religion The great Doctrine of the Gospel of the Redemption of the World by Jesus Christ cannot be understood without it but with it we can give such an Account as can be expected of a matter of so high a Nature Of the Dignity of Our Saviours Person That the Word was made Flesh Joh. 1.14 1 Tim. 3.16 that God was Manifested in the Flesh and thence of the great Love of God and of Our Saviour Jesus Christ to us who tho he were in the form of God Philip. 2.6 7. yet for our Jakes humbled himself even to the death of the Cross We have hence a Reason of the great Value and Merits of his Sufferings which must needs be very great in such a Person whom when he came into the world Heb. 1.6 all the Angels of God were to worship which cannot be accounted for without such an ineffable Union to the Divine Nature as makes the Person Jesus Christ to be truly God And to name no more This gives us an account of our being Baptized in the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost of which without the Belief of each of them to be God it would be a hard matter to give a good Account but with this we may without knowing how far each is distinguish'd from the other But my Design was only to touch upon these things to shew that what God has revealed has not those Absurdities in it our Author suggests and is sufficient to answer all the wise Ends of the Revelation perhaps as much as if we had been told more and if Men will go further than this and then quarrel with one another it is not the Revelation of God but their own Notions which they quarrel about But to return now to the Matter of Deism I am afraid that it is but too true that these Controversies have been a Prejudice to the Christian Religion but then I believe the Guilt of this must light chiefly upon Our Author's Friends the Socinians who have made it their Business to expose and ridicule those Doctrines which will be found after all to be the Doctrines of the Holy Scriptures and to have been the Belief of Christians in all Ages which as it is in it self a very great Argument for the Truth of them so on the other side it must be a mighty Shock to Christianity to represent those things as Absurd and Contradictory which have been for so long the Common Faith of Christians and indeed it will be a hard matter to have any great Opinion of that Religion which has been in the World for above sixteen hundred Years and has hardly ever yet had any Professors but those who have grossly Misunderstood and Misrepresented it But it is not my Business to recriminate and I have designedly hitherto avoided it that I might not give any Occasion to Quarrels of which God knows the World is but too full already God in Mercy forgive all those who have any way done any thing to the Prejudice of so holy a Religion and grant that they may Repent and by their Zeal and Concern for it for the future may make some Amends for the Mischief they have done To conclude this Head This is not the first Time or Age in which the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity has been charged with Absurdities yet notwithstanding that it still continues to be the Faith of Christians and I believe is still like to be so notwithstanding all the Difficulties either the Disputes of its Friends or the Opposition of its Enemies can load it with a very good Evidence this that it is very well founded since so many Shocks have not been able to overthrow it And methinks there may be fetched some Evidence for the Truth of the Christian Religion it self from the Opposition which this and some other of its Doctrines have met with in the World None of its Enemies can prove any Absurdity or Contradiction in them but it must be confessed that they are such as are not in themselves very plausible and taking or very apt in their own Nature to win upon the World and therefore we see that the Apostle complains that Preaching up Christ and the Method of our Redemption by him was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness If we add to this Consideration what a mighty Prejudice the World commonly has against receiving any thing upon the Credit of such mean Persons as the first Preachers of Christianity were it will be very hard to conceive how this Religion should ever have prevailed unless God had in some extraordinary manner concurred with it The Truth is it is not easie to imagine how these things should ever have come into any body's head unless God had Revealed them But besides if Men had had a mind to invent they would have thought of something more plausible and of all things in the World they would never have made it their Choice to preach up a Crucified Saviour Certainly nothing but a full Conviction of the Truth of it could ever have persuaded a few mean People of a Despised Nation to think of Converting the World to such a Doctrine
be encouraged too It is look'd upon by some as a sufficient Reason to throw away any thing a Minister can say without considering because they say it is his Trade the thing by which he gets his Living and therefore that he must talk so To which I shall only reply in a word that it is absurd enough that since Heathens have done persecuting their Ministers they won't believe their Religion unless Christians themselves will persecute them too But however this be whatever Ministers may get now by their Religion the first Ministers of it it 's very plain did not get any thing by it but the Saving of their Souls so that there is no reason why they should question believing them 3. From what was laid down before we may infer That as our Religion could not be an Invention of State nor an Invention of those who Preached it so neither could it come from Enthusiasm or any thing of that kind which is the only thing that can be pretended besides From what has been said of the Apostles c. no Man can reasonably doubt of their being honest Men and really believing what they said to be true so that there remains nothing but to see whether they were deceieved or no. But as I shewed before a great part of the things they Preached and such as confirm the Truth of all the rest were plain and open Matters of fact the things which they had seen and heard and those repeated in so many Instances that they could not be deceived as may appear to any that will but consider what has been said before or read carefully over the History recorded in the Evangelists and the Acts of the Apostles Matters of Opinion and Speculation may easily be imposed upon fanciful People but such a Series of Matters of fact cannot be imposed upon Mens Sight and Hearing and yet if those are true All the rest of our Religion must be true too 4. This shews us a manifest Difference betwixt the Miracles wrought by the Apostles c. and some that have been since pretended in Confirmation of the Popish Errors That the Apostles plainly could have no Interest to invent or relate Matters falsly if they did not believe their Religion true it was their Interest to lay it down and have nothing more to do with it but as for the other to say no worse of them they do evidently serve a Turn and what does so unless there be very good Evidence for it we have just Reason to suspect Having done in short with what I designed to speak to about the Christian Religion I would now seriously address my self to those who have any doubt about these Matters and especially to those who set up for Deism in England The Matter is certainly of very great Consequence and what we are all very much concerned in and therefore does at least deserve a serious Examination and not to be slightly passed over or made matter of Jest as has been the Custom of too many who I believe have little considered whether these things are true or no or what the Importance of them is supposing they are true But a Man had need be very sure before he venture to affront God and what he has revealed to us in such a manner I desire therefore they would consider with me these few things 1. That supposing the Christian Religion be true it must be a very dangerous thing to be an Infidel It 's a common Opinion in this Age that Men are under no Laws or Obligations as to their Belief and Opinions of Things and therefore cannot be punished for them let them be what they will and this makes them easily declare for or against any thing as Humour or Inclination leads them without much considering the Matter And indeed so far they are in the right that God requires no Man to believe without Evidence and if a Man knows what he does he cannot believe any thing but so far as he finds it true But it 's very plain on the other side that God may command his Creatures to take notice of some things at their Peril and if their Disbelief of what he reveals comes by their own Fault this is then as criminal as any other Immorality And therefore our Religion frequently reckons Infidelity among those Sins for which Men shall be punished in the other World The very Words by which our Saviour gave his Apostles Commission to preach the Gospel shew this Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned By which I suppose he means every one that has the Gospel preached to him but either through Negligence or fear of Persecution or some other Corruption of Heart remains still in his Unbelief And St. John in Rev. 21.8 reckons up Unbelievers among those that shall have their Portion in the Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone But the Fearful and Unbelieving and the Abominable and Murderers and Whoremongers and Sorcerers and Idolaters and all Lyars shall have their portion in the Lake that burns with fire and brimstone What God will do with those that never heard of the Gospel he has no where told us no question but he will deal with them according to the Rules of Justice and Mercy But it 's plain that God has no where promised Heaven but upon condition of Faith in Christ that being a free Gift which he can dispose of on what Conditions he pleases and as for those who live under the preaching of the Gospel but through any fault of their own remain Infidels according to the Scriptures Infidelity is in such a Sin of as dangerous a nature as any Sin whatever And therefore a Man had need be very sure and have examined the matter very throughly before he set up for an Infidel when the Consequence of it is like to be so terrible if the Christian Religion should prove true at last 2. I desire they would consider how little Reason there is why any Man should be proud or fond either of being or being counted an Infidel The great Principles of Infidelity at present are That there is no Future State no such things as Rewards or Punishments in the other World Now suppose this might be proved true What would the Infidel get by all this He would only prove himself to be a mean pitiful and contemptible Creature a Creature the most awkwardly made of any in the whole Creation a Creature which is to be included within the space of a few Years and spends almost all that time either in little Follies or vain Hopes or toilsome Cares either in fruitless Desires or insipid Enjoyments either in real Sufferings or imaginary Fears or something or other of that kind and when this short impertinent Scene is ended must then only become a little Dirt as mean contemptible Dirt as any he now treads