Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy works And again Psal. 14. 8. 3. Praise him Sun and Moon praise him ye Stars and Light which intimates that these Works of his afford matter to our reasons for religious acknowledgments And Reason proves the existence of God from the beauty and order and ends and usefulness of the Creatures for these are demonstrative Arguments of the being of a wise and omnipotent mind that hath framed all things so orderly and exactly and that mind is God This Article then Reason proves which was the first branch of the particular and I add that it is Reason only that can do it which was the other This you will see when you consider that there are but three things from whence the existence of any Being can be concluded viz. Sense Revelation or Reason For Sense it hath no more to do here but to present matter for our Reasons to work on and Revelation supposeth the Being of a God and cannot prove it for we can have no security that the Revelation is true till we are assured it is from God or from some Commissioned by him The knowledge of his Being therefore must precede our Faith in Revelation and so cannot be deduced from it Thus Reason befriends Religion by laying its corner stone And the next to this is the other Principle mentioned II. The Divine Authority of Scripture This also is to be proved by Reason and only by It. The great Argument for the truth of Scripture is the Testimony of the Spirit in the Miracles wrought by Christ and his Apostles Our Saviour himself useth this Argument to gain credit to his Doctrines Believe me for the works sake The works that I do bear testimony of me and if I had not done among them the works that no other man did they had had no sin Joh. XV. 24. And the Apostles continually urge that great Miracle the Resurrection of Christ from the dead for the conviction both of the Jews and Gentiles That he was the Son of God and his Doctrines true Now Miracles are an Argument to our Reasons and we reason from them thus Miracles are Gods Seal and they are wrought by his Power and He is true and good and would not lend these to Impostors to cheat and abuse mankind Therefore whoever works real Miracles for the confirmation of any Doctrine it is to be believed that He is taught of God and Commissioned to teach us And that Christ and his Apostles did those things which are recorded of them is matter of Testimony and Reason clears the validity of this by the aggregation of multitudes of Circumstances which shew that the first Relators could not be deceived themselves and would not deceive us nor indeed could in the main matters if they had designed it And the certainty of the conveyance of these things to us is evinced also by numerous convictive Reasons So that the matter of fact is secure and that such Doctrines were taught as are ascribed to those divine persons and those persons inspired that penned them are proved the same way And so it follows from the whole that the Gospel is the Word of God and the Old Testament is confirmed by that Thus Reason proves the Divine Authority of Scripture and those other Arguments that use to be produced for it from Its style and Its influence upon the Souls of men from the excellency of its design and the Providence of God in preserving it are of the same sort though not of the same strength Reason then proves the Scriptures and this only For that they are from God is not knâ—…wn immediately by sense and there is no distinct Revelation that is certain and infallible to assure us of it and so Reason only remains to deâ—…onstrate this other Fundamental Article These two great Truths The existence of God and Authority of Scripture are the first in our Religion and they are Conclusions of Reason and Foundations of Faith Thus briefly of those Principles of Religion that are Fundamentally such We have seen how Reason serves them by demonstrating their Truth and certainty I COME now to the SECOND sort of Principles viz. those that are formally so They are of two sorts mixt and pure The mixt are those that are discovered by Reason and declared by Revelation also and so are Principles both of Reason and Faith Of this kind are the Attributes of God Moral good and evil and the Immortality of humane Souls The Principles of pure Faith are such as are known only by Divine Testimony as the Miraculous Conception the Incarnation and the Trinity The first sort Reason proves as well as Scripture this I shew briefly in the alledged instances 1. That the Divine Attributes are revealed in the Holy Oracles 't is clear and they are deduced from Reason also For 't is a general Principle of all Mankind That God is a Being absolutely perfect And hence Reason concludes all the particular Attributes of his Being since Wisdom Goodness Power and the rest are perfections and imply nothing of imperfection or defect and therefore ought to be ascribed to the infinitely perfect Essence 2. That there is moral good and evil is discoverable by Reason as well as Scripture For these are Reasons Maxims That every thing is made for an end and every thing is directed to its end by certain Rules these Rules in Creatures of understanding and choice are Laws and the transgressing these is Vice and Sin 3. The Immortality of our Souls is plain in Scripture and Reason proves it by shewing the Spirituality of our natures and that it doth from the nature of Sense and our perception of spiritual Beings and Universals Of Logical Metaphysical and Mathematical Notions From our compounding Propositions and drawing Conclusions from them From the vastness and quickness of our Imaginations and Liberty of our Wills all which are beyond the powers of matter and therefore argue a Being that is spiritual and consequently immortal which inference the Philosophy of Spirits proves Also the Moral Arguments of Reason from the goodness of God and his Justice in distributing rewards and punishments the nature of virtue and tendencies of religious appetites conclude I think strongly That there is a life after this Thus in short of the Principles I called mixt which Reason demonstrates BUT for the others viz. II. Those of pure Revelation Reason cannot prove them immediately nor is it to be expected that it should For they are matters of Testimony and we are no more to look for immediate proof from Reason of those things than we are to expect that abstracted Reason should demonstrate That there is such a place as China or that there was such a man as Julius Caesar All that it can do here is to assert and make good the credibility and truth of the Testimonies that relate such matters and that it doth in the present case proving the Authority of Scripture and thereby in a
encourage them to it I shall adventure to add That it seems very probable that much of the matter of those Hallelujah's and triumphant Songs that shall be the joyful entertainment of the blessed will be taken from the wonders of Gods Works and who knows but the contemplation of these and God in them shall make up a good part of the imployment of those glorified Spirits who will then have inconceivable advantages for the searching into those effects of Divine Wisdom and Power beyond what are possible for us mortals to attain And those discoveries which for ever they shall make in that immense Treasure of Art the Universe must needs sill their Souls every moment with pleasant astonishment and inslame their hearts with the ardors of the highest love and devotion which will breathe forth in everlasting thanksgivings And thus the study of Gods Works joyned with those pious sentiments they deserve is a kind of partial anticipation of Heaven And next after the contemplations of his Word and the wonders of his Mercy discovered in our Redemption it is one of the best and noblest imployments the most becoming a reasonable Creature and such a one as is taught by the most reasonable and excellent Religion in the World FINIS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR A Seasonable Recommendation and Defence OF REASON In the Affairs of RELIGION AGAINST Infidelity Scepticism and Fanaticisms of all sorts LONDON Printed by J. M. for James Collins at the Kingsâ—…ead in Westminster-Hall 1670. AD CLERUM Rom. XII the latter part of verse 1. Which is your reasonable Service THERE is nothing that I know hath done so much mischief to Christianity as the disparagement of Reason under pretence of respect favour to Religioâ—… since hereby the very Foundations of the Christian Faith have bin undermined and the World prepared for Atheism For if Reason must not be heard the Being of a GOD and the Authority of Scripture can neither be proved nor defended and so our Faith drops to the ground like a house that hath no foundation Besides by this way those sickly conceits and Enthusiastick dreams and unsound Doctrines that have poysoned our Air and infatuated the minds of men and exposed Religion to the scorn of Infidels and divided the Church and disturbed the peace of mankind and involved the Nation in so much blood and so many Ruines I say hereby all these fatal Follies that have been the occasions of so many mischiefs have been propagated and promoted So that I may affirm boldly That here is the Spring-head of most of the waters of bitterness and strife and here the Fountain of the great Deeps of Atheism and Fanaticism that are broken up upon us And now to damme up this sourâ—…e of mischiefs by representing the fair agreement that is between Reason and Religion is the most seasonable service that can be done unto both since hereby Religion will be rescued from the impious accusation of its being groundless and imaginary And reason also defended against the unjust charge of those that would make this beam of God prophane and irreligious This I shall endeavour at this timâ—… and I think it proper work for the occasion now that I have an opportunity of speaking to You Reverend Fathers and Brethren of the Clergie For 't is from the Pulpit Religion hath received those wounds through the sides of Reason I do not say and I do not think It hath fâ—…om yours But we know that indiscreet and hot Preachers that had entertain'd vain and unreasonable Doctrines which they had made an interest and the badges of a Party perceiving that their darling opinions could not stand if Reason their enemy were not discredited They set up a loud cry against Reason as the great adversary of free-Grace and Faith and zealously endeavoured to run it down under the mis-applied names of Vain Philosophy Carnal Reasoning and the Wisdom of this World And what hath been the issue of those cantings we have sadly seen and felt So that 〈◊〉 think 't is now the duty of all sober and reasonable men to rise up against this spirit of Folly and infatuation and something I shall attempt at present by shewing that Reason is very serviceable to Religion and Religion very friendly to Reason both which are included in these words of the Apostle WHICH IS YOUR REASONABLE SERVICE He had proved in the preceding part of this Epistle That the Gospel was the only way of happiness and here he enters upon the application of this Doctrine and affectionately exhorts his Romans to conform themselves unto it I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies By which no doubt he means their whole persons For they are to be a living sacrifice Living in opposition to the dead services of the Ceremonial Law Holy acceptable unto God in opposition to those legal performances that had no intrinsick goodness in thâ—…m and were not acceptable now that thâ—…ir institution was determinâ—…d And the motives whereby he enforceth his exhâ—…rtation are these two viz. The mercies of GOD which the Gospel hath brought and propounded I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God And the reasonableness of the thing it self that he urgeth them to Which is your reasonable service My business is with this latter and I liâ—…fer from it That Religion is a reasonable thing IN treating of this Propâ—…sition I shall I. State what I mean by Religion and what by Reason II I shall demonstrate their harmony and agreement III Indeavour to disable the main Objections that are alledged against the use of Reason in the affairs of Faith And IV. Improve all by some Inferences and Advices TO BEGIN with the first the setling the distinct Notions of Religion and Reason We know there is nothing in any matter of enquiry or debate that can be discovered or determinâ—…d till the Terms of the Question are explained and their Notions setled The want of this hath been the occasion of a great part of those Confusions we find in Disputes and particularly most of the Clamours that have been raised against Reason in the affairs of Religion have sprung from mens mistakes of the nature of both For while groundless opinions and unreasonable practices are often called Religion on the one hand and vain imaginations and false consequences are as frequently stiled Reason on the other 'T is no wonder that such a Religion disclaims the use of Reason or that such Reason is opposite to Religion Therefore in order to my shewing the agreement between true Religion and genuine Reason I shall with all the clearness that I can represent the just meaning of the one and of the other FOR Religion First the name signifies Binding and so imports duty and all duty is comprised under these two Generals Worship and Virtue Worship comprehends all our duties towards God Virtue all those that relate to our Neighbour or our selves Religion then primarily consists in these
the Motion of the Earth and terrestrial Nature of the Moon ought to be left to the Disquisitions of Philosophy The Word of God determines nothing about them for those expressions concerning the running of the Sun and its standing still may very well be interpreted as spoken by way of accommodation to sense and common apprehension as 't is certain that those of its going down and running from one end of the Heavens to the other and numerous resembling sayings are so to be understood And when 't is else where said That the foundations of the Earth are so fixt that it cannot be moved at any time or to that purpose 'T is supposed by Learned men that nothing else is meant than this That the Earth cannot be moved from its Centre which is no prejudice to the opinion of its being moved upon it And for the other Hypothesis of the Moon 's being a kind of Earth the Scripture hath said nothing of it on either hand nor can its silence be argumentative here since we know That all Mankind believes many things of which there is no mention there As that there are such places as China and America That the Magnet attracts Iron and directs to the North and that the Sea hath the motion of Flux and Reflux with ten thousand such other things discovered by Experience of which there is not the least hint in the Sacred Volume And are not these to be believed till they can be proved from Scripture this is ridiculously to abuse the Holy Oracles and to extend them beyond their proper business and design And to argue against this supposal as some do by Queries What men are in that other Earth whether fallen and how saved is very childish and absurd He that holds the opinion may confess his ignorance in all these things without any prejudice to his Hypothesis of the Moon 's being habitable or the supposal of its being actually inhabited For that may be though no living man can tell the nature and condition of those Creatures But for my part I assert neither of these Paradoxes only I have thought fit to speak thus briefly about them that they may be leâ—… to the freedom of Philosophical Inquiry for the Scripture is not concerned in such Queries And yet besides this which might suffice to vindicate the Neoterick Methods of Philosophy from the charge of being injurious to the Scripture in such instances I adde 3. The â—…ree experimental Philosophy which I recommend doth not affirm eâ—…er of those feared propositions For neither of them have so much evidence as to warrant peremptory and dogmatical assertions And therefore though perhaps some of those Philosophers think that they have great degrees of probability and so are sit for Philosophical consideration Yet there are none that I know that determine they are certainties and positive Truths 'T is contrary to the genius of their way to do so And on the other hand 't is a very obnoxious folly to conclude That those opinions are false when no one can be certain that they are so But whether the one or the other be said Religion and the Scriptures are not at all concerned Thus briefly of the slanders that are aâ—…t upon Philosophy viz. of its Tendency to Atheism and disparagement of the Scriptures The other lesser ones are answered in the discussion of these CHAP. VIII Other Objections against Philosophy answered viz. That there is too much Curiosity in those Inquiries That the Apostle gives a Caveat against it That the First Preachers of the Gospel knew little or nothing of it A brief Recital of some of the Holy Men who are recorded in Scripture to have had skill in several parts of Philosophy SECT I. BUT besides those slanderous imputations there are some little vulgar plausibilities pretended against it also It would be endless to recount all of them The chief are these that follow I. There is too much curiosity in those inquiries and S. Paul desired to know nothing but Christ and him crucified To which I answer That what is blameable curiosity in things not worth our pains or forbidden our scrutiny is Duty and laudable endeavour in matters that are weighty and permitted to our search So that nothing can be fastned upon the Philosophical Inquisitions into Nature on this account till it be first proved That a ' diligent observance of Gods Goodness and Wisdom in his Works in order to the using them to his glory and the benefit of the world is either prohibited or impertinent There is indeed such a depth in nature that it is never like to be throughly fathomed and such a darkness upon some of Gods Works that they will not in this world be found out to perfection But however we are not kept oâ—…f by any expressness of prohibition Nature is no Holy Mount that ought not to be touched yea we are commanded To search after wisdom and particularly after this when we are so frequently called upon to celebrate our Creator for his Works and are encouraged by the success of many that have gone before For many shall go to and fro and science shall be increased So that our inquiries into Nature are not forbidden and he that saith they are frivolous and of no use when the Art of the Omniscient is the object and his glory the good of men the end asperseth both the Creator and the Creature and contradicts his duty to both As for the latter clause of the Objection which urgeth that speech of S. Paul of his desiring to know nothing but Christ and him crucified 1 Cor. II. 2 I return to it That he that shall duely consider the discourse of the Apostle in the verse before and those that succeed will perceive That in this expression he only slights the affected eloquence of the Orators and Rhetoricians He spoke in plainness and simplicity and not in those inticing words of mans wisdom which he desired either not to know at all or not in comparison with the plain Doctrines of the Gospel Or if any should take the words in the largest sense then all sorts of humane Learning and all Arts and Trades are set at nought by the Apostle And if so the meaning can be no more than this That he preferred the knowledge of Christ before these For 't is ridiculous to think that he absolutely slighted all other Science The knowledge of Christ is indeed the chiefest and most valuable wisdom but the knowledge of the Works of God hath hath its place also and ought not quite to be excluded and despised Or if Philosophy be to be slighted by this Text all other knowledge whatsoever must undergo the same Fate with it But it will be urged SECT II. II. THat there is a particular caution given by the Apostle against Philosophy Col. II. 8. Beware lest any one spoil you through Philosophy To this I have said elsewhere That the Apostle there means either the pretended knowledge of the
which are the sum of the Law and the Prophets But duty cannot be performed without knowledge and some Principles there must be that must direct these Practices And those that discover and direct men in those actions of duâ—…y are called Principles of Religion These are of two sorts viz. Some are 1. Fundamental and Essential others 2. 〈◊〉 and assisting Fundamental 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Metaphor taken from the foundâ—… of a building upon which the Fabrick stands and without which it must sink to the ground So that Fundamental Principles are such as are supposed to the duties of Religion one or more and such as are absolutely necessary to the performance of them respectively Of this sort I mention four viz. I. That there is a God of infinite perfâ—…ction Thâ—… bâ—…lief of this iâ—… 〈◊〉 necâ—…ssary to all the parâ—…s oâ—… Râ—…ligion II. That we are sinners and exposed to his displeasure This is necessary to confession of sins and repentance parts of Worship III. That God is our Maker and the Author of all our blessings This is necessary to the Duties of Prayer Praise and Adoration IV. That there is Moral Good and Evil. Without this there can be no Charity Humility Justice Purity or the rest These Propositions I say are Fundamentals of Religion for it supposeth and stands upon them There are others which are not so absolutely necessary as these but yet very incouraging and helpful I reckon Four here also Viz. 1. THAT God will pardon us if we repent 2. THAT he will assist us if we endeavour 3. THAT he will accept of Services that are imperfect if they are sincere 4. THAT he will reward or punish in another world according â—…o what we have done in this This I count to be the sum of Religion general and Christianity takes in all those Duties and all the Principles advancing the Duties to nobler measures and incouraging them by new motives and assistances and superadding two other instances Baptism and the Lords Supper And for the Principles it confirms those of natural Religion and explains them further and discovers some few new ones And all these both of the former and the latter sort are contained in the Creed Here are all the Fundamentals of Religion and the main assisting Principles also And I call nothing else Religion but plain Duties and these acknowledged Principles And though our Church require our assent to more Propositions yet those are only Articles of Communion not Doctrines absolutely necessary to Salvation And if we go beyond the Creed for the Essentials of Faith who can tell where you shall stop The sum is Religion primarily is Duty And duty is All that which God hath coâ—…ded to be done by his Word or our Reasons and we have the substance of these in the Commandments Religion also in a secondary sense consists in some Principles relating to the Worship of God and of his Son in the ways of devoâ—…t and virtuous living and these are comprised in that Summary of belief called the Apostles Creed This I take to be Religion and this Religion I shall prove to be reasonable But I cannot undertake for all the Opinions some men are pleased to call Orthodox nor for all those that by many private persons and some Churches are counted essential Articles of Faith and Salvation Thus I have stated what I mean by Religion THE OTHER thing to be determined and fixt is the proper Notion of Rea on For this you may please â—…o consider that Reason is sometimes taken for Reason in the Faculty which is the Understanding and at other times for Reason in the object which consists in those Principles and Conclusions by which the Understanding is informed This latter is meant in the dispute concerning the agreement or disagreement of Reason and Religion And Reason in this sense is the same with natural truth which I said is made up of Principles and Conclusions By the Principles of Reason we are not to understand the Grounds of any mans Philosophy nor the Critical Rules of Syllogism but those imbred fundamental notices that God hath implanted in our Souls such as arise not from external objects nor particular humours or imaginations but are immediately lodged in our minds independent upon other principles or deductions commanding a sudden assent and acknowledged by all sober mankind Of this sort are these That God is a Being of all perfection That nothing hath no Attributes That a thing cannot be and not be That the whole is greater than any of its parts And such like others which are unto Us what instincts are to other Creatures These I call the Principles of Reason The Conclusions are those other notices that are inferred rightly from these and by their help from the observations of sense And the remotest that can be conceived of all these if it be rightly inferred from the Principles of Reason or duely circumstantiated sense is as well to be reckoned a part and branch of Reason as the more immediate Conclusions that are Principles in respect of those distant truths And thus I have given an account also of the proper notion and nature of Reason I AM to shew next 2 That Religion is reasonable and this implies two things viz. That Reason is a friend to Religion and that Religion is so to Reason From these two results their correspondence and agreement I begin with the FIRST and here I might easily shew the great congruity that there is between that light and those Laws that God hath placed in our Souls and the duties of Religion that by the expressness of his written Word he requires from us and demonstrate that Reason teacheth All those excepting only the two Positives Baptism and the holy Eucharist But there is not so much need of turning my discourse that way and therefore I shall confine it to the Principles of Religion which are called Faith and prove that Reason mightily befriends these It doth this I. By proving some of those Principles II. By defending all For the clearing both these you may consider That the Principles of Religion are of two sorts Either 1. such as are presupposed to Faith or such as 2. are formal Articles of it Of the first sort are The Being of a God and the Authority of the Scripture And of the second such as are expresly declared by Divine Testimony As the Attributes of God the Incarnation of his Son and such like I. For the former â—…ey are proved by Reason and by Reason only The others we shall consider after I. That the Being of a God the foundation of all is proved by Reason the Apostle acknowledgeth when he saith That what was to be known of God was manifest and to the Heathen Rom. I. XIX and he adds vers XX. That the invisible things from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made And the Royal Psalmist speaks to the like purpose Psal. XIX The Heavens declare the
arguings of our Saviour Thus Mat. 7. 11. If ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to those that ask him The ground of the Consequence is this Principle of Reason That God is more benigne and gracious than the tenderest and most affectionate of our earthly Parents So Luke 12. 24. He argues that God will provide for Us because he doth for the Ravens since we are better than they How much more are ye better than the sowls Which arguing supposeth this Principle of Reason that that wisdom and goodness which are indulgent to the viler Creatures will not neglect the more excellent He proceeds surther in the same Argument by the consideration of Gods cloathing the Lillies and makes the like inference from it Vers. 28. If God so cloath the grass how much more will he cloath you And Mat. 12. He reasons that it was lawful for him to heal on the Sabbath day from the consideration of the general mercy that is due even to brute Creatures What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day will he not lay hold of it to lift it out How much more then is a man better than a sheep Vers. 12. Thus our Saviour used Arguments of Reason And the APOSTLES did so very frequently S. Paul disproves Idolatry this way Acts 17. 29. Forasmuch then as we are the Off-spring of God we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone graven by Art And the same Apostle proves the Resurrection of the Dead by the mention of seven gross absurdities that would follow the denial of it 1 Cor. 1. 15. viz. If the dead rise not Then 1. Christ is not risen And then 2. our Preaching is vain and we false Apostles And if so 3. your Faith is vain And then 4. you are not justified but are in your sins And hence it will follow 5. That those that are departed in the same Faith are perished And then 6. Faith in Christ profits only in this life And if so 7. we are of all men the most miserable Because we suffer all things for this Faith From Vers. 14. to vers 19 And the whole Chapter contains Philosophical Reasoning either to prove or illustrate the Resurrection or to shew the difference of glorified bodies from these And S. Peter in his second Epistle Chap. 2. shews that sinful men must expect to be punished because God spared not the Angels that fell Instances in this case are endless these may suffice And thus of the Second thing also which I proposed to make good viz. That Religion is friendly to Reason and that appears in that God himself our Saviour and his Apostles owne it and use Arguments from it even in aâ—…fairs of Faith and Religion BUT Scripture the Rule of Faith is pretended against it and other Considerations also These therefore come next to be considered and the dealing with those pretensions was the III. General I proposed to discuss AS for Arguments from Scripture against the use of Reason 'T is alledged 1. From 1 Cor. 1. where 't is said That God will destroy the wisdom of the wise vers 19. And the world by wisdom knew not God vers 21. And not many wise men after the flesh are called vers 26. And God chose the foolish things of this world to confound the wise vers 27. By which Expressions of wisdom and wise 't is presumed that Humane Reason and rational men are meant But these Interpreters mistake the matter much and as they are wont to do put arbitrary Interpretations upon Scripture without ground For by Wisdom here there is no cause to understand the Reason of men but rather the Traditions of the Jews the Philosophy of the disputing â—…reeks and the worldly Polrey of the Romans who were the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Rulers of that World That the Jewish learning in their Law is meant the Apostle intimates when he aâ—…ks in a way of Challenge vers 20. Where is the Scribe And the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies one that was skill'd in their Laws and Customs And that the Philosophy of the Greeks is to be understood likewise we have ground to believe from the other question in the same verse Where is the Disputer of this World Which though some refer to the Doctors among the Jews also yet I humbly think it may more properly be understood of the Philosophers among the Grecians For the Apostle writes to Greeks and their Philosophy was notoriously contentious And lastly that the worldly Policies oâ—… the Romans are included also in this Wisdom of this World which the Apostle vilisies there is cause to think from the sixth verse of the second Chapter where he saith He spake not in the Wisdom of the Princes of this World And 't is well known that Policy was their most valued Wisdom 〈◊〉 regere imperio To govern the Nations and promote the grandeur of their Empire was the great design and study of those Princes of this World Now all these the Apoâ—…le sets at nought in the beginning of this Epistle Because they were very opposite to the simplicity and holiness selfdeâ—…al and meekness of the Gospel But what is this to the disadvantage of Reason to which indeed those sorts of Wisdom are as contrary as they are to Religion And by this I am enabled 2. To meet another Objection urged from 1 Cor. 2. 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned Hence the Enthusiast argues the Universal inability of Reason in things of Religion and its Antipathy to them Whereas I can apprehend no more to be meant by the words than this viz. That such kind of natural men as those Scribes and Disputers and Politicians having their minds depraved and prepossess'd with their own wisdom were indisposed to receive this that was so contrary unto it And they could not know those things of God because they were spiritual and so would require a mind that was of a pure and spiritual frame viz. free from that earthly Wisdom of all sorts which counts those thingâ—… foolishness and which by God is counted so it self 1 Cor. 3. 19. which place 3. Is used as another 〈◊〉 against Reason The Wisdom of this World is foolishness with God But it can signiâ—…e nothing to that purpose to one that understands and considers the Apostles meaning What is meant by the Wisdom of this World here I have declared already And by the former part of my Discourse it appears that whatever is to be understood by it our Reason cannot since that either proves or defends all the Articles of Religion 4. And when the same Apostle elsewhere viz. 2 Cor. 1. 12. saith that