was excellently said by another Brave Man of a true primitive temper This question How can have no place in the things of God whose only Will is sufficient and is to be greatly admired of all And with these Ancient Writers agrees the Great Modern Reformer This word Why saith he hath misled and destroy'd many souls it is too high for us to search into When we come to insist too busily on these demands Why or How God saith or doth this or that we shew that we are loth to submit our Reason to Faith and to give assent to God's Word though we cannot clearly conceive it Which argues a very Unchristian temper for the Gospel hath propounded many things to us which are Mystical which neither our thoughts can fully apprehend nor our words express But this should not hinder us from believing and embracing them for though they are Mysterious yet it is plain and manifest that they are asserted in the Sacred Writings It was prudently and Christianly advised and determin'd by St. Augustine in such Points as these which I have been of speaking and especially the Trinity which that Pious Father particularly mentions Let us saith he by that previous Faith which helps the eye-sight of the mind clearly imbrace what we understand and firmly believe what we understand not The Reason of which Advice and Resolution is this that some things that are above the reach of our Understandings may be and ought to be the matter of our Belief Which is founded on this that the object of Faith is of a much larger Extent than that of Reason and therefore we may give assent to some Propositions which we cannot explain and clear up by the light of Reason And besides every Thinking Man ought to revolve this in his mind that Faith is of an higher nature than Reason and accordingly was designed to bear Sway over it and to controul it To this purpose it is to be consider'd that there are these Three Faculties or Operations in Men Sense and Reason and Faith and they gradually rise one higher than the other Sense is common to us with Brutes and takes notice only of Corporeal and External Objects but Reason is proper to us as we are Men and is bestow'd upon us to correct the mistakes of Sense thus by Sense we can't perceive the Motion of the Sun and Stars they so couzen our sight that we can't apprehend when they move yea they seem to stand immoveable wherefore we must consult with something else than Sense and that is Reason which tells us that either those Heavenly Bodies or the Ground we stand upon move very swiftly our Reason not our Eyes must give us an account of this Thus it is plain that Reason controuls Sense and consequently is a higher and superior faculty But then comes Faith and claims a Superiority over them both for as Reason was given by God to correct Sense so this Function was added to give a check to Reason as being Higher and Nobler than that This is the Order of these Operations in Man and it is by Divine appointment and therefore no man of sober thoughts can find fault with it If we are free to acknowledge that Reason is a Curb to Sense and we cannot deny it then we should be as forward to own that Faith is the same to Reason and that we ought to make use of the one to check and bridle the other when Sacred and Supernatural things are under our consideration Here then as is fitting let us strenuously exert our Faith and not judge of the Divine Being and the Truths revealed by him according to humane measures according to what we find and perceive in one another still remembring that they are Mysteries As for the Contrary Sentiment there are these three Great things that disparage it 1. It argues Pride and Arrogant Stiffness 2. It is an undeniable proof of gross Prejudice and Partiality 3. It unavoidably introduces Indifferency in Religion I will distinctly insist upon this Triple Charge and then leave the Judicious to judge of my performance First It is a great argument of a Proud and Haughty Spirit For it must needs proceed from this Principle that the men of that perswasion will by no means acknowledge their Short-sightedness and the Shallowness of their Intellectuals They cannot brook such Condescention as this and therefore they scorn to own any Mysteries If any Difficult Truths are propounded to them they have learnt of a Great Conqueror to cut the knot instead of untying it they violently null the proposition and so make it no Mystery as we see they do in the Articles of the Trinity and the Incarnation of the Son of God and the like For they pretend to manage all by meer force of Reason and reject all propositions and doctrines which they think come not up to this heighth They take it very ill if you allow them not a Catholick and Unbounded Knowledge of every thing whether finite or infinite and of the particular Manner and minutest Circumstances that appertain to them They disdain that there should be any thing in nature which they are not able to comprehend they deem it an unsufferable disgrace to their understandings that any thing should be above the reach of them that there should be any Point of Speculation so deep and abstruse that they cannot penetrate to the very bottom of it they scorn to have it said that there are any Mysteries and Darknesses in Religion when their minds are so bright and their intellects are so shining What is this but Pride What is this but being over-conceited of their natural Faculties and having too great an opinion of their own Rational Capacities what is this but an immodest and extravagant magnifying of these Powers Yea what is it but a kind of aspiring to Divinity and attributing to themselves an Infinite and Immense nature an extraordinary and more than humane Wisdom Zophar gives us the true Character and Pedigree of this sort of persons Iob 11. 12. Vain man would be wise this Empty Hollow Creature would fain be thought to be full of Knowledge though he be born like a wild asses colt though he be by nature ignorant and rude he hath such an opinion and esteem of his Parts and Acquirements he is of such Arrogancy and Elation of Mind that he thinks it below him to acknowledge any Abstrusities in Religion He takes part with the Conceited Sect of the Stoicks among whom it was a Maxim That it became not a Wise man to wonder at any of those things which to others seem to be Paradoxes Nay he is so much of this Vaunting humour that he will not be perswaded that there is any thing Wonderful and Amazing even in Religion it self St. Paul stiles Christianity a Mystery but he being intoxicated with Pride and Self-conceit directly contradicts him and saith it is not mysterious But those who attend to the Apostle's Advice Not
This is the Christian Truth Our singular Glory whereby We are distinguished from all those who profess any other Religions whatsoever whether of the Unbelieving Iews or the Idolatrous Gentiles or the Deluded Saracens and Turks or downright Atheists and others of a like Perverse Perswasion These all Err especially the three first Ranks of Men by not knowing or not imbracing the Scriptures which are deservedly stiled The Word of Truth and are the only supreme Rule of Faith and Doctrin We then who imbrace this Christian Rule are Blessed with that Institution which is Pure and Undefiled which is grounded on undoubted Revelation which is backed by a more sure Word of Prophecy which hath a divine Impress stamped upon it So that Our Religion as far surmounts all Others as the Gold which hath passed the Refiners Fire and hath the Royal Stamp upon it outbids the common Ore and shames its Dross and meaner Alloy You see then which are the unalterable Standards of Truth viz. Reason and Revelation the Light of Nature and of Scripture And I dare confidently aver that if our Enquiries and Determinations in Religion were faithfully managed by these two it were impossible to fail of Truth If we would but act thus as Men and Christians and that is as we ought to do we cannot miss of it For it is certainly the Purchase of all those who make a right Use of their Rational Powers and also help and direct those Powers by the Revelation of the Sacred Spirit in the Holy Scriptures By these two we may examine the Truth of the Whole Christian Religion and we shall find that it will abide the Test. By these Standards of Truth we may examine the Doctrins of all Seducers that are abroad in the World and we shall find them to be False and Adulterate If we would sincerely follow these Rules the great Diversity of Opinions and Sentiments amongst us would soon be reconciled If we would faithfully take these Measures i.e. always be Ruled and Conducted by Reason and Scripture we should easily agree upon what is to be believed and asserted in Religion and all our Disputes and Controversies would vanish Now from what hath been hitherto Discoursed we may in some good measure be able not only to return an Answer to Pilates Question What is Truth but to another near a kin to it viz. What is Error and Falshood All Propositions which contradict the common Notices and first Principles in our Minds and which affront right Reason and the plain Deductions made from it are to be looked upon as False And on the same account those Assertions which overthrow the Verdict of our Senses and much more those that imply Contradictions in them and consequently Impossibilities cannot be True And on These Grounds I might shew that the Divinity of some High-flown Enthusiasts and the Doctrin of the Roman Catholicks concerning Transubstantiation are justly to be impeached of Falshood Again whatsoever Assertions in any Religion are repugnant to Divine Revelation to God's Will declared by some Positive Law to such Discoveries as are known to be immediately from Heaven these must necessarily be False And on this Ground the Religion of the Pagans Iews and Mahometans must be voted to be such because they oppose an Infallible Revelation and That confirmed by unparallelled Miracles And semblably in Christianity all those Tenents of several Sects which bid defiance to any part of the Sacred Scripture which is left us by the Holy Ghost as the generality of the Roman Opinions the Doctrins of Pelagians Socinians Anabaptists Antinomians Libertines Quakers Hobbians c. are False and Erroneous Thus far then by vertue of the Premises we have advanced that when there are several Claims and Pretences to Truth and it is enquired What Judge shall decide the Controversy the Answer must be That Right Reason and Inspired Scripture are the only Judges they being the fixed Standards and Measures of Truth But then here will lie the main Difficulty of all that in the Questions and Debates of Religion Scripture is quoted with equal Vigor and Confidence on all Sides as if what the Iewish Rabbies say of Scripture That it hath Seventy-two Faces were the received Opinion of Christians Nay some of these seem to acknowledge by their strange way of Interpreting it That it hath not only different but contrary Aspects When therefore there are Disputes about Scripture-Interpretation What must we do How can we discern what is Truth by Consulting of Scripture when as that is Dubious and Uncertain If contrary Sects and Parties quote it and plead it how can it be a fixed Standard of Truth How is it an unerring Guide It might suffice to say in General That it is no wonder that all Opinionists even the Wildest of them make use of Scripture yea a great Part of the Turks Alcoran is express Words of the Bible It is no wonder I say since Scripture was quoted by Satan himself who when he Tempted our Saviour misapplied it to the vilest Purpose But particularly to satisfie this Great and Affrighting Difficulty we may inform our selves that in Religion there are Five Sorts of Enquiries and Doctrines Now I will briefly shew how Scripture is to be made use of and when it is fit to Apply it to any of these Particulars I. Some Points of our Religion are in themselves Mystical and Profound and the Sacred Writings having not Explained them it cannot be expected that we should ever do it Such Difficult and Sublime Doctrines as the Mystery of the Sacred Trinity i.e. a Trinity of Divine Persons in the Unity of the Godhead the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in One Person the Manner of the Resurrection and the like are not to be throughly known by us as long as we sojourn on Earth These are like the Book in the Revelation which none is able to open in Heaven or in Earth but the Lamb. And seeing he is not pleased to Unfold them to us we must Admire and Adore them but not be sollicitous to Comprehend them We are to remember this that some Things must be believed on the mere Authority of the Speaker and it argues Infidelity to question the Truth of them or so much as to be Inquisitive about them The Things are spoken by God therefore we ought to give Credit to them The Manner and Circumstances of them are not discovered therefore I 'm obliged not to pry into them This was the Sense and Practice of the Primitive Christians as we may learn from Origen who tells us That the believing some Articles of Faith on the bare Authority of the Scriptures was objected to the Christians by the Heathens Their Complaint against them was That they would neither give nor receive a Reason of their Faith but were wont to cry out Examine not but believe Here likewise I may rank some Insuperable Problems concerning the Divine Decrees and Predestination the Abstruseness of which forbids
thing shews their mistake and that they are on this side of that place for they betray the weakness and uncertainty of their Knowledge These persons indiscreetly antedate the Last day anticipate the Future World and confront the revealed Purpose of Heaven for it was not design'd by the Supreme Being that we should here below have a full insight into those Divine Recesses this is reserved for another State Thus much of the Reasons so far as we can apprehend why Christianity is a Mystery that is why some of the most weighty and momentous doctrines of it are in some part hid from all mens understandings What I have said administers to us this double Reflection 1. From the premises we may discover the vanity and falsity of the Socinian Notion that there are no Mysteries in the Christian Religion 2. We may gather what is our Proper Duty and Concern in the Case before us First I say this discovers and detects and at the same baffles the false apprehension of those men who cry down all Mysteries in Christianity and tell us that all is levell'd to the meanest capacities Notwithstanding those Remarkable Attestations to the Contrary Truth from the plain words of our Saviour and his Apostles yet they perversly oppose and deny it and magnifie Reason as the only Measure of Truth and Rule of Faith whatever their late Pretences are and nothing will serve them in Religion but Logick and downright Demonstration I have observ'd it in the Modern Writings of this sort of men and of one also that is a late Friend of theirs that they seldom or never finish a Discourse though it be about Religion without bringing in of Geometrical terms especially Angles and Triangles These Gentlemen under a pretext of Mathematicks would subvert Christianity and demonstrate us out of the Articles of our Faith and make a Triangle baffle the Trinity This is the grand Source of their present Delusion and of that disturbance which they make in the World viz. their labouring to exclude all Mysteries from Christianity It arises wholly from this that they will not give credit to any thing in Religion but what is entirely Clear and Evident and commensurate to exact Reason This is perfectly according to that Description which one of the Fathers of the Primitive Church gives of St. Paul's Natural man He is one saith he that attributes all to the Reasonings of his Soul and thinks not that he stands in need of help from Above neither will be receive any thing by Faith but counts all foolishness which cannot be made out by Demonstration And an Ancient Critick defines him thus He is one who turns all over to Humane Reason and admits not of the operation of the Spirit i. e. any thing that is Supernatural in Religion This is the brief but full Character of a Disciple of Socinus so far as we are concern'd in him upon the present occasion but certainly it ill becomes a Christian man for I have proved already that such a spirit and genius are against the plain determination of Christ and his Apostles against the very nature of the things themselves and unsuitable to the present state we are in Such a one forgets to distinguish between Philosophy and Christianity The Professors of the former act not amiss in squaring all their opinions and sentiments by Strict Reason but the Adherers to the latter who are eminently stiled Believers must yield their assent to things which they cannot by Reason comprehend Otherwise they confound the natures of things and take away the Distinction between Reason and Faith which is much more absurd and unaccountable than what Scenkius in his Medical Observations fancies that it is possible for a man to receive the Visible Species through his Nostrils or in plainer terms that a man may See with his Nose for here is only a substituting of one Bodily Sense for another but in the other case there is a mistaking of one Mental Operation for another viz. Reason for Faith This is the Absurdity of those of the Racovian way and we ought carefully to avoid it We are to believe Christianity to be a Reasonable Service as the Apostle deservedly stiles it but it may be truly said of those men that they make Christianity more reasonable than it is that is they make it submit wholly to Humane and Natural Reason and this is the ground of their exploding all Mysteries Secondly Seeing a great part of the Christian Religion is a Mystery and design'd to be such we are concern'd to Behave our selves accordingly that is never to be so bold and rash as to demand a Positive and Punctual Account of things of this high and abstruse nature It is required in a Good Grammarian said One who was as skilful in that Art as any man that he be ignorant of some things The same may be said of a Good Divine to be ignorant of some Mysteries and not to search too earnestly into them is a good qualification in one of that Profession and indeed in all persons that study Christianity This is a Learned kind of Ignorance and we are not to be ashamed of it It is not necessary we should have a clear understanding of Theological Secrets because the Holy Writ is silent about them but yet we ought to hold and believe the things themselves because the same Infallible Word asserts them Those that go any further shew indeed that they are very Prying and Inquisitive but let them beware of handling the Word of God deceitfully and making Truth uphold Falshood As that Egyptian in Plutarch answer'd the men who ask'd him What it was that he carried so close Covered Therefore it is cover'd said he that you should not know what it is and therefore your asking was in vain So it is here these Divine things are purposely hid from us and wrapt up in Obscurity that we may not with too eager a Curiosity search into them and busie our heads about them Let every one of us think that spoken to us which the Good Christian said to the Philosopher at the Council of Nice Ask not How Be not inquisitive concerning the Manner of Sacred and Heavenly things for this is hid from us A Learned and Pious Writer of the Primitive Church tells us That it is enough for us to know that in Christ's Person the Divine Nature was so joyn'd by an ineffable kind of Tye with the Humane Nature that the same Hypostasis contains in it two distinct Natures but how that Union is made it is not necessary to know nor is it fit to search only let us believe and hold what is written And the same Excellent Person in another place and indeed in several places of his Writings exceedingly blames the rashness and curiosity of those that prie into Divine Mysteries and dispute and wrangle and raise vain questions about them and ask why and how such things are It
to think of themselves more highly than they ought to think but to think soberly have other thoughts and apprehensions and are most willing to acknowledge the shallowness of their own Judgments and the depth of Divine Truth We have Instances on Record of those Humble Souls who though of singular sagacity and improvements proclaim'd the Unsearchableness of the Divine Wisdom and the Exalted Truths that belong to it The Ancient Inspired Arabian expresses it thus Man knoweth not the price of it i. e. as I apprehend he cannot come up fully to the Purchase or which is the same the Attainment of it for we purchase things by price neither is it found in the land of the living the depth saith it is not in me and the sea saith it is not in me Whence then cometh Wisdom and where is the place of Vnderstanding Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living and kept close from the fowls of the air i. e. those that are most quick-sighted for Naturalists observe that the eyes of Birds generally excel those of other Animals But he concludes God understands the ways thereof and he knoweth the place thereof that is he hath reserved the perfect knowledge of these Divine and Supernatural things to Himself This was the humble sense of another Great and Wise Man the Royal Psalmist concerning whom it is worth our observing that after he had asserted and maintain'd the doctrine of God's Omniscience and All-seeing Providence he adds Such knowledge is too wonderful for me it is high I cannot attain unto it which is as much as if he had said though it is impossible for me to apprehend the infinite and boundless knowledge of the Eternal God the Sovereign Disposer of all things though I can't tell how he sees and foresees all things whatsoever yet I heartily own this Universal Sight and Prescience of his and I verily believe it to be a certain and unshaken Truth It is Humility which furnishes a man with such perswasion and language as this and it is this which causes him to believe and assert that there are Mysteries in his Holy Faith which far transcend his thoughts and conceptions This is that Wisdom which according to another Divine and Inspired Sage is far off and exceeding deep and therefore as it follows who can find it out To which irrefragable Testimonies permit me to adjoyn that of an Apocryphal Writer and the rather because I will take occasion thence to offer a Conjecture on that dark place Wisdom is according to her Name and she is not manifest unto many What is the meaning of that according to her Name What Title hath Wisdom that imports any such matter viz. that she is not manifest Some Criticks think it refers to the Hebrew word for Wisdom Chocmah others to the Arabick Algnalam but what they propound seems to be very much strain'd and doth not reach the purpose And how can it seeing they forget that this Book was writ in Greek and that the Title of it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We must therefore repair to the Greek for a solution but we must first confer with the Hebrew where we meet with the Verb Saphah or Tsaphah which signifies to hide or cover and thence it is probable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived and this it is likely is the Name that is here meant because though the language in which this book was originally drawn up was Hebrew as appears from the Prologue of it yet it was soon translated into Greek because the Iews at that time spoke Greek generally and had their Bible and Service in Greek and accordingly this place hath reference to the name of Wisdom in that tongue wherein there are many words deriv'd from the Hebrew and hence it is that the denomination of Wisdom imports something hid and mysterious and therefore she is according to her Name The Iewish Doctors had a sense of this as appears from their Proverbial Saying When Elias comes he will untie all knots i. e. solve all Difficult and Abstruse Points of which there are not a few in Religion There are sundry things hid from our understandings here which shall not be clear'd till the last day Now if the Wisest persons spoke thus concerning the things of Religion which is the Wisdom of God under those Dispensations of old is there not much more reason to say the like of the Divine Wisdom under the Oeconomy of the Gospel when doctrines of an higher nature are published to the world such as far surpass all humane comprehension But there is a generation of men among us that will not stoop to this they will not own themselves to be in a state of Weakness Childhood and Minority in this life though the Great Apostle as we have heard expresly did when he so far own'd the deficiency of his Understanding as to say he knew in part and spake and understood and thought as a Child And all the Great and all the Wise men in the world have been ready to say the same yea even with reference to matters of a lower nature The Learned in the Law confess they have their Perplexed and Knotty Cases Statesmen their Arcana Physicians their Opprobious Maladies Anatomists their Unknown Ductus's Astronomers their Eccentrical Motions which they can't reduce into regular and exact Order Mathematicians their Insoluble Problems And in brief most Professions and Sciences labour under some insuperable Difficulties and Intricacies and this is freely acknowledg'd by the most Skilful in those Arts. But here is a sort of men that will not own any such thing in Divinity although it be conversant about Objects that are infinitely Higher and Greater Notwithstanding this they think it is below a man of Parts to own any thing to be Inexplicable they profess that it becomes not a man of Sense and Reason to admit of this yea that it is an unsufferable affront to Humane Nature to believe such a thing They think it a sufficient ground to cashier a doctrine in Religion because it is attended with Obscurity In short they think it unreasonable to yield assent to a Proposition on the account of its being reveal'd in Scripture meerly because they are not able to conceive the Manner of it Thus their Pride makes them Infidels and they bid adieu to Modesty and the Faith together Secondly Another Great Disparagement and Inexcusable Blemish of these mens Perswasion is that it argues wilful Prejudice and Partiality I will make this evident from these two Considerations First Tho' they deny not that there are Mysteries in the Divine Providence yet they altogether renounce them in the Articles before mention'd Secondly Though they grant there may and ought to be a Government and Restraint on the Imaginations Will and Affections of men yet at the same time they perversly disapprove of the like restraint on the Vnderstanding and Reasoning Faculty Both these are Instances of their egregrious Prepossession
Heads whilst it hath been cried in their Ears that here is Truth and there is Truth they have grown Perplexed and Distracted and know not how to behave themselves and What Part to take They hear that the Claim to Truth is Universal but then they know This that All the Pretences to it cannot be True and How say they if None of them should be so Hereupon they renounce Religion as a Faction and in plain terms a Cheat and consequently they Live and Act in the World as they Please If Truth be claimed by All the Professors of Religion and those Professors Contradict one another Where shall we find an Answer to This Interrogatory What is Truth In way of Reply it is enough to say at present for I shall answer a great part of these Cavils afterwards in the sequel of this Discourse 1. These Several Divisions and Parties evidently prove a True Religion For it is certain that Rational Men would not Contend for Nothing Unless there were some Reality at the bottom we cannot imagine that Persons of unprejudic'd Minds and sincere Intentions as we must allow a great Part of them to be would thus seriously busie themselves and be so mightily concern'd 2. Some Mens fond and groundless Pretences ought not to be equalled with the Iust Claims of others As long as the World continues in this degenerate posture where it is there will ever be a great number of men who will be pretending to Truth even whilst they are maintaining those Doctrines which are directly opposite to it Therefore we are not to concern our selves for these Pretenders only so far as to slight them as Persons govern'd by Interest or Passion or to pity them as those who are misled by Ignorance or Prejudice 3. As for the generality of Disputes which are at this day on foot Religion and particularly the Christian Religion I mean the Essentials and Vitals of it which give it its denomination are little or not at all concern'd in those Quarrels as will appear from what I shall suggest anon and therefore I shall say no more here But notwithstanding what hath been objected I will go on with my present design which is an Inquest after Truth and I hope the attempt will not prove vain and succesless That we may certainly find it out those Two known but too much neglected Rules or Standards are to be made use of by us viz. Reason and Scripture By Reason I mean the free and impartial use of our Understandings and Judgments which God hath naturally endued us with and which we are obliged to improve and cultivate by the aid of our Bodily Senses by the Testimony of others by serious and steady Observation and well-grounded Experience for these must be assisting to Humane Reason to render it perfect and compleat If thuâ— we would apply our selves to a serious search after Truth we should soon make our selves Masters of it For the Candle of the Lord as Solomon very significantly calls the Reason of Man was set up in our Breasts by God on purpose to discover Truth to us But it must be acknowledged that this Light hath been much impair'd by Man's Degeneracy so that it can scarcely be said to Shine out i.e. perfectly to display it self It hath been Clouded ever since the First Apostacy and obscured daily by the actual Prevalency of Vice An undeniable Evidence whereof were those swarms of monsterous Opinions among the Pagans that gross Superstition and Idolatry of the Gentile World those prodigious Shapes and Models of Religion which were invented by them Oftentimes it happened that the Creature made and framed his Creator they shaped out Deities and the way of Worshipping them according to their own Fancies and Imaginations and a God was even what they thought good to make him Or suppose Natures Light did shine out to the full yet it would not be Clear and Bright enough to give us a Prospect of those Divine and Supernatural Truths which are to bring us to Everlasting Happiness For Nature and Reason cannot Dictate those things which depend wholly on God's Free Grace and Pleasure And such are the Doctrine of a Saviour and Redeemer the Method of Man's Salvation and all the Mysteries of the Christian and Evangelical Dispensation How was Nicodemus a Noted Master in Israel and no mean Possessor of Reason baffled with the Doctrin of Regeneration He might truly be said to go to Iesus by Night who made his Visit only by the dusky and obscure Light of Nature Therefore tho' Reason or rather the Understanding using its reasoning Faculty be a laudable Guide in Religion yet it will not be a safe Conduct to Truth if it be alone There must of necessity be another Guide besides this to lead us to the Discovery of Heavenly Verities and Propositions of Faith There must be Divine Illumination to assist us to find out Divine and Spiritual Truths The Second Standard then of Truth is the Infallible Word of God Divine Truths must be sought for not from Man but from God not from Human Writings but an Unerring Word not from those who are Finite and Ignorant but from Him who is Infinite and knoweth all Things not from the Sons of Men but from Him who is the only-begotten Son of God the Revealer of his Father's Will For No man hath seen God at any time the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him as the beloved Disciple beareth witness Iohn 1. 18. None is able to discover the Divine and Supernatural Mysteries which our Religion is fraught with but the Founder of them We could never have arrived to those Transcendent Notions unless we had been taught them from Heaven We were not skilled to appoint the Manner of Appeasing the incensed Majesty of Heaven and to prescribe the Way of Worship suitable to that Oeconomy This would have been as if it should be left to some silly Country Peasant to assign the Way and Manner of Treating a Mighty King and Monarch Who would not expect in such a case a strange and uncouth a rude and ridiculous Way of Address and Courtship and below the Greatness and Majesty of a Prince But it was requisite there should be a particular Divine Discovery a clearer Light a surer Guide than that of Nature For though God at sundry times and in divers manners had Revealed himself to the past Generations of Men yet to make that Revelation compleat he spoke in the last days by his Son and by the Testimony of the Holy Ghost in the inspired Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists Christ therefore saith and that Emphatically I am the Truth Iohn 14. 6. The Gospel was the last and most corrected Edition of the Doctrin of Truth and we must never look for any other to come forth to the End of the World This is Truth more eminently so called The Truth which came by Iesus Christ as the Blessed Evangelist speaketh
as the One thing Necessary in Religion and assure their Proselytes that this alone is sufficient to conduct them to Eternal Happiness Which is not unlike the Attempt of those late Iesuites who would teach the people of China and Siam the way to Heaven by the Mathematicks These men whom I am speaking of pretend to effect every thing in Christianity and to climb Heaven it self by meer Natural Strength and Humane Accomplishments as appears from the express words of the Racovian Catechism That there is no need of the inward gift of the Holy Spirit that we may believe the Gospel no not at all They have another way of Believing viz. by a strength of their own by the natural conduct and improvement of their Faculties And if True Faith then such a Knowledge as accompanies Salvation is to be acquir'd after the same manner and no other for a man need not be beholding to the Holy Spirit for it It is no wonder that those who talk thus find no Mysteries in Christianity 2. This gives an account of that Scarcity of true Divine Knowledge and Religion which is observable in the world There are Secrets in the Christian Faith which are known but by a few and therefore True Christians must needs be Rare There is indeed an Equivocal sort of Christians in the world who boldly assume the Name but are strangers to the Thing it self they boast of that Honourable Title but are regardless of the True Import of it and to use the Apostle's words though they think they know something they know nothing as they ought to know 1 Cor. 8. 2. These are very Numerous and every place swarms with them but the number of those who have a Practical Knowledge and Sense of Gospel-Truths is very mean and low The Multitude of those who derive their denomination from Christ have not attain'd to this Accomplishment and the reason is because it is by their own default hidden from them they are unwilling to receive the Divine Supernatural Light into their minds Let us implore the assistance of the Holy Spirit the Great and Heavenly Mystagogue the Effectual Interpreter of Divine Secrets and who alone can discover them to us that he would vouchsafe to enlighten and irradiate our souls in such a manner as shall be really beneficial to us Let us beg the aid of the Spirit of Truth to lead us into the Advantageous Knowledge of all Evangelical Truths and to enable us to feel them as well as know them Thus much of the First Branch of the Proposition founded on the words Christianity Mysterious A Sermon shewing that there are Mysteries properly so call'd in the Christian Religion With the True Reasons of it and the Natural Consequences from it Preached before the Vniversity at St. Mary's in Cambridge Iune 29. 1697. And since much Enlarged 1 TIM III. 16. And without controversie great is the Mystery of Godliness HAving in a former Discourse shew'd that Christianity is a Mystery to some more especially now I will pass to the Second thing I undertook viz. to prove that it is such even in a general way unto every one There are several Great Truths in the Gospel which the Spiritual Man can no more arrive to a full knowledge of than the Natural man can With relation and respect even to All persons whomsoever the sublime Truths of the Christian Religion still retain and ever shall the nature of a Mystery And I choose the rather to treat on this Subject because I verily believe it is of that nature and influence that if it were duly entertain'd it would be serviceable to put an end to all the Disputes and Cavils against the Doctrine of the Trinity and other Important Points that relate to it There would be no farther Contest about these if the abovesaid Proposition did but take place in mens minds This must needs be so at least in the nature of the thing it self because when it shall appear that there are Fathomless Secrets in Christianity and that they were design'd to be so yea and to be so to all as well as to some this cannot but supersede all Controversies about 〈◊〉 This with ingenuous and rational Spirits solves all Difficulties this with religious and pious minds answers all Doubts and fully satisfies all Scruples This thereâ—ore is the thing which I will evince that â—here are such Secrets as these in our Reliâ—â—on that there are many things in this Holy Institution which we have but a Dark and Imperfect notice of and it is impossible for us to attain to any other and these are properly stiled Mysteries That one Text alone 1 Cor. 13. 9 12. is sufficient to prove this We know in part saith the Apostle which refers to the knowledge mention'd in the foregoing verse by which as it is agreed by all is to be understood the knowledge of Divine and Evangelical matters and then it follows by way of natural consequence We prophesie in part for our instructing of others must be answerable to our own knowledge which is but in part He superadds Now we see through a glass that is either as men looking through a Perspective on an Object a great way off and therefore made Obscure by its great Distance from the eye or as persons beholding themselves in a Glass or Mirror which manner of expression St. Iames uses to signifie a Slight View 1 Iam. 23. and so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But this Apostle thinks not this sufficient to set forth the Meanness and Deficiency of our Knowledge of Sacred matters but he adds another Emphatick expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a riddle i.e. in a very Obscure dark and intricate manner and therefore our Translators render it darkly The sum of what the Apostle saith is this that we have but a Partial discovery of some Divine Truths our Sight of them is very Imperfect there are certain Points of Christianity which are not within the sphere of our Capacities but are in themselves Aenigmatical and Abstruse And these passages are the more considerable if we call to mind the peculiar quality of the Person who writes thus It was that Apostle who was famous for his Knowledge he who among all the Apostles was the only man that was brought up a Scholar for we read that he was educated in the School of Gamaliel a Celebrated Hebrew Doctor and Professor and thence was stock'd with all the Iewish Literature And he that was well skill'd in the Heathen Poets as his Quotations in the New Testament let us know was questionless not defective in other parts of Humane Learning which he had the advantage of furnishing himself within his own Native City that of Tarsus which was at that time a famous Vniversity And these Excellencies joyn'd with his own Natural Parts and Endowments which as we may gather from his Acute Reasonings and Arguings on all occasions were of the highest
on the very same ground attend to the former because that is from God no less than this Wherefore those who oppose one to the other make â—od contradict himself because he is the Aâ—thor of both And here I cannot but take notice of the Injustice of some late Penmen who represent the Asserters of the Trinity and of such like Points of Faith as persons that are Enemies to Reason and such as will by no â—â—ans admit of a Rational Religion This they craftily urge and aggravate to blacken the Cause which they have set themselves against but there is nothing of Truth in the accusation but as they manage it a great deal of Falshood and Wrong For we give unto Reason the things that are Reason's we assert the use and necessity of it in Religion yea in the Christian Religion and we are able and ready to defend and maintain a considerable part of it by Rational Principles We most freely profess with Iustin the Philosopher and Martyr That whatever was well said by any of the Philosophers Poets and Historians is to be found in the Christian Writings of the Bible We declare that the Christian Institution commends and enforces all the Maxims of Morality and the Natural Religion of mankind and the Common Dictates of Reason Those therefore are very Injurious to us and to Truth itself who labour as we see they do to fill Mens heads with other apprehensions But though it be thus in the general yet there are Particular Doubts and Difficulties relating to this Holy Institution there are some certain Points which are in themselves Mysterious Incomprehensible and Inconceivable and will not submit to the nicer Scrutinies of Humane Reason The â—ery Deity it self which is the very foundation of all Christianity is a 〈◊〉 and the greatest of all Mysteries Whence it was the acknowledgment of 〈◊〉 a very Wise and Good Man God is Great and we know him not Job 36. 26. We cannot fully understand his Nature and Attributes yea we are capable of knowing but very little of them Which is fitly express'd by that of the Apostle He dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto 1 Tim. 6. 16. This inaccessible Splendor admits not of a full view The more we gaze upon this Glorious Sun the more we are dazzled and almost blinded In some case it is unsafe and perillous saith a Pious Father to speak what is True of God â—â—e is best known by a modest 〈◊〉 â—â—ith another We know not whâ—â— he is but only what he is not saith a Third And it is observable that Socinus himself in the first Chapter of his Praeâ—â—ctions stiâ—â—y contâ—nds though upon no solid grounds at all that the Existence of God is not discoverable by the light of Naâ—ure and Reason how then can he and his â—ollowers imagine â—hat the Divine Nature and Essence are to be comprehended by humaâ—e thoughts If we cannot according to him discover that God is how shall we understand what he is There are several unutterable Abstrusities and Difficulties in the notion of an Eternal Self-subsisting Being We cannot penetrate into the Omniscience and Omnipresence of God we have not adequate conceptions of his Immutability his Justice his Faithfulness and none of his Perfections and Excellencies are throughly understood by us So that according to the way of Arguing which some men use viz. that Nothing must be receiv'd in Religion but what is exactly according to plain Reason they may renounce the Deity it self for in the notions we have of the Nature and Attributes of God there are some things above our Reason The Manner how Three real Subsistencies are united in One Essence or Substance of the Godhead is not comprehensible but the Holy Scripture puts it beyond all doubt that it is so There are many Principles and Propositions in Christianity which are far above our weak capacities There are several things in the Conduct of our Redemption and Salvation the exact knowledge of which is hidden from us at least the Modes and Circumstances belonging to them are not to be comprehended though we are sure of the General Truth There are sundry Difficult things occur concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God but we have no reason to disbelieve the Doctrine it self I know saith St. Chrysostom that the Son was begotten of the Father but how I know not I know he was born of a Virgin but I can't tell the Manner of it for we acknowledge the production of Both Natures and yet the Manner of both we are not able to declare So as to the Vnion of the Divine and Humane Natures in Christ's Person we have not an accountable idea of it though the thing it self is agreeable to Reason We cannot answer all the doubts concerning Christ's Satisfaction but upon incontestable grounds we may be convinc'd of the Truth of it The Resurrection of the same Body at the last day is an unquestionable Article of the Christian Faith but if we be ask'd how a dead body crumbled into dust and perhaps dissipated by the winds into several quarters or how a body converted into the substance of other creatures after innumerable introductions of new shapes preserves its proper Identity â—nd Individuation if we be ask'd I say How this can be The Answer in brief can 〈◊〉 no other than this We cannot tell But it will be said This is an unbecoming Answer for any man that pretends to Knowledge and Understanding in the matters of Religion I reply This is no ways unbecoming but to pretend to give Reasons and Accounts when we are not able to do it is very unbecoming and absurd And many other Points of Christianity are hid from our Natural Reason and are Inscrutable Secrets Our Religion hath many Mazes and Labyrinths in it which we cannot extricate our selves out of The Gospel not only was but is a Mystery it is so now and will continue so to the end of the world If we enquire into the Reasons of this so far as we are able to judge there may be this Account given of it 1. That which Solomon suggests to us ought to have the preference to all other Reasons that can be assign'd It is the glory of God saith he to conceal a thing Prov. 25. 2. The Supreme Being is pleas'd to hide the knowledge of several things from men because this redounds to the Honour and Glory of the Divine Majesty Hereby the Sovereignty of the Great Disposer of all things is displayed to mankind hereby his Transcendent Nature which infinitely â—urpasses that of all Created beings is proclaim'd to the world This was the sense of another Wise and Holy man who speaking of the Almighty saith He giveth not account of any of his matters Job 33. 13. Though sometimes yea frequently he vouchsafes to render a Reason of what he saith as well as of what he doth yet in many cases he thinks fit to deal with us otherwise