^^■^Ji 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 tfJlvco logical ^cminavy, 
 
 No. (>ffc, ..'rfPi^ 
 
 B R 4 5 v ^a^-ojiaa— 
 
 Bampton lectures 
 
 
EIGHT SERMONS 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, 
 
 IN THE YEAR MDCCXCII, 
 
 AT THE 
 
 LECTURE 
 
 FOUNDED BY THE LATE 
 
 REV, JOHN BAMPTON, M. A. 
 
 CANON OF SALISBURY. 
 
 V 
 
 BY JOHN EVELEIGH, D.D, 
 
 PROVOST OF ORIEL COLLEGE, 
 AND PREBENDARY OF ROCHESTER. 
 
 OXFORD, 
 SOLD BY J. COOKEj 
 
 AND BY B. WHITE AND SON, AND 
 F. AND C. RIVINGTON, LONDON. 
 
IMPRIMATUR, 
 
 JO HAN- COOKE, 
 
 Vice-Can. Oxon. 
 
 c. a c. 
 
 Mar. 20. 1792. 
 
TO THE 
 
 UNDERGRADUATES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 
 THESE LECTURES 
 
 ARE ADDRESSED , 
 
 AND AN HABITUAL ATTENTION 
 
 TO THE GREAT TOPICS, 
 
 ENLARGED UPON IN THEM, 
 
 IS MOST EARNESTLY RECOMMENDED 
 
 BY THEIR 
 
 VERY FAITHFUL FRIEND AND SERVANT 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 

 E^'^^fR^P*'^ ACT 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 
 
 OP THE LATE 
 
 REV. JOHN B A M P T O N, 
 
 CANON OF SALISBURY. 
 
 ** I give and bequeath my Lands and 
 
 <* Eftates to the Chancellor, Mailers, and 
 " Scholars of the Univerfity of Oxford for 
 " ever, to have and to hold all and lingular 
 " the faid Lands or Eftates upon trull, and to 
 ** the intents and purpofes hereinafter men- 
 " tioned -, that, is to fay, I will and appoint, 
 « that the Vice- Chancellor of the Univerfity 
 *^ of Oxford for the time being Ihall take and 
 
 <* receive 
 
( ii ) 
 
 «' receive all the rents, iflues, and profits there- 
 *< of, and (after all reparations, and neceflary 
 " deductions made) that he pay all the re- 
 «< mainder to the endowment of eight Divinity 
 *^ Ledlure Sermons, to be eftablifhed for ever 
 *^ in the faid Univerfity, and to be performed 
 <* in the manner follow^ing : 
 
 " I diredl and appoint, that, upon the firft 
 ** Tuefday in Barter Term, a Lcdturer be yearly 
 ** chofen by the Heads of Colleges only, and 
 ** by no others, in the room adjoining to the 
 *' Printing-Houfe, between the hours of ten 
 ^' in the morning and two in the afternoon, to 
 '* preach eight Divinity Ledlure Sermons, the 
 '* year following, at St. Mary's in Oxford, be- 
 ** tween the commencement of the laft month 
 «* in Lent Term, and the end of the third 
 ** week in Adt Term. 
 
 ^' Alfo I dired: and appoint, that the eight 
 ** Divinity Lefture Sermons fhall be preached 
 ** upon either of the following fubjefts — to 
 ^* confirm and eftablifh the Chriftian Faith, 
 
 '* and 
 
( i" ) 
 
 ^^ and to confute all heretics and fchlfmatlcs — 
 " upon the divine authority of the Holy Scrip- 
 ^* tures — upon the authority of the writings of 
 ♦* the primitive Fathers, as to the faith and 
 " praftice of the primitive Church — upon the 
 *^ Divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jefus 
 *' Chrift— upon the Divinity of the Holy Ghoft 
 " — upon the Articles of the Chriftian Faith, 
 ♦* as comprehended in the Apoftles' and Ni- 
 ** cene Creeds. 
 
 " Alfo I diredl, that thirty copies of the eight 
 " Divinity Ledlure Sermons fhall be always 
 ** printed, within two months after they are 
 *^ preached, and one copy fhall be given to the 
 " Chancellor of the Univeriity, and one copy 
 " to the Head of every College, and one copy 
 " to the Mayor of the City of Oxford, and 
 " one copy to be put into the Bodleian Libra- 
 " ry ; and the expence of printing them fhall 
 " be paid out of the revenue of the Land or 
 " Eflates given for eflablifliing the Divinity 
 *^ Ledture Sermons ; and the Preacher fhall 
 
 <*not 
 
( iv ) 
 
 «* not be paid, nor be entitled to the revenue, 
 ** before they are printed. 
 
 '* Alfo I diredl and appoint, that no perfon 
 " iliall be quahfied to preach the Divinity Lec- 
 ** ture Sermons, unlcfs he hath taken the De- 
 *^ gree of Mafter of Arts at leaft, in one of the 
 *^ two Unlveriities of Oxford or Cambridge ; 
 '* and that the fame perfon ihall never preach 
 " the Divinity Ledure Sermons twice." 
 

 R M a,N I 
 
 'i'iUKUu 
 
 &m^ 
 
 I PET. III. 15. 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer fa every 
 man, that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you. 
 
 IT is a diftlnguifhing property of our Re- 
 ligion that it not only admits of a rational 
 inquiry into its truth, but alfo incites its pro- 
 feflbrs to this inquiry in the moft forcible 
 manner, making it a part of their religious 
 duty. We are commanded in the text to be 
 ready always to give an anfwer to every man, 
 that afketh us a reafon of the Hope that is in 
 us : or, in other words, we are commanded to 
 fatisfy ourfelves univerfally of the truth of our 
 Religion, fo as to be prepared on all occafions 
 to affign our reafons for believing in it. 
 
 Our Religion may be confidered with regard 
 to its fubftance, with regard to its hiftory, with 
 regard to the arguments by which it is con- 
 firmed, and with regard to the objeftions by 
 which it is oppofed. Thefe four great topics 
 include the principal circumflances, which 
 affect our Chriflian Faith : under them wc 
 
 B have 
 
2 SERMON I. 
 
 have ample means of fatisfying both ourfelves, 
 and others, concerning the Hope that is in us. 
 And many are the reafons, which ought to 
 induce us on occafions, like the prefent, to 
 prepare ourfeh^es by a general difcuffion of 
 thefe great topics to comply with the com- 
 mand of the text. In an age when the real 
 fubftance of our Religion is mifreprefented by 
 men of the moft oppofite charafters and in- 
 tentions ; when the manner, in which it has 
 been received and conveyed down to us, is 
 traduced by the moft infidious and unfupported 
 infmuations ; when the arguments in its de- 
 fence are ftudioufly disjoined from each other 
 and frittered away by fucceffive detraftions of 
 many of their moft convincing parts ; and 
 when the whole body of old objections againft 
 our Religion is recalled, and enforced by new 
 ones, which are every day fuggefted by an 
 adventurous and fceptical philofophy ; in fuch 
 an age it is confpicuoufly our duty to fortify 
 our minds by the information, comprehended 
 under the general topics of Chriftian Theology 
 which I have above enumerated. Difcourfes 
 alfo on fuch general topics may well be inter- 
 fperfed among others on the particular parts 
 of our religious profeffion, which the founder 
 of this Le<Sure has wifely marked out, as fub- 
 jefts of our difcuffion. Thus interfperfed, 
 
 they 
 
SERMON I. 3 
 
 they will conduce, on an extended fcale, to 
 limilar good purpofes with thofe reflexions at 
 large on any human fcience ; which, in the 
 progrefs of difquifitions on particular branches 
 of it, enable us from time to time to form 
 fuch adequatie conceptions of the whole, as 
 are found to be effential to a full comprehenfion 
 of the inftrudions, which are communicated 
 even on its moft detached and minute divi- 
 fions. Such general information, moreover, 
 cannot fail of being eminently ferviceable to 
 the younger part of my audience, for whofe 
 benefit this Inllitution was peculiarly calcu- 
 lated. Since without it early improvements 
 in religious knowlege will be fo defultory and 
 imperfeft, as to afford little reafon to expeft, 
 either that Theological ftudents will be fuffi- 
 ciently inftrucSed to qualify them in future life 
 to teach others, or (what ought never to be 
 an objedl of lefs ferious concern) that young 
 and unexperienced minds in general will them- 
 felves be effectually guarded againft that moft 
 exteniive fpecies of infidelity, which is founded 
 on * ignorance of the real circumftances of our 
 
 ^ '^ From the fcveral converfatlons which it has been my 
 '* chance to have with unbelievers I have learned that igno- 
 •* ranee of the nature of our Religion, and a difmclination to 
 " ftudy both it and its evidences are to be reckoned among the 
 " chief caules of infidelity.'* 
 
 Beattie's Evidences, Vol. I. p. 6. 
 
 B 2 Relirion, 
 
4, SERMON I. 
 
 Religion, and is conflantly betraying itfelf by 
 infignificant and impertinent objedionsagainft 
 its trutif, and by that fenfelefs blafphemy 
 which fp often iliocks the ears of good men in 
 private converfation. Trutli, indeed, has on 
 all occafions fo much force, that, when clearly 
 propofed, it muft command attention and re- 
 fped: : but the truths of Chriftianity are, far- 
 ther, fo admirably calculated to fatisfy the 
 hopes of the beft men, and to allay the peni- 
 tential fears of the worft ; that, wherever they 
 are early and thoroughly underftood, prejudice, 
 inftead of exerting itfelf again ft them, muft 
 co-operate v/ith reafon in their favour, and 
 fecure for them fuch influence on an uncor- 
 rupted heart, as the oppofition of ignorance 
 will in vain attempt to deftroy. 
 
 Since, then, a general difcuffion of the great 
 topics, under which I have diftributed the 
 connderation of our Religion, and which are 
 of extent fufRcient to enable us to comply 
 with the command of the text, is well fuited 
 to the prefent times, is expedient at proper 
 intervals amidft the particular fubjedts pre- 
 fcribed for this Ledlure, and, moreover, is 
 likely to be of the moft important fervice to 
 the younger part of my audience ; I fhall con- 
 fine myfelf to it in the following difcourfes, 
 and. Without any apology for calling your at- 
 tention 
 
S E R M O N I. 5 
 
 tention to truths of which you muft often be-. 
 fore have heard the greater part, or any farther 
 introduction, I fhall propofe it in general terms 
 as my defign to ftate, what our Religion is, 
 what the manner in which it has been re- 
 ceived and conveyed down to us, what the 
 arguments by which its truth is defended, and 
 what the objections with which it is affailed. 
 Or, to propofe my defign with its particular 
 limitations, I fliall endeavour — Firfl, to ftate 
 regularly the fubftance of our Religion from 
 its earlieft declarations in the Scriptures of 
 both the old and new Teftament to its com- 
 plete publication after the refurredion of 
 Chrift; — ^ Secondly, to give a fketch of the 
 hiftory of our Religion from its complete pub- 
 lication after the refurredtion of Chrift to the 
 prefent times ; confining, however, this fketch, 
 towards the conclufion to the particular hiftory 
 of our own Church ; — Thirdly, to ftate in a 
 fummary manner the arguments adducible in 
 proof of the truth of our Religion; — And 
 Fourthly, to point out the general fources of 
 ohjeftion againft it, and to fhew that a forcible 
 removal of thefe Qfl\;;nces by divine interpo- 
 fition would be inconfiftent with our Religion 
 itfelf 3 concluding the whole v/ith a particular 
 account of thofe obje<flions, which are ad- 
 vanced againft our Religion from the preten- 
 fions of philofophv. 
 
 ' B ^ To 
 
6 SERMON I. 
 
 To begin, then, with ftating regularly the 
 fubftance of our Religion from its earlieft de- 
 clarations in the Scriptures of both the old and 
 new Teftanient to its complete publication af- 
 ter the refurreftion of Chrift. 
 
 The declarations of Scripture, which form 
 the fubftance of our Religion, afcend in their 
 earheil references to that fupreme Being, who 
 cxifts without beginning of days. They in- 
 form us that from ^ everlafting, from a dura- 
 tion, which numbers have no powers to 
 exprefs and the mind of men no faculties to 
 comprehend, is God : that he is a *" Spirit, 
 is "^poffeffed of life in himfelf, and is infinite in 
 peifedion; but incomprehenfible in his nature: 
 and, moreover, that through his own free 
 goodnefs he originally created and continually 
 preferves whatever elfe belides himfelf has ex- 
 ftence both in heaven and m earth. 
 
 The firft intelligent beings, created by him, 
 are fometimes in Scripture called fpirits from 
 the refined cbnftitution of their nature : at 
 other times they are called angels from their mi- 
 niftration in the divine economy. Various are 
 
 ^ Pf. xc. 2. <^ John iv. 24. 
 
 ** John V. 26. 
 
 '* Jehovah'* or *' I am," the Scripture name of God, Is 
 immediately derived from his inherent life. And by an oath, 
 referring to this dicing ailhing pro^rty of the Godhead, was 
 the Almighty often pleafed to confirm his promifes : *' As I live 
 faith the Juord." Num. xiv. zt, Rom. xiv. n, 
 
 the 
 
S E R M O N L 7 
 
 the * paffages of holy writ, which alTure us 
 that they were created upright ; while at the 
 fame time the fall of fome among them moil 
 unhappily demonftrates that they were created 
 alfo free agents and capable of fm. Why they 
 fliould be permitted thus to fall, and why when 
 fallen they fhould farther be permitted to tempt 
 other creatures to involve themfelves in a fimi- 
 liar fate, are circumftances left among the fe- 
 cret things of God. Nor lefs unrefolved by 
 Revelation are the queftions, ** whether any 
 part of matter was created at fo early a period 
 as the firft intelligent creatures *, and whether 
 thofe creatures were clothed with material bo- 
 dies ?'* Revelation, w^hile it draws arguments 
 for our inftrudlion from the condudl, condition, 
 and agency of fuperior beings, informs us, in- 
 deed, concerning particular circumftances of 
 angelic hiftory ; but, to the utter difappoint- 
 ment of vain curiofity, it fays nothing profef- 
 fedly with regard to this hiftory. 
 
 Deftined for human ufe, it confines itfelf 
 to human concerns. After a full, but indefi- 
 nite, aifertion, that ^ *' in the beginning God 
 created the heaven and the earth,'* it confines 
 its profeiTed information concerning the mate- 
 rial creation to fuch circumftances, as particu- 
 lary relate to man and the fyftem which he ii>- 
 
 * Johnviii. 44.. Jude vi. ^ Gen,:, x. 
 
 B 4 habits : 
 
S S E R M O N I. 
 
 habits : Inflruding us, that all the various 
 objefts, which we perceive and admire around 
 us, were originally produced, and have lince 
 been preferved, by the all-perfedt God ; and 
 moreover, that among the produdions of the 
 material world this all-perfed: Being, having 
 formed man's body from the duft of the earth, 
 was pleafed in a diftinguiiliing manner to 
 breathe into his noftrils the breath of life. Thus 
 animated with a fpirit of heavenly extraftion, 
 man was faid to be formed in the Image of 
 God, w^as conftituted fovereign of this lower 
 w^orld, and was invefted with the good things 
 of it. To prove, however, his grateful obe- 
 dience under thefe bleffings and to fit him (as 
 we may ^ prefume) for greater in another and 
 eternal flate, conditions of trial were impofed 
 upon him. Like the angels, man was created 
 upright and a free agent. By the wifdom of 
 God obedience to a politive precept was enjoin- 
 ed him; and by the fame wifdom the fallen an- 
 gels were permitted to fuggeft temptations to 
 the contrary. His own choice led him to 
 difobedlence, and to death, the predidled con- 
 fequence. And this confcquence, it might be 
 feared, v/ould contain under it not merely a 
 
 ^ See Blfhop Bui], concenung the firfl covenant and the Rate 
 of man before the fall, in tlie third volume of his Sermons and 
 'Ducourfei, Svo. P. 1079, 1091, Sec, 
 
 privation 
 
S E R M O N L 9 
 
 privation of animal-life here, called temporal 
 death; but (what in the regular courfe of things 
 muft be exped:ed to follow from the guilt of 
 free and corrupted agents) that privation alfo of 
 the enjoyments of eternal life hereafter, which 
 is called the fecond or eternal death. But, the 
 univerfal progenitor of mankind having thus 
 fallen through the temptation of fuperior and 
 malicious beings, and having alfo entailed upon 
 Ills poflerity a depraved and infirm nature; man 
 was not left doomed to thofe endlefs evils, 
 which might have been dreaded as the unavoi- 
 dable punKhment of each invidual's voluntary 
 and unexpiated fin. His great creator graci- 
 oufly and immediately interpofed to provide a 
 remedy for his fall. But, fo much did it coft 
 to redeem his foul, that the remedy muft afto- 
 nlfli every rational creature. The ^eternal fon 
 of God (one of thofe Perfons whofe coexift- 
 ence in nature with the Father forms part oi 
 the incomprehenfibillty of the Godhead) was 
 in procefs of time to take upon him the nature 
 of man. In that nature, united v/ith his own 
 in the fame Perfon, he was to give mankind 
 whatever ' inftrudrion was neceffary for them ; 
 
 ^ Ifaiah ix. 6. Zecli. xili. 7. Rom. viil. 52. 
 
 » Deut. xviii. 18. i Cor. i. 30. Even tht* Samaritans appear 
 to have been fuily convinced that when the Mefliah came *' he 
 Ihould tell them all things.'* John Iv. 25. 
 
 and 
 
lo S E R M O N I. 
 
 and by the meritorious fufterings of that naturCj^ 
 thus intimately connecfled with the divine^ he 
 was to make ^ atonement for their fins and to 
 provide them with the moil: extenfive means 
 of efcaping thofe dreadful confequences of 
 their corruption, which threatened to involve 
 them in death eternal ; with means ^ as exten- 
 five, as the influence of the firft man^sfall. ** As 
 by one man's difobedience "" many were made 
 linners; fo by the obedience of one many were 
 to be made righteous.'' ^* Chrift was to tafte 
 death for "^ every man." ^' He was to give 
 himfelf a ranfom for *" all.*' 
 
 It is not, however, declared in Scripture to 
 be neceifary that all men fhould be made ac- 
 quainted with the circumftances of this Re- 
 demption to qualify them for a participation 
 of its bleffings. Millions have partaken of 
 corruption through Adam in different ages 
 and degrees without knowing the fource of 
 their corruption. And millions may partake 
 
 ^ See concerning the atonement made for us. Ads xx. 28 ; 
 Rev. i. 5 ; and the whole ot the 53d Chapter of Ifaiah, and of 
 the 9th and loth Chapters of the Epiltle to the Hebrews-. 
 
 ^ **'God promifcd our firll parcMits immediately upon the fall 
 that the ieed of the woman Ihoiild bruife the ierpent's head : 
 and by v irtue of this Promife all truely good men were favcd 
 by Chrill from the beginning.'* 
 
 Sherlock on Providence, p. 225, 226. 
 
 ** Rom. 5. 19 — " ci TToAAu" in both parts of this verfe ought 
 to be rendered '• the many" or " mankind in general." 
 
 "^ Heb. ii. 9. "" i Tim. ii. 6. 
 
 of 
 
SERMON L II 
 
 of Redempt'on through Chrift In equally dif- 
 ferent ages and degrees, notwithflanding their 
 ignorance of him in this life. God, wc are 
 ''exprefsly told, is *^ the Saviour of all men;" 
 though we are told at the fame time, that he 
 is fo " efpecially of thofe that believe." .Thefe 
 merciful defigns, indeed, were not all revealed 
 at Qnce to any body of men : they are colleded 
 from different parts of Scripture and from the 
 completion of the whole. The intimation of 
 a Redemption, which Was given to the origi- 
 nal tranfgrefTors, was fufficient to encourage 
 hope ; and more appears not to have been in- 
 tended by it. But, from the declaration that 
 ^ the feed of the woman fliould bruife the fer- 
 pent's head to the triumphant afcenfion of the 
 Prince of life, the fame merciful defigns are 
 purfued with an uniform direction to their 
 great and final completion. Indeed, we find 
 on this occafion fo uniform and wonderful a 
 whole, that infidelity might be tempted to 
 fufped: fome preconcerted plan of human con- 
 trivance ; were it not that many of the ' in- 
 fpired penmen appear not to have underftood 
 their own prediftions on the fubjedl, and 
 
 P 1 Tim. Iv. CO. *i Gen. iii. 15. 
 
 ' Dan. xii. 8. i Pet. i. to, 11, 12. 2 Pet. 1. 20, 2r. 
 See on this fubje6\ Burgh's Scripture Confutation, ad edit. S'\ 
 
 much 
 
12 S E R M O N L 
 
 much lefs to have had a connedted knowlege 
 of the different parts of the edifice, which 
 they were contributing to erefl:. 
 
 But, whatever deHverance from future evil 
 might be defigned for man, no fooner had he 
 forfeited his innocence, than he was reduced 
 by the wifdom of his Creator to a ftate of 
 ® laborious adivity, well calculated for finful 
 creatures. In this ftate he was left amidft 
 labor and pain to ward off for a feafon tempo- 
 ral death ; and by his virtue, here to be exer- 
 eifed in various trials, hereafter to be accepted 
 through his great Redeemer, he was left to fe- 
 cure for himfelf an inheritance in life eternal. 
 The various parts of the material world, the 
 various operations of the human mind were 
 thenceforth to fuggeft to him (according to the 
 determination of his own free will) means of 
 purification, or of farther debafement. General 
 * hopes of Redemption, and general " rules of 
 condud were given him, and without doubt 
 general affiftance of the Holy Spirit (that third 
 Perfon in the incomprehenfible Godhead, whofe 
 operations were from the beginning to be among 
 the principal means provided for man's re- 
 covery) was "^ given alfo, to eifedl in honefl 
 
 =^ Gen. iii. 19. * Gen. iii. 15. " Gen. iv. 7. 
 
 ^ Gen. vi. 3. Pf. li, i 2. 
 
 minds 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 13 
 
 minds an acceptable obedience. But the de- 
 pravity of man's heart foon became deftrudlive 
 of his virtue. His defcendants increafed and 
 their vices alfo increafed. Neither the lav^s 
 of confcience nor the more exprefs commands 
 of the Deity were effedual to reftrain their 
 headftrong paflions. Every "" imagination of 
 their heart was evil : and violence overfpread 
 the face of the whole earth. To no eiFe£t 
 was Enoch, who had walked with God, tranf- 
 lated to the regions of heavenly blifs with a 
 defign to convince his brethren that the road 
 to happinefs in a better world was ftill open 
 to religious obedience. To no effedl was Noah 
 raifed up to be a preacher of righteoufnefs, 
 and a ^ time limited for the reformation or de- 
 flruftion of mankind. Either to prove the 
 ruinous confequence of fin, or to inflift a fe- 
 verer puniflament on the more immediate de- 
 fcendants of the original tranfgreflbrs by a 
 fudden and general triumph of death, all the 
 inhabitants of the earth, fave eight perfons, 
 were fvvept away by an univerfal deluge. But, 
 the promifes of God concerning man's Re- 
 demption were unalterable. Heaven and earth 
 might pafs away, but his word could not pafs 
 away. Immediately after this fatal event the 
 Almighty ^ fmelled a fweet favor from that 
 
 * Gen. vi. 5. x Gen. vi. 3. ^ Gen. viii. 21. 
 
 facrilice. 
 
14 S E R M O N I. 
 
 lacrifice, which had been inftituted as a type 
 of the great Redeemer, and determined that 
 he would not any more fmite every living 
 thing : moreover, he was gracioufly pleafed to 
 provide mankind with * new laws for their 
 direction. To thefc laws tradition appears to 
 refer both the foundation of natural Religion, 
 and the articles of Faith prefcribed to the 
 Jewilli Profelytes of the Gate. To the fame 
 law^s and the late difplay of divine vengeance 
 it is referred alfo that we read of no public and 
 general crime before the building of the tower 
 of BabeL On the prefumptuous erection of 
 this edilice was manifefted the firft extraordi- 
 nary interpofitlon of the Almighty to reftrain 
 the depravity of mankind, after he had pro- 
 rrtifcd not to inflid: upon them a fecond general 
 deftruftion. He divided them into ^ feparate 
 nations by a confufion of tongues : thus pro- 
 viding againfl an uniformity of corruption 
 among them, and providing alfo in the ordi- 
 nary courfe of his moral government means to 
 punifli their wickednefs by the inftrumentality 
 of each other. 
 
 But, notwithftanding this interpofition, foon 
 did the depravity of the human heart again 
 widely extend its influence : foon did the de- 
 fcendants of Noah, from imperfedt obferva- 
 
 ^ Gen. ix. ^ Gen. xi. 8. 
 
 tions 
 
SERMON I, 
 
 15 
 
 tions and groundlefs conjectures concerning 
 the motions and natures of the *^ heavenly 
 bodies, form for themfelves, iirft perhaps 
 (under the traditions which they might recol- 
 lect, or under the influence of what their own 
 ^ unworthinefs might fuggeft, concerning the 
 neceffity of a mediator) a race of tutelar gods 
 or intercefTors wdth the moil High ; and af- 
 terwards, as their * corruptions increafed, 
 ^ Gods of a fupreme and independent nature. 
 That mankind, therefore, forgetful of the 
 commands enjoined to Noah and his pofterity, 
 might not be involved a fecond time in an uni- 
 verfal alienation from the living God; and alfo 
 that they might not be unprepared to receive 
 the promifed Redemption ; it pleafed the Al- 
 
 ^ Of what fort the original corruption of divine woilhip was, 
 we may infer from Ads vii. 42, 43. 
 
 '^ Seeker's Ledures, 8vo. Vol. II. p. 145. 
 
 * We fhall eafily conceive to what a degree religious tradi- 
 tions may be corrupted from the following remarkable fad ; 
 '* Some Saxon Monks, who had formerly introduced the Gof- 
 '* pel into Rugia, dedicated a Church there to their patron 
 *' St. Vitus. The inhabitants afterwards relapfed into Pagan- 
 *' ifm, forgot the true God, and, when they were converted 
 " again about the year 1 1 70, they Vtcre found to be given up 
 '* to the worfhip of the idol Suantovit which they had derived 
 *' from " Saint Vitus," 
 
 Jortin's Remarks on Eccl. Hift. Vol. V. p. 232, ift edit. 
 
 ' What Mr. Hume afferts in his natural hillory of Religion, 
 to prove that Polytheifm was the primary Religion of man- 
 kind, has no better foundation, than that which fupports the 
 political fyftems of thofe fpeculatiils who fuppofe that all Go- 
 vernment originated in the free and uninfluenced choice of the 
 people. 
 
 mighty 
 
i6 S E R M O N I. 
 
 mighty to feledt ^ one from the faithful then 
 left, to impart to him a particular knowlege 
 of his duty, and by confining the Redeemer 
 to his ^ defcendants to intereft them more 
 immediately in the prefervation and publica- 
 tion of thofe prophefies concerning this great 
 Perfonage, which were to be entrufted to 
 human care : that the fervice of the living 
 God might not be left without advocates 
 among men, fome true worfliippers were at 
 different tim.es, by traditions derived from 
 them and miracles wrought among them, to 
 convey ' inftruftion to the idolatrous Heathen 
 and occafionally to difpell their grofs darknefs 
 even before the day-fpring from on high 
 fhould vifit them ; and that there might be 
 fome guardians worthy to be entrufted v/ith 
 the facred ^ oracles, fome country fitted to 
 receive the ^ fun of righteoufnefs ; it was or- 
 dained that there fhould be *^ a "" chofen ge- 
 neration, a royal priefthood, an holy nation." 
 Such were the important defigns of the 
 '^ Jewiih difpenfation. 
 
 s Gen. xii. i, 2, 3. ^ Gen. xxii. 18. 
 
 * See Jenkin's Reafonablenefs of the Chriftian Religion, 
 Vol. I. p. 73, &c. 
 
 ^ Rom. iii. 2, ^ Mai. iv. 2. 
 
 "* I Pet. ii. 9. Exod. xix. 5, 6. 
 
 " The term *' Jew,'* which is the appropriate denomination 
 of the defcendants of Judah, foon included under it the Benja- 
 mites, who joined themfelves to the tribe of Judah on the revolt 
 
 of 
 
SERMON I. 17 
 
 The promlfes made to the pofterity of 
 Abraham through Ifaac and Jacob, the mi- 
 racles wrought in their prefervation and in- 
 creafe, and, above all, their deliverance from 
 Egyptian bondage, are every v^here urged as 
 arguments againft idolatry and types of uni- 
 verfal Redemption. After this deliverance, 
 as if occafional interpofitions were inadequate 
 to his gracious purpofes, the Deity vouchfafed 
 by a continuation of miracles to take immedi- 
 ately upon himfelf their temporal government. 
 Nor can the human mind conceive a fcene 
 more awful, or more impreffive of religious 
 obedience, than that which ufhered in the 
 laws and ordinances of this new Kingdom. 
 While the vifible interpofition of the divine 
 Majefty conferred on it a folemnity and dig- 
 nity, which no ° language but that of Infpi- 
 ration can defcribe ; the ^ public difplay of this 
 wonderful condefcenfion was calculated to pre- 
 
 of the other ten tribes from the Hoiife of David. After the 
 Babylonifh captivity, when many individuals of thefe ten tribes 
 returned with the men of Judah and Benjamin to rebuild Jeru- 
 falem, the fame term was made to include them alfo. From 
 hence tiot only all the Ifraelites of future times have been called 
 Jews ; but farther all the defcendants of Jacob are fo called by 
 us at prefent from the very beginning of their hiflory ; and v/e 
 fpeak even of their original difpenfation, as the Jewilh dif- 
 penfation. 
 
 ° Some of the moil: beautiful and fubllme pafTages of facred 
 poetry confift of ailuHons to the v/onierful fcene which was ex- 
 hibited on mount Sinai, See Lowth de facra Poefi Heb. 3d 
 edii., p. 113. p SeeExod.xix. — . 
 
 C elude 
 
i2 SERMON I. 
 
 dude all pofiible fufpiclon of impofture and 
 to convey the mofl durable inftrudtion to pof- 
 terity. At the fame time the precaution alfo, 
 with which the divine commands were de- 
 livered, ferved to prove their great and lading 
 importance. For, to prevent as much as pof- 
 fible that intermixture of human error, which 
 might arife from the con traded duration of 
 men's lives ; the Mofaical inflrudions were 
 not, like former Revelations, left to the con- 
 veyance of tradition, but ^ written and engra- 
 ven by the finger of God. And well are they 
 worthy of cur attention on account of their 
 excellent morality ^ but, particularly ought we 
 to obferve the manner, in v/hich they are cal- 
 culated to confecrate a peculiar people to the 
 fervice of the true God by the prohibition of 
 intercourfe and intermarriage between them 
 and their idolatrous neighbours, (that fatal 
 caufe of the corruption of the old world, when 
 the ' fons of God went in to the daughters of 
 men) and by numberlefs precepts, which were 
 defigned to create in them a fettled abhorrence 
 ef the ' advocates for Heathen fuperftition, 
 
 *i Exod. xxxi. 1 8. lb. xxxii. i6. "" Gen. vi. 2. 
 
 * That the Jewifh laws are iingularly favourable to Grangers, 
 as fach, is abundantly evident from Lev. xix. 34. — xxiii. 22. 
 «-^xxiv. 22. — XXV. 35. — Num. xv. 15, 16. — Deut. i. 16. — 
 X. 17 — 19. — xxiv. 14 — 17. — xxvii. 19. Had Mr. Gibbon 
 been acquainted with thefe and many other fuch parts of the 
 Jewiih law j he wculd not have alTerted in the moil unqualified 
 
 manner 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 19 
 
 and which to fome refined moralifts favour too 
 little of univerfal charity. How effeftually 
 thefe injunctions operated in forming the Jews 
 into a feparate body from the reft of mankind 
 is exceedingly remarkable. To this very day, 
 like the well-cemented ruins of fome old fort- 
 refs, they exhibit proofs of the moft durable 
 contexture ; and, however their original ufe 
 be fuperfeded, adhere together with undimi- 
 nifhed force. Nor did it contribute in an or-- 
 dinary degree to promote the great ends of the 
 Mofaical difpenfation, that the rewards and 
 punifnments of it were im^mediately diftri- 
 buted ; and that the Jews were left to difcover, 
 by 'other means, the doftrineof a future ftate* 
 For, how could this people be fo ftrongly 
 guarded againft the temptations to idoIatr\% 
 
 manner on account, perhaps, of fome few pafTages of the old 
 Teftament which he did not thoroughly underiiand, '* that the 
 ** moral attributes of Jehovah may not eafily be reconciled 
 " with the llandard of hujiian virtue." Hiilory of the decline 
 and fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. V. p. 202. But, what- 
 ever fuch men may prefume to afTert, we knov/, on the autho- 
 rity of one vvifer and better acquainted with the fubjedl, *' that 
 ***no nation had ftatutes and judgements fo righteous as all the 
 ** law v/hich was fet before the Jews." Deut. iv. 8, 
 
 ^ With regard to the dodrine of a future ilate both the Jews 
 and the Gentiles appear univerfal! y to have derived traditional 
 information on this important iubjsifl from fome original Re- 
 velation, communic:ited to mankind in the early ages of their 
 hiftory : that of th^ Jews, however, continued very much more 
 pure in confcquence of the inllrudion, conveyed to them by 
 the defcrlptions of God and the promifes of Redemption, which 
 are eVery where found in their bcriptures- 
 
 C 2 which 
 
20 SERMON L 
 
 which were ever foliciting their fenfes from 
 prefent objefts ; as by the contrary affurance 
 of prefent gratifications ? Or by what other 
 fo efFed:ual a method could they be made to 
 look forward with interefted confidence to that 
 great Lawgiver, whom Mofes himfelf " com- 
 mands them to obey in language the moft ex- 
 plicit and folemn ? Under fuch influence if the 
 Law did not, by its fpiritual defign, as a 
 "^ fchool-mafter bring them to Chrift ; their 
 zealous attention from temporal motives to 
 eveiy particular, relative to him, would make 
 them inftruments of univerfal falvation. Ex- 
 clufive, indeed, of fuch confiderations, had 
 the Mofaicai covenant propofed to its par- 
 takers future and eternal rewards without full 
 information that thefe were not to be obtained 
 through works of the law, unlefs fanftified by 
 Faith in their promifed Redeemer ; it would 
 apparently have fuperfeded the neceffity of this 
 Redeemer. And fince the Divine Mercy did 
 not think fit to propofe explicitly the condi- 
 tions of our eternal life before the great facri- 
 fice for fin had been aftually offered ; we can- 
 not enough admire the wifdom, by which the 
 neceffary temporality of the Mofaicai fanflions 
 was employed to prepare the way for a better 
 covenant. 
 
 " Deut. xviii. 15 — 19, ^ Gal. iii. 24, 
 
 At 
 
S E R M O N I. 21 
 
 At the fame time that the promifed defcent 
 of the Redeemer might not lofe of its influ- 
 ence by being common to too many, it is very 
 remarkable how it is limited : lirft to * Ifaac, 
 then to ^ Jacob, then to "" Judah, and after- 
 wards to * David and his pofterity. Nor was 
 it thus limited without fome concomitant and 
 immediate token of divine favour. Each of 
 thefe patriarchs was foon diftinguifhed by his 
 riches and power. 
 
 Care having been thus taken to preferve in 
 fome part of the world the knowlege of the 
 true God, and to prepare a facred repofitory 
 for the propheiies, which were not only to au- 
 thenticate the Redeemer on his arrival, but 
 alfo to prepare mankind for his reception ; we 
 may every where find thefe reafons of the 
 Jewifh difpenfation infilled on and enforced. 
 It was not for their own virtue that the Jews 
 were made particular obje(fls of divine care; 
 but becaufe Jehovah loved their forefathers, 
 who amidfi: an idolatrous generation had re- 
 mained uncorrupted -, and for the glory of his 
 name, to be difplayed in the univerfal Re- 
 demption of mankind. ^This their great Lav/- 
 
 * Gen. xxl. 12. Heb. xi. 18. 
 
 y Gen. XXXV. 12. Mai. i. 2, 3. 
 
 * Gen. xlix. 12. ^ A6ls ii. 30. 
 
 *> Compare Deut. ix. 7. with Deut x. 15, 16. And fee the 
 48th and 49th chapters of Ifaiah. 
 
 C 3 giver 
 
22 SERMON I. 
 
 giver and their prophets fully declare, while 
 they upbraid the Jews with unvv^orthinefs of 
 divine favour. And though the hiftory of this 
 people for many ages immediately after the 
 promulgation of their law is one continued re- 
 lation of perverfe obftinacy and difobedience ;; 
 yet did not the merciful Providence of God 
 caft off thefe rebellious children, but at diffe- 
 rent times raife up holy prophets to reprove 
 them and almoft to force them back to their 
 duty. So much was the univerfal and eternal 
 intereft of mankind concerned in the prefer- 
 vation of that feed, through wdiich all the 
 nations of the earth were to be bleffed ! And 
 while by alluring promifes every day fulfilled 
 before their eyes, by gi*ievous threats, and 
 even by the fevereft temporal punifliments 
 they were reduced at *" length to fome partial 
 obedience ; the great work of man's falvation 
 was accelerated. Thofe prophets, who de- 
 nounced through the Holy Spirit the moil 
 oppreffive bondage on this rebellious nation, 
 foretold alfo with encreafmg clearnefs through 
 the fame Spirit the future deliverance of m.an- 
 kind and the eternal bleffings of Mefliah's 
 Kingdom. Nor is the precifion, with which 
 they pointed out the great Saviour, unworthy 
 
 * Th3 Jews were never guilty of idolatry after the Babylonifh 
 captivity, 
 
 of 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 23 
 
 of the mofl particular attention. Almoft every 
 circumftance relative to him v^as marked out 
 with minute detail. His miraculous ** con- 
 ception ; his birth, v^ith the particular ^ time 
 and ^ place of it ; the ^ obfcurity of his outward 
 appearance ; his ^ failing during forty days > 
 the ' fpotlefs purity of his life ; the ^ greatnefs 
 of his miracles ; his ^ triumphant, though 
 humble, entry into Jerufalem ; the *" betraying 
 of him for thirty pieces of filver ; his execu- 
 tion with common " malefacflors ; his ** pa- 
 tience under all manner of infult and torture 
 previous to his death, while his ^ back was 
 given to the fmiters, his '^ hands and feet were 
 pierced, and the parching thirft, occafioned 
 by his agony, could procure no other affuaging 
 potion than ' vinegar mingled with gall ; his 
 making of his grave ' Vv^ith the rich ; his * re- 
 furredlion on the third day ; his " triumphant 
 afcenfion ; and the "^ flocking together of the 
 Gentiles to his enfign ; all thcfe and many 
 more circumftances, relative to him, were 
 prefigured and foretold with a precifion, emi- 
 nently charafteriftical of Omnifcience. Perverfe 
 
 ^ If. vli. 14. ^ Dan. ix. 25. ^ MIc. v. 2. 
 
 g If. liii. 2. ^ Prefigured by Mofes and Elijah. 
 
 * If. liii. 9, II. ^ IC XXXV. 5, 6. ^ Zech. ix. 9. 
 «" Zech. xi. 12. ■ W. liii. 12. ^ IC. liii. 7. 
 
 P If. 1. 6. <? Pf. xxii. 16. ' If. Ixix. 21. 
 
 * If. liii. 9. * Jonah ii. 10. " Pf. xxiv. 
 
 w If. Ix. 3, &c. 
 
 C 4 and 
 
24 SERMON I. 
 
 and invincible muft the fcepticifm be, which 
 remains uninfluenced by it in any lituation. 
 No wonder, therefore, that it fhould have left 
 without the poiiibility of excufe that obftinacy, 
 which refufed affent to this prophetic evidence, 
 when it was afterwards drawn together and 
 prefented by the Apoftles to the Jewifh nation, 
 with a difplay of miracles correfpondent to 
 thofe of the great Redeemer himfelf, and with 
 a force peculiar to the accomplifhment of 
 writings, which had long been regarded by 
 this nation as their diftinguiihing glory. But, 
 like the "" infidel lord who would not believe 
 the Prophet Elilha's gracious prediction, they 
 were to fee the great promifes of God fulfilled 
 before their eyes, but not to tafte of them. 
 Indeed, to verify incontrovertibly the reafons 
 here affigned for the Jewifh difpenfation, and 
 to preclude all fuppofition of prediledlion in the 
 Almighty for the pofterity of Jacob, his ^ be- 
 loved, for their own fake exclufivelys ten of the 
 twelve tribes of Ifrael, rendered no longer ufe- 
 ful in the grand fcheme of man's falvation by 
 their obflinate idolatry and the limitation of 
 the Mefliah to the tribe of Judah, were many 
 hundred years before his coming difperfed and 
 removed from the peculiar proteftion of the 
 
 ^ Z Kings vii. 2» y Mai. i. 2. 
 
 Almighty : 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 25 
 
 Almighty : a punifhment, which was in a con- 
 ijpicuous degree to await their brethren alfo, 
 and which was only deferred till the great pur- 
 pofes of their feperate and national eftablifh- 
 ment had been fully accomplifhed. 
 
 In the mean time the other nations of the 
 earth were exercifing, under various circum- 
 Ilances and in various degrees, that reafon, 
 which, however perverfely applied, was given 
 them to promote their own "^ happinefs and the 
 glory of their Creator. After their difperiion 
 at Babel they formed themfelves into focieties, 
 eftablifhed * empires, cultivated fcience. But, 
 they ^ corrupted the Religion, given to Noah 
 and his defcendants, by Polytheifm (as hath 
 been declared) and by idolatry : they corrupted 
 the promifes and commands of God, involved 
 themfelves in the punifhment of a "" reprobate 
 mind, and became ignorant of the true nature 
 both of God and themfelves. Their temporal 
 
 * **■ Parvulos nobis dedit igniculos, quos celeriter mails mor 
 ribus opinionibufque depravatis fic reftinguimus, ut nufquam 
 natural lumen appareat. Sunt enim ingeniis noftris femina innata 
 virtutum, qu^ fi adolefcere liceret, ipfa nos ad beatam vitam 
 natura perduceret." Cic, Tufc Quaef. L. 3. C. i. 
 
 ^ Shuckford's Connedlions, Vol. II. p. 67. 2d edit. 
 
 ^ When Cicero defcribes the Caufes of the corruption of 
 mankind, he mentions the poets iirft, and with greater propriety 
 than he was himfelf aware of; fmce thefe contributed, by de- 
 bafmg divine traditions, to the general corruption very much 
 more than could ever be known to the Roman philofopher : af- 
 terwards he mentions the depraved examples, which are met 
 with in public life. Tufc. Quaell. L. 3. C, 2. 
 
 ^ Rom, i. 28. 
 
 fuccefs. 
 
26 S E R M O N I. 
 
 fuccefs, however, puffed up their vain imagi- 
 nations, often tempted the true worfhippers to 
 defert the Hving Jehovah, often called down 
 denunciations and inflidllons of divine vengeance 
 both on the Gentile and Jewifh world. Hu- 
 man reafon, indeed, did not fucceed even thus 
 far everj^ where. In countries diftantly remo- 
 ved from the feat of Revelation, by degrees 
 the moft debafmg fuperftition ufurped the place 
 of Religion, the powers of the mind were left 
 uncultivated, and the foolilh heart of man ap- 
 pears to have been darkened both with regard 
 to things temporal, and eternal. But, though 
 God was pleafed fo far to wink at thefe times 
 of ignorance, as not immediately to interfere 
 either to extirpate or to reform the offenders ; 
 and though he caufed his fun alike to fhine 
 upon the juft and the unjuft; yet were not 
 mankind left unregarded by their great moral 
 Governour : they wxre all univerfally going on 
 with that ftate of probation, to which they 
 had been reduced by their original parents, or 
 rather to which they had been reftored by the 
 m.ercy of God : and according to their ^ con- 
 
 "^ In Lucian's writings (Amftclodami, 1743. Vol. III. p. 602, 
 603.) a Ke:ithen is made to afk a Chriftian ** o y.ca ra, rav ILy.v- 
 5<yv ?v TiW >i^y.vu) iy)(OLooi-P,iiai ;" ** do they record in Heaven even 
 the adlions of the Scythians ? " and the anfwer given him is 
 
 ** -nTaxTa, t/ Tt.';)^o» ya Xp7?roj y-oci sv sS^acrtv" ** all of them, Unce 
 
 ** Chrill is alfo among the Gentiles." 
 
 What is thus aflerted, was univerfally not lefs true of the 
 Gentiles before, than after, the coming of Chriit. 
 
 dud 
 
S E R M O N I- 27 
 
 dud in this probation were they, under the 
 Atonement of their great Redeemer, to receive 
 their portion in another Hfe. The Gentiles, 
 having a power (as Revelation ^ fufficiently de- 
 clares) to do by nature the things contained in 
 the Law, might render themfelves fit objefts of 
 divine favour by living agreeable to its injunc- 
 tions : and they, who finned without Law, were 
 to perifh without Law, not lefs ^ afluredly, than 
 they who finned in the Law were to be judged 
 by the Law ; ^ thofe, who had no other writ- 
 ten Law given them, having a Law written in 
 their hearts, their confciences bearing them 
 witnefs. 
 
 The Gentiles, however, infliead of ftriving 
 through the divine mercy to extricate them- 
 felves from the curfe of fin, had not only 
 proved unworthy of the food, and gladnefs 
 with which their hearts were filled, and con- 
 fequently much more unworthy of the eternal 
 bleflings to which they might have afpired ; 
 but the Jews alfo (as we have feen) could with 
 difficulty be reftrained within bounds of religi- 
 
 « See Rom. i. 19, 20. Ibid. ii. 14. Befides, we mull here 
 recoiled, what has above been declared, that fome afliftance of 
 the holy Spirit appears from the beginning to have been exten- 
 ded univerfally to the infirmities of human nature. See Gen. vi. 
 3, &c. 
 
 ^ Rom, ii. 12. f Rom. 11. 14, 15- 
 
 ous 
 
28 SERMON I. 
 
 ous duty. Even when this chofen people had 
 ceafed after the Babylonifh captivity to profane 
 their ReHglon by idolatry ; they made it, as far 
 as in them lay, of none ^ efFed: by their tradi- 
 tions. But the pcrverfenefs of the Gentiles 
 and Jev7S had evinced the univerfal and invete- 
 rate depravity of human nature; and * thus had 
 itfelf been preparing the way for the great Re- 
 deemer. Conducively to the fame important 
 end, the Gentiles had, befides, demonftrated 
 the infufficiency of man*s moft cultivated rea- 
 fon to retrace, after long obliteration, the great 
 duties of a religious life. And the maxims, oc- 
 cafionally inculcated, or oftentatioufly difplayed, 
 by their philofophers had illuftrated the admi- 
 rable fitnefs of fuch a morality, as Chriftianity 
 was to enjoin. The Jews alfo had preferved 
 and made ^ known the prophefies which were 
 to authenticate the Redeemer; and, by abhor- 
 rence of Idolatry after their return from Baby- 
 lon, had been brought to recommend the wor- 
 Ihip of the invifible God. 
 
 Preparation had by thefe and other means 
 been made for the Redemption and perfedl in- 
 ftruffion of mankind. Preparation had been 
 
 ^ Mark vii. 13. » Rom. iii. 9, 25, 
 
 ^ Thcfe prophefies were known not only to all the Jews, but 
 dib to the Heathens, as it appeal's from Virgil and other Heathen 
 
 writers. 
 
 made : 
 
SERMON !• 29 
 
 made : and the fulnefs of time came. After 
 the Jewifh Scriptures had been clofed for an 
 awful period of nearly four hundred years, the 
 birth of the great Saviour was announced by a 
 multitude of the heavenly hoft. And well, in- 
 deed, might the important meffage be declared 
 to contain tidings of great joy to all people. 
 
 From the firft fall of mankind fin had 
 reigned in their mortal bodies : and the wages 
 of it had been continued mifery. Of this the 
 Heathen philofophers were fo far fenfible, that 
 they recommended perfeft ^ virtue, as the only 
 folid foundation of happinefs. But they could 
 ^ no where find this virtue, and were at a lofs 
 where to find their happy man. By requifitions, 
 better fuited to human infirmity, Revelation, 
 from the firft introduftion of human mifery, 
 had been preparing a renovation of happinefs 
 for mankind: obfcurely and typically, often, 
 in the beginning ; but not fo, when Chriftia- 
 nity was finally propofed as the completion of 
 all former revelations. The Chriftian cove- 
 nant began not with the moft diftant requifition 
 of Stoical apathy, or unattainable perfecSion. 
 The voice of him, that cried in the wildernefs, 
 required no fuch qualifications in mankind. It 
 
 * See the fifth book of Cicero's TufcuJan Oyeftions. 
 
 " ** Neijio line vitiis nafcitur '* is a tru:h univerfally ad- 
 mitted by the wifeft Heathens,. 
 
 addreffed 
 
30 S E R M O N I. 
 
 " addreffed itfelf to them, as finful creatures, 
 and exhorted them to repent. With the fame 
 exhortation the Redeemer alfo himfelf * en- 
 tered upon the pubHcation of his Religion; and 
 the fame was the introduftory doftrine of his 
 Pdifciples and deftined fucceffors. The firft ilep 
 towards the reftoration of mankind to divine fa- 
 vour was repeatedly pointed out in an humble 
 confeffion of their own unworthinefs. Nor were 
 the fubfequent means of counteradling the bad 
 efFed:s of their depravity left either to be difco- 
 vered, or to be regulated by themfelves. By** in- 
 ftrudlions, dehveredin his own and his Father's 
 ^name from his mouth who fpake as never 
 man fpake, and by his all-perfed example and 
 "^ atonement who was tempted in all points like 
 as we are yet without fin, was made fuch pro- 
 vilion for our affiftance and acceptance in the 
 performance of our duty towards God, our 
 neighbour, and ourfelves ; as at once is calcu- 
 lated to reftore our nature to its proper perfec- 
 tion, and to ' proportion to our abilities the 
 
 " Mat. ill. 2. • Mat. Iv. ij. Mark i. 15. 
 
 P Mark vi. 12. 
 
 ^ See more concerning this inllrudlion in the fifth Sermon 
 where it is urged, under the internal evidences of our Religion, 
 as an argument in its favour. 
 
 * Matt. 5th, 6th and 7th Chapters, Jolin v. 43. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. V. 21. See alfo the parts of Scripture above refer- 
 red to concerning tliis Atonement. ' Matt. xxv. 14— 23. 
 
 obedience 
 
S E R M O N L 31 
 
 obedience required from us. During the mi- 
 niftry on earth of this wonderful Perfonage, he 
 was engaged either in thus inftrudling his fol- 
 lowers with regard to their duty, and in pro- 
 viding the merciful means of their prefent and 
 future happinefs ; or in evincing, by difplays of 
 the moft aftonifliing miracles and by comple- 
 tions of prophefies, the reality of his preten- 
 fions and divine miffion. During his miniftry 
 on earth, whatfoever had been written in the 
 Law, or in the Prophets, concerning the office 
 and characfler, concerning the birth, life, death, 
 refurreclion, and afceniion of the great Re- 
 deemer received in Jcfus of Nazareth its perfed: 
 accompli fhment. From the moment that the 
 glorified Jefus, having arifen from the dead* 
 was inverted with his office of IntercefTor for 
 mankind and was openly announced as their fu- 
 ture judge, their promifed Redemption was 
 completed. A new covenant between God 
 and man comm.enced. A covenant, into which 
 all " nations were to be admitted by Baptifm ; 
 and in which they were to be fupported and 
 perfected by folemn "^ commemorations of the 
 great facrifice, which had been offered for 
 their fins. A Covenant, which, though 
 comprehenfive in its efficacy of the firfi: man 
 
 - Matt, xxviii. 19, ^' Luke xxil 19, 
 
 and 
 
32 SERMON h 
 
 and ''all his defcendants, difclofed itfelf with 
 various degrees of light ; and fhone not forth 
 in all its fplendor before the refurredion of its 
 great mediator. 
 
 From that time God was pleafed explicitly 
 to ^ inform mankind concerning their ftate of 
 trial in this life, and concerning the conditions 
 of their future judgement : that, though they 
 muft here remain fubjedl to temptation from 
 the world, the flefh, and the Devil, and at 
 length to death itfelf 5 they were provided 
 with abundant means of efcaping that mifery 
 hereafter, v/hich is to be the certain and dread- 
 ful confequence of wilful perfeverance in Irre- 
 iigion, and which is called death eternal : that, 
 through the infinite atonement made for them 
 by his blefled Son, he would afiift their infir- 
 mities by the preventing and continued influ- 
 ence of his Holy Spirit, would pardon their 
 fins, and reward them with peace here and 
 eternal glory hereafter 5 provided, on their 
 part, that they would embrace thefe his gra- 
 cious offers with that determined Faith in the 
 dodlrines revealed by him, which proceeds, 
 under the evidences of their truth, from hum- 
 ble reliance on his infinite perfedtions; and 
 
 ^ See concerning the univerfality of Chriftianity the pafTages 
 of Scripture above ciied, and ullb what is fiiid on the fubjed 
 in the fixth Sermon. 
 
 y This inforniacion maybe colleded from the univerTal tenor 
 «>f the Apoitolical writings. 
 
 with 
 
SERMON L 
 
 33 
 
 with that obedience to his precepts, which 
 demonftrates a fincere and univerfal defire to 
 obey them. The Apoftles and others were 
 appointed to announce this covenant : while 
 the perfons, to whom it was announced, be- 
 ing in pofleffion of the free will, which their 
 original parents, and their more immediate 
 anceftors, the Gentiles and Jews, fo obfti- 
 nately perverted, had full power to accept or 
 rejeft it. It was foretold that preachers fhould 
 continue in future ages to propofe the fame 
 terms, and that mankind fhould continue to 
 be invefted with the fame powers of accept- 
 ance, or rejed:ion. But in Chriftianity every 
 offer of divine mercy was to be completed. 
 No farther covenant was ever to be propofed : 
 nor this withdrawn. If even an angel from 
 heaven were to teach any other dodtrine, he 
 was to be " accurfed : while at the fame time 
 all the ^ feoffs of the latter days and the * gates 
 of hell itfelf were never to prevail to the era* 
 dication of this holy Religion. 
 
 Such is the fubftance of our Religion from 
 its earlieft declarations in the different parts of 
 Scripture to its complete publication after the 
 refurreffion of Chriil. Such, therefore, was 
 our Religion at the time of its original com- 
 pletion : and fuch alfo it continues to be to 
 
 ^ Gal.i. 8. y ^Pet. iii. 3. * Mat. xvi. 18. 
 
 D tliis 
 
34 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 this day ; the grand fcheme of man's redemp- 
 tion having been fully perfefted by the accept- 
 ance of the atonement made by Chrift for 
 human fm, and admitting in itfelf of no vari- 
 ation from fubfequent circumftances of time 
 or place. 
 
 As to the difplay of miraculous powers v^ith 
 which our Religion was at firft pubhihed ; and 
 the infallible manner, in which it was fo re- 
 corded for the permanent ufe of mankind, as 
 to enable them with certainty to colled: for 
 themfelves in every age thofe conditions of 
 their future and eternal happinefs, which have 
 been above ftated 5 thefe are circumftances of 
 which the relation will fall under the next 
 head. 
 
SERMON IL 
 
 PET. III. 15, 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer to every 
 many that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you. 
 
 HAVI NG ftated regularly the fubftance 
 of our Religion from its earlieft decla- 
 rations in the fcriptures of both the old and 
 new Teftament to its complete publication af- 
 ter the refurreftion of Chrift, I am now to 
 give a fketch of its hiftory from this publication 
 of it to the prefent times ; and thus to point 
 out the anfwer, which we may give concern- 
 ing the hope that is in us, as far as relates to 
 the manner in which our Religion has been re- 
 ceived and conveyed through fucceffive ages 
 down to our own times. 
 
 This head is fo extenlive, that, compendi- 
 oufly difcuffed, it will furnifh matter for three 
 Difcourfes : the firft will carry us from the 
 publication of our religion after the refurrec- 
 tion of Chrift to the eftablifliment of it by 
 Conftantine > the fecond from its eftablifliment 
 
 D 2 by 
 
36 SERMON II. 
 
 by Conftantine to the commencement of the 
 Reformation ; and the third from the com- 
 mencement of the Reformation to the prefent 
 times, or to the prefent ftate of our own 
 Church. 
 
 To begin, then, v/ith the firft. The Apoftles, 
 who were commiffioned by our bleffed Saviour 
 to publifh his ReUgion, were men deftitute of 
 every worldly advantage ; but they were men, 
 who had been ^ with him from the beginning, 
 and, together with their great perfecutor and 
 future affociate, were diftinguiihed by an in- 
 genuoufnefs of difpofition, which in all ages 
 has been required as a neceffary preparation 
 for the reception of divine Truth. St. Peter's 
 repentance, St. Thomas's confeffion, and St. 
 Paul's converfion, are eminent difplays of this 
 difpofition. 
 
 At iirft the Apoftles, like their great 
 Mafter, confined their inftruftion to that na- 
 tion, which had hitherto been the more im- 
 mediate objecfl of divine Revelation. But, 
 they foon learned that the God, whom they 
 preached, was the God not of the Jews only, 
 but of the Gentiles alfo. The miraculous ef- 
 fufion of the Holy Spirit by degrees opened 
 and enlarged their underftanding on this im- 
 portant fubjecft ; and his various gifts raifed 
 their feeble powers to the ability of executing 
 
 " John XV, 27, 
 
 the 
 
SERMON IL 37 
 
 tlie talk of preaching the Gofpel to the whole 
 world, to which they had been commiffioned 
 by their great Mafter. It was impoflible that 
 our Saviour fhould himfelf in his human ca- 
 pacity be every where prefent before his fuf- 
 ferings to preach his Gofpel : and, as the 
 Jewifh nation had been particularly calculated 
 for his reception, and Judsa was to be the 
 theatre of his mighty works, it was ^ neceffary 
 that the Gofpel iliould be fir ft preached unto 
 the Jews. But, from the commencement of 
 this falvation the Gentiles were not unapprifed 
 that they alfo were to partake of its bleffings. 
 No fooner did the Saviour of mankind appear 
 in the flefh, than the wife men of the Eaft 
 were conduced by the leading of a ftar to the 
 habitation of this king of Ifrael. And no 
 fooner again was the falvation of mankind ef- 
 fedled, than the partition between the Jewiih 
 and Gentile worfliippers was removed : the 
 veil of the temple was immediately rent in 
 twain from the top to the bottom : St. Paul 
 alfo was foon after called to be the Apoftle of 
 the Gentiles : Cornelius's prayer was heard : 
 the Holy Ghoft fell upon him : and that Gof- 
 pel, which had hitherto been the peculiar 
 glory of Ifrael, became a light to lighten the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 ^ A<5ls xiii. 46. 
 
 D 3 In 
 
38 SERMON IL 
 
 In the Afts of the Apoftles we have a con- 
 cife account of the inceflant ardor, with which 
 the preachers of Chriftianity went on, after 
 the communication of the Gofpel to the Gen- 
 tiles, to make known to the whole world the 
 glad tidings of their miniftry. Their zeal 
 carried them by different routs into diftant 
 countries : fupernatural powers every where 
 raifed for them the attention of mankind : 
 and the fandtity of their lives and doftrines 
 improved this attention to the advantage of 
 their new Religion. How far they actually 
 extended their progrefs has been the fubjeft of 
 curious, and often of fceptical inquiry. It is 
 perhaps impoffible, it certainly is unneceffary, 
 to determine this queftion in the prefent age. 
 The natural bleffings of any country are effaced 
 by indolence or difafter ; and both the advan- 
 tage and remembrance of religious improve- 
 ments are done away by the negled, or the 
 perverfion of religious obligations. But, not- 
 withftanding every infinuation to the contrary, 
 we may reft affured from good authority that 
 the firft preachers of Chriftianity not only 
 
 * vifited all the diftinguiflied countries of the 
 old world; but alfo that their zeal carried them 
 
 * beyond the regions, into which either ambi^ 
 
 * See StilUngfleet's Orlg. Brltan. p. 37, 38. 
 
 * TertuUian lays '' Britannorum inaccefla Romanis loca, 
 ■Chrifto vero fubdita'* — adverfus Jttdaeos.c. 7. 
 
 Eufebius; 
 
SERMON 11. 
 
 39 
 
 tion or avarice had in thofe days extended the 
 geographical difcoveries of Roman fcience. 
 The prediftion was fully accompliflied, which 
 declared that before the de{lrud:ion of Jerufa- 
 lem ^ ^* the Gofpel fhould be preached in all the 
 world, for a witnefs to all nations :'* and St. 
 Paul had the joyful opportunity of affuring 
 the Coloffians that*' ^the Gofpel was come unto 
 them, as it was alfo in all the ^ world/' 
 
 The Apoftles in their firfl: preaching of 
 Chriftianity contented themfelves with deli- 
 vering by oral communication the great and 
 fimple truths of their Religion. The extent of 
 their perfonal induftry was the extent alfo of 
 their inftrudlion. This induftry, however, was 
 indefatigable : and its fuccefs was foon followed 
 by other means both of difleminating and fup- 
 
 Eufebius alfo fays concerning our Saviour's original difciples, 
 
 ei§ uvra koctoc re ayfug >^ y.cx,rcc ^oXiv oi^xazeiVy xai Ttf? /xev oc'jtuv rvpt 
 
 rvj Xls^auv, t»? ^e rnv A^fjuv^uvy sre^Hi; h to Hu^^uv sQvo?, xat av tto," 
 Pvn* TO 'Lx.vBuVf Ttva? h "n^v] acn tit avra, rrtg QiiiBiA£vr,(i zX^nv rot, UKfXy 
 tm re rv^v h^uv (p^aacti %<ypav, ^ in^ag vttz^ rov amavov 'Sxot^B?^^£iv inn 
 
 Eufeb. Demonf. Evangel. I.iii. p. 112. edit. Par. 1628, 
 
 « Matt. xxiv. 14. *■ Col. i. 6. 
 
 « See Origen againft Celfus, 1. i. c. 7. and l.ii. c. 13. Pa- 
 ris 1733. 
 
 Correfpondently with this propagation of our Religion Arno- 
 bitts fays, " Quod fi falfa ut dicitis hiftoria ilia rerum eft, unde 
 *' tarn brrv'i tempore mundus ifta religione corapletus V* 
 
 Adv. Gentes, l.i. p. 33. Ludg. Bat. 1651. 
 
 D 4 porting 
 
40 SERMON 11. 
 
 porting the truth. Within a ^ fliort time after 
 the defcent of the Holy Spirit it pleafed the 
 divine Providence that St. Matthew fhould 
 pubHfh an account of the Ufe, dodtrines, death, 
 refurredion, and afcenfion of his great Mafter. 
 Thus was a foundation laid for limilar and 
 fuppfemental writings, which enfued in their 
 tefpeftive feafons. About twenty years after 
 the publication of St. Mathew's Gofpel, ' St. 
 Mark, the difciple of St. Peter, abridged (as 
 it appears) in many inftances the Gofpel of 
 St. Mathew, and by the addition of fome par- 
 ticular circumftances adapted it more fully to 
 general ufe. A farther interval of a few ''years 
 
 ^ '* Poilea enim quam furrexit Dominus nofler a mortals et 
 *'* induti funt fupervenientis Spiritus Sandli virtutem ex alto, de 
 *' omnibus adimpleti funt et habuerunt perfeftam agnitionem, 
 *' et exierunt in fines terrae ea quae a Deo nobis bona funt evan- 
 ** gelizantes, et cceleftem pacem hominibus annunciantes, qui 
 ** quidem omnes pariter et finguli eorum habentes Evangelium 
 •* Dei. Ita Matthasus fcripturam edidit Evangelii, Sec. 
 
 IrenSjus adv. Ha^r. 1. iii. c. i. edit. Mafluet. 
 
 1 miglit mention difFerent opinions concerning the time when 
 the Gofpels were written : but, for the fake of precifion, I fhall 
 mention only that of Townfon, who is among the lateft approved 
 writers on the fubjeft. He fuppofes, with Cofmas of Alexan- 
 dria, that St. Matthew wrote his Gofpel about the Time of the 
 Perfecution upon St. Stephen's Death ; Difcourfes on the Gof- 
 pels, p. 25. And again he fays p. 113. ** we may rell fecure 
 ** that St. Mathew's Gofpel was written by the year 37." 
 
 * Townfon fays that St Mark's Gofpel was written about the 
 end of the year 56, or of the year 60. Difcourfes, p. 168. 
 
 '^ With regard to St. Luke's Gofpel, Townfon fays only that 
 it was written after St. Mathew's and St. Mark's, and that 
 St. Luke had feen thofe Gofpels^ p. 200. 
 
 fucceeded. 
 
SERMON 11. 41 
 
 fucceeded, before St. Luke, the beloved com- 
 panion of St. Paul, undertook to write on the 
 fame fubjed:, and finiihed his Gofpel to the 
 particular advantage of the Gentile world ; 
 ^ putting into it the doctrines preached by St. 
 Paul. In the mean time the more diftinguifhed 
 among the Apoftles were laboring inceifantly 
 in the great work of converting mankind : and 
 being ordained, like the Evangelifts, to teach 
 men of every country, and every age, they were 
 perpetuating in common with them the various 
 inftrudions, by which they were to build up 
 the Church of God. In the Ads of the 
 Apoftles, written by St. Luke, and in the va- 
 rious Epiftles ftill extant, and written by St. 
 Paul, St. James, St. Peter, St. Jude, and St. 
 John we may admire the " contempt of danger 
 with which thefe Holy men attefted the truth 
 of what they had heard and fecn : we may ad- 
 mire the zeal, with which they went on to im- 
 prove their difciples : we may admire alfo the 
 Mercy of God, who has furnifhed pofterity 
 through their means with the moft perfedt in- 
 
 ^ See Ircnaeus adverf. Haer. 1. iii. c. 14. See alfo Bp. Horf- 
 ley's Trads, 8''°. 1789. p. 326. 
 
 "' '* As far as ecclefiallical hiflory can afcertain us of It, all 
 the Apoftles but John (and that to make good the prediction of 
 Cbrift) fufFered violent deaths by the hands of thofe that perfe- 
 cated them merely for their dodtrines". 
 
 Stillinglieet's Ori^. Sac. p. 275. 4to. edit. 1680, 
 
 ftrudtions 
 
42 SERMON IL 
 
 ilrudions In righteoufnefs. But there Is one 
 circumftance, which regards the writings of 
 the new Teftament, and which particularly 
 calls for our grateful admiration. It was 
 appointed by the Providence of God that 
 thefe writings Ihould be fubmitted to general 
 examination, and be left to make their different 
 impreffions on good and bad men, before the 
 deftined finifher of them was removed from the 
 world. At an interval of not fo little as " 50 years 
 after the publication of St. Mathew's Gofpel, 
 St. John is faid to have fand:ioned by his ** ap- 
 probation the three firft Gofpels, to have fup- 
 pHed their ^ deficiencies in his own, and to 
 have refuted in it fome ^ heretical opinions 
 
 " Townfon fays, p. 109, that St. John's Gofpel was publifhed 
 after the taking of Jerufalem : And again, p. zi i, that the fe- 
 veral circumftances as to the writing of it are llrongly in favour 
 of its late publication. 
 
 ^ Eufebius fays of St. John, '' reXo? h zm rviv ypx^viv sX^eiv roi* 
 uB-h X"-C*y a»T»a$' ruv 'Z!T(ioocvtx.yf)a.(ps>lcdv r^iuv eij 'arocvTCtq oj^*? >iat c»^ 
 
 ** ^a-avTcc, Hilt. Eccl. 1. iii. c. 25. Reading's Ed. 
 
 See alfo Cave's Hift. Liter. Vol. I. p. 16. 
 P Jortin fays, " St. John had feen the three firft Gofpels for 
 he wrote his own as a fuppiement to them.'* 
 
 Remarks on Eccl. Hill. Vol. I. p. 46. ill edit. 
 
 ^ That St. John's Gofpel was written againll the Nicolai- 
 
 tans and Cerinthus is afferted by Irenseus, 1. iii. c. 1 1. p. 188. 
 
 Jortin fays, *' the Ebionites denied the Divinity and the Do- 
 
 ** cctae the Humanity of Chrill; and St. John feems to have 
 
 '* had them both in view." 
 
 Remarks on Eccl. Hill. Vol. II. p. 266. 
 
 which 
 
SERMON II. 43 
 
 which, had arifeii concerning the perfon and 
 dignity of his Saviour. In the fame manner 
 the Epiftles had been generally received and 
 had produced their effed:, before he addrefled 
 to the feven Churches of Afia thofe exhorta- 
 tions and moft remarkable prediftions, which 
 clofe the facred volume. Long was the be- 
 loved difciple preferved in this life, that by his 
 concurrence at a diftant period he might give 
 the ftrongeft confirmation to the veracity of 
 the other Evangelifts and Apoftles, and that 
 he might (upply whatever could be wanted 
 either to edify, or to confole, the Chriftian 
 believer till the confummation of all things : 
 thus before he was admitted to the joy of his 
 Lord, was he to facilitate the progrefs of others 
 to the fame happinefs. 
 
 Various and decifive are the arguments, by 
 which thefe Scriptures of the new Teftament, 
 as ' Eufebius has afcertained their number and 
 as we have them at prefent, come recom- 
 mended to our ' acceptance. A correfpondence 
 
 ' Hift. Eccl. l.in. c. 25. 
 
 ' Moftieim fays that the books of the New Teftament were 
 the greateil part of them received in the Church before the 
 raiddle of the fecond Century — Vol. 1. p. 108. — Englifti 
 Tranflation, 8vo. 1782. 
 
 The Canonical books are (appored not to have been finally 
 and authoritativ^ely lixed before the Council of Laodicea, to- 
 wards the end of the fourth century. But Lardner fays that the 
 Canon may juftly be faid to have been fettled before that time. 
 V/orks, 8vQ. 1788. Vol. VI. p. 29. 
 
 with 
 
44 SERMON IL 
 
 with the oldeft verfions, and a coincidence 
 with the earliefl citations, eftablifh beyond a 
 poffibihty of doubt the general authenticity of 
 our modern copies. That the writings them- 
 felves were alfo given by Infpiration ought 
 not to be doubted by any one, who admits 
 the truth of the dodrines contained in them. 
 For, if the Holy Spirit was to diredl the 
 Apoftles in their addrelTes to the * adverfaries 
 of our Reh'gion ; we cannot fufpe(fl that his 
 infaUible aid would be witholden, when they 
 were addreffing themfelves to the perfons, for 
 whofe fake thofe adverfaries were to be re- 
 futed, and that too in words, which (whether 
 it were known immediately or not) were to 
 be recorded for the inftrudion of all ages. If, 
 belides, the Holy Spirit interfered particularly 
 to control and dired: the Apoftles with regard 
 to the " places where they were to preach ; he 
 could not, we may allure ourfelves, be lefs 
 attentive to the doftrines v/hich they preach- 
 ed, and efpecially to thofe among their doc- 
 trines, which were to be of the moft extenfive 
 and lafting importance. And if, moreover, 
 it was foretold that the Holy Spirit fhould 
 ^ teach the Apoftles all things and bring all 
 things to their remembrance, whatfoever Chrift 
 
 » Luke xxi. 15. " Afls xin. 2. Ibid. xvi. 6, 7. 
 
 ^ Jolin xiv. 26. 
 
 had 
 
SERMON IL 45 
 
 had fald unto them, and exprefsly that he 
 fhould *^ guide them to all truth ; doubtlefs, 
 we have abundant reafon to prefume that their 
 writings muft have been delivered under his 
 infallible direction. With regard to the iiril: 
 part of the facred writings, which is contained 
 in the Jewifh Scriptures, our blefled Saviour 
 f declares concerning the Law that it was 
 eafier for Heaven and Earth to pafs away than 
 that one tittle of it fhould fail : we are in- 
 formed alfo on the ^ authority of the New 
 Teftament that prophefy came not in old time 
 by the will of man, but holy men of God 
 fpake as they were moved by the Holy Ghoft : 
 and, befides, that David "" fpake by the Holy 
 Ghoft. And if this is the cafe with regard to 
 the different ' parts of the Jewifh Scriptures ; 
 what fhall we fay concerning the Scriptures 
 of the new and eternal covenant ? What fhall 
 we fay concerning thofe difcourfes of our 
 bleiTed Saviour, recorded in the Gofpels, of 
 which he himfelf fpeaks more forcibly, than 
 
 ^ John xvi. 13. * Luke xvi. 17, Y 2 Pet. i. 21. 
 
 » Markxii. 36. 
 
 * A particular account of the books of the old Teilament 
 is given by Eufebius from Jofephus, and from Origen. See in 
 Eufebius's Eccl. Hill the account from Jofephus, 1. iii. c. 10 ; 
 and from Origen, 1. vi. c. 25. Thefe Books of the Old Tefta- 
 ment were divided into the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagio- 
 grapha : the laft of thefe three divifion»6 includes the Pfalms, 
 Proverbs, &c. 
 
 of 
 
46 SERMON IL 
 
 of the Law, declaring ^ " that Heaven and 
 Earth fhall pafs away, but his word fhall not 
 pafs away ?" What fhall we fay concerning 
 thofe paffages of the Epiftles which are ex- 
 prefsly faid to have been fpoken by the Lord ? 
 And what concerning numberlefs other paf- 
 fages both in the Gofpels and Epiftles, which 
 are undiftinguiflied from the reft, and foretell 
 things to come or relate things paft with a 
 precifion, for which it is impoflible to ac- 
 count, except by afcribing it to that Divine 
 Spirit who was to teach the Apoftles and 
 bring to their remembrance remote occur- 
 rences ? But, we muft not confine ourfelves 
 to particular paffages of the New Teftament* 
 St. Paul *" afferts that " all Scripture was given 
 by Infpiration." St. Peter ^ clafles St. Paul's 
 writings among the Scriptures ; and fays they 
 were delivered ^ '* by the wiiHom given unto 
 him." And if this wifdom, or *' the ^ Spirit 
 of truth was'' (according to our Saviour's pro- 
 mife) " to abide for ever with his Difciples ;*' 
 how fhall we not fay of all their writings, 
 what St. Paul fays of his own, " that they 
 are ^ the commandments of the Lord:" and 
 what exceptions dare we make to the univerfal 
 
 *» Markxiii. 31. c 2Tim. ili. 16. 
 
 ^ 2 Fet. iii. 16. « 2 Pet. iii. 15. 
 
 ^ Johnxiv. 16, 17. £ i Cor. xiv. 37. 
 
 Infpiration 
 
S E R M O N II. 47 
 
 Infplration of the fubjecft-matter at leaft of 
 Scriptures, delivered under fuch circumftances, 
 fave thofe which the writers themfelves have 
 made ? 
 
 On this immoveable ^ foundation of truth 
 and divine Infpiratlon Chriftianity eredled it- 
 felf and went on to increafe. Communities 
 of Chriftians were formed ; regulations were 
 inftituted for their internal government ; and 
 t Bifhops immediately appointed and provifion 
 
 * From Ignatius's Epiftle to the Philadelphians (c. 7.) It ap- 
 pears that the extraordinary Infpiration of the Holy Spirit in the 
 firft ages of Chriftianity was not confined to the writers of the 
 new Teftament exclufively. He fays, when extorting them to 
 adhere to their Bilhops, their body of Prefbyters, and their 
 Deacons, " Ot 'STrscumq (foriitan vTroTrrsva-uvTEs) yi,£ m 'arpoci^ora 
 Tov [/.B^icrfj(,ov nvuv T^sysiv ravroc' jwapr^? h [xoi sv u ^e^£//ta» on wtto 
 cotfuog av^fWTFivrj? hk syvuv. To oe 'anv^a, enri^va'a-e T^zyuv raos' x r X. 
 In the fame manner he fays to the Ephefians (Epift. c. 20.) that 
 he would inftru<^ them in fome points, *' j^caAtra sccv Kvfuog ^s 
 
 ^ Clemens Romanus, the Fellow-labourer of St. Paul, fays 
 
 ' Kat ot a'JTOTc'XQi vifxav lyvuauv ;^ rs Kype n^m Ixaa Xpira oli cpj 
 
 * vucrtv £tA?)^oT£? TE^ejav xaTerriO-ccv Ta? 9rpost^)5jW.6i'«? (fcilicet sTrtCKO- 
 
 * ires y^ ^taxovys) ^ fMrcn^v STrivoixriV ^t^uKOcaiVy ovu<;, tocv y.otjM»;0a»- 
 ' civ, fiOL^t^uvrui £TE^oi ^£^oxt|U,acr^£yo» av^^ej t»}» 7\nrii^y(av avrmJ*^ 
 
 Epift. I™*, ad Cor. c. 44. 
 
 An account of the nature of the epifcopal office in the firft 
 century may be feen in Moftieim's Eccl. Hift. Vol. I. p. 105, 
 &c. Engl. Edit. 1782. 
 
 Various pafiages might be cited from Ignatius's genuine 
 Epiftles to prove the great ftrefs which this Difciple of St. John 
 lays on the Epifcopal authority. Indeed, Moftieim fays ofthefe 
 Epiftles, ** nulla forte lis plerifque Ignatianarum Epiftolarum 
 '* mota fuiffet, nifi qui pro divino origine et antiquitate guber- 
 ** nationisepifcopalispugnant, caufam fuam ex his fulcire potu- 
 •' iffent," De rebus Chriftianorum ante C^nftant. p. 160. 
 
 Hooker 
 
48 
 
 SERMON II 
 
 made for a fucceffion of others, to fuperintend 
 and enforce thefe regulations. In the hiftory 
 of the Apoftles we read of Churches in Alia 
 and other parts : and among their Epiftles we 
 find fome, which make exprefs mention of 
 ^ Bifhops, Deacons, and Elders, and which 
 were purpofely written to inftrud: and confirm 
 the new Bifhops. That thefe Bifhops alfo 
 were diftinguiflied from the Elders or Pref- 
 byters, \ before the death of John, or very 
 
 Hooker goes To far as to challenge the feftaries of his time 
 ** to find out but one Church upon the face of the whole earth, 
 •* that hath been ordered by their difcipline, or that hath not 
 •* been ordered by ours, that is to fay by epifcopal regiment 
 *" fithence the time of the blefled Apoftles were here conver- 
 " fant." Pref. to Eccl. Pol. p. lo. Edit. 1666. 
 
 See alfo on this fubjeft Stillingfleet'sOrig. Britan. p. 74 — 83. 
 Cave's Hiftor. Liter. Vol. I. p. 42. Heylyn's Reformation juf- 
 tified, p. 202 and 25 1. Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. II. p. 617. 
 and Bingham's Antiquities of the Chriftian Church, b. ii. c. i . 
 Fol. Edit. 1726. What Lord Chancellor King fays on epif- 
 copal Government in his ** Enquiry into the conftitution, 
 &c. of the Primitive Church" is well anfweredby a Prelhyter 
 of the Church of England in a book, entitled ** an original 
 Draught of the Primitive Church " and publifhed in the year 
 1717. An anfwer to it may alfo be found in Bilhop Smaldridge's 
 Sermons, Fol. p. 107 — 112. 
 
 ^ I Tim. Chapters 3d and 5th. 
 
 ^ Chillingworth informs us in his " Apoftolical Inftitution of 
 Epifcopacy demonftrated" (which is comprifed in four pages) 
 that Petrus Molinaeus in a book, purpofely written in defence of 
 the Prefbyterian government, acknowlegeth ** that prefently, 
 ** after the Apoftles' times, or even in their time (as ecclefiaftical 
 ** hiftory witnefTeth) it was ordained that in every city one of 
 " the Preft^ytery fhould be called a Biftiop, who fhould have 
 ** Preeminence over his colleagues to avoid confufion which oft 
 ** times arlfeth out of equality. And truly this form of go- 
 ** vernment all Churches everywhere received." Chillingwo/th 
 
 adds 
 
SERMON IL 49 
 
 ^ foon after this event, the moft zealous friends 
 of the Prefbyterian form of Church government 
 allow. And while the dijftindiion is allowed 
 at this fo early a period, no fufficient argument 
 has ever been offered to prove that it was 
 *" only then introduced, and that it was not 
 rather at that time an acknowleged and necef- 
 fary confequence of the inftitutions originally 
 determined and enforced by the Apoftles. 
 
 The firft Bifhops fell Httle fhort of the 
 Apoftles in zeal and integrity. Thefe holy 
 men, having extended to the utmoft of their 
 abilities the knowlege of the truth, taught 
 their converts by their own Example to live 
 according to the dodrines of their profeffion, 
 and by the fame perfuafive motive taught them 
 ^ alfo to crown a weil-fpent life by a death of 
 pious fortitude* 
 
 How far the fucceiTors of the Apoftles In 
 the paftoral care of the Church fucceeded 
 
 adds that another great defender of the Prefbytery Theodorus 
 Beza confefleth in effefl the fame tiling. He aho fubjoins in a 
 Note the conceflions of two other writers from Geneva : rcfer-r 
 ring his readers at length for fuller proofs to Dr. Hammond's 
 Diilenations againft Blonde], which he fays *'\vere never an- 
 " fwered and never will." See Chillingworth's Safe-Way, Sec, 
 ' — P. 321. 4th Edit. London 1674. 
 
 "* Walo Meflalinus de Epifcopis et Prefbyteris (8vo. p. 253. 
 Lugd. Bat. 1641) fays that the dlilindlion arofe about the be- 
 ginning or middle of the fecond Century. And Blondel in his 
 Apol. pro fenientia Hieronymi (Preface, p. 11. Amflelodami 
 2646) makes it commence about th.^ year 135. 
 
 * See Chiliingworth's Safe-Way, p, 324. 
 
 E them 
 
50 S E R M O N IL 
 
 them alfo in equal, or even in fimilar, powers 
 of fupernatural agency, is a queftion, which 
 the injudicious aflertions of the friends, and 
 the artful inlinuations of the enemies of Chrif- 
 tianity, render it very "* difficult for the prefent 
 age to determine. But (blefled be the great 
 Contriver and Perfeder of our Salvation !) the 
 determination is not eflential to our Faith. 
 Already had the Almighty fet his feal to the 
 truth of Chriftianity. Already had thofe mi- 
 racles of our great Redeemer and his original 
 difciples, which are recorded in holy Writ, 
 and which admit of proof in every age, laid 
 deep the foundation of that Religion, againft 
 which the gates of Hell were never to prevail. 
 It appears to have been ^ neceffary that we 
 fhould have the means of proving that our 
 bleffed Saviour authenticated his pretenlions 
 
 ** Jortin fays, *' I would not engage for the truth of any of 
 ** the miracles after the year 107 : but I wiih to be claffed with 
 ** the doubters not the deniers." Rem. on Eccl. Hift. Vol. II. 
 p. 71. He muft, however, be fuppofed here to except the mira- 
 cle on Julian's attempt to rebuild the temple of Jerufalem. See 
 Notes on the 6th Sermon. 
 
 ^ Chryfoftom fays, " M19 roitvt to jcaij yma-^oc^ >vf c*)^i\6e, nx- 
 '* jW,v:^toy tzrottf ra f>t>7 yiyim^cti ©-otc* xat yot^ tote ^^riO'ifxui sysnrof 
 ** jioj vvi/ ^via-ijxug ov yivsran." And again, ** >vv wjro ruy Bnun y^a • 
 " (puv y.cci ruv toil crr,ixttb)v 'ty,* ©(n* &'*' >>ByoiJt,t9 'ffoc^t^oiA.i^x,'* Hom.6, 
 
 in 1 Cor. 2. p. 276. Tom. III. Eton. 
 
 So likewife St. Auguftin fays, '* Accepimus majores noftros 
 ** eo gradu fidei, quo a temporalibus ad jeterna confcenditur, 
 ** vifibilia miracula (nee enim aliter poterant) fecutos eife : per 
 *' qiios id adum efl ut neceifaria non effent pofteris." 
 
 De vera ^eligione, c. 25. Paris 1679, 
 
 by 
 
SERMON 11. 51 
 
 by fupernatural aftions. It was, perhaps, ne- 
 ceflary alfo that we iliould have means of pro- 
 Ting farther that the Apoftles, who were the 
 witneffes of his refurred:ion and afcenlion, at- 
 trad:ed the refpeft and commanded the belief 
 of mankind by the power, with which they 
 were endued from on high. But, no reafoa 
 has ever been affigned, why we fhould be 
 enabled to prove that miracles were performed 
 by Chriftians in any fucceeding age, which 
 will not apply alfo to the prefent times. Not 
 that it is my intention to queflion any au- 
 thentic facSts of this nature, which are record- 
 ed ; much lefs to give up, as fidlions of pious 
 fraud, all the relations of fubfequent miracles. 
 It is my intention merely to affert that thefe 
 miracles are not at prefent "^ effential to the 
 vindication of Chriftianity : and if we have 
 not fufficient arguments to eftabliih the credit 
 of thofe among them, which are genuine ; it 
 ought to be referred to the expiration of the 
 period for which they were defigned. They 
 were defigned to make up for the want of 
 general information concerning the nature and 
 evidences of our Religion, which muft have 
 
 ^ '* With any other miracles" (than thofe of Chrift and his 
 Apoftles) *' however numerous, however confidently aflerted or 
 ** plaufibly let forth we have nothing to do. There may have 
 ** been ten thoufand impoftures of this fort." 
 
 Kurd's Lincoln's Inn Sermons, Vol. II. p. 79^ 
 
 E 2 been 
 
St SERMON II. 
 
 been in an eminent degree the irremediable 
 misfortune of numberlefs individuals in its 
 early ages : they were defigned alfo to comfort 
 and fupport the Chriftians of thofe ages under 
 ■ imdu their peculiar circumftances of diftrefs. 
 Being to us, therefore, in both thofe refpedls 
 unneceffary, they have for that reafon de- 
 fcended with a lefs decifive weight of evidence. 
 But whatever were the affiftances afforded 
 to the early Paftors of the Church, they ap- 
 pear to have made an adlive ufe of their powers, 
 whether natural or infpired. They converted 
 great numbers ' every where to the Faith : and 
 
 r 
 ft 
 
 juflin Martyr tells Tr)'pho, " ovh iv yec^ oXux; en to ytvo^ ar- 
 ^^WTTuvy till ^cc^a^uvt tiii E^TjvwV, Ells ocTthu^ urmovv ovoi^ctri 'B7fO(T- 
 *' ccyo^ivojxivojv, ri u^oc^oQiuv in aoiy.evv y.aXov [xbvuv , v} tv CKvivong y\r,voi^- 
 "' (puv oiy.ovvluv, BV o»j: uyj ^iu re bvo/xalo? T« riatt^^wSsi/ldj Ir/O-s ev^on y.Ai 
 *' vj^ccfiricci TO 'EsccT^i ycci 'KroijjT*} Tcjv oXoJv yivovrai,^' p. 345* Edit. 
 Par. 1615. An enumeration of the nations by which ChriiHa- 
 tiity was rfeceived in Tertullian*s Time may be feen in his Trea- 
 tile adverf. Jwdaeosj c. 7. which he concludes in this very re- 
 markable manner. " Chrifti autem regnum et nomen ubique 
 *• porrigitur, ubique creditur, ab omnibus gcntibus fupernume- 
 '* ratis colitur, ubique regnat, ubique adoratur, omnibus ubique 
 •* tribuitur iequaliter : non regis apud ilium major gratia, noii 
 ** Barbari alicujus inferior laetitia, non dignitatum aut natalium 
 •' cujufquam difcreta merita, omnibus sequalis, omnibus rex, 
 ** omnibus judex, omnibus Deus et Dominus eit." Eufebius 
 fays on the fame fubje^l that Chriftian Churches were eredled 
 
 ** fTTt Te T>5? A>\e^av^^iuv , y.ui AvTio^eeoVf koc^' o^n? Te tjj? AiyvTrrUf 
 
 ** 'ujuvToms t^viai' Dem. Evang. 1. iii. p. 138. 
 
 See alfo the citation above made from p. 112. of the fame 
 work. Arnobius llkewife fays, • ' Vel hasc faltem nobis faciant ar» 
 " gumenta credendi quod jam per omnes terras, in tam brevi 
 
 " tempore 
 
SERMON Ii: p 
 
 ^ 
 
 if the unafFe(3:ed piety and zeal of fuch con- 
 verts to Chriftianity in the three " firft centu- 
 ries, and the want of thefe qualities in its 
 fubfequent profefTors, be confidered ; it will, 
 perhaps, not be thought a violation of charity 
 to doubt whether there was not more Chrif- 
 tian virtue in the world before the expiration 
 of thofe centuries, than detractors from the 
 number and integrity of the early profefTors of 
 our Religion can prove to have exifted at any 
 future period. But let not the fuggeftion of 
 fuch a doubt be fuppofed to carry with it any 
 infinuation that the early Chriftians were ex- 
 empt from all the bad confequences of the 
 depravity of human nature. Both the cenfures 
 and the exhortations of the Apoftolical Epiftles 
 prove the contrary, even with regard to the 
 Apoftles' own age. And the fame appears to 
 
 " tempore et parvo, immenli nomlnis hujus facramenta diiFufii 
 ** fant, quod nulla jam natio eft tarn barbari moris quasnon ejus 
 ** amore verfa raolliverit.'* Adv. Gentes. 1. ii. p. 4.4. 
 
 With regard to Heathen authorities concerning the extenfive 
 propagation of Chriftianity in its early ages fee the paffages ad- 
 duced by Dr. Powell from Suetonius, Dio, Julian, Tacitus, 
 Pliny, &c. Sermon X, p. 154 — 162. 
 
 See, moreover, on this fubjeft Stilllngfleet*s Orig. Britan. 
 P- 54- 
 
 ^ See concerning the characters of the Chriftians In the firft 
 ages what Cave fays in the fourth chapter of his ** Primitive . 
 Chriftianity ;" and what he urges at large, in the remaining 
 parts of this work, on the manner in which they difcharged their 
 Duty towards God, themfelves, and their neighbours. 
 
 E 7 have 
 
54 SERMON II. 
 
 have been the cafe In an increafing and ^ alarm- 
 ing degree, as we advance nearer to the reiga 
 of Conftantine. However, it was by no means 
 the cafe in any degree, to be compared with 
 the habitual profligacy, which has fmce pre- 
 vailed among Chriftians, and difcovered itfelf 
 by continued prevalences both of fraudulent 
 fuperftition and of fceptical indifference. 
 
 Nor were the early pallors lefs anxious to 
 defend, than to enlarge, their care. On all 
 fides grievous wolves entered in, not fparing 
 the flock. " Perverfe brethren diftradled the 
 minds of the weak : and cruel adverfaries from 
 without aifaulted not only the Faith, but alfo 
 the lives of thofe who called on the name of 
 Chrifl:. While, however, the common enemy 
 was ready to deftroy every profeflTor of Chrif- 
 tianity ; it was not probable that there fhould 
 be many pretended converts to this Religion : 
 and among its fincere members lefs was to be 
 feared from diflTention of opinion. Though, 
 therefore, the fpiritual paflor was not exempt 
 
 * Eufebius fays of the Chriilian Church about the year 300, 
 ** w? iK TJj? £974 '^^^^sov EAewSsptaj E'TTk ^a^vvQTTjrcf, }ioci, vu^fiau T(96 xa-j 1)- 
 *' fA.ccs (xsTYiXXarliro, oKKuv aXKoi<; ^icc(p^QVii^iVcov x«i ^iccXoi^ofHiJitvm 
 *' xeci yiM\io)iH^)(i T.^jLUv (icvreov iC(,VToig 'UjCQa-itohtiAUvruv oTrAoi?, « aju TV" 
 
 *' if.ai Kccuv ETTi Aflftf? KiZTarao'ia^pvlfe;!'." Eccl. Hill. 1. viii. C. I. 
 
 " See Eufebius, Hift. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 22. 
 See alfo in the fame Hift. I, v. c. 2,0. an account of Irenseus' 
 ical in refuting herefies, 
 
 from 
 
S E R M O N II. 55 
 
 from much anxious labor in fecuring his flock 
 from internal hercfy; it muft at this early 
 period have been his principal care to guard it 
 againft the foreign enemy. Accordingly, at- 
 tempts were made at different times to obviate 
 the flander, and to difarm the malice, of the 
 Heathen world by tranflations of the Scrip- 
 tures, and by reprefentations, in numerous 
 ^ apologies, of the true principles of Chrifti- 
 anity* Thefe exertions did, indeed, at par- 
 ticular times produce the defired effed: : but 
 the ceffation of perfecution, which they pro- 
 duced, was ufually of very fhort continuance. 
 It was "" inferred before the commencement of 
 
 ^ Quadratus and Ariftides wrote apologies for the Chriilian 
 lleligion and addre/Ted them to Adrian. 
 
 Eufebius, Hill. Eccl. l.iv. c. 3. 
 
 Various other apologies were written at different times on the 
 fame fubjed. Thofe of Athenagoras and Melito compared 
 with the apologies of Tertullian and Juilin Martyr have greatly 
 the advantage. Jortin fays the latter are the performances of 
 very clowns compared with the former — Note on his Rem. on 
 Eccl. Hift. Vol. II. p. 85 
 
 * Sulpicius Severus, who died about the beginning of the 
 fifth century, fays "Etenim facris vocibus decern plagis mundum 
 afficiendum pronunciatum eft." Sac. Hift. 1. ii. c. 48. p. 370, 
 8^°. Ed. 1665. 
 
 Auguftine and Orofius, according to the opinions of their 
 times, refer for Scriptural prefigurations on the fubjefl either 
 to the ten plagues of Egypt or the ten oppofitions which Mofes 
 encountered from the Egyptians. Auguftine enumerates the dates 
 of ten perfecutions of the Chriftians before the Time of Con- 
 ftantine and fays ; " plagas enim iEgyptiorum quoniam. decern 
 ** faerunt antequam inde exire inciperet populus Dei, putant 
 ** ad hunc intelledum eile referendas, ut noviflima Antichrifti 
 «* perfecutio fimilis videatur undecimse plagae qua i£gyptii, dum 
 E 4 ** hoftiliter 
 
56 SERMON II. 
 
 the fifth century from figurative and fanciful 
 explanations of Scripture that ten general per- 
 secutions were to befall the Church. Hence 
 perfecutions have been magnified or extenu- 
 ated, as might beft ferve to mark out with 
 diftindlion the number v4iich was to be com- 
 pleted. And hence alfo modern Sceptics have 
 been led to queftion the reality of every fuch 
 extraordinary perfecution. But the confe- 
 quences, which have enfued from injudicious 
 inferences of the profeiTors of our Religion in 
 its degenerate days, cannot warrant us in re- 
 jecting the true hiflory of its bejft and moft 
 ^ difinterefted members ^ or in giving up the 
 * argument, which arifes in its favour from 
 the extenfive fuiFerings of its early profefibrs. 
 That there were general and grievous perfe- 
 
 ^* hofliliter fequerentur Hebrasos in mari rubro, — perierunt." 
 De Civitat, Dei, l.xviii. c.52. Orofius recounts the ten perfe- 
 cutions after Auguftine and fays explicitly, ** Decern ibi con- 
 tradi^tiones adverfus Moyfen, hie decern edida adverfus Chrif- 
 tum," 1. vii. c. 27. p. 533. Ed. Haverchampi. 
 
 Befides the part of Scripturr, thus referred to by Auguftine 
 and Orofius, others refer, but without better foundation, to 
 Rev. xvii. I 2- — 14. See on this fubjed; Molheim, Vol. I. p.72. 
 
 y S. Severus fays, p. 368. ** Certatim in gloriofa certamina 
 •^ ruebatur, mu'toque avidius turn martyria gloriofis mortibus 
 *' quajrebantur, quam nunc Epifcopatus pravis ambitionibus 
 *' appetuntur." 
 
 ^ ** The wonderful behaviour of the ancient Chriftians may 
 
 ** juftly be accounted a proof of the truth of our Religion ; and 
 
 ** we fhould deferve to be blamed and defpifed, if we parted 
 
 ^^ with it and gave it up tamely on account of a few objeftions.** 
 
 Jortin's Remarks on Eccl. Hill. Vol. II. p. 149. 
 
 cutions 
 
SERMON II. s7 
 
 cutions of the early Chriftlans the * beft-in- 
 formed writers declare. Thefe perfecutions 
 alfo continued in a greater or lefs degree from 
 their firft ^ commencement to the civil efta- 
 blifhment of Chriftianity. Intolerance, once 
 raifed among Heathen nations to the extrava- 
 gance of inflidling the moft cruel death on the 
 peaceable profeflbrs of a Religion, the moft 
 pure, and the moft ftrid: in requiring Its fol- 
 lowers to abftain from the rites of idolatrous 
 worfhippers, and to endeavour by every means 
 to convert them to the fervice of the living 
 God, could not be expedted to fubfide for any 
 confiderable time, while the civil power con- 
 tinued in oppofition to the truth, and the fame 
 difference of religious opinion was zealoufly 
 maintained. It might, indeed, at times be 
 reftrained by the interpofition of humanity, or 
 the juftice of public authority. But fuper- 
 ftition, being always ready to crufh its enemies 
 by force in proportion as it is unable to defend 
 itfelf by reafon, would eagerly embrace every 
 opportunity of returning to perfecution. Ac- 
 cordingly, we find that it was not fufRcient 
 
 ^ Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny, and others, whofe names may 
 hs feen in the Prolegomena to Cave's Hift. Liter, p. 38. See 
 alfo on this fubjedl at large Eufebius Eccl. Hift. 1. viii. c. i — 
 14. and Cave's Primitive Chriftianity, Vol. I. p. 195. 3d Ed. 
 
 ^ The perfecutions of Chriftians commenced under Nero — 
 S. Severus, p. 350. 
 
 for 
 
58 S E R M O N IL 
 
 for the Roman Emperours on particular occa- 
 fions to repeal the laws enafted againft Chrif- 
 tians ; they were compelled *" farther to decree 
 fevere penalties againft their accufers. So for- 
 ward was the zeal of Polytheifm to bring to 
 puniftiment the deferters or thedefpifers of its 
 public inftitutions. But it was only for fhort 
 intervals that the accufation of an innocent 
 Chriftian was deemed criminal. During the 
 reign of fome of the moft celebrated Empe- 
 rours it was regarded, as highly meritorious. 
 And though from the extraordinary blaze of 
 particular perfecutions, fome countenance may 
 be given to a numerical partition of them ; 
 yet it may fafely be afferted that Chriftianity 
 was in a ^ general ftate of perfecution from the 
 days of Nero to thofe of Conftantine, and that 
 this cruelty was rather remitted at particular 
 times, than the toleration of our Religion dif- 
 turbed by any^iumberof temporary perfecu- 
 tions. Nor fhall we have any doubt that it 
 may be fafely thus afferted, when we conlider 
 the influence of large bodies of men, and that 
 the Roman ^ Senate as a body was never fa- 
 
 ^ This was done by Adrian and Antoninus Pins. 
 
 Eufeb. Hifl. Eccl. 1. iv. c. 9. 13. 
 See alfo S. Severus, p. 365. 
 
 ** See Stillingfleet's Orig, Britan. p. 56. 
 
 * " Marcus Aurelius and other Emperors not void of good 
 ** qualities opprefTed the Chriilians to gain the elleem of the 
 ** Senate ; who, as a body, were never favourable to Chrillia- 
 ** nity." Jortin'sRem. Vol. II. p. 172. 
 
 vourable 
 
S E R M O N IL 59. 
 
 vourable to Chriftlanity. The fufpenfion of 
 thefe perfecutions, upon reprefentations of the 
 real principles of Chriftianity, proves that their 
 violence was often owing to the malicious and 
 Ignorant flanders of its enemies ; and towards 
 the conclufion, of none, perhaps, more than 
 of Celfus. 
 
 But, however much we may deplore the 
 diftrefles in which the early Chriftians were in- 
 volved from the prevailing ignorance of their 
 Religion ; there were other evils derived from 
 the fame fource, which ought not in the pre- 
 fent times to be paffed over, lefs noticed, or 
 lefs lamented. It has been infultingly afked 
 by modern ^ unbelievers whence it happened 
 that fo many of the wifeft and moft virtuous 
 Heathens of thofe early ages remained uncon- 
 verted to Chriftianity ? Thefe Heathens paid 
 no ferious attention to the evidences of our Reli- 
 gion. The Chriftian fed: (as we are ^ informed 
 by an inhabitant of Rome) was every where 
 fpoken againft : and from thence its preten- 
 fions were not fairly examined. " The reli- 
 '* gious tenets of the Galileans or Chriftians,'* 
 Mr. Gibbon ^ declares, " were never made a 
 ** fubjedt of punifhment nor even of inquiry." 
 And farther he himfelf ' allows the Chriftians 
 
 ' See Gibbon's Hift. Vol. I. p. 516. 8 Afts xxviii. 32. 
 
 ^ Hiftory Vol. I. p. 537. ' Ibid. p. 537. 
 
 to 
 
6o SERMON IL 
 
 to be " the friends of mankind ;'* though 
 Tacitus ^ informs us that the Romans con- 
 fidered them in a diametrically oppofite light : 
 ** that the Romans condemned them not fo 
 ♦* much for the crime of fetting fire to the 
 " city, as for their hatred of mankind/* Ta- 
 citus, therefore, at once fupplies us with a 
 proof of the ignorance of the Romans with 
 regard to the Chriftians, and with a prefump- 
 tive proof alfo of fuch a prejudice in this people 
 againft them from their fuppofed hatred of 
 mankind, as muft effectually indifpofe all, who 
 were influenced by it, for any proper inquiry 
 into their Religion. In reality, the Jews and 
 Chriftians were either ^ confounded together 
 
 ^ Annal. I. xv. c. 44. 
 
 ^ This appears from what Suetonius fays of the expulfion of 
 the Jews (or Chriftians) from Rome : " Judaeos, impulfore 
 " Chrefto, affidue tumultuantes Romae expulit." In Vita Clau- 
 dii, c. 25. 
 
 The fame appears to have been the cafe alfo with regard to 
 the Jews and Egyptians. Mr.Hume afierts (Note on his EiTays, 
 Vol. II. p. 461) '* that ancient writers of the greateft genius 
 *' (Tacitus and Suetonius) were not able to obferve any difference 
 " between the Egyptian and the Jewifh Religion." If fo; how 
 miferably ignorant muft they have been on the fubje(5l ? And 
 what opinion muft Tacitus have had of the Chriftians, whom 
 he probably did not feparate from the Jews ; when he joins 
 the latter with the Egyptians and fays — •* A6lum at de 
 *' facris Egyptiis Judaicifque pellendls ; fadlumque patrum 
 *• Confultum ut quatuor millia libertini generis ea fuperftitione 
 ** infe{5la, queis idonea setas, in infulam Sardiniam veherentur 
 ** coercendis illic latrociniis, et fi ob gravitatem cceli interiiflent, 
 ** vile damnum : C.xteri cederent Italia nifi certam ante diem 
 *^ profanos ritus exuiftent r" Ami. 1, ii. c. 85. 
 
 at 
 
SERMON IL 6i 
 
 at this period, or at fartheft thought fedls of 
 the fame Religion : and the charge of igno- 
 rance and fuperftition, with which the Jews 
 had ever been branded, was indifcriminately 
 applied to both. It was, therefore, thought 
 needlefs by Heathen pride to examine into the 
 evidences of a Religion, which it was every 
 where taken for granted was falfe. And the 
 fame contemptuous "" indifference with regard 
 to the difputes of Jews and Chriftians about 
 words, and names, and their law ; which 
 Gallio, " Seneca's brother, openly profeffed 
 when he was Deputy of Achaia, was the com- 
 anon method of treating Chriftianity among 
 the philofophers of thofe days. We have a 
 remarkable proof of this in the younger Pliny *s 
 well-known Epiftle to Trajan. No mentioa 
 occurs throughout the whole of any inquiry, 
 which had been made into the foundation of 
 the Chriftian Religion. Nothing farther had 
 at all been inquired into, than the behaviour 
 of its profellbrs. Of this Pliny was called 
 upon to take cognizance, as a civil magiftrate. 
 Even to have examined into the general pre- 
 tenfions of their Religion might have appeared 
 to admit the poffibility, at leaft, of its truth : 
 a conceffion, humiliating to the pride of a 
 
 ^ Aas xviii. 15, ^ Tacit. Annal. 1. xv. €,73. 
 
 philofopher. 
 
62 S E R M O N IL 
 
 • philofopher, and dangerous to the interefts 
 of a dependant on a Heathen court. Without 
 any fuch examination, therefore, he profeffes 
 at once " ^ that he had not the leaft doubt, 
 ** that, whatever were their confeffion, their 
 *^ ftubbornnefs and inflexible obftinacy ought 
 *^ certainly to be punifhed." Indeed, the very 
 names, by which the Heathen writers diftin- 
 guiih Chriftianity afford abundant proof of 
 their ignorance of it. Who, that knows any 
 thing of the real nature of our Religion, can 
 think when ' Pliny calls it ** Superftitio prava 
 '* et immodica," ' Tacitus " exitiabilis Super- 
 *' ftitio," and Suetonius *' ' Superflitio nova 
 ** et malefica ;" that they had at all enquired 
 into the Religion, which they thus malevo- 
 lently and erroneoufly ^ characterize ? And 
 what reafonable man can join with the unbe- 
 lievers above alluded to in " expefting that the 
 miraculous appearances of nature, recorded in 
 tlie Scriptures of our Religion, fhould, if true, 
 
 ® See Bp. Warburton's Julian, p. 22, 
 
 P Neque dubitabam, qualecunque efTet quod fatei*entur, per* 
 vicaciam carte et infiexibilem obftinationem debere puniri.'* 
 
 *i Epift. 1. X. Ep. 97. *■ Annal. 1. xv. c. 44. 
 
 * In N crone, c. 16. 
 
 ' See concerning the different calumnies, which were thus 
 propagated with regard to Chriftianity and its profelTors, the 
 pafiages cited at large from the Apologifts and various other 
 early writers in the four firft chapters of Cave's ** primitive 
 Chriftianity.'* 
 
 '^ See Gibbon's Hift. V. I. p. 518, 
 
 be 
 
S E R M O N II. 6^ 
 
 be mentioned by fuch writers ; any more than 
 that they fhould themfelves become its con- 
 verts ? Efpecially too, as we know that thefe 
 are not the only remarkable circumftances of 
 "^ Eaftern hiftory, which European writers 
 have paffed over in filence. We know that 
 they fay nothing even of the * exiftence of 
 cities of Syria the moft magnificent that ima- 
 gination can conceive. But, indeed, what 
 comparifon can there ever be between the fi- 
 lence of remote and inattentive philofophers 
 and the politive teftimony of eye-witneffes ? 
 
 If any aftual enquiry into thefe and the 
 Other miracles of Chriftianity be fuppofed to 
 have been m^e by the writers in queftion ; 
 
 ^ The darknefs at our Saviour's crucifixion appears to have 
 been a circumftance confined to Eaftern hiftory. For the y»j 
 (Matt.xxvii,45.) over which it was fpread, does not neceffarily 
 include more than the land of Judaea. And there alio it was by- 
 no means total ; iince, at the time when the miracle was wrought, 
 it did not hinder the perfons around the crofs from feeing our 
 Saviour and each other diftinftly. Bp. Warburton in his Julian 
 ^obferves (p. 69, 70,) on a Jewiih writer, who fays that at the 
 time of the defeat of Julianas attempt to rebuild the temple of 
 Jerufalem ** there was an earthquake over all the Earth :'* 
 '* The Hiftorian's calling it an earthquake over ail the earth i» 
 ** in the language of the Jews, and the fame with that of the 
 ** Evangelift who tells us that at the crucifixion there was dark- 
 ** nefs over all the earth." 
 
 ^ Volney fays ** that Balbec is mentioned only by one wri- 
 ** ter John of Antioch who atiributes the building of it to An- 
 toninus Pius, Travels Engl. Edit. Vol. II. p. 245. — And that 
 the world had very confufed ideas of the power and grandeur, 
 which Palmyra had poITeffed : *' They were fcarcely even fuf- 
 peded in Europe till towards the ead of the lafl century." 
 V<?1. iL p. 277. 
 
 their 
 
64 S E R M O N II. 
 
 their filence will in that cafe become a power- 
 ful argument in its favour. Surely, if they en- 
 quired into the miraculous proofs of our Reli- 
 gion ; they either found thofe proofs fi£titious, 
 or not. If fidtitious ; many reafons may be 
 affigned why they fhould expofc the fiftion to 
 the world, whether they were good or bad men. 
 But if on the contrary they did not find them 
 fidlitious; if good men, they muft themfelves 
 profefs the Chriftian Faith, and thenceforth 
 becoming its advocates expofe their teftimony 
 to the imputation of partiality : or, if bad 
 men, they would (to aft moft confiftently with 
 wordly Policy) pafs the whole over in filence. 
 For, to fuppofe that a good man fhould admit 
 the truth of a miracle and not believe the doc- 
 trine, which it confirms ; or that a bad man 
 fhould bear witnefs to a circumflance, which 
 condemns himfelf, is equally unreafonable. If, 
 therefore, the filence of the unconverted phi- 
 lofopher operate at all with regard to our Re- 
 ligion 3 it muft operate powerfully in its fa- 
 vour. 
 
 That before the civil eflabllfliment of 
 Chriflianity there were many Heathen phi- 
 lofophers, diflinguiihed by fuch a conver- 
 fion to its belief, as might be expedled from 
 the enquiries of thofe good men among them, 
 who did not find its evidences fictitious, is ^ in- 
 ^' See Arnobius Adv. Gentes, 1. ii. p. 44. 
 
 difputable. 
 
SERMON II. 65 
 
 difputable. Their enquiries alfo were often 
 excited in a manner, the moft creditable to 
 our Religion. In the fchools of their celebra- 
 ted Leaders thefe philofophers had been in- 
 llrudted concerning the excellency of virtue^ 
 and had heard of its fuperiority to all worldly 
 affliftion and even to death itfelf. But the 
 fchools, which they frequented, could fupply 
 them only with the ^ theory of this heroifm. 
 When, therefore, they faw their admired fpe- 
 culations realized in Chriftian Martyrs ; when 
 they faw illiterate crouds prefs forward with 
 eagernefs to meet fufferings, which it would 
 have been the moft ardent wifli of other men 
 to avoid ; when they faw alfo that ftedfaftnefs 
 in fuffering, which they had before thought to 
 be more than human, difplay itfelf in * wo- 
 men and children *, they were diverted of the 
 common ^ prejudices againft the fuiterers, 
 
 ^ Plato is fuppofed to have obfcured his doftrines that he 
 might not fall under the Sentence of Socrates. And Arillotle 
 is known to have fled from Athens for the fame reafon. See 
 Origen againft Celfus, 1. i. c. 65. — Paris. 1733. 
 
 ^ See Dodwell De fortitudinc Martyrum, in his 1 2th differ- 
 tation on St. Cyprian. 
 
 ^ Juftin Martyr fays, ** Avroq tyu rot? VlXotruyof ;)^ai§w> ^*^y- 
 
 Tov y.u^ taavrot rot, vof^^Cp^iva. ^o'ctpcc, (VBVoev ochjvaTov £i»ai ir xccnx 
 *' xxi ^»^»5^cv»a vjrotf^Biv avrni;' t»? yap (piXrj^ovo^ »j UK^oirrii xai av- 
 •* ^fcoTriyuv cu^xuv 0ofav rJy/y-Evoj ocyuBovy ovvair av^atarov acrTra^io* 
 ** Sat oTTuf rcov avra scyu^y ^£§r,S^),x.T.^.'* Juftin's ift Apol. p.50» 
 edit. Par. 1615. See alfo Ladantius de Juftit. 1. v. c. 1.3, 
 
 F aHd- 
 
U SERMON II. 
 
 and ^ led to enquire into the foundation of 
 this unufual fortitude. And their enquiries, 
 thus ultimately directed to the miraculous evi- 
 dences of our Religion, often ended in a pro- 
 feffion ofj[ame Faith and a difplay of the 
 fame fortitude. Such was the converfion of 
 Tertullian ; and fuch was the converfion and 
 glorious ^ death alfo of Juftin Martyr. 
 
 From fome, indeed, of thefe converts arofe 
 evils of the moil ferious confequence to Chrif- 
 tianity. The prejudices, incident to human na- 
 ture, fuffered not all the new and philofophical 
 believers in our Religion to facriiice the learning 
 of their fchools to its folemn, but fimple, truths. 
 Hence numerous fed:s of both * Gnoftic and 
 Platonic Chriftians, or of Chriftians who ming- 
 led human knowlege of different kinds with 
 divine Revelation in their religious tenets : 
 hence Revelation was wrefted to fupport fan- 
 icful conjed:ures, ^ herefies were introduced, 
 
 ^ Tertullian fays of the fufFerings of Chriftians, '' Qnls enim 
 ** non contemplatione ejus concutitur ad requirendum quid in- 
 *• tus in re fit ? Quis non, ubi requifivit, accedit ? Ubi ac- 
 cefllt, patiexoptet? Apol. ad finem. 
 
 ** See an account of Juftin Martyr's death in Eufebius, Hift. 
 Eccl. l.iv. c. i6. 
 
 ^ Mr. Bingham fays that the term " Gnoftic" was originally 
 applied in a good fenfe to Chriftians, as to tiiofe who were pof- 
 felicd of the beft knowledge ; but that it was afterwards aped 
 iind abufed by others. Antiquities, b. i. c. i. Se<^. 3. 
 
 ^ Jortin obferves that moft of the ancient herefies were a 
 mixture of philofophy, Greek or Oriental, and Chriftianity — 
 Remarks, \ ol. 11. p. 266. And again, ** the philofophers who 
 
 *' paired 
 
SERMON II. 67 
 
 the peace of the infant Church diflurbed, and 
 a foundation laid for thofe numberlefs diflen- 
 tions, which added (as was before remarked) 
 to the anxiety of Chriftian Paftprs during the 
 time of perfecution, and prevented them in 
 future ages from enjoying the happy effects of 
 toleration and eftablifhment. 
 
 That a very confiderable proportion of the 
 converts to Chriftianlty during the three firft 
 centuries confifted, notwithftanding, of men 
 of illiterate education can be no difcredit to 
 that Religion, of which it was a diflinguifh- 
 ing mark that " the poor had the Gofpel 
 preached unto them/' The Apoftles and their 
 fucceflbrs, in general, were men of this fort. 
 They were, in general, remarkable neither 
 for their learning, nor for their eloquence. 
 They exprefs the moft pious fentiments in the 
 moft fimple language, and the moft important 
 truths without ornament. But, the piety of 
 . their fentiments and the truth of their do(flri- 
 nes were fufficient under Providence to make 
 their Religion prevail : and, in fpite of all 
 oppofition, it continued in fucceflive ages to 
 prevail with the mafs of mankind by the con- 
 
 '* pafled from Judaifm and Paganifm to Chriftianity corrupted 
 ** the fimpliclty of the Gofpel, turned it into a contentious Re- 
 edifying fpeculations." 
 
 Vol. II. p. 273. 
 
 F 2 viclion 
 
 ** ligion, and filled it with unedifying fpeculation 
 
 Vol. II. p- 273 
 
68 SERMON 11. 
 
 viftion of ^ honeft and humble attention, ti3 
 thofe great men, who were not to be allured 
 by its own excellence, found It expedient from 
 worldly motives to come over to its fide ; 
 being influenced in this moft important of aH 
 concerns by the condud: of an illiterate multi- 
 tude, and not by the difcoveries of their own 
 fuperior ^ vvifdom. This is the great argu- 
 ment, which is inferred in favour of our Re- 
 ligion from its peculiar mode of propagation. 
 The argument is not inferred from any num- 
 ber of wife, or powerful men, who embraced 
 Chriftianity in this or that place at any given 
 time 'y but from the triumph which it ob- 
 tained over the wifdom and power of the 
 world by a procefs, contrary to what was ever 
 obferved in the fuccefs of any other inftitution. 
 The foolilh things of the world were chofeu 
 ^ to confound the wife and the weak to con- 
 found the mighty. 
 
 But, in reality, the truth of Chriftianity, 
 and the fatisfacflion refulting from a convidtion 
 of that truth, are very little concerned in the 
 enquiries, which at prefent form a confiderable 
 part of ecclefiaftical hiftory during the firft 
 ages of our Religion : in enquiries concerning 
 
 s See the Introdudlon to Bp. Warburion's Julian, p. 26. 
 ^ See the fame, p. 25. 
 ^ J Cor. i. 27. 
 
 the 
 
SERMON ir, 69 
 
 the miracles afcribed to the fuccelTors of the 
 Apoftles, concerning the extent of the early 
 propagation of our Religion, the extent of the 
 perfecution of its profeflbrs, and the reafons 
 from the beginning why it was not generally 
 received by men of learning and why uni- 
 verfal mention was not made by them of its 
 miraculous proofs. Thefe are fubjefts, on 
 which the enemies of our Faith have been 
 able to avail themfelves of the errors, the 
 omiffions, and other imperfedlions, of its 
 friends as well as foes. With them, there- 
 fore, thefe are favourite topics of declamation ; 
 and from thence they neceflarily make a part 
 of thofe fubfequent obfer vat ions on the hiftory 
 of our Religion, which are intended to vindi- 
 cate its truth. 
 
 It is fufficient with regard to the original 
 propagation of Chriftianity ; at leaft, indeed, 
 it is fufficient for our fatisfadtion, as far as the 
 foundation of our Faith is concerned in this 
 important part of our hiftory; if we are in- 
 formed — that the publication of our Religion 
 was entrufted, after the afceniion of its great 
 Author, to poor and illiterate men, who had 
 been his Difciples and witneffes from the be- 
 ginning: — that thefe men were enabled by fu- 
 pernatural means to confirm the truth of their 
 do(Srines, and to preach the Gofpel to all 
 F 3 nations: — 
 
JO SERMON IL 
 
 nations : — that their induftry was proportioned 
 to the importance of their commiffion, and to 
 their means of overcoming the difficulties by 
 which they were oppofed : — that numbers were 
 converted by their preaching : — that, by the 
 miracles performed before the expiration of the 
 apoftolical age, by the writings of the N ew in 
 addition to thofe of the Old Teftament, and by 
 inftitutions appointed for the public profeffion 
 of our Religion, provifion was made for its re- 
 gular and permanent maintenance among its 
 converts, and for the converfionof men of every 
 age to its belief, without the aid and In oppo- 
 fition to all the efforts of human power and hu- 
 man wifdom : — and that all thofe, who were 
 thus employed at firfh to publiih and confirm 
 the dodtrines of Chriftianity, having before 
 given up every profped: in this world for its 
 fake, at length, when brought to the ^ trial, 
 chearfuliy laid down their lives in atteftation of 
 its truth ; leaving to lateft pofterity the mod 
 unequivocal affurance of the reality of the mi- 
 raculous events, recorded by them in the New 
 Teftament, which had been the objefts of 
 their fenfes and the original foundation of their 
 faith. Few as thefe circumftances are, they 
 comprehend in reality all the information con- 
 
 ^ Every one of them was actually brought to the trial, ex- 
 cept St. John. See the pafuige above cited from Stillingfleet's 
 Grig. Sac. p. 275. 
 
 cernlng 
 
SERMON IL 71 
 
 cerning the firid propagation of our Religion, 
 which reafonable men can think neceffary for 
 the confirmation of its truth. As to all other 
 miracles befides thofe which are recorded in 
 Holy Writ, they are not to be reckoned (as 
 hath been fully declared) among the prefent 
 proofs of our Religion. And though ftrong 
 arguments may be drawn in its favour from 
 the extent of its early propagation, and from 
 the extent of the perfecution which it over- 
 came ; even thefe are not to be confidered as 
 abfolutely neceflary to our caufe. The various 
 errors, whether with regard to fiftitious mi- 
 racles or ill-founded reprefentations of other 
 forts, which were intermingled with the hif- 
 tory of our Religion by its advocates, and the 
 diverfified oppofition and contempt which it 
 encountered from its enemies, prove only, 
 what we every day experience, that Chrif- 
 tianity may be defended with little judgement, 
 and that the moft gracious offers may be re- 
 jefted and infulted. 
 
 Such, however, as they are above fketched, 
 are the occurrences (whether they are all ei- 
 fential to the confirmation of our faith or not) 
 which form the principal outlines of the 
 Chriftian hlftory from its publication after the 
 refurredtion of Chrift to its eftablifliment by 
 F 4 Conftantine* 
 
72 S E R M O N IL 
 
 Gonftantlne. During a period of nearly 300 
 years, our Religion, having been openly ^ pro- 
 feffed under the inftitutions originally appoint- 
 ed for its maintenance, was cxpofed to all 
 thofe calamities, which arife from the ma- 
 lice of powerful enemies, and from imperfec- 
 tions of various kinds in mifguided friends. 
 But, under every "" difadvantage, its intrinfic 
 purity and external evidences, aided by the in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit, made it go on and 
 gain flrength 5 till Conftantine, encouraged 
 and, perhaps, perfuaded by the ° number of his 
 Chriftian fubjeds, proclaimed himfelf a convert 
 and guardian of Chriftianity. From his time, 
 notwithftanding the apoftacy of one fucceed- 
 mg Emperour and the profligacy of many more, 
 
 * See Jof. Mede's dlfcourfe ccMicerniiig Churches : Works, 
 Book 2dy Edit. 1672 : — and Cave's ** Primitive Chriftianity." 
 
 "* '* Ecclefiaftical hiftory will (hew as the amazing progrefs 
 •* of Chriftianity through the Roman empire, through the Eaft 
 " and through the Well, during the three firft centuries : tho' 
 ** the powers of this world ftrenuoufly oppofed it ; tho* po- 
 '* verty and infamy, diflrefs and opprefllon, the lofs of friends, 
 ** property, liberty, and life were often the let of its profef- 
 •* fors." Jortin's 2d Charge, Sermons, Vol. Vil. p. 382. 
 
 " Cave proves by a citation from Optatus that in the reign 
 of Dioclefian there were above forty Bafilicas or Churches in 
 Rome only. Cave's Primitive Chriftianity, VoL I. p. 133. 
 
 And Dr. Powell fays, in oppofition to many of our modern 
 writers, that •* when Conftantine afcended the throne the Chrif- 
 ** tian party was equal, perhaps fuperior, to their adverfaries 
 " through the whole Empire." loth Sermon, p. 165. 
 
 we 
 
SERMON IL 
 
 73 
 
 we may affirm that Kings became its **nurfing 
 fathers and Queens its nurfmg mothers. Hav- 
 ing raifed itfelf to the favourable attention of 
 Princes by the pofleffion, which it had before 
 taken of their fubjeds' hearts, it has thence- 
 forth received protedion from them -, and has 
 itfelf, in return, protected both their perfons 
 and authority, 
 
 "> If, xVix, 2r 
 
SERMON ILL 
 
 I PET. III. 15. 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer to every 
 marly that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you. 
 
 THE prefent difcourfe is to carry our 
 obfervations on the hiftory of our Reli- 
 gion from the eftablifhment of it by Conftan- 
 tine to the commencement gf the Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 The eftabhihment of our holy Religion by 
 Conftantine without doubt filled the minds of 
 its fincere profelTors . with the pureft joy. 
 Whoever confidered the excellence of the Re- 
 ligion itfelf, and the proted:ion which it was 
 now to receive from the civil power, might 
 well be led with pious fervour to imagine that 
 the, bleffings, with which it was ufhered in, 
 were thenceforth to receive their accomplifli- 
 ment : that thenceforth * glory would be given 
 to God in the highefl, and that on earth there 
 
 V, 
 
 ' Luke ii, 14,. 
 
 would 
 
76 SERMON IIL 
 
 would be peace and good will towards men. 
 And, indeed, to this period ^ is referred the 
 glorious triumph of the Church, celebrated 
 in the feventh Chapter of the Revelation of 
 St. John. But the depravity of the human 
 heart from the beginning oppofed itfelf to its 
 remedy, and infedted not only the unlearned 
 part of Chriftians, but the teachers of Chrif- 
 tianity themfelves ; thus making way for ge- 
 neral and permanent corruptions. Among the 
 Apoftles we have a Judas Ifcariot. In the 
 ages immediately fubfequent, and among the 
 rulers alfo of the Church, arofe men of per- 
 verfe minds and totally unworthy of their fa- 
 cred ftation. But, the number of unworthy 
 rulers, no lefs'than the general number of in- 
 lincere and unworthy profeffors of our Reli- 
 gion, was reftrained in the early ages by per- 
 fecution, and is fmall, when compared with 
 the fwarms of both, which under the future 
 and peaceable ftate of the Church were more 
 zealous to partake of its *" emoluments, than 
 to promote in any refpedt its fpiritual interefts. 
 As foon as Bifhops were * elefted by intrigues 
 
 ^ See Bp. Newton on the prophecies, Vol. III. p. 74 — yy, 
 ^ S. Severus, p. 368. Stillingfleet's Orig. Britan. p. 178, 
 ^ This cenfure ought not to be equally applied to all the Bifhops 
 of tliis period. When Ammianus Marcellinus fpeaks of the 
 manner of obtaining Bifhopricks, and of the luxury of Bilhops; 
 he fays there was a very great difference between the Bilhops of 
 cities and tholV of provinces. ^' Neque ego abnuo oftentatio- 
 
 ** nem 
 
SERMON III. 7;^ 
 
 and embarked in the fupport of fadions, nei- 
 ther the qualifications for their high rank, nor 
 a proper demeanour in it, were any longer the 
 ufual and diftinguilhing parts of their charac- 
 ter. Different Princes contended for temporal 
 power ; and different Bifhops grafped as * con- 
 ten tioufly at each others ecclefiaflical jurif- 
 diftion. One pernicious confequence of thefe 
 contefls is to be lamented in the want of pu- 
 rity, which during the contention and in fuc- 
 ceeding times prevailed throughout the Chrif- 
 tian world. The profeffion of Chriflianity 
 was, indeed, extended. The converfion of 
 many nations was begun long after the Chrif- 
 tian eflablifhment by Conflantine. Among 
 many nations alfo, which had before partially 
 profefTed the Chriflian Faith, much \yas done 
 to render the profeflion of it univerfaL But, 
 
 ** nem rcrum confiderans urbanarum, hujus rel cupidos ob im- 
 " petrandum quod appetunt omni contentione laterum jungari 
 ** debere : quum id adepti futuri funt ita fecuri ut ditentur obla- 
 ** tionibus matronarum, proccdantque vehiculis infidentes, clr- 
 ** cunifpefte velliti, epulas curantes profufas, adeo ut eorum 
 " convivia regales fuperant menfas. Qui efle poterant beati re- 
 ** vera, fi, magnitudine urbis defpefta quam vitiis oponunt, ad 
 ** imitationem antillitum quorundam provincialium viverent ; 
 ** quos tenuitas edendi potandique parciflime, vilitas etiam in- 
 ** dumentorum et fupercilia humum fpedantia perpetuo numini 
 ** verifque ejus cultoribus ut puros commendant et verecundos." 
 C. xxvii. p. 458. edit. 1558. 
 
 ^ Eufebius mentions the contefts, which prevailed in the 
 Church, " upxovruv a^xJ^ai'^ before the reign of Conllantine, 
 Hiil. Eccl. 1. viii. c. i . 
 
 the 
 
78 SERMON IIL 
 
 the fountains from which Chriftianity flowed 
 being corrupt, we cannot wonder if the doc-- 
 trines, which were propagated under its autho- 
 rity, ihould henceforth be impure. Befides a 
 deficiency in enforcing moral duties j even re- 
 ligious doftrines were perverted and made 
 matter of party violence. ^ Herefies of the 
 moft pernicious tendency were propagated with 
 cruel perfecutions of the contrary Faith: while 
 on the other hand ^ little differences of opinion 
 were at lengtji conftrued into damnable he- 
 refies. 
 
 This fpirit of contention in the rulers of 
 the Church found no fmall encouragement 
 and fupport in the learning of the times. It 
 hath been ^ before remarked that many phi- 
 Icfophers were found among the early converts 
 to Chriftianity. More fucceeded them in fub- 
 fequent ages. In the docSrine of the Trinity, 
 and in the other dodlrines of Revelation, which 
 relate to the fall of man and the operation of 
 
 ^ Arianifm was enforced in this manner under Conllantius, 
 Valens, kc. And, as Bp. Sherlock obferves, it yielded as fe- 
 vere trials to Chriftians as they had ever before experienced. 
 
 Sermons, Vol. III. p. 358. 
 
 See on this fubjedl Sozomen, Hill. Eccl. 1. vi. c. 18. and So- 
 crates, 1. iv. c. 16. 
 
 8 See the objeftions urged by Michael Cerularius againfl the 
 Latin Church, Mofh. Vol. 11. p. 556. 
 ^ See the laft fermon, 
 
 evil 
 
SERMON III. 7^ 
 
 evil fpirits, thefe pliilofophers found a * re- 
 femblance to the tenets of their refpeftive 
 fchools. When, therefore, they embraced 
 Chriftianlty, they did not think it neceffary to 
 relinquiih the ^ language of their former tenets; 
 if, indeed, they relinquiflied ^ all the tenets 
 themfelves. From a ftudioufnefs to reconcile 
 fuch language with their new Religion, much 
 curious and typical reafoning was introduced. 
 This reafoning at firft ferved to fhelter the 
 prejudices of individuals. It was afterwards 
 regarded as a creditable difplay of * literary 
 
 * Philo, an Hellenlftic Jew of Alexandria, who lived at the 
 fame time with the Apoftles, and who is faid by fome to have 
 been an apollate Chriftian, prepared the way, by his ingenious 
 but fanciful combinations of the Jewifh Scriptures with the Pla- 
 tonic philofophy, for fimilar corruptions of Chriflianity. Pho- 
 tius fays, that he was the writer " i| a y.cci -nraj o aPi^y^yopix-o; rr/s 
 
 See the part of Photius prefixed to the Paris Edit, of Philo. 
 
 See alfo what Bifhop Bull fays of Philo : Englifh Works, 
 Vol. III. p. 1 1 26, 8vo. 
 
 j BiOiop Horfley's Trafts, 8vo. 1789. p. 68. 
 
 ^ See what Bifliop Warburton fays on this fubjed in the in- 
 trodudlion to his ** Julian," where he deduces the corruptions 
 of our Religion in the dark ages ** from the adulterate orna- 
 ** ments which the fucceffors of the Apoftolic fathers brought 
 *' from the brothels of philofophy to adorn the fandity of Re- 
 ** ligion," p. 24 — 34. 
 
 ^ Clemens Alexandrinus compofed his " Stromata'* from the 
 Scriptures and Heathen Writers. His own words with regard to 
 his work are very remarkable : ** 'crep£|»o-t oi ot ZTpw/^axf*? ava- 
 
 ** [jLBij(.iyu.ivr,v Tuv aM^^ccv roif (piXoao^ixg ^oy/zacrt* i^ccTisov lyxixx* 
 
 *' ^vy," 1. i. c. I . 
 
 TertuUian fays, ** Ipfae denique hierefes a philofophia fubor- 
 **■ nantur ;" and again at the conclulion of the fame chapter, 
 
 ** viderint 
 
So SERMON irr. 
 
 attainments. And, as it had been adopted by 
 men of known "" attachment to Chriftianity, 
 it was generally thought to detract nothing 
 from the Chriftian charafter. This made 
 way for more extenfive " accommodations of 
 
 *' viderint qui Stolcum et Platonicum, et Dialedicum Chrif- 
 *' tianifmum protulerint." Adv. Ha^r. c. 7. 
 
 In what manner the philofophers of the early ages ftudied 
 Chrirtianity may be inferred alfo from what Cave fays of 
 tliem at the Nicene Council, " ad hunc conventum venifle quof- 
 **^ dam philofophcs five dialedlicos de rebus theologicis fubtili- 
 '* ter difputaturos." Hift. Liter. Vol. I. p. 351. 
 
 *" S uch as Clemens Alexandrinus. Cyprian himfelf was fo fond 
 cf myflical interpretation, that Cave calls it *' the argument 
 *' which that good man produces as his warrant to knock down 
 ** a controverfy, when other arguments were too weak to do it.** 
 Prim. Chriih Vol. I. p. 350. 
 
 And even Ammonius, the mailer of Origen, is faid to have 
 lived and dyed a ChriiHan. Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 501. 
 
 ^ The GnolHc feft, which began in the days of the Apoftles, 
 was extended in the fecond century by Bafilides. He (as Mo- 
 iheim fays. Vol. I. p. 223.) has generally obtained the firft 
 place among the Egyptian Gnoftics : and is called by Cave 
 *' GnoiUcorum anteiignanus" (Hift. Lit. Vol. L p. 49.) He 
 was followed by Valentine, Theodotus the tanner, and many 
 others ; among whom Manes *' was fo adventurous " (to ufe 
 the words of Molheim) " as to attempt a coalition of the doc- 
 ** trine of the Magi with the Chriftian fyftem or the explication 
 " of the one by the ether." Vol. L p. 296. 
 
 Nor did Origen, who was the leader of the platonizing Chrif- 
 tians, derive his fpeculations from a mafter, who had been lefs 
 adventurous in the corruption of Chriftianity than Manes him- 
 felf. See Molheim, Vol. L p. 169 — 174. Under Origen 
 the platonizing Chriftians foon eclipled their Gnoftic brethren. 
 ** A prodigious number of interpreters both in the third cen- 
 tury and in the following times purfued the method of Origen; 
 nor could the few, who explained the Scriptures with judge- 
 ment and a true fpirit of criticifm, oppofe the torrent of Alle- 
 gory which was overflowing the Church " — " Origen illuf- 
 trated the greateft part of the do(^rines of Chriftianity, or to 
 fpeak more properly difguifcd them under the lines of a vain 
 philofophy." Molheim, Vol. L p. 278, 279. 
 
 our 
 
SERMON IIL 8i 
 
 our Religion to human fyftems, and for fuch 
 explanations of its particular doctrines, as be- 
 fore its civil eftablilliment had blended almoft 
 every tenet of it with the reveries of philofo- 
 phical fpeculatifts. After its civil eftablifh- 
 ment thefe fubjed:s of abufe w^ent on to ** in- 
 creafe. Philofophical Divinity was enlarged : 
 and the ftudy of philofophy, which was ne- 
 cefTary before this Divinity could be under- 
 ftood, was, for that reafon, thought effential 
 to Chriftianity. And though the Platonic 
 fyftem, which it had been the fuccefsful aim 
 of ages to incorporate with Chriftianity, and 
 
 *" Mofheim fays of the fourth century t ** Origen was the 
 *' great model, whom the moft eminent of the Chriflian dolors 
 •* followed in their explications of the truths of the Gofpel, 
 •' which were of confequence explained according to the rules of 
 •* the Platonic philofophy, as it was correded and modelled by 
 *• that learned father/* Vol. I. p. 369. 
 
 Under this cenfure he includes Jerome, Hilary, Eufebius, 
 Ephraim the Syrian, Cryfoftom, Athanafius, and Didymus. 
 
 And fo prevalent in thefe ages was the cuftom of difguifing or 
 fecreting the doftrines of Chriftianity that Cave tell us, Cryfo* 
 ftom, in fpeaking of the myfterious parts of our Religion, ufes 
 the words '* icra^iv oi (Ai(AvniA.£VQi^' at leaft 50 times in his writings. 
 Prim. Chrlft. Vol. 1. p. 213. See alfo on this fubjed Bing- 
 ham's Antiquities, b. x. c. 5. fe<5l. 8. 
 
 In the following ages the moft learned commentators did in 
 general nothing more than tranfcribe the Divinity of their pre- 
 decelTors. ** The greater part of them reafoned and difputed 
 *' concerning the truths of the Gofpel, as the blind would argue 
 " about light and colours,'* &c. Mofh. Vol. II. p. 128. Ac- 
 counts of them may be feen in different parts of Molheim's fe- 
 cond and third Volumes. See alfo Jortin's Remarks, Vol. V. 
 P- »52. 
 
 G which 
 
U SERMON III. 
 
 which had obfcured the philofophy adopter! 
 by the Gnoftics, was difcredited by the con- 
 demnation of fome of its principal advocates, 
 and was at length aboliflied by Juftinian ^ yet 
 did it only make way for the Ariftotelic, a 
 philofophy better calculated to promote and 
 regulate theological difputations. The efFedls 
 of the intermixture of philofophy with Chrif- 
 tianity v/ere not eafily to be done away. Men 
 had not merely availed themfelves of the af- 
 fiflance of human fcience in the explication 
 of Chriftianity -, but they had confounded both 
 together, and had produced a jargon of phi-' 
 lofophical Divinity, which tended irreiiftibly 
 to deftroy all diftind: ideas of each, confidered 
 as a feparate and independent ftudy. Their 
 minds had been called off from a limple con- 
 fideration of the dodtrines of Revelation : and, 
 however their fyftem might be diverted from 
 ^. Plato to Ariftotle, and from Ariftotle to St. 
 ^ Auguftine, to Peter ' Lombard, or to any 
 
 P As late as the middle of the 15th centary there was a con- 
 teft whether the dodlrines of Plato or Ariftotle ihculd be pre- 
 ferred : and Jortin fays,** I much fear it would be doing no wrong 
 ** to the literati of thofe days to fuppofe they had no other efo- 
 ** teric Religion, than what they drew from Plato or Ariftotle." 
 Rem. Vol. V. p. 490. 
 
 1 Mofh. Eccl. Hift. Vol. 11. p. 424. 
 
 ' Dean Tucker in his letters to Dr. Kippis fays, ** It is an 
 " undoubted fad that Peter Lombard's fumma fententiarum was 
 •* in fuch high vogue for feveral ages, as to eclipfe the Scrip- 
 .*' tures ihemftlves.'* P.81. 
 
 Other 
 
& E R M O N IIL 8^ 
 
 other father or dodtor of the Church 5 their 
 attention was with difficuhy afterwards to be 
 attached to the holy Scriptures, and to the 
 pure Rehgion which they teach. This cer- 
 tainly was an effential caufe of thofe faults^ 
 which may be difcovered in the venerable 
 writings of the uninfpired profelTors of our 
 Religion in its early ages> and of the various 
 herefies, and the general corruption of Chrif- 
 tianity from the days of Ammonius and his 
 fcholar Origen down to that fcholaflic Theo- 
 logy, whofe jargon did fo much mifchief in 
 the Church during, the latter part of the dark 
 ages. The' profeffors of Chriftianity * forfook 
 
 ' In the prolegomena to Cave's Hift. Lit. p. 2, we are in- 
 formed "Sacrarum Scripturarum ftudium contemptui habitumi 
 ** negledlum, et in lingua vulgari prohibitiira. Biblia facra ra* 
 '* ro vifa, rarius tradata, adeo ut iemel iterumque teftatur 
 "^ Erafipus fe producere pofTe qui annum egrefTi odogefimum 
 ** tantum astatls in hajufmodi tricis (fcilicet Theologia fcolalli- 
 " ca) pcrdiderint, nee unqiiam contextum evangelicum evol- 
 '*-verint : idque ie propria experientia quin et ipfis etiam fa- 
 ** tentibUs comperiiTe," 
 
 Stafford of Pembroke Hall in Cambridge is faid in 1524 to 
 have been the firll, who publickly read ledures cut of the Scrip- 
 tures, whereas before rhcy read only the fentences. Strype's 
 memorials. Vol. I. p. 48. Confiflently with this Erafinus lays, 
 *' Ante annos ferme triginta nihil tradebatur in fchola Cama- 
 *' briglenfi prrcter Alexandrum, parva logicalia (ut vocant) tt 
 ** Vetera ilia Ariftctelis didata, Seoticafque qusftiones." — Jor- 
 tin's Life of Erafmus, p. 49, 50. 
 
 V/hat books were at length ufed in common life inftead of the 
 Scriptures may be inferred from hence. *' Englifhmen" (we 
 are told in No. 47. of the coUeftion of records. Vol. IL 
 Collier's Eccl. Hiil:.) '* have in their hands the holy Bibl^ 
 *• and the New Tellament in the Mother Tongue inllead of th« 
 G s ■ " old 
 
84 S E R M O N IIL 
 
 the living fountains, and hewed out for them^ 
 felves cifterns, which could hold no water. 
 Had they confulted the Scriptures inftead of 
 the expofitions of philofophers, and the ' per- 
 plexed reafonings of prejudiced men ; it would 
 have been impoffible that the dodlrines, which 
 engaged the ftudy of their lives, fhould have 
 formed any part of their creed. But, the men 
 of authority in the Church (as I have above 
 remarked) were contending for worldly pre- 
 eminence, and in a manner which was not to 
 be defended upon Gofpel-principles. It ought 
 not, therefore, to be matter of wonder that 
 they fhould rather "* avail themfelves of the 
 learning of the times, than recall men of learn- 
 ing to the ftudy of genuine Chriftianity : it 
 ought not to be matter of wonder that they 
 iliould not command philofophers to bring 
 their difcordant opinions to the teft of infallible 
 truth* It was, on the contrary, certainly pari 
 
 ** old fabalotis and phantaftical books of the Table Round, 
 " Launcelot de Lake, Huou de Bourdeux, Befy of Hampton, 
 ** Guy of Vv'arwick, and other fuch ; whole impure filth and 
 ** vain fabulofity the light of God has abolilhed." 
 
 * Peter Abelard and his followers in the 1 2th century ex- 
 plained nothing, but obfured the clearell truths by diftindions 
 and fubdivifions. Jortin's Rem. Vol. V. p. 262. 
 
 " Theophilus, Bilhop of Alexandria, confecrated Synefius, 
 a learned Platonic philofopher, Bifhop of Ptolemais ; tho' he 
 declined the Bifhoprick, declaring that he was a Platonift and 
 could not receive fome of the dodlrines of ChriHianity. Jortin's 
 Kern. Vol, IV. p. 24^, 244. 
 
 of 
 
SERMON IIL 85 
 
 of the artifice of the Romifh Church to "" pro- 
 hibit the ufe of die Scriptures in the vulgar 
 tongue and the ordinary expofition of them : a 
 fatal artifice, in which, as well as in many 
 others, it was equalled by the "^ Greek Com- 
 munion, which taught that the Patriarch of 
 Conftantinople and his brethren were alone 
 authorifed to explain the declarations of Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 Human learning fufFered little lefs In the 
 end from this confufion of facred and profane 
 knowlege, than the ftudy of the Scriptures, 
 Before the expiration of the fourth century it 
 was decreed in a public "" council that Bifliops 
 were not to read the books of Heathen 
 writers. In the fixth century the teaching of 
 philofophy at Athens was abolifhed by Julli- 
 nian. And in procefs of time the pureft Greek 
 
 ^ See in <* Stillingfleet's council of Trent examined and dif- 
 proved" an account of the Heps by which the ufe of the Scrip- 
 tures in the vulgar tongue was denied to the people. Having 
 been partially reftrained by particular Popes, it was publickly 
 forbidden by the Lateran council under Innocent the third, and 
 at length finally and folemnly prohibited by the council of Trent, 
 p. 5 1 — 58. And though Pius the 4th afterwards permitted the 
 ufe of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue ; yet was this per- 
 miHion foon recalled by Pope Clement the 8th, See the preface 
 to King James's Bible, p. 3, 
 
 *^ Moiheim's Eccl. Hill. Vol. IV. j). 249. 
 
 ^ The 1 6th canon of the 4th council of Carthage held in 
 the year 398 orders that ** Epifcopus gentilium libros non le- 
 gat ;" on which Jortin remarks that ** the Bifhops foon began 
 to relifh this good advife, and not to trouble their heads with 
 literature.'* Remarks, Vol. IV. p. 165. 
 
 G 3 and 
 
86 SERMON IIL 
 
 and Latin Claffics were erafed to furnifh ma^ 
 terials for tranfcribing legendary tales, made 
 up of the moft incongruous mixture of facred 
 and profane fpeculations : till at length it was 
 maintained that polite ^ literature ought to be 
 fliigmatized and banifhed, as the fountain of 
 all herefy. 
 
 To thefe internal caules of ignorance and 
 corruption, which, though not univerfal, were 
 at leaft general in their operation, if we add 
 the accumulated weight of all thofe * foreign 
 invafions, general conquefts, and general im- 
 portations of favage laws and favage manners 5 
 which rendered the times, of which I am 
 fpeaking, the moft unfortunate period of hu- 
 man exiftence ; we fhall not be furprifed at 
 finding that the means of mental improvement 
 were at length fo extenfively deftroyed, as to 
 leave feveral different monafteries or fchoqls 
 
 y Erafmus fays, *• Lovanii quidam noi) fern el publicitus dix- 
 it apud populum linguas et politiores literas efie fontem omnium 
 h^refion, et ob id earum profelTores fuftibus ejiciendos ex aca- 
 demia ;" and adds what is well worthy of our notice, *' et ta- 
 men inter illos nullus erat qui vel h;fceret adverfus Ecclefia; de- 
 creta." Vol. IX. p. 531. Edit. Pet. Vander, Ludg. Bat. 1706,. 
 
 ^ Of the Goths, Vandals, and other barbarous conquerors 
 Burnet fays, ^' Thefe new conquerors being rude, and igno- 
 " rant, and wholly given to f^Mifible things ; and learning being 
 *' univerfally extinguifhed ; grofs fuperflitions took place.'* — ? 
 Hiit. of Ref. Vol. II. p. 63. 
 
 And Jortin fays, that ** an eifeifl: of the government of the 
 barbarians in the Weft v/as that the Bifhops and the Clergy be- 
 came hunters and fighters/' Remarks YqI. y. p. 98. 
 
 of 
 
SERMON III. 87 
 
 of learning, in pofleflion of no more than * two 
 or three books for their common ufe ; and we 
 fhall eaiily be able to account for the worft 
 evils of thefe times, and for the want of fuc- 
 cefs, which attended all the well-meant ^ ex- 
 ertions that were made to difperfe the im- 
 pending cloud of ignorance and fuperftition. 
 
 Thefe obfervations, joined to others on what 
 may be confidered as the effeds of fuch a ge- 
 neral ilate of the Chriftian world; — on the 
 rife and eftablifhment of the pretenfions of the 
 Romifh Church, of which we formed a de- 
 pendent part, and which conipicuouily pre- 
 ferved and tranfmitted the regular profeffionj 
 while it corrupted in many inftances the pu- 
 rity, of Chriftianity ;^ — on the Eaftern Churchy 
 which was feparated through thefe pretenfions 
 from weftern Chriftendom, and the influence 
 of this feparation on both communions ; — 
 and on as much befides of the internal and 
 external ftate of the Church, as is contained 
 within a fliort view both of the dodtrines of 
 
 » See the fecond difTertation prefixed by Warton to his hifto- 
 ry of Engliih poetry. In it he fays, that *' one fiagle copy of 
 the Bible, St. Jerome's Epiftles, and fome volumes of Eccle- 
 ciaftical hiftory and martyrology often ferved feveral diiferent 
 monafleries." 
 
 The libraries of the religious houfes in Syria arc at prefent 
 of nearly the fame extent. 
 
 Volney's Travels, Vol. II. p. 448. Engl. Edit. 
 
 ^ By Alfred, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror, &c. 
 
 G 4 our 
 
88 SERMON III, 
 
 our Religion which it particularly defended or 
 corrupted, and of the oppofition which it en- 
 countered from foreign enemies ; may perhaps 
 give us an imperfedl fketch of the religious 
 hiftory of this period : they certainly will con- 
 tribute to free pure Chriftianity from cenfure, 
 and enable us to give an anfwer to every man, 
 that alketh us a reafon of the Hope that is in 
 us ; as far as this Hope is connected with the 
 part of religious hiftory under our prefent con- 
 fideration. 
 
 That enormous aggregate of power, which 
 was poflefled by the Bifhops of Rome in the 
 times immediately preceding the reformation, 
 was the effedl in a great degree of the caufes 
 above ftated : but, it was not the produftion 
 of a fmgle age, nor indeed the entire produc- 
 tion of the ages which fucceeded the time of 
 Conftantine. It founded its prefumptuous 
 claims on the authority, which St. Peter was 
 fuppofed to poffefs and to tranfmit to his fuc- 
 cefibrs. Whatever be the meaning of the 
 *" words, which our Saviour addreffed to St. 
 Peter when this Apoftle confeiTed that he was 
 the Son of God 3 as they proceeded from one 
 who had declared that his Kingdom v/as not 
 pf this world, they could not mean to confer 
 
 * Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 tcmppr^l 
 
SERMON III. 89 
 
 temporal power on the Apoflle : nor is it pro- 
 bable that they were deiigned to confer any 
 Spiritual fuperiority, much lefs any afTurance 
 of infallibility on him. Our bleffed Saviour, 
 as if to caution his Difciples beforehand againft 
 the evils, which would arife from difputes 
 among the future rulers of his Church " who 
 fhould be greateft,'' exprefsly ** forbad fuch 
 difputes among them : declaring, that he who 
 defired to be firft fhould be laft of all, and 
 recommending to their imitation the unaffum- 
 ing fimplicity of a little child. It is impof- 
 fible, therefore, that he fhould fet up one of 
 his Difciples to be the fpiritual head of all 
 the others. He himfelf was to be the fpiritual 
 * Mafter, to whom they were to look : and 
 the Holy Ghoft was to compenfate for the 
 want of his immediate and perfonal appearance 
 by e^ctraordinary gifts in the firft ages, and by 
 the infpired writings, which were an effed: of 
 thofe gifts and were to fupply their place in 
 future times. Confiftently with this, St. Peter 
 appears to have had no precedence in the 
 council of the Apoflles at Jerufalem. St. Paul 
 alfo declares that ^ ** in nothing was he behind 
 
 «* Mark ix. 34, &c, * Matt, xxiii. 8. 
 
 ' 2 Cor. xii. II. 
 
 Again when St. Paul mentions (Gal. ii. 9.) Jamer, Cephas, 
 and John, who feemed to be pillars, he makes no diftindion in 
 favour of Cephas (or Peter) nor does he mention him before 
 the others, 
 
 the 
 
90 SERMON III, 
 
 the very chiefeft Apoftles :'' and he withftood 
 St. Peter to the face for a reafon, which de- 
 ftroys every idea of his infalHbiHty : ^ ** be- 
 caufe he was to be blamed.*' Belides, St. Paul 
 had the Gofpel of the ^ uncircumcifion com- 
 mitted to him in the fame manner, as that of 
 the circumcilion was to St. Peter : and both 
 he and the other Apoftles appear at all times 
 to aft independently of every other fpiritual 
 head, than Chrift. But of whatever nature 
 St. Peter's authority and pre-eminence might 
 be ; they ought in reality to confer nothing of 
 cither on the Bifliops of Rome. ' *^ It is 
 ** doubtful whether St. Peter ever was at 
 *^ Rome, but that he fixed his chair there is 
 *' a very idle and groundlefs imagination/' 
 Eufebius, indeed, fays that St. Peter came to 
 Rome in the days of Claudius : but, he ^ feems 
 
 ^ Gal. ii. II. ^ Gal, n. 7. 
 
 * Bp. Bull's vindication of the Church of England, 8^«. 
 
 Archbifhop Cranmer alfo fays it was not certain that St. Pe« 
 ter ever was at Rome. Burnet's Hift. of the Reformation, 
 Vol. I. p. ,75. 
 
 Stillingfleet in his Orig. Britan. fpeaks nearly to the fame 
 effect, concluding at length with an approbation of Laftan- 
 tius's opinion that St. Peter certainly did not come to Rome til! 
 the reign of Nero, nor long before his martyrdom, p- 45 — 48. 
 
 ^ Bp. Bull's vindication of the Church of England, p. 139. 
 See, concerning the credulity of Papias, Eufebius himfelf : Hilt. 
 Eccl. 1. iii. c. 39. Eufebius, however, appears not to have been 
 lefs hafly, in what he admits upon report concerning the con- 
 ver{;on of the Emperour Philip, I. vi. c. 34. 
 
 to 
 
SERMON III. 9f 
 
 to have received this from the authority of 
 Papias, wko was a credulous writer. How- 
 ever, in procefs of time, as the dignity no lefs 
 than the opulence of cities attaches itfelf to 
 the perfons of thofe, who fill important fta- 
 tions in them ; and as the Church of Rome 
 was theVonly Weftern Church, which afpired 
 to the credit of Apoflolical foundation ; the 
 Biifhops of Rome began to be regarded with 
 peculiar refpedl, and a " titular kind of pre- 
 eminence was tacitly allowed them. St. Peter 
 alfo, once prefumed to have been the firft 
 Bifhop of that See, was allowed in fucceeding 
 times to have been fo without contradiction. 
 And as appeals were made in civil matters 
 from different parts of the Empire to the Im- 
 perial city; fo they were alfo made in matters 
 refpedling Chriftianity. Probably too, thefe 
 latter were made the more frequently in the 
 
 ^ See Waterland's Lady Moyer's Sermpns, p. 326. 
 
 "* Mofheim's Eccl. Hift. Vol. I. p. 264. That this preemi- 
 nence was only titular may be inferred from hence : it was de- 
 clared by the general council at Nice that ** the Patriarchs of 
 Alexandria and Antioch had the fame authority over the coun- 
 tries round them, that he of Rome had over thofe that lay 
 about that city." Burnet's Hift. of the Reform. Vol. I. p. 1 38. 
 And this titular preeminence the Greeks were to the lail difpo- 
 {td to admit, viz. " Papam ordine, non dignitateprsecedere.'* 
 Cave's Hill. Lit. Vol. U. Sa^c. Synod, p. 234. 
 
 T. Smith alfo in his account of the Greek Church admits 
 (p. 2) a priority of Dignity in the See of Rome ; though he 
 aiferts (p. 80) the perfeft equality of the Patriarch of Con- 
 ilantinople with the Pope. 
 
 early 
 
92 SERMON III. 
 
 early ages ; becaufe, notwithftandmg the cor- 
 rupt ftate of the Romifh Church in fubfequent 
 times, it is notorious that fhe was ^ fingularly 
 free from the early herefies. The fuppofed 
 fucceffors of St. Peter foon availed themfelves 
 of the power, which thefe proofs of refpedt 
 appeared to acknowlege in them ; and pro- 
 ceeded to ifliie direftions and menaces to dif- 
 tant parts of the Chriftian world. Thefe in- 
 terpolitions were by no means received with 
 approbation, or with filent acquiefcence. As 
 early as in the fecond century they excited the 
 refentment and cenfure ^ both of Irenaeus, and 
 Polycrates. And in the third century ' Cyprian 
 
 p Sozoraen, Hill. Eccl. l.iii. c. 6, and 13. andl.vi. c. 23. 
 Reading's Edit. 
 
 Stiilingfleet's Orig. Britan. p. 226. 
 Waterland's Lady Moyer's Sermons, p. 327. 
 Horlley's Trafts, p. 39. 
 
 Xijff yzvvonug nccre^fotfAtv (xtfji.'x-'^UfjLtvos ocvra t*jw ^£§/xoT»5Ta, x, t. A. 
 Socrates, Hifl. Eccl. 1. v. c. 22. Reading's Edit. 
 
 Polycrates expreffed a fimilar difapprobation of the condudl of 
 the Bifhop of Rome, and on the fame occalion. Heylyn's Re- 
 form, juftified, p. 270. 
 
 ' Cyprian fays on the fubje^l, " Statutum fit omnibus nobis 
 ** et aequum fit pariter ac juftum, ut unius cujufque caufa illic 
 ** audiatur ubi eft crimen admifium ; et fmgulis paftoribus por- 
 ** tio gregis fit adfcripta, quam regat unufqaifque et gubernet, 
 •' rationem fui adlus Domino redditurus : oportet utique eos 
 *• quibus praefumus non c^rcumcurfare nee epifcoporum concor- 
 ** diam coh^rentem fua fubdcla et fallaci temeritate collidere, 
 ** fed agere illic caufam fqam, ubi et accufatores habere et teftes 
 •* fui criminis poffent." Epifl. 55. Edit. Paris. 1726. p. 86. 
 
 And again he fays, ** habet in ecclefias adminiftratione vo- 
 '* luntatis fuae arbitriuin liberun^ i^nufquifque prspofitus, ratio- 
 
 ** mm 
 
SERMON IIL 93 
 
 oppofeH with great refolution the incroach- 
 ments of the Blihops of Rome ; refufing as 
 Bifhop of Carthage to defend himfelf in an- 
 fwer to an appeal, which had been received 
 at Rome againfl him ; and declaring that all 
 Bifliops were equal in power. But remon^ 
 ftrances, and repeated decrees of early ' coun- 
 cils, were not fufficient to counterad; a power, 
 which was fure of being fupported by the 
 paffions and interefts of mankind. Even Atha- 
 naiius, when obliged to leave Alexandria, ' re- 
 tired to Rome and contributed to aggrandize 
 the Bifhop of that See by appealing to him. 
 Indeed, it may be remarked of both the 
 " Eaftern and the "" African Clergy, that, 
 whenever they were unable to fupport either 
 themfelves or their dodtrines, they were al- 
 
 " nem a£lus fui Domino redditurus.*' Eplft. 72. p. 129. ad fi- 
 nem. 
 
 Hence Jortin fays of St. Cyprian, *' if his authority be any 
 '* thing, the Pope's authority is nothing : he hath cut it up from 
 " the root by eflablifhing the parity of bilhops." 2d Charge, 
 Sermons, Vol. VII. p. 394. 
 
 * Of the fecond general council and that at Milevis — See 
 Burnet's Hift. Vol. I. p. 138—9. Collier's EccL Hift Vol. I. 
 p. 27 and 128. Cave's Hift. Lit. Vol. I. p. ^60, and Bing- 
 ham's Antiquities, b. ix. c. i. fe£l. 13. 
 
 * Sozomen fays in his Eccl. Hift. " a^txe/AEvof h uq uvrm 
 
 '* ^xr,K." 1. iii. c. 7. See alfo Socrates, Hift. Eccl. 1, ii. c. 11. 
 ^ Socrates, Hift. Eccl. I, iv. c. 12. 
 
 * See a claim addrefTed in the 5th century to the African 
 Clergy by a Biftiop of Rome, in which he afferts his Right 
 thus 10 receive appeals and to decide on all occafions. Cave's 
 Hift. Lit, Vol. I. p. 394, 
 
 ways 
 
94 SERMON lit 
 
 ways forward to appeal to the Roman Pontiff. 
 Befides, after the civil eftablifhment of Chrif- 
 tianity the Bifhops of Rome had not only the 
 * Imperial fandlion for their titular pre-emi- 
 nence, and a full fhare of the legal ^ power^ 
 which the Church now derived from the 
 ftate ; they had alfo the moft favourable op- 
 portunity of increafing this power by the re* 
 moval of the relidence of the Emperours to the 
 Eaftern parts of their Dominions. The Papal 
 encroachments found likewife from time to 
 time proteftion in the difordered ftate of the 
 Weftern world, arifing from the inundation 
 of Barbarians 5 and precedent in the example 
 of unlimited power, conferred by the Celtic 
 Barbarians on their "" Arch-Druid. They had, 
 moreover, not only ecclefiaftical pretenfions 
 for their fupport : thefe, through the favours 
 which they conferred by abfolving the con- 
 fciences of guilty Princes and by affifting them 
 
 ^ Mofheim, Vol. T. p. 351. 
 
 y One of the branches of this legal power, which contribu- 
 ted exceedingly in future ages to the temporal preeminence of 
 the Clergy, was tlie right which Conftantine gave perfons, con- 
 tending in law, to remove their caufe out of the civil courts 
 and to appeal to the judgement of the Bifhops ; whofe fentence 
 in this cale was to have the fame authority as if it had been de- 
 creed by the Emperour himfelf. Sozomen, Hift. Eccl. 1. 1, 
 c. 9. This conceflion of Conftantine was afterwards farther ra- 
 tified, as Cave fays, by two laws, one of Arcadius, another of 
 Honorius. Prim. Chrift. Vol. I. p. 253. See alfo more on this 
 fubjedl in Bingham's Antiquities, b. ii. c. 7* 
 
 * Jortin's Rem. Vol. IV. p. 441, 
 
 with 
 
SERMON IIL 9^ 
 
 with anathemas againfl their enemies, pro- 
 cured in the eighth century for the Bifhoprick 
 of Rome large * donations of land, and raifed 
 it to. the fubflantial power of a temporal So- 
 vereignty. 
 
 During the progrefs of thefe circumftances, 
 we cannot wonder that the ^ Roman Pontiff 
 ihould at an early period lay the foundation of 
 a feparation between the Latin and Greek 
 Churches by the excommunication of the 
 Bifliop of Conftantinople ; and that he fhould 
 afterwards affert his independence by "" refufing 
 at his eleftion to pay the ufual tribute to the 
 Emperour : or that thofe Bifliops, who had 
 gone thus far in the eftablifhment of their 
 Dominion, and who had alfo dared publickly 
 to ^ aifert that St. Peter, whofe image the 
 Emperour threatened to deftroy, was revered 
 as a God upon earth, fhould, after fruitlefs 
 admonitions to the Eaflern Emperours on the 
 fubjeft of image-worfhip, not only * go on to 
 
 * From Pepin. 
 
 " Felix Bilhop of Rome excommunicated Acacius Bilnop of 
 Conftantinople about the end of the fifth century ; and was 
 himfelf in return excommunicated by Acacius. 
 
 Mofheim, Vol. 11. p. 83. Jortin's Rem. Vol. IV. p. 308. 
 
 See alfo Jortin's 3d Charge, Sermons, Vol. VII. p. 415-. 
 
 ^ This was done by Agatho in the 7th Century. 
 
 ** This was ailerted by Gregory the great ; as Mr. Gibbon 
 omits not to inform us. Hift. Vol. V. p. 107. 
 
 ^ This happened in the eighth century under the Popedom 
 of Gregory the fe,Cgnd and third. Moih. Vol. II. p. 262 — 3. 
 
 pronounce 
 
§6 SERMON III. 
 
 pronounce a reparation between their own and 
 the Eaftern Churches, but Hkewife to difclaim 
 all dependence on the Emperour^s civil autho- 
 rity. And much lefs can we wonder, as foon 
 as their ufurped Dominion appeared afterwards 
 to be in danger of contraction from the inter- 
 ference of the Greek Patriarch in ' parts of 
 the Latin communion, that they ihould at 
 length confummate this unhappy breach by 
 new and unrecalled anathemas. 
 
 In the mean time alfo the watchful policy 
 of the Romiih Church failed not to grafp at 
 all the different means, both internal and ex- 
 ternal, w^hich offered themfelves to fecure the 
 power, which fhe claimed, and to impofe its 
 decifions on the Chriftian world. As if the 
 general influence over the Weftern Church, 
 which the Bifhops of it had imperceptibly 
 given to the See of Rome, was not a fufficient 
 fupport for the Papal Dominion -, no fooner 
 had the fucceffors of thofe ^ pious Monks, who 
 
 ^ In Illyrkum, Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia, ThefTaly, and 
 Sicily : and about the year 862. Mofh. Vol. II. p. 352. 
 
 Cave calls it the controverfia Bulgariana, and fays of it — 
 ** Quantas turbas excitaverit controverfia haec Bulgariana hiftoriai 
 hujus fasculi (fcil. noni) non prorfus ignaris fatis coiiftat. Hinc 
 rupta deinceps penitus concordia, natumque fchifma nullo forte 
 fa:culo extinguendum." Hift. Liter. Vol. II. p. 2. 
 
 8 See what is faid concerning the' Monks of Egypt by Eufe- 
 bius. Hift. Eccl. 1. ii. e. 17. 
 
 See alfo Bingham's Antiquities, b, viii. c. i-. fed. 4. 
 
 in 
 
SERMON III. 97 
 
 in times of perfecution had fled from the habi- 
 tations of fociety, or who in future times had 
 withdrawn through erroneous notions of Chrif- 
 tianity to a life of mortification, made them- 
 felves confiderable by their numbers, their 
 pofleffions, and the acquifition of all the learn- 
 ing of their times ; than the Church of Rome 
 immediately ^ detached them from the jurif- 
 diction of their refpedive Prelates, and formed 
 them into independent communities, which 
 were every where to obey the orders and en- 
 force the authority of the fupreme Pontiff. 
 But this was a lefs injurious device for the 
 eftablifliment of Papal power, than prefents 
 itfelf to us in the fatal * reftraints, impofed 
 with regard to the ufe of the Scriptures in the 
 common language ; and in the difpenfations 
 and indulgences ; no lefs than the ^ excom- 
 munications, penances, holy wars, and ^ per- 
 
 ^ This happened in the feventh century, as Moflieim fays. 
 Vol. II. p. 172. See concerning it. Collier's Eccl. Hill Vol. I., 
 p. 388. And concerning the original iubjeftion of Monks to 
 the Bifhops of their own diocefe, fee Bingham's Amiquiucs* 
 b. ii. c. 4. fe£l. 2. and b. vii. c. 3. fed 17. 
 
 * See note "" page 85. 
 
 ^ It was a prevailing opinion that he whjo was excommunicat- 
 ed forfeited all the rights not only of a citizen, but alfo of an hu- 
 man creature. Jortin's 3d charge. Sermons, Vol. VII. p. 417. 
 
 ' Burnet fays, '* The firft inflance of feverity on men's bodies, 
 which was not cenfured by the Church, was in the fifth" (rather 
 fixth) ** century under juftin the firft, who ordered the tongue 
 of Severus (who had been Patriarch of Antioch, but did 
 
 Ii fecutionSj, 
 
^98 SERMON III. 
 
 fecutions, which proceeding in the end to the 
 moft horrid extravagance difFufed lafting im- 
 piety, immorality, and cruelty through the 
 different orders of fociety. But, indeed, what 
 kfs than all this was to be expefted from the 
 continued and almoft uninterrupted advances, 
 which the Papal power had for many ages 
 been making ; and from the profligacy of the 
 Bifhops, by whom it was finally eftabhfhed ? 
 The Prelates, who filled the Apoftolical chair 
 about the ninth and tenth centuries, have fur- 
 nifhed the enemies of Chriftianity, no lefs than 
 the enemies of the abufes of it, with inex- 
 hauftible matter of invedlive. They feem to 
 have been permitted by Providence to prove 
 the extreme folly, as well as blafphemy, of 
 thofe pretenfions to infallibility, which have 
 been made for the Bifliops of that See. " There 
 ** was a *" fucceflion (iays Stillingfleet) of not 
 
 daily aBathematlfe the Council of Chalcedoh) to be cut out :" 
 — And that it was not before the twelfth and thirteenth centu- 
 ries that iuch cruelties were raifed to their utmoft extravagance 
 by being inflided on numbers of fimple and innocent perfons. 
 
 Hift. of the Ref. Vol. I. p. 24. 
 
 As late as in the fixteenth century the Pope wifhed to intro- 
 duce the inquifition into every country of Chriilendom, Burnet's 
 Hift. Vol. II. p. 347. 
 
 "" Sermon ill. Vol. II. 8vo. p. 49. Edit. 1697. 
 
 Jortin fays of this period, " The Prelates and Clergy were 
 •* in general as ignorant and profligate as can well be conceived : 
 ** 2nd the Popes were not men but Devils." Rem. Vol. V. 
 P- ^3- 
 
 '' lefs 
 
SERMON IIL 99 
 
 ** lefs than fifty Bifhops fo remarkable for their 
 ** wickednefs that Annas and Caiaphas (fet- 
 *' ting only alide their condemning Chriil) 
 ** were faints in comparifon of them.*' Among 
 the Bifhops of Rome, however, after the com- 
 mencement of the eleventh century, there cer- 
 tainly were many, who were diftinguiihed by 
 their zeal for the recovery of the difcipline of 
 the Church, and the honour of the holy See* 
 But fuch was the ultimate tendency of their 
 zeal, that we may almoft join with thofc 
 " writers, who pronounce their virtues to have 
 been more detrimental to mankind, than the 
 vices of their predeceflbrs. They appear to 
 have taken it for granted, that whatever au- 
 thority had been either exercifed, or claimed, 
 by their predeceflbrs belonged of right to their 
 Church. And effe(flual means had been left 
 them to perfuade fuperflitious and illiterate 
 ages of the juftice of their pretenfions by the 
 * forgeries, which had been contrived to fanc- 
 tion all their temporal and fpiritual claims, and 
 
 " Jortin : 3d Charge, Sermons, Vol, VII. p. 421. Mr« 
 Gibbon, kc. 
 
 ° The forgeries of the donation of Conflantine and the de- 
 cretals of Ifidorus. 
 
 Cardinal Cufanus himfelf fays of the former, *' reperi in Ipfa 
 f* fcriptura manifeiU argumenta confidionis et falfitatis." 
 
 Jewell's Works, p. 569. 
 
 H 2 The 
 
loo S E R M O N IIL 
 
 which were adlually received for many ages as 
 genuine produdlions. And though Gregory 
 the Seventh may be confidered as having car- 
 ried the Papal powder to its height, and as 
 having fubllantiated in the eleventh century 
 the Papal ^ right of interfering and deciding 
 univerfally in both civil and religious concerns ; 
 yet Papal infolence feems to have extended it* 
 felf under his fucceffors in the "^ following cen- 
 turies, and was not carried to its extreme 
 height till the Pope's boafted ' infallibility was 
 
 The latter were fuppofed to contain the decrees of Sixty 
 Bifhops from Clement to Siricius. Blondel has moft fully- 
 proved the forgery of them and it is confeffed by Staph. Balu- 
 zius — Cave's Hift. Lit. Vol. II. p. 21. It is even confeffed by 
 Baronius. Annal. ad an. 865. 
 
 Thefe forgeries, however, were not fully detedled before the 
 Reformation. 
 
 P Molheim gives fome account of the Didatus Hildebrandi- 
 ni, or what may be fuppofed to have been Gregory's principles 
 of Papal Government, Vol. II. p. 491. 
 
 ^ Particularly in the thirteenth century under Innocent the 
 Third, &c. 
 
 ' Gelafius, who was Bilhop of Rome in the fourth century, 
 had the effrontery to claim infallibility for himfelf and his See. 
 Jortin's Rem. Vol. IV. p. 315. But, this infallibility was 
 iirft publickly and explicitly allowed by the council of Trent. 
 
 It may be thought ftrange that it fhould be done at a time 
 when the Papacy was fo rudely attacked by the reformers : but 
 the Church of Rome aded about this time in the fame impru- 
 dent manner with regard alfo to its other claims. In the year 
 1556 the Pope declared *' he would change Kingdoms at his 
 ** pleafure, that he had made Ireland a Kingdom, that all 
 ** Princes were under his feet, and that he would allow no 
 " Prince to be his companion, nor to be too familiar with 
 " him." Burnet's Hilt. Vol. H. p. 342—3. Thus like- 
 wile Cardinal Pole in his Book '* De unione eccleiiaftica'* 
 
 \cxy 
 
SERMON III. 101 
 
 at length propofed and acknowleged in a pub- 
 lic council. It would be eafy to add more 
 obfervations on the conduft of particular Bi- 
 (hops of Rome, by which the Papal power 
 was eftabliflied : but the truth with regard to 
 thofe Bifliops is, that all of them labored to 
 extend their jurifdidtion and uniformly carried 
 on the fame fcheme* One ' encroachment fol- 
 lowed another; till at length, aided by the 
 circumftances above mentioned and various 
 others, they were enabled to opprefs all Weft- 
 ern Chriftendom, and to crufh for many ages 
 every attempt to revive a fpirit of moderation 
 in the rulers of the Church, and the true 
 knowlege and pradtice of Chriftianity among 
 its different members. The corruption and 
 ignorance, which enfued, were in the end 
 fuch ; that, as we are ' told, ** the world was 
 *« poffefled with a conceit that there was a 
 <* trick for faving fouls befides that plain me- 
 
 very much deprefies the royal, and exalts the Papal authority. 
 Indeed, Bp. Jewell ftates that the proportion, aflerted about 
 this time to fubfift between the Emperour's and the Pope's 
 power, was as one to feventy feven. Jewell's Apology for the 
 Church of England, p. 73, and elfewhere. 
 
 And, to complete the whole. Cardinal Bellarmine afferts that 
 the only reafon why the early Chriftians did not depofe Nero, 
 Dioclefian, and Julian was becaufe they wanted nieans to efFed 
 it. This is mentioned and well refuted by Cave in his ** Pri- 
 mitive Chriftianity." Vol. II. p. 349 — 351. 
 
 * See Jortin's Rem. Vol. V. p. 349. 
 
 « Burnet's Hift. Vol. II. p. 74. 
 
 H 3 '' thod. 
 
102 SERMON IIL 
 
 ** thod, which Chriil had taught ,* and that 
 " the Priefls had the fecret of it in their 
 ** hands." 
 
 Whatever friendly agreement there might 
 be between the Bilhops of Rome and other 
 Biihops in the commencement of their power ; 
 no agreement could at length be maintained 
 with the Romifli Church, except by fubmif- 
 iion. And various reafons contributed to hinder 
 this in the Clergy of the Eaft. The want of 
 juft foundation in the Papal power could not 
 be unknown to the Patriarchs of Conftanti- 
 nople : and thefe Patriarchs were not the lefs, 
 ftrenuous to " retort the anathemas, by which 
 they were feparated from the Romifli com- 
 munion, and to defend their own power, be- 
 caufe (as is "^ remarked of them) they were 
 fmgularly tolerant in the exercife of it. The 
 vicinity of the Imperial court alfo, which 
 hindered the Bifliops of Conftantinople from 
 acquiring civil power, contributed in no fmall 
 degree to proted them againft the arbitrary 
 encroachments of other Churches, Befides, 
 the " fplendour itfelf of this court created in all, 
 who lived within its influence and protedtion 
 
 ° This was done by Acaclus, Photius, and Michael Cerula* 
 ylus. Mofheim, Vol. II. p. 84, 351, 555, 
 
 '^ Socrates, Hill. Eccl. 1. vii. c. 11. 
 
 ^ The account which may be collefted from Cryfollojn's 
 works of diis fplendour almoll exceeds belief. 
 
 fuch 
 
SERMON III. 103 
 
 fuch a pride, as was little inferior to that of 
 the Romifh Church, and would fubmit to the 
 dictates of no foreign Ecclcfiaftic. There was, 
 moreover, a fixed contempt, with which the 
 Greeks afFedted to treat their lefs learned 
 brethren of the Weft, which irrefiftibly pre- 
 vented their fubmiffion in matters of religious 
 controverfy. The Greek Clergy, though in- 
 volved in nearly a common ^ ignorance of true 
 Chriftianity with the whole Chriftian world, 
 were certainly more learned in other refpeds, 
 and more grave than thofe of the Latin com- 
 munion. Some few, indeed, of the dignified 
 Clergy among the Latins were in no refped: 
 inferior to the moft celebrated of the Greeks, 
 but thefe furpafTed the other members of the 
 Weftern Church ^ beyond all comparifon. The 
 prejudices, arifing in the minds of the Greeks 
 from all thefe circumftances, made them 
 amidft their diftrefs repeatedly refift the fo- 
 licitations of ^ thofe among their Emperours, 
 
 y The Greeks and Latins Teem to have agreed in the darker 
 ages that the eilence and life of Religion confifted in imagc- 
 worlhip, in honcrlug dead faints, in coUcding relidls, in en- 
 riching the Church, and other fuch exertions of piety. 
 
 Moflieim, Vol, II. p. 417. 
 
 And Jortin calls the Bifliops at th.3 fecond council of Nice, 
 who reeliabliihcd image-wcrlhip iu the Eaft in the 8th century, 
 " the moft lying and fenfelcfs blockheads uppn the face of the 
 earth.'* Remarks, Vol. IV. p. 466 
 
 ^ This was remarkably true in England in the 1 3th and 14th 
 centuries. See the fecond diflertation prefixed to Warton's Hif- 
 tory of Englifli poetry. 
 
 * This happened both to Michael and John Pala-cbgus. 
 
 H 4 who 
 
104 SERMON llh 
 
 who wiflied to purchafe the affiftance of the 
 Franks by the dependence of their Church i 
 and joined to other prejudices^ excited by the 
 oppreffive ^ Reign of the Latins in Conftanti- 
 nople and by mutual perfecution, made them 
 to the very laft, even in the extremity of their 
 fiege, difdain to hear of fuccour, which was to 
 be obtained byfubmiffion to the Roman Pontiff, 
 The influence, which this fituation of the 
 two Communions mull: have had on their doc- 
 trines> is very obvious. I have before remark- 
 ed that one pernicious confequence of difputes 
 between the Rulers of the Church was the want 
 of purity, which thenceforth prevailed through- 
 out the Chriftian world. The pretenfions of 
 the Latin and Greek Churches, and the parti- 
 cular *^ dodtrines, in which they oppofed each 
 
 *> For the fixty years, during which the Crufaders kept poT- 
 felTion of Conftantinople. 
 
 *= The fatal confequences of this flate of the Chriftian Church 
 ihewed themfelves foon after the days of Conftantine. Tha 
 doftrines of Arianifm, which prevailed at Conftantinople under 
 ConftantiKs and fome of his fucceflbrs, were fo powerfully im- 
 preffed on Ulfilas, when he came thither on an embafly from 
 the Goths, and were fo fuccefsfully propagated by him among 
 his countrymen ; that the Arian herefy maintained itfelf much 
 longer among them, and, through their means, among other 
 Northern nations, than in any other communities. Theodoret 
 in his Eccl. Hift. fays of Ulphilas's converfion to Arianifm, 
 *' Kur EJtfij'ov h ro* ;^po»oir OrX^t>,af avraf {Tor%v fcilicet) tmcrxovos 
 
 ** j/o/xy?* raroy xat^pyotj y.a.ra,y.Y,7\.iriaroK; Ey3'o|to; xa» ^fr;[j(,ct(Tt hKiuffocq 
 ^eio-cci 'mototay.ivuai ms Tiot^Qa^Hq tvjv fia.a-i7\tu<; xoivuviav occTTTxaacr- 
 " cai* iTTtiat hi (p-TiO-a^ ZK (piXoriiJUCcg yeysivi^on tjjv tfiVy^oyfAitruv & 
 '*■ ixrihiAiccv t'.vui, ^nxipofav.'* L. iv. c. 37. Reading. Sec alfo So- 
 somen. Hift. Eccl. 1. vi. c.3;. 
 
 Sozomea 
 
SERMON III. 105 
 
 other, whether important or not, were the fub- 
 jedts more earneftly inculcated among them- 
 felves and enforced on their converts and depen- 
 dants, than the great and fundamental dod;rines 
 of Chriftianity. When, therefore, the north- 
 ern •* nations of Europe were converted by thefe 
 Churches ; they may be faid not fo much to 
 have been converted to Chriftianity in general, 
 as to the peculiar and diftinguifhing tenets of 
 the Romifh or Greek Communion : and that 
 too, at the moft degenerate period of both 
 thofe Communions. No wonder, therefore, 
 that the fword was the inftrument, by which 
 
 Sozomen afterwards clearly afTerts that Ulphilas was the great 
 caufe of the prevalence and continuance of Arianifm among the 
 nations of the North. Hill. Eccl. 1. vii. c. 17. Where fpeaking 
 of the divifions of the Arians he calls one of them that of the Goths, 
 adding ** TorBuv hj xaSort x«/ 2£^H'aJ, rareov tTricXKO'jrog , o^o\u^ 
 «^o|a^£v' irrxKoKa^auviii ^i raru ^t^ov 'ma.vTiq ^ot^oi^ov crvv uvrotg 
 i>.xM<rict^oy' TTEiSjjnoi yap £i? ra /xaAij-a Tw Y.zK\va irvyycciiti)) VTrof^a," 
 
 X. T. A. 
 
 ^ Bulgaria, Hungary, Bohemia, Saxony, Denmark, Nor- 
 way, Sweden, Poland, and Ruflia. 
 
 Mofheim charges Boniface the Apoflle of the Germans with 
 an exceflive zeal for increafing the Honors and pretenfions of 
 the facerdotal order and a profound ignorance of many things, 
 of which the knowlege was abfolutely necefBlry in an Apoftle ; 
 and particularly of the true nature ^nd genius of the Chrifliaa 
 Religion, Vol. 11. p. 207. 
 
 See alfo in Cave's Hift. Lit. a Letter from Joannes Smera 
 Polovecius, giving an account of the corruptions of the Latin 
 and Greek Churches ; and addrelTed to the King of the Ruf- 
 fians, when he and his Kingdom were converted to the Greek 
 Church, Vol. n. p. 1*3. 
 
 Chriftianity 
 
x66 SERMON III. 
 
 Chriftianity was propagated among many of 
 thefe nations ; and that this Ihould finifh in 
 ' Lithuania the converfion of northern Europe 
 in the fourteenth century. However, though 
 the contefts between the Wejftern and Eaftern 
 Chriftians were produdlive of many evils; they 
 produced alfo fome conliderable good. They 
 hindered all parties from corrupting the Scrip- 
 tures through fear of dete6tion. They kept 
 aHve fbme literary enquiries ; and the fpirit, 
 with which they were carried on, powerfully 
 wrged the different difputants to exert at times 
 their utmoft abilities. Befides, the unfucceflf- 
 ful attempts, which were made to fupprefs 
 thefe contentions and to effedt an union of 
 opinion among Chriftians, that there might 
 be an union of operation alfo among them 
 againft their common enemies, were productive 
 of excellent confequences. The embaffies fent 
 by the Greek Emperours into the Weft, and 
 their journies thither at three different times, 
 tended effeiflually to recall the attention of the 
 Latins to ^ Greek literature ; and, by difperf- 
 
 ^ This may be conceded to Mr. Gibbon, without giving him 
 tlie Icaft advantage over real Chriftianitv. See his Hiilory, 
 Vol. V. p. 577. 
 
 ^ The Greek language had been exiled from Italy upwards 
 of 700 years, when Emanuel Cryfoioras (who had been fent 
 hy John Pala^ologus Emperourof Conftantinople to implore the 
 affiftance of the weftern Chriftians) fet about the reftoration of 
 it in that country. See Port. Royal Greek Grammar, Pref. 
 p. 9 and 12. 
 
 ing 
 
SERMON IIL 107 
 
 ing among them the means of attaining it, 
 prepared the way for that Reformation, which 
 was to fucceed and remedy the evils of this 
 unhappy period. 
 
 The dodtrines, which declare the internal 
 ftate of the Church, and which were particu- 
 larly defended or corrupted during the ages, 
 which fill up the long period from Conftantine 
 to the Reformation, confift either of thofc 
 fundamental dodtrines of our Religion, which 
 refpedl the Trinity, the perfon and natures of 
 our Saviour, and other fuch important articles 
 of faith, which are received and profeiled by 
 ourfelves at prefent ; or of thofe corruptions 
 of Chriftianity, which became in fubfequent 
 times the fubjeft of our Reformation. The 
 former fhew the eftefts of the degeneracy of 
 the Chriflian world by the manner, in which 
 they w^re defended : the latter by their very 
 nature and Exiftence. The former had the 
 advantage of being finally eftabliflied in the 
 earlier and lefs darkened part of this period. 
 And certainly we have reafon to blefs God 
 that they were then eflabliflied ; whatever the 
 enemies of our Faith may ^ infmuate to the 
 contrary, an4 whatever caufe we may have to 
 difapprove of the manner in which it was done. 
 The great dodrines of our Religion were de« 
 
 t See Mr. Gibbon's Hift. Vol. IV. ehap. 47. 
 
 livered 
 
roS SERMON IIL 
 
 Hvered in the infpired writings with a precifion, 
 which was abundantly fufficient for the in- 
 ftrudlion of thofe, who were difpofed rather 
 to obey the Word of God, than to look out 
 for difputable matter in it. When fubtlety 
 and vifionary fpeculation were afterwards in- 
 troduced, the foundation was laid for he- 
 relies, which embittered the minds of Chrif- 
 tians towards each other during the times of 
 perfecution, and which, being afterwards in- 
 creafed, made them endeavour to reftrain fuch 
 diffentions by public decifions of the Church, 
 as ibon as the civil magiftrate was ready to 
 lend his afiiftance on the occafion and to con- 
 vene ecclefiaftical afTemblies. We know what 
 were the confirmed decifions of fuch aflemblies 
 before the end of the feventh century : we 
 know alio on what authority of Scripture thefe 
 decifions ought to have been made. As to the 
 concomitant circumfi:ances with which they 
 were adually made, if thefe favour much of 
 the corruption of the times, it is no more than 
 we might expeft. If the decifions of different 
 councils on the herefy of Arius, no lefs than on 
 other fubjefts relative to the doftrines, above 
 mentioned, of the Trinity and of our blefled 
 Saviour's Perfon and natures, were made in a 
 tumultuous manner by men of ambitious views 
 and of little perfedl knowlege of Chriflianity, 
 
 and 
 
SERMON III. 109 
 
 ^nd were alfo enforced by the ^ fword ; it is 
 no more than we might expecft from the ge- 
 neral tranfadtions of thofe times, and is a proof, 
 in addition to numberlefs others fupplied by 
 hiftory, that the Almighty is often pleafed to 
 bring good out of evil. All, that is eflential 
 to our purpofe, is to know that the dodtrines 
 in queftion, which are profefled by us at pre- 
 fent and which after thefe decifions were uni- 
 verfally received before the end of the eighth 
 century, are * warranted by Scripture, While 
 we have means to convince us of this, we 
 have reafon to blefs that God, who did not 
 fufFer his Church to fall into errors with regard 
 to the great doftrines of our Religion, which 
 it might afterwards have been unfpeakably 
 more difficult to do away, than thofe palpable 
 corruptions which were the fubjeftof our Re- 
 formation : and, efpecially too, might this 
 have been the cafe amidft the effervefcence of 
 new opinions foon after the commencement of 
 the Reformation ; when Socinus and his fol- 
 lowers were found to furpafs every former fcS: 
 of heretics in prefumptuous and degrading af- 
 
 ^ The Arian perfuafion prevailed longeft among the Goths 
 in Italy and the Vandals in Africa, and is Taid to have been 
 fupprefied among them both by the fword of Belifarius. 
 
 ^ See an attempt to prove this at large in two Sermons 
 preached before the Univerfity of Oxford by the author — in 
 1791. 
 
 fertions 
 
no SERMON IIL 
 
 fertions concerning the perfon of Chrift, and 
 the nature of our redemption. 
 
 As to the corruptions, which were the fub- 
 jedl of our Reformation, many of thefe began 
 foon after the civil eftabhfliment of our Re- 
 ligion : but they went on increafing afterwards 
 in 'a rapid proportion ; uniting themfelves as 
 they advanced to new and fimilar corruptions, 
 and forming at length that mafs of impiety, 
 which difgraced the Chriftian profeffion and 
 totally eradicated all devotional Religion, till 
 it was diftinguifhed from true Chriftian ity and 
 feparated from it. Among thefe the worfliip 
 of faints and images and the whole confequent 
 train of idolatry may be faid to have ^ com- 
 menced with that fubordinate worfliip of mar- 
 tyrs, which ^ Eufebius and other well-meaning 
 rulers of the Church approved and promoted 
 in the days of Conftantine. The abfurd ve- 
 
 ^ Cave fays, " nullum pro imaginibus citari teflem quarto 
 ** faeculo anteriorem." Hift. Lit. Vol. I. p. 650. 
 
 In the fourth century, however, fuch kind of idolatrous wor- 
 fhip appears to have introduced itfelf : fince Epiphanius in his 
 epiftle to the Bifhop of Jerufalem fays that coming into a. 
 Church, " inveni ibi velum pendens in foribus ejufdem ecclefiae 
 ** tindum atque depiftum, et habens imaginem quafi Chrilli 
 ** vel fanfti cujufdam. Non enim fatis memini cujus imago 
 ** fuerit. Cum ergo hoc vidiffem in ecclefia Chrifti contra 
 ** audoritatem fcripturarum hominis pendere imaginem, fcidi 
 «' illud,"&c. Jerome's Works, Tom. ii. p. 161. Bafil 1565. 
 
 * Jortin's Rem. Vol. III. p. 11 and 289. Cave's Hill. 
 Lit. Vol. I. p, 650. 
 
 Deration 
 
SERMON IIL MI 
 
 neratlon of the crofs began with " Helena, 
 mother of Conftantine : and that of relic s 
 with his fucceflbr Conftantius, who firft dif- 
 tinguifhed himfelf by the removal of them* 
 Even " Jerome and Ambrofe gave their un- 
 qualified fanftion to injudicious " mortifications 
 and to the long train of articles of will-wor- 
 fhip, which enfued, by declaiming againft mar- 
 riage and by recommending monaftic vows 
 under the moft^ injurious circumftances. The 
 fatal confequences, which proceeded, in the 
 progrefs of more than a thoufand years, from 
 thefe and other fuch unhappy commence- 
 ments, may all be faid to have ultimately arifen 
 from two principles, totally repugnant to the 
 doftrines of Revelation : the one, that lyes are 
 
 ^ S. Severus, p. 370 — 374. 
 Rufinus, Hift. Eccl. 1. i. c. 7. Ed. GrynasI 1587. 
 Socrates, Hift. Eccl. I. i. c. 17. Reading. 
 
 " Jortin's Rem. Vol. II. p. 289. 
 
 ° It may be obfcrved in general that, when external perfe- 
 cutions ceafed, Chriftians began to vie with each other in in- 
 ilidling voluntary punifhments on themfelves. 
 
 P " Jerome drew a noble matron the mother of many chil- 
 dren away from Rome with him, and was the means offending 
 her about to vifit the different Monks of the Eaft, and to fquan- 
 
 der the fortune of her family upon them." " Ambrofe was 
 
 fo violent a declaimer in favour of virginity, that he exhorts 
 young girls in one of his treatifes to enter into Nunneries even 
 againft the advice of their parents," Jortin's Rem. Vol. III. 
 p. 37 and 40. 
 
 Jortin makes Erafmus fay in a fimilar manner of the Monks 
 themfelves, *' thefe men fay that you muft follow Jefus Chrift, 
 •* though you were to trample upon the bodies of your father 
 *' and mother.'* Life of Erafmus, Vol. I. p. 71. 
 
 admiffible 
 
112 SERMON III. 
 
 admiffible in defence of truth ; the other, that 
 mental imperfeftion is to be remedied by 
 bodily fuffering. Principles, which many of 
 the ^ Fathers of the Church contributed to 
 eftablifh. ' Hence all the fid:itious miracles, 
 which gave fandlion to the worfhip of * Saints, 
 their images, and relic s : which gave this 
 worfhip a general and firm footing before the 
 end of the ^ fixth century, made it triumph 
 over all the oppofition of the Eaflern Empe- 
 rours in the eighth century, and made it tri- 
 umph ultimately over the moderation with 
 which the principal " Kingdoms of Weflern 
 Europe for feme ages received it. Hence alfo 
 the diverfified difplay of monaflic inflitutions, 
 the celibacy enforced on the Clergy, the doc- 
 trines of purgatory and of prayers for the dead, 
 the fantaftic penances, the crufades, perfecu- 
 tions, difpenfations, and indulgences ; to fay 
 nothing of the ceremonies, which difgraced 
 Chriftianity during thefe times. As to the 
 corruptions relative to the Sacrament, thefe 
 had a late origin. Communion without a 
 
 *i Ambrofe, Hilary, Augul^ine, Gregory Nazianzen, and 
 Jerome. See Jorrin's Rem. Vol. IV. p. 19, 20. 
 
 ^ See Jortin's 3d Charge, Sermons, Vol. VII. p. 410— 
 
 415- 
 
 ^ And particularly of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 ^ Gibbon's Hill. Vol. V. p. 91. 
 
 " France, England, Spain, and Germany, Gibbon, Vol. V. 
 p. 131. 
 
 See Collier's Eccl. Hifl. Vol. I. p. 139 — 142. 
 
 participation 
 
SERMON IIL 113 
 
 "^ participation of the cup, * tranfubftantiation, 
 and all the circumftances relative to the ^ ado- 
 ration of the Hoft, (of which many were the 
 effefts of trivial and accidental fuggeftions from 
 the ignorant * populace) can pretend to no 
 early eftablifhment. The ^ refufal of the Scrip- 
 
 ^ Pope Pafchal in the 12th century ordered the Sacrament 
 to be adminiflred under one kind only. But the Laity in En- 
 gland had it in both kinds for 200 years after the Conqueft. 
 Collier's Eccl. Hift. Pref. p. 11. and Vol. I. p. 4.89. 
 
 ^ Though tranfubftantiation was broached by Radbertus in 
 the year 818 ; (Jortin's, Rem. Vol, IV. p. 484.] yet it was 
 not eftablifhed before the time of Innocent the third who lived 
 in the 13th century. Mofheim, Vol. III. p. 243. and Cave's 
 Hift. Lit. Vol. II. p. 276. 
 
 y *' The hanging up and adoring of the Hoft was but lately 
 *' fet up, fays Cranmer, by Pope Innocent and Honorius.*' 
 
 Burnet's Hift. Vol. II. p. 116. 
 
 * This was the cafe with both the Proceflion and the Feftival 
 of the holy Sacrament. Jortin's Rem. Vol. V. p. 472. And 
 Moftieim, Vol. III. p. 261. 
 
 * See an account of this in a preceding note, ^ p. 85. I may 
 add that the Romanifts not only attempted to bring the Scrip- 
 tures into difufe, but alfo into difcredit. Wickliff's followers 
 urged againft the preaching Friars that they laid blafphemous 
 imputations on the Scriptures, and charged them with herefy. 
 Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. L p. 579. 
 
 Moftieim fays, '* the Popes permitted their champions to 
 ** indulge themfelves openly in reflexions, injurious to the dig- 
 •' nity of the Scriptures, and by an excefs of blafphemy almoft 
 *' incredible to declare publickly that the edicts of the Pontifts 
 ** and the records of oral tradition were fuperior in point of 
 *' authority to the exprefs language of Scripture." Vol IV. 
 p. 213. To the fame effe6l Bp. Jewell fays, ** Indulgentise 
 ** (inquit Pierias) audoritate Scripturse non innotuerunt nobis, 
 *' fed audoritate Romanae Ecclefise Romanorumque Pontificum, 
 ** quce major eft. Pighius etiam non dubitet dicere injuffu Ro- 
 *' manae Ecclefi*e ne clariffimae quldem fcripturag credendum." 
 Apol. pro. Eccl. Anglic, p. 121 And fuch at length was the 
 confequence of the early corruptions introduced into Chriftianity 
 
 I ^y 
 
114 SERMON III. 
 
 tures to the people, in the common lan- 
 guage, which, with fome of the corruptions 
 juft ftated, has been mentioned as a political 
 confequence of the ufurpations of the rulers of 
 the Church, was accompanied at length with 
 a fimilar refufal of all the different parts of 
 religious ^ worfhip and ^ inftrudlion. Such 
 prohibitions, however, muft be confidered not 
 only as a confequence, but alfo in fubfequent 
 ages as an additional and aggravating caufe, 
 of the per ver lion of our Religion. But, in 
 whatever manner they are confidered, they 
 ferve confpicuoufly to withdraw pure Chrifti- 
 anity from the difgraceful fcenes of this un- 
 happy period, and leave the profligacy of the 
 
 by philofophy and of the attempts afterwards made to conceal 
 and vilify the Sriptures ; that, after the Lutheran controverfy 
 had been long carried on, many of the Monks in Scotland were 
 fo ignorant of their contents, as to charge Luther with being 
 the author of that wicked book, called the New Teftament. 
 Jortin's Life of Erafmus, Vol. L p. 126. See alfo on this 
 fubjec^ Cave's Hift. Lit. Vol. II. Append, p. 158. 
 
 ^ The Latin form of worfhip, which had for many ages be- 
 fore been ftrongly recommended by the Popes, was at length 
 enforced in all the Weftern Churches by Gregory the feventh. 
 Mofh. Vol. II. p. 573. 
 
 '^ Our Homily againfl: Rebellion (part the 6th) fays, " very 
 *^ few of the moil fimple people were taught the Lord's prayer, 
 *' the articles of faith, or the ten commandments, otherwife 
 *^ than in Latin." But Burnet goes much farther, and fays of 
 the beginning of the reign of Hen. Vlllth. " If any taught 
 ** their children the Lord's prayer, the ten commandments and 
 *' the Apoftles' Creed in the vulgar tongue; that was crime 
 ** enough to bring them to the flake." Hiil. Ref. Vol. I. p, 3 1 . 
 
 profeflbrs 
 
SERMON III. 115 
 
 profefibrs of our Religion to be imputed moft 
 exclufively to themfelves. 
 
 All thefe erroneous dodrines and ufages ap- 
 pear to have been maintained, with very few 
 •^ exceptions, by both the Romanifts and 
 Greeks. The infignificancy of the ^ charges, 
 which Michael Cerularius urged again ft the 
 Latins in the eleventh century, while it proves 
 the finifter zeal of the difputant who urged 
 them, proves alfo that the great corruptions 
 of Chriftianity at that period were common to 
 the whole Chriftian world. Even v/hen the 
 difference between the Weftern and Eaftern 
 Churches was afterwards reduced to ^ four 
 
 '^ Among thefe one of the principal exceptions is, that the 
 Greeks did not refufe the cup to the Laity. 
 
 ^ That they ufed unleavened bread at the Lord's Supper: — 
 that they did not abllain from things ftrangled and from 
 blood : that the Monks ate lard, and permitted their infirm 
 brethren to eat flefli : that the Bifhops adorned their fingers 
 with rings, as if they had been bridegrooms : that the Priells 
 were beardlefs : and that in baptifm they ufed only one im- 
 meriion. Molh. Vol. IL p. 556 — 7. 
 
 * The four articles reipcdled the procefiion of the Holy 
 Ghofl, the ufe of leavened or unleavened bread in the facri- 
 fice, the doctrine of purgatory, and the authority of the Pope. 
 The difputants for the two Churches appear not to have differed 
 efientially in their tenets concerning purgatory ; though they 
 could come to no decifive conclulion concerning it. See Du 
 Pin's Hill, of the controverfies of the 1 5th century, p. 37. Eng. 
 Ed. But though formerly the great corruptions of the Komilli 
 Church were in general chargeable on the Greeks, and the dif- 
 ference between the Creeds of the two Communions was not 
 important ; yet the confeffion of Faith, which was pubiilhed 
 by (he Greeks in the iaft century, proves that they differ con- 
 I 2 liderably 
 
ii6 SERMON Ill- 
 
 articles, that only, which related to the Pro* 
 ceffion of the Holy Ghoft, was a dodrine of 
 Faith, on w^hich they appear to have really 
 and effentially differed. 
 
 With regard to the external ftate of the 
 Church during this period, it has been ^ re- 
 marked that Chriftianity was fo much altered 
 and defaced after its civil eftabliihment, as to 
 ftand in need of the protection of the civil 
 power ; and had it not enjoyed this protedion, 
 Paganifm itfelf (if refined and new-modelled) 
 might have had too many advantages over it. 
 The remark is entirely juft. And this un- 
 happy alteration In our Religion might well 
 render the evils, to which it was expofed from 
 foreign enemies, a fubjedt of terror to all thofe 
 among its profefTors, whofe apprehenfions were 
 not relieved by a conlideratlon of its divine 
 origin, and of the affurances which have been 
 given us of its flability and perpetual duration. 
 The invafions of the Goths, and of various 
 other nations from the North, who, purfuing 
 the fame rout after the Goths, overwhelmed 
 in fucceflive ages all the civilized kingdoms of 
 Southern Europe, were fo deflruClive during 
 
 fiderably at prefent from the Romanifts in many refpefts. It 
 appears, however, that their tenets in thefe refpei^ls are unfor- 
 tunately different alfo from thofe of other Chriilian focieties. 
 Moih. 'Vol. IV. p. 250. 
 s Jortin's Rem. Vol.11, p. 337. 
 
 thofe 
 
SERMON III. 117 
 
 thofe times, and have fince produced fuch 
 kfting effeds ; that they form the principal 
 part of our hiftory during the four centuries 
 which immediately followed the Reign of Con- 
 ftantine. But, the danger, which they feemed 
 to threaten to the fftablifhed profeffion of 
 Chriftianity, was of very fhort continuance. 
 The Northern invaders conquered, indeed, at 
 different times all the different parts of the 
 Roman Empire, except that which immedi- 
 ately ^ furrounded Conflantinople ; and often 
 obtained forcible poffeffion of Rome. But, in 
 juflice to their moderation it has been infifled 
 that they did very little injury to the monu- 
 ments of art or to the ' religious edifices, 
 which adorned the old Capitol of the world. 
 And the danger, which their invafions might 
 at firfl threaten to the profeffion of our Re- 
 ligion, was fully done away by the readinefs 
 and permanency, with which they themfelves 
 became its converts. 
 
 The greatefl evils, which Chriftianity had 
 to expedl from foreign enemies, were to be 
 feared from thofe, who every wliere declared 
 themfelves not lefs hoftile to its difcrlminating 
 doctrines, than to the perfons of its profeilbrs. 
 
 ^ Socrates, Hift. Eccl. 1. v. c. i. et 1. vi. c. 6. 
 Sozomen, Hill. Eccl. 1, vi. c. 39. 
 
 * Sozomen mys that Alaric, when he took Rotne, had fuch 
 reverence for St. Peter that hs permitted his Church to be an 
 Afylum. Hill. Eccl. 1. ix. c. 9. 
 
 I 3 About 
 
ii8 S E R xM O N III. 
 
 About the beginning of the feventh century 
 thofe ^ Churches of Afia, which had been the 
 diftinguiihed care of the Apoftles and peculiar 
 objedts of divine Revelation, v^^ere funk into a 
 grofs degeneracy both of Faith and praftice. 
 About the fame time alfo the ^ Perfians, Ro- 
 mans, and northern Barbarians feem to have 
 reached their period of greateft profligacy and 
 diforder. At this feafonable junfture Maho- 
 met, the artful and warlike impoftor of Arabia, 
 arofe to delude and perfecute mankind. Aware 
 of his own fraud, and of the neceffity of con- 
 ciliating the minds of men, he accommodated 
 his dodrines to the " prepoffeffions of all 
 around him in a manner totally different from 
 whatever has been obferved in the Revelations 
 of the God of truth. He not only endeavoured, 
 by the affiftance of the Jewifh and Chriftian 
 ; Scriptures to form a Religion, which might be 
 
 ^ Evagrius defcribes the Churches of the Eaft, as being in a 
 miferable Hate of confufion even in the fifth century. Hift. 
 Eccl. 1. iii. c. 30. Reading. 
 
 ^ Gibbon, Vol. V. p. 281. 
 
 ^ Jortin h^s remarked, that without this he never could 
 have made five converts. Rem. Vol. II. p. 278. 
 
 ^ Jortin fays that '* Mahometifm is a borrowed Syflem, 
 ** made up for the moft part of Judaifm and Chriflianity ; and 
 ** if it be confidered in the moft favourable view, might pof- 
 *' fibly be accounted a fort of Chriftian herefy. If the Gofpel 
 *' had never been preached, it may be queftioned whether Ma- 
 *' hometifm would have exifted. Its author was an ignorant 
 ** knave and fanatic, who had neither fkill nor genius to form 
 *' a religion out of his own head." f irft Charge, Sermons, 
 Vol. VII. p. 369, 
 
 received 
 
SERMON III. 119 
 
 received by both Jews and Chriftians as confif- 
 tent in fome degree with their own, and which 
 might flatter the prejudices of his countrymen 
 who boafled of their defcent from Abraham ; 
 but farther alfo he dared to plead Divine au- 
 thority for indulging the impurity of his fol- 
 lowers in this life, and for promiling them a 
 continuance of their impure gratifications in 
 the regions of eternal happinefs. The cir- 
 cumftances of the times, or the juft indig- 
 nation of the Almighty gave fuccefs to the 
 impoftor ; while at the fame time fuch 
 marks of impofition were left on himfelf 
 and his Religion, as might for ever make 
 known the real charaders of ° both. Though 
 
 ** It is not from Prideaux and other writers of former times 
 only, that we are to feek for fevere condemnations of both 
 Mahomet and the Koran. Volney, who is among the lateil 
 and moft intelligent travellers into theEall, fays, '' It certainly 
 ** may be aiferted fafely that of all the men, who have ever 
 ** dared to give laws to nations, Mahomet was the moil igno- 
 ** rant; of all the abfurd compofitions ever produced, none is 
 •• more truely wretched than his book." 
 
 Vol. II. p. 397. Engl. Edit. 
 
 And Mr. Whitaker afferts in his ** origin of Arianifm dif- 
 clofed" that Mahomet '* betraved his ignorance ia a form fo 
 ** very palpable and grofs upon his very Koran, as feems to be 
 " intended for the mint-mark of God himfelf in order to fhow 
 ** the falfity of his infpiration to every eye," p. 336. In Tup- 
 port of his affertion he then gives many particular iullances of 
 this ignorance and expofes the weaknefs of the attempts, made 
 by Sale and the Mahometans, to palliate its ablurdities, p. 336 
 —360, Afterwards in the fame chapter, he lllgmatizes the 
 grofs obfcenity both of the Mahometan Prophet and Religion, 
 and of Mr. Gibbon who is their advocate ; expofes the perjury 
 fandioncd by the example of Mahomet j and fatisfadlorily fhews 
 
 I 4 that. 
 
I20 S E R M O N III. 
 
 p three out of his four immediate fucceflbrs fell by 
 the hands of affaffins -, yet fuch fuccefs attended 
 the zeal with which the profeflbrs of his Re- 
 ligion fought, that all the provinces both of 
 Alia and Africa, which bordered on Arabia, 
 foon became fubjedl to them. And fo widely 
 did their conquefts extend ; that they fubdued 
 alfo a confiderable part of Europe, and made 
 fuch advances towards the conqueft of the re- 
 maining parts, that the entire conqueft of 
 them is faid to have been hindered by a defeat, 
 which Mr. Gibbon afcribes fo exclufively to 
 the valour of an ^ individual, as to declare that 
 the Clergy are indebted for their exiftence to 
 his fword. That fuch, indeed, was the ftatc 
 of our Religion both with regard to its pro- 
 feflbrs and its doftrines, that neither the Eaft- 
 ern nor Weftern Chriftians oppofed to the in- 
 
 that, though he was afliiled in the compofition of his Koran by 
 an excommunicated Chriltian, his principal afliftance came from 
 the Jew, Abdia Ben Salon ; fo that Mr. Whitaker, p. 396. 
 calls Mahometanifm *' a kind of Jewifh herefy,'* which we 
 have juft before (een called '' a fort of Chriftian herefy" by Dr 
 Jortin. 
 
 As a confequenc of the fancflicn, juftly faid by Mr. Whitaker 
 to be given by Mahomet to perjury, I ihall produce the fol- 
 lowing fad on the authority of Mr. Gibbon. *' four thoufand 
 citizens of Herat of a grave charader and mature age unani- 
 moufly fwore that an idolatrous fane,'* which they had juil 
 burnt, '* never exifted.'* By this meritorious oath (as it was 
 thought) they and their city efcaped all punilhment for the 
 outrage. Gibbon's Kift. Vol. V. p. 384. 
 
 ? Omar, Othman, and Ali. Abubeker the firll of his fuc- 
 t'cfinrs reigned only two years. 
 
 ^ Chaj-ies Martel. See Mr. Gibbon, Vol, V, p. 412. 
 
 . roads 
 
SERMON III. 121 
 
 roads of Mahometan enthufiafm the infinite 
 advantages, which the fuperior purity of their 
 Religion ought to have afforded them, may 
 readily be confeffed. But, notwithftanding 
 the unworthinefs of Chriftians, w^e cannot fo 
 readily confefs that the Almighty ought to be 
 excluded from fome particular fhare in the 
 ' defeat here referred to. We need go no far- 
 ther than to this hiftorian's own words to 
 prove the contrary. After the feventh day's 
 conteft, which (as the Saracens had ftill the 
 undifturbed poffeffion of their camp) appears 
 by no means to have been irrecoverably deci- 
 five, he fays — *^ In the diforder and defpair 
 ** of the night the various tribes of Yemen 
 *^ and Damafcus, of Africa and Spain, were 
 ** provoked to turn their arms againft each 
 ** other : the remains of their Hoft were fud- 
 *' denly diffolved, and each Emir confulted 
 *^ his fafety by an hafty and feparate retreat/* 
 Surely, this refembles ' defeats, which Chrif- 
 tians want no human authority to refer folely 
 to God. 
 
 But, this is not the only occurrence of the 
 fort with regard to fuch enemies of our Faith, 
 which is worthy of our notice, and which is 
 
 ' Gibbon's Hift. Vol. V. p. 411. 
 
 ' See the 8th Chapter of Judges, and the 7th Chapter of 
 the fecond book of Kings. 
 
 recorded 
 
122 SERMON III. 
 
 recorded by the fame hiftorian. The manner, 
 in which Rome was * preferved from a formid- 
 able attack of the Saracens by the difperiion 
 and total deftrudlion of their fleet ; the pre- 
 fervation of Conflantinople from alarming and 
 repeated attacks of the fame enemies in their 
 early hiftory by the apparently accidental dif- 
 covery of a moft deftruftive " fire ; the prefer- 
 vation of it alfo from the meditated attack of 
 ' Zengis Khan ; the ^ diforder, by which Ba- 
 jazet's fury againft the Chriftians was fufpend- 
 ed ; his "" defeat and deftruftion by Timour ; 
 and the fortunate efcape of Conflantinople 
 from the vidorious * Timour himfelf ; all 
 thefe remarkable circumftances are admitted 
 by our hiftorian and well known. It is pre- 
 fumptuous and often fallacious to reafon from 
 events in human hiflory to the eflabliihment 
 
 < Gibbon, Vol. IV. p. 441. 
 
 " Gibbon, Vol. V. p. 399 — 405. This iire was difcovered 
 by Callinicus an Egyptian in the 7th century, and called by 
 the Greeks *' vy^ov icrvp.^* Bp. Warburton's Julian, p. 234, 
 See alfo Jortin's Rem. Vol. IV. p. 430. 
 
 ^ Gibbon, Vol. VI. p. 308. 
 
 y Ibid. p. 323. Mr. Gibbon's words in this pafTage are well 
 worthy of our notice : " His progrefs, fays Mr. G. was check- 
 ** ed, not by the miraculous interpofition of the Apcflle (St. 
 *' Peter), not by a crufade of the Chriftian powers, but by a 
 *' long and painful fit of the gout." Doubtlefs, the hiftorian 
 might have fpared his refleftions on the occafion; as Eajazet's 
 diforder, at this critical jundure, might, notwithflanding all 
 that ha infmuates to the contrary, have liill been eminently pro- 
 vidential. 
 
 ^ Gibbon, Vol. VI. p. 330. 
 
 ^ Ibid. Vol. VI. p. 357- 
 
 of 
 
SERMON IIL 
 
 123 
 
 of particular and immediate interpofitions of 
 Providence. But, the moft moderate eftimate 
 of thefe circumftances, as conneded with our 
 Religion, ought at leaft to exclude all boaftings 
 of infidelity, and all farcaftic reflections con- 
 cerning the means by which we now have an 
 opportunity in this ^ our feat of learning to 
 demonftrate the truth of the Chrijftian, rather 
 than that of the Mahometan Religion. 
 
 Through thefe *" deliverances Weftern Eu- 
 rope and Conftantinople were refcued from 
 the power of the Mahometans and of all the 
 
 ^ Gibbon, Vol. V. p. 409. 
 
 ^ Such obfervations, however, mull be confidered as oppcfed 
 to the fneers of our adverfaries, rather than as employed in 
 the elucidation of events on which the exigence of our religion 
 can be thought to have ever depended. For it is falfe in fad: 
 that a Religion, fo founded as Chriftianity, mail: be extirpated, 
 or elTentially endangered, if it ftiould ceafe to be eflabliftied by- 
 civil authority. Chriftianity has no necefTary dependence upon 
 earthly power. We know that it fiourilhed under the perfecu- 
 tion of the Roman Emperours, and in the end converted its 
 perfecutors. W^e know that it afterwards converted the favage 
 conquerors from the North. And we know from authority, 
 which we cannot doubt, that it muft at length convert its Ma- 
 hometan opprefTors. In the mean time ab'b we are aiTured that 
 all the cruelty and all the perfidy of the Mahometans have not 
 been able to extirpate it in any of their dominions either of 
 Europe or Afia. Indeed, the authority of Mr. Gibbon him- 
 felf may be brought to prove, that the Northern coall of Africa 
 is the only land where the light of the Gofpel has been totally 
 extinguilhed after a long and perfe(^ eftabliihment. (Vol. V. 
 p. 386). And even this extinftion of it, if referred to its pro- 
 per caufe, muft be referred to the devaftations of the plague, 
 of famine, and the fvvord ; which laid wafte this country not 
 long before its conqueft by the Saracens, (Gibbon's Hift. Vol. 
 IV. p. 276. 3 3 1 . Sec.) and not to the Religion, or to the power 
 of unbelievers. 
 
 external 
 
124 SERMON IIL 
 
 external enemies of Chrlftianity, till the Chrif- 
 tians of Weftern Europe had eftablifhed their 
 powerful Kingdoms ; Kingdoms, which con- 
 fpicuouily partake of the iron afcribed to them 
 in Daniel's ^ prophefies : till learning had be- 
 gun to flourilh in thefe Kingdoms by an * im- 
 portation from Conflantinople of all the means 
 of cultivating it ^ and its perpetuity alfo had 
 been infured by the art of printing : till a Re- 
 formation of Chriftianity was about to com- 
 mence : and till, from the united influence of 
 all thefe caufes, fuch barriers were formed for 
 the fupport of our Religion, as have fmce 
 raifed it far above all apprehenfion from ex- 
 ternal enemies. 
 
 Such are the outlines of the Chriftian hif- 
 tory from the time of Conftantine to the Re- 
 formation ; as far in general as relates to the 
 degeneracy of the rulers of the Church, to the 
 confufion of facred and profane learning, to 
 the invafions of favage conquerors ; and to the 
 efFedls produced, under thefe leading princi- 
 ples, on the Romilh and Greek Communions, 
 on the doctrines of the Church, and on its 
 
 ^ Dan. 11. 41,42. See LowtVs Commentary. 
 
 *^ Not only were great numbers of very valuable books im- 
 ported into Wertern Europe by different Greek Emperours on 
 their journeys thither ; but, farther, Conftantinople had been 
 taken, pofTeited fixty years, and exhaufted of many of its lite- 
 rary treafures by the Weftern Chriftians before it was taken by 
 the Turks. 
 
 fituation 
 
SERMON IIL 125 
 
 fituation with regard to external enemies. And 
 fo little reafon is there for the farcafms, which 
 are levelled againft our Religion in confequence 
 of any corruptions of this period ; fince it ap- 
 pears that thefe corruptions all proceeded, in 
 reality, from the depravity of our nature, and 
 the want of a proper application of Chriftia- 
 nity to counteract and fubdue it. 
 
 Indeed, the corruption of the antidiluvian 
 world under the Revelation originally given 
 to mankind, of the Heathen world under the 
 precepts of Noah and the light of nature, of 
 the Jews under the Mofaical covenant, and 
 laflly of the Chriflians under the fecure and 
 eftablifhed profeffion of the Gofpel, all tend 
 to prove the fame great truths : they tend to 
 prove incontrovertibly both the inveterate de- 
 pravity of our nature, and that the God of ail 
 the nations of the earth has univerfally ordained 
 that the bleflings, deducible from the religious 
 information which he affords them, fhall de- 
 pend in an eminent degree upon their own vo- 
 luntary and regular ufe of it. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 I PET. III. 15. . 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer to every 
 marly that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you* 
 
 HAVING given a fketch of the hiftory 
 of our Religion from its complete pub- 
 lication after the refurrecftion of Chrift to the 
 commencement of the Reformation, I fliall 
 now proceed to ftate a few general obferva- 
 tions concerning the Reformation, and then 
 confine myfelf (according to the plan which 
 1 have laid down) to the particular hiftory of 
 our own Church. 
 
 The corruptions, charged on the profeflbrs 
 of our Religion in the darker ages, muft not 
 be fuppofed to have pafled, even in the worft 
 times, without cenfure or without many un- 
 fuccefsful attempts towards their reformation. 
 The Church of Chrift has always had fome 
 faithful members, who have zealoufly borne 
 * witnefs to the truth. In the Eaft thofe who 
 
 * See Bp. Newton on the Prophefies, Vol. III. p. 147 — 197* 
 
 oppofed 
 
128 SERMON IV. 
 
 oppofed the prevailing corruptions were often 
 ** called by general and ambiguous names Maf- 
 faliani or Euchitae ; as thofe of the Weft were 
 called Waldenfes or Albigenfes, The former 
 were confounded with wild and irrational *= he- 
 retics of various defcriptions ; and this was the 
 cafe alfo with many of the latter. Men, who 
 fmarted under their cenfures, would certainly 
 attempt by every means to leffen their credit : 
 and fuch men, it muft be confeffed, often had 
 good foundation for the charges which they 
 retorted upon their cenfurers. For, it cannot 
 be matter of wonder that the profeflbrs of 
 Chriftianity, who condemned the abufes of it 
 in thofe ages, fhould often have w^anted know- 
 lege and ''coolnefs of judgement to point out 
 a proper remedy for the exorbitant evils, of 
 which they complained ; or that they fhould 
 often have contradided each other in matters 
 of the greateft confequence. But, however 
 thefe friends to reformation might differ in 
 other refpeds, they were ^ unanimous in aflert- 
 ing that the vulgar Religion was falfe, and 
 
 ^ Jortin's Remarks, Vol. V. p. 215. 
 
 ^ Concerning the Mairaliani or Euchitae fee Cave's Hift, 
 Lit. Vol. II. p. 199 : and concerning the Waldenfes or Albi- 
 genfes fee the fame work. Vol. II. p. 182. — Bp. Newton on 
 the Prophelles, Vol. III. p. 171, «S^c. — And Jortin's fourth 
 Charge, Sermons, Vol. VII. p. 436, 437. 
 
 ^ Collier's Eccl. Hill. Vol.1, p. 625 and 697. 
 
 * Joi tin 'i Remarks, Vol. V. p. 386. 
 
 that 
 
SERMON IV. 129 
 
 that the Popes were ufurpers. And however 
 ignorant and injudicious fome of them may 
 appear to have been ; yet there were in the 
 midft of the dark ages men, who were advo- 
 cates for a *" rational profeffion of Chriftianity, 
 and who knew the proper means by which it 
 was to be promoted. While ^ Arnold of Brefcia 
 difplays the moft diftinguiihed zeal and learn- 
 ing in oppofition to the corruptions of the 
 twelfth century ; Bifhop ^ Grofthead, Wick- 
 lifF, and Hufs prove in the * three centuries, 
 which immediately followed, that fuch zeal 
 and learning were, moreover, united at times 
 with judgement in fupport of true Chriftianity 
 long before the fuccefsful commencement of 
 any reformation in its public profeffion. It 
 was not before the means of acquiring juft and 
 
 ^ See Bp. JewelPs Apology for the Church of England, 
 p. 93—96. 
 
 6 Arnold preached in the 12th century for many years with 
 great fuccefs in Rome itfelf againft the fecular power of the 
 Pope and the Clergy. He fell, however, at length an un- 
 happy vidim to his zeal, being burnt in the year 1 155. Mo- 
 flieim. Vol. III. p. 119. See alfo with regard to Arnold Bp. 
 Newton on the Prophefies, and the Authors cited by him on 
 the occafion. Vol. III. p. 169. 
 
 ^ A fate fimilar to Arnold's would certainly have befallen 
 our learned Bilhop Grofthead ; if the Pope had not been afraid 
 to proceed to extremities againft him. Jortin's Rem. Vol. V. 
 p. 365. See alfo concerning Grofthead Collier's Eccl. Hift. 
 Vol. I. p. 460 — 2, and Bp. Newton on the Propheiies, Vol.111, 
 p. 181. 
 
 ^ Grofthead flouriftied about the year 1235 : WicklifF about 
 1 360 ; and Hufs was cited to anfwer for his Opinions in 4;!' 
 
 K ' dlftlnft 
 
ijo SERMON IV- 
 
 diftincS notions of facred and profane learning 
 had been fupplied, nor before fuch notions had 
 been widely difFufed, that any general refor- 
 mation of our Religion was undertaken with 
 fuccefs. The ^ fchifm of the Antipopes and 
 other internal caufes of decay certainly fhook 
 the Papal throne ; but the whole foundation 
 of Papal tyranny was undermined by the pre- 
 valence of found and difcriminating learning. 
 Chriftianity had been firft propagated in an 
 age of fuch learning, and was again to revive 
 with it : though not, indeed, before true Re- 
 ligion had once more experienced the worft 
 effects from fuperftition. The evils, which 
 had flowed from the fuperftition and idolatry 
 of the Heathen world, were again experienced 
 under the corruptions of Chriftianity. ^ Pro- 
 tagoras, Diagoras, and others among the an- 
 cients had been made Atheifls by the wretched 
 
 ^ It was during this fchifm that V^icklifF efcaped in Eng- 
 land, by the interpofition of the nobles, from two different 
 attempts, which the Archbifhop of Canterbury and the Clergy 
 made to deftroy him. Fuller's Hift. Cent. xiv. p. 136. 
 
 ' Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. p. 10. 
 
 Sherlock fays in his difcourfe on Providence, *' The univer- 
 " fal deluge and the confufion of languages had fo abundantly 
 " convinced mankind of a divine power and Providence ; that 
 " there was no fuch creature as an Atheift, till their ridiculous 
 " idolatries had tempted fome men of wit and thought rather 
 " to own no God, than fuch as the Heathens worihipped." 
 P. 204. 
 
 idolatry 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 131 
 
 idolatry of their country : and " fchools of 
 Atheifm are faid to have been adtually opened 
 in Italy towards the clofe of the dark night of 
 Chriftian idolatry. Or rather this may be 
 deduced in both inftances from the application 
 of an unfound philofophy to the devices of a 
 moft degenerate fuperftition. And indeed it 
 is an efFed: too fenfibly experienced at prefent 
 in countries, diftinguifhed by fuch philofophy 
 and fuch fuperftition. But accuracy in human 
 learning and a knowlege of true Chriftianity 
 were at length to be united and to prevail.' 
 
 No fooner did the ftores of literature, which 
 in the 13th, 14th, and 15 th centuries had 
 been imported from Conftantinople and even 
 under " Papal patronage multiplied by the arts 
 of Weftern Europe, excite a " general zeal 
 
 ^ Jortin's Rem. Vol. V. p. 500. Paracelfus, Rabelais, and 
 Montague ifiued from this School. And, probably, thofe 
 Epicurean Atheifts of whom Erafmus obferves that none ex- 
 claimed louder againil Luther's errors ; (Jortin's Life of Eraf- 
 mus, Vol. I. p. 283.) and of whom he appears to fpeak when 
 he fays, *' Ego Romas hifce auribus audivi quofdam abominan- 
 dis blafphemiis debacchantes in Chriilum, et in illius Apoftolos : 
 idque multis mecum audientibus, et quidem impune. Ibidem 
 multos novi qui commemorabant fe difta horrenda audiilTe a 
 quibufdam facerdotibus aulas Pontificis miniilris, idque in ipfa 
 milfa, tarn clare ut ea vox ad multorum aures pervenerit. 
 
 Jortin's Life of Erafmus, Vol. I. p. 507. 
 
 " That particularly of pope Nicolas the 5th. Molh. Vol. IIL 
 P- 391- 
 
 *» The education, which Henry the 7th (who was an illiter- 
 ate Prince) gave to his Son Henry the 8th, and which Henry 
 the 8ih gave not only to his Son Prince Edward, but alfo to 
 K 2 both 
 
j^z SERMON IV. 
 
 among the Latins for the ftudy of the learned 
 languages, and particularly of the original 
 P Scriptures ; than Luther arofe at the com- 
 mencement of the next century not only to 
 declaim, like his predeceflbrs in reformation, 
 againft the corruptions of the Romi£h Church; 
 but alfo to feparate a confiderable part of 
 Weftern Chriftendom from it. How far *^ fe- 
 parations may warrantably be made from the 
 eilablifhed Religion, it is eafy enough at pre- 
 fent to determine. When we have eflential 
 objections to oppofe to fundamental articles of 
 it j we are juftifiable in deferting it. Prior and 
 
 hoth bis Daughters Mary and Elizabeth, and the learning of 
 King James may lerve to ihow the zeal excited at this time in 
 favour of the learned languages. 
 
 P The Scriptures, faid the Bp. of Hereford in fupport of 
 Cranmer, were commonly fludied by the Laity in the original 
 languages, and, therefore, it was in vain to think they could be 
 governed by the arts, which in the former ages of ignorance 
 had been fo eifedual. Burnet's Hill, of the Ref. Vol. I. p. 214. 
 
 Among thofe who were diftinguiihed about the time of the 
 Reformation as the great revivers of literature both facred and 
 profane, Erafmus Itands foremoft. He, as was commonly faid 
 of the Reformation, laid the eggt and Luther hatched it. Bp. 
 Stillingfleet exprefsly fays, ** It was not Luther or Zuinglius 
 *' that contributed fo much to the Reformation as Erafmus, ef- 
 *' pecialiy among us in England. For Erafmus was the man 
 '* who awakened men's underftandings, and brought them from 
 *' the Friar's Divinity to a relifli of general Learning.'* 
 
 It is remarkable that Erafmus's Edition of the Greek Tefta- 
 ment was publilhed in 1516, the year before th? commence- 
 ment of Luther's Reformation. Before this publication Stil- 
 lingfleet fays there was not above one Greek Teftament to be 
 found in all Germany.^ Jortin's Life of Erafmus, Vol. 11. p.64.. 
 
 •^ See on this fubjedl Chiliingworth's Safe-Way> Sec. Folio» 
 4th Edit. 1674.. p. 196 — 240. 
 
 invincible 
 
SERMON IV. 133 
 
 invincible obligations to truth demand fuch 
 condud from us. That it was difficult for 
 men to determine this queftion in ages of ig- 
 norance, fuperftition, and perfecution, is ex- 
 ceedingly probable : that it was both dange- 
 rous and difficult to efFedl any religious fepa- 
 ration under fuch circumftances cannot be 
 doubted. ' Luther, however, fucceeded in the 
 arduous attempt. Early in the i6th century 
 this learned advocate for religious liberty and 
 truth dared publickly to arraign both the ty- 
 ranny and fuperftition of the Romilh Church. 
 Whatever were his original motives of aftion, 
 it is certain that he was the great inftrument, 
 which Providence was pleafed to ufe in the 
 reformation of our Religion, and that through 
 his • unparalleled courage and perfeverance 
 
 ' See a fhort and excellent account of him in Cave's HiH. 
 Lit. Vol. II. p. 249 — 250. Append. 
 
 ^ *' Luther had as much courage as Alexander and Julius 
 " Casfar put together." Jortin's Lifeof Erafmus, Vol.1, p. 258. 
 He was, as Cave fays, *' vir fi quis alius invidi atque imper- 
 territi animi." Hift. Lit. Vol. 11. App. p. 250. Though he 
 had the perfidious and cruel treatment of Hufs before his eyes, 
 he ventured to defend his caufe in an open difputation with the 
 Romanifts. What his danger on the occafion was, we may in- 
 fer from the reproaches, with which the Emperour Charles load« 
 cd himfelf for having fufFered him to retire afterwards under 
 the folemn engagement, which had been made for his perfonal 
 fafety. When the affairs of the poor Proteilants about the 
 year 1530 were fo bad in all appearance, that Melanfthon was 
 quite dejefted and overwhelmed with forrow, Jortin fays (Life 
 of Erafmus, Vol. I. p. 500) that Luther, who had more cou- 
 rage, wrote him x^D.ny excellent letters of confolation. It may 
 be remarked even with regard to the violence^ which appears 
 
 K 3 ^ 
 
134 SERMON IV. 
 
 thofe nations of Northern Europe, which had 
 been converted to Chriftianity by the * fword, 
 were among the firft who had an unreftrained 
 accefs to the holy Scriptures. From his time 
 Chriftianity began to affume its genuine ap- 
 pearance. And fo much were mankind pleafed 
 with the profpefl:, which now opened upon 
 them, that Luther did not long ftand forth 
 the fole adverfary of Papal corruption. He 
 was foon joined by adherents, fufficient in 
 number and influence to enfure, under Provi- 
 dence, the fecurity of his perfon and the fu- 
 ture fuccefs of his caufe. And though thefe, 
 like former advocates for reformation, might 
 differ from each other in particular tenets ; 
 yet, like thofe alfo, they univerfally agreed in 
 the neceffity of pulling down that fabrick of 
 pride and faperftition, which had fo long been 
 venerated in the See of Rome. 
 
 Were it poflible within the limits of the 
 prefent Difcourfe to inveftigate the progrefs 
 of the Reformation, which enfued in different 
 
 to have been the confequence of Luther's undaunted fpirlt, that 
 it was really neceflary under his circumftances. He could not 
 have been fupported againft the Church of Rome, except by 
 an open breach and force of arms. Had he fallen in with the 
 mild and timid meafures, fo often recommended to him by 
 Erafmus ; the Reformation in Germany would foon have been 
 ftifled by a bloody inquifition, as it was in Spain and other 
 Countries. 
 
 ^ See the laft Sermon. 
 
 countries ; 
 
SERMON IV. 135 
 
 countries ; the inveftigation would certainly 
 furnifh us with much ufeful entertainment. 
 It would furnifh us, however, at the fame 
 time with difcoveries, humiliating to the pride 
 of man. We fhould find that fome of the 
 worft paffions of our nature were exerted by 
 injudicious zeal in the propagation of truth ; 
 and that perfecutions of the moft cruel kind 
 were ufed to influence religious Faith, in a 
 greater or lefs degree, by every " reformed 
 Communion. We ihould find alfo (to fay 
 nothing of the enormous opinions of "" Socinus 
 
 " Dean Tucker, in his Letters to Dr. KIppis, fays, (p. 31.) 
 " ftrange as it is to tell, there was not a man of all the numerous 
 ** Se£ls of Proteftants at thdr firft feparation from the Church of 
 ** Rome, who fo far entered into the fpirit of the Reformation, 
 ** or was fo far confiftent with his own principles, as to allow 
 •* to others th^ liberty which he claimed to himfelf.'* And 
 p. 32.) he fays farther, ** the idea of being a confident Pro- 
 " teftant never entered into the head of any man for upwards 
 ** of feventy years after the Reformation began." Even Me- 
 lanfthon juftifted the burning of Servetus for herefy or blafphe- 
 my, as he calls it. Jortin's 4th Charge, Sermons, Vol. VII. 
 p. 440. 
 
 We know in our own country that heretics were not only 
 put to death in the time of Henry the 8th, Edward the 6th, and 
 Elizabeth ; but alfo fo late as in the 9th year of James the iirft. 
 Fuller's Hift. Cent. xvu. p. 64. 
 
 Our law for burning heretics was firii made in the Reign of 
 Hen. 4. Fuller. Cent. xv. p. 158. It was repealed in the 
 year 1677. Ths repeal was moved for by the Duke of York. 
 Collier's Eccl. Hill. Vcl. II. p. 897. 
 
 "^ L^lius and Fauflas Socinus were the founders of the Se<5l, 
 which bears their name. Lselius, having conceived a difgult 
 againil Popery, and difapproving of many of the doilrines of 
 the Church, left Tufcany (his country) in 1547; about thirty 
 years after the commencement of Luther's Reformation. And, 
 K 4 having 
 
136 SERMON IV. 
 
 and his followers which were propagated oa 
 this occafion) that many of the bright orna- 
 ments of the Reformation were not able to 
 difengage themfelves from error in "^ important 
 doftrines of our Religion ; and that this was 
 by no means effeded even by Luther himfelf. 
 But my defign will be accomplifhed and the 
 limits of the prefent difcourfe filled up ; if, 
 after this notice of the Reformation in general, 
 I confine the following obfervations to our own 
 Church, and confider its condition at the com- 
 mencement of the Reformation, and the manner 
 in which this Reformation was fo introduced 
 and perfedted among ourfelves, as to deliver 
 down the profeffion of our Religion to us with 
 all thcfe peculiar advantages, under which we 
 have received it. 
 
 having pafTed four years in vifiting France, England, Holland, 
 Geneva, and Poland, he at length fettled at Zurich in Switzer- 
 land; where he died in the year 1562 and in the 37th year of 
 his age. Although he adopted the Helvetic confeifion of Faith 
 and profeiTed himfelf a member of the Church of Switzerland ; 
 he entertained doubts with regard to certain dodtrines of Reli- 
 gion, which he communicated to fome learned men whofe 
 judgement he refpefted, and in whofe friendfhip he could con- 
 fide. However his fentiments were propagated in a more pub- 
 lic manner after his death; as Fauftus his nephew and heir is 
 fuppofed to have drawn from the papers, which he left behind 
 him, that religious fyftem, upon which the fed of Socinians is 
 founded. See Chambers's Didlionary — Socinians. And with 
 regard to the dotairines of the Socinians, fee what Waterland 
 fays in his Lady Mover's Sermons, p. i v 
 
 * Concerning the Euchariil, and Predeftination. 
 
 As 
 
SERMON IV. 137 
 
 As error generally increafes in proportion to 
 its diftance from its fountain, and to the num- 
 ber of channels through which it is conveyed ; 
 it is reafonable to expeft that England fhould 
 not only have partaken of all the Romifli cor- 
 ruptions in common v^ith the reft of Weftern 
 Chriftendom, but alfo that it ihould have ex- 
 perienced more fenfibly, than other countries, 
 the burden of Papal fuperftition and opprefEon. 
 And "" this appears, in reality, to have been at 
 length the cafe. Our anceftors were not in- 
 volved in equal corruptions of their Religion 
 with the other members of the Romifh Com- 
 munion in the early parts of their Hiftory : 
 but they appear to have furpafled all others in 
 this unhappy refped: during the three ^ hun- 
 
 ^ Burnet In the preface to his hiftory of the Reformation 
 fpeaks of the Church of England as a Church, '* which, being 
 *^ fubjecled to the See of Rome, had been more than every 
 '* other part of Europe moll tame under its oppreffions, and was 
 *' mod deeply drenched in its fuperftition." P. 9. Bp. Newton 
 fays in his Differ tations. Works, Vol. II. p. 6 19. 410. ** Eng- 
 ** land was once the paradife of Priefts ; here they iwarmed and 
 ** fixed like locufts : but the Reformation has freed us from 
 •* that yoke/' And Jortin alTerts that ** of all Proteftant na- 
 *' tions there is perhaps not one which hath fuifered fo much 
 *' from Popery as ours, nor one which hath more reafon to 
 ** dread and abhor that Religion. England for fome centuries 
 '* before the Reformation was the moft Pope-ridden country in 
 ** Chriftendom," &c. 3d Charge: Sermons, Vol. YU. p. 406. 
 
 y England had for above 300. years been the tameft part of 
 *• Chriftendom to the Papal Authority, and had been accord- 
 ♦* ingly dealt with." Burnet's Hift. of the Ref, Vol. I. p. 1 1. 
 
 dred 
 
138 SERMON IV. 
 
 dred years which immediately preceded the 
 Reformation. 
 
 Chriftianity was profeffed at a very * early 
 period by the Britons, and ' flourifhed for 
 many ages among them without ^ dependence 
 on any foreign Church, till Auguftine the 
 Monk was fent from Rome in the *= lixth cen- 
 tury to convert the Saxons. Before that time 
 the Britons of both North and South Wales 
 were diftinguifhed by eminent ** feminaries of 
 Chriftian education, and, as it appears, of 
 genuine Chriftianity. The * Arian herefy had 
 
 ^ See Stillingfleet's Orig. Britan. p. 35 — 48. Towards the 
 €nd cf this part of his work he produces arguments to prove 
 that the Gofpel was planted in Britain by St. Paul. The fame 
 is infilled on by Jewell — Works, p. 1 1. 
 
 ^ Stillingfleet's Orig. Brit. p. 74. and Jewell's Works, 
 p. II, 12. 
 
 ^ See Stillingfleet's Orig. Brit. p. 108 — 144, and p. 356 — 
 364: and alfo Bingham's antiquities, b. ix. c. i. fed. 11. 
 
 ' As is commonly fuppofed in th^ year 596. Johnfon how- 
 ever in the preface to his diftionary places it in the year 570. 
 Hift. of the Engl. Lang. p. i. 
 
 *^ Bangor in North Wales and Caerlion in South Wales were 
 the two grand feminaries of Chriftianity in the 6th century. To 
 thefe many of the learned at that time reforted for inftruftion. 
 Fuller's Hift. Cent. vi. p. 40. Siillingfleet fays of Bangor 
 " that men were bred up in it to learning and devotion toge- 
 *' thcr ; and fo it more rcfembled our colleges than the Egyp- 
 *' tian Monafteries." Orig. Brit. p. 205. 
 
 ^ See Stillingfleet's Orig. Brit. p. 175. Fuller's Hift. 
 Cent. V. p. 27. and Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. I. p. 37. 
 
 Though Bede fays, 1. i. c. 8. that Arianifm had infe<Sied Bri- 
 tain, as well as other places ; yet Smith in his Note on the paf- 
 fage fubjoins, *• E teftimoniis Conftantini, Athanafii, Hilarii, 
 &c. abunde patet epifcopos Britanniae fidei orthodoxae femper 
 adhsfiffe." Smith's Edit, of Bede, p. 47. 
 
 been 
 
SERMON IV. 139 
 
 been foon fupprefled among them. And on 
 Auguftine's ^ arrival the poor Britifh Chriftians 
 were found enjoying God, the Gofpel, and 
 their mountains, neither regarding nor ac- 
 quainted with the ceremonies, which this 
 miffionary had brought with him. When he 
 affembled a council of the Britifh and Saxon 
 Bifhops ; the former ^ difclaimed all knowlege 
 of the Bifhop of Rome and all dependence 
 upon him. Their religious inftitutions alfo 
 were rational and fimple : they had the ufe of 
 the pure ^ liturgy of the old Galilean Church ; 
 had no ' image-worfhlp ; and no ^ Monks, but 
 
 *" Fuller's Hill:. Cent. vi. p. 57, &c. 
 
 s Fuller's Hift. Cent. vii. p. 61. The anfvver of the Abbot 
 of Bangor to Auguiline is well worthy of our particular atten- 
 tion both on account of the Spirit of Chriftian charity, and the 
 fpirit of independence, which are confpicuous in it. " Notum 
 *' fit et abfcjue dubitatione vobis quod nos omnes fumus et qui- 
 ** libet noftrum obedientes et fubditi ecclefias Dei et Papae Ro- 
 ** mjE, et unicuique vero et pio Chriftiano ad amandum unum- 
 ** quemque in fuo gradu in perfe6la charitate ; et ad juvandum 
 ** unumquemque eorum verbo et fadlo fore filios Dei : Et aliam 
 ** obedientiam quam iilam non fcio debitam in quern vos nomi- 
 ** natis effe Papam, nee effe patrem patrum, vindicari et pof- 
 ** tulari, et iftam obedientiam nos fumus parati dare et folverc 
 *' ei et cuique Chriftiano continue. " 
 
 Spelman's Concilia, Tom. i. p. 108, 109. 
 
 •> See Stillinefleet's Orig. Britan. from p. 216. to the end of 
 the fourth Chapter. 
 
 ^ Image worfhip was not introduced into England before the 
 8th century : and then it was fubjeded to reftraints. See Spel- 
 man's Council, Tom. i. p. 218. Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. I. 
 p. 122, and 214. See alfo in the laft Sermon what is faid on 
 the manner in which England, France, &c. received this worfhip, 
 
 ^ In Fuller's Hift. B. vi. p. 267. may be feen a declaration 
 very elegantly compofed and figned by thofe four great men, 
 
 Robt. 
 
140 SERMON IV. 
 
 fuch as were all of the mofl ancient and tem- 
 perate order. Even their Saxon conquerors 
 appear to have partaken in fome degree of the 
 liberty and purity of the Britiih Chriftians. 
 The venerable ^ Bede paid no implicit fubmif- 
 lion to the Romifh Pontiff. And in the loth 
 and I ith " centuries, w^hen hardly any traces of 
 Britons wevQ left in England, the Papal power 
 was received with limitation among our an- 
 ceftors, the Scriptures were generally read by 
 them (notwithftanding what is faid to have 
 been the ° original and contrary intention of 
 the Romiih Miflionaries) and our Religion 
 was lefs corrupted in various refpedts, than 
 that of the neighbouring Kingdoms. William 
 himfelf, though he conquered under the ban- 
 ners of the Church, refufed to fubmit to any 
 aft of fealty to the Pope : indeed, he is faid 
 
 Robt. Cotton, John Selden, Hen. Spelman, and Wm. Camden, 
 in which they maintain that there had been only two orders of 
 Monks in England, one the Egyptian which flourifhed before the 
 time of Augulline, the other the Benedidine which flourifhed 
 afterwards. 
 
 Of the Egyptian Monks Eufebius fpeaks very highly. Eccl. 
 Hift. 1. ii. c. 17. Sozomen alfo fays of them that they were 
 remarkably llrenuous in their Oppofition to Arianifm. Eccl. Hill. 
 1. vi. c. 20. 
 
 * Bede, though often fent for by the Bifhops of Rome, never 
 went to them, which is a proof that he neither thought it necef- 
 fary to obey thofe Bifhops, nor that there was any particular 
 fanftity in Rome. Fuller's Hift. Cent. vni. p. 98. 
 
 "' See Cave's Hift. Lit. Vol. II. p. 1 10. Fuller's Hifl. p. 
 149. and Bp. Newton on the Prophefies, Vol. III. p. 166. 
 
 ^ See extract from f leury in Jortin's Rem. Vol. V. p. 174. 
 
 to 
 
SERMON IV. i4r 
 
 to have gone fo far, as to ° regulate the power 
 both of the Archbifhop of Canterbury and the 
 Pope. In the fucceeding Reigns alfo the 
 Pope's power among us was often reftrained 
 by interpoiitions of the civil authority. But, 
 though our early anceftors were exempt from 
 religious corruption beyond the common ftan- 
 dard of their times ; and though temporal pro- 
 tedlion was not wanting in later periods to 
 fupport both our Church in ^ general, and alfo 
 many of its ^ particular members, who were 
 laboring to promote the interefts of true 
 Chriftianity ; yet did the power of the Romifli 
 Church unlverfally prevail at the conclufion of 
 our different contefts with it after the tragical 
 end of ' Becket's violence : and its * corrup- 
 
 *» Fuller's Hift. Cent. xi. p. 4. Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol.1., 
 p. 238. and Moflieim, Vol. II. p. 473. 496. 
 
 P By the conftitutions of Clarendon under Hen. II. the lla- 
 tute againft foreftalling prefentations under Edw. Ill, and the 
 priemunire annexed to it 16 Ric. II. 
 
 ^ WicklifF, when twice fummoned by the Archbifhop to an- 
 fwer for his doftrines, was rcfcued from condemnation by the 
 interpofition of the nobles, and having finifhed his tranflation 
 of the vulgate Bible died in peace. Fuller, Cent. xiv. p. 
 156 — 7. Under the protedlion of Lord Berkeley, John de 
 Trevifa tranflated alfo the Old Tellament in the 14th century. 
 Fuller, p. 151. and Cave's Hift. Lit. Vol. IL Ssec. Wickl. 
 
 P- 53* . . . 
 
 ^ Erafmus in his Epiftles feems to afcribe the great power 
 
 and wealth of the Englifh Ecclefiaftics to the death of Thomas 
 of Becket. Jortin's Life of Erafmus, Vol. I. p. 37. And the 
 exorbitant influence of the Papal power among us may be pro- 
 perly dated from the fame event. 
 
 * See Strype's Memorials, Vol. I. p, 46^. and p. 382. 
 
 tions 
 
142 SERMON IV. 
 
 tions of every kind went on encreafing among 
 us to fuch an enormous degree, as to give oitr 
 anceftors in the days of Luther peculiar reafon 
 to rejoice at the profped:, v^hich now opened 
 upon them of a reformed and pure Rehgion. 
 
 However, at the commencement of the 
 Reformation, the forward and * repeated zeal, 
 with which " Henry the Eighth undertook the 
 defence of the eftablifhed fuperftition, and the 
 ^ literary as well as * religious credit, which 
 he acquired from thence, left little reafon to 
 hope that his Kingdom would derive any 
 diftinguiihed advantage from the new and pre- 
 vailing fpirit of religious inquiry. But the 
 Almighty, who often makes the felf-interefted 
 defigns of men redound to his glory, foon un~ 
 expecftedly opened the King's eyes with regard 
 to the ufurpations of the Romifli Pontiff. The 
 
 * The King wrote two letters to Luther. Strype's Mem. 
 Vol. I. p. 58. The fecond letter was a haughty reply to Lu- 
 ther, when he apologized for the offence given by a letter 
 written in anfwer to the King's firft. Jortin's Life of Erafmus, 
 Vol. 1. p. 395. 
 
 " Erafmus difcUiTes the queftlon, whether Hen. VIH. was 
 really and *' proprio marte" the author of the Book againfl 
 Luther, and he inclines to the affirmative: not denying, how- 
 ever, that he might have had the affiftance of fome learned 
 men. Jortin's Life of Erafmus, Vol. L p. 486. 
 
 "^ Erafmus pays Henry VIIL very high compliments on his 
 genius. Strype's Append, of Rec. Memorials, Vol. L p. 274.. 
 
 ^ Burnet fays K. Henry was brought to fancy his book was 
 written with fome degree of infpiration. Pref. Hill. Ref. 
 Vol. I. p. 6. 
 
 refufal 
 
SERMON IV. 143 
 
 refufal of a difpenfation to himfelf foon led the 
 difappointed Prince to enquire into the Pope's 
 right to grant fuch favours. And enquiry, 
 once fet on foot, found too much encourage- 
 ment to be eafily dropped, or to be confined 
 to a fingle article. This and the other foreign 
 claims of the Romiih Church were difcovered, 
 on particular examination, to be deftitute of 
 fupport from either reafon, or revelation. On 
 this occafion nothing lefs than a total difavov^al 
 of the Papal power and the Romiih commu- 
 nion might immediately have been exped:ed ; 
 if thofe prejudices of Henry, which at firft 
 had well-nigh prevented all reformation among 
 us, had not now interpofed for ufeful purpofes ; 
 if they had not interpofed to reilrain the ardor 
 and vehemence to which rehgious innovations 
 are eminently liable, and thus laid the foun- 
 dation of our prefent Church eftabliihment. 
 It mufl be confeffed, indeed, that many cir- 
 cumftances in the three next Reigns contri- 
 buted to ftrengthen and confirm the religious 
 fyflem, which was adopted by the Church of 
 England at the commencement of the Refor- 
 mation ; and that our reformers had an in- 
 valuable ^ advantage in choofing their doc- 
 trines from not having been engaged in per- 
 
 ^ See Dean Tacker's Letters to Dr. Kippis. 
 
 fonal 
 
144 S E R M ON IV. 
 
 fonal altercation with the chief champions for 
 either the Romanifts or their opponents. But, 
 it is no lefs true alfo that the particular mode 
 of our Reformation is principally to be afcribed 
 to Henry's determined prepoffeflion, to the 
 very laft, in favour of the Romifh tenets. 
 While the fix articles, which were enforced 
 by him with fo much cruelty, proved deci- 
 iively that this King's eiforts and wiflies for 
 an alienation from the Church of Rome went 
 no farther than was conducive to his own 
 power or profit ; they operated at the fame 
 time as the moft effedtual reftraint on all hafty 
 avowals of new opinions in Religion. 
 
 It is a juft obfervation that extremes gene- 
 rate each other : and never was the obfervation 
 more literally verified, than in the reformation 
 which commonly took place in "" foreign coun- 
 tries. Men had been hindered by the mofl 
 cruel oppreffion from enquiring into the Scrip- 
 tures. When, therefore, the light of truth 
 broke in at once upon them, its glare was too 
 ilrong for their fight. The full religious li- 
 berty, to which they were at once admitted, 
 led them to excefles as fatal as thofe of the 
 Church of Rome, though in the oppofite ex- 
 
 ^ A full and admirable account of the principles and pro- 
 ceedings of thefe reformers may be feen in the preface to 
 Hooker's Eccl. Pol. from p. 19. to p. 22. Works, Folio 
 Ed. 1666. 
 
 treme. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 H5 
 
 trenlei Every thing, which bore a refemblance 
 to that Church, was at ^ length aboHjfhed as 
 Antichriflian. Nor were inftitutions tried by 
 their own intrinfic merit, but by the affinity 
 which they bore to the Romifh ufages. I 
 fpeak not of thofe wild Fanatics, who, under 
 the name of Anabapt-ifls, didfo much injury to 
 the caufe of the reformation about the time of 
 its commencement, and who doubtlefs ought 
 not to be ranked under any clafs of reformers. 
 Even ^ Luther had often to lament the enthu-- 
 fiaftic errors of his followers : and "^ Calvin 
 was himfelf fo intemperate, that he particu-- 
 larly cautions Bucer againft middle or moderate 
 councils. 
 
 While, therefore, ^ others went on with en- 
 thufiafm and with immoderate excefs in their 
 
 ^ " Every later Church endeavoured to be certain degrees 
 *' more removed from conformity with the Church of Rome than 
 *' the reft before had been." Pref. Hooker's Eccl. Pol. p. 2. 
 
 ^ Molheim, Vol. IV. p. 315. Luther alfo cannot be fup- 
 pofed to write concerning the Ahabaptift or Mennbnite afTo- 
 ciates of Munzer, but men of his own communion j when he 
 requefts of Frederic, Duke of Tufcany, that the enthufiafts, 
 concerning whom he writes, ** might he favourably dealt with 
 "and fpared: for that, (their error excepted) they feemed 
 ** otherwife right good men." Hooker's Eccl. Pol. Pref. p. 21. 
 
 ^ Calvin warns Martin Bucer in a letter fent to him, before 
 his coming into England, ** againft being the author or advifer 
 ** of middle councils ; by which words he plainly ftrikes at the 
 " moderation obferved in the Englifti Reformation.*' Wheat- 
 ley on the Common Prayer, 8vo. p. 112. 
 
 ** See, on this fubjeft in general, Hume's Hift. of England,, 
 Vol. Ill, p. 122, ScQ, 4to, Ed. 
 
 L reformation j 
 
146 SERMON IV. 
 
 reformation ^ Henry^s prejudices and overbear- 
 ing difpofition feafonably interpofed in England 
 to counterbalance any fuch fpirit, and unin- 
 tentionally produced among us an unprece^ 
 dented ^ calmnefs of deliberation on fubjedts of 
 religious controverfy. The ^ principal points, 
 eftablifbed and ^ enforced againft the Romifli 
 Church in his Reign, after the diflblution of 
 thofe monaftic bodies which had for many ages 
 .been powerful means of fupporting the Papal 
 pretenfions, were the difavowal of the Pope's 
 fupremacy in thefe Kingdoms, and of his in- 
 fallibility ; the acknowlegement of a right in 
 every national Church, with the concurrence 
 of its head, to examine into and reform all 
 religious errors and corruptions, whether in 
 Dodrine or Difcipline : and, what might be 
 defigned to operate as the means of vindicating 
 thefe infringements on the former government 
 of the Church, the permiffion of the Scrip- 
 tures in the vulgar tongue. But, whatever 
 might be the political defign of this permiffion 
 of the Scriptures, it operated to the beft reli- 
 
 *= Burnet's Hift. Ref. Vol. I. p. 255 and 289. 
 
 *" Burners Pref. to his Hill. Ref.' 
 
 s In the Reign of Hen. 8th many of the errors of popery 
 were laid open, and condemned in the " Pia et Catholica Infti* 
 tutio," or> as it was called, when republiflied fix years after, ** the 
 Kings Book" or " the neceilary Erudition ;" but none were 
 obliged to afient to it. Burnet on the Articles, Fol. p. 5. Stry- 
 pe's Eccl. Memor. Vol, I. p. 378 and 381. 
 
 gious 
 
SERMON IV, 147 
 
 gious purpofes. It was the one great thing 
 wanted in the darker ages : and> joined to the 
 permiffion, which was alfo fuperadded in the 
 fame Reign, of fome of the ^ principal parts of 
 the Liturgy in the vulgar tongue, effedually 
 promoted both the knowlege, and the pradlice 
 of true Chriftianity, From thefe points, ' efta- 
 bliihed and enforced by the moft ^ determined 
 authority, a general reformation was foon to 
 be expected. The abfurdities and impieties 
 of the Romifh Church cannot long remain 
 undifcovered by thofe, v/ho have accefs to the 
 Scriptures, and who are at liberty to ufe their 
 own judgement in the interpretation of them* 
 The fucceeding Reign, being an entire mi- 
 nority, happily required in the Regents much 
 deliberation before any great alterations were 
 to be made in the old Religion. Happily alfo 
 the influence of the regal power was fufficient 
 to reftrain the effedts of any ^ contrary inch- 
 
 ^ See Wheatley on the common prayer. And Burnet's Hifl." 
 Ref. Vol. I. p. 226 and 249. 
 
 ^ " Many attempts were made by Gardiner and others to 
 induce the King to deprive the people again of the uie of the 
 Scriptures. But Henry the 8th was fully refolved to go through 
 with it." Burnet's Hill, Ref. Vol. I. p. 314. 
 
 ^ It has been remarked that Hen, 8. refembled Luther in. 
 the firmnefs and inflexiblenefs of his mind. No other frame of 
 mind could have fupported them in the different reformations 
 which they attempted. 
 
 - ^ There were among our countrymen in the days of Edw. 6. 
 many who wifhed to run into the exceffes of foreign reformers : 
 but they appear to have been neither violent nor troublefome, 
 when compared with others of the fame principles in fubfequeiit 
 Uliies., 
 
 L 2 natioa 
 
t48 SERMON IV; 
 
 natiGn in others. At the time, therefore! 
 when the rulers of our Church were moft en- 
 gaged in its reformation, and moft expofed to 
 danger from the "^ advice as well as the example 
 of foreign reformers, they made no " rafh ad* 
 vances. The doctrines of the Romifli Church, 
 which had been much and difpaffionately ° can- 
 i^afled in the preceding Reign, were again ex- 
 amined by men of learning, of judgement, and 
 of candor : and thofe among them, which were 
 -inconfiftent with genuine Chriftianity, were 
 gradually rejedled : tranfubftantiation, which 
 was among the lateft corruptions of the Romifh 
 Church, and which had made the moft durable 
 
 ^ See, as before, Wheatley on the common prayer, p. 112, 
 8vo. 
 
 " It was defigned by Cranmer and his friends to carry on the 
 reformation by flow degrees, not hazarding too much at once. 
 Burnet's Hift. Ref. Vol. II. p. 25. 
 
 See a proclamation againft thofe who fhould rafhiy innovate, 
 or perfuade people from the old accuftomed rites. Burnet's 
 Hift. Ref. Vol. II. p. 59. Strype's Mem. Vol. II. p. 83. 
 
 The preachers alfo were urged to ufe caution and moderation : 
 not to fet the people on to make innovation : and for things 
 not yet changed to wait patiently. Burnet's Hill. Ref. Vol. II. 
 p. 61,64, 65. 
 
 But it is impolTible that the principles of the Englilh refor- 
 mation Ihould be better defcribed than they are by Bp. Jewell 
 in his admirable Apology for our Church : " Nos quidem (fays 
 ** he) uti diximus de mutanda religione nihil temere aut info- 
 ** lenter, nihil nifi cun6lanter et magna cum deliberatione feci- 
 *' mus," &c. p. 155. 
 
 ** They had many learned men among them who had been 
 " examining thefe matters many years." 
 
 Burnet's Hill. Ref. Vol. II. p. 26, 
 
 impreffion 
 
SERMON IV, 14:9 
 
 impreffion on the minds both of men of ^ learn- 
 ing and of the ^ people in general, being re- 
 ferved for the ' laft objed: of our reformation. 
 In the mean time alfo the ^ oppolition, per- 
 mitted in the Romanijfts at home, was of no 
 inconfiderable fervice to the caufe again ft 
 which it was levelled. Since alterations were 
 not made, till the reafonablenefs and neceflity 
 of them had been fully and openly proved. 
 And if, under fuch circumftances, our re- 
 formers were obliged to contend for every 
 Hep, as they advanced ; they and their fuc- 
 ceffors derived this advantage at leaft from the 
 laborious contention, that the ground, thus 
 gained, was more eafily tenable in future times. 
 While the Englifh Reformation was thus 
 gradually m*atured, the fuperintenders of this 
 
 P Luther was a conftant advocate for tranfubftantiation, or 
 2tt leaft for confubftantiation. 
 
 Cranmer and Ridley were themfdves iji the dark concerning 
 
 the corporal prefence, till Bertram's book firft convinced Ridley, 
 
 Burnet's Pref. toHiii. Ref. Vol. I. p. 10. 
 
 ^ Burnet fays tha,t on account of the prejudices of the people 
 
 it was necefiary to open the dodlrine of tranfabftantiation fully 
 
 before any change was made in the doctrine of the Church; 
 
 Hift. Ref. Vol. II. p. 104. 
 Again he fays, '* as to the corporal prefence in the Sacrament 
 ** there were difputes for a year together in K. Edvvard's time 
 *' before there was any determination ir^ade.^' 
 
 Hift. Ref. Vol. II. p. z6'/. See alfo p. no. 
 ' Hume fays it was the laft do(^rine of Popery which was 
 wholly abandoned by the people 5 alFigning the reafons why it. 
 was fo. Hift. of Engl. Vol. IIL p. 319. 410. Edit. 
 ^ Strype's Memor. Vol. II. p. 84 and 2qS, 
 JBwrnet's Hijft. Ref. Vol. li. p. 105, 
 
 L 3 - grea^t 
 
150 SERMON IV. 
 
 great work were careful to make known the 
 different parts of their new eftablifhment. 
 Having finally feparated themfelves from the 
 Church of Rome, through which they traced 
 back their origin to the apoftolical age ; it was 
 neceffary that they fhould prove themfelves to 
 be a vifible Church ; and, agreeably to the 
 * precepts of the Apoftles and the praftice of 
 all Chriftian focieties, that they ihould infti- 
 tute rites and ceremonies, a public form of 
 v/orfhip, and particular modes of inftrudiion. 
 And, fmce the Scriptures are not fo explicit iix 
 all points, as abfolutely to preclude all per- 
 nicious dodlrines, and the authoritative inter- 
 pretations of the Church of Rome had been 
 difclaimed ^ it was neceffary alfo that certain 
 dodrinal expofitions and deciiions fhould be 
 fet forth to dired: the confciences and to guard 
 the faith of the members of their com- 
 munity. Somewhat of this fort had been 
 " publickly done by the foreign Proteftants 
 in the Aufburg confeffion. In the Church of 
 England it was done by the "" Liturgy, the 
 
 t I Cor. xiv. 40. 
 
 " Mofli. Vol. IV. p. 92. There were alfo many other con^, 
 feffions of the foreign Proteftants : but, that of AuJburg was 
 made known to tl;e world in the mofl public manner. 
 
 ^ Our Liturgy may be faid to have commenced in the year 
 J 5 37, when Henry 8. permitted the Convocation to fet forth the 
 Lord's Prayer, Ave Maria, the Creed, the ten commandments, 
 snd the feven facraments in the vulgar tongue. Many of the 
 additions, made to complete it, which are crroneoufly fuppofed 
 
 tu 
 
SERMON IV. i5t 
 
 * Catechifm, ^ the Homilies, and the "" Articles, 
 which were authoritatively fet forth in the 
 Reign of Edward the Sixth. By means of all 
 thefe whatever appeared to be expedient to an 
 eflablifhed and national profeffion of our Re- 
 ligion, in addition to the unreftrained ufe of 
 the Scriptures, was abundantly fupplied. The 
 great duties and principles of Chriftianity were 
 laid down ; and the important errors, as well 
 of the Romanifts as of the more violent Pro- 
 teflants both at home and abroad, were parti- 
 cularly guarded againft. At the fame time the 
 Epifcopal government, which had prevailed 
 from the earlieft ages of Chriftianity, was pre^ 
 
 to have been taken by the reformers from the Romanifts, were, 
 as Stillingfleet fays, adopted by both the Romanifts and our 
 reformers from the old Galilean Liturgy. Orig. Brit. p. 23 i. 
 
 And from Cave we may^ learn that our Service for the Sacra- 
 jnent of the Lord's Supper is nearly the fome in fubflance, as 
 that which was ufed in the primitive Church, 
 
 See Cave's Prim. Chrift. Vol. I. chap. 11. 
 
 Our Liturgy was not completed in any degree before the year 
 1 547, when it was publillied under Edward the VL See a par-, 
 ticular account of the Alterations fmce made in it> &c..in Wheat-. 
 ley. See alfo concerning it Strype's Memor. Vol. IL p. 85. 
 
 * See Strype's Memor. Vol. 11. p. 32, 36.8, 420. We are 
 not, hov/ever, to fuppofe that the original Catechifm contained 
 all that is found in our Catechifm at prelent. With the expofi- 
 tion of the Lord's Prayer ** ended the Catechifm in all the com- 
 " mon Prayer Books before that of K.James the firft, who after 
 ♦* the Conference at Hampton Court ordered this latter part 
 •* concerning the Sacraments to be added." See Dr. NichQll's* 
 on the common Prayer in loc. 
 
 y See Burnet's Hift. Ref. Vol. IL p. 27. 
 
 * See the fame, p. 209. of the Records, 
 
 L 4 ferved 
 
152 SERMON IV. 
 
 ferved inviolate : and our reformers confpicur 
 oufly difplayed their moderation by retaining 
 various parts of the old Liturgies, and as many 
 of the more important ufages and ceremonies 
 of the Church, as were innocent and condu- 
 cive to order and decency. A moderation^ 
 which at once reftrained the ardor of inno- 
 vation among their own countrymen, and 
 proved to all mankind that they were defirous 
 to retain whatever was venerable in eccleliafti- 
 cal antiquity, and to join with the Romanifls 
 not only in effential doftrines of Chriftianity, 
 but alfo in ^ all thofe matters of Church wor- 
 fliip, which are in any refpeft ufeful and de- 
 corous. 
 
 Our reformation, having proceeded thus far 
 in the reign of the fixth Edward, was foon 
 j^fter checked in its prpgrefs. The reign of 
 Mary was difiiinguiflied by a re-eftablifliment 
 of Popilli fuperftition. But, the continuance 
 of her reign was too fhort to root out the zeal 
 for religious purity, which had fo widely ex- 
 tended itfelf among us. Short however as it 
 was, it involved our Church in many imme- 
 diate evils, and laid the foundation of number- 
 
 ^ See the Rule which the reformers laid down to change no- 
 tiling for novelty's lake. Burnet's Hifl. Ref. Vol. 11. p". 73. 
 
 See alfo an excellent account and vindication of the proceed- 
 ings of the Church of England in this refped in Hooker's Eccl. 
 Pol. B.iv. c, 14, "^ 
 
 ie-q 
 
SERMON IV, 153 
 
 lefs others which we were afterwards to ex- 
 perience. The bloody perfecutions, which 
 raged at that time, were without doubt moft 
 fenfibly felt during their continuance. But, 
 the moft extenfive evils of thofe cruelties will 
 be difcovered in their remote confequences : 
 ii> the alteration made in the opinions of fome 
 of our Englifh divines concerning predeftina- 
 tion, and other concomitant and important 
 dodtrines ; and in the invincible averfion from 
 our Church, which afterwards prevailed among 
 many of its former members. 
 
 Our Liturgy, Catechifm, and Homilies, 
 the treatifes drawn up for the inftrudion of 
 the people and the reformation of the ecclefi- 
 aftical laws under the authority of Hen. VIIL 
 and Edward VI. and the private writings of 
 our original reformers themfelves, all prove 
 decifively, that they ^ lided with Erafmus and 
 
 ^ Biihop Bull fays, *' a Calvini cum difciplina turn do6trma 
 (qua parte ipfe a Melandlhone aliifque inllaurati purioris Chril- 
 tianifmi magiflris antiquioribus abierit) prorfus alienos fuifie re- 
 formationis noftrse auftores fatis conftat, &c. Apoi. proHarmotu 
 p. 57. And the paraphrafe of Erafmus, who wrote againft Lu- 
 ther on the dodline of predeftination, is known to have been 
 pjaced in our Churches for the inftruftion of the people by both 
 Edward the fixth and Elizabeth. What Moflieim fays on the 
 fubjed ought to be applied to our firft reformers : for, it was by 
 them that the dodrine and difcipline of our Church were mo- 
 delled. " If we confider, fays he, the genius and fpirit of the 
 ** Church of England during tins period (the beginning of the 
 ** 17th century) we fhall plainly fee that the dodrine of the 
 f* Gomarills concerning predellination and grace could not 
 i* meet there with a favcuiable reception s fmce the leading 
 
 '* dollars 
 
154 SERMON IV. 
 
 Melandlhon, and not with Luther or Calvin, 
 in the dodtrines which relate to the divine de- 
 crees. And, indeed, our Articles, which have 
 not been '^ materially altered in this refpedt, 
 prove alfo the fame. For whatever little 
 ^ conceffion appears to have been made con- 
 cerning predeftination in the 17th Article; it 
 is immediately after withdrawn by the con- 
 cluding claufe of the fame Article. A * claufe, 
 which undoubtedly is not to be conftrued in a 
 Calviniftic fenk, and which from the begin- 
 ning has been juftly deemed to convey the 
 determination of the Church of England on 
 
 " do6lors of that Church were zealous in modelling its do^lrines. 
 *' and difcipline after the fentiments and inftitutions, that were 
 •* received in the primitive times ; and fmce thofe early fathers, 
 *' whom they followed with a profound fabmifnon, had never 
 " prefumed before Aiiguftine to fet limits to the extent of the 
 ** divine grace and mercy.'' Eccl. Hift. Vol. V. p. 369, 370^ 
 See ahb Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. 11. p. 645 and 648 : 
 and for the whole of the queftion concerning the Opinions 
 of our firfl reformers on the divine decrees fee Heylyn's Hift. 
 Oi the Qainquardcular ccntroverfy. Trails, p. 541 — 588. 
 See, moreover, able Vindications of our firft reformers on th.e fub- 
 je-d before us in Dr. NcAvell's Reply to Pietas Oxonienfis, Deaa- 
 ■fucker's Letters to Dr. Kippis, and Dr, Wincheller's DiiTer- 
 tation on the 17 th Article. ' 
 
 «= See Burnet's Hift. Ref. Vol. II. Records, p. 209. 
 
 ^ This was made principally to gratify Eucer and Feter 
 Martyr. 
 
 ._ ^ It refers immediately to a paragraph in tlie Saxonic confef- 
 non publifhed by Melandhon in the fame year, in which our 
 Articles wc;re firll puhliilied, which paragraph is proved deci- 
 fively to be Armlnian by the words v/hich follow. See the Sax^ 
 onic Confefiioi], p. 84. in ihc " Corpus ci i>yntagma Confeilio- 
 ?.um." Geneva j6i2, 
 
 this. 
 
SERMON IV. 155 
 
 this important dodtrine ; as, indeed, was ^de- 
 clared and admitted in the reHgious conference, 
 held in the firft year of the next reign after 
 the final eftabUfhment of thefe Articles. But 
 the Lambeth Articles, which were propofed 
 as an addition to the eflabliihed Articles of our 
 Church, and the fubfcription of our delegates 
 to the decifions of the Synod of Dort, prove 
 that Calvin's tenets concerning the divine de- 
 crees • obtained afterwards for a ^ time among 
 fome of the rulers of our Church. This 
 change of religious opinion is ^juftly reckoned 
 in the number of the evils, which refulted 
 from the refidence of many zealous members 
 
 ^ Bifhop Bancroft at the conference in the firll: year of James 
 the firft declared exprefsly that the doftrine of the Church of 
 England on the fubjeft of predeftination was contained in this 
 concluding claufe. And what makes his declaration the more 
 worthy ofobiervation is, that he was one of the four Eifhops who 
 figned the Lambeth Articles. To this declaration K. James af- 
 JTented. Fuller's Hift. b. x. p. 11. See alfo to this efFtft Col- 
 lier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. ir. p. 6j6. 
 
 Correfpondently with this Burnet fays, ** that the Church of 
 
 * England has wifely avoided the fplitting afunder on the high 
 ' points of divine decrees, which have broken fo many of the 
 
 * reformed beyond fea ; but in thefe has left divines to the 
 ** freedom of their own opinion." Pref. Vol. 11. Hift. Ref. p. 15. 
 
 ^ Our divines were brought back to the Opinions of our firft 
 reformers on predeftination, &c. by Archbilhop Laud and Bi- 
 ^op Bull. Waterland afcribes it to the writings of the latter. 
 Pefence, Pref. p. 9. 
 
 ^ Strype in his Life of Archbiftiop Whitgift fays, *« that till 
 ♦* about the year 1595 Calvin's way of explaining the divine 
 f* decrees was not entertained by many learned men in tlie uni- 
 " verfity of Cambrige : but thefe opinions were introduced by 
 ^* fome of our Divines who during the perfecution under Q^ 
 fj M^ry had fi^d to Qeneya, Zurich," Sec. p- 455- 
 
 of 
 
156 SERMON IV. 
 
 of our Communion duiing Queen Mary's per-i 
 lecution among the advocates for abfolute pre- 
 deftination 3 and to this very day is found both 
 to have a pernicious influence on the faith of 
 fome of our injudicious brethren, and to give 
 apparent fandtion to the malevolent and ' ge- 
 neral farcafms of our enemies. 
 
 Other remote and pernicious confequences 
 of the perfecution of Queen Mary difcover 
 themfelves in the invincible averfion from our 
 Church, v^hich prevailed among many of its 
 members, who had been obliged during her 
 Reign to feek for ihelter in foreign countries ; 
 and who, when the ftorm which drove them 
 from their Home had fpent its fury, returned 
 not with any affedtion for their old Commu-^ 
 nion. They had been driven from their coun-^ 
 try by the perfecuting fpirit of the Romifh 
 
 » When Mr. Gibbon farcaftically cenfures the firft reformers 
 for their tenets concerning predeftination ; his cenfures are qua- 
 lified by no exceptions. Vol. V. p. 537. It may be remarked 
 with regard to the doftrine of predellination that the difcredit 
 of it ought not to be thrown by our adverfaries exclufively, or 
 even principally, on the reformers. Though, as Bifliop Bull- 
 very juftly fays, " it was never thought of for the four firft ages," 
 nor ever after that time by the Greek Church ; yet it appears 
 to have been part of the creed of the leading men in the Ro- 
 mifh Communion from the time of its great advocate, Auguf- 
 tine, to that of the Reformation. It interfered, however, too 
 evidently with the doftrine of merit to be openly taught by 
 them in the later ages. See Jortin's Life of Erafmus, Vol. i. 
 p. 335. Dean Tucker's Letters to Dr. Kippis, p. 79;. and 
 aliolieyiyn's Reformation juiUfied. Trafts. p. 510. 
 
 Church ^i 
 
SERMON IV. 157 
 
 Church; they naturally, therefore, carried with 
 them a hatred of this Church : and the ex- 
 ample of foreign reformers, adding force and 
 virulence to their private refentments, left 
 th€m on their return no charity for any efta- 
 blifhment, which bore the moft diftant refem- 
 blance to it. Thefe men formed in procefs 
 of time the original clafs of avowed Diflenters 
 among us, and from their own form of Church 
 government have been ^ called Prefbyterians. 
 During their exile they expreffed an ardent 
 defire to ^ alter our Liturgy, and to reduce it 
 to a conformity with that of the French Pro- 
 teflants ; though there is no reafon to expedl 
 that their objeftions to our Liturgy would 
 have been "" obviated by this alteration : and, 
 fuch was the fuperiority of our own inftitu- 
 
 ^ They were before called Puritans from tKeir refufal to fub» 
 fcribe to our Articles &c, and their affedlation of fuperior purity. 
 There were, indeed, men of this fort among us in the days of 
 Edw. 6 ; but the name of Puritans was not given them before 
 the fixthof Elizabeth. Fuller's Church Hift. Cent.xvi. p.76, 
 
 Camden in his Life of Elizabeth fays, they Ihowed themfelves 
 openly in the loth of her Reign. P. 107. 3d Ed. Fol. 
 
 ' Fuller's Church Hift. C. 16. p. 27 : and Collier's Eccl. 
 Hift. Vol. II. p. 392—6. Attempts of this kind were made at 
 Frankfort ; and attempts of a fimilar nature were made alfo, 
 about the fame time, at other places. — See Bale's Letter from 
 Bafil in Strype's Memor. Vol. III. p. 107. 
 
 ^ Mr. Bingham has proved that whatever objeftions are 
 urged by the Diffenters againft the Church of England hold 
 aifo againft the French Church in ** the French Church's Apo- 
 *' logy for the Church of England." Works, Vol. II. Fo^ 
 X726. 
 
 tion^ 
 
1^8 S fi R M O N IV, 
 
 tion, that ^ one of high charadler, who was well 
 acquainted with that Liturgy, is known td 
 have declared foon after, upon a view of oui" 
 folemn fervice and ceremonies, ** that if the 
 ** reformed Churches in France had kept the 
 " fame order, there would have been thou-* 
 ** fands of proteftants more/' Not ° long after 
 the return of thefe exiles they proceeded to 
 ered: a new form of Church-government, and 
 conftituted a regular Prefbyterjc But how 
 little they were difpofed to agree among them- 
 felves in any form of divine worfhip, which 
 might be fubftituted in the room of the efta- 
 blilhed Liturgy, is well afcertained by the in^ 
 finite variety of opinions found among them^ 
 when they were requefced by the great ^ Statef-* 
 man of that age to draw up fuch a Liturgy^ 
 as they could recommend and approve in all 
 its parts. Whether it arofe from an irrecon-* 
 
 " Bancroft Bilhop of London fays to K. James at the confe- 
 rence in the firfl: year of his Reign, " may it pleafe your Ma- 
 " jefty to remember the fpeech of the French ambaffadori 
 " Monfieur Rognee" (afterwards the famous Duke de Sully) > 
 " upon ths view of our folemn Service and ceremonies,*' &c. 
 Fuller's Church Kill. Cent. xvii. p. 13. See alfo Collier's 
 EccL Hid. Vol.11, p. 677. 
 
 ° This was done at Wandfworth in Surry in the year 1573. 
 Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol.11, p. 541. Fuller calls it the firft- 
 bcrn of all Prejfbyteries in England : and fays (Cent, xvi, 
 p. 103.) that ** fecundum ufum Wandfworth" was as much 
 honoured by the Preibyterians, as " fecundum ufum Sarom'* 
 had been by the Romanics. 
 
 P Burleigh. See Fuller's Church Hill. Cent. xvl. p. 178. 
 
 cileable 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 ^59 
 
 Ciieable difagreement among themfelves con- 
 cerning a Liturgy, or from their hatred of the 
 Church of Rome, they foon expreffed an aver- 
 fion from our eftabUfhment not only on ac- 
 count of the authority, which it gives to the 
 King as ^ head of the Church, and its ' Epif- 
 copal form of government ; but alfo on ac- 
 count of its admiffion of * fet forms of prayer : 
 they, moreover, expreffed offence at the habits 
 of the Clergy, the ufe of Church-mufic, the 
 fign of the Crofs * prefcribed in the office of 
 baptifm, and various other fuch circumftances ; 
 infifting that the Church of England ought to 
 
 ^ The intention of the Prefbyterians, as Bancroft argues, 
 was to transfer the Pope's fupremacy to their Presbyteries. 
 Collier's Eccl. Hift. Vol. 11. p. 6io. 
 
 Tho' even Knox (as K. James fays) condefcended to write 
 to the Queen Regent of Scotland, as foon as Mary had over- 
 turned the reformation in England, informing her that (he wa« 
 the fupreme head of the Church. Collier's Hift.Vol.II. p.682. 
 
 *■ See Camden's Life of Elizabeth, p. 420. 
 
 ^ The Prefby terian mode of worlhip feems to have been taken 
 from the alternative permitted under Knox's, or the old. Litur- 
 gy in Scotland ; to which it is fubjoined : '^ It Ihall not be ne- 
 •* ceffary for the minillers daily to repeat all thefe things before- 
 *' mentioned ; but beginning with fome manner of confeflioii 
 " to proceed to the fermon : which ended, he either ufeth the 
 ** prayer for all edates, or elfe prayeth as the fpirit of God ihali 
 *' move his heart, framing the fame according to the time and 
 ** manner, which he hath entreated of." 
 
 Collier's Hil^. Vol. 11. p. 561. 
 
 ^ Dean Tucker infifls in his Letters to Dr. Kippis that the 
 fign of the crofs is ufed with us after, not at, Baptifm : and fays 
 that he thinks all the loud clamors of the dilfenicrs againft our 
 cerem.onies terminate in this, and the act or icnfeling at the Sa- 
 crament. P, 23, 
 
 conform 
 
i6o S E R M O N IV. 
 
 conform in all refpeds to the ufages of foreigrt 
 Proteftants, and proceeding by degrees to a 
 rage for innovation which was fcarcely ex- 
 ceeded by the wildeft enthuliafm of antecedent 
 reformers. 
 
 To guard, therefore, that moft invaluable 
 moderation, with which we were fo peculiarly 
 blefled at the commencement of our reforma-^ 
 tion, it was found necelTary after the refto- 
 ration of our Church under Elizabeth to 
 " provide it with new barriers againft the en- 
 thufiafm of innovation. This was done by 
 alterations made in the Articles, by the Canons 
 which were enforced during the Reign of 
 "^ Elizabeth, and by the "" requifition of a ftridt 
 conformity to the eccleiiaftical eftablifhment, 
 
 The ^ alterations, made at that time in the 
 Articles, were not fuccecded, like "" thofe made 
 at the fame time in the Liturgy, that other 
 diftinguifhed part of our fyftem, by new alte- 
 
 " The fleps, taken by C)^ Elizabeth to reftore and perfeft th-e 
 reformation among us, were condufted by the fame kind of de- 
 liberation, which prevailed in her Brother's Reign. See what 
 Camden fays very particularly on the fubjed— Life of Eliz, 
 
 P-3I- 
 
 See alfo Burnet's Hift. of Ref. Vol. IL p. 376, 378, 381, 407^ 
 *' Gibfon's Codex, Pref. p. 10. 
 
 * Camden's Life of Eliz. p. 191-^z and 288. 
 
 y Thefe alterations were made by learned and moderate di-» 
 vines. Camden's Life of Eliz. p. 16. 
 
 * See an account of the fubfequent alterations of the Litur-» 
 gy in Wheatley. 
 
 rations 
 
SERMON IV. i6i 
 
 rations at fubfequent periods, in order to ad- 
 vance our eftabliflied forms to their prefent 
 ftate of excellence : but thefe Articles have 
 thenceforward remained the fame ^ unvaried 
 compendium of our national Faith. As Bp. 
 
 * Bull fays, ** they are not propofed as eflentials 
 *^ of Religion, w^ithout which no man can be 
 ** faved : thefe are fuppofed to be contained in 
 *< the old Creeds, and therefore the old Creeds 
 *^ are made parts of our Liturgy, and are to 
 *^ be joined in by all." We are to confider 
 the Articles, as a fummary of our Religion, 
 
 * calculated to preferve union and peace among 
 all the members of our Church, and to afcer- 
 tain and regulate the belief and doftrines of 
 thofe among us, who are intrufted with the 
 care of public inftruftion. 
 
 As thefe Articles are the great medium, 
 through which, under the Scriptures, our 
 Religion is delivered down to us, it may form 
 an ufeful part of the prefent plan ; if I endea- 
 vour to reprefent in a connefted manner the 
 general fubftance of them : lince fuch a repre- 
 fentation of their contents muft at once evince 
 that they in reality comprehend nothing more, 
 than the dodlrines of Scripture, expreffed fo 
 
 a Eurnef s Hift. Ref. VolH. p. 195. 
 
 ^ Bull's Vindication of the Church of England, 8vo. p^ 217. 
 - Burnet on the Articles, Fol. P, 6—8, 
 
 M a5 
 
i62^ SERMON IV. 
 
 as to afcertain our own Faith, and guarded by 
 particular declarations againft the dangerous 
 opinions of others. 
 
 They begin with the principal of thofe great 
 do&ines of our Religion, which were pre- 
 ferved entire during the darker ages : they 
 begin with ^ aiTerting not only that all things 
 were created and are preferved by one all- 
 perfevft God, but alfo that three Perfons are 
 comprehended under the Unity of the divine 
 nature : they then * go on to affert that the 
 Son or fecond Perfon is really God, being be- 
 gotten of the Father by an eternal generation ; 
 that to redeem us from our fallen condition 
 he vouchfafcd to afTume human nature into 
 the fame Perfon with his own ; that our Re- 
 deemer or Chrift, being thus compounded of 
 the divine and human nature, died for our 
 fins, ^ defcended to the regions below, and 
 afterwards ^ rofe again and afcended into Hea- 
 ven, there to remain till he returns to be our 
 judge : that the Holy ^ Ghoft or third Perfon, 
 by an incomprehenfible derivation of exiftence, 
 difi'erent from the generation of the Son, pro- 
 ceeded from the two other Perfons of the God- 
 head, and is alfo himfelf really and eternally 
 God. Going on to the Scriptures, that great 
 
 «* Art. K •= Art. z. ^ Art. 3, 
 
 S Art. 4. ^ Art, 5. 
 
 repofitory 
 
SERMON IV. 163 
 
 repofitory of our Religion, which was now 
 happily laid open again for general ufe, our 
 Articles infifl on the fufficiency of ^ Scripture 
 to falvation, to the exclufion undoubtedly of 
 all intermixture of philofophical fpeculation, 
 no lefs than of all Romifli tradition : they flate 
 feparately the Canonical and the other books ; 
 and are careful not to diminifli, with the 
 Church of Rome, the authority of divine In- 
 fpiration by extending its infallibility to the 
 Apocryphal writings : they then affirm the 
 ^ coniiftency of the Old Teftament v/ith the 
 New, with regard to eternal life no lefs than 
 other dodrines ; and the eternal obligation of 
 its moral- precepts. Having adopted the fame 
 three ^ Creeds with the Romiih Church, our 
 Articles proceed to the great reafon, which. 
 made a Redeemer neceffary for us, and to the 
 parts of our Religion which are intimately 
 connedled with it. In mentioning the fall of 
 Adam they fay nothing of any guilt immedi- 
 ately derived to us from it : they fay, only, 
 that human nature being in confequence of 
 this fall inherently "" corrupt, and fuch as would 
 of itfelf merit the wrath and " dam^nation of 
 
 » Art. 6. ^ Art. 7. ^ Art. 8. " Art, 9. 
 
 " As the corruption, here fpoken of, is faid to extend to every 
 man born into the world ; our article only aflerts that it merits 
 the wrath and damnation (or condemnaiion) of God j and nor, 
 as it is exprefled in the confcffions of Aufburgh, Saxony, and 
 Wirtemburgh, and implied in all the other Protcilant confeffions 
 
 M 2 oa 
 
i64 SERMON IV. 
 
 God ; the grace of God, to be derived to us 
 through the merits of Chrift, is neceffary to 
 excite in us, and to co-operate with our own 
 ** will in perfed:ing, fuch a faith and condudt, 
 as will render us acceptable to God : that, as 
 far as relates to ourfelves, the fole ^caufe of 
 this our acceptance, or juftification, is faith 
 in the merits of Chriflj a faith, notwithftand- 
 ing, which does not exclude, but on the con- 
 trary '^ neceflarily produces and fanftifies, good 
 
 on the fabjefl," his eternal damnation." See *' Corpus at Syn- 
 tagma ConfefTionum" publifhed at Geneva in the year 1612. 
 
 Doubtlefs, it was not without very particular deiign that the 
 word '^ eternal" was here omitted by our reformers : as we 
 niuft infer alfo with regard to every fimilar omiiTion, where a 
 dodrine has been long canvafled and the force of any queftion 
 concerning it depends upon the part which is omitted. This 
 obfervation applies not lefs powerfully to our 17th than to our 
 9th Article. ° Art. 10. P Art. 11. 
 
 ^ Art. 12. The fervor, which led many of the more violent 
 reformers to the oppofite extreme from the Church of Rome in 
 other do<5lrines, had the fame eiFeft with regard to juftification. 
 In oppcfition to what was commonly taught of the merit of work;i 
 in the Romifh Church thefe reformers infilled fo entirely on juf- 
 tification by faith alone, as to exclude any confequent neceflity 
 of good works. The learned and judicious Dr. Redmayn was 
 commanded by Cranmer to enquire into this fubjeft, and to 
 write a treatife on it. In this treatife Dr. R. fays, " that in 
 •' thofe Scriptures, where it is faid we are jufliiied by faith, \re 
 " may not think we are juflified by faith, as it is a feperatc 
 ** virtue from hope, and charity, fear of God, and repentance ; 
 " but by it is meant faith, neither only nor alone but with the 
 ** forefaid virtues coupled together, containing obedience to the 
 ** whole dodrine and Religion of Chrill. But for the definition 
 " of faith, which fome propofed as if there was a certainty that 
 •' one was predellinated, they found nothing of it either in the 
 **^ Scriptures or the Doclors, and thought that it could not be 
 •• known." Burnet's Hilt. Ref. Vol. I. p. 287—8. See alfo 
 
 con- 
 
SERMON IV. 165 
 
 works in us : that, however, thefe good' works, 
 being perfedted in their principle and rendered 
 acceptable to God only through this faith in 
 Chrift, are without fuch faith to be confidered 
 as partaking of fin : that works of " fupereroga- 
 tion are arrogant conceits ; fince, even if we 
 do all that is commanded us, we are unpro- 
 fitable fervants, and Chrift 'only has done what 
 was commanded : that our fins, as well " after 
 as before baptifm, are pardonable ; man being 
 at all times expofed to fin, and through the 
 grace of God capable of repentance and refor- 
 mation. Our Articles then fay nothing of re- 
 probation : they fay concerning "" predeftination 
 to life, that it is the determination of certain 
 
 concerning juftification the Articles drawn up in Hen. VlllthV. 
 Reign — Apendix toStrype'sMemor. Vcl.I. p. 301 : and the 4th 
 Article concerning juftification, Strype's Memor. Vol. III. p- 
 1 41 . See, moreover, the Homily on Salvation v/hich muft be re- 
 ferred to juiliiication. Indeed, that the Englifh reformers meant 
 to reprefent the necefTity of good works in the moft forcible 
 manner appears from hence, that they fet up the Creed and the 
 ten Commandments in the Room of the Romiih Pixis. Dean 
 Tucker fays in his Letters to Dr. Kippis : " this inflance of the 
 ** creed and ten commandments being fet up over the altar is X 
 *' think peculiar to our Engliih Church." It was, however, at 
 a very early period introduced with the Engliih reformation 
 into Ireland. It is ilated in a citation from Archbifhop Ulher 
 that George Brown Archbifnop of Dublin in the reign of Hen. 
 Vlllth having removed all fuperllitious relicks and images 
 from the tv/o Cathedrals in Dublin and from all the Churches 
 in his Diocefe " caufed the ten commandments, the Lord's 
 ** prayer, and the creed to be placed in gilded frames about 
 **. the altars.'* Mofh. Eccl. HilL Vol. IV. p. 127, 
 
 ' Art. 13. « Art. 14. ' Art. 15. "" Art. 16. ^ Art. i;. 
 
 M 3 perfons 
 
i66 SERMON IV. 
 
 perfons to eternal happlnefs through Chrift by 
 a decree of God, which is kept fecret from 
 us, and which may refult (confiftently with 
 w^hatever our Church has here aflerted) from 
 his fore-knowlege of their compliance with 
 the conditions of the Chriftian covenant j that 
 the confideration of this doftrine, though 
 comfortable and ufeful to fome, may be at- 
 tended with dangerous confequences to others ^ 
 and that from ^ thence we are to receive the 
 promifes of God, as they are generally fet forth 
 to us in Scripture : moreover, that we can be 
 faved by no name whatever, but that of ^ Chrift; 
 to the exclufion of other Religions from equal 
 powers of procuring falvation v/ith the Chrif- 
 tian, and to the exclufion alfo of all corrup- 
 tions of Chriflianity by the adoration of ficti- 
 tious interceffors. After this, our Articles 
 declare, with regard to the Church, that, 
 though compofed of true believers, it is liable 
 to "" err, whether It be the Church of Rome, or 
 any other : that the * power of the Church ex- 
 tends to rites and ceremonies, and the regu- 
 lation of difputable matters in controverfies of 
 
 ''See what is before fald to prove that the do6lrIne of the 
 Church of England on predeftination is contained in this con- 
 cluding claufe. See alfo Dr. Wincheller's able diiTertation on 
 the 17th Article, publifhed at Oxford in the year 1773 : in 
 which it is very fully proved concerning the Article in general, 
 that it was not drawn up comformably to the doctrine of Calvin, 
 
 y Art. 18, ^ Art. 19. «* Art. 20, 
 
 faith ; 
 
SERMON IV. 167 
 
 faith ; but that it is not to be oppofcd to the 
 Scriptures, nor placed on a level of enacting 
 authority with them : that ^ general councils 
 themfelves are compofed of fallible members, 
 and that thefe ought not to be allembled with- 
 out the confent of the civil power : that 
 the Romiih Church (however authorifed by 
 general councils) has erred in whatever it has 
 taught concerning *^ purgatory, indulgences, the 
 worfhipping of images and relidls, and the 
 invocation of Saints. Our Articles then main- 
 tain, with the injundlions of the Romanifts, 
 that minifters in the Church are to be lawfully 
 appointed ; but they condemn that great fource 
 of corruption in the darker ages, the ufe of 
 ^ unknown languages in their miniftration. 
 With regard to the Sacraments, they agree 
 with the Church of Rome in fome refpedls 
 and differ from it in others : they agree with 
 it that ^ bad men are rather ta expedl a curfe 
 than a bleffing from a participation of the holy 
 Supper ; that the adminiftration of the Sacra- 
 ments by ^ unworthy minifters does not take 
 from their efficacy ; that Baptifm is to be ad- 
 miniftered to ^ infants ; and that both Baptifm 
 and the Lord's Supper are not only external 
 *fignsof our profeffion, but likewife means 
 
 ^ Art. 21. « Art. 22. ^ Art. 23. * Art. 24. 
 
 *" Part of Article 25 and 29. s Art. 26. 
 
 *> Fart of Art. zy, ^ Part of Art. 27 and of Art. 28. 
 
 M 4. of 
 
i68 S E R M O N IV. 
 
 of internal Grace. Our Articles differ, how- 
 ever, from the doctrines of the Romanifls with 
 regard to the ^ number of the Sacraments s 
 * condemn their refufal of the cup to the laity, 
 their dod:rine of "" tranfubftantiation, and its 
 confequences, the carrying about and wor- 
 ihipping of the confecrated elements, as if 
 they were Chrift's real body ; and declare at 
 length, in oppofition to all the dodtrines of 
 the Romifh Church to the contrary, that the 
 atonement made for the fins of the world wag 
 " perfefted by Chrift's oblation of himfelf, 
 once offered. After the account of the Sacra- 
 ments, which clofes the dodtrinal parts of 
 Chriftianity in our Articles, as it clofes alfo 
 at prefent the religious inflruftion given us in 
 our Church Catechifm 3 we have eight Ar- 
 ticles, independent of each other, and, in ge- 
 neral, defigned to fecure us againft politions 
 of our adverfaries, whether Romanifls or 
 Seftaries. Thefe contain a condemnation of 
 the injundion of ** celibacy on the Clergy,- an 
 aflertion that ^ excommunicated perfons are 
 not to be confidered as Chriftians ; that ^ ce- 
 remonies, though not neceffarily the fame in 
 all places, are, however, not to be v/antonly 
 
 ^ Part of Art. 25. ^ Art. 30. 
 
 " Part of Art. 28. " A.rt. 31. 
 
 ® Art. 32. P Art. 33. *J Art. 34. 
 
 violated. 
 
SERMON IV. 169 
 
 Violated, and that they are fubjedt to no regu- 
 lation, except that of the particular Church 
 by which they are appointed. They contain 
 alfo an enumeration and adoption of our 
 Church ' Homilies : an aflertion, that our 
 * ordinations and confecrations are valid ; that 
 the governour of the * ftate is governour alfo 
 of the Church, but that his ecclefiaflical go- 
 vernment is confined to the externals of Re- 
 ligion ; that the Biihop of Rome has no jurif- 
 diftion in England ; that the civil pow^er may 
 punifh Chriftians with death ; and that Chrif- 
 tians may, at the command of that power, 
 carry arms and ferve in war. Of the two lall 
 of the eight independent Articles one declares 
 that the goods of Chriftians are not "" common : 
 the other that *" oaths may be adminiftered on 
 lawful occafions. 
 
 Such is the general fubftance of the thirty- 
 nine Articles of our Church. That they (hould 
 convey to us fo excellent a compendium of our 
 Religion, and be fo little calculated to give 
 offence, even in the parts where they are im- 
 mediately directed againft our adverfaries, may 
 appear farprifing to thofe, who confider the 
 offence and calumny, with which they have 
 been received. 
 
 ^ Art. 35. « Art. 36. « Art. 37. 
 
 " An, 38. ^ Art. 39. 
 
 It 
 
170 S E Pv M p N IV. 
 
 It is obvious that they are principally in- 
 tended to afcertain and dehver down thoie ef- 
 fential dod:rines of Chriftianity, which may 
 be collected from the general account that I 
 have above given of the fubflance of our Re- 
 ligion. The remaining parts of them are as 
 obvioufly diredled againft the dangerous opi- 
 nions of our different adverfaries. That, which 
 is omitted in them on this latter head, was 
 fupplied in a confiderable degree under Eliza- 
 betli by the Canons, Vv^hich fhe enforced dur- 
 ing her Government. It has fmce been more 
 permanently provided for by the body of 
 * Canons, w^hich v/ere enabled in the firft year 
 of her fucceffor's reign -, and which at prefent 
 defcribe and enforce the different parts of our 
 ecclefiaftical fyftem. 
 
 ^ Towards the end of the Reign of Hen. VIII (after the 
 buHnefs of the Reformation had been a long while fufpended) 
 a eommifiion was granted to 32 perfons to revife the Canons 
 and ecclefiaftical laws. In Edward the fixth's time 8 out of 
 tfiefe 32 were empowered to prepare this work for the infpec- 
 tion of the others. What thefe eight drew up was infpefted 
 accordingly, and was publifhed in Latin under the title of 
 " reformatio legum.'* What is the general fubftance of this 
 work, and why it was not enforced, may be feen in the 2d Vo- 
 lume of Burnet's Hift. Ref. p. 195 — 202. See alfo on this fub- 
 jed Strype's Memor. Vol.11, p. 34.1 and 497, and Fuller's 
 Church Hift. Cent. xvi. p. 420. 
 
 Our Canons, now in force, were made in the firfl year of 
 James the firft. They are 141 in number : and many of them 
 are the fame with thofe enforced by Elizabeth during her 
 Reign : (Gibfon's Codex, Pref p. 10.) There were Canons 
 afterwards drawn up by Archbi{hop Laud : but, thefe were 
 cem'ured bv Parliament^ and, therefore, not enforced. 
 
 Thefe 
 
SERMON IV. 171 
 
 Thefe are intended to fupply the place of 
 the Canons and Decretals of the Romlfh 
 Church : but, with a fpirit effentially different 
 from that of the Romifh Communion, they 
 profcfs to ^ originate from the civil power. 
 Though they were particularly deligned for 
 the ^ enforcement of the doctrines. Liturgy, 
 and ceremonies of our Church ; yet all, who 
 know with what mildnefs and with what un- 
 limited forbearance they have been ad:ually 
 applied to this purpofe, muft ever acknowlege 
 that the application of them has been well 
 fuited to the toleration "" fandtioned in time by 
 our civil government, and to the moderation^ 
 
 y Strype (in his Memor. Vol. I. p. 130.) fays that the Con- 
 vocation appears to have lubmitted to make no more Ordinan- 
 ces or Conftitutions without the King's aflent or licenfe in the 
 year 1530. Collier fays that the Clergy were retrained from 
 making new Canons without the confent of the Crown in the 
 year 1532. Ecci. Hifl. VoL II. p. 70. 
 
 See the opinions of the two chief Juftices, which were given 
 8 James I, againft the power of the Clergy to make Canons 
 without the King's licenfe in Dean Wake's State of the Church 
 and Clergy of England in their councils. Fol. P. 534. 
 
 Bp. Sherlock fays the diiTenters do not give fach power to 
 the civil Magiflrate with regard to themfelves. In this refped, 
 therefore, they agree with the Romanifts. Sherlock againil 
 the repeal of the Teft-Afl. P. 33. 
 
 2 Thofe, who are difpofed to complain of the coercive au- 
 thority of our Church, would do well to enquire into the dif- 
 cipline of the primitive Chrillians. Of this they may fee a 
 ccncife Account in the laft chapter of Cave's Primitive Chrif- 
 tianity. 
 
 * By the toleration-aft pafTed in the flri^ year of William 
 ind Mary, &c. 
 
 which 
 
172 SERMON IV. 
 
 which fo eminently diftinguifhes the other 
 parts of the ecclefiaftical cftablifhment, which 
 they are calculated to defend and complete. 
 
 But under fuch circumfliances of univerfal 
 toleration we muft not wonder if there are 
 among us Diilenters of very different origins 
 from that, which I have above mentioned. 
 Wherever men enjoy an unlimited freedom of 
 publishing their thoughts on religious fubjedts, 
 there will be an endlefs variety of religious 
 profeffion. We mufl: not wonder that the 
 worft tenets of the different Sedaries, which 
 liave diilraded foreign nations, fhould at times 
 be adopted by our countrymen ; nor that he- 
 refies and fchifms of the moft malignant and 
 obdurate nature fhould every day originate 
 among ourfelves. 
 
 Situated alfo as our Church is, at an equal 
 diftance from luperftition and enthufiafm, we, 
 moreover, mufl: not wonder, if it has from 
 the beginning been expofed to ^ repeated af- 
 faults from both thefe extremes. Immediately 
 after its final efl:ablifhment, during the Reigns 
 of Elizabeth and James, it experienced the 
 effects of the malicious combinations and dark 
 
 ** " The Proteflant Church of England has enjoyed but little 
 *' peace from its firil eftablifhinent." Sherlock againft the re- 
 peal of the Teft-Aa. p. 25. 
 
 affaffmatlon 
 
SERMON IV. 173 
 
 aflaffinatlon of Romifh diperftitlon. In the 
 fucceeding Reign it fell for a feafon a facrifice 
 to the mad *" enthufiafm of our own Diffenters. 
 One Reign only intervened, and that certainly 
 not favourable to true Religion, before it again 
 experienced the malice of the Romifh Church. 
 From fuch affaults it would be ungratefully 
 impious not to confefs that the hand of Pro- 
 vidence delivered us during our diftrefs ; and 
 that it has alfo preferved us unhurt, though 
 not unalarmed, by them during the lafi: hun* 
 dred years. And however this refllefs m.ale- 
 volence of our enemies may have called forth 
 particular tefts for our fecurity, and ftill 
 render it neceffary that we fliould fupport 
 them, as we hitherto have done, with un- 
 fliaken refolution ; yet, amidft all our exer- 
 tions in our own defence, has it not in any 
 degree leffened the moderation of our Govern- 
 ment, either civil or cccleiiaftical, fo as to 
 reftrain it from every day more widely extend- 
 ing its toleration to all thofe, who differ from 
 us in religious belief. May God grant that 
 we may ever continue to imitate our prede- 
 cefFors both in courage and wifdcm to main- 
 
 *= See in the Preface to Hooker's Ecclefiaftical Polity, the real 
 origin and foundation of this enthufiafm; as they were defcribcd 
 by that excellent man at a time when he could hardly think this 
 enthufiafm would ever proceed to that excels of m^dnefs, by 
 which it v/^i afterwards fo eminently diiliuguiihed. 
 
 tain 
 
174 SERMON IV. 
 
 tain the Invaluable eftablifliment, under which 
 our Religion has thus been delivered down to 
 us, and in Chriflian virtue to forgive and to- 
 lerate our moft uncharitable opponents ! 
 
 Such, then, are the great outlines of the 
 hiftory of our Religion from its complete pub- 
 lication after the refurredlion of Chrift to our 
 own times. 
 
 Having been preached by the Apoflles 
 under the miraculous affiftance of the Holy 
 Spirit, and proviiion having been made for its 
 permanency and integrity, it appears from that 
 time to have been left in an eminent degree 
 to our own reafon and our own free will. 
 Accordingly its reception and influence in the 
 early ages were fuch, as wc might expecl from 
 our pre fen t knowlege of its genuine excel- 
 lence. It was offered to the free judgement 
 of mankind ; was received by the iincere and 
 humble ; and produced fuch viiible effedls on 
 their condudl, as to go on increaling by the 
 fame gentle means, till it became the Religion 
 of Princes and was fanilioned by a civil efta- 
 blifhment. Being now profeffed without fin- 
 cerity and without humility ; its precepts foon 
 loft their influence, and every corruption of 
 Chriftian piety followed, which might be ex- 
 pedled from interefted paflions, from a confu- 
 fion of facred and profane learning, and from 
 
 all 
 
SERMON IV. 175 
 
 all thofe peculiar circumftances of foreign in- 
 vafion, favage cuftoms, and favage ignorance, 
 which enfiied. In fuch times when fuperfti- 
 tion would be fure to acquire, with accumu- 
 lated force, all the influence which true Re- 
 ligion loft, it could not be difficult for reli- 
 gious pretenfions of the moft abfurd and blaf- 
 phemous kind to eredt themfelves in the place 
 of pure Chrlftianity. It pleafed God, how- 
 ever, that the power of this kind, which was 
 ereded in the See of Rome, was made to con- 
 duce to fome good purpofes. The Church of 
 Rome was known to deliver down the regular 
 profeflion of Chriftianity from the beginning* 
 It maintained likewife without interruption 
 the difcriminating dodrines of our Religion 
 with regard to the Godhead and our Redeem- 
 er : and, what was of invaluable confequence, 
 it delivered down to us the Scriptures -, and we 
 are affured that it did not corrupt them, as 
 well from pofitive proofs of their integrity, as 
 from the danger, to which it would have been 
 expofed, of having its corruptions detefted by 
 the members of a rival Communion, which 
 was eftabliilied in the Eaft under the Biihops 
 of Conftantinople. It pleafed God alfo that 
 one of the confequences of the rivalfliip of 
 thefe Communions Was the encouragement of 
 learning in ecclefiaftical bodies -, and that, not- 
 
 withftanding- 
 
176 SERMON IV* 
 
 withftanding the unfavourable fituation of our 
 Religion, its external enemies were not able to 
 prevail againft the public eftablifhment of it 
 in the Kingdoms of Weftern Europe. With 
 thefe advantages, which were left us after all 
 the corruption of the darker Ages, we have 
 been enabled under the revival of found learn- 
 ing, under the incitement of a foreign refor- 
 mation, and under the peculiar circumftances 
 of our own civil government, to correct our 
 religious errors and to eftablifh that fyftem of 
 Chriftianity among us, which has been the 
 principal fubjed: of the prefcnt difcourfe. 
 
 We have, therefore, as Chriftians, as Pro- 
 teftants, and as members of our own national 
 Church, abundant means to give an anfwer to 
 every man that alketh us a reafon of the hope 
 that is in us, as far as this hope is connedted 
 with the manner, in which our holy Religion 
 has been received and conveyed through fuc- 
 ceffive ages down to our own times. 
 
 Let us, however, not be vain of diftinftions 
 in any of thefe refpefts between ourfelves and 
 our Chriftian brethren, who diffent from us, 
 or who are members of other eflablifhments. 
 Let us rather diredt our thoughts to the confi- 
 deration of thofe arguments and thofe objec- 
 tions relative to the general truth of the Reli- 
 gion 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 n 
 
 gion thus delivered down to us, in which 
 Chriftians of all denominations are equally- 
 concerned. If the convidiion, which ought to 
 refult from thefe more important coniidera- 
 tions, were to produce its proper efFed:; we 
 ihould all rejoice with exceeding great joy that 
 the Almighty has been pleafed to confer on 
 mankind fuch an invaluable bleffing, as Chrif- 
 tianity. Adluated by the fame common be- 
 lief of the great dodrines of our Religion, we 
 fhould charitably and chearfuUy bear with the 
 various infirmities of each other ; while we 
 looked forward with awful expedlation to that 
 time, w^hen we muft all ftand before the 
 judgement-feat of our great Redeemer and re- 
 ceive our reward, under his merits, according 
 to the ufe, which we have made, of thofe par- 
 ticular means of knowing and afting which he 
 has vouchfafed to afford us. 
 
 N 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 I PET. III. 15. 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer to every 
 man, that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you. 
 
 IN the preceding difcourfes I have ftated 
 regularly the fubftance of our Religion 
 from its earlieft declarations in the different 
 parts of Scripture to its complete publication 
 after the refurrecflion of Chrift ; I have alfo 
 given in them a fketch of its hiftory from 
 that publication of it to the prefent times ; I 
 am now, therefore, in the next place, to ftate 
 in a fummary manner the arguments, adduci- 
 ble in proof of the truth of our Religion, and 
 confequently in vindication of the anfwer which 
 may be given from thence concerning the 
 Hope that is in us. 
 
 So numerous and fo various, however, are 
 the arguments, by which the truth of our holy 
 Religion may be proved, that to comprehend 
 
 N 2 within 
 
i8o S E R M O N V. 
 
 within a fmall compafs a regular compendium 
 of the whole, or even of the more important 
 part of them, is impoffible. It muft fuffice, 
 therefore, in the pre fen t and the following 
 difcourfe (which I fliall appropriate to this 
 part of my fubjed:) if I attempt to ftate com- 
 pendioufly fuch among the m^ore important of 
 thefe arguments ; as, commencing with the 
 being and attributes of God, are fufficient 
 regularly to prove the credibility of a divine 
 Revelation, and to iliew that Chriftianity by 
 its internal and external evidences evinces itfelf 
 to be in reality fuch a Revelation. 
 
 The being of God is an article of Faith, on 
 which all Religion, both natural and revealed, 
 immediately and neceffarily depends. He, that 
 comes to God, muft believe that he is. But, 
 this fundamental article is not more neceflary, 
 than its proof is eafy. The obfervation, v/hich 
 is made in common life, that whatever is moft 
 indifpenfably wanted is always moft eafily ac-- 
 quired, obtains here in an eminent degree. 
 The being of God is proved from every cb- 
 jed: within the extent of our obfervation ; and 
 in a manner fo fingularly fatisfadory, that men 
 of warmth and ability have not fcrupled to 
 affirm ^ " that it is the only thing of which 
 
 * Though we cannot ftridlly admit the truth of this rentiinen*-s 
 which is adopted in No. 69 of the Guardian, and repeated in 
 
 No. 381 
 
SERMON V. i8i 
 
 ^^ we are certain." Every particle of matter, 
 even by its paffivenefs and inacflivity, proclaims 
 fome external caufe of its exiftence. And hu- 
 man reafon, a principle the moft remote of any 
 in this world from matter, however arrogant 
 and prefumptuous, dares not profefs itfelf its 
 own original. Befides, not only does every ob- 
 jed:, with which we are converfant, whether 
 material or fpiritual, require in order to its 
 produftion the agency of fome caufe without 
 itfelf; but, as this caufe alfo mull either be 
 the effedl of fome other caufe or be felf-exif- 
 tent, we (hall, if we purfue the argument, at 
 length neceffarily afcend to a great and fuper- 
 eminent caufe, which is the effedt of nothing 
 and is confequently a felf-exiftent being. 
 
 To fuppofe, in oppofition to this, that things 
 might be produced *^ ad infinitum," fuccef- 
 fively depending on each other, is evidently to 
 fuppofe them to exift without any original 
 caufe. A fuppofition, not lefs abfurd, than 
 that which would require of us to admit that 
 any individual produdion might exift without 
 its own proper and immediate caufe. It 
 
 No. 381 of the Speftator, by Mr. Addifon ; yet v/e may fully 
 and fafely fubfcribe to the inferences of Bp. Stillingfleet, who 
 makes the foundation of all certainty to depend on the necefla- 
 ry exiftcnce of a being abfolutely perfeft. For without that, 
 fays he, we can never be fure that our faculties are not fo con- 
 flituted, as to deceive us. Orig. Sac. p. 230, 
 
 N 3 anfwers. 
 
i82 SERMON V. 
 
 anfwers, indeed, fome purpofe: it removes the 
 abfurdity to a diftance, and renders it perhaps 
 invifible to the unpenetrating eye. But furely 
 it is not more abfurd (as hath been often 
 alleged) to fuppofe that one link of a chain 
 may remain fufpended in the air without fup« 
 port, than to contend that an infinite number 
 of links may be thus fufpended without any 
 prop to fuftain the whole. It is in vain alfo 
 that Atheifm has urged " that, though indivi- 
 " dual things cannot, yet the Univerfe being 
 ** a " fui generis phenomenon '' may, perhaps, 
 ^' exift without a caufe/' This fuppofition is 
 very nearly allied to the former, and equally ab- 
 furd with it. Doubtlefs, it ought never to have 
 been brought forward by the men, who are 
 moft zealous to repeat it ; fince it is contrary 
 to our univerfal ^ experience, and thus is im- 
 preffed with that characleriftic, which they 
 ihemfelves are ready on all occafions to urge, 
 as decifive againfl Revelation. To prove, 
 however, the abfurdity both of this and the 
 former fuppofition, I need only infifl that each 
 cf them fets itfelf in dired oppofition to that 
 univerfally received maxim, " Nihil eft in toto, 
 
 * Eefidcs, no probable reafon can be affigned for the devia- 
 tion from univeri'al experience here iuppofed ; whereas the con- 
 trary is true with regard to the parts of Revelation which are 
 . oppofed on this ground ; as may at once be feen in the inflances 
 of this kind mentioned in tke following note. 
 
 *^ quod 
 
SERMON V. 183 
 
 «* quod non fuit prius in partibus/' But, in 
 fact, Atheifm, thus fupported, depends folely 
 upon its own alTertion : and this, which is the 
 cafe with it in the inftances at prefent before 
 us, is equally fo in all ''others. It has been 
 juftly ^ remarked that ** the whole ftrength of 
 ** Atheifm conlifts in contradicting the univer- 
 ** fal reafon of mankind : that Atheifts have 
 ** no principle and can have none; and, there- 
 " fore, that they can never reafon, but only 
 ** confidently deny, or affirm". 
 
 By the original Caufe, however, whofe 
 felf-exiftence is thus evinced, I do not mean 
 one who gave exiftence to himfelf : that would 
 make adion antecedent to exiftence: but one» 
 
 * This dependence on afTertlon is evident in all thofe trite 
 aflumptions in favour of Atheifm, which are repeated in Mr» 
 Hume's Dialogues : p. 55 — 70, 94, 115, 125, 130, 166, 189, 
 196, 215, 238 &c. It is eminently the cafe alfo with the objec- 
 tioiis advanced by him againft miracles, and the proofs of the 
 being and attributes of God which are drawn from thence* 
 Thefe objeftions reft for their principal fupport upon this fmgle 
 circumftance, ** that fuch miracles are contrary to experience." 
 —See his eflay on miracles. — They reft, therefore, upon th^.s af- 
 fumption, " that God, who is the freeft of all poflible agents, 
 muft, if he have once aded in an extraordinary manner, go on 
 to ad fo J even when, perhaps, the reafons for fuch extraordi- 
 nary agency have entirely ceafed/' 
 
 Mr. Hume is fo fond of this gratuitous reafoning (if I may 
 fo call it) from our want of experience ; that he not only ufes 
 it to difprove the truth of miracles, but alfo in his dialogues 
 (p. 1 30) to raife doubts concerning the being of God ; and in 
 his EfTay on the immortality of the foul (p. 38) to eftablilh its 
 mortality. 
 
 * See Sherlock on Providence, p- 15* izmo, Ed. 177^* 
 
 who 
 
184 SERMON V. 
 
 who emphatically " hath exiftence in laimfelf/'' 
 or whofe inherent and neceflary attribute it is 
 ^' to exift". That this great Caufe alfo cannot 
 be a material fubflance is evident; iince he 
 muft be both an adlive, and an intelligent Prin- 
 ciple. Without adlivity nothing can be produ- 
 ced ; and, without intelligence, nothing which 
 carries with it defign and final intention. He 
 muft, therefore, be poffeffed of a fpiritual 
 being : and, by whatever name he may fome- 
 times be called, he muft ever be defcribed as 
 an immaterial or fpiritual fubftance. 
 
 It muft be confefTed, indeed, that the ideas 
 v/hicli we can form for ourfelves, of this felf- 
 c^xiftent Spirit, or of God, as we commonly 
 call him, are exceedingly defe6live : but, this 
 by no means evinces that we are not abfolutely 
 certain that there is fuch a Spirit. There is 
 an imm^enfe difference between the proof of 
 his exiftence, and the inveftigation of the na- 
 ture under which he exifts. With regard to 
 the former the loweft and moft imperfed: of 
 rational creatures may abundantly fatisfy him- 
 felf : but the latter cannot be attained by the 
 higheft : no creature can ever be fuppofed ca-- 
 pable of difcovering the effence of a felf-exift- 
 Cut Creator. That among thofe, who have 
 denied the exiftence of God, fome have con- 
 tcflcdly been men of fcience, detradls not in 
 
 the 
 
SERMON V. 185 
 
 the fmalleft degree from the certainty of 
 his exiftence. It is an old obfervation, that 
 * '' nothing is fo abfurd, but that fome phi- 
 " lofopher has afferted it." There have been 
 philofophers in our own age, who have endea* 
 voured ^ at the fame time to difprove the exif- 
 tence of both matter and fpirit : and who, as 
 far as their principles go, have difowned the 
 teftimony of all their fenfes. Befides, it is 
 well known that perverfenefs and affeftation 
 of fingularity often make men of various de- 
 fcriptions bold enough to advance and main- 
 tain opinions, which their own reafon fecretly 
 difavows. 
 
 As proofs of the being of God are deducible 
 from the works of the creation ; fo likewife 
 are proofs of his attributes. The power and 
 wifdom, which are every where difplayed in 
 the different parts of creation, prove him to 
 be pofTefTed in fuch an infinite degree of the 
 natural perfecftions, which are commonly 
 afcribed to him ; and the final intention, dif- 
 coverable in them, enables us to conclude 
 likewife fo irrefiflibly in proof of his moral, as 
 well as his natural attributes i that w^e need 
 only open our eyes and inquire into the things 
 
 •^ Nihil tarn abfurdum eft quod non dixerit aliquis philofo- 
 phorum. Cic. de Nat. Deorum. 
 
 ^ See Hume's Treatife of human nature, or what is faid of 
 it in Beattie's EUay on Truth, p. 258, &c. 
 
 around 
 
i86 SERMON V. 
 
 around us to be convinced of his infinite and 
 univerfal perfe<5lion. Indeed,mankind of ^ every 
 country and every age appear to have been fo 
 fully convinced both of the exiftence and per- 
 fe<5tion of God; that, if this conviftion be not 
 allowed to have arifen from traditions or im- 
 preffions derived from himfelf, and, in either 
 cafe, decifive in our favour; it muft have 
 arifen from the works of creation, and muft 
 add irrefiftible weight to fuch arguments as 
 thofe which have been above ftated. 
 
 It is unneceffary, therefore, for me to dwell 
 longer on this part of my fubjed, and to en- 
 counter the danger of weakening or of obfcu- 
 ring the plain and unanfwerable inferences in 
 proof of the being and attributes of God, 
 which are ^ deducible from the works of crea- 
 tion, by metaphyfical and difputable reafonings 
 
 s *' Ut porro firmilTimum hoc afferri videtur cur decs eKe 
 " credamus, quod nulla gens tarn fera, nemo omnium lam fit 
 ** immanis, cujus mentem non imbuit deorum opinio. Multi 
 '* de diis prava fentiunt : id enim viticfo more effici folet : 
 ** omnes tamen efTe vim et naturam divinam arbitrantur. Nee 
 ** vero id collocutio hominum aut confenfus efficit : non inftitii- 
 " tis opinio eft confirm ata, non legibus, Omni autem in re 
 " confenfio omnium gentium lex naturs putanda eft. 
 
 Cic. Tufc. Qua^ft. lib. i. c. 13. 
 
 Mr. Hume fays in the 2d Vol. of his Effays, p. 429 : " The 
 *' only point of Theology in which we Ihall find a confent of 
 " mankind aimoft univerfal is that there is an invifible intelli- 
 *' gent power in the world.'* 
 
 ^ Archbifliop Seeker's Ledure on this fubjeft is well wor- 
 thy of cur pcruial. See Led. 6Lh. 
 
 a priorL 
 
SERMON V, 187 
 
 a priori. Efpecially too, as the * enemies of 
 our Religion in the prefent age generally con- 
 fult their own charadier fo far, as to admit 
 thefe truths and even to magnify their extraor- 
 dinary and unqueftionable evidence ; thinking, 
 perhaps, to acquire from thence the appearance 
 of candour at leaiT: and impartiality, if not of 
 piety. 
 
 Now that this all-perfed: Creator iliould form 
 the world, which we inhabit, without fome 
 
 * Mr. Hume commences the general corollary at the conclu- 
 Hon of his EfTays (Vol. TI. p. 482.) with thefe words : *' Though 
 •' the ftupidity of men barbarous and uninftructed be fo great 
 ** that they may not fee a fovereign author in the more obvious 
 *' works of nature, to which they are fo much familiarized ; 
 ** yet it fcarce feems pofnble that any one of good underftand- 
 ** ing fhould rejed: the idea, when once it is (uggefted to him. 
 ** A purpofe, an intention, a defign is evident in every thing ; 
 *' and when our comprehenfion is fo far enlarged as to contem- 
 ** plate the firll rife of this vifible fyllem, we muil adopt with 
 '* the ftrongell conviftion the idea of fome intelligent caufe, or 
 ** author." And again, (p. 484) ** What a noble privelege 
 ** is it of human nature to attain the knowlege of the fupreme 
 ** being, and from the vifible works of nature to be enabled to 
 ** infer fo fublime a principle as its fupreme Creator ? " 
 
 Even after Mr. Hume appears in his dialogues on natural 
 Religion to have endeavoured to weaken, if not to fubvert, our 
 belief in the exigence of an infinitely perfefl Creator and go- 
 vernour of the univerfe by a repetition of all the gratuitous af- 
 fumptions of Atheifm., he makes his principal fpeaker profefs : 
 (p. 228) *' that no one has a deeper ienCe of Religion impref- 
 *' fed upon his mind, or pays more profound adoration to the 
 *' divine being as he difcovers himfelf to reafon in the inexpli- 
 " cable contrivance and artifice of nature. A purpofe, an in- 
 " tention, a defign ilrikes every where the molt carelef-!, the 
 ** moil ftupid, thinker, and no man can be fo hardened in ab- 
 ** furd fyltems as at ^11 times to reject it/' 
 
 propofed 
 
i88 SERMON V. 
 
 propofed end is a mofl unreafonable, and ^ 
 blafphemous fuppolition. Every particle of 
 matter, with which we are converfant, is found 
 to be calculated for fome ufeful purpofe : and 
 can we conceive of the whole lefs fuitably to 
 the perfediion of its wonderful Author ? Infinite 
 power and goodnefs never exert themfelves, 
 but under the direction of infinite wifdom. 
 And, therefore, each of thefe attributes muft 
 cooperate with the others in every work of 
 Providence. The world, then, which we 
 inhabit, muft have been created for fome pur- 
 pofe, as worthy of infinite wifdom, as its for- 
 mation was of infinite povv^er and goodnefs. 
 And if it vv^as, what can this purpofe be ? 
 Doubtlefs, not that all the different parts of it 
 fhould rife, flouriih, decay, and perifh, in the 
 fleeting order in which we fee them daily pafs 
 before our eyes. There is nothing (as far as 
 we can perceive) in a fucccffive rotation of cor- 
 ruptible matter, capable, on its own account, 
 of pleafing an eternal and immutable Creator, 
 Nor does the moral world, as it ftands at pre- 
 fent, oifc^r to our contemplation any thing 
 worthy of fo great an Author. A confufed 
 fcene of intemperance, injuftice, and irreligion 
 cannot pleafe his eyes, which are too pure to 
 behold iniquity. It muft argue a thorough ig- 
 norance of mankind, or verv unworthv notions 
 
 of 
 
SERMON V. 189 
 
 of the Deity to fuppofe that he could poffibly 
 create a race of beings merely to ad: on a fleet- 
 ing ftage the inconfiftent and flagitious charac- 
 ters, which are ^commonly difplayed inhuman 
 life, and then to vanifli for ever. Indeed, it 
 exceeds the highefl: powers of man's wifdoni 
 to account for the introduction and permiflion 
 of moral evil ; much lefs can it reconcile this 
 evil with the defignation of an all-perfed: 
 Creator, Befides, whence can it arife that the 
 Deity beholds opprefl^ed virtue and triumphant 
 vice, and lets them pafs at prefent unnoticed 
 by his Omnipotence ? For, though it be al- 
 lowed that the aftions of the befl: men are fo 
 imperfed:, as not to merit any reward 5 yet 
 there is an eflfential difference in the condudt 
 of different men, which requires at the hands 
 of an all-perfed: Governour a proportionable 
 difference in their allotment of happinefs. The 
 fame reafon, therefore, which affures us of the 
 being and attributes of God, affures alfo that 
 he muff have created the world at fir ft, and 
 now ^ preferve it in exiftence, for fome other 
 
 ^ Thucydides, while he fully and admirably defcribes the ini- 
 quity and profligacy of every kind, which broke forth in the 
 feloponnelian war, fays very jullly of thefe evils ; ** ^-^o/Ltj^a /xsy 
 
 Duker's Edit. L. iii. c. 82. p. 217. 
 
 ^ That the Preferver is the fame with the Creator of the 
 
 world is a truth of natural Religion, which may fafely be taken 
 
 for granted, for, whether the Prefervation of it be afcribed to 
 
 qualities. 
 
I90 SERMON V. 
 
 purpofe, than what appears to receive its ac- 
 eompHfhment in this life. 
 
 To attempt to determine by the light of na- 
 ture what this purpofe m.uft be, is neither 
 an indication of a weak, nor of a prefump- 
 tuous mind^ For, though the original circum- 
 ilances, and therefore moft undoubtedly the 
 original deiign, of man's creation can never be 
 known, except by means of fupernatural 
 Revelation; yet the defign of his exiftenee, 
 under the circumftances in which we now fee 
 him, may be proved, from the "" promifcuous 
 diftribution of good and evil in this life, to be 
 no other than to make it preparatory to fome 
 future ftate of recompenfe. For, however 
 confiftent any contrary fuppofition may be with 
 the other attributes of God, this alone will at 
 the fame time vindicate his infinite goodnefs, 
 and juftice in the moral government of the 
 world. 
 
 And if to confecrate (as it were) this un- 
 hallowed mafs to a purpofe worthy of its great 
 Author, and to vindicate at the fame time the 
 
 qualities, imprefTed upon it originally or at fubfequent times ; 
 the effcc5l mull ultimately be afcribed in either cafe to the fam»e 
 great Creator : and, as he is perfeft in fore-knowlege no lefs 
 than in power, the effe&. muft alfo in either cafe be itfelf pre- 
 ciiely the fame. 
 
 " This argument confcantly recurs in Biilicp Sherlock's ad- 
 mirable fermons. 
 
 retributive 
 
SERMON V, 
 
 191 
 
 retributive perfeftions of God, fome ftate of 
 rewards and punifhments muft be defigned 
 hereafter for the human race ; doubtlefs, we 
 may expedl to be informed of an event, in 
 which we are fo effentially concerned, and of 
 the means requifite to convert it to our future 
 happinefs. To this end, indeed, our reafon, 
 in addition to what has been above ftated, may 
 fuggeft arguments drawn from the nature of 
 the human foul and from various other fources ; 
 and may urge, as proofs of the information 
 concerning a future ftate afforded by fach ar- 
 guments, the hopes of reward and the fears of 
 punifhment after death, which " every where 
 indicate in the minds of men the ftrongeft per- 
 fuafion of a future judgement. It may dired: us 
 alfo to virtue, as the only means of fecuring our 
 acceptance with God at that folemn period. But, 
 • — if the Religion recommended by human rea- 
 fon (or natural Religion, as it is called,) can af- 
 ford us no information with regard to the cir- 
 cumftances either of our original or our future 
 ftatc, no means to difcover and enforce a regular 
 code of human duty, and no aiTurance that man's 
 beft, becaufe imperfedl, endeavours will at laft 
 be accepted by God ; — if, alfo, it admits not 
 of thofe external and divine proofs of its truth, 
 
 " See Robertfon's Kill, of Amer. Vol. IT. p. 202, 8vo. Ed. 
 And Seeker's Led. izmo, p. 133, 
 
 which. 
 
192 SERMON V, 
 
 which, though reprobated by * modern unbe- 
 lievers when urged in favour of Chriftianity, 
 have P univerfally of old been deemed efiential 
 to Religion, and have ever had the moft deci- 
 live influence on the minds of men ; — and if, 
 befides, it is confined to the wife and the 
 great ; who will think fo unfatisfadtory and 
 partial a guide the beft, which ought to be ex- 
 pedled by us in that which of all others is infi- 
 nitely the moft important of our concerns ? And 
 farther if, over and above all that has hitherto 
 been faid, or, indeed, that can be faid of the 
 fame kind, we fuppofe that fince human reafon 
 was fir ft given for man's diredlion his under- 
 ftanding has been darkened and his will cor- 
 rupted by fome great deviation from his ori- 
 ginal uprightnefs ; we fhall at once account 
 for the fubfequent deficiency of natural Reli- 
 gion, and be juftified in entertaining ardent, 
 though humble, hopes, that the Deity would 
 be pleafed to communicate to us from him.felf 
 fome '^ Revelation on this moft important fub- 
 
 ° See what Mr. Hume fays on this fubjefl in his Effay on 
 miracles : and fee alfo the very able reply made to him in the 
 text and notes of Dr. White's feventh Bampton-Lefture Ser- 
 mon. 
 
 P This appears from the attempts made by different Heathen 
 legiflators to give fanftion to their religious fyftems by pretend- 
 ed prophefies and miracles. 
 
 'i Mr. Hume himfelf declares at the conclufion of the religi- 
 ous doubts difperfed through his dialogues : *^* That the moft 
 ** natural fentiment, which a well difpofed mind will feel with 
 
 ** regard 
 
SERMON 
 
 193 
 
 jccV, adapted to our ignorance, and infir- 
 mities. 
 
 Now, that fuch a Revelation has actually 
 been communicated, thofe very Heathen na- 
 tions, from which the infufficiency of natural 
 Rehgion is inferred, may ferve to prove. Al- 
 moft ' every one of them has at fome time or 
 other afpired to the importance of having been 
 thus highly favoured by the Deity. And, 
 however, from the number of thefe falfe pre- 
 tenfions, the real Revelation may appear to lole 
 of its credit ; yet thefe ferve rather to prove 
 the truth of * fome one, than to prejudice the 
 general caufe: fmce, wherever we meet with 
 a counterfeit, we naturally conclude that there 
 was an original. Befides, there is no danger 
 of not being able to diftlnguifh between them, 
 when compared together. For, that no Re- 
 velation, except the Chrlftian (of which the 
 
 " regaM to the firft Caufe is a longing defire and expcftatioa 
 ** that Heaven would be pleafed to ciilnpate, at lealt alleviate, 
 •' this profound ignorance by afi'ordi ag fome more particular 
 ** Revelation to mankind and making dilcoveries of the nature 
 ** attributes and operations of the divine obje<5l of our Faith." 
 
 Dialogues on Nat. Rel. p. 263. 
 
 "" In Valerius Maximus — capite zdo. — de fimulata religione, 
 among the pretenders to a divine Revelation, are mentioned 
 Numa Pompilius, Minos, Pifiiliratus, Lycurgus, Zaleucus — &c. 
 
 ^ If the pretenfions to a divine Revelation among the Hea- 
 thens are not to be afcrii)ed to their acquaintance with the 
 writings of Mcfes ; they muil have originated from traditions 
 concerning the Revelations communicated to Noah and the 
 Patriarchs. See Cave's primitive Chriftianity, Vol. I. p. 23, 24, 
 
 O Jewifh 
 
t94 SERMON V. 
 
 Jewifli is the commencement), has the marks, 
 requifite to authenticate a divine commiffion, 
 has been often proved; and it is, indeed, a truth 
 which modern unbeUevers readily admit. They 
 contend that all alike v^ant this recommen- 
 dation. 
 
 But, if it can be proved, that Chriftianity 
 carries with it a remedy for the deficiencies, 
 above pointed out in natural Religion ; if it 
 can be proved, — Firft, that Chriftianity is cal- 
 culated to lead mankind to future happinefs by 
 the complete knowlege, which it conveys to 
 them of themfelves, of their duty and its ob- 
 ligation, and of their attainable acceptance 
 with God; — Secondly, that it was accom- 
 panied with external and divine atteftations of 
 its truth; — and Thirdly, that it is diftinguifhed 
 by its univerfality 5 — if thefe three articles can 
 be proved with regard to Chriftianity, then 
 greater aiTurances of its truth ought not to be 
 required, fmce greater cannot be given : both 
 the internal and external evidences of our Re- 
 ligion will evince it to be a divine Revelation; 
 both the moral and natural attributes of God 
 will vouch for its truth. 
 
 To prove the firft of thefe three articles we 
 xHced only have recourfe to thofe books, in 
 which the doftrines of our Religion are con- 
 tained. We Ihall there find fuch information 
 
 given 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 195 
 
 given concerning mankind, fuch rules laid 
 down for their diredion, and fuch provifion 
 made for their happinefs ; as muft abundantly 
 fupply all their deficiences of knowlege in 
 thefe important refpefts : and fuch, as their 
 own wifdom in its deepeft refearches could 
 never fhadow out. 
 
 Without any parade of philofophy, without 
 any deduftions from fallible reafoning, *the 
 creation of man, his trial, difobedience, and 
 corruption are unfolded in the holy Scriptures 
 with the moft inftruftive plainnefs. In the 
 fame Scriptures alfo, and with the fame un- 
 adorned excellence, the intention of his prefent 
 exiftence, and the genera! circumftances of 
 that ftate, in which he is to exift hereafter, 
 are awfully impreffed upon us. Such intuitive 
 knowlege (if I may fo call it) is difclofed con- 
 cerning all that relates to mankind, as Omni- 
 fcience alone could poffefs : and fuch unafFed:ed 
 limplicity is difplayed in the narration, as be- 
 longs to him only, who is uninfluenced by. the 
 little vanities of finite wifdom. 
 
 Nor does any lefs manifeftation of the fame 
 divine excellencies charadlerize, and qualify 
 for general ufe, thofe didlates of our Religion, 
 which are calculated to reform the human 
 mind by direfting it properly with regard to 
 
 ^ See the firft Sermon. 
 
 O 2 its 
 
196 SERMON V. 
 
 its duty. To difcover a few truths amidll: a 
 variety of errors appears to have been the ut- 
 mofl: proficiency of reafon : and a fingle wife 
 faying, notwithftanding a thoufand inconfif- 
 tencies and contradidions, has been enough to 
 conflitute a philofopher. But in Chrift Jefus 
 there is no variablenefs nor ihadow of turning. 
 In his inflrudiions all is alike the refult of un- 
 erring excellence. Being poifeffed of all the 
 *^ treafures of wifdom and knowlege, and being, 
 moreover, himfelf the great example propofed 
 for the imitation of mankind, he neither drew 
 his inflrudions from any difputable reafonings, 
 nor from any oftentatious difplay of virtue in 
 others ; but, from his own univerfal perfeft- 
 ion. Knowing whence thofe things proceed 
 which defile a man, he made not human duty 
 to depend upon outward appearances; but pre- 
 pared for it a folid foundation in "^ internal pu- 
 rity, and a reward efi"entially different from 
 every human motive: ''** Blefied, fays he, arc 
 '^ the pure in heart for they ihall fee God". 
 A reward, to which enlightened reafon muft 
 ever look forward, as to the higheft perfection 
 of created beings : but, which was to be pro- 
 pofed by him only who came forth from the 
 bofom of God. Accordingly, that internal 
 
 « Col. ii. 3. 
 
 ^ Matt. XV. 10 — 20. Luke vl. 45. 
 
 » Matt. V. 8. 
 
 purity 
 
SERMON V. 197 
 
 purity, which immediately leads to the perfeft- 
 ion of man's duty with regard to himfelf, is 
 explicitly enjoined him and is made alfo the 
 '' foundation of his duty with regard to his 
 neighbour and his God. Our great Redeemer 
 and Lawgiver was not content merely to regu- 
 late the adtions of mankind towards each other. 
 ' Every felfifh, arrogant, and revengeful paffion, 
 for which either civil policy or vicious cuftom 
 had procured a fandlion, was added to the 
 Chriftian catalogue of fins. It is from thefe 
 tumultuous impulfes, as experience convinces 
 us, that all our vices and mifery arife. But 
 thefe the light of nature had not penetration 
 or courage enough openly to arraign. While, 
 therefore, the caufe remained in full force, it 
 ought not to furprife us that the effedt was not 
 diminifhed. In their room Chriftianity com- 
 mands us to fubftitute * univerfal love, hum- 
 blenefs, and forgivenefs of injuries; as difpo- 
 fitions beft fuited to our own infirmities, and 
 moft acceptable in his fight, *« who bringeth 
 ** down the mighty from their feat and exalteth 
 ** the humble and meek." Such inward virtues, 
 unknown or untaught by natural Religion, 
 Chriftianity lays down as the foundation of 
 
 y Matt. XV. 1 8, 19. J.imes iii. 17. 
 "^ Matt. V. 22, &c. I John iii. 15. 
 * Luke vi. 27, &c. 
 
 O 3 happinefs 
 
198 SERMON V. 
 
 happlnefs to the human foul ; and commands 
 us to praftife them univerfally. It commands 
 us to learn of him, who was ^ meek and 
 lowly in heart, and we fhall find reft to 
 our fouls. It commands us, after his great ex- 
 ample, to extend our benevolence to all man- 
 kind ; to "" love even our enemies ; to blefs 
 thofe, that curfe us ; to do good to fuch, as 
 hate us ; and to pray for thofe, who defpite- 
 fully ufe and perfecute us : teaching us by a new 
 commandment that the great caufes of doing ill 
 to others were to be fupplanted by a principle of 
 unlimited benevolence ; and that all injurious 
 diftinftions of different countries, interefts, and 
 aifed;ions, were to be done away by extended 
 and univerfal charity. The unlearned fon of a 
 carpenter (as his countrymen infultingly ftiled 
 him) not only at once lays a folid foundation 
 for the moft perfed: fyftem of morality : but, 
 a Jew (felfifli as the Jews were efteemed) is 
 the firft to teach the philanthropifts of the 
 Heathen world lefTons of univerfal love. Rea- 
 fon, indeed, may now affure us that no other 
 principle can make men happy here, or qualify 
 them to enjoy their own and each other's hap- 
 pinefs hereafter. But, God is love, and the 
 original propagation of this dodlrine proceeded 
 from him alone. To fpecify all the great and 
 
 ^ Matt. xi. 29. <' Matt. v. 44. 
 
 particular 
 
SERMON V. 199 
 
 particular duties with regard to ^ God and his 
 fervice, no lefs than with regard to man, which 
 are enjoined as efFedts of the purification of 
 our hearts ; the occafions, on which they are 
 inculcated; the exadnefs with which they are 
 proportioned to our ^ abilities ; and the condef- 
 cenlion, with which they are impreffed upon 
 the underftandings of the ^ poor and ignorant, 
 would perhaps at prefent rather confound than 
 inform the mind, and call off its attention 
 from the wonderful fimplicity, with which 
 they are all made to center in a few rules of 
 eafy recollection and univerfal application. 
 The Chriftian's religious duties are all fummed 
 up in that lincere love of God ; which origi- 
 nates in internal purity, difplays itfelf towards 
 him in Faith and devotion, and is exerted with 
 ^ all our heart, with all our foul, with all our 
 mind, and with all our ftrength. And with 
 regard to our neighbour we are enjoined, by an 
 appeal to our own inmoft deiires, to ^love him 
 as ourfelves. On thefe two commands * hung 
 all the law and the prophets : and on thefe 
 the Chriftian's duties are exprefsly made to 
 depend. 
 
 ^ John iv. 24 — James iv. 8. 
 
 * Luke xxi. 3. 
 
 *" See the whole of our Saviour's Sermon on the mount, 
 
 s Luke X. 27. 
 
 ^ Matt, xxii, 39. * Matt. xxii. 40. 
 
 And 
 
20O SERMON V. 
 
 And as the Gofpel-rules of human duty 
 were not the refult of any difputable reafon- 
 ings ; {o Ukewife the obhgation, by which 
 they are enforced, is not expofed to the vain 
 cavils of man's wifdom. The obfervation of 
 them was not recommended from the fitnefs 
 of things, that eternal fubjeft of difpute among 
 philofophers. Confiftent with whatever can 
 properly be conceived to conftitute the fixed 
 and unalterable laws of virtue and vice, they 
 are, notwithftanding, ^ enjoined as the com- 
 mands of an all-perfed: God ; and are to be 
 ^obeyed by us for his fake, and with a view 
 to his glory : a Motive, which fandifies our 
 whole conduct, and at the fame time extends 
 its influence to our inmoft fouls, bringing un- 
 der the cognizance of Omnifcience thofe fecret 
 thoughts, which are the fources of all our 
 ad:ions, and which it is the great defign of 
 the Chriftian law univerfally to purify and di- 
 red: to that fupreme being, who is to be their 
 firft, their principal, and their unceafmg objeft. 
 
 ^ ** Thus faith the Lord" is the authority, under which the 
 writers of the Old Teflament delivered thnr inflruftions. In the 
 NewTeftament alfo our blefTed Saviour either fpeaks authorita- 
 tively in his own name, as in Matt. v. and other parts of his 
 fermon on the Mount, fee Matt. vii. 2g ; or in the name of the 
 Father, on the doing of whofe will our falvation is explicitly 
 made to depend : fee John v. 43, and Mat:, vii. 21. 
 
 * I John iii. 17. 1 Cor. x. 31. 
 
 And 
 
SERMON V. 201 
 
 And while the terrors of almighty and eter- 
 nal vengeance are denounced in the moft ex- 
 plicit language againft obflinate Irreligion ; fuch 
 "* rewards are infured in a future ftate to fin- 
 cere, though imperfed:, obedience, as the heart 
 of the wifeft and beft man cannot adequately 
 conceive. And if there be any one circum- 
 ftance in Chriftianity beyond all others, which 
 requires our grateful admiration of the divine 
 goodnefs -, it fliines forth in the provifion made 
 by this holy Religion for the future, and eter- 
 nal happinefs of mankind, and in the af- 
 ffurance, which it conveys to us of our at- 
 tainable acceptance with God. Human reafon 
 (as I have endeavoured to fhow) may adduce 
 irrefragable arguments in proof of the Being 
 and Perfedion of God, and of the certainty of 
 a future ftate : but, it can afford us no fatis- 
 faftion concerning the means, by which fallen 
 and, notwithftanding their beft endeavours, 
 finful creatures can be rendered fo plealing in 
 the fight of an all-holy Judge, as to be ac- 
 cepted by him and made heirs of eternal life. 
 Our fatisfadion in this important refpedt muft 
 be entirely derived from the Chriftian Reve- 
 lation. Under Chriftian ity the fame all-per- 
 fed: Redeemer, who has vouchfafed to diredl 
 us in the fulieft manner with regard to our 
 
 *" I Cor. ii. 9, 
 
 duty 
 
202 SERMON V, 
 
 duty, has " vouchfafed alfo to provide a coun- 
 terpoife to all the temptations of our fplritual 
 enemies in the influence of the Holy Ghoft, 
 and a refuge for our imperfeftions in his own 
 merits. Through his all-powerful atonement 
 and interceffion we are thus both aflrfted in the 
 performance of our duty, and at all times afTured 
 of acceptance and eternal happinefs with our 
 offended God upon that iincere repentance and 
 faith, which neceffarily carry with them a re- 
 formation of life. Our reafon may admire; 
 but it has no pov/ers of its own either to 
 inveftigate, or to confirm, fuch an amazing- 
 proof of the riches of the goodnefs of God. 
 Infidels too may feoff at their Redemption, 
 and in their own perfons evince how un- 
 worthy man may be of fuch tranfcendent 
 mercy : but the more they deride this ad 
 of mercy, the more fully do they prove, 
 that what fo far exceeds man's reafon could 
 never have originated in his invention. Of the 
 fame perfed: kind, however, with this inflance 
 of divine mercy are all the other Scriptural 
 reprefentations of the divine attributes. And, 
 though unbelief and the deceitfulnefs of fin 
 may harden men's hearts ; yet they, who come 
 to the perufal of the holy Scriptures with the 
 ordinary feelings of humanity, will find, 
 
 " See the firll Sermon. 
 
 among 
 
/ SERMON V. 203 
 
 among the means ufed by the infplred writers 
 to inftrudt and reform mankind, fuch endear- 
 ing evidence of God's goodnefs, fuch alarming 
 inftances of his juftice, and defcriptions of 
 him, in every refped: fo corroborative of the 
 moft perfect ideas v^hich v^e can form for our- 
 felves of the Divine Being and fo tranfcend- 
 ently fuperior to them, as, from a mixture of 
 pleafure, awe, and reverence, cannot fail to 
 convey to the mind a moft fatisfaftory proof 
 of the divine origin of Chriftianity; and fuch as 
 cannot fail at the fame time to convince every 
 candid inquirer, that there is nothing either in 
 the mercy or in the judgement, difcoverable in 
 the Scripture-account of the atonement made 
 for man's tranfgreffion, which does not en- 
 tirely coincide with that idea of the all-perfed: 
 God, which Revelation fo varioufly and fo 
 confiftently fupports. 
 
 That this defcription of the internal confti- 
 tution of our Religion is not exaggerated, the 
 converfion of ** unbelievers into zealous defend- 
 ers of Chriftianity from the fole force of its 
 internal evidences may ferve to prove. From 
 other unbelievers, lefs capable of convidiion 
 and who had perhaps lefs impartially weighed 
 the fubjed:, the fame evidences have extorted 
 confeflions, which refled: as much difgrace on 
 
 ° See Soame Jenyns's internal evidences. 
 
 their 
 
204 SERMON V. 
 
 their own unbelief, as credit on our holy Re- 
 ligion. *' I will confefs " (fays a celebrated 
 ^foreigner in his treatife on education) <^ that 
 " the niajefly of the Scriptures ftrikes me 
 *' with admiration, as the purity of the Gofpel 
 *^ hath its influence on my heart. Perufe the 
 " works of the philofophers with all their 
 *' pomp of didlion, how mican, how contempt- 
 " ible are they, compared with the Scriptures ? 
 ** Is it poffible that a book at once fo fimple 
 " and fo fublime fliould be merely the work 
 " of man ? — It is more inconceivable that a 
 *' number of perfons fliould agree together to 
 " write fuch a book, than that one only fhould 
 ** furnifh the fubjed: of it. The Jews were 
 *' incapable of the didion and ftrangers to the 
 *^ morality contained in the Gofpel : the proofs 
 '* of whofe truth are fo ftriking and inimitable 
 *' that the inventor would be a much more 
 *' ^ aflonifhing charad:er, than the hero.'' 
 What ftronger proof can we have of the in- 
 confiftency of man's wifdom, and of the im- 
 
 P RoufTeauin his Emilius, Vol. III. p. 136, and 139. Engl. 
 Edit. 1767. 
 
 "^ Roufieau here afcrlbes that very characSleriiHc to the internal 
 evidences of our Religion, without being convinced of its divine 
 origin, which Hume fays would command his Faith in its mi- 
 racles : " if, fays the latter, the falmood of the tellimony would 
 *' be more miraculous, than the event which it relates ; then;, 
 ** and not till then, can it pretend to command my Faith,'* 
 E/Tays Vol. II. p. 130. 
 
 poffibility 
 
SERMON V. 205 
 
 poflibility of converting a felf-fufficient phi- 
 lofopher, than fuch declarations from a profef- 
 fed unbeliever ? Who would not rather exped: 
 that a Religion, which contains within itfelf 
 fuch unqueftionable evidence of its divine ori- 
 gin, fhould not have any one learned adverfary, 
 than that the author himfelf of the above de- 
 clarations fliould be of that number ? 
 
 We have feen, then, that Chriftianity was 
 calculated to lead mankind to future happinefs 
 by the complete knowlege, which it conveys to 
 them of themfelves, of their duty and its obli- 
 gation, and of their attainable acceptance with 
 God. In the next difcourfe I (hall proceed to 
 the conlideration of the two remaining articles 
 by which I was to prove that our Religion is 
 a divine Revelation. 
 
SERMON VL 
 
 I PET. III. 15. 
 
 Be ready always to give an a72fwer to every 
 man, that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you* 
 
 IN fpeaking concerning the arguments addu- 
 cible in proof of the truth of our Rehgion, 
 and confequently concerning the anfwer, which 
 we may give from thence with regard to the 
 Hope that is in us, I was to content my- 
 felf with attempting to ftate compendioufly, 
 in the two difcourfes appropriated to this part 
 of my fubjecl, fuch among the more important 
 of them, as commencing with the being and at- 
 tributes of God are fufficient regularly to prove 
 the credibility of a divine Revelation, and ta 
 fhow that Chriftianity by its internal and exter- 
 nal evidences evinces itfelf to be in reality fuch 
 a Revelation. Accordingly, in the firft of thefe 
 difcourfes, having finiihed what relates to the 
 being and attributes of God and the credibility 
 
 of 
 
2o8 S E R M O N VI. 
 
 of a divine Revelation, I propofed to prove that 
 Chriflianity is fiich a Revelation by ihov/ing 
 that it carries with it a remedy for thofe 
 deficiencies in natural Religion, which fer- 
 ved to eftabliih the general credibility of a 
 divine Revelation ; namely, by fhowing — 
 Firft, that Chriflianity is calculated to lead 
 mankind to future happinefs by the complete 
 knowlege, which it conveys to them of them- 
 felves, of their duty and its obligation, and of 
 their attainable acceptance with God; — Se- 
 condly, that it was accompanied with external 
 and divine atteftations of its truth; — and 
 Thirdly, that it is diftinguifhed by its univer- 
 fality : and having propofed this, I at the fame 
 time went through the firft of thefe articles. 
 I ihall now, therefore, proceed to the two re- 
 maining articles : and v/hen I have fhown that 
 Chriftianity was accompanied with external 
 and divine atteftations of its truth, and alfo 
 that it is diftinguifhed by its univerfality, I 
 Ihall finifh this head with the conclufion, which 
 naturally follows from the different parts of it, 
 and with a few fuitable obfervations. 
 
 The external and divine atteftations, to be 
 expefted in confirmation of a divine Revela- 
 tion, can be no greater, perhaps no other, 
 than prophefies and miracles. In the difplay 
 of thefe the attributes of Omnifcience and 
 Omnipotence are exerted. 
 
 With 
 
SERMON VI. 209 
 
 With regard to the prophefies, recorded in 
 the Scriptures, they refpecft contingencies too 
 wonderful for the powers of man to conjedture, 
 or to effed:. Many of thofe, which are found 
 in the Old Teftament, foretold unexpefted 
 changes in the diftribution of earthly power. 
 And whether they foretold the fall of flourifh- 
 ing cities, or the ruin of mighty empires; the 
 * event has minutely correfponded with the 
 predidion. Nor were they delivered with that 
 latitude of expreffion, which charafterized, 
 and fheltered from deted:ion, the impofitions 
 of Heathen oracles. Some of them on the 
 contrary were fo particular, and fo remarkably 
 pointed to their objedl; that Porphyry, by a 
 new method of aflaulting Revelation, fet him- 
 felf to prove the literal accomplifhment of 
 Daniel's prophefies ; and from their circum- 
 ftantial minutenefs boldly inferred that they 
 muft be the forgery of fome ^ later age, in 
 oppofition to all the demonftrative proofs of 
 their antecedent exiftence. So differently did 
 Porphyry think of Scripture-prophefy from the 
 modern hlftorian, who farcaftically attempts 
 to difcredit the evidences of our Religion by 
 
 ^ See Bifhop Newton on the prophefies. 
 
 ^ See Grotius de Veritate Chrill. Rel. 1. i. c. 17. — Pri- 
 deaux's Connedtions, Vol. i. p. 128. Fol. and Lardner's Jew- 
 ilh and Chriltian tellimonics, Vol. HI. p. 133, Sec, — 410 Ed, 
 
 P calling 
 
2IO S E R M O N VI. 
 
 calling a predidion of later times ^ *^ a rare 
 " prediftion, becaufe the ftyle was unambi- 
 ** guous and the date unqueftionable/' 
 
 But, the great objedt of the prophefies of 
 the Old Teftament is the Redemption of 
 mankind. This, as foon as Adam's fall had 
 made it neceflary, the mercy of God was 
 pleafed to foretell. And, as the time for its 
 accomplifliment drew nearer, the predictions 
 concerning it became gradually fo clear and 
 determinate, as to mark out with hiftori- 
 cal precifion almoft every ^ circumftance in the 
 life and charafter of infinitely the moft extra- 
 ordinary Pcrfonage, that ever appeared among 
 men. Any one of thefe predictions is fufficient 
 to indicate a prefcience more than human. But 
 the collective force of all taken too-ether is 
 
 o 
 
 fuch, that nothing more can be neceffary to 
 prove the interpofition of Omnifcience, than 
 the eftablifhment of their authenticity. And 
 this, even at fo remote a period as the prefent, 
 is placed beyond all doubt. The books, in 
 which they are contained, are known to have 
 been tranflated into different languages and 
 difperfed into different parts, long before the 
 coming of Chrift. It is abfurd, therefore, to 
 fuppofe that any forgery with regard to them^ 
 
 « Gibbon's Hiftory, Vol V. p. 570. 
 ^ See the firft Sermon, 
 
SERMON VI. 211 
 
 if attempted by the firft Chriftians, fhould not 
 have been immediately dete6led : and ftill more 
 abfurd, if poffible, to fuppofe that any paf- 
 fages thus forged fliould afterwards have been 
 admitted univerfally into their Scriptures by 
 the Jews themfelves, who, from the firft appli- 
 cation of thefe prophefies to our bleffed Saviour, 
 have endeavoured by every ^ method to pervert 
 their meaning. Surely, had the prophefies in 
 queftion not been found at that time in the wri- 
 tings, to which the firft propagators of Chrif- 
 tianity appealed ; the Jews needed only produce 
 thofe writings to refute the impofition : and 
 fince no refutation of this kind was then at- 
 tempted, it was a demonftration to the men of 
 that age; and the fame prophefies, being uni- 
 verfally found there now without the poflibility 
 of accounting for it if they were forged, con- 
 vey in all reafon as forcible a demonftration to 
 ourfelves at prefent ; that they were written 
 there from the beginning, and unqueftionably 
 
 * Among other methods they have even dared to mutilate 
 jind corrupt various pafTagcs of their own Scriptures. Of thefe 
 I may mention Zach. xii. lo. and Pf. xxii. i6 : in the firfl of 
 which paffages Jehovah fays in Zachariah/* they fhall look upon 
 me whom they have pierced," and in the laft the Pfalmifl fayg 
 in the perfon of the Meffiah, *' they pierced my Hands and my 
 feet ;" and both have been altered by the Jews fmce the appli- 
 cation of them to our bleffed Saviour. See on this fubjeft, and 
 on the fixteen other places which were altered by the Scribes, 
 Pearfon on the Creed p, 201. 5 th Edit. 
 
 P2 by 
 
212 S E R M O N VL 
 
 by no other than the finger of God. 
 
 Nor are the prophefies of the NewTeftament 
 lefs evidently the infpiration of Omnifcience.To 
 fay nothing of our hleffed Saviour's predidlions 
 concerning himfelf and the propagation of his 
 ReUgion, nor of thofe which relate to the fu- 
 ture condition of the Church; the prediftions, 
 which refpe(ft the Jews, and which are com- 
 mon to the New as well as to the Old Tefta- 
 ment, of which fome have long fmce been 
 accompliihed and others are every day receiving 
 their accomplifhment before our eyes, abun- 
 dantly prove the divine origin of the Gofpel- 
 pi-ophefy. The deftruftion of Jerufalem with 
 its unparalleled circumftances of horror is not 
 more clearly recorded by Jofephus, than it is 
 foretold by Daniel and by our blefled Saviour. 
 Nor did our bleffed Saviour foretell only in the 
 moft ^definite language the deftru6lion of Je- 
 rufalem, and particularly that not one ^ ftone 
 of the Temple fhould be left upon another; he 
 exprefsly foretold alfo that Jerufalem thus de- 
 ftroyed fhould be ^ trodden down of the Gen- 
 tiles, till the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled : 
 while the Jews themfelves were to be carried 
 away captive into all lands ; and, according to 
 the denunciation of their great lawgiver, were 
 
 ' Matt. xvi. 28. s Mark xiii. 2. ^ Luke xxl. 24. 
 
 to 
 
SERMON VI. 21 
 
 ^ 
 
 to become an ' allonifhment, a proverb, and a 
 bye-word. Now that this has adlually been 
 the cafe with the Jews without intermifiion 
 from the days of Titus and Adrian to the 
 prefent time, every hiftorian informs us . that 
 it is fo now, we fee and know. Nor is this 
 all. Whatever their own diftinguifhed af- 
 fedlion for their Religion and country could 
 fuggeft, and whatever infidelity and hatred of 
 Chriftianity could help forward in their fa- 
 vour, was in vain tried to defeat thefe prophe- 
 fies. The apoftate Julian, an emperour qua- 
 lified for the attempt in riches, power, and 
 falafphemous audacioufnefs, collefts this vaga- 
 bond people from all countries, and leads them 
 on by his favourite Alyplus to rebuild their 
 temple. Every human power cooperates with 
 them, every difficulty appears to have vanifhed. 
 When on a fudden the work was broken up 
 with terror and precipitation : and an enter- 
 prife, of which the execution was fo zealoufly 
 defired and fo powerfully fupported, was at 
 once deferted. As the influence of human 
 means was entirely engaged in its favour ; the 
 mifcarriage of it mull be afcribed to fuperna- 
 tural interpofition. What this was we are in- 
 formed by ^ contemporary and other writers, 
 
 * Deut. xxviii. 37, 
 
 ^ See in Whitby's general preface an enumeration of the ear- 
 ly authors who have written on this fubjeft, p, 28. 
 
 P 3 Sozomen^ 
 
^14 S E R M O N VI. 
 
 and particularly by Ammianns MarcelHnus, 
 whofe teftimony, as a Pagan, a philofopher, 
 and a bofom-friend of the apoftate Prince, in- 
 fidelity would readily and fully ^ admit, were 
 it not before-hand apprifed of its contents. 
 He declares that *"" horrid balls of fire, break- 
 ** ing out near the foundation with frequent 
 
 Sozomen, after a particular relation of the miraculous defeat 
 of Julian's attempt, fays of this defeat, *' xa; t«to 'zrpoj 'srccvroj» 
 *' ocoiujg T^Bfirxi, T£ KXi luii-iveron, x«» 'Ojcc^ iihvo(; ajU.<pt^a^£Tai'* Hill. 
 Eccl. 1. V. C. 22. 
 
 Mr. Moyle fays on the fubjefl, " I am loth I confefs to reje£l 
 '^ all the miracles fmce the days of the Apoftles for the fajce of 
 •* a very remarkable one, which happened at the rebuilding of 
 *' Jerufalem under Julian ; which is fo extraordinary in all its 
 ** circumftances and fo fully attefted by all the Chriftian and the 
 " Heathen hillorians of that age, that I do not fee with what 
 5* forehead any man can queltion the truth of it." 
 
 Thundering Legion, Works, Vol. II p. loi. 8vo. 
 
 In the fam.e manner, though Jortin doubts of the truth of all 
 the other miracles, which are reported to have been performed 
 after the commencement of the fecond century, he fays of this ; 
 •' The Hory of Julian's defeated attempt to rebuild the Jewiih 
 " temple is, after every allowance has been made, as well at- 
 " telled as we could reafonably expedl. The tellimony of Chrif- 
 *' tian writers on the fubjedl being confined by Marceliinus, by 
 '* Jewiih writers, and perhaps by fome palTages in Julian's Epif- 
 '* ftles, and by this circumllance over and above, that it ap- 
 " peals to a fa(ft which every one might go and fee with his 
 ** own eyes." 
 
 Rem. on Eccl. Hill. Vol. III. p. 380. 
 
 But Bilhop Warburton's full and learned defence of this mi- 
 racle in his ** Julian" is well known, and is fufficient to fuper* 
 fede the neceiTity of any farther vindication of it. 
 
 ^ See Warburton's Julian, p. 46, 47. 
 
 " Marcellinus's words on the occafion are " metuendi glo- 
 «' bi flammarum, prope fundamenta crebris adfultibus erumpen- 
 *' tcs, fecere locum exullis aliquoties operantibus inacceilum, 
 ** hocque modo, elemento deftinatius repellente, celTavit inccep- 
 •« turn." L, xxiii. p. 412. Edit. 1588. 
 
 *' and 
 
SERMON VI. 215 
 
 " and reiterated attacks, rendered the place 
 *^ from time to time inacceflible to the fcorch- 
 ** ed and blafted workmen, and that the vic- 
 '* torious element continuing in this manner 
 ** obflinately bent, as it were, to repell their 
 *' attempts, the enterprife was given over.'* 
 To oppofe the very fmgular evidence, by 
 which this fad: is recommended to our beHef, 
 requires a more determined fpirit of contra- 
 diction than is always to be afcribed to infide- 
 lity. Mr. Gibbon allows that " ^^ the enter- 
 ** prife was defeated, perhaps, by a preterna- 
 *' tural event." 
 
 But we cannot wonder if the evidence 
 on this occafion, which muft be refpefted 
 even by our adverfaries and which is al- 
 lowed at times to have fome influence with 
 them, Ihould, notwithilanding, not have a 
 full and converting influence on their hearts; 
 when we find that they are not to be converted 
 by the powerful arguments in favour of our 
 Religion, which arife from the prefent ftate of 
 the Jewifh nation and which immediately apply 
 to their own fenfes. Who among our modern 
 unbelievers has not an opportunity of feeing 
 with his own eyes the wonderful completion 
 of the Scripture-prophefies with regard to the 
 Jews ? Who among them may not with his 
 
 » Gibbon's Hifl. Vol. II. p. 388, 389, 
 
 own 
 
2i6 SERMON \L 
 
 own eyes fee. In this people, a body of men, 
 providentially preferved to this very day in a 
 ftate of punifhment and a ftateTeparation from 
 all others ; religious, yet deriving no bleffing 
 from God; peaceable, yet fecure of no pro- 
 te(flion among men ; defpifed and perfecuted 
 during feventeen hundred years as a nation, 
 yet ever zealous of their national diftindlions ; 
 abounding in riches, yet, contrary to the 
 known influence of riches, deftitute of a fet- 
 tled place where to enjoy them ; and, as if 
 they v/ere exprefsly intended by the Almighty 
 for the converfion of thofe who will not be- 
 lieve except they themfelves fee a fign from 
 heaven, fcattered over every country and ob- 
 vious to the fenfes of every unbeliever ? 
 
 The miracles, which are adducible in vin- 
 dication of the divine origin of Chriftianity as 
 v^ell from the Old as the New Teftament, 
 and which conftitute its other external and di- 
 vine proof, were of fuch a nature as to pre- 
 clude all poffibility of forgery. Every indivi- 
 dual in the Jewiih nation was prefent at the 
 time when the great miracles, recorded in the 
 Pentateuch, were performed. Every one of 
 them muft have ken the wonders performed 
 in Egypt; have feen the waters of the red 
 Sea retire on either iide, as on an heap, to af- 
 ford them a paflage ; have heard the voice of 
 
 God 
 
SERMON VL 217 
 
 God from mount Sinai ; and fenfibly have ex- 
 perienced the continued miracles wrought for 
 ** their fuftenance and the prefervation of their 
 raiment during forty years in the wildernefs. 
 No one at that time could poffibly deceive 
 them in fuch matters. The connedlion, which 
 thefe miracles had with their law, may ferve 
 alfo to prove that they were not thus deceived 
 by any fubfequent forgery. For, though we 
 fhould for a moment fuppofe the whole Jewifh 
 nation to have been more abfurdly credulous, 
 than ever an individual was known to be in 
 any other; and that immediately upon the pro- 
 pagation of fuch a forgery they might admit 
 at once the truth of thefe miracles (however 
 unfupported by traditional hiftory) ; yet furely 
 they could not be fo ftupidly paffive in the ad- 
 miffion of a law, which was burthenfome and 
 intolerable. Their own, as well as their fa- 
 thers' experience muft convid: the impoftor, 
 who firft enjoined the fictitious code as the an- 
 cient and divine conftitution of their nation, 
 and with it they would undoubtedly have re- 
 jeded alfo the miracles, which were infidioufly 
 defigned for its confecration. Befides, the 
 Jews are repeatedly commanded in their law 
 itfelf, " ^to teach the things therein contained 
 
 * Deut. viii. 2, 3, 4, p Deut. vi. 7, 8, 9. 
 
 " to 
 
2i8 SERMON VL 
 
 *^ to their children ; to talk of them when they 
 ** fat in their houfes, v/hen they walked by the 
 *^ way, when they lay vlown, and when they 
 *^ rofe up ; to bind them for a fign upon their 
 ** hand ; to make them as frontlets between 
 " their eyes ; to write them upon the pofts of 
 " their houfes and upon their gates." Thefe 
 commands are immediately ^ calculated to pre- 
 clude any impofition of later ages ; and tend in 
 conjund;ion with the preceding circumftances 
 to demonftrate that neither the time, nor the 
 manner, in which the law is faid to have been 
 delivered, was of man's 'invention. Indeed, the 
 tranfaftions recorded in the Pentateuch are re- 
 ferred to by all the fubfequent writers among 
 the Jews in language, fo limply and convin- 
 cingly declarative of their divine truth; and 
 the impreffion, which they made on the minds 
 of the people, was fo forcible ; that no tranfac- 
 tions appear to have been ever received by any 
 nation with fuch univerfal and immoveable af- 
 fent. Jeroboam and the other deferters of the 
 Jewiih worfhip before the ' Babyloniih capti- 
 vity, and the fceptical Sadducees after it, dared 
 not deny the truth of the Pentateuch. But, 
 
 ^ See Jenkin's Reafonablenefs of Chrillianity. Vol. I. c. 6, 
 ' See Shuckford's Connection, Vvol. III. p. 350 — 399. 
 ^ This captivity was not extended to all the people of the 
 jews for any period of more than hfty years together, 
 
 in 
 
SERMON VI. 219 
 
 ia reality, the Jews were fo far from being 
 (what they were generally accounted by the 
 Heathen world) the moil credulous of all na- 
 tions ; that they appear to have been the re- 
 verfe. It cannot be matter of wonder that 
 men, who had debafed their natural notions of 
 Religion by the moft fuperftitious idolatry, 
 fhould charge every worfhipper of the invifible 
 God with credulity. But if we confult the 
 hiftory of the Jews, where alone we can ex- 
 pert to meet with their true charader ; we 
 fhall find them to have been the moft ftifF- 
 necked people, and that from the beginning 
 they always refifted the Holy Ghoft. This 
 obftinacy might, probably, be one reafon why 
 the miracles, calculated for the confirmation 
 of their Religion, were performed in a manner 
 fo public and unexceptionable. But, certainly, 
 we have at the fame time to acknowlege ano- 
 ther moft gracious reafon for the publick noto- 
 riety of the miracles, recorded both in the 
 Pentateuch, and other * parts of the Jewifh 
 Scriptures : fmce it has fupplied fucceeding 
 ages with irrefragable arguments in vindica- 
 tion of the divine origin of our Religion. 
 
 * Particularly thofe performed by Jofhua, Samuel, and Eli- 
 jah ; and the continued miracle exhibited by the Cloud which 
 refted over the Mercy-Seat in the old temple. See, concerning 
 this cloud, Pfideaux's Connection, Vol. I. p. 119. Fol. Edit. 
 
 Of 
 
220 SERMON VI. 
 
 Of the fame incontrovertible notoriety alfo 
 were the miracles of the Nev/ Teftament. 
 They were not done in a corner. Every one 
 had full liberty to pry into their genuinenefs : 
 and yet the moft malicious enemies of our Sa- 
 viour and his Apoflles never pretended at the 
 time of their performance to difcover any im- 
 pofition in them. Nor was the teftimony of 
 thofe, who afterwards flood, forth to vouch 
 for their truth lefs publick, or lefs unexception- 
 able, than the miracles themfelves. Every 
 martyr, among the iirft preachers of Chrift- 
 ianity, demonftrates their reality by his death. 
 For what, but the known tmth of thefe won- 
 derful events, made them lay down their lives 
 for a Religion, of which thefe were an efTential 
 fupport ; and often the immediate " caufe of 
 their own fufFerings ? That they were com- 
 petent witnefTes on the occafion, however poor 
 and illiterate, their fituation with refped: to 
 thefe miracles and the nature of the tranfadlions 
 themfelves fully evince. Thefe miracles were 
 all objecSs of fenfe, and required no depth of 
 learning or ingenuity for a proper obfervation 
 of them. Of whatever abilities the obfervers 
 were, they muft know whether they had 
 heard the dumb fpeak, had ftcn the blind 
 
 " See the pafTage cited from Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac. in the 
 notes, p. 41. 
 
 reftored 
 
SERMON VI. 221 
 
 reftored to fight, the lame walk, and the dead 
 raifed again to life : they muft know whether 
 their Lord's crucifixion, at which they were 
 prefent, was attended with the miraculous cir- 
 cumftances which they relate ; and whether 
 they were afliired by their fenfes that he was 
 again alive after his paflion. We believe in thefe 
 refpedis only what the difciples of Chrifi: declare 
 that "^ they had heard, had icQii with their eyes, 
 had looked on, and their hands had handled of 
 the Word of life. Doubtlefs, men, who could 
 hear, fee, and feel, were as good witnefi!es in 
 thefe matters of fenfe ; as the moft learned and 
 acute : and men, who laid down their lives in 
 attefl:ation of faifls, thus indubitably known to 
 them, cannot be fufpedied of any want of ve- 
 racity on the occafion; and muft ever with 
 candid enquirers "" unexceptionably eftabliili 
 
 ^ I John i. I. 
 
 '^ The miracles of Chrifllanlty appear in reality to have 
 all thofe reqaifites, which Mr. Hume fays are not to be difco- 
 vered in any miracle, found in hiftory. He fays ** there is not 
 *' to be found in all hiftory any miracle attelled by a fufficient 
 *' number of men of fuch unqueftionable good fenfe, educa- 
 •* tion, and learning, as to fecure us againft ail delufion in 
 •* them.felves ; of fuch undoubted integrity, as to place them 
 ** beyond all fufpicion of any defign to deceive others ; of fuch 
 *' credit and reputation in the eyes of mankind, as to have a 
 " great deal to lofe in cafe of being detcfted in any falfhood ; 
 ** and at the fame time attefting fadts perform.ed in fuch a pub- 
 '* lick manner and in fo celebrated a part of the world, as to 
 ** render the detedion unavoidable. AH which circumflances 
 " are requifite to give us full aflurance in die tellimony of men." 
 
 Effays, Vol. II. p. 130. 
 
 The education of St. Paul apd the writings of him and of the 
 
 oth. r 
 
222 SERMON VI. 
 
 their truth. For, however it may be urged, 
 that the truth of the Chriftian miracles is not 
 proved by the fufterings of Chriftians for their 
 faith under future perfecutions ; — the fufferers 
 might be deceived, and through well-meant 
 zeal lay dow^n their lives in defence of an error ; 
 — hovv^ever this may be urged -, yet it applies 
 not in the fmalleft degree to the iirft teachers 
 of Chriftianity, who atteft on fuch occaiions 
 nothing but what fell within their own abfo- 
 lute and fenfible knowlege. 
 
 But, the m.erciful God, who has left us ir- 
 refragable proofs of the authenticity of the 
 prophefies, which refpedl our great Redeemer, 
 in the unbelief of the Jews, has alfo fupplied 
 us v/ith arguments in fupport of the miracles 
 of our Religion from the different ways them- 
 felves in which they have been oppofed by our 
 adverfaries. While the fads were too recent 
 to be difputed '' Celfus, Porphyry, and Hiero- 
 cles admitted their reality, but denied the di- 
 vine commiffion of the agent and the confe- 
 quent truth of that Religion which they were 
 wrought to eftablifli. In modern times, when 
 
 other authors of the New Teflament, their unlverfally unim- 
 peached characters, their unanimous furrender even of their 
 lives in defence of the truth of the miracles which they relate, 
 the notoriety of thefe miracles, and the confpicuous fituation of 
 Jerufalem and other places where they were wrought, all con- 
 tribute to refute the afTertions of this daring philofopher. 
 
 ^ See Mr. Moyle's Letters concerning the Thundering Le- 
 gion, Works 8vo — Vol. H. p 353. 
 
 the 
 
SERMON VI. 223 
 
 the confequence of their admiffion is better 
 known ; and there are few, if any, who are not 
 convinced that fuch credentials befpeak an am- 
 baflador fent from God (efpecially too when 
 the purport of the embaffy does not ^ contradidl 
 the great truths demonftrable by natural Reh~ 
 gion,) unbehevers have prudently thought fit 
 to fhift their ground. But, unhappily for them, 
 a denial of the Chriftian miracles at prefent 
 comes too late : fince the fads of this kind 
 which infidelity has long fince admitted upon 
 earlier and better information, will for ever re- 
 main a teftimony of the truth of Chrifl:ianity 
 and of the perverfenefs of modern unbelief. 
 
 The univerfality of our Religion, which 
 forms a part both of its internal and external 
 evidences, is the third and laft article, by 
 which I propofed to prove its divine origin. 
 
 y See Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacr. l.li. c. v. p. 172. 
 
 Let it not be thought that the argument here revolves at all 
 in a circle, from internal to external evidences and vice verfa. 
 For, as Bifhop Sherlock fays, ** Men do not diftinguifh be- 
 *' tween the do6lrines, which we prove by miracles, and the 
 *' doftrines by which we try miracles : for they are not the 
 ** fame doftrines. God never wrought miracles to prove the 
 ** difference between good and evil : and I fuppofe that if any 
 ** man were afked how he proves temperance or chalHty to be 
 ** duties, murder or adultery to be fms, he would not recur to 
 " miracles for an argument. Thefe and the like duties are en- 
 " forced by the Gofpel : but were always truths and duties be- 
 " fore our Saviour's coming : and we are in pofTeffion of them 
 *' without the help of miracles or Revelation. And thefe are 
 " the dodrincs, by which we try miracles. But the doctrines, 
 *' which are to be proved by miracles are the revealed dodrines 
 ** of Chriilianity, ^-c." SermoaSj Vol, I. p. 303. 
 
 This 
 
224 SERMON VI. 
 
 This univerfallty was before infifted upon^ 
 when I treated of the fubftance and of the in- 
 ternal evidences of our Religion, Whatever 
 may be commonly underftood by it, we cer- 
 tainly ought not to eftimate it primarily from 
 the effefts, which our Religion has produced 
 on mankind. Thefe, except in regions placed 
 beyond the poffibility of the Chriftian*s reach, 
 have from the beginning depended effentially 
 upon ourfelves. Chriftianity from the begin- 
 ning addreffed itfelf to us, as free agents : and, 
 what ought ever to be urged in its favour, it 
 was fo publiihed, as to leave us, amidft all our 
 prejudices from worldly wifdom and worldly 
 attachments of every kind, at full liberty, to 
 accept or rejed" it, and to obey, or not, the 
 injundlions which it gives concerning its future 
 propagation. The univerfality of our Religion 
 confidered as an argument in its favour, ought 
 therefore primarily to be eflimated from its 
 general defign and other circumftances within 
 itfelf: and if fecondarily from its effefts -, from 
 thefe, however, no farther, than as they are 
 confidered under the influence of our own 
 free will. 
 
 Its general defign may immediately be col- 
 lected from its general fubfl:ance. This (as we 
 have '^ {cen) evinces that Chrifi:ianity com- 
 
 * In the firll Sermon. 
 
 menced 
 
SERMON VL 
 
 225 
 
 menced with the creation of mankind ; that it 
 has regularly been brought down through the 
 different ages of their hiftory; and that, while 
 it joins together and unites the whole human 
 race by the moft comprehenfive and intimate 
 connedlion, it alfo accounts for and remedies 
 thofe univerfal evils in human exiftence, which 
 man's unenlightened reafon could neither ex^ 
 plain, nor in any confiderable degree alleviate. 
 While mankind are deduced by Chriflianity 
 from the fame common flock, and involved in 
 the fame confequences of their firft parent's 
 voluntary guilty they are taught to what caufe 
 they are to afcribe the introdudion of all their 
 fin and mifery. They are no longer left vainly 
 to attempt with philofophy to reconcile their 
 diverfified crimes and fufferings with the ori- 
 ginal appointment of divine goodnefs. Chrifli- 
 anity from one comprehenfive caufe traces 
 out and explains the whole. Like the true 
 fyflem of the natural world, it accounts in the 
 mofl fimple and intelligible manner for intri- 
 cacies and irregularities, which long con- 
 founded the fubtlety and baffled all the in- 
 genuity of conjectural philofophy. Having 
 referred man's fm and all its deflrudive con- 
 fequences to the fame original perverfion of 
 free will, Chriflianity goes on to provide as 
 comprehenfive a remedy for thefe evils. The 
 Q^ Heathens, 
 
226 S E R M O N VI. 
 
 Heathens, indeed, could fee and deplore the 
 * corruption of human nature : but, as they 
 knew not its ^ caufe 3 fo were they ftill more 
 ignorant of its proper ^ remedy. They were 
 too ccnfcious of the guilt of fin, not to be 
 convinced of the punifhment, which it de- 
 ferved at the hands of infinite jufi:ice : and at 
 the fame time too fenfible of its influence over 
 the befi: men, to fuppofe their adtions could 
 merit reward, much lefs eternal happinefs, 
 from an all perfedl God. They were, there- 
 fore, induced through fear either to counter- 
 adt their general apprehenfions and to deny a 
 future ftate of retribution, or to ^ adjufi: it to 
 their own infirmities and demerits. The idea 
 of an all-perfe6l Redeemer and of univerfal 
 fandification and acceptance through him, 
 however revealed to their forefathers, yet 
 when corrupted by idolatry and loft in fuper- 
 
 ^ See Stillmgfieet's Orig. Sac. p. 509 — 514. 
 
 ^ See the fame, p. 476 — 500. 
 
 ^ Porphyry is made to fiiy by St. Auguftine : *■' nondum re- 
 " ceptam unam feftam qu^e univerfalem viam anim^ contineat 
 ** iiberand^." De Civit. Dei, 1. x. c. 32. 
 
 ** We m?.y learn from Homer of what fort the future Life v/as 
 which the Heathens expeded. Achilles is defcribed by him as 
 faying to UlyfTes in the regions below, 
 
 M>j jj.oi ^avuTov ye rcucc^ccv^a. (poaoii^ OoVorsf * 
 
 Av^^i 'Wccp oiy.'Ky\i)u to [xr, /5*oTo; 'OfoXv^ £»»3 
 
 Odyff. icc\ I. 487. 
 
 ftition^ 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 227 
 
 ilitlon, was not to be recovered by the moft 
 daring effort of human conjecture. But, what 
 man could not conceive, muft lefs exped:, 
 Chriftianity had from the beginning ordained, 
 was gradually preparing, and at length accom- 
 pliflied in the Goipel- covenant. Infinite juf- 
 tice and goodnefs, having been vindicated with 
 regard to the commencement of man's imper- 
 fections, are reconciled in his pardon by the 
 merits and interceflion of the fecond Perfon 
 in the Godhead. By thefe means eternal hap- 
 pinefs is again offered to mankind, and the 
 road to it is opened by an univerfal atonement 
 for thofe imperfections of human nature, which 
 were an invincible ftumbling-block to every 
 other fyftem of future rewards. ^*^ God fpared 
 " not his own fon, but delivered him up for 
 <^ us all." Such, and fo comprehenfive is 
 Chriftianity in its general defign. 
 
 Its other internal and particular parts are 
 not lefs univerfally calculated for the in- 
 ftrucSlion and happinefs of all mankind. No- 
 thing is to be found in its precepts, adapted 
 to one ftate or people, and not to all. In 
 Chrift Jefus there is no difference between 
 Jew and Greek, bond and free, male and fe- 
 male. He, by whom all the nations of the 
 
 ^ Rom. vili. 32. 
 
 0^2 earth 
 
22§ S E R M O N VI. 
 
 earth were at firft feparated from one family, 
 again unites them as brethren under the fame 
 laws and into the fame communion. And 
 that no one might be debarred of accefs to 
 the ReUgion, which was thus defigned for the 
 happinefs of all ; the New Teftament was 
 evidently calculated by its plainnefs and iim- 
 plicity for the inftruftion of the loweft and 
 moft ilUterate in every age and nation : herein 
 remarkably differing not only from the doc- 
 trines of unaffifted reafon, which are not to be 
 inveftigated in their different relations without 
 the learning and labor of philofophy ; but alfo 
 from the antecedent parts of Revelation. As 
 thefe latter were the obfcure ^commencement 
 of Chriflianity and as they were intended par- 
 ticularly for the Jews, they often abound in 
 fublime and figurative reprefentations -, which, 
 perhaps, can thoroughly be underflood by 
 thofe Oriental nations only, whofe fludy and 
 delight they were. But the language of the 
 New Teflament, like its dodlrine, is univer- 
 fal. Every one is enabled without difficulty 
 to partake of its benefits. Every one alfo is 
 invited to partake of them. ^" Come unto me 
 " all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
 
 ' " The ancient Patriarchs'* (fays Cave after Eufebius) 
 " were the Chriftians of the old world." — 
 
 Primitive ChriHianity, Vol. I. p. 22* 
 s Matt. xi. 28. 
 
 ** will 
 
SERMON VI. 229 
 
 <* will give you reft/* was the Redeemer's af- 
 fedlionate addrefs to mankind. ^ " Go ye into 
 ** all the world and preach the Gofpel to every 
 ** creature '' was the commiffion, with which 
 he fent forth his difciples. A commiffion, 
 which the very exiftence itfelf of the New 
 Teftament proves that they executed, under 
 the influence of the Holy Spirit, in fuch a 
 manner, as to leave their fucceflbrs abundant 
 means to make the Gofpel known in procefs of 
 time to every individual throughout the world. 
 I have above faid that the effedls, produced 
 on mankind by Chriftianity, will as long as we 
 are free agents depend eflentially upon our- 
 felves : and that its univerfality ought not to 
 be eftimated from thefe effeds any farther, than 
 as they are conlidered under the influence of 
 man's free will. But, even under this mode 
 of confideration, they will afford convincing 
 proofs of the unlimited extent of our Religion. 
 Though Chriftianity was fo propofed to man- 
 kind from the beginning, as to leave them at 
 full liberty to accept or rejedl it ; yet, on its 
 firft publication, it was im-mediately embraced 
 by multitudes. In fucceeding ages it was 
 eftabliflied in the moft civiHzed and moft 
 powerful empires. And in our own time wc 
 
 ^ Mar. xvi. 15. 
 
 0^3 know 
 
230 SERMON VI. 
 
 know that it is the Religion of all thofe, who 
 are juftly ranked among the enlightened nations 
 of the earth. That it is not profeffed at pre- 
 fent by more of the unenlightened inhabitants 
 of our globe is to be afcribed, in the countries 
 placed beyond our reach, to fimilar difpenfa- 
 tions of Providence with thofe, which withheld 
 for fo many ages the coming itfelf of the Re- 
 deemer : in the countries, acceffible to us, it is 
 to be afcribed, not to our Religion, but, to our 
 own imperfed:ions ; to our want of Chriftian 
 zeal to propagate it among diftant nations, or 
 rather, perhaps, to our want of Chriftian vir- 
 tue to recommend it by our condud: to their 
 acceptance. It has, however, widely extended 
 its falutary influence among thofe who are 
 not its actual profeflbrs. It has improved the 
 morality of both ' Mahometans and Pagans : it 
 has alfo improved their religious creeds. And 
 certainly our modern unbelievers would not 
 exceed the moft fubtle of Heathen philofo- 
 phers in the principles of natural Religion ; if 
 they had not accefs to that Gofpel, which they 
 affed: to defpife. This difFufion of our Reli- 
 gion, under all its various and peculiar difadvan- 
 tages from its fir ft propagation to the prefent 
 hour, has not only been deemed by ^ men of 
 
 * Seeker's Sermons, Vol. II. p. 257. 
 ^ See Jortin's Remarks, Vol. II. p. 149. 
 
 Mr. Moyle 
 
SERMON VI. 231 
 
 the beft hlftorical information fufficient to free 
 it from all objed:ion in this refped: ; it has, 
 moreover, been ever infifted upon by them, 
 as a powerful proof of its truth. But there is 
 one effedl, which we are encouraged to exped; 
 from Chriftianity, and which (though it is it- 
 felf alfo under the influenjce of man's free will) 
 will more than make up for any deficiency, 
 which can poffibly be fuppofed in the pre- 
 ceding effedts, confidered as proofs of the uni- 
 verfality of our Religion. We are ^ encouraged 
 humbly to exped that the atonement of our 
 great Redeemer will be as exteniive as the in- 
 fluence of the firft man's fall, and that no one 
 will be excluded from fome at leaft of its be- 
 nefits, but fuch as wilfully fliut their eyes 
 againft the truth, and, either from the pride 
 of human reafon or the lufl of fenfual plea- 
 fure, rejedl fo great falvation. 
 
 In this manner does Chriftianity carry with 
 it a remedy for the deficiencies above pointed 
 out in natural Religion: — Firft, it is calcu- 
 lated to lead mankind to future happinefs by 
 the complete knowlege, which it conveys to 
 
 Mr. Moyle fays on this fubje'Sl :" The progrefs of Chriftianity, 
 " confidering it's late rife and the conilant oppoiition it met 
 *' with, is even on my moderate computation prodigious and 
 ** to be accounted for by nothing but the divine Providence." 
 
 Works, 8vo, Vol. 11. p. 327. 
 ^ See the f.rfl Sermon. 
 
 them. 
 
232 SERMON VI. 
 
 them, of themfelves, of their duty and its ob- 
 ligation, and of their attainable acceptance with 
 God ; — Secondly it was accompanied with ex- 
 ternal and divine atteftations of its truth; — and 
 Thirdly it is diftinguillied by its univerfality. 
 
 If thefe things, then, are certain ; if natural 
 Religion evinces that there is an all-perfedt 
 God, the Creator and Preferver of all things ; 
 if it evinces alfo from the prefent circum- 
 flances of our exiftence that there will be a 
 future ftate of retribution ; if at the fame time 
 this Religion is effentially deficient in its in- 
 ftrudion, in its proofs, and, as a fyftem w^hich 
 is too difficult for the inveftigation of '"common 
 capacities, in its extent ; and if, under thefe 
 circumftances, any Revelation fliould be fet 
 forth, confirming what is evinced by natural 
 Religion and remedying what is deficient in 
 it ; then we muft either confefs the truth of 
 luch a Revelation, or (what is the worft blaf- 
 phemy) fuppofe God himfelf to have favoured 
 an impofition upon mankind : efpecially too, 
 when we recoiled: that one of the deficiencies 
 
 "* The Religion of the great bulk of mankind in the heathen 
 world has ever been ultimately derived from that ftate of na- 
 ture (fo called in contradiflinftion to a llate of pure Revelation) 
 in which man was left after the fall and after the deluge, and in 
 which he was affifted by tradition and divine Grace no lefs than 
 by his own reafon. But the natural Religion, concerning which 
 I am here fpeaking, whatever may be its real foundation, is 
 fuppdfed to depend entirely upon human reafon, 
 
 of 
 
SERMON VI. 233 
 
 of natural Religion, remedied by the fuppofed 
 Revelation, is the want of external and divine 
 proofs. For, what reafon to the utmoft ex- 
 tent of its abilities recommends and fuch 
 proofs confirm, is unqueflionably the voice of 
 God, fpeaking diftindly to every intelligent 
 creature. 
 
 Thus I have attempted to ftate in a fum- 
 mary manner the arguments, adducible in 
 proof of the truth of our Religion, and con- 
 fequently in vindication of the anfwer which 
 may be given from thence concerning the 
 Hope that is in us. 
 
 In juftice, however, to a caufe, which has 
 been defended in the ableft and fuUeft manner, 
 I muft repeat the obfervation, with which I 
 entered upon this part of my fubjedr, ** that it 
 ** is impoffible to comprehend within a fmall 
 " compafs a regular compendium of the whole, 
 ** or even of the more important part, of the 
 *' arguments by which the truth of our holy 
 " Religion may be proved." The repetition of 
 this obfervation cannot but be neceffary in an 
 age when fuperiicial vindications of our Reli- 
 gion are found to do as much injury to the 
 caufe, which they defend ; as the writings, 
 againft which they are commonly levelled. 
 Since many, even of thofe who think their 
 Religion worthy of ferious attention, content- 
 ing themfelves with fuch curfory treatifes, 
 
 are 
 
234 S E R M O N VL 
 
 are naturally led to impute their imperfedlions 
 to the fubjed: itfelf : and, becaufe feme parts 
 are paffed over in filence and others very briefly 
 handled, they conclude at once either that 
 nothing, or that very little, can be faid in their 
 behalf. But, if men are really in earneft and 
 wifh to give the arguments in favour of Chrifti- 
 anity a fair examination ; let them attentively 
 perufe the difcourfes delivered at Mr. Boyle's 
 Ledlure. Or if this fhould be thought too 
 laborious an undertaking, let them read and 
 thoroughly digeft what " Bifhop Pearfon has 
 written on the creed ^ and they will find, 
 efpecially in the former cafe, fo many reafons 
 afligned for the truth of every part of our Re- 
 ligion ; that neither the infmuations of its 
 enemies, nor the injudicious zeal of its friends 
 will ever after be likely to fhake their Faith. 
 The importance of the enquiry muft convince 
 every fenfible man that his time could not be 
 better employed. And the confequence of it 
 to every **well-difpofed man will be fuch a full 
 
 " They, to whom Bifhop Pearfcn's writings on the creed may- 
 appear too abftrafted, will find a moft perfpicuous and fatisfac- 
 tory colledion of the arguments in defence of our E.eIigion in 
 Bifhop Burnet's very valuable expofition of the 39 Articles. 
 
 *• Swift in his Letter to a young Clergyman goes fo far as to 
 fay, *' There is one obfervation which I never knew to fail, and 
 ** I defire you will examine it in the courfe of your life, that 
 '* no gentleman of a liberal education and regular in his 
 " morals did ever profefs himfelf a free-thinker." 
 
 Mifcell. Vol. I. p. 285. 
 
 alTurancc 
 
SERMON VI. 235 
 
 afiurance of the truth of our Religion, as 
 mufl infpire him with that fettled ^ peace of 
 mind, and pleafing confidence with regard to 
 futurity, which alone can conftitute the hap- 
 pinefs of a rational being. Since to conclude 
 the prefent head with the words of an admired 
 modern "^ writer : " What true Religion and 
 <* true philofophy di6]:ate of God and Provi- 
 ** dence and man is fo charming, fo confonant 
 *MvIth all the finer feelings in human nature; 
 ** that every man of tafte, v/ho hears of it, 
 ** muft wifh it to be true : and I never yet 
 *^ heard of one perfon of candour, who wifhed 
 " to find the evidence of the Gofpel fatisfac- 
 ** tory and did not find it fo.'^ 
 
 P Nothing can exhibit a more ftriking contrail to the joyful 
 expedations, derived from pure Religion, than the miferable 
 confequences of Scepticifm. The latter are well exemplified in 
 the feries of Mr. Hume's writings. After he has endeavoured 
 to wrell from us all the pleafing confidence, which we might 
 derive from Chriiiianity, by his treatife of human nature, his 
 effays, and his Dialogues ; he concludes his fceptical works 
 with a defence of fuicide and an attempt to prove the mortality 
 of the foul. After depriving his admirers of the moll valuable 
 confolations of this life, he furely makes them but poor amends 
 by telling them at laft th:it they may cut their throats and 
 fafely depend upon eternal annihilation. 
 
 ^ See Beattie on truth, p. 447. 8vo, 5th. Edit. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 I PET. III. 15. 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer to every 
 many that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you^ 
 
 HAVING finifhed the parts of my defign, 
 which relate to the fubftance, hiftory, 
 and evidences of our Religion, it remains that 
 I fpeak concerning the objections which are 
 urged in oppofition to its truth. 
 
 This laft topic unhappily furniihes abundant 
 matter for our confideration. For, as fuperfti- 
 tion and bigottry have ever attempted to pre- 
 clude a difcordancy of opinion with regard to 
 Chriftianity by difcouraging enquiries into its 
 evidences ; fo contrary prejudices have uni- 
 formly led to the oppofite extreme, and this 
 moft benevolent of all inftitutions, inftead of 
 fecuring the refpedl by providing for the wel- 
 fare of mankind, has been treated with the 
 moft licentious freedom. Whatever be the 
 
 caufe 
 
238 SERMON VII. 
 
 caufe of thefe prejudices againft our Religion, 
 the efFed: of them is indifputable. Offences in 
 Revelation have been induftrioufly fought af- 
 ter : and the objeftions, in which they are 
 urged, dired: themfelves againft every article 
 that comes recommended by its authority. 
 
 To expofe the futility of each particular 
 among thefe objedions has furnifhed the 
 learning of ages w^ith ample employment. 
 According to the plan, which I have laid 
 down, I am to content myfelf under the pre- 
 fent head with pointing out the general fources 
 of fuch objedlions, and with fhowing that a 
 forcible removal of thefe offences by divine 
 interpofition would be inconfiftent with our 
 Religion itfelf : concluding the whole with a 
 particular account of thofe objedlions, which 
 are advanced againft our Religion from the 
 pretenfions of philofophy. Thus limited, 
 however, the prefent head, no lefs than the 
 preceding ones, will fuggeft irrefragable rea- 
 fons, by which we may fatisfy both our- 
 felves and others concerning the Hope that 
 is in us. 
 
 As this head will fupply fuiBcIent matter 
 for our conlideration at two different times ; 
 I fhall make what relates to the general 
 fources of objedion the fubjedl of our imme- 
 diate confideration, and referve for the next 
 
 opportunity 
 
SERMON Vir. 239 
 
 opportunity the particular objeftions with 
 which I am to conclude. 
 
 It hath * already been remarked " that the 
 ** whole ftrength of Atheifm confifts in con- 
 ** tradidling the universal reafon of mankind : 
 '* that Athelfls have no principle and can 
 ** have none, and therefore that they can ne- 
 ** ver reafon, but only confidently deny or af- 
 ** firm." I fhall, therefore, not attempt to 
 trace from any more immediate fources thofe 
 objeftions againft the being and attributes of 
 God, which muft all ultimately be referred 
 either to the want of due attention to the ob- 
 jedls which furround us, or to a fpirit of un- 
 fupported contradidion ; and, without farther 
 notice of them, fhall proceed to the different 
 objedlions, which are advanced againft our 
 Religion by men who admit both the exiftencc 
 and infinite perfection of God. 
 
 By fome of thefe it is thought abfurd that 
 Revelation, or our Religion as it is contained 
 in the Holy Scriptures and derived from an 
 all-perfe6l author, fhould be at all the fubjcdt 
 of offence ; and that emanations from the 
 fountain of truth fhould furnifli the moft pre- 
 judiced fceptic with even an appearance of 
 error. But fuch men would do well to confider 
 
 ^ Jn the fifth Sermon. 
 
 the 
 
240 S E R M O N VIL 
 
 the imperfed:ions of human nature, and to en- 
 quire whether ail the objedlions againft Reve- 
 lation ought not in reahty to be afcribed to 
 thefe imperfeftions, as to their proper fources. 
 We know in the firft place that the purefl: 
 ftream may be rendered foul by the channel, 
 through which it pafies : and if we view man 
 In his moft enlightened ftate ; we fhall have no 
 reafon to wonder that inflrudtions, committed 
 to writing and conveyed in fuccefEve ages 
 through his hands, fhould ^ lofe much of their 
 original purity. Befides, it appears neceflary 
 from the imperfeftions of mankind that Re- 
 velation fhould be attended with a variety of 
 circumflances ; which will give rife to objec- 
 tions, more extenfive than are drawn from 
 mere errors in the conveyance ; and which will 
 contribute in an eminent degree to render be- 
 lief in its truth a matter of faith and not of 
 demonflration. For, as containing a body of 
 written inftrudlions for the information and di- 
 reftion of its profeflbrs, at whatever time Re- 
 velation were given ; its antiquity in fubfequent 
 ages would render many of thofe parts, which 
 depend upon the conftru6lion of language and 
 
 ^ However, It lias happened, whether our adverfaries will 
 allow it to have happened providentially or not, that the cor- 
 ruptions of the facred Text have neither been fo numerous, nor 
 of fo great importance, as might have been expeded, 
 
 the 
 
SERMON VII. 241 
 
 the cuftoms of mankind, obfcure at leaft and 
 uncertain. And where the obfcurity and un- 
 certainty of writings require at times the af- 
 liftance of conjedlure, it is well known that 
 no original perfedtion can fecure them againft 
 all the different kinds of contradidion and af- 
 perfion. Exclufive alfo of thefe general ap- 
 pendages on human imperfection, which are 
 fo common to all the very ancient writings, 
 as to be allowed by men of candour to furnifh 
 no reafonable objedion againft any ; there are 
 numberlefs circumftances, ariling from the in- 
 competency of human judgement, which will 
 afFedt fuch a fyftem as the holy Scriptures un- 
 fold and bring unmerited cenfure upon it. A 
 narrative, which commences with the creation, 
 which relates during the progrefs of nearly four 
 thoufand years the moft extraordinary occur- 
 rences of hiftory, and which abounds with the 
 greateft variety of matter, will be expofed to 
 charges of mifreprefentation ; when it is fub- 
 mitted to readers, incapable of being furnifhed 
 with an abfolute and univerfal knowlcge of 
 fads. For, in a fucceffion of many diifferent 
 things, it is ' probable that fomx will happen 
 contrary to probability. Efpecially too, will 
 
 ^ x^riftotle cites from Agatho thefe lines ; 
 Tocx ctv ng eixo? ctvro t«t etvoct Xsyoi 
 
 aad 
 R 
 
242 SERMON VII. 
 
 this be the cafe where things natural and fu- 
 pernatural are intermixed with each other. 
 Even the latter, though referred for their ori- 
 gin to the immediate interpolition of the Deity, 
 will, notwithftanding, leave beings of con- 
 traded and fceptical minds peculiar occafions 
 of offence. Miracles, though related by eye- 
 witneiles, will, as fad:s of a fmgular kind, be 
 ** eminently expofed to every doubt, which can 
 be infinuated againft human teftimony. And 
 prophefies, which mean not to deftroy free- 
 agency, cannot at times efcape the moft inju- 
 rious fufpicions, which arife from intentional 
 obfcurity. Moreover, as we are unacquainted 
 with the effence of God and the general econo- 
 my of his moral government; thofe parts of Re- 
 velation, which ought, perhaps, to be thought 
 the leaft expofed in themfelves to plaufible ob- 
 
 ancl remarks on them *^ yiyvsrxi ya.^ to <a:afx to Eiy.oj* uft buo^ xost 
 
 *' TO 'mc^y^cK. TO uy.oc. 
 
 Rhetoric, p. 385. 8vo~Edit. Cant 1728. 
 He had before cited to the i"iime, or neaily the fame, efFedl 
 
 Ili^a,vov, vofju^iiv yj^Tt ys tcui revocvriov 
 Amr oKyi^v) 'njof^a, a'j%Qxi)tiiv ^coroir;, 
 
 ^ ** Suppole for inilance that the fad, which the tellimony 
 *♦ 'jndeavours to ellablilh, partakes of the extraordinary and 
 *• the marvellous ; in that cafe the e\'idence refulting from the 
 *' tcftimony admits of a diminution greater or lefs in propor- 
 *' tion a^ the fad: is mors or lefs unufual.'* 
 
 Hume's Eira}s, ^'ol. 11. p. 127. 
 
 jeftion. 
 
SERMON Vir. 243 
 
 jeftion, will not on that account be lefs confi- 
 dently affailed by our adverfaries. Thus the 
 myfteriournels of paffages in a difpenfation, 
 which, proceeding from God, muft fometimes 
 refer to the incomprehenfible effence of its au- 
 thor, will from our inability to judge in thefe 
 matters be conftrued into abfurdity. And, as the 
 reafons of God's dealings with man are paft our 
 finding out ; according to our different concep- 
 tions of what he ought to do, objections will be 
 urged againfl the time and manner, whenever 
 or whatever it be, in which Revelation was firft 
 introduced and propagated in the world, againfl 
 the kind of evidence by which its truth is con- 
 firmed, and againft the means by which its pro- 
 pofed happinefs is to be obtained. In the fame 
 manner, as we are unacquainted with the eflences 
 of every part of creation, no lefs than of the 
 Creator himfelf, and are ever ready to fupply 
 the want of knowlege by a variety of conjec- 
 ture ; different kinds of objections will arife 
 from a comparifon of thefe different conjec- 
 tures with Revelation : fince the fame unfa- 
 vourable conclufion may be fuggefled againft 
 its truth, whether it contain more or lefs than 
 was expected, and vv'hether parts of it are mif- 
 underftood or gratuitoufly contradicfled by its 
 opponents. To the fources of ohjec^tion here 
 enumerated, and which are all immediately 
 
 R 2 derived 
 
244 SERMON VIL 
 
 derived from human imperfedlion, we may 
 fubjoin the efFedts of this imperfection on tht 
 manner in which our Religion has been ex- 
 plained, received, and defended, by Chriflians 
 themfelves ; and the unmerited * farcafms, to 
 which it has been expofed from the pious and 
 interefted artifice, no lefs than from the fenfu- 
 ality and ignorance of its profeffors. 
 
 And if, at length, in addition to all thefe 
 circum fiances, we take into our account the 
 adtive influence of thofe corrupt and powerful 
 motives, which will induce many to fearch out 
 and extend to the uttermofl all fuch means of 
 difcrediting divine Revelation ; we fhall not 
 want fources to which we may refer the num- 
 berlefs objeftions advanced againfl our Re- 
 ligion. 
 
 How far it would be poffible for Omnipo- 
 tence itfeif to remove all thefe occafions of of- 
 
 ^ The farcafms of this kind, to which our Religion has been 
 expofed, do not proceed from Mr. Gibbon and Voltaire only. 
 The philofophical Mr. Hume has founded a very confiderable 
 part of his objeftions againll miracles on the fidions concern- 
 ing the Abbe Paris and others. The inferences which he draws 
 from iiftitious miracles, and from our want of experience as 
 to fuch extraordinary events (fee the notes on the fifth Sermon) 
 conftitute almoft the whole of his bold inveclive againft the mi- 
 raculous proofs of our Religion. And what he thus urges 
 againfl miracles he applies without variation to prophefies alfo. 
 — See his EfTays.Vol. II. p. 147. 
 
 On fo weak a foundation reft the writings, which are often 
 found to unfcttle the Faith and deilroy the peace of unguarded 
 readers f 
 
 fence^ 
 
SERMON VII. 245 
 
 fence, and to reduce our Religion to an indif- 
 putable and permanent certainty, without a 
 previous annihilation of all the im perfections 
 of our nature, I am not concerned at prefent to 
 enquire. This queftion has been difcuffed, and 
 the negative of it ingenioufly maintained, by 
 a ^ modern writer on the origin of evil. I am 
 here engaged to prove that if the Deity were 
 thus to interpofe his almighty power; it would 
 be inconfiftent with our Religion itfelf. 
 
 But, before I proceed to this, I may ob- 
 ferve, by way of general illuftration, that the 
 interpofition, here defcribed, would be evi- 
 dently inconfiftent with that courfe of things, 
 which is univerfally eftablifhed and approved in 
 the natural world. If we confult the common 
 appearances which furround us ; we fliall 
 every where find circumftances fimilar to thofe 
 complained of in Revelation. The conftitu- 
 tion of things prefents to our imperfed: reafon 
 fo many difficulties and uncertainties ; as to 
 demonftrate that in the natural world it is by 
 no means the defign of Providence to fubmit 
 the propriety of his difpenfations to our judge- 
 ment, or to force us into adlion by any more 
 perfuafive motives, than rational probabilities . 
 In the common and hourly occurrences of this 
 
 ^ Soame Jenyns. 
 
 R 3 life. 
 
246 SERMON Vir. 
 
 life, we cannot foretell the certain confeqnence 
 of the moft vigorous exertions, nor enfure the 
 fuccefs of the beft principles. To have ex- 
 cluded, therefore, with the poflibility of ob- 
 jedion all appearance of uncertainty from Re- 
 velation would in reality have been to form the 
 w^orld, as ^ fome partial obfervers of the divine 
 difpenfations infift it is formed, upon one plan 
 and the Religion for it upon another. But 
 fuch an enforcement of truth would not only 
 bq inconfiftent with the courfe of nature (as 
 hath been proved at large by Bifhop Butler in 
 his invaluable " Analogy '\ a work, which 
 can never be recommended with too much ear- 
 neftnefs to the Chriftian philofopher) but it 
 would be inconfiftent alfo, as I am to prove, 
 with our Religion itfelf. 
 
 To prove this nothing more will be necef- 
 fary than to call your attention to the infor- 
 mation, which Chriftianity gives us concern- 
 ing itfelf and the fubjed; before us. The mif- 
 fortune of moft fincere unbelievers is, that 
 they confider the Chriftian Religion in a very 
 erroneous point of view. They confider it 
 merely as a covenant made at fome particular 
 time between God and man without reference 
 to any former tranfadtions : and from thence 
 
 8 See Soame Jenyns's Internal Evidences. 
 
 they 
 
SERMON VII. 247 
 
 they proceed to fettle the degree of certainty, 
 which they require of its truth. This, how- 
 ever, is not to confider Chriftianity, but a con- 
 ceit of their own. No fyftem was ever denied^ 
 the privilege of explaining its own nature and 
 limiting its extent : and according to that 
 ftandard alone, which itfelf propofes, can it be 
 fairly eflimated. Chriftianity pretends not to be 
 a covenant between two equal parties, nor even 
 between a Creator and his creatures fimply : 
 but between an all-juft and all-merciful God 
 and fallen degenerate man. As fuch it ^ in- 
 forms us of the caufe of man's fall, and of the 
 conditions, required on his part, to reinftate 
 him in God's favour. In the perverfion of 
 free will it points out the fource of human 
 mifery : and, in the regulation of the fame 
 principle, a remedy for this mifery through 
 the merits of an all-perfed: intercellbr. For 
 the privilege of free will, though wrefled to 
 the corruption, was ftill to be, according to 
 its original defign, the ultimate perfection of 
 human nature. To this great foundation, 
 therefore, of all rational and moral excellence 
 was every precept, and every evidence of 
 Chriftianity to be accommodated. The Sa- 
 viour, wlio was fent from heaven to make 
 
 ^ See the firil Sermon. 
 
 atonement 
 
248 SERMON VII. 
 
 atonement for man's original fin, while he 
 promifes the affiftance of the Holy Spirit to 
 his weaknefs, pardon to his frailties, and even 
 remiffion of his greateft crimes upon that re- 
 pentance and faith, which carry with them a 
 reformation of life ; ftill leaves the fmcere 
 obedience, which was to procure all thefe 
 bleffings, in man's own power. And thofe 
 emphatical words in the laft chapter of that 
 book, which clofes the whole revealed will of 
 God, ' " he that is unjuft let him be unjuil: 
 ** ftill, and he that is filthy let him be filthy 
 " ftill," convey the manifeft intention of every 
 part of Scripture with regard to thofe, who 
 are determined to perfevere in difobedience, 
 Correfpondently with this, fuch arguments 
 only are offered to eftablifh the Faith of man- 
 kind, as are fufiicient to convince difpaflionate 
 enquirers. Befides, we are exprefsly informed 
 by one of the Apoftles that there were ^ " fome 
 ** things in St. Paul's writings hard to be un- 
 " derftood, which they who are unlearned and 
 ** unftable wreft, as they do alfo the other 
 ** Scriptures, to their own deftruftion." In 
 the fame manner our bleflfed Saviour is called 
 ** a ^ ftumbling-ftone and a rock of offence :" 
 and fo far from compelling men to receive his 
 
 » Rev. xxii. 11. ^2 Pet, iii. 16. ^ Rom. ix. 33. 
 
 dodlrines 
 
SERMON VII. 249 
 
 doftrines, he himfelf explicitly ^ declares that 
 to thofe, whofe hearts were waxed grofs, whofe 
 ears were dull of hearing, and who had clofed 
 their eyes, the myfteries of tlie kingdom of 
 God were reprefented in parables ; that feeing 
 they might fee and not perceive, and hearing 
 they might he^r and not underftand. And, 
 however often tempted, never did he conde- 
 fcend by any more convincing proofs of his 
 divine miffion, than thofe which he had be- 
 fore given, to win their attention, who like the 
 deaf adder ilop their ears. Indeed, the infide- 
 lity of his audience often made him withdraw 
 the means defigned for their convid:ion inftead 
 of adding to them. Thus we are told of his 
 own countrymen that " " he did not many 
 *' mighty works among them, becaufe of their 
 ** unbelief/' Or, as another Evangelift ex- 
 prefTes it, ^'^^ he could not do any mighty work 
 ** among them,'' for that reafon. Nor need 
 we wonder at the expreffion : fince the whole 
 tenor of Revelation required fuch a promulga- 
 tion of our Religion, as fliould leave thofe at 
 hberty to rejed: it, in whom the God of this 
 world had blinded their eyes. For, though 
 divine mercy had interpofed to roufe mankind 
 from the lethargic fecurity of continued fin ; 
 
 "» Matt. xiii. 11 — 15, " Matt. xiii. 58. 
 
 *> Mark. vi. 5,6. 
 
 and 
 
250 SERMON VII. 
 
 and had engaged through the merits of a Re- 
 deemer both to fupply them with f'jpernatural 
 means of reiifting the corruption of their fallen 
 nature, and to procure acceptance for their 
 lincere, though imperfe<fl, fervices ; yet is no- 
 thing farther any where propofed by their Re- 
 demption. Man*s ftate at firfl was only pro- 
 bationary : to no better, therefore, can we 
 poffibly expedl that he ihould be advanced by 
 the forfeiture of his innocence. Befides, if 
 the fallen angels, thofe dreadful examples of 
 almighty vengeance, all periiTied ; how would 
 it have been confiflent with the fame infinite 
 juflice that any other fallen creature ihould at 
 once be pardoned and invefted with eternal 
 happinefs ? Or, what is the fame, that his 
 aftions fhould be determined by fatal neceffity, 
 or his Faith conftrained by irrefiftible demon- 
 ftration, to a confonnity with fuch duties or 
 dodlrines, as would unavoidably lead in their 
 confequences to eternal happinefs ? Thofe 
 angels, indeed, as we may infer, fell each fe- 
 parately by his own prefamption. But what 
 elfe will they do, who periih under the Gof- 
 pel-covenant ? Had God condemned all, that 
 were in Adam's loins, to eternal punifliment 
 for the fin of their firfi: parent; his mercy 
 might, perhaps, have been called in queftion 
 with feme appearance of reafon. But he has 
 
 more 
 
SERMON VII. 251 
 
 more than virxdicated this his darling attribute. 
 Of his ov/n will he has redeemed mankind 
 from their firft fall : and it is to himfelf alone 
 that each man muft impute his fecond. To 
 reftore the human race even to this capacity of 
 happinefs was not effecfled without a facrifice, 
 tranfcendently dignified by partaking of the 
 fame Perfon with the Son of God. To have 
 done more for them would have required a fa- 
 crifice of a very difi-erent kind : the facrifice 
 (if it may be fo called) of divine juftice. In- 
 ftead, therefore, of the bleffings of eternal 
 life being forced upon us by the removal of ob- 
 jedlions from our Religion, it is fingularly and 
 awfully remarkable in what manner reftraints 
 are every where, on the contrary, withdrawn 
 from our Faith. In the natural world, he, that 
 filleth all things with his prefence, has condef- 
 cended for a feafon to retire (as it were) from 
 this fcene of probation, or in the ^ Scripture- 
 language to hide himfelf; and to leave mankind 
 to themfelves and the conclufions of their own 
 reafon, fave that he every moment fupports 
 the profligate fenfualifts, who, becaufe they do 
 not fee and hear him, dare deny his exiftence. 
 And, under the Chriftian difpenfation, the 
 light of the glorious Gofpel is left to our own 
 
 " Job, xxui. 8, 9. Ifaiah, xlv, 15, 
 
 difcovery 
 
252 SERMON VII. 
 
 difcovery and application -, though at the fame 
 time it difFufes its fplendor around thofe very 
 unbelievers, who are ftudious to retort every 
 ray of divine illumination againft the great 
 luminary itfelf from v^hich it iifues. Nor do 
 any of the arguments, drawn from the crea- 
 tion, more fully prove the infinite perfedion 
 of its author, than this his government of the 
 moral world, explicitly declared in Revelation, 
 and uniformly experienced in human life. 
 Having, through Chriftianity, again prepared 
 the means, and propofed the conditions of 
 happinefs for mankind, he determined to leave 
 the ultimate reception and operation of this 
 Religion to that free will, by which they were 
 from the beginning to ftand or fall. And this, 
 once refolved by a being of infinite perfedtion, 
 none of thofe paflions and refentments, which 
 difturb and fruftrate the councils of man, have 
 ever been able to invalidate. '* His M'ighteouf- 
 *' nefs ftandeth like the ftrong mountains, and 
 ** his judgements are like the great deep." 
 At the fame time alfo left unbelievers fhould 
 prefumptuoufly conceive, that, by deriding, they 
 moreover defeat the councils of the great Au- 
 thor of Revelation ; he has exprefsly foretold, 
 in addition to all the other information which 
 
 "J Pf. xxxvi. 6. i 
 
 he 
 
S E R M^O N VII. 253 
 
 he has given us on the fubjedli not only that 
 ** it mull ' needs be that offences come," but 
 alfo that ** there ihould come in the laft days 
 *' * fcoifers, walking after their own lulls f* 
 men, who, we may prefume, were to refemble 
 thofe, defcribed by the excellent ' Hooker, and 
 ** bear the title of wife men and fcribes and 
 ** great difputers of this world ; who are no- 
 ** thing indeed lefs, than what in Ihew they 
 *' moll appear ; and who, being addidled unto 
 ** their own wills, ufe their wit, their learn- 
 ** ing, and all the wifdom they have, to 
 *' maintain that which their obllinate hearts 
 ** are delighted with, efteeming in the frantick 
 *^ error of their minds the greatell madnefs in 
 ** the world to be wifdom, and the highell 
 <* wifdom foolilhnefs/' The feoffs of unbe- 
 lievers, therefore, thus foretold, inllead of de- 
 feating the councils of the great author of 
 Revelation, ferve on the contrary to difplay 
 the veracity of his predidions : and the long- 
 fuffering, with which they are permitted to 
 perlill in oppofition to the truth, proves only 
 that the perverfenefs of man cannot prevail to 
 annul the merciful offers of that all-perfe(a: 
 Being, who has declared, "^ '' I am Jehovah, 
 
 ^ Matt, xviii. 7. ' zPet. iii. 3. 
 
 ^ Eccl. Pol. b. iii. c. viil. p. 75. Edit. 1666. 
 
 *» Mai. iii. 6, 
 
 ..I 
 
254 SERMON VIL 
 
 ** I change not : therefore, ye fons of Jacob 
 '*■ are not con fumed." Whatever, then, unbe- 
 lievers may fay, or immoral men do ; it is not 
 confiftent with what our ReHgion declares of 
 itfelf, nor with the requifitions and predictions 
 which it holds forth to its profeflbrs, that any 
 force ihouJd be applied to reftrain the princi- 
 ples of the one, more than the pradice of the 
 other. Chriftianity has engaged to fave nei- 
 ther without his own "^ voluntary concurrence : 
 and furely its truth cannot be affeded by per- 
 mitting, what on the refufal of fuch concur- 
 rence it has moft folemnly denounced, the eter- 
 nal deftrudtion of both. 
 
 Such are the fources from which the ob- 
 jeftions againfl: our Religion are drawn , and 
 fo inconfiftent with it is any forcible removal 
 of thefe offences. 
 
 But, left any one fliould imagine that the 
 method of reafoning, here purfued, might be 
 extended to juftify the abfurdities of any reli- 
 gious fyftem whatever, it may be a proper 
 caution, before I difinils thefe general obfer- 
 vations on the objedions againft our Religion, 
 to remark at large, that I have been attempting 
 
 "" Erafmus very juftly fays In his paraphrafe on St. Matt. 
 xxiii. 37. O Jerufalem, Jeruialem, thou that killefl the pro- 
 phets &c. *• Cui icinel data eil arbitrii libertas, invitus fer- 
 •* vari non potell.'* 
 
 to 
 
SERMON VII. 255 
 
 to account for the endlefs variety of thefe ob- 
 jedtions, and not to apologize for them, as 
 charges which can be direded againft our Re- 
 ligion and which are founded in truth. Chrifl- 
 ians are as ready as their enemies to confefs 
 that the Deity can never be fuppofed to reveal 
 any thing contradictory to reafon : and Chrift- 
 ianity needs not the affiftance of fubterfuges. 
 However many of its parts may have been 
 controverted; no part of it was ever proved to 
 be falfe or irrational. The numberlefs abfur- 
 dities not only of the beft-fancied hypothefis 
 of Deifm, but of every other pretenfion to 
 Revelation, befides that of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures ; even of the pretenfions of Jews and 
 Chrlftlans themfelves, when they defert the 
 written word and defcend to oral tradition; 
 immediately difcover a fallibility of human ori- 
 gin. But, the difficulties, attending Chriftianity, 
 are of a very different kind and prove only 
 that it does not mean to counteraft, with re- 
 gard to itfelf, the natural confequences of our 
 imperfeftions ; but leaves thofe confequences to 
 form that eifential part of our trial, which re- 
 quires a ''good difpofition, as previoufly ne- 
 ceilliry, that we may know of the dodlrines of 
 our Religion whether they be of God : and 
 
 * John vii. 17, 
 
 which 
 
256 SERMON VIL 
 
 which requires, above all, a fpirit of invefti- 
 gation, the reverie of that, which betrays it- 
 felf on fubjedls of fceptical difpute. For, 
 ** ^ thus faith the high and lofty one, that in- 
 ** habiteth eternity, whofe name is holy, I 
 ** dwell in the high and holy place; with him 
 <* alfo that is of a contrite and humble fpirit/' 
 In conformity with thefe requifitions, which 
 are fo ftrongly infifted upon in the holy Scrip- 
 tures as to be made the fources of predeftina- 
 tion to eternal life, afient is enjoined v^ithout 
 demonftration and the Chriftian's Faith is 
 made an indication of a well-difpofed and 
 humble mind, as well as the deduction of an 
 unprejudiced judgement. To an affedation in 
 our firft parents of being wife, as Gods, Re- 
 velation afcribes our prefent mifery : and from 
 a modell ufe of that reafbn, which was de- 
 figned for man, does this gracious difpenfation 
 encourage us to hope for a reftoration to hap- 
 pinefs. To this reafon it appeals, command- 
 ing us to ^ fearch the Scriptures and as ^ wife 
 men to judge for ourfelves ; but fo to judge, 
 as to remember that the Chriftian's Faith 
 muft ever be a virtue. And as it cannot, con- 
 fiftently with this appellation, require demon- 
 ftrative convifliion (for where then would be 
 
 y If. Ivii. 15, » John V. 39. * i Cor.x. 15. 
 
 its 
 
SERMON VI!, 
 
 ^S7 
 
 It's pretenfion to virtue?); fo neither can it, 
 conformably with that reafon, by which, as 
 the candle of the Lord, we are to examine 
 Revelation itfelf, be founded on abfurdities or 
 inconfiftencies. As the Chriftian's Faith does 
 not admit of demonftration ; fo neither will it 
 acquiefce in enthufiafm or fuperftition. It 
 rifes ftill more above thefe latter, than it falls 
 fhort of the former. It requires all the evi- 
 dence, which the nature of the thing itfelf 
 fuggefts ; but, no more. It requires that a 
 Revelation, fent from God for the benefit of 
 mankind, ihould be commenfurate with all the 
 real wants with regard to belief as well as 
 practice, which can be alleged by weil-difpofed 
 and humble men, and that it fhould through- 
 out be confiflent with the glory of God. It 
 does not require that P^evelation fliould carry 
 with it fuch irrefiftible proof of its truth, as 
 to remove every oifence and ftop the mouth of 
 infidelity. This would deftroy free will and 
 render human life no longer a ftate of proba- 
 tion. What our Religion is in its fubftance, 
 its hiftory, and its evidences, we have feen. 
 It hath appeared in all thefe refpedls not only 
 to be fuch, as to confirm in the higheft degree 
 the defcription here given of the Faith required 
 of us ; but fuch alfo as will abundantly fatisfv 
 every cxpeclation of the w^dl-difpofed and 
 
 S humble 
 
258 SERMON VII. 
 
 humble inquirer, and preferve him, under the 
 influence of this Faith, unmoved by all the 
 attempts of infidelity. Filled with pious gra- 
 titude for the afiurances, afforded him of the 
 truth of his Religion, he willconfefs both the 
 origin and the irremediable nature of the ob- 
 jedions advanced againft it ; and will adore 
 that infinite wifdom, which has fo difpenfed 
 to mankind its gracious communications, as 
 to enable them by voluntary obedience here 
 to cooperate with their great Redeemer in fe- 
 curing for their inheritance that perfed: hap- 
 pinefs, which is defigned to be their everlafting 
 recompenfe hereafter. 
 
 Having faid thus much (according to my 
 original propofal) concerning the objections in 
 general which are advanced againft our Reli- 
 gion; and having, moreover, added a caution 
 with regard to the manner in which I have 
 treated of them, I fhall proceed in the next 
 difcourfe to" the particular objedions with 
 which I am to conclude. 
 
SERMON VIIL 
 
 I PET. III. 15. 
 
 Be ready always to give an anfwer to every 
 man, that ajketh you a reafon of the Hope 
 that is in you. 
 
 THERE are no objeftions among all 
 thofe, which are comprehended under 
 the fources enumerated in my laft difcourfe, 
 againft which Chriftians of an inquifitive mind 
 wdll require that more care fhould be taken to 
 guard their Faith and to fupply them with 
 reafons in vindication of the Hope that is in 
 them y than thofe, v/hich are to be the fubjed: 
 of our prefent confi deration. The objedlions 
 to our Religion, urged immediately in favour 
 of fenfual gratifications, are notorioufly the 
 offspring of a vicious difpofition and retain few 
 formidable advocates. But thofe, which are 
 drawn from philofophy, affume the form of 
 rational enquiries -, too often under this fpe- 
 cious appearance difcrediting our Religion with 
 
 S 2 the 
 
26o SERMON VIII. 
 
 the followers and admirers of human fcience. 
 To hold forth cautions, therefore, againft the 
 deluiivenefs of philofophy is one of the mofl 
 zealous concerns of the ^ infpired penmen : and, 
 as nothing more powerfully diffuades men from 
 error, than an expofition of its real principles ; 
 1 cannot, perhaps, more effedlually cooperate 
 with thefe cautions in the prefent difcourfe, 
 than by endeavouring particularly to point out 
 in it the origin and foundation of the objec- 
 tions, which are thus advanced againft our 
 Religion from the pretenfions of philofophy. 
 
 It has been obferved by a celebrated ^ critic, 
 that there is no fource of excellence in writing, 
 which will not produce the contrary efFeft in 
 fuch as are forward to diiftinguifh themfelves 
 by fome unufual difplay of genius. If this, 
 obfervation be accommodated to our prefent 
 fubjecl ; we fliall ceafe to wonder that the ftudy 
 of philofophy, which has fupplied humble en- 
 quirers with fo many arguments in fupport of 
 Revelation, fhould fupply men of an oppofite 
 charafter with objections againft its truth. And 
 if we refleft that abftraded reafonings, no lefs 
 than immediate difcoveries in nature, form a 
 part of philofophy, and that both may equally 
 be directed againft Revelation ; we ihall far- 
 
 * Col. ii. 8, ^ Longinus, Sed. v. 
 
 thcr 
 
SERMON VIII. 261 
 
 ther ceafe to v/onder that thefe objedlionsfliould 
 at length become innumerable. 
 
 Thofe, which are drawn from abftradled 
 reafonings extend themfelves to every part of 
 our Religion. 
 
 For, as, from the variety of caufes to which 
 effeds may be referred, or to which, through 
 our ignorance of the elfences of things, they 
 appear capable at leaft of being referred, there 
 is no occurrence in common life, which will 
 not ajfFord pleas for affigning it to fome falfe 
 caufe ; fo there is no fubjeft, accounted for in 
 Revelation, w^hich has not furnifhed arguments 
 to prove the poffibility of its reference to fome 
 other caufe, than what is fuggefted in the in- 
 fpired writings ; and which has not at length 
 been-i!udioufly wrefted from its true origin by 
 an ^ illogical deduction of the agency of that 
 other caufe from the exiftence of the general 
 efFecS. — Thus the creation, formation, and 
 government of the univerfe have been afcribed 
 to neceflity, or chance ; as it difplays more, or 
 lefs, order to fceptical examiners. — Matter it- 
 felf, as it exifts under certain modes perceivable 
 
 ^ By the pofition, as it is called in hypothetical reafoning, 
 of the antecedent from the poUtion of the confequent. Ariftotle 
 mentions this, as a thing which is very natural, but very falla- 
 cious : *' OiovTCii yap ai^^i/TTci, oruv met ovTog y> ytvoy.Brii Tod't yevsrccif 
 ** £( TO vri^ov Eft, y.oik TO >tijpTifov tivoci vi yiv%^a,i* THro h sr* •^bv^o(;.^' 
 
 Poet. c. 24. 
 
 S 3 only 
 
262 SERMON VIII. 
 
 only by the fenfes, has been referred for the 
 fource of this its difputed exiftence to mere 
 perceptions ; while thefe again have been ^ con- 
 founded with ideas. — Spirit alfo, as it partakes 
 with the body of fimilar imperfedlions in in- 
 fancy, of fimilar gradations of improvement 
 in advancing years, and of the fame, even 
 fome times incapacitating, fenfations through- 
 out life, has been denied any other exiftence 
 than what it has been faid to derive from the 
 precarious harmony of bodily organs. — By 
 as fophiftical a method of referring things to 
 new and fuppofitious caufes, the motives, from 
 which the moft common of men's anions pro- 
 ceed, have been erefted into principles of ne- 
 ceffity and inverted with the abfolute control 
 of the human mind. — Nor have there been 
 wanting philofophers to afcribe the contradic- 
 tory opinions of different ages and nations on 
 the fame fubjefts, and even on moral virtues, 
 to the impofTibility of any criterion of truth 
 and to a total want of moral difference in 
 men's actions. — While others, with an equally 
 flattering remedy for the confcioufnefs of guilty 
 have boldly afferted, becaufe men are affaulted 
 by different degrees of temptation and en- 
 dowed with different powers of refiftance, that, 
 
 ^ See Beattie's Effay on Truth, p. 242, &c. 
 
 therefore. 
 
SERMON VIII. 263 
 
 therefore, whatever is called virtue in mankind 
 proceeds either from circumftances of fitua- 
 tion, or from natural frame and conftitution. 
 
 Attempts having been thus made to fubvert 
 the principles of Revelation, and indeed of all 
 Religion, by afluming, as the real caufes of 
 things, thofe which (to indulge fceptifm in its 
 moft "" abfurd pofitions) are no more than the 
 poffible caufes of them ; it is unneceffary to 
 fhow that the fame has been the cafe alfo with 
 regard to all the remaining and appropriate 
 parts of Revelation. 
 
 The truth is ; things, if they exift at all, 
 muft exift under fome circumftances : and, 
 while thefe circumftances may be referred 
 through ignorance or artifice to fictitious 
 caufes, the mind of man, when ambitious to 
 fupport the credit of human fufficiency, will 
 acquiefce in any extravagant fidion, fooner 
 than accede to the dodlrines of Revelation. 
 
 To expofe, therefore, the want of founda- 
 tion in objedions againft Revelation, derived 
 from fuch an origin, it is by no means re- 
 quired to prove it to be impoffible that the 
 caufes, affumed in them, fhould produce the 
 afligned efFe6ls. From the poflibility no logic 
 can ever infer the reality of fuch a produdion. 
 
 « That neceflity and chance may be caufes of things. Sec, 
 
 Befides, 
 
254 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Befides, proofs of the irnpoffibility of it can- 
 not be univerfally and decifiveiy adduced with- 
 out a knowlege of the effences of things. To 
 expofe the want of fohd foundation in the ob- 
 jedlions before us, it is required only to fhow 
 that the caufes, laid down in Revelation, are 
 fufficient to account for the appearances of 
 things : or, that if Revelation be true ; things 
 will exift under thofe very circumftances, from 
 which new caufes are perverfely inferred and 
 directed to difprove its truth : — that (with 
 regard to the particulars above inftanced) if 
 an allwife God did create the univerfe ; it 
 would be governed by regular laws : and that 
 even this regularity in the operation of fome 
 parts of the creation would, from the inter- 
 ference of other as well regulated parts of it, 
 produce at times eifecSls, which may appear to 
 be devoid of all regulation and order: — that 
 if matter were produced by Omnipotence for 
 the ufe of beings endowed with fcnk ; it is 
 reafonable to expe(5t that it fliould be fubjed: 
 to their perception by means of the organs of 
 fenfe, and this too in proportion only as thofe 
 organs are employed about it: — that if the 
 fpirit of man were defigned for an exiftence, 
 as progreffive at leaft in improvement as his 
 body ; its original ftate may well be as pro- 
 portionably imperfecS, and its proficiency in 
 
 attainments 
 
SERMON VIII. 265 
 
 attainments as gradual as that of lils body : 
 and that if bodily enjoyments and fufferings 
 be fo many trials of the fpirit ; it will be af- 
 fefted by all thefe feniations, and amidft dl- 
 verfities of probation the corruptible body will 
 in different degrees prefs down the foul : — 
 that if human ad;ions be left to the guidance 
 of reafon; they cannot, though abfolutely free, 
 be a mere effedt of the will, but require to 
 proceed from fome motives and to be diredled 
 to fome ends : — that if mankind be endowed 
 with freedom of thought, and be reduced to a 
 ftate of general corruption; it may be expedled 
 not only that individuals, but alfo that com- 
 munities, fhould differ in their opinions of 
 things ; and that thefe differences, when wi- 
 dened by the contrary operation of ignorance 
 on the one fide and enhghtened knowlege on 
 the other, fhould at length terminate in con- 
 tradidions of the greateft importance : — laft- 
 ly, that if men have different talents allotted 
 them ; their trials, or degrees of temptation, 
 will be as different : and if one deflined con- 
 fequence and reward of virtue in another life 
 be an exemption from all temptation ; it is 
 confiftent with the analogy of things that the 
 fame caufe fhould in fome degree produce the 
 fame effed: in this life, and that good men 
 
 fliould 
 
266 SERMON VIII. 
 
 ihould find the leaft difficulty in controling 
 their paffions. 
 
 When it has been thus fhown that the ap- 
 pearances of things, or the circurnftances un- 
 der which things exift, are accounted for and 
 (morally fpeaking) neceffary, if the doftrines 
 of Revelation be true ; no additional argument 
 can be wanted to enfure for us a lafting tri- 
 umph over the ^preceding and fimilar attempts 
 of metaphyfical fophiftry : fince, our Religion 
 itfelf both requires and explains that very ftate 
 of things, from which objeftions againil its 
 truth are thus perverfely drawn ; and it is well 
 knov/n that the firft rule of philofophizing 
 explicitly declares, ^^ that more caufes of things 
 " are not to be admitted, than are both true 
 *' and fufficient to explain their phsenomena." 
 
 But, furely, we ought not to wonder, if the 
 enemies of our Religion have been able to em- 
 ploy the fuppofitions of abftraflied philofophy 
 to its prejudice ; fmce fuch metaphyfical fub- 
 tleties are fo thoroughly adverfe to divine truth, 
 that even attempts to reconcile them have been 
 attended (as we have ^ ftQn above) with per- 
 
 *' All thefe objeflions are of the fame kind with that, which 
 Ariilotle calls '' ^va-i? (pa,ivoiJ.ii-/\, aXK ax. a,M^m a.n^''' and pro- 
 ceeds to obferve concerning it, " h yct^ on hk siko^; Xvu o swra/^e- 
 *' w?, cc>,X or i UK avocyzciiov .' * Rhetor. 8vo. p. 39O. 
 
 2 See the introdudlion to the third fermon. 
 
 nicious 
 
SERMON VIIL 267 
 
 nicious confequences to Chriftianity. In the 
 early ages of our Religion, when the zealots of 
 fuch fyftems had nothing to oppofe to its re- 
 cent evidences, they did not come over to its 
 fide without bringing with them a numerous 
 train of errors. Sooner than they would relin- 
 quifh their former ftudies, they forced the 
 fimple doftrines of Chriftianity into a confift- 
 ency with all the wild reveries of both the 
 Gnoftic and the Platonic School. The plain- 
 nefs of Revelation was fooliflmefs to thefe lovers 
 of difputation : and divine truths appeared to 
 be unworthy of reafon, till they had been tem- 
 pered with the moft extravagant of its fallies. 
 Nor did men of fcience (as they were efteemed) 
 betray lefs prejudice and ignorance of true 
 Chriftianity, than the ^ Emperours who pro- 
 pofed to the fenate to enroll Chrift among the 
 Roman Deities. But, as I have fhewn that 
 the metaphyfical attempts of the enemies of 
 our Religion to introduce new caufes of things 
 are devoid of all folid foundation ; and as care 
 is at prefent abundantly taken, by the wifdom 
 of Church eftablifhments, to hinder its injudi- 
 cious profeflbrs from again incorporating phi« 
 lofophical conceits with the dodlrines of our 
 
 ^ Adrian and Sevenis Alexander. 
 
 See Jortin's Remark's, Vol. II. p. 90. 
 
 Religion ; 
 
 • 
 
268 SERMON VIII. 
 
 Religion ; I need add no more, either for our 
 fatisfadlion or caution, on this part of my fub- 
 jedl; and may proceed to the objections againft 
 our Religion which are immediately drawn 
 from difcoveries in nature. 
 
 Thefe objedlions are drawn from difcoveries 
 of this kind, which are either general and fyf- 
 tematical, or particular and feparate : and all 
 of them originate in erroneous opinions with 
 regard to the intention of our Religion, or 
 with regard to the difcoveries themfelves from 
 which they are drawn. 
 
 Thus, in confequence of fuch general and 
 fyftematical difcoveries, objedtions are urged 
 againft our Religion on account of the coinci- 
 dence of its language with popular opinions 
 concerning natural appearances, and its want 
 of fuperior information on thefe fubjedts. For, 
 though the ' authors of the general difcoveries 
 in natural fcience, which enlighten the prefent 
 age, have been fully convinced of their con- 
 liftency with Revelation ; yet we frequently 
 find admirers and followers of thofe great men 
 in all other refpedls, forward in this to main- 
 tain a contrary opinion. They are offended 
 that Revelation fhould either countenance (ac- 
 cording to their interpretation of its intention) 
 
 * Newton, Boyle, Sec, 
 
 any 
 
SERMON VIIL 269 
 
 any erroneous fyfteni, or omit the opportunity 
 of proving its fuperior wifdom by explaining 
 the true fyftem of nature. But, fuch men 
 have yet to learn the real intention of Reve- 
 lation. By religious, as oppofed to other, in- 
 ll;rud;ion was this gracious difpenfation to pro- 
 vide a remedy for the fatal confequences of 
 man's original tranfgreffion. Thus calculated 
 it neither approves, nor condemns, the natu- 
 ral fyftems of its age. Having in the intro- 
 du(flion to its own hiftory eftablifhed the foun- 
 dation of every rational fyftem of natural 
 knowlege, having eftablifhed in the Deity the 
 Creator and preferver of univerfal nature, it 
 fupports not in its fubfequent parts any parti- 
 cular reafonings of men concerning his works. 
 It fimply relates fuch truths, as are connected 
 with Religion and refer to man himfelf. It 
 adopts not any fyftem of natural philofophy. 
 When circumftances of this kind muft necef- 
 farily be referred to ; with whatever human 
 fyftem its expreffions may coincide, thefe re- 
 ferrences are fo made, as plainly to ftiovv^ that 
 the holy Scriptures mean not to philofophize, 
 but to propofe their inftrudtions in terms w^hich 
 are moft eafily underftood. The language, 
 which philofophers have ufed in every age, the 
 infpired writers have ufed of old. Philofophers 
 have found it expedient v/ith regard to natural 
 
 appearances 
 
270 SERMON VIIL 
 
 appearances that the ^ errors of the generality 
 of mankind fliould be admitted in difcourfes, 
 defigned for general apprehenfion. And Reve- 
 lation has gracioufly been pleafed to accomo- 
 date itfelf to the fame expediency. Indeed, 
 any other language would have required a pre- 
 vious explanation and avowal of the fyftem, 
 from which its terms were derived. And this 
 would not only have been inconfiftent with 
 the general intention of Revelation ; but alfo 
 with that indulgence, which the Deity has 
 from the beginning been pleafed to extend to 
 human reafon. Had Revelation introduced any 
 the beft-founded fyftem of modern phyficsj or 
 had the Almighty Creator been pleafed to dif- 
 clofe the councils themfelves of his infinite 
 wifdom ; v/hat v/ould have been the confe- 
 quence ? Philofophy would immediately have 
 become matter of Faith, and difbelief of any 
 part of it a ^ dangerous herefy. How many in- 
 fidels would this, or that, man's fanciful hy- 
 pothelis concerning the appearances of things 
 have called forth ? From the time of Ptolemy 
 to Copernicus how many prejudices w^ould the 
 wifeft of men have entertained againft Revela- 
 tion : and how few would have believed in a 
 
 ^ Philofophers univerfally fpeak of the rifing of the Sun, &c. 
 * See Nichors Conference with a Theift, Vol. I. p. 70. 
 
 fyften\. 
 
SERMON Vlir 
 
 271 
 
 fyftem, which appeared to contradi<5t the tef- 
 timony of their fenfes ? Befides, though truth 
 be one certain indivifible point ; yet even good 
 men think they may lafely controvert the opi- 
 nions, without impeaching the virtue, of their 
 opponents, and in fome cafes fcruple not to 
 maintain their own conjectures for no better 
 reafon, perhaps, than becaufe they are their 
 own. But where Revelation had interpofed its 
 inftruftion, this Hberty could by no means be 
 innocent ; and the human mind, having no 
 choice of opinion left, would lofe its greateft 
 motive to exertion : v^'hile at the fame time 
 unlimited dependence upon authority (though 
 divine), if it did not enervate all our faculties, 
 would ftrongly tempt us to murmur againft the 
 requifition itfelf of fuch dependence, as the 
 moft flavifh reftraint. At prefent the God, 
 who brought "" every beaft of the field and 
 every fowl of the air to Adam to fee what he 
 would call them, has difplayed the produ6lions 
 of creation before our eyes and left us to exer- 
 cife that reafon upon them, which he certainly 
 endowed not in vain with any of its powers. 
 He has commanded our Faith v/ith regard to 
 thofe religious dodrines, which are calculated 
 to remedy the confequences of man's original 
 
 ^ Gea, ii. 1 9, 
 
 tranfgreffion r 
 
272 SERMON VIIL 
 
 tranfgreffion : and which, few as they are, 
 the Ibphiftry of metaphyfical philofophy has 
 throughout attempted to fubvert. In every 
 other refpe6l he has indulged us with perfed: 
 freedom of thought. It matters nothing to 
 our falvation what fyftems of natural fci- 
 ence wx adopt, or whether we equally rejecft 
 them all ; provided only that we do not, with 
 the impious Alphonfus, argue from our own 
 prefumption againft the wifdom of the Crea- 
 tor, and blafphemoully imagine that had we 
 been admitted to the councils of the m.oft 
 High, we could have taught him better how 
 to exert his Almighty power. 
 
 Exclufive, however, of objed;ions againft 
 our Religion, which are thus drawn from ge- 
 neral fyftems, others are urged againft it in 
 confequence of particular and feparate difcove- 
 ries in nature. 
 
 The hiftory of Revelation is fo immediately 
 and intimately connected with the ftate of the 
 world, that believers readily confefs there is 
 reafon to expedl a confiftency between them ; 
 and the enemies of Chriftianity have in all 
 ages been forward to avail themfelves of the 
 opportunities, which the concifenefs of the 
 Scripture-hiftory and the infinite variety of 
 appearances around us afford to cavil and dif- 
 putation. But, fo well do the particular dif- 
 
 coverics, 
 
SERMON VIIL 
 
 73 
 
 coveries, which have been made in nature, 
 correfpond with the events, recorded in the 
 Scriptures 3 that they have given rife to few 
 obje(flions, except with regard to the time of 
 creation, and the defcent of mankind from 
 the fame common parents. 
 
 And even of thefe the former are founded 
 on " conjedural inferences from particular dif- 
 coveries, which might eafily be anfwered by 
 other conjedures on the fame fubjed;s j and 
 which it might, perhaps, be expedient thus to 
 anfwer, wxre it not that thefe objedions can- 
 not, in reaUty, be diredted to difprove the 
 truth of our Rehgion. They extend only to 
 the matter of our globe ; and are by no means 
 to be direfted againft any pofition, which in- 
 difputably forms a part of the Mofaical wri- 
 tings, or w^hich is effential to our religious 
 hiftory. For, could the moft incontrovertible 
 argument be adduced to prove the exigence of 
 this matter for numberlefs ages antecedent to 
 the time afllgned by Mofes for the commaence- 
 ment of human exiftence -, fuch proof would 
 
 " Whatever inferences Tome writers may draw from volcanos 
 ' concerning the age of the world ; Si. William Hamilton fays 
 with regard to the beds of lava in the neighbourhood of mount 
 yEtna and Vefuvius : '* I do not pretend to fay that a juft eili- 
 ** mate can be formed of the great age of Volcancs from this 
 ** obfcrvation, but feme fort of conjedlure might be made.'* 
 
 On Volcanos, p. 98, 99. 
 
 T neither 
 
274 SERMON VIIL 
 
 neither be neceflarily ° irreconcilable with the 
 Mofaical account of the creation, nor calcu- 
 lated in the leaft degree to refute any of 
 thofe early and effential parts of our ^ hiflory 
 which Revelation has connected with the uni- 
 verfal corruption and with the Redemption of 
 mankind. 
 
 The objections, advanced againft the com- 
 mon parentage of mankind both from the dif- 
 ference in their perfons and fituations, will re- 
 quire fomewhat more of our attention. For, 
 though they are founded, like the former, on 
 conjectural reafonings ; it muft be confeffed 
 that they are not, like thofe objedtions, di- 
 
 "^ Mofes indefinitely aflerts (Gen. i. i.) that ** In the 
 *' beginning God created the heaven and the earth." He 
 then gives an account of the formation of the earth, which 
 may refer to a very much later period. And when he fays that 
 God made the heavenly bodies, he may be fuppofed only to 
 intimate that the parts of our globe were then fitted to tranfmit 
 light ; fo that thofe bodies were then rendered vifible to us^ and 
 might be faid to have been made, as far as relates to the bene- 
 fit which we derive from them. Such conjeftures receive fup- 
 port from the difference between the word X"!! *' he created" 
 which is ufed in the firfl verfe, and ri"\Ly, which is ufed in the 
 7th and 1 6th verfes, and is known very often to imply nothing 
 more, than an adaptation or formation. 
 
 P The beft human means of fatisfying a rational enquiry into 
 the time of creation, as far as this time is effentially connefted 
 with the Scripture hiilory, muft ever be fought for in the origin 
 of arts and fciences, and in the general teftimony of Heathen 
 antiquity. And thefe have been proved (fee Stillingfleet's Orig. 
 Sacr. ) to be fo decilive in favour ef Revelation ; that to be ig- 
 norant of fuch fubjeds is in reality to lofe a moft perfuafive 
 motive for believing in our holy Religion, 
 
 refted 
 
SERMON VIII. 275 
 
 rcdled agalnft pofitions, which can be proved 
 not to form indifputably apart of Revelation and 
 not to be effentially connedled with it. They 
 are, however, at prefent fo retrenched in their 
 limits ; as to have loft all the irrefiftible force, 
 which they were fuppofed to carry again ft our 
 Religion. For, whatever might ^ formerly be 
 conjectured or reported concerning nations fpe- 
 cifically diftinguifhed in fliape and ftature from 
 the reft of mankind; we are fully authorifed by 
 ' late difcoveries to contradidl every fuch infin- 
 uation, and to apply univerfally what a diftin- 
 guifhed modern hiftorian fays of the inhabitants 
 of America: ' **In proportion as fcience extends 
 ** and nature is examined with a difcerning 
 •* eye, the wonders which amufed ages of ig- 
 ** norance difappear, the tales of credulous 
 ** travellers are forgotten, the ^monfters which 
 
 ^ Tacitus has given a concife account of feme ancient rela- 
 lations concerning monilers, which were partly of the human 
 fpecies, and mentions in his concluding words what, probably, 
 was the real origin of fuch fables : ** Ut quifque a longinquo 
 ** revenerat, miracula narrabant, vim turbinum, et inauditas 
 '* volucres, monftra maris, ambiguas hominum et belluarum 
 ** formas : vifa, five ex metu credita." Annal. 1. ii. c. 24. 
 
 ' See the different voyages of Capt. Cook. 
 
 '^ Robertfon's Hift. of America, Vol. II. p. 76. 8vo, Edit. 
 
 The fame is alfo fully alTerted in Dr. Smith's ** EfTay on the 
 *' caufes of the variety of complexion and figure in the human 
 *' fpecies," p. 93 — 97. Edit. 1789. 
 
 * What is faid with regard to monilers of the human fpecies 
 is equally true as to monilers of other kinds. ** The iiland of 
 ** Ferro was celebrated for a century or two on the credit of a 
 " miraculous tree, fingle in its kind, enveloped in perpetual 
 '* mills, and diflilling water for the ample fupply of the illand. 
 
 T 2 *' But 
 
276 S E R M O N VIII. 
 
 *' they defcrlbe have been fearched for in vain, 
 ** and thofe provinces, in which they pretend 
 ** to have found inhabitants of fingular forms, 
 " are now known to be polTelTed by people no 
 " wife differing from the reft of the Ameri- 
 " cans.'* The various complexions, therefore, 
 by which men are diftinguiflied from each 
 other, may now be faid to conftitute the prin- 
 cipal difference in their perfons. And though 
 this variety has ever been fuppofed to proceed 
 originally from climate ; yet fliall we perhaps 
 acquiefce more readily in the opinion from the 
 ingenious and forcible manner, in v/hich " it is 
 maintained by the hiftorian above cited. To 
 
 ** But ihis wonder, though vouched by feveral voyagers and by 
 *' fome as eye-wknelTes, vanifhed at the approach of fober en- 
 " quiry, nor could a iingle native be found hardy enough to 
 *' afiert its exigence.'* 
 
 Voyage to new South Wales, 4to 1789. p. 22. 
 " See Robertfon's Kiilory of America, Vol.11, p. 74, &c. 
 What M. de Pages fays from his own experience on this fub- 
 jetTt in that part of his travels round the world in the years 1767 
 — ijyi, which relates to his pafTage over the great defcrt, is 
 well worthy of our attention : " The tribes, which frequent the 
 *' middle of the defert, have locks fome what crifped, extcme- 
 *' ly fine, and approaching the woolly hair of the Negro. My 
 ** own during the fliort period of my travels in thofe regions 
 " became more dry and delicate than ufual, and receiving little 
 " nouriihment fi-om a checked pcrfpiration fliowed a difpofition 
 *' to alTume the fame frizzled and woolly appearance : an en- 
 *' tire failure of moiflure, and the exceflive heat of climate by 
 " which it was occafioned feem to be the principal caufes of 
 ** thofe fymptoms j my blood was beconie extremely dry, and 
 " my complexion diftlred little at lall from that of a Hindoo 
 *' or Arab.'* 
 
 inveftigate 
 
SERMON VIIL 277 
 
 inveftigate all the caufes which have coope- 
 rated in the produdlion of the difference of 
 complexion, and other lefs confiderable diffe- 
 rences of appearance, in the human fpecies, 
 and to defend the neceflary pofitions by parti- 
 cular arguments, would not be confiflent with 
 the limits of a fhort difcourfe. The fubjedt 
 alfo itfelf has been well-nigh exhaufled by a 
 foreign naturalifl of the prefent age. Buffon, 
 though by no means a bigot in favour of the 
 Scripture-hiftory, aflerts its caufe in the fuUefl 
 manner poflible again ft the objedlion at pre- 
 fent before us. This indefatigable philofopher 
 enquires into all the real differences "difcover- 
 able in men's perfons ; and at length from a 
 ''number of the beft-attefted obfervations de- 
 duces the following memorable conclufion : 
 * '* From every circumftance may be obtained 
 *^ a proof that mankind are not compofed of 
 *^ fpecies eifentially different from each other, 
 '^ that on the contrary there was originally 
 ** but one individual fpecies of men, which, 
 ** after being multiplied and diffufed over the 
 ^* whole furface of the earth, underwent di- 
 
 " The differences in the perfons of mankind, remarked by 
 Cook and other late voyagers, do not vary from thofe, which are 
 ilatcd and examined by Buifon. 
 
 "^ bee Vol. I. of Euifon's Hiltory, tranflated by K-enrick and 
 Miirdock, from p. 171, to p. 292. 
 
 * See Buifon as above, Vol, I. p. 291. 
 
 T 3 " vers 
 
zjZ SERMON VIII. 
 
 ** vers changes from the influence of climate, 
 ** from the difference of food and the mode of 
 " living, from epidemical diforders, as alfo 
 " from the intermixture varied ad infinitum 
 ** of individuals, more or lefs refembling each 
 '* other : that thefe alterations were at firft 
 *' lefs confiderable and confined to individuals; 
 ** that afterwards from the continued ad:ion 
 '* of the above caufes becoming more general, 
 *' more fenfible, and more fixed, they formed 
 *' varieties of the fpecies : that thefe varieties 
 *^ have been and ftill are perpetuated from ge- 
 ** neration to generation, in the fame manner 
 '^ as certain diforders and certain maladies pafs 
 " from parents to their children." Befides, 
 moreover, our Religion does not want advo- 
 cates to efpoufe its caufe and to repell the at- 
 tacks of this fort, to which it is every day ex- 
 pofed. What has been laft objedled on the 
 lubjedl before us by philofophers of more en- 
 terprife than ^ fober reflexion in their endea- 
 
 y We have a fufficient proof of Lord Kaims's want of fober 
 reflexion on fuch occafions in what Dr. Smith remarks on his 
 inferences from the Giagas : " He thinks it certain that the 
 ** Giagas, a nation of Africa, could not have defcended from 
 *' one origin with the reft of mankind, becaufe, totally unlike 
 " all others, they are void of natural afFeftion. They kill, fays 
 *' his Lordfliip, all their own children as foon as they are born, 
 ** and fupply their places with youth llolen from the neighbouring 
 <* tribes. If this charafter had been true, even his Lordfhip'^ 
 " zeal for a good caufe might have fuffered him to refle£l, that 
 *' the Giagas could not have continued a feparate race longer 
 
 ** than 
 
SERMON VIII. 279 
 
 vours to undermine Revelation, has been very 
 lately ' anfv^ered in the moft able and fatisfac- 
 tory manner by a diftinguiifhed American pro- 
 feflbr; who appears to have made excellent 
 ufe of his local advantages for the difcuffion 
 of fuch a fubjedt, and to have fo fully con- 
 firmed, by his ov^n obfervations and reafon- 
 ings, the fubftance of the conclufion urged in 
 our favour by the great foreign naturalift, as 
 to have rendered additional defences of it en- 
 tirely unneceflary. 
 
 The other objeftion advanced againft the 
 Scripture-genealogy of mankind from the fup- 
 pofed abfurdity of making them migrate from 
 fome one country to all the remote parts of 
 the earth is ftill more inexcufably deftitute of 
 folid foundation : fince, what may have been 
 done by many different ways, it is in every 
 point of view an unwarrantable prefumption 
 
 *' than the firfl flock (liould have lived. The ftolen youth would 
 ** refemble their parents and would at length compofe the na 
 " tion. And yet the Giagas, according to his Lordfhip, will 
 •* continue to kill their children and to be a ftanding monument 
 '* of the falfhood of the Scriptures. ! An excellent fpecimen of 
 " the eafy faith of infidelity"!" Smith's Eilay, notes, p. 96. 
 ^ Among other objedions againft Revelation, on the fubje^l 
 before us, that, which is often urged in modern times from the 
 difcoveries of Anatomifls concerning the three lamellae or folds, 
 of which the fkin coniifts, and from the difference in the appear ♦ 
 ance of the mucous fubilance which fills the cellular membrane 
 of the intermediate fold in black and white men, is very con- 
 cifely and fully anfwered by Dr. Smith, p. 17, and 18. 
 
 to 
 
28x) S E R M O N VIII. 
 
 to aficrt gratuitoufly was never done by any. 
 Befides, lb far at prefent is there from being 
 even an appearance of inipoffibility in this 
 migration, that paffages have been adually 
 difcovered from the northern * extremities of 
 the old world to the great continent of the 
 new, which evince at once its ^ extreme pro- 
 bability with regard to the principal regions 
 of the earth. And if we attend alfo to the ''re- 
 femblance, found to fubfift between the inha- 
 bitants on the oppofite fides of thefe paffages ; 
 we /hall find this probability advanced at 
 length to an indifputable certainty. Indeed, 
 fo fully convinced of the certainty was the 
 naturalift, above cited, long before the " laft 
 
 ^ From the North -Weft of Europe and the North-Eaft of 
 Afia. 
 
 ^ "By fixing the relative fituation of Afia and America 
 ** and difcovering the narrow bounds of the ftrait which 
 ** divides them he (Cook) has thrown a blaze of light upon 
 ** this important part of the geography of the globe, and fol- 
 ** ved the puzzling problem about the peopling of America by 
 *' tribes delHtute of the neccllary means to attempt long navi- 
 **■ gations." Introd. to Cook's and King's voyages publifhed 
 by authority, ^to. p. 55. 
 
 •^ The Efquimeaux refemble their neighbours on the North- 
 Weft extremity of Europe. And the fame refemblance is found 
 alfo to fubfift between the inhabitants of the North Eaft of Afia, 
 and both the Americans oppofite to them and all the other 
 Americans, except thofe few tribes, which, together with the 
 the Efquimeaux, appear to have defcended from the Greenlan- 
 ders Robertfon's Hift. of Amer Vol. II. p. 45 — 49. 
 
 *^ Thofe of Cook and King. We find that the latter had an 
 opportunity of feeing at the fame moment the coafts of Afia and 
 America. Ccok's and King's Voyage, Vol. Ill* p. 244. 
 
 and 
 
SERMON VIIL 281 
 
 and the moft important difcoverles on the 
 fubjedt, that he declares he has * ** no doubt, 
 *' independently of every Theological confide- 
 ** ration, that the origin of the Americans is 
 *' the fame with our own." 
 
 The parts of the new world, which are dif- 
 joined from the others and which have been 
 reprefented by ignorance and infidelity as vaft 
 continents, are by the moft recent and com- 
 plete refearches reduced to a few ^ inconfider- 
 able iflands : and, as far as can be collected 
 from the imperfed; accounts given of the in- 
 habitants, it is highly probable that they were 
 conveyed to their prefent fettlements from 
 ^ iflands adjacent to the continent of Afia ; 
 from ^ which continent all the inhabitants of 
 the new world ( with a * few ftriking ex- 
 ceptions to the contrary) appear to have mi- 
 
 = BuiFon (as before) Vol. I. p. 279. 
 
 *" New Holland, though very confiderable in its fize, is not 
 at all (0 in its population. It was, however, known in part be- 
 fore the other iflands here referred to. 
 
 s The inhabitants of thefe iilands are fuppofed to have been 
 all derived from the Malayans. See Introd. to Cook's and 
 King's Voyages, 4to. p. 71 — 73, and Vol. I. p. 1 16 and 202. 
 
 ^ Robertfon's Hiftory of America, V^ol. II. p. 47. 8vo. Edit. 
 
 ^ The Efquimeaux, and fome few other Americans, who ap. 
 pear to have migrated from the North- Weft extremity of Eu- 
 rope, are to be excepted. Robertfon's Hill (as above) p. 47, 48. 
 See concerning thelc other Americans on the weftern coaft of 
 North America, v.'ho refemble the Efquimeaux and Greeiilan- 
 drv'i. Cook's and King's Voyage, VcL II. p. 921, 522. 
 
 grated. 
 
282 SERMON VIIL 
 
 grated. Nor fliall we wonder that we arc 
 unacquainted with the circumflances of their 
 migration ; if we confider, that this event 
 probably happened at no great dillance from 
 the time, when our own anceftors fet out 
 from the fame regions to people the weftern 
 world by an oppofite rout. 
 
 Belides all the confirmation, derived to our 
 Religion from the want of folid foundation in 
 the objed:ions againft it thus drawn from par- 
 ticular difcoveries in nature, ifwerefled (as we 
 well may, while we are purfuing fuch objed:- 
 ions) that the afcertained and acknowleged 
 condition of every nation evidently correfponds 
 at prefent with the Scripture-hiftory of the 
 fall of man, and of the perverfion of his nature ^ 
 and that, while no probable account has been 
 given of the origin and difperfion, none has 
 been given even of the corruption of mankind, 
 except by Revelation ; if v/e thus refled:, we 
 fhall find that modern difcoveries have not only 
 extenfively contributed to obviate philofophi- 
 cal objedions againft our Religion, but that 
 they have, moreover, furniihed us with pofi- 
 tive arguments in its favour. And fince it is 
 our national glory to have explored in the pre- 
 fent age the whole furface of the globe ; we 
 may henceforth bid defiance to conjefture and 
 
 confidently 
 
SERMON VIII. 283 
 
 confidently affert from the teftimony of eye- 
 witnefTes, that all the different people of the 
 earth, wherefoever found and howfoever cir- 
 cumftanced, unite to prove the truth of the 
 Scripture-hiftory. 
 
 Such, particularly, are the origin and foun- 
 dation of the objedlions advanced againft our 
 Religion from the pretenfions of philofophy : 
 from abftrafted reafonings, no lefs than from 
 immediate difcoveries in nature. The former 
 appear to derive their exiftence and fupport 
 from that ignorance of the eflences of things, 
 which muft ever render us liable to be decei- 
 ved by references of them to metaphyfical and 
 fuppofitious caufes : the latter appear to depend 
 upon mifconceptions w^ith regard to the inten- 
 tion of our Religion, or upon erroneous opi- 
 nions v^ith regard to the difcoveries themfelves 
 from v^hich they are dravi^n. So fatisfadlory, 
 therefore, are the reafons, which we have to 
 advance on this part of our fubjedl in vindica- 
 tion of the Hope that is in us. 
 
 What, then, are we to think of the men, 
 who propofe ^ fach objedions, as grounds for 
 
 ^ " Paradoxical writers have flattered themfelves that infi- 
 '* delity would gain ground as philofophy advanced. So fan- 
 ** q;uiRe was a late projedor in this way, that he would fome- 
 
 ♦* times 
 
284 SERMON VIIL 
 
 an univerfal rejedlon of Chriftlanity ; who 
 profefs to difbelieve all the plaineft truths of 
 Revelation, and fully to approve the moft ad- 
 venturous fuggeftions of human philofophy ? 
 If the aifedation of fuperior wifdom, or the 
 luft of fenfual pleafure, make them diffemble 
 their real fentiments ; we need not, doubtlefs, 
 infift upon the extreme folly of facrificing to 
 fuch motives the glorious profpedls of Chrifli- 
 anity. But, if they are lincere in their pro- 
 feflions ; we have to lament that God has given 
 tliem up to ^ believe a lye, and that the Al- 
 mighty has made fooliihnefs the wifdom of this 
 world. It is not, however, for us to judge 
 concerning others, but to beware left we alfo 
 be fpoiled through philofophy. And, while 
 we defend the infallible word of Revelation 
 again ft different aifaults of the cunning crafti- 
 nefs of men, let us be careful to remember, 
 what can never be too often iniifted upon, 
 *" *' that God relifteth the proud and giveth 
 *^ grace to the humble.'* 
 
 I have now o-one throusrh the four different 
 heads, under which I propofed to ftate the 
 
 *• times give It as his opinion that Chriftlanity could not out- 
 •* lail the prelent century'* 
 
 Beattie's Evidences, Vol. il. p. 152, 153. 
 * 2 Tlieil", ii II. ^ James, iv. 6. 
 
 principal 
 
SERMON VIII. 285 
 
 principal circumftances, which affedl our 
 Chriftian Faith. The reafons, which I alleged 
 for thus calUng your attention to truths, of 
 which you muft often before have heard the 
 greater part, and which might enable us to give 
 a fatisfad:ory anfwer to every enquiry concer- 
 ning the Hope that is in us, were drawn from 
 the oppofition at prefent dired:ed againft our 
 Religion, from the utih'ty of interfperfmg at 
 times fome general account of our Religion 
 among the particular fubje6ts marked out for 
 this led:ure, and from the advantage neceffarily 
 to be derived from fuch general inftruftion by 
 the younger part of my audience for whofe be- 
 nefit this Inftitution was peculiarly calculated. 
 I doubt not but thefe reafons will be deemed 
 fully fufficient to juilify the choice, w^hich I 
 have made of my fubjeft. But, independently 
 of all fuch particular reafons, fo unreftrained 
 is the freedom of our will and fo commenfu- 
 rate with our whole lives is the imperfedlion 
 of our nature; that the oldeft, the wifeft, and 
 the beft, among us often want to be reminded 
 of the general truths, which have been the 
 the fubjed: of thefe difcourfes. The infor- 
 mation, therefore, which has been given in 
 them, may through the grace of God be ef- 
 fentially ferviceable to all who have attended 
 to it. 
 
 May 
 
286 SERMON VIIL 
 
 May neither that grace, nor our own en- 
 deavours, ever be wanting to render fuch 
 information thus ferviceable to us all to 
 all eternity ! 
 
 THE E K P> 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Dedication, I. 5. read SERMONS indead of LECTURES. 
 
 Pag. 9. 1. 13. read individual's htjiead of invidual's, 
 
 P. 52. 1. 5. omit under. 
 
 P. 66. 1. 5. infert the befo7'e fame. 
 
 P. 131. Note •". 1. 2. read Montagne inftead of Montague. 
 
 P. 189. Note ^. 1. 3. read yiyvofjuva infead of ytvoiJt.ivx, 
 
 P. 226. Note *^. 1. 5. read a9rapa|05 injiead of aar>3p»fof. 
 
 Lately publijhedy by the fame Author^ 
 TWO SERMONS ON THE TRINITY. 
 
I'm I'ni ^^™'°5ical Semmary-Speer Library 
 
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