Still lower, when they had loft all Knowlege of the true God, and the fecond Caufes or Agents here, the falfe Gods; fome, who faw that all this Trumpery clear'd nothing, began to frame, as they call'd it, the Law of Nature, out of their own Heads; began to guess, as they call'd it, Reason, what God must be, what must be God; what must be Religion, and what, Religion must be; they had not heard of Aleim, or knew not what it meant; they found no Evidence fit to direct them; therefore they determin'd Religion muft be natural Morality, and Morality muft be natural Religion, and confift in the reciprocal Duties from one to another in a Commonwealth. These Men were even then justly treated as Atheists; yet this is the Foundation of our Naturalifts, and which they (I wish I could ftop there) fet up in Oppofition to the Revelations made to the Jews, &c. and which our Divines continually cite.

When that would not take, they attempted to become great by the Art of Oration, by learning to dress up Imaginations and Falfhoods under the fpecious Appearances of Truth, to gain the Populace, to destroy a Rival, to carry a Caufe, &c. Though impofing upon Mens VOL. IV. I

Judgments

Judgments by falfe Reasoning, efpecially upon Bodies of Men, Judges, &c. be one of the greatest Crimes, was Part of Satan's Means in his firft Attempt, his giving falfe Evidence, is infinitely worse than Coining, and uttering falfe Money, or making and vending any other falfe Commodity; there has been the feweft Laws made against it, the feweft Exampleslately to deter Men from it, nay, the Artifts at it have met with greater Encouragements and Rewards, than thofe of any Vice whatever. This we have learn'd from Rhetoric and Logic in the Claffics.

When this Art was arrived to fuch Perfection, and there were fuch Numbers of Artifts, that in any Conteft neither Side wanted Advocates who would make any Thing appear to be true, for Money; they were of little Benefit to one great Man against another, ferved only to catch smaller Prey So at laft, to get to be great, they were forced to use the other Part of the Means which Satan had ufed at first, Promifes and Bribes; fo that which began the falfe Confeflion, ended it. Some of the Heathen Books are left among us, as fome. of the Canaanites were left among the Ifraelites, to prove them; and fo are these Dreamers fuffer'd, who start old Objecti

ons

ons every Day. A Man who understands the Original, may safely study and attempt the explaining of thefe Farces, and fee the Vanity of thefe Notions; but he who does not, meddles with them at the Rifque of himself.

As 'tis faid to the Jews, Deut. iv. 6, This is your Wisdom and your Understanding, &c. fo they, bydeparting from it, and lofing their Language, were reduced to nearly the fame Degree of Ignorance in the two chief Points, as is declared and predicted, Ifa. xxix. 10. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the Spirit of deep Sleep, and bath clofed your Eyes: The Prophets and your Rulers, the Seers, hath be covered, and the Vifion of all is become unto you as the Words of a Book which is fealed, which Men deliver to one which is learned, faying, Read this, I pray thee; and he faith, I cannot, for it is fealed: And the Book is delivered to him which is not learned, faying, Read this, I pray thee; and he faith, I am not learned. And their Fear towards me is taught by the Precepts of Men, &c. Ifa. xliii. 27, Thy firft Father hath jinned, and thy Teachers (Interpreters) have tranfgrefs'd against me; therefore I have prophaned the Princes of thy Sanctuary. Jer. viii. 9, Lo! they have rejected the Word of

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the Lord, and what Wisdom (the Wisdom of what Thing) is in them? Amos viii. 11. I will fend a Famine in the Land, not a Famine of Bread, nor a Thirst for Water, but of hearing the Words of the Lord, &c. as 'tis faid to Babylon and Chaldea, while their Language and revealed Knowledge of these Things were perfect. Ifa. xlvii. 10, Thy Wisdom and thy Knowledge it bath perverted thee (caused thee to turn away.) The Jews must know what the Chaldeans knew, when they returned: And it pears by the Apocryphal Books and Targums, that the Jews had then loft their Knowledge of thofe Agents, guefs'd poorly at the Objects, and fuppofed the Gentiles worshipped Images: So when thofe were loft. 1 Cor. i. 20, Where is the Difputer of this World? I may anfwer, Jer. x. 14, and li. 17, Every Man is brutish, by his Knowledge; (more brutish than to know) fo far from difcovering the great Author, that after the Knowledge of him, of the Agents here, &c. were revealed to them, they first loft the Knowledge of the First; after that, of the Second; and, without Revelation, could not fo much as difcover the immediate Hand that delivered the prefent Benefits to them.

As

As the Soul, or Mind of Man, cannot fubfift without Supplies or Support, any more than his Body; as nothing can fupply the Mind of Man, except he fees, or fuppofes he fees, a Power in fome other Being fufficient to afford fuch Supplies as the Soul requires, and fuppofes himself fo far in the Favour of that Being, that he will afford his Soul thofe Supplies, expreffed in that beautiful Parable Luke xv. of the Gentiles, the younger Son, who, together with the elder, the Jewish Line, while he was in his Father's House, the true Church, wanted nothing; there was. Plenty of Food for the Soul, as appears by the Speech of the younger Son to himself, and of the Father to his elder Șon. After the younger Brother, poffeffed of his Share of Knowledge, went into a ftrange Country, from God, and fpent his Substance, the Evidence and Knowledge of God, and fell into fpiritual Fornication with thefe Agents, while he preferved the Knowledge of the Operation of these Agents, which was fufficient to employ his Mind; and fuppofed, from the great Performances that he faw, that there were fome further Powers in them which he might depend upon, which were thofe, his elder, Brother, Mofes, the Prophets,

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