in this System is to be ascribed to the same cause, as the like appearances of defects in the Natural System; our inability to discern the whole Scheme, and our ignorance of the relation of those parts which are discernible to others beyond our view. The Objections against Christianity as a matter of Fact, and against the Wisdom and Goodness of it, having been obviated together, the chief of them are now to be considered distinctly. One of these, which is levelled against the entire System itself, is of this sort: The Restoration of Mankind, represented in Scripture as the great design of the Gospel, is described as requiring a long series of means, and persons, and dispensations, before it can be brought to its completion; whereas the whole ought to have been effected at once. Now every thing we see in the course of Nature shows the folly of this objection. For in the natural course of Providence, Ends are brought about by Means, not operating immediately and at once, but deliberately and in a way of progression; one thing being subservient to another, this to somewhat further. The change of seasons, the ripening of fruits, the growth of vegetable and animal bodies, are instances of this. And therefore that the same progressive method should be followed in the dispensation of Christianity, as is observed in the common dispensation of Providence, is a reasonable expectation, justified by the Analogy of Nature*. * Ch. 4. Another circumstance objected to in the Christian Scheme is the appointment of a Mediator, and the saving of the world through him. But the visible Government of God being actually administered in this way, or by the Mediation and Instrumentality of others; there can be no general Presumption against an appointment of this kind, against his invisible Government being exercised in the same manner. We have seen already that, with regard to ourselves, this visible Government is carried on by Rewards and Punishments; for Happiness and Misery are the consequences of our own actions, considered as virtuous and vicious, and these consequences we are enabled to foresee. It might have been imagined before consulting Experience, that after we had rendered ourselves liable to misery by our own ill conduct, sorrow for what was past, and behaving well for the future, would, alone and of themselves, have exempted us from deserving Punishment, and restored us to the Divine Favour. But the fact is otherwise; and real reformation is often found to be of no avail, so as to secure the criminal from poverty, sickness, infamy, and death, the neverfailing attendants on vice and extravagance, exceeding a certain degree. By the course of Nature then it appears, God does not always pardon a sinner on his Repentance. Yet there is Provision made, even in Nature, that the miseries which men bring on themselves by unlawful indulgences, may in many cases be mitigated, and in some removed; partly by extraordinary exertions of the Offender him self, but more especially and frequently by the intervention of Others, who voluntarily, and from motives of compassion, submit to labour and sorrow, such as produce long and lasting inconveniences to themselves, as the means of rescuing another from the wretched effects of former imprudences. Vicarious Punishment, therefore, or one person's sufferings contributing to the relief of another, is a providential disposition, in the Economy of Nature*: And it ought not to be matter of surprise, if by a method analogous to this we be redeemed from sin and misery in the Economy of Grace. That Mankind at present are in a state of degradation, different from that in which they were originally created, is the very ground of the Christian Revelation as contained in the Scriptures. Whether we acquiesce in the account, that our being placed in such a state is owing to the crime of our first parents, or choose to ascribe it to any other cause, it makes no difference as to our Condition: the vice and unhappiness of the world are still there, notwithstanding all our suppositions; nor is it Christianity that hath put us into this state. We learn also from the same Scriptures, what Experience and the use of Expiatory Sacrifices from the most early times might have taught us, that Repentance alone is not sufficient to prevent the fatal consequences of past transgressions: But that still there is room for Mercy, and that Repentance shall be available, though not of itself, yet through the Mediation of a Divine * See Note [I], at the end of this Preface. Person, the Messiah; who, from the sublimest principles of compassion, when we were dead in trespasses and sins*, suffered and died, the innocent for the guilty, the just for the unjust, that we might have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. In what way the death of Christ was of that efficacy it is said to be, in procuring the reconciliation of sinners, the Scriptures have not explained: It is enough that the doctrine is revealed; that it is not contrary to any truths which Reason and Experience teach us; and that it accords in perfect harmony with the usual method of the Divine Conduct in the Government of the World§. Again it hath been said, that if the Christian Revelation were true, it must have been universal, and could not have been left upon Doubtful Evidence. But God, in his Natural Providence, dispenses his gifts in great variety, not only among creatures of the same species, but to the same individuals also at different times. Had the Christian Revelation been universal at first, yet from the diversity of men's abilities both of mind and body, their various means of improvement and our external advantages, some persons must soon have been in a situation, with respect to religious knowledge, much superior to that of others, as much perhaps as they are at present: And all men will be equitably dealt with at last; and to whom little is given, of him little will be required. Then as to the evidence of Religion being left doubtful, difficulties of this * Ephes ii. 1. + 1 Pet. iii. 18. sort, like difficulties in Practice, afford scope and opportunity for a virtuous exercise of the understanding, and dispose the mind to acquiesce and rest satisfied with any evidence that is real. In the daily commerce of life, men are obliged to act upon great uncertainties, with regard to success in their Temporal Pursuits : and the case with regard to Religion is parallel. However, though Religion be not intuitively true, the proofs of it which we have are amply sufficient in reason to induce us to embrace it; and dissatisfaction with those proofs may possibly be men's own fault*. Nothing remains but to attend to the positive Evidence there is for the truth of Christianity. Now besides its direct and fundamental proofs, which are Miracles and Prophecies; there are many collateral Circumstances, which may be united into one view, and all together may be considered as making up One Argument. In this way of treating the subject, the Revelation, whether real or otherwise, may be supposed to be wholly historical: The general design of which appears to be, to give an account of the Condition of Religion, and its professors, with a concise narration of the Political State of things, as far as Religion is affected by it, during a great length of time, near six thousand years of which are already past, More particularly it comprehends an account of God's entering into Covenant with one nation, the Jews, that he would be their God, and that they should be His People; of his often interposing in their affairs; giving them * Ch. 6. |