Anfwer'd

"unworthy of an extraordinary In"terpofition; there seems to be no Oc"cafion for any fupernatural Revela"tion: and confequently the Chriftian

Religion, which pretends to come "from God, muft either be a decepti66 on in the whole, or only a Republi"cation of the Laws of Nature; and,

confequently again, if we do but live 66 up to the Precepts of Reafon, we "need not doubt of our Acceptance "with God, whatever our Sentiments "about the Doctrinal and Traditional "Parts of Chriftianity may be.

Thofe, who have look'd into the Reby fhew-ligion of Nature, have made no Diffiing what culty to grant; that there is a necefReligionis, fary fitnefs and unfitnefs in Things,

Natural

even antecedent to all Confideration of particular Rewards and Punishments; that this Difference of Things, Mankind, by the due Exercife of their rational Faculties, were originally formed by God to difcern; and that, from this Difcernment, their Obligation too bferve fuch Laws or Rules of Life, as Result from the Nature of Man, confider'd as a rational Creature. All this they allow proceeds originally from God; but they can by no Means infer from thence, hat

Clark's Evidence, p. 174.

it

it must be abfolutely Perfect, even as its

Author c.

Perfection indeed is a term of fome Not abfoAmbiguity, and not fo easily to be ftated, lutely because, what is perfect,in one refpect,may perfe&t. have its Imperfections in another. In the feveral ranks and degrees of Creatures, fome,we fee, are endued with higher and more excellent Faculties than others; and in regard to thefe, fuch, as are inferior in any point of Merit, may be faid to be imperfect, when compar'd with those, that do furpass them; and yet, confidering, that both have all the Powers and Faculties, that are requifite to attain the End, for which they were created, we may, with Propriety enough, fay, that both are perfect, but then it muft be understood in their different Kinds and Degrees. And in like manner, if we fhou'd fay, that the original Religion, or Law of Nature, which confider'd Man only in the Integrity and Rectitude of his Faculties, was undoubtedly perfect, i. e. was defective of nothing, which, in fuch Circumftances, was neceffary for the Attainment of its End; this will not hinder us from afferting (what we fhall hereafter endeavour to make good) that when Man had deprav'd himself by Sin, and thereby introduc'd

Dr. Burnet's first Argument.

a quite

Not Per

a quite different ftate of Things, the Re-
ligion of Nature then became imperfect,
i. e. unable to answer the end, for
which it was primarily defign'd; and
therefore a more perfect Difcovery of
the divine Will was no less than necef-
fary, in order to direct him in his Duty.
The exercise of his own Reafon cou'd
not do it: For it is with Reafon, e as it
is with the Eye, which has a natural
Power to fee, and therefore can natural-
ly need no help to discern fuch Things,
as are the proper Objects of it, all re-
quifite Circumftances fuppos'd: But yet,

if

any of these requifite Circumftances be wanting; if the faculty itself be impair'd by any defect in the Nerve, or the diftance be too great, or the Medium too thick; our Eyes may be of no use to us, and we may want a Guide to direct us in the plaineft Things, as much as if we had no fuch Faculty at all.

Those, that maintain the perpetuity petual. of natural Religion, fuppofe Mankind to have always been the fame; nd thereupon argue f from the Powers of Reafon in a state of Innocence (in which the Understanding is fuppos'd to be clear and strong, and the Judgment unbiass'd, and free from the Influences of inordinate

Burnet's Demonft. of true Religion, Vol. I.
Bishop of London's ad Paft. Letter.

h

nate Appetites and Inclinations) to the Powers and Abilities of Reafon,under the prefent corrupt State of Human Nature: But there is a manifest mistake in the Suppofition, and a great fallacy in the Argument. For, tho' the Nature of a rational Creature, as fuch, is always the fame, yet there is a great Difference between a rational Nature, which, abftractly confider'd, does not vary, and Mankind, who, tho' endued with that Nature, are so far from being always the fame, that, as to their perfonal Natures and Circumftances, they are continually changing in one refpect or other; and thefe different Circumftances may be a good Reafon for different Dispensations on God's part, as well as different Duties on theirs.

That Man, at firft, was created in the Man's ofull Perfection of his Nature i; with an riginal IntegriUnderstanding capable of difcerning, by ty, Reason, whatever was neceffary for him to know, and as inftantly, as his Occafions fhou'd require it; with his Will and Affections under a regular Subordination to his Understanding, so as not to choose or reject any thing, but as Reafon fhould approve; and with a Body healthy and vigorous, and under an abfolute

h Burnet's ift Argument.

i Dr. Burnet's Demonft. of true Religion. Vol. I.

and pre

pravati

abfolute Subjection to the dictates of the Mind; these are Pofitions, which we learn, not only from the facred Records, but what we may eafily deduce likewife from the natural Notions we have of God's infinite Wisdom, Goodnefs, and Power, who cannot be fuppos'd to permit any thing, defective in its kind, to be the workmanship of his fent De- Hands. But how * vaftly different our prefent State is from our Original, we ourfelves, alas, are but too fenfible, by a woeful Experience in our own Natures. For we find that we have not only a great Weakness in our Underftandings, and a ftrange diforder in our Wills and Affections, but we likewise see a woeful Corruption of our bodily Faculties, and, instead of that abfolute Subjection of its Paffions and Appetites to right Reason, find too frequently a Law in our Members, warring against the Law in our Minds, and bringing us into Capti

on.

a

ity

*This Depravation of human Nature, was the general complaint of wife Men in all Ages,as might be fhewn by innumerable Inftances, but my Reader, I hope, will be content with one Citation for all. Si tales nos natura geruisset, ut eam ipfam intueri & perSpicere, câque optimâ duce Curfum vita conficere poffemus; baud effet fane quod quifquam rationem & doctrinam requireret, nunc vero parvulos no bis dedit Igniculos, quos celeriter malis moribus Opinionibufque depravatis fic re finguimus, ut nufquam natura Lumen appareat. Cic. Tufc. Queft. L. 3.

2

Rom. vii. 23.