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thus when the reason of things can be a rule of action to him, and as to all other instances and cafes he must act arbitrarily if he acts at all; and therefore, he may and will act thus when the reason of the thing requires that he fhould. As thus, fuppofing a common or general good to have been the end of creation to the Deity when he called the folar fyftem into being; then, there was a reafon refulting from the nature of things why God fhould create the folar fyftem rather than let it have remained in a state of non-existence. And, fuppofing it to have been perfectly indifferent whether the folar fyften were placed in that particular part of fpace in which it now exifts, or in fome other part of space; then, as there was a reafon for the Deity to act in calling the folar fyftem into being, fo there was likewife a reason that he should act arbitrarily, in appointing the particular part of space it fhould exift in; because without the latter, he could not have performed the former. And, this reafon will hold good in all parallel cafes, whether the Deity be confidered as acting the part of a Creator, or a Governor, or of a kind Phyfician to his creatures; fuppofing fuch cases can take place when God acts in either of these capacities.

As to divine or pofitive inftitutions, (as they are commonly called,) if God gives any of thefe, he is to be confidered as acting the part, not of a governor or legislator, but of a Phyfician to his creatures. And these institutions

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inftitutions are to be confidered, not as laws or rules of action, but as kind prescriptions to mankind; because this is more properly and truly the ftate of the cafe. Man, is not only weak, and infirm with regard to his body, but also with regard to his mind; and divine inftitutions are intended to answer the fame purpofe to the mind, as food and phyfick does to the body. The mind of man is liable to be over-acted, (if I may fo fpeak,) and thereby rendered weak and infirm various ways. The business, the cares, the troubles, the pleasures of life, and the like, are apt to engrofs the thoughts and captivate the minds of men, and render them weak and infirm; by which means man becomes less able to act a worthy and a manly part, and to stand out with firmnefs and refolution against the many and strong temptations with which he is furrounded. And this makes it neceffary that the mind of man, fhould be fometimes taken off from these, and turned to fubjects of a more ferious nature; by which the mind is recruited, and renews it's ftrength. And this is the purpose that divine inftitutions are intended to ferve, viz. to take off mens minds, for a time, from the business, the cares, the troubles, and pleafures of life; to awaken in them a just and worthy fenfe of God, to draw forth their minds in fuitable affections towards him; to excite in them a proper fenfe of the great end and business of life, to lead them to examine how far that end has been anfwered by them,

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and wherein they have been defective, to point out to them how they ought to behave in time to come, and the like. These are the purposes that divine inftitutions are intended to ferve; and thus they become both food and phyfick to the mind of man. But then, in divine inftitutions there can be nothing dark or myfterious, because by fuch a conduct God would difappoint the very end he proposes to obtain by them; viz. the ftrengthening and recruiting the mind of man. Myfteries in a prescription for the mind would anfwer the fame end as powder of poft, when called by a name that is not understood, would do in a prescription for the body, fuppofing powder of poft to have no phyfical quality in it; that is, it would ferve only to amuse and mislead the patient, which furely can never be the cafe with respect to God, in his prescriptions (as a spiritual Phyfician) to mankind. Darkness and mysteries are proper expedients to carry on and fupport bafe and unworthy defigns; but God has no fuch defigns to execute; and therefore, we may be affured that he has nothing to do with darkness and myfteries in any of his prescriptions to mankind. It is true that nature is full of myfteries, and yet nature is of God; and the reafon of this is evident, viz. because our understandings are too weak to discover all the fecrets and powers in nature. The myfteries in nature muft of course bear a proportion to that measure of understanding which every creature poffeffes for the contemplation

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of it. If the understanding is weak, nature is more myfterious: if it is ftrong, nature is lefs myfterious. But then, what has this to do with divine prescriptions, which in the very nature of the thing ought to be plain and clear? Is it to be fuppofed that God will be darkness, where the reafon of the thing requires he fhould be all light? Will God deal with his creatures in darkness and mystery, when the nature of the thing requires that he should deal with them in plainnefs and truth? No furely. God has no end to answer to himself by any prescription he may give to mankind; and, as fuch prescriptions are intended for our good only; fo the nature of the thing requires that they should be delivered in the plainest and clearest manner. And therefore, if any prescriptions are at any time delivered to mankind that are dark and myfterious in whole, or in part, this, I think, proves to a demonstration that such prefcriptions are not divine. If it fhould be faid that prefcriptions for the body are generally dark and myfterious to the patient, and yet have their proper influence notwithstanding; and therefore, why may not prescriptions for the mind be dark and mysterious to the patient and have their proper influence alfo? Anfwer, the prefcriptions for the body are phyfical, and as fuch have a phyfical influence upon the body; whereas prescriptions for the mind are moral, and as fuch have a moral influence upon the mind. And therefore, tho' phyfical prefcriptions for the body G

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that are mysterious to the patient may have their proper influence upon the body, because they operate independent of the understanding and will of the patient; yet with moral prescriptions the cafe is other wife, because if fuch prescriptions operate at all, it must be in the ufe and exercife of the understanding and will; and whereas whatever is dark and mysterious in fuch prescriptions cannot affect or operate upon the understanding and will, from hence it will follow that fuch prefcriptions cannot influence the mind at all; and therefore, are vain and ufeless. I have here purfued the above fimilitude, because I think it justly exposes and ridicules all darkness and mystery in religion, which, I think, can anfwer no good purpose, and which ferve to perplex and mislead weak minds.

To conclude this point I obferve, that the earthly governors may wantonly use, or wickedly abufe their power; yet this is by no means the cafe of the great governor of the intelligent and moral world. God will not needlessly. command for commanding fake, and thereby unkindly increase the burthen of his creatures duty, and likewife increase their guilt upon the breach of fuch fuperfluous laws. I fay, we may be well affured that God will never act thus, because fuch a conduct is directly contrary to true goodness, and therefore, can never be the truth of the cafe. Alas! fome perfons, are apt to measure the ways of God, by what they fee take place amongst weak, vain, and

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