lieve. No Man can be Religious that doth not believe these two things. Sermon

First, The Principles of natural Religion; that there is a God; that his Soul is immortal; and that there are future Rewards.

Secondly, That the Scriptures are the Word of God; or, which comes all to one, that the Doctrine contained in them is a Divine Revelation. Therefore whoever would perfwade men to be Religious, he must begin here; and whoever would improve men in Religion and Holiness, he must labour to strenghthen this Principle of Faith. Faith is the Root of all other Graces; and they will flourifh, or decay, according to the degrees of our Faith. Now he that would perfwade a Man, or prevail with him to do any thing, must do it one of these three ways; either by Entreaty, or Authority, or Argument; either he must entreat him as a Friend, or command him as Subject to him, and under his Power, or convince him as a Man. Now he that

M2

VI.

that should go about to entreat men Volume to believe any thing, or to charge XII. them so to do, before he hath con

vinc'd them by fufficient Arguments, that it is reasonable to do fo, would, in my opinion, take a prepofterous course. He that entreats or chargeth a Man to do any thing, supposeth that he can do the thing if he will: but a Man cannot believe what he will; the Nature of a human Understanding is such, that it cannnot affent without Evidence, nor believe any thing to be true, unless it fee reason so to do, any more than a Man can fee a thing without light. So that if the dearest Friend that I have in the World, should beg of me with the greatest importunity; or any Man that hath the greatest Authority over me, should lay his severest Commands upon me to believe a thing, for which I fee no reason, I could not do it; because nothing can command affent, but Evidence. So that he that would perfwade men to believe either the Principles of Natural Religion, or any Divine Revelation, muft convince them of the truth of them: for it is unreasonable to defire a Man Man to believe any thing, unless I give him good reason why he Sermon

should.

And this being the proper course which is to be taken, there are two forts of Persons to whom I shall apply my 'felf in this Exhortation : those who do not believe these things; and those who are perfwaded of them: to the former, in order to the begeting of Faith in them; to the latter, in order to the fstrengthning and confirming of their Faith,

Those who do not believe, are of two forts: either fuch as do positively disbelieve these things, and make it their business to arm themselves against them with all the Arguments they can; who are so far from be. lieving a God, or any Divine Revelation, that they endeavour to perfwade themselves of the contrary, that there is no such thing; or elfe they are fuch as are indifferent about these matters. They have received the Principles of Religion by their Education, and they have nothing to say against them, nor for them; they M 3

VI.

Volume

never confider'd them, nor the proper confequences of them; they neiXII. ther believe, nor disbelieve them up. on any reasonable account.

Now all these are to be dealt withall in the fame way: for whatever will convince the Disbeliever, will much more perswade the indifferent, and confirm the weak. For Faith is to be strengthned by the same Arguments by which it is wrought. Therefore I shall apply my felf to convince Unbelievers; and every one may apply those Arguments which I use to this purpose, for the strengthning of their own Faith.

But before I come to those Arguments, I intend to offer for the conviction of those who do not believe, I think it convenient to endeavour, if poffible, to remove a violent, and I think unreasonable prejudice which men have received againft all those who endeavour to make Religion reafonable. As if Bellarmine had been in the right, when he said "That "Faith was rather to be defined by

" ignorance than by Knowledge. The

plain English of which is, that it is for want of Understanding that men Sermon believe the Gospel; and if the World VI. were but a little more knowing and wife, no body would be a Chriftian. I know not how it comes to pass, whether through the artifice of the Popish party, who hate the light, left it should reprove them, and make them manifest; or thro' the Ignorance of too many well-meaning Proteftants; I say, I know not how it comes to pass, but so it is, that every one that offers to give a reasonable account of his Faith, and to establish Religion upon rational Principles, is presently branded for a Socinian; of which we have a fad Instance in that incomparable Perfon Mr. Chillingworth, the glory of this Age and Nation, who for no other cause that I know of, but his worthy and fuccessful attempts to make Chriftian Religion reasonable, and to difcover those firm and folid foundations upon which our Faith is built, hath been requited with this black and odious Character, But if this be Socinianism, for a Man to enquire into the Grounds and Reafons of Chri

4

stian Religion, and to endeavour to M 4 give