Of the Creatures, and the Condition W .And then fifthly, The Objects propounded to him to belie•·e, were of them– BooK II. felves no way Supernatural; They were nothing more of Gods Nature or At– \..1/"r"\J tributes, but about iome Precepts of his Will, or Priviledgcs granted to Adam; only fuch things rrs fidl: concerned his Condition, and were within hi, own Sphere, of that World he was made in, an<;! fo fuitable to his apprehen– fion to take in,though confirmed to him by divine Authority.And therefore fe– condly, fuch as he might have fome hint of by the light of Nature; befides the Rrvetatmt they were realized to him by In!l:inCl or Santlified Reafon though revealed and confirmed by Divine Te!l:imony. Such were the Precept; aboUt the tw·oTrees , which were two Sacraments, ~he t.hwgs which they confirmed were the promifes of L1fe, and the Mutability of his Condition: Both which, as I fhewed, the Light of Nature taught h!m, and made real to him: As alfo was that acknowledgment and Law promulged concerning his Wife, That being flr(h of hu jlrfb rmd boneof hu bone, a Man fhould c!rave to hu Wrfe: Natural Light gave in the Equity of fuch a Conjugal Affedi: on. So as put allthefe five Confiderations together, the Conclufion is, That all the faith which .lldamhad, may welllile refolved into Natural Light, as the firft Principle atfd foundation of it ; although further revealing and con– firming what elfe the Light of Nature could not, or would not foeafily have known ; and thougtr we fuppofe the things had been (uch as were out of the reach of Natural Light; yet !l:ill the bottom of his a!fent to Divine Autho– rity, had been but fuch a Natural Lignt aforefaid, and the Principle cf Na– ture (own in his heart, which made h:m c•pab!e fo toconverfe with God, and believe his Word, as to Under!l:and God out of his Works: But it is other– wife in our Faith. And fo far I conceive it is that wicked Men are blamed now for not believing the word of the Law and Gofpe! , fo far, as fuch Natu· raJ Light as was in Adam would have enabled them thereunto: Seeing the Law given was ·confirmed at fir!l: by fuch Works and Voices, as evidently would have argued to that firft.Natural Ltght, that it was God that fpake it; and they , if they had that Light remaming, would hove owned in their hearts. And the Golpel alfo delivered by Chri!l:, wasconfirmed by Signs and Wonders, Heb. 2, j. 4· How jha!J we efcape, if we negltil jogreat Salva– tio11, which at the jirjl hgan to be (poken /;~the Lord, and wM co11(irmrd 1mto tu 6y them that heard him, God atjo brarmg them witne{s, botb with jigtts mtd wonders, and with divers mrracles, mzdgifts of the Hot~ Ghofl, accordi1!g to hu ownwr!J? And the whole word written derived to·us, and then delivered, bath fuch peculiar Charad:ers of Divine Authority engraven upon it, fo as, eveA to Natural Light (if we had it pure as Adam had)would evidence it felf to be of God; and lobind all Men to believe it. And there– fore, Men are both ju!l:ly commanded to believe it, and ju!l:ly blamed for not believing it. I am now to affix fome Reafons and Demonftrations, that have prevailed with me to think that the way of Adam's Fa.ith (call it fo if you pleafe ) was in the fenfe declared but Natural, and ours comparatively Supernatu– tal. for the firft, That his was but Natural. 1, Seeing all other things belonging to him were Natural: His Covenant, the Covenant of Works, was but F!EdtM Naturlf!, founded upon the Title of wha r, as a Reafonable Creature, was due to his Nature , his Juftification an· fwerable, his Reward alfo, and all things elfe appertaining to him; and that the whole Image of God is affirmed fo generally by our Divines to have been R•tural; it were !l:range if the Principle of faith in him, which then was not of general ufe , neither fhould alone be Supernatural; that the Image of God in him fhou!d confill: "f one part fo heterogeneal to th.e other, ofan iiigh– er rnnk than its fellows, Yea , and fecing it is manifeft that the main Faun· dation o!' that his Faith might be, and indeed was but that Natural Light, That God WM rrru, which was inbred in him as fully, as That God wl14 boly, as I £hewed: It is ftrange, if his faith fhould be made Supernatural by fomc other
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