4-20 SitPartnotyof íße Zibittc 4ttttbuteg Chap. z t , effect in a few feleaPerlons, the Gofpel hath done in -Y1 great numbers; nay raif'd them above all their feigned I- dearc, above the higheft pitch of their Proud .Philofophy.. Thofe ftrong and furious pallions, whichNatural Rea fon was as unable to reftrain as a threedof filk is to go- vern a fierce beaft, the Gofpel hath tamed and brought into order : It bath executed what Philofophy durfl ne- ver enterprife defpairing offuccefs. The Gofpel over- came all thofe carnal reluéancies that feem'd infupara- ble : it made the Wife-men of the World refign their= Reafon to Faith it perfwadedCarnal Men to mortify the F lefh, the Ambitious todefpife fecular Honours, the Voluptuous to renounce their Pleafures,theCovetous to diflribute their Goods to the Poor, the Injur'd and In- cenfed to forgive their Enemies, and all this for Love to God,an affeEtion unknown to all other Laws and In- ftitutions. Where-ever it came it miraculoufly tranf fortn'd Pagans into Chriftians,whichwas as trulyWon-- derful as for the Baflisk topart with its Poifon, for a Wolf to be chang'd into a Lamb, nay, for Dogs, (filch were the Gentiles in our Saviour's Language) to be chang'd into Angels of light andpurity. An eminent in- Rance we have ofits efficacy in the Corinthians, who in their Heathen ftate were guilty of the vileft enormities : But after their receiving theGofpe!, the Apoftle tefti- a£or,.6, io,i Ifies,they were wafhed,Sanctfed,& uflifiedin.thenameof the Lord Jefur,andby the Spirit ofourGod. luitin Mar- tyr tells T'riphon,that thofe who had been ftain'd with all filthinefs, and enflav'd by charming imperious lulls, 9láï.CA IAA .pD;YEtdK,_ yet becoming Chriftians, they were purified and freed & delighted in thofe Verrues that were molt contrary to their former Vices.. This Alteration was fovifible,that AtlIn koi the lives ofthe firft Chriftians were an Apology for their Faith. And 'tis ftrongly urgedby Origen, Tertul- lian, Lactantiu-s and others, as a convincing proof of the
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