q8 The Harmony of the Divine .Attrihutes ~ rhar in clear things the profoundeft P!Jilo[op!Jers may not be able to unty all the intricate Chap. 7· and knotty Objections which may be urged againft them. 'Tis fufficient the Belief of ~Supernatural Myftcries is built on the Veraci ty and Power of God, this makes tbem.pru· dcntly credible. This refolves all Doubts , and produces fuch a ftability of Spirit, as nothmg can fhake. A fincere Behever is a!fmed, That all oppofition againft Revealecl Truths is fallactous, though he cannot difcover the Fallacy . . Now the tranfccndent Myftcw , ries of the Chriftian Religion, the Trinity of Pcrfons in the Divine Nature, the Incarnation of the Son ofGod, are clearly fet down in the Scripture. And although fubtile and obftinate Opponents ha;e ufed many guilty Arts to difpirit and enervate thofe Texts by an mfe.nor Senfe, and have rackt them w1th V1olence, to make them fpeak accorJmg to their PreJudices, yet all is vain, the Evidence of Truth is victorious. A Heatlu::n, who confiders or the Gofpel as a Divine Revelation, but mcerly as a Doctrine deliv~r·ct in Writings, -:1fH :ndges of its Senfc by Natural Light, will acknowledge, that thofe things are deliit. And notwirhftanding thofe who ufurp a Soveraign Authority to themfcl ves, ,f '"'ivme Myfterjes according to their own Apprehenlions~ deny them as rneer ,. dJ--~·) ~~;1~~~{?' t~n ~~~~· oc?~c~~r:g~ 1~~h~~raff~r~l: r~~\~l~d~~t~~11i:~~~~~~ c.~ although we may uriderfiand the Nature o! M~n, we do not the Nature of God,. th~ •wJ"c,:-ty of the Perfon~ and h:s Power to umte lumfclf to a Nature below Him. 'Tis nue1 no Article of Faith is r~lly repugnant to Reafon; .for G.od is the Author of N•,t'ui·a l, as well as ofSupern"cural Light, and he cannot contradict Himfelf: They are Emanartons from Him, and tho, different~ yet not defiructive of each other. But we muft dtltin(ruiill between tl:v•fe things that arc above Reafon, and Incomprehcnf1blc and things 0that are againfr H. cafon, and utterly Inconceivable; Some things are abov~ Reafou, in regard of their tranfC'e.rdent Excellency, or difiance from us ; the Divine E[- fence, the Erer I Decrees , the Hypo!tatical Union , are fuch high and glorious Objects, that it is an impoffible Enterprife to comprehend them: The Intellectual Eye is dazled with their overpowering Light. VVe can have but an imperfect knowledge of them: And there is no Juft caufe of wonder that Supernatural Revelation fhould fpeak incomprehenfible things of God. For He is a fingul ar and admirable Being, infinitely above the ordinary courfe of Nature. The Maxims of P!Jilo[ophy are not to be extended to Him. We muft adore wha t we cannot fully underftand. But thofe things are againft Reafan, and utterly inconceit<able, that involve a Contradiction, and have a natural Repugnancy to our Underftandings, which cannot conceive any thing that is formally impoffible: And there is no fuch Doarine in the Chriflian Religion. 2. We muft diftinguifh between Reafon corrupted, and right Reafon. Since the Fall, the clearnefs of the Ht~man Underftanding is lofl, and the Light that remains is e&lip(id by the. interpofition of Senfual Lulls. The Carnal Mind cannot out of Ignorance , and will no~ from Pnde ~':d other malignant Hab1 t~ , recetve tlungs SpirituaL And from hence anfe many Sufprcrons and Doubts, ( concernu'!l Supematural Verities ) the 01adows of darlmed Reafon, and of dymg Farth. If any DlVlne Myftery feems incredible, 'tis from the Corruption of our Rcafon, not from Rcafon it felf; fi:om its Dark· ne1s, not its Light. And as Reafon. is obliged to correEl: the Errors of Sen[e, when 'tis deceived either by fome vicious quahty in the Organ, or by the diftance of the Objecf, or ~~et~~ ~~~i~~~~~ ~~r~:~~~h~juci~~:n~0~f"f{~af~~.1;[fe:~'~i~~~;'(.:~~ ~; ~,~;~v:~~,~~~s~t~ the height of things Spiritual, 'tis niiflaken about them. Fm this end Supematural Revelation was given , not to. extingui01 Reafon, but to redrefs it, and enrich it with the difcovery of Heavenly Thmgs Farth is called Wifdom and Knowledg: It doth not quench the v1gour of the Faculty wherein 'tis f~ted, but elevates it, and gtvcs it a fpintnal Perception of thofe things that are ,moll drflam from its. Commerce.. It doth not lead us through a Mrft to the Inhentance of the Sarnrs m L1gl1t. Fa.th rs a rational Light: For, 1. It arifes from the confideration of thofc Arguf!lents which convince the Mind, that the Scripture is a Divine Re,·elation. 1 kno!V, fa1th the Apofile, whom I have believed, 2 Tim.. 1. 12. And we are co~manded alrva;s to ~e. reaa'J to givt a;J aCCOII?J_t .of tbe hope that is m tu, r Pet. 3· J )· . Thoie that owe the1r ChrifltaJti!J meerlr ~o the F~hc1ty <_>f thetr Birth, without a fight of that rranfcendent Excellency in our Rehgton, '.vhtch ev1dences that it came Ji·om Heaven, are not true Believers. He that abfo!ves an mnoccnr Pcrfon for Favour, without confidering fufficicnt Proofs offer'd, though his Sentence be jull , is an unju(l Judge. And the Eye that is clouded with a Sufi"ufion , fo that all things appoar yellow to it, when it JUdges things to be yellow that arc fo, yet 'tts Erroneous; becaufe its Judgment proceeds not from the quality of the ObJect, but from the Ja,mdji that dJ!Colours
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=