Spiritual PerfeElion, 'f is like the filly Moth's flutte ring about the burning Light, till its Wings are findg'd; Befidc, rhe afft:Eting w be Wife above what is wrirren, and eo anempt to make iuper~ narura l Dctlrines more receivable to Reafon by infufficicdt A rgumcnrs, weakens the .~'\mhori ty and Credit of Revelation : t he endeavour to make them more cafily lo-: own, makes them more hard to be believed. To venture to txplicate rbcm Uc}'Ond rhe Rev:;. Ja tion of rhem in Scripture, is like a man's going out of .a FortrefS wht1eih he is fateJ into an cpen Field, and expofe himfdf to the affau!ts of hJS Enemies. 1 • I will now con[ider the Objeaicns againfl fupcrnarural Doarines. ' · 'ris alledged they are irreconcilable with Reafon ; and '<is not poffible for the Un'· derllanding to believe again fl irs own L1ghr and Judgment. In anfwt:r eo tlus f('~ci v us Objection, t he follow in~ parc iculars are to be confider' d. 1. Senfe, Reafon ahd Faith, are the Infiruments of our obtaining Knowledge. Senfc is pre vious to R,afon, and Reafon prepares the way_ to Faith. By our Scnfes we co'me to underfiand natural thint;s, by our Underltandings we come to believt: di vi ne things. Reafoo corceas the Errors of Seofe, Faith reforms the Judgment of Reafon. The Stars teem but glittering Poin :s ; but ReaiOn convinces us they are vafi Bodies, Dy meafuriog rhc difta nce, tha t ldfens their grearnefs ro our fighr. We cannm imaf?ine .rhat there are Men who{~ Fee t a1e direEl:Jy oppofirc to ours, and are in no dan;_jc r of falltng; buc Reafon demonfiratcs there arc Antipodu. 'Tis as abfurd for Reafun ro rejeCt divi11c retlimony, and \' iolate the facred rcfpeEt of Faitb , as for S:; nft: ro contradi8- the cleardt Principles of Reafon. To deny fupernatural Trut hs, bccaufe they are above ·our Con· ception and Capacity, is not only againft Faith, but agamft Reafon, that acknowledges irs own impe l'fcB: ion. 'Tis tr ue, H.cafon and Faith arc emanations from the Father of Lights, and confc. quently there cannot be a rea l repugnance between chem ; for God cannot deny hir»fe!f: Errors are often contrary; but Truth is always harmonious with T ruth: If t f; crc feem to be an oppofition, it proceeds not from the Light of the reafonable Mind, bu t from the Darlmefs that encompa!fes it. ,Tis certain, that a Propofirion that contra. di£l:s right Reafon, the gene ral Light of Nations, that have nothiog common between them but the Humant! Nature, cannot be true: As the DoEtrine of Epicurus, T hat God f rvM not to be JVor{bip'd, becaufo he had no nad of O!IT Service; and the Popifh DoEtrine of Tranfr~bflantialion, that imputes Contrad iClions to God. We mufl diftingui lh between things tha t cannot be difcover.cd by Reafon, nor comprehenfi vcly Jwown when they are revea led, and thofc that are contrary to Reafon. In Paradife Reafon was an inferiour and imperfea Light: Ad•m could not perfealy l<no'v GoJ. He dwcUs in Light inacceffible; not only to mortal Eyes, but to the immortal ,\ogcls : They cannot penetrate to the centre of his Perfeaions. The PropoGtions that jnvolvea Cont rad iCtion, have the plain chara£l:ers offalfl ty; but the DoEtrines of the GofjlJ, that are incompn.:henfible, have the charaB:ers of fu blimiry. Rcafon cannot ~edfure the ex tcnr, nor reach ~he luig!Jth of the love of Chrift, that pa/Jes knowledge. Eph. l· 19 • fh,u fupt:rn.nura l Doarines are 1ncomprehenfible now they are re\'eal'dJ is ant: AJgumcnt ro prove they could never be invented and difcovercd by Men: For that which naturall}' cannot t:nter into the Mind of Man, can not natu ra lly proceed our of it. 2 . Since the Fall Rca~on is weaken'd, and its Light is clouded. In the narrow and low fphere of natural t!ungs, how often is Reafon miflakcn and lofl in a Labyrinth? There is not a Flower, a Ply, a Stone, but is a Myfiery: We cannot fully undcrfland the vegetation of the one, nor the f~:ofarion of the other, nor the mot ion of the other. Let us mal<e a rryal of the Liglu of Reafon upon our felves, and we fhall difcover its defeas . Who can difcern the vital bands wherewith the Sou l and Body are combin'd? By what power does the Soul reprefent abfent Objeas? Sounds withuut Noife, Colours without Tinaurcs, Light without Clea rnefs, Dar!mefs withour Obfcurity . \V hat account can be gtven of the admirable operations of the Soul in Dreams, when the Senfes are fufpe nded from working, and the Body fcems to be a warm Carcafs. 'Tis o~e of thofe .St crets , that Humane Wit~ labour in vain to explain, how it compofes p1fcourres fo \U(l and regular, as to the invention and fiil e, which by their imprd1ion Jn the Memory, we .know were not the effeCts o~ wild Fan~y, but offober Judgment; and that awake, and tntent, we could not fo fpeeddy and orderly frame: 'Tis as flrange 01s 1 h~t an Artificer Omuld work more exaB:Iy with his Eyes covt r'd, than fecing; th<st a PaHHI.!r nwuld draw a Pace better in the dark, than in open day-Jigllt. That Ma n were totally dcfmed of Reafon, who not be ing able to fce things that are ·but a jull H h h h • diflancc
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=