SECTION VII. - 17 SECT. VII.The Necessity of Divine Revelation, both to clear up the Rules of Virtue, and to strengthen the Obligations. If atheism, with all its pretences to reason, cannot secure our obligationsto virtue, but wants the supposition of a God to determine and establish them, it is as manifest, that deism stands in as much need of divine revelation to clear up the rules of virtue with more evidence and certainty than human reason has done, as well as to acquaint the bulk of mankind with them, and to make our obligations to practise them more effectual. It is granted, the most general rules of duty, the chief outlines. and boundaries of viceand virtue, may he discovered by the reason- ing powers of man, if rightly employed-; but these discoveries are so few, and some of them are so feebly impressed upon the minds of the multitude, that, in many cases,. they leave but a generalglimmering light, and give but a doubtful direction : So that man, by nature, in his present corrupted state, is born in the midst of so much darkness, that he,hardly knows how to find the :rules of his duty in a thousand instances, without some further revelation or assistance. This has been made abundantly evident by several writers in the defence of christianity. They have shewn how many nations of men, as well as schools of philosophers, have grossly mistaken these great outlines and boundaries of .vice and virtue. Somehave thought fornication lawful, and have practised it even in their worship. Others have encouraged theft, and the com- munity of wives, and exposing or murdering their children. Most princes and generals have esteemed the plunder, robbery and murder of neighbour-nations a piece of heroism and glory. Others again have supposed revenge to be a very honourable practice, and have despised the christian virtuesof meekness and .forgiveness. In the midst of such shameful mistakes of great men and philosophers, and whole nations, can we say, the bound- aries of virtue and vice are so plain, that all persons mayas easily discern and distinguishthem as they may distinguish light from darkness ? Or, that thebulk and lower multitude of man- kind, who seldom set themselves to study, that plowmen and labourers, can learn their duty sufficiently by the mere light of their own reasonings upon the fitness of things ? Again ; though some of the great outlines of virtue, and the general rules of it, are obvious to all men, and more might be found out by labour and reasoning ; yet, in a thousand particular practices of life, in common occurrences, every man does not know how to apply -these general rules to his present circumstances, and he will be often, if not almost always, at a loss in finding his duty inparti, cular occurrences of life. But God, by the revelation of his will in scripture, has given so bright a discovery of these general boundaries betweea vice Voa. iii. B
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