264 A CAVEAT AGAINST INFIDELITY. for crimes committed, or for the neglect of duties commanded. The whole fifth chapter of Leviticus is spent in directing the ignorant sinner among the Jews, what he should do to make an atonement for his transgressions, verse 17. It is said, if a soul sin, andcommit any of these things which areforbidden to be done by the commandments of'the Lord, though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity*. The various formsof sacrifice that are there appointed, sufficiently discover that the Lord will not hold him entirely guiltless, that commits a sin of ignorance : And, this is done, that men might not hope to excuse themselves before the great God for their sins, merely by the ,pretences of ignorance and mistake. In the New Testament our Saviour hath expressly told us; Lukexii. 47, 48. findthat servant who knew his Lotd'swill, and prepared not himself; nei- ther did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes: But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy ofstripes, shall be beaten withfew stripes. Here, let it be always observed, that wheresoever ignorant sinners are punished, for their errors, the ignorance is always culpable, and therefore it is in some de- gree voluntary and chosen. It must arise either from slothful- ness or neglect of enquiry, or from some criminal prejudices against the truth. No man can bepunished for ignorance of his duty, if in the natureof things it be utterly invincible. Question II, But can any man believe what he will ? or be-. lieve whatsoever he is bid to believe? Can I assent to any thing which dothnot appear with sufficient evidence to my understand- ing to be true ? The mind of man in tic's respect seems to be a passive power, and cannot receive any proposition, but according to the evidence or proof that attends it, and according to the strength of light, in which the mind discerns this evidenceor proof. Now if the proofs of the gospel, and the arguments for christianity, dó not appear to my 'understanding in a con- vincing light, I amnot able to believe it : Why then must I be condemned for not believing what, according to the make of my nature, I cannot believe ? The severity ofthis one expression of Christ, He that believeth not shall be damned; Mark xvi. 16. is even an obstacle to my belief of his divine authority; for surely the great God would never send a messenger, to pronounce damnation against men, for not assenting to what does not ap- pear evidentto them, that is, for not believing what they cannot believe : Thiswould be like condemning men for not seeing what they cannot see, for want of sufficient light. * I confess it may be disputed here, in this law of Moses. whether the igno. ranee spokenof, be an ignorance of the law, or an ignorance of the fact; yet in the words of Christ which are cited afterwards, it is plainly an ignorance of the law that is described: And, in general, this Levitical appointment sufficiently skews, that pretenses of ignorance are not always a sufficient excuse.
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