888 STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF HUMAN REASON. know that he is bound to exercise sobriety and temperance, and fe maintain a due government over his appetites and passions, that they run not into excess and extravagance. And finally, since every man will frequently find himself coming short of his duty to God and man, and betrayed into sin by the strength of his temptations, his appetites and passions, in the various occurren- ces of life, he must repent ofhis sins, be sincerely sorry for what he has done amiss, humbly askforgivenessof God, and endeavour to serve andplease him in all things for the time to come, and he must exercise a hope or trust in the mercyof God, thatupon repentance and new obedience, God will forgive sinners, and take them again into his favour. Pint. I grant that these articles seem to be the sum and substance of natural religion, and the most important and neces- sary parts of it : And I thank you Sophronius, for so particular an enumeration of them : Though if I had a mind to dispute, I ,would enquire, whether there were not some more particulars necessary to complete true religion ; I mean the religion of sin- nink creatures, in order to obtain the favour of God; and if I should strenuously insist upon these things, Logisto, perhaps you would find it hard to exclude them utterly from such a religion as shall be effectual to salvation. Loa. And if I had a mind, Pithander, to dispute too, I would say, here are several more articles brought together than I thought of, and our friend Sophronius bath named rather too many fundamentals for a heathen to believe and practise. But in the main, I confess, I know not well how to reject them with justice ; and, to avoid contention, for the present I will submit to this enumeration, and we will argue upon them. Sopii. Gentlemen, I would fain have this matter well adjusted and agreed between you in the very beginning of your debate, that there may be no altercation about it afterward. If you please therefore, I will very briefly give youmy reasons, why I suppose these articles ofbeliefand practice to be sufficient, where there is no revelation, to lead men into the favour of God, and alsowhy I can allow of very little abatement of them ; though I am satisfied, many persons, since the world began and even some of the ehristian faith, have been saved without anyformal know- ledge of them in a regular scheme of propositions. First then, I can hardly think that'aGod of holiness and. justice will require less than what I have represented, in order to obtain his favour, and future happiness : For those persons must be very unfit inhabitants' for heaven, where happiness consists in the knowledge . and lore ofGod, who have never learned on earth to know, and love, and honour the only true God, or who do not acknowledge 7ám as Governor of the world, nor hope nor fear any rewards or punishments from his hands, or who bear no true love to their neigh-
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