SECTION I. 5119 He concludes his paper thus : "Now if any man has any, other.creed made up of notions and mysteries which goes beyond all this, I affirm that he draws more out of his bible than God ever put into it ; and though I will never be angry with him, says Agrippa, for believing more than I, yet I cannot but laugh at him for a strong believer : I dare pronounce boldly he is not just of my religion, nor can I be of his ; and if he thinks me but almost a christian, I think hint gone as much beyond christianity ?" Pau rots was a gentleman of piety and great zeal for the gospel of Christ. He lived far in the country, and was much retiredfrom the world. Though he held some acquaintance with critics and learned authors, yet he read his bible with.more con- stancy and application, and learnedhis religion thence. He was pretty well versed in the writings of St. Paul, but he had heard or known very little of Agrippa or his sentiments till last March Then he came to London, which he had not seen for tenor twelve years before, and happened to get a sight of this new creed. As soon as he had read it, he was much surprised and concerned that any man who professed himself a christian should lose so much of his faith ; but was much more grieved 'when he found, by further conversation, that this was the christianity which was now growing in vogue ; and upon his repetition of this creed in company, he repeated his concern and zeal. 1%lust then, said he, the glorious gospel of our blessed Saviour be narrowed and curtailed at this rate, and reduced almost to the mere religion of nature ? I acknowledge indeed, and I glory in it, that the gospel which I find in the New Testa- ment contains every article of natural religion, and includes in it every thing that reason can teach us about God or virtue. Tim man who renounces any one point of the religion of reason, so far renounceschristianity also ; for the doctrine of the blessed Jesus comprehends every part of it, and confirms it for ever. But when the light of nature and reason, in this fallen and dege- neratestate, had appeared by the long and painful experiments of so many ages and nations, to be ineffectual to reform, to sane- . tify and save avicious world, was not the. glorious gospelofChrist brought in to do that for us which the light of reason and nature could not do ? Was it not made manifest enough by thejargon and wild opinions of the philosophers that the world by wisdomknew' not God, nor the right way to recover his favour or his image ? And, w s. as it not upon this view that God sent his apostles with the me sage ofa crucified Christ, andwith thatdoctrine which the Greeks calledfoolishness, to save the poor and the humble believer ? Was not the Son of God sent into this world to be the Saviour of sinful men ? And was he ordained to save them only by teach- ing them over again the doctrines which philosophy or reason
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