SECTION it. 609 pure religion of Jesus has divine charms in it, and is, like the author, altogether lovely: but when on one hand it is corrupted and debased, by new doctrines foisted into our creed, and new mysterieswhich men have invented to overload our faith ; when it is incumbercd by new rituals of worship, or imposed rules and practices on the other hand, which the holy scripture has not enjoined ; when men make articles of faith, which are no where plainly revealed ; when they pronouncedisat to be a sin, whiçh God Lath no where forbidden, and appoint that to be a duty which God bath never commanded, (which I take to l.a the very nature of superstition) it casts such a veil of deformity over the beauties of the gospel, that it is no wonder if the men.of reason start at it, and pronounce against it. While we hold forth this confused mass and mixture of things divine andhuman, and call it the religion of Christ, we tempt themen of infidelity to estab- lish themselves in their unbelief; and they will hardly now give a favourable hearing to the pure doctrine of the gospel, because they have been so much disgusted with the sight of it, in a cor- rupt and superstitious dress. But in this state of frailty and imperfection,' dangers attend us on either hand. As we must take heed, that we do not add the fancies of men to our divine religion, so we stiould take equal eare, that we do not curtail the appointments of Christ. With a sacred vigilance and zeal, we should maintain the plain, ex- press, and necessary articles, that we find evidently written in the word of God, and suffer none of them to be lost through our default. Theworld has been so long imposed upon, by these shameful additions of men to the gospel of Christ, that they seem now to be resolved to bear them no longer. But they are un- happily running into-another extreme : because several sects and parties of christians have tacked on so many false .. and unbe- coming ornaments to Christianity, they resolve to deliver her from these disguises ; but while they are ,paring off all this foreign trumpery, they too often cut her to the quick, and some- times let out her life-blood, (if I may so express it) and maim her of her very limbs and vital parts. Because so many irra- tional notions and follies have been mixed up with the Christian scheme, it is now a modish humour of the age to renounce al- most every thing that reason dote not discover, and to reduce tahristianity itself to little more, than the light of nature and the dictates of reason. --And under this sort of influence, there are some who are believers of the bible and the divine mission of Christ, and darenot renounce the gospel itself ; yet they inter- pret someof the peculiar and express doctrines of it, into so poor, so narrow, and so jejune a meaning, that they suffer but little to remain, beyond the articles of natural religion. This leads some VOL. Iv. Q Q
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