458 MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS. LXXVL Three modern Absurdities. SENSE, consciousness and reason are three of the chief principles or mediumsof our knowledge of things. This, I suppose, will be acknowledged by men of all religions, and of none. Sense informs us chiefly of the things that are without us, even all -that we know by sight or hearing, by smell,' taste, or feeling. Con- sciousness acquaints us with all that passes within us, and parti- cularly the ideas we have in our mind, the inclination of our hearts, the consent, the choice, or any action of our wills. And then reason assures us of the truth of a conclusion which is evi- dently derived from other propositions which we know to be true before. Now the deists, the papists, and the fatalists among them do really renounce all these ; they run on blindly and reso- lutely in their opinions, and maintain several articles of their own belief, in direct contradiction to these three principles of know- ledge, how much soever they may profess to be led by them. First, The papist tells you, that in all the instances of col. mon life he believes the dictates of his senses about things which are near to him, and which he hatit all proper advantages to exa- mine ; but in the business of transubstantiation he begs your ex- cuse, for he believes a piece of bread to be real flesh and blood, and gives the lie grossly and obstinately to his eye- sight-and his feeling, his smell and his taste at once, and his religion requires him to contradict all his senses. Crucifer, a man of this profession, believes the resurrection of the body of Cbrist from the dead, and.confesses that it could not be known nor proved without giving credit to our senses, our seeing and feeling; and yet he renounces the dictates of these senses utterly, when they tell him that the bread of the sacra- ment is not the body of the risen Saviour : And thus he chooses to overthrow the foundation on which lie believes the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, (which doctrine is the foundation of all his christianity) rather than believe what his senses tell him, when they assure him the body of Christ is not a wafer -cake. Monstrous victory.and dominion of the church of Rome over all the powers of sense and reason at once, and the very principles of our faith,! In the next place, I-lylander, a young fatalist, will acknow- ledge in general, that though he cannot assent to any of the reli- gions of men, nor believe a word of what they preach about vice and virtue, a heaven and a hell, yet he believes what he himself feels, and what he is conscious of within himself. But if you ask him presently, Whether man be a free creature? Whether he himself bath a liberty of choice in any motion of his will, or in any action of his life ? he denies it. No ; he is necessarily moved by a train of other causes to every particular volition and action, and has not, nor ever had, any free choice. Ask him, whether he is
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