act upon in moft others. If to act inconfiftently, and to expect Impoffibilities, is Polly; that Charge, that heaviest of Charges, in the Sense of these Men, may, I believe, be with more Justice laid on those who reject this Truth, merely becaufe it is a Mystery, than on those who believe it. Which I hope will in fome Measure appear, if we proceed,

III. Thirdly, To fhew the Folly of rejecting this Doctrine, purely because it is a Myftery. And this I fhall endeavour to evince by these three Reafons, 1. Because every Man does believe Myfteries. 2. Because if this Doctrine makes any Discoveries of the Things of God, or another Life, they neceffarily must be Mysteries. 3. Becaufe though mysterious, this Doctrine neither implies any Contradiction nor Impoffibility.

The first Reason given why it is foolish to reject this Doctrine, merely on Account of its being a Mystery, is this, that every Man does believe Myfteries, that is, Truths which he can neither comprehend nor explain; and in fome of the most important Affairs of civil Life, acts as taking it for granted that they are certain, and regulates his Conduct thereby. Multitudes of Inftances might be given of this; and indeed, were Men to abftain from acting till they could fully explain all thofe Opinions, which they take for granted,

the

the World would foon be a defolate Wildernefs, and not only all the Duties of natural Religion, but all the Affairs of common Life, must be neglected. The Man that believes that his Body is actuated by an immaterial Being, or that the World was made, or is governed, by an Almighty Spirit, believes what he can never comprehend or explain. He can never explain by what Mechanism a Thought can move and command an heavy Body, or attain to a comprehenfive Notion of Infinitude. The Patient swallows Phyfick, without knowing how it will operate and act upon his Body; but nevertheless takes it for granted, that it will effect his Cure, and acts accordingly. Did the Mariner refuse to expofe his Body, or the Merchant his Goods, to the Dangers of a Voyage, till fuch Time as he could explain the Nature of the Winds and Tides in which he trufts, (otherwise than by fuch Accounts as must be refolved at laft into the Will of God, which is in Reality no Explication) his Ship muft eternally continue in Port, and all the Navigation of the World be laid afide. And if then it would be deemed highly abfurd to refuse to act upon Principles which we do not understand, in common Life; I would fain know why it does not imply equal Folly and Abfurdity to reject the Doctrines of Religion, merely because we cannot comprehend them; especially if it be confidered, that we

have the Veracity of God himself to vouch for the Truth of them. To which we may add, that we know there are fome Things in Nature, which to us are very clear and certain; when, at the fame Time, they must appear to be most incredible, if not impoffible, to those who have not had our Knowledge and Experience. That Water should by a Change of Weather become a folid Body, and confiftent enough to bear the largest Carriages, and heaviest Burdens, appears to us notoriously in Fact true, upon almoft every Return of the Winter Seafon; but if this was afferted to an Inhabitant of the hottest Climates, whofe Experience had never given him any Notion of fuch a Change; he would, in all Probability stand amazed at fuch an Affertion as abfolutely false; and would indeed have more Reafon to think it utterly incredible and impoffible, than we have to reject the Truths of Religion, on that Account. And if then his Want of Experience is not fufficient to acquit him of Folly and unreasonable Scepticifm; if he doubts of this Fact, when duly and fufficiently attested by credible Witneffes; much less can our Want of Knowledge acquit us of the like Folly and Scepticifm, if we reject the Doctrines of revealed Religion purely on that AcWhich will appear ftill more abfurd,

count.

if we confider,

Secondly,

Secondly, That all Doctrines, which make any Discoveries of the Things of God and another Life, muft neceffarily be myfterious: That is, they neceffarily must be fuch as exceed our Comprehenfion, and fuch as we can form no adequate and perfect Conceptions of. All our Knowledge of divine and fpiritual Things is very obfcure and imperfect; all our Notions of immaterial Beings, and their Perfections and Manner of acting, very dark and inadequate Reprefentations of them. We can only reason from what we do to what we do not fee; and infer the Existence and Nature of invifible Beings, from the Nature and Qualities of the Things that do appear. This is the Cafe of the main Principles of natural, (I mean the Nature and Attributes of God) as well as of revealed Religion; we can no more form adequate Notions of the former, as they are in themfelves, than we can of the latter. All we can do, is to infer the Certainty of them, from what we fee and know; and to conclude, that the Attributes of heavenly Beings are, or are not, correfpondent and analogous to what we meet with on Earth. In Order to convince himself of this, a Man need only to afk himself seriously, what he means by those Things, and give himself a fair and impartial Anfwer. Thus, for Inftance, let any Man afk himself what he means by a Spirit, or by the Goodness of God, and the plain Anfwer,

5

fwer, I conceive, muft be, that he means by Spirit fomething that is not Body; and by the Goodness of God, that Attribute of the Divine Nature which is correspondent or analogous to what we call Goodness in Men. But this is furely very far from giving us a complete and adequate Notion of either, as it is in itself; though it is going as far as the weak Faculties of Man can at prefent do. And if then this be univerfally the Cafe, in Relation to whatever concerns the Nature and Actions of the Supreme Being, the Infinite and Eternal Creator of Heaven and Earth; how abfurd and foolish is it, to reject the general Accounts the Scriptures give us of him, merely for Want of that particular Explanation which they cannot poffibly give? How ridiculous and abfurd to difbelieve and ridicule them, for not being level to our Capacities; when the Defect is in our own Faculties, and not in them? This Knowledge is not the less certain for being thus narrow and defective. We can certainly know that God is, that in him we live, and move, and have our Being, and that all the Scriptures affirm of his Nature and Difpenfations is infallibly true, though we cannot comprehend him: And whoever confiders his Defign in giving us our Faculties, will not wonder, that he has thought fit to vouchfafe us only such scanty Measures of Knowledge, in this present State. This prefent Life is not a State of Vision but

of