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the fame Folly and Superftition, that prevailed on it before.

of the

of Rea

fon, and

velation.

This is a true State of humane Rea- A Sumfon, in its present ruinous and deprav'd mary Condition. In our Minority, equally prefent capable of bad as well as good Impref- State fions, and form'd entirely by the Examples we fee,or by the Inftitutions of those, our want that have the Charge of our Education; of a Rein our Maturity, the Author of our Paffions and Defires, our Humours and Appetites, and the fole Agent of all the Evil, as well as all the Good we do: In its highest Pitch of Improvement, uncapable of finding out any proper Offices of Religion, or fixing any certain Rule of Morality either for our felves or others: In the Breaft of the greatest Philofopher, over-fpread with Error, ignorant in many, and doubtful in all the great Principles and Motives of Religion, and, thereupon, enfnar'd in diverfe hurtful Lufts; and much more in the Breafts of the Vulgar, funk in Ignorance and Stupidity, and thereby submitted to the wiles of the Tempter, and taken Captive by him at his Will. And is this the Faculty, of which we hear fuch loud Boafts, and to which the abfolute Perfections of Immutability and In fallibility are afcrib'd? Is this the

.

2

funda

2 Tim. ii, 26, Vid. Chriftianity as old, &c. 60, 61.

fundamental Law of the Universe, that can tell us more than Books or Masters, more than the two Tables of Mofes, or the twelve Tables of the Greeks, and of which all other Laws are but Copies and Tranfcripts? Is this the only Principle that is allow'd us, to inform our Minds in all religious Truths, and direct our Conduct in all moral Actings? This the only Pilot, to fteer our Course thro' the tempeftuous World, in the midft of fo many Dangers, Avocations, and Snares; with fo many Lufts within, and Temptations without to carry us wrong; fo many Syrens to allure us, fo many Rocks to dafh us, and fo many Waves to fwallow us up quick? Whether God, in this Method, would have made a fufficient Provifion for Man's Salvation, we will not here Dispute; but, to confider humane Reason, as it is in Fact, modified by the various Disabilities, Paffions, and Prejudices, which will ever prevail among the greater Part of Mankind; and then confider every Man, left in this wild difconcerted State, without Rule or Guide, to search out Truth and Happinefs by his own Collections; the Diftractions and Perplexities which must needs enfue, would make every wife Man

a

Roger's Neceffity of Divine Revelation.

Man wish for fome thing better: And if fo, what can we imagine more defirable, more appofite to the wants of humane Nature in fuch a Cafe, than that God fhould interpofe, and by an authoritative Declaration of his Will, inftruct thofe, that were ignorant, and direct those that were going aftray.

Since a divine Revelation therefore muft at least be allow'd to be an eligible Thing to Man, and highly conducive to his Happiness, it may be worth our while to enquire,

Ift. Whether it be equally confiftent with the Notions we have of God that he fhould make one. And

2dly, Of what particular Nature and Quality the Chriftian Revelation is, which we pretend he has actually made.

confiftent

butes of

God.

ift, If we may form a Judgment from A Revethe general Senfe of Mankind, we fhall lation hardly find any one, who believed the with the Existence of a God, and did not believe Attrilikewise fome kind of Commerce and Communication between God and Man. b This was the Foundation of all the Religious Rites and Ceremonies, which every Nation pretended to receive from their Gods; and, what gave Birth to their Arts of Devination, was the Perfuafion, that their Gods had a per

b Sherlock's Serm. Vol. 1.

a perpetual Intercourfe with Men, and by various Means, gave them Intelligence of Things to come. And indeed

'tis hardly to be imagined, that God fhould make reasonable Creatures, on purpose to know him, and to be happy in the Knowledge, Love and Admiration of him, and yet withdraw himfelf from them, without giving them any other view of his Glory, than what they might perceive in the Reflection of his Creatures. Sin, 'tis own'd, has made a vaft difference between God and us; but, if we muft live in the other World, and be happy or miferable there; if he ftill exercises any Care and Providence over us; or if he has any regard to his own Honour and Worship; it seems reasonable to expect, that he should inftruct us more perfectly in the Nature of his Will, than what any Reasoning of our own Minds, without fuch Inftruction and Affiftance, can poffibly teach us.

Since therefore there was manifeftly wanting a Divine Revelation, to relieve the Neceffities of Men in their natural State; and fince no Man can prefume to fay, that it is inconsistent with any of the Attributes of God, or unbecoming the Wisdom of the Creator of all Things to fupply that want, to reveal to his Crea

of Happi

Creatures more fully the way
ness, and to make more particular Dis-
coveries of his Will to them; nay, fince,
on the contrary, it feems much more
fuitable to our natural Notions of the
Goodness and Mercy of God, as well as to
the State, wherein he hath placed us, to
suppose that he should do all this, rather
than that he should not, it must needs
follow, that his Goodness was all along
inclined to make fuch a Revelation,
whenever his infinite Wifdom fhould
think fit: And therefore, fince the
Christian Religion has been offer'd to the
World as a Divine Revelation.

ture of the

on.

2dly, Our next enquiry is, whether The Nait comes up to this high Character, i. e. Chriftian whether the Discoveries, which it has Revelatimade, both in Relation to Knowledge and Practice, be fuitable to the Attributes of God, and answerable to the Exi gences of Man. Now if we reflect upon what has been faid concerning the state of Mankind, before the coming of the Gospel, we cannot but perceive that they were ftrangely defective in their Notions, and grofly deprav'd in their Manners; and therefore, to effect a Reformation of both these, it was highly requifite, that a Religion, pretending to come from God, fhou'd fupply them with a fufficient Syftem of all neceffary

Gg

Truths,

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