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Church of Rome has a power to conftrue and fuperfede the written Rules in Scripture. 4. Men who pretend to have a fupernatural Director within each of them, which they are to follow, without regard to the Scripture. 5. Men who neither regard Scripture, Church, nor, &c. any farther than it ferves their turns; but will each form Schemes, and determine every thing by his own Reason, and demonftrate from his own Data, by Mathematicks and Experiments.

Moft Men have hitherto fought for the original Defcriptions of Perfons and Things, either where they were not to be found, or to find them where they were, in other Manners than they were there defcribed. In Letters, when there was nothing but Hieroglyphicks, Emblems, Types, &c. or, in a literal Description, where most of them were ideal: To find a Word which could fignify several, where it is only intended to fignify one Idea in feveral Things: Indeed, often by following the Imaginations of Fools, but chiefly by following the Directions and Conftructions of the Enemies of Men. I propofe not to put the fucceeding Race of Men to more Trouble than those past have voluntarily taken. All have learned the Paffages

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fages in the Tranflations of the Bible, which are imperfect or Nonfenfe, and fpent most of their Time in haranguing upon them; let them, for the future, learn the Paffages which fhew infinite Truths, Beauties, Wisdom, and Perfection, and spend their Time in haranguing upon them, and try which will afford the greatest Pleasure. All have talk'd of Philofophy, and many have spent their Time about that, and nothing elfe; I only defire them to change the Names of Properties for Substance, of Sympathy and Antipathy, for mechanical Powers and Actions, of Attraction for Preffure, &c.

Since God is invifible, in another Syftem, and comes not under Senfe; as Man could not fee the Creation, Formation, &c. the first Queftion among Men of Senfe fhould be, How we can know that he exifts? in what manner he exists? what has been done or happened before us? What state we are in? what is his Will, or our Duty? This can be known no other way, but by our Senfes; that cannot be by the natural Courfe of Things, it must be by fupernatural Actions, either by Voice from Heaven, or by fome visible Appearance, or by giving a Man power to perform fupernatural Actions, to be for

Evidence of his Account, or by that Method early predicted, and fince explained.

I have fubmitted to take fuch Weapons as they have been pleased to allow, That we have no Idea of any thing, but what comes in by our Senfes, or what is borrowed from them, to give Ideas of revealed Things mutatis mutandis. No Man has any Pretence to affirm, or argue about any thing, much lefs draw any Conclufions which bind another, till he prove he hath an Idea of the Subject, and till he can fhew another whence he had it; fo that the other may have the fame, and judge whether it be adequate; if real, whether in the Whole, or in what Parts or Refpects; if borrowed, whether it holds in all Points, or in all that is neceffary, or in which; so that he may acquiefce, or make his Objections. If this World had a Beginning; we can have no Ideas of the Origin or Formation of this Syftem, or Man; of the State Men have been, or are in. If there be a God; of the manner of his Exiftence, Power, Perfonality, or of his Pleafure. If there be two States hereafter; how to acquire the one, and avoid the other. If these things were known at the Beginning; that Knowledge cannot come

to us, except by Tradition or Writing. And if Writing, otherwife than hieroglyphically, was not at firft; and if the hieroglyphical Writing with Tradition, could not be preferved, or preferve that Knowledge pure, except while Men lived to vaft Ages, till writing with Letters was ufed; we can have no Account, either of the one State, or of the other, without Revelation, nor otherwife than by writing with Letters; nor in any other Language, nor in any other Manner, that I know any thing of, but in that Language we call Hebrew. So, by Revelation, I mean an infallible Hiftory of what concerns us to know of the Effence-Existing, of the Perfonality, of the Covenant, and of what has been before us, and what will come after our Time, recorded by the infinite Wisdom of God.

We have proved there were no Letters before Mofes. I need fay nothing of his natural Faculties, or of his perfonal Virtues; of his Affection to his Brethren, of his Courage, of his Meeknefs, of his Faith; his private Actions, before he was infpired and commiffioned, fhew those nor of thofe Faculties being fupernaturally fupported till his Death; my Bufinefs is to fpeak of him as a Prophet. Indeed he

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might have Tradition directly from the firft Man Adam to Lamech; he to Noah; he to Terab; he to Abraham; he to Jacob; he to Levi; he to Amram; he to Mofes: And, 'tis like, might have seen all the hieroglyphical Representations preserved among the Ifraelites, and had feen all that the Heathen Egyptians had, wherein their Wifdom confifted, know all that they knew of them. 'Tis faid, that Abraham taught the Egyptians many Things; and 'tis writ that Jofeph was to teach their Senators Wisdom; and, if they had any of that left, Mofes might learn it; and he might learn all that his Father-in-law knew. But all these could not enable him to write what he has writ, of Things before his Time, with that Coherence, Certainty and Perfection which is in them; no, not of the historical Account, with that exact Connection; no, not even of natural Things; no, not even of those of them which he could see, much lefs of those of them which neither he, nor thofe Men he could have an Account from, could have feen, with that Certainty in his Defcriptions of Actions and Effects, which are now evident, in all Parts of the World, to ocular Demonftration, of the natural Motions, Powers and

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