better, by some other way, than that which he hath pitched upon and appointed for them, not confidering that God is a great King, and will be observed and obeyed by his creatures in his own way; and that obedience to what he commands is better and more acceptable to him, than any other facrifice that we can offer, which he hath not required at our hands; that he is infinitely wife and good, and therefore the laws and rules, which he hath given us to live by, are more likely and certain means of our happiness, than any inventions and devices of our own. Thus, I fay, it hath been in all ages. The old world, after that general deluge which God sent to punish the raging wickedness and impiety of men, by sweeping all mankind from off the face of the earth, excepting only one family, which was saved to be the seminary of a new and better race of men; I say, after this, the world in a short space fell off from the worship of the true God to the worship of idols and false Gods; being unwilling to bring themselves to a conformity and likeness to the true God, they chose false Gods like themselves, such as might not only excuse, but even countenance and abett their lewd and vitious practices. And when God had made a new revelation of himself to the nation of the Jews, and given them the chief heads and substance of the natural law, written over again with his own finger in tables of stone, and many other laws concerning religious worship, and their civil conversation, fuited and adapted to their present temper and condition; yet how foon did their religion degenerate into external observances, purifications and washings, and a multitude of facrifices, without any great regard to the inward and substantial parts of religion, and the practice of those moral duties and virtues, which were in the first place required of them, and without which all the rest found no acceptance with God? Hence are those frequent complaints in the prophets, that their religion was degenerated into form and ceremony, into oblations and facrifices, the observ. ances of fafts, and fabbaths, and new moons; but had no power and efficacy upon their hearts and lives; was wholly deftitute of inward purity and holiness, of VOL. IX. F all all substantial virtues, and the fruits of righteousness in a good life. Thus God complains by the prophet Ifaiah, chap. i. 11. &c. To what purpose is the multitude of your facrifices unto me, faith the Lord? Bring no more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto me, the new moons and fabbaths, the calling of assemblies I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the folemn meeting. Wajh ye, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to dowell, Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherlefs, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, faith the Lord. Though your fins be as scarlet, &c. Upon these terms, God declares himself ready to be reconciled to them, and to have mercy on them. But all their external services and facrifices, separated from real goodness and righteousness, were so far from appeafing God's wrath, that they did but increase the provocation. And to the fame purpose, chap. Ixvi. 2.3. To this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox, is as if he flew a man: he that facrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck: he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered fwines blood: he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chofen their own ways, and their foul delighted in their abomination. Jer. vi. 19. 20. Hear, O earth; behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. To what purpose cometh there to me incense fromSheba? and the sweet cane from a far country? Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, nor your facrifices Sweet unto me. They thought to please God with costly incense and facrifices, whilft they rejected his law. And chap. vii. 4. 5. 6. Trust ye not in lying words, faying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other Gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place. And ver. 8. 9. 10. Behold, ye trust in lying words that can cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, And in the time of our blessed Saviour, those who pre And after the clear revelation of the gospel, the best and most perfect inftitution that ever was, in the very beginning of Christianity, what licentious doctrines did there creep in, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, and releasing men from all moral duties, and the virtues of a good life? by reason whereof the way of truth was evil Spoken of, as St. Peter, and St. Jude exprefly tell us concerning the sect of the Gnosticks. And St. John likewife defcribes the fame fect by their arrogant pretences to extraordinary knowledge and illumination, whilst they walked in darkness, and allowed themselves in all manner of wickedness of life; they pretended to perfection and righteousness, without keeping the commandments of God. And in the next following age of Christianity, how was it pestered with a trifling controverfy about the time of the observation of Easter, and with endless disputes and niceties about the doctrine of the trinity, and the two natures and wills of Christ! by which means the practice of Christianity was greatly neglected, and the main end and design of that excellent religion almost quite defeated and loft. After this, when the mystery of iniquity began to shew itself, in the degeneracy of the Roman church from her primitive sanctity and purity, and in the affectation of an undue and boundless power over other churches, the Christian religion began to be over-run with superstition, and the primitive fervour of piety and devotion was turned into a fierce zeal and contention about matters of no moment and importance; of which we have a most remarkable instance here in our own nation, when Austin the monk arrived here to convert the nation, and preach the gospel among us, as the church of Rome pretended; but against all faith and truth of history, which affures us that Christianity was planted here among the Britains several ages before, and perhaps fooner than even at Rome itself; and not only fo, but had got confiderable footing among the Saxons before Austin the monk ever set foot amongit us; I say, when Austin the monk arrived here, the two great points of his Chriftianity were, to bring the Britains to a conformity with the church of Rome in the time of Easter, and in the tonfure and shaving of the priests, after the manner of St. Peter, as they pretended, upon the crown of the head, and not of St. Paul, which was by shaving or cutting close the hair of the whole head, as from some vain and foolish tradition he pretended to have learned: the promoting of these two customs was his great errand and business, and the zeal of his preaching was spent upon these two fundamental points; in which, after very barbarous and bloody doings, he at last prevailed. And this is the conversion of England, so much boafted of by the church of Rome, and for which : which this Austin is magnified for so great a faint; when it is very evident from the history of those times, that he was a proud, ignorant, turbulent, and cruel man, who, instead of first converting the nation to the faith of Chrift, confounded the purity and fimplicity of the Christian religion, which had been planted and established among us long before. In latter ages, when the man of fin was grown up to his full stature, the great business of religion was the Pope's absolute and universal authority over all Christians, even Kings and Princes, in order to spiritual matters; ecclefiaftical liberties and immunities; and the exemption of the clergy, and all matters belonging to them, from the cognizance of the fecular power, the great points which Tho. a Becket contended so earnestly for, calling it the cause of Christ, and in the maintenance whereof he persisted to the death, and was canonized as a faint and a martyr. And among the people, their piety consisted in the promoting of monkery, and founding and endowing monafteries; in infinite superstitions, foolish doctrines, and more absurd miracles to confirm them; in purchasing indulgences with money, and hearing of masses for the redemption of fouls out of purgatory; in the idolatrous worship of saints, and their relicks and images, and especially of the blessed Virgin, which at last grew to that height, as to make up the greatest part of their worship and devotion both publick and private. And indeed they have brought matters to that absurd pass, that one may truly say, that the whole business of their devotion is to teach men to worship images, and images to worship God. For to be present at divine service and prayers celebrated in an unknown tongue, is not the worship of men and reasonable creatures, but of ftatues and images, which though they be present in the place where this service is performed, yet they bear no part in it, being void of all fenfe and derstanding of what is done. And indeed in their whole religion, fuch as it is, they drive so strict a bargain with God, and treat him in so arrogant a manner by their infolent doctrine of the merit of good works, as if God were as much beholden to them for their fervice and obedience, as they are to him for the reward of it, which they F3 un |