The Reasons of the Christian Religion Part 1, Part 1 · Chapter 16
CHAP. XVI. Of the preſent ſinfull and miſerable ſtate of this World.
See the Citations in Marg. Cap.§. 1. THough all men may know all this before ſaid to be their duty, Bias in Laert. inquit, Ita amandum quaſi edio ſimus habituri: Plurimos enim eſſe malos: And though Cicero in Lael. ſay, That it is a Sentence ſapiente plane indigna, it is his miſtake of the ſenſe of it. For it is true, that in well-grounded Friendſhip we muſt avoid ſuſpicion, (which is all that Cicero pleads for): but yet we muſt know Men to be Men, and mutable: and all juſt Love is not well grounded intimate Friendſhip.and ſin to be ſo evil, and to deſerve ſuch puniſhment, yet none do live perfectly without ſin, according to the Law of Nature.
I have heard but of few that pretend to ſuch perfection, and thoſe few have confuted their own pretenſes, and been the furtheſt from it of many others: And therefore this I have no need to prove.
§. 2. The greateſt part of the World do bend their mindes and lives to the ſatisfying of their fleſh, and live in ungodlineſs, intemperance, and unrighteouſneſs, neglecting God and future happineſs, and that Holy life which is the way thereto.
This being a matter of publick or common fact, doth need no other proof, than acquaintance with the people of the World.
§. 3. Yea, there is an averſneſs and enmity in them, to the life which God in Nature doth preſcribe them; and a ſtrong inclination to a fleſhly Life.
There needeth no other proof of this, than the wonderfull difficulty which we find in perſwading men to change their Lives, to live to God, and to forſake their ſenſuality and worldlineſs; and the abundance of Reaſon and labour that is loſt upon them, when we cannot ſo much as make them willing.
§. 4. It is evident in the effect, that much of this cometh with us into the World.
1. How elſe ſhould it be ſo univerſal as it is? How ſhould it be found in all ſorts of Conſtitutions and Complexions? and in every Countrey and Age till now? 2. How ſhould it work ſo early in Children as commonly it doth? 3. How cometh it to prevail againſt the beſt Education, Helps and Means? Certainly all of us feel from our childhood too much of the truth of this?
§. 5. This natural pravity is quickly encreaſed, In uno annulo omnes boni principes poſſunt inſculpi, inquit quidam in Vopiſc. Aurel.by the advantage of ſenſuality, which is active before Reaſon cometh to any power of reſiſtance, and ſo getteth ſtronger poſſeſſion by Cuſtom, and groweth to a confirmed habit.
§. 6. And if vicious Education by vicious Parents be added, and bad company ſecond that, and the vulgar courſe, or Rulers countenance concurr, the corrupt inclination is quickly more radicated, and next to a Nature.
§. 7. Many ſo farr prevail againſt the light and law of Nature, Seneca ſaith, That a good man is a Phoenix, born once in five hundred years. Ep. 42,as to grow ſtrange to God and to themſelves, to their end, and their work. Even to doubt whether there be a God, or whether they have any other life to live, and whether Holineſs be good and neceſſary, and ſin be bad and deſerve any puniſhment.
§. 8. There is a great deal of ſottiſh unteachableneſs on the minds and wills of men, Lucian. in Tim. inquit, Boni poſſeſſio eſt, quae haud facile inveniri poteſt; ut quae jamdudum è vita conceſſerit: Adeo obſcura & puſilla, ut illam vel Lynceus vix dum inveniat.which hindereth their conviction and reformation.
§. 9. There is a great deal of ſenſeleſs ſtupidity and hardheartedneſs on men, which maketh them ſleepily neglect the greateſt things which they are convinced of.
§. 10. There is in moſt a marvellous Inconſiderateneſs, as if they had not their Reaſon awake to uſe; ſo that they will not ſoberly and ſeriouſly think of the things which deeplyeſt concern them.
§. 11. Moſt men are ſo taken up with the concernments of their Bodies, Diogenes crying, O homines adeſte! when a crowd came about him, drove them away, ſaying, Homines vocavi, non ſterquilinia.that their Minds are pre-occupyed and made unfit for higher things.
All this is proved if we walk but in the World with open eyes.
§. 12. The Love of the World and fleſhly pleaſure, is ſo powerfull in the moſt, that they love not the Holy Law of God, which forbiddeth them that ſenſuality, and commandeth them a holy and temperate life.
They are like Children that cry for what they love,Ariſtippus being asked, Quid eſſet admirandum in vita? anſwered, Vir probus & moderatus? quoniam etſi inter multos improbos agat, non tamen pervertitur. Stob. and will not be reſtrained by telling them that its unwholſom: Reaſon ſignifieth nothing with them, as long as Senſe and Appetite gainſay it: They are angry with all that croſſeth their Appetites, though it be to ſave their Lives: The Senſe is become the predominant power in them, and Reaſon is dethroned, and hath left its power: Therefore Gods Law is unacceptable and hatefull to theſe bruitiſh people; becauſe it is quite againſt their inclination, and that which the Fleſh doth call their Intereſt and Good.
§. 13. Therefore they love not thoſe who preſs them to the Obedience of this Law, which is ſo ungratefull to them; and who condemn their ſin by the holineſs of their lives; and that awaken their guilty Conſciences by the ſerious mention of the Retributions of the life to come.
Hence was Diogenes his ſearching Athens with a Lanthorn to finde a man.All this is bitter to the taſte, and the Reaſonableneſs, neceſſity and future benefits, are things that they are much inſenſible of.
§. 14. Therefore they love not God himſelf, as he is Holy, and Governeth them by a Holy Law, which is ſo much againſt their inclinations; And when Themiſtocles had a Farm to ſell, he bid the Cryer tell it as its great commendation, that there was an honeſt Neighbour dwelt neer it, intimating the paucity of ſuch.as he forbiddeth them all their ſinfull pleaſure, and threatneth damnation to them if they rebell: Eſpecially as his Juſtice will execute this: Indeed their averſation from God in theſe reſpects, is no leſs than a Hating Him as God.
§. 15. Theſe Vices working continually in mens hearts, do fill them with deceiving thoughts, and diſtracting paſſions, and unquietneſs, and engage them in ſelf-troubling wayes, and deprive them of the Comforts of the Love of God, and of a Holy life, and of the well-grounded hope of future bleſſedneſs.
Ut Scarabaei & vultures unguentis offenduntur, —ita non omnibus placent optima. Plutarch.Though they have ſuch a preſent pleaſure as prevaileth with them, it bringeth ſpeedy ſmart and trouble: Juſt like the pleaſure of ſcratching to a man that hath the Itch, which is quickly recompenſed with ſmart if he go deep: Or like the pleaſure of drinking cold water to a man in a Feaver, or a Dropſie,Vir bonus & ſapiens qualem vix repperit unum. Millibus è cunctis hominum conſultus Apollo. &c. Virg. Vitio noſtra quae amamus defendimus; & malumus ea excuſare quam excutere. Sen. Ep. 117. which increaſeth the diſeaſe. Sin is their ſickneſs, and corrupteth their appetites, and though it have its proper pleaſure, it depriveth them of the pleaſures and benefits of health.
§. 16. Theſe vices alſo ſo deprave ſometimes, making every wicked man to be principally for HIMSELF and for his LƲSTS, that they are commonly diſtracted with envy, malice, contention, perſecutions, the fruits of Pride, and Covetouſneſs and ſenſuality; and theſe diſeaſes are ſtill troubling them, till they work their ruine where they do prevail.
§. 17. The ſame vices ſet Kingdoms and other Common-wealths together in bloody Warrs, and cauſe men to ſtudy to deſtroy one another, and glory in the ſucceſs, and fill the World with rapine and violence by Sea and Land; and make it ſeem as neceſſary to their own preſervation, to kill one another as their enemies, as to kill Toads and Serpents, Wolves and Tygers, and much more; and with much more care, and coſt, and induſtry is it done.Abſurdum eſt putare eum qui ab aliquibus ex bono malus fuerit factus, eundem ab illis iterum ex malo bonum fieri poſſe. Dion. Hal. 11.
§. 18. If any wiſe and charitable perſons would heal theſe vices, and reconcile theſe contentions, and perſwade perſons and Nations to a holy, ſober, peaceable courſe, they are commonly hated and perſecuted, they ſeldom ſucceed, nor can their counſel be heard, through the multitude and fury of the vicious, whoſe folly and violence beareth down all.Ubi divitiae honori ſunt, & eas gloria, imperium, potentia, hebeſcere virtus, paupertas probro haberi innocentia pro malevolentia duci incipit. Saluſt. in Cattilin.
§. 19. And God himſelf doth give the ſinfull World a taſte of his diſpleaſure by painfull ſickneſſes, conſuming Plagues, Famines, Poverty, and many the like Calamities, which fall upon mankinde.
§. 20. But his ſoreſt Judgements are the forſaking of Mens ſouls, and leaving them in all this folly and diſorder, this ſin and miſery, to deſtroy themſelves.
The principal Mercies and Puniſhments of this Life,Aelian. var. hiſt. l. 13. ſaith, that Theodata a Whore told Socrates, that he could draw away none of her followers, but ſhe could draw away his at her pleaſure; and he anſwered, Non mirum: Tu ſiquidem ad declivem tramitem omnes rapis; ego vero ad virtutem cogo, ad quam arduus pleriſque inſolitus eſt aſcenſus. are found on the Souls of men themſelves. The greateſt preſent Reward of Obedience, is when God doth more illuminate the mind, and ſend in more of his celeſtial beams, and ſhed abroad his Love upon the heart, and fill it with the Love of Goodneſs, and delight it in himſelf, and confirm the will againſt temptations: And the greateſt puniſhment is when God in diſpleaſure for mens diſobedience, doth withdraw this grace, and leave men to themſelves, that they that love not his grace ſhould be without it, and follow their fooliſh ſelf-deſtroying luſts.
§. 21. God cannot pardon an uncapable ſubject, nor any but on terms conſiſtent with the honour of his Juſtice, Laws, and Government! Nor is there any that can deliver a ſinner from his puniſhment, upon any other terms whatſoever.
§. 22. The concluſion is, that the ſin and miſery of Mankinde in Generall is great and lamentable, and their recovery a work of exceeding difficulty.
Obj. All this ſheweth, that mans Nature was not made for a Holy life, nor for a World to come: Elſe their averſneſs to it would not be ſo great and common.
Animi morbi ſunt cupiditates immenſae, inanes, divitiarum, gloriae dominationis, libidinoſarem etiam voluptatum accedunt aegritudines, moleſtiae, merores, quae animos exedunt conficiunt que curis. Cic. 1. de finib.Anſw. This is fully anſwered before: It is proved, that Nature and Reaſon do fully bear witneſs againſt his wickedneſs and declare his obligations, to a better life, and his capacity of higher things: and that all this is his rebellion againſt Nature and Reaſon! And it no more proveth your Concluſion, than your Children, or Servants averſneſs to obedience, peace and labour, proveth that theſe are not their duty, or Subjects rebellion proveth that they are not obliged to be loyal.
In naturalibus deſideriis pauci non peccant. Ariſt. 3. Eth.Obj. But it is incredible that God ſhould thus far forſake his own Creation.
Anſw. 1. There is no diſputing againſt the light of the Sun, and the experience of all the World: It is a thing viſible and undenyable that this caſe they are de facto in, and therefore that thus farr they are forſaken: It is no Wiſdom to ſay, that is not, which all the World ſeeth to be ſo, becauſe we think it unmeet that it ſhould be ſo. 2. Is it incredible that God doth further than this forſake the wicked in the World of puniſhment? If he may further forſake Hell, he may thus far forſake Earth, upon their great provocations. We have no certainty of it, but it is not at all unlikely, that the innumerable fixed Starrs and Planets are inhabited Orbs, who have dwellers anſwerable to their nature and preeminence:God only can recover lapſed man? Nemo magnus ſine aliquo afflatu Divino unquam fuit. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. 2. And if God do totally forſake Hell, as to his Mercy; and next to Hell, do much forſake a ſinfull Earth that is likeſt and neereſt unto Hell, and do glorifie his more abundant Mercy upon the more holy and happy inhabitants of all, or almoſt all the other Orbs, what matter of diſcontent ſhould this be to us. 3. But God hath not left even this dark and wicked Earth it ſelf, without all remedy, as ſhall be further ſhewed.Of the Paucity of the good, and the abounding of wickedneſs, almoſt all Poets, Orators, Philoſophers and Hiſtorians openly complain.
Read Cicero's third Book de Nat. Deor. and you will ſee in Cotta's ſpeech, that the notoriouſly depraved Reaſon of man, and the prevalency and proſperity of wickedneſs, was the great argument of the Atheiſts, againſt God and Providence; which they thought unanſwerable, becauſe they looked no further than this life,Pauci quos aequus amavit. Jupiter aut ardens evexit ad aethera virtus. and did not foreſee the time of full univerſal Juſtice. And whereas Cotta ſaith, that if there be a God, he ſhould have made moſt men good, and prevented all the evil in the World, and not only puniſh men when it is done, I ſhall anſwer that among the objections in the Second Tome; and I before ſhewed, how little reaſon men have to expect that God ſhould make every man as good as he could make him, or make man indefectible; or to argue from mans ſin againſt Gods goodneſs: The free Creator, Lord and Benefactor,In vitia alter alterum trudimus: quomodo ad ſalutem revocari poteſt, quem nullus retrahit, & populus impellit? Senec. Ep. 29. Serpunt vitia & contactu nocent, & in proximum quem que tranſiliunt. Id. de Tranq. vit. Nam vitiis nemo ſine naſcitur; optimus ille Qui minimis urgetur. Horat. 1. Ser. 3. Unicui que dedit vitium natura creato. Propert. Quid ulcus leviter tangam? Omnes mali ſumus. Senec. Si cupis bonus fieri, primum crede quod malus ſis. Epictet. Enobri. Novi ego hoc ſeculum moribus quibus ſit: Malus bonum malum eſſe vult ut ſit ſui ſimilis: turbant, miſcent, mores mali, rapax, avarus, invidus, ſacrum profanum, publicum privatum habent: Hiulca gens: haec ego doleo; haec ſunt quae excruciant; haec dies nocteſ que tibi canto ut caveas. Plaut. Nifi enim talis (mala) eſſet natura hominum, non anteponerent vindictam ſanctitati & lucrum juſtitiae, invidentes alienae potentiae non laedenti: ſed volunt homines vindictae cupiditate communes leges diſſolvere, &c. Thucid. l. 3. Sed & boni, dicetis, ſunt in rebus humanis; Viri ſapientes, juſti, inculpati —Reſ. Sint licet perhoneſti, fuerint que laudabiles, —ſed audire depoſcimus, quot ſint aut fuerint numero,— Unus, duo, tres,—centum certe numero diffiniti—At genus humanum non ex pauculis bonis, ſed ex caeteris omnibus aeſtimari convenit, ponderari: In toto enim pars eſt, non totum in parte— Et quinam iſti ſunt, dicite? Philoſophi credo, qui ſe eſſe ſolos ſapientiſſimos autumant— Nempe illi qui cum ſuis quotidie cupiditatibus pugnant — Qui ne in vitia proritari facultatis poſſint alicujus inſtinctu, patrimonia & divitias fugiunt, ne cauſas fibi afferant lapſus. Quod cum faciunt & curant, apertiſſime animas eſſe indicant labiles, & infirmitate ad vitia proclives: Noſtra autem ſententia, quod bonum natura eſt, ne que emendari ne que corrigi ſe poſcit: Immo ipſum debet quid ſit malum neſcire, ſi generis forma cujuſ que in ſua cogitat integritate perſtare — Qui luctatur animorum ingenitas corrigere pravitates, is apertiſſime monſtrat imperfectum ſe eſſe, quamvis omni & pervicacia contendat. Arnob. adv. Gentes, lib. 2. in Auctuar. Bib. Pat. To. 1. p. 20. may vary his creatures and benefits as he ſeeth meet, and may be proved good, though he make not man Angelical, and though he permit his ſin, and puniſh him for ſinning.