Treatise of Moral and Intellectual Virtues, Treatise on ethics · Part 16
Of Underſtanding, Science, and Wiſdom.
THESE Three may be handled together, becauſe they are alike concerned in the ſearch after Truth; For the Ʋnderſtanding perceives and apprehends the Objects by the Miniſtry of the Senſes; the reſemblances of theſe Objects being conveyed to the Ʋnderſtanding, do there make their own Image, which we call Science or Knowledg, in which two things are implied;What Science is. the one is Truth; the other is Evidence; For what is not Truth, can never be known; and Evidence is to Truth, as Sap to the Tree, which ſo far as it creepeth along with Body and Branches, keepeth them alive; where it forſaketh them, they die; For this Evidence, which is Meaning with our Words, is the Life of Truth; and that which hath much experience of Fact, What Sapience or Wiſdom is.and much evidence of Truth, that is, much Ʋnderſtanding and Science, hath uſually been called, both by ancient and modern Writers, Sapience or Wiſdom, whereof Man only is capable.
OF whoſe Soul the Ʋnderſtanding is the higheſt Faculty; which judges of the Reports of Senſe,Ʋnderſtanding the higheſt faculty of the Soul. and detects all their Impoſtures; reſolves all ſenſible things into intelligible Principles; the conceptions whereof are not mere paſſive Impreſſions upon the Soul from without, but they are actively exerted from the mind its ſelf; no paſſion being able to make a judgment either of it ſelf, or other things: but ſome men have been ſo fond of corporeal Senſe, as to believe, that there is nothing in Human Underſtanding, which was not firſt in bodily Senſe; which whoſoever aſſerts, muſt ſay, that Life and Cogitation it ſelf, Knowledg or Ʋnderſtanding, Reaſon and Memory, Volition and Appetite, things of the greateſt moment and Reality, to be nothing but mere Words without any ſignification: For if Senſe were the only Evidence of things, there could be no abſolute truth and falſhood, nor certainty at all of any thing; Senſe as ſuch being obnoxious to much Deluſion: and were Exiſtence to be allowed to nothing, that doth not fall under corporeal Senſe, then we muſt deny the Being of Mind both in our ſelves and others; becauſe we can nether ſee nor feel any ſuch thing.
THERE have been alſo thoſe, who have thought, that our underſtandings might be ſo made, as to deceive us in all our cleareſt perceptions, in Geometrical Theorems themſelves, and even in our common Notions; if this be ſo, then we can never be certain of the truth of any thing, not ſo much, as that two and two are four; nay, if this be ſo, we can never arrive at any certainty concerning the Exiſtence of God, eſſentially good, foraſmuch as This cannot any otherwiſe be proved, than by the uſe of our Ʋnderſtanding-Faculty: Beſides it is no way congruous to think that God Almighty ſhould make Rational Creatures ſo, as to be in an utter impoſſibility of ever attaining to any Truth; if this were ſo, what would our Life be, but a Dream! and our ſelves, but a ridiculous piece of fantaſtick Vanity!
WHEREAS no Power, how great ſoever, can make any thing indifferently to be true; nor can create ſuch Minds, as ſhall have as clear Conceptions of Falſhoods, as they have of Truths; For Example, no Underſtanding Being, that knows, what a part is, and what a whole, what a cauſe, and what an effect, can poſſibly be ſo made, as clearly to conceive the part to be greater than the whole, or the effect to be before the cauſe: The Deity is the original of Truth.For the Deity is the original of Truth and Wiſdom; And it doth not derogate from him, that created Minds ſhould ſo partake of the divine Mind, as to know certainly, that two and two make four, that equals added to equals will make equals, that a whole is greater than a part, that the cauſe is before the effect, and ſuch like common Notions, which are the Principles, from whence all our knowledg is derived.
MOREOVER a Perfect underſtanding Being, is the beginning and head of the Scale of Entity; from whence things gradually deſcend downward, lower and lower,Mind the oldeſt of all things. till they end in ſenſeleſs matter; for Mind is the oldeſt of all things, ſenior to the Elements, and the whole corporeal World; for if once there had been no Life in the whole Univerſe, but all had been dead, then could there never have been any Life or Motion in it; and if once there had been no underſtanding, then could there never have been any underſtanding produced; becauſe to ſuppoſe Life and Underſtanding to riſe out of that, which is altogether dead and ſenſeleſs, is plainly to ſuppoſe, ſomething to come out of nothing; wherefore becauſe there is Mind, we are certain, that there was ſome Mind from all Eternity, from whence theſe imperfect Minds of ours came; for the firſt Principle of all things muſt be an underſtanding Nature; and the power we have to underſtand the truth we altogether owe to this Cauſe.
FOR Gen. 1.27.What the Image of God is in Man. God created Man in his own image; which image is that univerſal Rectitude of all the faculties of the Soul, by which they ſtand apt and diſpoſed to their receptive Offices and Operations; therefore in Adam the Underſtanding was a Noble and pure Faculty, could lead and controul the Paſſions, as it liſted; it did then determine upon the ſeveral informations of Senſe, and all the varieties of imagination, not hearing only like a ſleepy Judg, but alſo directing their Verdict: Being innocent and quick, it gave the Mind a bright and full proſpect into all things; inſomuch that the diſcoveries of Truth are now very obſcure in compariſon with thoſe clear repreſentations thereof, which the underſtanding made then.
IT was likewiſe Adam's happineſs to have thoſe Maxims and general Notions of the Mind, which are the Rules of Diſcourſe,Adam's underſtanding much above ours. and the Baſis of all Philoſophy, clear and unſullied; Study was not then a duty, Night-watchings were needleſs: The Light of Reaſon wanted not the aſſiſtance of a Candle; This is the doom of us poor faln Creatures, to labour in the Fire, to ſpend our Time, and impair our Health, and perhaps to ſpin out all our days upon one pitiful Concluſion: And 'tis difficult for us, who were born and bred up with Ignorance and Infirmities about us, to raiſe our Thoughts to thoſe Intellectual Perfections, that attended our Nature in the time of Innocence; But we muſt conclude the Underſtanding to be at that time moſt Excellent, by the glorious Remainders, that are left of it; For all thoſe Arts, Rarities and Inventions, which vulgar Heads gaze at, the Ingenious purſue, and all admire, they are but the Reliques of an Underſtanding defaced with Sin and Time; Inſomuch that an Ariſtotle, whom we take to be the Great Maſter of Science, was but the rubbiſh of an Adam, and Athens, but the Rudiments of Paradiſe.
THE Image of God did no leſs remarkably ſhew it ſelf, in that, which we call the practical Ʋnderſtanding, in which are treaſured up the Rules of Action, and the Seeds of Morality; of this ſort are theſe Rules of Life, that God is to be worſhip'd, our Parents to be honoured, our words to be kept; which being of univerſal Influence, as to the regulation of the Behaviour, and Converſe of Mankind, are the ground of all Virtue and Civility, and the Foundation of Religion.
NOW Adam had theſe Notions in his Boſom, firm and untainted; and He had ſuch a Conſcience, as might be its own Caſuiſt, and thoſe Actions muſt needs be regular, when there is an uninterrupted agreement between the Rule and the Faculty:The Rule and the Faculty did ever agree. All the Laws of Nations, and wiſe Decrees of States, the Statutes of Solon and the twelve Tables, were but a paraphraſe upon this ſtanding Rectitude of Nature, upon this principle of Juſtice, that would never be impoſed upon by a deluding Fancy, nor bribed by an alluring Appetite; no utile nor jucundum could turn the Ballance to a falſe or diſhoneſt Sentence; the inferiour Faculties had the cleareſt Inſtructions, and were commanded too with ſuch Power, as they could not reſiſt; It was not then, as it is now, when the Ʋnderſtanding chaſtiſes the Paſſions, as old Eli did his headſtrong Sons, gently and eaſily; but its Voice at that time was; this muſt, this ſhall be done.
THUS the Image of God did once ſhine in the underſtanding of Man; at the ſame time, it was alſo ſtampt upon his Will; as it appeared from that entire freedom and indifference the Will then had, to ſtand, or not to stand, to accept, or not accept the Temptation:The will now a Slave. I will grant the Will now to be as much a ſlave, as any one will have it, being free only to ſin; But from the beginning it was not ſo, neither is This Nature, but Chance: therefore it were blaſphemy to lay our Faults upon God, as the Author of them, as if He had made us crooked: But when they came out of his Hands, the underſtanding and will never diſagreed, what was propounded by the one, was never contradicted by the other; Neither did the will attend upon the underſtanding in a ſervile manner, but as Solomon's Servants waited upon him; it admired the Wiſdom of its Dictates, and heard the Counſels thereof, which did both direct and reward its Obedience: For it is the nature of this Faculty to follow a Superiour Guide, the Ʋnderſtanding; but then ſhe was a Subject, as a Queen is to her King, who both acknowledges a Subjection, and yet retains a Majeſty.
Paſſions the Inſtruments of Virtue.IF we paſs downward to the Paſſions, we ſhall be convinced, what influence the Ʋnderſtanding hath in rendring them the Inſtruments of Virtue; which the Stoicks look'd upon as ſinful Defects and irregularities, as ſo many deviations from right Reaſon: But in this, they were conſtantly outvoted by other Sects of Philoſophers: To us let this be ſufficient, that our Saviour Chriſt was ſeen, to weep, to be ſorrowful, to pity, and to be angry; which ſhews that there may be Gall in a Dove, Paſſion without ſin, and Motion without diſturabnce.
BUT then the Ʋnderſtanding muſt keep them within their juſt bounds; as in the caſe of Love, which is ſo often compared to a Fire; as if it could chuſe, whether it will heat or no, no more than a Flame can;The inferiour Affections governed by the Ʋnderſtanding. therefore there is need of a ſound mind to fix it upon its right Object, that it may not degenerate into Luſt; So in the caſe of Hatred, it muſt be the Ʋnderſtanding, that muſt confine it to its proper Object, that it may not become Rancour againſt our Brethren; by the ſame over-ruling Power Anger may be brought to vent its ſelf by the meaſures of Reaſon, and never be touched with any tranſport of Malice, or the violence of Revenge: And for the lightſome paſſion of Joy, it may be made a Maſculine and ſevere thing, not like the crackling of Thorns, but the moſt ſolid recreation of the Judgment; Sorrow hereby is forced to be as ſilent, as our Thoughts, and that Anchor of the Mind, Hope is faſtned upon the Actions of Innocence and Integrity, inſtead of the Mud of this World.
FOR as in the Body, when the Heart and Liver do their Offices, and all the ſmaller Veſſels under them act orderly and duly, there ariſes a juſt temperament upon the whole,The cauſe of peace and ſatiſfaction to the Soul. which we call Health: So in the Soul, when the Ʋnderſtanding governs the lower Affections, there ariſes peace and ſatisfaction upon the whole Soul, which is ſuch an healthful Conſtitution, as is infinitely beyond the pleaſures of the Body.
THIS is the Faculty, that rules in us; the immediate product whereof is Science; Science the immediate product of the Ʋnderſtandding.as the firſt Creature God formed was Light, ſo the firſt motion of Adam, after he was furniſhed with a ſound Underſtanding and an obedient Will, was after Knowledg; But by a fooliſh deſire after more, and by taking ſome falſe ſteps he loſt his Way, and left his Poſterity in the dark, either following wrong Scents, or much in doubt, what paths to walk in: However there is a Providence in the conduct of Knowledg, as well as of other Affairs on the Earth, and it was not deſigned, that all the Myſteries of Nature and of Providence ſhould be plainly underſtood through all the Ages of the World; and what was made known to the Ancients only by broken Concluſions and Traditions, will be known in the latter Ages of the World, in a more perfect Way, by Principles, and Theories: The encreaſe of Knowledg being that, which changeth ſo much the Face of the World, and the ſtate of Human Affairs, I do not doubt, but there is a particular care in the conduct of it, by what ſteps and degrees it ſhould come to Light, at what Seaſons, and in what Ages; What Evidence ſhould be left either in Scripture, Reaſon, or Tradition for the grounds of it, how clear or obſcure, how diſperſt or united; All theſe things were weighed and conſidered, and ſuch meaſures taken, as beſt ſuit the deſigns of Providence, and the general Project and Method propoſed in the government of the World: And it is not to be queſtioned, but the ſtate both of the old World, and of that, which is to come, is exhibited to us in Scripture in ſuch a meaſure and proportion, as is fit for this forementioned purpoſe; not as the Articles of our Faith, or the precepts of a good Life, which he that runs, may read, but to the attentive, and thoſe that are unprejudiced, and to thoſe that are inquiſitive, and have their minds open and prepared for the diſcernment of Myſteries of ſuch a Nature.
There are many ſecrets, that paſs our Ʋnderſtandings.HENCE it is, that in every Science there are more Arcana to poſe our Underſtanding, than eaſie Concluſions to ſatisfie it: which things being ſo far beyond the reach of our Reaſon, muſt needs enforce us to believe, that there is an admirable Wiſdom, which diſpoſeth, and an infinite Knowledg, which doth comprehend thoſe Secrets, that we are not able to fathom: In Divinity likewiſe there are Myſteries, that with their brightneſs dazzle and confound our Reaſon, by their own aſtoniſhing Glory and Splendour they render themſelves inviſible to us; Now our Reaſon muſt not preſume to Science in thoſe Myſteries, which are ſo far removed from its Notices; whenever it offers to judg of them, it falls into uncertain Opinions, and loſes its ſelf in a Maze of thoughts: wherefore that our Reaſon may learn to be Modeſt, and to keep within its due bounds, let it try whether it can underſtand, how a drop of dew can be Organiz'd into a Fly or a Graſhopper; let it tell us, how the Glories of the Field are ſpun, or by what Pencil the Herbs and Flowers are ſo finely painted; if theſe Objects do poſe it, which our Eyes converſe with daily, then let it not pretend to underſtand incomprehenſible, to order infinite, and define ineffable things.
FOR to know how far our Science can go, is one of the beſt Points of Knowledg,The advantage of knowing, how far our Science will reach. we can have; For this will ſecure us from thoſe bold Untruths, and very abſurd Errours, which unwary Men have fallen into, who have ventured over thoſe limits, within which our Reaſon ſhould be confined. The proper Work of which is to put a Man into as good a condition, as He is capable of, and as it is reaſonable for him to expect; and the deſire of this is not properly a moral Virtue, about which Men have a Liberty of Acting, but is a natural Principle, that flows neceſſarily from the very frame of our Natures: For that,What is Natural Good, and what Moral. which hath a fitneſs in it to promote the welfare of Man, as a Senſitive Being, is ſtyled Natural Good, and whatſoever promotes his welfare, as a Rational Being, is called Moral Good; And the greater tendency any thing hath, to advance or hinder the perfection of our Nature, ſo much greater degrees hath it of Moral Good or Evil; to which we ought to proportion our Inclination or Averſion; and our Underſtanding tells us, that the rational Nature, and the perfection belonging to it is more Noble, than the ſenſitive, therefore moral good is to be preferr'd before Natural; and that which is morally evil is more to be hated and ſhunn'd, than that, which is Natural.
The beſt Science is the knowledg of our ſelves.SUPPOSE we ſtudied nothing but this; how profitable would this Science be to us! For it would make us wiſe to ſalvation: For as other Sciences carry out our Thoughts, and entertain them with Notions abroad, this will bring us to the knowledg of our ſelves; which is the only Way to true Wiſdom: For an Aſtronomer may gaze upon the Stars, may admire exteriour Objects much, that appear glorious, and after all he may fall into the Ditch; But the end both of knowing and doing well is to be gotten only in that rare Science of what is moſt agreeable to the Reaſon and Intereſt of every Man: It is pity to loſe this Science in a croud of Definitions, Diviſions, and Diſtinctions, as ſome Philoſophers have done: whoſe Underſtandings ſeem to be always in the warlike State of Nature, one againſt another.
WHEREAS it is requiſite, that He, who would accompliſh his Mind with the moſt excellent matters of Science, ſhould firſt know himſelf, ſhould be well practiſed in all the modeſt, humble, friendly Virtues; And I dare boldly ſay, that a virtuous Man, of a calm and teachable Spirit, is more likely to make a good Proficient in all manner of Knowledg; than the Wit, who muſt be always prying into things, that are too deep or are altogether unintelligible: The Chymiſts lay it down, as a neceſſary qualification of their Happy Man, to whom God wll reveal their Elixir, that rather He muſt be good and innocent, than too curious; And if I were to form the Character of a true Lover of Science, Virtue muſt be the Foundation, and that upon a rational account; For certainly ſuch men,The humble Man is moſt likely to be the beſt Proficient in Science, whoſe minds are humble, and free from all Self-conceit, are in a far better way to the moſt beneficial Knowledg, than the bold and haughty; they will paſs by nothing, by which they may learn; they will be always ready to receive, and communicate Obſervations; they will not contemn the fruits of other men's Diligence; they will rejoice to ſee the Learning of the beſt Things enquired into, both by themſelves and others.
THEREFORE Socrates was eſteemed the Patron of Virtue, Socrates the Patron of Virtue.becauſe He was one of the Firſt, that began to draw into ſome Order, the confuſed and obſcure Imaginations of thoſe, that went before him; becauſe He made all parts of Philoſophy to be taken off from mere ſubtilty and words, that they might be immediately ſerviceable to the Affairs of Men and the uſes of Life; that they might no longer be wrap'd up, as it was the cuſtom of the Wiſemen in Egypt, in the dark ſhadows of Hieroglyphicks, nor concealed, as Sacred Myſteries, from the apprehenſions of the Vulgar: But Virtue and the Science of Truth ſtands not in need of ſuch Artifices to uphold her Credit; but is then moſt likely to thrive, when the minds and labours of men of all Conditions are joined to promote it, and when it becomes the care of all People to practiſe it: Indeed the Grecian Poets did firſt ſoften men's natural Rudeneſs by the Charms of Verſe, before they could be brought to receive the ſeverer Doctrines, of Solon, Thales, and Pythagoras; So ſome men muſt be delightfully deceived to their own good, and wholeſom Inſtructions muſt be inſinuated into their Minds with the mixture of Fables and the Ornaments of Fancy: but when once they are got over theſe Rudiments, nothing will reliſh ſo well with them as the ſtricter Leſſons of Virtue, and an aſſiduous proſecution of thoſe Sciences, that will at length bring them to the Seat of ſound and perfect Wiſdom.
NOW to ſeek for this Wiſdom in Syſtems and Models, Wiſdom is not to be found in Syſtems.is to ſeek the Living among the Dead; but the powerful Energy of true Wiſdom ſhews it ſelf only in the virtuous Mind; which is the foreign, as the antient Philoſophy ſpeaks, the Land of Truth; And when Zoroaſter's Scholars asked him, What they ſhould do to get winged Souls, ſuch as might ſoar aloft after Truth? He bids them bathe themſelves in the Waters of Life; and enquiring, what thoſe were, they were told, the four Cardinal Virtues, which he compares to the four Rivers of Paradiſe: That Science is very thin, which is made up of Syllogiſms and Demonſtrations, but the Wiſdom which is built upon Goodneſs is more convincing and more ſubſtantial, than all thoſe; For the End, it aims at, is a State of Everlaſting Happineſs, and the Means are the infuſed Principles of Grace, whereby our corrupted Natures are exalted to their Primitive Uprightneſs:Wiſdom defined. So that this kind of Wiſdom may be defined to be that Habit of Mind, whereby a Man is enabled to propoſe the true End of Eternal Bleſſedneſs, and to judg aright concerning ſuch Means, as may be moſt fit for the attaining this End, conforming his Life and Carriage accordingly. Now that which is the greateſt Truth, to gratifie our Underſtandings, and the Higheſt Good, to ſatisfie our Wills, muſt be an End proper for a Wiſe Man to follow: Neither was the Ancient Philoſophy unacquainted with this Way and Method of attaining unto the moſt Divine Wiſdom; And it is obſerved, that Pythagoras, had ſeveral ways to try the Moral temper of the minds of his Diſciples, before he would entruſt 'em with the Sublimer Myſteries of his School; And the Platoniſts were ſo ſollicitous herein, that they thought, the Souls of Men could never be purged enough from the dregs of Senſe and Paſſion, to become capable of their Metaphyſicks; And as we have obſerved already, Ariſtotle thought, a young Man unfit to meddle with the wiſer Precepts of Morality, till the heat and raſhneſs of his youthful Affections were cooled and moderated.
NOW the Wiſe Man, we now ſpeak of, is foreign, the Contemplative Perſon, who hath paſſed through all the Diſcipline of Virtue; For He cannot be good at true Theory, who hath not firſt been ſo at Practice, and to the true and ſober Man peculiarly belongs foreign, Divine Wiſdom, which vigorouſly diſplays it ſelf foreign foreign, as the Platoniſts phraſe it, in an intellectual Life: For the good Man only lives in him, who is Life it ſelf, and is enlightned by him, who is Truth it ſelf: Beſides Purity of Heart and Life, as alſo an ingenuous freedom of Judgment, What are the beſt preparations for Truth.are the beſt preparations for the entertainment of Truth; For every Art and Science hath ſome certain Principles upon which the whole Frame and Body of it muſt depend, and therefore the Scripture is wont to ſet forth a good Life, as the fundamental Principle of Wiſdom; For it aſſerts the Fear of the Lord to be the beginning of Wiſdom; And in Divine Things eſpecially He, that is moſt practical, is the wiſeſt Man, and not He, that is moſt a Dogmatiſt. For as in the natural Body, it is the Heart, which ſends up good Blood and warm Spirits to the Brain, whereby it receives power to execute its ſeveral Functions; ſo that which gives us power to underſtand the beſt things aright, muſt be a living Principle of Piety within us; becauſe if the Tree of Knowledg ſhould not be planted by this Tree of Life, Why Truth prevails no more in the World.then it may bring forth bitter, as well as ſweet Fruit, evil as well as good Deeds: This is the reaſon, why Truth prevails no more in the World, becauſe men are buſied more in acute Reaſonings and ſubtle Diſputes, than in real goodneſs; which Goodneſs and Truth grow both from the ſame Root and live in one another.
ON the contrary, Vice caſts a cold Poiſon into the Underſtandings of Men; benums the Faculties; creeps into the Bed of Reaſon and defiles it; Yet vicious Men are more apt, than others, to boaſt of their Wiſdom; but if we come nearer theſe Landskips of Reaſon and Wit; that, which ſeemed afar off to be Hills and Mountains in them, will be found to be nothing but artificial Shadows: beſides the Vanity whereby Sin is puff'd up, nothing is more unreaſonable and fooliſh; For what can argue a greater madneſs, than to forfeit the endleſs welfare of the Soul for the ſatisfaction of a Moment!
THEREFORE I will only ask this of Mankind, that they would act according to the directions of Wiſdon, that is, agreeably to the fixed and unavoidable Fate of things, and remember, that they are a ſort of Beings, who muſt hereafter live always, either in unconceivable Happineſs or Miſery; if this Meditation will not bring 'em to Wiſdom, there is no remedy, but they muſt be left to the diſmal and pitileſs deſerts of their want of Senſe and Conſideration.
NOW there are two things, that make up Religion, Knowledg and Practice;Knowledg and Practice make up Religion. the firſt is wholly in order to the ſecond, and both together conſtitute Spiritual Wiſdom; For God hath not revealed his Will, and made known our Duty to us, to make us more learned, but to make us more good; not to enlarge our Underſtandings or entertain our Minds with the Fine Notions of Virtue, but to Form and govern our Lives; therefore God hath ſo ordered things, that no Man ſhall be Happy for any Speculations, unleſs they are drawn down into practice: For there is no kind of Knowledg, that a man may ſooner come at, than the knowledg of Religion, becauſe the greateſt part of it hath a Foundation in the common Reaſon of Mankind; and as for that, which is revealed, it is only new Arguments to be good and virtuous: Now this Goſpel makes the knowledg and practice of Religion the only way to true Wiſdom, and conſequently to Happineſs; therefore they are the Practiſers, that our Saviour hath bleſs'd in his Sermon on the Mount, the poor in ſpirit, the meek, and merciful: So He, who acts according to his knowledg, is likened to a wiſe Man, who built his houſe on a Rock, but He, who heareth our Saviour's Sayings, and doth them not, is likened to a fooliſh Man, who built his houſe upon the Sand; the rain deſcended, and the floods came; the winds blew and beat upon that houſe and it fell: The practice of Religion is a neceſſary condition for Happineſs.As God hath made the practice of Religion a neceſſary Condition of our Happineſs; ſo the nature of the thing doth make it a neceſſary condition for it; For our utmoſt Happineſs being to conſiſt in the enjoyment of God, and it being impoſſible that Perſons ſhould have communion one with another, that are not of a temper; we muſt be like to God, if we would be Happy; Now nothing can make us like unto God, but Holineſs and Virtue: Therefore Men are not wiſe, who think, they can be partakers of Happineſs upon any other account; Knowledg indeed it ſelf is a Divine Perfection, but yet that alone doth not render a man like to God, neither doth that alone qualifie him for his Preſence; For if a Man had the underſtanding of an Angel, he might for all this be of a devilliſh Temper, and whoſoever is ſo, hath no diſpoſition in him for the place of pure Happineſs.
LET every Man therefore, that hopes to be happy in the next World, lead an Holy Life in this; becauſe an unholy Life is in the nature of the thing utterly inconſiſtent with Being in Heaven.
THE proper Inference from all that hath been ſaid is, that in all the exerciſes of our Underſtanding, Science, or Wiſdom, we ſhould make the practice of Religion our main deſign; becauſe for this purpoſe God gave us our Reaſon; For to inſpire Man with a Faculty of reaſoning, by which he can form true Notions from ſingle Experiments, and infer one Truth from another; and to inſpire his Reaſon with Divine Notions, are only two different Modes of Revelation: For He did as well reveal himſelf to us, when he gave us Reaſon to underſtand his Will, as he does, when he ſends a Meſſenger from Heaven to declare his Mind.
SINCE then God light up in us this Candle of our Reaſon; why may he not give new Light to it; eſpecially when it begins to burn with a dying and languiſhing Flame: How agreeable is this to the Divine Goodneſs, and to that infinite Care it takes of the welfare and happineſs of reaſonable Beings, to conduct and enlighten them with Divine Revelation; chiefly when the groping World had ſo bewildred it ſelf in an endleſs Maze of Errour, and was ſo loſt in its own wandrings; when no Human Underſtanding or Wiſdom could ſhew the Way; then to ſpring a Light from Heaven, whereby Mankind may be directed to the Coaſt of Truth, is the higheſt Inſtance of the care and goodneſs of Divine Providence; that we were not left to take our own courſe, but were reſcued from Sin and miſery, ignorance and darkneſs by ſo kind an Hand.
ALL that we have to do is, to obey his Commandments, and this is the beſt way to encreaſe our knowledg in Religion; For the practice of a Trade ſhall give a Man a truer knowledg of it, than reading all the Books, that ever were writ about it, and ſo we ſhall better know a Countrey by travelling into it, than by poring upon all the Maps, that ever were made of it: In like manner Obedience to the Will of God doth diſpoſe us for the knowledg of it, by freeing our Minds from prejudice, by making our Underſtandings more clear, and taking away the great Obſtacles of Wiſdom; which without the practice of Religion will be ſo far from being any furtherance to our Happineſs, that it will be one of the ſaddeſt, and moſt unhappy aggravations of our miſery: For when we come into the other World, no reflection will more enrage our Torments, than to think, that we choſe to lead vitious Lives, and to make our ſelves miſerable, when we knew the way to Heaven and Happineſs. For after all that hath been ſaid upon this Head, S. Paul's Judgment is undoubtedly true, 1 Corin. 8.1. That Knowledg puffeth up, but Charity edifieth: Now when the Apoſtle ſaid this, Corinth, the Metropolis of Achaia, was, as all other rich and populous places, exceſſively proud and luxurious; ſoftneſs and eaſe had expell'd all the thoughts of the Laborious Exerciſes of Virtue: Yet (as it often happens) the men were ingenious, though they were wicked; In a word, all the World condemn'd them for their Debaucheries, but admired them for their Parts: Wherefore St. Paul tells them very truly, that their knowledg was the Original of all their Errours; they might be blown up with Science, but they muſt be Edified with Charity: In like manner did the Gnoſticks dote on the Myſteries of Words; did pride themſelves about Fruitleſs Genealogies, and the unintelligible methods of Science: for which reaſon St. Paul did ſeverely reprehend theſe vain-glorious Scioliſts, and declare, that a little Charity towards an offended Brother was more valuable than all their ſubtle Theorems, or the Poſitions of any the moſt celebrated Dogmatiſts: So the Philoſophers of old gave another Interpretation to foreign foreign, know thy ſelf, and improved it into Self-conceit and Arrogance; their Principles and their Dictates ſeem always to be framed, rather to oppoſe than to eſtabliſh Truth: If from them we paſs to the times of Chriſtianity, we find Julian and Lucian, Arrius and Socinus, all of them in a ſeveral way deſpiſing the plainneſs and ſimplicity of the Goſpel, for the ſake of their own trifling Opinions, which muſt not ſubmit to the teachings of Fiſhermen: Nay, how many Volumes are there in the World, whoſe Subject is little elſe, but breach of Charity! which Charity, and not great Words nor the phantaſtical Hypotheſes of thoſe, that call themſelves Wiſe, muſt ſet a luſtre upon all we do: For neither Happineſs here, nor Heaven hereafter is to be gotten by haughty Looks or Suppoſitions, but by a conſtant Tenour of Bountifulneſs in our Lives, and integrity in our Actions: Suppoſing therefore we were ſet upon the higheſt Mountain of Metaphyſicks, and had thence the raviſhing Proſpect of all the Kingdoms of human Learning, all the Glories of Philoſophy; yet we will not worſhip one Notion, that cannot be brought into the practice of a Holy Life.