The Grounds of the Christian Faith, Title page – Dedication
ORIGINES SACRAE, OR A Rational Account of the Grounds OF Christian Faith, AS TO THE TRUTH AND Divine Authority OF THE SCRIPTURES, And the matters therein contained.
By EDWARD STILLINGFLEET Rector of Sutton in Bedfordshire.
2 Pet. 1. 16. For we have not followed cunningly devised Fables, when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his Majesty.
Neque religio ulla sine sapientia suscipienda est, nec ulla sine religione probanda sapientia. Lactant. de fals. relig. cap. 1.
LONDON, Printed by R. W. for Henry Mortlock at the sign of the Phoen… in St. Pauls Church-yard near the little North-door. 1662.
To his most Honoured Friend and Patron, Sr. ROGER BURGOINE, Knight and Baronet.
Sir,
IT was the early felicitie of Moses, when exposed in an Ark of Nilotick papyre, to be adopted into the favour of so great a personage as the Daughter of Pharaoh: Such another Ark is this vindication of the writings of that Divine and excellent Person exposed to the world in; and the greatest ambition of the Author of it, is, to have it received into your Patronage and Protection. But although the contexture and frame of this Treatise be far below the excellency and worth of the subject (as you know the Ark in which Moses was put, was of bulrushes daubed with slime and pitch) yet when You please to cast your eye on the matter contained in it, you will not think it beneath your Favour, and unworthy your Protection. For if Truth be the greatest Present which God could bestow, or man receive (according to that of Plurarch) foreign) then certainly those De Isid. & O….Truths deserve our most ready acceptance, which are in themselves of greatest importance, and have the greatest evidence that they come from God. And although I have had the happiness of so near relation to You, & acquaintance with You, as to know how little You need such discourses which tend to settle the Foundations of Religion, which you have raised so happy a Superstructure upon; yet withal I consider what particular Kindness the souls of all good men bear to such Designs, whose end is to assert and vindicate the Truth and Excellency of Religion. For those who are enriched themselves with the inestimable Treasure of true Goodness and Piety are far from that envious temper, to think nothing valuable but what they are the sole Possessors of; but such are the most satisfied themselves, when they see others not only admire but enjoy what they have the highest estimation of. Were all who make a shew of Religion in the World really such as they pretend to be, discourses of this nature vvould be no more seasonable then the commendations of a great Beauty to one vvho is already a passionate admirer of it; but on the contrary vve see how common it is for men first to throw dirt in the face of Religion, and then perswade themselves it is its natural Complexion; they represent it to themselves in a shape least pleasing to them, and then bring that as a Plea why they give it no better entertainment.
It may justly seem strange, that true Religion, which contains nothing in it but what is truly Noble and Generous, most rational and pleasing to the spirits of all good men, should yet suffer so much in its esteem in the world, through those strange and uncouth vizards it is represented under. Some accouting the life and practice of it, as it speaks subduing our wills to the will of God (which is the substance of all Religion) a thing too low and mean for their rank and condition in the World, while others pretend a quarrel against the principles of it as unsatisfactory to Humane reason. Thus Religion suffers with the Author of it between two Thieves, and it is hard to define which is more injurious to it, that which questions the Principles, or that which despiseth the Practice of it. And nothing certainly will more incline men to believe that we live in an Age of Prodigies, then that there should be any such in the Christian World who should account it a piece of Gentility to despise Religion, and a piece of Reason to be Atheists. For if there be any such things in the World as a true height and magnanimity of spirit, if there be any solid reason and depth of judgement, they are not only consistent with, but only attainable by a true generous spirit of Religion. But if we look at that which the loose and profane World is apt to account the greatest gallantry, we shall find it made up of such pitiful Ingredients, which any skilful & rational mind will be ashamed to plead for, much less to mention them in competition with true goodness and unfeigned piety. For how easie is it to observe such who would be accounted the most high and gallant spirits, to quarry on such mean preys which only tend to satisfie their brutish appetites, or flesh revenge with the blood of such who have stood in the way of that ayery title, Honour! Or else they are so little apprehensive of the in ward worth and excellency of humane nature, that they seem to envy the gallantry of Peacocks, and strive to outvy them in the gayety of their Plumes; such vvho are, as seneca saith, ad similitudinem parietum extrinsecùs culti, vvho imitate the walls of their houses in the fairness of the outsides, but matter not vvhat rubbish there lies within. The utmost of their ambition is to attain enervatam felicitatem quâ permadescunt animi, such a felicity as evigorates the soul by too long steeping, it being the nature of all terrestrial pleasures that they do foreign, by degrees consume reason by effeminating and softening the Intellectuals. Must we appeal then to the judgement of Sardanapalus concerning the nature of Felicity, or enquire of Apicius what temperance is? or desire that Sybarite to define Magnanimity, who fainted to see a man at hard labour?
Or doth now the conquest of passions, forgiving injuries, doing good, self-denial, humility, patience under crosses, which are the real expressions of piety, speak nothing more noble & generous then a luxurious, malicious, proud, and impatient spirit? Is there nothing more becoming and agreeable to the soul of man, in exemplary Piety, and a Holy well-orderd Conversation, then in the lightness and vanity (not to say rudeness and debaucheries) of those whom the world accounts the greatest gallants? Is there nothing more graceful and pleasing in the sweetness, candour, and ingenuity of a truly Christian temper and disposition, then in the revengeful, implacable spirit of such whose Honour lives and is fed by the Blood of their enemies? Is it not more truly honourable and glorious to serve that God who commands the World, then to be a slave to those passions and lusts which put men upon continual hard service, and torment them for it when they have done it? Were there nothing else to commend Religion to the minds of men, besides that tranquillity and calmness of spirit, that serene and peaceable temper which follows a good conscience whereever it dwells, it were enough to make men welcom that guest which brings such good entertainment with it. Whereas the amazements, horrours, and anxieties of mind, which at one time or other haunt such who prostitute their Consciences to a violation of the Lawes of God, and the rules of rectified reason, may be enough to perswade any rational person, that impiety is the greatest folly, and irreligion, madness. It cannot be then but matter of great pity to consider that any persons whose birth and education hath raised them above the common people of the World, should be so far their own enemies, as to observe the Fashion more then the rules of Religion, and to study complements more then themselves, and read Romances more then the sacred Scriptures, which alone are able to make them wise to salvation.
But Sir, I need not mention these things to You, unless it be to let You see the excellency of your choice, in preferring true Vertue and Piety above the Ceremony and Grandeur of the World. Go on, Sir, to value and measure true Religion not by the uncertain measures of the World, but by the infallible dictates of God himself in his sacred Oracles. Were it not for these, what certain foundation could there be for our Faith to stand on? and who durst venture his soul, as to its future condition, upon any authority less then the infallible veracity of God himself? What certain directions for practice should we have, what rule to judge of opinions by, had not God out of his infinite goodness provided and preserved this authentick instrument of his Will to the World? What a strange Religion would Christianity seem, should we frame the Model of it from any other thing then the Word of God? Without all controversie the disesteem of the Scriptures upon any pretence whatsoever, is the decay of Religion, and through many windings and turnings leads men at last into the very depth of Atheism. Whereas the frequent and serious conversing with the mind of God in his Word, is incomparably useful, not only for keeping up in us a true Notion of Religion (which is easily mistaken, when men look upon the face of it in any other glass then that of the Scriptures) but likewise for maintaining a powerful sense of Religion in the souls of men, and a due valuation of it, whatever its esteem or entertainment be in the World. For though the true genuine spirit of Christianity (which is known by the purity and peaceableness of it) should grow never so much out of credit with the World, yet none who heartily believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God, and that the matters revealed therein are infallibly true, will ever have the less estimation of it. It must be confessed that the credit of Religion hath much sufferd in the Age we live in through the vain pretences of many to it, who have only acted a part in it for the sake of some p…ivate interests of their own. And it is the usual Logick of Atheists, crimine ab uno Disce omnes; if there be any hypocrites, all who make shew of Religion, are such, on which account the Hypocrisie of one Age makes way for the Atheism of the next. But how unreasonable and unjust that imputation is, there needs not much to discover, unless it be an argument there are no true men in the World, because there are so many Apes which imitate them; or that there are no Jewels, because there are so many Counterfeits. And blessed be God, our Age is not barren of Instances of real goodness and unaffected piety; there being some such generous spirits as dare love Religion without the dowry of Interest, and manifest their affection to it in the plain dress of the Scriptures, without the paint and setoffs which are added to it by the several contending parties of the Christian World. Were there more such noble spirits of Religion in our Age, Atheism would want one of the greatest Pleas which it now makes against the Truth of Religion; for nothing enlarges more the Gulf of Atheism, then that foreign, that wide passage which lies between the Faith and Lives of men pretending to be Christians. I must needs say there is nothing seems more strange and unaccountable to me, then that the Practice of the unquestionable duties of Christianity should be put out of Countenance, or slighted by any who own, profess, and contend for the Principles of it. Can the profession of that be honourable, whose practice is not? If the principles be true, why are they not practised? If they be not true, why are they professed?
You see, Sir, to what an unexpected length my desire to vindicate the Honour as well as Truth of Religion, hath drawn out this present address. But I may sooner hope for your pardon in it, then if I had spent so much paper after the usual manner of Dedications, in representing You to your self or the World. Sir, I know You have too much of that I have been commending, to delight in Your own deserved praises, much less in flatteries, which so benign a subject might easily make ones pen run over in. And therein I might not much have digressed from my design, since I know few more exemplary for that rare mixture of true piety, and the highest civility together, in whom that inestimable jewel of religion is placed in a most sweet, affable, and obliging temper. But although none will be more ready on any occasion with all gratitude to acknowledge the great obligations You have laid upon me; yet I am so far sensible of the common vanity of Epistles Dedicatory, that I cannot so heartily comply with them in any thing, as in my hearty prayers to Almighty for your good and welfare, and in subscribing my self
Sir, Your most humble and affectionate servant, Iune 5. 1662. ED. STILLINGFLEET.