A Complete Body of Divinity, Frontispiece – Preface
The Reverend MR SAML WILLARD. Quantae Pietatis imago.
A COMPLEAT Body of Divinity IN Two Hundred and Fifty EXPOSITORY LECTURES ON THE Aſſembly's Shorter Catechiſm WHEREIN The DOCTRINES of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION are unfolded, their Truth confirm'd, their Excellence diſplay'd, their Uſefulneſs improv'd, contrary Errors & Vices refuted & expos'd, Objections anſwer'd, Controverſies ſettled, Caſes of Conſcience reſolv'd; and a giant Light thereby reflected on the preſent Age.
By the REVEREND & LEARNED SAMUEL WILLARD, M. A. Late Paſtor of the South Church in Boſton, and Vice-Preſident of Harvard College in Cambridge, in New-England.
Prefac'd by the Paſtors of the ſame Church.
HEB. xiii. 7.
Remember Them—who have ſpoken to you the Word of GOD; Whoſe Faith follow, conſidering the End of their Converſation.
HEB. xi. 4.
By Faith — He obtained witneſs, that He was Righteous; GOD teſtifying of his Gifts: And by it He being dead, yet ſpeaketh.
II. TIM. i .13.
Hold faſt the Form of ſound Words, which thou haſt heard of Me, in Faith & Love which is in CHRIST JESUS.
BOSTON in NEW-ENGLAND: Printed by B. Green and S. KNEELAND for B. ELIOT and D. HENCHMAN, and Sold at their Shops. MDCCXXVI.
The PREFACE.
THE late Reverend and Learned Author of the following Lectures, has been ſo univerſally and juſtly admir'd and celebrated in theſe Parts of the World, for his eminent Capacity Piety Wiſdom, his deen and perſpicuous Inſight into the moſt difficult Points of Divinity, and his moſt judicious and accurate manner of expreſſing and clearing, as well as moſt uſeful application of them; that there's no need of our ſetting forth his Character, either for the Information of his Country-men, or their Inducement to peruſe the large Compoſure that now preſents it ſelf to their View. We need only ſay,— 'Tis Mr. Willard's,—and 'tis enough to Recommend it to their high Reſpect and diligent Attention; and that it falls not ſhort of his other excellent Performances. which as well as his rare Accompliſhments and Conduct while alive, have deſervedly gain'd him ſo great a Fame & Eſteem among us.
AND as for Strangers that may come to the ſight of the preſent Work, we need only refer them to the Extract out of the Funeral Sermon annexed, wherein the Author's Superiour Character is very juſtly drawn; in order to their entertaining ſuch an Apprehenſion of Him, as will be enough to induce them to look into the ſucceeding Lectures, and diſcover more than has even yet been ſaid of his great and excellent Abilities in ſearching out Explaining and Applying the important Truths of Reveal'd Religion.
ALL we conceive we have to do in this Preface is,—To give ſome Account of the framing and publiſhing of the following Work, for the Information of all that ſee it; To remove the Prejudice of many from the Largeneſs of it, which might otherwiſe diſcourage them from attempting to peruſe it; To prevent thoſe undue Conceptions both of it and the Author, which may be apt to riſe in their minds from thoſe Imperfections that are only owing to the Diſadvantages of the poſthumous Publication; To recommend it to all ſorts of Readers, eſpecially to Students of Divinity; and then Commend it to the neceſſary and effectual Bleſſing of Almighty GOD, to whoſe Glory and Service it is moſt humbly devoted.
LET the Reader then be pleas'd to know, that the Reverend Author having gone thre' the Explication of the Aſſembly's Shorter Catechiſm in a more compendious manner among the Children of his People, and having therein little more than Methodiz'd the Subject and laid out the ſeveral Heads to be more largely treated of; He did accordingly on Jan. 31. 1687 8. enter on theſe more elaborate Diſcourſes upon them. This he performed Monthly on the Tueſdays in the Afternoon, in his Publick Congregation; and ſo continued till April 1.1707. ſoon after which he was prevented from proceeding by a Fit of Sickneſs, out of which he was ſcarce well recovered before he ſuddenly Died. *…tatis 68.And as he judg'd the aforeſaid Catechiſm to be one of the moſt uſeful Syſtems of Divinity extant, as it is commonly learnt & known among our People; He applied himſelf to Explain it fully & clearly to them, and to conſider what was moſt material in the whole Circle of Religion, in it's proper place: and not only lead them into the right Diſcernment of the Doctrines of it, and confirm their Faith therein both from Scripture and Reaſon; but alſo in the cloſe of his ſeveral Lectures to ſhow the farther beauty uſe and excellence of the Truths explain'd, by reducing them to a ſuitable Practice and applying them to the Hearts and Lives of his Hearers. And as the former Expoſitions were more adapted to the Young and weaker ones; ſo theſe were rais'd to exerciſe and entertain the Riper and ſtronger Minds, of more enlarg'd Capacities and more advanced Knowledge.
THESE larger Lectures therefore ſoon ſent forth their Fame, and drew many of the moſt knowing and judicious Perſons both from Town and College, who heard them with ſo great a Reliſh, that they have ever ſince the Author's Death, which was on Sept. 12.1707, been earneſtly deſirous of their Publication, and given ſuch a Character of them as has continually rais'd the ſame Deſire in others: And this has very ſtrangely rather increas'd than declin'd for theſe Eighteen Years among us; ſo as hardly any Book has been more paſſionat'-ly wiſh'd for, till this growing Country is become now capable of taking off the Impreſſion of ſo great a Work, the largeſt that was ever Printed Here, and the firſt of Divinity in a Folie Volumn.
BUT in the ſetting it forth, the Pabliſhers have found themſelves under many Diſadvantages, which have much retarded the Preſs, and been thro' great Difficulty at length overcome. For as the Alunuſeripts lay ſeparate in ſeveral Odaves; ſome were Originals of the Author's own hand-writing, and others were but Tranſcripts from them, in which were ſeveral ſmall Miſtakes, both in the Scriptures cited and in diverſe Words and Pointings, and ſundry obſcure places ſo very difficult to read, as oblig'd us to conſult with one another with the utmoſt caution, to decide their Certainty. And that which ſtill increas'd our Labour was, not only the great Obſcurity of the Pointings both in the Copies and Originals, but their having the Scriptures mentioned in Figures only, without the words of the Text inſerted: which it ſeems the Author left to ſelect or look for or pronounce Me…oriter in his Publick Exerciſe, as he judged moſt couvenient and pertiner to the matter in hand; inaſmuch as there being ſuch Numbers of them and ſeveral often ſet together of the ſame Importance, we cannot ſuppoſe that he recited them all. This has therefore oblig'd us to ſearch the Scriptures figur'd, and to uſe our beft Diſcretion both in ſelecting thoſe we tho't moſt proper to be publiſhed at Length, and in ſetting ſo much and no more of the Text than ſeem'd needful to illuſtrate the labouring Subject. And then another unhappineſs attending the Publication was, that thro' the vaſtneſs of the Compoſure and the Difficulty of Reading, Painting and Scoring the Manuſcripts, Diſtinguiſhing the Capitals and Figures, and Correcting the Preſs; the Labour was much too great for any ſingle Perſon, unleſs he had been out of all other Buſineſs, to undertake: Upon which account the W…k being diſpers'd into the hands of many, it cannot be ſuppos'd to come forth with that beautifel Symmetry which it wou'd have done in the hands of the Author, or of any one accurate Perſon that had Corrected the whole.
THE Reader therefore muſt make proper Allowances for ſuch things as theſe: and where he meets with any Word or Paſſage obſcure, or Pointing miſplaced, by no means aſcribe it to the accurate Author; but either to the miſtake of the Preſs, or of the Manuſcripts, or elſe to our uncertainty of the place therein: we being very cautions of preſuming to mend or alter, unleſs where the caſe appear'd too plain to be doubted; and where it was dubious, we rather choſe to leave it as it ſeemed to be, than change it as we might be apt to think for the better. But there is this happy Citcumſtance to prevent the Reader from fearing any very material Error in the Tranſoript: that the worthy Copice Mr. Simon Willard, to whoſe Memory we are for this ſo deeply indebted, was not only a Sea of the Revd. Author and very well acquainted with his-manner of Writing; but as he made it his conſtant Practice on the Lord's Day Evenings to repeat in his Family one of the Lectures from his own written Copy, while another well inſtructed look'd over the Original Manuſcript, with an Intent to obſerve wherein they differ'd in Reading; ſo when any Variation appeard, he took care to correct his own Copy immediately, which is the ſame we have us'd when we happened not to find the Original.
WE muſt alſo here obſerve, that tho' the 220th Lecture was the laſt the Author deliver'd in Publick, yet in the midſt of many Avocations both from his numerous Flock & the College, the weighty Care of Both together lying on him for ſeveral Years before his Death, he had moſt diligently redeem'd his time and prepared about 26 others, even to the end of the 100th Queſtion, which contains the Explication of the Preface of the Lord's Prayer; when at the Entrance of the Potitions he was taken up to turn them to Praiſes. Upon which account we have been obliged to ſupply the reft with his ſhorter Exerciſes in his former Expoſitions: where we therefore have a Spoci… of them, and may plainly ſee that even they themſelves, tho' ſo brief and ſo long fince made, yet were worthy of the Light, …if theſe larger ones had not more agreably ſuperceeded them. We ſhould have been glad indeed if the Reverend Author, who improved every thing he took in hand, had finiſhed the larger Lectures on the Lord's Prayer, and ſo gone thro' the Seven remaining Queſtions, and perfected the whole in a ſimilar manner: But as he himſelf obſerv'd when under apprehenſions of being prevented from proceeding farther, there is the leſs need of an Expoſition on this part of the Catechiſm, ſince there's ſcarce any Subject of Divinity that has been more frequently conſidered by learned Men: and we ſhou'd therefore rather adore the Kindneſs of Providence in bringing on our Author to ſo happy a Period, than diſeſteem it as a defective Labour.
HOWEVER under theſe Diſadvantages, we have yet ſuſſicient Encouragement to Recommend this Poſthumous work to the Publick, as one of the nobleſt & choiceſt Bodies of theoretical and practical Divinity we have any where met with, or we are apt to think has yet appeared to the World: And in this we have the weighty ſuffrage of ſo great a Judge as the late Revd and Learned Mr. Pemberton, as the Reader may ſee in the Extract of the Funeral Sermon aforeſaid.
HERE we have the excellent Author applying his ſuperiour Abilities, his conſummate Judgment, his uneommon Penetration, in an Age of the greateſt Light, at leaſt ſince the Apoſtles Days; to illuſtrate and eſtabliſh the important Articles of our Holy Religion, and to communicate the ſame celeſtial Light and Heat to others, which ſo eminently ſhone and wrought in himſelf. He forever appears to have a bright Apprehenſion of the Truths he aſſerts, and to be under the ſerious and lively Influence of them while he is writing about them; and not to talk of them as many now adays do in their theological Treatiſes, in ſo cold a manner, as if they were either blind to their Excellence, or in doubt of their Verity, or at leaſt inſenſible of their great Importance to themſelves and others. He is by no means indeed for inflaming the Heart with fanciful or irrational Paſſion; but he firſt endeavours to enlighten and raiſe the Mind with right and clear Conceptions, and then by theſe both to move and regulate the inferiour Powers in their agreable Exerciſe. And he is exceeding careful about the more fundamental Points of Faith and Piety; that ſo laying them ſufficiently deep and firm, neither they nor the Superſtructures depending upon them may be in danger of ſhaking, but may remain immovable amidſt every Wind and Tempeſt.
FROM ſuch noble Principles it comes to paſs that the Revd. Author ever maintains the ſame moſt agreable mixture of Life and Gravity in all his Writings, as us'd to appear in his Looks and Converſation among us: with a Mind continually exalted above earthly and trivial things, the pompous ſhows of Religion which many groveling minds are filled up with, and even above the ſudden and unſteady Flights thereof which many others are glad to riſe up into. The Holy Temper of his Mind appears to be ſteady and even: and tho' his Imagination was always full of Spirit and Vigour; yet it continually wrought with an unaffected and due Decorum, and he for ever reſtrain'd and rul'd it with a correcter and ſuperiour Judgment.
IN his Style it is true, he ſometimes takes a freedom in the uſe of ſeveral Terms & Phraſes which are not common among us: But the Language appears to be manly clear & natural, agreable to his manner of Reaſoning, which is regular eaſy & nervous; and his Words & Phraſes exceedingly ſuited to expreſs his Ideas, the great Deſign of Language. And tho' this Work may ſeem to be too Voluminous by thoſe who view it with a ſuperficial eye; yet a little Peruſal will convince the Reader, that tho' the Author has a rich and plentiful Fund of Words at hand; yet he is very pithy and cloſe and ſparing of them, uſing no more than he has real need to expreſs his Mind and clear the Subject; and that the Largeneſs of the Volumn riſes from the great variety of matter compriz'd therein, and the Author's ſearching to the low Foundations of religious Truth, and tracing every Subject to the original Fountain from whence it flows, or to the elementary Principles of which it is formed. The Reader need not therefore fear being tire'd in paſſing thro' ſo copious a Work; Provided always he brings thereto or finds therein a Deſire to improve in Knowledge & Goodneſs, is capable of taking a pleaſure in ſeeing the admirable Chain and Harmony of Evangelical Truths, and purſues his Journey with convenient Stages thro' the various Fields before him: And then we do not doubt but he'l meet with a very grateful Entertainment all along, and at the ſame time continually and happily grow both in divine Light and Piety.
SOME Readers indeed may find the Author leſs exact in his Philoſophical Schemes & Principles, which happen to be of a more ancient Date, and not ſo ſuited to the Opinions reigning in the preſent Age. In anticipation of which we need only obſerve, that in ſuch things as theſe every Perſon is intirely left to his own Freedom without Offence; that the internal Nature of Things being ſo extreamly incluſe and hidden, many or our Philoſophical Schemes have been but mere Hypotheſes ſubſiſting only in the Imaginations of Men, and being unſoundly rais'd from a few imperfect Obſervations of the Appearances & Events of Nature, have been ſucceſſively thrown out by others as unſtable as they; and that our. Author chiefly flouriſh'd when we where but juſt emerging out of thoſe Obſcurities. But what is more material to be obſerved here is, that he by no means therefore adopts or takes thoſe uncertain Theories into the Syſtem of Religion, which will for ever remain the ſame thro' all the ſucceſſive Changes of Philoſophy: He only uſes them as a convenient means of ranking the various Creatures in a clearer and more conſpicuous Order, than if he had made no Diviſions or form'd no Syſtems of them: His great Intent being to treat them in a Theological, and not in a ſtrict Phyſical or Philoſophical manner: and in ſuch a view only we wou'd deſire the Reader therefore to conſider them.
UPON this occaſion we wou'd alſo obviate a very vain and ſuperficial Notion beginning to take the Minds of ſome of our unwary Students, in derogation of the Uſefulneſs, of Syſtematical Divinity, and by conſequence of the juſt Eſteem & Value of our Author and his excellent Writings.
IF by Syſtematical Divinity be meant a mere ſlaviſh Subjection or Confinement to any Schemes thereof what ever, conceiv'd or publiſh'd by the mere Wit of Men, tho' founded in their own apprehenſions on divine Revelation, without a Liberty reſerv'd of varying from them upon further Diſcoveries; our Author was of too generous and great a Soul, and had too deep an Inſight into the preſent Imperfection and Fallibility of Humane Nature, than to be capable of ſuch a Slavery. He was indeed a Recommender of Divinity-Syſtems even to all ſorts of Perſons, and eſpecially Young Students, in order to Methodize their Enquiries and Conceptions, to keep their Minds from wandering and Inconſiſtency, and help them to ſee the Connection and Harmony of divine Truths; but without obliging them to an implicit ſervile Subjection to any mere humane Compoſitions. And whatever Syſtem he fell into, it aroſe from a careful Scrutiny into the genuine meaning of the Holy Scriptures, with a deep Penetration into the Nature & Relations of the things they reveal; and not from any mere previous Veneration of the Syſtems themſelves or their renown'd Compilers or Abettors, tho' worthy of ever ſo much eſteem: making uſe of their Fame & Worth as Inducements only to peruſe their Syſtems, as the ſpecial Fruits of their laborious Searches and Diſcoveries, and their moſt mature and accurate Expreſſions of them; and making uſe of their Syſtems only as the beſt Aſſiſtances to form a perfect notion of their moſt elaborate Ideas, that he might more clearly ſee and judge of their Agreement with the Holy Writings, the firſt Foundation, the ſovereign Rule and the dernier Reſort of all.
BUT if by Syſtematical Divinity be meant the diligent ſearching into the Nature Connection and Importance of divine Truths from the Holy Scriptures, and then according to them the repreſenting thoſe Truths in the certain Order & Relation they appear to have among themſelves; This is but the very Exerciſe of Humane Reaſon on the Sacred Oracles, and our Diſcourſing anſwerably to it's internal Exerciſe and Diſcoveries. For humane Reaſoning is nothing elſe but a thinking in order, a ſurveying, comparing and diſcovering the various Natures & Connections of things; and humane Speech is agreable thereto an orderly Expreſſion of thoſe Diſcoveries. In ſhort it is impoſſible for us either to think or to diſcourſe like Men, but we muſt do ſo more or leſs in a Syſtematical manner: we muſt take a part of a Syſtem at leaſt, tho' not the whole: There muſt be a Connection of things expreſs'd or imagin'd, as there really is among the things themſelves: or elſe we diſcourſe and think at random without any order: and this is nothing but irrational, and wild Confuſion, a perfect Anarchy in Tho't, a meer Harrangue in Language, unworthy the excellent Powers of Men, and not agreable to the Nature and Reſpects of things; which is always therefore to be avoided by us, and more eſpecially in our conceiving and treating of divine and heavenly Subjects.
SUCH wild Diſorder our Author therefore was very ſollicitous to ſhun himſelf, and to warn others of alſo; at having a dangerous tendency to lead them firſt into irregular and repugnant Opinions, and then to perplex and puzzle their Minds, and at length to bring them into the ſad Extreams of univerſal Scepticiſm and Infidelity. And in oppoſition to this he ſtrictly improv'd his intellectual Powers, in finding out the true Contexture of Reveal'd Religion, and then in giving a methodical & juſt Deſcription of his Diſcoveries of it: In which he ſhew'd a moſt eminent Tallent in all his Writings; and in a more peculiar manner bent and imploy'd his Powers in the comprehenſive & regular Work before us.
UPON theſe accounts & many more too numerous here to mention, we wou'd earneſtly Recommend the diligent & exact Peruſal of this excellent Body of Divinity both to our younger and elder Students; and even to others of every Order, that would be well acquainted & concerned with things of everlaſting moment, that wou'd clearly ſee the Reaſons & Foundations of the Sacred Truths we are inſtructed in, and that wou'd deſire to grow in the delightful Knowledge of them, in the Diſcoveries of their ſurpaſſing Symmetry & Beauty, and in the ſavoury Reliſh & Affection for them; In fine, that wou'd feel their directive & quicking Influence both on their Hearts & Lives, & that wou'd have a careful wiſe & knowing Guide, with the Light of Scripture, to keep them from the many dangerous Errors & Meanders of the preſent Age, and to lead them on in ſuch a Path of Truth & Righteouſneſs as will ſhine more & more unto the perfect Day: —That bleſſed & deſired Day! when all Obſcurity on the beautiful Face of Truth ſhall vaniſh, ſeeming Inconſiſtencies intirely diſappear, we ſhall behold the univerſal Syſtem with all it's admirable adjuſted Members, with intuitive & amazing Views, and be eternally tranſported with the Contemplation of their tranſcendent Beauties, and with the moſt delightful Senſe of their transforming & perfective Influence on us.
IN the mean while we moſt hambly commend theſe ſurviving Labours of the Revd …uthor, to the Acceptance & efficacious Bleſſing of the Father of Lights, from whom thro' Chr… they at firſt as precious Gifts deſcended; and by which the now unſeen Diſpenſer tho' ſo long ſince gone, yet revives his dear & fragrant Memory among thoſe that knew him, and in a more publick manner ſpeaks both to them & others. May the Spirit of Grace that we believe at firſt aſſiſted him in theſe excellent Lectures to the great Delight & Benefit of thoſe who then ſat under the lively Oracles, yet ſtill continue to accompany & ſucceed them alſo on thoſe they may by his gracious Providence be ſent unto. And may the ſame ſound & vital Principles for ever be tranſmitted thro' future Generations of Divines & Writers; and ſo remain alive & flouriſh in theſe Weſtern Schools and Churches, thro'out all the ſucceſſive Changes of external Forms & Languages among them, as long as the Sun and Stars ſhall ſhine upon them, and till cloudy tranſient Time give place to bright & permanent Eternity.
Boſton, N. E. Novemb. 10th, 1725. Joſeph Sewall. Thomas Prince.