He tells us, p. 54, that " the musselmen" (or, as he has, for the information of his reader, very pertinently proved, it should be writ, moslemim; without which, perhaps, we should not have known his skill in Arabic, or, in plain English, the mahometans) " believe that " Christ is a good man, and not above the nature of a " man, and sent of God to give instruction to the " world: and my faith," he says, " is of the very same " scantling." This I shall desire him to prove; or, which in other words he insinuates in this and the neighbouring pages, viz.
XXII. That that faith, which I have affirmed to be the faith, which is required to make a man a Chris tian, is no other than what Turks believe, and is contained in the alcoran.
Or, as he expresses it himself, p. 55, " That a Turk, according to me, is a Christian; for I " make the same faith serve them both."
And particularly to show where it is I say, XXIII. That " Christ is not above the nature of a " man," or have made that a necessary article of the Christian faith.
And next, where it is, Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 283 XXIV. " That I speak as meanly of Christ's suffer- " ing on the cross, and death, as if there were no " such thing."
For thus he says of me., p. 54, cc I seem to have con- " suited the mahometan bible, which did say, Christ " did not suffer on the cross, did not die. For I, and " my allies, speak as meanly of these articles, as if there " were no such thing."
To show our un masker's veracity in this case, I shall trouble my reader with some passages out of my " Rea- " sonableness of Christianity," p. 35: " When we con- " sider, that he was to fill out the time foretold of his " ministry, and after a life illustrious in miracles and " good works, attended with humility, meekness, pa- " tience, and suffering, and every way conformable to " the prophecies of him, should be led as a sheep to the " slaughter, and, with all quiet and submission, be " brought to the cross,, though there were no guilt or " fault found in him." And, p. 42, " contrary to the " design of his coming, which was to be offered up a " lamb, blameless and void of offence." And, p. 63, " laying down his life, both for jews and gentiles." P. 96, " given up to contempt, torment, and death." But, say what I will, when the immasker thinks fit to have it so, it is speaking out of the mahometan bible, that " Christ did not suffer on the cross, did not die; " or at least, is speaking as meanly of these articles, as " if no such thing had been."
His next slander is, p. 55, in these words: " this " gentleman presents the world with a very ill notion " of faith; for the very devils are capable of all that " faith, which, he says, makes a Christian." It is not strange, that the immasker should misrepresent the faith, which, I say, makes a Christian; when it seems to be his whole design to misrepresent my meaning every-where. The frequency of his doing it, I have showed in abundance of instances, to which I shall add an eminent one here; which shows what a fair cham pion he is for truth and religion.
£84 A Second Vindication of the Page 104, of my " Reasonableness of Christianity," I give this account of the faith which makes a Christian; that it is " men's entering themselves in the kingdom " of God; owning and professing themselves the sub- " jects of Jesus, whom they believe to be the Messiah, " and receive for their Lord and Kin^: for that was to o o " be baptized in his name." This sense of believing Christ to be the Messiah, that is, to take him for our King and Lord, who is to be obeyed, I have expressed over and over again; as, p. 110, 111, my words are, 66 that as many of them as would believe Jesus the son t( of God (whom he sent into the world) to be the Mes- " siah, the promised Deliverer, and would receive him " for their king and ruler, should have all their past sins, " disobedience, and rebellion, forgiven them. And if, " for the future, they lived in sincere obedience to his " law, to the utmost of their power, the sins of human " frailty for the time to come, as well as those of their " past lives, should for his son's sake, because they gave " themselves up to him to be his subjects, be forgiven " them: and so their faith, which made them to be " baptized into his name, (i. e. inroll themselves in the " kingdom of Jesus, the Messiah, and profess themselves " his subjects, and consequently live by the laws of his " kingdom,) should be accounted to them for righte- " ousness." Which account of what is necessary, I close with these words: " this is the faith for which " God of his free grace justifies sinful man." And is this the faith of devils?
To the same purpose, p. 113, are these words: " the " chief end of his coming was to be a king; and, as " such, to be received by those who would be his subjects " in the kingdom which he came to erect." And again, p. 112, " only those who have believed Jesus to be the " Messiah, and taken him for their king, with a sincere " endeavour after righteousness in obeying his law, shall " have their past sins not imputed to them." And so again p. 113 and 120, and in several other places; of which I shall add but this one more, p. 120, " it is not " enough to believe him to be the Messiah, unless we " obey his laws, and take him to be our king to reign Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 285 " over us." Can the devils thus believe him to be the Messiah? Yet this is that, which, by these and abun dance of other places, I have showed to be the meaning of believing him to be the Messiah.
Besides, I have expressly distinguished the faith which makes a Christian, from that which the devils have, by proving, that, to the believing Jesus to be the Messiah,, must be joined repentance, or else it will not make them true Christians: and what this repentance is, may be seen at large in p. 105, &c. some expressions whereof I shall here set down; as p. 105, " repentance does not " consist in one single act of sorrow, (though that being " first, and leading, gives denomination to the whole,) " but in doing works meet for repentance; in a sincere " obedience to the law of Christ, the remainder of our " lives." Again; to distinguish the faith of a Christian from that of devils, I say expressly, out of St. Paul's epistle to the Galatians, " that which availeth is faith, " but faith working by love; and that faith, without " works, i. e. the works of sincere obedience to the law " and will of Christ, is not sufficient for our justifica- " tion." And, p. 117, "That to inherit eternal life, " we must love the Lord our God, with all our heart, " with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all " our mind." And p. 121, " Love Christ, in keeping " his commandments."
This, and a great deal more to this purpose, may be seen in my " Reasonableness of Christianity;" particu larly, where I answer that objection, about the faith of devils, which I made in p. 102, &c. and therein at large show, wherein the faith of devils comes short of the justifying faith, which makes a Christian. And yet the good, the sincere, the candid un masker, with his be coming confidence, tells his readers here, p. 55, " That " I present the world with a very ill notion of faith: for " the very devils are capable of all that faith, which I " say, makes a Christian man."
To prevent this calumny, I, in more places than one, distinguished between faith, in a strict sense, as it is a bare assent to any proposition, and that which is called evangelical faith, in a larger sense of the word; which 286 A Second Vindication of the comprehends under it something more than a bare simple assent; as, p. 26, " I mean, this is all that is required " to he believed by those who acknowledge but one 66 eternal, invisible God, the maker of heaven and earth: " for that there is something more required to salvation, " besides believing, we shall see hereafter." P. 28, 66 All I say that was to be believed for justification. (i For that this was not all that was required to be " done for justification, we shall see hereafter." P. 51, " Obeying the law of the Messiah, their king, being no " less required, than their believing that Jesus was the " Messiah, the King arid Deliverer, that was promised " them." P. 102, " As far as their believing could " make them members of Christ's body." By these, and more, the like passages in my book, my meaning is so evident, that no-body, but an un masker, would have said, that when I spoke of believing, as a bare specula tive assent to any proposition, as true, I affirmed that was all that was required of a Christian for justification: though that in the strict sense of the word, is all that is done in believing. An'd therefore, I say, As far as mere believing could make them members of Christ's body; plainly signifying, as much as words can, that the faith, for which they were justified, included some thing more than a bare assent. This appears, not only from these words of mine, p. 104, " St. Paul often, in his " epistles, puts faith for the whole duty of a Christian:" but from my so often, and almost every-where, inter preting " believing him to be the Messiah, by taking " him to be our King," whereby is meant not a bare idle speculation, a bare notional persuasion of any truth whatsoever, floating in our brains; but an active prin ciple of life, a faith working by love and obedience. " To make him to be our King," carries with it a right disposition of the will to honour and obey him, joined to that assent wherewith believers embrace this funda mental truth, that Jesus was the person who was by God sent to be their King; he that was promised to be their Prince and Saviour.
But,, for all this, the unmasker, p. 56, confidently tells his reader, that I say no such thing. His words Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 287 are: " But besides this historical faith, (as it is gene- " rally called by divines,) which is giving credit to " evangelical truths, is barely revealed, there must be " something else added to make up the true substantial " faith of a Christian. With the assent of the under- " standing, must be joined the consent or approbation " of the will. All those divine truths which the in- " tellect assents to, must be allowed of by this elective " power of the soul. True evangelical faith is a hearty " acceptation of the Messias, as he is offered in the " gospel. It is a sincere and impartial submission to " all things required by the evangelical law, which is " contained in the epistles, as well as the other writings. « And to this practical assent and choice, there must be " added, likewise, a firm trust and reliance in the blessed " author of our salvation. But this late undertaker, " who attempted to give us a more perfect account, " than ever was before of Christianity, as it is delivered " in the scriptures, brings us no tidings of any such " faith belonging to Christianity, or discovered to us in " the scriptures. Which gives us to understand, that " he verily believes there is no such Christian faith; for " in some of his numerous pages, (especially p. 101, " &c.) where he speaks so much of belief and faith, he " might have taken occasion to insert one word about " his complete faith of the gospel."
Though the places above quoted, out of my " Rea- " sonableness of Christianity/' and the whole tenour of the latter part of it, show the falsehood of what the un- masker here says; yet I will set down one passage more out of it; and then ask our unmasker, when he hath read them, Whether he hath the brow to say again, that " I bring no tidings of any such faith?" My words are, " Reasonableness of Christianity," p. 129, " Faith in the " promises of God, relying and acquiescing in his " word and faithfulness, the Almighty takes well at our " hands as a great mark of homage paid by us, poor " frail creatures, to his goodness and truth, as well as " to his power and wisdom; and accepts it as an ac- " knowledgment of his peculiar providence and benig- " nity to us. And, therefore, our Saviour tells us, 288 A Second Vindication of the " John xii. 44, " He that believes on me, believes " not on me, but on him that sent me." The works " of nature show his wisdom and power: but it is his " peculiar care of mankind, most eminently discovered " in his promises to them, that shows his bounty and " goodness; and consequently engages their hearts in " love and affection to him. This oblation of an heart " fixed with dependance and affection on him, is the " most acceptable tribute we can pay him, the founda- " tion of true devotion, and life of all religion. What " a value he puts on this depending on his word, and " resting satisfied on his promises, we have an example " in Abraham; whose faith was counted to him for " righteousness, as we have before remarked out of " Rom. iv. And his relying firmly on the promise of " God, without any doubt of its performance, gave him " the name of the father of the faithful; and gained him " so much favour with the Almighty, that he was called " the friend of God, the highest and most glorious title " that can be bestowed on a creature!"
The great out-cry he makes against me in his two next sections, p. 57 — 60, as if I intended to intro duce ignorance and popery, is to be entertained rather as the noise of a petulant scold, saying the worst things she could think of, than as the arguing of a man of sense or sincerity. All this mighty accusation is grounded upon these falsehoods: That " I make it my " great business to beat men off from divine truths; " that I cry down all articles of the Christian faith, but " one; that I will not suffer men to look into chris- " tianity; that I blast the epistolary writings." I shall add no more to what I have already said, about the epistles, but those few words out of my " Reasonable- " ness of Christianity," page 1545 " The epistles, re- " solving doubts, and reforming mistakes, are of great " advantage to our knowledge and practice." And, p. 155, 156, " An explicit belief of what God requires " of those, who will enter into, and receive the bene- " fits of the new covenant, is absolutely required. The " other parts of divine revelation are objects of faith, " and are so to be received. They are truths, whereof Reasonableness of Christianity) fyc. 289 " none, that is once known to be such, i. e. of divine " revelation,] may, or ought to be disbelieved."
And as for that other saying of his, " That I will " not suffer men to look into Christianity:" I desire to know where that Christianity is locked up, which " I " will not suffer men to look into." My Christianity, I confess, is contained in the written word of God; and that I am so far from hindering any one to look into, that I every-where appeal to it, and have quoted so much of it, that the unmasker complains of being overlaid with it, and tells me it is tedious. " All di- " vine revelation, I say, p. 156, requires the obedience ** of faith; and that every one is to receive all the " parts of it, with a docility and disposition prepared " to embrace and assent to all truths coming from God; " and submit his mind to whatever shall appear to him " to bear that character.5' I speak, in the same page, of men's endeavouring to understand it, and of their interpreting one place by another. This, and the whole design of my book, shows that I think it every Christian's duty to read, search and study the holy scriptures: and make this their great business: and yet the good unmasker, in a fit of zeal, displays his throat, and cries out, p. 59, " Hear, O ye heavens, and give " ear, O earth; judge whether this be not the way to " introduce darkness and ignorance into Christendom; " whether this be not blinding of men's eyes/' &c. for this mighty pathos ends not there. And all things considered, I know not whether he had not reason, in his want of arguments, this way to pour out his con cern. For neither the preaching of our Saviour and his apostles, nor the apostles creed, nor any thing else, being with him the faith of a Christian, i. e. sufficient to make a Christian, but just his set of fundamental articles, (when he himself knows what they be;) in fine, nothing being Christianity but just his system, it is time to cry out, Help, neighbours! hold fast, friends! Knowledge, religion, Christianity is gone, if this be once permitted, that the people should read and understand the scrip ture for themselves, as God shall enlighten their under standings in the use of the means; and not be forced u 290 A Second Vindication of the to depend upon me, and upon my choosing1, and my interpretation, for the necessary points they are to be lieve to make them Christians: if I, the great un masker, have not the sole 'power to decree what is, or is not fundamental, and people he not bound to receive it for such, faith and the gospel are given up; darkness and barbarism will be brought in upon us by this writer's contrivance. For " he is an underhand factor for that " communion, which cries up ignorance for the mo- " ther of devotion and religion:" i. e. in plain Eng lish, for popery. For to this, and nothing else, tends all that sputter he makes in the section before men tioned.
I do not think there was ever a more thorough-paced declaimer, than our un masker. He leaves out nothing that he thinks will make an affrighting noise in the ears of his orthodox hearers, though all the blame and cen sure he pours out upon others light only on himself. For let me ask this zealous upholder of light and know ledge: does he think it reasonable, that any one, who is not a Christian, should be suffered to be undisturbed in his parish? Nay, does he think fit that any such should live free from the lash of the magistrate, or from the persecution of the ecclesiastical power? He seems to talk with another air, p. 65. In the next place I ask, Whether any one is a Christian, who has not the faith of a Christian? Thirdly, I ask, Whether he has the faith of a Christian, who does not explicitly believe all the fundamental articles of Christianity? And to con clude, I ask him, Whether all those that he has set down, are not fundamental necessary articles? When the unmasker has fairly answered these questions, it will be seen who is for popery, and the ignorance and tyranny that accompany it.
The unmasker is for making and imposing articles of faith; but he is for this power in himself. He likes not popery (which is nothing but the tyranny and im posing upon men's under standings, faith and con sciences) in the hands of the old gentleman at Home: but it would, he thinks, do admirably well in his own hands. And who can blame him for it? Would not Reasonableness of Christianity, 8$c. 291 that be an excellent way to propagate light and know ledge, by tying up all men to a bundle of articles of his own culling? Or rather, to the authority of Christ and his apostles residing in him? For he does not, nor ever will, give us a full view of fundamentals of his Christianity: but like the church of Rome, to secure our dependence, reserves to himself a power of declaring others, and defining what is matter of faith as he shall see occasion.
Now, therefore, veil your bonnets to the unmasker, all you that have a mind to be Christians: break not your heads about the scriptures, to examine what they require of you: submit your faith implicitly to the un masker; he will understand and find out the necessary points for you to believe. Take them, just so many as he thinks fit to deliver them to you; this is the way to be knowing Christians. But be sure, ask not, Whether those he is pleased to deliver, be every one of them fun damental, and all the fundamental articles, necessary to be believed to make a man a Christian? Such a capricious question spoils all, overturns Christianity, which is in trusted to the urimasker's sole keeping, to be dispensed out as he thinks fit. If you refuse an implicit faith to him, he will presently find you have it for the whore of Babylon; he will smell out popery in it immediately: for he has a very shrewd scent, and you will be dis covered to be an underhand factor for the church of Rome.
But if the unmasker were such an enemy, as he pre tends, to those factors, I wonder he should, in what he has said concerning the apostles creed, so exactly jump with Knot the Jesuit. If any one doubt of this, I desire him to look into the fourth chapter of " Knot's charity " maintained," and there he will see how well our un masker and that Jesuit agree in argument; nay, and ex pressions too. But yet I do not think him so far guilty, as to be employed as an underhand factor for popery. Every body will, I suppose, be ready to pronounce him so far an innocent, as to clear him from that. The cunning of this design goes not beyond the laying out of his preaching oratory, for the setting up his own, 292 A Second Vindication of the system, and making that the sole Christianity. To that end, he would be glad to have the power of interpret ing scripture, of defining and declaring articles of faith _, and imposing them. This, which makes the absolute power of the pope, he would not, I think, establish at Rome; but it is plain he would have it himself if he could get it, for the support of the Christianity of his system. An implicit faith, if he might have the ma nagement of it, and the taking fundamentals upon trust from his authority, would be of excellent use. Such a power, in his hands, would spread truth and knowledge in the world, i. e. his own orthodoxy and set of opinions. But if a man differs, nay, questions any thing of that, whether it be absolutely necessary to make one a Christian, it is immediately a contrivance to let in popery, and to bring " darkness and barbarism " into the Christian world." But I must tell the inno cent un masker, whether he designs or no, that if his calling his system the only Christianity, can bring the world to receive from him articles of faith of his own choosing, as fundamentals necessary to be believed by all men to make them Christians, which Christ and his apostles did not propose to all men to make them christians; he does only set up popery in another guise, and lay the foundations of ignorance, darkness, and barba rism, in the Christian world; for all the ignorance and blindness, that popery introduced, was only upon this foundation. And if he does not see this, (as there is reason to excuse his innocence,) it would be no hard matter to demonstrate it, if that were at present the question between us. But there are a great many other propositions to be proved by him, before we come to that new matter of debate.
But before I quit these paragraphs, I must go on with our unmasker's account, and desire him to show where it is, XXV. " That I make it my business to beat men off " from taking notice of any divine truths?"
Next, where it is, Reasonableness of Christianity, <fyc. 293 XXVI. That " I cry down all articles of Christian " faith but one?"
Next, how it appears, XXVII. That « I will not suffer mankind to look " into Christianity?"
Again, where it is, XXVIII. That " I labour industriously to keep peo- " pie in ignorance;" or tell them, that " there is " no necessity of knowing any other doctrines of " the bible?"
These, and several others of the like strain, particu larly concerning one article, and the epistles, (which are his common-places,) are to be found in his 59th and 60th pages. And ail this out of a presumption, that his system is the only Christianity; and that if men were not pressed and persuaded to receive that, just every article of it, upon pain of damnation, Christianity would be lost: and not to do this, is to promote igno rance, and contemn the bible. But he fears where no fear is. If his orthodoxy be the truth, and conform able to the scriptures, the laying the foundation only where our Saviour and his Apostles have laid it, will not overturn it. And to show him, that it is so, I desire him again to consider what I said in my Vindication, p. 164, 165, which, because I do not remember he any where takes notice of, in his reply, I will here offer again to his consideration: " Convince but men of the mis- " sion of Jesus Christ; make them but see the truth, " simplicity and reasonableness of what he himself " hath taught, and required to be believed by his fol- " lowers; and you need not doubt, but being once " fully persuaded of his doctrine, and the advantages " which, all Christians agree, are received by him, such " converts will not lay by the scriptures; but, by a con- " stant reading and study of them, will get all the light " they can from this divine revelation, and nourish A Second Vindication of the " themselves up in the words of faith and good doc- " trine, as St. Paul speaks to Timothy."