I shall impatiently expect from this author of the occasional paper, an answer to these questions; and hope to find them such as becomes that temper, and love of truth, which he professes. I long to meet with a man, who, laying aside party, and interest, and prejudice, ap pears in controversy so as to make good the character of a champion of truth for truth's sake; a character not so hard to be known whom it belongs to, as to be deserved. Whoever is truly such an one, his opposition to me will be an obligation. For he that proposes to himself the convincing me of an errour, only for truth's sake, can not, I know, mix any rancour, or spite, or ill-will, with it. He will keep himself at a distance from those FIENDS, and be as ready to hear, as offer reason. And two so disposed can hardly miss truth between them, in a fair inquiry after it; at least they will not lose good- breeding, and especially charity, a virtue much more ne cessary than the attaining of the knowledge of obscure truths, that are not easy to be found; and probably, therefore, not necessary to be known.
The unbiassed design of the writer, purely to defend and propagate truth, seems to me to be that alone which legitimates controversies. I am sure it plainly distin guishes such from all others, in their success and useful ness. If a man, as a sincere friend to the person, and to the truth, labours to bring another out of errour, there can be nothing more beautiful, nor more beneficial. If party, passion, or vanity direct his pen, and have a hand in the controversy; there can be nothing more unbe coming, more prejudicial, nor more odious. What thoughts I shall have of a man that shall, as a Christian, go about to inform me what is necessary to be believed to make a man a Christian, I have declared, in the pre face to my " Reasonableness of Christianity," &c. nor do I find myself yet altered. He that, in print, finds fault with my imperfect discovery of that, wherein the faith, which makes a man a Christian, consists, and will not tell me what more is required, will do well to satisfy the world what they ought to think of him.
INDEX.
A.
ABRIDGMENT of faith, what Acts of the apostles, book so called, the author did not charge his readers against stir ring beyond it, 24-8 — how wisely as well as faith fully written by St. Luke, 328, Actual assent to fundamental ar ticles, how necessary, 223, 224 Adam, wrong notions concern • what he fell from, ibid.
Allegations between contending parties, to be esteemed false until proved, 192 Apostles, the wisdom of the Lord in choosing such mean per sons, 83 < their minds illuminated by the Holy Spirit, 92, &c.
Article of faith, how the author pleaded for one only, 174, Articles of Christianity, and such as are necessary to make a man a Christian, different, 352 — — — of religion, have been several hundreds of years ex plaining, and not yet under stood, 177 Atheism, want of seriousness in discoursing of divine things may occasion it, 304 • • how falsely " The Rea sonableness of Christianity" is charged with promoting it, 305 Author of" The Reasonableness of Christianity"falsely charged with making one article ne cessary in formal words, 194 • falsely accused of deny ing some articles of Christian . falsely charged with new modelling the apostles creed, • the several articles made necessary by him, 202, &c.
falsely charged with say ing " all things in Christianity " must be level to every unrequires proof of his making all but one article use less to make a man a Christian, — denies his contending for but one, that men may under stand their religion, 205, INDEX.
Author not guilty of folly in re quiring from his opponent a complete list of fundamentals, — ' his opponent compared to a judge unwilling to hear both sides, 243 • not justly called a socinian for omitting what is not expressed in the apostles creed, his faith unjustly repre sented as little different from that of a Turk, 282,283 — his account of faith very different from that of devils, . • unjustly charged with patronizing ignorance, 293 . his adversary's arguing from one to none would equally serve a pagan, 305 • how he proves himself a Christian, 359 • sometimes represented a socinian, sometimes a papist, • why he omitted several passages in the Evangelists, 361 • • should be judged of by what he says, and not the con B.
BELIEF, what it is to believe in our Saviour, and in his name, it is necessary to believe every thing known to be re vealed in scripture, 156 — — what must be believed explicitly, and what implicitly, — we must believe the manner of things, when re vealed, 239 Bold, (Mr.) the author's letter of thanks to him, 185 — vindicated from contradict Bold, (Mr.) his opponent's scur rilous reflections on him, 395, — how falsely his words are cited, 4-12 — — — several remarkable passages in him not answered, 409, groundlessly charged with not answering his opposer, •• why so much of his rea soning is mentioned by the author, 419 Book, two ways of making one unanswerable, 192 Booksellers, stirred up against our author by his adversary, C.
CHRIST, the meaning of his answer, (John vi. 70) 56 • why he did not expressly reveal his Messiahship to his disciples, 35, &c.
— hisMessiahship more clearly discovered a little before his sufferings, 57 — Yet even then he did not expressly declare it to the Jewish rulers, 69 — how wisely he answered his captious enemies, 74 — why he owned himself to be the Son of God before the high-priest, 77 — — why he would not expressly own himself a king before his innocency attested even by Pilate and Judas, 80, 86 — why he spoke obscurely of his destroying Jerusalem, (Matt, xx iv.) 88 — Judas being gone, he spake more explicitly of his king — to the last he required of his disciples only to believe him to be the Messiah, 96, &c.
INDEX.
Christ expressly applied the pro mises of the Messiah to himself after his resurrection, 99, &c.
. much oftener mentioned his kingly office than any other, . how he fulfilled the moral • what we may think to be the state of those who never heard of him, 132 . the necessity of his coming to make God known, 135 — To teach men their duty, 1 38 — To instruct in the right forms of divine worship, 147, &c. — To give sufficient encouragement to a good life, 148 — And to assure men of divine assistance, . his deity not understood by the jews by the phrase '* Son . the word Christ often used as a proper name, 374 Christians, what is necessary to be believed to make men so, • • whether all things of this sort were revealed in our Saviour's time, 345, &c.
• • what was sufficient to make men such in Christ's time, is so still, 358 • are obliged to believe all that they find our Saviour taught, 404 all things necessary to be believed by them, not ne cessary to their being such, why they must believe whatever they find revealed by- Christ, 408 Christianity, the fundamental ar ticles of it easy to be under stood, 175 Commission of our Lord, was to convince men of his being the Messiah, 332 Commission of the apostles, and of the seventy, of the same Covenant, changed, when the conditions of it are changed, Creed, of the apostles, not new- modelled by the author, 201 . • contains all things neces sary to be believed to make a man a Christian, 277 • the compilers of it may be charged with socinianism by the same rule the author is, D.
DEFIANCE, what it signifies, of any truth, unjustly charged on the author, 197, Deists, what is necessary to make men such, 229 — the " Reasonableness of " Christianity" written chiefly for such, 268 Devils, why they cannot be saved by believing, 102 E.
EDWARDS, Dr. John, com- plained of, for his charge of atheism, 161 his accusing the author of socinianism refuted, 167 his commendation of himself, 192 his rule for good-breed ing out of the Mishna, 194 . sometimes represents the word Messiah as easy, and sometimes as hard to be un derstood, 178, 244 . represents fundamentals both as essential and integral parts of religion, 245 I. charged with assuming the power of the pope to him self, 290 • his harangue for the atheistical rabble, 300 — — — of his arguing from one — — his reasons of but one ar ticle, being so often required, considered, 308, &c.
accused of unfairness in citations, 391 INDEX.
Edwards, Dr. John, charged with insisting on what con cerns not the subject, 409 — — blamed for readiness to find unknown faults in his op- posers, 418 Epistles, of the apostles, why written, and ho\r to be under stood, 152 • notdesigned toteach funda mental articles of faith, ibid.
— wisely explain the essentials of Christianity, 154 the author's notion of them no contempt cast on them — passing by any of them, no argument of despising them, doctrines necessary and not necessary hard to be dis tinguished in them, 258, 259 Evangelists, numerous citations out of them, ill-termed a te dious collection, 251, 252 — — though they wrote for believers, yet relate Christ's doctrine to unbelievers, 253 no good reason to sup pose them defective in relating fundamentals, 316,317 contain all doctrines necessary to make a man a Christian, 318, £c.
some things wrote by them not necessary to make a man a Christian, 320, &c.
when they made the greatest omissions, yet they recorded all things necessary to Christianity, 323, &c.
— — wisely observe the ge nuine rules of history, 324 • • fundamental articles unjustly supposed to be omit ted by them, 325 to charge them with such omissions, to accuse them of unfaithfulness, ibid.
omitted no necessary article for brevity's sake, Exclusion of some truths, the author vindicated from it, 197, F.
FACT, common justice makes allegations of, false until proved, 192 Faith, what kind of, is required as the condition of eternal life, justifying, consists in be lieving Jesus to be the Mes siah, 101 — — very acceptable to God, and why, 129 — consists in relying on the goodness and faithfulness of God, ibid.
the fundamental articles of it, well explained, though not taught in the epistles, 154 the essentials of it, best learned from the gospels and acts, ibid.
the author does not make only one article of it necessary, other truths useful, beside the necessary article of it, • but one article of it, not pleaded for, that religion may easily be understood, 206, &c.
Faith, a practical one, plainly taught by the author, 284, &c.
an entire one, believes every scripture truth, 349, — - how but one article was taught by the apostles, to make men Christians, 352, 353 whether all the articles of it necessary to the being christians, were discovered in our Saviour's time, 355 — the author falsely charged with bringing no tidings of an evangelical one, 414 Formal words, when charged, ought to be expressly proved, Fundamental articles (of faith) where to be found, 215, &c.
INDEX.
Fundamental, whence unreason- ble contentions arise about — • how the same things may be so to one and not to another, 232 — how all truths may be come so, ibid, many things not so, L.
though found in the New Tes tament, 228 how they must be all plain to every capacity, 237, the mischief of making more than Christ made, 294-, G.
GLORY of God, (Rom. iii. 23,) what meant by, 110 God, ordinarily works by natural means, 85 • his image consists partly in immortality, 106, 108 H.
HOBBES's Leviathan, our au thor unjustly charged with borrowing from it, 420 Holy Ghost, why he could not come until our Saviour's as cension, 93 I.
I AM, (John xiii. 19,) its mean ing " I am the Messiah," 89 Jerusalem, why Christ preached but little there, 35, &c.
Jews, the power of life and death taken from them before our Saviour's time, 40 Immortality, the image of God partly consists in it, 106, 108 Infallible guide, only the Spirit of God speaking in scripture Infidels, who chiefly hinder their conversion, 165 — the " Reasonableness of Christianity" written chiefly for them, 263 LAW of God, all have sinned against it, 10 the justice of God vindi cated in giving so difficult a one to man, 11 of works, what is meant — is contained in the law of Moses, 12 of faith, how it differs from that of works, 12, 13 M.
MANNER, as well as reality of things, how to be believed, Messiah, that Jesus is he, the primary article of Christianity, • is synonymous with "Son • declared by miracles, by circumlocution and by express why our Saviour so much concealed his being the Mes siah, 35 why our Lord expressly owned himself to the woman of Samaria, 45 how our Saviour's wis dom appeared in the gradual discovery of his being the Messiah, 37, 81 — — his kingdom called by the jews, " the world to come," 88 believing Jesus to be so, i the Hebrew word suffi ciently explained in the New Testament, 178 that Jesus is the Mes siah, not hard to be under stood, though both the words are Hebrew, 243 Miracles, those of our Saviour appealed to by him for proving him the Messiah, 18, 19 INDEX.
Mishna of the jews, a rule of good breeding taken from it by Dr. Edwards, 194 Moral la\v, established by the gospel, 122 how fulfilled and confirm ed by our Saviour, 12 Morality of the gospel, the most Mysteries, the author vindicated from the charge of deriding them, 378 N.
NAME of Christ, believing in it signifies his being the Mes siah, 44 O.
OBEDIENCE, sincere, a ne cessary condition of the gos Occasional paper, reply to seve ral things therein, 420 One article, how arguing from one to none, might be used by a pagan, 305 Vid. Article, Faith, and Fun damental.
Orthodoxy, when a pretence to it is ridiculous, 376 R.
P.
PARABLES, why Christ used them in speaking of his king n«f»pj!«r«*, the meaning of this Greek word, 73 Patrick, bishop, his notion of Christianity, 179 Paul, the apostle, the general drift of his preaching, 124 Pilate could not find our Saviour guilty of treason, though he was charged with it, 77 — 80 Priest, Jesus never assumed this character, 113 REASON, the insufficiency of it without revelation, 135, 157 Redemption, the doctrine of it founded upon the supposition of Adam's fall, 4 " what it restores men Resurrection of Christ, the ne cessity of believing it, 9 . the belief of it put for believing him to be the Mes siah, 340 Revelation, the necessity of it, to direct us to heaven, 135, 157 Righteousness, whence faith is counted for it, 111, 112 1 what attaining to the law of righteousness signifies, S.
SATISFACTION of Christ, why not directly insisted on in " the Reasonableness of Chris the omission of it, no proof of the author's being a socinian, 270, &c.
— — it is hard for one who reads the scripture with atten tion to deny it, 418 Scriptures, not absolutely neces sary to know and believe all things contained therein, 156 • necessary to believe all which we know to be taught in them, ibid, in essentials, speaks to the meanest capacity, 157, &c. - we should learn our religion out of them, 294 the mischief of making them chime with our previous notions, 294—297 all things therein ne cessary to be believed, when Self-conceitedness, worse than folly, 384 INDEX.
Soclnianism, " The Reasonable ness of Christianity" unjustly charged with it, 162, &c.
Socinians, the author charged with being one, 359, &c.
Son of God, a man's understand ing this phrase, as some soci- nians do, no proof of his being • signifies the same with Messiah, 366, &c.
— of God, the confession of the eunuch (Acts viii.) no proof to the contrary, 371,&c.
Systems, not hated by the au thor, who only complains of the abuse of them, 377 T.
TIBERIUS, the Roman empe ror, a very jealous prince, 81 Tillotson, (archbishop,) how he understood the phrase Son of Truths, several useful, yet not necessary to salvation, 227,&c.
U.
UNITARIANS, Dr. Edvvards's witty remark upon that word, THE END.
C. Baldwin, Printer, New Bridge- street, London.