quence, there muft then be Three One true Gods, or One Three true Gods; Three One Supreme Beings, or One Three Supreme Beings, fince to each of the three must be afcribed (as the orthodox fay) any thing and every thing, that is moft peculiar and appropriated to the divine nature, without any difference. In fhort, by conjobbling matters of faith in this manner, they faw, we had three diftinct felfs, or intelligent agents, equal in power and all poffible perfections, agreeing in one common effence, one fort of fpecies, (like a fupreme magiftracy of diftinct persons, acting by a joint exercife of the fame power) and fo the three are one, not by a numerical but fpecific identity; three Omnipotents and one Almighty, in a collective fenfe. This, (continued this gentleman) on fearching the fcriptures, we found was far from being the truth of the cafe. We difcovered, upon a fair examination, and laying afide our old prejudices, that there was nothing like this in the New Teftament. It appeared to us to be the confufed talk of weak heads. In the Bible we got a juft idea of One Eternal Cause, God the Father, almighty, all-wife, unchangeable, infinite; and are there taught how to worship and ferve him. The greatest care is there taken to guard against the ill effects of imagination and fuperftition; and in F 3 the 35. the plaineft language, we are ordered to pray to this blessed and only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only, (or alone) bath immortality; and this in imitation of Jefus, who in the morning very early went out into a folitary place, and there prayMark i. ed. Who difmiffing bis difciples departed Mark vi. into a mountain to pray. And be continued 46. all night in prayer to GOD‡: We are ordered to glorify and bless this only wife God for ever §. Bleed be the God and Father of our 112 Cor. i. Lord Jefus Chrift. To God and our Father Phil. iv. be glory for ever* And to love him truly by keeping the commandments. Cui Jefus fic refponMark xii. dit: primum omnium praeceptorum eft: audi 29, 30, 31. Ifraelita. Dominus Deus vefter dominus unus 12. Luke vi. § Rom.xvi. 27. 3. 20. eft. Itaque dominum Deum tuum toto Το To fay it; we became fully fatisfied, that the fupreme God and Governor of the world, who exifts by a prior neceffity, and therefore must be one, a perfect moral agent, and poffeffed of all moral perfections, is the fole object of religious worship: that Jefus Chrift was a temporary minifter, with a legatarian power, to publish and declare the Spiritual laws of this Great God: and that it is incumbent on mankind to yield a perfect obedience to these spiritual laws of this Supreme Being: that is, the duty of all, to make the object propofed by Chrift, his God and our God, his Father and our Father, the fole object of faith; and to expect happinefs or falvation, on the term of being turned from all our inquities. This feemed a matter worthy of the Son of God's appearing in the world. Every thing else must be enthufiafm and ufurpation. 1 tion on true and gion. §. 7. Here the Ivonist had done, and I A reflec was greatly pleased with his fenfe and piety. What a heavenly Chriftianity should we pro- falfe relifefs (I faid) if the notions of our modern enthusiasts were as confiftent with Christ's great defign and profeffion! We fhould then fet up the Kingdom of God among men, and be diligent and active in promoting the laws of that kingdom. We should then believe, like Jefus Chrift and his apoftles, that F 4 there there is but One God, the Father Almighty. There is no one good (fo commonly called) but + Mark x. one, that is God; or only the one God+. 18. Nullus eft bonus nifi unus Deus. Caftalio. (And Cant. MS. Clem. Alex. adds, out. 6. t2 Tim. ii. 5. My Father who is in Heaven.) This is life eternal, to acknowledge thee, O Father, Johnxvii. to be the only true GOD. It is one God through- who will justify §. We know that there is none Rom. iii. other Gods but one. For to us there is one 30. Cor. GOD the Father. There is one GOD viii. 4.6. and Father of all, who is over all, and through Eph. iv. all, and in you all. And we should confels one Mediator, the man Chrift Jefus.+ We fhould be confiftent, and not throw off those principles upon which chriftianity was founded, and alone could be firft built. We fhould invite men into our religion, by reprefenting to them the perfection of that primary law of God, reafon or natural religion; by declaring the plainness and clearness of it to all attentive and well-difpofed minds; and then fhew them how worthy it was of the Supreme Governor to give fuch creatures as he has made us the gofpel: that by the religion of favour, he has, with glory to himfelf, difplayed his paternal regard for us, by doing much more than what is ftrictly necessary for our eternal good. God, on a principle of love, fends his Christ, to advise us and awaken us to a fenfe of our danger in paffing through this world, in cafe (which he faw would be the thing) we should not conftantly attend to the light we might strike out ourselves with fome trouble. He calls us in an extraordinary manner to forfake vice and idolatry, and practise the whole system of morality. We might expect, that a good God, would once at least, interpose by fuch an extraordinary method as revelation, to turn and incline his reasonable creatures, to the study and practice of the religion of nature. This was acting like the Father of the Univerfe, confidering the negligence and corruption of the bulk of mankind. The reafon he gave us, the law of nature, was giving us all that was abfolutely necessary. The gospel was an addition of what is excellently useful. What, my beloved, (might a rational divine fay) can be more paternal, and worthy of the almighty Creator, than to reveal plainly the motive of a judgment to come, in order to fecure all obedience to the religion of nature? Reafon may, to be fure, be fufficient to shew men their duty, and to encourage their performance of it with the affurance of obtaining a reward, if they would duly attend to its dictates, and fuffer them to have their due effect upon them: it may guide mankind to virtue, and happiness consequent to it, as God must be a rewarder of all those who diligently feek him, and was enough to bring them to the knowledge, and engage |