CONTROVERSIAL DISCOURSES:

CHIEFLY ON THE

EVIDENCES

AND THE

FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES

OF

CHRISTIANITY.

He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.-MARK XVI. 16.

[FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE YEAR 1754.]

THE

PREFACE:

ADDRESSED TO

THE RIGHT REVEREND, AND REVEREND,

THE

CLERGY

OF THE

CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

RIGHT REVEREND, AND REVEREND GENTLEMEN, SUCH, ever since the Reformation hath been the candour of the church, wherein you at present worthily preside; and such her wisdom in some instances, and piety in others, that her doors have never been unreasonably shut against any man, nor her Christian charity and indulgence denied to those whom their prejudices have forbidden to enter. It is no wonder therefore, if, actuated by dispositions so ingenuous, and a spirit so truly Christian, she hath always perused, approved, and applauded, all well-executed performances, howsoever foreign to herself their authors may have been, in birth, education, communion, and even principles.

Imboldened by these reflections, the writer of the following discourses, who, being of your own communion, Jabours to defend those principles you deem fundamental, in this light, thinks himself secure of your acceptance and patronage; provided the many defects, too easily discoverable in his performances by judges so very discerning, do not forbid your approbation; provided also it shall appear, notwithstanding all the tracts and discourses hitherto published on the same subjects, that the times call for new endeavours of this kind.

-As to the defects of these performances, thus addressed to you, it is feared, they will be found too numerous, and too considerable, to countenance the boldness of the author in this application. He is, nevertheless, on a review of what he hath written, encouraged to apply; because the objections to which his work may be liable, are, he hopes, sufficiently balanced not only by the goodness of his intention, but also by the perspicuity and conciseness, wherewith he hath endeavoured to draw together, as in so many focal points, the lights necessary for the illustration and proof of each controverted fundamental, which are either too much dissipated, or too much obscured, by the terms of art, and prolix reasonings, of abler, but more voluminous controvertists. He hath likewise introduced, throughout these discourses, a variety of new arguments, which he hopes, may merit your attention, whatsoever they may do as to your approbation. And farther, as it was his chief aim finally to decide, if possible, the debates under each important topic, to the satisfaction of every truly candid inquirer he hath, first, endeavoured to prove the Scriptures to be the real word of God; secondly, to shew how as such, they ought to be read and understood; and lastly, to clear up the several disputed points, by pure unsophisticated passages of Scripture, not darkened or perverted by the arbitrary and artful expositions of men; but taken in their first obvious and naked sense, presuming that God knew how to write intelligibly to a plain well-meaning understanding.

But still it may be said, and it is owned, with no small shew of reason, that controversy, of all things, hath proved most prejudicial to religion; that nothing new can be urged on the essentials of Christianity; that the world is really overstocked with sermons and religious tracts of all kinds, more especially on every disputed topic; and that, so far as such performances are capable of doing good, those in being may suffice, inasmuch as all that genius and judgment could contribute to give them variety, perfection, and force, is exhausted in those already published.

It is true, that controversies, in some respects, have greatly hurt religion; but it is as true, that, in others, they have done it infinite service.

If the corrupters of our faith, and the opposers of truth, have somewhat darkened the one, and staggered the other, in such minds as had a previous tendency to error or infi-, delity, the loss, in regard to these men, is the less to be regretted because their faith(scarcely deserving the name) must have been of little use to themselves, had they retained it, since it was capable of being shaken by arguments levelled directly against the clearest dictates of divine revelation. An understanding, prepared to yield on an attack of this kind, would have yielded to its own unassisted perversity. But on the other hand, hath not the faith of the ingenuous been greatly strengthened by the noble apologies for Christianity, and its essential doctrines, wherewith the truth hath, in all ages of the church, been supported? Is it not an unspeakable satisfaction to see, that the creed of a Christian after a thorough scrutiny, can stand the test, not only of impartial reason, but of every other attack, howsoever artfully or cruelly carried on against its adherents? If the teachers of error have, by divine permission, done some hurt; surely the sowers of sacred truth have, by divine appointment, done infinitely more good, in defending that which was sown' from being caught away out of our hearts by those fowls of the air,' which the prince of the air' hath always employed in that mystery of iniquity.

It is a gross mistake to suppose, that nothing new may be said on the fundamental articles of our faith. They are really inexhaustible, and the Scriptures, wherein they are revealed, is a bottomless abyss of wisdom. The following discourses may, perhaps, satisfy the learned reader, in a variety of instances, that both assertions are true, without leading him from the plain path of common sense. But, be this as it will, it is humbly presumed, no wise or faithful Christian will censure him, who endeavours to give a new and satisfactory answer to every new attack; and, as often as the old objections are revived, searches the armoury of the church for those weapons, wherewith the like assailants have been foiled in former times. To rub the rust of antiquity, and of the schools, from these; to give them a new edge; and to wield and point them with skill against the present adversaries of our faith, is a work of no small