him to teach Men the Way to Happiness, but not to flatter their Vanity and Pride of Knowledge. The Doctrines of the Gospel are not the worse for being Foolishness to the Greeks, and a Stumbling-block to the Jews; fince they are, and on Experience appear to be, the Power of God to Salvation to all who believe.

DISCOURSE

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I

N treating on this Subject, I have already observed to you, that there are two Propofitions or Affertions contained in the Words of the Text: First, That the World by Wisdom knew not God.

Secondly, That it pleafed God by the Foolishness of Preaching to fave Believers.

It being allowed in general, that the World was grofly ignorant and fuperftitious, and unacquainted with the true Notion of God, and the Religion that was to be paid him; yet it will still be faid, that there were fome, fome few at least, who had extricated themselves from these popular Errors; who

faw

faw and acknowledged one fupreme Being, the Cause of all Things; who had clear and distinct Notions of Morality, and of the Duties owing from Man to Man. The Writings of fome of these great Men are ftill extant; and, if we confult only Plato, Ariftotle, and the Roman Philofopher Tully, we may fee how far Reason and Philosophy could and did carry these Men in Matters of Religion and Morality.

From these and fuch-like Inftances we are apt to form a general Notion of the Powers of human Reafon; and the Argument appears undeniable: Thus far human Reason did go without the Help of the Gospel, thus far therefore it certainly can go.

It may be worth our while to confider this Cafe, not with an Intent to depreciate the Worth of thefe, the best and greatest Men of Antiquity, but to ftate it clearly and fairly, as far as it does, or may be fuppofed to affect the Argument for the Neceffity of Revelation.

Suppofing then, in the first Place, all that is faid of these wife Men to be true, and that they did arrive at a clear and diftinct Knowledge of God, and of the Religion that was due to him; yet it will weigh but little in the prefent. Confideration, for this

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plain

plain Reason; because Religion, if it is of any use at all, is equally of use to all Men: For, fince all Men live under the Impreffion of natural Confcience, and the Sense of being accountable for their Actions, they all equally want Direction; and, as the Experience of the World fhews, all Men will have fome Religion, either good or bad. To say therefore that Reason was fufficient for the Purposes of Religion before the Publication of the Gospel, and to prove it by fhewing that it ferved this Purpose in four or five Instances in an Age, whilft Millions and Millions had no Help from it, is quite mistaking the Point: We want fomething to be of use to all Men, and which all Men ftand in need of to their Well-being: You have found something that will ferve perhaps one in a Million, and think that you have discovered an adequate Supply for the general Want. But what must become of the many Thousands who are incapable of being the better for your Method? If the whole Nation were infected with the Plague, it would be worth while to fend even to the Indies for a Man who could cure them; but, if his Remedy could cure only two or three in the Kingdom, it would be of no great Confequence whether he came, or ftaid away.

But

But it may be faid, that what Reafon did for a few, it was capable of doing for all, if it had been duly attended to; and, confequently, that Reason was a fufficient Foun dation for true Religion, notwithstanding that true Religion was loft in the World; which was not through a Defect in Reason, but through the Abuse and Mifapplication of it by the generality of Mankind.

I agree the Cafe to be fo; but we are ftill where we were before: For this general Abuse of Reason, or Inattention to the Voice of it, which had fpread over the whole World, had certainly a Root in fome general Evil and Corruption that had infected Mankind: And, whatever Reafon was in itself, yet it stood in great Want of a Remedy for this Evil, that had fo universally darkened and obfcured it. Suppofe I fhould say fuch a Man was blind; will it be a proper Reply to fay, No, his Eyes are found and good, excepting only that there is a very thick Film over them, which intercepts all Sight? or would it be proper to infift that the Man wanted no Cure, because he had found Eyes? What fhall we do with this Film then? for, till it is removed, the Man might as well be without Eyes. This was the very Cafe of the Heathen World. You fay they had Reason

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