PREFACE TO "THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST," &c. THE author of these papers has been often grieved to seo such a new sort of christianity published and propagated in the world, as leaves out the propitiatory sacrifice of our blessed Saviour, and the sanctifying operations of the Holy Spirit, which in his esteem are two of the chief glories of the gospel. He humbly hopes it was a sincere zeal for those momentous truths that set his pen to work, and a just sense of the influence which these truths have upon almost all that piety and virtue, which can be called christian. He leaves it to more learned writers to manage this controversy in a way of strict and regular dispute. He hath chosen this manner of publishing his sentiments, with some hope that they may be better accepted by those who stand in most need of them, and particularly by the polite readers of the age, who seek something to entertain, as well as to instruct and profit. If there are any sudden starts of thought found here out of place, any abrupt sentences or paragraphs without that logical method or exact connexion, which would be expected in a set discourse; let it be remembered that this book is but a sort of conversation-piece among a few private friends, who pretend not to theological accuracies. As to the names introduced in this conversation, they are not designed to represent any particular person living: But if any of my readers should find their own principles and their character described under the sentiments of Agrippa or Cavenor, the author entreats them to believe that they are the persons for whose sake he took this pains, and he begs the favour of them to read without prejudice or partiality, and with a temper of mind suited to the weight and dignity of the subject, and that they would make scripture their only judge of truth and error in this debate. And may the good Spirit of God render this little discourse useful to put some stop to the growth of these dangerous opinions, to recover those who are fallen into error, and to establish others who are wavering in such important points of the christian faith. THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST, AND THE OPERATIONS OF THE SPIRIT, &c. SECT. I.-The Introduction; or, Agrippa's Creed recited and opposed. Is there no other way to defend christianity, saith Paulinus to S his friends, is there no other way to refute the cavils of the deist, but by yielding up the peculiar glories of the gospel? Can it never be vindicated as divine, unless we reduce it almost to the mere dictates of the light of nature, with Jesus Christ set at the head of them only as a great prophet? Many a doubter is not gone so far from christianity as to deny the facts on which our holy religion depends; and they will allow that the christian religion in general is supported by these facts, which have been delivered down to us by a notorious and incontestable manner of evidence: But the special and important doctrines of this religion, such as the sacrifice of Christ as a proper atonement for sin, and our sanctification by the Holy Spirit, which are taught so frequently and so expressly in the new Testament, carry something in them so disgustful, not only to the relish of our modern infidels, in general, but also to the prejudices of some who profess christianity, that they would fain evade these truths, and quit themselves of them by such a construction as really destroys them. Agrippa is a christian of this stamp, a gentleman, as I am told, of no considerable estate; but it is said, he makes a shining figure when he appears in company. A few weeks ago I saw a scheme of his gospel, and was informed it is the general sense of many of his acquaintance both in town and country. I have the paper here, and he expresses his creed in the following words: "When the gentile nations had lost the knowledge of the true God and his worship, and buried it under an immense load of superstitious follies; when they had banished a great part of morality from their minds as well as their practice, the blessed God thought proper to send his own Son from heaven to restore it. When the Jews, who were a people favoured with many divine revelations, had turned their religion into superstition, by resting upon the mere ceremonies of it with the neglect of moral virtues and inward piety, God determines this great reformer should be of their nation. When the whole world of mankind was grown thus horribly degenerate, it pleased God to send this most glorious person Jesus Christ into this world with peculiar commission to restore the religion of nature, the knowledge of the one true God and his spiritual worship, instead of a load of ceremonies, whether human or divine, and to teach the nations true virtue and piety without superstition: He was sent to assure of the pardon of their sins upon repentance, which indeed they knew before, or their reason might have taught them, but not quite so clearly, and to tell them that after death men should be called to account for their behaviour in this life, and that a future state of long misery should attend the wicked, and a fair and lasting scene of happiness was provided for those who were virtuous. This inded, saith he, reason teaches us too, but the gospel superadds the resurrection of the body. "And further, that this glorious person coming into the world for the reformation of it when it was so dreadfully corrupted, and preaching in opposition to the gross errors and iniquities of the age, it could not be expected that he should escape their rage and malice: Thus he was condemned by the Jews, and crucified by the Romans. This death of Christ on the cross was a noble testimony which he gave as a martyr to the doctrines which he preached; and it is dignified after the Jewish and eastern manner with grand expressions in the New Testament, and represented in many sacrificial phrases, of which the Jews were extremely fond, such as redeeming us by his blood, and making atonement for sin, &c. because by his death he vindicated and sealed that doctrine, which taught the assured pardon of sin upon repentance, and the recovery of sinners by new obedience to the favour of God and eternal life. Before he left the world he appointed two ceremonies, viz. baptism and the Lord'ssupper! the first by washing with water to represent to us that we must be washed from our sins, that is, we must repent and be reformed, and live a new life if ever we would be pardoned and saved; and the second by eating bread and drinking wine, to put us in mind that Jesus Christ the Reformer of the world died in vindication of this doctrine of pardon of sin upon repentance, and to confirm the discoveries of this mercy to sinful men. After this he rose again from the dead, gave his twelve chief disciples a little further instruction about propagating this general reformation; then he ascended to heaven, to intercede for men, and to rule over them, and afterward furnished the apostles with miraculous powers, on purpose to awaken the attention of the world to the rules of virtue and goodness, which they should teach them in the name of Jesus their Master: And therefore we are said, in the New Testament, to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, because the miracles wrought, by the gifts of the Spirit roused a stupid world into consideration, and also did something toward the confirmation of those truths which mankind were exhorted to consider in order to their reformation and salvation. He concludes his paper thus: "Now if any man has any other creed made up of notions and mysteries which goes beyond all this, I affirm that he draws more out of his bible than God ever put into it; and though I will never be angry with him, says Agrippa, for believing more than I, yet I cannot but laugh at him for a strong believer: I dare pronounce boldly he is not just of my religion, nor can I be of his; and if he thinks me but almost a christian, I think him gone as much beyond christianity?" Paulinus was a gentleman of piety and great zeal for the gospel of Christ. He lived far in the country, and was much retired from the world. Though he held some acquaintance with critics and learned authors, yet he read his bible with more constancy and application, and learned his religion thence. He was pretty well versed in the writings of St. Paul, but he had heard or known very little of Agrippa or kis sentiments till last March: Then he came to London, which he had not seen for ten or twelve years before, and happened to get a sight of this new creed. As soon as he had read it, he was much surprised and concerned that any man who professed himself a christian should lose so much of his faith; but was much more grieved when he found, by further conversation, that this was the christianity which was now growing in vogue; and upon his repetition of this creed in company, he repeated his concern and zeal. Must then, said he, the glorious gospel of our blessed Saviour be narrowed and curtailed at this rate, and reduced almost to the mere religion of nature? I acknowledge indeed, and I glory in it, that the gospel which I find in the New Testament contains every article of natural religion, and includes in it every thing that reason can teach us about God or virtue. The man who renounces any one point of the religion of reason, so far renounces christianity also; for the doctrine of the blessed Jesus comprehends every part of it, and confirms it for ever. But when the light of nature and reason, in this fallen and degenerate state, had appeared by the long and painful experiments of so many ages and nations, to be ineffectual to reform, to sanctify and save a vicious world, was not the glorious gospel of Christ brought in to do that for us which the light of reason and nature could not do? Was it not made manifest enough by the jargon and wild opinions of the philosophers that the world by wisdom knew not God, nor the right way to recover his favour or his image? And was it not upon this view that God sent his apostles with the message of a crucified Christ, and with that doctrine which the Greeks called foolishness, to save the poor and the humble believer? Was not the Son of God sent into this world to be the Saviour of sinful men? And was he ordained to save them only by teaching them over again the doctrines which philosophy or reason |