| OCR Text |
Show Faith and R eafon. Book IV his proceeding. This at Jeatl is certain, that he mufl be uccoumuble for whatever Mifiakes he runs. into: whereas he that makes ufe of the light and Facult1es G 0 D has g1vcn lum, and fcel<s fincerely to difcover Truth, bythofe Helps and Abilities he has, may have this futislaCtion in doing his Duty .sa rational Creature, that though he fhould mifs Truth he will not mifs the Reward of it. For he governs his Alfenr riaht ancl places it as he fl10uld, who in any cafe or matter whatfoever, bclie;es or disbelieves, according as Reafon directs him. He that does otherwifc tranfgrelfesagaintl his own Light, and mifufes the Faculties which wer~ given him to no other end, but to fearch and follow the clearer Evidence and greater Probability. But fince Reafon and Faith are by fomc Me~ oppofed, we will fo confider them in the following Chapter. C H A P. XVIII. OJ Faitb and !JI..eajon, and their 4iftinFl Pro"Vinccs. §. r. IT has been above fl1ewn, J. That we are of necellity ignorant, and want Knowledge of all forts, where we want Jd .. s. 2 . That we are ignorant, and want rational Knowledge, where we want Proofs. 3· That we want general l(nowledge and Certainty, as far as we want dear and determined fpecifick Ideas. 4· That we want Probability to d1tect our Alfent m matters where we have neither l(nowledge of our own, nor Tetlimony of other Men to bottom our Reafon upon. From thefe things thus premifed , I think we may come to Jay down the meafures and boundaries betwe<n Faith and Reafon; the want whereof, may potlibly have been the caufe, if not of great Diforders, yet at leatl of great D1fputes, and perhaps Millakes in the World. For till it be refolv~d h~wf~r we are to be guided by Reafon, and how far by Faith, we thai! m vam d1fpute,and endeavour to convince one another in Mat· ters of Religion. §. 2. I find every Sea, as far as Reafon will help them, make ufe of it gladly; and where 1t fa1ls them, they cry out, 'Tis matter of Faith, and a6ove Reafon. And 1 do not fee how they can ever be convinced by any, who makes ufe of the fame plea,_ W1thout fetting down llrict boundaries ~etween Fa1th and Reafon i wluch ought to be the lidl: point efiablifl1ed 111 all Qgetl1ons, where Fauh has any thing to do. . Reafon therefor,e he~e, us contradifiingu1fl1ed to Fait/;, I take to be the d1fcovery of the Certamty or Probability of fuch Propofitions or Truths, wluch the Mmd arnves at by Deductions made from fuch Ideas, wl~ch It has got by the ufe of lts natural Faculties, 'lliz. by Senfation or Re· flex1on. Fait b, on the other fide , is the Alfent to any Propofitiqn, not thus made out by the Deduchons of Reafon, but upon the Credit of the Pr<Jo pofer, as commg1mmedmtely from G 0 D; which we call Revelation. 9. 3· Flrjl, Then, I fay, That no Man infPired ty GOD, can 6y any Revdatton communiCate to others any new fimple Ideas which they had not before from Senfat1on or Rcflex~on. For whatfoever imprellions he Jum· fell may have from . the 1mmed1ate hand of G 0 D, this Revelation , 1f 1t be of new fimple Ideas, canQot be c;onveyed to another,either by Words, or any otherfigns: becaufe Words, by their immediate Operation on us, caufe Chap. XVIII. Faith andiieajon. 349 --~~---------- -----------~~~ caufe no other Ide.,s, Lut of tl;cir mtu ral Sound< 1 and 'tis by the Cuflo.n of uting them for Signs, that they exme,ond revive in mlr Minds latent Ideas; but yet only fi1ch !rlcds, as were rhcre before. For Words fcen or :teJrd, recall to our T houghts thofc Ideas only, which to us they have been wmlt to be Signs of: but can.~lot 1ntro~ucc any perfeaJy new fimple Jde•s, wluch were. never there. UeJorc. The fi1mc holds 1n all other Sighs, which cannot ftgmfic to us Tlung<, of wluch we have belorc never Jud any Ideas at all. . . Thus whatever Th1ngs were d,fcovcrcd to St. Paul, when he was rapp'd up into the Third Heaven; w hatevc1~n ew ide.s his Mind there received, all the defcription he can 1m kc to others of that l'lncc, is only thi<, Thai there are filch T hing'i, as F:J•e btl!IJ not jee>1, nor Ear IJe,ud, NOr hatb it mtred into tbe 1-Jem·t of M <111 to co11cetve. And, fuppnfing God 010uiJ difcover to any one, fupernaturally, a Species of._Creotures inhabiting: For Example, Jupiter, or s.,turn (lor that It IS poOiblc there may be fuch, no body can deny) which had f1x Scnfes; and imprint on his Mind the Jd:aJ convey'd to theirs by that tixth~nlc, he could no more, by Words, produce in the Minds of other Men thofe Ideal, imprinted by that fixth Senfc . than one of us could convey the / rle.l of any Colour, by the found of Wo~ds into a 1\tiO,who having the other four Senfcs perfect, bad always totally wanted the (,Jih of Seeing. ·For our fimple Ideas tben, which are the Foundation, and fole Matter of all our Notions, and !\now ledge, we mufl depend wholly on our Reafon, I mean, our natural Faculties ; and can by no means receive them, or any olthem from i rarlition,i/ Re·vda" tion, I fay / raditional Rr.vdallOH, 111 chfimchon to Ont.mal Revelation, By the on~, 1 mean that lirtl lmprcllion, which is made immediately by G 0 D on the Mind of any Man, to wluch, I pretend not to fet any Bounds'; and by the other, thofe lmprcllions delivered over to others in Words, and the ordinary ways of conveymg our Concepuons one to another. §-4- Secondly, I fay, that tbe fame 1rutbs may he rlifcovered, and conveyed do••• from Revelation, IVbid; are_ tlifcoveratle to us 6y Redjo11, and thole clear Ideas \ve have. So God m1ght, by RcvelJtlon, d1fcovcr the Truth of any Propofition in Eucliel, as well as Men, by the natural ~le of their Faculties come to make the d1fcovery themfclves. In all Tlungs of th1s Nature 'there is little need or ufe of Revelation, G 0 D having furnifl1ed us wit!; natural, and furcr means to arrive at the Knowledge of them. For whatfoever Truth we come to the difcovcry of, lrom the Knowledge and Contemplation of our Ol\'n clear Ideas, will always be cerrainer to us than thole which arc conveyed to us by 'fradtllonal Revelatton : for th~ Knowledge we have, that this Revelation came at firtl from G 0 D, can never be lo (ure as the [\now ledge we have from our own clear and difiintl: Ideas. As iht were revealed fame Ages fince,That' the three An· glesof a Triangle were equal to two right on,es, I might affent to the Truth of that Propotition, upon the Cred1t of the TradJtJon~ that It was reveJied : but that would never amount to !o great a Certamty, as the !\now ledge of it, upon the comparing and mealuring my own clear Meas of two right Angles, anJ the three Angles of a Tnangle: The l1ke holds in Matter of Fact, knowable by our Senfes ; ""g. ~he 1-llfiory of the De· luge is conveyed to us by Writings, wluch had the.r Ongmal from RevelatJon: and yet no body, I thml<, will fay, he has as certam and clear a 1\nowledge of the Flood, as Noab that faw 1t; or that he lumfelf would have h•d had he then been alive, and fcen it. For he has no greater an alfurancc'rhan that of his Scnfcs, that it is writ in the llook fuppofcd w~~ |
