the Caufe of his Fall; and will have Eve to lay all her Blame upon the Devil. But the Words import no fuch, Thing, here is only a juft Confeffion of exact Matter of Fact; and I think there is no Reason they fhould make their Cafe worse than it was, and take the Blame! of others upon them, when they had fufficient of their own. Neither is it to be fuppofed, that Mofes defired to fee the divine Effence, but only to have the Glory of the reprefenting Angel more particularly manifested to him, which had hitherto been wrapt up in a Cloud; that That might be a more evident Token to the murmuring Jews of his Divine Miffion. And it pleafed God to hearken to this Request, and to let the divine Glory make fuch Impreffion upon his Face, as dazled the Eyes of his Beholders. And the Children of Ifrael faw the Face of Mofes, that the Skin of Mofes's Face fhone, &c. And as for your Inftance in Jonas, which you triumph fo much in, no Body can with any Reafon think, that he should be fo filly, as to imagine, that That Great God whom he worshiped as the Maker of Heaven and Earth, fhould have no Power over him out of the Land of Judea; or that he could fuppofe when he got to Tarfish, he should be out of God's Prefence. That was the leaft of Jonas's Thoughts; and the Words of the Text do not imply any Thing like it. It is faid, Jonas arofe up to fly to Tarfish, not Mippene, from the Face or Prefence of God, but Mealpene, from before the Face or Prefence of God; de ad Facies Jehova : That is, he turned his Back upon God at that hazardous and uncomfortable Revelation, and endeavoured by any Ways to get off from the Appearance of God at that Time. He might have thought of any other Place to fly to, where his dejected Fancy led him, as well as Tarshish; but only that Place lying just contrary to Niniveh, he contrived to fly thither. He could not think of avoiding God's univerfal Prefence, which he could not but know was every where, but only by flying fomewhere he might avoid God's prophetick Prefence at that Time, which he had either Hopes he fhould not be tried with again, or elfe fondly imagined, as most of the other Jews did, that no Revelation could be afforded in a Gentile Country. Phil. I defign to fpeak but one Word more concerning your Prophets of the Old Teftament; but that fhall be a home Thrust at laft. They feem to me to be either a Parcel of whimfical crack-brain'd People, that play'd a hundred enthusiastical Pranks to make the Rabble gape at them; or elfe were feditious Mutineers that fet themfelves up, under the Umbrage of God's Authority, to be faucy with their Princes. One of them you may find pufhing with a great Pair of Horns upon his Head, another lying 390 Days upon one Side, and a third marry ing a Whore in the midft of his prophetick Spirit. You may fee Samuel carrying himself after that prefumptuous Rate to King Saul, as if he was a School-Boy. And Hanani the Prophet gives King Afa, whom the Scripture remarks for a good King, intolerable Language and Provocation, only for making a League with the King of Syria. And I think the King did very well for putting the Seer into the Prifon-Houfe for his Pains. Now are these Men fit to be trufted with Revelation for the Government of the Lives of all Mankind, that are not able to govern their own Actions or Paffions with common Decency? Cred. Your Prejudices, Philologus, tranfport you too far in cenfuring the Actions of the holy Prophets, without confidering the Customs of thofe Times, and the extraordinary Meffages they were fent about. There are none of their prophetick Speeches which were delivered to the Princes of thofe Times, but what are made with all due Decency and Regard to their Character; but yet the Prophets having an immediate Commiffion from God himself, they ought to have spoken with greater Boldness to them than every ordinary Haranguer, who could only pretend to fpeak by Way of Perfuafion. When they were commanded by God, to reprimand wicked Princes, and to denounce Judgments against them, they had betrayed their Truft if they had not fpoken the Truth with Bold Boldness; and had incurred the Penalty of those who feared God lefs than Man. And as for fome unufual A&ions which they did, as Micaiah's making him Horns of Iron, that was the ufual Way of thofe Times to prophefy by' Signs; for under fuch Hieroglyphical Representations, moft of the Morality and Divinity of the Eastern Nations was couched. Neither were all thofe Signs which are related in the prophetick Writings really acted, but fome of them only in Vifion; and this, in all Probability, was the Cafe of Hofea, when he took the Wife of Whoredoms, and of Jeremy when he is faid to have lain fo many Days on one side. As for your Inftances in the Prophets Sa muel and Hanani; Samuel had the Administration of the Jewish Theocracy immediately under God, before Saul, and was a Prince when he was but a Peafant, had fingled him out and anointed him King, and befides had the Command of God to rebuke that headstrong King; this will bear him out in all his Severity of Expreffions he used towards him. And as for Hanani, he did very juftly reprove King Afa, for his relying on the King of Affyria, and not on the Lord his God. Tis not his bare making a League with the King of Affyria, which he is reproved for, but for his putting more Confidence in this than in God's Providence. Befides, to compafs this he had ufed very indirect Means; for he pur chafed that King's Favour, by facrilegioufly taking the Treasures of the Houfe of the Lord, 2 Chron. xvi. 7. to make a Present to him. And though the Scripture does affirm of this King Afa, That his Heart was perfect all his Days, yet this is to be understood only of his Zeal against Idolatry; yet feveral grievous Faults he was guilty of, as particularly the Imprisoning this holy Prophet, and his Oppreffing the People at the fame Time, v. ro. and even in his laft Difeafe it is recorded, that he fought not to the Lord, but to the Phyficians, V. 12. Phil. We are arrived now at last to a Leifure to talk more particularly of a Mediatorship, and a Satisfaction to be made for Sins. Now your whole Religion is bottomed upon the Suppofition of that which is all falfe and erro neous neous, and inconfiftent with the Nature and Goodness of God. For this fuppofes God a rough implacable Being, that is easy to be offended, and hard to be pleafed; when, on the contrary, nothing is fo good and kind, and willing to be reconciled to his Creatures. Indeed the Wickednefs of Men, who have been apt to think every one as bad as themselves, has inclined them to have fuch hard Thoughts of God Almighty, and made many of them think, for many Ages ago, the Deity to be a fevere Sort of Being, and the fubtle Priefts found it for their Advantage to encourage the Notion; and hence the Practice of Sacrificing got into the World. For when Men found they had done fomething which was difpleafing to God Almighty, they thought to make him amends another Way, and fo would facrifice a good fat Bullock or Ram, at his Altar. This was the first filly Logick in early and barbarous Ages, and the Priefts for their Profit have been improving it ever fince; till at laft they have vamped it up into that Mediatorship and Satisfaction which the Chriftian Religion is grounded upon. But in the first and purer Ages of the World, thefe idle Worships were unknown, when they worshiped God with Prayers only, and Praife, and never thought of appeafing the Deity with these foolish Briberies, which muft be fo far from being grateful to him, that they muft needs be his Averfation. Τις ὡδὲ μῶςθ καὶ λίαν ανειμένΘ, What Man is fuch a filly Wight, And And this the Scripture-Writers themselves are forced to own, although they were bred up under Sacrifices. In Burnt-offerings and Sacrifices for Sin thou haft no Pleasure. Pfal. xl. 7. To what Purpofe is the Multitude of your Sacrifices unto me, faith the Lord, I am full of the Fat of the Burnt-offerings of Rams, and the Fat of fed Beafts, and I de light not in the Blood of Bullocks, or of Lambs, or of He-goats; and the Conclufion from all which the Prophet makes is, that they should lay afide this expiatory Trumpery, and take up with good honeft Deifm and natural Religion: Put away the Evil of your Doings from before mine Eyes, ceafe to do Evil, learn to do Well, feek Judgment, relieve the Opa preffed, judge the Fatherless, plead for the Widow, Ifa. i 12, &c. So that you fee this Sacrifice and expiatory Satisfaction is all butcherly Stuff, which is neither acceptable to God, nor agreeable to the Sentiments of wife Men. Cred. You run away a little too faft with your Argu- Expiation ment, when you make fuch Exclamations about the Seve- confiftent rity and Implacableness of the Deity, where it is afferted, with the Mercy of that he requires Expiation and Satisfaction for 'Men's Sins. God. Wicked Men, that are refolved to live on in a Course of Sin, may flatter themselves, that God has nothing in him but Mercy; but I am afraid in Time they will find, That God in his Laws has regard to his Juftice too. I will not affert, That it is impoffible that God as God, all whofe Attributes are infinite, fhould forgive the Sins of Men without a Satisfaction to his Juftice: But yet I fay, that confidering God as a Legiflator, who defigns to govern Men by his Laws, it is not agreeable to his Wisdom to fuffer his Laws to be trampled upon with Impunity by bold and regardless Sinners. And indeed all God Almighty's Attributes are directed by his infinite Reason and Wisdom, and his Mercy is not, as a great many take it to be, a Sort of feminine Tenderness that cannot hold out against the Cries of fuffering Offenders: But fuch a good and wife Relaxation of the Punishment which his Juftice in Rigor might demand, as may fecure the honour of his Laws, his eternal Juftice and Purity, and withall make |