be abused; and the guilt of those who go on in a course of vice and wickedness, in opposition to the clear light and laws of the Gospel, admits of peculiar aggravations. If there are many professed Christians, who live immoral and dissolute lives, they are generally such as either content themselves with the bare name of Christians, without taking any pains to get a just acquaintance with the religion they profess, or who do not allow themselves seriously to consider and lay to heart its doctrines and precepts, or who do not really believe it, or at least yield but a doubtful and wavering assent to it. And this is often very much owing to the purity of the Gospel morals, which creates prejudices against it in the minds of those who are under the power of evil habits and vicious affections. The infidelity and sceptism of many in the present age, and the growing indifferency to all religion, which is too visible among us, is, I doubt not, one great cause of that abounding dissoluteness and corruption, which is so much complained of. But still it is certainly true, that if the restraints which the Christian religion lays upon vice and wickedness were removed, the corruption would be much greater and more general than it is. Many thousands, who would otherwise be vicious and dissolute, are influenced by the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, to lead sober, righteous, and godly lives. And notwithstanding the degeneracy of Christians, there is just reason to conclude, that there are incomparably more and greater instances of a sublime and rational piety, and an exemplary purity of manners among those that profess to believe and receive the Gospel, than are to be found among those of any other profession or character. The most effectual way, therefore, of recovering men to the practice of real piety and virtue, is, to endeavour to engage them to a close adherence to the heavenly doctrines, and the pure and excellent laws of the Gospel, which undeniably give the best and greatest helps and encouragements to a holy and virtuous life. And it is an advantage which calls for our highest thankfulness, that whatever corruptions in doctrine and practice professed Christians have fallen into, or may fall

into, we have still a perfect rule or standard laid down in the holy Scriptures, to which we may have recourse; and by a close attention to which, we may have sure directions given us as to every part of religion, and the practice of universal piety and righteousness.

I shall conclude this part of the subject with the suffrage of two learned and ingenious gentlemen, who are generally thought not to have been much inclined to superstition and bigotry. The one is the author of the Letters Juives, who, in the person of a Jew, acknowledges, that, "the first Naza"renes preached a doctrine so conformable to equity, and so "useful to society, that their greatest adversaries now agree, "that their moral precepts are infinitely superior to the wisest "philosophers of antiquity."* The other is the justly admired Mons. de Montesquieu. We are informed by good authori ty, that he declared with his dying breath, to those that stood around him, and particularly to the Duchess D'Aiguillon, That "the morality of the Gospel is a most excellent thing, "and the most valuable present which could possibly have "been received by man from his Creator."+

* "Les premiers docteurs Nazarenes ont preché une doctrine si conforme á l'equité, et si utile á la societé, que leurs plus grands adversaires conviennent aujourdhui, que leurs precepts moraux sont infiniment au dessus des plus sages philosophes de l'antiquité." Letters Juives, lettre 142.

+ See L'Eloge de Monsieur de Montesquieu, par Mons. de Maupertuis, Hamburgh, 1755.

THE

ADVANTAGE AND NECESSITY

OF THE

CHRISTIAN REVELATION,

SHOWN FROM THE

STATE OF RELIGION IN THE HEATHEN WORLD.

PART III.

WITH RESPECT TO THE BELIEF OF A FUTURE STATE OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS.

CHAP. I.

The importance of the doctrine of a future state. It is agreeable to right reason. The natural and moral arguments for a future state, of great weight. Yet not so evident, but that if men were left merely to their own unassisted reason, they would be apt to labour under great doubts and difficulties. A Revelation from God concerning it would be of great advantage.

Ir is a point of vast consequence to religion, and to the cause of virtue in the world, whether there be a life to come, in which men shall be rewarded or punished, according to their behaviour in this present state; or whether this present life be the whole of our existence, beyond which there is nothing to be hoped for or feared, in a way of retribution for our present moral conduct.

If there were no future state of retribution, or men generally believed there were none, they would look no farther than the pains and pleasures of this present life: it could not ordinarily be expected that they should have any thing in view, but the gratifying their appetites and inclinations, and promoting what they apprehend to be their present worldly

interest, to which every other consideration must be subor: dinate; flesh and sense would be their governing principles : good men would be deprived of those hopes which are a source of joy and comfort to them in their greatest afflictions and distresses, and which tend to animate them to a patientcontinuance in well-doing; and bad men would be freed fromthose terrors, than which nothing can be better fitted to put a stop to the exorbitancies of their evil courses, and to avert them even from secret acts of wickedness. Accordingly, it has been always accounted a principal advantage of the Christian Revelation, that it gives us the strongest assurances of a future state, and of the rewards and punishments of the life to come. The ablest patrons of Natural Religion, as opposed to Revelation, have been sensible of this, and therefore have pretended that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and a state of future retributions, is so obvious to the common reason of all mankind, that there needs no extraordinary revelation, either to discover it to us, or strengthen our belief of it. And yet there is too much reason to think, that they have asserted this rather with a view to depreciate the use and need of Divine Revelation, than that they really believed that doctrine; since at other times they have thrown out suspicions against it, and represented it as a matter of uncertainty; and some of them have used their utmost efforts to invalidate the proofs which are brought for it.

I readily acknowledge, that the natural and moral arguments for the immortality of the soul and a future state of retributions, are, when duly considered, of great weight. And none have set these proofs in a stronger light than the Christian philosophers and divines. Whosoever impartially considers their manner of treating this subject, will find it vastly superior to that which was made use of by the most eminent Pagan philosophers who lived before the coming of our Saviour. In this, as well as other instances, revelation has been of great advantage for assisting and improving our reason in matters of the highest importance. It has been shown, with great strength and clearness of argument, that