Christianity all together, and throughly consider the harmonious coherence of all its parts, and the wonderful contrivance of the whole, without being captivated with the beauty and elegancy of it.

And now I have nothing farther to add concerning this treatise, but only to entreat the reader not to be too severe in the perusal of it. For though as for the doctrine of it, I see no reason at all to apologize for it, because I am fully persuaded of the truth of it, yet being forced, as I was, to compose it by snatches, and in the more quiet intervals of a busy and uneasy life, I very much suspect the exactness both of the style and method of it; and therefore all the favour I desire is this, that where I have improperly or obscurely expressed myself, I may be construed in the most favourable sense; and that wherever I may seem to be confused or immethodical, it may be attributed to those frequent interruptions which the disorders of my body have given to my thoughts. And these are requests so very just and reasonable, that I am confident none will be so peevish as to deny me, but they who read books only to carp and find fault, and without any design to edify their own understandings. But I hope the reader will consider, that the argument here treated of is of too great moment to him to be so wretchedly trifled with; and that therefore he will not be either so disingenuous to me, or uncharitable to himself, as to peruse with such a spiteful design that which I sincerely intended for his good, and by which he, I am sure, if he pleases, may be the better for ever.

OF

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.

PART II.

CHAP. I.

Concerning the being and nature of moral goodness. ALL human actions are either necessary, or sinful, or indifferent. The necessary are such as are commanded, the sinful such as are forbidden by God, the indifferent such as are neither commanded nor forbidden, but left entirely free to our choice and discretion. Again; the necessary and the sinful actions are either such as are necessary and sinful in themselves, and are commanded and forbidden upon the account of some good and evil that is inseparable to their natures; or such as are indifferent in their own natures as to any good or evil inherent in them, but are made necessary or sinful by some positive command or prohibition superinduced upon them. Of the first sort are those which we call moral actions; as being the subject-matter of the moral law, which commands and forbids nothing but what is essentially and immutably good and evil; and whilst there was no other law but this, every action which did not oblige by some eternal reason, or, which is the same, by some inseparable good or evil, was left free and indifferent. But in process of time God superadded to this moral law a great many positive ones, whereby he obliged men to do

For

and forbear sundry of those indifferent things, which were left to their liberty by the law of nature. such we call the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law; all which were indifferent before they were imposed, and as soon as ever the imposition was taken off from them did immediately return to their primitive indifferency: so that by the abolition of their ceremonial law the Jews were restored to all the liberties of the moral; excepting only the matter of the two sacraments, and of maintaining a visible communion with the church; which are determined by positive laws of Christianity. And of this latter sort of necessary and sinful actions are, not only all those indifferent ones which God himself has commanded and forbidden immediately, but also all those which he commands and forbids by his viceroys and representatives in this world. For whatsoever he hath not commanded or forbidden by his own immediate dictate and authority, he hath authorized his vicegerents to command or forbid, as they shall judge it most expedient for the public. So that when they command what God hath not forbidden, or forbid what he hath not commanded, their will is God's, who commands us by their mouths, and stamps their injunctions with his own authority.

And of this distinction between actions that are morally and positively necessary, the scripture frequently takes notice, and particularly Mich. vi. 6, 7, 8. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? &c. No; these are not the things that will render me acceptable in his eyes, and procure me a welcome admission into his presence; and yet it is

certain that these things were then required and commanded, and therefore were positively necessary: but that they were not necessary in themselves upon the account of any intrinsic goodness that was in them is evident from what follows; He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good: as much as if he should have said, The things above named are in their own nature indifferent, having neither good nor evil in themselves; and are made necessary merely by positive command: upon which account they are insufficient to recommend you to God. But there are other things that carry an intrinsic beauty and goodness in their nature, by which they strictly oblige you to embrace and practise them, and do thereupon recommend you by their own native charms to the love and favour of God: and what these good things are he hath sufficiently shewn or discovered to you; viz. to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God; which are the main and principal duties that he requires of you. Which plainly implies that there are some actions which are morally, that is, in their own natures eternally good, and therefore eternally necessary, and some that are necessary only because for some present reason God wills and commands them. For no account can be given why he would be more pleased with justice and mercy and humanity, than with sacrifice, unless we suppose the former to be good, and therefore necessary upon immutable reasons, and upon that account to be immutably pleasing to him ; and the latter to be necessary only upon mutable reasons, which therefore were to lose their necessity as soon as those reasons did alter and cease. For had sacrifices been good in their own nature, their