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which was not. For one of the three places he fets down, was not spoken of priests. But his making my mentioning the faults of the priests of old, in our Saviour's time, to be an "expofing the office of the "minifters of the gospel now, and a vilifying those "who are employed in it;" I must defire him to examine, by his own rules of love and candour; and to tell me, "Whether I have not reason, here again, to mind "him of his FIENDS, and to advife him to beware of "them?" And to fhow him why I think I have, I crave leave to ask him these questions:

1. Whether I do not all along plainly, and in exprefs words, fpeak of the priests of the world, preceding, and in our Saviour's time? Nor can my argument bear any other sense.

2. Whether all I have faid of them be not true?

3. Whether the reprefenting truly the carriage of the jewish, and more efpecially of the heathen priests, in our Saviour's time, as my argument required, can expofe the office of the minifters of the gospel now? Or ought to have fuch an interpretation put upon it?

4. Whether what he fays of the "air and language I "ufe, reaching farther," carry any thing elfe in it, but a declaration, that he thinks fome men's carriage now, hath fome affinity with what I have truly faid, of the priests of the world, before chriftianity; and that therefore the faults of thofe fhould have been let alone, or touched more gently, for fear fome should think these now concerned in it?

5. Whether, in truth, this be not to accufe them, with a design to draw the envy of it on me? Whether out of good-will to them, or to me, or both, let him look. This I am fure, I have spoke of none but the priefts before chriftianity, both jewish and heathen! And for thofe of the jews, what our Saviour has pronounced of them, juftifies my reflections from being bitter; and that the idolatrous heathen priests were better than they, I believe our author will not fay; and if he were preaching against them, as oppofing the minifters of the gospel, I fuppofe he will give as ill a character of them. But if any one extends my words

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farther,

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farther, than to those they were spoke of, I ask whether
that agrees with his rules of love and candour?

I fhall impatiently expect from this author of the
occafional paper, an answer to these questions; and hope
to find them fuch as becomes that temper, and love of
truth, which he profeffes. I long to meet with a man,
who, laying afide party, and intereft, and prejudice, ap-
pears in controverfy fo as to make good the character of
a champion of truth for truth's fake; a character not fo
hard to be known whom it belongs to, as to be deserved.
Whoever is truly fuch an one, his oppofition to me will
be an obligation. For he that proposes to himself the
convincing me of an errour, only for truth's fake, can-
not, I know, mix any rancour, or fpite, or ill-will, with
it. He will keep himself at a distance from those
FIENDS, and be as ready to hear, as offer reafon. And
two fo difpofed can hardly miss truth between them, in a
fair inquiry after it; at leaft, they will not loofe good-
breeding, and efpecially charity, a virtue much more
neceffary than the attaining of the knowledge of obfcure
truths, that are not eafy to be found; and probably,
therefore, not neceffary to be known.

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The unbiaffed defign of the writer, purely to defend
and propagate truth, feems to me to be that alone which
legitimates controverfies. I am fure it plainly distin-
guishes fuch from all others, in their fuccefs and ufeful-
nefs. If a man, as a fincere friend to the perfon, and
to the truth, labours to bring another out of errour,
there can be nothing more beautiful, nor more bene-
ficial. If party, paffion, or vanity direct his pen, and
have a hand in the controverfy; there can be nothing
more unbecoming, more prejudicial, nor more odious.
What thoughts I fhall have of a man that fhall, as a
chriftian, go about to inform me what is neceffary to be
believed to make a man a chriftian, I have declared, in
the preface to my "Reasonablenefs of Chriftianity,
"&c." nor do I find myfelf yet altered. He that, in
print, finds fault with my imperfect discovery of that,
wherein the faith, which makes a man a chriftian, con-
fifts, and will not tell me what more is required, will do
well to fatisfy the world what they ought to think of

8

INDEX.

IN DE X

то THE

SIXTH VOLUME.

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275

Acts of the Apostles, book fo called,
the author did not charge his
readers against stirring beyond
it,
248
how wifely as well as faith-
fully written by St. Luke, 328,
329
Actual affent to fundamental arti-
cles, how neceffary, 223, 224
Adam, wrong notions concerning
his fall,
4, 5, &c.
what he fell from, ibid.
Allegations between contending
parties, to be esteemed falfe un-
til proved,
192
Apoftles, the wisdom of the Lord
in choofing fuch mean perfons, 83
their minds illuminated by
the Holy Spirit,
92, &c.

Article of faith, how the author
pleaded for one only, 174, 196
Articles of chriftianity, and fuch
as are neceffary to make a man a
chriftian, different,
352

of religion, have been several
hundreds of years explaining,
and not yet understood, 177
Atheism, want of ferioufnefs in
difcourfing of divine things may
occafion it,
304

how falfely "The Rea-
fonableness of chriftianity" is
charged with promoting it, 305
Author of "The Reasonableness
of Chriftianity" falfely charged
with making one article neceffa-
ry in formal words,

194
falfely accufed of denying
fome articles of christianity, 197

falfely charged with new
modelling the apostles creed, 201
the feveral articles made

neceffary by him,

202, &c.
falfely charged with faying
"all things in christianity muft
"be level to every understand-
"ing,"
205, 214, &c.

- requires proof of his mak-
ing all but one article useless to
make a man a christian, 205, &c.
denies his contending for
but one, that men may under-
stand their religion, 205, 214

not guilty of folly in re-
quiring from his opponent a
complete lift of fundamentals,
215-222
his opponent compared to
a judge unwilling to hear both
fides,

243

- not justly called a focinian
for omitting what is not ex-
preffed in the apoftles creed, 281
his faith unjustly repre-
fented as little different from that
of a turk,
282,283

his account of faith very
different from that of devils,

283-285

unjustly charged with pa-

tronizing ignorance,

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293

his adverfary's arguing
from one to none would equally
ferve a pagan,

305

how he proves himself a

christian,

fometimes represented a

359

focinian, fometimes a papift, &c.

360

why

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law,

113, &c.

how be fulfilled the moral
122

what we may think to be the
ftate of those who never heard of
him,
132

the neceffity of his coming to
make God known,
135-To
teach men their duty, 138-To
inftruct in the right forms of di-
vine worship, 147, &c.-To giye
fuficient encouragement to a
good life, 148-And to affure
men of divine affiftance, 151

his deity not understood by
the Jews by the phrafe" Son of
God"
370
the word Chrift often used as
a proper name,
374
Chriftians, what is necessary to be
believed to make men fo, 226, &c.
whether all things of
this fort were revealed in our
Saviour's time,

345, &c.
what was fufficient to
make men fuch in Chrift's time,
is fo ftill,

358
are obliged to believe all
that they find our Saviour taught,
404

all things neceffary to be
believed

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