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Christian Religion  as Profess'd by A Daughter of the Church of England [Excerpts] * * * * * If God had not intended that women should use their reason, He would not have given them any, for He does nothing in vain. If they are to use their reason, certainly it ought to be employed about the noblest objects, and in business of the greatest consequence, therefore, in religion. That our Godfathers and Godmothers answer'd for us at the font, was an act of charity in them, and will be a great benefit to us if we make a right use of it; but it will be our own condemnation if we are Christians merely upon this account, for that only can beimputed to a free agent which is done with understanding and choice. A Christian woman therefore must not be a child in understanding; she must serve God with understanding as well as with affection; must love Him with all her mind and soul, as well as with all her heart and strength; in a word, must perform a reasonable service if she means to be acceptable to her maker.1 If God had not given us sufficient light to discern between the evil and the good, nor motives strong enough to incline us to pursue the one and to avoid the other; if He had not put happiness in our own choice, but had inevitably determined us to destruction, this indeed had been a want of mercy and goodness, if not a want of justice towards His creatures. 2 Where God has given but little light, no doubt He makes great allowances; this we may be sure of, that He is no hard master, nor requires an increase beyond the talents He has given us. But though the light shine ever so bright about us, we can have no vision unless we open our eyes. Tho' the motives are ever so strong and powerful yet they are but motives; they are most proper to persuade, but neither can or ought to compel.3 Every one knows, that the mind will not be kept from contemplating what it loves in the midst of crowds and business. Hence come those frequent absences, so observable in conversation; for whilst the body is confined to present company, the mind is flown to that which it delights in. If God then be the object of our desires, we shall relieve ourselves in the common uneasiness of life, by contemplating His beauty. For certainly there cannot be a higher pleasure than to think that we love and are beloved by the most amiable and best Being. Whom the more we contemplate the more we shall desire, and the more we desire the more we shall enjoy. This desire having the pre-eminence of all other desires, as in every other thing so particularly in this, that it can't be disappointed; no one who brings a sincere heart, being ever rejected by this divine lover. Whose eyes pierce the soul, as He can't be deceiv'd by imposture, so He never mistakes or neglects the faithful affection; which too seldom finds ways to make itself understood among mortals, even by those who pretend to be the most discerning, but who give themselves up to the flatterers and deceivers, whilst they treat the plain and honest person with the utmost outrage.4 Our blessed saviour has set us the brightest pattern of every virtue, and the best thing we can do is to form ourselves upon this most perfect example; but this is not the only thing to be remembered at his table. He did for us which no mere man, no nor the whole creation, could possibly perform, He satisfied divine justice for the sins of the whole world. And 'having made peace through the blood of His cross,' as the scripture speaks, 'reconciled all things unto the Father'; so that we have 'redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins' (Col I:14-20). And the Lord's Supper is a sacrament of our redemption by Christ's death: it is not only a badge or token of our profession, but rather a certain sure witness and effectual sign of grace and God's goodwill towards us, by the which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith in him: as the Church teaches in her Articles, which our divine having subscribed, this must needs be his sense, for we may not suspect him of prevarication. She says indeed very truly, that our preparation for the Lord's table, should not be accompanied with anxieties. For as we can't well understand why people will take the liberty to do that presently after the Holy Sacrament, which they would not allow themselves two or three days before; so neither they make that a task and toil, a sort of penance which in itself is a most delightful performance, a feast of joy and gladness. Or what can be the meaning of those melancholy looks and airs that are then put on, unless it be that believing it necessary to dismiss our sins at the Lord's table, we are sad and out of humour till we think we may meet again.5 So that tho' moral and intellectual improvements may be considered apart, they can't really be separated, at least not in a christian sense. There is a natural connection between purity of manners, and soundness of judgement: if any man will do God's will, says our Lord, he shall know the doctrine whether it be of God. For every sin, and more particularly, impurity, pride, and worldly interest, is a prejudice that shuts out the light of truth, keeps men obstinate in error, and hardens their minds against conviction. And therefore having Solomon on my side, and which is more, that Divine Spirit by which he wrote, I shall not scruple to call the sinner a fool, tho' he be ever so learned, so witty, son ingenious, or what passes with the most for the top of wisdom, so cunning and so worldly wise. For since wisdom consists in pursuing a worthy God by proper means, he whose God is to be despised and abhorr'd can't be a wise man, but is only the more foolish, by how much he is the more artful and industrious in pursuit of it. But the Christian, whatever his understanding may be in other matters, is wise in respect of his end, which is the main point of wisdom; and according to his capacity he will be wise with regard to the means of obtaining it. Indeed I heartily wish that we were all better instructed in this part of wisdom, and more diligent in the practice.6 Upon the principles of reason, the good of many is preferable to the good of a few or of one; a lasting good is to be preferred before a temporary, the public before the private. Upon Christian principles...having as I think already proved the authority of holy Scripture, the good of the mind is infinitely preferable to the good of the body; spiritual advantages to temporal and temporal are to be valued among themselves in proportion as they contribute to spiritual and eternal. Christians are members one of another—therefore the good of my neighbour is not to be separated from my own good but to be estimated with it. From all which it follows, first, in reference to superiors, it is better that I endure the unreasonableness, injustice or oppression of a parent, a master etc. than that the established rule of order and good government should be superseded on my account. It is better that my just pretensions should be thrown out, and my merit, if I have any, should be disregarded, than that I or any other private person should be our own carvers, and forced rewards from our superiors. It is better that I should submit to an unjust sentence than that there should be no end of strife; and that these private persons though ever so innocent should suffer than the majesty of government, and herein the divine authority, should be violated and the public should be disturbed. In regard to inferiors, I consider that since the good of many is a greater good than the good of one, it is therefore to be preferred, even though I be that one. That all authority being devolved from God's absolute dominion in its last resort arises from the excellency of his nature, by which he is our creator, preserver and constant benefactor; consequently the person and ground of superiorit is the supposed excellency of the superior because order and government must be maintained, which could not be, considering the corruption and partiality of mankind, were everyone left to be judge in this matter. Therefore we must submit to him, who by the laws and usages of the place, or by prescription when there is not a better title, has a claim to superiority, even though he be not really better than his neighbours.7 I consider that it is not only inhuman but even devilish to hurt or vex my neighbours for no other advantage to myself but the unnatural pleasure of seeing them suffer; that their greater good is preferable to my lesser good; and that a less evil suffered by me is not so bad in itself as a greater suffered by my neighbour. Therefore it is not reasonable, and consequently not best, that my neighbour should endure an evil to procure to me a good not equal in degree to that evil or that I should refuse pain or loss to procure for another a good that outweighs it. Much more am I obliged to deny myself a little good in order to obtain a great one for my neighbour and also to suffer a less evil to keep him from a greater. Nor will I in the main, and taking the future into computation, be a loser for giving my neighbour in these cases, and for the present, the preference. For the act thus is in reality to pursue my own greatest good, which they and they only provide for, who conform themselves in all things to the will of Gof, who is no respecter of persons, and therefore does not, absolutely speaking, will a good to any one of his creatures that tends to the greater evil of another, but who by the prerogative of his nature always wills the greatest good.8 I will not Conjecture what makes some People so warm against the Hypothesis of seeing all things in GOD, nor why after so much discourse about Ideas, they are so hard to be reconcil'd to an Ideal World. But this I may say with due submission to better Judgments, that that Hypothesis and what is built on it, gives a better answer than any Hypothesis I have met with, to the trifling and unreasonable Objections, for so I will presume to call them, tho' they are the strongest that can be made by the greatest pretenders to Reason, against the Divinity of the Son of GOD. Some have told us that the chiefest good of Man is the best Design of God [Lady's Religion 5]; I cannot answer for the Thoughts they seem to have of GOD and of themselves: But this I know, that they who are conversant in that Hypothesis, have too aweful a sense of the Divine Majesty to endure so presumptuous a Supposition. They know that GOD is His own Design and End, and that there is no other Worthy of Him. For since there neither is nor can be, any comparison between the Creator and His Creatures, far be it from us to think so unworthily of GOD, and so arrogantly of our selves, as to suppose that His Wisdom contriv'd all things for our Use, or supports them for our satisfaction, who are before HIM as nothing, who are counted to Him as less than nothing and vanity [Isaiah 40:17], who are not worthy of His notice but in and thro' His Son our Lord, by whom all things consist [Colossians I:16-17]. The Relation we bear to the Wisdom of the Father, the Son of His Love, gives us indeed a dignity which otherwise we have no pretence to. It makes us something, something considerable even in GOD's Eyes. And in this respect and upon this account, the Creation and chiefest Good of Man is a Design worthy of GOD, I know not how we shall be able to prove it so on any other.9 Sources:
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Created by Anniina Jokinen on December 30, 2006.