to them; what their noddles cannot apprehend, (as the unmasker is pleased to turn the supposition of vulgar people's understanding the fundamentals of their religion into ridicule,) i. e. it is necessary for many men to do, what is impossible for them to do, before they can be christians. But if there be several things in the bible, and in the epistles, that are not necessary for men to believe, to make them christians: then all the unmasker's arguments, upon their being in the epistles, are no proofs, that all his articles are necessary to be believed to make a man a christian, because they are set down in the epistles; much less, because he thinks they may be drawn, according to his system, out of what is set down in the epistles. Let him, therefore, either confess these and the like questions, "Why did the apostles write "these? Was it not, that those they write to, might give their assent to them? Why should not every one "of these evangelical truths be believed and embraced? They are in our bibles, for that very purpose; and the like; to be impertinent and ridiculous. Let him cease to propose them with so much ostentation, for they can serve only to mislead unwary readers or let him unsay what he has said, of things "not plain to "common apprehensions, not clear and intelligible." Let him recant what he has said of mysteries in christianity. For I ask with him, p. 8, "where can we be

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informed, but in the sacred and inspired writings?" It is ridiculous to urge, that any thing is necessary to be explicitly believed, to make a man a christian, because it is writ in the epistles, and in the bible; unless he confess that there is no mystery, nothing not plain, or unintelligible to vulgar understandings, in the epistles, or in the bible.

This is so evident, that the unmasker himself, who, p. 119, of his "Thoughts concerning the Causes of "Atheism," thought it ridiculous to suppose, that the vulgar should understand christianity, is here of another mind: and, p. 30, says of his evangelical doctrines and articles, necessary to be assented to, that they are intelligible and plain; there is no "ambiguity and doubt"fulness in them; they shine with their own light, and

"to an unprejudiced eye are plain, evident, and illus"trious."

To draw the unmasker out of the clouds, and prevent his hiding himself in the doubtfulness of his expressions, I shall desire him to say directly, whether the articles, which are necessary to be believed, to make a man a christian, and particularly those he has set down for such, are all plain and intelligible, and such as may be understood and comprehended (I will not say in the unmasker's ridiculous way, by the weakest noddles, but) by every illiterate country man and woman, capable of church-communion?

If he says, Yes; then all mysteries are excluded out of his articles necessary to be believed to make a man a christian. For that which can be comprehended by every day-labourer, every poor spinster, that is a member of the church, cannot be a mystery. And, if what such illiterate people cannot understand be required to be believed, to make them christians, the greatest part of mankind are shut out from being christians.

But the unmasker has provided an answer, in these words, p. 31, "There is" says he, "a difficulty in the "doctrine of the trinity, and several truths of the gos"pel, as to the exact manner of the things themselves, " which we shall never be able to comprehend, at least "on this side of heaven: but there is no difficulty as "to the reality and certainty of them, because we "know they are revealed to us by God in the holy scriptures."

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Which answer of "difficulty in the manner," and "no difficulty in the reality," having the appearance of a distinction, looks like learning; but when it comes to be applied to the case in hand, will scarce afford us

sense.

The question is about a proposition to be believed, which must first necessarily be understood. For a man cannot possibly give his assent to any affirmation or negation, unless he understand the terms as they are joined in that proposition, and has a conception of the thing affirmed or denied, and also a conception of the thing, concerning which it is affirmed or denied, as they are

there put together. But let the proposition be what it will, there is no more to be understood than is expressed in the terms of that proposition. If it be a proposition concerning a matter of fact, it is enough to conceive, and believe the matter of fact. If it be a proposition concerning the manner of the fact, the manner of the fact must also be believed, as it is intelligibly expressed in that proposition; v. g. should this proposition vexpoi iysporta be offered as an article of faith, to an illiterate countryman of England, he could not believe it: because, though a true proposition, yet it being proposed in words, whose meaning he understood not, he could not give any assent to it. Put it into English, he understands what is meant by the "dead shall rise." For he can conceive, that the same man, who was dead and senseless, should be alive again; as well as he can, that the same man, who is now in a lethargy, should awake again; or the same man that is now out of his sight, and he knows not whether he be alive or dead, should return and be with him again; and so he is capable of believing it, though he conceives nothing of the manner, how a man revives, wakes or moves. But none of these manners of those actions being included in those propositions, the proposition concerning the matter of fact (if it imply no contradiction in it) may be believed; and so all that is required may be done, whatever difficulty may be, as to the exact manner, how it is brought about.

But where the proposition is about the manner, the belief too must be of the manner, v. g. the article is, "The dead shall be raised with spiritual bodies: " and then the belief must be as well of this manner of the fact, as of the fact itself. So that what is said here, by the unmasker, about the manner, signifies nothing at all in the case. What is understood to be expressed in each proposition, whether it be of the manner, or not of the manner, is (by its being a revelation from God) to be believed, as far as it is understood: but no more is required to be believed concerning any article, than is contained in that article.

What the unmasker, for the removing of difficulties,

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adds farther, in these words, "But there is no difficulty as to the reality and certainty of the truths of the gospel; because we know, they are revealed to us by "God in the holy scripture;" is yet farther from signifying any thing to the purpose, than the former. The question is about understanding, and in what sense they are understood; not believing several propositions, or articles of faith, which are to be found in the scripture. To this the unmasker says, there can be "no difficulty at all as to their reality and certainty; because they "are revealed by God." Which amounts to no more but this, that there is no difficulty at all in the understanding and believing this proposition," that whatever " is revealed by God, is really and certainly true." But is the understanding and believing this single proposition, the understanding and believing all the articles of faith necessary to be believed? Is this all the explicit faith a christian need have? If so, then a christian need explicitly believe no more, but this one proposition, viz. That all the propositions between the two covers of his bible, are certainly true. But I imagine the unmasker will not think the believing this one proposition, is a sufficient belief of all those fundamental articles, which he has given us, as necessary to be believed to make a man a christian. For, if that will serve the turn, I conclude he may make his set of fundamentals as large and express to his system as he pleases: calvinists, arminians, anabaptists, socinians, will all thus own the belief of them, viz. that all that God has revealed in the scripture, is really and certainly true.

But if believing this proposition, that all that is revealed by God in the scripture is true, be not all the faith which the unmasker requires, what he says about the reality and certainty of all truths revealed by God, removes nothing of the difficulty. A proposition of divine authority is found in the scripture: it is agreed presently between him and me, that it contains a real, certain truth: but the difficulty is, what is the truth it contains, to which he and I must assent; v. g. the profession of faith made by the eunuch, in these words, "Jesus Christ is the son of God," upon which he was VOL, VI.

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admitted into the church, as a christian, I believe, contains a "real and certain truth." Is that enough? No, says the unmasker, p. 87, it "includes in it, that Christ "was God;" and therefore it is not enough for me to believe, that these words contain a real certain truth: but I must believe, they contain this truth, that Jesus Christ is God; that the eunuch spoke them in that sense, and in that sense I must assent to them: whereas they appear to me to be spoken, and meant here, as well as in several other places of the "New Testament,” in this sense, viz. "That Jesus Christ is the Messiah," and in that sense, in this place, I assent to them. The meaning then of these words, as spoken by the eunuch, is the difficulty and I desire the unmasker, by the application of what he has said here, to remove that difficulty. For granting all revelation from God to be really and certainly true, (as certainly it is,) how does the believing that general truth remove any difficulty about the sense and interpretation of any particular proposition, found in any passage of the holy scriptures? Or is it possible for any man to understand it in one sense, and believe it in another; because it is a divine revelation, that has reality and certainty in it? Thus much, as to what the unmasker says of the fundamentals, he has given us, p. 30, viz. That "no true lover of God and truth need doubt of any of them: for there is no ambiguity and doubtfulness in them." If the distinction he has used," of difficulty as to the exact manner, and "no difficulty as to the reality and certainty of gospel"truths," will remove all ambiguity and doubtfulness from all those texts of scripture, from whence he and others deduce fundamental articles, so that they will be "plain and intelligible" to every man, in the sense he understands them; he has done great service to christianity.

But he seems to distrust that himself, in the following words: "They shine," says he, "with their own light, ⚫ and to an unprejudiced eye, are plain, evident, and "illustrious; and they would always continue so, if "some ill-minded men did not perplex and entangle " them." I see the matter would go very smooth, if