bribing our basest lusts, that it conserves itself by the same means it entered; that it is unlearned and foolish, against reason, and the discourses of all wise men,-that it did no miracles and made false prophecies: in short, that in the person that founded it, in the article it persuades, in the manner of prevailing, in the reward it offers, it is unholy, and foolish, and rude; it must needs appear to be void of all pretence, and that no man of reason can ever be fairly persuaded by arguments, that it is the daughter of God, and came down from heaven. Since, therefore, there is nothing to be said for any other religion, and so very much for Christianity, every one of whose pretences can be proved as well as the things themselves do require, and as all the world expects such things should be proved; it follows, that the holy Jesus is the Son of God, that his religion is commanded by God, and is that way by which he will be worshipped and honoured, and that "there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved, but only by the name of the Lord Jesus." He that puts his soul upon this, cannot perish; neither can he be reproved, who hath 'so much reason and argument for his religion. "Sit anima mea cum Christianis ;" I God, pray my soul may be numbered amongst the Christians." 66 This rágegyo I have here brought as an instance of moral demonstration, not only to do honour to my dearest Lord, by speaking true and great things of his name, and endeavouring to advance and establish his kingdom, but to represent in order to the first intention, that a heap of probabilities may, in some cases, make a sure conscience: for, as Cicero says, "Probabile id est, quod habet in se quandam similitudinem, sive id falsum est, sive verum." For probability is not in the thing properly, for every thing is true or false in itself, and even false things may have the face and the likeness of truth, and cozen even wise persons. It was said of Bias, in Diogenes Laertius", "Orator summus et vehemens, sed in bonam causam dicendi vim omnem exercuit;" he could speak excellently, but then he spake best when he had an ill cause. This Lactantius calls gutam malitiam,' a cunning and an eloquent malice.' a De Inventione, lib. i. c. 46. Proust, p. 179. A ar But then, as falsehood may put on the face of truth, so may truth also like itself; and, indeed, every truth that men preach in religion, is at least probable, that is, there is so much to be said for it, that wise and good men may be persuaded into every truth; and the cause that it is only probable is by reason of our want of knowledge of things; but if it so happen that there is much to be said for the truth, and little or nothing against it, then it is a moral demonstration, that is, it ought to persuade firmly, and upon it we may rest confidently. This only I am to admonish, that our assent in these cases is not to be greater than the force of the premises; and therefore the church of Rome,-offering to prove all her religion as it distinguishes from the other divisions of Christians only by some prudential motives, or probable inducements, and yet requiring that all her disciples should believe it with divine and infallible faith, as certainly as we believe a mathematical demonstration,—does unjustly require brick where she gives no straw, and builds a tower upon a bulrush, and confesses that her interest is stronger than her argument, and that where by direct proof she cannot prevail, she by little arts would affright the understanding. For to give a perfect assent to probable inducements can neither be reasonable nor possible for considering persons, unless these conditions be in it. The Requisites or Conditions of a Moral Demonstration for the assuring our Conscience. 1. That the thing be the most probable to us in our present condition: for there are summities and principalities of probation proportionable to the ages and capacities of men and women. A little thing determines a weak person; and children believe infinitely whatsoever is told to them by their parents or tutors, because they have nothing to contest against it. For in all probable discourses, there is an allay and abatement of persuasion by the opposition of argument to argument; but they who have nothing to oppose, and have no reason to suspect, must give themselves up wholly to it; and then every thing that comes is equally the highest, because it fully and finally must prevail. But then that which prevails in infancy, seems childish and ridiculous in our youth; and then we are concluded by some pretences and pretty umbrages of things, which, for want of experiences, we think very well of; and we can then do no more; that is a demonstration to us, which must determine us: and these little things must then do it, because something must be done, and we must do it as wisely as we may, but no man is bound to be wiser than he can. As the thing seems, either in its own light or in our position, so we are to give our assent unto it. 2. A heap of probable inducements ought to prevail, as being then a moral demonstration, when the thing is not capable of a natural; for then probabilities ought to prevail, when they are the best argument we have. For if any man shall argue thus: It is not probable that God would leave his church without sufficient means to end controversies, and since a living infallible judge is the most effective to this purpose, it is therefore to be presumed and relied upon, that God hath done so.' This argument ought not to prevail as a moral demonstration; for though there are some semblances and appearances of reason in it, "Nihil est tam incredibile, quod non dicendo fiat probabile;" said Cicero in his Paradoxiesa; "there is nothing so incredible, but something may be said for it ;" and a witty man may make it plausible, yet there are certainties against it. For God hath said expressly, that " every man is a liar," and therefore we are commanded to "call no man master upon earth ;" and the nature of man is weak, and his understanding trifling, and every thing abuses him, and every man that is wise, sees his own ignorance, and he that is not wise is easily deceived,-and they who have pretended to be infallible, have spoken pitiful things, and fallen into strange errors, and cannot be guarded from shame without a whole legion of artifices and distinctions, and, therefore, it is certain that no man is infallible; and where the contrary is certain, the probable pretence is but a fallacy and an art of illusion. 3. There can be no moral demonstration against the word of God, or Divine revelation. He that should flatter himself with thinking the pains of hell shall not be eternal, because it is not agreeable to the goodness of God to inflict a never ceasing pain for a sudden and transient pleasure, and that there can be no proportion between finite Præf. ad Par. § 4. Wetzel, page 240. and infinite, and yet God who is the fountain of justice will observe proportions; or if there could be ten thousand more little things said to persuade a sinning man into confidences of an end of torment:-yet he would find himself deceived, for all would be light when put into the balance against these words of our blessed Saviour, "Where the worm never dies, and the fire never goeth out." 4. Where there is great probability on both sides, there neither of them can pretend to be a moral demonstration, or directly to secure the conscience: for contradictions can never be demonstrated; and if one says true, the other is a fair pretender, but a foul deceiver; and, therefore, in this case the conscience is to be secured indirectly and collaterally by the diligence of search, the honesty of its intention, the heartiness of its assent, the infirmity of the searcher, and the unavoidableness of his mistake. 5. The certainty of a moral demonstration must rely upon some certain rule, to which, as to a centre, all the little and great probabilities, like the lines of a circumference, must turn; and when there is nothing in the matter of the question, then conscience hath, v piya, one great axiom to rely upon, and that is, that God is just,' and God is good, and requires no greater probation than he hath enabled us to find.' 6. In probable inducements, God requires only such an assent as can be effective of our duty and obedience, such a one as we will rely upon to real events, such as merchants have when they venture their goods to sea upon reasonable hopes of becoming rich, or armies fight battles in hope of victory, relying upon the strength they have, as probable to prevail; and if any article of our religion be so proved to us as that we will reduce it to practice, own all its consequences, live according to it, and in the pursuance of it, hope for God's mercy and acceptance, it is an assent as great as the thing will bear, and yet, as much as our duty will require ; for in these cases no man is wise but he whose ears and heart are open to hear the instructions of any man who is wiser and better than himself. 7. Rules of prudence are never to be accepted against a rule of logic, or reason, and strict discourses. I remember, that Bellarmine, going to prove purgatory from the words of 6 our blessed Saviour, "It shall not be forgiven him in this world, nor in the world to come;" argues thus, If this shall not be forgiven in the world to come, then it implies that some sins are there forgiven, and, therefore, there is a purgatory; because in heaven there are no sins, and in hell there are none forgiven. This (says he) concludes not by the rule of logicians, but it does by the rule of prudence.' Now this to all wise men must needs appear to be an egregious prevarication even of common sense; for if the rules of logic be true, then it is not prudence, but imprudence that contradicts them, unless it be prudence to tell, or to believe, a lie. For the use of prudence is to draw from conjectures a safe and a wise conclusion, when there are no certain rules to guide us. But against the certain rules it is folly that declares, not prudence; and besides that this conjecture of Bellarmine is wholly against the design of Christ, who intended there only to say, that the sin against the Holy Ghost should never be pardoned;' it fails also in the main inquiry, for although there are no sins in heaven, and in hell none are forgiven, yet, at the day of judgment all the sins of the penitent shall be forgiven and acquitted with a blessed sentence: but besides this, the manner of expression is such as may with prudence be expounded, and yet to no such purpose as he dreams. For if I should say, Aristobulus was taken away, that neither in this life, nor after his death, his eyes might see the destruction of the Temple, does it follow by the rule of prudence, therefore, some people can see in their grave, or in the state of separation with their bodily eyes? But as to the main inquiry, what is to be the measure of prudence? For some confident people think themselves very prudent, and that they say well and wisely, when others, wiser than they, know they talk like fools: and because no established reason can be contradicted by a prudent conjecture, it is certain that this prudence of Bellarmine was a hard shift to get an argument for nothing, and that no prudential motives are to be valued because any man calls them so, but because they do rely upon some sure foundation, and draw obscure lines from a resolved truth. For it is not a prudential motive, unless it can finally rest upon reason, or revelation, or experience, or something that is not contradicted by any thing surer than itself. |