Immorality and pride, the great causes of atheism a sermon preach'd at the cathedral-church of St. Paul, January the 8th 1697/8 : the first of the lecture for that year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq. / by John Harris ...

Immorality and pride, the great causes of atheism a sermon preach'd at the cathedral-church of St. Paul, January the 8th 1697/8 : the first of the lecture for that year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq. / by John Harris ...

Table of contents

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Title page

TO THE Most Reverend Father in God THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury; Sir HENRY ASHURST Baronet; Sir JOHN ROTHERAM Serjeant at Law; JOHN EVELYN Senior Esquire; Trustees appointed by the Will of the Honorable ROBERT BOYLE Esquire.

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PSALM X. 4.‘The Wicked through the Pride of his Countenance, will not seek after God: Neither is God in all his Thoughts.’

IN this Psalm is Contained a very lively Description of the Insolence of Atheistical and Wicked Men, when once they grow Powerful and Numerous; for then, as we read at the Third Verse, they will proceed so far, as openly to boast of and glory in their Impiety: They will boldly defie and contemn the great God of Heaven and Earth, v. 13. They will deny his Providence, v. 11. and despise his Vengeance: And, as we are told in these words of my Text, They will grow so Proud and high, as to scorn to pay him any Honour or Worship, to Pray to him or Call upon him; but will endeavour to banish the very Thoughts of his Being out of their Minds. The Wicked through the Pride of his, &c.

In which words, we have an Account more particularly, by what Methods and Steps Men advance to such an Exorbitant height of Wickedness, as to set up for Atheism, and to deny the Existence of a God; for there are in them these Three Particulars, which I shall consider in their Order.

I. Here is the general Character or Qualifications of the Person the Psalmist speaks of; which is, That he is a Wicked Man. The Wicked through the Pride, &c.

[Page] II. The particular kind of Wickedness, or the Origin from whence the Spirit of Atheism and Irreligion doth chiefly proceed; And That is Pride. The Wicked through the Pride of his Countenance, &c. And,

III. Here is the great Charge that is brought against this Wicked and Proud Man; viz. Wilful Atheism and Infidelity: He will not seek after God: Neither is God in all his Thoughts: Or, as it is in the Margin of our Bibles, with good Warrant from the Hebr. All his Thoughts are there is no God.

In discoursing on the two First of these Heads, I shall endeavour to shew, that Immorality and Pride are the great Causes of the Growth of Atheism amongst us: And on the Third, I shall consider the Objections that Atheistical Men usually bring against the being of a Deity, and shew how very weak and invalid they are.

And first I think it very Necessary to say something of the Causes of Infidelity and Atheism, and to shew how it comes to pass that Men can possibly arrive to so great a height of Impiety. This my Text naturally leads me to, before I can come to the great Subject I design to Discourse upon; and I hope it may be of very good use to discover the Grounds of this heinous Sin, and the Methods and Steps by which Men advance to it; that so those who are not yet hardened in it, nor quite given up to a Reprobate Mind, may, by the Blessing of God, take heed, and avoid being engaged in such Courses as do naturally lead into it.

[Page] I. Therefore let us consider the general Character or Qualifications of the Person here spoken of in my Text, And that is, that he is a Wicked Man. The wicked through the Pride, &c.

And this is every where the Language of the Sacred Scripture, when it speaks of Atheistical Men. David tells us (Psal. 14. 1. and 51. 1) that 'tis the Fool (i. e. the Wicked Man, for so the word Nabal often signifies, and is so here to be understood) 'Tis he that hath said in his heart there is no God. 'Tis such an one as is a Fool by his own fault; one stupified and dull'd by Vice and Lust, as he sufficiently explains it afterwards; one that is corrupt and become filthy, and that hath done abominable works. So the Apostle St. Paul supposes, that those Men will have in them an evil heart of unbelief, who do depart from the living God, and live without him in the world. And indeed, it is very Natural to conclude, That those which are once debauched in their Practices, may easily grow so in their Principles: For when once 'tis a Man's Interest that there should be no God, he will readily enough disbelieve his Existence: We always give our assent very precipitantly to what we wish for, and would have to be true. A Man oppressed with a Load of Guilt, and conscious to himself, that he is daily obnoxious to the Divine Vengeance, will be often very uneasie, restless, and dissatisfied with himself, and his Mind must be filled with Dismal and Ill-boding Thoughts. He is unwilling to leave his Sins, and to forego the present Advantage of Sensual Pleasure; and yet [Page] he cannot but be fearful too, of the Punishments of a Future State, and vehemently disturbed now and then, about the account that he must one day give of his Actions.

Now, 'tis very Natural for a Man under such Circumstances, to catch at any thing that doth but seem to offer him a little Ease and Quiet, and that can help him to shake off his melancholy Apprehension of impending Punishment and Misery. Some therefore bear down all Thought and Consideration of their Condition, in an uninterrupted enjoyment of Sensual Delights, and quite stupifie and drown their Conscience and Reason in continual Excesses and Debauchery; and thus very many commence Atheists, out of downright Sottishness and Stupidity, and come at last to believe nothing of the Truths of Religion, because they never think any thing about it, nor understand any thing of it. Others, who have been a little enured to thinking, and have gotten some small smattering in the superficial Parts of Learning, will endeavour to defend their wicked Practices by some pretence to Reason and Argument. These will one while justifie their Actions, by forced and wrested Citations and Explications of some particular Texts of Scripture; at another time they will shroud themselves under the Examples of the Prevarications of some great Men in Sacred Scripture, as a Licence to them, to be guilty of the same or the like wicked Acts; without considering at all, of their great Penitence afterwards. Sometimes they will dispute the Eternity of Hell Torments, deny that their Soul shall [Page] survive the Body, and please themselves with the glorious hopes of being utterly annihilated. Now they will argue against the Freedom of their own Wills; and by and by, against that of the Divine Nature: and from both conclude, that there can be no harm nor evil in what they do, because they are absolutely necessitated to every thing they commit. But against all this precarious stuff, the Sacred Scriptures do yet appear and afford a sufficient Refutation. The next Step therefore must be to quarrel at, and expose them; to pretend that there are Absurdities, Contradictions and Inconsistencies in them: To assert that the Religion they contain, is nothing but a meer Human and Political Institution, and the Invention of a Crafty and designing Order of Men, to promote their own Interest and Advantage; but that they are of no manner of Divine Authority, nor Universal Obligation. And when once they get thus far, they begin to be at Liberty; now they can pursue their vicious Inclinations without controul of their Consciences, or the Conviction of God's holy Word, and are got above the Childish Fears of Eternal Misery. By this time, the true and through Calenture of Mind begins; they grow now deliriously enamoured with the feign'd Products of their own Fancies; and these Notions appear to them now, adorned with such bright and radiant Colours, and so beautiful and glorious, that they will rush headlong into this Fools Paradise, though Eternal Destruction be at the bottom; for now they stick at nothing; They Retrench the Deity of all his Attributes, absolutely deny his Presidence over the Affairs of the World, [Page] and make him nothing but a kind of necessary and blind Cause of things, Nature, the Soul of the World, or some such word, which they have happened to meet with in the Ancient Heathen Writers. But they Profess that 'tis impossible to have any Idaea of him at all; and what they cannot conceive or have an Idaea of, they say is nothing, and by Consequence there can be no such thing as a God. This, or such like, I'm perswaded is the usual Method, by which these kind of Men advance to absolute Infidelity and Atheism: And in this, they are every step confirmed and established by the seeming Wit, and real Boldness, with which Atheistical Men dress up their Arguments and Discourses; and of which, if they were stripped and divested, their weakness and inconclusiveness must needs appear to every one. But the Mirth and Humour, and that Surprising and Extravagant Vein of talking which always abounds in the Company of such Men, so suits and agrees with his own vicious Inclinations, that he becomes easily prejudiced against the Truth of Religion, and any Obligation to its Precepts and Injunctions: And so he will soon resolve to seek no more after God, but will employ all his Thoughts to prove that there is no such Being in the World.

But on the other hand, it appears wholly impossible for a Man to arrive at such a pitch as absolute Infidelity and Atheism, if he hath been virtuously Educated, and be enclined to live a Sober and a Moral Life. For there is certainly nothing that Religion enjoins, but what is exactly agreeable [Page] to the Rules of Morality and Virtue; nothing but what is conformable to right Reason and Truth; nothing but what is substantially good▪ and pleasant, and nothing but what will approve it self to a thinking Mind, as certainly conducing to the good of Human Society, and to every one's Quiet, Ease, and Happiness here in this Life: And over and above this, it gives us an assurance of a glorious Immortality in the World to come.

Now, Can it be imagined, that any sober and virtuous Man, and one that is not prejudiced by the Inducements of Sensual Pleasure, if he seriously considers things, will not be induced to take upon him the Profession of our holy Religion: and with all due Gratitude to our Gracious God, accept of so vast a Reward as this of Eternal Happiness? Especially too when it is for doing that only out of a true Principle of Religion, which it is supposed he was inclined to perform without it, by the Principles of Reason and Honour. A Man that is enclined to live virtuously, justly, temperately, and peaceably in this present World, will soon be satisfied, if he read the Holy Scriptures, that it is this which lies at the Bottom of all Revealed Religion, and for whose Advancement and Propagation among Mankind, all that gracious Dispensation was contrived and delivered to us. What reason can therefore be possibly assigned, why such a Person should disbelieve the Truths of Religion? Is not a desire of Happiness so Natural to us, that 'tis the great Inducement of all our Actions? and will not every Man aim to get as much of this as he can, according to the Notion [Page] he hath of it? what is there then that can prejudice such a Man's Mind against the Belief and Expectation of a future Reward at the hand of God? Is it not Natural to embrace any offer that proposes to us a great Advantage? and are not we very ready to believe the Truth of any thing that is advanced of that Nature? The Great Truths therefore of Religion, containing nothing impossible, absurd or improbable in them, and exhibiting to him Infinite Advantages on such easie Conditions, must needs be the delightful Objects of a Good and Virtuous Man's Faith. He, indeed, that hath just Grounds to fear that his Irregular Life will incapacitate him for the Favour of God; and the Joys of another World, may be willing, and at last infatuated so far, as really to disbelieve what he knows he cannot obtain. But one that is of a Moral, Sober and Virtuous Disposition, can never be supposed to be so unaccountably absurd, as to commence Atheist contrary to his Interest, his Inclination, and his Reason.

And as 'tis hardly possible to conceive a Person can be an Atheist, without being first Wicked; so it appears as difficult to imagine, that if he be an Atheist, he should not continue to be so. I know the Contrary is often pretended; viz. That one that believes nothing of a God or Religion, may yet be, and often is guided by a Principle of Reason and Honour, and will do to others as he would be done unto himself: Such an one (it is said) will be satisfied of the Necessity of Humane Laws, and of the Advantages that do thence arise to Mankind: He will think himself obliged to submit to the Laws of [Page] his Country, and consequently will keep up to the Rules of common Justice and Honesty; and this (say they) is enough, and all that Religion can pretend to enjoin.Pensees diverses Ecrites à un Docteur de Sorbonne à l'Occasion de la Cométe qui parut au Mois de Decembre, 1680. Rotterdam. 8vo. There is a late French Author, that endeavours to maintain by Arguments and Examples, that the Principles of Atheism do not necessarily lead to Vice and Immorality. But in the Proof of this, he comes very short of his Design. He alledges, That some Professing Christianity have always, and do still, live as bad Lives and as wickedly as any Atheists whatsoever can do: And that some Atheists have lived very Regularly and Morally. But what then? Allowing and granting all this; it doth not in the least follow that Atheism doth not lead to Immorality and a Corruption of Manners. For it is neither asserted that Atheism is the only way of becoming Wicked; nor that an Atheist must necessarily be guilty of all manner of Vice. No doubt very many Men betake themselves to a sinful Course, without having any Principles to justifie themselves by, as the Atheist pretends to: But are drawn into Wickedness purely by Incogitancy and want of Consideration. And such kind of Persons, though they make an outward Profession of Christianity, yet they may be, and doubtless often are, as Vicious and Immoral as any other Men, without ever arriving at the Point of Speculative Atheism, or perhaps without ever so much as doubting of the Being of a God, of the Truth of Religion, or of a Future State of Rewards and Punishments. No one saith also that an Atheist must necessarily be guilty of all manner of Vice and Immorality: But 'tis plain enough, that his Principles lead him to prosecute any vicious Inclination that is suitable [Page] to him, and to do any thing that he can safely, to procure to himself that kind of Happiness or Satisfaction he proposes to enjoy. Many Sins are disagreeable to some particular Periods and Circumstances of a Man's Life, to his Constitution, Genius and Humour. Now 'tis easie to suppose a Man may abstain from such, for his own Ease, Health and Quiet's sake. Self-Love will preserve the Atheist from such open and notorious Acts of Wickedness, as will expose him to the Capital Punishment of Human Laws; and which will endanger depriving him of his Being here, where he only proposes to be happy. This Principle also of Self-Love, will hinder him from exposing himself to Ignominy and Scandal; and will make him endeavour to keep fair in the Opinions of those whose disesteem would give him a great degree of Unhappiness. But it doth not in the least follow from hence, that because he is not guilty of all manner, or of this or that particular Vice, that therefore he is a good Moral Man, and guilty of none at all: It cannot be concluded from hence, that such a Person will avoid committing any Fact, be it never so Wicked, when it is stript of all these Inconveniences, and can be done secretly, safely and securely: when 'tis agreeable to his Constitution and Humour, fashionable and gentile, and contributes very much to that kind of Satisfaction he is inclin'd to; for as one that had consider'd this Point well, observes, Self-Love, which like Fire covets to resolve all things into it self, makes Men they care not what Villany or what Impiety they Act, so it may but conduce to their own Advantage. (Preface to Great is Diana of the Ephesians.) And indeed, if he be not absolutely [Page] Stupid, and one that proposes to himself no manner of End at all, he will certainly do this very thing: He will pursue and practise Indifferently such kind of Designs and Actions, be they good or bad, as will give him as much Pleasure and Happiness as he can have here in this short Life, where, Miserable Wretch as he is, he only hath any hope. And nothing can nor will hinder such a Person from endeavouring to do or obtain any thing he hath a Mind to, but the fear of being exposed to Punishment and Misery here, from those among whom he lives. Now, this Consideration can have no place in secret Actions, and consequently nothing will hinder a Man of these abominable Principles from committing the most barbarous Villany that is consistent with his Safety, and subservient to his Desires; that can be either concealed in Secresie, or supported by Power. For, as to the Principle of Honour, that such Men will pretend to be governed and guided by, and which they would set up to supply the Room of Conscience and Religion; 'tis plain, that 'tis the veriest Cheat in Nature: 'tis nothing but a meer abusive Name, to gull the World into a Belief that they have some kind of Principle to act and proceed by, and which keeps them from doing an Ill Thing: Whereas the Atheist can have no Principle at all, but that sordid one of Self Love; which will still carry him to the perpetrating of any thing indifferently, according as it best conduces to his present Interest and Advantage. They deny that there are any Actions truly Good or Honourable, or Wicked and Base in themselves; but that this is all owing to the peculiar Customs, Laws, and Constitutions [Page] of Places and Countries: And that as all Men are, so Actions also, are naturally equal and alike: And how far such Notions as these will carry Men, 'tis very easie both to Imagine and to Observe. One would think nothing could be more Noble, Honourable and Comely, than for a Man to stick firm and constant to those Principles that he pretends to, and by no means whatever to be brought to abjure and deny them. Sincerity is so lovely and desirable a Vertue, that it doth approve it self, as it were naturally, to the reason of all Mankind: and 'tis equally Useful, nay, indeed Necessary, to the due Government of the World. But this Noble Virtue, so peculiar to a Man of True honour and greatness of Mind, the Atheist will practise no longer than it is for his Interest and Advantage, and while it is consistent with his Safety. That Men may profess or deny any thing to save their Lives, is the avowed Principle of one of their great Writers. And the same is expresly asserted in other words, even in lesser Cases than that of Danger of Death, by the Translator of Philostratus's Life of Apollonius Tyanaeus, with a great Pretence to Wit and Humour. But if Men may Lye and Prevaricate from so base and abject a Principle as Fear, no doubt they may do so for Interest and Advantage, for that is certainly as good a ground, as Cowardliness and Baseness; and then what becomes of this boasted Honour that is so much talk'd of; this greatness of Mind, that will keep a Man from doing an ill thing. In reality, 'twill at last amount to no more than this, that he will forbear doing an Ill Thing, when [Page] he thinks it will prove ill to him: he will be Just, Honest and Sincere when he don't dare be otherwise, for fear of the Law, Shame, and Ignominy: For all Men of Atheistical Principles would be Knaves and Villains if they durst, if they could do it safely and securely: such a Man ('tis like) shall return you a Bag of Money, or a rich Jewel you happen to depose in his Hands; but why is it? 'tis because he dares not keep it and deny it; 'tis great odds but he is discovered and exposed by this means; and besides, 'tis Unfashionable and Ungenteel to be a Cheat in such Cases. But to impoverish a Family by Extravagance and Debauchery, to defraud Creditors of their just Debts, or Servants of their Wages, to Cheat at Play, to violate one's Neighbour's Bed to gratifie one's own Lust, are things, which though to the full as Wicked and Unreasonable in themselves, are yet swallowed down as allowable enough, because common and usual, and which are not, the more is the pity, attended with that Scandal and Infamy that other Vices are. Thus 'tis very plain, that this pretended Principle of Honour in an Atheist or a Wicked Man, and this Obedience and Deference that he pretends to pay to the Laws of his Country, is a most Partial and Changeable thing, and vastly different from that true Honour and Bravery that is founded on the Eternal Basis of Conscience and Religion; 'tis an Airy Name that serves only to amuse unthinking and short-sighted Persons into a Belief, that he hath some kind of Principles that he will stick to; that so he may be thought fit to be trusted, dealt and conversed withall in the World.

[Page] And thus, I think, it is very clear and apparent that Wickedness naturally leads to Infidelity and Atheism, and Infidelity and Atheism to the Support and Maintenance of That: And that it is the Wicked that will not seek after God, and whose thoughts are that there is no God. Which was my First Particular.

I come next to Consider,

II. That Peculiar Kind of Wickedness which the Psalmist here takes notice of, as the chief Ground from whence Infidelity and Atheism proceed: And that is Pride. The Wicked, through the Pride of his Countenance will not seek after God, neither is God in all his Thoughts.

And I question not but this Vice of Pride, is generally the Concomitant of Infidelity, and the chief Ground from whence the Spirit of Speculative Atheism proceeds. When Men of proud and haughty Spirits lead ill Lives, as they very often do, they always endeavour to justifie themselves in their Proceeding, be it never so Irregular and Absurd, and never so contrary to the considerate Sentiments of all the rest of the World. A Proud Man hates to acknowledge himself in an Errour, and to own that he hath committed a Fault: He would have the World believe that there is a kind of Indefectibility in his Understanding and Judgment, which secures him from being deceived and mistaken like other Mortals. Whatever Actions therefore such a Person commits, he would fain have appear reasonable and justifiable. But he sees plainly that he cannot make [Page] Wickedness and Immorality do so, as long as Religion stands its Ground in the World. The Sacred Scriptures are so plain and express against such a course of Life, that there is no avoiding being convicted and condemned while their Authority remains good: 'Tis impossible any way to reconcile a vicious Life to the Doctrine there delivered: And therefore he sees plainly, That one that Professes to believe the great Truths of Religion, and the Divine Authority of those Sacred Books, and yet by his Practices gives the Lye to his Profession, and while he acknowledges Jesus Christ in his Words, doth in his Works deny him; he sees, I say, that such an one stands [...], Self-condemned, and can never acquit himself either to his own Conscience, or to the Reason of Mankind. Now this is perfectly disagreeable to the Genious and Humour of a Proud Man; he cannot bear to be thought in any respect Incoherent or Inconsistent with himself: And therefore having vainly tried to justifie himself in his Wickedness, by alledging the Examples of some good Men in Sacred Scripture, that have been guilty of great Sins, but whose Repentance he can by no means digest: And having also fruitlessly endeavoured to rely on the perverted Sense of some particular Texts of Scripture, which he knows are sufficiently refuted by the Analogy of the whole; he finds at last that 'tis the best way to deny the Divine Authority of the Bible, and the Truth of all Revelation, and so boldly shake off at once all Obligation to the Rules of Piety and Virtue; and since Religion can't be wrested so as to give an allowance to his way of living, he will take [Page] it quite away, Banish that and God Almighty out of the World, and set up Iniquity by a Law. And nothing can be more pleasing and agreeable to the Arrogance of such Men than this way of Proceeding: It gratifies an insolent and haughty Spirit prodigiously, to do things out of the common Road; to pretend to be Adept in a Philosophy that is as much above the rest of Mankind's Notions, as 'tis Contradictory to it: to assume to himself a Power of seeing much farther into things than other Folk, and to penetrate into the deepest recesses of Nature.Vid. Jul. Caes. Vanini Amphitheatr. in Titulo & Epist. Dedicator. He would pass for one of Nature's Cabinet Councellors, a Bosome Favourite that knows all the secret Springs of Action, and the first remote Causes of all Things. He pleases himself mightily to have discovered with what Ridiculous Bugbears the Generality of Mankind are awed and frighted; he can now look downDespicere unde queas alios, passim (que) videre Errare, at (que) viam palantes quaerere vitae. Lucr. lib. 2. with a Scornful Pity on the poor groveling Vulgar, the Unthinking Mobb below, that are poorly enslaved and terrified by the Fear of a God, and of Ills to come they know not when nor where: He despises such dull Biggots as will be imposed upon by Priests, and that will superstitiously abstain from the Enjoyment of present Pleasure, on account of such idle Tales as the Comminations of Religion. And as he despises those that are not Wicked, so he upbraids those that are so, with inconsistency with their Principles and Profession, and for doing the same things that he doth, when they have nothing to bear them out: And thus he doubly gratifies his Pride, by justifying himself, and condemning [Page] and triumphing over others. Nay, the very Mistakes and Errours of such a Man, we are told, appear laudable and great to him, and he can please himself at last, with saying, That he hath not Erred like a Fool, but Secundum Verbum. Vid. Oracles of Reason, p. 92. When Men have a while enured themselves to talk at this rate, and to blow themselves up with such lofty Conceits and Fancies, they grow▪ by degrees more and more opinionated, and do dote more and more on their own dear Notions; and finding by this means quiet and ease in the Practice of their Sins, they at last degenerate so far as firmly to believe the Truth of what they perhaps at first advanced and talk'd only from a Spirit of Contradiction; and become so stupid and blind, as, like great Liars, to believe their own Figments and InventionsVid. Great is Diana of the Ephesians.. To such any Extravagant and Inconsistent Hypothesis, so it do but clash with Sacred Scripture, shall be no less than a real Demonstration; a Bold and daring Falsity shall pass for undoubted Truth; and a Prophane Jest, or a Scurrilous Reflection on the Character or Person of one in Holy Orders, shall be a sufficient Refutation of the plainest Demonstration he can bring against their Principles and Practices. For it is most certain, that though a Proud Man always think himself in the right, and arrogate to himself an Exemption from the common Frailties and Errours of Mankind; yet there is no body so frequently deceived and mistaken, as he; for he doth so overestimate all his Faculties and Endowments, and is so much enamoured of, and Trusts so much to his own Quickness and Penetration, that he usually [Page] Imagines his Great Genius able to Master any thing without the servile fatigue of Pains and Study: and therefore he will never give himself Time seriously to examine into things, he scorns and hates the Drudgery of deeply revolving and comparing the Idaeas of things in his Mind, but rashly proceeds to Judgment and Determination on a very Transient and Superficial View: And there will he stick, be the Resolution he is come to never so absurd and Unaccountable; for he is as much above confessing an Errour in Judgment, as he is of Repenting of a Fault in Practice. And indeed, as the absurd and ridiculous Paradoxes which Atheistical Writers maintain, shew their shallow insight into things, and their Precipitancy in forming a Determination about them; so the Pride and Haughtiness with which they deliver them, abundantly demonstrates the True Spirit of such Authors, and the Real Ground both of their Embracing and Maintaining their Opinions. Plato describes the Atheists of his Age, to be a Proud, Insolent, and Haughty sort of Men, the Ground of whose Opinion was, he saith, [...], in reality, a very mischievous Ignorance; though to the conceited Venders and Embracers of it [...]. It appeared to be the greatest Wisdom, and the Wisest of all Opinions. Lactantius tells us in his Discourse, De Ira Dei, p. 729. Oxon. that the true Reason why Diagoras Melius and Theodorus, two of the Ancient Atheists denied a Deity was, That they might gain the Glory of being the Authors of some new Opinion, contradictory to the common Notions of Mankind. And of the former of [Page] these, Diagoras, Sextus Empiricus acquaints us, That because a certain perjured Person, who had wrong'd him, lived unpunished by the Gods, he was so enraged at it, that he undertook to maintain there were no Gods at all. Lib. Adr. Mathem. Edit. Genev. 1621.

The like Pride and Arrogance Lactantius tells us he found in the two great Writers that appeared against Christianity, in his time, in Bithynia. The former of these, who, 'tis probable, was the famous Porphyry, called himself Antistes Philosophiae, the Chief or Prince of Philosophers; and saith Lactantius, Nescio utrum Superbius an Importunius, pretended to correct the blind Errors of Mankind, and to guide Men into the True Way; He could not bear, that Unskilful and Innocent Persons should be enslaved by the Cheats of, and become a Prey to, Crafty and Designing Men. Lib. de Justit. p. 420, 421. Oxon.

With the like Assurance do the Modern Writers of this kind express themselves: And though they have in reality very little or nothing New, but only the Arguments of the Ancients a little varied and embelished, (as I shall have occasion to observe hereafter more at large,) yet they all set up for new Lights, and mighty Discoverers of the Secrets of Nature and Philosophy; and all of the assume the Glory of first leading Men into the way of Truth, and delivering them out of the dark mazes of Vulgar Errors. This was the pretence of Vanini, who was burnt for Atheism at Tholouse, A. D. 1619. whose Mind, he says, grew more and more strong, [Page]healthful and robust, as he exercised it in searching out the Secrets of that Supreme Philosophy, Animus tamen in supremae & vulgo. Philosophantibus incognitae Philosophiae Arcanis investigandis validior factus & robustior; ut Physico-Magicum nostrum, quod mox ex umbrâ in lucem prodibit pellegens, aequa posteritas facilè est Judicatura. which is wholly unknown to the common and ordinary Rank of Philosophers: And this, he saith, will soon be discovered, by the perusal of his Physico-Magicum, which was now to see the Light. Vid. Vanini Amphitheatr. in Epist. Dedicat.

After the same manner do Machiavel, Spinoza, Hobbs, Blount, and all the late Atheistical Writers, deliver themselves; Instances of which, I think, I need not stay to give, since 'tis conspicuous through the whole course of their Writings, and, no doubt, taken notice of by every Reader; only of the first of these, viz. Machiavel, I cannot but take notice, that Vanini himself saith, that 'twas his Pride and Covetousness that made him deny the Truth of the Miracles recorded in Sacred Scripture. Amphitheatr. p. 51. Edit. Lugduni, 1615.

And as the Writings, so the Discourses of these Gentlemen do equally discover this Pride and Vanity: for they do usually deliver themselves with such a scornful and contemptuous Air, when they either endeavour to establish their own, or to overthrow their Adversaries Arguments, as sufficiently shews the Propriety and Truth of the Psalmist's Observation here, that 'tis through the pride of his countenance, that the wicked will not seek after God. The LXXII. indeed render it, [...] Through [Page]the abundance of his wrath: and therein they are followed by the vulgar Latin. As if the Wicked were angry against God, and enraged at his Presidency over Humane Affairs: as if they fretted under, and quarrelled at the Severity of his Laws and Government, and scorned to apply themselves to him by Prayer, and to submit to him by Obedience. But though this may be a good sence of the words; and though, I doubt not, a stubborn Frowardness and Perverseness of our Wills against the Will of God, may be a frequent cause and ground of Infidelity: yet our English Translation appears to me to be much better warranted from the Hebrew; for there it is properly, through the Elevation of his Nose or Face. Which, truly, is very emphatical, and expresses such a proud and scornful gesture of Face, as is the natural Indication of the Internal Haughtiness of a Man's Mind; or as the Targum, on this place, render it, of the arrogance of his Spirit. Such a Turn and Air of Countenance as argues a proud contempt of all the rest of Mankind, who trot on in the common road, believe and worship a God, and poorly submit to be governed by his Laws and Precepts.

And thus having dispatched my Two first Particulars, and shewed, That Wickedness and Pride are two great Causes of Infidelity and Atheism; I should now proceed to speak to the Third thing observable in my Text, viz.

III. The great Charge which the Psalmist brings against the wicked Person here mentioned, That he will not seek after God; neither is God in all his Thoughts. [Page] But this I must leave for my next Discourse, and shall now Conclude with a word or two by way of Application.

Since the Case stands thus, That Wickedness in general, and Pride in particular, do so naturally lead to Infidelity and Atheism; and that 'tis hardly possible to imagine a Man can entertain such an Opinion without them: Let every one then, that hath any Inclination or Temptation that way, seriously examine his own Mind, whether he be not prejudiced towards it by some vitious Desires and Affections; whether he doth not heartily wish that there were no God nor Religion; whether he hath not, by his past Actions, really loaded himself with guilt, and therefore is disturbed in his Mind with the apprehension, that the Divine Punishment will overtake him, and light upon him, for his Sins: Let him search diligently whether he hath not recourse to Infidelity, as to an Opiate in this case, to allay the Pains of his Conscience, and to compose the Disorder of his guilty Mind, and to gain, as it were, an Insensibility in Sinning. For if the case be thus, 'tis plain, he is not free, and at liberty, to make a just Judgment of the Truth of Things; he is already a Party, and much more enclined to one side of the Question than to the other; and consequently, he will pitch on that as Truth, which he would have to be so. But this is certainly a very partial way of proceeding, and such as no wise Man would use in a matter of so very great moment, to engage one's self rashly in a Determination, before a thorough and careful Examination of the Evidence on both sides: This is to look on things [Page] in a false Light, through coloured Glasses, through Diseased and Icterical Eyes; and then to believe them to be in reality, what our depraved and prejudicate Apprehensions make them.

The Enemies to Religion say, That the Preachers of it are not to be minded; the Arguments they bring are all forced and strained, because 'tis their Trade, and they get Money by it; and their Craft obliges them to cry out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! I hope therefore this being so Precarious and Partial a way of Proceeding, to subscribe to Religion by Implicit Faith, and to take it up upon trust from those, whose Interest (they say) it is to propagate it in the World: I hope, I say, that Men will not act so on the other hand, and embrace Atheism and Infidelity on the same Precarious Grounds. I hope all such Persons can clearly approve themselves to be truly Virtuous and Moral in their Inclinations and Practices; and are sure that they have no strong inclinations to such Actions as the World calls Vicious. For if they have, and do take real Pleasure in the Practice of Wickedness, 'tis plain that they must be Prejudiced and Bigotted to their Lusts and Humours; they cannot be Free-thinkers in the Case; the Cloggs of ill Custom, and a loose Education bear them down, and they cannot shake them off. Their present Interest influences and governs their Belief, and enslaves and Tyrannizes over their Reason.

Let them consider impartially the Arguments for Infidelity, and they will find them all forced and strained Paradoxes, Invented by Sceptical and Canting [Page]Philosophers, a Crafty and Designing sort of Men, who set up Atheism because they Get by it, and whose Interest it is that there should be no God and Religion.

Let not therefore Men be so stupid and blind as to talk of Prejudices on the side of Religion, and never, perceive that, there are any at all on that of Infidelity. If they scorn to take up Religion on trust, without examining into its Grounds and Reasons; for their Own sakes let, them be as Cautious and Inquisitive on the other hand, and not run Hood-winked into Eternal Destruction, by subscribing to Atheism in hast, and without that previous Consideration and Regard, which so great and important an Affair requires: For if they will but strip themselves of those Prejudices which arise from their Vices, and avoid being impetuously born down by their depraved Inclination; they will soon perceive that the Grounds and Principles of Infidelity are abundantly too precarious to afford them any thing like a Demonstrative assurance of the Falsity of Religion: Without which, surely no Man of Sense, and that can think at all, will ever run the hazard of Damnation.

FINIS.

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Mr. HARRIS's First Sermon AT Mr. BOYLE's Lecture. 1698.

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Immorality and Pride, The Great Causes of ATHEISM.

A SERMON Preach'd at the CATHEDRAL-CHURCH of St. Paul, January the 3d. 1697/8. BEING The First of the LECTURE for that Year, Founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq

By JOHN HARRIS, M. A. and Fellow of the ROYAL-SOCIETY.

LONDON, Printed by J. L. for Richard Wilkin, at the King's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1698.

TO THE Most Reverend Father in God THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury; Sir HENRY ASHURST Baronet; Sir JOHN ROTHERAM Serjeant at Law; JOHN EVELYN Senior Esquire; Trustees appointed by the Will of the Honorable ROBERT BOYLE Esquire.

[Page]

[Page]

Most Reverend and Honoured,

AS I had the Honour to Preach this Sermon by your Kind and Generous Appointment, so I now Publish it in Obedience to your Commands, and humbly offer it, as also my ensuing Discourses, to your Candid Patronage and Acceptance. I have (in pursuance of Your Grace's direction) studied to be as Plain and Intelligible as possibly I could, [Page] and shall, by the Divine Assistance, prosecute my whole Design after the same manner; which Method of Treating this Subject, appears very Suitable to the Pious and Excellent Design of Our Noble and Honourable Founder.

I humbly desire your Prayers to Almighty God, that He will vouchsafe to render my weak Endeavours effectual to shew the Ground [...]essness and Inconclusiveness of those Objections which Atheistical Men usually bring [...]gainst the great and Important Truths of [...]eligion; which is the End they are sincerely [...]irected to, by

Most Reverend and Honoured,

Your most obliged humble Servant, HARRIS.

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Title statement

Immorality and pride, the great causes of atheism a sermon preach'd at the cathedral-church of St. Paul, January the 8th 1697/8 : the first of the lecture for that year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq. / by John Harris ...

Harris, John, 1667?-1719.

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1698

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Text Creation Partnership,

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2005-12 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

ID [DLPS]

A45642

ID [STC]

Wing H850

ID [STC]

ESTC R15170

ID [EEBO-CITATION]

12337567

ID [OCLC]

ocm 12337567

ID [VID]

59819

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— Immorality and pride, the great causes of atheism a sermon preach'd at the cathedral-church of St. Paul, January the 8th 1697/8 : the first of the lecture for that year, founded by the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq. / by John Harris ..., Harris, John, 1667?-1719..

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[4], 24 p.

Printed by J. L. for Richard Wilkin ...,. London :: 1698.. (This work is also found as the first part of the author's The atheistical objections against the being of a God and his attributes fairly considered and fully refuted : in eight sermons (Wing H845).) (Reproduction of original in the Huntington Library.)

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