from any Man by falfe Accufation, I restore him fourfold: And Jefus faid unto him, This Day is Salvation come unto thy House; without asking him one Question about his Faith. Rom. xiii. v. 8, 9. Owe no Man any thing, but to love one another; for he that loveth another, bath fulfilled the Law: For this, Thou falt not commit Adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false Witness, Thou shalt not covet, and if there is any other Commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this Saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thyself. The fame Doctrine, in another Place, is thus fhortly described; By this all Men fball know, that ye are my Difciples, if ye love one another. So that the Love of God, and of our Neighbour, is the whole Duty of a Christian. The first implies the Worfhip of God, or rather is the true and very Worship of God in Spirit and in Truth; and the latter comprehends all the moral and focial Virtues. Ift Epiftle of John, chap. iv. v. 7, 8. Beloved, let us love one another, for Love is of God; and every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is Love. Verfe 16. Gud is Love; and he that dwelleth in Love, dwelleth in God, and God in him. And chap. v. ver. 3. St. St. John defines what the Love of God is, namely, For this is the Love of God, that we keep his Commandments. THIS appears still more evident, when we examine, for what Virtues and Crimes Men will be rewarded and punished eternally. Matth. chap. xxv. v. 31, &c. When the Son of Man fball come in his Glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then shall be fit upon the Throne of his Glory, and before him shall be gathered all Nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as the Shepherd divideth the Sheep from the Goats; and he hall fet the Sheep on the Right-hand, and the Goats on the Left. Then shall the King say to them on the Right-hand, Come, ye Blossed of my Father, inberit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World; for I was an hungred, and ye gave me Meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me Drink; I was a Stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye cloathed me; I was fick, and ye vifited me; in Prison, and ye came into me. Then fball be fay alfo to them on the Left hand, Depart from me, ye Curfed, into everlasting Fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave me no Meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no Drink; I was a ; Stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye ye cloathed me not; fick, and in Prison, and ye vifited me not. BUT the Want of Faith is here objected to no Man: No one is rewarded, or punished, for believing, or not believing, in Tranfubftantiation, Confubftantiation, or the Real Prefence; in Predestination, or Free-will; or for having, or not having, right or wrong Conceptions of the Trinity in Unity, the Incarnation, Hypoftatic Union, infinite Satisfaction, r. Nor is the divine Right of Bishops, Presbyters, and Tithes, once mentioned. Not a Word about Obedience to fpiritual Sovereigns, and Ecclefiaftical Princes, or about our receiving the Sacraments from a regular Priest, descended in a right Line from the Apoftles. SUCH a Religion as this, which I have defcribed, is agreeable to the Divine Justice; which does not punish any Man for speculative Opinions, and especially for Opinions, which neither do Good nor Hurt to any one, and for Opinions which no one can help. THIS is a Religion every way worthy of its eternal Author; and we may know by the Doctrine, that it comes from God. It is a Religion for Men of Senfe, for Philofophers, for honest Men; and comprehenfible too by the meanest Vulgar, without a Guide; a Religion of ! of Reafon, free from the blind Mazes, and ftudied Intricacies, of Popish Priefts, and beneficial to Society at first View. It defpifes apifh Geftures, and external Buffoonery; and effectually prevents, and puts an End to, all inhuman Fiercenefs, and holy Squabbles, ever occafioned by the selfish Religions of corrupt Priests. It leaves not unhappy Men in perpetual Doubts and Anxieties, nor toffes and tumbles them, for Relief, out of one Superftition into another; but esteems them all alike. IN fhort, this is a Religion, which every wife and honeft Man would wish to be Reli gion; a Religion of Charity, the Religion of JESUS; and this is the INDEPENDENT WHIG's Religion. T. and G. |