Redemption A divine poem, In Six Books. The three first demonstrate the Truth of the Christian Religion, The three last the Deity of Christ. To which is added, A Hymn to Christ the Redeemer. By Sir Richard Blackmore |
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| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
[Book V.]
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| VI. |
 | Redemption |  |
238
[Book V.]
THE ARGUMENT OF THE Fifth Book.
The introduction; several plain texts of Scripture,
that evidently prove the strict Divinity of
Christ vindicated and cleared from the absurd
and ridiculous interpretation of the Socinians:
For instance, those texts that ascribe to him
the creation of heaven and earth; that
say of him that he made the Angels, and
assert that in the beginning he was with
God, and was God. The schools of learning
erected in Greece were soon broken
by contention, and divided into parties, while
one leading philosopher to become the founder
of a new Sect, supplanted and sunk the school of
another: Every day some new fangled notions
were started, and, tho' ever so vain and unreasonable,
were maintained with ardor and party-heats
by obstinate hereticks in philosophy.
These furious wars, in which the schools were
engag'd, continued with various success and frequent
revolutions, till they had laid waste the
nurseries of knowledge, destroy'd all learning,
and overspread the Colleges of Athens with
avow'd ignorance and scepticism. In like manner,
soon after the Christian institution was
establish'd many of an heretical turn of mind,
or vainly aspiring to be the heads of a party,
rent the Church by divisions and subdivisions,
sometimes by whole, sometimes by half-heresy
till her peace was greatly disturb'd, and her
unity miserably broken. At length Arius arose,
a bold enterprizing Genius, who attack'd the
very Being of the Christian Religion, by asserting
that the founder of it was but a creature.
In opposition to whose sect, the Christians,
that defended the divinity of Christ were
called Catholicks or the Orthodox. Another
great Argument for Christ's Divinity urg'd at
239
large from the several places in Scripture,
that allow or enjoyn Divine Worship to be
paid to our Saviour: Various texts cited for
this purpose, and vindicated from the unreasonable
expositions and false criticisms of the
Adversary. Those Arian leaders who deny the
Divinity of Christ in the strictest sense, and
will not speak plainly, and say that he is a
Creature, must suppose, but most absurdly, a middle
Being between the supreme God and a Creature.
220
In the past pages we have clearly shown,
That Christians Christ, as God supreme, should own.
From his Almighty Pow'r, that all things made,
Rear'd the round earth, and the wide heav'ns display'd.
Will the bold Arian still prolong the fight?
Vanquish'd and sunk withstand prevailing light?
Still undismay'd by ignominious scars
And ghastly wounds renew unequal wars?
Will he by penal strong delusion blind,
Inflexible and obstinate of mind,
His strength exhausted, strive with impious toil,
The Savior of his Godhead to despoil?
If so, then let new forces be enroll'd
Fit to engage; for those employ'd of old,
And foil'd so often, will the conqueror know,
Think on past routs, and face no more the foe.
Nor let them stale evasive arts repeat,
Nor to defenceless haunts and holds retreat.
Barren of thought, say, can you not invent
Some untried weapon, some new argument?
Can you no glosses yet unheard of find,
No explanation to surprize the mind,
Which, howsoever impotent and vain,
By novelty at least may entertain?
Must, Waterland, thy course of glory stand,
And for new triumphs new supplies demand
In vain? tis likely; for the broken foe
Can no new levies for the combat show;
Nor will he, if not ignorant of shame,
Force thee for ever to subdue the same.
That Christians Christ, as God supreme, should own.
From his Almighty Pow'r, that all things made,
Rear'd the round earth, and the wide heav'ns display'd.
Will the bold Arian still prolong the fight?
Vanquish'd and sunk withstand prevailing light?
241
And ghastly wounds renew unequal wars?
Will he by penal strong delusion blind,
Inflexible and obstinate of mind,
His strength exhausted, strive with impious toil,
The Savior of his Godhead to despoil?
If so, then let new forces be enroll'd
Fit to engage; for those employ'd of old,
And foil'd so often, will the conqueror know,
Think on past routs, and face no more the foe.
Nor let them stale evasive arts repeat,
Nor to defenceless haunts and holds retreat.
Barren of thought, say, can you not invent
Some untried weapon, some new argument?
Can you no glosses yet unheard of find,
No explanation to surprize the mind,
Which, howsoever impotent and vain,
By novelty at least may entertain?
242
And for new triumphs new supplies demand
In vain? tis likely; for the broken foe
Can no new levies for the combat show;
Nor will he, if not ignorant of shame,
Force thee for ever to subdue the same.
But e'er we farther press in this dispute
The Arian, and his groundless scheme confute,
Let us a while Socinian doctors hear,
Who unconvinc'd by what we urge appear:
Attentive then observe th' erroneous way,
By which from truth reveal'd these Sages stray.
The Arian, and his groundless scheme confute,
Let us a while Socinian doctors hear,
Who unconvinc'd by what we urge appear:
Attentive then observe th' erroneous way,
By which from truth reveal'd these Sages stray.
By the blest Son, the sacred page has said
,
In the beginning earth and heav'n were made:
How will the criticks this clear text evade?
That is, say they, when Gospel-times begun,
The moral world was new made by the Son,
While he with his religion bless'd mankind,
Enjoyn'd new precepts, and the old refin'd.
Say, does it not astonishment create,
That disputants should in this high debate
Such forc'd constructions of plain texts invent,
And to their dreams and fancies claim assent,
Without one reason, proof, or argument?
Tell us, Socinus, tells us, Crellius, where
One instance does in sacred texts appear,
That by this phrase, to make the world, no more
Is meant, than to refine laws made before,
To add new rules of life, and old restore?
If this be just, then fancy's bold effort
May any sense from any text extort:
And yet these men once great applause acquir'd,
For sense acute and reasoning force admir'd;
What are the masters of the Grecian schools,
Renown'd for science, art, and moral rules,
Who did th' Athenian colleges adorn,
And on the world, as barb'rous, look'd with scorn,
Compar'd with wits so subtile and refin'd,
As ours of Anti-trinitarian kind;
Who eager thro' the world to spread their name,
And to their schools procure unrival'd fame,
Contend with studious labour to procure
Notions and wild constructions, that obscure
Plain Scripture-phrases, and with artfull night
Cloud truth reveal'd, and stifle Nature's light?
In the beginning earth and heav'n were made:
How will the criticks this clear text evade?
243
The moral world was new made by the Son,
While he with his religion bless'd mankind,
Enjoyn'd new precepts, and the old refin'd.
Say, does it not astonishment create,
That disputants should in this high debate
Such forc'd constructions of plain texts invent,
And to their dreams and fancies claim assent,
Without one reason, proof, or argument?
Tell us, Socinus, tells us, Crellius, where
One instance does in sacred texts appear,
That by this phrase, to make the world, no more
Is meant, than to refine laws made before,
To add new rules of life, and old restore?
If this be just, then fancy's bold effort
May any sense from any text extort:
And yet these men once great applause acquir'd,
For sense acute and reasoning force admir'd;
244
Renown'd for science, art, and moral rules,
Who did th' Athenian colleges adorn,
And on the world, as barb'rous, look'd with scorn,
Compar'd with wits so subtile and refin'd,
As ours of Anti-trinitarian kind;
Who eager thro' the world to spread their name,
And to their schools procure unrival'd fame,
Contend with studious labour to procure
Notions and wild constructions, that obscure
Plain Scripture-phrases, and with artfull night
Cloud truth reveal'd, and stifle Nature's light?
Another flagrant instance now behold,
How these sagacious masters texts unfold,
And open by the glosses which they teach,
Till they surpass all understanding's reach,
For these judicious heads with wit abound,
And genius fit all Scripture to confound,
And darken easy places, which appear,
Till they explain them, as the noon-day clear
How these sagacious masters texts unfold,
And open by the glosses which they teach,
Till they surpass all understanding's reach,
245
And genius fit all Scripture to confound,
And darken easy places, which appear,
Till they explain them, as the noon-day clear
Fully the sacred oracles assert
,
The Son of God not only did exert
In rearing this corporeal frame his might,
But that he made the heavenly seats of light,
With all their bless'd inhabitants, the host
Of Angels, who immortal vigor boast;
That thrones and powers and glorious potentates,
Dominions, princes, and seraphick states,
And all the bright celestial colonies,
And blissful natives, that possess the skies,
To him, as to their Maker, owe their birth,
Who, as clear texts affirm , made heav'n and earth.
What will to this our fam'd expounders say?
How will their learning make the sense away?
How must they labour, turn, and shift, and wrest
The words, to stifle what is there confest,
That they the obvious meaning may decline,
And sink the evidence of light divine?
Tis true, say they, the Son did Angels make,
But 'tis, the criticks urge, a great mistake
To think he made those glorious beings so,
That from his pow'r they did created flow:
How then? say they, the Scripture to evade,
He did not make, but found them ready made;
And yet he made them too, that is, dispos'd,
Marshal'd and rang'd th' angelick world, enclos'd
In the great empire God to him had giv'n,
And order'd his wide monarchy of heav'n.
Of vast imagination see a flight,
How high they soar above all human sight?
An effort worthy of superior wit,
And solid judgment for decision fit.
Thus in a sense they sacred texts expound,
Of which the Scriptures are unconscious found.
What Oedipus this meaning could have guest,
Had not great criticks been constrain'd to wrest
It out by art, to serve a cause distrest?
If we such bold precarious glosses grant,
God's revelation will another want;
For what we now believe he has reveal'd
Does in plain words involv'd lie so conceal'd,
As these men judge, that it eludes the sight,
And only can by force be brought to light.
With how much labour scripture they oppress,
And incoherent explanations dress,
To make reluctant texts their mind confess?
Ask, when 'tis said, Christ heav'n and earth has made,
How they such full expressions will evade?
He made the heav'n and earth, they thus expound,
He did the Christian institution found,
And gave the moral world new rules, to raise
Nature's dim light, and teach celestial ways.
Ask, if he made th' angelick pow'rs, and they
To this enquiry, will, as mention'd, say,
That sovereign of th' angelick orders he
Model'd and rang'd th' immortal hierarchy,
And a wise scheme of civil empire laid,
By all the heavenly race to be obey'd;
For right the sophists judg'd, they must decline
To say, that Christ their morals did refine.
What various senses do these wits employ
Of the word, made, plain Scripture to destroy?
Maker of all things, some men publish, means
An under active cause, that intervenes;
Some, he that all things made, say, does denote
One, who the scheme of pure religion taught:
Now to make all things signifies no more,
Than o'er the angels, who were made before,
Tofix the model of imperial pow'r.
The Son of God not only did exert
In rearing this corporeal frame his might,
But that he made the heavenly seats of light,
With all their bless'd inhabitants, the host
Of Angels, who immortal vigor boast;
That thrones and powers and glorious potentates,
Dominions, princes, and seraphick states,
And all the bright celestial colonies,
And blissful natives, that possess the skies,
To him, as to their Maker, owe their birth,
Who, as clear texts affirm , made heav'n and earth.
246
How will their learning make the sense away?
How must they labour, turn, and shift, and wrest
The words, to stifle what is there confest,
That they the obvious meaning may decline,
And sink the evidence of light divine?
Tis true, say they, the Son did Angels make,
But 'tis, the criticks urge, a great mistake
To think he made those glorious beings so,
That from his pow'r they did created flow:
How then? say they, the Scripture to evade,
He did not make, but found them ready made;
And yet he made them too, that is, dispos'd,
Marshal'd and rang'd th' angelick world, enclos'd
In the great empire God to him had giv'n,
And order'd his wide monarchy of heav'n.
Of vast imagination see a flight,
How high they soar above all human sight?
247
And solid judgment for decision fit.
Thus in a sense they sacred texts expound,
Of which the Scriptures are unconscious found.
What Oedipus this meaning could have guest,
Had not great criticks been constrain'd to wrest
It out by art, to serve a cause distrest?
If we such bold precarious glosses grant,
God's revelation will another want;
For what we now believe he has reveal'd
Does in plain words involv'd lie so conceal'd,
As these men judge, that it eludes the sight,
And only can by force be brought to light.
With how much labour scripture they oppress,
And incoherent explanations dress,
To make reluctant texts their mind confess?
Ask, when 'tis said, Christ heav'n and earth has made,
How they such full expressions will evade?
248
He did the Christian institution found,
And gave the moral world new rules, to raise
Nature's dim light, and teach celestial ways.
Ask, if he made th' angelick pow'rs, and they
To this enquiry, will, as mention'd, say,
That sovereign of th' angelick orders he
Model'd and rang'd th' immortal hierarchy,
And a wise scheme of civil empire laid,
By all the heavenly race to be obey'd;
For right the sophists judg'd, they must decline
To say, that Christ their morals did refine.
What various senses do these wits employ
Of the word, made, plain Scripture to destroy?
Maker of all things, some men publish, means
An under active cause, that intervenes;
Some, he that all things made, say, does denote
One, who the scheme of pure religion taught:
249
Than o'er the angels, who were made before,
Tofix the model of imperial pow'r.
Thus inconsistent in their weak defence,
On the word made they fix with violence
A civil, natural, and a moral sense.
And from clear texts so long their meaning take,
Till he that all things made did nothing make:
They this and that way wind, and scriptures strain,
Till they a meaning to their purpose gain.
Oft they compell them foreign sense to speak,
Their order now, now their connexion break,
And boldly, as their cause it best promotes,
Make the same words express repugnant thoughts,
Oft they transpose a particle or change,
Or else the words in a new manner range;
At pleasure add, at pleasure take away,
To make the wrested text their will obey:
But if its light does uncontroll'd appear,
The meaning obvious and th' expression clear,
To bold and desp'rate methods, see, they fly,
And cut in two the knot they can't untie;
As spurious they those sacred words efface,
And leave them not in books inspir'd a place,
But with a more than pontificial pride
Expunge the texts, that fight against their side.
On the word made they fix with violence
A civil, natural, and a moral sense.
And from clear texts so long their meaning take,
Till he that all things made did nothing make:
They this and that way wind, and scriptures strain,
Till they a meaning to their purpose gain.
Oft they compell them foreign sense to speak,
Their order now, now their connexion break,
And boldly, as their cause it best promotes,
Make the same words express repugnant thoughts,
Oft they transpose a particle or change,
Or else the words in a new manner range;
250
To make the wrested text their will obey:
But if its light does uncontroll'd appear,
The meaning obvious and th' expression clear,
To bold and desp'rate methods, see, they fly,
And cut in two the knot they can't untie;
As spurious they those sacred words efface,
And leave them not in books inspir'd a place,
But with a more than pontificial pride
Expunge the texts, that fight against their side.
To us the arts and priveleges grant,
Which in expounding texts these arrogant
And hard unblushing disputants employ,
To change, or Scripture meaning to destroy,
And furnish'd with their engines, by their use
From any phrase we'll any sense produce.
For instance we this province take, to prove,
That from the world the Scriptures God remove;
To back th' Assertion, see, these very Words,
There is no God, the sacred book records:
Tis true, with periods we that sentence bound,
Enclose and fence it from the texts around,
And cut off all connexion, whence the foe
Might the true import of that passage know;
And this th' opponents may allow with ease,
Who stop, and change a sentence, as they please,
To make some unexpected meaning rise,
Which must the starting reader's mind surprise.
Which in expounding texts these arrogant
And hard unblushing disputants employ,
To change, or Scripture meaning to destroy,
And furnish'd with their engines, by their use
From any phrase we'll any sense produce.
251
That from the world the Scriptures God remove;
To back th' Assertion, see, these very Words,
There is no God, the sacred book records:
Tis true, with periods we that sentence bound,
Enclose and fence it from the texts around,
And cut off all connexion, whence the foe
Might the true import of that passage know;
And this th' opponents may allow with ease,
Who stop, and change a sentence, as they please,
To make some unexpected meaning rise,
Which must the starting reader's mind surprise.
Ler us a fresh example now impart
Of fine invention and evasive art.
The Word, so says th' inspir'd apostle , was
In the beginning; now that well known phrase
Imports in language of the Scripture cast,
Before all time, and from all ages past:
E'er the cærulean fields were yet display'd,
The mountains rear'd, or earth's foundation laid,
Then was the word with God, and then was God;
Now if we seek not shades and ways untrod,
Then, that he's God supreme, it must be own'd,
And that he ever sat in heav'n enthron'd.
Of fine invention and evasive art.
The Word, so says th' inspir'd apostle , was
In the beginning; now that well known phrase
252
Before all time, and from all ages past:
E'er the cærulean fields were yet display'd,
The mountains rear'd, or earth's foundation laid,
Then was the word with God, and then was God;
Now if we seek not shades and ways untrod,
Then, that he's God supreme, it must be own'd,
And that he ever sat in heav'n enthron'd.
Now to elude this strong resistless light,
And cast a mist before the reader's sight,
Behold with wond'ring eyes a noble flight;
A flight of genius vast, and wit sublime,
That does o'er all exalted learning climb.
That the Redeemer was with God, say they,
Is true; but how? why, he was caught away
From this low ball, and suddenly convey'd
To the third heav'ns, like Paul, and there he stayed
Till he was furnish'd with instructive light,
How to erect and guide his church aright;
What mysteries to reveal, what rules enjoin,
And how dark nature's precepts to refine.
What points profound can sons of science teach?
What heights can vast imagination reach?
Behold the world bereft of promis'd day,
O'erwhelm'd in thick Egyptian darkness lay,
Till these Socinian luminaries shone,
And bless'd mankind with things before unknown.
Hail wits unrival'd! you have sense engross'd,
At your decease all knowledge must be lost.
The Christian world will be involv'd in night,
Nor will a soul be left, that argues right:
Truth will be sunk, nor will one head remain
Able the clearest Scripture to explain.
And cast a mist before the reader's sight,
Behold with wond'ring eyes a noble flight;
A flight of genius vast, and wit sublime,
That does o'er all exalted learning climb.
That the Redeemer was with God, say they,
Is true; but how? why, he was caught away
From this low ball, and suddenly convey'd
To the third heav'ns, like Paul, and there he stayed
253
How to erect and guide his church aright;
What mysteries to reveal, what rules enjoin,
And how dark nature's precepts to refine.
What points profound can sons of science teach?
What heights can vast imagination reach?
Behold the world bereft of promis'd day,
O'erwhelm'd in thick Egyptian darkness lay,
Till these Socinian luminaries shone,
And bless'd mankind with things before unknown.
Hail wits unrival'd! you have sense engross'd,
At your decease all knowledge must be lost.
The Christian world will be involv'd in night,
Nor will a soul be left, that argues right:
Truth will be sunk, nor will one head remain
Able the clearest Scripture to explain.
254
At reason's just tribunal let us try
This wond'rous gloss, on which the foes rely.
A fiction wild, a legendary dream,
Invented to support an empty scheme
By subtilty elusive; which the wise
Impartial reader will at sight despise.
Say, ye presumptuous race of criticks, say,
If you at least will scripture texts obey,
Where do the sacred volumes once suggest
The faintest hint, where is a word exprest,
Or the least glimpse of revelation giv'n,
That Christ was carried up from earth to heav'n,
To be instructed, how he should refine
Degenerate moral rules by light divine,
And lay the wond'rous plan, at his descent,
Of his blest laws and sacred government?
This arbitrary story we deny,
And all your strength to make it good defy:
You grant, for this there's no divine record,
But ask us to believe you on your word.
This wond'rous gloss, on which the foes rely.
A fiction wild, a legendary dream,
Invented to support an empty scheme
By subtilty elusive; which the wise
Impartial reader will at sight despise.
Say, ye presumptuous race of criticks, say,
If you at least will scripture texts obey,
Where do the sacred volumes once suggest
The faintest hint, where is a word exprest,
Or the least glimpse of revelation giv'n,
That Christ was carried up from earth to heav'n,
To be instructed, how he should refine
Degenerate moral rules by light divine,
And lay the wond'rous plan, at his descent,
Of his blest laws and sacred government?
255
And all your strength to make it good defy:
You grant, for this there's no divine record,
But ask us to believe you on your word.
Amazing 'tis, that men, who make pretence
To clearer reason, and superior sense,
Should in a case of such importance vent
Their notions, yet produce no argument,
No single proof, their glosses to sustain,
And yet their foes of ignorance arraign.
This is to dogmatize and not dispute,
And by despotick dictates to confute.
Since nothing mention'd in th' inspir'd records
To their new fiction countenance affords,
And since these champions in their own excuse,
Can cite no Scripture, and no proof produce,
We their imagin'd scheme with scorn reject,
Which should with shame o'erspread th' audacious Sect,
Who on the sacred text impose a sense
By fraud and unexampled violence.
To clearer reason, and superior sense,
Should in a case of such importance vent
Their notions, yet produce no argument,
No single proof, their glosses to sustain,
And yet their foes of ignorance arraign.
This is to dogmatize and not dispute,
And by despotick dictates to confute.
Since nothing mention'd in th' inspir'd records
To their new fiction countenance affords,
And since these champions in their own excuse,
Can cite no Scripture, and no proof produce,
256
Which should with shame o'erspread th' audacious Sect,
Who on the sacred text impose a sense
By fraud and unexampled violence.
When learning first did tender dawn display
O'er subtile Greece, and promis'd riper day,
Letters and science had a swift increase,
And colleges a while were bless'd with peace;
But not long so; soon emulation rose,
And pride and envy made scholastick foes.
Greece by divisions numberless was split,
Clouded by learning, and embroil'd with wit.
Now Sect with Sect, and School with School engag'd,
And Sages war with adverse Sages wag'd.
Each genius bent to gain a leader's name,
And thro' the world to propagate his fame
Labour'd all rival masters to dethrone,
To sink their credit, and advance his own.
The Stoick pow'rs did Socrates invade,
And wide destruction of his doctrine made:
These Aristippus did in turn assail,
With reasons most adapted to prevail
O'er men with sensual Inclinations born,
And with their spoils did his loose school adorn.
Plato his much applauded college rear'd,
A pow'rful prince of learning long rever'd;
Till enterprizing Aristotle, bred
At this great teacher's feet, to rule as head
Of a new sect, and be thro' Greece admir'd,
Against his master and his scheme conspir'd;
O'er Plato he prevailed, and in his stead
Reign'd, and impos'd his philosophick creed.
Pythagoras did a wide empire boast,
Fix'd in new Greece, where Adria's waves are tost,
Till Epicurus, impious, vain, and lewd,
Rais'd fierce rebellion, and this school subdued,
And chang'd it to a garden sown with seeds
Of baneful plants, and rank unwholsome weeds.
O'er subtile Greece, and promis'd riper day,
Letters and science had a swift increase,
And colleges a while were bless'd with peace;
But not long so; soon emulation rose,
And pride and envy made scholastick foes.
Greece by divisions numberless was split,
Clouded by learning, and embroil'd with wit.
Now Sect with Sect, and School with School engag'd,
And Sages war with adverse Sages wag'd.
257
And thro' the world to propagate his fame
Labour'd all rival masters to dethrone,
To sink their credit, and advance his own.
The Stoick pow'rs did Socrates invade,
And wide destruction of his doctrine made:
These Aristippus did in turn assail,
With reasons most adapted to prevail
O'er men with sensual Inclinations born,
And with their spoils did his loose school adorn.
Plato his much applauded college rear'd,
A pow'rful prince of learning long rever'd;
Till enterprizing Aristotle, bred
At this great teacher's feet, to rule as head
Of a new sect, and be thro' Greece admir'd,
Against his master and his scheme conspir'd;
O'er Plato he prevailed, and in his stead
Reign'd, and impos'd his philosophick creed.
258
Fix'd in new Greece, where Adria's waves are tost,
Till Epicurus, impious, vain, and lewd,
Rais'd fierce rebellion, and this school subdued,
And chang'd it to a garden sown with seeds
Of baneful plants, and rank unwholsome weeds.
And now unnumber'd schisms the schools divide,
O'er-run with envy, wanton wit, and pride:
Gray-headed Triflers did with learning play,
And freely thought philosophy away.
For now the novel Academicks own,
That nothing was discovered, nothing known;
That while the proofs press'd equal every way,
The mind must dubious in suspension stay,
Repel no reason's force, and none obey:
That sacred science did its station keep
In a profound unfathomable Deep,
Which shallow human minds can never reach,
Nor to the light from the dark bottom fetch.
Now beauteous truth, of high celestial race,
Deserted this inhospitable place,
From Sages vain and wrangling wits withdrew;
Left the litigious Sects, and upwards flew.
O'er-run with envy, wanton wit, and pride:
Gray-headed Triflers did with learning play,
And freely thought philosophy away.
For now the novel Academicks own,
That nothing was discovered, nothing known;
That while the proofs press'd equal every way,
The mind must dubious in suspension stay,
Repel no reason's force, and none obey:
That sacred science did its station keep
In a profound unfathomable Deep,
259
Nor to the light from the dark bottom fetch.
Now beauteous truth, of high celestial race,
Deserted this inhospitable place,
From Sages vain and wrangling wits withdrew;
Left the litigious Sects, and upwards flew.
The envy, pride, and lust of fame and pow'r,
Which did Athenian nurseries devour,
We in religious colleges may see,
As fatal prov'd, as in philosophy.
Witness the num'rous Sectaries of old,
In the first Christian registers inroll'd:
Some to the doctrines of Cerinthus bred,
Some by Sabellius, some by Magus led,
And some, who Manichæus own'd as head.
But the chief swarms and foul pernicious broods,
Offspring deform'd, and odious brotherhoods,
Descended from the Gnostick fertile race,
Who soon unchristian doctrines did embrace,
And were to different heresies inclin'd,
By their phantastick different turns of mind.
Which did Athenian nurseries devour,
We in religious colleges may see,
As fatal prov'd, as in philosophy.
Witness the num'rous Sectaries of old,
In the first Christian registers inroll'd:
Some to the doctrines of Cerinthus bred,
Some by Sabellius, some by Magus led,
And some, who Manichæus own'd as head.
But the chief swarms and foul pernicious broods,
Offspring deform'd, and odious brotherhoods,
260
Who soon unchristian doctrines did embrace,
And were to different heresies inclin'd,
By their phantastick different turns of mind.
Arius at length a daring genius rose,
Religion's points essential to oppose,
And resolute the pillars to subvert
Of Christian faith, did arrogant assert,
The Son of God, whose laws the Church obey'd,
Was not eternal, but a being made,
Whom he with greater excellence endow'd,
Than to the highest Seraph is allow'd,
And own'd, he did as king deputed reign
O'er all the creatures, heav'n and earth contain;
But granted not, he was in substance one
With the great God and his coeval Son,
Religion's points essential to oppose,
And resolute the pillars to subvert
Of Christian faith, did arrogant assert,
The Son of God, whose laws the Church obey'd,
Was not eternal, but a being made,
Whom he with greater excellence endow'd,
Than to the highest Seraph is allow'd,
And own'd, he did as king deputed reign
O'er all the creatures, heav'n and earth contain;
But granted not, he was in substance one
With the great God and his coeval Son,
261
This heresy, that shook th' establish'd frame
Of Christian faith, soon popular became;
Till the contagion reach'd th' imperial throne,
And Arian monarchs now impatient grown
Of contradiction, with inhuman rage
By fire and sword did violent engage
To force into the mind pretended light,
And into false belief the world affright.
These red with slaughter, when by none withstood,
With reeking hands and garments roll'd in blood
Approach'd the Prince of peace, and God of love,
As he their endless murthers would approve.
Distracted pow'rs, that could believe, the sword
Plung'd in his vot'ries hearts would please their Lord?
Of Christian faith, soon popular became;
Till the contagion reach'd th' imperial throne,
And Arian monarchs now impatient grown
Of contradiction, with inhuman rage
By fire and sword did violent engage
To force into the mind pretended light,
And into false belief the world affright.
These red with slaughter, when by none withstood,
With reeking hands and garments roll'd in blood
Approach'd the Prince of peace, and God of love,
As he their endless murthers would approve.
Distracted pow'rs, that could believe, the sword
Plung'd in his vot'ries hearts would please their Lord?
262
Their offspring now, 'tis true, compulsion blame,
All impositions and all tests disclaim,
Yet is their hate, tho' not their pow'r, the same.
Since now unarm'd a hearing they demand,
And ask, that force coercive we disband,
Willing by reason's light to fall or stand,
We wave the privilege of civil laws;
Let them at reason's bar defend their cause:
Again in Scripture-arms we take the field
To make the vain presumptuous Arian yield.
All impositions and all tests disclaim,
Yet is their hate, tho' not their pow'r, the same.
Since now unarm'd a hearing they demand,
And ask, that force coercive we disband,
Willing by reason's light to fall or stand,
We wave the privilege of civil laws;
Let them at reason's bar defend their cause:
Again in Scripture-arms we take the field
To make the vain presumptuous Arian yield.
We by the sacred oracles are taught
,
That Satan up to a high mountain caught,
The blest Redeemer thro' the steepy air,
Prepar'd to trie his meditated snare;
Then by some artful manner open laid
The earth's wide face, and all its wealth display'd;
Did its great empires, and fair cities shew,
And bad him all this pow'r and splendor view;
Then said; behold, all these I give to thee,
Do thou but prostrate fall, and worship me.
Then answer'd thus the Mediator Lord;
The books inspir'd this high command record,
Thou to the Lord thy God shalt worship pay,
Him shalt thou serve, and him alone obey.
That Satan up to a high mountain caught,
The blest Redeemer thro' the steepy air,
Prepar'd to trie his meditated snare;
263
The earth's wide face, and all its wealth display'd;
Did its great empires, and fair cities shew,
And bad him all this pow'r and splendor view;
Then said; behold, all these I give to thee,
Do thou but prostrate fall, and worship me.
Then answer'd thus the Mediator Lord;
The books inspir'd this high command record,
Thou to the Lord thy God shalt worship pay,
Him shalt thou serve, and him alone obey.
Remark, th' apostate Angel does not press
The Lord Messiah, worship to address
To him, as God, but ask'd the outward sign
Of adoration and respect divine,
And left the secret thought within his breast,
To be directed as it pleas'd him best:
Yet did the Saviour this request deny,
Because, as we infer from his reply,
He judg'd the outward act idolatry.
An act, which all observers would suppose
From inward rev'rence of the object flows:
Nor can spectators in the mind divide
Establish'd signs and objects signified,
Hence he, that on an idol's altar throws
Rich incense, or before an image bows,
Or on unhallow'd victims feasting sits,
Interpreted idolatry commits,
For let his thoughts be e'er so innocent,
Observers will believe, 'tis his intent
Worship divine as certainly to shew,
As the sincerest votary can do.
Hence the blest martyrs did such acts refuse,
And rather death than feign'd compliance chuse,
Assur'd the inward thought could not the fact excuse.
Then Arians, who high adoration pay,
And praise divine to the Lord Christ convey,
If he is but a creature, must contract
The highest guilt by such an impious act.
The Lord Messiah, worship to address
To him, as God, but ask'd the outward sign
Of adoration and respect divine,
And left the secret thought within his breast,
To be directed as it pleas'd him best:
264
Because, as we infer from his reply,
He judg'd the outward act idolatry.
An act, which all observers would suppose
From inward rev'rence of the object flows:
Nor can spectators in the mind divide
Establish'd signs and objects signified,
Hence he, that on an idol's altar throws
Rich incense, or before an image bows,
Or on unhallow'd victims feasting sits,
Interpreted idolatry commits,
For let his thoughts be e'er so innocent,
Observers will believe, 'tis his intent
Worship divine as certainly to shew,
As the sincerest votary can do.
265
And rather death than feign'd compliance chuse,
Assur'd the inward thought could not the fact excuse.
Then Arians, who high adoration pay,
And praise divine to the Lord Christ convey,
If he is but a creature, must contract
The highest guilt by such an impious act.
They urge, that God has made his pleasure known,
That men to him the Father, and his Son,
Should equal adoration pay; in vain;
Behold, with ease we make this subject plain.
That Men one God should worship, one alone,
We the first dictate of right reason own,
And will this God by positive commands
Repeal a doctrine, which establish'd stands
Ev'n in the nature of the things, and say
We should not reason's strongest light obey?
Then moral obligations would be void,
And Nature's law for ever be destroy'd:
Thus Christian precepts would with Nature's fight,
And not improve, but ruin moral light.
Thus, while the grounds, why God alone can claim
Worship divine, for ever are the same,
That law for ever must be unrepeal'd,
Or else a moral rule, and one reveal'd,
Repugnant must each other's force suspend;
And here let Arian wits their cause defend.
Besides, these men th' Ideas must confound
Of God and Creature, if mankind are bound
To pay the Saviour honours most sublime,
A God by courtesy, and made in time.
If this be just, then must we reconcile
The warring terms of contradiction, while
Worship divine, and signs that signify
Unlimited perfection, we apply
To a created finite deity.
That men to him the Father, and his Son,
Should equal adoration pay; in vain;
Behold, with ease we make this subject plain.
That Men one God should worship, one alone,
We the first dictate of right reason own,
And will this God by positive commands
Repeal a doctrine, which establish'd stands
266
We should not reason's strongest light obey?
Then moral obligations would be void,
And Nature's law for ever be destroy'd:
Thus Christian precepts would with Nature's fight,
And not improve, but ruin moral light.
Thus, while the grounds, why God alone can claim
Worship divine, for ever are the same,
That law for ever must be unrepeal'd,
Or else a moral rule, and one reveal'd,
Repugnant must each other's force suspend;
And here let Arian wits their cause defend.
Besides, these men th' Ideas must confound
Of God and Creature, if mankind are bound
To pay the Saviour honours most sublime,
A God by courtesy, and made in time.
If this be just, then must we reconcile
The warring terms of contradiction, while
267
Unlimited perfection, we apply
To a created finite deity.
Collected here, in reason's strength secure,
We stand, and all our foes assaults endure.
God's positive commands ne'er supercede
Precepts, which moral obligations plead:
He now and then for some important end
May Nature's law and settled course suspend;
But can a law of Nature be destroy'd;
And reason's rule be made for ever void?
The nature and the properties of things
Would then be chang'd, whence moral duty springs;
And thus the mind must inbred light despise,
And break the order of her faculties,
While to a creature men adoring bow,
Which all right reason's dictates disallow.
We stand, and all our foes assaults endure.
God's positive commands ne'er supercede
Precepts, which moral obligations plead:
He now and then for some important end
May Nature's law and settled course suspend;
But can a law of Nature be destroy'd;
And reason's rule be made for ever void?
The nature and the properties of things
Would then be chang'd, whence moral duty springs;
And thus the mind must inbred light despise,
And break the order of her faculties,
While to a creature men adoring bow,
Which all right reason's dictates disallow.
268
As it transcends th' eternal's boundless might
Once to create a being infinire,
For that plain contradiction would imply,
And introduce of Gods plurality,
So he on none such honours e'er bestows,
Which must perfections infinite suppose;
This in our thoughts would not ideas bound,
But would with finite infinite confound;
The creature and Creator would be join'd
In indistinct conceptions in the mind.
Once to create a being infinire,
For that plain contradiction would imply,
And introduce of Gods plurality,
So he on none such honours e'er bestows,
Which must perfections infinite suppose;
This in our thoughts would not ideas bound,
But would with finite infinite confound;
The creature and Creator would be join'd
In indistinct conceptions in the mind.
How will th' opponents now maintain their cause,
Who tell us, that to strengthen Nature's laws,
And clear dim reason, was the sole design
Of Christ's appearance, and his scheme divine;
When 'tis most plain, that if they argue right,
It must extinguish Nature's earliest light,
It must of things the moral Nature change,
And in the mind repugnant dictates range.
Who tell us, that to strengthen Nature's laws,
And clear dim reason, was the sole design
Of Christ's appearance, and his scheme divine;
269
It must extinguish Nature's earliest light,
It must of things the moral Nature change,
And in the mind repugnant dictates range.
Tis Nature's precept, that we should adore
One God alone, one God alone implore,
Founded on this impossibility,
That the same names and honours should agree
To beings, which do no proportion own,
One a Creator and a Creature one;
Of perfect wisdom that and boundless might,
A self-existent unexpiring light,
Essential life, the source of good immense,
This of dependent finite excellence.
Now since we must by God's commands abide,
And worship give to him, and none beside,
And since such worship we, as bound, convey
And the sublimest adoration pay
To the blest Saviour, those, who thence infer
The Savior's real Godhead, cannot err.
If we are bid to worship God alone,
And yet to worship Christ, Christ must be one
With the great God, or else we must believe,
That we may worship to a creature give.
One God alone, one God alone implore,
Founded on this impossibility,
That the same names and honours should agree
To beings, which do no proportion own,
One a Creator and a Creature one;
Of perfect wisdom that and boundless might,
A self-existent unexpiring light,
Essential life, the source of good immense,
This of dependent finite excellence.
Now since we must by God's commands abide,
And worship give to him, and none beside,
270
And the sublimest adoration pay
To the blest Saviour, those, who thence infer
The Savior's real Godhead, cannot err.
If we are bid to worship God alone,
And yet to worship Christ, Christ must be one
With the great God, or else we must believe,
That we may worship to a creature give.
How will the Arian Sect their charge maintain
Against the Demon-worshipers? in vain
They such of high idolatry arraign;
Those will retort, th' accusers must condemn
Their own vile practise while they censure them.
What they'll allege, if prostrate we adore
Heroes and demigods, who are no more
Than gods by office, gods by courtesy,
Heav'ns ministers, and legates of the sky?
Can you as grosly impious us upbraid,
Who say religious worship may be paid
To Christ, who is not God supreme, but one
That's God by office, tho' by Nature none?
Against the Demon-worshipers? in vain
They such of high idolatry arraign;
Those will retort, th' accusers must condemn
Their own vile practise while they censure them.
What they'll allege, if prostrate we adore
Heroes and demigods, who are no more
271
Heav'ns ministers, and legates of the sky?
Can you as grosly impious us upbraid,
Who say religious worship may be paid
To Christ, who is not God supreme, but one
That's God by office, tho' by Nature none?
Perhaps the shifting Arian will reply,
We worship Christ the Lord, as God most high,
Because on him th' Almighty did confer
The dignity of his first minister,
And viceroy of his various kingdoms, whence
He does a God subordinate commence,
And as a mighty intercessor own'd
Sits high in heav'n, at God's right hand enthron'd;
In vain, for will not then the Pagans say,
That on as strong prevailing reasons they
Religious worship to their demons pay?
Demons by them believ'd to have the care
Of all things in the sea, and earth, and air,
And to enjoy establish'd empire there.
That they successful intercessors prove,
And bring to mortals blessings from above:
And hence, they'll say, we argue, God supreme
Our Demon-worship never will condemn,
If he religious honours does enjoin
To one, yon own, by Nature not divine,
Only endow'd with delegated pow'rs,
And who no more is God supreme, than ours.
We worship Christ the Lord, as God most high,
Because on him th' Almighty did confer
The dignity of his first minister,
And viceroy of his various kingdoms, whence
He does a God subordinate commence,
And as a mighty intercessor own'd
Sits high in heav'n, at God's right hand enthron'd;
In vain, for will not then the Pagans say,
That on as strong prevailing reasons they
Religious worship to their demons pay?
272
Of all things in the sea, and earth, and air,
And to enjoy establish'd empire there.
That they successful intercessors prove,
And bring to mortals blessings from above:
And hence, they'll say, we argue, God supreme
Our Demon-worship never will condemn,
If he religious honours does enjoin
To one, yon own, by Nature not divine,
Only endow'd with delegated pow'rs,
And who no more is God supreme, than ours.
Besides, we urge, since God does this allow
,
That every knee in heav'n and earth shall bow,
And Adoration to the Saviour pay,
And to him worship, like his own, convey,
The Son of God, in person and in name
Distinct, is with the Father God the same.
That every knee in heav'n and earth shall bow,
And Adoration to the Saviour pay,
And to him worship, like his own, convey,
273
Distinct, is with the Father God the same.
And now to carry farther this dispute,
And the new scheme of sophists to confute,
See, God has said , if Arians will believe,
He'll not his glory to another give.
Then let the Arian, who plain Scripture mocks,
Now hardy contradict the orthodox,
And now himself, at least th' Almighty, spare,
And of arraigning truth itself beware.
Ne'er will th' obdurate heretick agree
To diff'rent persons in the Deity,
But daring makes, that doctrine to evade,
Two Gods, one uncreated and one made;
While adoration to our Lord is paid.
Be it allow'd, that God did men enjoin
To worship Christ with modes and rites divine;
For this just notion ardent we contend,
And by its light our principles defend;
For if by grant divine our Lord can claim
Like veneration, and regards the same
As God most high, whose solemn words declare
He'll not his glory with another share;
Christ must be own'd eternal God by all,
He, whom the sacred books Jehovah call;
Or there are Gods supreme in number two,
To whom the same divine respects are due.
And the new scheme of sophists to confute,
See, God has said , if Arians will believe,
He'll not his glory to another give.
Then let the Arian, who plain Scripture mocks,
Now hardy contradict the orthodox,
And now himself, at least th' Almighty, spare,
And of arraigning truth itself beware.
Ne'er will th' obdurate heretick agree
To diff'rent persons in the Deity,
But daring makes, that doctrine to evade,
Two Gods, one uncreated and one made;
While adoration to our Lord is paid.
274
To worship Christ with modes and rites divine;
For this just notion ardent we contend,
And by its light our principles defend;
For if by grant divine our Lord can claim
Like veneration, and regards the same
As God most high, whose solemn words declare
He'll not his glory with another share;
Christ must be own'd eternal God by all,
He, whom the sacred books Jehovah call;
Or there are Gods supreme in number two,
To whom the same divine respects are due.
When Christ had giv'n the man born blind his sight,
And overspread his mind with heav'nly light,
He prostrate fell before our Saviour-Lord,
And the restorer of his eyes ador'd ,
Who did not this, as criminal, accuse,
Nor the high honour profer'd him refuse.
This will to all reflecting Christians shew,
Religious worship to their Lord is due,
Since he accepted such respect divine,
Which yet the highest angels did decline ,
Bidding the erring worshiper forbear,
And gave this reason; we but creatures are,
The ministers of heav'n to you for good,
And would not be for gods misunderstood.
And yet the blest angelick hierarchy,
God's officers and princes of the sky,
Who by his high command the world divide,
And viceroys o'er the canton'd realms preside,
On that account the venerable name
Of deities subordinate may claim,
As well as Christ, if he enjoys no more
Than an inferior delegated pow'r.
Be it consider'd, that th' eternal mind,
The gospel yet unwrit, had not enjoin'd,
That proper worship should to Christ to be paid;
And therefore here the Arian cannot plead
A positive command, that Christ the Lord
Should with religious honours be ador'd:
Hence the blind man restor'd believ'd it true,
That Christ was God supreme, and therefore knew,
The highest adoration was his due:
And this important truth our Lord confess'd,
While he such worship own'd to him address'd,
Nor once rebuk'd the worshiper, as one,
Who had an act of irreligion done,
Which if our Lord had a mere creature been,
While good and just, he must have blam'd as sin.
And overspread his mind with heav'nly light,
275
And the restorer of his eyes ador'd ,
Who did not this, as criminal, accuse,
Nor the high honour profer'd him refuse.
This will to all reflecting Christians shew,
Religious worship to their Lord is due,
Since he accepted such respect divine,
Which yet the highest angels did decline ,
Bidding the erring worshiper forbear,
And gave this reason; we but creatures are,
The ministers of heav'n to you for good,
And would not be for gods misunderstood.
And yet the blest angelick hierarchy,
God's officers and princes of the sky,
Who by his high command the world divide,
And viceroys o'er the canton'd realms preside,
276
Of deities subordinate may claim,
As well as Christ, if he enjoys no more
Than an inferior delegated pow'r.
Be it consider'd, that th' eternal mind,
The gospel yet unwrit, had not enjoin'd,
That proper worship should to Christ to be paid;
And therefore here the Arian cannot plead
A positive command, that Christ the Lord
Should with religious honours be ador'd:
Hence the blind man restor'd believ'd it true,
That Christ was God supreme, and therefore knew,
The highest adoration was his due:
And this important truth our Lord confess'd,
While he such worship own'd to him address'd,
Nor once rebuk'd the worshiper, as one,
Who had an act of irreligion done,
277
While good and just, he must have blam'd as sin.
The Pagan world, besides the God supreme,
Did in their impious theologick scheme,
Blind and misled by strong delusion, place
Of pow'rs created an unnumber'd race,
Subordinate inferior deities,
And peopled with unnative gods the skies.
These, they affirm'd, did still assiduous stand
Round the supreme, to watch his high command,
And his swift envoys took commission'd flight
Reciprocal from empirean heights,
To earth, and thence thro' known aerial roads
And gulphs of sky back to their blest abodes.
These they ador'd, to these they solemn prayed,
And in distress devoutly cry'd for aid,
These too as intercessors they retain'd,
By whom, they thought, in heav'n they favour gain'd,
And did protection from those guardians crave,
Whose lifeless limbs lay mouldring in the grave.
Did in their impious theologick scheme,
Blind and misled by strong delusion, place
Of pow'rs created an unnumber'd race,
Subordinate inferior deities,
And peopled with unnative gods the skies.
These, they affirm'd, did still assiduous stand
Round the supreme, to watch his high command,
And his swift envoys took commission'd flight
Reciprocal from empirean heights,
To earth, and thence thro' known aerial roads
And gulphs of sky back to their blest abodes.
These they ador'd, to these they solemn prayed,
And in distress devoutly cry'd for aid,
278
By whom, they thought, in heav'n they favour gain'd,
And did protection from those guardians crave,
Whose lifeless limbs lay mouldring in the grave.
This doctrine about demons, creatures rais'd
To dignity divine, ador'd and prais'd
With solemn worship, by the jealous Lord,
The God of Gods, th' Almighty, was abhorr'd.
This worship he idolatry declar'd,
And lest the favour'd tribes should be ensnar'd
By Pagan rites, he by his high command
Expell'd th' unhallow'd practice from the land.
Nor did the Jews his anger more provoke
Against their realm, than when they impious broke
This first, this chief, this fundamental law,
Which on their heads did sure destruction draw.
Against them God, to scourge this hateful crime,
Brought his fierce armies from a distant clime;
Refus'd their empire longer to uphold,
And his own land to Pagan monarchs sold.
To dignity divine, ador'd and prais'd
With solemn worship, by the jealous Lord,
The God of Gods, th' Almighty, was abhorr'd.
This worship he idolatry declar'd,
And lest the favour'd tribes should be ensnar'd
By Pagan rites, he by his high command
Expell'd th' unhallow'd practice from the land.
Nor did the Jews his anger more provoke
Against their realm, than when they impious broke
This first, this chief, this fundamental law,
Which on their heads did sure destruction draw.
279
Brought his fierce armies from a distant clime;
Refus'd their empire longer to uphold,
And his own land to Pagan monarchs sold.
See, when he said
, They should noth ave before
His Face more Gods, but only him adore,
He said not; should their worship they convey
To him, nor let it in the image stay,
But did that honour to his throne direct,
The final object of divine respect,
He then well pleas'd would creature-worship own,
And grant, that thus they worship'd him alone.
No, he in words unlimited forbad
Religious honour to another paid,
Nor one exception qualifying made.
Nor did he say, his pow'r did e'er create
A lord, or prince, or god subordinate,
Whom men, as he commanded, should adore
With rites divine, his clemency implore,
And send their pray'rs and praises to his throne
High in the heav'ns, as to th' Almighty own;
And to him should ascribe God's certain right
Salvation, glory, majesty, and might
Equal to that we give to God most high;
No, this he still did absolute deny,
And said, he would with none his honour share,
Nor in his glory e'er a partner bear.
Hence 'tis to all of thought impartial plain,
No limitation did his law restrain;
Convinc'd by reason's force we hence conclude,
Th' Almighty's words all under-pow'rs exclude,
All gods by office and commission made,
From worship, such as to himself is paid.
His Face more Gods, but only him adore,
He said not; should their worship they convey
To him, nor let it in the image stay,
But did that honour to his throne direct,
The final object of divine respect,
He then well pleas'd would creature-worship own,
And grant, that thus they worship'd him alone.
No, he in words unlimited forbad
Religious honour to another paid,
Nor one exception qualifying made.
280
A lord, or prince, or god subordinate,
Whom men, as he commanded, should adore
With rites divine, his clemency implore,
And send their pray'rs and praises to his throne
High in the heav'ns, as to th' Almighty own;
And to him should ascribe God's certain right
Salvation, glory, majesty, and might
Equal to that we give to God most high;
No, this he still did absolute deny,
And said, he would with none his honour share,
Nor in his glory e'er a partner bear.
Hence 'tis to all of thought impartial plain,
No limitation did his law restrain;
Convinc'd by reason's force we hence conclude,
Th' Almighty's words all under-pow'rs exclude,
281
From worship, such as to himself is paid.
O Rome, thy church infallible has err'd,
Which æmulous of Pagan rites, transfer'd
This demon-worship to the num'rous lands
To which thy pontiffs send their proud commands.
By spurious rev'rence, superstitious dread,
And false humility thy vot'ries led
Scarce will approach th' Almighty's Majesty,
But to created intercessors fly,
To saints and angels adoration pay,
And prostrate in their temples ardent pray,
That they would bear propitious to the throne
Of God their pray'rs, assist them with their own,
And by their merit wrath divine atone.
Thousands of mediators they enroll,
That equal, or exceed, the Pagan scroll,
And hence they heathen lands in guilt outvie,
These did in practice nature's light denie,
Those that, and revelation's too defie.
Which æmulous of Pagan rites, transfer'd
This demon-worship to the num'rous lands
To which thy pontiffs send their proud commands.
By spurious rev'rence, superstitious dread,
And false humility thy vot'ries led
Scarce will approach th' Almighty's Majesty,
But to created intercessors fly,
To saints and angels adoration pay,
And prostrate in their temples ardent pray,
That they would bear propitious to the throne
Of God their pray'rs, assist them with their own,
And by their merit wrath divine atone.
Thousands of mediators they enroll,
That equal, or exceed, the Pagan scroll,
282
These did in practice nature's light denie,
Those that, and revelation's too defie.
But we may Rome and Pagan notions free
From the black charge of gross idolatry,
If true religious worship may be paid
To gods inferior and to beings made:
And yet the blest redeemer is no more
In the esteem of numbers, who adore
His person, and his aid divine implore.
From the black charge of gross idolatry,
If true religious worship may be paid
To gods inferior and to beings made:
And yet the blest redeemer is no more
In the esteem of numbers, who adore
His person, and his aid divine implore.
In vain they urge, that strict divine respect
They still to God supreme alone direct,
And when to Christ they the same honours send,
They do not secret in their mind intend
The uncreated God most high, but one
Subordinate, and who in time begun:
Will not old Pagan and new Christian Rome,
Whose sons to worship demon gods presume,
Say, they these under-deities no more,
Than Arians Jesus, finally adore:
But that thro' these, with pure intention, they
Worship divine to the most high convey:
Then, Arians, own your gross idolatry,
Or from that guilt pronounce the Pagan free.
They still to God supreme alone direct,
And when to Christ they the same honours send,
They do not secret in their mind intend
The uncreated God most high, but one
Subordinate, and who in time begun:
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Whose sons to worship demon gods presume,
Say, they these under-deities no more,
Than Arians Jesus, finally adore:
But that thro' these, with pure intention, they
Worship divine to the most high convey:
Then, Arians, own your gross idolatry,
Or from that guilt pronounce the Pagan free.
The Books inspir'd say
Christ is rais'd on high
Above th' angelick natives of the sky;
Above all powers, dominions, potentates,
Great dignities, seraphick thrones and states,
Who to their king the mediator low
Bow down in adoration, and bestow
Such names divine and honours, which are shown
To the supreme eternal God alone.
To which of all the angels did he say,
Who dwell in bright abodes and endless day,
“Sit thou enthron'd in bliss on my right hand,
“Till I extend thy uncontroll'd command
“O'er all thy proud opposers, who shall lie
“Low at thy footstool, and for mercy crie?
Above th' angelick natives of the sky;
Above all powers, dominions, potentates,
Great dignities, seraphick thrones and states,
Who to their king the mediator low
Bow down in adoration, and bestow
Such names divine and honours, which are shown
To the supreme eternal God alone.
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Who dwell in bright abodes and endless day,
“Sit thou enthron'd in bliss on my right hand,
“Till I extend thy uncontroll'd command
“O'er all thy proud opposers, who shall lie
“Low at thy footstool, and for mercy crie?
He in the same doxologies is joyn'd,
Which are ascrib'd to God, th' Eternal Mind
“Salvation, glory, majesty and might,
“Praise and renown, and empire infinite,
“To him that sits high on the throne in heav'n,
“And to the Lamb, for evermore be giv'n.
Hence our opposers must allow, the Son
With the blest Father is in essence one,
Or will by reason be compell'd to say,
They the same act of adoration pay
To God and to a creature, and assign
Worship to both in a strict sense divine.
Now who to stand by this conclusion dare,
That gods by office, who but creatures are,
May with their Maker adoration share?
Is not a creature of the noblest kind
At as true distance infinite disjoin'd
From the eternal Maker, God most high,
As his less wondrous works, a worm or fly?
Should princes bid their subjects honour pay
To a poor groom in the same words and way,
As when they worship him and favours pray?
Or should they bid a monarch's envoy crave
A solemn audience of an abject slave,
Or some domestick favour'd animal,
Would not observers this distraction call?
Yet is it more absurd and gross, to join
God and a creature in one act divine.
Of worship; for of distance voids immense,
And gulphs, unconscious of circumference,
Th' eternal self-existent God-head part
From all things, which did into being start
At his command; as well th' angelick race,
As those, that swim the flood, their native place,
Graze the green earth, or creep along its face.
Which are ascrib'd to God, th' Eternal Mind
“Salvation, glory, majesty and might,
“Praise and renown, and empire infinite,
“To him that sits high on the throne in heav'n,
“And to the Lamb, for evermore be giv'n.
Hence our opposers must allow, the Son
With the blest Father is in essence one,
Or will by reason be compell'd to say,
They the same act of adoration pay
285
Worship to both in a strict sense divine.
Now who to stand by this conclusion dare,
That gods by office, who but creatures are,
May with their Maker adoration share?
Is not a creature of the noblest kind
At as true distance infinite disjoin'd
From the eternal Maker, God most high,
As his less wondrous works, a worm or fly?
Should princes bid their subjects honour pay
To a poor groom in the same words and way,
As when they worship him and favours pray?
Or should they bid a monarch's envoy crave
A solemn audience of an abject slave,
Or some domestick favour'd animal,
Would not observers this distraction call?
Yet is it more absurd and gross, to join
God and a creature in one act divine.
286
And gulphs, unconscious of circumference,
Th' eternal self-existent God-head part
From all things, which did into being start
At his command; as well th' angelick race,
As those, that swim the flood, their native place,
Graze the green earth, or creep along its face.
Now see, between a slave and princes crown'd
Is great alliance, great proportion, found;
For each is finite, each a creature, each
Have understandings of a bounded reach:
Besides their human nature is the same,
And they alike the common species claim.
And animals agree with kings thus far,
That both are creatures and both living are.
Now if the Saviour only is allow'd
To be a creature, let him be endow'd
With excellence, dominion, glory, might,
And all perfections short of infinite,
There will a vaster disproportion be
Between him and th' Almighty's majesty
Not made nor circumscrib'd, than we can find
Between low mortals and th' angelick kind:
Between a peasant and a prince renown'd,
A creeping insect and a Sage profound.
Then see, how this does common sense invade,
That the Creator and a being made
May be ador'd in the same words and ways;
This doctrine impious heresy betrays.
Is great alliance, great proportion, found;
For each is finite, each a creature, each
Have understandings of a bounded reach:
Besides their human nature is the same,
And they alike the common species claim.
And animals agree with kings thus far,
That both are creatures and both living are.
Now if the Saviour only is allow'd
To be a creature, let him be endow'd
287
And all perfections short of infinite,
There will a vaster disproportion be
Between him and th' Almighty's majesty
Not made nor circumscrib'd, than we can find
Between low mortals and th' angelick kind:
Between a peasant and a prince renown'd,
A creeping insect and a Sage profound.
Then see, how this does common sense invade,
That the Creator and a being made
May be ador'd in the same words and ways;
This doctrine impious heresy betrays.
'Tis the position of our Arian tribe,
To which some great Socinian chiefs subscribe,
That th' appellation God the Scriptures give
In no respect but what is relative:
Ne'er to th' Almighty is that name allow'd,
But as with empire and with pow'r endow'd,
And that the worship, which to him we owe,
Does from his title of dominion flow.
Hence those, say they, the Scripture gods declares,
Who by his pow'r have delegated shares,
And rule by his commission; these, say they,
Are gods inferior by deputed sway.
To which some great Socinian chiefs subscribe,
That th' appellation God the Scriptures give
In no respect but what is relative:
288
But as with empire and with pow'r endow'd,
And that the worship, which to him we owe,
Does from his title of dominion flow.
Hence those, say they, the Scripture gods declares,
Who by his pow'r have delegated shares,
And rule by his commission; these, say they,
Are gods inferior by deputed sway.
And thus far Christ, as truly God, they own,
But place him only on an under-throne;
While they contend, he only has pretence
In this improper metaphorick sence
To be acknowledg'd God, yet they assign
To Jesus honours properly divine:
Prostrate to him they solemn pray'r address,
And adoration strictly such express,
The same as we direct to God supreme:
Behold the Anti-trinitarian scheme.
But place him only on an under-throne;
While they contend, he only has pretence
In this improper metaphorick sence
To be acknowledg'd God, yet they assign
To Jesus honours properly divine:
Prostrate to him they solemn pray'r address,
And adoration strictly such express,
289
Behold the Anti-trinitarian scheme.
We ask, if when to Christ they worship pay,
That honour goes no farther; or if they
To God thro' Christ their worship still convey?
If that, behold unmask'd idolatry,
While to a creature they devout apply
Titles and honours, as to God most high;
A creature, whom they such ev'n then allow,
When they in adoration to him bow:
If this, the Arians can't their cause sustain,
They arei dolaters, and plead in vain,
Their impious scheme and practice to protect,
That when to Christ they pay divine respect,
Which they to God supreme thro' him direct,
Their act of adoration is but one,
And is address'd to God most high alone.
That honour goes no farther; or if they
To God thro' Christ their worship still convey?
If that, behold unmask'd idolatry,
While to a creature they devout apply
Titles and honours, as to God most high;
A creature, whom they such ev'n then allow,
When they in adoration to him bow:
If this, the Arians can't their cause sustain,
They arei dolaters, and plead in vain,
Their impious scheme and practice to protect,
That when to Christ they pay divine respect,
Which they to God supreme thro' him direct,
Their act of adoration is but one,
And is address'd to God most high alone.
290
If men to God thro' Christ may worship send,
Because an under-god, and not offend,
They may to kings strict adoration pay,
If worship they thro' kings to God convey:
For do not sov'reign lords and princes shine,
Adorn'd with splendid rays of pow'r divine,
And therefore are inferior Gods, and own'd
As such by God, by his command enthron'd:
Viceroys invested with a great degree
Of his imperial high authority.
Thus kings are Scripture-gods, existing, true,
Proper, unfeign'd, and gods by Office too,
As well as Christ, according to the scheme
Of some great Arians, under God supreme;
Then are they mediate gods for worship fit,
And may, to be ador'd, exalted sit:
And say, what crime their vot'ries would commit,
If they, like Arians, their divine respect
Do thro' those kings to God most high direct?
Tis true, Christ's empire vastly theirs exceeds,
But this of species no distinction breeds,
But only of degree the diff'rence brings,
For sov'reigns great or small alike are kings;
And have an equal right, as they are so,
To honours, which from pow'r and empire flow;
For the school-maxim has unshaken stood,
“From as 'tis such to all, the sequel's good.
Because an under-god, and not offend,
They may to kings strict adoration pay,
If worship they thro' kings to God convey:
For do not sov'reign lords and princes shine,
Adorn'd with splendid rays of pow'r divine,
And therefore are inferior Gods, and own'd
As such by God, by his command enthron'd:
Viceroys invested with a great degree
Of his imperial high authority.
Thus kings are Scripture-gods, existing, true,
Proper, unfeign'd, and gods by Office too,
As well as Christ, according to the scheme
Of some great Arians, under God supreme;
Then are they mediate gods for worship fit,
And may, to be ador'd, exalted sit:
And say, what crime their vot'ries would commit,
291
Do thro' those kings to God most high direct?
Tis true, Christ's empire vastly theirs exceeds,
But this of species no distinction breeds,
But only of degree the diff'rence brings,
For sov'reigns great or small alike are kings;
And have an equal right, as they are so,
To honours, which from pow'r and empire flow;
For the school-maxim has unshaken stood,
“From as 'tis such to all, the sequel's good.
And here hard driv'n some, who the deity
Of the Redeemer arrogant deny,
Would fain by disingenuous shifts evade
The consequence, that he's a being made:
Nor will they, tho' intreated, make it known,
Whether they Christ as a mere creature own.
Here, see, what master-strokes of genius shine,
What elevated thoughts, what sense divine;
These disputants, with wit superior crown'd,
A middle being have successful found,
Who is not caus'd, nor yet the causeless cause,
And who, tho' this opposes reason's laws,
From the Almighty's actual will arose,
Yet not his being to creation owes.
As thy first atoms, Carus, in their flight
Inclin'd, yet form'd no slanting line, nor right,
But one, that in a manner somewhat like,
And wanting but a little, was oblique;
So these wise masters in their scheme abstruse
A strange invented being introduce,
Who is divine almost, and as it were;
Not God supreme, but something very near.
And this, how wild soever it may sound,
Will be the doctrine of those Arians found,
Who will not Christ as God supreme avow,
Nor yet to be a creature him allow.
Of the Redeemer arrogant deny,
Would fain by disingenuous shifts evade
The consequence, that he's a being made:
Nor will they, tho' intreated, make it known,
Whether they Christ as a mere creature own.
292
What elevated thoughts, what sense divine;
These disputants, with wit superior crown'd,
A middle being have successful found,
Who is not caus'd, nor yet the causeless cause,
And who, tho' this opposes reason's laws,
From the Almighty's actual will arose,
Yet not his being to creation owes.
As thy first atoms, Carus, in their flight
Inclin'd, yet form'd no slanting line, nor right,
But one, that in a manner somewhat like,
And wanting but a little, was oblique;
So these wise masters in their scheme abstruse
A strange invented being introduce,
Who is divine almost, and as it were;
Not God supreme, but something very near.
293
Will be the doctrine of those Arians found,
Who will not Christ as God supreme avow,
Nor yet to be a creature him allow.
Would these presumptuous men the world persuade,
That Christ is neither made, nor yet unmade;
Not self-existent, nor created, one
Who had beginning, and yet ne'er begun?
But while these wily disputants deny
The Saviour's strict and proper deity,
Yet own he's not a creature, let them here
Their sentiments from contradiction clear;
Let them explain their scheme, and let us see
How their repugnant notions can agree.
That Christ is neither made, nor yet unmade;
Not self-existent, nor created, one
Who had beginning, and yet ne'er begun?
But while these wily disputants deny
The Saviour's strict and proper deity,
Yet own he's not a creature, let them here
Their sentiments from contradiction clear;
Let them explain their scheme, and let us see
How their repugnant notions can agree.
294
If Anti-trinitarian sects alone
Have the true meaning of the Gospel known,
Then since the Christian doctrine was reveal'd,
Celestial truth has kept her head conceal'd
In clouds and darkness, while no man was found
In many ages past, who could expound
Scriptures of vast importance, which concern
Each individual of the Church to learn:
And then the promis'd Spirit, who should guide
Into all truth the Christian, has denied
To yield due aid, those errors to avoid,
By which ev'n Nature's dictates are destroy'd;
And suffer'd long the Christian world to lie
Plung'd in the depths of gross idolatry.
Whilst they by honouring Christ (but how deceiv'd!)
Ador'd a creature, whom they God believ'd.
And thus the Saviour, if they argue right,
That bliss and life immortal brought to light,
Has not himself reveal'd, nor made it known,
What of his nature we are bound to own.
Hard fate, if Christians have thro' ages paid
The highest worship to a being made,
By Scripture's clearest evidence betray'd!
Have the true meaning of the Gospel known,
Then since the Christian doctrine was reveal'd,
Celestial truth has kept her head conceal'd
In clouds and darkness, while no man was found
In many ages past, who could expound
Scriptures of vast importance, which concern
Each individual of the Church to learn:
And then the promis'd Spirit, who should guide
Into all truth the Christian, has denied
To yield due aid, those errors to avoid,
By which ev'n Nature's dictates are destroy'd;
And suffer'd long the Christian world to lie
Plung'd in the depths of gross idolatry.
Whilst they by honouring Christ (but how deceiv'd!)
Ador'd a creature, whom they God believ'd.
295
That bliss and life immortal brought to light,
Has not himself reveal'd, nor made it known,
What of his nature we are bound to own.
Hard fate, if Christians have thro' ages paid
The highest worship to a being made,
By Scripture's clearest evidence betray'd!
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