'A short Schem of the true Religion'

|Of Godliness.|

Divinity \Godliness/ consists in the knowledge love & worship of God, Humanity in the love, & charity to man. \righteousness/ & good offices towards man. Thou shall love the Lord thy God w^th all thy heart & with all thy Soul & w^th all thy mind: this is the first & great commandment & the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self. On these two commandments hang all the law & the Prophets. Mat. 22. The first is enjoyned \couched/ /enjoyned\ in the four \three/ \three/ \four/ first commandments of the Decalogue & improved in the fourth & the second in y^e four \six/ last.

|Of Atheism|

Opposite to the first is Atheism \in {illeg}|pro|fession/ & Idolatry in practise. Atheism is so seseless {sic} & odious to mankind that it never had many professors. Can Is it Can it be by accident that all birds beasts fishes & men have two two \their right side & left side alike shaped & (except in their bowells) &/ just two eyes & no more on either side the face & \just/ two ears on either side the head & a nose with two ey holes on either side the f \& no more/ between y^e eyes & a \{but} one/ mouth under the nose & \either just/ two fore leggs &|or| two wings or two arms on the sholders & two leggs on the hipps \one on either side & no more/? Whence arises this uniformity in all their \outward/ shapes but from the counc|s|el & contrivance of an a|A|uthor? Whence is it that all the eyes of all \sorts of/ living creatures are transparent to y^e very bottom & the only transparent members in y^e body, having on y^e outside an hard transparent skin, & within transparent juyces w^th a crystalline globe in y^e mi Lens in the middle \& a pupil before the Lens/ all of them so shape truly shaped & fitted for vision, that no Artist can mend them, {illeg}? Did blind chance know that there was light & what was its refraction & fit the eys of all creatures after the most curious manner to make use of it? These & such like considerations \always/ have & ever will prevail with man kind to beleive that he is|there| is a being who made all things & has all things in his power & who is therfore to be feared.

Of Idolatry.

Idolatry is a more dangerous crime because \it is apt by the authority of Kings &/ under very specious pretenses it is apt to insinuate it self into mankind. [It is \The doctrine of Demons is/ the main artifice of the old Dragon who is Idolatry being opposite to y^e main branch of relig called the Devil & Satan which deceiveth the whole world.] The plausible doctrines What more \What more obvious then for kings \Kings being apt to {sic}/ to enjoyn the honour of their dead ancestors: or more. & it seeming very/ plausible then to honour the souls of Heroes & Saints & to beleive that they can heare us & help us \& are \& are/ mediators between God & man &/ & that they reside \& act/ principally in the temples & statues dedicated to their \honour &/ memory? \the/ And yet this being derogatory to \against/ the principal part \branch part/ of religion is in scripture condemned & detested above all other crimes. The crime \sin/ consists \partly first/ in wor serving a false Gods & \partly in/ omitting the service of the true God. For the more time \& devotion/ one spends in serv worshipping \the worship of/ false Gods the less remains for that true one worship \he is able to spend of in that/ of the true one: secondly in serving fals Gods that or feigned Gods, that is Ghosts or spirits of dead men or such like beings w^ch you make your Gods by feigning that they can hear your prayers & help & protect you \& pro/ {or}|&| do you \good or/ hurt & praying to them \& trusting in them/ for protection & blessings \& trust in them for the same/, & w^ch are {illeg} false Gods because they have not the powers w^ch you ascribe to them \& on w^ch you trust/. Call Whether you call them Gods or Saints or Div Dij or Divi Gods or Saints or by any other name is not material. If you ascribe such powers to them & put such trust in them as the heathens did put ascribed to their Gods & put in their Gods you make them such \fals/ Gods as the Heathens worshipped & as God \are/ forbids|en| in the first commandment. S^t Paul tells the Heathens that y^e Gods w^ch they worshipped were not Gods. he does not <1v> mean that they were not infinite eternal omp|n|ipotent & omniscient \beings/ (for the heathens did not take them to be such) but he means that they were not what the Heathens called Gods, \they were not such Gods as the heathens took them to bee./ that is \intelligent/ spirits able to heare & see their worshippers & do them good or hurt. \To place such powers in the souls of dead men is that doctrine of Devils or Demons condemned by the Apostle./ An Idol is nothing in the world, a vanity, \a lye/ a fictitious power, The Egyptians & other heathens p|w|ho propagated Idolatry beleived the transmigration of souls & on this doctrine founded their opinion \accordingly taught/ that y^e souls of men after death were seated in \went into/ several subjects as into {illeg} \the/ Ox Apis & other sacred animals of Egypt, into the Sun \Moon/ & Stars, & into the \& vegetables \plants/ stones & Bætules &/ Images consecrated to them \&c/ & on this opinion grounded their worship of those subjects. And the Prophets upbraid their folly by telling them These b supposing that the starrs in their cours by these Intelligences were moved in their Orbs & understood & governed humane affairs & that statues by these spirits could hear & help us & sometimes give oracles move themselves & give oracles. And these are the Devils to \or Dæmons/ w^ch Idolators sacrificed \worshipped/ Levit 7.7. Deut 32.17 2 Chron 11.15. Psal. 106.37. 1 Cor. 10.20. Rev. 9.20. & whose worship the Prophets upbraid with folly by representing that the Idols \of the/ can neither hear nor se nor walk. that is that they are mere stocks & stones voyd of \{illeg}/ souls like \are not animated by such souls as/ those by w^ch men hear & see & walk, but are mere \inanimate/ stocks & stones voyd of all life & power. [So when covetous men put by putting that trust in riches w^ch they should put in God become a sort of Idolaters. And much more idolatrous plainly is it idolatrous is it to place supernatural powers \trust/ in charmes \ceremonies/, d dead bodies, & the like consecrated substances & the like. All this is worshipping the creature instead of the creator.] And thirdly \the sin of/ Idolatry consists in making & worshipping sacred or ma the images of men dead men or of other things in heaven above or in the earth below \beneath/ or in the waters below the earth that is of birds beasts or fishes \(contrary to the second commandment)/ as was upon a supposition that by virtue of the souls of dead men or of the supreme God \or any other Spirits or Demons good or bad/ inhabiting them or upon any other account they can hear & see their worshippers & \or/ do them good or hurt. Stocks & ston To ascribe such powers to them is to feign them Gods (such Gods as the heathens worshipped) & to love or feare or trust in them or express such love feare or trust by any prai|y|ers \praises/ thanksgivings sacrificing|es| \adorations/ or any other outward {illeg} action or service is the idolatry of the old heathens forbidden in the second commandment. T Stocks & Stones have no such powers, they are not inhabited by spirits \the souls of dead men,/, eyes have they & see not ears have they & hear not. As \An/ Idols {sic} are \is/ nothing in the world, & \They are/ vanity|ies| {sic}, & lye|ies|, {a} \{mehre}/ fictitious powers, & on this account they are derided \called false Gods & derided as such/ by all the old Prophets. & called fals gods And of the same kind of folly is it to place any trust in dead bod the bodies or bones of dead men or in things consecrated \or other things without life/ or in \any/ ceremonies or charmes: for even the trusting \& {setting}/ in riches is by the Apostle called Idolatry.

We are therefore to {ha} acknowledge the supreme God one God infinite eternal omp|n|ipresent, omniscient & omnipotent \most wise most just, most holy, the creator of all things most wise, most just, most good most holy;/, & to have no other Gods but him. We must love him feare him honour him \trust in him/ pray to him give him thanks {illeg} pr praise him & \obey his commandments/ hallow his name as we are \obey his commandments/ & set times apart for his service as we are directed in the third & fourth commandments. & \By For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments & his commandments are not grievous 1 Iohn. 5.3/ These things we must do not to any mediators between him & us but to him alone, that he may give his Angels charge over us \who being our fellow servants are pleased with the worship w^ch we give to their God./. And this is the first & principal part of religion, w^ch \This/ always was & always will be the religion of all Gods people, from the beginning to the end of the world.

|Of Humanity|

The other part of the true religion is o^r duty to man. We must love o^r neighbour as o^r selves, we must be charitable to all men for charity is the greatest of graces, greater then even faith or hope & covers a multitude of sins. We must \be righteous &/ do to all men as we would they should do to us. In Politicks Salus populi suprema lex, In private concerns Quod tibi fierit? non vis alteri ne feceris were laws acknowledged by Heathens & are or ought <2r> to be the laws of all man-kind. This was the morality of the heathens ethics or morality \or good manners/ taught the \the first ages by Noah & his sons in \some {point} of/ their seven precepts & afterwards by the later heathens/ heathens by Socrates Cicero Confutius & other Philosophers, the Israelites by Moses & the Prophets & the Christians \more fully/ by Christ & his Apostles. This is that law w^ch the Apostle tells you was written in the hearts of the Gentiles & by w^ch they are to be judged in the last day Rom. 2.12, 14, 15. "For the invisible things of him God from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power & godhead, so that they [the nations or gentiles] are without excuse, because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankfull, but becam vain in their imaginations & their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools & changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man & to birds & four footed beasts & creeping things. Wherefore also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonour their own bodies between themselves --- & to a reprobate mind to do those things w^ch are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceipt, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of g|G|od, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers without natural affection implacable unmercifull; who knowing the judgment of God (that they who do s commit such things are worthy of death) not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them --- And thinkest thou this O [christian] man that judgest them who do such things & doest the same that thou shalt escape the judgment of God --- who will render to every man according to his deeds -- For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law the law [of Moses] shall also perish without the law & as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law in the day when God shall judge the secrets of Men by Iesus Christ. For not the hearers of the law are just before God but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles w^ch have not the law do by nature [the light of] nature the things contained in the law these having not the law [of Moses] are [by the light of nature] a law unto themselves, which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their consciences {sic} also bearing witness, & their thoughts in the mean while accusing or excusing one another." Rom. 1 & 2. Thus you see there is but one law of rig \for/ all nations the law of righteousness & charity dictated to the Christians by Christ to the Iews by Moses & to all mankind by the light of reason & by this law all men are to be judged at the last day. This was the religion of the first ages till the|y| nations forsook the right worship of the true God & turned aside to y^e worship of Ghosts \dead men/ & Idols, & then God gave them over to their lusts & passions for working all manner of unrighteousness. T But Moses made a reformation among the Iews Israelites & not from the ancien{illeg} ancient religion propogated by Noah & his posterity to the nations but from the idolatry & immorality w^th w^ch the Nations had corrupted themselves. ffor as many of the heathens as lived were {not} idolaters \were converted from their corruptions to/ worshipped only the true God & followed the law of righteousness \exprest in the seven precepts/ were admitted by the Iews into their Gates & outward court of the Temple as Proselites tho they did not receive the law of Moses. The Iews {illeg} rejected not the Religion of Noah & the first heathens \nations/ but proselited the heathens to <2v> it as to the true \ancient/ religion tho a religion \w^ch they accounted/ not so perfect as that of Moses. And in like manner we ought may lawfully proselite heathens to it \(that is to piety & righteousness)/ & ought to respect \value/ & all those love its {illeg} love those who profess & practise it \even/ though they be \do/ not yet converted to Christianity \believe in Christ./ ffor it is o^r|the| own \true/ religion though not all o^r of Christians \{illeg} as well as heathens/ tho not all the \true/ Christian religion. Righteousness was the religion of Chris all the saints (Psal. 34.17. & 37.17, 29. & 146.8 Tis so great & necessary a part of him self the Christian religion that the righteousness of the saints is the white cloathing of the Lambs wife \& of Christ himself/ Apoc. 19.8. & the righteous go into eternal life Matt. 25 46. () \& is the property of God himself {illeg} Iud. 5.11 1 Sam 12.7. Ezra 9.15. Nehem. 9.8 Psal 119.137/ \& as Christ is righteous /& the religio\ so everyone that doth righteousness is born of God. 1 Iohn. 2.29./

of the Kingdom heaven Isa 60.21 ffor the white cloathing of the Lambs wife is the righteousness of the saints Apoc 19.8. & except yo^r righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt 5.20. \Abel was righteous (Heb. 11.4 Mat. 23.35 {illeg} & 1 Iohn. 3.12) &/ Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2.5) & by his righteousness he was saved from y^e flood (Gen 7.1.).         . Christ is called the righteous (1 Iohn 2.1             ) & by his righteousness we are saved (Rom. 3.25. \& 5.18/ 1 Cor. 1.30) & except o^r righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees we shall not enter into the kingdome of heaven. (Mat. 5.20.) Righteousness is |also| the religion of the kingdom of heaven & ex (2 Pet. 3. 13 Isa 60) \21/) & \even/ the property of God himself [Iud. 5.11. {illeg} 1 Sam 12.7. Ezra 9.15 Nehem 9.8. Psal. 119.137.] with respect to man towards man. Righteousness & Love are inseparable for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this thou shalt not steal commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet, & if there be any other commandment, it is breifly comprehended in this saying tho namely Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law. Rom. 13.8, 9, 10. Without love there is no religion for he that loveth God loveth his neighbour \brother/ also \He that loveth his brother abideth in the light & there is no occasion of stumbling. 1 Iohn 2.10/ He that loveth not his brother abideth in death Whosoever hatet hath|e|th his brother is a murderer & ye know that no murderer hath eternal life. 1 Iohn 3.14. 15 Beloved let us love one another for love is of God & every one that loveth is born of God & knoweth God & he that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Beloved if God so loved us we ought to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time, if we love one another God dwelleth in us. --- If a man say I love God & hateth his brother he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we that he who loveth God love his brother also. 1 Iohn 4. Though I speak with the toungues Covet earnestly the best gifts [of the Spirit:] & yet I shew unto you a more excellent way [viz^t that ye love one another. \ffor/] Though I speak with the tongues of men & angels & have not charity | love I am become as sounding brass & \or a/ tinkling Cymbal. And though I have the guift of prophesy & understand all mysteries & all knowledge & though I have all faith so y^t I could remove mountains & have no charity | love I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor & tho I give my body to be burned & have not charity | love it profiteth me nothing.