Particular Duties to which this Care of our Soul obliges us.
1. To settle in our selves right Opinions of Religion. L. N. N. l. 1. c. 4. §7.
Among all the Opinions then, which it highly concerns all Men firmly to settle in their Minds, the chief are those which relate to ALMIGHTY GOD, as the great Creator and Governour of the Universe, such as are represented in the foregoing Chapter. The full Persuasion of these great Truths being not only the principal Ground of the Whole Duty of Man to God, but the Foundation of all those Virtues which we are to exercise toward our Neighbour, and the true Source of all that Quiet of Conscience and Tranquillity of Mind, which is one of the greatest Blessings of Life. Since no sober and considering Man can deny these Truths, we must diligently avoid and utterly reject all those Opinions, which contain in them any thing contrariant to Principles so important. By which I mean not only Atheism and Epicurism, but all other Sentiments which are prejudicial to Human Society, or destructive of good Manners; such being incompatible with true Religion, and overturning the very Foundation of the Morality of Human Actions; of which kind there are many Instances.21
The first I shall mention is the Stoical Conceit of Fate or Destiny, and (which nearly resembles it) Judicial Astrology; by which it being supposed, that all things happen in the World by an internal and inevitable Necessity, Men must be looked upon as the simple Instruments only of their own Actions; for which, consequently, they are no more accountable upon this Presumption, than a Clock is answerable for the Motion of its Wheels.
Another Opinion there is very nearly allied to this, which supposes the unalterable Consequences of Causes, and of Effects; or the great Chain of Things, established by the Creator, to stand by such an Immoveable Decree, that even GOD has left Himself no Liberty of interposing in particular Cases.
Most pernicious likewise is that Conceit, which makes GOD allow a kind of Market of Sins, so as to suffer them to be bought off with Money, to be commuted for with Offerings, with the Observance of some vain Ceremonies, or the Utterance of some set Forms of Speech, without Amendment of Life, and an honest Endeavour to become Good Men. To this may be joyned, the sottish Imagination of such, who fancy that Almighty GOD is delighted with such Inventions of Men, such Institutions and Ways of Living, as are disagreeable to Human and Civil Society, as it is regulated by the Dictates of Reason and the Laws of Nature.
All superstitious Notions, such as debase and dishonour the Divine Nature and Worship, are carefully to be avoided, as contrary to true Religion.
The same thing must be said of the Notions of those Men, who imagin that the bare Exercise of Piety towards GOD in Acts of Devotion, as they are called, is sufficient, without any Regard had to Honesty of Life, or to those Duties which we are to practice towards our Neighbour. Nor is the Conceit of others less Impious, who fancy, that a Man may be able, not only to fulfil his own Duty towards GOD, but even exceed what is required of him, and thereby transfer some of his Merits on others; so that one Person’s Negligence in his Duty, may be supply’d from the Works of Supererogation, that is, the Over-righteousness of another. Of the same Stamp is that shameful Opinion of some others, that imagine, that the Wickedness of some Actions is overlooked and excused by GOD, on the Account of the Dexterity, the Humour, or the Gallantry of the Persons who do them; as if such Sins passed only as Jests and Trifles in the Cognisance of Heaven. No less wicked is it to believe, that those Prayers can please GOD, by which a Man desires, that others may suffer an undeserved Evil, for the occasioning or promoting an Advantage to himself; or to imagine, that Men may treat, in the worst manner they please, such as are of a different Persuasion from them in Religious Matters. Not to mention some other such like Opinions, which carry indeed the Pretence of Piety, but in reality tend to the Destruction of Religion and Morality.
IV. 2. To arrive at a true Knowlege of our selves. The Duties that result from such a knowledge. L. N. N. l. 2. c. 4. §5.
When we have thus arm’d our Minds against all false Opinions of the Divine Nature and Worship, the main Concern behind is, for a Man accurately to examine his own Nature, and to study to know himself.22
From this Knowledge of himself, rightly pursued, a Man is brought acquainted with his own Original; he comes to know perfectly his Condition here, and the Part he is to bear in the World. Hereby he will perceive, that he does not exist of himself, but owes his Being and Life to a Principle infinitely superior to him; that he is endowed with Faculties far more noble than he sees enjoy’d by the Beasts about him; and farther, that he was not born by himself, nor purely for his own Service, but that he is a Part of Human kind. From thus knowing a Man’s self he must necessarily conclude, that he lives in Subjection to Almighty GOD, that he is obliged, according to the Measure of the Gifts he hath received from his Maker, to serve and honour Him; and moreover, to behave himself towards his Equals in such a manner, as becomes a Sociable Creature. And in as much as GOD hath bestowed on him the Light of Reason and Understanding, to guide him in the Course of his Life, it evidently follows, that he ought to make a right Use of it: And consequently not to act at random, without End or Design, but, whatever he undertakes, to propose thereby to himself some particular End, in its self both possible and lawful, and to direct his own Actions suitably to that End; as also to use such other Means as he shall find proper for the compassing it. Again, from hence it follows, that since Truth and Right are always uniform and without alteration, so a Man ought always to form the same Judgments of the same Things, and when he hath once judged truly, to be always constant in his Mind and Resolution. Farther it follows, that a Man’s Will and Appetite ought not to get the Superiority over his Judgment, but follow and obey it, never making resistance to its Decrees; or, which amounts to the same thing, Men ought to form no Judgments but upon mature Deliberation, nor ever to act against their Judgments so formed.
L. N. N. l. 2. c. 4. §7.
Besides, by considering and knowing himself, a Man will rightly apprehend his own Strength and Power: He will find that it is of a finite nature, having certain Limits beyond which it can never extend it self; and therefore, that there are many Things in the World which he can no ways manage or compass, many that he can no ways hinder or resist, and other Things again not absolutely above Human Power, but which may be prevented and intercepted by the Interposition of other superior Powers. Again, another Sort of Things there are, which though we cannot compass by our bare Strength, yet we may, if it be assisted and supported by Dexterity and Address.
What seems to be most free from outward Restraint, and most within our own Power is our Will; especially so far as it is concerned in producing and exerting Actions suitable to our Species of Being, as we are reasonable Creatures. Hence it follows, that every Man ought to make it his main Care and Concern, rightly to employ all his Faculties and Abilities, in conformity to the Rules of right Reason. For this is the Standard by which we are to rate the Worth of every Person, and to measure his intrinsical Goodness and Excellency.
As to other Matters which lie without us, before he enters upon the Pursuit of them, A Man should diligently examine, Whether they do not surpass his Strength? Whether they tend to a lawful End? and, Whether they are worth the Labour which must be spent in obtaining them? When, upon mature Deliberation, he is resolved to engage in any such Affairs, a wise Man will indeed use his best Efforts to bring his Design about; but if he finds those Endeavours ineffectual, he will not strive against the Stream, and drive on his Designs with vain Hope, but quit his Pursuit without Grief or Anger at his Disappointment. From these Considerations this further Consequence may be drawn; That Man, as he is guided only by the Light of Reason, ought principally to aspire after that Happiness in this World, which arises from the prudent Government of his Faculties, and from those Assistances and Supports which the Divine Providence he knows will afford him in the universal Administration of things. Hence he will not leave things to meer Hazard and Chance, while there is room for Human Caution and Foresight. But then, since human Foresight is very weak in discovering future things, which are so far from being under our Guidance, that they frequently fall out beyond our Hopes and Expectations: Hence it
