adapted to make a VVise Man, muft be a Cautious and Referved Faith, because all Forwardness in Believing expofes Men to be deceived: And yet in Holy Scripture we are taught clean contrary, That God is only pleased with an Humble and Ready Faith, and every Abate ment of Forwardness is a Diminution of its Value. Our Saviour in his VValk to Emmaus calls his Difciples Fools, be cause they were flow of Heart to Believe. And foon after he tells Thomas, That the Tardinefs of his Faith had robb'd it of its Bleffing, For Bleffed are they that have not feen, and yet have believed.

And because I am faln upon the mention of this Apoftle, I will choose to infift a little upon his Character; which may ferve both for an Example and an Illustration of the matter I am upon.

Thomas (as far as we may learn by all the mentions made of him in Holy VVrit) was a Man Bold in Reasoning, and extreamly Nice in Believing VVhich

is a Character that by the ftandard of the present Age has Licence to pass for an Indication of VVisdom.

Joh. 14, 2, 3, 4. VVe have a Paf fage of Difcourfe wherein this Apoftle. was wholly concern'd: There our Saviour fays very obligingly to those about him: In my Father's Houfe are many. Manfions... I go to prepare a place for you And whither I go you know, and the way you know: To this obliging Declaration Thomas anfwers very peremptorily, Lord, we know not whither thou goeft, and bow fhould we know the Way? VVe fee the Anfwer is directly contradicting to that which our Saviour alledged; and yet no doubt but the Apoftle thought himfelf to have Reafon on his fide for making fuch an Answer. Let us imagine what that Reafon might be: 'Tis poffible he might form his arguing on this manner. "Lord, Thou fayeft, Thou art "going to thy Father's House to pro. "vide Manfions for us: Now Now we know

thy

thy Father's House, according to na “tural Generation, is that of Jofeph and Mary; in which many Manfions are "not to be had: But if thou meaneft a « Father by any other kind of Generation ; or any other Inheritance which "thou haft a Title to recommend us <«to: This is what we do not under“stand, and what we do not understand, it is us to Believe: « And therefore say to us something that we may believe; or in the mean time "permit us to be Incredulous and to say, We know not whither thou goeft.

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If I have in this Form, Argu'd any thing contrary to the Sentiments of the Apoftle; I have whereof to Retract in reverence to his fubsequent better Underftanding: But I fear I have faid nothing that the prefent Age will require me to Apologize for; Becaufe they who fet up for a leading Genius, please themfelves to argue in the very fame Method to justifie a like Incredulity. Thus runs

the

the common Argument, "We cannot believe what we please; we must compre"hend both the Matter and its Credibility, or "elfe it were Rafh and Foolish to believe it.

Job. 11. We have another Paffage wherein Thomas was wholly concern'd: There (verfe 14.) our Saviour fays to his Difciples, Our Friend Lazarus is Dead, and I am glad for your fakes that I was not there, to the intent you may believe: This we see our Saviour urged exprefly for an Encouragment of their Faith; and yet Thomas his Reasoning turned it immediately into an Argument of Difturft: As is apparent from what he faid to his Fellow Disciples upon this Occafion, (verse 16.) Let us alfo go, That we may Die with him: The Key of his meaning in this Sentence we may take from the Narration in the beginning of the Chapter: VVhere 'tis faid That our Savour being then in Galilee, upon the News of Lazarus his Sickness, propofed to go into Judea to vifit him :

Where

Whereupon the Disciples answer'd, (V. 8.) Mafter, the Jews of late fought to Stone thee, and goeft thou thither again? Now this Thought made a deep Impreffion upon the wary Imagination of Thomas and therefore when he saw his 3 Mafter refolved to go; he wound up all into this fort of Reasoning Despair. "Lazarus is Dead, and all his Pains "and Fears are over; and better it were "for us, if ours were fo too: The Jews "Malice is bent upon the Deftruction "of us all; and if our Mafter could not "fave his principal Friend from Death; "what hopes is there of his faving us? "Let us go then and meet our Doom

as patiently as we can. This is the natural Paraphrase of what Thomas meant by that Sentence, Let us alfo go that we may Die with him: And althe nothing could be more contrary to the Faith he ow'd his Mafter, or more af. fronting to the importance of what he had then faid; yet ftill he looks upon