Book: The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D. D., Volume IV:

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The other false principle, which some men set up in the place of
conscience to be their director in life, is what those who pretend to
it, call _Honour_.

This word is often made the sanction of an oath; it is reckoned a great
commendation to be a man of strict honour; and it is commonly
understood, that a man of honour can never be guilty of a base action.
This is usually the style of military men; of persons with titles; and
of others who pretend to birth and quality. It is true, indeed, that in
ancient times it was universally understood, that honour was the reward
of virtue; but if such honour as is now-a-days going will not permit a
man to do a base action, it must be allowed, there are very few such
things as base actions in nature. No man of honour, as that word is
usually understood, did ever pretend that his honour obliged him to be
chaste or temperate; to pay his creditors; to be useful to his country;
to do good to mankind; to endeavour to be wise, or learned; to regard
his word, his promise, or his oath; or if he hath any of these virtues,
they were never learned in the catechism of honour; which contains but
two precepts, the punctual payment of debts contracted at play, and the
right understanding the several degrees of an affront, in order to
revenge it by the death of an adversary.

But suppose, this principle of honour, which some men so much boast of,
did really produce more virtues than it ever pretended to; yet since the
very being of that honour dependeth upon the breath, the opinion, or the
fancy of the people, the virtues derived from it could be of no long or
certain duration. For example: Suppose a man from a principle of honour
should resolve to be just, or chaste, or temperate; and yet the
censuring world should take a humour of refusing him those characters;
he would then think the obligation at an end. Or, on the other side, if
he thought he could gain honour by the falsest and vilest action, (which
is a case that very often happens,) he would then make no scruple to
perform it. And God knows, it would be an unhappy state, to have the
religion, the liberty, or the property of a people lodged in such hands,
which however hath been too often the case.

What I have said upon this principle of honour may perhaps be thought of
small concernment to most of you who are my hearers: However, a caution
was not altogether unnecessary; since there is nothing by which not only
the vulgar, but the honest tradesman hath been so much deceived, as this
infamous pretence to honour in too many of their betters.

Having thus shewn you the weakness and uncertainty of those principles
which some men set up in the place of conscience to direct them in their
actions, I shall now endeavour to prove to you that there is no solid,
firm foundation of virtue, but in a conscience directed by the
principles of religion.

There is no way of judging how far we may depend upon the actions of
men, otherwise than by knowing the motives, and grounds, and causes of
them; and, if the motives of our actions be not resolved and determined
into the law of God, they will be precarious and uncertain, and liable
to perpetual changes. I will shew you what I mean, by an example:
Suppose a man thinks it his duty to obey his parents, because reason
tells him so, because he is obliged by gratitude, and because the laws
of his country command him to do so; but, if he stops here, his parents
can have no lasting security; for an occasion may happen, wherein it may
be extremely his interest to be disobedient, and where the laws of the
land can lay no hold upon him: therefore, before such a man can safely
be trusted, he must proceed farther, and consider, that his reason is
the gift of God; that God commanded him to be obedient to the laws, and
did moreover in a particular manner enjoin him to be dutiful to his
parents; after which, if he lays due weight upon those considerations,
he will probably continue in his duty to the end of his life: Because no
earthly interest can ever come in competition to balance the danger of
offending his Creator, or the happiness of pleasing him. And of all this
his conscience will certainly inform him, if he hath any regard to
religion.

_Secondly:_ Fear and hope are the two greatest natural motives of all
men's actions: But, neither of these passions will ever put us in the
way of virtue, unless they be directed by conscience. For although
virtuous men do sometimes accidentally make their way to preferment, yet
the world is so corrupted, that no man can reasonably hope to be
rewarded in it, merely upon account of his virtue. And consequently, the
fear of punishment in this life will preserve men from very few vices,
since some of the blackest and basest do often prove the surest steps to
favour; such as ingratitude, hypocrisy, treachery, malice, subornation,
atheism, and many more which human laws do little concern themselves
about. But when conscience placeth before us the hopes of everlasting
happiness, and the fears of everlasting misery, as the reward and
punishment of our good or evil actions, our reason can find no way to
avoid the force of such an argument, otherwise than by running into
infidelity.

_Lastly_: Conscience will direct us to love God, and to put our whole
trust and confidence in him. Our love of God will inspire us with a
detestation for sin, as what is of all things most contrary to his
divine nature; and if we have an entire confidence in him, _that_ will
enable us to subdue and despise all the allurements of the world.

It may here be objected, if conscience be so sure a director to us
Christians in the conduct of our lives, how comes it to pass, that the
ancient heathens, who had no other lights but those of nature and
reason, should so far exceed us in all manner of virtue, as plainly
appears by many examples they have left on record?

To which it may be answered; first, those heathens were extremely strict
and exact in the education of their children; whereas among us this care
is so much laid aside, that the more God hath blessed any man with
estate or quality, just so much the less in proportion is the care he
taketh in the education of his children, and particularly of that child
which is to inherit his fortune: Of which the effects are visible enough
among the great ones of the world. Again, those heathens did in a
particular manner instil the principle into their children, of loving
their country; which is so far otherwise now-a-days, that, of the
several parties among us, there is none of them that seems to have so
much as heard, whether there be such a virtue in the world; as plainly
appears by their practices, and especially when they are placed in those
stations where they can only have opportunity of shewing it. Lastly; the
most considerable among the heathens did generally believe rewards and
punishments in a life to come; which is the great principle for
conscience to work upon; Whereas too many of those who would be thought
the most considerable among us, do, both by their practices and their
discourses, plainly affirm, that they believe nothing at all of the
matter.

Wherefore, since it hath manifestly appeared that a religious conscience
is the only true solid foundation upon which virtue can be built, give
me leave, before I conclude, to let you see how necessary such a
conscience is, to conduct us in every station and condition of our
lives.

That a religious conscience is necessary in any station, is confessed
even by those who tell us, that all religion was invented by cunning
men, in order to keep the world in awe. For, if religion, by the
confession of its adversaries, be necessary towards the well-governing
of mankind; then every wise man in power will be sure not only to choose
out for every station under him such persons as are most likely to be
kept in awe by religion, but likewise to carry some appearance of it
himself, or else he is a very weak politician. And accordingly in any
country where great persons affect to be open despisers of religion,
their counsels will be found at last to be fully as destructive to the
state as to the church.

It was the advice of Jethro to his son-in-law Moses, to "provide able
men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness," and to place
such over the people; and Moses, who was as wise a statesman, at least,
as any in this age, thought fit to follow that advice. Great abilities,
without the fear of God, are most dangerous instruments, when they are
trusted with power. The laws of man have thought fit, that those who are
called to any office of trust should be bound by an oath to the faithful
discharge of it: But, an oath is an appeal to God, and therefore can
have no influence except upon those who believe that he is, and that he
is a rewarder of those that seek him, and a punisher of those who
disobey him: And therefore, we see, the laws themselves are forced to
have recourse to conscience in these cases, because their penalties
cannot reach the arts of cunning men, who can find ways to be guilty of
a thousand injustices without being discovered, or at least without
being punished. And the reason why we find so many frauds, abuses, and
corruptions, where any trust is conferred, can be no other, than that
there is so little conscience and religion left in the world, or at
least that men in their choice of instruments have private ends in view,
which are very different from the service of the public. Besides, it is
certain, that men who profess to have no religion, are full as zealous
to bring over proselytes as any Papist or fanatic can be. And therefore,
if those who are in station high enough to be of influence or example to
others; if those (I say) openly profess a contempt or disbelief of
religion, they will be sure to make all their dependents of their own
principles; and what security can the public expect from such persons,
whenever their interests, or their lusts, come into competition with
their duty? It is very possible for a man who hath the appearance of
religion, and is a great pretender to conscience, to be wicked and a
hypocrite; but, it is impossible for a man who openly declares against
religion, to give any reasonable security that he will not be false and
cruel, and corrupt, whenever a temptation offers, which he values more
than he does the power wherewith he was trusted. And, if such a man doth
not betray his cause and his master, it is only because the temptation
was not properly offered, or the profit was too small, or the danger was
too great. And hence it is, that we find so little truth or justice
among us, because there are so very few, who either in the service of
the public, or in common dealings with each other, do ever look farther
than their own advantage, and how to guard themselves against the laws
of the country; which a man may do by favour, by secrecy, or by cunning,
although he breaks almost every law of God.

Therefore to conclude: It plainly appears, that unless men are guided by
the advice and judgment of a conscience founded on religion, they can
give no security that they will be either good subjects, faithful
servants of the public, or honest in their mutual dealings; since there
is no other tie through which the pride, or lust, or avarice, or
ambition of mankind will not certainly break one time or other.

Consider what has been said, &c.




ON THE TRINITY.


I. EPIST. GEN. OF JOHN, V. 7.

"For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost; and these Three are One."


This day being set apart to acknowledge our belief in the Eternal
Trinity, I thought it might be proper to employ my present discourse
entirely upon that subject; and, I hope, to handle it in such a manner,
that the most ignorant among you may return home better informed of your
duty in this great point, than probably you are at present.

It must be confessed, that by the weakness and indiscretion of busy (or
at best, of well-meaning) people, as well as by the malice of those who
are enemies to all revealed religion, and are not content to possess
their own infidelity in silence, without communicating it to the
disturbance of mankind; I say, by these means, it must be confessed,
that the doctrine of the Trinity hath suffered very much, and made
Christianity suffer along with it. For these two things must be granted:
First, that men of wicked lives would be very glad there were no truth
in Christianity at all; and secondly, if they can pick out any one
single article in the Christian religion which appears not agreeable to
their own corrupted reason, or to the arguments of those bad people, who
follow the trade of seducing others, they presently conclude, that the
truth of the whole Gospel must sink along with that one article; which
is just as wise, as if a man should say, because he dislikes one law of
his country, he will therefore observe no law at all; and yet, that one
law may be very reasonable in itself, although he does not allow it, or
does not know the reason of the law-givers.

Thus it hath happened with the great doctrine of the Trinity; which word
is indeed not in the Scripture, but was a term of art invented in the
earlier times to express the doctrine by a single word, for the sake of
brevity and convenience. The doctrine then, as delivered in Holy
Scripture, although not exactly in the same words, is very short, and
amounts only to this, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are
each of them God, and yet there is but one God. For, as to the word
Person, when we say there are three Persons; and as to those other
explanations in the Athanasian Creed this day read to you (whether
compiled by Athanasius or no) they were taken up three hundred years
after Christ, to expound this doctrine; and I will tell you upon what
occasion. About that time there sprang up a heresy of a people called
Arians, from one Arius the leader of them. These denied our Saviour to
be God, although they allowed all the rest of the Gospel (wherein they
were more sincere than their followers among us). Thus the Christian
world was divided into two parts, until at length, by the zeal and
courage of St Athanasius, the Arians were condemned in a general
council, and a creed formed upon the true faith, as St Athanasius hath
settled it. This creed is now read at certain times in our churches,
which, although it is useful for edification to those who understand it;
yet, since it containeth some nice and philosophical points which few
people can comprehend, the bulk of mankind is obliged to believe no more
than the Scripture doctrine, as I have delivered it. Because that creed
was intended only as an answer to the Arians in their own way, who were
very subtle disputers.

But this heresy having revived in the world about a hundred years ago,
and continued ever since; not out of a zeal to truth, but to give a
loose to wickedness, by throwing off all religion; several divines, in
order to answer the cavils of those adversaries to truth and morality,
began to find out farther explanations of this doctrine of the Trinity,
by rules of philosophy; which have multiplied controversies to such a
degree, as to beget scruples that have perplexed the minds of many sober
Christians, who otherwise could never have entertained them.

I must therefore be bold to affirm, that the method taken by many of
those learned men to defend the doctrine of the Trinity, hath been
founded upon a mistake.

It must be allowed, that every man is bound to follow the rules and
directions of that measure of reason which God hath given him; and
indeed he cannot do otherwise, if he will be sincere, or act like a man.
For instance: If I should be commanded by an angel from heaven to
believe it is midnight at noon-day; yet I could not believe him. So, if
I were directly told in Scripture that three are one, and one is three,
I could not conceive or believe it in the natural common sense of that
expression, but must suppose that something dark or mystical was meant,
which it pleased God to conceal from me and from all the world. Thus, in
the text, "There are Three that bear record," &c. Am I capable of
knowing and defining what union and what distinction there may be in the
divine nature, which possibly may be hid from the angels themselves?
Again, I see it plainly declared in Scripture, that there is but one
God; and yet I find our Saviour claiming the prerogative of God in
knowing men's thoughts; in saying, "He and his Father are one;" and,
"before Abraham was, I am." I read, that the disciples worshipped him;
that Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God." And St John, chap, 1st,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God." I read likewise that the Holy Ghost bestowed the gift of
tongues, and the power of working miracles; which, if rightly
considered, is as great a miracle as any, that a number of illiterate
men should of a sudden be qualified to speak all the languages then
known in the world; such as could be done by the inspiration of God
done. From these several texts it is plain, that God commands us to
believe that there is an union and there is a distinction; but what that
union, or what that distinction is, all mankind are equally ignorant,
and must continue so, at least till the day of judgment, without some
new revelation.

But because I cannot conceive the nature of this union and distinction
in the divine nature, am I therefore to reject them as absurd and
impossible; as I would, if any one told me that three men are one, and
one man is three? We are told, that a man and his wife are one flesh;
this I can comprehend the meaning of; yet, literally taken, it is a
thing impossible. But the apostle tell us, "We see but in part, and we
know but in part;" and yet we would comprehend all the secret ways and
workings of God.

Therefore I shall again repeat the doctrine of the Trinity, as it is
positively affirmed in Scripture: that God is there expressed in three
different names, as Father, as Son, and as Holy Ghost: that each of
these is God, and that there is but one God. But this union and
distinction are a mystery utterly unknown to mankind.

This is enough for any good Christian to believe on this great article,
without ever inquiring any farther: And, this can be contrary to no
man's reason, although the knowledge of it is hid from him.

But there is another difficulty of great importance among those who
quarrel with the doctrine of the Trinity, as well as with several other
articles of Christianity; which is, that our religion abounds in
mysteries, and these they are so bold as to revile as cant, imposture,
and priestcraft. It is impossible for us to determine for what reasons
God thought fit to communicate some things to us in part, and leave some
part a mystery. But so it is in fact, and so the Holy Scripture tells us
in several places. For instance: the resurrection and change of our
bodies are called mysteries by St Paul: and our Saviour's incarnation is
another: The Kingdom of God is called a mystery by our Saviour, to be
only known to his disciples; so is faith, and the word of God by St
Paul. I omit many others. So, that to declare against all mysteries
without distinction or exception, is to declare against the whole tenor
of the New Testament.

There are two conditions that may bring a mystery under suspicion.
First, when it is not taught and commanded in Holy Writ; or, secondly,
when the mystery turns to the advantage of those who preach it to
others. Now, as to the first, it can never be said, that we preach
mysteries without warrant from Holy Scripture, although I confess this
of the Trinity may have sometimes been explained by human invention,
which might perhaps better have been spared. As to the second, it will
not be possible to charge the Protestant priesthood with proposing any
temporal advantage to themselves by broaching or multiplying, or
preaching of mysteries. Does this mystery of the Trinity, for instance,
and the descent of the Holy Ghost, bring the least profit or power to
the preachers? No; it is as great a mystery to themselves as it is to
the meanest of their hearers; and may be rather a cause of humiliation,
by putting their understanding in that point upon a level with the most
ignorant of their flock. It is true indeed, the Roman church hath very
much enriched herself by trading in mysteries, for which they have not
the least authority from Scripture, and were fitted only to advance
their own temporal wealth and grandeur; such as transubstantiation, the
worshipping of images, indulgences for sins, purgatory, and masses for
the dead; with many more: But, it is the perpetual talent of those who
have ill-will to our Church, or a contempt for all religion, taken up by
the wickedness of their lives, to charge us with the errors and
corruptions of Popery, which all Protestants have thrown off near two
hundred years: whereas, those mysteries held by us have no prospect of
power, pomp, or wealth, but have been ever maintained by the universal
body of true believers from the days of the apostles, and will be so to
the resurrection; neither will the gates of hell prevail against them.

It may be thought perhaps a strange thing, that God should require us to
believe mysteries, while the reason or manner of what we are to believe
is above our comprehension, and wholly concealed from us: neither doth
it appear at first sight, that the believing or not believing them doth
concern either the glory of God, or contribute to the goodness or
wickedness of our lives. But this is a great and dangerous mistake. We
see what a mighty weight is laid upon faith, both in the Old and New
Testament. In the former we read how the faith of Abraham is praised,
who could believe that God would raise from him a great nation, at the
very time that he was commanded to sacrifice his only son, and despaired
of any other issue. And this was to him a great mystery. Our Saviour is
perpetually preaching faith to his disciples, or reproaching them with
the want of it: and St Paul produceth numerous examples of the wonders
done by faith. And all this is highly reasonable: For faith is an entire
dependence upon the truth, the power, the justice, and the mercy of God;
which dependence will certainly incline us to obey him in all things.
So, that the great excellency of faith, consists in the consequence it
hath upon our actions: as, if we depend upon the truth and wisdom of a
man, we shall certainly be more disposed to follow his advice.
Therefore, let no man think that he can lead as good a moral life
without faith as with it; for this reason, because he who hath no faith,
cannot, by the strength of his own reason or endeavours, so easily
resist temptations, as the other who depends upon God's assistance in
the overcoming his frailties, and is sure to be rewarded for ever in
heaven for his victory over them. "Faith," says the apostle, "is the
evidence of things not seen": he means, that faith is a virtue by which
anything commanded us by God to believe appears evident and certain to
us, although we do not see, nor can conceive it; because, by faith we
entirely depend upon the truth and power of God.

It is an old and true distinction, that things may be above our reason,
without being contrary to it. Of this kind are the power, the nature,
and the universal presence of God, with innumerable other points. How
little do those who quarrel with mysteries, know of the commonest
actions of nature! The growth of an animal, of a plant, or of the
smallest seed, is a mystery to the wisest among men. If an ignorant
person were told that a loadstone would draw iron at a distance, he
might say it was a thing contrary to his reason, and could not believe
before he saw it with his eyes.

The manner whereby the soul and body are united, and how they are
distinguished, is wholly unaccountable to us. We see but one part, and
yet we know we consist of two; and this is a mystery we cannot
comprehend, any more than that of the Trinity.

From what hath been said, it is manifest that God did never command us
to believe, nor his ministers to preach, any doctrine which is contrary
to the reason he hath pleased to endow us with; but for his own wise
ends has thought fit to conceal from us the nature of the thing he
commands; thereby to try our faith and obedience, and increase our
dependence upon him.

It is highly probable, that if God should please to reveal unto us this
great mystery of the Trinity, or some other mysteries in our holy
religion, we should not be able to understand them, unless he would at
the same time think fit to bestow on us some new powers or faculties of
the mind, which we want at present, and are reserved till the day of
resurrection to life eternal. "For now," as the apostle says, "we see
through a glass darkly, but then face to face."

Thus, we see, the matter is brought to this issue: We must either
believe what God directly commands us in Holy Scripture, or we must
wholly reject the Scripture, and the Christian religion which we pretend
to profess. But this, I hope, is too desperate a step for any of us to
make.

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