He applied reason to all religious problems, and he
regarded it as the final judge and arbiter. Religious freedom received from
him the fullest recognition, and no one has more clearly indicated the
scope and purpose of toleration.
Another English religious leader, much read in New England, was Archbishop
Tillotson. It has been said of him that "for the first time since the
Reformation the voice of reason was now clearly heard in the high places of
the church."[8] He was an Arminian in his sympathies, and held that the way
of salvation is open to all who choose to accept its opportunities. He
expressed himself as being as certain that the doctrine of eternal decrees
is not of God as he was sure that God is good and just. His ground for this
opinion was that it is repugnant to the convictions of justice and goodness
natural to men. He maintained that we shall be justified before God by
means of the reformation that is wrought in our own lives. We have an
intuition of what is right, and a natural capacity for living justly and
righteously. Experience and reason he made concomitant spiritual forces
with the Bible, and he held that revelation is but a republication of the
truths of natural religion. Tillotson was truly a broad churchman, who was
desirous of making the national church as comprehensive as possible; and he
was one who practised as well as preached toleration.
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