The Excellency and Advantage of Religion

And now, my dear friend, having discovered the nature of true religion, before I proceed any further I will not, perhaps, be unfit to fix our meditations a little on the excellency and advantages of it, so that we may be excited to a more vigorous and diligent prosecution of those methods whereby we may attain so great a felicity. But, alas! What words shall we find to express that inward satisfaction, those hidden pleasures which can never be rightly understood except by those holy souls who feel them? "A stranger intemeddleth not with their joy" (Proverbs 14:10). Holiness is the right temper, the vigorous and healthful constitution of the soul. Its faculties had formerly been enfeebled and disordered so that they could not exercise their natural functions; it had wearied itself with endless tossings and rollings, and was never able to find any rest. Now, that distemper being removed, it feels itself well; there is a due harmony in its faculties, and a sprightly vigor possesses every part. The understanding can discern what is good, and the will can cleave unto it; the affections are not tied to the motions of sense and the influence of external objects, but they are stirred by more divine impressions and touched by a sense of visible things.

In other words, Scougal considers that true religion, alleviating the regenerate soul of the limitations of the natural man, affords distinct advantages that enhance the use and function of human qualities. This is an interesting idea; I wonder if anyone else has found this to be true?