DU MOULIN'S REFLECTIONS Reverberated Being a full ANSWER TO A Pernicious Pamphlet ENTITULED Moral Reflections on the Number of the Elect. TOGETHER With several Arguments against TRANSUBSTANTIATION Of the outward Elements in the Sacrament of the Lords Supper transubstantiated into Falshood and Absurdity To which is added A Postcript in Answer to some Passages in Mr. Edmund Hickeringil's Scurrilous Piece STILED The second part of NAKED TRUTH By Edward Lane Vicar of Sparsholt Hants LONDON Printed for William Crook at the Green-Dragon without Temple-Bar 1681. A PREFACE Christian Reader THis following Tract was prepared to be a Refutation of Dr. Lewis du Moulin's Reflections upon the Number of the Elect long before his Death But you may see no haste hath been made to impart it to the World having been too long I confess retarded in expectation of some other more able Pen which could have convinced him of his Error Yet since it hath pleased God to put an end to his Days and that no man hath hitherto so far as I can learn appeared for the Vindication of the Truth of the Gospel against him in this particular I have accounted it my Duty to undertake it in regard I have already been an Aggressor upon him in the Antidote which I gave the World about a year past to keep poor desponding sinners from receiving harm by his uncharitable Opinion of the small number of those that shall be saved He hath It seems Repented him before he died of all those personal Reflections which he made in his Books on the Divines of the Church of England as that they leaned towards Popery and in down-right terms that they had made several Advances towards Rome But as for this Book of his Reflections upon the Number of the Elect I find no Retractation of it made by him at all or by any else for him And do therefore fear that he left the World with this Opinion which he had so deeply imbibed upon his Soul without any publick Repentance of it Whereupon he having been such a leading man among those that pretend to know more of the mind of God in holy Scripture than others it is much to be doubted he will have many Disciples to follow him who will Jurare in verba Magistri take all to be Gospel which he hath written of this Subject For seeing there are many of them as it is said who still persist in their Invectives and have since his death published under his name an Additional Account of the Church of Englands Advance towards Popery though it appears clearly by many Infallible Proofs to be as false a Slander as the Father of Lies himself could Invent what can be otherwise imagined but that such blust'ring Zealots will much more second him in this Antifundamental Opinion Such people being prone to publish that Doctrine which seems to Canonize them for the few that shall be saved and to damn to Hell all those whoever they be that shall but look awry upon them out of a dislike of their Fraternity and their Opinions Upon which Account I would that this which is here written against the said Doctor may be construed as directed unto them to prevent their precipitant Zeal in following his Example by mealing with the number of Gods Elect. For him I hope God hath forgiven him his Error therein And seeing that he lived to wish that his Soul might be with theirs whom he had in his life-time according to his own confession wronged in his uncharitable Censures I believe he hath found before this time a real Demonstration of his Error in numb'ring those that came not within the compass of his Arithmetick I do therefore leave him in his Bed of Rest but shall withal warn all men by this which is here written against him to take heed that they run not after him into such want of Charirity which he lamented on his Death-bed as being Inconsistent with the power of Godliness and true Christianity Yea I would advise those that profess themselves to be his Disciples seriously to consider with their own Souls betimes whether their defaming the Church of England as this Doctor had done or their rash determining of the number of Gods Elect like unto him be such as he would have approved on his Death bed or as it hath been already said such as they will dare to Answer for at the great day before Gods Tribunal But if any will yet be so Anti-Evangelical as to appear in the defence of his desperate Doctrine of a general Damnation and their defence be managed by them with Learning Piety and Moderation in the Judgment of those that are wise and godly with whom I hold a Conversation I shall though I be superannuated as being in the seventy seventh year of my Age certainly maintain the truth of the Gospel in that point against them Humbly beseeching God to give us all a right Understanding more and more in the Mystery of the Gospel And if in the publication of this my labour of Zeal I have offended either in the manner or matter of it the good Lord I hope will pardon me seeing I had prepared my heart only to aim at his Glory though I have not done it exactly according to the Rule that is set me Having thus far given my Apology for publishing this Tract It is meet that somewhat be also here premised concerning that Doctor to the end my Readers may discern how unfit he was to enter upon such a Controversie He was desirous it seems having been publick Professor of History in the University of Oxford to appear to the World as an Atlas in that kind of Learning by quoting several of the Antient Fathers and other Writers that he might thereby add some strength to his Opinion But the truth is he did rather in so doing lay open his weakness to the pre-judging of his own Cause As may be made evident by two of his Quotations wherein he failed and it is therefore to be suspected he hath done the like in many more The two Quotations which I have singled are these that follow In the thirteenth Page of his Book where he undertook to prove that the greatest part of the World was in the state of Damnation and must inevitably sink in it it is thus written The Popes drew all Europe into Perdition And this is what all the World would suffer Per Docilitatem Asininam unless some or other were permitted to Resist the Pope and to demand of him By what Authority he led so many Millions of Persons into Hell For it is that which we learn from the Canon Si Papa c. Which Et-Caetera signifies that this Doctor was of that Opinion in which others before him have been deceived For it to is most shamefully false which is alledged from the said Canon viz. that the purport of it is this Albeit the Pope should drive the whole world into Hell no man ought to say unto him
her faithful Children to bow their Bodies in token of Reverence unto him at the mentioning of his Name in their Solemn Assemblies when they are gathered together for the holy Service of Almighty God I have here given my Reader a sight of some of the ugly Errors contained in that scandalous Pamphlet unjustly called Naked Truth which but a few days past came into my hands And having perceived that a leading man here in our Countrey hath been seduced by it who hath as I have heard spoken these words What will Mr. Lane say to this Let him try if he can answer it I was willing to set Pen to Paper for the Vindication of Truth which hath been miserably abused by this Pretender unto it But having since heard also from some of the Seniors of our College by Winton that one hath already set forth an Answer unto it I shall forbear any further medling therewith And though the Author of it calls them Babies and Boobies such are his immodest terms that will write against him yet I am confident such a work as it may be managed will be acceptable to God and all good men Nevertheless I wish with all my heart that Abuses in our Ecclesiastical Courts those I mean that are not Imaginary but Real if there be any such that they may be removed which I believe the Chief Governours of the said Courts will be heartily willing unto FINIS The Contents of the foregoing Discourse upon the words of our Saviour viz. This is my Body 1. OF the sad Differences that have been about the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Page 71 2. The Romish Doctrine of Transubstantiation proved to be but a late upstart Doctrine p. 72 3. Is is a Doctrine which is destructive to the nature of the Sacrament p. 73 4. It is a Doctrine that disanuls the Verity of Christs Humane Nature p. 74 5. Gods Omnipotency not questioned by us in this case but vainly urged by our Adversaries in it p. 75 6. Of the words used in our Liturgy viz. The Body and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed Taken and Received by the Faithful in the Lords Supper p. 76 77 7. The Sense of the Church of England in her twenty eighth Article concerning this Point p. 79. 8. The Sense which Orthodox Interpreters give of these words viz. This is my Body approved p. 80 9. A Resemblance taken from the two Natures of Christ Divine and Humane and â—pplied p. 81 10. An Additional Sense of these words viz. This is my Body is here offered to Consideration p. 82 11. Venerable Mr. Hookers Judgment of the real Presence of Christs most blessed Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist p. 84 12. How the words of our Lord which he spake saying This is my Body are the Crown of our Rejoycing 91 13. The Popish Opinion of the real Presence of Christ in the Sacrament is but a Dream 92 Books newly Printed for William Crooke viz. 1680 1681. AN Institution of General History or the History of the World being a complete Body thereof from the beginning of the World to the taking of Rome by Odoacer and erecting a Kingdom of Barbarians in Italy describing the several Empires their Forms of Government Magistrates Laws Customs Polity's c. all in such unbroken Order and Method as yet was never extant By Dr. William Howel Chancellor of Lincoln in Fol. 2 Volums Historical Collections or an exact Account of the Proceedings of the four last Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth wherein is contained the Complete Journals both of Lords and Commons taken from the original Records of their Houses wherein are the Speeches Arguments c. of Secretary Cecill Sr. Fr. Bacon Sr. Walter Rawleigh Sr. John Croke Sr. Edward Hobby c. by H. Townsend idque Member in those Parliaments Fol. The Connexions being choice Collections of some principal Matters in the Reign of King James which doth contain several remarkable and learned Pieces of great Men in that time as the Duke of Buckingham Sr. J. Caess Sr. Francis Bacon Which will supply the vacancy betwixt Townsend and Rushworth The Moors Baffled at Tangier in a Letter by a learned Person in Quarto Considerations on the Reputation Loyalty Manners and Religion of Thomas Hobbs of Malmesbury Octavo A Sermon in French and English preached at the Savoy Twelves Mercy Triumphant the Kingdom of Christ inlarged beyond the narrow Bounds which have been wont to be set to it written by this Author A Sermon of Mr. Tho Maningham's in Quarto Two Sermons of Dr. Gregory Hascards in Quarto Hobbs his Life in an English Poem Fol. Responsio Valedictoria ad secundam Sandii Epistolam c. per S. Gardinerum S. T. D. Octavo 1681. Thomae Hobbs Angli Malmesbur Philosoph Vita containing an Account of his Life as it was part written by himself the rest gathered by those that knew him well and put together by Dr. B. wherein is an Account of his Friends and Enemies the Books he wrote and what against or for him with other things relating to his Life in Oct. 1681. A new Mystery in Physick discovered by Curing of Fevers and Agues by Quinquina or Jesuites Powder where you have the Antient and Modern Use of it part Translated out of French part out of Italian and part wrote in English Twelves 1681. price 1 s. The Court of Curiosity wherein the most Intricate Questions are Resolved by a most curious Fortune-Book With Dreams and Visions Explained and Interpreted according to the Doctrine of the Antients and Practise of the Moderns the third Ed. cleared from all the Difficulties in the former Editions the Dreams Corrected and Inlarged and the Fortune-book is double what it was Octavo price 1 s. 6. d. 1681. 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why do you so But before I proceed any further herein let no man here so far mistake me as if I were pleading for Popery It is only to lay open the plain truth in this case without Partiality The Church of Rome is doubtless faulty enough yea most abominable in her Doctrines and Doings yet will it not become us to make it worse than in truth it is She hath Guilt enough upon her that will certainly in Gods due time bring her down wonderfully so that the World shall say Babilon the Great is fallen is fallen But that the aforesaid Opinion of her is a great untruth and consequently that the Doctors Collections from thence were vain shall be here made manifest from that which is past all Contradiction 1. The Author of the said Canon was not a Pope as it hath been Imagined But it was St. Boniface a faithful Martyr of Jesus Christ as in the Title of the said Canon is expressed which Boniface was never Pope but a Virtuous Learned Englishman who lived about nine hundred years past and was the first Archbishop of Mentz in Germany of which People and Countrey he is called the Apostle by antient Writers for that he publickly converted the Nation Erected that Primate See and suffered glorious Martyrdom by the Heathen for the Faith 2. The Canon Si Papa c. was taken by Gratian out of the Writings of that St. Boniface The Introduction into which Canon is according to the words of that Holy Man in this manner Damnatur Apostolicus qui suae Fraternae Salutis est negligens Plagismultis in aeternum vapulaturus The Pope is damned who is negligent in the Affairs of his own Salvation and of his Brethren after which beginneth the Canon Si Papa suae Fraternae Salutis negligens c. Shewing that albeit the Pope have no Superior Judge in this World which may by Authority check him unless he fall into Heresie Yet shall his Damnation be greater than of other sinners for that by Reason of his high Dignity he draweth more after him into Perdition than any other Whereby we may perceive that this Canon was written not to flatter the Pope but to warn him rather of his Peril c. But how then came the World to mistake this Canon as if it said though the Pope should carry many people with him into Hell yet no mortal Creature may presume to say unto him why do you so To give a short Answer to this demand I might relate the story at large and make mention of the names of those Persons engaged in a Contract about this Canon which occasioned those hard words clean differing from the Intent and Scope of it and which did put some upon a more strict Inquiry into it The Result whereof is briefly this some of the words of the said Canon were mis-placed some omitted and some misquoted The omission of that which is in the Canon is this Cum ipso plagis multis in aeternum vapulaturus that such a Pope is to suffer eternal Punishments and to be scourged with many Stripes together with the Devil himself if by his evil and negligent Life he be the cause of others Perdition which Threat being omitted these words as immediately following in the Canon are misplaced and joyned with the Antecedent words which should have been put after viz. Hujus culpas redarguere Praesumit nemo c. That which is mis-quoted is Praesumet for Praesumit no man shall or may presume for no man doth presume to Control Lastly That which followeth containing a Reason of all that went before is left out viz. Quia cunctos ipse judicaturus a nemine est judicandus nisi deprehendatur a fide devius c. For that whereas he is the Judge of all other men he cannot himself be judged by any except he be found to err from the true Faith Here is the case in as few words as it could possibly be put which clearly shew the sinister Sense that hath been put upon that Canon yet this it was certainly which led the Doctor into this Error For saith he it is that which we learn from the Canon Si Papa c. The second mistake is in that he quoteth St. Austin Lib. 1. de verâ falsâ Poenitentia Cap. 5. Affirming that he hath there an excellent Thought as his usual word is whereas if he meaneth by Lib. 1. the first Book as probably that must be the meaning this must go into the mistakes for there is but one Book of that Subject de verâ falsa Poenitentia Neither is that one any of St. Austin's Work But it is thrust in by others as an Appendix only to St. Austin yea more the Author of that Book whoever he was produceth a Sentence out of St. Austin expresly naming him Cap. 17. to which saying of St. Austin the said Author refuseth to give his Consent which is a clear Argument it is not St. Austin's But instead of this mis-quotation I could wish that the Doctor had thorowly perused that Book de verâ falsâ Poenitentiâ for he would have found in that Book a full Confutation of his Opinion concerning a general Damnation and that which I have written in my Antidote to be as fully confirmed Moreover besides these Mistakes the said Doctor after all the dreadful Clamour made of Millions of Millions that shall perish in their sins addeth that which may well be accounted in Effect a plain Contradiction to his Opinion by shewing what is the concurrent Judgment of some English Divines in this Case whom he nameth calling them The true Barnabasses and to whom he subscribes his Consents viz. That the Justice of Gods Tribunal at the last day is full as much laid open in the Pardon of the greatest sinners that Repent as it is in the Vengeance and Punishment of the Impenitent and those that know not God That when Jesus Christ shall come in the last times he will do the same to those that truly have Repented though even at the last Period of their Lives That the Mercies shewen to Zacheus and the Thief upon the Cross were particular and personal but the Comfort which is to be received from thence is common and publick Adding likewise further in the same Page Pag. 39. that the same English Divines do also agree with all the Casuists c. In one considerable mark of a Child of God and which as he saith is comprehensive all Divinity and the practise of Piety and which may also be shut up in one Period to wit that notwithstanding the Atheism whether Speculative or Practical secret or open that Reigns at this day in the World and all the Difficulties which are met with in the Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures which Human Reason cannot unravel and understand a man ought to be strongly and powerfully perswaded of the Truth Goodness and Excellency of the Christian Religion and of this holy
written already in the Vindication of the Doctrine of our Church against that of Rome Insomuch that it may be thought what is here done is but actum agere to repeat only the Arguments that have been formerly used Yet this I will be bold to assirm that that old saying nihil erit dictum quod non dictum fuit prius cannot here be objected against me True it is impossible but we must sometimes take up the same Weapons to encounter our Enemies which others have before used yet may they be sharp'ned and furbish'd afresh that an insipid Crambe shall not in the using them be here laid to my charge nor dull the edge of them Yea and a new Weapon shall be here taken out of the Armory of holy Scripture that never was so far as I can find managed before by any which may prove as convincing absit arrogantia as any other The design of which little Tract is according to the Title that is set before it to lay open the Falshood and Absurdity of that grand Error of Transubstantiation and because the Church of Rome hath been a long time so infatuated as to wrest the words of our Saviour which he spake of the Bread at his last Supper viz. This is my Body to make them speak that which be never intended but very little or not at all medling with his other words concerning the Cup as well knowing the very reciting of them would be a sufficient Conviction of their Error I shall therefore here deal with them at their own weapon and to that purpose will at the very entrance call upon my Reader to remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ which he spake at his last Supper viz. This is my Body DU MOULIN'S Reflections REVERBERATED THE Design of this Treatise is to put a stop to the Carieer of one Mounsieur Moulin I say not that Reverend Dr. Peter Moulin Who is As he well deserveth an Eminent Dignitary among us but his unworthy Brother Lewis who like Jehu marcheth furiously here in our Nation out of his Road venting his Paradoxes not only against the Order and Discipline established in the Church of England But against the very Doctrine of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ which should be dearer to us than our Lives It is Reported by some that he is a Schollar and possibly they may have taken his Dimensions in that kind from his Office that he held by the Title of Usurpation in the University of Oxford during the late Schism But doubtless his Pamphlet Entituled Moral Reflections upon the number of the Elect was not Penued at Athens Sure I am It did not spring from the sweet Fountain of Israel for whatsoever his Learning may otherwise be he hath not yet learned Christ sufficiently to know the Truth as it is in Jesus A Character hath been given me of him in scriptis from London by a very good hand which is as it here followeth This Lewis Du-Moulin is by Profession a Civilian by perswasion an Independant a man of a Morose and insolent Conversation he was a History-Professor at Oxford in the times of the late Troubles and Distractions But being thrown out of his Desk at the happy Return of our Peace he is led away by a misguided Zeal turns Malecontent Peevish and Froward quarrelling with all good Order and Discipline thinking himself not enough out of Babylon unless he be out of himself A man that ought to be severely corrected for his Insolence and Folly it being to be wished the Magistrate would take such Men under their Discipline which will work a more effectual Cure upon them than the most Satyrical Pen though dipt in Gall as wise Generals punish mutinous Persons more than Thieves and Robbers The Reason saith my Friend that makes me more severe with him is because he hath since I writ to you last set forth another Discourse under this Title viz. The Conformity of Discipline and Government among those who are commonly called Independants to that of the Antient Primitive Christians You may guess of the Book by the Title It is not worth your Animadversion nor my time to give you any Rehearsal of it This is the Man with whom we have here to deal about his Moral Reflections upon the number of the Elect so he calls them and as the man is so is his Work wherein he advanceth as his braving Transition is on and on without any Order or Method insomuch that whosoever he be that shall undertake him shall have but as 't were a Rope of Sand to hold by in following his Track Only it must be the Pages of his Book that are to be my Conduct and the Exercise of my Readers Patience if he will give himself the trouble to peruse them Which Book of his though I had it in my custody before I writ my Preface to the Antidote being then at the Press for I would not answer a matter until I hear it or know it That as a wiser man than either he or I are ever like to be hath said would be Folly and Shame unto me yet have I for born hitherto to answer it particularly because I hoped some other would have Reverberated this Reflector according to his Desert before this time And well might it have been expected seeing his hand hath been so busie against every Man not above one in a million escaping the Virulency of his Pen I supposed every Mans should be against him But since it is so that no man hath hitherto appeared in this Contract but my self albeit several Persons both Wise and Godly have approved of that which I have already done in it I shall now proceed further to make his Folly manifest to all men hoping that I may thereby do somewhat in the service of my Master Jesus Christ for the Glory of his great Name The good Lord give his Blessing unto it that the good People of God may be confirmed in the Truth of the Gospel and that this Unevangelical Doctor may have some sight of his Folly also who now sits Brooding upon his Error And against whom I confess I have a zealous Indignation fearing Lenity in this case may be imputed as a sin unto me First then to begin with the Title of his Book he calleth it Moral Reflections upon the number of the Elect. Moral Reflections Would any man that had Learning Fear of God in him Christian Love or good Manners towards the Church of God have Reflected so boldly upon the secret Counsels of the Almighty as this peremptory Mounsieur hath done by using this Term of Reflection in this case I know the word hath of late obtained a Pass and gone for current instead of Observations Considerations c. But it is so toto Coelo Excentrick as we say from God that it cannot be used in the Sense it is here put to without Blasphemy Not therefore to be passed by without a Reflection or a Repercussion rather
To Reflect what is it but to Bend or Bow or strike again Flectere si nequeam c. And though our Rhetorick may sometimes lead us to this word in things of a meer human Alloy yet I think I may safely say no sober modest Author Christian Jewish or Heathen did ever stretch it to such a height as this proud Dictator doth in giving a final Judgment upon things Divine that are secret to us And that which leads me to this considence is because Cicero that Prince of human Learning if we may give any heed to a large and perfect Index annexed to the four Tomes of his Works did never so use it Let this Mounsieur then talk what he will of the Worth and Excellency of his Subject his Divinity certainly is very slender that he dares thus rashly more than ever any Man did presume to make Reflections upon Gods Infinite Wisdom in determining Gods eternal Election according to his Phansie which is above the reach of Men and Angels Nor will his Word Moral wherewith he would Polish his unhandsome Reflections make them acceptable rather it makes them seem more ugly Will any man think that his blunt muddy Morals can either Penetrate or Illustrate that inaccessible Light which no man hath seen or can see or can he imagine that his Morality will excuse his Blasphemy It is somewhat I confess that he did not name the Elect here Gods Elect as St. Paul doth often in his Epistles though he cannot deny but that that must be his meaning Yet possibly being conscious to himself that he had been already too bold with God he durst not for shame advance so far as to call them Gods Elect. Nevertheless taking his words as they are rendred by him impudently enough hath he known the mind of the Lord or hath he been his Counsellor To know the number of Gods Elect with a Reference to the number of those that are left to Perish in their Sins I could name a man of whom this Puisny may learn one that had heard the Words of God which may be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and knew the knowledge of the most High which passeth Knowledge and who saw the Vision of the Almighty yet made it a Question Numb 23.10 Who can count the Dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth part of Israel Which he meant it's like of the Elect of God as his following words seem to imply But out of all doubt God promised Abraham Gen 22. That his Seed should be as the Stars of Heaven and as the Sand which is upon the Sea-shore innumerable shewing him how to make his Account from things above and from things beneath which might probably signifie both Jews and Gentiles for he was to be the Father of many Nations which must also be understood in a spiritual Sense what reckoning then can any man make of those that are without number But to be medling thus with Gods numbring it is such a Boldness that is without Parallel Holy David would have taught him more Modesty when speaking of Gods Salvations P. 71.15 he saith Non cognovi numeros ejus confessing he knew not his numbers q. d. He had no skill in that kind of Arithmetick such Knowledge was too wonderful for him it is high he could not reach it St. Austine Renders it non cognovi Negotiationes ejus meaning that he the Prophet knew not the several ways of Gods dealing out his Salvations to the Children of men the Negotiations of his Grace and Mercy with the Souls of poor Sinners to bring them to Heaven he thought were not only secret but numberless St. Jerome thus Non cognovi Literatunam ejus he knew not a Letter in Gods Book of Accounts wherein the number of the Elected is Enrolled meaning The Book of Life was far above his Reading yet this poor Illiterate Man it seems knew all so that he could tell as if he had taken out a Copy of the Account how many were to be set at the last Day on the Judges right hand and how many on his left Otherwise he would not have said his Reflections are proved plainly by Scripture Which proof if he can produce for in all that he hath yet written there is no such Evidence I shall hereafter be willing as old as I am to go to his School and learn to cast up my Accounts better than I have done though I believe a man may learn better of the Soothsayer before mentioned Three places of Scripture I know there are but no more upon which he will fasten to prove his numbring right all which are sufficiently proved in my Antidote against him to be heterogeneous from the Propositum in hand What a Doctor then have we here that hath set forth a Book pretending that his Reflections therein are proved plainly by Scripture-Evidence when they have no warrant from thence at all And seeing that the spirit of God hath not given his Imprimatur unto it the audacious Author well deserveth to be smitten with that Exprobration written Ezek. 13.7 Hast thou not seen a vain Vision And hast thou not spoken a lying Divination Whereas thou sayest the Lord saith it albeit God hath not spoken But what is it that he saith is proved so plainly from Scripture-Evidence Why that not above one in a hundred thousand nay probably not above one in a million from Adam down to our Times shall be saved See how punctual this French Calculator is in his Accounts Surely a man would think our times were much beholden to him that we are not brought into the same Condemnation with those before us But let us not be too hasty to catch at his Charity nor to fear his Fury At his first onset to speak of his Fury he is like a true Frenchman very fierce but he doth but hide his Tallons for he will we shall see open them again and gripe us to death everlasting as much as others And what is the Reason think ye that he doth so curtal his Sentence of death here in his Title which he after enlargeth even to the day of Judgment Possibly this Mounsieur may be of their mind who held that there were no more of Mankind to be saved than might suffice to sill up the vacant places in Heaven from which the Angels who kept not their first Estate but left their own Habitation fell down to Hell or it may be he is somewhat near of kin to the antient Gnosticks who were of opinion that none were saved but all went to Hell till the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar wherein it was from Heaven Revealed This is my Beloved Son Hear him A man might here indulge himself with too much Mirth but it is better in this case to be serious That which did put him upon this simpring and mincing his number in the Title Page which in his Book he uttereth with open mouth was it may be his fear of displeasing his
which he and his followers would prove by certain Parabolical Allusions and Semblances that are not Argumentative I shall let it pass as unworthy of any Regard Those Arguments of the first sort viz. Caelius c. that are most pertinent to the matter in hand though this Reflector takes no notice of them or but very little I shall briefly recollect and render an Account of them First The Law in its greatest Rigor says that God punisheth but to the third and fourth Generation but he sheweth Mercy to a thousand Generations Thus they And will not you Mr. Reflector say so too If you will not you must fall under the Curse threatned by the Holy Ghost Rev. 22. viz. God will take your Part out of the Book of Life i.e. Cast you out of his Church so that you shall be uncapable of any of the Blessings belonging to it If you will say thus the Thousands to whom God will shew Mercy would have sounded better under your Pen than that which you have writ of the number of those that shall be Damned And here I cannot but insert what a learned and good Divine hath writ to me when he saw my Antidote against your Book we saith he seldom or never in sacred Pages meet with the terrifying number of the Damned particularly summed up but of the Happy we find Rev. 7. such precise numbers mentioned And some thousands of years before that it is written God had Mercy in store for thousands of them that loved him and kept his Commandments This in truth is the Spirit that hath prevailed among us here in this our Church it being well known that the Genius if I may so call it of our Nation hath always more inclined to Mercy than to Rigor and hath been apt to interpret the Law of God as well as the Law of our Land rather for the Comfort and Benefit of Mankind where such a Construction may upon good terms be allowed then for their Ruine and Destruction I know not Mounsieur what hath been predominant with you in other parts of the World But it is you and such as you are that have joyned with the Roman Faction against us to create Disturbances among us and to lead captive silly People into many absurd Errors which have brought a Cloud over all our Excellency and have eclipsed that glory of Truth and Peace which but for you would long ere this time have dwelt in our Land You go on to tell us what they say viz. Caelius c. That the Mercies of God are of a large Extent that God is slow to Anger ready to Pardon and shew Mercy that he forgives sins of the deepest Dye and that Calvin remarking upon the words which God speaks Ex. 34. of his forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin that God thereby wonderfully advances the greatness of his own Mercies and that he would have us to know he Pardon 's not only little Sins but also the most Enormous and that God would not command us to say Forgive us our sins if he had not an intention to forgive them for he did not make that Command to send us away from him as you impiously say like Fools as we came Yet is your Sarcasme an Argument against you All which that they say of this matter and much more that you add is true and which all good People who believe there is a God will say How dare you then to contradict it by saying not above one in a Million shall ever by these Infinite Mercies come to Heaven Would any man but you having all these Comfortable Promises of Mercy and Overtures of Grace under your Eye conclude expresly for the Execution of Gods Wrath to the uttermost upon his poor Creatures that have sinned against him But that you after say the Arguments for your Opinion are incomparably more strong and nervous how strong they are we shall see hereafter In the mean time I must tell you these Premises though you slight them as being not Syncategorical with your Position yet are they certainly against you and make for the Truth You say further that they mightily Press As all good Christians will the Infinite Price and Value of the Merit Death and Satisfaction and Redemption of Jesus Christ which is not only efficacious to Pardon you should rather have said to obtain Pardon for an Infinity that 's your word of sins both for their number and their Enormity but also for an Infinity of men That it is extreamly to lessen the ends for which Jesus Christ came into the World to admit that he came only to Redeem one man of a Million That it is not to be believed that Jesus Christ at the right hand of his Father does intercede but for one of a hundred thousand of all mankind What you say to all this we shall see hereafter They do likewise say you mightily urge this Consideration that since none are in a State of Damnation but who are under a perpetual weeping wailing and gnashing of Teeth and an eternal Horror of Conscience for their past Offences it cannot rationally be affirmed of so many millions of Heathen Children that dyed before they came to the use and exercise of Reason And if God be merciful to these as who can determine the contrary it would be ridiculous such is your word as if you had a mind to laugh at God that God has reserved their Parents alive who have the use of Reason to damn them to all eternity what you will say to all this also would be considered for none of all these things move you Moreover who will believe say they that God so loved the World or that he sent his Son into the World not to condemn it but that it might be saved by him That Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the Sin of the World and that he being the Bread of Life gave himself to the World to give Life to it c. who will believe that by the World we must understand but one or two Persons among I know not how many thousands or millions in the World And where is that love towards the World to let it walk that is to say perish in its own ways All this and much more is alledged by that Orthodox Evangelical Party against your destructive Opinion as for that other which makes the number equal between the Elect and Reprobate as I have said I meddle not with it And you Mr. Reflector had done better if you had made no mention of it at all For to what purpose do you recite it and their Arguments for it when you may know it is not at this time of any Account scarce a word spoken of it among any unless it be with Contempt But you were willing to muster up your Enemies and drive them before you altogether promiscuously like a brave man at Arms or rather like that Pugnacissimum Animal as it is said of the Gander Armata
Lord c. But little or nothing is written of their Repentance before they died yet will no man be so rash as to doubt of their Salvation Why should you then or your Complices be so peremptory as to cast a scruple about the Salvation of Solomon Cannot you be contented with that which is written of him Favoris Gratiâ but you must have a damnable sling at him as if he were hovering between Heaven and Hell But how else could you maintain your absurd Paradox of your hundred Thousands and Millions of Men that shall perish in their sins in comparison of one that shall be saved We read Joh. 13.1 whom the Lord loveth he loveth to the end and do we not read also again and again that the Lord loved Solomon 2 Sam. 12.24 Neh. 13.26 yea that this Love was confirmed unto him by the best Assurance that could be given him viz. propter Jehovam the Lord loved him for the Lords sake that is for Christ the Messiah's sake in whom all Gods Elect from the beginning of the World to the end are beloved with an everlasting love Did God chuse him out to be one of his Actuaries of his publick Records to his Church viz. the Book of the Proverbs the Book of Ecclesiastes or the Preacher the Book of the Canticles that pure Caelestial Epithalamum or Marriage Song and of two of the Psalms as the Title of them signifies viz. Ps 72. and Ps 127. And can it be probably thought that he should be dignified in this high Degree if he had been no better than a wretched Castaway in Gods eternal Purpose What were there not Heirs enough of everlasting Salvation to be inspired by the Holy Ghost for the office of a publick Notary of Heaven but one must be taken from among the Bondslaves of Hell to make up the number Was he a Preacher sent of God and was not one of his Books called Ecclesiastes his Recantation Sermon which he writ in his old age when he took a more serious view of his by-past Life wherein among other his Follies he sheweth his Abhorrency of his being misled by Women I find saith he more bitter than Death the Woman whose Heart is Snares and Nets Eccles 7.26 and her Hands as Bands Implying that though Death be bitter yet he had rather die than be entangled again in the Snares of a whorish Woman Which option may well be justified if we consider the Aggravations of this sin as they are rendred by a good Interpreter Bishop R. one of a Thousand and a right Reverend Preacher among us in our Church whose words are these viz. They that is wicked Harlots are more bitter than Death more pernicious and bring more heavy Miseries with them We read of the Bitterness of Death 1 Sam. 15.32 And of a worse Bitterness the end of a strange Woman is bitter c. and her steps take hold of Hell Pro. 5.4.5 Death may be sweetued and sanctified made a welcome and desirable thing to a Believer 1 Cor. 15. But the Bitterness of Hell is incurable Death may be honourable to die in a good Cause as our King Charles the Martyr comforted himself in his Death to die in a good old Age to go to the Grave in Peace lamented desired with the sweet savour of a holy Life and many good Works to follow one But to consume and putrifie alive under a Tabes of Impure Lusts to shipwrack a mans Honour ruine his Estate shorten his years consume his Flesh rot his Bones put a Hell into his Conscience to bury his Name his Substance his Soul his Carkass in the Bosom of a Harlot This is a Bitterness beyond that of Death This now is that which Solomon here means and complaineth of And whether this be a sound of Repentance or no judge you And if your judgment be of any value how dare you doubt of his Salvation Being so true a Penitent as you see neither can you but acknowledge him to be so Reflector Nothing can be concluded of the Salvation or damnation of those that were the Types of things to come Answer Can nothing then be concluded of the Salvation of Samson who was an Eminent Type of Jesus Christ So doth our Learned Whitaker demonstrate him to be viz. 1. In sanctitate nativâ 2. In servatoris Munere 3. In juvicto Robore 4. In morte calamitosa cum Hostibus If all this will not satisfie you the Apostles numbring him among the Saints Heb. 11. should convince you that you may conclude of his Salvation I could instance in sundry others as Gideon Jephthah c. But this may suffice to shew you your Errour herein Reflector For it happ'ned sometimes that one Person as Esau who was the Figure and Type of the Reprobate was also that of the most excellent thing in the World viz. The Righteousness of Jesus Christ under which a Jacob a Sinner obtained the Blessing of God Answer Your Reason here is defective both in Sense and Truth worthy therefore of no regard But that you may not flatter your self in your Folly What a confused shuffling words is here like the Quakers jumbling several things together without sense As for Esau it seems you have so much Charity for him as not to conclude him to be a Reprobate though the Spirit of God in Scripture hath noted him to be a prophane Person and one whom God hated But how it came to pass that he hath escap'd your censure of a Reprobate when you make him a Type of the Reprobate I know not it being a Rule in Logick if ever you learnt it de proportionalibus est idem judicium Et quod de uno secundum proportionem affirmatur id etiam de altero If Esau then be a Type of the Reprobate that is hath the Impression of a Reprobate upon him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the word Type signifies He must needs be a Reprobate But let me demand of you is it for you or I to cast a Figure thus or create a Type of Gods eternal Decree concerning Mankind We should certainly usurp upon Gods Power if what is written in Scripture we may wrest it to our meaning without an express warrant from the Spirit of God And Polanus an Author whom I suppose you approve of saith Typi fuerant Figurae a Deo destinatae ad Res Divinas praefigurandas In Syntag. Let us not then be too bold to thrust our selves into Gods Pavillion by giving our Judgment of things which God hath kept in his own Power For my part I cannot say that Esau was a Type of the Reprobate much less that he himself was a Reprobate This I can say with good probability he was in that Generation admitted into the Church of God by the Sacrament of Circumsion as well as his Brother Jacob who though he took him by the Heel at the Birth signifying his future supplantation of him yet could he not supplant him in
whom you have fancied to be culled out of your Thousands and Millions when it is clear the good Spirit of God speaks it expressy of Adam and his Ofspring as they generally Issue from him in their several Generations Are you then and your Complices sit to meddle with the Holy Scripture when you understand it no better Better surely were it for you if it were as a sealed Book unto you rather than be permitted to wrest it so perniciously to your own destruction There is a Truth I confess in what you here say But seeing you cannot but know that these words of the Apostle from whence you gather this your abundant Favor for one probably of your own gang are of so large an extent as hath been said and that to take them in his sense were utterly to overthrow your damnable Doctrine which rather than you would do you would pervert them to your own private shallow Interpretation since it is so may it not well be said without any offence either before God or Man you are fitter to be a Hewer of wood c. as the Gibeonites were than to divide the Word of Truth to Gods People Had the Apostle here written where Sin abounded Wrath did much more abound this it seems would have gone down easily with you as according to your Palate But blessed be the good Spirit of God whose word it is and blessed be the Hand that first wrote it it is a word of Mercy a word of strong Consolation to the whole Church of God The Magnitude and Redundancy of Divine Grace being infallibly by the abundance of sin made the more conspicuous as the more desperate a bodily Disease is the more is the Virtue and Excellency of the Medicine that Cures it made the more famous and to be extolled Let therefore that word stand firm and stedfast against you which you in your eleventh Paragraph of objections have made light account of viz. that the Grace of God is exalted far above his Judgments and Severities that there where sin has abounded Grace has much more abounded for the solution hereof is not so easie as of many more though you have pretended so of it to your Reader Reflector As to the Salvation of the Children of Heathen Parents or others that is a sealed Book which God doth not permit us to open Answer It is well that you have that Charity for Children yea for the Children of Heathen Parents as well as of others so as not to reckon them among your Thousands and Millions whom you have marked to Destruction for your only Design you say Pag. 27. in this whole Discourse is to speak of men deceased above an Age ago still you shuffle and after they had the exercise and use of Reason It is well I say But you here add the Salvation of such Children is a sealed Book which God doth not permit us to open I will not much argue with you about this though I might nor inquire by what Authority you call the Salvation of Children more than of others who have had the exercise and use of Reason a sealed Book which God doth not permit you to open Possibly you may dream of the Limbus Infantum where Children are kept from the Pains of Hell not having the Pain of Sense but only the Pain of Loss Which Limbus no man could ever open no not the Pope himself for though it is said he hath the Key of Purgatory yet the Key of this place appointed for Children is not it seems committed to his Custody But is the Salvation of Children as you say a sealed Book and is not the Book of Gods Universal Judgment and the Lambs Book of Life sealed Books likewise Yet you dare it seems without Gods Permission yea contrary to Gods express command in Scripture to open these Books and give your Judgment forsooth of them as you please And what is this but to anticipate the Judgment of the great Day The Apostle Reasoned with Faelix of Judgment to come Act. 24.25 and adviseth yea warneth us 1 Cor. 4.5 To judge nothing before the time until the Lord come who is to be the Judge of Quick and Dead Much less should we judge so rashly as to determine of the Number of Gods Elect and that with so peremptory a Sentence as to exclude the major part of Mankind from all hope of Salvation which is the deadly Venome that runs through your whole Discourse It had been good indeed if this your Book had been so sealed that it might have been bound up in everlasting silence never to come forth rather than to do that mischief which it is like to do among poor and weak Christians who have always been apt to despond and not only them but among such as are Prophane to strengthen some in their Atheism which groweth over-Rampant in this Generation and others in their Epicurism and Debaucheries who will be ready to say Seeing there is little or no hope of Mercy for us when we die let us take our Pleasure while we may Eat Drink and be Merry Reflector It is sufficient for us Mortals to know that none is or can be saved but by Jesus Christ But we must not go about to determine whether none are saved but who have known Jesus Christ Answer For us Mortals a word that you use once and again here in your Discourse because you would like your good friends the Quakers take up a form of speech differing from that which is common Otherwise you might have said it is sufficient for us poor Creatures which would have pass'd for current better than your word Mortals For the time will come when this Mortal shall put on Immortality wherein the same Truth shall be known by us then which we now know And do not they that are now Immortal know this that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of the World as well and better than we But I must tell you it is not sufficient for us Mortals as you call us to know this for God hath been graciously pleased to Illighten us poor Mortals and those that are Immortal too to know that none can be saved by Jesus Christ but those that are in Covenant with God Why then do you by affirming so gross an Untruth lessen that knowledge which the Spirit of God in Scripture hath given us saying It is sufficient c. Why indeed but because you was loth to extend the work of Salvation so far as to reach to those Thousands and Millions which you will have to be damned for they also may for ought you know be in Covenant with God as well as your self Men may guess at your meaning Don Doctor though you speak it not out as you ought to speak it You say further we must not go about to determine whether none be saved but who have known Jesus Christ Was there ever such a Don known before that will take upon him so imperiously to judge the