observed of Mahomet's doctrine for Religion that the Turk teacheth within his Dominions or that a Papist should teach if uppermost So now Mr. Hobbes hath done like a Scholar as he may well think to find a place in the Bible to prevent Preaching against the Alcoran or Mass Yet to do Mr. Hobbes Right after his so many assertions that that only is to be acknowledged as Canonical Scripture which the Civil Soveraign saith is so and that in 1651. he attended the determination of the Sword to decide all Doctrines he saith That he can acknowledge nothing to be Canonical Scripture but that which the Church of England hath commanded to be acknowledged for such and I think there is nothing so near an Orthodox opinion in all his Book but I suppose he meant that he would acknowledge it to be so only until the Sword had at that time determin'd it After Mr. Hobbes had laid down positive general Rules for enervating the Scriptures in saying That the Authority of them depended upon the determination of the Soveraign now in his 33. Chap. he comes to the particulars of the several Books of the Scriptures and hopes there I suppose to compleat the work For he saith That the several Books especially of the Old Testament were not written by those that are commonly supposed to be the Penmen of them but by others a long time after their deaths which if true may raise a scruple to the truth of them only he saith That he supposeth Moses wrote the greatest part of Deuteronomy else that the Old Testament was penned generally by Esdras for which he cites the Apocrypha Esdras the 14 th Chapter and when he hath done so takes it for granted that Esdras penned them after the captivity To answer particularly Mr. Hobbes in this would require a very large Discourse enough to tire out both Me and my Reader besides I think it not worth my while to answer general assertions in matters of fact which are contrary to the general admissions of the most Learned Men with long Discourses but rather content my self with saying that they are not to be credited but rejected Yet to that which Mr. Hobbes is particular in I shall answer particularly He saith The Pentateuch was penned long after Moses death and for this he cites the 12. of Genesis v. 6. which saith That when Abraham passed through the Land to the plain of Moreh the Canaanite was then in the Land Which shews clearly saith Mr. Hobbes that this Book was written after Moses time because the Canaanite was not displaced till after Moses death But if Mr. Hobbes had well considered and look'd into the 7 th verse he would have found that God promised Abraham the Land in which at that time Abraham built an Altar unto the Lord which was as it were a taking possession of the Land and by God's gift he had a better right to it as to futurity than the Canaanite had whereupon Abraham by Faith look'd upon the future time and saw the Canaanite displaced and knew that by force of God's promise the Canaanites antient right to them and their posterity was changed So that the Canaanites as to the succession might be rather said to have had the Land than that they had it and so is the 48. Gen. 21. to be understood Or may not the Text be rationally intended that Moses said this to declare that the Canaanite was then in the Land and not any other people How unreasonable then it is for Mr. Hobbes to change a general supposition at the best but upon a doubtful Text of Scripture and an Apocryphal story I shall refer to any Man that hath his reason and if reason be on my side Mr. Hobbes ought to be so too because he said before that Reason is the Word of God The rest of Mr. Hobbes his Texts to prove this are nothing to the purpose and so I pass them over As to the Pen-men of the Books of the New Testament he determins nothing but saith That they were made Canonical by the Church and that the writers of them were indowed with God's spirit in that they conspire to the setting forth the rights of the Kingdom of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Let me then ask Mr. Hobbes why they need to be made Canonical and to be approved or rejected by the Soveraign or his reciprocal Word the Sword Mr. Hobbes said p. 38. That the Scriptures by the spirit of God in Man mean a mans spirit inclined to godliness the falsness of which I have upon that page spoken to Now p. 207. he comes to treat of Spirits in general what they aâ—e and saith if I rightly understand him which I think is difficult in so perplex'd a discourse as he makes all over this his 34. Chapter That they are bodies for he saith that substance and body are the same thing And p. 17 53 214. saith That all substances must be bodies and that the words incorporeal substance joined together are unintelligible nonsence and imply a contradiction And so runs on further in his old vein of making positive affirmations contrary to the general received opinion of all Christian Men without giving any reason at all for his so â—aying But to reason the matter a little why are the words incorporeal substance contradictories Why may there not be a substance that hath no Body as well as a substance that hath one For substance is nothing but that which doth substare such and such qualifications as are proper and do belong to the being or nature of the thing in which those qualifications are and without which those qualifications could not be for want of something to support them As we may say that Iron which is a corporeal substance is hard so we may say that a thing of a more subtle existence or substance is intelligent rational or wise For that it may be equally capable to support these as the Iron doth hardness colour or any other qualification Now then to say that body and substance are the same thing is only a positive saying and if the words had been never thought on before might as well signifie variously as the same Then certainly 't is a strange piece of confidence to obtrude such a position upon the World without any possibility of reason which is contrary to the sentiments of all Learned persons that ever I heard of But if Mr. Hobbes ask me what a Spirit is if it be not a Body I must say that I can no more tell the likeness of it than Mr. Hobbes supposing he had never seen by some external obstruction any thing nor spoken with them that had could have told what a like thing an Horse or a grey Hound is things incapable and things obstructed giving the same account of their proceedings But 't is apparent that there is such a thing as a Spirit for our Saviour saith Luke 24. 39. Handle me and see for a Spirit hath
and Learning that many of his detestable Errours and monstrous Opinions have been embraced and are daily undertaken to be defended not only by many that would seem witty in the World by discoursing and maintaining things because not learned in their Catechisms but likewise by those I hope but few that desire to retain the reputation of Wise and Prudent Thirdly that my Lord of Clarendon so eminent in Parts and Wisdom hath written in answer to Mr. Hobbes before yet I hope no one will be so violent against me for this â—which I thought the greatest Objection â—gainst this Undertaking when 't is conâ—idered upon the perusal of his Lordâ—hip's Work and mine that I have â—ntermeddled with nothing his Lordship â—hought worth his Answer only that â—hich his Lordship hath either wholly â—mitted or mentioned as absurd and so â—ast over Besides the great Intent of â—is Lordship as I suppose was to anâ—wer Mr. Hobbes in his Civil Politicks and erecting of Governments which as his Lordship hath shewn are so full of contradictions in themselves and inconsistencies to all manner of Method and Peace in any Christian or indeed Pagan Commonweâ—lth that 't is not possible â—or me to say more who have been so little conversant in things of that transcendent Naâ—ure in which his Lordship hath testified to the world himself so great a Master at the King 's most happy Restoration So then to that which his Lordship pleased not to think worth his Answer in Mr. Hobbes his Lâ—viathan I shall apply my self â—aking the entire Sentences which are not too tedious or the true Sence so far as he is intelligible of such as be with the addition of any thing that he shall explain himself in upon the same place But if Mr. Hobbes hath in any place said that which he in another remote contradicts as he hath often done I hope no one will say that his Hâ—resies Errors or Blasphemies ought to be spared and not laid open to the world for the sake of the contradiction considering that 't is not necessary that every one that reads a Chapter or Sentence and may receive the infection naturally resulting from it should read or consider that which is manifestly to the contrary thereby to make him consider and prepare him for an Antidote or Enquiry and in things of this nature Mr. Hobbes is very frequent And to give an instance of this he page 268. denies absolutely the personal Existence of the Divinity of God the Son and Holy-Ghost as I shall shew in iâ—s place and yet p. 204. he calls the two second Persons God the Son and Holy-Ghost Now I hope no good Man will say that the denying of the God-head of the second and third Person in the Blessed Trinity is therefore not to be exposed and answered with such severity as is proper for such monstrous though old Opinions because Mr. Hobbes in another place contradicts himself Nay I think the Fabrick of his Civil Politicks which I suppose was the Drift of his Book is founded upon things incompatible for he saith p. 88 89. That the People upon submission to their Prince contract one with another to submit themselves to him and indeed all their properties which is the labour of his Work and cannot be obedient to any other without his permission and that the Prince makes no Covenant with the People And yet p. 114 174. he saith That that Subjection lasteth no longer than his Power to protect himself and them and then they are absolved and may submit to any one else that can protect them forgetting the consult of the Pâ—â—â—ces permission which he spake of p. 88 89. which permission be sure no People shall ever have from their Prince to desert him and then how can the People be absolved from their contract the Prince having made no covenant as he saith with them Which I leave any reasonable Man to judg of whether it be not impossible This Absurdity I believe Mr. Hobbes little thought of at the time of writing his Book bending his Mind as I suppose to the establishing a new Government to be then erected and the advance of himself in it when our King was murthered and his Royal Son beaten from his Rights whereby they were uncapable to protect us I shall not stay upon this but refer my Reader to my Lord of Clarendon who hath I think as to all Matters of this nature made such a Creature of Mr. Hobbes that I can think him capable of no other Name than Leviathan Only let me observe what Stuff this is when search'd to the bottom to ground any Government upon First it is to give the Property of the People to the Prince like a dear Son of Sibthorpe and Manwaring which will make them not only weary of his Government but also to â—â—deavour to throw it off that they may have something to call their own And in case their Governour shall be imprisoned by a Popish Plot or by any Invasion or Rebellion though but for a Week be made otherwise uncapable to exercise his Authority the Subjects are absolved which nick'd with Oliver Cromwel then and the Papists now from their Allegiance Which is so monstrous an Opinion that 't is only to say That Subjects may desert their King or Governour when he hath most need of their Assistance which is undoubtedly against all the Laws of Reason as well as Charity For 't is as if Mr. Hobbes should have said That our obligation to our Benefactors lasted no longer than their power to do us good and that we might desert them in their adversity whose prosperity we reaped so much advantage from And 't is little less than to say That a Son may desert his Father and is absolved from his Obedience when his Father is fallen into poverty This Doctrine â—ly and Iesuitical in short is to set the Prince against the People and the People against their Prince to the ruin of them both in English to the ruin of his native Country for 't is to decoy the Prince into the hatred of his Subjects and to teach the Subjects to desert their Prince at their own will and pleasure they only being left Iudges when their Prince is uncapable to protect for be sure as I said before no Prince will ever say that he is uncapable to protect when he is sure thereupon to be deserted by his Subjects and thereby made no Prince at all This Doctrine makes Mr. Hobbes's learned train of Thoughts mentioned p. 10. work wonderfully in me viz. the Crime the Officer the Prison the Iudge and the Gallows for Mr. Hobbes could not but know that it is the greatest Interest of a Prince to support the Property of his Subjects that they might rejoyce in their subjection and consequently desire to stand by him in his greatest Necessities and redeem him by their Blood and Fortunes as the People of England are now resolved from any unhappiness that might befall him and thereby
had bidden him be circumcised and by words renounce the Faith of Christ he would have done it If a Turk had been turned up trump and bidden Mr. Hobbes go to Mecca and worship at Mahomet's tomb he would have done it If a Persian had proved uppermost and had bidden him worship at Haly's shrine and say Haly was a greater Prophet than Christ he would have done it Nay he would have asked no petition of God or Man for 30 days save of Darius had he been in the days of Daniel So I hope would no body else for all the Example of Naaman which Mr. Hobbes makes such use of to justifie all external acts of Idolatry The Text is in the 2 Kings 5. 18 19. where Naaman after profession to serve no God but the true one saith When I bow my self in the house of Rimmon my Master leaning on my hand the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing And Elisha said go in peace Therefore 't is lawful in external acts to worship as Mr. Hobbes saith p. 271. an Idol and deny the true God in effect if we keep our Hearts close to him and such an action saith he if done according to the Law of a Man's Country is not the Subjects act but the Soveraigns But if the Devil take a Subject for his so doing I would know whether the doing by the Soveraign's command will redeem him And as to the Text it is impossible to plant the legality of Idolatrous external Worship upon it for the Prophet's bidding Naaman go in peace might be an Error in the Prophet created by his conceit that he should hinder the propagation of the Worship of the true God in Syria if he should deny so great a Man â—his request which was a failing in the Prophet's Faith in God or perchance the Prophet only took the request to be that he might bow in reverence to his Master when his Master bowed to Rimmon as 't is a custom amongst us for Inferiours to rise from their seats when Superiours do out of respect to their Superiours and whether way 't is taken no matter for it can be no warrant for Idolatry when the Soveraign commands and 't is plain no otherwise can it rationally be understood But observe the Prophet gives not Naaman leave to bow to Rimmon but in the house of Rimmon which may be done upon other accounts and the words are constructive who then but Mr. Hobbes would have founded the legality of external acts of Idolatry upon such a ground Which is certainly if there be any such thing in the World a denying of God before Men and that is the way to be denied before God in Heaven Matth. 10. 32. Luke 12.8 and expresly Rom. 10.8 Confession with the Mouth and belief in the Heart go together and are made the prequesites to Salvation and Mr. Hobbes admits That confession with the Mouth is but a kind of External worship and see the 3 d of Daniel and there we find that the three Children refused to Worship Nebuchadnezzar's Image and rather chose the furnace and God in approbation of their so doing delivered them by not suffering the fire to do them any harm though it consumed their enemies and Nebuchadnezzar was the Soveraign at that time that God had set over those three Children And Daniel himself chose rather to be thrown into the Den of Lions than to neglect the Worship of God according to the Statut made by Darius and his Princes as 't is in the sixth of Daniel Now then let any rational Man judge what a strange creature Mr. Hobbes hath made of himself to take a Text of Scripture to warrant external acts of Idolatry which from the Text it self appears otherwise constructive and is not capable to be taken in the sence he would have it to warrant this cursed and damnable opinion when there are these and many other plain Texts of Scripture against this construction though I am afraid that this gin hath caught near as many as his assertion of the lawfulness of bribes But he thought he would secure himself in the Year 1651. let the Turk a Iew or the Devil wear the Sword for he would do as they bid him for he saith All sorts of Doctrine are to be approved or rejected by the authority of the Sword which will let in the Mahometan Bannian or Iewish Doctrine to be at any change of State equally capable as the Christian to be approved as true and so ought to be followed by Mr. Hobbes his rule For saith Mr. Hobbes how shall we know what are the commands of God but by supernatural revelation such I suppose he intends as was to St. Iohn in the Isle of Patmos and supposeth there is no such thing now or by the command of the Soveraign and who but the Soveraign can take notice what is the Word of God Which I admit none can do so wicked as Mr. Hobbes because their foolish hearts are hardned But I would have Mr. Hobbes know that the Books of the Old Testament were the Word of God when there was no King in Israel but every Man did that which was right in his own Eyes and that the Books of the Old and New Testament were the Word of God and so taken notice of and obeyed by good Men in the Year 1651. when there was no civil Soveraign to tell in England what was the Word of God and what not and the Epistles of St. Paul were the Word of God when he wrote them although Christianity was then disowned by the Roman Emperours Nay they are the Word of God and would be in the furthest part of America for a word is a word though there be no Body to hear it where 't is supposed there are no Inhabitants were they thither carrried And 't is but like the rest of Mr. Hobbes his Philosophy to say that the Existence or Being of things depend upon Political Institution when as the Being of things ever was and ever will be absolute let a Soveraign be or not be say or not say But a civil Soveraign hath power to model things indifferent in themselves and to put them into such conjunctions as may be for his own and the good of those he governs but hath not power to alter the beings of things or at his pleasure to make that not to be that is or to be that is not And as to Mr. Hobbes his desiring to know how we may know what is the Word of God I have said something to it before I hope that is satisfactory to any but a cavilling Atheist in my Answer to his p. 32. and shall say little more here save that suppose there was a Country in which the People were Christians for the most part and the Soveraign a Mahometan that the delivery of the Bible as the thing believed to be Gods Word by the consent and approbation of those Christians is a sufficient testimony of its being the Word of