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
he doth in all Commonwealths for by him King's reign For there was a certain time when there was no King in Israel and God appointed sometimes Iudges Chiefs that is Kings to govern them between which Iudges there was intervals and I would know what temporal Iurisdiction God exercised over them in those intervals or at that time when there was no King Certainly none that we ever read of in holy Writ and 't is reasonable to suppose God exercised none for that the people of Israel were then grievously oppressed and so continued sometimes forâ—y Years before a deliverer rose up which they needed not to have done if God had undertaken the temporal government for that God by his Power was able to have deliver'd them which we see he never did but by a temporal Governor in the time of which Governor the high Priest was not God's Viceroy but rather the Governor 's and the 17. Deut. 9. 12. v. clearly makes the Priest and the Iudge which should then afterwards be different persons and different Emploiments So 't is most apparent that God was no otherwise the temporal King of the Israelites than he was King of all the Earth nor the high Priest as high Priest his Viceroy though the Israelites were his chosen people as to Religious worship And as to the 1 Sam. 8. 7. which Mr. Hobbes cites where God said to Samuel when the people asked a King They have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not rule over them it is no more but that God was angry with them for not taking such a Governor as he was pleased to set over them as Samuel then was and Baruck Ieptha and Samson had been but that they would have one not only of their own choosing but also aâ—ter the similitude of other Nations which God had rejected and had chosen them for his peculiar people and so in that sence they may be said to reject God in that they rejected those he did set over them As to Mr. Hobbes his other places of Scripture I think them nothing to the matter and so I shall pass them over as he saith he doth many more places for this purpose not cited but instead of citing them slily as I think claps his hands at the Clergy p. 219. and saith 'T is a wonder no more notice is taken of this but that it gives too much light to Christian Kings to see their right of Ecclesiastical government To this I will answer for the Clergy of England that those that are not infected with a spice of Popery as I am afraid some such there are God make them fewer or some for want of due consideration always acknowledge the King for supream Head of the Church and by that Title pray for him and not by that sleighty Title of Supream Moderator of the Church and the English Clergy if some few do otherwise are no more to be blamed for this than the English Souldiers were in the blessed Reign of Queen Elizabeth to be blamed in Holland because Stanly and York delivered Towns up to the Spaniard or English Writers because one English Man hath written such a Book as the Leviathan who after his Learned Discourse of the Kingdom of God comes to tell us p. 219. what the Kingdom of Grace is and saith Those are in it that promise obedience to God's government I suppose he means temporal of which he hath been treating before to whom saith he God hath gratis given to be his Subjects hereafter which is called the Kingdom of Glory Now certainly the Kingdom of Grace by all Men before Mr. Hobbes was taken to be God's Spiritual government which he exerciseth in the Hearts of good Men by his commands threats and promises to which if they yield obedience in and through the mercies of our blessed Saviour they are made inheritors of the Kingdom of Glory And what a quibble this is of Mr. Hobbes from the word gratis to change the sence of the Kingdom of Grace I shall refer to any intelligent person Mr. Hobbes coming in his 36. Chapter to treat of â—he Word of God and the Prophets comes to shew what Word signifies in Scripture of which I do think he hath given a true account in several Texts but is not able in any kind of Truth to hold out long For p. 224. he saith That the Word of God in several Texts of Scripture signifies which I never observed in any such words as are consonant to the dictates of right Reason and the first Text he cites is 2 Chron. 35. 22. where 't is said That Iosiah harkned not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God which saith Mr. Hobbes were but the dictates of Reason This is most palpably unreasonable for there was no reason for Iosiah to forbear fighting with Necho the Kings of Iudah having beaten as great Kings as the Kings of Egypt and the Iews being then in a powerful condition when he came into his Country with a great Army So this Text must either be intended that the words of Necho were but what God had told him or that they were revealed to Iosiah to be God's mind by some Prophet which most Interpreters take to be Ieremiah nay Mr. Hobbes himself cites Esdras for this last Interpretation but saith That in this he approves not an Apocryphal writer though before when he had a mind to invalidate the Scriptures by making the Penmen of them uncertain seemed strongly to incline that Esdras was the Penman of them after the Captivity when it might be supposed the certain Truth was lost and that only from the Authority of the Book of Esdras whose Authority or rather Interpretation he here rejects And then Mr. Hobbes goes on to cite several other Texts of Scripture to prove that in Scripture by the Word of God is meant the dictates of Reason or Equity as Ierem. 31. 33. and other places where God saith He will write his Laws in their Hearts Which places by all other Men I think have been interpreted the operation of God's Spirit upon the minds of Men by inclining them to obey his Laws after God had taught them by his Prophets or Ministers And there is no cause to call that reason or the proceed of reason which the Scripture terms the operation of God A Man bringing reason or an aptitude to it into the World and so he doth not that which God effects in him after he is in the World Mr. Hobbes p. 238. saith That a private Man hath Power to believe or not believe Miracles Thought bâ—ing free but saith he when it comes to publick confession the private reason must submit to the publick Now by his Rule though a Man do not believe lying wonders yet he may say he doth if any one will believe Mr. Hobbes In short this is much like his precedent Doctrine of practice and serves to authorise the grossest hypocrisie in the World in case the
restore him and themselves into their mutual happiness I think in this last matter I have been so far from wronging Mr. Hobbes though I have not repeated his very words in several parts of his Book that t is plain his particular pages make his opinion look much worse than any thing I have said And I intend not to tye my self in every place to particular Repetitions which would be too tedious but I challenge any Man when I have done to say either in this or any subsequent matter that I have wronged Mr. Hobbes in the least though I believe many will doubt whether the Positions be any English mans they are so gross till read in his Book in that which I shall repeat of him in words or substance And to lay more weight upon Mr. Hobbes than he hath laid upon himself would be further to load the oppressed and like laying Felony to a Man's charge that was really guilty of high Treason And as I shall lay nothing falsly upon Mr. Hobbes intentionally so shall I not quarrel with every thing in his Book for there are many things which shew Mr. Hobbes a Man of tolerable parts though little in it shews him a Man willing to converse and digest his notions whiâ—h would have freed him from the delivery I suppose not only of so many gross but supercilious Errors besides no Book was ever so false but had some Truths and Orthodoxality in it and that may be seen in the Alcoran and the Mass Book Neither shall I often quarrel with Mr. Hobbes's Book in things the truth or falshood of which are of no moment but with his gross and dangerous Errors or that which tends to support them As for his Liberty and Necessity I shall not ingage in hearing t is fully answered by a Learned Bishop already no more than with what my Lord of Clarendon hath been pleased to answer and other Writings against Mr. Hobbes's Leviathan did I never hear of or see so directly to fall in with Mr. Hobbes page after page He p. 1. calls Nature The Art whereby God hath made and governs the World Here at first he is got into such a Rapture that he hath lost his Reason for how God can be said to make the World by the Art called Nature is inconceptible for that the Nature of things suppose the preexistence of those things in which Nature must exist and indeed is nothing else but an Energy or force given to things at the Creation for the acting of such thingâ— as they are adapted to whether of Generation or otherwise and is subsequent to the thing made And this Position of Mr. Hobbes is but another manner of saying That God did not make the World by the Word of his Power but had some Instrument preexistent to work with which is his first attack upon the honour of his Maker Mr. Hobbes p. 2. saith That what the Passions of a Man as Fear c. are in himsâ—lf he may judge what are the Passions in anoâ—her on the like occasion But certainly common experience teacheth every considering Man the contrary for who knows not that knows any thing of the difference of thâ— Constitutions That one fears c. that which another doth not and that under the very same circumstances For doth any Man think that because he dares not get upon his Horse back that therefore another dare not This would be one way to lose him but such inconveniencies I believe Mr. Hobbes never thought of only ventured the conceit supposing himself infallible Mr. Hobbes p. 3. saith That the appearance of the objects of sence to us is fancy which is the same waking that dreaming and p. 5. saith That Imagination and Memory are but one thing which for divers consiâ—erations hath divâ—rs Names These assertions I should not trouble my self to shew the unreasonableness of no more than with his condemning all the Universities of Christendom p. 4. with impropriety of Speech grounded upon the position of Aristotle the greatest Natural Philosopher that ever the World produced viz. That Sence is causâ—d by a Species resulting from the object and yet shews no reason for his contrary conceit Whereas had Mr. Hobbes had any modesty or so much learning in the Law as in other places he pretends to he would have thought it hard to explode an old opinion without a better reason and would have known that a prior Possession is the best Title against all but him that hath right This tends only to disparage the way of Learning but I am afraid his saying that Sence is Fancy and memory Imagination strikes higher and that thereby he intends to enervate the authority of the Scriptures which he so much endeavours through his Book if not utterly to supplant them which will make him the easier task hereafter to maintain that only that is Canonical Scripture which is authorized by the civil Soveraign as he affirms p. 199 205 c. For the Argument lies thus It must be agreed on all hands that the things done and delivered to us in the Scriptures were for the most part but the things they who deliver'd them saw and remembred which is a great ground-work of the Scriptures Authority Then hâ—â— pâ—sito mâ—y Mr. Hobbes and his Disciples say If the Relators of the Scriptures only saw and remembred these things to be so they only fancied them and imâ—gined them and what a Man phancies or imagins may be or may not be But t is most plain that seeing is one thing and phancy another memory one thing and imagination another As for instance before I saw Mr. Hobbes's Leviathan I fancied and imagined by whâ—t I heard that it was an ill Book but when I had seen and read it and remembred the Contents of it I was certain that it is as full of contradictions execrable detestable and damnable Opinions as a Toad is of Poyson So I hope it appears that the Authority of the Scriptures is not lessened by this conceit of Mr. Hobbes which in it self is contrary to sence but that every good Man will think that the Pen-men of them had a better certainty than phantasie and imagination Mr. Hobbes p. 7. saith That Witches Witchcraft is not any real Power but that they are justly punished for the false belief they have that they can do such mischief joyned with their purpose to do it if they can I will not controvert with Mr. Hobbes whether there have ever been Witches or no. Neither should I controvert with Mr. Hobbes the dueness of their punishment which is death and that only as he saith for belief they can and their desire to do mischief only in this he meddles a little with our profession of the Law and I could wish for the sport-sake he had dipt a little more into it than he hath in his Book But this let me tell Mr. Hobbes that no Man ever was by our Law put to death for believing he could and
desiring to do mischief for the case of high Treason goes farther than belief and desire and Mr. Hobbes would think it hard else especially in this case I shall put him viz. when Mr. Hobbes only believed he could and desired to write such a Book as the Leviathan which tended in the year 1651. to keep both Church and State subverted or to resubvert them if restored had it been known the Law of the Land would not have taken his life for it but when his Book was published by him and the mischief had spread it self had the Law been unmusled he would scarce have scaped with his life except his Pocket or Legs had proved better than ever I perceived his Head But why Mr. Hobbes should be so much against ill desires in this page as to make them capital when in p. 26. he denies any Iniquity to be in them as I shall shew in its place is not to be answered save that Mr. Hobbes must be allowed to forget himself in the space of 19 pages Mr. Hobbes condemns the Schools in p. 8. and I will refer it to any reasonable Man whether he condemn them for any thing that is rational or sensible And p. 10. he saith That the best Prophet naturally is the best Guesser I suppose he means the best natural Prophet and so his ill methodised words may be true but ' â—is false to say as I shall shew anon that the Prophets of the Old and New Testament were only Guessers that is only fancied and imagined what they wrote was true Mr. Hobbes p. 11. saith That there is no Idea or Conception of any thing we call Infinite This he follows with a blaming the Philosophers and School-men for saying there is and indeed presseth this Position with a company of words that are enough to make any Man's Head to run round that is not used to Mr. Hobbes's Notions that mâ—ke often a great noise and signifie nothing which will appear fully in this Paragraph Where he confesseth a God but denies us any in effect conception of him and p. 16. he saith â—hat Infinite is a Negative word So there 's an end if Mr. Hobbes say true of praying to and worshipping God for what we can have no Conception of we can never Worship for such a thing is nothing as to the worshipper and consequently cannot be worshipped nothing being uncapable to be passive 'T is true we cannot conceive the infinity of God terminatively that is the extent of it which are terms contradictory but we may conceive a God or Bâ—â—ng that is infinite that is to say a Gâ—â— that can do or doth know every thiâ—g and is not bounded or stopt by any pâ—â—ticular so that he can go no farther â—â—t we cannot know how far that Powâ—â— or Knowledge doth extend This Poâ—â—tion Mr. Hobbes grounds much upon a former Notion of his which one would not easily think he would have made such a wicked and unreasonable use of viz. That whatever we conceive hath been first perceived by sense Which Tenet is very plausible and true as to our reasonings from matter of Fact whereby we create in our selves deductions appertaining to Sense and Reason and the government of our Conversations with Men and things that we can definitively know but what is this to things above definitive Knowledge For what we cannot definitively know is not the object of Sense and yet we may conceive there may be something done or known that we cannot do or know and a power or knowledge capable to do and know as far as 't is possible for any thing to be done or known though we know not the extent of the Capacity either of the Agent or Patient and this we call infinite Power and Knowledge I think Mr. Hobbes in his Paragraph is setting up the Athenians unknown god which they ignorantly worshipp'd but St. Paul declared him unto them and I have so good an opinion of St. Paul that he would declare nothing but what was conceptible nay Mr. Hobbes himself in his 12 page approves very well of the word Infinitive though he buggards at the word Entity as useful but I would know of any rational Man of what use the word Infinitive is if we can conceive nothing by it for if we cannot conceive infinite or a thing that is infinite what do we do with the word infinitive that signifies something not bounded that is infinite And now I am upon his condemning the word Entity which he saith as well as Intentionaliâ—y and Quiddity are insignificant words of the School p. 12. Because I see Mr. Hobbes hath no infinite capacity I will tell him the best I can that Metaphysics may not be quite exploded by arrogant Ignorance what is meant by Entity and Quiddity and as for Intentionality I do not remember it to be a word used in Philosophy it being near 20 years since I left Oxford or read any thing of that kind but as to Entity much the same with Quiddity 't is a word to express our conceptions by of the nature of any thing though no such thing was in being As a Man may conceive the nature of a Dog under such shapes and qualities though there was no such creature and the general Answer for this upon the â—uestion Quiddity is Entity the partiâ—â—lar Caneity And further to illustrate iâ—â— we may conceive a Man of an Opinion that there are no such persons in the Godhead as God the Son and God the Holy Ghost or of an Opinion that all the World past and present were fools and mistaken and that he only could give just measures to Words and Learning and subvert all things though in reality there was no such Person and this the Schools would call Atheisteity Arroganteity And if Mr. Hobbes or any one else should conceive a new Leviathan before 't is made the Schools would call it Leviathaneity and after Mr. Hobbes his death Hobbeity but 't is not good for Mr. Hobbes to write such an other Book lest the Lawyers though they be so ignorant as he saith they be p. 50. be ready with a Penaity and the Kings Majesty who hath suffered so much by Mr. Hobbes's first Book be not so ready with a Pardoneity which on such an occasion I believe Mr. Hobbes would own as an Entity though told him by a Schoolman and that a material Entity Mr. Hobbes p. 19. saith That the words a Free Subject are words without meaning and this he saith in his Chapter of Reason where one would not expect such Nonsence only 't is an Abridgement of his Doctrine tending to set Prince and People together by the Ears For I say I am a Free Subject and 't is as good sence as ever Mr. Hobbes spoke in his Life For I am a Subject of the Kings and free I bless God to enjoy my Property and Liberty according to the Laws of my Native Country And observe that the Egyptians nor their Lands were not
none at all and this without vouchsafing a Reason of such an idle conceit And let Mr. Hobbes say what he can or any one for him this Paragraph tends only to draw wicked or unwary Readers into contempt of Religion and to make a mockery of it which must tend to their Eternal misery and to keep them from that beatifical vision which Mr. Hobbes page 30. without Sence or Reason calls a word of the Schoolmen and unintelligible Mr. Hobbes p. 32. saith That when we believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God we believe the Church or a Prophet except some immediate revelation intervene so far as 't is possible to know what he means He saith That if we believe not the Scriptures the affront is done to the Church or a Prophet and not to God as the not believing the Stories of Livy concerning the gods the affront is done to Livy and not to the gods This is to undermine the Scriptures before he comes to blow them up But let Mr. Hobbes look the 5 th of Ephes. and he shall find that the Church hath handed down the Scriptures to us so united to Christ and the Union so firm there expressed between Christ and the Church that he must needs conclude that any affront done to the Scriptures must necessarily be done to Christ and to God And I do affirm against all the conceited Irreligionists in the World that the Scriptures would have been the Word of God and the Rules of Salvation although our blessed Saviour had not appointed any Church to have handed them down to us not that I say every cavilling Atheist would have assented to them But then as Mr. Hobbes plentifully urges in his Book How shall we know that they are the Word of God And of this I shall say something more hereafter But at present say that I think 't is sufficiently satisfactory to any rational Christian that they are the Word of God because they teach us our misery by sin to which our mortality is so subject our Redemption by Christ and appoint us a Pious and Virtuous way of living here and the way to an happy immortality hereafter Besides what rational Man can suppose that the good and wise God would leave mankind without a guide to a blessed immortality and what guide is there like this So that any Man that is not frantick or resolved to quarrel with every thing other people assent to but must say that God is the Author of them and consequently the disbelief of them is an affront done to God if we deny them and not to Man only And I think good King Iosiah and all Iudah with him believed the Law to be the Word of God and thought the contrary would be an affront to God upon less or at least upon less inviting grounds 2 Kings 21. than we ought now to believe the volume of the Bible to be so But if we believe not the Fables of Livy concerning the gods the affront is only done to Livy and not to his gods for they were no gods at all and so Mr. Hobbes's Example is at best but a fallacy which he is very frequent in and I have so much charity for him as to believe that 't is not always out of design but sometimes caused by his want of a clear Iudgement for Mr. Hobbes cannot but know that a juggling Cock is often hit Mr. Hobbes after a long discourse of the passions the absurdity of which is not worth the answering p. 38. saith That the Scriptures by the Spirit of God in Man mean a Mans Spirit inclined to godliness And for this he cites Exod. 28.3 which is nothing to his purpose though not so much against him as other Texts are As 31. Exod. 3. which saith expresly I have fill'd him with the Spirit of God to work which as Mr. Hobbes saith Is Mans Spirit inclined to godliness And the 51. Psal. 11 12. where David prays That God's Spirit may not be taken from him but that he may be upheld by it is as Mr. Hobbes saith David's own Spirit without doubt David thought it God's Spirit or he would have called it by an other name and I believe David knew as well as Mr. Hobbes how to express himself So to make this Opinion sufficiently ridiculous look Iudges 15. 14. where 't is said The Spirit of the Lord came mightily on Samson and the cords brake and he kill'd the Philistines that is saith Mr. Hobbes Samson's Spirit was inclined to godliness And from hence Mr. Hobbes may raise this Observation That a mans godliness makes him able to pull cords asunder which perchance Mr. Hobbes trusted to when he wrote his Leviathan Mr. Hobbes saith p. 38 39. That all those that our Saviour is said to cast Devils out of were nothing but mad Men. And I will deal plainly with Mr. Hobbes and tell him that none but mad Men think so For was he only mad that was torn by the evil Spirit before he came out of the Man possessed Or were they only mad that were possessed by the Devils 8. Matth. 31. when the Devils spake and after Christ permitted them to go into the herd of Swine and why ran the herd of Swine thereupon into the Sea To this Mr. Hobbes may say That they were mad Swine to do so And in the 12. of Matth. 27. our Saviour saith If I by Beelzebub cast out Devils by whom do your children cast them out Here 't is agreed both by our Saviour and the unbelieving Iews that our Saviour did cast out Devils therefore the Men were something else besides mad out of whom Devils were cast And why Mr. Hobbes should be wiser or undertake to be so than either the Iews or our blessed Lord and Saviour is an hard matter to know except it be that after his labour to bring Religion and the Scriptures into contempt now thinks by a side wind to debase our Saviour in his Miracles whereof one of the most eminent was his casting out Devils before he strike at his Godhead Mr. Hobbes in his tenth Chapter hath much to do with Power and Honour and saith That good success is Power p. 41. and to flatter is to Honour p. 42. and that an action whether just or unjust if great and difficult is Honourable p. 44,45 Of which last I will give an Example If two high-way Men rob six honest Men or a Ruffian ravish a Woman of great Quality 't is Honourable And this I have Mr. Hobbes's warrant for But in short I repeated these last sentences to shew his vain humor Mr. Hobbes saith p. 50. That Ignorance of the causes of Iustice disposeth a Man to make custom and example the rule of his actions and to judge that just or unjust of the punishment or example of which they can produce an example or as the Lawyers which only use this false measure of Iustice call it a precedent Thus far he I thank Mr. Hobbes that whilst
he that hath the best Right must carry it except the Iudges be so honest as not to take bribes which must be supposed as lawful as the giving them Mr. Hobbes though he ventured upon this Position could not but know how odious bribes are accounted in the Scripture as 1 Sam. 8. 3. where bribes and perverting of Iudgment go together And a gift Deut. 16. 19. is called The blinder of the Eyes and the perverter of Iudgment and is expresly forbidden Exod. 23. 8. But as Mr. Hobbes before had laboured to destroy all Religion so now he is endeavouring to destroy all common Honesty and dares say that which never any Man before durst but was ashamed to own though perchance he might be so wicked as to do it And Mr. Hobbes gives no reason for this Position but because saith he perchance Iustice cannot be had without it that is to say every Litigant may be wicked because it may be some Iudges are But though this opinion I believe hath been as successful as any wicked opinion of Mr. Hobbes in all his Book complying so much with Men's interests yet he and every other Man ought to know that a Man ought rather to venture the loss of his Right than to do any thing repugnant to God's Word and common honesty except Mr. Hobbes will inve all and say That 't is better to gain some of the World though he lose his own Soul Mr. Hobbes saith p. 133. That the words Repent and be Baptized are in Scripture Counsil and not commands So by his Rule we may neglect either Repentance or Baptism without sin but for this gives he no reason Nay he hath formerly allowed of the word Imperative and yet now he will not allow of the Imperative Mood to bid or command for 't is Repent and be Baptized in English and in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are Aorists of the Imperative Mood and why then they should not be words of command I know not except because Mr. Hobbes in his new Models hath otherwise estâ—blish'd it But observe Mr. Hobbes hiâ— reason why 't is no command Because saith he 't is not to the benefit of God Almighty but of our selves that we do Excellenty argued Mr. Hobbes for by the same reason we have no command upon us to obey any of God's Commands for 't is not for God's benefit but our own Nay we need obey none of them as Mr. Hobbes frequently argues because there is no Law enjoyns them except where there is a Soveraign power that so commands I suppose that his chief intent in this is to ease Men's Consciences and to give wicked Men liberty to sin having no command as Mr. Hobbes here saith from God to the contrary what else should put this â—rotchet into Mr. Hobbes his Head I know not For if a Law be made for the good of the People every Man is bound to perform it and 't is a command as well as an advise The People asked St. Peter what they should do Repent and be Baptised saith he And suppose a Child being at the brink of River should ask his Father what he should do if his Father should bid him go over the Bridge would it not be a command And certainly Peter had as much Authority in matters of Faith as a Parent hath in common actions But I think this Position of Mr. Hobbes's is as true as his saying p. 135. That passion makes Men eloquent which is contrary to experience except he means by Eloquence making a Noise as he hath with his Leviathan without sence or reason Mr. Hobbes p. 139. saith That Customs are not Laws by virtue of prescription of Time but by constitutions of their present Soveraigns Here I suppose Mr. Hobbes principally aimed at the supplanting of our Common Law and thereby make the readier way to bring all Men's Properties into incertainty and confusion which was at the time 1651 the readiest means and most plausible to vest all in the Army or him that should be turned up trump For 't is by the Common Law that is the general custom of the Nation that most Men enjoy their Estates either real or personal now if length of time should not justifie that property without the constitutions of the Soveraign and such constitutions could not be found as 't is most apparant they cannot down goes the Common Law and Property with it and then let the strongest take all Witty Mr. Hobbes that can in a Treatise of Law lay down a Position that would destroy the Law of his native Country and thereby make way for an arbitrary Power But Mr. Hobbes in the same Paragraph makes a little amends for this for though he had given the Common Law a box on one Ear to make it stagger he hits it a clap on the other to set it upright again for he saith That when an unwritten Law shall be generally observed and no iniquity appear in the use of it then it can be nothing but a Law of Nature and obliges all mankind Well said Mr. Hobbes for now he makes every Custom which an unwritten Law implies unalterable by Act of Parliament for an Act of Parliament against the Law of Nature is void This was a perfect rapture of Mr. Hobbes's without consideration for is any thing more apparent than that generally Customs are no part of the Law of Nature which is universal and that customs of all Nations differ according to the convenience of the several People and that which is good for one People though the Law of Nature be the same to all is ill for another and that appears by the practices of all Nations that ever I heard of But if Mr. Hobbes mean by the unwritten Law the verbal command of his Soveraign 't is grosser nonsence than the other for a Law of Nature ex vi termini can only be produced by Nature and not by any humane Institution Nature being previous to policy and every thing being productive of its own Laws or else they would be the Laws of others But Mr. Hobbes saith excellent well p. 143. That all he saith is not presently Law and 't is the greatest piece of modesty I think in his whole Book and if he had but added that his Incongruities had been innumerable and not worth answering in this Chapter it had been fit to be ranked with his greatest Truths Mr. Hobbes p. 144. saith That if â— Man accused of a capital Crime fly for fear of the event seing his enemies Malice and Power and frequent corruption of Iudges and maketh it appear upon his Trial he is not guilty and be acquitted yet by the Law he shall lose his Goods and this â—aith Mr. Hobbes is against the Law of Nature I cannot say but that a case may be made that a general Law may seem severe in but therefore is a general Law against the Law of Nature which is adapted to the generality of cases that may be
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
God joyned with the matter contained in it which is so apt to beget in every good Man a testimony that it is the Word of God and we have a greater testimony by the general consent of Christian mankind that hath ever admitted them since written or the greatest part of them to be so besides we have the improbability of the penmen of them to be corrupted for which plentifully see the most Learned Dr. Stillingfleet's Origines Sacrae and to the same Learned Book shall I refer my Reader as to the regard of miracles and prophesies yet I will observe that though Mr. Hobbes frequently saith Miracles and Prophesies are not to be regarded without supernatural revelation yet he saith p. 187. That God reveals his Word by those that work Miracles which admits the credibility both of one and the other without supernatural revelation and is in my opinion like the rest of Mr. Hobbes his contradictions of himself Mr. Hobbes being an excellent Man at all kind of Laws saith p. 152. That the Ignorance of civil Law shall excuse a Man in a strange Country till declared to him But Mr. Hobbes never tells whose part it is to watch all strangers that come into England and to tell them the Law lest the King's Subjects suffer loss and the stranger offending be indemnified And I believe few strangers will venture the punishment for breach of the Law presuming to be justified by Mr. Hobbes his authority And doubtless 't is the duty of all Men to acquaint themselves with the Law of the place where they come and expect protection or else no State Soveraign or People can be safe but Mr. Hobbes is generally for Positions that tend to unhinge all the foundations of Government yet Mr. Hobbes seems to say which I cannot omit That no stranger ought to endeavour the alteration of Religion where he comes how congruously to the precedent I leave others to judge because 't is against the Law of Nature and this he doth say or his words are not sence But clearly as the case may be 't is against the Law of Nature and of God not to indeavour to alter the Religion of a place by teaching as suppose a true Christian should go into Aurenge Zebe's Country he ought to teach the true worship of God out of charity to their Souls that they might be saved by Iesus Christ and out of charity to their Bodies that the Heathen Women amongst them might desist from burning themselves at the death of their Husbands and indeed in this Position Mr. Hobbes is more uncharitable than a Iesuite Mr. Hobbes saith p. 156. That when a Man is in the power of the enemy the obligation of the Law ceaseth and obedience to the enemy is no crime I suppose Mr. Hobbes means that the obligation of all Law both Natural and Civil ceaseth of which he treated just before and this is but to say that a Child being in the custody of his Fathers enemy may if so commanded by the enemy kill his Father or to come closer to Mr. Hobbes it is to say that the murther of the old King was lawful by any Man that was under the power of the Army O what comfort this was to those that did it But Mr. Hobbes ought to know that the Law absolutely Natural as between Children and Parents and the Law suppositiously Natural as between the Subjects and their King is everlasting and universal and that Children and Subjects are bound by that Law not to injure their Parents or Soveraigns let what will happen to them or into what ever Power they come because that Nature never ceaseth though sometimes it may be supprest in any Man Nature ever being in any thing as long as the thing hath existence as 't is natural for a Tree to bud as long as 't is a live and for a Child or Subject to love his Parent or Prince as long as they are in this World to which the destruction of either is exactly opposite and contrary to his Nature and consequently the doing of it is against that Law and a damnable Sin And further observe that by this rule of Mr. Hobbes's if a Papist get a Protestant into his power that the Protestant may without sin worship a Crucifix or Waferâ—cake in case the Papist bid him Mr. Hobbes saith p. 158. That a crime that hath been more frequently punish'd is greater than that of which there hath been many precedent examples of impunity By this Argument Plunder Military robbery was little less than lawful during the War because seldom punish'd And Duels so contrary to the Nature of any civilized State are lawful and the killing of Men in them little less than warrantable because so few have suffered for the fact of late days but certainly the scape of offenders alters not the crime things being the same let external accidents happen this way or that Mr. Hobbes saith p. 163. That if a Subject deny his subjection he may be proceeded against as an enemy and suffer at the Soveraign's pleasure let what Law soever be ordained against Treason There is no authority for this but Mr. Hobbes his saying so and as little reason For a Subject cannot cease to be a Subject when he pleaseth no more than a Son cease to be a Son at pleasure Nay he can never cease to be a Subject to his natural Prince except the Laws of the Empire he is born in so limit subjection and therefore whatever such a Subject doth or saith he ought to be condemned or cleared by those Laws under which he was a Subject And if this saying of Mr. Hobbes was true no Man could tell who was a Subject to his Prince and who not who was to be Arbitrarily punish'd and who not but God be blessed there is no such thing as Arbitrary punishment in England to be inflicted upon any person whatsoever or in any case whatsoever Mr. Hobbes saith p. 168. That 't is a Seditious Doctrine to say that every private Man is judge of good and evil actions but shews no reason for his saying so neither can he For 't is most apparent if he mean private particular Men's actions every Man is judge of his own and 't is impossible for any Common-wealth to take notice of them in particular except Men act things contrary to Law and then there are persons in all Nations appointed to take notice of the irregularity of those actions to punish them and every Man must judge of his actions whether they are good or evil that is against the Law of God or Man or adventure the punishment What else Mr. Hobbes should here mean than particular Men's actions I know not and then certainly 't is nonsence for him to say 'T is Seditious for a Man to judge of the good or evil of his own actions But this is as true as his saying in the next page That 't is no sin for a Man to act against his Conscience where
possible that a Being more excellent should understand things in another manner than one that is less excellent 'T is rational to suppose it may Besides the Scriptures expresly ascribe knowledge to God as amongst the rest Amos 3. v. 2. Gal. 4. v. 9. expresly mention God's knowledge And to deny God's knowledge is to deny God that is a Being infinitely wise So that I may truly if not improperly changing the Text of Scripture say that Mr. Hobbes acknowledgeth a God but in words denies him And in the next page to prevent being confused in this matter Mr. Hobbes saith 'T is a dishonour to God to dispute about his Attributes Certainly then Mr. Hobbes is guilty of a greater dishonour to God to deny his Attributes And in p. 192. Mr. Hobbes saith That only those Attributes of God are to be allowed in public worship which the Soveraign ordaineth So now 't is uncertain whether he will allow him any Attributes of perfection in public worship or no for in case the Soveraign prove as bad or worse than Iulian and command Injustice or Ignorance to be those Attributes that are only to be allowed or used for signs of honour as he saith Attributes are no other must be used And now he hath made the honour of God wholly to depend on the will of Man that is the Soveraign yet in this Mr. Hobbes grows a little better for here though before he had denied God his Attributes he gives the Soveraign power to restore God's Attributes to him again But what nonsence is this that a Soveraign that is a Man upon Earth and God Almighty his creature should be said to have power to dispose of God's Attributes who is the commander of all the World This is against the nature of Powers dispoâ—al for he disposeth only that hath the supream Power of disposing And the sence of this is the like Divinity of this as well as of that which follows and that is Mr. Hobbes his interpretation of the Text of Scripture viz. 'T is better to obey God than Man which he saith hath only place in the Kingdom of God by pact and not by Nature That is to say as I suppose that am a little acquainted with his language when a people have made an express covenant with God to obey him as the Israelites did by Moses they ought rather to obey God than Man but all other people over which God hath only a natural Kingdom that have made no particular covenant as none can now a days as Mr. Hobbes said before with God ought to obey Man rather than God So now we may lawfully be Papists Turks Iews Infidels or any thing that Man commands us and this place opens Mr. Hobbes to the life in what I have spoken to before about this matter and so I shall say no more of it in this place Mr. Hobbes p. 195. coming to handle the Nature and Rights of a Christian Commonwealth calls our natural Reason the undoubted Word of God So I thank him that something he allows to be the undoubted Word of God and that God hath not wholly left us without his Word to direct us though Mr. Hobbes would not allow us the Scriptures to be so without Man's approbation But I think Mr. Hobbes had done much better if in this place he had set up the Light within us and thereby turned Quaker to be the undoubted Word of God for then he would have had George Fox of his side Or if he had said our sences had been the undoubted Word of God I should sooner have believed him for that all mankind as we see daily is less apt to err in matters of sence than matters of Reason And according to what Mr. Hobbes saith If a Man's natural Reason tell him that the World is eternal à parte ante and parte post 't is the undoubted Word of God and accordingly to be believed for I suppose Mr. Hobbes will grant that God is to be believed I not remembring that ever Mr. Hobbes hath denied God his Truth though he hath denied him Understanding and Knowledge And by the same argument if the Israelites natural Reason had told them that the Calf brought them out of the Land of Egypt it was to have been believed even by Moses and Aaron And if a Man 's natural Reason should tell him that for gain he might cut his Neighbours throat we ought to believe it for that the Word of God is in every place and part of it to be believed But suppose a Man's natural Reason should tell him that Mr. Hobbes his Leviathan is a Book not only full of Blasphemy but Nonsence and particularly in this Paragraph where he goes with a great deal of other unintelligible matter from calling Reason the Word of God to say Reason is to be made use of in acquiring of peace c. and saying When in Reason there is any thing contrary to God's Word the fault is either in ill interpretation or erroneous ratiocination which makes all he said signifie nothing would Mr. Hobbes admit that this Man's Reason was the Word of God No I believe he would say That there was a fault in this Man's ratiocination as I am sure there is in Mr. Hobbes's in the next page where he saith That God may speak to a Man by Dreams Visions or Inspiration but no other Man is bound to believe it which taken as an universal proposition makes an end of all belief in the Scriptures But of this I have spoken before and referred matters of this nature as well as the knowledge of a true Miracle or Prophet to the Learned Origines Sacrae which I hope any rational or good Man will rather read and regard upon that subject than Mr. Hobbes his Leviathan So little consistent with it self or intelligible by any rational Man besides the Errors and foolish Interpretations of Scripture and particularly of Deut. 13. v. 5. which saith That a dreamer or a Prophet that seeks to make Men revolt from God shall be put to death Mr. Hobbes saith That that place is equivalent to revolt from the King And also his interpretation of the 1. of Gal. 1 8. where Paul saith That he that preacheth any other Gospel let him be accursed that is saith Mr. Hobbes that Christ is King and hence he infers That all preaching against the Power of the King is accursed which let it be as true as it will in it self is such an unreasonable inference that 't is not capable to be more exposed But now I think upon it 't is probable Mr. Hobbes look'd into Scripture to find a Text which may maintain that they were accursed in 1651. that Preached revolting from Oliver's Army or that the said Army who had the Power and consequently was Mr. Hobbes his King which he attended to determin matters of Religion could not settle any thing for Scripture or Religion it pleased or that Preached that any thing ought not to be
Not but that I admit that the fourth Command as to the precise seventh day was ceremonial and is determin'd since the time of our Saviour Mr. Hobbes after he hath denied the personal Divinity of our Saviour now comes to tell us p. 286. That our Saviour nor his Apostles had any power to make Laws and that they that broke any of his dictates did not sin in it but died in their sins not being pardoned for their offences to the Laws of their respective Countries or of Nature And for this he cites Iohn 3.18 which saith They are condemned already not that they shall be condemned saith he And this conceit Mr. Hobbes grounds upon our Saviours saying his Kingdom is not of this World and he that hath no Kingdom saith Mr. Hobbes can make no Laws so our Saviour's precepts obliged not And now one would think Mr. Hobbes might rest satisfied for after as he thought he had robbed Christ of his personal Godhead now he robs him of his Authority to make Laws and so all the wicked in the World are obliged to him for setting them free from the Gospel in case they will but go into any part of the World to live where the Gospel of Christ or his Apostles are not made Canonical by the Law of that Country But in short to answer Mr. Hobbes is to give the true interpretation of the words of our Saviour Ioh. 18.36 where he saith His Kingdom is not of this World which is no more but that he designed not to take away the Romans Iurisdiction in respect of the external acts and punishments of Men but doth it therefore follow that he that was Lord of the whole Earth who Mr. Hobbes said before represented God had no power by his Word and Doctrine to oblige the Consciences of those that submitted to the Truth of them or to leave those without excuse that refused and that under the penalty of eternal Misery And that we may see that he took upon him to make Laws look Ioh. 14. 15. 1 Ioh. 2. 3. 3. 22 24. which all speak of Christ's commands and that it was the token of peoples love and obedience to him that they kept them and in another place Christ saith A new command I give unto you that ye love one another If Christ had no Authority to make Laws why are his words called commands even by him himself For had they been only directions or beseechings he and the Apostles would have stiled them so Nay Mr. Hobbes saith p. 308. That the Command is the stile of a Law So that 't is clear our Saviour had power to make Laws which he executed upon the Consciences of Men which was the Kingdom of Heaven at hand preached of by St. Iohn although he was not pleased to exercise a Temporal Iurisdiction and we may suppose it was to shew the extraordinary Spirituality of his Government in which sence he may be said to be King of the Iews though his Kingdom was not of this World And as to Mr. Hobbes his Text out of Ioh. 3. 18. whereby he would prove that those that obeyed not Christ's commands were not guilty of a sin but were condemned already for sin as he saith against Nature or the Laws of their Country Mr. Hobbes cites so much of the Text and no more than he thinks to his purpose and 't is one of the pitifullest shifts in all his Book for the latter end of the verse saith the words were spoken of Men condemned already for not believing in Christ not for disobeying the Laws of their Country Now who would trust such a juggler that hath the confidence to cite part of a verse to prove that which the residue proves the contrary But hence 't is manifest that wicked Men and Seducers grow worse and worse And now Mr. Hobbes p. 300. falls upon Cardinal Bellarmine and continues battering of him many pages together about the Supremacy of the Pope over the Church I think it might be a greater question and harder to resolve whether Cardinal Bellarmine or Mr. Hobbes was the archer Heretick That making more God's than one and this denying the one only God his Attributes and the existency of two of the Persons in the Godhead That being a Papist and the worshipper of false gods as a Wafer-cake and Pictures Angels and dead People This a worshipper of no God at all a Stock or a Stone when the Soveraign commands or when he shall change a Chistian for an Heathenish soil That being obstinate in his Religion and this ready to change as to external acts when the Soveraign bids him This question I leave to better judgments to decide Mr. Hobbes p. 323. saith That there is nothing in Scripture from whence may be inferr'd the infallibility of the Church If Mr. Hobbes mean the particular Church of Rome I shall agree with him for as to so much as I know of it 't is as full of Errors and unreasonable Tenets as the Quakers or Mr. Hobbes his Book But as to Christ's Church in general I would have Mr. Hobbes look Ephes. 5. 35 36 37. v. and he will find that Christ hath purified his Church that it might be without spot c. that is without Error And in the same Chapter he will find how Christ and his Church are one as a Man and his Wife are and that Christ loves it and cherisheth it which either must be intended in keeping it from Errors or I know not what those Texts signifie For if Christ suffer it to run into Error it will be ruined or run into decay and God will deal with it as he threatned to the particular Churches in the Revelations except they did amend And Christ saith Matth. 16. 18. That the gates of Hell should not prevail against it And 1 Tim. 3. 15. calls the Church the pillar and ground of the Truth Besides many more Texts of this kind but these are sufficient to shew Mr. Hobbes his confidence or ignorance to sâ—y That the Scripture contained nothing in it from whence might be inferr'd the infallibility of the Church see then how dangerous it is to believe Mr. Hobbes Yet from this Position he infers in the next page That Christians do not know the Scriptures to be the Word of God only believe it He might as well have said that Christians do not know that there is a God only believe it and 't is like this he may aim at Or he might have said that I know not having never travell'd thither there is such a place as Spain only believe it One part of this Proposition of Mr. Hobbes is true viz. That the Scriptures are believed to be the Word of God But the ignorance of Mr. Hobbes lies in this That in matters of fact which our senses have not perceived or we have not been at the transaction or institution of the best evidence the thing is capable of that is unquestionable testimony is sufficient to
seems to collect from Luke 20. v. 34 35 36. which saith The Children of this World marry but they that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that World neither marry nor dye any more Hence he infers That because the Children of this World that is people now alive do marry and those in Heaven do not marry that therefore the reprobate which he would have understood by the Children of this World may marry which is nonsence and without ground 't is â—rue that wicked Men in Scripture are termed the Children of this World but they are not those that are already in Hell but those that are likely to be so except they repent And observe further from the last mentioned Text which saith That the righteous dye not that he insers from thence That the wicked must dye in a future state This sufficiently exposeth it self But the substance of this his Discourse I have answered in speaking to his 38. Chapter which I now for that cause pass over and for that my Lord of Clarendon hath spoken something to this which I have omitted But only this let me say that I hope no Body will be incouraged into a wicked life presuming Mr. Hobbes saith true in respect of the smalness or rather no punishment hereafter for 't is apparent in this that he hath talk'd like a mad-man and in few places of his Book hath he in matters of concern spoken true Mr. Hobbes Chapter 45. drawing near an end of this wicked Work is drawn so dry that he is forc'd upon repetitions and falls again upon the Philosophy of Sight which he had spoken of in the beginning of his Book and saith That for want of his understanding in it the Iews and all the rest of the World have been mistaken about Daemons and then falls again to the corporeity of Spirits which I have answered before And here I shall observe a notable Collection of Mr. Hobbes from a Text of Scripture which saith that the Iews said to our Saviour Thou hast a Devil Hence he seems to infer that there was no such thing as Devils because our Saviour had none in any of those our Saviour is said to cast the Devil out of but that it was a mistake of the Iews and those people said to have Devils were only troubled with some extraordinary or ill Disease So see this Learned Gentleman holds his old method of arguing That because our Saviour had not a Devil therefore no other Man had and because the wicked Iews were mistaken as to our Saviour's having a Devil that therefore the good Iews and Penmen of the Scripture were mistaken as to any one else having a Devil But this I pass having spoken to it before only by the way observe that Mr. Hobbes coming again to Spirits saith That the meaning of our Saviour's being led by the Spirit into the Wilderness and his carrying from place to place was a vision So Mr. Hobbes against the letter of so many Texts condemns the opinion of all Divines I ever met with just as a little before all Philosophers about Opticks Mr. Hobbes p. 360. saying That 't is not Idolatry to pay Divine worship to a King if he command it by terror of punishment which I have spoken to before saith here That 't is no casting a stumbling block before his Brother for that his Brother cannot argue from thence that he let him be never so Wise and Learned approves it but doth it for fear though to do Mr. Hobbes right he in p. 362. saith the contrary One would wonder that any Man that admits of such a thing as a stumbling block in his Brother's way in a Religious sence and that was not distracted should say so for what can be a greater incouragement to another to be Idolatrous than his seeing his Wise and Learned neighbour do the thing Certainly it cannot be supposed that there can be a greater and 1 Cor. 8. 10 11 12. v. is expresly against Mr. Hobbes which saith That the weak Brother seeing one sit at meat in the Idols Temple is imboldned to eat things offered to Idols whereby he may perish which is there said to be a sin against Christ. And how shall a Man know admitting it was lawful as 't is not to be Idolatrous upon the account of fear whether it be done for fear or no. 'T is generally impossible and not to be supposed And Mr. Hobbes in this page prosecuting his Idolatrous Doctrine saith That to worship God in a peculiar place or to turn a Man's face to an Image or determinate place is not to worship the Image or place but to acknowledge it holy that is set apart from common use and is not Idolatry except done by a private authority I would now have any Man living tell me whether any Papist ever said more as much as Mr. Hobbes is against Bellarmine in justification of their using of Pictures or Crucifixes or the Heathens of their falling down before Stocks and Stones than he hath here done for my part I never did For I never heard but that the Papists say they use them to put them in mind and the Heathens as I have read say That they do not imagin that Stocks or Stones can do them any good as gods or that they are gods But if this allowed by Mr. Hobbes be not Idolatry I would know what is and against the second Command But Mr. Hobbes here implies a Learned distinction for he saith This is Idolatry if the Image be used by private Authority but I suppose he means 't is not Idolatry if set up by publick Authority For he instances where 't was lawful upon the appointment of God Almighty which he said before was King of Israel and saith ' â—is no more Idolatry than it was for the Israelites before the brazen Serpent to worship God or for the Iews to turn their faces towards Ierusalem or for Moses to put off his shooes or for people to worship God in the Churches Mr. Hobbes did well to condemn Aristotle for that Aristotle hath taught his Scholars to condemn Mr. Hobbes For such consequences did never Man in Bethlehem put together as he hath in this Book frequently and particularly here For doth it follow because God the Law maker can dispense by his Word with any of his Commands as this of the second Command admit the instances Mr. Hobbes puts would hold that therefore any Authority upon Earth can which was not the Law maker This is to make Man in God's stead And in a familiar instance to say that because the King Lords and Commons can by an Act dispense with a Law or make one particular action Legal acted against that Law that therefore every Master of a Family can do it which consequences are abâ—urd And he might as well have said that because God might lawfully command Abraham to kill his Son that therefore a King may lawfully command any of his Subjects to do the â—ame But