A VINDICATION OF THE UNITARIANS Against a Late Reverend Author On the TRINITY ENTRANCE SIR I Dare not call you Adversary indeed I rather believe we may be Friends for tho' there may be a mistake between us yet I hope we both agree in a sincere love and search for Truth and in what we differ therefore I shall rather seek to melt you with gentleness than to subdue you with opposition Page 150. you tell us When we are ready you hope to hear from us again and you see you have your desire you seem to have a sincere good will to Truth your self and therefore you will be the less surpriz'd to see it in others for when you have given so bold a Challenge to all Unitarians you must expect that we have but little respect for the Honour and Glory of God if we do not answer you 'T is true I come to dispute you and am no Socinian and as an Arrian my Hypothesis distorts your Argument a little but as we are both joyn'd in one Common Cause and you attempt to deface the Truth of both so you must think we expect you provide your self to give us both satisfactions for tho' you conquer either of us your Work 's but half done You must excuse me therefore if I mind not your Socinian Quarrels but leaving them to themselves divert your Argument a little and bring in a third Hypothesis you shall see I will deal fairly with you state the Matter truly and proceed sincerely and clearly whether you shall think your self obliged to Reply to me or not upon it is not my care if I can but rescue the Honour of God and his Unity by it I am satisfied METHOD It cannot be expected therefore but that I have alter'd your Method but yet you shall see withal that I have justly collected all your scattered Reasons together and dealt faithfully with you and tho' the change of the Hypothesis necessitated this yet in lieu of it I shall present you with a Method both shorter and clearer to recompence it 'T is plain large Volumes destroy the Edge of Reasoning and the Vigour of Sence is lost in the multitude of Words I have chosen therefore rather to be short and sinewy than tedious and loose if the Foundation Reasoning be bad Corollaries fall of course and therefore my chief care shall be whether your leading and ground-work Principles be strong and to the purpose or not I thank God I do not see my Cause so weak as to fly to Colours or that I should use undue Arts for a shelter and therefore if I have omitted any thing material I protest before the Almighty it has not been wilful and if I have any where reprov'd you as God is my witness 'thas been where Truth has necessitated and forc'd me and if I have wrong'd you I as heartily beg your Pardon In short I have endeavour'd with the most serious Respect and the greatest Christian Charity and Meekness to shew you where you have err'd Indeed I have not spar'd to advise and reprove you where I ought but if I have run that liberty into an extream or been faulty in any thing 'thas been my frailty and not my guilt All that I know farther to add in this place is That perhaps you may wonder how I came to answer you so soon but not to offend you Sir the Reason is obvious though Fallacies are difficult and to be studied yet Truth is natural and they are easily answer'd ADVICE 1. Boasting But before I proceed further I see a necessity Sir to advise you of two Faults Boasting and Uncharitableness not that I can blame you over-much neither nor may be acquit myself of their guilts but I see a necessity to level these two Mountains in you least by the Ignorant these Fortresses of Imagination may be taken for those of Reality First for Boasting In your Preface Sir you say You have said too much for us to answer And it may be so but if you have not we shall seek for Truth and not to compare our selves with you So p. 69 you call our Reason Carnal And pag. 73 you tell us We puzzle and confound our selves with gross and corporeal Idea's of Essence and Substance when indeed if such upbraiding Expressions were allowable we might more justly reflect them upon the Eternal Generation you pretend to So you conclude your Book pag. 271. you say It looks like a Judgment upon us that while we talk of nothing less than the severest Reason we impose upon our selves or hope to impose upon the World by the most childish Sophistry and Nonsence and so pag. 272 your last words are You will not envy us the Satisfaction of such Harangues they being you say all the Comfort we have but you are pretty confident we shall never le able to reason to any purpose in this Cause again And what Sir is not this Insolence Pray Sir what is it you mean by these Triumphs Is it that you think to storm and brave us out of our Cause or that you are sure you only are in the right or that if you had the worst Cause you could defend it well Sir my Charity shall speak the best for you that you are sure you only are in the right but if you are has not Modesty more Charms to recommend you by than Insolence Excuse me Sir I dislike not your Zeal in your Preface to stick to your Faith I rather wish it more common for were it Truth had scarce been such a Stranger among us nor do I question your Ingenuity and in Charity I hope you are sincere too but these are Expressions that your Zeal has beguil'd you to that want a Christian Modesty and tho' such a Confidence with a little more Humanity might become an Apostle yet how well they do a meaner Christian I leave to your self to judge in cooler thoughts 2. Uncharitableness The second thing I have to charge you with is Uncharitableness that because we differ in Judgment from you in this Speculation you not only treat us like Dogs and deny us all hopes of Salvation but withal you manage your Arguments for Truth accordingly and give us not so much as free Reasoning Thus you not only abound with Reflections on us as in your Preface you say of us We are eminent for nothing but Blasphemy and Nonsence And pag. 9. you reflect It becomes the Wit and Vnderstanding of an Heretick But pag. 24 you write more freely of us and tell us You hope the Disputes of Hereticks against the Catholick Faith shall not be be called Controversies in the Churches of God. Now if thus in the very beginning of your Book you shew we ought to be condemn'd before we are heard to what purpose does your Infallibility hold a Controversie with us but I hope this is before you are aware indeed in a Papist these Expressions might be natural enough but Protestants methinks should be more ingenious
whole course of Scripture against you that have not so much as one Arrian Author to assist me I have already inform'd you what turn'd me to be an Arrian and now I shall add that when I had once resolv'd nothing should be dearer to me than Truth and bethought me the Corruption even of Primitive Tradition and saw a necessity of sticking wholly to the Scripture the Sun was not clearer to me than the Doctrine which you call Heretical and Arrianism And give me leave to tell you tho' you have Popularity and the Temporal Sword on your side yet blaspheme it more if you dare if there be such a thing as blasphemy against the Holy Ghost as we have Christ's word there is to your peril be it Sir I tell you 't is to blaspheme the known Evidences of his Truth and if these be such I dare venture my Truths with the Sword of the Spirit against all your carnal Weapons Remember Sir there is a Sin unto Death we may not so much as pray for 1 John 5. 16. and all our pretences and good Works will be of none effect while we blaspheme the most great and sincere Truths of God beware Sir of this great and fiery Tryal I mean perversly to blaspheme God's Truths especially when so considerable as this this is that that will make the Tree good and the Fruit good and the Tree evil or its Fruit evil indeed can you expect to be call'd or receiv'd as a Son when you openly and malitiously proclaim'd your self a Rebel to the only and great means of Government of the Holy Ghost TRADITION HAving now done with the two first Heads of my Discourse the proof of the Trinity by Reason and Scripture I proceed to the last viz. Tradition wherein would Men but be content to believe as they pray I should be satisfied for that they do almost wholly to the Father and therein may I say they give all their pretences to Tradition the greatest Lye even the Cause is capable of bearing but alas the World is made too giddy by this Mystery to bear such or any other Reasoning I know Sir you are very confident that she is of your side as you say page 31. but your Proofs and Suggestions for it are as few and inconsiderable as even I can wish for pag. 40. Thus you would fain wheedle us that Men were Arrians and not Arrians And what Sir was it out of Charity that they forbore to call the Trinitarians Hereticks If it was 't was a sign they were the better Christians for it not that their Cause was the worse So you asperse the Great Council of Arminium of 550 Bishops of so seeming or wou'd-be an Imputation pag. 43 that I am asham'd to see 't What Sir do you think they would have called the greatest Council that ever was if they had design'd a tricking Or are you resolv'd to trust more to the Council of Nice because not so many Methinks Sir you should think it enough at least that your Tradition was disputable then that you had such Numbers against you and not repose in forging Rome for blemishing Councils You tell us Mr. Bull has answer'd this matter throughly page 24. But I tell you Sir I have perus'd him and he has not and were it worth my while I would shew it you too besides Sir would you expect a fair and strict Combat after so many Years while Rome has held the stakes What wont you make us no allowances in your Thoughts Not that we beg it neither But is it generous first to fetter a Man and then challenge him What shall I say Is this the way to defend your Catholick Faith That Faith which you say requires both Forehead and Forgery to deny it page 44 when you should say to maintain it REFLECTION Give me leave to advise you a little Sir if you are resolv'd to follow Tradition Be not partial in it Why should you act by halves you would be a good Papist were you sincere and follow'd it throughout Or if as a Protestant you hate this course why do you not pursue it more home and to the root Tradition was only of use till the Scriptures were deliver'd and indeed 't is well if 't was contain'd pure till then as we may most justly censure by St. John's Advice to the Churches in the Revelations But to continue Tradition further what is it but like the Jews to make the Law of God of none effect by our Traditions You must excuse me therefore if I think Tradition to be too much a Nose of Wax to be alledg'd against Scripture especially such express apparent and self-evident Texts as Heb. 1. and John 16 I shall therefore leave you to jangle out your quoted Inconsistencies page 107 108 113 114 119 120 121. And tell you withal such Variances are no Miracle in a Traditionary Mystery In short Sir if ever you design for Truth you must learn a new bravery to be able to dare to be singular think you that Men that geld suppress and sorge Books are in the right or they that persecute all that oppose them Surely I hope you think better that these are the Engines of weaker Error and yet this is even the present Case and who dares even at this day and in sull Protestancy to write or speak freely He is sure of being suppressed at best Damnatory Sentence But before I leave this Subject there is another part of your Discourse that deserves to be consider'd and that is your Damnatory Sentence wherein I wish I could spare you but your love for your Mystery has so inspir'd you with such a furious and unchristian Zeal that 't would be an Offence to the World should I leave it unanswer'd under so great a Name Thus P. 22 you say this Faith is necessary to Salvation and p. 23. That no Jew Turk or Pagan can be sav'd without it And that whether he has us'd reasonable diligence or not Or whether it has been perplext with never so great Controversies The same you add page 271 only you add this merciful Apology That Men may understand it if they will. And further that I may give your Argument the greatest force you add page 25. That to say Men can be sav'd by good Works alone without Faith is Popery And page 26. That if Salvation were so common Christianity were but a better Sect of Philosophy and there would be too great a scope for Infidelity page 23. ANSWER Alas Sir I pity you had you regarded Natural Religion more and your Mystery less you would not have abounded with such an Envy and Monopoly of Salvation What must we have no Faith but be sav'd by Works because we have not just this Mystery And what is it nothing to Christianity that we have several degrees of Glory as an Encouragement set in our prospect and search above the Heathen Or what Sir is your Eye evil because God is good Would you have God
Chapter for the Trinity as John the 6th is for Transubstantiation Alas Sir you see your Fallacies do but divert your Causes being expos'd for a time till a nice Refutation makes it look the blacker for its Sophistry And now you may see who 't is that brings down the plain Scriptures to be wrested by the absurd Reason of a Mystery page 141. And now Men and Angels may see who are those absurd and senceless Insidels that reject what they have evidence for v. page 6. In short I dare appeal to all the World tho' against me whether suppression of Books be not your best Argument You tell us page 148 That our Business is to prove Three Persons Three Gods And we do it by this That if God be more than One Person when not particularly reveal'd and contrary to his first Commandment his Commandment is of no effect But shall we grant that No we 'll turn the havock of the first Commandment justly in Contradictions upon you we need not ask with Nicodemus How can these things be page 150. but we 'll tell you with the same reason we may make three thousand Gods that you believe a Lye Thess 2. 11. And you had as good make all Mankind One Man and destroy all Plurality and Numbers c. But for Peace-sake I shall forbear further Reflections page 109. Hence should you invent a thousand Metaphysick strains more this one plain Truth would ruine them all indeed did not Mystery the Authority of the Whore Rev. 17. and the great support of Popery bear up your Hypothesis her Epitaph might have been wrote I doubt not many hundred Years ago Mystery do I say Mystery and Persecution are the Devil's Twins and stand and fall both together Persecution without Mystery were too cruel and Mystery without Blood too much Nonsence to be born 't is these two are Popery and the worst of Popery Transubstantiation without these were an innocent Error And what are not Protestants asham'd to weild the Sword of Antichrist Yes surely But if they are why do they stille us and our Books is it not that they fear our Truths Are you not asham'd to rail at us for Blasphemers and Hereticks as you do if I am not mistaken we mean as sincerely and Interpret the Scripture as well as you for all your boasts pag. 141. and you shall sind God in the Great Day will shew which is the Heretick What have we not as much reason to complain of the blemishes of the first and great Commandment as you have and cannot the Controversie of Elisha and Baal remember you that 't is not Numbers but Minds that God seeks But you say This is a Mystery And pray who has authoris'd it for one You be-ly God in his Scriptures if you say that he has no 't is Man's own invention and that 't is that makes him idolize the uncharitable Imposition so much What shall God bid us publish what none understand Pray who can agree in this Mystery Or were the Copy of it lost who would be able exactly to hammer it out Is this clear like a heavenly Truth Are we not asham'd to cast this stumbling-block in Christianity that has so justly offended all Jews Turks and Pagans it ever came neer indeed does not Mahomet support his division by this very thing and does he not complain above an hundred times against the abuse of the Unity in his Alchoran What shall I say if we repent not this Error shall we not justly stand branded to all Posterity a Race of pretended Protestants but really a Philosophick Sect of Christian Atheists Besides what but the corruption of this Unity in the Godhead can have so long prosper'd the Mahometan above the Christian and the Papists above the Protestants I shall add no more at present but that were this Mystery the greatest Truth yet considering Mens weakness 't were both hateful and seditious to impose it on one another in pain of Salvation to subscribe it only as an Article of Peace in some cases might be tolerable but to force their Consciences to they know not what themselves is in plain terms Antichristian Uncharitable and Devilish And alass now we see wherein our Reformation is imperfect that it has not preserv'd our eternal liberty of Opinion in things not expresly reveal'd this is the Root of all Controversie and this must be cur'd if ever we hope for Peace indeed in a free Remonstrancy where all Impositions are cut off Heresies of course pine and die with their Authors for want of room to be regarded EXHORTATION And now Sir I shall more particularly address my stile to yourself And in the first place I beg you to pardon all my Reprehensions and if they are any where bitterer than they ought reckon it my frailty not my injustice and at least you ought to thank me for my good intention but if you approve what I have wrote return God the Glory for your information and I am satisfied I assure you Sir in myself I am griev'd to write against a good Man nor would I but that my love to God and Truth commands me nor do I write this that I think you want either Piety or Ability indeed you shine for both in your Church but I would advise you that you have mistook the Truth nor wonder at it for the greatest Fathers in the Church have done it before you You have ventur'd to be singular once in Conscience already and your Treatise of Death shews you sincere dare once a deeper Resignation and a more singular Truth if you fall not back you know not what Service God may have for you to do Remember Sir 't is Constancy to follow Truth in all changes of Notions and but obstinacy to remain stiff after conviction Besides 't will be as much your Glory as St. Austin's that you recant and if you are a Christian indeed you cannot hate your Friend or Glass for shewing you your wrinkles nor will your singularity be worse if you see them unless in Piety that others are as bad or worse than your self and dare not see it What tho' I am singular and contemptible my Truths if sincere are Divine and St. Paul as well as you had both Zeal and Popularity and yet was in an Error if you are in an Error pray God open your eyes and if I am I beg him to grant me to be rectified by your Instruction 't will be hard if a Miracle be necessary to instruct and reconcile us I cannot perswade myself that you will continue to pervert this grand Truth and by Reflections and Niceties endeavour further to obscure and cloud it what you have hitherto done I hope nay believe you have done ignorantly and because the Socinian Hypothesis was not sincere enough you oppos'd it but for the Arrian I almost dare promise myself more Charity from you if not Conviction At first I declin'd this Book as not thinking it proper to be wrote