〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR EVERLASTING Fire no Fancy BEING AN ANSWER TO A LATE PESTILENT PAMPHLET ENTITULED The Foundations of Hell-Torments shaken and removed wherein the Author hath laboured to prove that there is no Everlasting Punishment for any Man though finally wicked and impenitent after this Life His Considerations Considered and his Cavils Confuted Together with a Practical Improvement of the Point and the Way to escape the Damnation of Hell By JO. BRANDON late of Oriel Colledge Oxon now a Minister of the Church of England Quos mala praesentia non corrigunt ad sequentia perducunt Gregor Dialog JOB xi 3. Should thy lies make Men hold their peace and when thou mockest shall no Man make thee ashamed LONDON Printed for Henry Brome at the Gun in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1678. Hic Liber cui Titulus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 IMPRIMATUR GEO. HOOPER Rmo D no D no Gilb. Arch. Cant. a Sacris Domestic June 7. 1677. To the Right Honourable HENRY EARL of STARLIN RIGHT HONOURABLE THough I may easily apprehend that some will not be wanting who will look upon these Lines with an evil Eye and argue from worse Principles than those of Logick that I am proud and presumptuous in making use of Your Name in this sort yet upon mature deliberation I have adventured so to do resolving rather to run the hazard of their hardest censures than to neglect so fit an opportunity of testifying to the World my Humble Respects to Your Honour and my grateful thoughts of Your manifold favours towards Me and Mine To see some Men live as if Hell and its Everlasting Sorrows were but Scarecrows and Melancholy Fancies and then to see others hardening them in their Infidel impieties by making them believe that it is so indeed And that they have gotten the knowledge of this Devilish Doctrine by praying to the God of Heaven as my Author pretends very smoothly in his Preface This my Lord is sufficient to provoke a patient and peaceable spirit The displeasure of my Heart against his Execrable Book hath now engaged my Pen against it And with the Poetical liberty I may truly say Si natura negat facit indignatio Librum Certainly it is great pity that a Book of this kind I deal with should pass one Year to an end without a full and formal Confutation And I was almost ready to Write a Satyr against my many Betters that have a great deal more Learning and a little more leisure than my self for suffering it to go so long without Controul Well I have now through Providence finished that Work which they should have done long before For a Pamphlet of this nature must needs be as worthy of a severe Reproof as those Pieces that have been licensed by his Holiness at Rome which they have so often and so excellently opposed For 't is worse to believe Hell a Dream than to believe Purgatory to be a Real thing And now Right Honourable besides my Obligations to You it may seem in other respects very proper to present You with a Discourse of this sort because the Reality of Hell thus Proved Defended and Applied may by God's help make You still more and more careful of that great Work which I perswade my self Your Honour is truly careful of already viz. To lead Others in the way to Heaven by Your good Example The Lord Jesus multiply his choicest blessings upon Your Self Your Virtuous Lady and the rest of Your Family granting You height of Honour and length of Days the real comforts of his Holy Ordinances and the Eternal Felicities of his Father's House So praying resteth Your Honours in all Duty and Humble Observance JOHN BRANDON TO THE READER CHristian Reader It was the Apostle's prediction that in the latter dayes perillous times should come 2 Tim 3.1 which I think hath been more than sufficiently verified in this last Age And no wonder since so many perillous Books have been published year by year to pervert the Faith and corrupt the manners of the Christian world Of which I might name a great many but there is scarce any for the bigness of it more eminet in this kind than this of Mr. R. which I have undertaken by God's assistance to Examine and Confute For though many could wish that there were no Hell nor Everlasting punishment for the Wicked and Impenitent yet there be few or none that have said so with so much confidence as my Author hath done I Confess to give the Devil his due some of the Socinian Worthies have suggested something of this Nature Vid. Calov Socin proflig de Morte aeterna and sometimes have pretended a Reason or two for it But none of them that I know of did ever speak it so roundly or take so much pains to prove it as he hath done Rejoyce in sin O ye unrighteous and be glad all ye that are hollow in heart Triumph and boast O ye Enemy of Holiness and let your hearts be hardened against the fear of evil come now and take your fill of what you most love and walk securely in the ways of your own hearts go oft to the Ale-house and seldom to Gods house let Cards be more with you than Bibles and be wiser now than to mind that Melancholy thing which Precise fools call by the name of Religion and the Fear of God in short set a Cup on your Table and a Whore on your Knees and sing aloud your basest Epithalamiums and profanest Songs that you have yea let them delight your honest Souls day by day for what though these things are known in Heaven and offend most grievously your glorious Lord yet the matter is not much as to any great danger therein for your Preachers sad Doctrines are but deceits and Delusions you need not to fear any Everlasting Damnation however you live or however you die For this good Gentleman hath given you many Infallible proofs that there is no such thing to be feared see the latter part of his Book But yet Take heed sinners and do not bless your selves overmuch in your iniquities for what if this Learned man should be mistaken and his Infallible Proofs should prove to be nothing but fair shews and real Deceits what a case would you then be in if you should die as you have lived And that they are such and no better I for my part do verily believe And if thou canst doubt of it Christian Reader be pleased to compare his Proofs and my Answers together Object But say some what need I have troubled my self to Confute him since there are many others that can do it better Answer To which I reply as the Learned Amesius in Coron ad Col. Hagiens in praefat ad Ecclesias Belgicas Licet hanc provinciam ab aliis potius quam à me capessendam esse judicem à me tamen potius quam à nemine viz. That though I grant it were fitter for many others to
History of the six days work of the Creation of Angels therefore there be no such creatures in the world If Mr. R. denies the proposition he must forget the first of Genesis or shew us some place of it that mentions the making of Angels Mr. R's first consideration proves as well that there is no Angel which he cannot do If he deny the consequence he must disparage the Learning of no less man than himself for his is just of the same complexion There is no mention of a Hell in the six days works therefore there is no Hell so that if this consideration will prove there is no Hell it will also prove there is no Angel and consequently no Devil neither for Devils are confessed to be no other than wicked Angels or Spirits and if so the Damner's imprecation the Devil take me will be only Nonsense and not profaneness or wickedness Nor Heaven of Glory 2. May he not at the same charges prove as well that there is no place of glory for the Righteous as that there is no place of torment for the Wicked for 't is a question whether the Heaven of Glory be mentioned in the first of Genesis or not It is said indeed there God created the Heaven but the Hebrew is rendred by Fagius Vid. Synops Crit. in Gen. 1. Coelum hoc i. e. This Heaven that is the visible Heaven and other good Divines are not afraid to say that Moses in that Chapter meant only to reckon up the visible works of God in the former part of it and yet I shall not doubt whether there be another Heaven above that because I am not certain that any such is intended in that place but do believe it because of the Testimony of other Scriptures and so will I believe there is a Hell because it is mentioned in other places though it be not in the first of Genesis His second Consideration is no less vain than the former as thus R. Solomon was the Wisest of men p. 114. and yet in his writings he mentions no Hell nor any everlasting Punishment c. which he would have done if he had known of them B. What doth he think of Proverbs 15.24 The way of life is above to the wise that he may depart from Hell beneath Doth not Solomon speak of Hell in that place or can he perswade us that it means no more than the grave when experience shews that the best and wisest do not scape that no more than the worst yet that Hell there mentioned is manifestly supposed to be such as the wise walking in the way of wisdom may certainly escape 2. Christ was wiser than Solomon himself Matth. 25.46 and he hath told us of everlasting punishment whether the other hath or not 3. Solomon speaks not at least not plainly of the Deity of the Holy Ghost of the union of the Divine and Humane Nature in the person of Christ or of the imputation of his Righteousness to believers yet Christians have believed those points and I hope the Socinians shall never baffle us out of our Faith therein In a word though Solomon were the wisest man yet God never intended that all Truth should be comprised in the small Books that he hath written In his Third Consideration p. 115. he tells us out of the Hebrew Doctors writings of the seven thousand years in the world to come in which all Souls shall be blessed If such a piece of Jewish learning be pleasing to such a Rabbi as Mr. R. yet that 's little reason why I or other Christians should be in love with it and I think it more worthy to be slighted than to be answered And that which he concludes with The Jews were great searchers of Scripture and if everlasting punishment were to be found therein they would have seen it This I say is as little to be regarded for no wise Man ever thought that the Jews ever saw or acknowledged all Scripture-truths they had as many errors and weaknesses as other Men. p. 116. R. The Saints recorded in Scripture did not believe there was any punishment for any to endure that shall never end for in their penitential confessions they do not confess such punishment to have been deserved by them Dan. 9 To us belongs confusion of face This is his fourth Consideration p. 117 118. And in the following Lines we have the second part of it to the same Tune in these words We do not find that ever they gave thanks for such a deliverance or so much as prayed for it which yet could not but appear the greatest deliverance if they had known of it B. The substance of this Reasoning is thus The Saints did not confess any Everlasting Punishment to be deserved by them c. I answer Yes they did implicitly confess so much for in the Text he mentions in 9. Daniel To us belongs confusion of face it is not limited to temporal confusion and therefore may fitly be extended to Eternal confusion Psal 44.23 Psal 44.23 They pray thus O cast us not off for ever which was an acknowledgment that God justly might have cast them off for ever for their sin And in Psal 79.5 Lord wilt thou be angry for ever Is not that an acknowledgment that he might pour out his anger upon them i. e. punish them for ever for their sins And if it were as he would have it the Argument would prove but little for the Saints in Scripture did not expresly confess that they deserved to be given over to the Devil's Tyranny to be possessed and terrified and tormented by him and yet Christians will not doubt but their sins deserve so much To the 2d part And the other may be answered as easily for though I should grant that the Saints in Scripture did not expresly give thanks for their deliverance from endless punishment yet that is far from proving that there is no such thing for they did not give thanks in that manner for Heaven it self and their appointment to it yet we are very sure that there is a Heaven and that they are appointed to it 2. I do not remember that ever they said we give thee thanks O Lord for giving us thy Holy Spirit to instruct us and yet the Text tells that it was so in those very words Nehem. 9.20 Thou gavest also thine Holy Spirit to instruct them And yet they could not but know that it was a very great benefit to allude to my Author's expression Nor did they pray expresly and in Terminis to be delivered from evil spirits and their malice and violence Yet I verily believe they want not will nor power to do us violence every Hour in the Day if our God did not over-rule and restrain them Consid 5. R. Christ when on Earth did weep for the Jews p. 119. because of that desslation that was to come upon them would he not much more
think the fruit of the Son of Righteousness to be more narrow and confined than the Sun in the Firmament p. 179. whose excellency it is that its bright Beams and Rays are dispersed into every corner of the Vniverse B. How sweetly might this Gentleman sleep in the night time that had his head so full of pleasant Dreams in the day time And as for these words of his they are no more worth than the former for whatsoever of Rhetorick may be supposed to be in them we are sure there is little of Logick or sound Reason in them Mr. H. B. in his Book of Melancholy tells us a merry story as some may count it concerning the expectations of some of the Jews which he hath as I take it out of the Learned Author of Synagog Jud. * Buxdorsius Thus it is That when the Arch-Angel shall sound his Trumpet he shall gather all the Jews into the Holy Land and make them a great Banquet wherein shall be all the Birds and Beasts and Fishes that ever lived in the Earth Air and Ocean and a cup of Wine that came from Paradise c. Reader I will not I cannot request thee to give heed to any such Jewish Fables or to believe any of their lyes to be true for I do not desire to believe them my self And yet I profess unto thee I may be as likely to believe all this as to believe that assertion which Mr. Richardson's last words include and imply viz. That the Glory of Heaven is as common as the light of the Sun or that Christ will make All happy that the Sun shines upon yea so long as I believe the 7th chapter of Matth. or the 25. chapter it is utterly impossible that I should believe it Thus of his Twenty Infallible Proofs I have examined and disproved Eleven already and if when we are in the middle we are half way over then doubtless I am more than half way to the end of Mr. R. his pleasant Garden and what precious Flowers are remaining in it the following pages will shew thee and the next Proof is near as good as any of the rest and it is thus in brief Proof 12 p. 180. R. It doth no way agree to the Spirit of a Saint for Saints are ever merciful as the Psalmist saith doubtless they are so merciful as that they would not desire that any man should be in such intolerable Torment one hour to an end much less for ever Therefore it doth not agree to the mind of God to punish any everlastingly The more the Lord manifests himself in any the more merciful they are yea to their enemies also B. It is a strange way of Arguing which the man here useth and supposeth the Soveraign Lord of all and the Righteous Judge of the whole Earth to be obliged to follow the same rules which he hath given to his creatures And how little excellency is to be found in such Imaginations may appear in these particulars following 1. That the Saints do not desire that any should fall short of Heaven but would rather desire to further all men in the way to it yet I dare say God will not bring all men thither 2. Saints do not desire that any man should be mocked or abused imprisoned or tormented in the world for maintaining the Truth and opposing the Abominations of the Romish Religion yet it would be madness to say God would not let his people suffer so upon that account because it agrees not to the mind of a Saint for Experience shews he hath often been pleased to exercise his people with such tryals witness the Book of Martyrs and the Histories of the former Persecutions c. 3. A man of much Sanctity would not desire there should be so much wickedness in the world as there is no nor would not suffer it to be if he could help it I my self would turn all men to the love of God and Holiness if it were in my power That little goodness that is in my heart alas too little and indeed so little that I am sometimes afraid it is none at all in sincerity yet that doth so dispose me that I would turn all if wishing or Preaching would do it and would not suffer any man to love a pair of Cards more than a Sermon or a Barrel of Beer or a Bag of Money more than Christ and Grace and Heaven nor would I suffer men and women to play the Hypocrite for God's sake and stay at home like Atheists on the Lord's Day under pretence of spending their time in Christian Duties in private whose base Hypocrisie the Lord will laugh at for he knoweth that his Day is coming I say I my self would not suffer these things if I could help it Yet God we see doth suffer them and yet his goodness is greater than man's 4. I verily believe a Saint that is eminently such for knowledge and Grace would not have suffered Mr. R. to have spent his time so sadly as to write This Book I am engaged with yet God hath suffered him to Write and to Publish it too or else it could never have been And that which he saith of the mercifulness of the Saints to their worst Enemies is as far from being unanswerable and because He hath not urged this Argument to the best advantage I will do it for him as thus A good man would not punish his enemies eternally therefore God will not so punish his for he is more merciful than Man I Answer If God may not do otherwise than a good man would do what sad conclusions might we make from it for at this rate we might conclude that God the Father would not leave his beloved Son Christ Jesus to the malice of his wicked enemies to be mocked and spit upon to be Crucified and slain by them for a good man would not deal so by his beloved Son yet so it was as sure as the Gospel is true see Matth. 27. Luke 23. and other places 2. There is no Reason why any man should punish his enemy everlastingly for his enemy doth not deserve it as he is his enemy that is his enmity against him as it is against him doth not make him worthy of such punishment But offences against God as they are against God do deserve such punishment and make the offenders worthy of it as before 3. Men are but men and therefore Vengeance is not their prerogative as it is Gods To him it belongeth Ps 94.1 Neither are they Governors of the World by natural rightful Soveraignty and therefore a mans fault as against them doth not respect any such Law by which the world must be governed But enough of this Proof 13 R. Such torment agrees not to the mind of Christ p. 181 for he was full of Love c. praying for his Enemies Luke 23.34 and would not bring fire from Heaven upon them when the Disciples would have had him do so
he should tell them so his speech would seem as Ridiculous unto them as his Book is Odious unto me And in case He should suffer them to be familiar with him 't is possible they might tell him that at this rate of Arguing his own Beard might be called an Everlasting Beard for it is capable of growing whiles the nourishing matter lasteth i. e. whiles there is any considerable moisture remaining in his Pericranium And what Spirit I would demand hath moved him to make use of that Sacred Text of S. Jude to justifie such a piece of Learning by Jud. 7. opened I find not any Expositors of Note that Interpret that Eternal fire there mentioned of That fire that consumed the Cities nor is there any shew of Reason why it should be so called so far as I can apprehend and if the reason were as Mr. R. would have it because it went not out while the Combustible matter lasted why might we not call the flame of a Farthing Candle an Everlasting fire since it will last till the wiek is spent but rather do they interpret it of the Everlasting Wrath and Vengeance of God Dr. Willet on Jude Mr. Baxter Saints Rest Part 2. cap. 10. which is fitly compared to fire in various respects which I need not now insist on Dr. Willet makes it a proof of their Everlasting punishment and Mr. Baxter makes it an Argument of the present Punishments of the wicked in Soul immediately after death in opposition to those that imagine their Misery to be put off till the Day of Judgment And if Mr. R. should Interpret the Everlasting punishment after the same manner of a punishment that shall last as long as the wicked shall endure He will overthrow his whole design for they shall endure for ever and see corruption no more after they are once raised from the grave 1 Cor. 15.52 in the Text aforesaid Fourthly R. What if the Fire were Everlasting yet it will not follow that That which is cast into it is Everlasting His fourth Exception p. 20. to which he adds The wicked are compared in Scripture to Chaffe and Stubble which will not be long in consuming Answer 1 The Text under consideration speaks not of Everlasting Fire but of Everlasting Punishment And if it should be granted that there may be an Everlasting fire and no person everlastingly burning in it yet he doth not imagine there can be an everlasting punishment for the wicked and yet no wicked man to be punished with it for ever Answer 2 2. If it were not for contradicting such a man as Mr. R. why might we not say that it will follow that the persons cast into that fire shall be there for everlasting because the Fire it self is everlasting for without the supposal of their continual burning in that everlasting fire I say without that the word everlasting which flames with more terror than the fire it self and makes it most exceedingly intolerable should stand in effect for a Cypher and become a meer Bug-bear to fright fools withal for if a wicked man be soon consumed after he is cast into Hell fire then the everlastingness of it afterwards will be as nothing unto him he being upon that supposal past its fury Answer 3 3. And if Mr. R. had been so minded why might not he have preached glad tydings to the devils themselves for he might bespeak them thus Rejoyce O ye unclean Spirits or at least Despair not for who knows but your punishments may be ended in time for what though Christ tells us of Everlasting fire prepared for you yet it will not follow that ye shall suffer everlastingly in it Yet however his Book hath pleased them as being so dangerous to the Souls of men I am confident they would take little comfort in such a comfortable preachment as this And if his work should not prove to be done well in what he taught us in this Exception we must excuse him the better because he hath endeavoured to mend it by offering this following Observandum viz. That R. the wicked are compared in Scripture to Chaffe and Stubble which are not long in consuming in any fire that they fall into So then that 's the proposition Mr. R. his excellent Comparison examined from which his Reader he hopes is wise enough to draw the conclusion that therefore the wicked shall not be always burning in Hell-fire because they are compared to Stubble which will not burn long before it be consumed And at this rate it might as well be concluded that they shall not suffer in it so much as one minutes time for a great deal of Stubble if cast into a violent fire may be consumed in less than a minute Yet if my Author should say the word Everlasting may mean no more than a minutes time we shall know in some measure what answer to give him in that case And I would fain know how this Comparative Argument will hold for Comparisons as they say non currunt quatuor pedibus i. e. do not hold in all respects but in some only Psal 22.6 David compares himself to a Worm yet we will not say therefore that he had no bones in his body nor no reason in his Soul because a Worm hath not So the Scripture saith the Saints are as Christ himself was in this world as He was so are we in this world yet it follows not that the Saints are here without any sin because Christ was so 'T is enough that they are as he was in other respects namely subject to scorn and contempt and manifold troubles and temptations So the wicked are as Chaffe and Stubble in some respects that is fitted for vengeance and not able to resist it when it comes upon them as Stubble is fit for fire and cannot resist its violence or the like R. 'T is to be noted that the Scripture sometimes useth such words as do exceed their signification Nahum 3.9 His fifth Exception p. 20. as in Nahum 't is said That the Æthiopian Army was infinite that is very great Answer 1 But first At this rate it would follow that the Everlasting Punishments of the Wicked after the Day of Judgment must be Punishments of very long continuance for doubtless Everlasting is as proper to signifie very long as Infinite is to signifie very great Yet this will not suit with the Theologie of Mr. R. his Masters or Brethren as may be shewed in time and place nor doth it well agree with that Opinion which he would promote by his Comparison of the quick dispatch which the Stubble receives from the fire it 's cast into Answer 2 Secondly he saith well that it is sometimes so for therein he gives us to understand that it is not always so and by consequence that there is no necessity of expounding it so in the words of our Saviour in Matth. 25. ult M. 25.46 And that the word Everlasting
the Popish iniquity have thought it their best Policy to be silent concerning it since that time But my Author will go higher than so aâ—d shake the Authority of the Hebrew and Greek Copies that are extant in the world And well might he contend with the London Ministers as his friends boasted he should if he could prove the word that they preached to be uncertain and their Greek Testaments supposititious Books but though he cannot prove them to be so yet he will give men occasion to suspect them for such witness his Speech aforementioned possibly he might remember the Counsel of the Poet Horatius Si vis esse aliquis facinus aliquod Audeas egregium c. i.e. If thou wouldst be a man of Fame Thou must do something of great name Other Considerations to prove the Purity of the Original Copies of Scripture And now Reader That thy heart may be throughly antidoted against Mr. R's most pestilent suggestion I shall offer thee these following Considerations 1. That Books of another nature are seldom questioned after this manner when did you hear any man making any doubt whether the Books of Plato of Aristotle Hippocrates and of Pliny and Galen Plutarch of Theophrastus and Cicero of Homer and Hesiod of Suetonius and Florus Tacitus and Livy were the writings of those men whose names they bear or whether they are agreeable to those Copies which they wrote at first So that the Writings of Philosophers and Poets Physicians Historians Naturalists Moralists though very ancient shall pass currantly for theirs whose names they go under and are not imagined to be corrupted or altered from what they were at first Mr. R. doth not insinuate any doubt in that case But when it comes to that which concerns our precious Souls that word which contains our rules in Life our comforts at death and our foundations of hope as to a better world hereafter O then his patient heart is moved his Doubts and Fears and Suspicions are suggested he kicks and flings and lays about him extreamly he throws his blackest dust in our Faces that we may have no eyes to see nor no reason to apprehend that those Copies of the Bible which we have among us are the same in sense and substance with them that the Pen-men of Scripture wrote And all because we have not those Original Copies to shew as we have not of the other for he cannot shew us any of Plato's c. hand-writing Is it not manifestly the work of the Devil to cast doubts in mens minds about the one while he raiseth no doubts about the other It seems he can be content to have us believe that other Books are what they pretend to be but he is not so willing that we should believe the same of God's Book and no wonder for he knoweth the belief of that will be more likely to do us good than the belief of the other Argu. 2 2. If the Scripture were corrupted in the Originals it must be by such as believed it to be the word of God or such as did not If he say by them that believed it so to be then I would fain know how those that had so much Religion as to believe it should at the same time have so much profaneness as to go about to corrupt the Copies of it Would not the heart of the wickedest man fail him when he was about such a horrid design if he had but the least thought that it was the Word of his Maker that he set himself to corrupt If he say it was corrupted by those that did not believe it to be the Word of God but looked upon it as a piece of deceit and a politick innovation to keep fools in awe then why should they trouble themselves to corrupt it doubtless they would think it were corrupt enough already and would not much envy the holy Christians any of those delights and comforts which they had in it or from it And if they should ever have undertaken such a work it being that which would require much time and pains to do it to any purpose it must be supposed that they must have had some considerable motives from credit or profit of which no rational account I dare say can ever be given Nor can it be proved that ever any such thing was designed by the enemies of Christian Religion Julian the Apostate Emperor Acerrimus ille Christi hostis as an excellent Author styles him * Zanchius in Tom. 8. Orat. 1. He I say is well known to have been as fit a man to manage such a work as most ever was in the world for he had wit and learning in abundance he had also great power without him and an impenitent hardned heart within him and employed all his power and policy to the ruine not only of Christians but Christianity and accordingly he proceeded in mischiefs by Banishments and Imprisonments fire and Sword and by pulling down Churches and by putting down all Schools of Learning the two latter of which some that go for Christians among us could have wished him good success in yet I have not found that ever he did any such thing as this we are speaking of or that he employed any others about it to corrupt the Copies of Scripture that were in the hands of Christians or to counterfeit it by any other writing He was crafty enough to take other courses against Christianity that were easier to be followed And if any such thing were done how soon would it be discovered If a Protestant should Print some Mass-Books with some considerable alterations leaving out a prayer to the Virgin Mary and putting in a Prayer to Christ instead of it how quickly would the Romanists espy the change how soon would the Bulls roar from Babylon * Revel 17.5.9.18 How many Declarations Manifesto's and Testimonies would be published speedily in the world to prevent the intended mischief and to assure all that were concerned that those Books were not Authentick or Catholick or allowed under the Hands of the Pope's Holiness And do ye think that the Christians in the Primitive times were not as zealous for the Scriptures as the Papist's are for the mass-Mass-Books or that they would not have been as careful to discover such forgeries in or about them if any such things had been A 3d. Argument for the Purity of Scripture c. 3. If the Scripture were counterfeited or the Original Copies corrupted by any it must be by blockish and ignorant Persons or by Men of considerable Wit and Learning The former would not undertake such a work or if they should they could not manage it and carry it on Nor may we well imagine the latter for certainly Men of wit in any tolerable sense could not but apprehend the difficulty of such a work the Copies being dispersed among Christians that valued them more than all the wealth of the World and would be as careful to preserve
And that so great sinners are worthy of more punishment than corporal death I believe was scarce ever doubted of by any but Mr. R. that ever were acquainted with Scripture and the sound writings that explain it yea I doubt not but the proudest Jesuit in the world would easily grant it and if it be needful to be proved these considerations may be sufficient for it Sin deserves worse punishment than corporal Death 1. That this is no more than the Beasts and Birds endure who never sinned they dye and dye totally whereas men though never so wicked dye only in their bodies as all but Atheists will acknowledge And can we think an obstinate rebellious sinner deserves no worse than that which the most harmless useful creatures do suffer 2. That the best of the Saints suffer death as well as the worst yea some of them have suffered much worse viz. by conflicting many years with horrid Temptations to despair and the like as Mr. Glover a most excellent Christian in the Book of Martyrs is said to have been in despair five years together And shall we think the wicked are worthy of no worse evil than the best of God's children have undergone God forbid p. 102. In the former part of his Book He tells us of some Books that were burnt in London by the Hangman and saith thereupon the same Spirit is alive to burn this which he hath written And I think it doth as well deserve that honour as ever any book in the world did as may appear not only by what hath been seen of it hitherto but also and especially by that which follows to the end of it and particularly by this act of his in this Page I am upon viz. by urging Rom. 6.21 to prove that there is not any thing to come after Death to speak in his own plain words p. 141. lin 16. Surely it is more than bad enough to doubt whether there be any thing to come after Death or not much worse to hold absolutely that there is not for that contradicts the Scriptures which tell us that after Death there is a Judgment and a Vengeance to be inflicted on them that obey not the Gospel of Christ 2 Thess 1.9 Hebrews 9.27 Heb. 9.27 and in a word everlasting shame and contempt to the wicked he means Dan. 12.2 c. But for a Man to act Mr. R.'s part and to urge Holy Scripture in defence of such a Heathenish Opinion who can imagine how horrible a thing it is in the eyes of God I doubt not but he would suffer worse than corporal Death for it if God should deal with him after his deserts what ever slight thoughts he hath of it And how far these words The end of these things is Death I say how far these words are from proving that there is no Punishment for any after Death is so plain that there 's little need of any thing to be said about it for Death here signifies as before Eternal damnation As when it is said if ye live after the flesh ye shall dye that is be Damned Rom. 8.13 for however they live they are as much subject to temporal Death as 't is clear Proof 3d. R. Their Opinion of a Punishment never to end makes not sin p. 146. but Christ to be the cause of their so suffering for if Christ had not come there had been no Resurrection and if no Resurrection there could be no Punishment after Death But Christ may not be supposed to be the cause of their Punishment c. B. If this be a Proof it is a very ugly one certainly and will not be much valued by them that know what Christ or Sin or Punishment is However I shall not think much to say something to it I confess Christ is said to be the cause of the Resurrection of the Dead He is the efficient cause of the Resurrection of the wicked as he is God of the same substance with his Father and he is the Meritorious cause of the Resurrection of the Saints as their Head and Mediator I mean as their Resurrection is a glorious Resurrection in Philip. 3.11 If by any means I may attain to the Resurrection of the Dead * Intelligit non simplicem sed gloriosam Zanch. in loc Now observe his Argument Without the Resurrection the wicked could not be punished after Death Christ is the cause of their Resurrection if they be raised therefore if they suffer for ever Christ is the cause of it which is absurd This is manifestly his Proof in this matter and how absurd it is may be shewed in a Parallel case as thus Without life and strength Men could not rob on the High-way but it is God that gives them life and strength and without him they could not have them therefore God is the cause of their Robbing Would not a Christian abhor such a Reasoning as this yea would not the Devil himself be almost ashamed of it and yet if I am not most exceedingly mistaken it is as good a Reasoning as that of his yea the very same in kind If he had not forgotten all his Logick he might have remembred that Causa sine quâ non is not a cause strictly and properly so called but only a pre-requisite condition c. Sine ullo causali Influxu as the Learned Scheibler expresseth it * Topic. de causis cap. 2. Artic. 4. If my Author had not had Ink and Paper or something that might serve in stead of them he could not have written these his many Infallible Proofs yet if we speak properly it was not his Ink or his Paper or any such thing that was the cause of his writing them but his Error and his desire of defending it c. And seeing his great weakness in this particular it will not be much amiss to bring in to his Assistance the Learning of his Learned Brother Mr. Tho. Hobbs of Malmesbury who though in some things he speaks more honestly than my Author hath done yet is no approver of the Doctrine I contend for For in his Leviathan Chapter 44. p. 346. as the Reverend Dr. Tully citeth him in his Exposit Symboli he supposeth the Everlasting Punishment spoken of in the Gospel A Digression to Mr. Hobbs to be meant not of every Damned Man in particular but only to be specifical and to respect divers of them successively so as that one should be punished a time and then be turned into nothing then another to come in his place and so soon as he is annihilated another after him and another again after him and so on Which doubtless was the fruit of his own Invention for I verily believe it never came into the Head of any Man before him But I answer Answ 1 1. By his leave there can be no Everlasting Punishment upon them at this rate unless they who are first annihilated are made alive again after their annihilation for if they
Luke 9. And he that would not suffer his Enemies to endure a short punishment by fire will not inflict a worse that shall never end B. All this is as vain as that which before he hath offered us and will receive a quick dispatch For this kindness he shewed forth was in the day of his patience but when the day of wrath is come he himself will come in flaming fire to take Vengeance on them that abuse his Patience and obey not his Gospel Which is told us by that Apostle of Christ that well understood the greatness of the love of Christ 2 Thess 1.9 And when he concludes that Christ will not inflict eternal punishment by fire upon any from his Clemency in sparing those particular persons that the Disciples would have destroyed by Fire Herein I say v. 41. he seems to have forgotten the 25 of Matthew wherein we read that he will adjudge them on his left hand to everlasting fire even all the ungodly in general for they shall not stand in the Judgment Psal 1. that is not be absolved but condemned in that day Proof 14 p. 182. R. Such punishment agrees not to the fruits of the holy God The fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy c. B. How he will make this a Proof that there is no everlasting punishment for the wicked in another life I cannot apprehend yea I am confident it hath not so much as a shew of it and therefore I shall say nothing to it for though I have engaged to answer his Subtilties and Sophistical Arguments yet his meer Impertinencies and silliness it is below me to meddle with Proof 15 p. 183. 184. R. Such punishment agrees not to the Nature of God for God is Love and is kind to the unthankful and the evil Luke 6. If God should only Love them that love him do not the Publicans the same God's Love and Mercy is infinite and delighteth in Mercy Mic. 7.18 and punishment is his strange act Esay 28.21 and Christ dyed to answer the Law that we brake B. This is the substance of this 15th Proof and is large enough if good enough To the first part I reply If it be contrary to God's Nature to punish sin for ever then the Devils should not be punished by him for ever the contrary to which we have seen already 2. If it be contrary to God's Nature to punish sin for ever it is not contrary to his Nature to preserve the sinners Being for ever and when he will ever be a sinner and so ever worthy of punishment I say if it be contrary to his Nature to punish sin thus because he is a God of Love it would be as contrary to his Nature to suffer sin to be in the World because he is a God of Holiness and Righteousness If Mr. R. say He is Love Essentially I say in like manner he is Holiness Essentially and when he would swear by himself he swears by his Holiness in the Psalms and elsewhere And if the matter be duly weighed I do not question but it will appear a stranger thing that God should suffer sin to be committed than that he should punish it as it deserves after it is committed especially where it is attended with final impenitence as in the Damned 3. God is a God of vengeance as well as of love and as the Saints are objects of his love so the wicked and impenitent are the objects of his wrath and the wrath of God abideth on them John 3. v. ult Obj. But he is kind to the unthankful and the evil Sol. True indeed he is so in this World He waits on them day after day and year after year and gives them many times more advantages for their Souls good than they care to improve and loads them daily with his benefits yea he is more kind to them than they are to themselves giving them Sermons which they care not to hear and Bibles and good Books which they care not to read unless it be in a profane and hypocritical way to excuse themselves from coming to Church But yet if they go on still in their sins and abuse his kindness to the end and continue to be the Children of Disobedience his Mercy will not follow them in another World but his Wrath will come upon them as St. Paul tells us in the Epistle to the Colossians Col. 3.6 To the next thing that he urgeth That if God should only love them that love him he should do no more than the Publicans I say unto this as follows viz. That we do not say or suppose any such thing as that God only loves them that love him he loved his Elect from Eternity and if he had not loved them before they loved him they had never loved him for all their love is from his 1 Jo. 4.19 and they therefore love him because he loved them first Yea God loves all with a common love as they are his Creatures The School-man spake not amiss upon the Point Deus diligit omnes homines Aquinas apud Davenant in Animadvers c. in quantum vult omnibus aliquod Bonum c. God saith he loveth all Men in as much as he willeth some good unto all Men yet he willeth not all that is good to all Men That is p. 170. he hath some special good which he bestoweth only upon some persons as Heaven or Salvation only upon the Righteous for St. Paul tells us 1 Cor. 6. The unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God So that though God may be said to love all Men after a sort yet he doth not so love the wicked that remain such as to give them Pardon and Salvation If Mr. R. hath any proofs to the contrary we desire him to bring them forth to light and shall readily if God permit examine them to the full Well but he is Infinite in Mercy and delighteth in Mercy Very true But may he not appear to be Infinite in Mercy unless he save his impenitent Enemies Sure he may And though he delighteth in Mercy yet he hath Vessels of Wrath as well as of Mercy and reserveth wrath for his Enemies Nahum 1.2 and when he will be pouring out his wrath upon them yet then he will discover his delight in Mercy and the infiniteness of his Mercy to Thousands and Thousands of his faithful Servants Esay 28.21 opened But he Objects That Punishment is called his strange Work in Esay 28.21 But first The word strange in that place is expounded by some of a great and wonderful work and of an extraordinary judgment and if we take it this way it is far from serving his purpose so much as in shew Or secondly It may be taken for such a work as flows not naturally from him but is occasioned and as it were enforced by the sins and provocations of Men. As in a Father to his Child His comforting of
of man is to it when it is attended with wealth and worldly greatness I need not say 2. Take heed of fleshly lusts which war against the Soul 2. Fornication as St. Peter speaks in 2 Pet. 2.9 10. The Lord knoweth how to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment but chiefly them that walk in the lust of uncleanness c. So St. Paul Heb. 13.4 Adjudicabit exitio Piscat in Loc. 3. Idleness and unprofitableness Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge i. e. condemn They that would not be divorced from their Harlots shall be married to Hell-fire See Rev. 21.8 3. If you would escape the miseries of another world be sure to take heed of an idle and unprofitable life in this Surely Sirs they are like to partake of little good hereafter that care not to do good here If Plays and Romances have not thrust the Gospel out of your minds Matth. 25.30 I shall not need to tell you of the dreadful doom of the unprofitable Servant Is it not sad to see how little good is done in the World by many of those that are best able to do most and how many there be among us who have hundreds it may be thousands a Year that yet do not give all the Year round so much as the price of a good Periwig toward the Relief of their poor distressed Brethren as though such as are raised to such high fortunes were gotten above the Law of Charity or as if they thought the greatness of their wealth would well excuse them in the neglect of those good works it was given for or as though they had thought it an honour to them to have the Papists say that they are Solifidians The neglect of this is no such harmless Peccadillo as these Men may be apt to account it We read in the Gospel that our Lord will condemn Men at the great Day for this sin especially and make a particular mention of it as a procuring cause of Condemnation Matth. 25.41 c. He will say unto them Depart from me c. For when I was an hungred in his members he means ye gave me no meat when I was thirsty ye gave me no drink c. So then they that were able to do good to their poor Christian Brethren and were not willing to do it in some conscionable way will be punished for ever for this sin if they dye such as they lived and when they have lost their Souls and Heaven it will be no satisfaction to them to remember that they kept or saved their Money they that would not live as Christians shall not be spared because they were Gentlemen I might also caution you against Cruely and Oppression scorning of Reproofs and scoffing at Religion in the serious faithful Followers of it but I have not time to say all that might be said unto you 4. Mispending of Time The next thing that I would entreat you to be heedful against is mis-spending of your time He that is careless of that is therein careless of his God his Soul his Duty and every thing that most concerns him and therefore is most apparently as yet in the ready way to Hell See that ye walk circumspectly redeeming the time is no Precept of mine but of the Apostle * Eph. 5.15 16. or rather of God by him and if Gentlemen are not concerned with it it would be hard to prove that any others are Believe me Sirs your time is one of your choicest Treasures nor can you name any thing besides God's grace and your Souls that can be compared with it for preciousness What would you not give for another years time in order to your preparation for an endless life in case you were to dye to morrow And though I am not concerned to accuse you of mispending your time yet I may lawfully put you in mind of it and desire you to call your selves to account for it before your God doth Compare I beseech you the time that you spend in excessive sleeping in trimming and adorning in feasting and long meals in pomp and state and vain curiosity in vain thoughts and worldly cares in Cards and Dice and other Games at home and abroad in fruitless and unedifying Books in idle company and needless visits in vain discourses and delights in doing ill or doing nothing I say do but compare this time that is spent in these ways with that time which is spent in a serious seeking and serving of God in reading of good Books in thinking of good things in governing your Families religiously in relieving the poor in encouraging your Charge in the ways of God or any thing else that tends to the promoting of piety in your selves or others And let your own consciences tell you which is most For in many of our Gentry the time that is spent in the latter is no more in comparison of that which is spent upon the former than the poor Man's wages for a days work to their Yearly Incomes Their whole business and work is sports and pastimes so that we might describe them in those words in Exod. 32. They are a People that sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play But such provide but ill for themselves nor can it be safe for them to be so prodigal of time that have Death and Judgment before them a Hell to escape and a Heaven to prepare for 5. There is another sin that some who go for Gentlemen are sadly in love with Rash Imprecations and must not be forgotten in this Discourse I mean horrid Swearing and Imprecations Damning Sinking and the like And surely if Damnation be a real thing and not a Dream it must needs be a damnable thing in the highest sense rashly and profanely to imprecate it upon themselves What wonder is it if these Men have Hell for their portion that commonly have Damnation it self for the matter of their prayer And if they did only shame themselves by this wickedness the matter were not so much but they alas shame their profession also and bring a grievous reproach upon the holy Prayers of our Church 'T is the corrupt Lives and cursed Speeches of such Professors that harden the deluded Separatists in their prejudice against them as the Quakers and such like I read not many Moneths ago a passage to this purpose more than plain enough in a Quaker's Pamphlet where speaking to some Persons of this bad quality he expresseth himself after this manner You cry out God damn us and God confound us and soon after you go to your Church and say We beseech thee to hear us good Lord. Thus Reader this clause in our Letany We beseech thee to hear us good Lord than which it is hard to imagine any thing more humble or pious or better becoming a serious Christian is matter of greatest scorn and contempt to these poor Creatures and all because it is Profaned and Unhallowed
the Word of God or knowest but little reason why thou should'st believe so then I would advise thee to read those that may confute thy unbelief or confirm thy faith in that particular as Bishop Ward 's Sermon against Anti-scripturists Dr. Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacr. and the truly Honourable Sir Charles Woolsley his Grounds and Reasons of Scripture-Belief Dr. Allestry his Sermon of the Authority of the Scriptures Mr. Baxt. Rest part 2. cap. 4. with these in the Margin But if thou dost believe it to be so I trust thou wilt believe the Doctrine I plead for For the Scripture testifies of it in words as plain as can be desired viz. in Matth. 25. last verse and many other places To begin with that Matth. 25. last verse These the ungodly that shall be set on Christ's left hand Matth. 25.46 in the former verses shall go away into Everlasting Punishment What can ever be spoken more plain or more plainly to our purpose than this is They shall go away into Everlasting Punishment 1. Vrged therefore they shall be punished everlastingly For if one were to tell us such or such are to be imprisoned perpetually How could he express it more clearly than by saying That they must go into perpetual Imprisonment And these words are the words of Him who was and is the Son of the Father and most perfectly acquainted with his Counsels Purposes Truths and Ways and had no need to fright the wicked World with such a sad Doctrine if it were not a Truth This is that Marpesian Rock which Mr. Richardson was not able to fasten his Teeth in yet nevertheless 2 Vindicated from Mr. R.'s Exceptions He hath snapt at it Five Times together p. 18 c. where he hath several glosses upon the word everlasting which as by Him applyed are worthy to be had in everlasting detestation 1. He tells us That the Fire of Tophet is so called His first Exception because it did burn Day and Night But here our Lord speaks not of the Fire of Tophet Removed but of the Everlasting Punishment of the Wicked And let Him shew us where any punishment is call'd Everlasting Punishment because it lasted for some days and nights Job his Pains were doubtless Day and Night yea for a considerable time too yet 't is not said he suffered Everlasting Pains The Psalmist said God's hand was heavy upon him Day and Night Psal 32.4 yet it is no where said that he was under Everlasting Affliction The word Ever and Everlasting His second Exception p. 19. are used to note a Limited Time as in Exodus 40.15 We read of an Everlasting Priesthood yet that Priesthood did not last for ever in the largest sense but only till the Son of God was come in the Flesh This is the substance of that which he saith in the greatest part of the 19. Page of his Book Removed And it is easily removed out of the way Let us put it into a form of Arguing and it will be exactly thus The word Everlasting in some places is used to signifie but a limited time therefore it must signifie just the same when 't is spoken of the Punishment of the wicked in Matth. 25. last verse Now were not this a pitiful way of reasoning and most apparently inconsequent See a parallel case in the word save To save sometimes signifies only to be a means of Salvation and an Instrument in God's hand of bringing Men into the way of Salvation as when Ministers are said to save them that hear them 1 Tim. 4.16 Shall we therefore say that Christ is but an Instrumental means of Salvation God forbid for He is the Author of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 Phil. 3.20 And The Saviour by way of Emphasis Answer 2d 2. Though in some places of the Old Testament the word Everlasting doth signifie a limited Time yet Mr. R. doth not shew us any place in the New Testament where it is so taken much less can he shew any Texts therein that call a Temporal Punishment an Everlasting Punishment or any thing like it Answer 3d. 3. Those things which were called Everlasting and yet lasted but for a time were such as were not capable of an absolute and proper Everlastingness The Priesthood in Exodus 40. was not capable of perpetuity being Typical of the Priesthood of Christ that great High-Priest Heb. 4.14 as the Apostle calls him who was appointed to put an end to all former priesthood and Sacrifice by offering up Himself once for All. But the Wicked shall be capable of Everlasting Punishment properly so called for their very Bodies shall be raised Incorruptible 1 Cor. 15.52 In 1 Cor. 15. The Trumpet shall sound and the Dead i. e. All the Dead shall be raised incorruptible Answ The 4th 4. It must needs be meant of an endless Punishment for I find it is the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used in Matth. 25.46 that is used by St. Paul 2 Cor. 4.18 where he speaks of things Eternal in contradistinction to Things Temporal in 2 Cor. The things that are seen are temporal but the things that are not seen are eternal * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yea it is the same word in the Original which is used by our Lord to express the Eternity of the Saints Happiness Matth. 25.46 These shall go away into Everlasting Punishment and the Righteous into Life Eternal So that if the Punishment of the wicked that continue such be not an endless Punishment we may be at a great doubt whether the Happiness of the Saints shall be endless happiness or not since the same word as was said is used of both of them And now having Answered his first and chiefest Exceptions against this Proof we shall not fear to Examine those which follow and thirdly thus R. Fire may be said to be Everlasting His third Exception p. 19. when it doth not go out till the Combustible Matter is consumed and then he adds The Fire that destroyed Sodom is called Eternal Fire because it went not out till the City was consumed Jud. 7. Answered This is his third gloss upon the word Everlasting in the latter part of the 19. Page And first A Fire may be called Everlasting by his Logick when it goeth not out till the Combustible Matter is consumed It seems then if Mr. Richardson should be pleased to roast his Cat His absurdity shewed in another case to make a Breakfast for those worse than Antichristian Priests that fright the World so needlesly by their Doctrine of Everlasting Punishments for the Wicked he might then bespeak them thus Behold Sirs and see for here is an Everlasting Fire And if the poor ignorant Men should ask him how that can be true since the Fire will be out in a little time He could answer them That it may be called Everlasting because it will last till the Faggots are consumed but if