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
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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
of Atra Bilis and to have no ground at all in the Scriptures Sol. What he hath done in this particular is too well known in the World and how well he hath done it is my Business to discover in this Book And I trust Good Reader that thou wilt perceive by that which follows that he hath not done it well nor indeed any better than the Socinian hath proved that there is no Trinity or than the Atheist hath proved that there is no God The Method observed And now I shall proceed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this following Method 1. To lay down some Arguments to prove the Everlasting Punishment of the wicked that live and dye such 2. To examine the said Book in all the principal parts and passages of it for it will not be worth while to speak of all he hath written there being very many Impertinencies in it 3. To improve the Doctrine in a practical way for Instruction Exhortation c. But before I speak of either of these it may seem needful to say something of the Author of this precious Piece which I am to deal with 1. Who the Author was If any Man should ask me who it was I would answer It was O Grande nomen Mr. S. Richardson even that admired Resolute Richardson whom the good Men of his Party did boast of so greatly and supposed to be a fit Match for the London-Ministers viz. indefinitely for any of them or for All of them to deal with See the Author in the Margin * Mr. J. Collings Vindic. Ministerii my Preface to the Reader sub finem And therefore some may imagine I have been too venturous to engage voluntarily with so great a Champion as He But yet Reader I am not discouraged I hope to come off clear and to pass without hurt through all the Pikes of his Arguments and Subtilties for God and his Truth are greater and stronger than Mr. R. and his Fallacies But to return to that which I was speaking of I say it was He whom the World is so much beholding to for the Book I am opposing For I have seen his Name prefixed to it though it be not set in that Edition of it which I have and perhaps it might be as good policy to conceal his Name in the second Edition as it was to mention it in the former 2. What he was But though it may be easily gained what his Name was yet it may be more difficult to discover what Himself was I remember the old saying Noscitur ex socio c. A dark Fellow is to be expounded by his Companions It might be questioned whether Mr. R. were himself of any Religion for all Religions have a Hell in their Creed and yet he hath none in his wherefore his Opinion concludes him of the doubtful gender in point of Religion so that we must be forced as was said to expound him by his Companions And if you would know who they were and what Perswasion they were of you may fitly consult the Anabaptists Confession of Faith Printed Anno Dom. 1644. which that * Dr. Featly Light of our Church now fixt in a Higher Orb was sometimes pleased to pass some Animadversions upon I mean in his Book called The Dippers dipt Where he tells you and you may safely take his word for it That the said Confession was subscribed by Paul Hobson Thomas Gunne and others of the same stamp and amongst the rest by S. Richardson to whom I would wish if he be living saving Mercy and a sound Mind And thus much by way of Introduction to my following Discourse The first particular whereof is now to be presented to thy serious thoughts and favourable censure CHAP. I. SECT II. An endless state of Punishment for the Wicked and Impenitent proved and the Proofs thereof vindicated from the Exceptions of Mr. R. and his Brethren THE fittest Method of procedure in my present Design seems to be that which is mentioned viz. To prove the truth of the Doctrine contended for before I meddle with the main Body of Mr. R. his Sophistical Argumentations namely that abovesaid And herein I do not undertake to convince the Atheist or drive him out of his Resolved Infidelity but rather to confirm the Christian in the Belief of this Doctrine which he hath been so often put in mind of by his Teachers And the first Argument that I would propose Scripture-Testimony the strongest Argument is the Testimony of God in Scripture and that is indeed the strongest of all Arguments and the most convincing to the Soul and Conscience As the learned have sufficiently evinced Vid. Crakanthorp Logic. de Argum. à Testimonio Logicos passim de Testimonio Disputantes for Truth is Essential to the True God Item Scheibl Topic. cap. 31. sect 50. Titus 1.2 He cannot lye A Man may be a Man though he be not true in his word but God could not be a God if he were not so Keckerm Log. lib. 3. cap. 13. for God to be false in his Word implies a manifest contradiction And there is nothing more natural to a Man in his right Wits than to conceive his Maker to be True in all that he saith or revealeth Wherefore if we have the Testimony of God for it in his written Word we may safely build upon it I say His written Word for that 's the Testimony that we are to enquire of Esay 8.20 And as for those inward Impulses Revelations A digression of Revelations Enthusiastick impressions c. and Suggestions of the Spirit which some have sufficiently boasted of and more than sufficiently trusted to as to Divine Testimonies they have often proved to be the Delusions of the lying Spirit and the false lights which the Prince of Darkness hath set up in the blinded hearts of those that shut their eyes against the light of that Word which is able to save our Souls having them so dreadfully dazelled with the glory of the light within them as they use to speak whose Enthusiastick Errors have been examined by many worthy Men. Spanhem Syntag Theol. Beckman Exercitat in Appendice c. And their vanity hath been shewed by famous or infamous instances in Mr. Sam. Cleark His Mirror Cap. 27. Exampl 17. Concerning the horrid Delusions which a Gentleman in Warwick-shire fell into after he looked to be taught by Revelations and Inspirations and had refused to hear any conformable Minister preach c. As also of one Mr. Gilpin in the same Chapter The sum of which History I have briefly set down in my Caution against Quakerisme Near the end I say if we have the Testimony of God in his written Word for the Doctrine I assert then we may be bold to believe it and must believe it though Mr. R. and his Companions in Infidelity should write never so many Books against it Reader if thou dost not believe the Scriptures to be
nothing of that place which is commonly called by that Name Scripture assures us that there was a Garden in Eden Gen. 2.8 in which Man was placed yet I might say without absurdity That it speaks nothing distinctly of that place for it tells us only that it was East-ward in the general but saith not what part of the World it was in how long or how broad or how near to the place where Jerusalem stood or the like So in p. 6. He gives us another chip of the same Block Page 6 for he tells us that the word Hell is not found in the Hebrew or Greek And that the word Sheol which is so translated signifies properly the Grave A very precious Revelation and such as might be well accepted if my Author or any of his Judgment would but impart it kindly to those Noble spirited Gentlemen that are Inamorato's to a play and frequent those Places where all things are common For might they not go the more pleasantly thither when they are assured that if they dye when they are at worst they shall go to no worse a place than the Grave and that there is no other nor worser Hell than it for that which precise Men have rendered by the word Hell doth properly signifie the Grave But yet let them not trust too much to this kind of Learning for if they please to consider what I have to say unto it they will find it is not worth one Glass of good Wine Mr. R.'s invention to prove no Hell will prove as strongly that there is no Devil For if this were a proof that there is no Hell viz. that the word so rendered signifies another thing sometimes then I say at the same rate of arguing we might prove as well and as wisely that there is no Devil neither for the word Devil is not found in the Greek Testament since an English word is not a Greek word And that which is translated Devil in the 4th of Matth. and other places 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is known to signifie an ill-conditioned Man a Detractor Railer Accuser and such like This I say is the proper importance of the original word And yet sobâ—r Christians will believe in spight of all Mr. R.'s subtilty that it signifies in that Chapter the same that we use to call by that name even the great implacable adversary of Mankind and cannot doubt of it if they read the 10. and 11. Verses of that Chapter And this is that which he hath offered us upon the word Sheol He adds something like it upon the word Gehenna But of that with God's leave in the next Section CHAP. II. SECT II. Mr. R. his Observations upon the word Hell-Fire Damnation of Hell c. Of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16. Of Tophet Of the Worm that never dyeth censured R. Hell-Fire in Matth. 5. and other places signifies the Fire that was in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom And the word Gehenna which is used for Hell P. 12. and 14. is borrowed from the Valley of Hinnom BUT by his leave the former is denied Hell-Fire in the Gospel doth only allude to that Fire in the Valley of Hinnom Jer. 7.31 where as the Prophet Jeremy sheweth the People most cruelly sacrificed their Children in the Fire Of Hell to the Idol Moloch And is it not very fit for the place of Torment for the Enemies of God to be expressed by this place of Wickedness and Torture As the word which notes a mischievous Person is fitly used to signifie the Devil as was noted before And that the casting into Hell-fire cannot signifie the casting into the Fire of Hinnom aforesaid is manifest because that Fire had been put out long ago and the place turned to another use by the good King Josiah as we find in 2 King 23.10 Gehenna what And for the word Gehenna we confess it is borrowed from the Vally of Hinnom that place of Torture aforesaid and therefore is very fit to express the place appointed for the Punishment of the Wicked c. And that it only alludes to that place Per Metaphoram uti Piscator in Scholiis super Matth. 5.22 Matth. 10.28 but doth not mean the place it self is manifest by what was now said neither was that a place for the Soul to suffer in or for the Body after its Death as the Hell which our Saviour speaks of most certainly is Matth. 10. but rather fear him who is able to destroy Soul and Body in Hell and that too after the Body is killed Luke 12.5 that is He can quicken the dead Body and make it live in the Torments of Hell Of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke the 12. Having pleased his Humour upon the word Gehenna in the 16. and 17. Pages to as little profit to himself or his Reader as can well be desired He proceeds in the following Pages to darken the Light of the word Everlasting from thence to the 22 page of his Book p. 16 17. and 23. which they that admire for good and sound may conveniently Read the foregoing Chapter where I have examined them severally This Reader I thought fit to mention that thou mayst not think I do wilfully pass over any thing in his Pamphlet that is not grosly impertinent Then in the 23 page he passeth his grave censure upon that Text in St. Luke cap. 16. concerning the Rich man and Lazarus where he tells us that it is but a Parable And that I am confident was no new discovery of his own it was found out long before the world had any benefit by this Book of his Then having time and paper to spare he undertakes to prove it by no less than Ten Reasons as the Socinians of old urged 30 Arguments against Infant Baptism But as all theirs were deceitful arguments so Nine of his Ten Reasons are needless ones for in such a case one may be sufficient And when he hath gained what he contends for that it is a Parable yet he hath gained very little as to the cause he hath undertaken For as the Learned Mr. Baxter saith very well If that of the Rich man in Hell and Lazarus should be no more than a Parable Saints Rest part 2. cap. 10. Sect. 4. yet it seems very unlikely that Christ would teach them by such a Parable as seemed so evidently to intimate the Souls Happiness or Misery immediately after death if there were no such thing So say I in like manner it were very strange that Christ should teach them by such a Parable as seems so plainly to intimate a Hell or Torment for the Souls of the ungodly that dye such though they dye Rich if there were no such matter The next place of Scripture he hath taken a view of is Esay 30.33 Of Tophet Esay 30.33 p. 26. c. where he tells us we must understand by Tophet only the Valley of
evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse 2 Tim. 3.13 deceiving and being deceived Behold therefore that which follows and read it deliberately if thou canst read it without horror p. 76. line 13. p. 76. R. Many boast of God's preserving the Hebrew and Greek Bible c. Mr. R.'s Horrid Speech But as he was pleased to deliver up Christ and his People so hath he delivered the Scriptures also into the hands of Sinners to be used at their pleasure Oh Mr. R. which way are you tending whither do you mean your Pen shall run What can you think of these black words Examined or what spirit can you suppose did inspire you with them You seem to have a design to shake the foundations of all Piety and Religion as well as the Pillars of Hell-Torments for that end I confess your speech is very proper for if the Scripture be corrupted as to the main in its perfection and purity as your words seem to suggest then farewel to our Religion our Faith to use your own smooth phrase must needs reel and stagger and stumble as having no ground to stand upon You professed to write your Book for the glory of God in your Title page and I beseech you let it be considered whether it tends to God's glory to bring the Authority of his Word into question And as you desire to comfort sinners so methinks you should have more love towards Professors than to lead them to infidelity in hopes of winning them to your own Opinion God hath delivered the Scriptures into the hands of sinners to be dealt with as they pleased i. e. to be depraved and corrupted how themselves would O monstrum horrendum informe ingens A bold Man indeed He is Doctor Resolutus though not Durandus He is resolved to carry it He will turn all things Arsie versie and weaken the Scripture's authority if it will not stand on his side like him in the Poet. Flectere si nequeat superos Acheronta movebit i.e. More ways than one He will try all If God will not him help the Devil shall But Reader fear not too much his fearful Assertion though it be fierce yet 't is but weak yea notoriously false All those Arguments which Protestants use to prove that the Scripture is not imperfect of such the Learned may see Polanus Scharpius Bishop Ushers Body of Divinity p. 17. Gerrardus de S. Scriptura and others and the meer English Reader may consult those in the Margin * Mr. Leigh's Treatise of Divinity l. 1. cap. 6. p. 116. Proofs that the Scripture is not corrupted by men I say all those Arguments will serve against my Author in this particular as well as against the Papists in the other I shall now urge one or two Arguments in the case If men had corrupted the Scriptures and made them speak in any points of Divinity otherwise than at first it must be supposed to have been done before the coming of Christ in the flesh or after If before surely Christ who taxed many other errors in the Jews would not have suffered such a wickedness to pass without Reprehension And 't is not unknown how careful the Jews were in keeping the Oracles of God committed to them And that they were not corrupted since the Death of Christ is clear for Copies being dispersed in the world more and more one age after another how could such a thing be acted by some but others would soon discover it And it may not be doubted but God's Providence did watch somewhat extraordinarily as to this matter which so much concerned his own glory and the good of his people to the worlds end Surely he that so often discovers those that have corrupted the Coin of Princes and States would not conceal those long that should attempt to corrupt and pervert his Sacred Laws And here I shall borrow an excellent passage of the worthy Mr. R. Baxter Saints Rest part 2. cap 4. Sect. 6. in the last page of the cited Section which may shame all the wittiest men of Mr. R's Religion as to the point If any man saith he be so blind as to think it uncertain whether these be the same Books which the Apostles wrote I would ask him by what assurance he holds his Lands 1. How doth he know that his Deeds Conveyances and Leases be not counterfeit writings or that they are the same that their Fore-fathers made Surely they have nothing but mens words for it and yet they verily think their Lands are their own 2. And whereas they hold all by the Law of the Land how know they that these Laws are not Counterfeit and that they are the same Laws that were made by such and such Kings and Parliaments long ago They have nothing but mens words for all this And yet if this be uncertain then any man may be turned out of all he hath as if he had no certain Tenure And is it not certain that those Laws that are kept and practised throughout the Land cannot possibly be counterfeit but it would have been publickly known And yet a word in a Statute Book may be false Printed And much more certain is it that the Scriptures cannot be counterfeited because it is not in one Kingdom only but in all the world almost that they have been used and the Copies dispersed and Ministers still in Office to preach them and publish them So that they could not be generally and purposely corrupted except all the world should have met and consented together for that end which could not be done in secret but all must know of it And yet many Bibles may be here and there misprinted but then there would be Copies enough to Correct them by So that if it be uncertain whether these be for substance and in the main the same Books that the Apostles writ then nothing in the world can be certain to us but what we see and why we may not as wisely question our Eye-sight I do not well know So far that Learned person And after all this The Author's Proofs I shall add something more to this same end for it is hard to speak too much in such a case farther to confirm the Faith of the weak Christian against the attempts of this mighty Shaker who I think hath out gone most of the Shakers that have went before him Gregory Martyn that grave profound Popeling in Queen Elizabeths Reign did practise this Art with the greatest care and skill he had and discovered if he did not lye a great many gross corruptions in our English Translation to the advantage of our Heresies as he calls it But since the Learned Dr. Fulk * In his defence of the English Translation against Gr. Martin hath took him in hand and shook him soundly for his pains he was never able to recover himself so far as to write any thing more for that purpose and his Brethren in
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-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
way surely everlasting punishment much more And on the other side that wicked men would be more bold to sin if they were fully perswaded that there shall be no everlasting punishment after this life and say as the Epicure Let us eat and drink for to morrow we dye is so plain that I shall not write one line to prove it yet nevertheless I shall consider what he hath said to disprove it And first to pass over his extravagancies from the 92. page to 102. about the Decree of God as relating to mans fall and the like points which are thrust in perforce by the head and shoulders His Arguments to prove the Belief of Hell no preservation from sin and have no more to do with the point in hand than the Lines of his Book with the Beams of the Sun I say passing these I shall come directly to his Reasons in the 103. page thus Mr. R. That the belief of Hell torments is no such preservative from sin is evident for the greatest sinners believe there is such and yet sin still But what doth he mean by such a preservative from sin and by believing them If he mean in the former a total and compleat preservative such as keeps them from all sin Examined I confess it is not such a preservative or if he mean it of such as preserves them from the common practice of gross sins I grant it also But yet the belief of Hell is a preservative from sin in some measure and keeps wicked men so far as it is believed by them from sinning with so much greediness security and peace as otherwise they would As the Laws of the Land against Robberies and Murders do keep men from committing such crimes so often and so securely as otherwise they would do though they do not wholly restrain them from those crimes And now let us examine his Reason or proof viz. Because the greatest sinners do believe there is a Hell and yet sin still as much as ever This saith he maketh it evident that the belief of Hell is no such preservative against sin But this proof proves nothing nor would he himself like of it in another case for if he be not an Atheist he will easily grant that the belief of a God doth really tend to cleanse mens hearts and reform their lives yet there is not any grosser wickedness in the world than those that are committed by some who profess to believe there is a God and do believe it after a sort and would abhor that man that should say there is none He adds for confirmation as follows R. for though they be never so wicked yet they hope the Torments of Hell which they believe do not belong to them or that they may repent before they dye c. Just so may I say of the other For though men believe there is a God yet they too often hope that he sees them not or that he is not much offended with their wickedness or the like And yet I will not doubt but the belief of a God tends in it self to do some good upon men nor doth my Author himself imagine that an Atheistical opinion is a friend to Religion but an enemy it And secondly what doth he mean by a Belief of Hell torments If he mean it of a slight belief a fleeting opinion that they are real while they know little reason why they should believe them but only because others are of that judgment This I confess is no great preservative from sin but a grounded and fixed belief of them is assuredly a great preservative from it as was seen before P. 103. The following lines contain no great matter but only a story of a drunken Arminian that said he was at present in a state of Damnation but to morrow when sober should return into a state of grace And why might he not have told us as well of John a Leydon's many Marriages or Knipperdoling's Breathing upon the people when he bad them receive the Holy Ghost And what if the Arminian spoke so sottishly when he was drunk or were of the same principles when he was sober yet he never was so blind when drunk or so bold when sober as to deny there is a Hell and to compare the terrors and torments thereof with the flames of Purgatory and the Chimerical Bulbeggars that women sometimes fright little children with as he hath done in page 88. and 90. of his admired Book Secondly he proceeds after this manner R. If fear of Hell were a preserver against sin His second Reason p. 104. then those that are delivered from that fear and believe they shall be saved would sin more than others which is not so Very true if they have nothing more or better to preserve them from sinful courses but if they have the love of God and holiness in their hearts they will shun the ways of sin though freed from the fears of Hell In a word though the godly would eschew evil when he is freed from the fears of Hell yet the wicked man would follow it the more if he were so And I doubt not but many such have been more bold to do wickedly since his Book against Hell came into the world than ever they were before In the 105. page p. 105. He hath nothing that is worth a large consideration yet that which may seem any thing pertinent shall not be omitted viz. That the lusts of men are stronger than the fears of Hell No wonder if they be so in this Age wherein such a skilful workman as Mr. R. hath used all his craft to make them believe there is no Hell But if men's belief of it were stronger the fear of it would prevail against their strongest sinful lusts so as that they would not give themselves over to follow and fulfil them in their ordinary course In the 106. page He hath several Texts of Scripture as Psal 19.11 p. 106. Malachi 2.2 and others which tend not so much as in shew to confirm that which he had undertaken to prove But possibly he might suppose that some will think the better of his Book when they see so many Scriptures in one page though they be not serviceable to his design And having spoken somewhat Heathenishly before he will now make his Reader amends in part with a Divine Axiome of his own in the 106. page line 3. If sinners could enjoy all the pleasures of sin for a season yet they will find that they have made a bad bargain of it Which I confess is a truth but it will better appear to be so by my Doctrine than by his If they live and dye ungodly and so come to everlasting miseries they will see what a bad bargain it was to purchase those miseries with the pleasures of sin for a season but if they be turned into nothing at the day of Judgment as he would have us think Then in that state
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
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