thoâ—e his labouâ—s tending to those Subjects which hath been usefull and acceptable to them the whole reformed Church are concerned in it I find him still punctually observing his former expression viz. rejecting all the doctrines of Geneva in which besides the latitude there is this ambiguity whether it be meant according to Calvin or Beza for both were of Geneva between whom in some of these points there was the like difference as between Mr. Perkins and Bishop Abbot with us viz. in the Superlapsarian opinion with Beza was for but Calvin held it otherwise It had been better to haâ—e named the particuâ—ers than thus to cloud them in the Generalls The only point which he names here is That the Primat embraced the doctrine of universall redemption and saith in that he doth as good as say all He doth not assert it from his own knowledge but saith he hath it from many most unquestionable persons which had it poured into their ears by the Primates own mouth If it were in a Sermon of his at a Church in London the last he preached in that City and many months before his death which I am enformed by others is the sense of it I was present at it and with me there was no new thing observed to have been uttered by him differing from what his judgment was many years agone since I had the happinesse to be known unto him It may be some of these persons produced for witnesses being strangers to him and taking him to be of the other extremity might apprehend it as a retractation but they were much mistaken in it If they heard him affirming That by the death of Christ all men receive this benefit that they are savabiles or put into a capacity and possibility of saâ—vation That termes of peace are procured for all mankind That all mens sins are become pardonable mercy attainable in which state those of the Angeâ—icall nature which fell are not That there is some distinction to be made between his satisfaction rightly understood and his intercession according to that of our Saviour I pray for these I pray not for the world c. It is possible for ought I know some such expressions might be his then But that by this Universall Redemption should be understood such an Universall grace that the same measure of it without any distinction should equally and alike be conferred and applyed to Judas which was to Peter and that the only difference was the free-will of Peter in accepting without any further cause of thanks to God for his grace in inclining him accordingly c. This I suppose will not be attested to have been professed by him either in this or any other Sermon or private conference with him And in this present inlargement I would not be understood to interpose my self in the controversie or to affix thus much upon Mr. Piercyes Judgment but only to averre that the Primate at his last in this particular differed not from what he had declared formerly That which he saith is the summe of what he had sayed viz. That the reverend Primate did conforme his judgment to all the fathers of the Church for the first four Centuries after Christ This he might averre without any relation to these poynts in controversie it being the terme or thereabouts which he accepts of in his answer to the Jesuit Malones Challenge in the justifying or condemning those twelve points of controversie between us and the Church of Rome of which one concerning Freewill is of this fraeternity What the Primates judgment was of that is sufficiently declared there and he continued in the same without any change the last time I saw him by the discourse I had then with him of it and St. Augustine unlesse we be over strict may be admitted within that compasse being accounted by the Primate at the time when he was consecrated a Bishop to be but in Anno 410. as Prosper reckons his death but in 433. being then of age 76. Before whose time these poynts were never discussed by the Fathers at large singly nor determined by them joyntly in any Councill which Pelagius gave the first occasion of and t is known that the doctrine of St. Augustine against him is inclined unto and defended by the Primate in his workes And to say no more the Articles of Religion Agreed upon by the Arch-Bishops Bisheps and the rest of the Clergy of Ireland in the Convocation holden at Dublin Anno 1615. which fully determine and declare all those poynts accordingly he had then the honour to be appoynted by the Synode as a principall person to draw them up Now the last time that I saw him which was after that pretended Testimony of the witnesses of his change either in publique or private he did fully confirme and commend that to me to be heeded and observed by me as the summary of his judgment in those and other subjects of which I have said somewhat more elsewhere That of Mr. Piercyes drawing in more to bear him company viz. King James Bishop Andrews Melancthon in their châ—nges also for the better as he is pleased to determine doth not concern me to take notice of only if he have found it under their hands as their last will and Testament in their workes he shall but Charitably erre to use his own words if he shouâ—d be mistaken but no such matter appears here is to the Primate In a word I cannot but professe my restect to Mr. Pierce both for his own worth as the great esteem which in this postscript morethen in his former book he â—ath expressed of this Eminent Primate can easily believe he would account it a reputation to his opinion that his might patronize it by the great esteem had of him in all parts of the reformed Church both for his learning and piety and I have so much Charity as to believe that this error is more to be imputed to his informers then himself and if I were known to him I would advise him not to infist any farther in it it being by these several circumstances so improbable but according to his own ingenuous offer to make an ample satisfaction and what he hath so highly extolled in the Primate to have been his glory and honour in preferring truth before error in that his suppoâ—ed imaginary retractation I may without offence return the application to himself which with all prudent men will be much more his own commendation and though according to his profession he be innocent as to any voluntary injury thinking he did God and him good service yet it being a wrong in it self will deserve some Apology And indeed it will be hard for any prudent impartiall man to believe that what the Primate upon mature deliberation and long study for so many years had professed in the Pulpit and at the presse he should be so soon shaken in mind as without any convincing force of argument from any other
that is known at once to renounce all he had formerly said and draw a crosse line over all he had wrote and that in a Sermon not made of purpose for that end which had been very requisite and which must have been of too narrow a limitt in relation to so many Subjects here intimated but only as on the bye I say when his workes wherein he is clearly seen and largely declared with a cloud of eare witnesses for many yeats both in publique and private confirming his constancie in them through the diverse changes of the times to his last shall be produced and layd in one ballance And a few witnesses of some few passages at one Sermon who in a croud might be mistaken and the apter to be so by the interest of their own opinion put into the other will not all unbiassed persons cast the Errata into the latter I shall conclude with a coorse complement to your self that I have not thus appeared for your sake to whom I am a stranger nor out of any opposition to Mr. Pierce who appears to me to be a person of value but only out of my duty and high account I must ever have of the memorie of that judicious holy and eminent Primate and so I commit you to Gods protection and direction and rest Your assured friend N. Bernard Graies Inn June 10. 1657. A Short INTRODUCTION DEBATING The Reasons of this Second undertaking SECT I. I Cannot justly determine how long my feircely active Neighbour and Antagonist was to use his own Phrase (a) Advertisement to the Reader pag. 2. somewhat like Buridans asse a ballancing himself whether as he hath it too (b) Epist Dedication pag. 7. I was for my late Correptory Correction published against him to be punished by his venerable and awfull Silence or as at last he concluded by his more Magisterial and smarting Tongue-lash wherein he hath according to his wont and naturall Genius so superlatively Hyperboâ—ized as that the least jerke of the tip of his Tongue is much sharper then all the Correptory Rodds which towards his amendment I had bestowed upon him before he doth not so much Chastise me with Whips as with Stinging Scorpions his very little nimble taâ—t fingers are much more heavy then all my Loynes yet as for my self if I may but as well be believed as I am sure I shall speak truth I have almost this two months day been at a hard debate with my self whether I should at all take my self concerned the second time to take up a pen against his continued Satyrisms and Sarcasms rather then serious disputes imprinted against me and even yet I should be apt to conclude in the Negative were it not for the importunity of some unto whom it is fit I should yeild who will have me concluded in the affirmative First Verely though I cannot but be and I hope by Gods grace to continue in it to the end a very vehement Assertor according to my poor power of Gods omnipotent Soveraignity and grace yet I cannot be perswaded that that blessed cause which for above these twelve hundred years hath from Austine downwards in all Countries had so many invincible Champions who have crushed the Heads of all Dragons and Leviathans who have sharpned their Tongues â—eâ—s and wits against it and who have made it every where to go forth conquering and to conquet I say I cannot believe that this cause doth any thing lowdly call for any more of the best Contributions which I am able to afford towards the support of it Secondly Nay nor yet how ill soever my ill Neighbour may take it can I be so far out of conceit with my own Christianity Schollership Humanity in any of which my Antagonist will not allow me the least Scruple or dram as to think any of them to be in any terrible Agony though he hath most industriously and if it were in him unto all Posterity represented me as a most ugly dreadfull dark Monster in the Phrase of the Poet as a Virgâ—l Monstrum horendum informe ingens cui Lumen ademptum Blessed be God for ever for his grace who for well nigh these fourteen years hath not suffered me in this very Country amongst many disceâ—ning graâ—ious Christians amongst divers most venerabâ—e and Eminent Schollers to behave my self so Unchristianly Ignorantly or Rudely as that it is any way probable to be believed by any of them that I am any thing near so oâ—ious as he would have the world believe me to be * Virgil. Non sum adeó informis nuper in melittore vidi Thirdly Yea nor am I able to be so creduâ—ous that those most Illustrious Luminaries of our Church who have been pleased to grace my Labours with their unexpected Encomiâ—ms and who by their Gratious Lord and Masters adorning of them have as fixed Stars shined in the Firmament of Gods Church before such time as their Bespatterer was brought forth in Divi Luminis Auras saw the Light of the Sun or at least was allowed so much as to be a Smatterer in Divinity or as now he appears to all the Christian Reformed world a very Erra Pater in it Verely I do not believe that their Splendid names and well sounding fames need any vindication of mine who are aboâ—e all his Calumnies and in Christs and the Churches diptyâ—hs will have to all posterity their names written fairely although he be so impudent as in effect to proclaime it to the world that they are but black Souls in white Sheets whiâ—â—t he writes (a) Adâ—â—â—â—iseâ—ent to the â—â—ader â—â—â—dida dâ—â—â—gris de câ—dentibus 〈◊〉 that they have done a kind of publick pennance by making it known unto the Worâ—â— whaâ— kâ—nd oâ— things they do approve Thus good is our Painter at 〈◊〉 Whites into Blacks and Blacks into Whites Praeteriens Coâ—vos vexat Censura Columâ—es Fourthly Nay nor lastly can I entertain any considerabâ—e hopes that I shall be in a Capacity to reclaime those who have been misled by him and who as may be feared may be for want of Elegancy in my Style and because of down-right plainnesse in all my Ministeriall Proceedings as adverse from reading of me as some want on Italâ—anâ— are said to be (a) Bishop Jewells Apolog Ecces Anglic from reading of the sacred Scriptures lest it should marr the neatnesse of their Style All these things considered I might well have been allowed to have injoyned Silence to my self and to have retiâ—ed to my wonted Rest However because there be divers whose Iudgments I cannot but revere who are of opinion First that Gods Truth Counsells Wayes and People ought by their friends to be as often defended as by their virulent Foes they be any thing fiercely craftily and wittily opposed Secondly That the high flown spirit of our fresh inâ—ulting Thraso ought by all meanes to be taken down who Hor tensius â—oster sufflaminandus est Cic. though he hardly strike stroke
Prefacers the third upon the Neighbouring Lecturers of Northampton and Daventry his fourth upon the Eminentesâ— Chaâ—iots and Horsemen of Reformed Israel whether forraigne or domestique such as Calvin Rivet Walaeus Vedelius Amyraldus Bishop Usher Hall Davenant King James The fifth Upon whole Synods of them at Dort or Westminister in a word upon allmost all the Protestant Name and Glory § 2. And yet which a man would exceedingly stand amazed at who is not acquainted with him though he intended to make most cruell sport he makes his first entrance upon his Theater in his Grave Philosophicall Socratick Grown (a) Epist Deditate pag. 4. and there reads Lectures of Morality nay of Christianity as if he intended to be a Mirror of Patience Moderation Mercy forgetfulnesse of all wrongs forgivenesse charity c. insomuch as he is not afraid to bestow some Correptory Correction upon his Cryptick Patron The Person of honour and integrity for sharpening of his pen a little against me the only deadly publique foe which he hath alive (b) Philanthrop As he saith pag. 4. I think truly he doth this most justly be cause he would forestall him in his own proper work or be jealous of him that he was not like to Correct me more sharply yet more elegantly then himself Thus frequent it is for men to flatter before they stabb Tuta frequensque via est sub amici fallere nomen § 3. But the Jeast in all this is just so soon as he had ended his grave Talke before he had quite layd his assumed Gown or Vizard aside he closeth up his Oversevere Oration with a most facetious stinging Peroration about four-footed Graecians hung upon a beame (a) Dedicat. Epist pag. 9. and thus he ends his first Act and Scene Horat. Spectatum admissi risum teneatis Amici Mulier formosa superné Desinit in piscem § 4. However put he himself into what poisture he pleaseth for the abusing of far better men then himself it is most fitting that he should not scape without some serious Check which I had thought distinctly to have given him according to the several Rancks and Orders mentioned by me p. 10. but for Brevities sake which I shall extreamely affect in all the ensuing work I give it him thus more immethodically according as I find abuses against my self or other dispersed up and down throughout his Satyricall Volume First Epist Dedic l. 7. § 5. Mr. Wasp I possible may Deserve that name habet musca splenem because I have adventured to deale with one of the three Great Master Wasps of this Nation who I from my Soul do beseech God that they may not prove I will not say more stinging then Wasps but than the sharpest hornets that ever were against that very Church which bred them and brought them forth and which they pretend to be of whilst they undermine the soundest doctrines that ever were taught in it We had need to be warned against them Deventum est ad Triarios 2. Epist Dedicat. p. 6. l. 1. 2. That I am in a State of damdation that I am meerly allied to the Jesuites and Socinians Answ first Neither in p. 43. or in p. 174. of my Correptory Correction is there any such Phrase to be found as that of the State of Damnation pag. 43. I say but Hypothetically you are like to be looked on as some of the Planets spoken of Judâ— v. 13. if you repent not the sooner c. And p. 174. I do expresse not my opinion of him but my feares and that upon a very solemn occasion which I would beseeâ—h the Reader comparing of us both there to look after whilest I say I much fear that no man could write thus but one well nigh in the same Condition with Simon Magus Let him give me leave to be jealous over him with a Godly jealously Secondly I charge him not with Jesuitism but in points Controverted viz. of Predetermination Free-will c. My words are p. 15. in your Doctrines about this matter now I was never able to find but that since Judicious pious Reverend Mr. Perkins was by his great Mr. Jacobus Arminius (a) Arminius contra Perkins p. 109. Edâ—tan 8 Ludum Batav 1612. Jesuitarum in Theologicis hisâ—e Controversiis judicium Dominicanorum judicio praefereudum esse clamat Grevin chovius c. Soilicet nemirum credibile est Jesuitarum â—dia in Protestantes multó quà m caeterorum Pontificiorum temperatiora esse fide Grâ—vinchovii DT wisse Liâ— 2. vindic p. 20. Col. 1. provoked to answer Jesuite Bellarmines Criminations against the Orthodox as maintaining God to be the Author of Sin but that all his followers out of him and other Jesuites have been most forward to make use of their objections against us Secondly Nay he himself must needs confesse this if knowing but what his own tenents are he would but resolve us out of his 4th Chap. p. 34. (a) Correp Correct Chap. 4. p. 34. whether in the matters Controverted betwixt us he hold not more with the Jesuites of the Church of Rome then with the Dominicans c. in the same Church Thirdly To my best remembrance in all my book I do not charge him with directly assertive but only with Consequentiall Constructive Socinianisme (b) Corrept Correct p. 85. 178. 157. but how much farther I might without Calumny have promoted this accusation I will leave to the intelligent Reader to Judge if I had pressed what he delivers in his uncorrect Copy about the very Trinity and which I am confident enough no body durst have pinned upon him had he not given it under his own hand p. 2. that unto the Authority of the Fathers we owe the Canon of the Scriptures and our beleif of three Subsistences in one Subctance and to the same sense though not in the same words in his Philanthrophy (a) Philanth p. 104. Chap. 3. Ibid Chap. p. 88. how will be able to prove the Trinity of the persons in the unity of the Godhead when he saith that those who have overthrowne the Authority of Tradition and of the Universall Church which those have never done whom he would accuse of it are utterly unqualified to prove the Baptism of Infants the Sunday Sabbath the very Canon of Scripture the Apostolicalnesse of the Creed or their Pretensions to the Ministry Fourthly possibly since his taking into his bosome the Viperous Socinian Books of S. Castalio and S. Episcopius (b) Philanth Chap. 3. p. 148. Chap. 4. 14. I may have a much fitter opportunity to shew how justly he may be suspected of Socinianism Thirdly Ibid. l. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. making me lyable not only to sequestration but death it self for you know that Servetus was burnt at Geneva for lesse then being a Socinian and what would be done to the Papist that should hold a Parsonage here in England Answ Because here he chargeth deep Si accusâ—sse suffecerit
est hominem actu reprobum dici non posse in quo Deus Decretum Reprobationis nullo adhuc interno actu coepit exequi Ibid. Primus actuâ— externus in hominem vel circa hominem re ipsa jam existentem facit illum actu reprobum to be certain that a man cannot be said to be actually reprobated on whom God did not by any internal act beginne to execute the decree of Reprobation which sure he did not or could not execute but in time for it implies a manifest contradiction 5ly Yet if it were any way possible for to found the Eternal decrees of God upon the foreseen acts of the Creature yet could he by virtue of this his praedestination grounded on and dependent on Praescience gaine nothing according to his own manner of reasoning in all his Decachorde of Reasons produced in his CORRECT Copy (f) p. 34. ad 42. for the avoiding of all those foul absurdities and blasphemies which he labours to asperse Gods Absolute Eternal decrees with as they are maintained by us but they will all if his arguments be of any force against Eternall praedestination grounded on deliberate praedetermâ—nation rise up as much against Eternall predâ—stination grounded on praescience they introduce a like infallâ—bâ—lâ—ty in both a like coaction as they call it on the will and like frustration of Admonitions Exhortations (g) Aug. de dono perseveranâ— Lib. 2. c. 15. Ajunt viz Semipelagâ—ani neminem â—osse Correptâ—onis stimulis excitar si dâ—catur in conventu Ecclesiae Itase habet de praedestinatione definita sententia voluntatis Dâ—â— c Ista dum dicunt ita nos à confitenda Dei gratia id est quae non secundum merita nostra datur à confitenda secundum eam praedestinatione Sanctorum deterrere non debet sicut non deterremur â— confitâ—nda praescientia Dei si quis de illo populo sic loquatur ut dicat sive nunc recte vivatis sive non tales vos eritis quales vos Deus fuâ—uros esse praescivit And therefore I doubt not but if he would but seriously in any sense preach Eternall praedestination he would lose most of his customers his forsooth tender Proselytes who with his learned P. Bertius (h) P. Bertius praefat dedicat ad Examen I. Arminii contra Peâ—kins unum quemque nostâ—um invariabilem vitae atque mortis Aeternae 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unà cum ipso ortu in lucem hanc nobiscum adferre atque adeò ad hoc nasci hancque diversitatem aliquomodo ad universi perfectionem facere are offended at nothing so much as that God from eternity should have predetermined mens everlasting conditions for Aeternal life or death and not have left it in utramque partem to mans free will to be fabros fortunae suae to be Carvers of their own fortunes Seventhly and lastly he saith of the decree of Election p. 7. that it is Respective of Faith and Repentance and perseverance to the end in all of ripe age who shall be saved and for such as die infants before they can actually Beleive or Repent Gods Eternall predestination or purpose of Electing them unto blâ—sse was also respective of theâ—r being in Christ and this he tells us the Church of England hath taught us out of the Scriptures Answ So much having been spoken against what he brought about Reprobation little need to be said about what we have here concerning Election the rather because he returnes at all no Answer to what I produce against it in my CORREPT Correct p. 228. and where I dispute against his St. Andrean way of ordering of Gods decrees p. 206. ad 209. Only let me say first that I cannot tell whether his former opinion about Reprobation were more destructive to Gods Soveraignity than this is most portentously (a) A. Rvet saith well disp 4. Thes 6. according to this opinion In dubio haeret Deus donec ex ipso effectu videat quinam fint in illa side perseveraturi sub cuâ—us nomine poenitenâ—iam bona opera comprehendunt uti facit Dr. T. P. Quod atheismi rudimentum à Socino haustum multi nunc pleno poculo populis bibendum propinant quo nescimus an aliquid à Christianismi incunabulis ad haec usque tempora perniciosum magis suggestum sit in quo praeter impietatem in Deum totaâ— Justificationis gratuitae rationem cum impurioribus Scholasticis convellunt and after a Socâ—nian â—ashion destructive to the nature power efficacy and peculiarity of Gods grace for say he what he will in words to the contrary that he believes Faith and Repentance to be the gifts of God that Gods grace makes us to differ Philanth c whiâ—st this opinion of his standeth and is mainteined by him they are but delusory words to catch the simple withall for first it is impossible that Faith or any other saving grace should be the fruites of Election when as here they be made to be the Antecedents to it and the important conditions of it his own Phrase We cannot be chosen unto Faith c in which sense faith is said to be the faith of Gods elect Tit. 1. 1. if we be choâ—en in respect unto it or for it 1 Cor. 7. 25. 2ly We do rather yea altogether choose our selves rather then that God can be said to choose us he only chooseth upon what condition we shall be Elected but we upon choosing of his conditions proposed unto us determine him to choose or Elect us and that interpretativé is all one as to choos our selves 3ly How shy soever elsewhere he will seem to be of the word merit in the cause of Election yet if faith may but be allowed to be a good work which sure is one of the best especially wâ—en as here he proposeth it as accompanied with Repentance from dead works attended with perseverance to the end wâ—ich comprehends all good works imaginable to be performed by any Christian I say if this may but be granted he doth directly maintaine Electâ—on according to the praevâ—sion of works expressely against the holy Scripture (b) Rom. 9. 8. 30. Act. 13. 48. Ephes 1. 11. 3. 4. 1 Thess 1. 3. 2 Tim. 1. 9 2 Thess 2. 13. c. pious Antiquity (c) Augustin de praedestinat Sanctor cap. 17. Haec est immobilis veritas praedestinationis gratiae Nam quid est quod ait Apostolus Sicut elegit nos in ipso ante mundi constitutionem quod profâ—ro si propterea dâ—ctum est quia praescivit deus credituros non quia facturus erat ipse credentes contra istam praescientiam loquitur Filius dicens Non vos me elegistis sed ego â—legi vos Electi sunt it aque ante mundi constitutionem ea praedâ—stinatione in qua Deus sua futura opera praescivit who by merits understood nothing else but good works and thus he is a down
Corrept Correct p. 56. and divers more which D. Reynolds had quored in his Epistle p. 5. in a meer literal sense when as yet first in my Corrept Correct p. 69. 70. I had expresly told him that that saying of mine out of D. Ames Sensus Scripturae est tantum unicus isque Grammaticus holds not alwayes but only then when the Letter is not plainly metaphorical typical or contrary to other more plain places and the clear Analogy of faith And sure I take it to be against the two latter for to maintain God to be the Authour of sin or as he most maliciously and hatefully expresseth me the Fountain or cause of sin 2. It is plain to any who doth but list to take notice how I explain the places formerly mentioned whensoever I touch upon them that I do not take the most of them in a mere Grammatical and literal sense but in a figurative for whereas God according to the Letter of many of those Texts seems to be made a moral cause of sin as sin I do every where make it evidenâ— that I do only believe God to be a natural Cause of the mere act of sin (a) Dominicus à Soto de Nat. Grat. lib. 1. cap. 18. Quamvis permulti sint quibus non sit explicatu facile quo modo in odio Dei quod internam habet indivisam malignitatem posset Deus causam esse entitatis culpae vero non item non tamen est ita intellectu difficile In moralibus inquit ille prorsus est verò judicaturque causa qui lege ope consilio favore vel persuasu movet quempiam sive ad bonum sive ad malum At que his modis rationibus universos Deus movet ad bonum honestum neminem autem ad malum without which it is impossible that any sin can be committed but that he is only a mere accidental Cause of the obliquity of the act of sin wherein alone the formality of sin is consisting and from whence alone sin's denomination ought to be taken Thirdly I had just reason for bestowing some sound Correptory Correction on him and by many Arguments from Corrept Correct p. 84. to 86. to correct him for his receding too far from the literal sense of the fore-quoted Scriptures whilest as may be seen in his 14 15 16. pages of his Correct Copy and set down out of it by me Corrept Correct p. 83. unto all which he is as mute as a Fish he will not have them to allow of God's so much as permitting sin but in an equitable sense and that is as it signifies not to hinder by main force and that he disposes and orders them to the best advantage And yet never first will he or any body else by the help of his Melancthon and I cannot tell who besides whom he mentions p. 26. be ever able to prove that the Scripture-phrases of hardning of mens hearts of giving them over to their own hearts lusts of blinding their eyes c. as they are paenal acts of the Almighty can by so soft interpretations be put off Secondly Nothing hath been so usual to the men of his way I mean the Arminians as under colour of receding a little from the Letter of several Texts which in Rom. 9. 11. 18. Phil. 2. 13. Heb. 8. 10. 10. 16. and elsewhere make against them to overthrow all at once both the Letter and the true meaning of the Scriptures And some reason I had to be jealous of Mr. T. P. this way Fourthly Though I have in many places of my Correptory already shewed and shall be forced again else-where to do in what sense I maintain God efficaciously to permit sin viz. only in such a sense as renders God free from all guilt of sin is no way destructive to sinful mans Liberty when he sins and so makes him the only Delinquent yet I shall think it fitting once for all in the margin (b) Thes Salvian de providentiâ Dei in mal pag. 186. Praeter nudam permissionem esse aliquam Dei efficaciam in perpetratione mali contendunt alii alii negant acerrimè Illine quid Divinâ providentiá subtrahant aut eam in rerum humanarum procuratione negligentius versari dicant quà m admirabilem Dei sapientiam decet hinc Deo labem aliquam aspergant quasi esset auctor peccati utrique metuentes ne in scopulum aliquem incurrant Certè uti natura Dei à peccato abhorret summoperè alienos nos esse ab eá sententia quae Deum peccati causam statuit juxta oportet Verum haud facilè quicquam Deo indignius dici potest quà m ut vel conniventibus oculis omnia temerè ferri patiatur vel omnia inspectare dicatur quidem veruntamen brachiis quasi complicatis otiose torpere putetur quasi eo sese abdicârit imperio quod in Creaturarum ratione praeditarum facultates obtinet à naturâ Neque enim consentaneum est ut imperium illud peccato Diaboli hominum perdiderit neque ut id amplius exercere non possit immunis à labe Equidem non negaverim aliquibus in locis Scripturae Sacrae verba quae efficientiam Deo tribuere in eo genere videntur sic esse interpretanda ut facere dicatur quod non impedit quia solus id impedire potest veluti cum indurare hominum cerda dicitur quia non emollit ut Hebraicè vivificare dicitur is qui non occidit Quae est alicubi Augustini sententia At ut taceamus negationem illam actionis quâ sola indurationem impedire valuit esse ab aliquo Justo Judicio plurima loca sunt in quibus Scriptura magis emphaticè loquitur quà m ut ad solam permissionem revocari possint Scilicet cum Deus magnopere Iratus Davidi fore denunciat ut quod flagitium clanculum admisit id in apertâ luce adeoque in conspectu Solis vindicet putandumne est eum nihil aliud sibi velle quà m ut Absalomi nesarios coâ—atus non reprimat sinatque furere intemperanteâ— Aut cum Joseph negat alius quà m Dei ipsius operâ factum esse ut in Aegyptum descenderet nihil ne significat praeterquam quod non impedivit quominus venderetur Sonant sane illa verba aliquid amplius Istud verò quod nihil neque Judaei neque Judas in proditione crucifixione Christi fâ—cerunt quam quod Dei confilium atque manus factum iri decreverat non nisi admodum frigide dilutè sic tamen T. P. p. 9. alibi passim de nuda permissione explicari potest Aug. Lib. de praedestinat Gratiâ cap. 4. 2 Sam. 12. 11. Gen. 45. 8. Act. 4. 28. Huc accedit quod si Deus in eo genere efficit vitari quidem non possit quin mala perpetrentur haud enim aliter Creatura corrupta in peccatum ruit quà m ut aqua sponte naturá fluit
cause and head of our Election c. Answ Doubtless our Authour is frequently disposed to pretend amazement at my doings and yet without all peradventure when he never shakes or shivers at all Cum frigidus nullus obstruit praecordia sanguis He doth it without once changing colour for else 1. when I did but say that he gives out Faith and I might rather have said good works of all sorts to be the cause of Election for them in all his writings he rather delights to name than Faith he could have had no reason of complaining I specified not what kind of causes he took them to be I only said he took them to be causes And I trow he will grant me that Causa sine qua non or conditio sine qua non which even p. 39. whilest he disputes against me he grants Faith and good works to be of Election are in their kind to be reputed Causes 2. Whilest in the very next lines to the words which I have transcribed he doth out of § 55. of his Correct Copy quote it that good works are required as a necessary condition though very unworthy to be the cause of our Election 3. I will leave it to understanding Readers to judge whether this necessary condition which here he talks of amount not to somewhat more then a bare antecedent or a mere Causa sine qua non The rather because in other places he calls it the important coâ—â—â—tion without which Election cannot be had Nay that which p. 70. of his Correct Copy the very page which I had quoted against him makes the difference betwixt the Elect and Reprobate and that because as there he speaks as well as elsewhere those who are in Christ by faith are better then those who are out of Christ by infidelity who therefore are chosen when as others are left yea that without which it would be unjust for God to elect any man Correct Copy p. 71. Justification precedeth Election because no man is elected unless he differ from him that is rejected p. 69. Correct Copy whatsoever is justly decreed may be justly executed as it is decreed If he decreed to save any without regard or respect of their being such he might actually save them without respect to their being such So that â—e needed not so thrasonically to have boasted of his logical skill against me whom he looks upon and represents p. 63. as a meer ignaro in these matters to distinguish p. 63. betwixt the Cause propter quam res est for which a thing is and the necessary condition sine quâ non est without which it is not whilest in his own mentioned expressions he doth sufficiently confound them 3. Though he do very often times gull us as p. 70. Correct Copy Philanthrop Chap. p. 80. with good words that God makes the difference and crowns his own gifts in us c. yet how will it be possible for him to put any good sense upon these words who every where teacheth that these previous dispositions are precedent to Election that we are not choâ—en to Faith and good works and perseverance in them but that we are by Gods choosing foreseen to have them He likewise maintains Correct Copy p. 69. That God no otherwise executes his Decrees then he made them and ergo if in our first and eternal Election there were respect had to our faith good works and perseverance in them then suâ—e when in time he doth call us effectually Rom. 8. 28. which most Divines use to call our temporal Election from 1 Cor. 1. 26 27. he doth in like sort chuâ—e us for our Faith good works perseverance c. and all this sure will make them to be somewhat more then Causa sine qua non or conditio sine qua non even such things as being performed according to what the Judge requires do move his will to bestow Election as a reward upon us as I have told him that one of his dear Remonstrants speaks (a) Nic. Grevinchov contra Ames p. 24. Contendo naturae legum ac conditionum praescriptarum omninó conveniens esse ut voluntas Judicis à conditione postulatâ praestitâ moveatur ad praemium Just as the Massilians of old Prosper in Resp ad 8. dubium Genuens Ipsa Electorum Praedestinatio non est nisi retributio Et evidenter Faustus Lib. 2. Cap. 3. Praescientia gerenda praenoscit post modum praedestinatio retribuenda praescribit Illa praevidet merita haec praeordinat praemia praescientia ad potentiam praedestinatio ad justitiam pertinet Philanthr p. 66. Reprobation is said to be an act of Justice and good works c. are the important condition without which Election will not be had 4ly Who that observes how often in the Correct Copy and elsewhere Mr. T. P. doth consound the Decree of Election with the Decree of Salvation will believe that Mr. T. P. makes Faith and obedience c. only to be necessary prâ—cedents unto life and Salvation and that he doth not also take them to be Causes of Salvation if not directly meritorious yet in some more then ordinary way procuring and causing Salvation Mind the drift of his Discourse against the Solifidians Sinner Impleaded from p. 332. to 337. 5ly If he will maintain that there is any the least Analogy betwixt his Doctrines of Election and Reprobation then as every where he maintains sin to be the meritorious Cause of Reprobation what reason hath he to deny that Faith and obedience are the meritorious Causes of Election which is opposite to Reprobation 6ly Who can believe that all in haste Mr. T. P. will in heart differ whatsoever in words he may seem to do from what he doth after his fashion most solemnly quote out of Prosper Austin Melancthon (b) Phil. Chap. 3. p. 77 Saints whom for his own turn he will elsewhere be thought to adore who as he saith did all agree That Gods Predestination was accordâ—ng to foreknowledge so as he made some Vessels of honour and some of dishonour even for this cause because he foresaw their several ends of what wills they would be and what would be their actions under the assistance and help of grace Mark that Prosper in these words speaks neither his own or Austins sense but that of the Massilians or Semi-Pelagians Is there any thing in the genius of any of Mr. T. P's singular Doctrines which should move him to enter a dissent from these sayings § 2. As for what he adds of Christs being the means and the meritorious cause of our Election Answ There might be some reason to take some more then ordinary notice of it 1. If he had made it his business as well to have proved it as after Arminius and others to have dictated it 2. If he would have thought it worth the while to have confuted any of Dr. Twisse his large Discourses against it unto which I had about it referred him in my Corrept
too p. 108. he quotes out of Biel Soncinas Scot Gabriel what any fresh man of a moneths standing in either University would and could as judiciously have quoted out of his greasie Jack-Seton Ramus Schibler Crucius Elementa Burgersdicii or any the most vulgar Logician 3. If it be an Adaequate definition of a Cause in general that it is that cujus vi res est then sure it cannot be very inadaequate to the efficient cause which hath as much if not more of causality in it in reference to the effect than any other cause can have which all derive their causality from the first efficient Cause 4. It savours of no great Logick or Metaphysicks either that in all his whole Discourse he seems not yet to have learned that there is a vast difference betwixt a Physical real working cause of any thing which I did therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by way of eminency call the Efficient Cause and a morally metaphorical working or Efficient Cause which in distinction from the former I did therefore call the meritorious Cause of punishment I never denyed man to be the meritorious efficient Cause of his punishment but I maintained God to be the chief Authour of his punishment as the Decreer of it the inflicter of it which his Chap. 2. Correct Copy plainly denies 5. Dr. Twisse sure may be allowed to have bin trained up to some Logick and Metaphysicks and not to have been the meanest Proficient in either yet there be upon several occasions divers places wherein he commits as great Solacisms in Logick as my self when he distinguisheth betwixt the Efficient and meritorious Cause But perchance I ought to remember that the greater Logician and Metaphysician Mr. T. P. owes the Doctor a reckoning for using a Logical Maxim Philan. Chap. 3. p. 67. after so ignorant a manner as if he learned Mr. T. P. Aquila non Captat muscas (a) Doctor Twisse Lib. Vindic. p. 273. Sit remissio pecatorum etiam Sancti Spiritus effectio sed in genere causae efficientis quod tamen nihil obstat quominus statuatur remissionem peccatorum esse propriam mortis Christi effectionem in genere causae meritoriae Sit Paulo post c. Quemadmod in eandem fermè sententiam Lib. 1. p. 26. Irrogatio paenarum pendet à Deo tanquam à causa efficiente Physica sed quis dubitat pendere etiam à peccatis creaturarum tanquam à causis efficientibus moralibus alioqui neque Salus nostra pendere dicetur à Christo quaterus est causa ejus meritoria Lib. 2. p. 62. de hoc ipso argumento Licet peccatum quà peccatum duntaxat à creatura sit hoc tamen nihil impedit quó minus Deus concurrat ad actum peccati idque determinando Creaturae voluntatem ad agendum c. Ruina exitii paenae ex Creatura est tanquam à causa meritoria à Deo veró tanquam à causa efficiente had but so used it when he was but a raw Sophister he had been hissed out of the Schools and no doubt the Doctor shall be well payed the next time Mr. T. P. comes from France unto which belike he did at first go as his Journies end before his thoughts did so much as run upon that Country till he took shipping at Dover § 4. § 4. But I must travail from this to what followes next at large about sins having a proper efficient Cause and a true positive entity p. 110 111. Chap. 4. 20 21. 33. In the handling of which I think it will abundantly be made evident that he is forsaken by all sound Divinity and Divines as well as of all true Logick and Philosophy if not to all common honesty in the misrepresenting the known Judgement of his adversaries In which that we may proceed the more distinctly not only because the matter is to admiration and astonishment by all confessed to be most abstruse to the most quick piercing eyes b but also because it is the last rotten guilded Pillar upon which all the rest in this gawdy flourishing Pamphlet doth rest I will walk in this method First I 'le represent what was that which he takes as an occasion for all this Discourse (b) Salvian de Gubernat Dei Lib. 3. Si quis ad omnes humanae rationis quaestiunculas responsum expectet audiat Salvian Possum quidem rationabiliter satis constanter dâ—cere Nescio secretum consilium divinitatis ignoro Sufficit mihi ad causae hujus probationem dicti Caelestis oraculum Deus á se omnia dicit aspici omnia regi omnia judicari Si scire vis quid tenendum sit habes literas sacras Perfecta ratio est hoc teâ—ere quod legeris Qua causa autem Deus haec de quibus loquimur ita faciat nolo à me requiras Homo sum non intelligo secreta Dei investigare non audeo ideo etiam attentare formido quia hoc ipsum genus Sacrilegae temeritatis est si plus scire cupias quam sinaris Sufficiat tibi quod Deus à se agi ac dispensari cuncta testatur August in Psal 148. Si nos non intelligimus quid quare fiat demus hoc providentiae ipsius quia non sit sine causa non blasphemabimus Quum enim caeperimus disputare dâ— operibus Dei quare hoc quare illud non debuit sic facere male fecit hoc ubi est laus Dei perdâ—disti Halle-luia Omnia sic considera quo modo placeas Deo laudes artificem Quia si intrares in officinam fortè fabri ferrarii non auderes reprehendere folles incudes malleos Da imperitum hominem nescientem quid quare fit omnia reprehendit Sed si non habeat peritiam artificis habent saltem considerationem hominis quid sibi dicit non sine causa hoc loco folles positi sunt Artifex novit quare et si ego non novi In officina non audet vituperare fabrum audet reprehendere in hoc mundo Deum Secondly I 'le show what the Opinion of the best reformed Churches and of her most eminent Doctors is in this matter and particularly what Dr. Twisse understands by Efficax decretum in the matter of sins permission Thirdly Evidence how horridly wicked abâ—urd and foolish M. T. P's Opinion is which in this Section and else-where he doth maintain Fourthly I will by Gods help take off the Objections which make him so insolent and scornful against the Orthodox § 1. About the occasion taken for his Scriblings from p. 110. and up and down elsewhere about Gods agency in or about sin the positiveness or privativeness of it its efficacious permission c. All this long talk which fills up by far more than half of all that which is upon any just account argumentative in this his Philanthropy was occasioned by what Correct Copy p. 14. he talks of Gods permitting of sin only
hanc abyssum discutiendam inscrutabilia perscrutanda expectatio vestrae caritatis impingat Agnosco modulum meum sentire mâ—hi videor etiam modulum vestrum Altius est hoc incrementis meis fortius viribus meis puto quia vestris c. Si quis autem istam quaestionem liquidius ac melius nôrit se posse exponere absit ut non sim paratior discere quà m docere 2. When Mr. B. saith Corrept Correct p. 79. that the sinning Creature is the sole efficient Cause of his sin he quite forgets to subjoyn the very next words If there can be an efficient Cause of that whose very being is consisting in a deficâ—ency 3. Sin being such a complicated unhappy thing as it is alwayes made up of an act and its obliquity Mr. B. might well say in different respects that sin hath a true efficient Cause and yet hath only when he speaks most properly of sin as sin a deficient Cause which yet in this moral matter is tantamount to an efficient Cause as to the Sinner Defectus est causa secunda in Aquin. Lib. 3. advers Gent. Object 4. p. 113. He is for a necessity of infallibility as well as of Coaction Answ Neither he nor Doctor Twisse whom in these matters he hopes he shall never be ashamed to have followed very much allowes not at all of any necessitation or coaction of mans will which they hold (a) See Dr. Twisse vindic Lib. 2. p. 22. 27 28. 30. Sed quid dico motionem Dei qua voluntas humana movetur immediate non semper esse per viam compulsionis cum potius in confesso sit voluntatem ipsam cogi non posse neque compulsionem pati Thom. Aquin. Lib. 3. advers Gentiles Cap. 72. Divina Providentia non excludit contingentiam in rebus nec eis imponit necessitatem quia non excludit causas secundas Ex causis autem Proximis effectus dicuntur necessarii vel contingentes non ex Remotis Causis cannot be forced by God himself they allow only of a necessity of infallibility which by his principles Mr. T. P. nor any of his party will ever be able to maintain Object 5. If the Cause of sin is only deficient not efficient what will become of the difference betwixt sins of omission and sins of commission p. 113. Answ 1. It will be as easie to conceive how that distribution will hold as it is easie to conceive that Mr. T. P's Horse is ouâ— or is in an error as well when he goes too fast as when he goes too slow He may have heard of a Fellow who complained That his Horse did stand still faster then another mans could go on Salisbury Plain (b) Vide Dr. Twisse Answer to Dr. Jacksons vanities Dr. Ames medulla Lib. 1. Cap. 14. §. 12. 2. He is miserably out if he think the distribution betwixt sins of Omission and Commission to be a distribution of things different in their kinds when as they do only differ in their modes of acting for in every moral Omission there is a voluntary Commission more or lesse vice versâ and so both wayes there is a defect of what should be Object 6. Which in Mr. T. P's multifarious repetition of one and the same thing is his 7th and 8th p. 114. as if he wete rowling Sisyphus his cold stone How many Privations are there saith he of which God himself is the first and chiefest Cause The darkness of the night is a privation of light which yet was one of the famous works of his Creation Gen. 1. 4 5. The Stone and the Strangury the Feaver and the Pestilence are not only Privative of health and pleasure but they are constitutive of sickness and torment Answ 1. But will he allow of no difference betwixt Privations Physical and moral †Thom Bradward Lib. 1. Cap. 1. p. 65. Nonne secundum omnes vere Philosophantes omne malum scilicet pura malitia peccatum non est res aliqua positiva sed privatio vel carentia rei bonae aut cujuspiam bonitatis Privatio autem in Subjecto apto plenè tolli non potest nisi per plenam positionem habitus quem privabat non enim ibi potest medium inveniri Joh. Cameron defens contra Epistol Cujusdam viri docti p. 166. Tenebrae nil ut loquuntur in Scholis habent positivi Quâ—d enim aliud tenebrae sunt quà m lucis privatio betwixt Privations which are only Poenal in a moral sense as the Feaver Pestilence c. and Privations culpable Did ever man fansie that God by creating or effecting these things could become culpable but would not every one conclude that he would so if he were the proper Efficient Cause of sin as such Secondly By the help of all the Phylosophy and Divinity that he hath in his store it will be hard for him to show how God is the cause of the Privations which he mentions otherwise then by not affording or withdrawing light health ease c. Let that judicious both Divine and Philosopher the often mentioned Bishop of Salisbury be heard determining this point in his Animadvers p. 267. As for this distinction the same which Mr. T. P's p. 115. and in the same case of Negative and Positive Causing it is obscure and improper The Air hath heat and light from the Positive Cause of the Sun-beams darkness fogginess coldness followeth upon the Negation of the Sun-beams and yet neither the Sun nor his beams nor the retractions of his beams are the true and proper causes of coldness or darkness in the Air. The Reason himself hath touched upon because those dispositions or qualities in the Air issue not from the Sun per subordinationem effecti ad eausam but out of the nature of the Aire only That is a cause Per quam res est id quod est Thus the Sun is the true cause that the Air is hot and light If by vertue flowing from the absent Sun it be made dark then might we call the Sun a cause of darkness In proportion we say the same of God If from his decree of non-election there flow any darkness or pravity into mans will or any crookedness sinfulness into his actions there were some colour in terming him a negative cause of mans sin but this shall he never be able to demonstrate Object 7. In Mr. T. P. his p. 115. the 9th Every privation praesupposeth a habit which every sin cannot do because a man may be covetous or cruel who never was liberal or compassionate Answ And so in every sin committed by any sinner it cannot but be granâ—ed that he hath or at least in his first Parents once had an habit to forbear all sin which it is yet his duty to have and his defect to want Eccles 7. 29. Object 8. In him his tenth p. 115. is for the most part of it readily granted him viz. That the Agent that is