est pars And then have inquired after the species by these Dichotomies Causa alia per se agit alia per Accidens Causa efficiens per se est vel totalis vel partialis Causa Totalis vel sufficiens vel adaequata Causae partiales quae sociae dicuntur sunt vel ejusdem vel diversi ordinis And again these latter must be considered secundum latitudinem vel secundum vim agendi Quoad Latitudinem alia est universalis alia particularis Secundùm vim agendi alia est Principalis alia instrumentalis Again the Causa principalis as 't is considered in 4. manners so is either magis or minus principalis And the later is motiva primae And this being of two sorts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sin will be found to be exactly the later of these two For the will of man in strict speaking is the immediate efficient cause of his sin that is to say of determining it self to this or that thing which is forbidden by God Almighty and is so the immediate efficient of that which is the motive to or meritorious efficient Cause of punishment that is the efficient of the efficient But for fear Mr. B. should not be able to understand what is Metaphysicall and I may very well feare it whilst I finde him so unintelligent in these affaires as to say that a Cause is not efficient because it is meritorious which is as if he should have said it is not efficient because it is efficient I will open my selfe to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the grossest and most familiar and plainest manner that he can wish And I will doe it so much the rather because he complains in several places of his book that he hath plumbâ—ous Cerebrosities to use his own Bumbast to be indoctrinated He knowes the Parent is the efficient Cause of the Childe And he knowes the relation betwixt the sinner and the sin the sin and the punishment is expressed in Scripture by that of a Father to a Childe Joh. 8. 4. the Divel is a liar and the Father of it And by that of a Mother to a Childe Jam. 1. 15. lust conceaving 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bringeth forth sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and sin being finished bringeth forth Death From such Texts as those O Israel thou hast destroyed thy selfe Hos 13. 6. And they shall bring upon themselves swift destruction 2 Pet. 2. 1. Man is concluded suppliciorum suorum Faber He is the parent of his sin his sin of his punishment which is not the less its ofspring because it is its wages too Rom. 6. 23. on the contrary the sinner is therefore the efficient because the meritorions Cause for he could not make to himselfe a punishment unlesse by sin he did deserve it By one man saith the Apostle Sin entered into the World and Death by Sin Romans 5. 12. Now the Cause of the Cause is the Cause of the effect The Father of the Father is we know the Grandfather but the sinner we finde is more in relation to his punishment not only its immediate but only Parent For sin being an accident cannot exist without the subject of its Inherence It s very being is in concreto It is impossible to fancy or imagine sin without the connotation of some kinde of sinner Sin in the abstract cannot be much less be active without the sinner nor by consequence effective of any thing whatsoever And although we speake catachrestically true when we say that sin is the Cause of Punishment yet our speaking is more exact when instead of sin we say the sinner Wilfull man effects his â—…n and so is causa efficiens and being by sin become a sinner effects his punishment because his sin and so is causa efficiens still Which Mr. B. and his Masters not considering or not conceiving have ruin'd themselves with the distinction of sins not having an efficient but only a deficient Cause which will inferr it not an efficient but only a deficient cause of punishment since it cannot have more of Entity then the cause of its production But the pitifulness of that distinction will soon appear For 1. If man is the cause of sin and not efficient he must then be either the material or Formal or Final Cause for if the deficient Cause be none of these 't is not a cause Nor will any man pretend that it is either of those three And if it is not a Cause then hath sin no real being because no Cause And so it cannot be in any sense the Cause of punishment and so God will be jnferred to punish men without Cause 2. Malum non habere Causam efficientem when said by any in the Metaphysicks is the same thing as to say malum est non ens For as that must be something which is caused by something so out of no-cause we know that no-effect can be produced Efficient and effect are reciprocally converted both in the affirmative and in the negative So that where there is no-efficient there is no-effect that is to say there is nothing But Mr. B. saith expresly that sin hath no-efficient as in other places so in his p. 79 and his reason is because it wholy consists in a deficiency and by consequence is nothing and so according to him men are punished eternally for just nothing in the world 3. If wicked man is no more then the deficient cause of sin he is not so much the cause of it as God himself in their account who say he absolutely wills that sin shall fall out p. 78. and that he doth determine it shall be done p. 79. that he did voluntarily decree it should fall out p. 73. that his permissive will of sin is efficacious p. 196. p. 54. that he* creates and* commands it and by no less then an* impulse excites men to it That Gods will is as a efficacious in relation to sin as in the production of good and so efficacious as to be a irresistible and by consequence to necessitate sin So that their distinctions of a permissive and effective will or of efficient and efficacious cannot stand them in any stead and are made appear to be but figleaves to cover the nakedness and the shame of those frightful expressions as Mr. B. himself calls them by a periphrasis p. 56. For Dr. Twisse saith plainly That the Divine will is no less efficacious to the doing of that which is sin permittendo then to the doing of that which is good efficienâ— do To what purpose doth he distinguish those two members of his period by permittendo efficiendo whilst he ascribeth as great an efficacy to the will of God in the production of sin as in the production of virtue for the word praestandum is used in both and so is the word efficax And a non minus in the one implyes a non
magis in the other Nor will it helpe him much to say He meant no more by efficacâ—ous permission then Gods withdrawing his Grace and all other hinderances which he might interpose to keepe from sin For this will have no place at all in all those sins which are committed against his Grace Grace being not withdrawn whilst 't is receiving resistance but after 't is resisted When God calls and enables and moves us to obedience and only doth not force us to it or disable us to disobedience it is abominable to say He efficaciously permits it Though God may be said to be efficacious in making man as he is in a peccable conditition whom he might if he had pleased have made impeccable yet that being supposed and the same God giving Grace to inable this man at this time to abstain from the commission of this or that sin which needs must be granted in all that resist the grace of God there can be no new efficacy of God Almighty in thus permitting the sinner that is to say in not forcibly stopping him from that Commission And to place it without question that Dr. Twisse intends an equality in the operation of Gods will as to wicked or good Events he immediately adds not many lines after That the will of God is no less efficacious through his sole permission then from his positive effection By which two last words positive and effection we may discern what they mean by the abstruse point as Mr. B. calls it p. 54. of Gods efficacious permission of sin And the word efficacious ab efficiendo being used in Authors and set down in Dictionaries to signifie prevalent forcible effectual available and the like how can that be only a deficient Cause which is efficacious determining ordaining and irresistible but God saith Mr. B. and his Friends is all that which I have shewed from their forecited pages and man say they is but a deficient Cause therefore God by them is concluded to be more the Cause of sin then the very sinner that commits it 4. If this point is so abstruse that Mr. B. doth not understand it why doth he talk That into the Vniverse of Readers which is arrant gibbrish to himselfe but if it is not so abstruse why doth he talke off and on affirming and denying the very same thing E. G. in his p. 79. he saith the sinning Creature is the sole efficient Cause of his sin Yet in his p. 55. he said that sin hath no efficient Cause Again p. 79. he saith that sins very Being is consisting in a deficiency And by the word Being he needs must mean its existence and so doth confess it to be something real For that must be something which God ordaineth And he saith directly that every thing is ordained by God giving no other Instance then that of sin Which though he affirmeth to be ordained well enough by God yet he saith it is not effected by him giving this reason that sin is only a privative not a positive Entity Which is as much as to say that God can and doth ordain every privative Entity that is to say every sin but he effecteth nothing but positive Entities The meaning of which if it is sense must needs be this that he ordaineth the commission of sin by his Creatures but he committeth not sin himselfe That is He is the Cause but He is not the Instrument or he is the first Cause but not the second He doth it per alios but not perâ—se For if Mr. B. shall plead that his meaning is only this that sin is but a privation and so is not effected by any thing he will rather be in a worse pickle The conclusion being unavoidably to be this that no creature can effect sin and by consequence no creature can commit it These are some of his vile absurdities but these are not all For he presently adds sin hath only a deficient not an efficient cause Which being compared with the first words of that period every thing may well enough be absolutely ordained by God doth most evidently inferr that Gods absolute ordination of sin from whence it receiveth the necessity of its being is the deficient Cause of sin For though he should distinguish of Gods ordaining to permit and not effect it yet it helpes him not at all if we remember duly that he means an efficacious permissive will such as necessitates the thing determined as much as a positive effection as hath been shewed And he is for a necessity of Infallibility as well as of Coaction And to excuse the ugliness of that saying above mentioned he adds the contradictory to it God can ordain nothing but good By which he must mean unless he retract his other sayings That sin is good in as much as it is absolutely ordained by God but evil in as much as God forbids it or as it is committed by man For he saith p. 73. 78. 79. that God doth absolutely will that he doth voluntarily decree that he doth determine sin shall be done that it shall fall out or come to pass 5. It being granted by Mr. B. that sin hath a Being and an Entity it must also be granted that it either exists of it selfe or is effected by something else He cannot say the former that being the priviledge of God alone he must therefore confess the later that sin is effected by some other thing And what is effected doth imply an efficient for they are relata secundum esse being both founded in the Creature and so the cause of sin is not only deficient 6. If the Cause of sin is only deficient not efficient what will become of the difference betwixt sins of Omission and sins of Commission betwixt not praying and cursing not giving Almes and committing Saoriledge if the Cause of the first were only deficient wich yet is as irrational yet sure the Canse of the second must needs be efficient For the Cause must needs be more noble then the effect And in genere causarum the deficient if such there were would be less noble then the efficient Now Cursing and Sacriledge and other sins of Commission and I may say of Omission too are effects with a witnesse And then their causes cannot be lesse 7. Where was the Logick of Mr. B. when he concluded sin to have a cause only deficient from its having only a privative Entity for admit what he swallow's the meerly privative Entity of sin which yet is most false can there be any thing so illogicall as to argue the privativenesse or negativenesse of the cause from the privativenesse of the Essect How many privations are there of which God himself is the first and chiefest cause the darknesse of the night is a privatton of light which yet was one of the famous works of his Creation Gen. 1. 4 5. And will Mr. B. say that God is but Causa deficiens non efficiens
being committed even to final Impenitence should become that Requisite to the production of punishment which being suppos'd must needs be followed with its effect man is the sole efficient Cause of his eternal punishment that is to say he is the Cause of his being punished of deriving upon himselfe a right to punishment not of the Torments of Hell in themselves which others suffer as well as he and which would have been Torments to others though he had not felt them but of his suffering the Torments of Hell or of the appertaining of those Torments to himselfe or of committing those sins of which those Torments are unavoidable effects Thus though God is the Maker and so the Father of mankind yet he having ordained not to make every man as he did Adam out of the Earth nor every woman as he did Eve out of the man's left side but that by the union of man and woman both men and women should be produced we truly say that the Parents are the efficient Causes of their Sons and Daughters It is not as Mr. B. doth inconsiderately suppose either the Law-giver or the Law by whom and which a Felon is ordained to be hanged It is not the Plaintiff the witness the Counsellor or the Judge the Iury the Goaler the Sheriff or the Gibbet it is not the Carpenter who made the Gibbet on which the Felon is to be hanged nor the Hangman by whom nor the Halter with which it is not any nor all of these to which the Death of the Felon or Malefactor can be so imputable as to himself He is therefore the most considerable efficient who by the Malefaction of his Fellonie did call Death to him and pulled destruction upon himselfe with the worke of his hands as the Book of Wisdom speaks of the greatest punishment of all his o conceiving of his sin o brought forth his punishment All the Catalogue of Requisites to the condition of his punishment did no more then give a due connexion of the Cause to its effect His maâ—efaction was the Root from which his punishment did grow and so his sufferings are but the fruit of his guilty doings He sought out death in the error of his life and is but filled with his Devices He hath rewarded evil unto himselfe 4. One sin sometimes becomes the Punishment of another and the greater of the less In which case say I the former sin is the Cause and efficient Cause of the later Which if Mr. B. shall deny he must according to his reasonings against my second Chapter affirme God the efficient of the greater sin and man only the efficient or rather the Deficient of the lesser because the greater sin which follows is the punishment of the lesser which goes before and he denieth that man is the efficient Cause of his punishment But if he shall not deny it he grants the whole Cause against which he hath taken such exceeding great pains Unless he can give a solid reason why a Man who by Sin is the Cause of one punishment may not also by more sin become the Cause of another From whence it follows 5. That the Scripture speaks very truly and properly when it connecteth punishment with six by a conjunction Causal Such as For. And wherefore and therefore and because Nor was it nonsense or a lye which was said by Solomon that the wicked shall eat of the fruit of their own way and the turning away of the simple shall slay them Prov. 1. 31 32. And therefore 6 It was judiciously spoken of Mr. Hooker who hardly knew to speak otherwise our selves we condemn as the only Causes of our own miscry Let the Reader compare Mr. Hooker's saying and mine and judge which is liable to most exception He saith the Causes of Misery but I of Punishment He saith the only Causes I the only efficient And where Mr. B. doth pretend to wrest the suffrage of so great an Author out of my hand in his p. 86 he spoyles his very pretensions in these few words which confirme the saying of Mr. Hooker and much more mine All that he saith hath been most readily consented unto by men less liked by you After this he adds something in pretence of exposition to Hookers words so perfectly impertinent either to Hookers meaning or his own purpose as sheweth his necessity exceeding great He will only say something that his Reader may not see he hath nothing to say Mr. B. there saith p. 86. that even those very things of which Gods absolute Will is the Cause yet as they stand in relation to each other they have many other causes and lawes besides Gods absolute will And this he saith that Mr. Hooker doth say in effect But first it is as contrary to that saying of Hooker which I produced as any thing can be spoken Secondly I aske are those words true of Sin it selfe in Mr. B. his account and are they less true of punishment 7. The repeated saying of Melancthon in that part of his works in which he used his greatest Care and writ with greatest consideration as appears by his Epistle to our King Henry the eighth will put this matter without all doubt And so much the rather because Mr. B. commendeth him p. 129. for Depth of learning Calmeness Prudence and Moderation yea and as none of my party yet saith he it is certain that the sin of men and their will is the Cause of their Reprobation and to assure us of his meaning he saith a little after The Cause of Rejection and Reprobation Which though the same in effect with the words of my Thesis in my Second Chapter yet are the words of Melancthon much more liable to exception if any such as Mr. B. would quarrell with him and since Mr. B. doth charge me as an Arminian with falsehood and impudence as often as I make Melancthon on my party I will say a few things to shew how little of Truth or of Modesty there is in that expression First in general it is known by all that are tolerably knowing in such things as these that as Melancthon grew older and so more learned and wiser too he grew an enemy to those opinions which he had formerly been of and which Mr. B. doth now assert Next it appears in particular to any man that shall read his common places de Causâ peccati de Praedestinatione wherein he took as great care to speak the Truth with moderation as he ever did in any worke if not much greater that he speaks as precisely against the Doctrines of Mr. Calvin as I have done in my Notes Nor is it likely that he could be a Calvinist who is so much in the favour of learned Grotius and Erasmus But he that was once against Publick Schools might also once have entertained other Errors and yet afterwards retract as well the one
them from doing what he sees they will doe if they be not restrained is said very properly to punish sins with sins yet the former words are so blasphemous as not to be capable of any tolerable excuse That God made men such as that they might be able to sin yea he made them to this end or purpose that they really might sin That God by a secret force as by a hidden Rope doth drag wicked men to attain those ends which they think not of To which they are directed without their least purpose or indeavour just as arrows are shot out of a Bow without being sensible whither they are going which though true in one sense is blasphemous in another That God chose some and reprobated the rest for this reason only that he might manifest the Glory of his power in handling those that were equal unequally That the subduction of Grace and of its means even Excecation and Induration and Perseverance in â—ins are the fruits of God Rejection or the things which follow from or out of his rejection That it is incomprehensible yet beleeved by us how it is just to damn such as doe not deserve it That it is not agreeable or fitting to ascribe the preparation to destruction to any other then the hidden counsel of God That Reprobates are compelled with a Necessity of sinning and so of perishing by this Ordination of God and so compelled that they cannot chuse but sin and perish This is usher'd in with a Damus we grant That all who are predestin'd to the End are predestin'd to the means without which they cannot attain unto the end The common means are three The Creation and Fall and Propagation of man That God made men to diverse ends and some to the end that they might suffer eternal Torments He appointed also or ordained that those men being intire should fall from their Integrity And that for this reason that whom he had created for Destruction he might reprobate to this end that he might punish them out of Justice That the Denial of Grace and Sins are the consequents of Reprobation Sins are the Punishments of Sins to all which God preordained Reprobates from all Eternity That God's first constitution was that some should be destin'd to eternal Ruin And to this end their Sins were ordained and desertion and denial of Grace in order to their sins That the first man as he was made upright in body and in soule by the divine Providence so by the Counsel of the same God he contrâ—cted that stain which by no humane meanes can be blotted out his Innocence being lost by his Disobedience he contracted that stain is the same as to say he committed that sin That all things Which shall be shall be by the inevitable Counsels and Decrees of God without any distinction betwixt good and evil That Satan is judged to be the Author of evil whether of sin or of punishment one way and God another way aliter Satan malorum quà m Deus sive de malo quod in culpâ sive de eo quod in poenâ cernitur loquamur Author judicatur esse So Zuinglius speaks of Adultery and Murder as the * worke of God the * Author of it That God doth stirr up the Divell to lye And is in some manner the Cause of sin And thrusteth on the wills of the wicked to grievous sins That God doth will and necessitate sin that men do ill to distinguish betwixt Gods Will and Permission that no man can be free from necessitation that all men who doe any thing for love or Revenge or Lust though free from Compulsion yet their Actions may be as necessary as those that are done by Compulsion whether this is not the upshot of Mr. Hobs his Doctrine in those pages which for brevities sake I have thus expressed in this Epitome of his sense I leave it to be judged by such as have leisure to consult him That God is the Author not of those Actions alone in and with which sin is but of the very pravity Ataxy Anomie Irregularity and sinfulness it self which is in them Yea that God hath more hand in mens sinfulness then they themselves That Reprobates are therefore not converted because God will not have them to be converted Yea That God calls men to Christ but will not have them come for it pleaseth him not to draw them which is absolutely necessary to their coming And seeing they were dead in sins and obnoxious to damnation before that Christ is preached to them it must necessarily follow that Christ is preached to them to aggravate their Damnation That God predestin'd whom he pleased not only to Damnation but the Causes also of Damnation of this Beza saith agnosâ—imus esse verum we acknowledge it too true That both the Reprobates and the Elect were preordained to sin as sin In as much as the goodness and Glory of God was to be declared by it That as God did so deprive Reprobates of his Grace as that they cannot sin so he also ordained or destin'd them to this condition that they cannot but of their own Nature commit variety of sins That a Necessity of sinning and of sinning unto Death without Repentance doth lye upon Reprobates from Gods immutable Reprobation This is with a non dubitamus conâ—iteri That if God wrought or acted the wicked man to punishment it follows that he acted him or wrought him to sin also because unless sin preceded he could not justly punish him That God made men with this intent or to this purpose that they might really fall Because he could not attain his principal ends any otherwise then by this course That the word of God doth dictate that God doth predestine men to their very sins and that by an absolute Decree note that this is by way of Answer to Vorstius his Question That men were constituted and ordained to disobedience by Gods decree That he ordained Reprobates to their very Incredulity That he took care to have his Temple prophaned That he commanded by the secret Impulse of some evil spirit and moved the will of Shimei to curse David That men were predestinated precisely to both evils Both that they may eternally be punished and that they may Necessarily sin Yea that they may therefore sin that they may be justly punished That the Rebellion of the Reprobates doth depend upon the Antecedent will of God That God doth necessitate man to sin to the end that he may punish him for sin That though Reprobates are Predestin'd to damnation and to the Causes of Damnation and created to that end that they may live wickedly and be vessels full of the dregs of sins yet it follows not that God's absolute Decree of Reprobation is the Cause of all the villanies and lewdnesses in the world because
besides the sins of the Reprobates there are also other villanies and lewdnesses committed namely by the Elect. let the Reader here imagin what Piscator will have to be the Cause of the hainous crimes committed by the Elect if not the very Decree of Election since he expresly affirmeth the Decree of Reprobation to be the Cause of all the wickednesses committed by Reprobates And whensoever they say that God's Decree is the Cause of wickedness they mean that God himself is the Cause of wickedenss for they cannot but confess that God's Decree is God himself as I can shew if any deny it according to the School-maxime Quicquid dicitur de deo est Deus That God doth will and make us to sin And that he doth us no injury in making us sin because we are willing to be made sin And volenti non fit injuria And in the next page that nothing is future but by the will of God going before as the Cause of what is future That God works all things in all men not only in the godly but also in the ungodly That nothing is done without God's will no nor without his operation For God worketh all things in all men Therefore he willeth and effecteth that ungodly men do live in their concupiscences That the sin of Incredulity doth depend upon God's Predestination as the effect upon the Cause this saith he is his Opinion or Tenent Yea he adds p. 25. that God doth effect in them an incredulity in as much as he blindeth them whilst the Gospel is preached Two things are here remarkable 1. He doth not say that God makes them only incredulous but effects or makes their Incredulity As if it were his sin in them and not theirs but by donation 2. He inferrs the only cause of their Incredulity to be this that God is their hinderance That God doth incite seduce draw command harden and inject deceptions and doth or maketh or effecteth those things which are hainous or grievous sins That it doth or at least may appear from the word of God that we neither can doe more good then we doe nor omit more Evil then we omit Because God from eternity hath precisely decreed that both the good and the evil should so be done That it is fatally constituted when and how and how much every one of us ought to study and love piety or not to love it we may Note that he useth the word debeâ—t as well as to non colere as to colere pietatem As if it were a mans Duty to be wicked when God hath precisely appointed him to be so And indeed upon their principle of Gods particular decree and precise determination and secret command that such a man shall be wicked he ought to be so indeed Piscator's Inference is very logically good however morally it is vehemently evil Now whereas in my Notes p. 15. 16. I said that God doth only permit sin that is to say doth not â—inder or doth patiently suffer it to be committed by the unconstrained or free-will of his Creatures and when he hath so permitted it to be committed doth wisely order or dispose it to the best advantage and draws good out of the evil not evil out of the good we see the Absolute Reprobatarians whom Mr. B. defendeth and admires do oppose against this reverent and safe stating of God's Permission that He doth absolutely decree it and effect it and command it and will it and seduce and stirr up and compell men to it and create men on purpose that they may commit it And much more then this as hath been shew'd in the Citations not from a few but from many of those Doctors nor from those of the least but of the greatest Note amongst the Masters of Mr. Barlee § 35. His 35th That I call in Poets if not Divels to help me to blaspheme p. 69. if the Reader will examine my two pages which he referrs to he will admire the strangeness of this complicated Invention 1. That I blaspheme 2. That I call in Poets Yea 3 Divels to helpe me The first place he fetcheth from the thirteenth page of my first Chapter Where the thing which I assert is meerely this That I am the Author of my own sins that Adam and the Serpent may be allowed as sharers but my God blessed for ever is none at all This I hope was no blasphemy Having proved this by Reason I made it good by Scripture too Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God Jam. 1. 13 14. this I hope was no blasphemy From that reason and that Scripture I next concluded that I durst not say with him in the Comaedian who had been a great sinner what if some God hath so decreed it and to say I durst not say so blasphemously I hope was no blasphemy The only Poet in that page was Terence and him I cited to condemn that horrid blasphemy Why then said Mr. B. that I called in Poets to help me to blaspheme 2. Mr. B. must say against what it was that I blasphemed Not against God for whose hatred of sin I was an Advocate nor against Scripture which I pleaded in my behalfe But against the wicked Heathen brought in by that Poet speaking just like those men who say as expresly as that Heathen did and my Quotations shall prove what I am speaking That God decreed that Adam should sin That sin is committed God willing decreeing and ordaining it yea forewilling foredecreeing and foreordaining it In so much that it could not but come to pass Yea farther that God doth secretly thrust men on to those same sins which he forbids Yea farther that God's will doth pass not only into the permission of the sin but into the sin it selfe which is permitted Thâ—t God did not only will the permission of Adams Sin but the sin it self which he permitted or it was Gods will that Adam should fall c. Yea farther yet that a wicked man doth sin by the Impulse of God as Mr. Calvin expresly words it Which word Impulse for which alone I cite the place is confessed by Dr. Twisse to note both a natural and moral action Yea farther yet if that is possible That as well the Elect as the Reprobates were praeordained to sin as sin reduplicativè that is to say in as much as it is sin in that very notion and respect in as much as it behooved the goodness and glory of God to be declared by it Now that these are the opinions and sayings not only of those Authors whom I have cited in the Margin but of very many others and of our Correptory Corrector in many places of his Volume I have prepared to demonstrate in my next Accompt of the most material things in his Declamation But Thirdly I have wrong'd the Heathen Poet and the Actor in his Play by
Grotius been called Socinian much more might be said to shew the absurdity of Mr. B's Answer and the force of the Argument from that Text which is yet found to be capable of no other Answer 7. I will now return to his former shift of saying that all doth onely signifie many when Christ is said to die for all The absurdity of which as I have shewed many wayes so may it be shewed many more As 1. From other places of Scripture where the Death of Christ is so universally expressed as to exclude the least exception He died for all that is for the world for the whole world for every man for them that are capable of perishing for them that deny him and are damned Texts so very much prevailing with Junius and Tilenus as to make them acknowledge the Antient Fathers ' distinction which Mr. B. derides so often of Gods Antecedent or conditionate will 1. That no man should perish 2. That all should come to repentance Which doth infer sufficient Grace to every man in the world as Prosper a hundred times confesseth and of â—are even Junius as well as he 2. From the nature of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pro For which needs must note either the end or the effect In respect of this later he died effectually for noâ—…â—ut â—ut the elect because they onely do beleeve and obey and syncerely repent and persevere unto the end which are the Conditions of the Covenant betwixt us and Christ and the respective Qualifications in the prescience of which we were Elected But in respect of the former He died intentionally for all and every one even for them that forsake him whom he never forsaketh untill he is forsaken by them As Prosper spake in his answer to one of Vincentius his Objections who yet of all mankinde is the least suspected to be Pelagian by our Correptorie Corrector and all of his way The goodnesse of God would have continued even on them if they had continued in his goodness as St. Paul expresseth the condition upon which the prâ—mises of God are made The Lord is with us whil'st we are with him If we seek him he will be found of us But if we forsake him he will forsake us as Azariah spake by the spirit of God In the former notion of the word for as it noteth the effect of our Saviours death he is said to lay down his life for the sheep and to have given himself for his Church But in the later notion of the word for as it noteth the end and by consequence the intention of our Saviours Death he is said to be the propitiation for the sins of the whole world and to have tasted Death for every man Thus the double notion of the particle for shews us an easie reconcilement of several Texts which may outwardly seem to disagree And if our Correptorie Corrector can neither prove another use of the particle pro for nor evade those absurdities which have risen from his Doctrine and wayes of proof I do conceive he is obliged to make a publick Recantation § 27. He saith Fulgentius makes it his businesse to confute my Second Chapter where he largely proves that though God do not predestinate men to sin yet he doth to their punishment for sin p. 43. Yet this is pleading for my second Chapter and not against it For sure supplicium punishment supposeth sin and so Gods Predestination of sinful men to punishment must needs be made in intuition of sin which to prove is the businesse of my second and third Chapters but Mr. B. takes his usual liberty of calling things as he pleaseth A respective Decree must be no Decree aâ—… when he has need to begg the Question He will not allow me to say in my second Chapter that the sin which God willeth not is the Cause of the punishment which God willeth onely for sin not for it self And yet he cites a * saying from Dr. Twisse That sin is acknowledged to be the cause of the will of God in reprobation quoad res volitas in respect of the punishment willed thereby If I had said that sin had been the cause of Gods will in any respect whatsoever as D. Twisse hath done Mr. B. would probably have called it blasphemy because Gods will is himself and the cause is ever before the effect but nothing is before the will of God and therefore nothing can be the cause of it But if the meaning of that Doctor was onely this that sin was that thing in respect of which or for whose sake the punishment of the sinner was will'd by God in his eternall Decree of Reprobation there is sense and Truth in what he spake And so he grants the whole Thesis against which he disputeth viz. That Gods Decree of reprobation is respective and conditional So our Correptorie Corrector is â—ain to do when he allows the distinction of Gods Antecedent and consequent will with this proviso that it be quoad res volitas and what Remonstrant did ever think otherwise for they that say that Gods decree of Reprobation is respective must understand something in the object in respect of which it is respective And what can that be but Sin which every punishment doth presuppose so that if Mr. B. or Dr. Twisse himself would not gainsay sometimes out of distaste and Animosity what they sometimes say when driven to it by necessity and pressing urgency of discourse a great part of our difference would be at an end and Mr. B. hence-forward would write no more Volumes against himself § 28. He saith they deny God to be the Author of sin whilst they repeat it at every turn that sin hath no efficient cause p. 55. How many very grosse absurdities do arise from this poor Salvo I have shew'd before and must not here make repetitions I shall only adde That Mr. B. and Dr. Twisse do ascribe to God Almighty an efficacious permission of sin and when they say he willeth and decreeth sin they say that will is efficacious We know that permission although active in sound is passive in signification For to permit is to suffer or not to hinder So that when they say an efficacious permission they say in effect an active passive a positive negative a forcible not-hindering and why should non sense be spoken and studied or the known sense of words be purposely abused and perverted if men were not conscious to themselves of some fowl Doctrine which must thus be cover'd and disguized but the disguise is so grosse that it stands in need of a disguise For Dr. Twisse affirmeth that his efficacious permissive will doth act as irresistibly as when it is effective which I have also shewed before and how are they thank-worthy who deny that blasphemy in one mode of speaking but assert it in another efficacious and efficient
B. Apud Hist Nar. p. 10. k Et quod neque per mortem vel praevaricationem Adae omne genus humanuÌ„ moriatur neque per Resurrectionem Christi omne genus humanuÌ„ Resurgat Aug. apud Hist. Nar. p. 6. l Rom. 5. 18. * This should be considered by Mr. B. who asks somewhere if Ch. died to save all why are not all saved and p. 174. from the fewnesse of the chosen he would make it a blasphemy to say that all were seriously called or that Christ desired the salvation of all Not having learnt that Christ is a conditional Saviour saving none for whom he died but such as do what he requires to be done * Correp p. 4. l. 13. 21. Of the grace of Perseverance 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. * How many faults he hath committed in his multa rara and what an English Latinist he is whose Latine makes him so gaye let any man judge * Defectio arguit fuisse derelictos Cujus supple derelictionis saith Mr. B. non potest alia adduci causa quam ☜ reprobatio c. p. 197. 6. Of Preventing Grace and Free will 1. 2. 3. 4. * Quod enim credimus nostrum est quod autem operamur illius August apud Hilar. Basil Edit p. 679. Of the Grace of Perseverance I. II. 1. 2. 1. 2. 3. †credendum est quosdam in â—ide quaeper dilectionem operatur incipere vivere aliquandiu fideliter justè vivere postea cadere neque de hac vitâ priusquam hoc ijs contingat auferri Aug. de correp Gra. c. 13. p. 1647. * So in his p. 217. he calls the very power of resisting Gods Grace which is not an act of resisting and so not guilty and which God himself was willing we should have a wretched miserable lying â—inful power Of Grace Resistible m Eph. 4. 30. n 1 Thes 5. 19. o Act. 7. 51. p Joh. 3. 19. q Iâ—a 1. 22. r Verse 21. s 1 Sam. 10. 22. t ch 15. 8 9. u ch 23. 14. w ch 14. 44. x ch 28. 7. y ch 31. 4. Exo. 32. 33. a Ex regeneratis in Christo Jesu quosdam relictâ— fide pijs moribus apostatare à Deo impiam vitam in suâ aversione â—iâ—ire multis quod dolendum est probatur exemplis sed horum lâ—psum Deo ascribere immodicae pravitatis est Quast ideo ruinae â—psorum Impulsor aâ—que author sit quia illoâ— ruituros propriâ ipsorum voluntate praescivit ob hoc à filijs perditionis nullâ predestinatione discrevit Prosper ad Gall. object 7. vide â—tiam 3. 3. ob Of Scripture Tradition and right reason 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. * Pulpit Patron part 2. c. 2. p. 197. Sect. 7. 6. * Sed quia multum laborant liberati quidam ut per suadeant hominibus â—a non esse quae sentiuntur hoc est ut hominibus â—culos effodiant nos laborabimus in hoc errore reâ—â—llendo Sebast Castel in Pref. ad Diaâ— * Itaque factum est ut plerique eorum qui nostrâ memoriâ Christianae Religionis notitiam funditus propemodum eversam instaurare sunt aggressi ad hunc lapidem offendâ—rint caeâ—eris Antiquioribus omnibus spretis unum Augustinum aut secuti aut certe se sequi persuasi tam absurdam imo nefariam detestandam opinionem quâ velint nolint Deus peccati primus auctor egregius simulator atque proh scelus turpiter mendax injustus esse necesâ—ario concluditur ac pietas universa convellitur imprudentes pro salutis nostrae praecipuo quodam fundamento obtruserint Viderunt hoc non pauci viri praestantissimi qui in plerisque satanae imposturis detegendis cum illis ipsis consenserunt Nec tanto malo obviam ire neglexerumt Atque ut eoâ— qui adhuc vivunt silentio praeteream ex iis vero qui obdormierunt quatuor tantummodo praecipuos commemorem c. Felix Turp in Praef. ad Castel 7. Of the cause of punishment eternall ☜ 1. 2. * Bishop Hall in his Select Thoughts Medit 34. 35. p. 102 103 to p. 107. * Quicquid ad aeternam damnationem ducit miseros mortales in gehennam praeeipiâ—at id omne nobâ—s nostrisque Demeritis imputemus à Deo longè faceâ—â—ere jubeamus Senten Davenan p. 20. this is just the Sense meaning of my words which I spake as M. Hooker did when he said our selves we condemn as the only causes of our own miserie l. 5. Sect. 72. Of the cause of punishment a Biel in 2. d. 1. q. 5. act 1. b Soncinas 12. Met. q. 3. c Scot. in 4. d. 1. quaest 1. ibid. Gabriel * Correp Corr. p. 33. 135. 178. Of the Cause of sin not deficient but efficient which shall be spoken of again ch 4. Sect. 21. 1. 2. z Correp Cor. p. 55. 3. How God is inferred by Mr. B. to be more the Cause of sin then man is or can be *** All this and more is asserted by Mr. B. in his asserting the 10. citations which I produced at the entrance of my Notes from his 59. page as farr as p. 68. 〈◊〉 a Vtramque voluntatem agnoscimus esse efficacem ut cui nemo possiâ— resistere Twiss Vin Gra. l. 1. part 1. Sect. 12. p. 140. of which I shall speak ch 4. Sect. 42. b Voluntas divina non minus est efficax ad praestandum quod peccatum sit permittendâ— quà m ad praestandum quod bonum sit efficiendo Id. ibid. c Ex quo fit ut per solam permissionem non minus efficax sit voluntas Dei quà m ex effectione positivâ Idem ib. And here Note that Piscator doth expound efficaciously by necessarily Saying that God doth efficaciously destine men to sin so as by the force of his destination men must necessarily sin Piscat Notis ad Am. Coll. Vorstij p. 157. 4. ☞ d Correp Cor. p. 178. 5. e p. 79. f p. 178. 6. 7. * Note that the 19. Article of the Augustan confession and so Melancthon do set down the will of the wicked as the positive cause of sinne Avertitse à deo ad alias res And the Ratisbon proposition was conceived in these words Causam peccati constat esse malam voluntatem Diaboli hominis se à Deo avertentem Quae malitia voluntatis non à Deo sed ex Diabolo nobis est And is the judgement of Cassander In Art 19. de Causa peccati 9. 10. ☞ * Deut. 32 35 A return to the point at first proposed The cause of of punishment h In his p. 97. k Ibid. l Causa efficiens positis omnibus ad agendum requisitis necessariâ— producit effectum Note that these are meant for illustrations and not as additionals to the arguing part m Wisd 1. 16. n Verse 1â— Jam. 1. 15. p Jer. 17. 10. ch 6. v. 19. q Wisd 1. 12. r Prov. 1. 31. ch 14. v. 14. s Isa 3.
9. 4. 5. t Prov. 1. 29. 31. Maâ— 25. 4â— Psal 81. 11. 12. Rom. 1. 21 24 25 26. Jer. 6. 19. 6. u Hooker Ecâ— Polit. l. 5. Sect. 72. ☞ The Reverend Bp. Hall saith the same in effect in his 34th Select Thought p. 103. 104. comparing a Reprobate to one that is a Felon of himselfe Bishop Davenant also is express that the Original and Cause of all Evils is not founded in God Reprobating but in the Reprobates themselves And that there is no such Decree of God by which Reprobates should be forced to Sin and Perish but alwayâ—s they Perish by their own voluntary Unbelief and Impiety Free and not Constrained Which how contrary it is to the common doctrine of Sub and Supralapsariâ—ns I shall shew by my Citations when I come to the 63 page of Mr. B. ☜ 7. w eo majore conâ—ilio Religione scribi debâ—bant quare majore curâ ac studio illa artis vestigia confector religionem fidem quam debemus rebus sacris praeâ—tare studui c. Melancth ad Hen. 8. ante loc Com. Edit 1536. x Causam Reprobâ—tionis certum est hanc esse viz. peccatum in hominibus humanam voluntatem paulâ— inferiùs Haec de causâ Rejectionis seu Reprobationis certa sunt Phil. Melancth in loco Praedestin p. 316. 317. Edit Basil 1562. Causa reprobationis in ipsis est p. 320. Correp Cor. p. 129 * Quam Lutheri sâ—ntentiam postea Philippus Melancton tum in Confessione tum in locis communibus correxit Cassand Consult de Praesci ad Art 19. page 134. †Confer Melanct loc Com. de Cau. Pec. p. 47. 48. cum Calvin Inst l. 3. c. 23. Sect. 4. p. 323. * Grotius observes that the Followers of Calvin were fierce and cruel but the Followers of Melancthon mild and gentle Vot pro Pace p. 18. y Nonne Melancthon damnavit Scholas publicas nune autem dicit maneant scholae quae bonae sunt vitia corrigantur Erasm in Epist l. 31. Ep. 59. p. 2127. Confess August Artic 18. 19. p. 22. 23 24. Cassander p. 128. usque ad p. 135. Grâ—t ad Cass p. 307. 308. 309. z These objective considerations are the proper Causes of his Temporal Transient acts and of the execution of those Decrees Correp Cor. p. 113. No man ever suffered to the cutting of his finger but for his Sin Which is not the Cause of Gods Decree but only of the Execution of his Decree page 116. a P. MolinaeiCausae Orthodoxae non tam defensio quà m praevaricatio Ut non modo hac ex parte Causam Arminianorum plus justo promoveret sed quicquid antea de electionâ— satis Orthodoxè differuerat prorsus convelleret Twiss in Vin. Gr. l. 1. par 1. Digr 1. Sect. 4. p. 58. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. * His words were in Latine verbatim thus communi Presbyterorum consilio 3. 4. of Dr. Twisse his â—â—arging of hâ—…ren tâ—… â—…apsarians with their making God the author of sin 1. 2. 1. ☜ a Vis liberâ— pronunâ—iem quod vnice proficiatur ex hac nostrae de praedestinatione sententiae temperatione dicam quid sentiam Hinc nimirum efficitur ut à lapsu primorum parentum decreto praedestinationis subjiciendo subordinando liberemur c. Twiss Vin Gra l. 1. part 1. p. 87. Digr 4. Sect. 4. c. 4. Edit 2. Amster 1632. b Sed quem alterâ viâ declinare satis anxie cupivimus ad eundem lapidem alterâ nihilo minus infeliciter impeâ—â—rimâ—s 〈…〉 c Quiâ—… mum anxia hac nostrâ scopuli istius declinatione profecerimus Id. ib. d Haec sunt monstra illa opinionum portenta quae nobis parturit paritista sententia Sublapsariorum sc scholis Jesuiticis Arminianis digniora quam nostris Id. ib. p. 88. Col. 1. e Objectum praedestinationis universae esse massam nonduÌ„ conditam nec tameÌ„ cujusquam Reprobationem fieri citra considerationem peccati probatur per totum cap. 5. l. 1. par 1. Sect. 4. Digr 3. p. 77. f Confer l. 1. par 1 Sect. 4. Digr 2. c. 1. p. 63. 64 65. cum cap 4. Digr 4. ejusdem libri Sectionis p. 87 88. g Quod posterior sententia Piscatoris sit deterior eâ quam retractat Id. l. 1. par 1. Sect. 4. Digr 3. cap. 2. p. 74 75. h quod videam Theologum istum in articulo Reprobationis turpiter hallâ—cinatum adeoque purum putum Arminianismum Ecclesiis Reformatis reposuisse Idque proh dolor nimium animosè splendide sine omni tergiversatione executum esse Quo facto hac ex parte non modo ex professo cum Arminianis conspirat sed Idem l. 1. part 1. Sect. 4. Digr 6. c. 1. p. 92. k Reprobatio non procedit quemadmodum ille contendit nist ex peccatis actualibus praevisis perseverantiâque finali in ijsdem Id. ibid. 2. Of Mr. Calvin's stile and Temper l Quâ—s nune quidam Augustini supra modum Admiratores Pelagio compares faciunt Grot in Discuss Riv Apol p. 98. conferantur illa verba cum Calvin Instit l. 2. c. 2. Sect. 4. â—ol 78. m Grot. vot pro Pace page 17. n Imo ob atrocia dicta Bucerus ei Nomen dedit Fratricidae Hanc maledicendi libidinem Calvinus in Epist ad Bucerum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Impatientiam vocaâ— nondum aiâ— consecutum ut Belluam domuerit Si quis post id ab eo scripta leget inveniet eum profecisse sed in pejus Id. ibid. p. 18. 3. o Vide â—â—iscopium in suo Vedel Râ—apsod cap. 10. p. 186. 187 188 190. seqq p Correp Cor. p. 28. q Correp Cor. p. 56. 4. 1. r Correp cor p 63. lin 12. 13 14. c. s Ibid. line 3 4. from the bottome t Id. ibid. lin 2. from the bottome u Had it been out of Calvin it must have been de occultâ dei Providentiâ Not in Serm. de Prov. c. ☜ ☞ 2. Calvin Inst. l. 1. c. 18. Sect. 4. p. 71. 3. w E. G. in his p. 134. Of Gods permission of sin How understood by Mr. B. and his Masters and how by me ☜ 3. * Of this see more ch 4. Sect. 28. x x Corrept Cor. p. 7â— 79. p. 54. 196. 5. y Correp Cor. p. 54. 69. z Id p. 55. 117 118. a Id. p. 58. where he refers to my Section of Gods permission Qui tollit providentiam tollit Deum b b b For all which and more see my Testimonies out of Calvin Zuinglius and Dr. Twisse in my 9 and 10 pages * Theodor. Bezâ— in lib. Quâ—st Resp Christianarum p. 695. †Calv. Inst l. 3. c. 23. Sect. 8. p. 325. Sect. 7. fol. 325. * Dr. Twiss in vind Gra. l. 1. part 1. Sect. 12. p. 140. See also Corr. Corr. p. 88. and what I have cited upon his 28 Invention c Apud Vos de Humano Arbitratu Divinitas pensitatur nisi homini deus
the other weaknesses of this Incomparable Antagonist A Catalogue of some Books printed for Rich. Royston at the Angel in Ivie-lane London Books written by the Author of the Divine Philanthropie A Correct Copie of some Notes concerning Gods decrees especially of Reprobation The 2. Edit Now at the Press with some Additionals The Sinner Impleaded in his own Court wherein are represented the great discouragements from Sinning which the Sinner receiveth from Sin it selfe Books written by H. Hammond D. D. A Paraphrase and Annotataions upon all the Books of the New-Test by H. Hammond D. D. in fol. 2. The Practical Catechism with all other English Treatises of H. Hammond D. D. in two volumes in 4. 3. Dissertationes quatuor quibus Episcoprtus Jura ex S. Scripturis primaeva Antiquitate adstruntur contra sententiam D. Blondelli aliorum Authore Henrico Hammond in 4. 4. A Letter of Resolution of six Quires in 12. 5. Of Schism A defence of the Church of England against the exceptions of the Romanists in 12. 6. Of Fundamentals in a notion referring to practice by H. Hammond D. D. in 12. 7. Six books of late Controversie in defence of the Church of England in two volumes in 4. Newly published Books and Sermons written by Jer. Taylor D. D. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Course of Sermons for all the Sundayes in the year together with a Discourse of the Divine Institution Necessity and Separation of the Office Ministerial in fol. 2. The History of the Life and Death of the Ever-blessed Jesus Christ 2 Edit in fol. 7. The Rule and Exercises of holy dying in 12 8. The Rule and Exercises of holy living in 12. 10. The Golden Grove or A Mannual of daily Prayers fitted to the dayes of the week together with a short Method of Peace and Holiness 11. The Doctrine and Practise of Repentance rescued from Popular Errors in a large 8. Newly published A Compendious Discourse upon the Case as it stands between the Church of England and those Congregations that have divided from it by Hen. Fern. D. D. New The History of the Church of Scotland by Job spot-sword Arch-Bishop of S. Andrews in fol. New Dr. Cousins Devotions in 12. The Quakers wilde Questions objected against the Ministers of the Gospel and many sacred Acts and Offices of Religion c. by R. Sherlock B. D. in 4. New The persecuted Minister in 4. New The Excellency of the Civil Law by Robert Wisâ—man Dr. of the Civil Law New CHAP. I. A Discovery of the Frailties and Misadventures in Mr. Barlee's Triumphant Title-page and his Dedicatory Epistles § 1. AS there is one sort of Creatures whose chiefest strength is in their Taile and another sort of Creatures whose chiefest strength is in their Teeth and a third sort of Creatures whose chiefest strength is in their Tongue so amongst the many skirmishes whether of truly-polemical or of meerly-troublesome and wrangling writers it is easy to observe their several strengths their sundry weapons and wayes of hurting There is one sort of writers who are not for threats but Execution All their premises are fair and Candid they only sting in the Conclusion There is another sort of writers who are incessantly biting in every part of their Discourses In every page and period they leave an evident Impression upon the party with whom they deal But a third sort there is whose chiefest strength is in their Title with that they bite very shrewdly in the thoughts of some who look no farther whereas in every thing that follows and doth denominate a Book they appear to do little more then only to wagg and to shew their Teeth As we know some Insects though they sting very smartly yet they presently leave their sting behind them and from that time forward they will buzz and be angry but cannot hurt And truly this is the Reason why I ought to consider the very Title of Mr. B. before I enter upon his Book For it speaks more in two words then his Book can attain to in 30 sheets His Title is magisterial and gives me Correptory Correction whereas his whole Book doth render him liable to the lash They that are of his Paste who either cannot or will not read him but only hear of his Title a Correptory Correction may take it for granted that I am beaten in my Notes stat Bellum famâ and so his Title may do him service Whereas his Book like the wicked ingrateful Vrchin that sucks the milke and spoyls the udder at the vary same Instant doth sadly betray both it and him So that if I were sure that all the Readers of his Title would be the Readers of his Book too I should not desire any other Vindication But because I am assured by very intelligent and practical Persons that very few will buy his book who are not prodigal of their mony and that fewer will read it who are not prodigal of their Time and that hardly any will compare it with the particulars of mine and that almost all who are abettors of his Cause and Doctrine will help to propagate his Title that is his strength and indeavour so to worke upon the letterless multitude in their Reports as to make his Confidence to pass for Courage his Impatience for Zeal and his Ovation instead of Conquest I think it not useless to admonish my Reader as Polybius did his concerning Fabius that they gaze not so much upon his Title as consider the matters of his book to which his Title is but a vizard Indeed Mr. B. doth but do his endeavour to make good his promise For he sent me a message long since by a Neighbour Minister that I should be whipt And now in his book he somewhere tell 's me he brings a Rod. And professeth in his Title to give me Correptory Correction Thus the Scythyans in Herodotus did encounter their slaves not with spears and arrows but with whips and switches Whilst they fought as with a just Enemy their Army of slaves still got the better but immediately fled away when they saw their Masters came Arm'd with switches it did so minde them that they were Sâ—rvants In the very same manner my Master would be being utterly out of hope that he can vanquish my Notes by force of Argument and Reason the proper weapons of a polemick hath thought it fitter for his purpose to use a Rod. Perhaps supposing I will not dare to turn my Pen upon them who take themselves to be Masters in this our Israel and if my Author hath muster'd his men aright did vanquish seven or eight thousand in less then three or foure years Indeed Favorinus did so far gratifie the Emperour Hadrian as to yield him the better in Disputation preferring the favour of an Emperour before the Truth of his Cause And being chid by his friends for that compliance he ask't them this Question will ye not suffer me to yield that he is more
it to be so when I 〈…〉 find a convenient season or when any man shall require 〈…〉 of me 4. When Mr. B. doth distinguish betwixt a Negative and positive Reprobation he is a pure Sublapsarian with Mr. Calvin and yet to excuse Mr. Calvin in his p. 117 he is as pure a Supralapsarian as any in the Church of Rome and as every one must be who makes the fall of the Angels to be a meere effect of God's rejection But he is any thing to serve his turne and professeth to be a friend to both in his p. 113. although Dr. Twisse is a bitter enemy to the Sublâ—…saria Doctrines and by consequence to Calvin's and Mr. Barlees too calling them Monsters of Opinions and such as inevitably inferr God to be the Author of sin and worthier of the Arminian and Jesuit schools then of their own Nor is he a friend to the other supralapsarians and therefore utterly out with Mr. B. who yet will have him to be his and his Fathers friend in several places of his Correptory Correction who doth by consequence call him Atheist p. 118. lin 1. but I have dwelt too long upon his sixth Invention and the many absurdities which follow it I will endeavour to requite my Reader for this length by using brevity in those that come after § 9. His ninth that in my p. 56. I do not so much as seem to deny that when two men are equally called whereof the one converts himself the other miscarrieth it is not God but man that puts the difference p. 15. When yet he knows 1. In that page my words are these If I am beâ—ter then any man it is God that makes me differ And in my p. 70. I said it is God that makes the difference as well as God that chooseth 2. When I said any man I must needs have comprehended not only any that hath equal Grace but any that hath lesse 3. I also said in that page we owe it wholy to God not only that hâ—…es us his Grace but that he gives us the Grace to desire his Grace as well as to use it to the advancement of his glory c. Whosoever will read over my 56. page will finde it so contrary to Mr. B's Invention that he will hardly ever trust him in any one citation before he tries him 4. St. Austin never spake more unlike a Pelagian against Pelagius then I have there done Nay he speaks more towards the way of Pelagius in lib. de spiritu literâ ad Marcell c. 33. quoted in my Notes p. 28. Yea 5ly Mr. B. himself confesseth in his p. 113. that objective considerations are the causes of Gods temporal transient acts and of the execution of his Decrees which is more Pelagian then I durst speak for the saints glorification is one execution of Gods Decree and is it not Pelagianisme in Mr. B. to inâ—err that any thing in the Creature can be the Cause of that I had said not the Cause but a Necessary condition But Mr. B. saith the Cause and the proper Cause Ibid. So inventive is he in reporting my words and so unwary or unskilful in the management of his own § 10. His tenth That I mention slightingly in my p. 4. those Remonstrants that have deserved so well of me p. 19. Yet 1. I there mention the Remonstrants as the Anti-Remonstrants in a most equal manner 2. There is not the least slighting of any Author in that page 3. I there speak slightingly of my selfe and respectfully of others 4. How could he say two such contrary things in the same page as that the Remonstrants had deserved well of me and yet that I had never vouchsafed to look into any Remonstrant Author ibid. he hath sure the worst luck of any man that ever medled with Pen and Paper § 11. His 11th That contrary to my promise as some say I vented my goodly Argument in my p. 72. about the universality of Christs Death p. 20. 1. Breach of promise is dishonesty Which because he cannot evince in me he sayes some say 2. I doe affirme to all the world that I never made any such promise 3. On the contrary I told that person who was imployed to overcome my unwillingness to preach in that place that my unwillingness was grounded upon my knowledge that I should certainly displease a factious part of the Congregation as I had formerly done if I appear'd to be otherwise then they would have me And that as long as I lived I would be single and unmixt that it was a wickedness below me to dissemble my principles and to Preach in a Disguise That if my Livelihood or my Life should depend upon it I would not seek to please men in things of that nature wherein if I should I could not be the servant of Christ 4. Several persons of the Presbytery can bear me witness that I have avowed an abhorrence to the doing or saying of any one thing which might betray me into the danger of being thought a Presbyterian however dangerous it might be in a carnal sense to be thought otherwise by some of that perswasion as our Corrector would make it appear by his Presbyterian Rodds if I were not exempted from the †smart of their †Discipline by some * Erastian Polititians as he calls all them that are Antipresbyterians § 12. His 12th That in my Sermon at Daintry and in my p. 26. I affirmed God to have prepared the Torments of Hell for the Divel and his Angels but not for any wicked men p. 20. It falls out very well that what I Preached at Daintry is since in publick and was published by me so much â—he rather because it was abused by Mr. B. with the name of Pelagian But with what Degree of Charity or shew of Reason I appeal to all honest and ingenuous Readers My words were these that those dark Territories in their primary designe and Institution were prepared not for men but for the Divel and his Angels as Origen Chrysostom Euthymius and Theophylact expound those words of our Blessed Saviour 1. Mr. B. leaves out those words in their primary Designe 2. He adds wicked and any to men which alters the Case the most that may be For God did not prepare Hell for men as men no nor for Angels as Angels but for wicked Angels and wicked men in as much as they were wicked and so had prepared themselves for Hell in order of nature before that God prepared Hell for them For in order of nature sin is first and punishment second Sin inferrs Punishment as that which is naturally to follow but punishment presupposeth the commission of sin as that which of necessity must go before The wages of Sin is Death and Hell But sure the paying of the wages implyes the doing of the work 3. Melancthon saith that a
that useth it not Both which are Acts of his free Oeconomy his liberty to do what he will with his own and no way depending unlesse it be in the execution on any act of our will But 4. though I am thus an Assertor of Gods Decrees and as well of those that are absolute as of those that are conditional yet my Correptory Corrector will not be pleased unlesse I also will assert that God decreed the fall of Adam that Source and Fountain of all our sins and that I will not thus far comply with his Masters and himself as to make the Spirit of Holinesse to be the Decree and predeterminer of all events whether holy or unholy clean or unclean good or evil I thank him as much as if I did God forbid that I should think any such Treasonable thought against his Majesty and Goodnesse as that he decreed what he hated the Apostacy of Adam or of the Angels he gave them liberty and only permitted them to abuse it Nor can I beleeve the irreversible damnation or preterition of far more then half the whole World upon no other score then Adams sin the Second Adam being given to raise up all them that had been fallen in the first but also upon the score of their manifold personal and actual sins It being more agreeable to the nature of God to reject Men for those sins which they wilfully committed in their particular persons then for the one sin of one man committed many thousand years before these Reprobates were born Which is not to write against Decrees but to define what they are which are owned by God and what they are which are not § 2. To that word in my Title Reprobation Mr. B. opposeth that I should rather have said Damnation which he saith I confound with preterition or Negative Reprobation p. 1. T is very well that he discovers so much knowledge of his opinions as to put these Figleaves upon their shame Shame may possibly make way for penitence and it is easier many times to confute the hardnesse of a Forehead then the darknesse of an Vnderstanding This is one of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which have been infamously invented to disguise and palliate the frightful rigidnesse of their Doctrine their disclaiming the old words Reprobation or Damnation and flying for refuge to the smoother Terms Preterition or Negative Reprobation But first suppose there were a very real difference might not I have the liberty in my Notes to discourse of what I thought good or to be silent as I saw occasion Might not I insist upon the Absolute Reprobation spoken of by some without extending to the negative spoken of by others If I pitcht upon the Subject which M. B. was most asham'd of was that my fault or his misfortune I will not be responsible for other mens infelicities especially when I shew them the way to prosper and by prosperity I mean Amendment I did but minde Mr. B. in a friendly Letter that if he needs would be medling he should do very well To keep close to his Text which lay before him from the Presse and neither call me by ill names which would but tend to my Advantage and his Dishonour nor affirm any thing to be mine which I had already very heartily and very knowingly disown'd when he return'd me this Answer That he wondred at my injustice and at my monstrous uncharitablenesse telling me that I prescrib'd him Dictatoriâ nescio quâ potestate some Rules for his future proceeding And though my advice was the same which he received from those Men who even loved his very Cause a great deal better then his Person yet here in Print he upbraids me for pursuing the very Subject which I had chosen for my Discourse But 2. What if it appear that there is no real difference betwixt preterition and reprobation or betwixt a negative and positive reprobation as Mr. B. and others are fain to Cant it Sure they that are passed by being not approved and they that are not approved being all rejected and all they that are rejected being certainly to be cast into fire unquenchable proves the lamentable distinction to be no more then a trick insufficient to Buoy up a sinking Cause For what is to reprobate but not to approve or to reject And what sense is it to say there is a negative not-approving or reprobation and a positive not-approving or reprobation or if reprobation is taken in a positive sense only as it cannot be both at once positive and negative what sense is it to say there is a Negative positive and a Positive Positive I will therefore put my Demand a little farther When all that are passed by are damn'd and all are damn'd that are passed by what real difference can be assign'd betwixt Preterition and Damnation as to the justifying unconditional Decrees of reprobation they are Identical propositions which are converted or reciprocated Per simplicem conversionem The not-approved are rejected because they are not approved and the rejected are not-approved because they are rejected supposing the rejection to be made either in or Ante Massam as our Adversaries do whether of the upper or lower way nor need it better be proved ad hominem then by the saying of Mr. Calvin Whom God passeih by saith he he reprobates and that for no other cause then his will to exclude them from the Inheritance which he predestins to be his Sons What a mockery then is this to the Justice and Mercy and goodnesse of God and what a bitter jeere to the far greater part of all mankinde to say they are rejected without respect unto their sins but yet not damn'd without respect unto their Sins when the same men do say that all the rejected are damned and therefore damned because rejected Mr. B. professeth p. 135 that I no where seeme to understand Reprobation otherwise then as he would have me that is to signifie a decree to damn How chanceth he then to write against me or rather why against himself for he confesseth he knows not one the more is his ignorance who will not readily yeeld that God did not absolutely decree the Reprobation positive of any Creature but upon prescience and supposition of wilful Rebellion and Impenitence which is as much as to say that though my opinion must needs be true and he cannot choose but confesse it when in a lucid Interval he can discerne its necessity yet lest he seem to be worsted or to have erred heretofore or to be the convert of one who is not a Presbyterian he will put my opinion into new words and say he is not of my opinion because he speaks it in other words and he will do so because he will differ and differ he will because forsooth he will not yeeld But 't is too late to say he will not for he hath done it distinctly in that confession which in the Margin is pointed