and have â—othing of it Imputed unto them which though this man may account no way absurd yet all Orthoeox Christians will be of another minde 5 He speaks dubiously concerning the Import of these two words and knoweth not whether their meaning be by which occasion or in which death and we have seen that the meaning cannot be by which Occasion And it will further appear from this that Adams sin could be no Occasion to such as never heard of it and our nearest Parents sins should be a greater Occasion and further what could Paul's meâ—tioning an Occasion contribute to his designe 6. Paul asserts that death passed upon all men and giveth this as a ground thereof that all men had sinned but this Man perverteth the Apostles words and meaning and maketâ— the Apostle speak thus death passed upon all men because all men will sin actually when they become capable 7. The Apostle sheweth that death passed upon all men and reigned even over Infants and so supposeth that Infants had sinned otherwayes his argument vers 12. had been of no value for the Instance of Infants who are a great part of Mankinde had destroyed the Apostles reasoning if they bad not been included under all men 8. He is angry at the Orthodox as we sâ—all hear afterward for restricting the particle all or the words all men though it be according to the exigence of the context But here he excludeth a great part of Mankinde contrary to the whole scope and disigne of the Text yea and to the Apostles expresse including of Infants and making use of their Case as a confirmation of his point 9 If he exclude Infants from this sin he must exclude them also from all benefite in Christs Obedience and then where is his Universal Redemption and his Universal Grace whereof he speaketh in the following Theses 10 That Infants are capable of sinning in their Head is as clear as they are capable of dying for the sin of the Head this the Apostle proveth from their death and from death reigneing over them 11. But sayes he Infants are under no Law But the Apostâ—e sayes the contrare viz. that there was both Sin and Law before Moses dayes because death reigned even over Infants and consequently that Infants were under sin and therefore also under a Law for where there is no law there is no transgressiâ—n But this was the Law given to Adam as head of Mankinde which Law all transgressed when Adam transgressed because the whole Nature transgressed it Adam representing all as their Natural Root and by vertue of the Covenant in which he stood And thus we see how this Man perverteth and inverteth the Words and Arguments and Scope and All of the Apostle 12 If death was inflicted on old Persons because of their actual sins wherefore was death inflicted upon Infants Sure the Apostle maketh no distinction of Deaths nor doth he speak of distinct causes of Death but only mentioneth an universal Cause of an universal Effect sin the cause and death the effect and therefore if the effect come upon infants the cause must also come upon them or the Apostle argueth very loosly and he must impute cruelty injustice to his Maker 13. This addition of his to the text viz. who were capable of sinning is the same that Castalio made saying these to wit who in regaird of age could have sinned And in this he was no lesse bold with the text then our Quaker is for as we have seen and the text is clear it is not all these only that die but even such as come not to that age and the Apostle alwayes speaks of death as the wages of sin And when he here sayeth of Infants that they sinned not after the similitude of Adam's transgression he clearly intimateth that they sinned some other way viz. in Adam which also the 19. verse manifestly proveth 20. He taketh notice Next of our argument from Psal. 51 5. behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me where the Psalmist is exaggerating his iniquity before the Lord as all true penitents will do traceth his sin to the very Spring and Fountaine as to him viz. that Original Corruption which he brought into the world with him and shewing that even while he was a forming and warming as the word importeth in the womb this corruption did adhere to him so that the very masse out of which he was framed was corrupt and what greater proof could we desire of the originaâ—ed part of this Original Sin than is here The Ancient Fathers made use of this passage for the same end as Vossius sheweth us Hist. Pelag. Pag. 144.145 And some Jewes such as Aben Ezra Sal. Iarchi expound it of innate Concupiscence Now what saith this Quaker to this He cannot see our Infâ—rence and why so It seemeth to me sayes he that this iniquity and sin is rathâ—r ascribed to the parents than to the Infants for he sayeth in sin did my mother conceive me not my mother conceived me sinning Ans. Is not this a quick observation and worthy of a Quaker But the misery is it quite crosseth Davids designe This man must think that it was a great argument of Davids Sorrow and Repentance to lay iniquity upon his Parents now in all appearance dead but I should look upon this as no argument of a true penitent heart What could his upbraiding of his Father and Mother after this manner contribute to the aggravating of his own sin And that this is David's designe I think this Quaker will not deny if he but look upon the place and read over the Psalm or the first part of it Is not David about the confessing of his owne sin Read the title of the Psalm the preeceeding verse and see Is he not seeking pardon and remission of his own sin Or shall we suppose that he is praying for remission to the dead all Confession of sin to God is in reference to Remission and if David speak here only of his Parents sin he is tacitely seeking Remission If he speak of his Parents sin in begetting and warming him in the womb it must be as including himself at least as shareing thereof and this will prove that David had sin upon him from his very conception And by his answere he would seem to make marriage duties unlawful contrare to 1 Cor. 7 2 3 4 5. Heb. 13 4. He addeth another answere thus Such an interpretation would contradict the Scriptures formerly cited while it maketh infants to he hurt by their immediat parents sin And there is no mention here of Adam Answ. I do not prove hence that David was guilty of his immediat Parents sins but that original contagion doth so cleave to every ordinary Infant unless we could suppose some singular thing in David without all ground that in his very warming in his Mothers womb he is corrupted and albeit David make no mention here of Adam the
affirmed that there were two Principia Now either this Man must say that this Seed of Satan being a Substance must be of God or of the Devil if of God then God must be the Author and Creator of sin if of the Devil than the Devil is the creator of some substances But I would enquire whether this Substance which he calleth the Seed of the Serpent be one and the same thing with the Man or with his Soul and Body or not If not then the Man must have another Substantial and Essential part beside the Soul and the Body which is contrary both to Scripture and Reason If it be the same thing then Adam before the fall had the Seed of Satan in him for he had â—he same Substantial Soul and Body both before and after the fall what will he say of Christ who took upon him the nature of the Seed of Abraham and so became true man having a soul and a body Took he upon him Original sin or came he under the power of the Seed of he Serpent And yet this must be said or we must say he took not upon him the Seed of Abraham or that the soul and body of the Seed Abraham was not original sin and so that Original sin is not the same substance with Mans soul and body 12. But came this change upon the whole Nature or Race of mankinde immediatly after the fall Or did the posterity of Adam come under this power of Nature and of the Seed of Satan so soon as they had a being and a Soul and a Body He will not grant this but expresly denyeth it in the end of this same Thesis and giveth his reasons in his Apology which shall be examined in the next Chapter When then doth Satan sowe this seed It is says he while they abide in the Natural and Corrupt state But how come they into this Natural and Corrupt state And under the dominion of Nature and Seed of Satan Come they into this state before Satan sowe this seed in their hearts These things seem somewhat mysterious but what else can we expect of them but unexplicable and untelligible fantasmes who will not regulate their judgment in the matters of God by his Word Further I would know whether such of the posterity of Adam as have not yet the seed of the Serpent sowne into their hearts are deprived of the touches of the Testimony and Seed of God or not If they be not then the beginning of his Thesis is false where he said that Tota posteritas Adamica the whole posterity of Adam was fallen degenerat dead and deprived of the sense and touch of this inward testimony and Seed of God If they be then his conjunction Et saying and subject to the power of nature and of the Seed of the Serpent is non-sense for thereby he would tell us the positive part of the sad Consequences of the Fall as conjunct with the Negative or Privative part and yet by this Concession these parts are separable and not conjunct in all the posterity of Adam but in some only and these some must be in a distinct stare from the rest viz. under the Privative part but not under the Positive part of this sad consequence of the Fall Thus we have no clear account of his doctrine 13. He proceedeth and tels us that hence it is that not oâ—ly their deeds and speeches but all their imaginations are perpetually evil in the sight of God because proceeding from this depraved and malignant seed And from this I think it is clear that before men have Imaginations let be Speaches and Actions they are possessed of this depraved and malignant Seed for the Efficient Cause is alwayes in being before the Effect and the Fountaine is before the Streams How then can this man say afterward that this Seed of Satan is not imputed that is as he said above sowen in their hearts else he speaketh gibberish unto Infants untill they actually sinne For if Infants must first actually sinne before Satan sowe this seed in their hearts then it is false that all actually sinne before Satan can sowe his seed in their hearts then it is false that all actual sinnes proceed from this corrupt seed for the Cause cannot proceed from nor yet follow the Effect How he shall reconcile this Contradiction I see not But his Religion as it seemeth is made up of Contradictions we have met with several already and we will have occasion to observe moe ere all be done 14. He addeth Therefore man in so farr as he subsisteth in this state can know nothing aright of God yea his thoughts and conceptions of God and of divine things until he be disjoyned from that evil seed and adjoyned unto the divine light are unprofitable both to himselfe and to all others Here are some moe mysteries what meaneth that in so farr as he subsisteth in this state This quatenus in so far as can not have the same import with quamdiu so long as What meaneth he then hereby Is a Natural man who is dead and degenerate under a two fold respect under one whereof he can know something aright of God But his following donec until cleareth the matter you will say Well be it so But what meaneth that being disjoyned from the evil Seed c Is this divine Light and evil Seed in him both at once And is it in his power to disjoyne himself from the one and joine himself to the other And what is that to be adjoyned to the divine light And what is this evil Seed and divine Light I know the Man will smile at these questions and possibly say as some of the Quakers love to speak that I manifest my owne darkness and am in the Imagination and Witchcraft if not worse But I cannot helpe it and I love not to be adjoined to their Light though they are pleased to call it divine that I may come to understand these mysteries for as these Mysteries are Mysteries of iniquity so their light is not spiritual nor are their Expressions such as the Holy Gâ—ost teacheth And what reason I have to propound these questions the Reader may understand by what I have said before 15. Then he deduceth another Consectary from his doctrine viz. That hence the errours of the Socinians and Pelagians are rejected who exalt the Light of Nature as also of Papists and many protestants who affirme that a man may be a Minister of the Gospel and do good to souls without the true grace of God Good Man As concearning this last he promiseth to speak more fully to it hereafter and therefore we shall attend him where he is pleased to handle this matter more fully But as touching the first I must needs say that This Man doth either promise to himself none but ignorant Readers that know not what the Socinians and Pelagians maintaine nor what the Quakers hold or he must speak he knoweth not what Alas Poor Man
that look upon the place that the Apostle to the end he might clear up the way how beleevers partake of the benefites of Christs death maketh a comparison betwixt Adam and Christ and so cleareth up how it is that all Mankinde is become Corrupt and that in and through the first Man Adam from whom this corruption is derived not by Imitation for they cannot imitate it who never heard of it and yet even they partake of this corruption therefore by real Participation of the guilt saying verse 12. as by one man sin entred into the world c. and that in him all sinned and afterward that upon this sin death passed upon all men and reigned even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgressions that is over infants that had not yet committed any actual sin and that judgment was by one to condemnation so that the fruit of this sin was Condemnation or Obnoxiousness to condemnation and that because by this one sin the posterity were made sinners 2. By Death here is meaned every kinde of death Temporal and Eternal and Spiritual for it is a death that reigned over Iâ—fants and is called Condemnation 3. we finde no person old or young that come of this first Adam by ordinary generation here excepted nay Infants are expresly enough included vers 14. 4. So that all the posterity of Adam young and old being in Adam their Natural and Federal Head partake of his sin having sinned in him and of the miseries or just punishment of that sin All this is so clear and manifest both from the very words and expressions of the Apostle and from his scope that who ever speak against this must do violence to the text and weaken the Apostles argueings This same passage did the ancients Augustine and others urge against the Pelagians as is to be seen in Vossij histor Pelag. Pag. 146 147. By this argument That sin which is so described to us by the Apostle that he sayeth is brought death upon all men that men sinned by it and were made sinners even they who could not as yet actually sin that thereby all became guilty of death and of condemnation that sin by imputation is the sin of the whole nature included in Adam and rendereth the whole nature obnoxious to death and to condemnation But the first sin of Adam is decribed to us by the Apostle c. Ergo That sin is the sin of nature because Adam did sustaine the person of all who potentially were in his Ioines and by vertue thereof all are liable to death the punishment thereof Vossius tels us moreover that the Ancients took much notice of Paul's calling Adam a Type and of the particle As and did hence gather that as the Obedience of Christ belongeth to all such as are spiritually begotten not by Imitation but by Imputation so the Disobedience of Adam is conveyed not by Imitation but by Imputation unto all such as corporally come of him They took notice also as he sheweth us of the particle By which did denote the Efficient cause of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom which saith that the posterity did sin in Adam or if it be rendered because or in as much or for which it will shew what is the Adequate cause of death and that it hath also place in Infants 19. Thus we have seen the Argument of the orthodox Church and its ground let us next see what he sâ—ith against it As concerning the words of the Apostle saith he the reason of the condemnation in whom all did sin that is in that seed or by occasion of that seed for no man is said to sin but in his owne person But I pray By what warrand may he foist-in words at his owne pleasure into the tâ—xt Is there the least mention made of seed in all the text Is not this intolerable boldness to deal so with the Scripâ—ures of Truth But if Infants be condemned because they sinned in or by occasion of that seed then that seed was imputed to them Yes he will say but that was when they began to sin in their owne persons No say I that cannot be because the text importeth no such thing yea it saith the contrary viz. that death which is included in the condemnation passed upon all men and reigned even over such as had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression that is had not as yet sinned actually So that his reason is directly against the Apostle and we have further above discovered its untruth He addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aggreeth with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and so sheweth how Adam by his sin gave entry to sin into the world and so death by sin entered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. by which viz. occasion or in which viz. death all others did sin i. e. actually in their persons viz. who were capable of sinning of which number Infants are not who are under no Law as was showne and where no Law is there is no transgression as the Apostle sayeth This upon the matter is the same that the old Pelagians said as Vossius sheweth us Hist. Pelag. Pag. 182.183 For they interpreted these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in whom all have sinned by sinning after example or Imitation and this man by sinning upon that Occasion when they become capable and the Socinians with Episcopius homologate with the Pelagians and have been abundantly answered by the orthodox who shew that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of Xenophon Aristophanes Demosthenes and other Greek Authors But For Answere unto this Quaker I would say 1. If 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 agree with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then the meaning must be this and so death passed upon all men in which death all men sinned and what sense can this make out May not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 agree as well to Man If not let him give us the least colour of reason either from the text or context 2. If Adam by his sin gave entry unto sin into the world this must be meaned of his first sin for the Apostle speaketh alwayes of one sin or of Offence in the singular number that Vers. 18. may be read by one offence And so sin entered not by Imitation nor yet by Occasion for his after sinnes might have laid the way for Imitation and have given Occasion as well as the first Yea more yea only for while the first sin was committed there were none to imitate him and if this had been the Apostles meaning he had spoken of sins in the plural number 3 If this had been the Apostles meaning he had not named One man and One man as a Type a Type of him that was to come for Eva's sin the Devils sin might also have been an Occasion 4. Hence it will follow thaâ— beleevers are made Righteous only upon Occasion of Christs Righteousness
thing which we inferre is manifest viz. the originated sin or the corruption of nature which here David calleth Sin And if this Quaker think that this came from another Original than from Adam let him tell us what it is and not joyn in with the Manichees nor make God the Author and cause of sin if he can 21. Another of our Arguments is from that word of Paul's the wages of sin is death And seing infants die they must have sin as a procuring cause That death was and is a Punishment of sin we cleared above and the Apostle asserteth it here so manifestly calling it the Wages and due Desert that it must argue wonderful impudence in any to question it What sayeth this Quaker He granteth that death is a Consequence of the fall but denyeth that hence we can necessarily inferre iniquity to be in all those that are subject to death That is in plaine termes but the mans modesty dar not speak it out to say the Apostle speaketh not truth who ever imagined that wages were no more but a Consequent of the workmans labour If Death be the Wages and Reward and just Punishment of sin it can certanely be inflicted by the Righteous Judge of the world upon none but such as are guilty of sin How oft doth the Apostle speak of death as the just Desert and Punishment of sin Rom. 5 12 death entred by sin death passed on all for all had sinned suppose that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 should not signifie in whom as it doth Marc. 2 vers 4. Luk. 5 vers 25.2 Cor. 5 vers 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being several times put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9 10 15 1â— but did only import the Cause as Socinians would have it it would sufficiently confirme this that death is inflicted because of sin so vers 15. through the offence of one many be dead and this is called vers 16. judgmnt to condemnation and vers 17. by one mans offence or by one offence death reigned And vers 21. sin reigned unto death And then againe Chap. 6 23. for the wages of sin is death So likewise 1 Cor. 15 21.22 by man came death for as in Adam all die He addeth as a reason of his denyal that it might appear he did not contradict the Apostle without reason For sath he all the outward creation suffered detriment and ruine in some respect by Adam's fall and yet the herbes and trees c. are not therefore sinners Ans. Is not this a valide reason wherefore to reject death as a punishment of sin Nay seing the vanity under which the world groaneth because of sin is a punishment to all Mankinde to Infants as well as to Adult persons it is hence manifest that all are guilty of sin that is all mankinde who are capable of sin as trees and herbes are not But yet more he addeth to Confront the Apostle and sayeth death is no wages of sin to the saints but is gaine Phil. 1 v. 21. Answ. Why is death called an enemy and the last enemy 1 Cor. 15 v. 26. wâ—at meaneth that that when corruptible hath put on incorruption and mortal hath put on immortality death shall be swallowed up in victory 1 Cor. 15 vers 54. Because the Lord by grace through Jesus Christ hath taken the sting of death away and made it a passage to glory unto his owne shall we therefore look upon it in it self as no punishment of sin or as not coming into the world because of sin This will tend as much to prove that Adult persons are not sinful as that Infants have no sin and that a womans paines in child birth or a Mans purchaseing his bread with the sweat of his face c. are no punishments of sin Original or Actual because all these Paines Troubles Afflictions c. worke together for good to such as love God Rom. 8 vers 28. And so the Godly have no Punishments Chastisements Visitations Corrections or the like for sin though the Scripture say so in hundereds of places Here this Quaker joineth with Antinomians 22. He mentioneth another argument which as he thinketh fools only make use of which is this If Infants have no sin they must all be saved Well what replyeth he to this argument We will rather saith he admit this supposed absurdity as a Consequent of our doctrine then say that innumerable Infants perish eternally not for their owne but only for Adams fault But though he should not value such Absurdities notwithstanding he therein run wilder than Papists and joine with Anabaptists and some Pelagians Yet me thinks he should take heed of contradicting his owne doctrine for afterward we will heare of his pleading for Christs dying for all Mankinde And sure if that be true he must say that he died also for Infants and yet here he granteth that they will be all saved without Christ for they have no sin they have no need of a Saviour to save them from their sinnes But how can they be all saved seing they have the Seed of sin â—n them and the Spring of all actual sinnes and that seed of sin which in Scripture is called death and the body of death the old man and the old Adam as he himself speaketh Pag. 62 When Paul speaketh of the body of death Rom. 7 24. he looks upon it as that from which Christ must deliver him How will this Quaker reconcile these things The old man must be put off or we cannot enter into glory and if Infants have the old man how can they enter into glory And beside All in glory must sing the song of the Redeemed and praise him that hath redeemed them by his blood Revel 5 9 10. How can Infants do this who have never been washen from their sinnes in the blood of the lamb as never having had sin And Pag. 55. he told us that none of Adam's posterity had any good in them which he had not from whom they descended Adam then being deprived of his Original Righteousness none of his Posterity no not Infants can lay claim to that Righteousness how I pray can Infants go to heaven who want a righteousness The heaven then which they go to must be a heaven wherein dwelleth no Righteousness and what can this be but some new Limbus But to be more plaine with him It is not enough for him to say he may grant such a Consequence from his doctrine for we must have sure Scripture grounds ere we beleeve that all Infants even of Turks and Heathens shall certanely go to heaven The Scripture giveth more ground of hope of those that are within the Covenant I am sure than of those who are without what thinks he of the Infants of Sodom See Iud. vers 7. and of Coreh and his company not to mention the Infants of the old world And why doth the Scripture call the children of such as are without the church 1 Cor. 7 14. unclean
made up for destruction and that as the first is done that He might make known the riches of his glory so the last is done that He might shew his wrath and make his power known 10. Christ Mat. 11 25 26. referreth the Lords hiding of the Gospel-manifestations of life and salvation from some unto the good pleasure of God! and if this part of the execution of the decree of Reprobation be referred unto this Absolute Soveraignity good Pleasure of God as its first and only spring much more must the Decree it self be reduced to this only Fountain 11. The like we may observe from 1 Pet. 2.8 from Iud vers 4. from Revel 13 8 17 8. 12. We are told that the Lord added to the Church dayly such as should be saved Act. 2 47. and that as many as were ordained to eternal life believed Act. 13 48. where we see that the appointing some to be saved and ordaining them to eternal life is given as the prime ground and cause of their being added to the Church and Beleeving whence it followeth that the Lord did not adde others to the Church nor give them grace to Beleeve because he had not ordained and appointed them to life the consequence of the Negation is as manifest as the consequence of the Affirmation and is clearly intimated when the other is expressed 11. Thus the Scripture confirmeth our point we shall adde a few reasons as 1. No temporal thing such as is mans sin can be the cause of that which is Eternal as is God's act of Reprobation If it be said that the foresight of what is temporal may be the cause of an Eternal Decree I answere This cannot be for how is it imaginable That God's prescience should be the meritorious cause of his Decree can one eternal Act of God be the meritorious cause and of such a cause we speak here of another All the Eternal Acts of God are one and they are the same with himself how absurd is it then to imagine one to be the meritorious cause of another or the same act as terminated on one object to be the meritorious cause of it self as terminated upon another object If it be said that sin foreâ—een can be the cause of an Eternal act of Reprobation Answ. But sin can not be foreseen as a thing that shall exist without a previous decree concerning its existence by the permission of God and so sin must first be permitted or decreed to be by permission before any man can be Reprobated because of sin by this Objection and then when we suppose sin to be permitted by a decree I ask for what end is this decreed permission God decreeth nothing but for a certane end and what is His End in this is it that he may thereby be moved to Reprobat Then his intention of Reprobation is first for the intention of the End is before the Intention of the midss and how absurd and a theological is that to say that God intended an End and then he Intended Meanes to move him to intend that end Againe by this Assertion the decree of Permitting sin should be before the decree of Damning for sin and so we must imagine the same order in the decrees that we see in the things decreed while as how various soever the things decreed be the decrees themselvs are all one pure act in God who is actus purissimus simplicissimus and therefore sin foreseen can no more be the meritorious cause of the decree of Reprobating for sin than of the decree of Permitting sin And if we should imagine an order betwixt these two decrees of Permitting of sin and of Reprobating for sin it must be such an order as is betwixt the Intention of the End and of the Meanes and so the intention of Permitting sin being first should be of the End which is always first in intention and the intention of Reprobation being the last of these two should be of the Means and so we should be damned for sin that we might be Permitted to sin and that which is first in Intention as the End being last in Execution and that which is a Means being first it would follow that man should be first damned and then permitted to sin which is obviously false and absurd 2. if sin be the meritorious cause of Reprobation then it is so either by necessity of Nature or by the free Constitution of God But neither can be said as we saw above â— The decrees of God can have no more a cause than himself can have all the Acts of God's will being his Will and his Will being Himself we cannot imagine a cause in man of an act of his will more than of himself 4 we should reason proportionably of the decree of Election as we do of the decree of Reprobation as we saw the Apostle doing and so if sin foreseen be the cause of Reprobation grace foreseen must be the cause of Election against the whole Scripture and the Apostles expresse argueing Rom. 9. 5. That procureing cause of Reprobation God could have prevented or taken out of the way if he had pleased else we must imagine a stoical fate overpowering God himself If he might have taken it out of the way and did not can any reason hereof be given beside his owne good pleasure or his designe to manifest the glory of his justice in the just damnation of such and doth not this referre the decree of damning for sin ultimatly unto His good pleasure 6. what are those sinnes which are the procuring cause of Reprobation This man will not say that Original sin is the cause for he denieth it as we saw in the proceeding Chapter And what can that actual sin be and whatever be supposed it must be such as could be foreseen in no other otherwise the foresight thereof could not be the proper meritorious or moving cause why this man was Reprobated more then that man for what is to be foreseen in an Elect cannot be the meritorious cause why the other is Reprobated Againe whatever actual sin that be final Unbeleef or what you will it must either be such as God could have prevented or taken out of the way if he had pleased or not if the first be said then it is manifest that the decree of Reprobation can not ultimatly be resolved into sin as a procuring cause but into the good pleasure of God who would not take that sin out of the way nor prevent its being If this Last be said then God was under a fatal necessitie of decreeing and doing all which he decreed and did and could not hinder sin nor not create that man nor alter any one circumstance which did occasion that sin and thus God himself shall be bound by the fetters of a fatal Necessity yea and all this fatal Necessity shall have its rise from Man which were most absurd and blasphemous 7. if actual sinnes be the consequent of
Reprobation and a mean whereby the execution thereof is brought about they cannot be the procureing cause thereof This is manifest But the former is true Therefore c. That the former is true is manifest from these words of Peter 1. Pet. 2 8. Where we see that these stumblers at the stumbling ston and disobedient persons were appointed or ordained thereunto So Ioh. 10 26 But ye beleeve not because ye are not of my sheep where it is manifest that their not beleeving was a clear consequent of their not being of his sheep So Rom. 11 7. Israel hath not obtained-but the Election and the rest were hardened So that it was from Election that such obtained as did obtaine and from Non-election that the rest obtained not but were hardened 8 Sin is the moving cause of Actual damnation If sin also be the moving cause of the decree of Reprobation It would follow that because of sin God decreed to damne because of sin which is strange language 12. Having premised these things we come now to take notice of what he saith we observed before one great mistake in his setâ—ing downe of our judgment as if God had determined the demonstration of his Iustice without any respâ—ct had to sin Then he saith as further declaring our opinion that God for perfecting of this did appoint that these miserable souls should necessarily sin Resp. Here are moe mistakes for first we say not that Reprobation imposeth any necessity of sinning The decree to punish for sin doth not impose a necessity on the sinner to sin nor yet the decree of denying grace whereby they might be delivered from their sin for that is only a decree of not delivering them out of that state wherein they have brought themselves under a necessity of sinning and so imposeth no necessity Next as to God's Decreeing or willing that sin should exist through his permission which doth not properly belong to this question neither doth that impose any absolute necessity or take away the liberty of Mans Will or the Contingency of events as to second causes And it would seem this man knoweth no difference betwixt an Absolute necessity and that necessity which is meerly Hypothetical But thirdly there is another mistake here for he would make his Reader beleeve that we said that all the necessity of sinning did flow from Reprobation as if no necessity of sinning arose from their sinful state wherein they are by the transgression of Adam Beside that we might observe how in this sentence he contradicteth what he said in the former He addeth That by his Iustice he might according to right rebuke and afflict This would import that according to our judgment Sin is permitted or decreed to exist the Lord permitting it as a Meane to the punishment as the End as if God intended punishment as an end and therefore suffered sin as a meanâ—s while as we look upon both the permission of sin and the punishment thereof as one meanes for the setting forth of the glory of divine Justice He proceedeth as declareing our opinion And therefore that God not only suffereth these to be obnoxiâ—us to this misery in many parts of the World by withdrawing the preaching of the Gospel and the knowledge of Christ. And here we finde some more mistakes for we say that all men by nature are into this state of sin and misery whether they hear the Gospel or not and so their obnoxiousness unto that misery dependeth not upon their want of preaching and of the knowledge of Christ though this be a necessary meane of delivering them out of it Againe his Therefore pointeth out another mistake for as we speak not thus so far less do we inferre this from what he mentioned before Thirdly his word subtrahendo withdrawing pointeth forth a third mistake for it will import that we say that the Gospel is once preached to every person yea and to every Reprobate for how else can it be said to be withdrawne And here is a further mistake when he addeth and the knowledge of Christ for hereby the Reader might think that we thought every Reprobat had the knowledge of Christ but because he was a Reprobat it was taken away from him and withdrawn He saith moreover that we say God even in these places where the Gospel is preached and salvation is offered by Christ withdraweth from them all grace whereby it was possible for them to apprehend the Gospel Here are also several mistakes for his subtraxisse importeth that God hath given to every one who heareth the Gospeâ— grace whereby they may imbrace the Gospel and then withdraweth it from the Reprobate because they are such where readeth he such language in the writtings of our Divines Next we say not as he here insinuateth that we do that the grace which God withholdeth from the Reprobat is that by which faith in the Gospel is meerly possible but that rather without which they cannot beleeve and with which they cannot but beleeve that is He withholdeth the grace of Faith which being his owne free gift Ephes. 2 8. He bestoweth it upon wâ—om He will for he blesseth with all spiritual blessings such as he hath chosen before the foundation of the world that they might be â—oly Ephes. 1 3 4. He proceedeth in relating our opinion thus Because by his own secret will he did decree that they should not obey and that the Gospel should never be effectual to their salvation and that without all respect had to their sin Where there arâ— other mistakes to be observed for first He no where readeth that Reprobation is a decreeing that men should not obey Next wheâ— our divines speak of God's decrees about sin they never utter their minde so bluntly as to say Goâ— decreed that they should not obey but thâ—y use to speak thus God willed or decreed that sin should exist he himself permitting it or as some He willed the permission of sin Thirdly here is another mistake for as to some who hear the Gospel and harden their hearts beyond ordinary God in Iustice giveth them up to the power of unbeleef as a Spiritual judicial stroke or taketh away the Gospel from them aâ—d so Non-churcheth them and this as a punishment and as the Lord doth so in time so he decreed to do so therefore there was some consideration of sin here though sin was no procureing or meritorious cause of the decree At length he concludeth and saith further as if it were our opinion that God decreed to send the Gospel to such as obey it not only to accumulate their damnation Where is another mistake as if this were God's End or his only End and as if we affirmed it were so while as both are most false and contradicted by what himself said a little before 13. Thus have we briefly considered his Representation of our Judgment and have found no fewer than twelue abuses and untruths so that no honest man can acknowledge
Intercession and Prayer is restricted to such Ioh. 17 9. I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine 6. Christ's end in coming into the world was to save his people Hence he gote that name Iesus but he should not be able to save them Perfectly Compleetly and to the Utermost if he did not joyne his Intercession with his Oblation Yea upon this account he continueth ever a Priest having an unchangable Priesthood Heb. ◠24 25. But this man because he continueth ever hath an unchangable Priesthood wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seing he ever liveth to make intercession for them 7. The Apostle so joyneth them together Rom. 8 34. that they must do manifest violence to the Apostles reasoning who would pull them asunder and separate the one from the other It is sais he Christ that died yea rather that is risen againe who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us 8. Yea they are so joyned together here that his death alone considered could not yeeld that ground of triumph and boasting nor security from Accusations Yea rather that is risen againe c. 9. So that the separating and taking of these asunder is greatly prejudicial to the consolation of his people for though they should attaine to some apprehensions of Christ's dying for them as an Advocate with the Father upon new sinnes 1 Ioh. 2 1 2. Though Christ died yet they might be condemned for he must also Interceed and if he do not Intercede for them their Hopes and Comforts are gone And so there should be no force in that who is he that condemneth it is Christ that died Rom. 8 34. And a poor soul might be had saved but not to the uttermost contrare to Heb. 7 25. 10 And that place Rom. 8 33. restricteth both equally unto the Elect who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect 11. When Christ laid down his life a Ransome for sinners he could not but know that by that Ransome none should be actually saved without his Intercession it being accorded betwixt Father and Son that the mediator should mediate both by Price and by Prayer And he could not but know for whom he purposed and intended to Interceed how shall we then suppose that he would lay down his life for those for whom he was purposed not to Pray Or that he would do the most for them For whom he would not do the least 12. Christ's intercession is really a presenting unto God the Oblation made Therefore sayes the Apostle Heb. 9 24. that Christ is entered into heaven it self to appear in the presence of God for us And so by appearing he Interceedeth and his appearing is in his owne blood whereby he obtained Eternal Redemption Heb. 5 12. and so his Intercession must be for all for whom the Oblation was and the eternal Redemption was obtained 13. Yea both these are so joyned together by Esaias Chap. 53 12. as that they are made one ground and procureing cause of God's divideing him a portion with the great and of Christs own divideing the spoile with the strong Because he hath poured out his soul unto death and he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressours 14. This is further clear from the reasons we gave to confirme that fast connexion betwixt Christ's Impetration Application in the foregoing paragraph for the Actual Application of the benefite and fruit of his oblation is attributed to his Intercession 15. Nay that whole Chapter Ioh 17. confirmeth this for there Christ is both Offering himself or sanctifying himself thereunto vers 19. and Interceding and these are so lincked together both in themselves and as to the persons for whom that it must argue at least much incogitancy to imagine a divulsion separation of these two acts of his Priesthood 16. If Christ Intercede not for the same persons for whom he died we ask for whom he Intercedeth Is it for actual beleevers Then we ask a Scripture ground for this restriction And then it is manifest hence that Christ Intercedeth not for the working of faith in any And yet Esaias tels us that he maketh Intercession for transgressours And we see Ioh. 17 20. that he prayeth not only for those who were already beleevers but for such also as were not yet beleevers He told us Himself also that he would pray the Father for the Spirit Ioh. 14 vers 16. And among other things this is one work of the Spirit to cause a sinner beleeve 2 Cor. 4 13. Ephes. 1 17 18 19. 33. The point we are upon will be further cleare if we consider 22. That Christ's death was a Redemption and we are said to be Redeemed thereby Gal. 4 5. and 3 13. Rom. 3 24. Ephes. 1 7. Col. 1 14. 1 Pet. 1 8. Revel 5 9. Tit. 2 14. And therefore all such as he laid down this Redemption or Redemption-money for must of necessity be redeemed and saved and consequently he died not for all seing all are not redeemed and saved His Ransome or Price of redemption which he laid down viz. his blood which he shed is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ransome Mat. 20 28. and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 2 6. That all such for whom this Redemption-money was payed and this Ransome was given must be saved is cleare for 1. Other wayes it were no Redemption a ransome given for Captives doth say that these Captives in law and justice ought to be set at liberty 2. This Redemption is the same with as to the effect or hath attending it forgiveness of sins Col. 1 14. Ephes. 1 7. and forgiveness of sins is with justification hath blessedness attending it Rom. 4 6 7 8. 3. Salvation necessarily followeth upon this Ransome and Redemption as is clear 1 Tim. 2 4. compared with vers 6. 4. This redemption is from a vaine Conversation 1 Pet. 1 18. and consequently is attended with Salvation 5. It is attended with justification Rom. 3 24. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ 6. Hence it is called the Redemption of the transgressions Heb 9 15. that is either of Transgressours by a metonimy or of us from the evil of transgressions that upon a valuable compensation and satisfaction for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Redemption from evil by the Interveening of a Price a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Ransom 7. This was a Redemption from the law for God sent forth his son made under the law to redeem them who were under the law Gal. 4 4 5. so by this redemption there is a liberation had from the Law and its Curse and Penality 8. And it is a Redemption of such as were under the law for this end that they might receive the adoption of sones Gal. 4 5. But this Adoption of sones
day with joy and of all who would carry as true and loyal Subjects unto Him and would not be charged with the guilt of this God-darring Christ-blaspheming and Spirit-despiting generation of the prodigiously profane and arrogant Seck of Runagad-Quakers to be this day holding them up in their addresses unto God by prayer to our Lord Jesus the righteous Judge as His sworn and stated Enemies and as standing in perfect Opposition to His Kingdom and Interest and to cry unto Him night and day that He would arise and appear against them and plead His own cause in His good time for the glory of His name as also to be mourning for those sinnes that have provoked the Just and Jealous God to suffer such Hellish Locusts to arise and darken with their pestiferous blasphemies all the Glorious Comfortable Truths of the Gospel and to be manifesting the truth and sincerity of our Repentance by the native and kindly effects thereof mentioned by Paul 2 Cor. 7 11. And if it were thus with us sure I am it would not be needful to say much to move all unto a fixed abhorrence of the Errours Wayes and Practices of these Men and to a fleeing from them as from Men carrying about with them the very Credentials of Hell and the Devils Commission to go forth and pervert the right wayes of the Lord and to destroy Souls We would not need to inculcate the duties already pressed in the Scriptures in reference to such Hereticks and false Teachers to wit to beware of them to avoide them turn away from them to reject them and not to receive them in our houses or salute them lest we should be partakers of their evil deeds Mat. 7 15. Rom. 16 17. Phil. 3 2. 2 Tim. 2 5. Tit. 3 10. 2 Ioh. vers 10 11. For every one would of his own accord by a special Christian instinct flee from them more hastily then from persons having the blak botch upon the account that when these could endanger only the Body those were actively seeking to destroy the precious Soul And all who feared to fall under that sad sentence of summar Excommunication from Heaven Anathema Maranatha durst ever enter into a friendly communing with them have any followshipe with them or give them the least token of kindness and affection by word or deed yea or by a cast of the eye let be by more homely Discoursings and Conversings And it is more then probable that if this course had been followed with them at the first they had not prevailed so much as they have done to our Shame Sin and Sorrow this day O that this were yet thought upon and amended Much less would there be any necessity to use much seriousness in disswading all who had any love to their own souls from hearkning to their discourses even though assurance were had which who that know what their Principles and Designes are can expect that they should say nothing but what is consonant to Truth seing it will be easily granted that the Devil speaking in whomsoever and uttering whatsomever should not be listned unto lest afterward he cause these same persons either question or deny these same truths because held and declared by such who by their other abominable Errours declare whose Slaves and Emissaries they are beside the advantage he hath when he getteth an hearing ear to distil and insensibly drop-in soul-destroying venome suggared over with faire Speeches and plausible Insinuations Moreover were all affected with this matter as they ought to be there would not be much need of Arguments disswading from a Perusal and Reading of their Scripts and Pamphlets For this impression would prompt them to an abhorrence of such Libels against the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ against blessed Jesus of Nazareth of whom these Quakers say as their Father the Devil did before them what have we to do with thee thou Ieâ—us of Nazareth And against the holy Spirit of grace Is it not obvious to all that beside the advantage the Devil hath in our losse of so much precious time spent in reading of their heretical and blasphemous writings which may be one end why the Devil prompteth them to be at so much paines and charges to Write and Printe so many pernicious Scripts and distribute them so freely he hath this also that the reading of their Impertinent Reavings in and about the holy things of God and with all of their Presumptuous and ridiculously confident Assertions doth oft excite the Reader to laughter who should rather be weeping over the manifest Effrontry done to the holy and precious Truths of God and Indignity done to the Holy Lord when His name is thus taken in vaine And much more when the reading of their Blasphemous and Outragious Speaches against the Holy One of their Profane and Temerarious Abusings and Wrestings of the holy Word of Truth of their Audacious and Wicked Overturnings of the whole Gospel of the grace of God of their Subdolous and Craftie Undermining of the Fundamental points of our Religion of their Supercilious and Effronted Rejectings of and Mockings at the sacred Truths of God and of their Irreverent and Fearless Prattings about the Mysteries of Divine and Unsearchable Wisdom cannot but insensibly debauch the spirit of the Reader into at least unsutable thoughts about these great Matters if he be not more then ordinarily ballasted with the apprehension of the dreadful Majestie of that God whose Truths these are The consideration of which should me thinks coole our Curiosity and cause us even when some necessity is laid upon us which we cannot evite to read them as when called to write against them and to discover their abominable and blasphemous Assertions for preventing of further mischiefe a necessitie that lyeth not upon every one of our Common People to live nigh to God and to be oft praying for a stayed frame of heart that our spirits be not debauched by the reading of such things as have a native tendency thereunto nor place be given to one thought of these great and glorious matters as if they were but indifferent or of small moment Who can dive into the depths of Satan the mysteries of their Blasphemies and Abominations and not be in hazard of receiving hurt thereby if the Lord do not strengthen and steel the Soul Finally were we as we ought to be there would be no necessity of dehorting any from giving countenance in the least unto their Synagogues of Satan and Diabolical Conventicles where some out of curiosity or some other corrupt ends sisting themselves within the jurisdiction of Satan who there reigneth being there solemnly Served and Worshiped have been as the Quakers themselves do boast and this R. Barclay professeth himself to be a clear instance catched by the Devil and made to drink of the same Cup of Delusion with the rest and to devote themselves to the same service of the Enemy of God and of Mankinde in which these
this he must yeeld that Adam upon the fall began to die in being made liable to so many Miseries which he was to conflict with untill the day of his dissolution and from which he was â—ee so long as he stood in his integrity for he cannot be so unreasonable as to think that Sickness Infirmities Paines Torments Griefs c. can be punishments of sin to us and yet that they were no punishment of sin to Adam especially seing these were denunced against Adam by God the Righteous Judge upon conviction of his crime 19. When he giveth us his mystical Interpretation of the Lord 's thrusting man out of paradice and placeing at the east of the garden of Eden cherubimes and a flamming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life Pag. 55. he mentioneth the spiritual Communion and Communication which the sainâ—s enjoy with God through Jesus Christ to whom these cherubimes give place and to all that enter through him who calleth himself the Door Now I would ask this comming in our way here though we have designed the Next Chapter for this purpose If he thinketh Infants are capable of entring in at the door Christ and of enjoying Communion with God through Christ if he say yes then he supposeth that they are excluded by nature from this Communion as well as others and will not this prove the Imputation of Adams Guilt unto them seing they share of his Punishment and were with him and in him cast out of Paradice because of this transgression but more of this hereafter 20. Thereafter he cometh to prove that Adam and his Posterity after the fall did retaine no Will nor Light capable to discerne this he should say and not to manifest spiritual things and for this cause citeth Gen. 6 5 8 2â— Ier. 17 9. Rom. 3 10 -19 And here who would suspect but the Man meaned honestly to represent the deplorable Catastroph that sin brought into the world But he is like the man of whom Salomon speaketh Prov. 26 25 26. He that hateth dissembleth with his â—ips and layeth up deceit within him And therefore when he speaketh fair or maketh his voice gracious we must not beleeve him for there are seven abominations in his heart And in the very entry we have some discovery made to us of his disperat Designe for says he what ever good man doth in his Nature that doth not proceed from him but from the divine Seed in him Whence we may see that Man in his nature that is as I suppose in his Natural State can do good and this would seem to contradict what he is about to prove but to prevent this he tels us that all that good doth not proceed from him though he doth it but from the divine seed in him So that notwithstanding of the fall there is a divine Seed which remaineth in every man as an active principle of good But was not this divine seed in man before the fall no doubt Was not this divine seed a Principal part at least of the Image of God Sure it could not be otherwise Then it seemeth that man by his fall did not lose all the Image of Gâ—d nor the Principal part thereof and if this Seed of God remained he was not wholly dead as to a spiritual life and as to Communion with God which yet he understood by that death threatned upon the eating of the forbidden fruite Hence we may have some more clear discovery of thâ— Mystery of this mans Religion and of his Conceptions concerning the fall and of these things formerly hinted by us § 3 4 5 6 7 8. 14 for we see here clearly that the fall was but in a certane Respect in respect of Nature But not in respect of the Seed of God But I pray him to tell me how Adam did any good before the fall was it only by Nature or was it by the divine Seed If only by nature then the divine Seed was idle and useless and then why and for what ends had he this divine Seed If by the divine Seed then the fall caused no change for this divine Seed remained and remained Operative and man by it did good One thing further I would observe Here he granteth that persons in nature can do good by vertue of the seed of God and in so far as they do good by the seed of God or divine seed they are not deprived of the Sense and Touches of the Seed of God and yet he told us in the beginning of his Thesis That all the posterity of Adam was deprived of the sense and touch of the divine seed I know not how he shall liberate himself of this Contradiction unless he say that howbeit the good that a natural man doth proceed from the seed of God yet the man hath no feeling nor Touch of this Seed and so it is not the Man but the Seed that worketh and doth good and then it will follow that all that good which is done by man in nature is purely and immediatly the work of the Seed of God and is no Humane Action but Divine wherein the natural man is purely passive or rather as a shope in which a Man worketh and consequently they must be all Perfect Holy and Divine Actions and so their actions shall be better upon many accounts than the most gracious actions of the truely regenerated children of God Now let any judge what this man thinketh of the fall and of the Natural State of Man 21. He layeth down this exception before he enlarge upon Gen. 6 5. and the other places formerly named But one thing he hath not adverted unto viz. That none of those places give the least hint of this Exception yea That himself commenting upon them taketh in their most large and comprehensive sense and interpreteth them absolutely and not respectivly telling us that all the thoughts of the heart of man without exception of any this he tels us and would have us observe the emphasis are only and alwayes evil now where is that exception and limitation which he foisteth in here of its owne nature or of it self or as it proceedeth from his heart Shall we think that God's controversie against the wicked world was only this that howbeit Man did good and much good by vertue of the Divine Seed that was in him yet all that good did not proceed from his Nature and from his owne heart How absurd is this And doth Ieremiah Chap. 17 9. give any hint of this Exception or Limitation Doth he say that the heart of man in it self is deceitful above all things but not the heart of natural men as under the touches of the seed of God Doth Paul Rom. 3. speaking positively enough of man in his lapsed and corrupt state make any exception of actions done in them by the divine Seed Why doth this man then obtrude his fancyful notions upon us without all ground or shew of
evils but what that was they knew not The proud and vaine glorious Stoicks thought that all this sinne and misery did proceed from every mans own Free Will and Choise immediatly and that there was no other cause Hence they thought that every man came into the world free of any Vice or Inclination to sin errasti sayes Seneca Epist. 94. si existimas nobiscum vitianasci supervenerunt ingesta sunt so againe ib. nulli nos vitio natura conciliat nos illa integros ac liberos genuit And yet the same man must elsewhere lib. 3. quaest c. 30. confess that vice is learned without any teacher Hence also they thought that man by his owne Ability Paines and Industrie might recoveâ— all his losses and that nothing more was requisite but to live according to nature Senec. Epist. 41. Howbeit their very care and industrie to make lawes for bearing down of vice and setting forward of vertue was sufficient to Redargue and Confute their foolish Imagination had they but improven Natures light as they might or made use of right Reason as they pretended However we see Stoicks and Quakers are nigh of kin 2. Plato speaks more clearly concerning this Fallen and Degenerat State of Man but it is not improbable as Mr Galâ— sheweth in his Court of the Gentiles part 1. lib. 3. c. 5. that â—e had help from Scriptures or Iewish Tradition when he speaketh of the â—ron age and particularly when he sayeth in his Timâ—eâ—â— Locrus fol. 103. That the cause of vitiosity is from our Parents and first Principles rather than from ourselves and elsewhere There is well nigh in every one an ingenitâ— evil and disease And de legib lib. 5. The greatest evil of all is implanted in many men and fixed in their souls And this state of misery he tearmes Gorgias fol. 493. a moral or spiritual death and that according to the opinion of the wise saying I have heard from the wise men that we are now dead and that the body is but our sepulchre 3. However the generality of Philosophers were utter strangers to the Rise of this contagion and the hints that Plato giveth are but very dark But when Christianity came and spread it self through the world that which the wise Men of the world were utterly ignorant of became plaine and notoure to every one for without the knowledge of this there could be no right Improvement of the Remedie offered in the Gospel and therefore the knowledge of this was a necessary part of Christianity In causa duorum hominum said August lib. de Pecc orig c. 24. quorum per unum venundati sumus sub peccato per alterum redimimur a peccatis proprie fides christianâ— consistitpunc So that the doctrine of original sin with the reality and manner of its â—raduction from Adam and downeward by natural Generation was unquestioned in the Christian Church until that unhappy enemie of the grace of God arose who raised up his heresie upon the ruines of the proud â—ottages of the Heathen Philosophers I mean Pelagius who to strengthen himself in his opposition and enmity to the Grace of God in Christ Iesus did take upon him the defence of Corrupt Nature and denyed Original sin saying lib. de Natura apud August lib. de Nat. and Grat. c. 9. that all sinned in Adam not because of sin attracted by birth but because of Imitation See more of this Vossij Histor Pelag. lib. 2. par 2. thes 1. And Iulianus the Pelagian as we may see there also said against Augustine that God could not impute the sin of another unto Infants and that no man is born with sin And that the children cannot be guilty until they commit some thing by their owne will How Augustine set himself against this Palagian cardinal errour his books declare And how the whole Church did appear against it is notoure Pelagius himself subdolously seemed to deny his owne opinions in a Council in Palâ—stine at Diopolis condemning himself for saying That Adam was made mortal and so should have died whether he had sinned or not That Adams sin did only hurt himself and not mankinde That infants new borne are into the same condition that Adam was in before the fall And againe these and others of Pelagius errours were anathematized by the Councel of Milevum in Numidia And August tels us lib. â— de Bono persever cap. 2. that the Catholick Church defended against these Pelagians among other truths this That man is borne obnoxius to Adams sin and bound by the bond of damnation 4. This same Pelagian errour is maintained by the Socinians Socin Pral c. 4. de Christ. Serv. part 4. c. 6. Catech Racov. cap. 10. de Proph. Mun. Christ. Smale de justif disp 4. Volkel lib. 5. c. 18. Ostorod Instit. c. 33. By Episcopius against Heidanus Pag. 116. and by the Remonst Armin. Apol. cap. 7. fol. 84. So is it maintained by the Anabaptists And D. Voetius Select disp part 1. pag. 1079. tels us that the Jewes ordinarily this day deny Original sin citeing the words of one at Venice saying that the sin of Adam doth not condemne souls but only hurt the soul in so far as it bringeth in the body of Adam whence it is that it becometh more difficult to the Posterity of Adam to do good c. Mr Stephens in his defence of the doctrine of Original sin sheweth that one Mr Robert Everard and D. Ieremiah Taylor and some Examiners of the late Assemblies Confession of faith did appear against Original sin and in his preface he tels us that Anno 1654. Feb. 22. Some Brethren of the Separation did at a private dispute maintaine That all Infants were-free of Original sin To these Opposers of Original sin This Quaker in the name of the rest adjoyneth himself and so deserteth the Truâ—h maintained by the Orthodox Churches and explained in their several Confessions and particularly by our Confes. of faith Chap. 6. § 2.3 4. By this sin they i. e. our first Parents fell from their Original righâ—eousness and communion with God and so became dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body They being the root of all Mankinde the guilt of this sin was imputed and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation From this original corruption whereby we are utterly indisposed disabled and made opposite to all good and wholly inclined to all evil do proceed all actual transgressions And thereafter § 6. Every sin both Original and Actual being a transgression of the righteous Law of God and contrary thereunto doth in its own nature bring guilt upon the sinner whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God and curse of the Law and so made subject to death with all miseries spiritual temporal and eternal And more briefly in the larger and shâ—rter Catechismes to this Question Did all mankinde fall in
Adams first transgressiâ—n t is answered thus The Covenant being made with Adam as a publick person not for himself only but for his posterity all mankinde descending from him by ordinary generation sinned in him and fell with him in that first transgressiâ—n 5. Concerning this sin which is under various names and titles pointed forth to us in Scripture being called Sin by way of eminency Rom. 6.12 7 8. the Old Man Rom. 6 6. a Law in the members Rom. 7 23. the Body of sin Rom. 6 6. a Body of death Rom. 7 24. In dwelling sin Rom 7 17 20. Evill present Rom 7 21. These are meaned of this Sin as seated in and derived unto the posteriâ—y but as committed first by Adam Paul Rom. 5 calleth it Sin Offence Transgression Disoâ—edience and concerning its Propagation or Traduction unto the posterity many questions and doubts are moved which we are not to meddle with our purpose not being to treate of this Subject but only to vindicate the orthodox doctrine from the exceptions of this Quaker and to discover his errour in this particular For which cause we need only take notice of two things concerning this Original sin First There is the Sin disobedience offence and transgression of Adam in eating of the forbidden fruit This though it was the sin of our nature in Adam yet is said to be imputed to our persons when we come to have a being by natural Generation and deâ—cent from Adam Secondly There is that wâ—ich followed upon and flowed from that transgression of Adam according to the nature and tenour of tâ—e Covenant wherein he stood as the head and representer of all mankinde viz. The Privation or Want of that Original righteousness which our Nature possessed in Adam and the Depravation Corruption Deordination of the whole man whereby he is Disabled to all good and wholly Inclined and disposed to evil and all evil and only evil continually till grace make a change This cannot properly be said to be imputed but being a just punishment as well as a sin of the sin committed by Adam is justly inflicted by the righteous God and conveyed from Adam to all his posterity as a leprosy and infectious disease corrupting the whole man which therefore is seated and subjected in the man so soon as he hath a being by natural generation from his immediat parents though both the guilt and this contagion be not received immediatly from our next parents but immediatly from Adam from whom we have our Nature as our Personal being from our immediat parents who stand in no nearer relation to Adam as the Head of Nature than we but all Father Son and Nephew c. stand in the same near relation to him in respect of Nature as lines to the same centre 6. Having premised these things let us now consider what this Quaker hath to say against this in his Fourth Thesis towards the end he setteth downe his Assertion in few words where before we mentione his words we cannot but take notice of a piece of more than ordinary shamelesness in this Man for in the words immediatly before he cometh in with a triumphing parad saying hence the errours of Socinians and Pelagians c. are rejected as if he would make his Reader beleeve thâ—t he did anathematize all the errours of Pelagians and Socinians wâ—en yet he licks up and hugs in his bosome a special fundamental part of Pelagianisme and Socinianisme adding which are the words we are now to take notice of Yet nevertheless this seed is not imputed unto infants but when they joyne themselves to it actually by sinning We must beare with this man's following the Quakers dialect for he will speak but as he pleaseth But for understanding of wâ—at he meaneth we must call to minde his foregoing words which we took notice of in the foregoing Chapter and examined where he mentioned the Seed of God of the touch whereof he said all Adam's posterity was deprived This cannot be the seed he here meaneth He mentioneâ— another Seed of Satan to which Adam's posterity was subject and this Seed he said Satan did sowe in the hearts of Men c. Now this must be that malignant and depraved seed whence all their Thoughts Words and Actions are evil which he here meaneth And this Seed he sayeth is not Imputed to Infants And we said lately that this originated sin or Corrupâ—ion of nature could not properly be said to be impuâ—ed becauâ—e it was properly inherent as a disease of nature But the thing that he would say is plainly enough expressed in his Apology Pag. 54. But others sayeth he go so far in the â—ther extremity to whom Augustine in his declineing age moved with zeal against the Pelagians did first of all the Ancients open the way as not only to confess that Men of themselves are unfit for good and inclined to evil but also to affirme that man even while in his Mothers womb and before he commit any actual sin is under the guilt and crime of sin by which he deserveth eternal death Whereby we see that he freeth Infants from the guilt of Adam's first sin and againe Pag. 55. he sayeth they impute nothing of Adam's sin unto Men until they make it their owne by such like acts of disobedience He is clear then for the Non-imputation of Adam's sin unto Infants and the Arguments he adduceth cleare his judgment yet more 7. Thus we have seen what are his thoughts of the Imputation of Adam's guilt But what thinketh he of the other particular the Corruption of Nature His Thesis could meane nothing else by the Seed of the Serpent and when he cometh to the explication of this part of the Thesis in his Apâ—logy Pag. 59 § 4. he tels us that this evil and corrupt seed is not imputed unto infants until they actually joyn themselves unto it by sin And by this evil and corrupt seed he meaneth that whicâ— he had been speaking of viz. the Corrupt nature of Man But Pag. 55. he would seem to câ—ntradict this when he sayeth We cannot conceive how Man who is naturally come of Adam can have any good in his nature pertaining to it which he had not from whom he is derived if then we may affirme that he in his nature retained no will belonging to it nor light capable of it self to manifest spiritual things so nor his posterity Whence you might think that as Adam by his fall lost Original righteousness and all aptitude in Will or Undeâ—standing unto spiriâ—ual things so â—lso his Posterity that came naturally of him in this mans opinion but his tâ—ue meaning is that though Infants descend naturally from Adam yet this Privation of Righteousness and Corruption of Will and Understanding is not imputed to Infants nor do they partake thereof until they sin actually for in the end of his discourse upon this head Pag. 62. he sayes that this seed of sin is not imputed to any till by
upon what designe himself best knoweth Nor doth he speak any thing of Election that we might thereby understand his meaning better concerning Reprobation It is true Pag. 59. as we took notice in the proceeding chapter he gave us a little taste of his humore in giving a wipe without any true ground or real occasion at absolute Election and so we see that he is equally enraged against Absolute Election and Absolute Reprobation But what his owne true Opinion is he leaveth us to conjecture Some might think that he were of one opinion as to this with Pelagians Iesuites and Arminians who plead for Conditional decrees of Election and Reprobation and for satisfaction to their owne searching minde poreing into this matter The Iesuites do coine a Scientia Media through which as a necessary pair of spectacles they consider God looking a far to read what is written on the will of man placed in such and such circumstances that accordingly he may order his unchangeable decrees either to Elect this man who as he foreseeth through this prospect of Scientia Media will be a good and holy man and continue in faith and obedience to the end or to Reprobate that other man who as he espyeth by the same medium will prove a son of belial and will not beleeve nor repent If this man be of this opinion I am far mistaken if his Election and Reprobation howbeit he call it Conditional be not more fatally Inevitable than what we say for by this opinion the Lord Jehovah himself is under a Fatal necessity of Electing those that are elected and Reprobating such as are reprobated for according as he seeth the determination of mans will which he cannot alter matters standing in the supposed circumstances so must He passe his decrees But others may think that he rather imbraceth the Opinion of the Socinians and Arminians homologate as to several particulars with them who deny all Eternal Decrees whether of Election or Reprobation as concerning particular individual persons granting only one general decree which they call Predestination whereby the Lord decreed to Elect in time all that should be found in time to be Beleevers and Obedient and Consequently to Reprobate and reject the rest and this Election and Reprobation only in time they ascribe unto God because they rob Him of all Fore knowledge and they make it twofold one Infirme Conditional and Imperfect which may alter as men change their manners so that a Reprobat to day may be an Elect tomorrow and an Elect today a Reprobat the next day another Firme Fixed Peremptory and Absolute when the man hath finished his course and ended his dayes In all which the Arminians agree with them except in this one thing that the Arminians grant an eternal Election of Individual Persons upon the foresight of Faith and Obedience which the other grant not Hence the greatest of my difficulty will flow from my ignorance of this mans true principles for I shall not know how to vindicate truth which we maintaine so as to convince him and stop his mouth upon his owne grounds as otherwayes I should not doubt through the assistance of his Spirit and Grace whose cause I plead to do 5. As concerning this matter enough hath been said by the Orthodox against Pelagians Semipelagians Socinians and Arminians and this man confesseth he hath brought no new accusation against our doctrine but he hath only scraped together as it would seem what he could get out of the dunghill of Iesuites and Arminians And therefore we might dismiss him by referring him to such as have written copiously and very far above his reach on this subject even to some papists such as the Dominicans Alvares Estius Rispolis Cajetanus Sixtus Senensis and to others more ancient such as Aegidius Romanus Gregorius Ariminensiâ— and others cited by Estius yet lest he should boast we shalâ— view what he hath said without enlarging much upon the matter And as to our doctrine the Reader may satisfy himself with what is Succinctly Solidly Plainly and Satisfying set down in our Confession of faith cap. 3. sect 3 4. 7. and for clâ—aring of the whole matter he may read the whole Chapter and there finde much in little bounds For facilitating of our way in the fâ—llowing examination I shall only propose a few things here in the entry for understanding the truâ—h about Reprobation without speaking to Election particularly 6. And 1. No man can denâ— a Reprobation but he must withall deny an Election for Election being a choosing of some cannot but import a leaving of others And I suppose this Quaker will grant this unless he be of the opinion of Hilberus who asserted that all men were Elected in Christ to salvation whether they beleeved or not not only contrary to the native proper import of the word Election which is a choosing separating of some from others but to plaine Scripture Mat. 20 16. 24 24. Ioh. 10 26. 1 Cor. 1 26. Rom. 9 22 23. many other places 2. Seing then the Scripture is so full in proving of Election we must assert that there is also a Reprobation and beside the Scripture pointeth forth the matter to us Mal. 1 2. Rom. 9 13.22 1 Pet. 2 8. Iud ver 4. Mat. 25 41. Prov. 16 4. 3. When we speak of Reprobation as opposed to Election as comprehended under Predestination as a species or part we consider either the Act of God Reprobating or the thing Decreed Purposed by the act of Reprobation that is as the Schoolmen speak vel quoad reprobantis actum vel quoad reprobationis terminum When we consider the Act of God reprobating nothing in man can be any moving cause thereof nay it is impossible it should be so for as Aquinas 1. p. quaeâ—t 23. art 5. saith there can be no cause of the will of God a touching the act of willing and the reason is manifest because that act of God's will as all immanent acts of God are is Eternal now man all that is in man is of yesterday could not cause an eternal act yea that act of God's will is God himself unlesse we blasphemously say with Socinians that the decrees of God are accidents in God so destroy his Simplicity and therefore we can no more imagine a cause in man of the act of Reprobation than we can imagine that there is something in man which is a cause of God himself which were absurd blasphemy The will of God hath no cause no antecedent is dependant on limited determined by nothing in man or any creature The learned Doct. Twisse hath this argument further If saith he sin be the cause of Reprobation it is either so of its owne Nature or by the Ordinance of God Not the first as all will confess Not the second for then God should ordaine that upon the foresight of sin he would ordaine man to damnation thus an Eternal Ordination should
be the object of an Eternal Ordination When we consider Reprobation in respect of its terminus or thing willed purposed by that act of God we divide it into two parts or say there are two maine things intended purposed presupposing not mentioning what is common both to Election Reprobation as Creation c. as first the denyal of Grace whereby they may be recovered from their state of sin the second is the denyal of Glory or adjudging them to eternal death This last Being for sin a just execution of a righteous sentence is not neither can it be without consideration of sin as the meritorious procuring cause So that to speak properly God doth not damne whom he will Damnation not being an act of meer pleasure but an act of justice conforme to an established Law But the other the denying or not giving of grace is an act of Absolute Freedom Good Pleasure for He hath mercy on whom He will and whom He will he hardeneth Rom. 9 15 18. And as God's granting of grace is an absolute act of his good pleasure free not for any merite or goodness in man as all except Pelagians will confess yea Pelagius himself confessed it at the Synod in Palestine so the Lord 's denying of this gâ—ace and mercy must be Absolute and not Conditional an act of the Lords free will and good pleasure for the praise of his glory there being no fixed Law constitute by God according to which he bestoweth Grace or bestoweth it not and there being no Reason imaginable why the Lord should confâ—rre grace upon Iacob and not upon Esau upon Moses and not upon Pharaoh upon Peter and not upon Iudas beside the good pleasure of God as the Lord did set his love upon the people of Israel because he loved them Deut. 7 6 7. so no cause can be given why he would not have mercy on Pharaoh on Esau on Iudas as well as on others beside his God will and Pleasure who hardeneth whom He will 7. We must therefore in this matter carefully distinguish betwixt Gods Decree and the Things decreed Things decreed may have their Causes and one may depend upon another as on the meritorious procuring cause but the Decree of God is absolute having no dependence upon any thing without being the Absolute and Free act of his Will God may and doth Decree that this shall be because of that and yet because of this he cannot be said to Will that So when the Lord decreeth to damne some persons because of their sins though sin be the procureing meritorious cause of damnation yet it is not the procuring meritorious cause of Gods willing or decreeing to damne Therefore though it be true that God decreeth to save none but such as Beleeve and continue in Faith and Obedience to the end and to damne none but such as are Sinners and Continue in sin to the end yet we must not say that as Faith and Obedience in adult persons do preceed salvation as some way disposeing causes thereunto and as Final Perseverance in sin preceedeth damnation as the meritorious cause thereof so the Foresight of Faith Obedience and Final Perseverance in both preceed election or the decree of God as disposeing causes or prerequisites thereunto and the Foresight of Final Perseverance in sin preceed Reprobation or the decree of God as the meritorious cause thereof for as the purpose of God according to Election is not of works but of him that calleth Rom. 9 11. so the purpose of God according to Reprobation cannot be of works for the children being not yet born neither having done good or evil it was said the Elder shall serve the Younger Rom. 9.11 12. As the potter hath power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour Rom. 9 21. so the Lord willing to shew his wrath to make his power known may endure with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to Destruction and he may make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory Rom. 9 vers 22.23 8. As the Scripture holdeth forth Reprobation as we heard and may be further gathered even as to the name from Ier. 6 30. Heb. 6 8. 2 Tim. 3 8. So it holdeth it forth to us sometimes in Negative termes sometimes in Positive termes Hence some speak of a Negative Reprobation called Preterition or passing by which is a real Positive act in God and not purely Negative as some suppose and of a Positive and Affirmative Reprobation which they call Praedamnation By the Negative Reprobation they understand a Positive eternal act of God whereby according to the counsel of his own will he passed by such as he did not Elect and resolved not to give them saving grace whereby they might be delivered from sin as when Châ—ist saith Math. 7 23. I nâ—ver knew you and Mat. 11 25 26. I thank thee ó Father Lord of heaven and earth because thou hast hid these things from the wise Even so father for so it seemed good in thy sight And when mention is made of some in the Revel Chap 13 â— and 20 15. whose names were not written in the Book of Life And when Christ saith Ioh. 10 26. Yee are not of my sheep By the Positive or Affirmative Reprobation they understand the Lord's positive Resolution according to the unsearâ—hable counsel of his owne will whereby he ordaineth such as he hath passed by to dishonour and wrath for their sin Hence such are said to be hated Rom. 9 13. to be vessels of wrath fitted for destruction Rom. 9 21 22. to be appointed unto stumbling at the word c. 1 Pet. 2 8. ordained to condemnation Iud. vers 4. to which also belongeth the Lord's just and judicial smiteing with blindeness giving up to a Reprobaâ— minde and to their owne hearts lusts hardening their hearts and the like Rom 1 24 26 28. 9 18. 11 7. Psal. 81 12. 9. Now as touching that question that this Quaker is most busied with viz. Whether Reprobation be absolute and without all respect had to sin or not the Reader may see by what is said what is to be Answered thereunto The Quaker loving darkness speaks undistinctly either because Ignorant of the true question or out of a malicious Designe to render the Truth us for maintaining it odious or both But we shall endeavoure in a few words to clear the mater If we consider the act of Reprobation as in God of whose will it is an Immanent and Eternal act there can be no more cause of it in man or aâ—y creature than of any other of his decrees which are all one act and so one with Himself Yet this act of Reprobating that is of appointing and designing such or such individual persons to the condemnation of hell for their sinnes can not be said to be as to its
this for a true declaration of the truth which we maintaine and with this open discovery of his unfaire dealing might we rest satisfied because it is to be presumed his following reasons can conclude only against this he hath laid forth as our judgment but as we have showne This is not our judgment and therefore his Arâ—uments cannot touch us if they lavel at nothing but at this man of straw which he hath made for himself to shoot at Yet lest he boast as if we were not able to look his Reasons in the face we shall view them 14. He tels us that this is a new opinion there being no mention made thereof in the first four hundered yeers after Christ and that Augustin laid the first foundation thereof in his later writings out of zeal against the Pelagians and sowed some sayings which some have unhappily laid hâ—ld on to strengthen this errour whereby they contradict both truth and the sayings of Augustin and others Answ 1. This man would make us bâ—leeve that he had read all the Fathers that wrote before Augustine but we know whence he hath this for it is the old saying of Arminians But 2. This can conclude nothing against the Truth which we have seen asserted in the Scriptures of truth The Fathers in those ages had not to do with such hereticks as were the Pelagians Before that Enemy of the grace of God arose the Church was in pâ—ace as to these controversies and the Fathers had no occâ—sion to debate such questions as Pelagius afterwards gave occasion unto Can he evince that all the Fathers before Augustine were of a contrary opinion to what we maintaine 3. Is this mans Religion grounded upon the authority of men And will he beleeve no more than what the Father 's said in the first foure ages Let him follow what cisterns he pleaseth we will satisfie ourselves with the Word as the ground of our Faith and we do look upon the Apostles as more ancient than these Fathers and take their positive assertions as of more authority than the silence of these 4. Yet Augustine de dono persever Cap. 11. citeth Ambrose Nazianzen and Cyprian as concurring with him in the ground of his doctrine of Predestination 5. as concerning Augustine what this man groundlesly suggesteth of him is the same he said before when speaking of Original sin and there we answered it 6. what contradictions are in our doctrine either unto Truth or unto Augustine he hath not showne Augustine it is true in his later dayes and after more mature deliberation and consideration of the matter occasioned by his disputs with the Pelagians did retract somethings said by himself in his younger yeers But all this is for the further Confirmation of the truth which we owne The Reader who desireth more satisfaction concerning this matter of Antiquity as to this point may consult the learned D. Twisse against Mr Hoord Sect. 1. 15. He next tels us that the Dominicans imbraced this Opinion And so he giveth us to understand that he is more pleased with the doctrine of the Iesuites But all except Pelagian-Arminians confesse that in these points the Dominicans are preferable to the Iesuites who are more downe right Enemies to the grace of God And then with a crocodile tear as it were in his eye he tels us with an Alas that Calvin éspoused this opinion and addeth that he wronged his name much hereby But with none of the orthodox I am confident for as to what this Quaker and his Arminians say in this we value it not He addeth that hereby the Christian and Protestant Religion was defamed And yet the world heard of no such thing but by Papists Iesuites Arminians who is bound to regard their scandal who are blinde leaders of the blinde must truth be foresaken because these Enemies to the grace of God like it not He confesseth that the Synod oâ— Dort did defend our opinion but addeth that notwithstanding it is exploded by the major part of learned and pious men in all the Churches of Protestants We know indeed that too many nowadayes are turning from the truth and imbraceing Pelagian Iesuitical and Arminian errours but that they make up the major part we deny possibly he will take in the Lutherans but we account them not Reformed Protestants 16. But Pag. 66. he tels us he would not much regaird all this if our opinion had any ground in the word And we have shown that it hath good ground there Then he saith that it is most injurious unto God If this be true it must certanly be an Errour but how is this made good It maketh saith he God the Author of sin An heavy charge if true yet this is so clear thiâ—keth he as that two and one make three But a Quakers confidence following a blinde guide is no strong argument to us let us hear his reason If saith he the Lord decreed that these predestinate ones should perish having no respect unto their evil actions but out of his meer good pleasure and if he also decreed long before they did exist or in any capacity did either good or evil that they should be in these sins by which secondarily they were to be led unto that end who is the first Author and cause of this our God who so willed and decreed it then which there cannot be a more necessary consequence Answ. 1. The word Predestinate being usually taken in a good sense as meaned of these Elected to glory the man vents his gall in thus misapplying the word to render the truth Odious 2. Though no consideration of sin was or could be the Meritorious Moving or Procureing cause of God's eternal decree yet when he decreed to puniâ—h everlastingly thâ— Reprobat for their sinnes he cannot be said to have no respect to sin in his decree as he here alleigeth who considereth not well what he sayeth 3. Though he decreed to punish everlastingly for sin such and such persons and none else meerly out of his owne good will and pleasure yet he cannot be said to have had no respect to sin which punishment alwayes presupposeth and answereth unto 4 If God's decrees be not before man exist or do any good or evil they cannot be Eternal but Temporal and so this man is a Socinian and the decree of God concerning every individual person must exist when the man hath done good or evil and so as many men as many decrees nay according to this man the Lord can make no decree concerning the Everlasting state of man so long as he liveth and so not only we cannot but God himself cannot say to or of any man before the point of death that he is a Reprobate or an Elect what Apprehensions these men have of God I tremble to express 5. What he meaneth by these words ut in iniquitatibus illis versarentur I know not unless their meaning be as I have expressed it And what would he then make
of them He cannot deny but God did permit sin nor will he say that God could not have prevented sins coming into the world if He had pleased will he say that God did not foresee sinnes coming into the world If he did foresee it and might have hindered it if he had pleased and did not hinder it shall we say that sin came into the world whether he would or not And if he willed or decreed that sin should exist through his permission shall we call him the author of sin Then he must be the author of sin because he did not hinder sin effectually by his Omnipotency and then whatever we say of Reprobation whether we affirme it to be Absolute or upon sin Foreseen there is no remedie as to this for God must alwayes be the Author of sin But hallowed be his Name 6. The Decree of Reprobation putteth no man into a state of sin It is true the Execution theâ—eof presupposeth sin but hence it will no more follow that the decree of Reprobation placeth a man in sin than that the decree of Election doth so for the execution here presupposeth also mans being in sin 7. Where readeth he that expression among our divines that by vertue of the decree of Reprobation the Reprobat are secondarily led or to be led to destruction as the end The Lord leadeth no man to destruction but every reprobat runeth head long thither of his own accord and because the Lord hath designed and decreed to let them run-on and not restraine them by saving grace shall he therefore be the Author of their sinnes Then all the sins that are committed must be charged upon the Holy one of Israel because He did not prevent them by his grace And thus the devils may come in play and learne of this man to plead Excuse for themselves and lay the blame of all their wickedness upon God Sure this must be Develish doctrine 8. But what is it that God is the Author and Cause of His hujus doth not distinctly inform us That he is the Author and Cause of his own Act and Decree is most true But that he is the Cause and Author of sin as this man would inferre we see not the Antecedent from whence this Consequence can follow Beside that the Author of a thing is he by whose authority or judgment it is done or upon whose testimony it is beleeved for Cicero opposeth Authorem and dissuasorem and joineth these together as of the same import Hortator atque Author Consiliarius Author Suasor Author Plautus said Impero autorque sum Now dar this Man say that God Exhorteth Counseleth and perswadeth to sin Dar this Man say that we hold or tâ—at it followeth from our juâ—gment that by God's Authority Sentence and Swasion sin is committed Let him prove this and then carry the cause 9. In a word we referre this Man to the Apostle Paul Rom. 9 11 12 13. to receive his answere and let him dispute no more against us till he once take the boldness to confute that his inferring from our doctrine that God is the Author of sin is but the same which the Apostle saw would be deduced from his doctrine by men of corrupt mindes when he addeth by way of Objection vers â—4 Is there unrighteousness with God And if our answere will not satisfie him let him confute the Apostles answere for we but say the same viz. That God hath mercy on whom he will hardeneth whom he will And if for this cause our doctrine be blamed we cannot help it but must be content to be contradicted and if he make use of the reply used vers 19. we must give the returne which the Apostle giveth vers 20 21. And if all this will not satisfie we must leave him to the judgment of the great day when that God against whom these proud carpers thus reply shall answer them by himself put them to eternal silence and everlasting shame 17. Thereafter he citeth some sayings of Calvin Beza Zanchius Pareus Martyr Zuinglius Piscator out of which he would inferre that they allaiged God was the Author of sin All which and moe he might finde collected to his hand by Bellarmin and answered by the learned D. Twisse in his Vindiciae And therefore as also because this belongeth to a distinct question we need neither spend time in searcâ—ing out what truth is in all this not yet in vindicating of them One thing I shall say That among them all he shall not finde one that saith directly that God is the Author and Culpable Cause of sin and if he suppose that this may be drawn from their expressions I shall only reply That if there be any of them that giveth more real ground for such an Inference than the very Expressions used in Scripture I shall not owne them and if they say no more and yet are condemned by him as making God the Author of sin though they expresly deny it let him see how he shall vindicate the Spirit of Goâ— from the same charge or rather how in his blind boldnesse he charges the Spirit of God As for these passages of Scripture which our Divines aâ—duce against the Pelagians and Iesuites who ascribe unto God in the matâ—er of sin an Idle Provideâ—câ— aâ—d Permâ—ssion Bellarmine ranketh them up in five classes First Such as speak of God's Willing and Decreeing from eternity that sin shall exist such are Act. 2 23. 4 27. Esai 53 10. Second Such as import God's creating evil men for this end that his righteousness might shine forth in their punishment such are Prov. 16 4. 1 Sam. 2 25. Exod. 9 16. Rom. 9 17 21. Third Such as import God's setting of Satan and men to evil and useing of them as instruments to do that which could not be done without sin such are 1 King 22 20 23. Iob. 1 12. 2 6. 2 Sam. 16.10 24 1. Esai 5 26. 10 5 15. â—3 17. 19 2 4. Ier. 50 24 25. 51 11. Ezech. 12 13. Psal. 105 25. c. Fourth Such as speak of God's blinding hardening c. as Exod. 4.21 7 3 13. 9.12 10 1 20 27. 1â— 10. 14 4 8. Deut. 2 30. Iosu. 1â— 20. 1 Sam. 2 25. Iob. 12 16 20 24. Esai 19 14. 63 17. Ier. 20 7. Ioh. 12 3â— 40. Rom. 1 24 26 28. 9 18. 2 Thes. 2 11. c. Fift Such as import God's doing of those things which are evil as 2 Sam. 12 11. Luk. 2 34. Rom. 9 33. Esai 8 14. 28 16. Gen. 45 8. 1 King 11 31 37. 12 15 24. 2 King 9 3. 10 30. c. Now if he can adduce any testimony of our Divines whence he can with more probability inferre that God is the Author of sin I shall not as I said owne it And if such as are but consonant to the Scriptures do not please him
the next time he must disput against the Scriptures of truth and not against us 18. â—â—e inveigeth next Pag 67. against that monstrous as he calleth it and twofold will which they he meaneth the orthodox feigne of God one by which he openly and manifestly declareth his sentence the other plaine contrary more secret obscure But to what purpose is this brought in here And what would he make of it He saith we seem to assume this distinction and hereby he seemeth to reject it But not to run out into a debate with him upon every light occasion I would only enquire if he acknowledgeth any Decrees of God at all If he do what are these Decrees else than acts of Godâ—s will If they be nothing else than we may say God willeth what he decreeth for sure we cannot say God nilleth or willeth not what he decreeth to be Againe I would ask whether the Commands and Law of God be signes of his will If they be as I suppose he will grant then I would ask if he thinketh that God Decreeth the same thing which He Commandeth and nothing else and so that God's Decree and Command are all one If he say that they are one than the decrees of God may be Resisted Opposed Contradicted Contraveened and have no effect for it is oft so with his Commands But all Divines will hisse at this If he say that they are not one where is then the Monstrosity or Absurdity of this saying He must also assume this distinction The truth is This man speaketh he knoweth not what The Scriptures oft give the name of will unto God's Purposes and Dâ—crees as Act. 21 14. Rom. 1 10. 1 Pet. 3 17. Rom. 9 15 18 19. Ephes. 1 5. Revel 17 17. Luk. 22 42. Mat. 26.42 So doth it often times give this title unto his Commands as is every where manifest And though these two the Purpose of God and the Will of Command do not alwayes agree as to the same event Yet there is no monstrosity here of a twofold contrary Will for the Purpose of God is not of the same nature with his Command His Purpose which Divines commonly call his Will in proper sense is purely concerning the Event and respectetâ— God as the first Cause Prime disposer of all Events in the world but his Command or Law toucheth not the Events of actions but only pointeth forth mans Duty and respecteth God as the supream Lawgiver prescribing the duty of his Subjects These both are cleared by that one Instance to adduce no moe of Abraham whom God commanded to offer up his Son and so made it Abrahams duty to â—et about this and to endeavour it But as to the event the Lord had decreed that Isaak should not be offered nor Abraham get leave to offer him up indeed where is this contrarietie then the man talks of 19. Next he tels us that it availeth nothing to say that man doth willingly and of his owne accord sin for this proclivity and propensity to sin according to us saith he is necessarily imposed upon him because God did decree it should be so Ans. Not to debate these questions with this man who seemeth not to understand the matter I shall only tell him that his Objection here is very neare of kin with that Rom. 9 19. Thou wilt say unto me why doth he yet finde fault for who hath resisted his will If this be not the very compend of his following words let any that read them judge It is the same saith he as if I should take an infant that cannot resist and cast him dâ—wne from an high place though his weighâ— cause him descend yet I am the cause of his death c. Now what saith the Apostle to this Nay O man take heed to this O Quaker who art thou that repliest or disputest against God c. Thus the proud Quaker forgeteth that he is a thing formed of God or he is so unreasonable as to debate the matter with God and say Why hâ—st thou formed me thus Can we think to satisfie this Quaker who will not be satisfied with this What sayes he to that word 1 Sam. 2 25. notwithstanding they hâ—rkened not unto the voice of their Father because the Lord would stay them will this man advocate the ill cause of these wicked sons of Eli and lay all the blame upon the Lord He must plead also for Pharaoh and say he did no wrong in refusing to let the people of Israel go for he could no otherwise do because the Lord had hardened his heart But it is little that this man should plead the cause of these wicked ones and of the King of Assyria the rode of God's anger and the staff in his hand Esai 10 5. yea and of all the wicked whom God hath made for the day of evil and that for himself Prov. 16 4. seing he taketh upon him to agent and plead the Devils cause against Iehovah because when God decreed that he should afflâ—ct Iob he was free of sin all the blame lay up on the Lord for Satan could do no other wise an inevitable necessity was put upon him by the decree of God according to this mans doctrine Is not the Devil much beholden to this Quaker for his good will to learne him how to speak in his owne defence against the Lord. But I am afrayed his reward shall not quite his cost We have told him already that the decree of Reprobation imposeth no necessity upon man to sin but this necessity cometh from mans natural corrupted state Yea Corvinus himself at knowledgeth that it was Arminius his doctrine that all men naturally are cast upon a necessity oâ— sinning See D. Twisse against Mr Mason Pag. 18. It is all one thing with this man whether a thing come to passe by the free will of the second cause or by Necessity of nature as the sun shineth if there be a decree past all the guilt must lye upon Iehovah and thus either God hath made no decrees at all touching the actions of free agents good or evil or all their actions must be acts of Necessity yea Pure and Absolute Necessity and so all contingency is taken away and all Freedom from second causes or men and angels must be Absolute and independent Agents over whom and whose actions God must passe no decree let every one judge whither this doctrine tendeth and what an exalter of Free will into the very throne of God this Quaker is 20 Next he saith our doctrine is injurious to God because it maketh him to delight in the death of the wicked and to will that many should die in their sinnes contrare to Ezech 33 11. 1 Tim. 2 3. 2 Pet. 3 9. Answ. 1 If he think to prove hence that God did not decree absolutly to suffer any to lye in sin and to punish them at length because of sin he must think from this effectually to prove that God did Absolutely Decree
These sound ill to Christian ears 44. So 33. we may thus reason Either Christ's Redemption is Conditional and Universal as to the Price laid down and Satisfaction made or as to the Application and Actual bestowing of the benefites purchased But neither can be said to the advantage of the Adversaries cause for if the last be said we willingly grant that some of the benefites as Justification Adoption and actuall Glorification are conferred in a manner conditionally but some as faith and the New heart are given absolutely and this cannot help the Adversaries cause for they will not say that either all have faith bestowed upon them or that all are by believing Justified and Adopted c. and so this is not Universall and if the first be said to wit That Christ laid down his life Conditionally it must be said that Christ did not lay down his life Absolutely but upon some condition and what can that Condition be upon which the death of Christ was suspended If it be said that the faith of those to whom it was to be preached was the condition then it must be said that Christ did not die untill these beleeved or that his death was no satisfaction or price untill they actually beleeved and then the Father could not be well pleased with the price as a satisfaction until mens Faith came to make it an Actual price which is both absurd and contrary to Scripture If it be said That Christ did absolutely lay down his life a satisfactory Ransom and that for all yet so as none that would not fulfill the condition should be redeemed I Answer If it was an Absolute satisfactory Ransome and accepted as such something must have been purchased thereby and all behoved actually and really to be delivered from the Law and from the curse or from something by vertue of that Absolute Price and they could not be made to pay over againe what was payed by the price of his blood for Justice could not call for two satisfactions And if all were upon this Absolute Price payed Redeemed from the Law the Curse and the Sentence of the first Covenant no man shall now die for that broken Covenant If it be said No man was Absolutely delivered even from that but only Conditionally I Ans. How then was it an Absolute Price Or what was purchased thereby If it be said That a possibility of Freedom was absolutely purchased Ans. This was rejected above and the Scripture inferreth Actual Redemption from Christs purchase He shall justifie many for he shall bear their iniquities Esai 53 11. which saith That all whose iniquities he did bear shall be Actually and Really Justified by him and not have a meer Possibility of justification 45 Further 34. We may thus argue If Christ died for all and every one He either died for all Absolutely or Conditionally The first cannot be said for the reasons already adduced militate against that Nor can it be said that He died for all Conditionally for then either he died to purchase Life and Salvation to all upon condition of their performance of something proposed as a Condition or to purchase salvation and all the meanes thereunto or conditions thereof Conditionally But neither of these can be said Therefore c. The major is clear from this that the enumeration is full and no other way can this Conditional Redemption be conceived or explained The minor may be thus confirmed The first way cannot be said to wit that life and salvation was purchased to all upon a condition to be by them performed that is upon Condition of their believing for either this Condition is in the power of every son of Adam or not if it be not in their power as all but Pelagians will confess then this Redemption is no Redemption for a Redemption of Captives upon a condition impossible to them is as good as no Redemption Nor can the last way be said to wit that Redemption and all the Conditions and Means thereof were Conditionally purchased for what can be assigned as the Condition of these Conditions And though there were a Condition of the Lords working of faith assigned which yet we finde not in Scripture yet that would not help the matter for that Condition of faith would it self be a mean to salvation and so purchased Conditionally upon another Condition and that other Condition must be purchased upon another Condition and so in infinitum which is absurd 46. As also 35. this is considerable That the asserting of Universal Redemption goeth not alone but there are several other Universalities also affirmed and maintained either as Consequences or Concomitants or Grounds thereof which the Scripture knoweth not such as these 1. An Universal Love and Philanthropie towards all and every one without any difference which they lay down as the ground of the Sending of Christ to die for all indiscriminatly 2. An Universal Will in God to save all which they call an Antecedent Will and hold forth as a Velleity or a wish and desire that all might be saved as if God could not effectuat whatever he desired or could have a velleity towards any thing which either he could not or would not effectuat 3. An Universal Predestination conditional which expression Amerald used untill the Synods in France did disswad him therefrom 4. An Universal gift of all to Christ or an Universal gift of Christ to all that is a Will and purpose that Christ should lay down his life for all and Redeem all at least Conditionally 5. An Universal Justification conditional And why not also an Universal Salvation conditional 6. An Universal Covenant of grace made with all mankinde in Adam wherein is a free universal deed of gift of Christ first and of Pardon Spirit and Glory in and by him to all Mankinde without exception upon condition of acceptance as also an offer of Faith Repentance Conversion with all the conâ—equâ—nces thereof 7. An Universal will in God to call into this Covenant and unto the Participation of the benefites thâ—reof all and every man 8. An Universal execution of this will or promulgation of this Gospel or New Covenant unto all and every one by common favours and benefites bestowed or all whereby all are called to believe in a mercâ—ful pardoning God and all have abundance oâ— Mercies and Meanes of Recovery and of life for the Lord now governeth the world only on termes of grace 9. Upon this followeth an Universal Command to all men to use ceâ—taine duties and meanes for their Recovery by Faith and Repâ—nâ—ance 10. An Universal pardon of the first Sin so far at least that no man shall perish for the meer Original sin of Nature alone unless he adde the rejection of grace 11 Hence followeth an Universal Judgment and Sentence on all in the great day only according as they have performed the new Gospel conditions 12. Some also adde an â—niversal Subjective Grace whereby all are enabled to performe the conditions of
3 5 6. any way confirme his fancy but rather establish the contrary truth to wit that all the favours which God conferreth upon us in order to salvation are of free grace and not by works of righteousness or works which are done in righteousness and righteously as the words in the original bear which we have done Grace and Mercy here are set in opposition to all our works yea to our best works and therefore if Iustification be an act of God's grace as the Scripture saith it is it is not nor can it be because or upon the account of our works of righteousness And if in and through or by Iustification there is pardon of iniquity as there is Rom. 4 5 6 7. And if pardon of iniquity be a merciful and gracious act in God being an act of his free grace and mercy Ephes. 1 vers 7 8. it is manifest that Iustification is not upon thâ— account of our works Therâ—fore we are said to be Iustified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Iesus Christ Rom. 3 24. Moreover the judgment of God is alwayes as in condemning of sinners so in justifying of beleevers according to truth Rom. 2 2. And in the matter of justifying of the ungodly the righteousness of God is declared and it is all so contrived that he might be just and the justifier of him which beleeveth in Iesus Rom. 3 25 26. Therefore cannot Iustification passe upon the account of any thing framed and done in us or by us because that is not nor can it be that which will passe for a Righteousness in the eyes of God and a Righteousness answerable to the Law in all points it being when it is at its best but imperfect nor can it have any merite or deserving in it to compensat for former transgressions being alwayes that only which we are obliged unto so that when we have done all we must say that we are but unprofitable servants Luk. 17 vers 10. we have done but what was our duty to do 7. Having thus briefly dispatched his Thesis wherein we see his opposition to Iustification by and upon the account of the Righteousness of Christ imputed and therein his harmony and agreement with Papists Socinians and Arminians we come now to consider what he sayes more largly in his Apology Pag. 122. c. In the beginning he tels us that the handling of this doth well follow his treating of universal Redemption and universal grace And I shall not quarrel with his Method were his doctrine orthodox but seing few who plead for the universality of the death of Christ and who contend for the universality of grace are found sound and orthodox in the point of Iustification we mighâ—â—pon this ground though we had gote no taste of his judgment in the Thesis suspect his doctrine of Iustification But after tryal we will be better able to judge He saith truely that there are many controversies moved already about this point and the more blame worthy is he who doth not diminish but increase these rather as to some things though in the principal he liketh the Popish way better than ours He promiseth first to state the controversie so far as concerneth them and to explaine their judgment and then he saith he will confirme it by Scripture testimony and the certain experience of all that are really justified we must see how he performeth what is promised 8. What he saith § 2. of the Papists depraving of this truth we heare but are ready to suppose that howbeit he do not with them stand up for the merite ex condigno as it is called and yet many Papists reject this and are satisfied with meritum ex congruo in the mater of Iustification and some reject both as may be seen in Stapleton Prol. ad lib. 5. de justific of good works nor approve of the vulgar Papists placeing their Justification in things that are neither good nor evil or in things that are rather evil as good as he thinketh to be evident from their doctrine of the Sacraments and Indulgences c. but commend our Reformers for opposeing these Abominations Yet as to the maine controversie handled betwixt our Reformers and the Papists viz. what is Iustification and what is the formal reason Objective or the formal cause as some speak or Material cause as others speak or that because and upon the account of which men are Justified in the sight of God this Quaker joyneth with the Papists The Councel of Trent Sess. 6. Chap. 7. tels us That Iustification is not only remission of sins but also Sanctification and renovation of the inner man by a voluntary susception of grace and gifts whereby man of unjust becometh just of an enemy becometh a friend that he may be an heire according to the hope of eternal life Why doth our Quaker embrance this upon the matter and give a worse Justification even a Justification wherein there is no mention made of remission of sinnes Why doth he with this Synagogue of Satan confound Justifiâ—ation and Sanctification He knoweth how Bellarmine de Iustif. lib. 2. Cap. 2. briefly stateth the question betwixt us and them in these words Whether the formal cause of absolute Iustification be a righteousness inherent in us or not If this Quaker be no Papist why doth he conspire with them in this cardinal point of difference Why doth he and the rest rise up so much against the Imputed righteousness as do the Papist following the Councel of Trent as we see Pag. 125. he doth shewing his teeth against our Confession of faith And there also I cannot but take notice of a base falshood and deceit when he would make his Readers beleeve that the Papists do not place Justification in any real inward renovation of soul more then the Protestants while as we have seen the contrary out of the Councel of Trent and Bellarm. and multitudes moe might be cited But what needs more when we have the words of that Councel which all Papists must stand to and in that forecited Chapt. the same Councel saith The only formal cause is the righteousness of God not that by which he himself is righteous but whereby he maketh us righteous to wit by which we are renewed in the Spirit of our minde and are not only repute but truely are called and are righteous or just It is true that they say that this grace and charity that is infused in Iustification is through the merite of the most holy suffering of Christ And in this they are more orthodox and less Socinian than are the Quakers to this Mans shame be it spoken Yet still they make Justification to consist in the Infusion of grace and Renovation of the soul. 9. He beginneth his explication of their judgment Pag. 126. § 3. And telleth us first That as it appeareth from the explication of the former thesis they renunce all natural power in themselves for delivering of themselves out
glory though we must alwayes lament our shortcoming and run to the bloud of Iesus that the defilement cleaving to our best works may be purged away Nor do we think that this hyperbolick expression of the penitent church will warrant any to caâ—l all the work of the Spirit of God in his people sordide and filthy rags What is of God should be acknowledged good acceptable though the defilements that adhere to the best of God's works in us here because of our continueing corruption and because of the lustings of the flesh in us should be mourned over and keep us humble One thing I would further note here That if our Gospel-works be such why are we not Justified because of them as well as in them He further answereth pag. 149. § 12 That though it were granted that the best of men are imperfect Yet God can produce perfect works in them by his Spirit Ans. the qustion is not what God can do but what he doth God can make all his perfect Yet the supposition made saith he doth not so He hath thought it fit for his owne glory so to work in his Saints as they may have so long as they are here a body of death to wrestle with and occasion to pray dayly forgive us our sinnes and to run to the fountaine opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem for sin and for uncleanness that they may be washen He proceedeth The Spirit of God is not capable of a blot and therefore all Christ's works wrought in his children are pure and perfect Ans. The Spirit it is true is not capable of pollution yet his works as received by us and as we are the formal actors of them are obnoxious to pollution And doth not the Scripture tell us that God first beginneth a good work in us and afterward perfecteth it Phil. 1 6. How can then all the works of Christ in us be perfect And if it were so his children here should be as holy as they will be in heaven for what is higher than perfection Thus we see this man will outstripe Bellarm. who confessed that our actual righteousness was imperfect because of the admixtion of venial faults and stood in need of dayly remission And will run the length of bold Vasques who thinketh that such have no need of remission in 1. 2. Disp. 204. c. 2. 3. He further argueth It would then follow that the miracles and works of the Apostles themselves as the conversion of the Gentiles gathering of Churches writting of Scripture and giving of themselves to the death for Christ were defiled with sin Ans. we must distinguish betwixt these works which were extraordinary I meane as to the manner of their performance and so peculiar to such extraordinary persons in which they were not in a manner formal actors but passive organs such as working of miracles and writting of Scripture in these the Apostles moved as they were immediatly Acted Inspired and Led of the Spirit so that these were not properly their formal acts And these which are of a more ordinary nature wherein they were more formal actors through the assistance of the Spirit whether in works belonging to their office as preaching and gathering of Churches or in works of Christianity as giving themselvs to the death and the like As to the first sort we may grant that they were undefiled as being pure acts of the Spirit wherein the Apostles were but organs used by the Spirit as he saw meet But as to others I see no absurdity to say that they needed to use that petition forgive us our sinnes The Apostle Paul had his infirmities and weakneses a body of death that made him cry out wo is me miserableman and was thereby made to do what he would not and hindered from doing what he would Rom. 7 The Apostle Iames saith in many things we offend all Iam. 3 2. and the Apostle Iohn saith 1 Ioh. 1 8. that if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us 43. Thereafter he giveth unto works an instrumental part in Iustification which is true of faith laying hold on the righteousness of Christ the only Objective Formal cause of Justification but cannot agree to works But he citeth some Protestants assenting to this as Polanus Symphon c. 27. whose words if understood of after pardon that is of sinnes committed after Justification as they may containe nothing but truth and that truth which we question not acknowledging that even iustified persons before remission of after sins must repent confesse and mourne for their sinnes and act faith on Christ. Zanchius in the words he citeth is expresly speaking of salvation not of Justification and to this end he might cite all the Protestants that I know of Amesius is speaking of the same As for Mr Baxter I have told already that his notions about Justification are not acceptable to all As for what he addeth about the word merite I shall not contend only I would say that seing it sounds so ill because of the common and known abuse thereof by Papists the less we use it the better seing Verba valent usu 44. Nor shall I say much against his conclusion of this mater Only while he tels us that such may confidently appear before God who sensible of their owne unworthiness and of the unprofitableness of all their works and endeavours c. did apply themselves unto the light within and suffered that grace to work in them and thereby are renewed quickened and have Christ risen in them and working in them to will to do having thus put on Christ and being clothed with him and made partakers of his righteousness When I say he speaketh thus he but cheateth his Reader giving him faire words and no more for as we have formerly seen in the examination of his Principles This light is but a Pelagian Grace if not worse common to all men Scythian and Barbarian And by vertue of this light without the least help of the grace of God for of grace assisting far lesse regenerating such as are in nature and so beginning every good work there is not in his writings the least mention if the man will but yeeld and of power and full ability to do this he maketh no question he becometh regenerated begotten of God partaker of the divine nature and what not And this is this Mans Sanctification and foundation of Justification whereof Pagans and Barbarians who never did nor never shall hear of Câ—rist are as capable as such who live within the visible Church and that without any new grace communicated by that which is borne with them Let the Reader now Judge what a Regeneration and Sanctification can flow from this which is in every man and what Justification that can be which is founded hereupon And whether or not this be a sure bottom to stand upon and with confidence to rest upon
think that this were indeed enough to satisfie us but see what the Apostle addeth further to enforce this for it is not permitted unto them to speak to wit in the Churches as if he had said they have no allowance thereunto permission or tollerance And as if all this were not enough he addeth all that is permitted unto them is to be under obedience as also saith the Law Whereby he giveth us to understand that woman their speaking in the Churches is inconsistent with that subjection that the Law of God hath laid upon them And withall he insinuateth that speaking in the Churches is an authoritative thing and therefore no way allowed unto Women whose proper deportment according to the institution and Law of God is subjection and to be under obedience Nay he will not suffer them so much as to ask questions under colour of learning in the Churches lest that should make way for their usurping of Authoriâ—y and taking upon them to speak wiâ—h Authority for he addeth vers 35. And if they will learne any thing let them ask their husbands at home And so even at home he enâ—oyneth them to ask contrare to what was practised by Mrs Hutchison in N. England called by some the American Iezabel who had her weekly lectures in her owne house and there broached her Familistical and Antinomian errors to the no small trouble of the Church of N. England Nay he addeth that it was contrary to that modesty and shamefastness that is the ornament of women for saith he it is a shame for women to speak in the Church What Patrons and abettors then of Immodesty and Shamlesness must Quakers be that plead for Womens speaking in the â—hurches 2. It is considerable also what the Apostle addeth in the following verses to confirme this injunction concerning Women as also his former directions which he had given to regulate the abuses of that Church What saith he came the word of God out from you Or came it unto you only Are ye the first and the last and so the only Christians that are Or must ye give Laws to all the â—hurches of Christ And must they all follow you Let the Quakers look to this who as to the particular we are now about would make us beleeve that the word of God came out from them and that it came to them only and not to any Church Primitive or Subsequent beside themselves Further vers 37 he sayes if any man think himself to be a Prophet or spiritual let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandements of the Lord. Let our Quaker ruminate upon this and let all of them take notice of it for when they contradict this expresse injunction of the Apostle they declare themselves say what they will to the contrary to be neither Prophets nor spiritual and further we see that what Paul spoke concerning this silence of women in the Church was the commandement of the Lord. And therefore is obligeing to all Churches who will owne any relation to Christ their Lord and Head and consequently the Quakers rejecting this commandement of the Lord renunce in so far their Interest in and Relation to the Lord as their Head and Lawgiver And the next words vers 38. But if any man be ignorant let him be ignorant have their owne weight also as if he had said if any will not yet for all this acquiesce let him take his pleasure no more needs be said for his conviction he is wilfully ignorant and he must remaine so And so say we in this particular if the Quakers will remaine ignorant we cannot helpe it we must follow our rule and declare them inconvinceable and so leave them 3. Another expresse passage we have against this Practice and Opinion of the Quakers 1 Tim. 2 11 14. Let the women learne in silence with all subjection but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence Where we may see That Teaching publickly is an act of authority and that it is inconsistent with that silence and subjection which is enjoyned to women And therefore the Apostle as a faithful servant of Christ will not give way to it and acquants Timothy herewith that he may suppress any such practice where it is or hinder it if men would set it up Nor is this all for he addeth his reasons saying for Adam was first formed then Eve Whereby he teacheth us That such a practice is contrary to the Law of Creation the Law writâ—en upon the Creation and the Way and Method of Creaâ—ion which the Lord was pleased to follow and thâ—reby give Documents and Significations of his will to man This practice then of the Quakers must be unnatural and a plaine saying that God created Eve first and then Adam And further the Apostle addeth And Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression That is the woman being immediatly first deceived by Satan was the cause occasion of Adams transgressing therefore was her subjection to the man laid further upon her as a more grievous weight and burthen as a part of her punishment The Quakers then who would have women usurping Authority and Teaching in the Church do seek to annul the sentence past upon Women by the just Lord for Eve's being the cause of Adam's sinning and do in a manner declare that that sentence was unjust and that Eve was not the devils instrument to cause Adam sinne Let them see to it for it draweth deeper than they are aware 4. Let us now see what he sayes for this Seing saith he Pag. 210. male and female are one in Christ and seing he giveth his Spirit to one as well as to another when the Lord moveth in women by his Spirit we think it no way unlawful for them to preach in the meetings of God's people Answ. 1. That there is neither male nor female as there is neither Jew nor Greek but all are one in Christ we grant in reference to the privileges of the Covenant now under the Gospel dispensation in opposition to what was under the Law for of this Paul speaks Gal. 3 28. But that therefore women may as well Preach in the Assemblies of the Church as men is a Quakers consequence having no connexion nor appearance of reason 2. That God giveth his sanctifying Spirit to women as well as to men is very true but that he moveth in them for any such end as he here mentioneth is simply denied And by this we may see what sentence to passe upon these irregular motions which they talk so much of If the Spirit of God move in women it will be to prompt them to duty that is to keep silence in the Church and not to Teach there or to usurpe authority but to learne in subjection remembering what her sex is called to by the law of God and what that punishment is that
its own accord by a natural Impulse an Instinct imbraceth it The constant practice of all Nations setting up and maintaining some kinde of Religion confirmeth this whence was this that they thought Religion so necessary that there could be no Common wealth established without it but from the innate Apprehensions of God and of their Obligation to serve and honour Him How this is further confirmed by the testimonies or Heathens themselves and of the ancient Fathers see Hoornbeek against the Socinians lib. 1. cap. 7. Pag. 142. c. and D Owen de Natura c. Verae Theologiae Pag. 23 24. c. 29. There is another debate with the Socinians to wit with Socinus himself Ostorodiuâ— though â—thers of them are of another mind who deny that any knowledge of God can be acquired by considering the works of Creation and Providence and so they deny that persons strangers to the Gospel living in Nature can attaine to any knowledge of God by the contemplation of nature But our divines manifest the contrary from Psal. 19 1 2. where the Psalmist tels us that the heavens declare the glory of God c. That magnificent workman shipe preacheth forth the Wisdome Power Goodness and Glory of thâ— great Maker and that to all Nations so as they cannot be ignorant thereof So from Rom. 1 19 20. we see that God manifested to the Heathens that which might be known of him the invisible things his eternal Power and God head by the Creation of the world and things that are made The fonde imagination of Socinus dreaming that the Gospel is here to be understood is abundantly confuted by D. Hoornbeek in the forecited book Pag. 157. c. The same is proved also from the forecited places Act. 14 15 16 17. and 17 24 25 26 27. And likewise from Psal. 8. throughout 104. throughout and 145 4 5 6 7. 147 7 8 9 Esa 40 12. Iob. 12 7 8 9 10. 38. 39. 40. Chapters Psal. 69 35. 103 22. 107. 104. throughout Other arguments to this purpoâ—e may be seen in the forecited book of D Hoornbeek Pag. 164-172 which for brevities sake I passe by 30. Our divines likewise in dealing with such as would assert that there are some formal and direct speculative Atheists are careful to assert and maintaine these Innate and Fixed Notions of a Deity and particularly the learned D. Voetius de Atheismo Pag. 140 c. where he asserts that there is an Innate Theology Innate Notions or a latent Natural Seed of Reason and Religion that is like the habite of principles that in adults is brought forth into act without any previous demonstration by the very perception of the words and termes without labour or study or the force of arguments and that the most flagitious person that is can not come to think and be perswaded directly that there is not a God though he could wish there were not a God or that he himself had no sense or perception of a God and that by these reasons for 1 Then it would follow that there were no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing which might be known of God imprinted in the heart of every man that cometh into the world and that by nature contrare to Rom. 1 18 19. 2.14 15. that Conuate and Congenite Divinity can no more be separated from man than his rational Intellect 2. Then some men should be without the Law of Nature a natural conscience which cannot be 3. Then Men should be Inferiour to devils in whom these sparks are not exstinct Iam. 2 19. 4. This were against the universal Experience and Consent of all Nations 5. Then some should really have some excuse contrary to Rom. 1 19 20. 6. This would much confirme Atheists and weaken our arguments against them 7. It would also gratifie Socinians By all which this our Quaker may if he will open his eyes see how dangerous his opinion is who denyâ—th these Inbred Innate and Imprinted Notions of a Deity and of his Nature and Attributes and of his Relations to the world and to each in particular as their Creator Conservator and Benefactor and of our Obligation to Love Worshipe Serve Obey Him Though hereafter we will finde him after his usual manner againe contradicting himself in this 31. However this Quaker say and unsay the same thing yet we stand here and maintaine these Natural Anticipations as Cicero calleth them and Inbred Notions of what is naturally gooâ— anâ— honest manifested by the very Lawes of Nature anâ— Nations and the Natural Notions of the being of God that being true which Cicero saith 1. Tuscul. quaest For there is no Nation so barbarous as not to confess there is a God so that men would rather have and owne a false God than none at all so deeply doth the sense of a Deity sinck into our hearts It is true there was much difference among the Nations concerning the nature and number of the Gods and concerning the way of Worship yet all agreed in this that there was a God and that he was to be Worshiped Withall let the Reader observe that we are far from asserting that all this knowledge improven to the highest pitch that the primest of Natural Philosophers after all their study and diveing into Nature could reach unto can prove saving to any soul whatever discoveries may be thereby made of God's Nature and Attributes or of Moral Honesty and such things as belong to the humane and bodily good of Mankinde within or without societies and these lesser or greater Yet hereby no discoveries can be made of that which floweth solely from the will and good plasure of God and dependeth upon Immediat Revelation of which kinde is the mystery which was hid from generations and ages Col. 1 26 and keeped secret since the world began Rom. 16 25. but now is made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the commandement of the everlasting God made known unto all Nations for the obedience of faith Rom. 1â— 26. The mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he had purposed in himself Ephes. 1 9. Even the mystery of Christ Ephes. 3 4. the mystery of the Gospel by which Life and Immortality is brought to light But of this we will have occasion to speak more hereafter when we come to see what use this Quaker maketh of these Natural Notions common to Heathens CHAP. VI. Of Original sin 1. THat Man is now fallen and lying into a State of Sin and Misery until he be delivered there from cannot by any rational man be denyed The very Heathen Philosophers have complained as sensible of this vented many strange uncouth Notions thereanent But as to the Rise Cause of this Disorder Confusion Misery which was every where obvious they remained blinde the wisest of them only were brought to say that there was some hidden cause of all these