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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	believe_v	justification_n	justify_v	1,647	5	8.0786	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A79465	Anti-Socinianism, or, A brief explication of some places of holy Scripture, for the confutation of certain gross errours, and Socinian heresies, lately published by William Pynchion, Gent. in a dialogue of his, called, The meritorious price of our redemption, concerning 1. Christ's suffering the wrath of God due to the elect. 2. God's imputation of sin to Christ. 3. The nature of the true mediatorial obedience of Christ. 4. The justification of a sinner. Also a brief description of the lives, and a true relation of the death, of the authors, promoters, propagators, and chief disseminators of this Socinian heresie, how it sprung up, by what means it spread, and when and by whom it was first brought into England, that so we be not deceived by it. / By N. Chewney, M.A. and minister of God's Word.	Chewney, Nicholas, 1609 or 10-1685.	1656 (1656)	Wing C3804; Thomason E888_1; ESTC R207357	149,812	257

by Christ is imputed to us also But the former is true And therefore the latter Seventhly from another place in the same Epistle p Rom. 10.4 before we passe away from it in which the Apostle telleth us that Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth From whence the argument may be thus framed If Christ be the end of the Law and the complement thereof for righteousness unto all that believe in him we ought assuredly to perswade our selves that the fulfilling of the Law performed by Christ is our righteousness by which we are justified before God But the Antecedent is true And therefore the consequent Eightly from the words of St. Paul q 1 Cor. 1.30 who saith he meaning as is before expressed Christ Jesus of God is made to us wisdome righteousness c. Whence we argue If Christ be made of God righteousness to us then is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us because he was so made righteousness as that we might be made in him the righteousness which is by faith through him as the Prophet Jeremiah r Ier. 23.6 the Lord our Righteousness But the former is true Therefore so must be the latter Ninethly from another place in the other Epistle to the Corinthians ſ 2 Cor. 5.21 He that is God made him namely Christ to be sin for us who himself knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him who otherwise of our selves knew not what righteousness was Here then as Christ was made sin for us wh●ch knew no sin So are we made the righteousness of God who knew not what righteousness meant in respect of any thing in us But Christ was made sin for us our sins by Divine Justice and his own submission thereunto being imputed to him and he suffering death for the s●me Therefore vve are also made yet without any work of ours ●n Chr●st the righteousness of God Christs righteousness being imputed to us Tenthly and lastly from another place of St. Paul to the Galatians t Gal. 4.4 when the fulness of time was come God sent his Son made of a Woman made under the Law c. Whence we conclude that if Christ were subject to the Law that he might redeem us from the Law verily the fulfilling of the Lawby Christ performed for us is truly imputed to us for our justification and salvation But Christ was subject to the Law for no other cause * Finis enim ostenditur ab Apostolo quod videlicet non sibi ipsi sed nobis talis est factus Tossanus in Gal. 4. pag. 212. but that he might redeem us from under the power and curse thereof Therefore the fulfilling of the Law performed by Christ for us is truly and really imputed to us for our justification and eternal salvation Thus we have proved the common Doctrine of imputation as the Dialogue scoffingly terms it that we m●ght if God see good to give a blessing to these poor yet well intended endeavours make it more common And herein we appeable to the judicious and understanding Reader whether he find the least shadow or appearance of that absurd●ty in it which he imputeth to it I hope then none will believe that lies are true We have now done with the Efficient Material and Formal cause of a sinners justification before God We come now to the last namely the F●nal cause which we conceive to be two-fold Supreme ex parte justificantis in respect of the person justifying Subordinate ex parte justificati in respect of the person justified The Supreme is the mani●estation of the glory both of the mercy of God and also of his justice which as they do concurre in all the works of God if we will g●ve any credit to the P●almist u Psal 145.17 as well we may who there saith The Lord is righteous in all his wayes and holy in all his works and espec●ally in the work of redemption and justification For therein God doth so exceedingly mani●est yea magnifie the glorious attribute of his mercy that rather th●n he would suffer such wretches as we had made our selves utterly to perish in our sins he sent his own only begotten Son out of h●s bosome that we might as the blessed Apostle St. Paul excellently sets ●t forth w Rom. 3.24 be freely justified by his grace though the redemption that is in Christ Jesus and mark the end to the praise of the glory of his grace Wherein as the same Apostle in another place expresseth it x Eph. 1.6 He hath made us accepted in his beloved His Justice also is made man●fest to the wonder and amazement of all the World For rather then he would suffer the sins and transgressions of his own Elect Children to go unpunished and so his Justice be unsatisfied he punished them in the person of his own Son exacting from him a full entire and perfect satisfaction for them having set him forth as St. Paul testifies y Rom. 3.25 26. for this very purpose to be a Propitiation through faith in his bloud to declare his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus The Subordinate end of just●fication is our eternal salvation this is indeed the end both of our justification and sanctification For being made free from sin z Rom. 6.22 and become servants of God we have saith the Apostle in the person of the Elect our fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life So St. Peter a 1 Pet. 1.9 the very end of our faith by which instrumentally we are justified is the salvation of our souls These are the causes We come now according to our promise to the fruits or effects of this excellent Doctrine of a sinners justification before God which we take to be these Remission of sins * Remissio peccatorum fit per justitiam imputatam perfectam Pareus castique Bell. de justif Reconciliation with God An effectual vocation An actual adoption Peace of conscience Joy in the Holy Ghost and other such like gifts of the Spirit which it worketh in the hearts of those that are just●fied We shal not have to do with al these they are somewhat too many and too far off from our purpose in hand the two first only fall within the compasse of our present intendment and first of Remission of sins Remission of sins we conceive to be the free absolution of the person offending both from the guilt and punishment which by an irregular conversation he hath contracted and deserved If it were not in some measure free it could not properly be called remission or condonation If it were from the guilt of sin only and not from the punishment also it were foolish and ridiculous for we may as well and truly affirm that a man is discharged of a debt without be●ng freed or acquitted from the payment of the same

as to say a m●n ●s fre●d from the one and yet not discharged o● the other Some of the Socinian tribe do plead hard to have remission of sins the formal cause of a sinners justification but non benè convenit it fadges ill in their hands For dissolution of sins guilt by Chr●sts bloud before imputation is an uncouth dissolution it is a dissolution before application that which putteth the effect before the cause * Causalitate imputatio praecedit remissionem necessario prae-requiritur Polan in Daniel pa. 324. But hear their arguments and our answers compare them together and then judge indifferently First say they Remission of sins giveth denomination of justification therefore it must be the form Grant this say we though the illustration be not by whiteness and whitening whereby they make whiteness the form which among unbiassed men is the effect the form being whitning or application yet they must prove that it giveth denomination which they do thus and that worthily to If a sinner say they may therefore and thereby be justified because he hath his sins remitted unto h●m then remission of sins giveth denomination of being justified to that person whose sins are remitted This is a meer begg●ng of the question which is to be proved and we deny a sinner therefore justified till it shall be better proved which will not be while this man is Major I see by the manner of their working For say they it is a vindication or an exemption from punishment We joyn issue here say it is so indeed but after another manner then they take it it is so in effect that is that followeth something necessarily preceding which is just making or being just or else we run our selves upon a rock it will be justification of a wicked person which God himself telleth us is ah Abomination to him Secondly remission of sins say they is the formal cause of a sinners justification because it is that alteration and change which is wrought in the person justified by that act of God To which we answer 1. By denying the consequence every change or alteration in the person cnanged or altered is not the form if that act of God were the form then peace of conscience should be so for it is an alteration which supposeth pardon grounded upon imputation of righteousness whence justification and then pardon c. 2. By affirming that justification it self is so in that change which made and yet it is not the form of it self yea it is an effect of the form Thirdly their th●rd reason is vvound up thus That which makes a justified person compleatly righteous before God is the formal cause of justification But remission of sins maketh a justified person compleatly righteous before God because say they he is as cleer from sin and the guilt thereof as if he had fulfilled the whole Law and never transgressed any part or particle of the same We reply 1. That making is an ambiguous term and cannot vvithout more light then they afford us be fully discerned or discovered For every cause maketh the Efficient the Material the Formal c. 2. Remission of sins maketh not a person formally righteous and therefore vve deny the reason For though he be free from the guilt of sin yea so righteous as here they speak of yet the cause is the righteousness of Christ imputed by whose obedience he is constituted just Again they argue for the proof of this thus That righteousness which needs not fear the presence of a most strict judge is a compleat and perfect righteousness But remission of sins is such And now they think themselves cock sure for this say they will hold weight and measure But let them take our answer with them for all their hast which will we suppose take them off their confidence and it is this That which these socinians are to prove they often shift their hands of and would have us take for granted which we cannot do without prejudice to the truth They are here to prove that remission of sins is a compleat righteousness but that which they endeavour to prove it by as the ingenuous Reader may plainly perceive beggeth the question namely that it is righteousness For every thing that will abide the presence of God is not by and by righteousness much lesse compleat righteousness as they would have us believe upon their bare word As for example to the contrary in love there is no fear for perfect love casteth out fear b 1 Joh. 4.17 18. yet it is not righteousness not that righteousness by which we are justified Lastly say they remission of sins reacheth home and is given to men by God for their justification Therefore it is the formal cause thereof This they tell us is evident because by the formal cause they mean nothing else but pass●ve justification To which we return this answer 1. That many things may be and are given by God for justification in some way or other which are not the formal cause thereof for instance the Word of God and Faith are given by God for justification yet will any man therefore in his right wits conclude that they are the formal cause of a sinners justification 2. We do absolutely deny remission of sins to be given for justification we assert the contrary justification given for pardon and remission as being the effect and consequent thereof So the Apostle c Rom. 5.16 where mention is made of remission a gift as also of the gift of righteousness Whence we see ordine quidque suo first justification and then remission made good in the 18. and 19. vers of the same Chapter Moreover to put all out of doubt if remission of sins be justification passive as they said but now that is the effect of Gods justifying it cannot possibly be the formal cause thereof also For one and the same cannot be both the cause and the effect before and after it self the whole and yet but a part how ever they seem to jumble them together I have bin somewhat longer about this then at first I intended there being not wanting and that even among us that take upon them to maintain that remission of sins is the formal cause of a sinners justification before God that seeing how poorly it is defended by those that are champions for it the honest and well minded Reader may not be gulled by any Socinian 〈◊〉 bettor whatsoever The Dialogue is very much concern'd herein he doth not lag behind the rest setting remission of sins in its wrong place and then ascribing too much unto it For he makes it even our justification it self which cannot be for they are distinct in themselves and in order of time and manner of conferring to be distinguished by us which being well and wisely considered will plainly appear to be neither the whole nor a part as he nor the cause as others would have it of our justification but

which we are to speak for which purpose neither Cicero Terence Caesar nor any of those who were the first and purest Authours of the Latine tongue were ever acquainted with this word Justificare which is now in use among us and with which at this time we have to do We must therefore seek farther and look higher if we mean to be truly certified hereof and fully satisfied herein Omitting then all others we will only pitch upon two places the one in the Old the other in the New-Testament as the aptest in my judgment of all other for this purpose The one that of the Wiseman e Prov. 17.15 He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth the just even they both are an abomination to the Lord Here is the Word it self and its opposite the Word it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying * Absolvere to absolve or free the opposite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 importing * Improbificare si ita liceret loqui i. e. condemnare ad supplicum tradere to condemne or to deliver over to just and condigne punishment They are both Judicial terms exercised or used in judgment holden on such weighty matters as touch the life or death of the person concerned or engaged The other answerable hereunto is that of St. Paul Rom. 8.33 where he propounds the question Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect and rather then we shall go away without an answer he himself as best able for to do it will furnish us Surely none None indeed can justly do it to which he adds a reason to the purpose For it is God that justifieth The Apostle in this place makes a bold challenge in the behalf of all the Elect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who can accuse them or call them into question or is there any thing that can be laid against them And yet we see they do not want accusers the Devil is ready at hand to do it the Law of Moses will do it yea rather then fail their own consciences will do it But what says the Apostle al this is to no purpose For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is God that justifies that is frees them from all these accusers and their accusations too yea absolves them from the guilt of sin not imputing it to them but imputing the righteousness which is by faith For the Apostle opposeth justification to condemnation here as Solomon also did before Even here also are two actions of judgment set before us The one charging a man with guilt or crime of which being justly convicted doth pronounce the sentence of the Law against him The other opposite to both these absolving and acquitting him from guilt and punishment doth declare and publish him to be just and righteous This is a matter of high concernment and to speak the very truth there cannot but be a great deal of difficulty in defining things of this nature We will not therefore trust to our selves or any abilities in us as thinking it sufficient to trade with our own stock in a business of so much consequence but will rather as the man of Macedonia call for help and see where or how we may best supply our selves And behold here is one at hand that is both able and willing to furnish us of whom we will make use at present for I suppose we cannot mend our selves look where we will with such a definition of Justification as may be justified in all the parts thereof which is this it is saith he an act of God whereby he acquitteth every penitent and believing sinner not imputing to him his sins but imputing to him the perfect satisfaction and righteousness of Christ There is not any part of this definition but is Scripture proof as we shall see God willing by degrees hereafter In the mean time having seen what is meant by the word Justification as also the nature and definition thereof we passe on to the next thing proposed by us namely the causes which as in all other things so in this are four to wit the Efficient Material Formal and Final The Efficient causes of a sinners Justification are of two sorts either principal or instrumental the principall is God both essentially the whole Trinity g Isa 43.25 Rom. 3.26 I even I am he that blot out thy transgressions and also personally The Father h Rom. 8.33 That He namely God the Father might be just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus The Son also testifieth this of himself i Matt. 9.6 saying the Son of man hath power to forgive sins and so to justifie these that were ungodly The Holy Ghost performeth this too k 1 Cor. 6.11 And such wretches by reason of iniquity were some of you even guilty of the same impieties but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the name of our ●ord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God For seeing this work is of that kind which by the Schools is termed ad extra an outward action of God it is common to all the three Persons And yet it is distinct too in regard of the order and manner of working as also the terms and limits of operation whence the Act of justifying is antonomastically ascribed to the Father the merit thereof to the Son and the application of this merit to the Holy Ghost So that God the Father justifieth as the primary cause and as being the Authour thereof God the Son as the meritorious cause and God the Holy Ghost as the cause applicatory and brought home to the justified persons conscience in the comfortable assurance thereof So that the whole amounts to thus much God the Father through the Son doth justifie us by the Holy Ghost The Father I say as the principal cause and that in two respects 1. In that he gave his only begotten Son for us and set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his bloud that all that believe in him should be justified as the Apostle witnesseth m Rom. 3.25 2. In that he absolveth those that so believe and pronounceth them just in Christ The Son as the Mediator and meritorious cause and that also in two respects 1. As he his our Surety who paid our debt our Redeemer who laid down the price of our redemption for us n Isa 53.11 affording unto us both the matter and the merit of our justification 2. As he is our Intercessor and Advocate to plead for us that his merits may be imputed to us For though the sufferings of Chr●st be a precious salve to cure our Souls yet we cannot look for healing by them unlesse they be applyed and though his righteousness be a wedding garment sufficient in it self to cover all our Spiritual nakedness yet will it not clothe us unlesse it be put on Therefore in the third place the Holy Ghost is said to justifie us because

he brings home and applyes unto our Souls the righteousness of Christ for our justification both as he is the Spirit of regeneration working in us the grace of faith by which we receive Christ for our justification in foro Caelesti before God and also as he is the Spirit of adoption confirming this faith in us together with the assurance of our justification by which we are freed and acquitted in foro conscientiae within our selves that is by the testimony of an upright sincere and rectified conscience The instrumental causes of justification are either external or internal external such is the Word of God the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ and is therefore called o Rom. 1.16 the very power of God to salvation in which respect Ministers are said to justifie because as Daniel tells us p Dan. 12.3 they convert many to righteousness being instruments though poor and weak in themselves q Media perfecta ad quae ordinantur that God is pleased to make use of for this purpose and by whom those that are ordained unto life are brought to believe r 1 Cor. 3.5 For by the preaching of the Gospel seconded and made powerful by the operation of the Holy Ghost the sentence of justification and remission of sins and so consequently of eternal life and salvation is pronounced and concluded in the conscience of the faithfull such the Sacraments also ſ Tit. 3.5 not by works of righteousness which we have done saith St. Paul but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost For first in them the benefit of the Messias is presented before us and by those outward signs discerned by us in which respect the Sacrament is called Verbum visibile a word which is visible Secondly such is the Sacramental Union between the sign and the thing signified which is Christ together with all the train and quire of his graces as also all his merits offered to us Thirdly this transcendent benefit of the Messias is not only offer'd in the Lawfull and commendable use of the Sacraments but is also given to and conferr'd upon every faithfull partaker thereof In this sense the Sacrament of Baptisme is said to be the seal of that righteousness which is by faith as the Apostle calleth circumcision t Rom. 4.11 The internal cause of justification is not hope though hope maketh not ashamed not charity though it be faiths almoner and shall be rewarded of God u Prov. 19.17 not fear though it restrain us from sin not repentance though it be the gift of God by which we wipe out the old score of our sins past and resolve to glorifie God for the time to come but faith and faith only by which we overcome the World and that not in respect of its existency as Socinus would fain have it and doth earnestly plead for it w Imputatur nobis fides à Deo pro Justitia c. in Dialog de Iustif but in respect of apprehension and the faculty of application as that which is alone though it never be found alone without the company and attendance of other graces a convenient instrument fitted for the laying hold upon the righteousness of Christ And yet for all this faith is not to be considered in the Act of justification either dispositively or habitually or formally or meritoriously or in the kind and nature of a work but in part organically in regard of its Act and in part correlatively in regard of its object Whence the Apostle wisely disposing his words as being directed by the Spirit of Wisdome it self which cannot miscarry saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 x Rom. 5.1 we are justified through faith and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by faith but never 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for faith Hitherto the Dialogue and we walk together passilus aequis as it were hand in hand neither of us stepping aside with Socinus in the place fore-quoted and some other of his followers y Non innocentiam aut justiam Christi credentibus imputat Deus sed fidem illorum imputat illis pro justitia Smalcius in disputat contr Fran. to take up this ball which they have cast in our way that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 faith it self or the very Act of believing doth properly justifie yet if he be acquainted with Socinian John as I believe he is a●mighty stickler in this case he may soon be drawn away and easily perverted to comply with him and his party even in this matter also But now partes locus est ubi se via findit in ambas we come to the pinch indeed in which we shall discover where and upon what terms we are constrained to part company The matter or meritorious cause of our justification is the next thing that is to be considered by us which is neither the habit of charity or the exercise thereof but only the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Mediator And here here it is that we must part and not so fairly as may be expected For though the distance be small at the Center yet 't is many times found to be wide enough by that time it come to the circumference So the difference at first may seem small that is between us but being duly considered is so great that we can by no means give our consent of compliance For the Dialogue using that faculty here which in many other places he shews his dexterity in namely disputandi de non concessis chargeth us with that which we never held and which is more never mean to do if it please God to keep us in our right mind that so he may take occasion without occasion to quarrel w●th us thinking thereby to shew his valour in the eyes of his great admirers fighting though it be but with his own shadow and yet now and then giving a slanting blow even at the Justice of God himself Who ever heard any of us whom God hath established in his truth and made and constituted faithfull dispensers of the same so much as whisper among our selves much lesse publish it abroad that the active righteousness of Christ alone * Justitia Jesu Christi per quam justificamur coram Deo est perfectissimato tius Legis Divinae obedientia Polani Syntag. that is that obedience which he performed to the Law doth justifie a sinner before God We never said it we never thought it and therefore all the pains he hath herein taken to confute us or rather to blast us and the truth in us under the pretence of confutation might very well have bin spared and the time better spent but some will be doing though it be to no purpose and how can we keep company with those that charge us with such assertions which we utterly disclaim and cast such aspersions on us which we did never deserve Again God cannot do this God cannot in Justice do that

only the contingent effect thereof Reconciliation with God arising from true justification without which man must necessarily even unto all eternity have remained under and at all times bin lyable to the wrath of God is that whereby God for the Satisfaction of Christ pardoning all his sins doth freely admit and receive him into favour Or else more plainly d Emphasis vocis reconciliationem dissidentium per emptâ mutuâ dissentione importat It is a setting at one those who by reason of some discord between or hatred toward one another were exceedingly divided and separated one from the other This and the word Atonement which the Dialogue doth so often make use of are meer Synonima's no more but two several expressions of one and the same thing yet admitting of not different but divers denominations For being referred to wrath it is called a pacification or an appeasing either with a gift prepared as Jacob did his brother Esau e Gen. 32.20 or by compensation made for some wrong or injury done as David did the Gibeonites f 2 Sam. 21.3 and having reference to sin it signifies to expiate or purge with Sacrifice whence the day of Atonement is called g Lev. 16.30 a day of expiation and sometimes it is used for pardon and remission of sins as h Psal 78.38 he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity in which sense the Dialogue takes it and spends it self in the most part of that which remains to make his Reader believe it namely that this very atonement or reconciliation is our very righteousness and justification But this cannot be for this likewise were to confound the effect with the cause as before in remission of sins Atonement or Reconciliation being but the necessary effect or consequent of a sinners justification before God Thus you see being driven to their shifts they fly from one thing to another and are at no certainty among themselves into what a labyrinth then would they bring their perplexed Readers In this work of reconciliation or atonement Christ is to be considered after a two-fold manner or under a double notion either in respect of his essential Deity and Divinity or in respect of his Mediatorial office and Priestly performance in respect of his essential Deity common to himself with the Father and the Holy Ghost he by the same right whereby the Father and the Holy Ghost was exceedingly offended with and highly provoked to indignation against us by reason of our sins in respect of his Mediatorial offic● by the common consent and councel of the whole Trinity receding from his most just right took upon him our flesh that he might fully perform the part of a mercifull Mediatour between God and man In the transaction of this great husiness of mediation reconciliation or atonement for they are one in effect though they differ in terms there are six distinct things to be performed by Christ The first is Discretion o● Dijudication of the cause he takes notice of the state and condition of his Church and chosen Secondly he doth report the will of his Father the covenant and agreement with God unto them Thirdly he makes intercession to God for them Fourthly he fully satisfies the wrath and Justice of God provoked against them and freely delivers them from the eternal punishment which they had justly deserved should be inflicted on them Fiftly he mercifully applies that satisfaction to them And finally he everlastingly conserves them in this state of reconciliation into which he hath brought them And thus we dispose of these things thus wonderfully and mercifully performed by him Discretion and Relation pertain properly to the Prophetical office of Christ Intercession and Satisfaction to his Priest-hood Application and Conservation to his Regal office and that Kingly power which he exerciseth in and over his beloved ones So that whole Christ God-man in both natures in all his offices is employed in and for the effecting this high and glorious work of the Fathers mercifull atonement and reconciliation which is no small comfort being brought home and seasonably applied to the heart of a Christian Thus have we set down the true nature of Atonement or Reconciliation with God But as for the Dialogues Atonement it is nothing else but a vain idle imaginary and illusory thing a meer fiction which he having fancied and framed out to himself would fain obtrude upon others without the least colour of testimony from the Word of God For that which the Scripture presents unto us under the name and notio● of the word Atonement is an effect of our righteousness and not a part much lesse the whole as he would have it concerning which ne speaks much as being perhaps delighted in and affected with his own expressions but proves nothing of what is expected from him many times crossing and confounding himself much more his unwary and over-confident Reader To conclude then for I hope by this time the good and intelligent Reader doth plainly discover what the drift and purpose of the Dialogue is together with the rest of the Socinian faction namely to raze if they could the very foundation of our Religion which we have built upon the Rock that so we might erect a new structure on the sand but they shall not prevail yet let every one of us take heed that we build not thereon For other foundation can no man lay and expect comfort in or continuance of the building then that is laid the Prophets and Apostles Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone These under specious pretences and new coyned phrases endeavour to betray us that they may have whereby as they think to glory over us We know that offences to and oppositions against the Truth especially in these latter times must needs come that those which are firm and constant may be made manifest But wo unto them by whom such offences and oppositions do come From henc it comes to passe that such th●ngs as were never handled by the Scriptures are now hand over head urged and maintained from the Scriptures and such questions as were never dreamed of among the Apostles are stoutly yet strangely defended by the Apostles By these means our Pulpits ring our Presses groane and our eares are filled with the confused noise thereof such loud lies such lawlesse arguments such naked collections such backward conclusions such an Ocean of tempestuous sequels such a legend of unsound and unseasoned Non-sequitur's such upstart heresyes and such high strain'd blasphemies that the common Adversary scorneth at our follies and all the Devils in Hell as it were keeping holy-day do rejoyce at our forwardness to run and destroy not only the bodies but even the souls too one of another bringing hereby our selves into derision abroad an the Scriptures themselves into suspition at home Thus are many too many God knows poor single hearted men misled although by a contrary course yet to the same gulf running their

Christ his Son our Saviour freely and fully reconciled to us Now anger in God to speak after the manner of men is nothing else but a will or disposition to punish which the Apostle saith t Rom. 1.18 is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness from which none out of the State of Grace and communion with Christ are exempted being all by nature the Children of wrath and so lyable to Divine indignation This anger abideth upon some u Joh. 3.36 and upon whom it abideth not from them it is turned away Christ having obtained this favour by his sufferings from the hand of his Father Here we would not be mistaken as if we made God lyable to passions and affections so that he should be one while angry provoked against us and by and by that anger should be mitigated and he himself pacified towards us God is not neither indeed can be subject in the least to such mutations But this we believe and affirm that Divine wrath or punitive Justice being irritated and incensed by us hath cause enough as well as power to take vengance on us but Christ by his sufferings hath purchased our impunity and quenched those flames by taking away the cause thereof which otherwise would utterly have consumed us and therefore is most fitly stiled and that twice by the Apostle w Joh. 2.1 2. and Joh. 4.10 a Propitiation Add to these that of St. Paul x Rom. 3.24 25. whom namely Christ God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in his bloud Christ then is made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a reconciliation by his bloud dying for us that so we might be freed from the wrath to come Secondly such as declare our redemption by a prise or valuable consideration paid to the Justice of God for our deliverance which words with the like which we meet with in holy Scriptures are as it were fitted to that freedome that we enjoy from the punishment that we deserved That this is so appears plainly by the Apostle Paul in two several places using one and the same expression y and z in vvhom we have redemption through his bloud In which words we consider these particulars 1. The matter what 2. The manner how 3. The means whereby The matter what that is Redemption a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est liberatio ali cujus ab incommodo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intercedente which is a delivering of one from m●sery or slavery by paying a price or ransome for him It is that deliverance which we enjoy from the bondage and slavery of sin and death to which we were subject so long as we remained in the Kingdome of darkness in which none are free but all under the same vassalage The manner how fully expressed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth such a deliverance as a man enjoyeth the price of his redemption being paid For as before the Justice of God will not sign our discharge nor give us our manumission till shee be fully satisfied and contented Nor is this any disparagement to or diminution of the mercy of God * Quàm multae est Deus ergo nos clementiae Filio non pepercit ut parceret servo Unigenitum tra●●dit ut r●dim ret serv●● planae ingratos c. Chrysost in Isa as the Socinians do cunningly insinuate and pretend that his Justice must be satisfied before we can be delivered seeing he himself doth afford the means the whole means which is our next consideration whereby it is accomplished the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very prise of our redemption not gold not silver not any corruptible thing but the most precious bloud of Jesus Christ hath redeemed us from that misery into which by reason of our rebellion we had plunged our selves Thirdly such as denote a surrogation or the setting and appointing one in the place or room of another as when Christ is said to have tasted of death for all Heb. 2.9 that he should dye for the people b Joh 11.50 when we were sinners Christ dyed for us c Rom. 5.8 This is a common expression in every Speech and Language when one doth or suffereth any thing in the steed and place of another he is said to do or suffer that for him Neither is this phrase or manner of speaking appropriated to persons only but also to things For in the like propriety of speech this is said to be given put or accounted for that which is given put or accounted in the place or steed of that The Socinians would willingly decline this interpretation by supposing some ambiguity in the Preposition pro for which oftentimes say they is found to signifie a thing done for the profit and commodity of another and therefore do keep no small a do to have it so here But they had as good be quiet for it will not be and indeed it seems they are very ill provided that are beholding to such poor shifts I wonder none of their great Admirers and Abetters will take the pains to help the lame Dog over the stile I have often found my observation true Ignorance and Impudence are the first begetters of errour and heresy and after the chief maintainers and propagators of the same begotten Indeed among the Latines they may seem to find some shelter and among the Greeks too if we had to deal with the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for But never with the Preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for which is here used and with which we have here to do This may appear by the Evangelist St. Matthew d Matt. 20.28 he came to give his life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a ransome for many that is to give his life in the place of many and to dye in their steed Utterly rejecting the Socinian interpretation Also the same Evangelist e Matt. 5.38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth one in the steed and room of another And the Apostle Peter f Pet. 1.3 9. not rendring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 evil for evil or railing for railing as he expresseth it Moreover when ●t is applyed to persons it denotes the succession of one in the room and place of another as St. Matthew g Matt. 2.22 speaking of Archelaus saith he reigned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the room of his Father Herod not their interpretation then being too much derogatory to the grace of Christ but ours as most agreeable to the mind of the Holy Ghost not for our good benefit and profit only as they would have it but in our room and steed as we expound it for so it must be here Lastly such as speak of the death of Christ as an holy expiatory or sacrifice for sin which the Epistle to the Hebrews

and by such as know the signification of words they are taken for one and the same thing and the one translated by the other but yet we may conceive them to differ thus Wherein they differ Heresy hath relation to Doctrine Sect to men or a Company of men separating themselves from others and observing one and the same customes practised and following the same opinion professed among themselves So then they are hereticks who under the name and profession of Christian Religion do wilfully hold some opinions contrary to the Christian verity and the chief heads and foundations thereof Infidels they fight against the truth But it is not under the banner of a Christian profession and therefore not so dangerous Hereticks fight under her banner and yet against her they wound truth in her own coate Those are without Turks Jews and Gentiles the Lord in due time bring them in the other are within too many in conscience the Lord in his good time drive them out against both these must Christians defend their Religion and quit themselves like men against those that they openly cut it not off against these that they secretly root it not up These are many indeed No heresy more dangerous and desperate then Socinianism but none more dangerous and de●perate as being farther gone from Christianism and neerer to Gentilism then this Sect of the Socinians whose Spseudo-Divinity ariseth from no other fountaine then the abuse of the principles of reason the corrupting of the words and sense of the Scriptures and the pretence of Divine revelation So that they first determine by the rule and judgment of their own reason what is and what is not to be bel●eved and then they wrest and wring the Scriptures to make them if possible speak to their purpose if any of these fail then they fly to their last refuge they have a revelat●on for it and therefore it must needs be so and cannot be otherwise which being taken ●or granted what old heresies may not be revived what new ones invented and published for Doctrines of the Gospel needfull and necessary for all men to observe and by all means be obedient to But this must not be granted For if our dim understanding should search into those sacred mysteries which the Word of God doth publish to us we should certainly lose our selves in their turnings and windings there being in every one of them someth●ng to believe above that reason which leads us to the search Reason commands and shews the causes why Religion bids and shews not wherefore Reason gives us the Anatomy of things and illustrates to us with a great deal of plainness all the wayes that shee takes and all the business that shee undergoes but her line is too short to reach the depths of Religion Reason commands and shews the causes thereof Religion bids do a thing without any enquiry either why or wherefore and therefore procures and that justly the greater reverence For what we know not we reverently admire what we do know in in some sort subject to the triumphs of the soul because shee hath made a discovery of it besides this not knowing makes us not able to judge and so for the present have lost the use of reason and so are forced to cry out with St. Paul as in an Holy Extasie O altitudo profunditas should Reason be our purveyor in matters of Religion we might quickly find we had a fat Reason but I am sure we should have but a lean Religion Besides I should more then suspect his knavery that should set the Scripture on the tenters to make it any wider then the genuine sense will admit or should suborne it to attest any desperate opinions or heretical blasphemies which it utterly abhors As for their pretended revelations they are not to be regarded Revelation meer pretences for if they get it not by Hook they shall never have it by Crook if neither Reason can perswade it nor Religion laid down in the Scriptures prove it or allow it pretended Revelation shall never obtain it at our hands to believe their opinions so far as to be guided and ordered by them unlesse we shall by Gods permission be so much deprived of our understanding as that we shall not be able to descern between the right hand and the left in matters of Religion Nor is there a plainer presage of ruin and destruction then when God so taketh away the understanding that refusing the true sense of the Scriptures and the good councel that by them is given men betake themselves to their own inventions and imaginations or follow the brainlesse advice of others and thereby led aside after seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils When men are once at this point we may say that God is rearing of a scaffold whereon to take some exemplary punishment of them If the strict Justice of Almighty God Doth sometimes draw the wicked to the rod It first bereaves them of their understanding Then blindeth them that furious they may run then By steep down wayes devoied of stay or standing Unto that death which their lew'd courses won them This appeareth plain by these men whose head long courses in their heretical wayes brought them to finish their course with ignominie and reproach For the manifestation of the just judgment of God upon such as forsake the known truth and make it their whole employment to seduce others from the same We will not trouble our selves with any of those famous or rather infamous hereticks of former ages we have monsters enough neerer hand and of our own times to deal with nor shall we encounter with all of them but only such as have bin the chief Ring-leaders of and grand Factors for this heresy of Socinianism with which we have had to do in the former tract In which discovery we shall observe the names manners places where and means by which they have dispersed and spread abroad their desperate and damnable opinions together with a short description of the lives and a sad yet t●ue relation of the deaths of many yea the most of them that the Reader may know what and what manner of persons they were by whom this cursed heresy was first invented after propagated and promoted that so he may be the lesse moved by or affected with those sly and subtill Doctrines which they thrust upon the consciences of their disciples as absolutely necessary on all hands and in all points to be believed to salvation the contrary whereunto being very prejudiciall and ready at all times to bring unto eternal damnation Petrus Abailardus Parisiens Professor En Abilardus ego sum primus in ordine turmae Dogmatis inferni Dux Origo fui IN the year of Christs incarnation 1540. 1540. in France was famous Petrus Abailardus Professor at Paris a Philosopher and Divine of great name of whom Bernard in he cxc Epistle writeth thus We have here in France a new Divine