others by Grace if then he requires since Mans fal faith repentance obedience and perseverance to work out our salvation by his Grace certes he givs ability to beleev repent obey and persever by cooperating with it but doth not cross-bar it by any contrary decree which were meer mockery far from Mercy for if one ly on the ground bound hand foot 't is mockery to bid him rise or run away but mercy to loose or let him go The Case is quadratly semblable and aptly applicable Our good God is no mocker but al Mercy nor respecter of persons but receivs al that cal on him 12. God delights not in the death of a sinner but would hav al to be saved he hath spoken it who wil not beleev him so wel as beleev in him But if he hath absolutly and peremptorily decreed from which is no appeal nor repeal that Man shal sin and consequently dy he delights in his death and wil hav but a few saved Hath he made him according to his own Image purposly to make him the wrechedest of al Creatures Surely his Wil and Decree is to reward every Man according to his works Thes twelv stones thus laid like Josuas twelv stones paralel to Jos 4. 20. Israels twelv Tribes set up in Gilgal for a memorial of Jordans retroversion for a fair foundation the fabric wil be the better finished but becaus Mr. Plaifer wel versed in this point hath handled it at large in his Appâ—liâ— Evangelium the chief contents shal be sincerly abstracted or abbreviated and applied to common capacities sans ambiguity He reckons fiv dissident Opinions touching the order of 1 Opinon Predestination 1. Calvin Beza Piscator Whitaker Perkins c. hold that God eternaly Decreed to creat a set number of Men wherof he elected som to everlasting life and reprobated the rest to eternal death of his free wil pleasure only to shew his Grace Goodnes or Mercy on the one and his Justice Power or Dominion on the other To which end he Decreed sin should enter on al that he might justly punish most part for sin and to send his Son for redemption of the Elect in Mercy by free Grace This peremptory position is generaly condemned by Papists Refutation Lutherans Arminians and divers Reformed Divines as perilous and erroneus becaus it makes God the prime Author of sin rejecting Men before they were evil by an antecedent absolut Decree without respect to Adams future fal but elects som before they are considered as sinners sans respect to the ones faith or the others failing as if prescience had no place in Praedestination 2. The Synod of Dort Peter Moulin and many English 2 Opin Theologists defend That God eternaly decreed to make Man holy and good giving him perfect Free-wil but foreseing he would by Satans tentation fal into sin if he hindred it not decreed to permit it and out of this lost lapsed lump chos a certain number to salvation suffering the rest to perish in sin whom he passeth by of free pleasure but punisheth for just demerits Yet decreed to send his Son to redeem or sav the elect and his Spirit to cal or sanctify them that they may be glorified The first sort are stiled Supralapsarians having no respect to Adams fal decreed to send his Son so they grant prescience in order to preced Decree This opinion freeth Gods justice on Infants dying unbaptised which the first doth not who hav no other desert of death but original sin This Tenet is scarce veritable or warrantable which Refut to defend divine justice supposeth mankind corrupted before any Decree of election passed which seems needless becaus ther be good and bad Angels without any corruption or fal and Christ was not in the lapsed lump yet as man elected to life It also supposeth Original sin to be caus of Reprobation which is remitted to many Reprobats condemned for actual sins as Doctor Whitaker avers it likewise teacheth that Christ is sent to sav the elect only as dying for them alone who are to be caled by the Word and Spirit but Reprobats being outwardly caled who are barred from obeying are more deeply condemned for refusing it yet hav no power to embrace it which is harsh doctrin 3. Doctor Overald a late learned Bisshop coined a new 3 Opin Tenet That God decreed to creat man good but foreseeing his fal appointed his Son to dy for al and to cal men by his Word offering Salvation to al with common suffiâ—ient Grace to work Faith by the ordinary means if they be not wanting to themselves but knowing our infirmity that none would beleev by the common Grace decreed to ad a more special effectual to whom he pleased being chosen according to his purpos wherby they shal not only be able but actualy and necessarily beleev being drawn by the Father irresistibly This is plausible but scars solid for that common Grace Refut which savs none is not Gospel Grace offered to al nor deservs that name nor indeed is any such sith it never produced the effect Nor can a special superabundant Grace be it sith 't is rejected by none to whom 't is offered but tru Gospel Grace is received by som and refused or resisted by others Thes three Opinions infer a kind of despair into mens minds becaus none shal be saved by that special Grace given to a few according to Gods secret purpos which whether he intends to giv or not the general promises cannot assure to any Soul 4. The Lutherans with som Papists maintain that God decreed 4 Opin to make Man a free Creature but permit him to stand or fal and to send his Son upon foresight of his fal for redemption of al by a general conditionat Decree of Faith Repentance Perseverance with a special absolut of electing such as he knew would beleev and persever under the means but to pass by and damn the rest whom he foresaw incredulous and impenitent making Prescience or Prevision the occasion on which his Decrees proced This is faulty in som points 1. Becaus ther is no such general Refut conditionat Predestination 2. Becaus the special Decree of Election makes Men chus God first rather then God them which is preposterous 3. Becaus the Decree of Justification and Condemnation is confounded with election and Reprobation which S. Paul distinguisheth 4. Becaus it allows no more Rom. 8 19. Grace given to the Elect then Reprobats nor greater caus of gratitud Yet this opinion rightly extends the objects of Prescience not only to Adams fal but to Christ Incarnat and beleeved on in the World to the last end of al that shal persever in Faith or unbeleef This sutes with Scripture which builds Predestination on Foreknowledg simply and properly taken at large promising salvation to al beleevers which shal persever to the end Thes four opinions ech of which hath som peeces of truth giv great light to this
Dominions to whom the chief Government of all estates whether Ecclesiastic or Civil in al Causes doth appertain nor ought to be subject unto any forren Jurisdiction Whereas we attribute chief Government to the Kings Majestie wherby we understand the minds of som slanderous folks to be offended we giv not to our Prince the ministring of Gods word or Sacraments which thing the Injunctions also somtime set forth by our late Queen Elizabeth doe plainly testify But that only Prerogativ which was ever given to al Godly Princes in holy Scripture by God himself which is That they shal rule al Estates and Degrees committed to their charge whether Ecclesiastic or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword al stuâ—born and evil doers The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Laws of the Land may punish Christian men with death for hainous grievous offences It is lawful for Christians at commandment of the Magistrat to wear Weapons and serv in Wars Article 38. The Goods of Christians are not common touching the right title and possession of the same as Anabaptists falsly boast yet every man ought of such things as he hath liberaly to give Alms to the Poor according to his ability Article 39. As we confess vain and rash swearing to be forbid in Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his Apostle so we judg that Christian Religion doth not prohibit but a man may swear when a Magistrat requires it in a caus of Faith and Charity so that it be done as the Prophets teach according to Justice Judgment and Truth for the composing of strife Articuli Lambethae cusi The Articles of Lambeth An Appendix of nine Articles touching Praedestination agitated by John Archbishop of Canterbury and others An. 1595. at Dr. Whitakers instance against three Propositions of Dr. Baro a Frenchman Lady Margarets Professor at Cambridg Article 1. GOd from eternity predestinated som men to life and reprobated the rest to death or damnation Article 2. The moving or efficient caus of Predestination to life is not any foresight of Faith Perseverance good Works or any thing in the persons praedestinated but only in the Wil of Gods good pleasure Article 3. Of the Predestinat ther is a prefined certain number which can neither be increased nor diminished Article 4. They that are not predestinat to salvation shal necessarily be condemned for their sins Article 5. Tru livly justifying Faith and sanctifying Spirit of God is not extinguished doth not fall off nor vanish in the Elect either finaly or totally Article 6. A man truly beleeving or indued with justifying Faith is certain by or with ful perswasion of Faith of his sins forgivenes and everlasting salvation by Christ Article 7. Saving Grace is not given nor communicated nor granted to al men whereby they may be saved if they will Article 8. No man can come to Christ unles it be given to him and unless the Father draw him nor are al men drawn of the Father that they come to the Son Article 9. It is not in the free choice and power of every man to be saved These Assertious or Positions like many mo are obtruded in general obscure ambiguous terms subject to divers interpretations Animadversio apposita A usefull Animadversion THe first Proposition is tru de facto but treats not of the order and manner why God elected som and reprobated the rest which is the debate The second designs the moving efficient caus of election but mentions not the object whether it be man simply or man a sinner or man repentant or man persisting obstinat and obdurat which is al the question for Gods foresight is no efficient caus of his Predestination but his Wil. The third of a set number not to be increased or diminished is a very verity in regard of Gods infallible foreknowledge and immutable Wil. The fourth is a bifront Janus most ambiguous for if it suppose non-praedestination to necessitat condemnation for sin it puts non causam pro causa but if it make non-praedestination a meer negativ in God and supposes sin unrepented the caus God may in true Justice condemn the sinner that neglects the remedy for every one perisheth by his own default as Preachers inculcat dayly The fifth is generally granted That the elect doo not fal away finaly or totaly but who they are no mortal man knows and al men may fal The sixth in a tru sens is tru That Beleevers being reconciled to God by repentance may be certain of their present condition by a ful perswasion of Faith yet must not presume of infallible perseverance sith many Saints through frailty have faln dangerously The seventh is tru in part That effectual saving Grace is not given to al that they may be saved if they wil but sufficient is offered to al and that seriously or intentionaly if they wil use and not refuse reject or resist the means working out their salvation with fear and trembling The eighth is to be rightly expounded that no man can com to the Son unless the Father draw him and al men are not drawn by him but 't is becaus he foresees that they be obdurat and wil not com when caled for his prescience is the condition not the caus of proceeding The last is indubitat that 't is not in every mans nay in no mans free choice and power to be saved without Grace but by help thereof and use of the means prescribed in the Gospel any man may be saved if he wil cooperat with Gods Grace and not wilfully reject the same Dr. John Rainolds at Hampton-Court Conference beside many mo both before and since petioned that thes 9 Lambethian Articles might be annexed to the other 39 by public authority but could never obtain it becaus their meaning or construction was very dubious or dissonant to the tru sens of our Churches seventeenth Article which handles the point of Predestination more plainly and perfectly then thes 'T is said that Dr. Whitgift Archbishop granted this discussion to gratify Dr. Whitakers importunity and pacify that present Cantabrigian fury but left it in such doubtful terms that no prejudice might occur to the said Article of Predestination predefined THESIS I. Animae Humanae productio Production of Mans Soul 1 A solen Question Whether every Mans Soul since Adams be created or procreated THE Case is cleer for creating Adams Gen 2. 3. Soul God breathed into his nostrils the Spirit of life whereof S. Austins Axiom respect stil had to this first Souls production is infallibly tru 't is created in infusing and infused in creating Of Eve 't is said God in a deep Gen. 2. 21. 23. sleep took one of Adams ribs closing up flesh in its stead and the Rib he made a Woman The learned say it was no dead bone but animat the material part being extended to a shapeful human body and the spiritual at the same instant diffused over
given suddenly without means but to fail in Faith and the rest requisit to salvation after means afforded is sin sith men used not such diligence as they should the difference in measure of Gifts coms from the Giver but the different using from Man as the Lord gav one Servant fiv talents Mat 25. 15. another two another one but they imploied it diversly which was from themselfs and were regarded or rewarded accordingly Ob. If Man makes the difference in receiving or using Grace then God doth no more for the Elect then Reprobats nor hav Saints more caus to be thankful then the wicked but one may glory against othâ—rs that he did more then they al which Scripture â—onâ—emns Ergo it proceds from God Sol. If it be granted which is not so that God doth no more in the Grace of Vocation for the Elect then Reprobats yet in Predestination hâ—doth incomparably more becaus foreknowing the different success of his Caling and ends of the Caled he decreed to confirm it unto som which would be saving to them and leav the rest to that which would not be saving through their disobedience when it was in his power to alter it So in the preparation and execution of his gracious Caling his election and lov to them appeers singular who hav infinit caus of gratitud abov Reprobats â—et hav they reason to thank God for preparing that Caling wherby they might be saved so wel as others being to blame their own refusal only Nor was God bound to alter their Caling as seing the event would prov evil by their own fauâ—t for then none had perished Here is much inequality in Lov and favour but stil a liberty left of Mans Wil under Grace that of two equaly caled one may obey and not another or unequaly obey when both being often Caled one obeis sooner then the other For ther is infinit variety in most yet God indifferent to al and damns none but by their own default Touching thankfulnes Grace is not therfore Grace becaus given to one and denied to another but becaus 't is given to the unworthy for it were not lesss but greater if extended to al so that my thanks are du to God becaus he had mercy on me unworthy not becaus he shews more mercy to me then others Nor are my thanks the less becaus many mo partake with me in the benefits but should rather be greater if millions mo were partakers then be Salvianus saith men ow a general debt for Christs passion and al Mankind sans exception bound therto yet none ows the less becaus others ow the like For though the debt be general yet 't is special too and every particular equaly ingaged sith as Christ suffered for al so he did for ech and bestowed himself on al as he did on every one wholy for al and wholy for ech individual In which regard as al ow themselfs wholy to him for it so doth every one wholy sav that ech ows more then al Mankind becaus he reaps so much benefit as al Men. This is a good rule but beware of the Pharisees comparativ form of thanks too rife now adais Lord I thank thee I am not as other Men. Indeed as som put the Case of Mankind like a cru of Rebels of whom the King pardons such as he lists and executs the rest thos pardoned ow more thanks But the Scripture states it thus God mercifully proclaims a general Gospel pardon to al Rebels on condition that he which submits and yeelds his Sword taking a Ticket of his pardon shal go safe but such as refuse or stand out shal be destroied Such as submit magnify his Mercy and griev for their Felows obstinacy justifying the execution doon on them Thos that in the first way amplify Gods Grace for sparing som simply prejudice his Truth proclaimed to al But such as advance his Grace for sparing al on fair facil feasible conditions exhibited in the Gospel set his Favor forth Mercy and Truth much more It may more literaly be laid thus If a King having al his Subjects in his power and pleasure to destroy for Rebellion shal publicly proclaim pardon to al that wil submit to his Son on such conditions as they shal be able by his gracious assistance and acceptance to perform knowing that som wil tractably obey but the rest persist obstinat or obdurat in their Crimes he then is bound by promiss or Covenant to pardon the penitent but resolvs to punish the rest according to their deserts Here both his Mercy and Justice is equaly or eminently extended to al without respect of persons but the difference consists in the new obedience of one sort and old obstinacy of the other yet doth not the Caus depend on the effect as som fondly object or cavil but the Monarch according to his merciful Proclamation freely pardons the penitent and justly destrois the impenitent As to glorying that one doth more then another Let him that glorieth glory in the Lord or not glory for Gods Gifts are duple 1. Immediat from himself soly as Toungs Miracles Prophecying of which Paul speaks What hast thou which thou hast not received and if thou hast received why boastest thou 2. Mediat which proced from Gods Grace and Mans Wil jointly as Faith Repentance Obedience being both Gods gifts wrought by Grace therfore no glorying but in the Lord as S. Paul saith and duties owing by us upon peril of 1 Cor. 15. 10. Phil. 4. 13. 1 Cor. 9. 16. salvation which proced from the Wil helped by Grace and in that regard no glorying as S. Paul saith though I preach the Gospel I hav not to glory for necessity is laid on me and wo is me if I doo not So wo to al which beleev not in Christ To receiv as a Gift not only excluds glory but includs duty for in doing al which is commanded we doo but our duty being unprofitable servants Christ saith doth the Master thank his servant Luk. 17. 9. becaus he did what was bid I trow not Yet we may glory with S. Paul in the testimony of a good conscience as Samuel 2 Cor. 1. 12. 1 Sam. 12. 13 Neh. 5. 15. cald witnes of his integrity and Nehemiah recorded his own sincerity Howbeit whatever our natural parts be or labor and industry beyond others or how prosperously soever it succeds who is so void of piety as not to ascribe it to the fountain of al good God builds the hous more then al Laborers keeps the City abov al Warders givs more increas then al Planters or Waterers yet Builders Warders Planters Waterers hav al subordinat Offices which being neglected the Hous is unbuilded City unguarded and Plant unmanured Becaus God doth most in converting and Man nothing in comparison but al by him the Saints may rejoyce and say not unto us Lord not to us but to thy name giv the glory Yet not unto us implies somthing to be doon by us