c. far from being the effects of Justification that without them there can be no Justification that is they are the cause of it as * Smalc ibid. one of them is not ashamed to write Tho Scripture in so many places saith that Christ's passive obedience was for us is imputed to us and we thereby are justified Isa 53.5 6. 1 John 1.7 Rom. 3.24 25. and 5.19 Galat. 3.13 for he was wounded for our Transgressions he was bruised for our Iniquities the Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed Also the Blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin so in other Texts quoted in the Margin Yet for all this these Wretches with a brazen-face do thunder against this Holy Doctrine as †Socin de servat l. 4. absurd impious forged and contrary to Divine and Human Reason yea so filthy and execrable that he believes since the beginning of the World there was not a more pernicious errour And that Man's †Socin de justif p. 77. Ephes 2.8 Ibid. Heb. 2.10 Chap. 12.2 Disciple impiously calls it an Imposture of Satan But they go further and say God justifieth Man for his Obedience and own Righteousness for saith the * Smalc Heresiark to be justified of God is nothing else but to be declared just which must necessarily be when the Precepts whatsoever they be of the Law he hath given are kept Thus Men need not seek in God for what they have in themselves for which they would make him accountable to them but they sink deeper and deeper into the mire for Faith which the Apostle calls the Gift of God with an exclusion and that not of your selves they affirm God not to be the only cause of seeing Man of himself by strength of his own Will may receive it for thus he goes on out of what hath been said it appears what is in Man the cause and foundation of his Faith namely the love and desire to do Good and to avoid Evil And as they overturn all Divine Means of our Salvation so that pernicious Man would strike hard as the Captain of it and the Author and Finisher of our Faith Isa 63.3 And in that great Work which he alone hath effected for he hath troden the Wine-Press alone and of the People there was none with him yet blasphemously he would therein make a Tool and Instrument of him for he saith †Socin cont Wiekum c. 4. 1 Cor. 1.3 Heb. 5.9 1 Cor. 6.20 and 7.23 1 Tim. 2.6 Matth. 20.28 Ephes 5.2 but we must not so trust in Christ Man as if he were the Author of our Happiness that is the first and only cause but only as in the second and instrumental so not the principal efficient meritorious cause yet Paul in his Epistles wishes equally Grace and Peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ whom all other inferiour causes do depend upon For he became the Author of eternal Salvation unto all them that obey him all this confirm'd by the many Glorious Titles given him in Scripture and in plain words we by Paul twice in the same words are said to be Bought with a Price which Christ himself paid for he gave himself a ransom for all whom he laid down his Life for and that was the end of his coming into the World he came to give his Life a Ransom for many and he hath given himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice to God Several other things in the word there are to this purpose but this is full and plain enough When according to several places in Scripture we say we are justified by Faith laying hold upon Christ and thereby applying his Merits unto us that wise modest and humble Man calls it merum humanum commentum c. * Socin de Serv. part 4. c. 11. Esphes 2.8.9 Socin de Serv. part 4. c. 12. a meer invention of Men and a most vain dream this and many more things he saith but proves none no Scripture to confirm what he saith What the word doth attribute only to God's Mercy to his free gift Faith and not to Works least any Man should boast he doth to Man's honesty ex probitate 't is Man's probity that makes him believe the Gospel but to shew how they stumble at nothing they say that an unbeliever and unregenerate Man can do good Works which positively they affirm certum est c. †Smalc cont frantz disp 1. de bon Oper. 't is certain that an unregenerate man by nature and his reason can do good works but how can they be good except there be a good Principle a good Matter a Right manner and a good End which are the four necessary Circumstances to denominate a good Act if but one of these be wanting it may not be called a good Work besides that every one of these parts must be within a due degree whereof the want makes the Action defective and so hinders the goodness and perfection of it besides that what good of any kind is in us it comes from God for saith the Apostle God worketh in us both to will and to do of his good Pleasure how can an unregenerate and unbeliever do good works and acceptable to God seeing Scripture assures how without faith it is impossible to please him Heb. 11.6 they also would have our Conversion and Regeneration which is God's proper Work to be in Man's Power when alas the second Creation is no more than the first that is not at all within the Sphere of any Man's Activity for 't is altogether incommunicable to the Creature As they meddle with every material thing in Religion so they spared not the Sacraments whereof first and in general they deny the necessity of Precept and as of means which God hath appointed to convey divine Graces to us which to affirm saith †cont frantz disp 9. p. 422. Smalcius is fabulous and worse in another place per sacramenta c. to say * Exam. 100. Err. err 93. that by the Sacraments grace is convey'd to men is next degree to Blasphemy How soon would they turn Blasphemy upon us if ever they had the upper hand In particular of Baptism they say that the Doctrine of Baptism is not a fundamental or necessary article of Faith but such as Christian piety may consist without and concerning which every one may abound in his own sense †Socin disp de bapt c. 17. nay ipsissimam falsitatem c. * Smalc exam err 100. Err. 9. 'T is falshood it self to say that Christ hath under pain of losing Eternal Life tyed men to the use of them we do not say they are absolutely necessary for God is not tyed to means but they are Ordinances of God's own Appointment which he hath tyed us to as means conducing to bring us to the end of our Salvation and is it not a
of Blood Thirsty Had I any hand in his Condemnation and Execution No doubt there is a great deal of Sincerity and Truth in such a charge against me Fy for shame leave off such lying tricks which can do your cause not a straw worth of good and answer my Arguments 't is a general accusation they have against every one that is no Socinian when I say I could wish to see by lawful authority and means that Blasphemous Heresy of theirs suppress'd they presently say you would bring an Inquisition upon us Socinians they blunder out that scare-crow word Psal 9.12 but extremely misapply it Inquisition is a good word if Men do but make a right use of the thing it signifies David calls God an Inquisitor for he makes Iuquisition for Blood So he doth for Blasphemy as in the cases of * Irenaeus lib. 3. c. 3. Euseb Eccles Hist l. 4. c. 14. Corinthus and of Arius forequoted So for Idolatry and after this patern why should not Magistrates who make Inquisition for Blood make it also for Blasphemy and Idolatry God standeth in the Congregation of the Mighty he judgeth among the Gods Psal 82.1 That is if Princes and Judges do not their duty God whose Authority is above theirs will take Vengeance of them In the second place I am mention'd with a witness Pag. 30. The Religious Frenzies of Mr. Gailhard which have been so well chastised by two honest Gentlemen By this stile one may easily know that meek modest moderate and Christian as they would be call'd sort of Men but a Zeal for the Honour of God and Interest of Christ is no Frenzy I am very jealous for the Lord God of Hosts saith Elijah 1 Kings 19.10 14. if this Man had lived in his time he would not have spared him but taxed him with Frenzy though I make no comparison between the Persons yet the cause is the same but such Men should know how a weak fainting and languishing Spirit is no fit nor proper frame in God's Service I find with him the word Religious is a Saddle for any Horse Legat's perswasion was Religious so are my Frenzies when will that evil Spirit depart from them when will they cease to give People ill language however those Frenzies of mine have been well chastised how well let the vindication of my Epistle demonstrate but these two chastisers or slanderers are two honest Gentlemen how can it be otherwise if they be Socinians For Honesty is their Essential Quality but they are a greedy sort of People who would suck in to themselves all Religion Piety Vertue and Honesty In the third place he saith Pag. 52. Mr. Gailhard and the growth of Errour have already declared open war against all Church-Men of the Arminian perswasion The more Enemies we have among ourselves the better for them who are the common Enemy but I find they always are ready to embroil things if they can thereby to fish in troubled Water and may be hence it comes I mean out of their Den that of late we have seen Pamphlets come abroad to revive old and for the present unnecessary Disputes But Sirs what need ye talk of a dispute between Me and my Neighbour whilest there is one depending between you and me let us first of all decide the difference that is between us and then we may talk of that between my Neighbour and Me In the mean while I find they throw their Foam about upon others as well as upon me for the Man saith * P. 50. but as for such furious Inquisitours as Mr. Edwards and Mr. Peter Brown I reckon they are so very Passionate that they are utterly incapable of attending to sober Reasoning from plain Christian Principles better for them to Answer our Books than to give us ill Language Nay like a distempered Man he strikes on all sides for to attain to the end of undermining the Church which they all aim at he spares not the most Eminent Men we have in 't for thus he saith †P. 23. Vnitarians are no Deists much less Atheists or as a Reverend Father out of the abundance of his Charity Complements them irreligious profligate Villains but it is to be hoped that he will recal those bitter words at least for his own sake for I am told they are resolved plainly to make it appear to the World that his Lordship's Doctrine in some of his Books accords as much with the Racovian Catechism as theirs But that Reverend Father knows well what he saith and none of them all can Teach him how to speak but as they presume to Wrest the Word of God so they think they may do with the Writings of any Man but that Eminent Person being well able to Vindicate himself it were in me a presumption to attempt it but how can we believe Men who say * P. 31. the sentiments of the Vnitarians set down in the agreement no one that I know of hath undertaken to refute or charge with Heresy Suppose their Opinions have not been refuted or charged with Heresy as contained in the particular Book he names can he deny it to have been so by several Eminent Authors in their Works but these Modern Socinians would bis coctam nobis apponere Crambem bring the same thing over and over again would not they also against the known Truth make the World believe that †P. 29. the Vnitarians have no particular private Opinions about matters commonly held necessary to Salvation different from the Church of England that is if the Bishops and chief Doctors of the Church know what the Church means Here is Pride he must teach the Bishops and Doctors of the Church what it is that they believe as if they believed they know not what yet that being so notorious and palpable an untruth he sometimes pulls in his horns I do confess saith he * P. 29.30 that I much fear the Vnitarians may have private Opinions about Articles commonly held necessary to Salvation different from the Opinions of the Compilers of the Thirty Nine Articles and from the Grammatical literal sense of those Articles for thorough them as thorough our Homilies there runs a vain of that Scheme which at this day is called Calvinism there he owns they have not Cranmer Latimer and Ridley on their side let him if he can clear these two things from Contradiction What he saith * P. 31. that the difference is only about words elsewhere I sufficiently Answered sure I am we much differ in what he saith †P. 28. that what Christanity teaches beyond that which natural reason dictates hath not the efficacy to prevent Atheism which natural reason hath is not this if by Christianity he means Christian Religion which is the natural signification of word and thing to prefer Human Reason before Reveal'd Religion or Scripture and out of this must not we own those modern Socinians to be as bad as
his Sister Constantia upon her Death-bed had commended to his favour how Arrius had to his Imperial Majesty been mis-represented for his Opinion about those Matters was the same with the Judgment of the Council of Nice and that if he were pleased to admit him into his presence he with his own Mouth would assure him of it the Emperour who would not in the least recede from the Resolutions of the Council was upon those terms content to see him so he comes and in sound words gave him a short Confession of what he said he believed concerning those Matters afterwards Constine ask'd him whether he would subscribe to the Council's Determinations which he readily did yet the Emperour to make sure of him required him to swear to the truth of what he had subscribed which he also did thus he imposed upon the Emperour but could not upon God who as I said before found out and Punished him I am perswaded that many Socinians after the Example of this their great Ring-leader to get leave to set up Anti-Christian Conventicles will if they can impose upon the Law subscribe and swear unto any thing for they have the face to declare if we will believe them that the Vnitarians the Catholick Church the Translatour as they call one and I are at perfect Agreement but the contrary I sufficiently shewed in my Answer to their two Letters Still I am of Opinion that for their ends they will do say sign and transform themselves into any thing therefore let those who are concerned look to them when they offer to swear and subscribe Thus having taken notice of the Law I must not omit to do so of the Gospel and Address my self to the Ministers of Christ and Shepherds of his Flock whose Duty it is not only to feed but also defend it from the Wolves else in Scripture Phrase they are Idol Shepherds Zec. 11.17 and dumb Dogs Not Shepherds but Hirelings for saith the great Shepherd of all He that is an hireling Isai 56.10 11. Joh. 10.11.12 13 14. Ezeck 33. and not the Shepherd seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep Therein is Rule and Example for good Shepherds a terrible doom will attend those who herein neglect their Duty as we read in the Case of the Watchman 't is not enough for one to know but he also must do his Duty or else he shall fall into a greater Condemnation but 't will be a great Aggravation when he knows the Wolf to be within the Sheepfold and drives it not out when he can and if he wants strength let him sue for help where it may be had Certainly these are Evil Days when more than ever as 't is now out of the Heart proceed all the wicked things by our Saviour mentioned among which Blasphemy Mark 7.22 none of the least is named We hope our worthy Prelates with their Pious Care and Christian Prudence will drive out of the Precinct of their respective Jurisdictions and as far as they are able every thing else contrary to Piety and sound Doctrine this with humble Respect and Submission I bring to their Door and there leave it not doubting but that some who are sincere and zealous for the cause of God will approve themselves to be among those whom God speaks of Jer. 3.15 I will give you Pastours according to mine Heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding May God in this great Concern of his make every one in his station careful diligent and faithful to Discourse Preach Write and every other way according to their Abilities promote the Interest of Christ that we may see whatsoever is contrary to 't thereby exploded out of the Land if not out of the World or at least compelled to lurk and hide in dark places proper Holes for Works of Darkness that we may no longer hear see or be troubled therewith we may hope God will bless Joint-endeavours if every one in his way and as far as he is enabled fets his Hand to the Work among us let there be none like the Trumpets who encourage Men to Battle yet fight not themselves or as the Bells which call People to Church but they go not In my Judgment I am not against but for using first such charitable means 2 Tim. 2.25 as thereby to try if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging the Truth specially to those who have been seduced and are misled who indeed are pity worthy but in relation to hardned Hereticks our Charity must be kept within bounds and attended with Considerations becoming Christian Zeal and Prudence 1 Cor. 13. 't is true Charity thinketh no evil without cause but she is not blind and can see when there is She beareth all things but doth not approve of or tolerate Heresie it ought not to be void of Prudence or of sincere love to Truth or of zeal for God's House so as under the Notion of Charity to bring or suffer in God's House Men infected with damnable Heresie Snakes into the Mother's Bosom or ravenous Wolves into the Sheep-fold In such things we must not mind so much what Men will say as what God will To loyal Subjects their Princes Enemies are theirs so true Christians ought to account Christ's Enemies to be theirs God forbid we should under the wrong Notion of Charity betray our Allegiance to him our Conscience or the Truth As to Socinians I wish the gentleness of the Parliament towards them may lead them to the knowledge of their detestable Errors and prove an Inducement to repent and leave them off lest their Charity being exhausted and Patience tired out in their Christian Prudence and Zeal for God seeing mild Courses cannot prevail they make use of harder ones May be some Wretches whom for being in no wise qualified for any publick Places the Penalties cannot reach shall take the liberty as Emissaries to disperse their venom and to blaspheme which Time will shew In the mean while 't is a just cause of much Grief and Sorrow for all that are for God's Glory and who love their Religion to see so many Lots and Hindrances to the sound Doctrines of the Gospel and to the Work of Piety and Reformation None here can be so blind but may perceive it if some do not I am sure others afar off to the Shame and Scandal of Religion and of the Nation do with a Witness What a stain is it to England's Honour and to the purity of our Holy Profession to find that our Enemies to both Religion and Nation throw Dirt upon 't not in private but as publickly as can be It hath been told in Gath and published in the Streets of Askelon 2 Sam. 1.20 The French Gazette and by * Flying Post of Saturday 9th of April 1698. our printed Papers here 't is mentioned in the Article from Paris saith The Bill
is this Let their table become a snare befor them Ps 69.22 and for welfare a trap in English the Sense is lame in the latter part of the Verse therefore 't was necessary thus to supply it and that which should have been for their Welfare let it become a Trap. The other Text is this For my love they are my adversaries but I give my self unto prayer Ps 109.4 in the latter part of the Verse the words give my self unto are not in the Hebrew only but I prayer which is no sense in English David is not Prayer nor an Iniquity the Judge therefore it should be supplied which the Translatours have well done Now to be even with this Author these two things I leave for him to prove first That this is not the Idiom of the Hebrew Language the second That the Words supplied to make out the Sense in these places are against the Analogy of Faith or the Scope of God's Spirit therein and I give him a long time to consider upon 't But enough of this As to their politick Reasons against the Magistrate's Authority in point of Religion and for a general Naturalization whereby they at once would blow up an English Birth-Right with the Seven Years Apprentiship and bring in all Foreigners to engross the English Trade unto themselves and sow the pernicious Tares of Heresie Blasphemy c. among us with more liberty for they are also for a general Toleration in all these I say their Policy is no better than their Divinity as might easily be demonstrated Indeed to Tolerate some Opinions about indifferent Circumstantial Things can contribute towards Peace and Union do much Good and no Harm but 't would be very pernicious concerning Fundamental Errours God Christ and Religion must not be sacrificed to Interest and other Worldly Considerations Yet if Pagans and Mahommetans would not disturb the Government they would be content to bring them in as already we have the unbelieving Jews whose Conversion I earnestly pray for whom upon the account of Trade and of something else they are so fond of that a great Care must be had to give them no Distaste for fear they would be gone when they are as glad to stay here as some seem afraid lest they should go as if here they were the Pillars of Trade but some think there is cause to believe the contrary I can remember how in Cromwell's time they sent over Manasseh Ben-Israel to get leave to come and settle here he offered 200000 l whereupon Cromwell call'd some Divines for Advice Whether in Conscience he might Receive and Tolerate those that disown and are professed Enemies to Christ They answered He might because it might afford some occasion for their Conversion Then he sent for Lawyers to know because long before they had been Banish'd whether according to Law he might do 't The Answer was He might as long as he and the Parliament who are the Legislative Power were agreed But last of all he summon'd some of the chief Merchants to have their Opinion about it in relation to Trade but these broke the Neck of the Business for they represented how that Nation being cunning would to the prejudice of the English by crafty means engross Trade wholly unto themselves whereupon there was an end And it must be owned that Cromwell and his Counsel understood well enough the Nations Interest in point of Trade neither doth it appear why the same Reasons should not be now as good as they were at that time since 't is the same People which still follows the same steps as any one may see that will take notice of it But enough of these Human Considerations I wish every Man would seriously lay Hand upon his Conscience and in earnest mind what account they can give God who certainly soon or late will call them to 't of the Talents he hath committed and of the Authority he hath put into their Hands what good they have done and what evil prevented or punish'd to answer the Giver's Ends I say my Horse is to carry me my Oxe to Plough my Ground and my Dog to watch about my House or to follow me all these answer my Ends or else I put them off and may not every one else as well as I reasonably put this Question to himself For what End hath God brought me into the World Certainly not to please my own Fancy follow my own Humour or satisfie my own Lust and Passion but in my station to honour and serve him that 's the Work and the one needful thing For saith our Saviour Luke 10.42 Mat. 6.33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all things shall be added unto you God is the good Master who will take care of our Concerns if we neglect not his but do follow the Apostle's Rule to do all things for the Glory of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The same Apostle saith to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 10.9 Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them the Jews in the Wilderness also tempted so I say let none of us tempt Christ as did the Jews in his time who still asked for a Sign after he had given them several Must he every Day give them new Signs and work new Miracles to prove himself to be the true and proper Son of God That unbelieving Nation in the highest degree tempted him when they said Matth. 27. If he be the Son of God let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe him to be the Son of God But he to prove himself to be the Son of God did more and a greater thing than they desired for after Death to raise himself as he did out of the Grave was more than if he had come down from the Cross when alive Was not our Blessed Redeemer sufficiently tempted upon Earth by the Jews that he must be tempted again now when he is in Heaven The Jews tempted him in his State of Humiliation and now Socinians do when he is Glorified The Jews would then have had him to come down from the Cross and now the Socinians would have him to come down from Heaven to prove himself to be the Son of God yet against them he hath from Heaven provided a Witness since his Ascension I mean Paul as we read Acts 22.14 15. Before I make an end I neither can nor must forbear to say how it affords too much matter of sad Thoughts in those who are concern'd for the Cause and Interest of the Eternal Son of God and of the Protestant Religion to see here Heresie Blasphemy and Idolatry as good as Tolerated and Unpunish'd and abroad the Professors of the true Christian Religion unjustly and cruelly persecuted In France against all Edicts Engagements and Promises in their Lives Liberties and Fortunes most barbarously in the Valleys of Piedmont the Vaudois which we may well call that Mother Church
THE TRUE CHARACTER OF THE Spirit and Principles OF SOCINIANISM Drawn out of their Writings WITH Some Additional PROOFS of the Most Holy Trinity of our Lord's and of the Holy Ghost's Divinity By J. GAILHARD Gent. They changed the Truth of God into a Lye Rom. 1.25 Therefore Give them O Lord What will thou give Give them a Miscarrying Womb and dry Breasts Hos 9.14 LONDON Printed for J. Hartley over-against Grays-Inn in Holborn MDCXCIX THE PREFACE TO THE Christian READER ALL Prayers and Endeavours against the Abominations of the Times have not altogether been in vain a kind of Curb having by the late Act been put upon it and if the Offenders be strictly punish'd through God's Blessing we may hope to see the Sins really suppressed the Law if not well kept is but a dead Letter and becomes contemptible but a strict Execution makes it useful and effectual which we promise our selves to see by the Pious Care of a Prince whose Chief and most Glorious Title is Defender of the True Christian Faith whilst Violent and Cruel Persecutions are raging abroad and sad Anti-christian Impieties at home who knoweth whether he be come to the Kingdom for such a Time as this to be an Eminent Instrument in God's Hands to do that Work God in an extraordinary manner hath raised him upon the Throne of these Three Kingdoms and as he doth nothing in vain so we may well conceive it to be for some extraordinary Ends. Therefore I now upon my Knees do most humbly beseech Him by whom Kings Reign in a plentiful measure to give the King the Spirit of Wisdom Knowledge and Vnderstanding and of the Fear of his Name that he may truly know what God after the great things he hath done for him doth now expect from him and to guide direct and with his helping Hand support Him in bringing those Great Ends about HIS MAJESTY hath given us Peace with Men and we now humbly desire he would endeavour to procure it with God and cause the War we are at against Heaven to cease which we cannot so much as hope for as long as God's Great Name is Prophaned his Son Dishonoured his Holy Spirit Blasphemed his Word wrested and Impiously ridiculed by a sort of Men in the World who not only in private but openly with Tongue and Pen go about to pull our Holy Religion up by the very Root and to overthrow the Fundamentals of Christianity who not only proudly despise the Judgment of the whole Primitive Church but that which is infinitely worse through their Impieties and Blasphemies they Crucifie again the Lord of Glory make the Wounds of Christ to bleed afresh and who to speak in the Apostle's Words Have trodden under Foot the Son of God and counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith we are Sanctified an Unholy thing and have done Despite unto the Spirit of Grace That Holy Blood which at other times speaks better things than that of Abel's doth now upon this Occasion cry loud for Vengeance because 't is abominably prophaned and by the denial of the Causes and Effects of its being shed undervalued We thank God for the Prospect we have to see the Evil remedied through His Majesty's wholsome Influences The Life of our Laws without which they are insignificant we hope to see derived from him and if I may be allowed to make a Comparison in a thing which admits of none as the Spirit of God moved upon the Face of the Waters to quicken and make them fruitful so the Breathings from the Throne and the Motions of the Royal Authority can infuse an effective Vertue into our Acts of Parliament For as of a Bill to make a Law the King's Assent is necessary without which 't is but a dead Lump without Form and signifies nothing so when 't is passed the Executive Power Originally in the King is that which gives it Life and Strength or else 't is dormant and languisheth Now upon the present Account far be it from us to think that for want of commanding a due execution of the Laws His Majesty will ever suffer Blasphemy Idolatry Prophaneness and Immorality to be Blots and Stains in his Reign His Majesty's Word we have for and may depend upon 't insomuch that in case the Act doth not produce it 's due Effect as considering the Spirit of that Odious Sect some are of Opinion it will not no doubt but that His Majesty without being prompted to 't will of himself be pleased to mind the Honour of God and of Religion The Ground of our Hope and Confidence is this At the opening of the last Session of Parliament the King in his Speech to both Houses promised to take care to suppress Prophaneness and Immorality which afforded the Honourable House of Commons an Occasion to Address to His Majesty concerning it and His Majesty's Answer when 't was presented deserves to be written in Letters of Gold Thus it was Gentlemen I cannot but be very well pleased with an Address of this Nature and will give immediately Directions in the several Particulars you desire But I could wish some more effectual Provision were made for the suppressing those pernicious Books and Pamphlets your Address takes notice of The Work of Reformation is great but the time short so it 's necessary to begin it betimes and follow it close No Man as our Saviour saith having put his Hand to the Plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God Therefore no one that in his Station hath concern'd himself in this good and just Cause must draw back but within the Sphere of his Activity must go on to promote it and not be weary in well doing Before Men engage in a Matter they ought to know why and upon what Grounds But once being satisfy'd with its Justice and Goodness notwithstanding Difficulties and Oppositions they are bound to continue for and not forsake it for God in his due time will bring all to a happy end Men either must not believe or else must own what they believe and profess what they own He that comes with God's Word in his Mouth needs not be ashamed or afraid For my part with the Royal Prophet I may say I will speak of thy Testimonies also before Kings and will not be ashamed Books Printed for and sold by John Hartley over-against Grays-Inn in Holborn THE Blasphemous Socinian Heresie disprov'd and confuted Wherein the Doctrinal and Controversial parts of those Points are handled and the Adversaries Scripture and School-Arguments answered With Animadversions upon a late Book call'd Christianity not Mysterious Humbly dedicated to both Houses of Parliament By J. Gailhard Gent. 8 vo Price 3 s. 6 d. The Epistle and Preface to the Book against the Blasphemous Socinian Heresie vindicated and the Charge therein against Socinianism made good In Answer to two Letters By J. Gailhard Gent. Price 1 s. Herodian's History of the Roman Emperors containing many Strange and Wonderful Revolutions of
Prophaneness and Spiritual Wickedness No Humane Law doth per se and of it self bind the Conscience only in as much as 't is grounded upon God's own who is the only Judge of it and can Men imagine that any Wise Law-giver will make Laws to maintain every Man's Right and Property and not in the least mind his own Therefore we must say that God hath given the Magistrate Power though not to Exercise any Office in Holy things as without a special Call to Preach the Word and Administer the Sacraments yet to defend maintain and be a Nursing Father to the Church which is God's House They would take advantage of this that when the Epistle was written to the Christian Church in Rome they were under the Dominion of Infidels who would not commend or enconrage them in matters of their Religion seeing they were not for but against it Let it be so yet tho' they would not own the Cause the Effects they sometimes would praise and commend as Humility Self-denial Patience Sobriety Temperance Gentleness and such Effects of a Christian Frame and Spirit The very Enemies of Christ sometimes admired to see those Graces which are the Fruits of Faith and of Christian Religion therefore saith the Apostle Be ye holy in all manner of conversation 1 Pet. 1.15 and this is not only for the discharge of their own Conscience but also in Relation to the Infidels and for the Credit of Christian Profession Chap. 2.12 15. for he adds Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as Evil doers they may by your good works which they shall behold glorifie God in the day of Visitation And because of a Prejudice which Christ's Enemies had against Religion and those who profess'd it which made them speak ill of both he saith For so is the will of God that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish Men. This the Apostle learned of his and our great Lord and Master who had said Let your light so shine before Men Matth. 5.16 that they may see your good works and glorifie your Father which is in heaven So the Good Works of Christians might have praise from Christ's Enemies and Infidels such were the Roman Emperours Besides that St. Paul did intend those Rules not only for the present when he wrote to the Romans but also for after times for all those things were written for our Instruction and of others to the Worlds end it related also to Christian Emperours Kings and other Magistrates in after Ages who according to God's Promise were to be Nursing Fathers to the Church and Defenders of the Faith Now this I say that as in the Text is a generality of Persons exhorted to be subject to superiour Powers for 't is said Let every soul be subject and the Apostle speaking in the Singular Wilt thou Ver. 3. and if thou do Ver 4. meaneth every individual Person in the World So there is an Universality in the things committed unto the Magistrates Care which are reduced under these two Heads Religious and Secular Species are contain'd under the Genus and Particulars as said before under Generals When we pray for our Daily Bread therein Meat Drink Cloathes and other Necessaries for Life are included Now I am to take notice of his Answer to the other Text Job 31.28 This also were an iniquity to be punish'd by the Judge Speaking of Idolatry Here he thinks he hath a great advantage for the words to be punished by the are not in the Original and hereupon applauds himself thus It 's an easie thing to have proofs if Men when they cannot find them are resolved to make them To make Proofs when there are none and to deny Proofs when there are is proper for Socinians which we have too many Instances of but to tho thing 't is true those words are not in the Hebrew but any that is acquainted with that Tongue knows how short and Concise it is that 's the Idiome of it which he nor I cannot change but to make it Intelligible in other Languages something ought to be supplyed in the Original 't is thus This also an iniquity the Judge Which in English and every other modern Language is very lame there is no Verb Substantive is or were an Iniquity which any one may see ought to be understood Now I say that what is inserted is no Addition to the Original with an intent to impose upon the Reader for 't is Printed in a different Letter but only to make it Sense in English without which it hath none or at least a very imperfect one I also add that the Words inserted do express the true Sense and Meaning of the place an Iniquity and the Judge or Judged or Judicial are in the Original to what purpose upon the account of an Iniquity or Crime can a Judge be brought in but to punish it Doth not the Iniquity of Idolatry which is the thing in question deserve Punishment and who but the Judge may lawfully inflict it But he is so afraid of a Judge that though it be in the Hebrew yet he leaves it out for thus he renders the Text For pag. 70. this might he accounted to me an iniquity he is not content to leave out the word Judge but wedges in accounted which is not except he will deduce it from Judge and Judged for a Crime is accounted or imputed when the guilty is punished for it The better to understand this Verse we ought to compare it with another in the same Chapter containing the like expressions in the case of Adultery For this is an heinous crime yea 't is an iniquity to be punished by the Judges in the plural ver 11 there are some Iniquities which God alone doth punish but this of Adultery as the other of Idolatry must be punished by the Judges In this Verse no more than in the other the Word is is not in nor to be punished by yet 't is well known by God's Law Adultery and Idolatry were to be punished with Death so that it justifies bringing in the words to be punished by and as to the thing 't is not material whether Job lived before or after the Law To explain the thing out of several places of Scripture appears the necessity of supplying some words in our Translations to make up the Sense Three only I shall mention The first is out of Amos 't is said chap. 1.3 6 9 11 13. For three transgressions of Damascus and for four I will not turn away the punishment thereof The word Punishment is not in the Hebrew which in English makes certainly the Sense imperfect Turn away what the Punishment thereof of Damascus so that the word Punishment must be added to make up the Sense and that in seven several Verses of the same Chapter The other two are taken out of the Psalms whereof the first in the Original