Humble thee that what carries the Appearance of Great Honour is if well consider'd a Real Burden to be surcharged with the Common Titles of the Iudicious and Learned the Courteous and Candid the Impartial and Indifferent and whatever other goodly Epithites a wretched Cause may need or a fruitful Invention can produce either to blind thy Judgment or bribe thy Affections It may serve for thy Mortification in some degree that thou art Postponed from the Preface to the Postscript from the Van to the Rear and that thou who hast commonly pretended to Ride in State on the Fore-Horse art degraded to come behind with the Portmanteu However lay aside for a while thy Prejudice and Passion thy Interest and Party and consider seriously a few things before I give thee a long Farewell I. I will give thee the good News that our Author is at last become more Orthodox than when he wrote his Report for then he gave us his Substance of the Gospel which had no Iustifying Faith in 't no Repentance in order to Pardon no Regeneration no Conversion no Holiness no new Heart and therefore no new Obedience Rejoyce therefore with us all that he is now come home to himself return'd to the Truth p. 43. Our Sins being the Meritorious Cause of Christ's Sufferings and his Sufferings a proper Punishment of our Sins for the Satisfaction of Divine Iustice that whoever believes on him may be Acquitted and Saved But it is not intended that the Filth of our Sins which is distinct from the Guilt was upon Christ or that he was any otherways Criminal in God's Account than by the Imputation of our Sins to him Say not Reader this is utterly inconsistent with that Scheme of Religion the Report has given us for I am willing to deal much more favourably than he will with Mr. W. and let his Words pass for his Meaning however irreconcileable they are to other places But again Appeal p. 8. We Reject the Opinion of those who hold That upon transferring the Guilt of our Sins to Christ he is to be esteemed the Person that committed all the Sins of those for whom he Died or that the Turpitude and Filth of our Sins was transferred upon him which is a Notion equally False Blasphemous and Imposible Besides nothing can be Renounced by us with greater Indignation than such a Change of Persons as implies that we are actually discharged from Punishment whilst Unbelievers or Impenitent I rejoyce heartily that our Author is once more given to Change and that for the better and that we have at length heard some Tidings of Faith and Repentance in order to our Discharge from Punishment which were wholly lost in the Report So much do we owe to the seasonable Deaths of two Antinomians under whose Influences he then was and to the Lives of two Sound Divines under whose Awe he now is II. Reader thou maist observe that the Author whether Defender or Appellant has the oddest way of answering a pinching Objection that ever any Respondent in the World us'd which is not by shewing the Weakness of it but by lending more strength to it One notable Instance I have already given in the Matter of Fact When the Report had affirmed the First Paper gave Satisfaction to the most Learned of both Parties The Rebuke replyed That it gave no Satisfaction at all to Mr. Cole and Mr. Mather And those two surely might be reckon'd among the most Learned of one Party To which he rejoyns That for some other Reasons they declined Subscription where instead of Answering he confirms by Reasons tho secret Reasons that they declined Subscription which is not to Answer but Confess the Objection The Objection was that they did not Subscribe and he very officiously without my asking gives an Account why they did not Subscribe But I shall now give an Instance or two more of this way of answering Objections from his Appeal 1 Instance Appeal p. 18. he tells us That Iesus Christ as our Surety entred into the same Bond with us and that he by virtue of the Sanction of the Law of Works was obliged to suffer for our Sins and for the Proof of this mighty Assertion he quotes Heb. 7. 22. Iesus was made the Surety of a better Testament To this Mr. W. answers Christ was called the Surety of the better Testament and therefore not of the Law of Works which in all probability was not the better Testament but the worse of the two that is it was our less good And to speak with impartiality it sounds harshly to my Ears That Christ being called the Surety of a better Testament that is of the Covenant of Grace should prove him the Surety of a worse Covenant that is of the Covenant of Works Now how does the Appellant take off the Objection Why he brings in Curcellaeus making the same Objection and that is all his Answer But still the Objection is the same whoever makes it and stands where it did in its full strength till he fairly removes it when therefore and not till then he shall prove that the Covenant of Works is the better Testament he shall prove that Christ was the Surety of it But if the Covenant of Grace be the better Covenant of the two and Christ be made or constituted the Surety of that Covenant he must bring other Texts to prove that Christ is the Surety of the Covenant of Works which will be the more difficult for him to do because the Title of Surety applied to Christ is not used in any other Text in the whole New Testament 2. Instance The Author of the Reasonableness of Christianity says the Appeal p. 37. To the end he might more plausibly expose those parts of the Christian Faith which relate to Iustification insinuated as if they had been such abstruse Matters that tho the Dissenters contended so fiercely about 'em as to divide the Communion and separate upon them yet their Teachers confess that they understand not what it is that our Differences are about This is I confess a most sharp Weapon and thrown with a strong Arm It would rejoyce me to see a good Answer to it and that I conceive is that our Judgment about these Points of Satisfaction and Justification are most clearly laid down in the Confessions of the Church of England those of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster and at the Savoy and we know well what our Differences are about them But the Appellant has written several Pieces and this last among or above the rest that has justified the Objection which is his peculiar way of answering and rendred these Doctrines unintelligible and his poor Clients may now answer him as they did their Advocates Fecistis probe incertior sum multo quam dudum He has misled his Followers first into the Wilderness and then out of their Wits so many Postulata so many things begged others borrowed some supposed others presupposed and from these so
its Rationality and the only Excuse they can pretend to make for it is That it 's neither Logical Philosophical nor Theological §. 2. Some Account of the Third Paper This Paper was drawn up with great Judgment upon good Advice and serious Deliberation becoming Ministers of the Gospel and the Servants of Jesus Christ who desired to Approve themselves to him in their Work 1. Their Faithfulness to Christ and his Gospel appears eminently in this That they provided against both the Extreams whereas the other Paper only took care of One. It has secured the Article of Iustification even to the satisfaction of the most Scrupulous provided always those Scruples are the true Issue of Conscience not of some Worldly Interest and Carnal Design to create and foment Divisions because by that Craft they get their Living And it has secured it too against Antinomianism by Asserting That Repentance is necessary in its way and Faith in its kind in order to the Justification of a Sinner 2. That Expression in the first Paper which excludes a Subordinate Righteousness is fully provided for in the Third in these words None of these nor any Work done by Man or wrought by the Spirit of God in them is under any Denomination whatsoever any part of that Righteousness for the sake or on the Account whereof God doth Pardon Iustifie c. Now this Expression under any Denomination whatsoever is exclusive of whatever can pretend to come in for a share in Justification with the Righteousness of Christ nor can all the Cunning of the most subtle Adversary excogitate any thing which this Universal will not shut out of Doors whether it be Subordinate or Co-ordinate 3. The Condescention of the Third Paper is very Admirable for whereas all Quarrels about Mr. Williams's Book had been adjusted in 1692. and it might reasonably have been inspected they had been Buried in that Grave yet when some had imploy'd their Talents to find a Knot in a Bull-rush yet the Brethren were content to admit of a fresh Debate thereon nor do I hear that Mr. W. himself insisted on his former Vindication but freely submitted to a farther Scrutiny in order to Peace and Union 4. I must applaud the Excellency of their Temper who drew it up who would not forfeit their Ingenuity and Humanity to expose a Brother to those Indignities the other Paper had done letting the World know that however they had been wheadled into a Subscription to the First yet they saw their Error and were grown more Christian and considerate in the Third 5. In a word All things were here managed in that way which might engage the Presence of God with them and the Blessing of God upon them There was solemn seeking of God in Prayer for Direction due time taken that all might consider and then give their Advice They chose a certain Number out of the Body who according to Instructions might prepare digest and draw up Matters for the Brethren They made their Report which was consented to by the whole Body of the United Ministers so that according to the acknowledged Laws and Customs of all such Assemblies it may be truly and properly said That every Individual Brother gave his Assent and Consent to the Third Paper That is there was not one who declared his Dissent there was not one but who did Assent that we knew of But if any one of the Reverend Nine-Pins has been Tip't down and denied his Agreement to this Third Paper 't is more than he had done before his Brethren Nor am I at all concern'd for as I dare not Pin my Faith upon his Sleeve so neither will I hang upon his Cloak lest he should unbutton the Loop and let me drop into the Bottomless-Pit as 't is said he threatned some of his Auditors and if he has that slippery Trick with him I would neither be in his Cloaths nor hang on his Cloak for a Groat Our Author complains somewhere as if he had drawn the Displeasure of both Parties upon himself which is but the Common Fate of those that would Trim it between two Different Interests and the Censure they commonly pass on such as would seem of Two Religions is That they Really are of none An Ingenious Author in his Poem of the Progress of the Soul describes us such a Mungrel but one that was never trusted From Dogs a Wolf from Wolves a Dog he fled And like a Spy to both Sides false he Perished And now Honoured Sir tho' we were not so Prudent to sit down and count the Charges of this Correspondence before we began it let us yet be so Wise to Compute the Gains now we have done I confess freely to you I never Cultivated so Barren a Soil never bestowed my Labour upon so Fruitless a Controversie Earnings I have made none 't is well if I can come off so to make a Saving Bargain on 't If it has turn'd â—o better Account to your self you will readily Ascribe it to him who has Blessed you with an Improving Heart All I can say I have got if that may be called Gain is a few Scratches over my Face with Bryars and Thorns the Remains of the Primitive Curse If Religion has not received deeper Wounds I shall rejoyce and easily lick my self whole of those Impotent Strokes he has given me but how he will repair Religion so far as it is concern'd in the Cause of the Protestant Dissenters I do not know For upon the Principles on which he proceeds or presupposes to his Discourse he has rendered their Cause Untenable Undefencible And admitting once that the Scriptures are not a Perfect Rule of Faith and Worship That Christ is not a Perfect Prophet nor has revealed whatever is necessary to be Believed for Salvation upon which Principles he Cryptically proceeds the Dissenters and their Cause may be blown away with one Breath So true is the Old Observation That Overdoing is Undoing and yet we have none but are too Proud to Observe it I will add That this Sublimating of Religion in the Speculative Part is that which has given occasion to our Deists and Atheists to Ridicule all Revealed Religion You will Dispute 'em up you must Pray and Live 'em down But Sir I will ease you now of Me nor shall you ever more see me drawing the Contentious Saw unless perhaps which I hope never will an Irresistible Provocation should offer Violence to the Recess which I so much affect In the mean time whatever Trouble I have given you you will be so Just as to place it to your own Account because you drew it upon your self Sir excuse me that I conclude without Ceremony Your Humble Servant c. FINIS MANTISSA Reader LET it not make thee Proud that thou art Caressed Complemented Courted and Addressed by the Scribling Tribe and made the Judge of Life and Death to every Paper that shall dare to look abroad into the Publick for it may serve to
many Deductions Inferences Consequences or rather Pursuances that few or none know where the Truth lies where the Error Causes Impulsive Causes Meritoaious Causes near Meritorious Causes tho how near they must be he does not instruct us and we must not dare to conjecture whereas a Cause may be said to be near in respect of another that lies further off and yet Remote in respect of that which lies nearer Pudet haec opprobria Nobis Et Dici potuisse non Potuisse Refelli III. Reader thou hast here a new Book Conceived and brought forth in a few Moments an evident proof he needed not a Man-Midwife to give him a quick Delivery He 's pleased to call it an Appeal it 's design is to instruct a couple of Learned Persons what they are to believe and not to make them judge the Author graciously teaches them what they are to believe of themselves and how they may believe in him He informs them in the Meaning of their own words which they never understood before and in the Meaning of his Principles which they understand not to this Hour 'T is a piece wherein he sticks close to them by Adulation and to his old Friend by Persecution 'T is a piece that will damn all the World for none can believe it and yet it damns us all for Unbelief But the best of it is the very Persons represented in greatest danger are left safe enough at an impartial Bar because its Charge against them is notoriously false after all the Authors tricks to force them to deny the Sufferings of Christ to be proper Punishments For Mr. Baxter saith Method Theol. Part III. p. 4. Gods hatred of Sin and also his Justice are no less demonstrated in the Satisfaction of Christ at least in a manner no less meet for obtaining the ends of Government than if the Sinners themselves had been damned And p. 53. God doth no less effectually shew his Punitive Justice in the Punishments of Christ than if he had destroyed the World Hence its manifest All the objected Phrases do only come to that he accounted Christ no Sinner when he suffered Mr. Williams in Man-made Righteous saith p. 41. Though Death was due to us as Sinners yet Death was not due to Christ but as it was to be satisfactory and meritorious He was to bear it as a Punishment for the Satisfaction of governing Iustice and to Merit the Pardon of Sinners He was willing to bear the Punishment of our Crimes that thereby he might Merit our forgiveness in a way consistent with the Perfections of God and conducive to the Glory of Divine Government Hence Isa. 53. 5. The chastisement of our Peace was upon him It was on him a Chastisement of Peace as its designed end True it was for Sin or it had not been necessary nor yet a Punishment c. Christs Death must be satisfactory to God or he would not have accounted it meritorious of Peace for us provoked Iustice and the injury to Divine Government for Sin stood in the Sinners way yea stood in the way of all Merit for good to us there must therefore be a Propitiation for Sin to God and this must be made to God it s accepted as a Ransom and Price by him and so it operates on the Sinner in a way of Merit consequential of that Satisfaction Christs Blood was offered as an Atonement c. Reader could one Page more expresly assert what Mr. L's tells thee is denied I might Cite hundreds of Places expressing the same And all Mr. L. objected Passages deny no more than that Christ was joynt Party with us in the Covenant of Works and that Sinners suffered and satisfied in Christ. Nor yet is this piece like to obtain with such whom he designed to ensnare for after all Mr. L. boasts of Dr. Edwards Letter to him you have his Thoughts expressed in the ensuing Lines To the Respected Mr. D. Williams c. SIR I Received yours by the last Post and in Answer to it I am to acquaint you that I lately received a Letter indeed from Mr. S. Lobb but no Sheets of any Book designed by him for the Press In his Letter he desired to know my Opinion in Relation to two Questions therein proposed to which I did return him an Answer in which if he thinks fit to Communicate the Contents to you you will meet with nothing that will be any disadvantage to the Cause you are ingaged in with your Antinomian Adversaries or your way of managing it as I find it stated in your Writings The same sense that I formerly declared to you I had of your Opinion and Explication of the Doctrine of our Saviour's Satisfaction I continue in still and have told Mr. L. so much without which I could not be either Just to you or Consistent with my self If Mr. Lobb shall publish any thing as from me which I am far from thinking he will which may seem to be contrary to what I have formerly declared to you in my Letters which since with my permission you have made publick I do undertake to give you full satisfaction and do assure you as to what shall concern my self you shall have no just ground of Suspicion or Complaint In the mean time while the Matter depends only on Surmises and Conjectures or uncertain Reports I can say nothing in it and have no more to add but that I am Iesus Coll. Oxon. Febr. 11. 1698. SIR Your very humble Servant Jonath Edwards IV. And now Reader I think I can discover Land and shall most gladly leap a Shore and quit my self of this angry raging Element the Controversial Ocean on which I have been so long tossed Thou remembrest I hope how the Defence p. 82. Objected to the Rebuke That he charged the Congregational in the Bulk without a Salvo to the Reputation of any one of them And I hope too thou wilt be so just to thy Self and Me as to refresh thy Memory with the Answer I have return'd in this my Vindication p. 23 This unworthy Calumny had been sufficiently obviated in the Rebuke it self it has been more fully removed among other heaps of Dung I was obliged to remove e're I could come at him I shall only add this one Thing That I never thought spoke wrote that the Congregational Brethren were either in the Bulk or in any considerable number tainted with or inclined to the Antinomian Errors no more than I thought that the other side was tainted with or inclined to the Socinian or Arminian It is very true that the Report had given some ground for such a Suspicion who that his Story might look big had talkt much of the Dissenting Brethren and still had formed his style in the Plural Number we we we Yet I durst never entertain any jealousie of them because I well knew they were clear in this Matter And I lookt upon it as a meer Bravado a pure Artifice to vapour and terrifie us with false Musters whereas indeed 't was Himself and a few a very few more under whose immediate and powerful Influence he then was that had espoused those dreadful Notions But I can now Reader give thee more Recent and explicite Assurance from Authentick warrant that whatever he pretended or made shew of very many of the Congregational Brethren have disowned him in his late Luxuriancy of Scribling Some of those Orthodox Brethren were not Privy in the least to his design others were not so much as Accessary either before the Fact or after the Fact others are ready to disavow those Principles he advances in his Substance of the Gospel They own Faith necessary to Iustification and amongst other Reasons I hope this is one that has Reclaimed him from his wild Notions and Reduced him to Reason and Moderation and I have their Warrant in Terminis to declare The Congregational Brethren in and about the City do all judge themselves unjustly charged as a Party with Mr. Lobb in publishing his Report they being wholly unconsulted and unconcerned in his publishing thereof I will dismis the Reader from farther Attendance when I have observ'd That our Modern Authors that would be accounted Schoolmen do write just as Men in Populous Cities build where because they want Ground to lay a wide Foundation raise their Buiding 6 or 7 Stories high Thus do our Towring School-Divines they have narrow slender Ground for their Discourses and therefore are obliged to soar up into the Clouds where we lose 'em and they are lost themselves We are too prone to be gazing up into Heaven to view the Asterisms of Speculative Theology whilst we stumble at a Stone and tumble into the Ditch of Profaneness 'T was a Judicious and Moderate Saying of the Learned Dr. I. Owen Diatrib de Just. Divin p. 165. Et sane quoniam de facto ita luculenter constat c. Seeing therefore that the Matter is so very clear in Fact That Christ hath born our Sins God having laid them upon him and by that satisfaction hath procured Eternal Salvation although it had pleased God to have kept secret in the Cabinet of his own Goodness and Wisdom all the Causes and Reasons of that his most Wise Counsel and Design for ever it had been our Duty to have acquiesced in his most Righteous most Gracious most Holy most Wise Will and Pleasure but yet so that no helps of our Faith are to be despised nor any Discoveries of his Divine Nature and Will are to be neglected whereby our most Merciful Father shall lead us into the more inward and saving Knowledge of the Mystery of Godliness To shut up all therefore in one word Let us all pray that our Gracious God would bless this present Age with Ministers and Teachers of that Subact Judgment and of those Holy Condescentions that know how to bring down Divinity from Heaven to Earth and Accommodate the Sublime Mysteries of Religion to a Holy and Exemplary Conversation assuring our selves that that Doctrine is none of Christ's which is not according to Godliness FINIS By the same Author A Faithful Rebuke to a False Report lately Dispers'd in a Letter to a Friend in the Country Concerning Differences in Doctrinals between some Dissenting Ministers in London in Octavo Printed for Iohn Lawrence at the Angel in the Poultry