fully set forth a part that through mercy he saved us and God the Holy Ghost in another manner set forth than represented by the Apostles for this is spoken of the renewing of the Holy Ghost in all believers and Iesus Christ the meritorious cause of our Salvation which he could not have been but as he was both God and Man and Mr. Hobbes calls him so in this Chapter So that Christ as Christ Mr. Hobbes makes meer Man as he stiles him and would make him Chap. 38. though otherwise calls him in this Chapter for he makes himâ— only the representer of God as Moses was and the Holy Ghost Mr. Hobbes saith in effect is nothing for he saith that that denomination was attributed to God as he was represented by the Apostles So that the Holy Ghost was only an Attribute of God But besides all this Mr. Hobbes spoke before upon his reliance upon the Church of England as to matters of Faith and that the Civil Soveraign is to appoint what is to be taught for Doctrine And the Church of England and our Soveraigns have establish'd Athanasius his Creed to be read and as necessary to Salvation to be believed and that Creed as well as the begining of the Litany is expresly against Mr. Hobbes for it saith That there is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the Holy Ghost which Creed and Litany speak them in themselves three distinct Persons and as such are prayed to without interesting Moses or the Apostles in the matter and agree to my interpretation of Scripture So for once I hope without boasting I may say I have got the better of Mr. Hobbes Indeed this opinion of his is like the rest of the abominable and damnable whimsies of his own brain and ought to be ranked in the front of them And to give Mr. Hobbes a little over weight I will refer it to any rational Man whether Mark 1. 10. Ioh. 1. 32. do not absolutely shew the distinction of the two second Persons in the Trinity where 't is said That the Spirit of God descended from Heaven like a Dove and abode upon Christ. Now taking Christ to be God as Mr. Hobbes frequently calls him in this Chapter what was the Spirit that abode upon him but a distinct Person in the Godhead and Heb. 3. 7. conjoined to Psal. 95. 7. to which it relates may fully conclude Mr. Hobbes For the former Text saith That the Holy Ghost said To day if ye will hear his voice which last words are the words of the latter Text in the 95. Psalm So 't is apparent that in David's time which I hope Mr. Hobbes will allow to be before the Apostles time there was an Holy Ghost So I will leave Mr. Hobbes in hopes he will live long enough to recant this opinion Mr. Hobbes saith p. 282. That the four first of the ten Commandments were particular to the Israelites but the six latter obliged all mankind being but the Law of Nature I shall agree with Mr. Hobbes as to the six latter that they are but what Nature dictated before But as to the four first I would know a reason why they were not obligatory by the Law of Nature at least secondarily that is to say obligatory by Nature upon all Men that know there was one and only one living and true God as all Men may see there is by the things that he hath made which knowledge makes it as natural as to the three first Commands for us to be bound by those Laws as 't is for a Man naturally to be bound not to injure his neighbour As for Example Is it not as natural for the Creature to worship his Creator and not to set up false gods to deprive him of his honour and not to use his Name irreverently as 't is for a Man not to desire or take that which is an other Mans 'T is more natural if we will believe what Mr. Hobbes said before viz. That by Nature all Men were in an estate of Civil War and might catch what they could and in that state all force and fraud were cardinal Virtues but certainly never was any state or condition so where it was a cardinal Virtue to worship any god but the true one or to be irreverent to his Name But Mr. Hobbes his conceit is good in this place for one thing and that is that after he hath been blaspheming God and taking from him his Attributes and giving Men a toleration as to external acts or confession to acknowledge any thing for God that here he gives a reason for all that he said as to us Gentiles for we may do or say what we will noâ— being Iews in respect of God Almighty for that there is no Law if we will believe Mr. Hobbes to oblige us Gentiles to the contrary The four first Commands not being by the Law of Nature obligatory to any Man and being particular to the Israelites as made at mount Sinai Now the Nature of a particular Law is only to oblige that particular people for whom 't was particularly made and those were the Israelites in this case if Mr. Hobbes be an authentick Author And as to the fourth Command I think though the day be changed yet that in substance is as obligatory as the other three are by the Law of Nature for 't is as natural to set a time a part for the worship of God as 't is to worship him and since God hath limited the Iews a whole day why should not we take that as our pattern For 't is as natural to take God for our pattern in this as in other things Be ye holy as I am holy And we have not only his Command to the Iews for a pattern but his own Example of resting the seventh day and sanctifying it upon the knowledge of which why should it not be natural for Men to keep holy one day in seven For the Law of Nature is twofold either primary without any prerequisite as 't is natural for a thing that hath life to move Or secondary when something is requisite to give liberty to Nature to work as for Example Men love their Children naturally but they must know first that they are their Children before they love them as such For if a Father had never seen his Child from his birth till ten years of age and then should accidentally meet him he would love him no better then any other but after he was acquainted by undoubted circumstances that it was his Child then naturally would result an emanation of affection So after we know that there is only one God and that he hath appointed one day in seven for his service though to another people which day he sanctified and rested upon Gen. 2. 3. why is it not natural for us to serve him all mankind having an inbred awe towards something above them and that on one day in seven according to his example
he is condemning the vices of the Lawyers argues us possessors of one virtue and that is modesty in regarding what was said or done by others before which had Mr. Hobbes had the least shâ—re of I think he would never have put forth his Leviathan and we ought to thank him for affording us so good company in our sufferings of ill Language as Religion in general and our blessed Lord and Saviour in particular yet see the charity of the Lawyers since to Mr. Hobbes in being mainly instrumental in the Act of Oblivion which Mr. Hobbes will call just because as to him 't was without precedent But Mr. Hobbes as in many other places makes himself the sole authority in this matter for why the word Precedent is so Barbarous a word for what hath been done in matters of Iustice I know not for praecedo is to go before But to tell Mr. Hobbes what use the Lawyers make of a precedent or as some call it a president is not to be better done than putting his own Case as suppose Mr. Hobbes was now to be arraigned for his Book and that no Pardon had intervened so full of blasphemous Opinions against God the King and his People The Iudges would look to see the punishment of such a precedent Malefactor the better to direct themselves in such a Case and if they could find no such Malefactor it being impossible as I think then they would judge what was the Law and punishment due in such a Case Not â—hat they would condemn Mr. Hobbes could they find a precedent because of â—hat precedent but they would first exâ—min whether that precedent was agreeâ—ble to the Law of this Nation and â—n case it was they would proceed acâ—ordingly and in case it was not would â—eject it and judge the Law without it Where is then the false measure of justice making use of a precedent I think no one will say there is any except he have a design like Mr. Hobbes to ruin the Law by making it odious and thereby open a gap for a standing Army which in probability would ruin both Prince and People to the security of both which the Law is so main a bulwark Mr. Hobbes in his Chapter of Religion amongst a company I hope the word is not Barbarous of Notions which only I suppose have sprung from his own whimsical Fancy hath p. 54. this Paragraph In opinion of Ghosts ignorance of second causes devotion towards what Men fear and taking of things casual for Prognostics consisteth the natural seed of Religion which hath according to the difference of passions grown into different Ceremonies Now I absolutely deny That the seed of Religion consisteth in any of these But the first seeds of Religion were first sown in Adam by the Knowledge of the great God who made him and all the World and was capable to punish or destroy him and the rest of the World as well as to bless when it should be his good will and pleasure and from thence together with his favours received sprang the reasonable deduction or consequence in Adam which was communicated to his posterity that it was his duty to serve and please his Creator that was capable at pleasure to destroy or preserve him Secondly The seeds of Religion are in every Man either from this Ancestral relation or else from the very sence of mankind of a Power and Goodness above them which is naturally implanted in them as all other faculties are that are natural which begets in all mankind a Veneration towards that Power and Goodness and this is it conjoyned with works we call Religion But the opinion of Ghosts ignorance of second causes Devotion to what Men fear and other casualties are subsequent in the minds of Men to this natural seed of Religion and are rather the Suckers than Seeds of Religion But I confess that from these seeds many several ways of Worshipping this God through Mens ignorance have been set up in the World Mr. Hobbes I suppose by this conceit of making Ghosts and Ignorance that is Fancy and Mistake the seeds of Religion thought he could the more easily prepare Men to be of any Religion or none according to the subsequent humor of Mr. Hobbes's civil Soveraign For why â—hould People stickle for that whose ground is Fancy and Mistake And Mr. Hobbes may make the natural seeds of Religion to be what he pleaseth since in this Chapter p. 61. 62 63. he makes the effects of those natural seeds none at all For he saith All Men by nature till under a Governor may do what they can each to others persons as particularly in p. 64. or goods being in an estate of war by nature each against other This is the substance of most of those leaves and particularly he saith p. 63. That the notions of Right and Wrong Iustice and Injustice have there no place and Where there is no common Power there is no Law no Injustice Force and Fraud are in War the two cardinal Virtues Iustice and Injustice are none of the faculties either of Body or Mind if they were they might be in a Man though but one in the World With much such stuff as this is although to do him right he so far contradicts himself p. 185. as to say That Conscience ought to govern where there is no Commonwealth I thank Mr. Hobbes for instructing me in two cardinal Virtues I never heard of before viz. Force and Fraud which are two precedents the Lawyers though so guilty as Mr. Hobbes saith of false measures of Iustice never make use of But let us observe what turns upon these excellent hinges First That a Man may by nature do that to another that he would not have another do to him He may take his Neighbours goods or life by deceit or violence though he would not have an other take his for would any Man have an other take his goods or life by fraud or violence 'T is impossible to humane nature to suppose it Secondly Observe that Cain's killling Abel was lawful and that Oliver's Army might in the Year 1651. take all the propriety of the people of England as they had taken the King's all Subjects according to Mr. Hobbes Positions being absolved from their Allegiance and so were return'd into an estate of Civil War each with other there being no Governor at that time in England set up except the Army This makes me think what a good Trade a Captain of Horse of the same Faith with Mr. Hobbes might have had at that time and what a lawful calling a High-way Man was then of and how much he might have deserved with a true Son of Mr. Hobbes's as an Apprentice This I suppose was written to satisfie the Consciences of those Men that enjoyed most that they had at that time got by Force and Fraud and I wonder they did not make Mr. Hobbes for his healing Divinity a Superintendent of Canterbury with the power of a
far as he is intelligible hath denied any obedience due to a Father upon the account of generation Now since Mr. Hobbes for this Paragraph cites places of Scripture even in the Year 1651. before the Sword had determined what was Scripture and what not let me cite some now 't is the Year 1679. and all Men have agreed the Bible to be the Word of God to prove that God hath a right to Rule as he is Creator and gratious and to shew the apparent falseness of what Mr. Hobbes hath said in this pageâ— Rom. 9. v. 20,21 clearly shews that God as Creator hath power or liberty as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to order his Creatures as he pleaseth and that upon the account as Creator for he is there compared to the Potter 'T is true those Texts speak only of making of Men and Mr. Hobbes is now upon the governing of Men but observe those Texts relate to the future state of Men which God as Creator hath liberty or power to order as he pleaseth And Isaiah 37. v. 26. There God saith by the Prophet That he had formed the Earth and brought it to pass that Sennacherib should lay wast Cities Where observe That God's creating the World and his Government of it go together which to my apprehension shews his right to Govern upon the account of creating 'T is true irresistable power God is pleased to make use of to punish wicked Men as in this last mentioned Chapter he is said to do by putting an hook in Sennacherib's Nose and a bridle in his Lips and turning him back like an unruly strong beast but God rules his own People by love and they obey him upon the account of his Goodness for the love of Christ constrains Men and as he is their Creator and thereby hath the right to govern them But 't is true wicked Men obey him because they cannot help it yet from thence it follows not that God hath not right to govern wicked Men as he is their Creator And to stop Mr. Hobbes his mouth let him read the 20. Exod. v. 2. 3 4 c. and he will find that God tells the Israelites what he had done for them and immediately ensues his commands which clearly tells any rational Man that God hath right to govern upon the account of his Goodness and with this accords all the Chapters in Deuteronomy that treat of obedience and clearly shew that 't is due upon the account of God's goodness But now I come to Mr. Hobbes his Texts of Scripture which he cites for his opinion and they as little justifie his opinion as his opinion is agreeable to Truth He introduceth his Texts by saying that it stagger'd all sorts of Men The prosperity of the wicked and the adversity of the good and particularly David Psalm 73. v. 1. 2 3. which verses treat of David's wonder at the prosperity of the wicked and never goes on to the 17. 18 19 20. verses where David expresseth his satisfaction as to that matter And then Mr. Hobbes proceeds to Iob's Expostulation with God about his afflictions notwithstanding his righteousness and this he saith God answers not by arguments drawn from Iob's sin but his own power and quotes Iob 38. v. 4. where God saith Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth In which Text I think as well as the whole Chapter Mr. Hobbes answereth himself and shews God's Soveraignty by reason of his Creation but Mr. Hobbes saith this approved Iob's innocence why I know not either from the Text or Context and Iob saith himself Chap. 40. v. 4. I am vile and cannot answer And then Mr. Hobbes cites the saying of our Saviour 't is the 9 th of Iohn v. 3. That our Saviour saith That neither the blind Man nor his Parents had sinned but that the works of God might be manifest in him Therefore he would conclude that sin is not always the cause of punishment Why For no reason but because God was pleased to make this Man without sight as he might have done all the World that his son Iesus our blessed Lord and Saviour might afterwards work a Miracle upon him for the setling the Gospel Or it may prove that God may make Man as he pleaseth as the Potter may order the clay Is this any thing to punishment at all It is impossible for 't is no punishment to be created as God pleaseth for punishment is a deprivation of some good a Man hath had and 't is no punishment for a Man not to have that which he never had or had any right to till God gave it him and Mr. Hobbes might as well have said that 't is a punishment for him not to be born to 1000 l. a year because his Neighbour was as that 't is a punishment for a Man to be born without Eyes because his Neighbour was born with Eyes One would wonder that any Man in his wits should cite so many Texts of Scripture and so little to a purpose And then saith Mr. Hobbes Though death entred by sin yet God might have afflicted Adam though he had never sinned and here Mr. Hobbes breaks off without giving any shadow of reason or authority for his assertion What God might have done by his Prerogative I know not but this I say that I never read in the Bible of any affliction upon a people but it was for sin at least sin preceded and all along the Bible God lays the reason of his punishments upon his peoples sins as well as the punishments of other Nations upon their sins and why then Mr. Hobbes should say That punishments are not always from Men's sins is impossible to find a sound reason and admit God should lay some affliction upon an innocent person were there any such which is absolutely or the next to blasphemy to affirm yet this would not be punishment but an act of his Will and Power and admit he may do such a thing it doth not therefore follow that ever God did as Mr. Hobbes hath affirmed but not proved Mr. Hobbes saith p. 190. That knowledge and understanding cannot be attributed to God and to justifie himself gives a definition of them and that is That thâ—y are nothing in us but tumults of the mind raised by External things that press the Organs of the Body and there is no such thing in God I doubt when Mr. Hobbes wrote this he had a tumult in his mind for any rational Man would think him mad who confesseth a God that notwithstanding shall deny God one of his great Attributes and one so great that without it all the rest would signifie nothing and that is Knowledge or Understanding and this for no reason but because God cannot be said to understand things in the same manner that we do admitting Mr. Hobbes his definition true which is false Tumult being an enemy to understanding God having no organical parts For is it not