OF All those weighty parcells of Gospell truth which the Arminians have chosen to oppose there is not any about which they so much delight to try and exercise the strength of fleshly reasonings as that of Gods eternall decree of Reprobation partly because the Scripture doth not so abound in the delivery of this Doctrine as of some others lying in a more immediate subserviency to the obedience and consolation of the Saints though it be sufficiently revealed in them to the quieting of their spirits who have learned to captivate their understandings to the obedience of Faith and partly because they apprehend the Truth thereof to be more exposed to the riotous opposition of mens tumultating carnall Affections whose help and assistance they by all meanes court and solicite in their contests against it Thus the Author of the Book entituled Gods love to Mankind being desired to render a reason of the change his Faith in passing over to the Tents of the Arminians he drawes forth only this one poynt to make shew of for the hinge of his alteration Many Learned men know with what applause that Book of his was received and divulged by that whole Generation which had then wrapped up the ball of the Errors promoted by it in the gilded covering of Preferment and carried it away before them They being by providence removed from that station and conjunction unto Power whence they had their effectual influence on the Earth God foresaw if he may be allowed to foresee what reinforcement upon other hands their Abominations would receive and therefore in his tender love made provision for his Church before hand as by others so in especiall by the renowned Author of this Treatise whose paines herein intended by him for the conviction of them with whom after much forbearance God intended to take another course are now seasonably brought to light to stop the mouthes of another Generation risen up in their steed enemies of Gods Soverainty and Grace untill He shall be pleased to deale otherwise with them God is not moâ—â—ed that which men sow they shall reap It is well known what spheare this Learned Author moved in how farre elevated above any possibility of my reaching the least esteeme to him or his labours This being desiâ—ed by my worthy and Learned friend the Publisher to expresse my thâ—ughts upon its perusall I shall take the boldnesse to say that this Treaâ—ise of our Author comes not any whit behind the choycest of thosâ— other eminent Workes of his wherein in this cause of God he faithfullâ— served his Generation I doubt not but it will appeare to the Readeâ— that he hath dealt with the Adversaries of the Truth in their chiefest â—olds advantages and strengths putting them to shame in the calumnyes and lyes which they make their refuge IOHN OWEN Vicecan Oxon. The Riches of Gods Love unto the Vessells of Mercy CONSISTENT WITH His Absolute Hatred or Reprobation Of the Vessells of Wrath. OR AN ANSWER UNTO A BOOK ENTITULED Gods Love unto Mankind Manifested by Disproving His Absolute Decree for their Damnation IN TWO BOOKES The First being a Refutation of the said Booke As it was Presented in Manuscript by Mr HORD unto Sir NATH RICH. The Second being an Examination of certain Passages inserted into M. HORDS Discourse formerly Answered by an Author that conceales his Name but was supposed to be Mr MASON Rector of Andrews-Undershaft in London By that Great and Famous Light of Gods Church WILLIAM TWISSE D. D. And Prolocutor of the late Assembly of DIVINES Whereunto are annexed Two Tractates of the same Author in Answer unto D. H. The one concerning Gods Decrees Definite or Indefinite The other about the object of Predestination TOGETHER WITH A Vindication of D. TWISSE from the exceptions of M r JOHN GOODWIN In his Redemption Redeemed By HENRY JEANES Minister of God's Word In CHEDZOY Rom. 9. 20. O Man who art thou that repliest against God shall the thing formed say to him that formed it why hast thou made mee thus v. 21. Hath not the Potter power over the clay of the same Lump to make one vessell to honour and another unto dishonour OXFORD Printed by L. L. and H. H. Printers to the University for Tho Robinson Anno Salutis M. DC LIII TO THE WORSHIPFULL And his Honoured Uncle MICHAEL OLDISWORTH Esquire And a Member of the PARLIAMENT Of the Common-wealth of ENGLAND SIR I Have often heard you professe a deep dislike of the unnaturall vanity of the English Nation in preferring strangers in all callings above such of their own Country men as farre surpassed them And of this unjust partiality no profession hath tasted in a greater measure than that of Divinity for of our Ministers such whom God hath best fitted with parts and Learning for the discussing of controversies have been so undervalued in comparison of some Forraine Divines whose Learning was little better than systematicall as that they languished in their private studies and had dyed in obscurity unlesse the fame of their great abilities had been eccho'd over unto us by the generall applause of all Christendome Nay this sometimes hath not awakened us unto a due estimation of them D r Ames was looked upon abroad as one that amongst Protestant writers had few either superiors or equalls for subtilty in Logick and Scholasticall Divinity and yet he dyed an exile from his Native Soyle so that his Tombe might have had that inscription upon it which Scipio by his will appoynted to be on his Ingrata Patria ne ossa mea quidem habes Unthankfull Country thou hast not so much as my Bones Of how great reputation this our Author was beyond the Seas I had rather you should heare from the able and judicious Rivet than by mee who am censured by some who I am sure much overvalue their own judgements to have too high and admiring thoughts of him Rivet in his Epistle prefixed unto a late Book of D. Twisses against Arminius and Corvinus c. will assure you that The most Learned men in the whole Christian World even those who are of the adverse party doe confesse that there was nothing yet extant more accurate exact and full touching the Arminian Controversies than what was written by D. Twisse As also That he if any one hath so cleared and vindicated the Orthodoxe cause from objected absurdities and the calumnies of adversaries as that out of his labours not only the Learned but also those who are least versed in controversies may find enough whereby to disentangle themselves from the snares of Opposites Indeed there is none almost that hath Written against Arminianisme since the Publishing of any thing of D r Twisses on that Subject but have made very honourable mention of him and have acknowledged him to be the mightiest man in these Controversies that this Age hath afforded And yet this Worthy and able Combatant for the Truth and Cause of God was here at home designed unto Ruine as
but to draw them up by these to an expectation of better things and a carefull endeavour to please God that they might obtain them But what blessings had the Gentiles more than common blessings doth he particulate any And as for the expectation of better things than the things of this world whereunto he pretends God doth draw them hereby what oracle hath he for this Prosper in the Book wherein he insists hath nothing at all of any possibility of knowledge of God unto salvation arriveable unto by the meere contemplation of the creature neither have I found any such Oracle throughout the Nation of the Arminians Nay he professeth plainly that that knowledge of God which is attaineable by the contemplation of the creature is not sufficient unlesse he enjoy the true light to discusse the darknesse of mans heart De vocatione Gent. l. 2. cap. 6. his words are these Tam acerbo natura humana vulnere sauciata est ut ad cognitionem Dei neminem contemplatio spontanea plenè valeat erudire nisi obumbrationem cordis vera lux discusserit And the Apostle more than once professeth of the Gentiles that they were without hope And the tast of the powers of the world to come seemes to be by the Apostle ascribed to the word of God as the cause of it Heb. 6. Yet 't is true the Heathen had odde notions of a condition after death as many as believed the immortality of the soule but where I pray was it upwards in heaven or downewards rather under the earth as Styx Phlegeton and the Campi Elisii yet Cicero looks upwards I confesse in his Tusculans questions but yet he goes no farther than the starres and this was their expectation of better things though Adrian an Emperour and a Schollar too bemoans himselfe that he knew not what should become of his poore soule Animula vagula blandula Hospes comesque corporis Quae tu abibis in loca nec ut soles dabis jocos horridula rigida nudula But this Author most confidently supposeth that these better things are manifest by the creatures by the contemplation whereof he might attaine to the knowledge of them and then I doubt not but he might entertaine a hope to attaine them provided he carefully endeavoured to please God which this Author conceaves to have been very possible and therewithall knew what that was by doing whereof he might be sure to please God And all this he obtrudes upon his Reader by a most dissolute course without one crumme of reason for it In like sort he discourseth very confidently of the end of man without distinction of any relation hereof as if the end of man were equally known as well by light of nature as by revelation of Gods word Solomon telleth us That God made all things for himselfe even the wicked against the day of evill Was this known to the Gentiles by the light of nature Not one of all the Philosophers of old acknowledged the Worlds creation out of nothing and who ever manifested any such faith among them as of enjoying a perpetuall society with God in heaven But it may be they all erred in interpreting the book of nature aright and understanding the language thereof concerning this poynt of faith This Author may doe well to cleare the World of this errour and that out of the book of the creatures and then proceed to interpret unto us therehence a generall resurrection also And if he could find Christ there too togeather with the Incarnation of the Sonne of God and his death and passion resurrection and ascension and sitting at the right hand of God to make request for us and our justification by faith in him togeather with regeneration also and the generall judgement then no doubt though the Gospell should continue to be a scandall to the Jewes yet surely through the incomprehensible benefit of his comfortable atchievements it should continue no longer to be foolishnesse unto the Gentiles only our faith should then cease and be turned into sight before we are brought to the seeing of the face of God And yet I see no great need of Christ if it be in the power of an Heathen man to know what it is to please God and to have an heart to please him For certainly as many as know what it is to please God and have an heart to please him God will never hurt them much lesse damne them to hell Yet the Apostle telleth us that they that are in the flesh cannot please God but whether this Author thinks Heathens to be amongst the number of them that are in the flesh I know not But I little wonder when an Arminian spirit of giddinesse hath possessed him if he proceed to the confounding not only of the Law with the Gospell but heathenisme also such as might be with Christianity But suppose a man might attaine to as much knowledge by the meere contemplation of the book of nature as we doe obtain by the Revelation of Gods word yet we that conceive the knowledge of Gods word to be no impediment to the absolutenesse of reprobation must needs find our selves as much as nothing streightned herein by this Authors roaving discourse as touching the generall providence of God in his works as long as that of the Apostle he hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardneth shall stand and be received for the word of God we shall never want ground for maintaining the absolutenesse both of election by the one and by just proportion of Reprobation also by the other For so long as God doth absolutely and according to the meere pleasure of his will decree to have mercy upon some by giving them faith and repentance for the curing of their infidelity and hardnesse of heart this is very sufficient to maintain the absolutenesse of election unto grace and if God doth absolutely and according to the meere pleasure of his will decree to harden others by denying them the grace of faith and repentance so to leave their naturall infidelity and hardnesse of heart uncured this shall be as sufficient to maintaine the absolutenesse of Reprobation from grace As for election unto salvation though the decree thereof can admit no cause yet we say that God by this decree doth not decree to bestow salvation on any man of ripe yeares but by way of reward of faith repentance and good workes as for the decree of Reprobation from glory and to damnation though the decree hath no cause yet we say that God by this decree doth not decree to inflict damnation on any but for sinne unrepented of only I confesse that as touching the interpretation of those words of Saint Paul He hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardneth I doe not know how it may be charmed by good witts least it may seem repugnant to some reason gathered by contemplation of the creatures for some affect such a
multiplied and advanced which in the issue comes to this that their condition is as comfortable as any reprobates condition throughout the world whether Cain's or Ishmael's or Esau's or Doeg's or Iuda's or the Grand Senior among the Turkes or the whole guard of his Janisaries for God's love is towards all Christ's redemption extends to all and the Covenant of Grace belongs to all And what comfortable creatures must these needes be upon so various and comfortable considerations And the whole Nation of the Arminians are herein inferiour to none of them all And though they will not be so saucie as to promise unto themselves perseverance in the state of grace yet they will be so bold as to promise both to themselves and to all their Proselites perseverance in this estate of consolation nothing inferiour to any Reprobates consolation in the world But the mischiefe is that hence it followes that the consolation of any of God's children whether Abraham Isaack Iacob David or Solomon Prophets Apostles Martyrs the blessed Virgin Mary nor any other excepted was never greater then the consolation of the wicked'st Christian that ever lived whether prophane or hypocriticall Provided he did believe these mysteries of Arminian godlynes namely that God's love is towards all Christ dyed for the redemption of all and lastly that the Covenant of Grace belongs to all for these are the sweet and precious flowers of consolation that grow in the gardens and writings of these Divines to the astonishment of the world in considering the power and efficacy of Satan and that even in the Church of God so many should be given up to so strange delusions He doth not know what satisfaction that learned Gentleman his friend hath received by these reasons nor I neither for I am not privy to the least satisfaction he hath received But on the contrary rather how he hath found the vilenesse of these Remonstranticall Tenets discovered and the vanity of all supports used to underprop them Sure he is They have given good content to others give we him leave to be liberall in his owne commendations we doe not know how farre he dwells from neighbours yet no marvaile if they give good content to many who have been seasoned with the like speculations I have seen a manuscript with this inscription A survey of the new Platforme of Predestination the method of it is much like to this and it ends with a dialogue in the point of consolation as if both Authours had dipt their pen in the same inck-pot And now to heare and see Demogorgon himselfe play his part and explicate his Mountebanck sacultie in displaying the strength of his Opobalsamum as he did of his Catholicon whom the Frenchman brings in his Satyre Mennippised no marvaile if they are well perswaded that no Pandora can equall that for vniversalities of graces when in the meane time they all fall short of that unum necessarium which yet like enough they are ready to forsweare and professe they will turne open Atheists rather then believe it still he keeps himselfe upon the commendation of his Proselite which cannot but reflect some sweet content upon himselfe who is the Engineer and perhaps the Spirit that animates him and sets him on worke For if the man such prayses have What then shall he that inspires the knave He commends the Author for perspicuitie in writing and modesty and he wisheth that whosoever undertakes to answer it fully will performe the like For my part I cannot change my stile but my desire is I may discover their fopperies as perspicuously as I can and I hope nothing to faile in performance like enough the Authour of the preface as well as the Authour of the discourse desires to be gently handled and that he calls modesty yet when a man will have his horse to be well curried it is not for want of love to his horse but because the condition of his horse requires to be so dealt withall I thanke God I never projected any immodest carriage never could any adversary move me so farre But as an excellent footeball-player of our House who would lay any man on his backe handsomly without hurt and he was a Bishop's Sonne being desired to shew any other how to doe the like answered with protestation that he never proceeded by any rules but as he found his opposite so he Coped with him In like sort as I find my adversarie so I deale with him for the present as the Condition of his carriage to my seeming deserves and if I handsomly lay his opinions on the ground without doing him any harme methinkes I should be rather loved then hated of my very enemies for this As for the present my Opposite seemes to have a care of my credit for the gaining whereof he chaulkes me out a way to wit by writing perspicuously and modestly without voluminous vagaries about impertinent things This he delivers very gravely and demurely which is in my judgment very ridiculous and if I doe expresse it and answer it as it deserves I think I should carry my selfe decently in answering him according to his ridiculous condition and telling him that he doth not well in shewing such charity towards his adversary which the world will be apt to interpret as proceeding from a cowardly disposition The Spaniards at the Fort of Brest when Sr John Norris went forth in hunting of the hare and his hounds pursued the hare into the very Fort they tooke his hounds and hanged them up over the wall not in spite of so renowned a Generall but to represent their feareles condition and that they looked for no favour at his hands Magnanimitie not malice moved them unto this which magnanimitie might strike feare into their Enemies though it did not who tooke the Fort though it cost them deare I write with a purpose to expose my selfe to the censure of the world as they shall find cause but I regard not the censures of an Adversary especially in such a cause which Bradwardine Stiles The cause of God against Pelagius And truly I confesse I get something by this very phrase of my Adversaries Voluminous vagaries about impertinent things which makes me conclude that certainely both this Author and his Interpolator have seen my answer to M r Hord's Treatise wherein I have some vagaries I confesse to refresh my Spirit upon emergent occasions For being taking of from my studies to see a stranger who desired my companie I was suddenly instructed in a new learning of Nine causes who never was accquainted with above 4. before in the Universitie and one of the nine was finding out of which I made good use upon my returne in finding out the Sophestry of the Remonstrants in certaine Arguments of theirs This liberty of Spirit to refresh my selfe and my Reader it may be this Author spites whereas I am perswaded I should take no offence on his part for the like But it may be his gravity transports
unto the Reader to judge as he shall think most agreeably And to confesse a truth unto you it is but lately I came to this order following the rigorous Tenet before as seemeth most consonant to reason though harsh to mens affections and being but lately fallen upon it I am apt to conceive that something may be wanting to the full clearing of the truth in this point a way whereunto I hope I have opened yet if you shall think it inconvenient I shall be content to pretermit it wholly and leave out all my digressions of this argument or any other II. Now touching Angels I pray let not ought that I have written make you sorry for ought that you have delivered touching the election of Angels And doe not you conceive of me amisse as if I did conceive you to harbour any ill opinion thereabouts For I professe I doe not neither have you given me any cause yet from nine yeeres of age I have known you The first time I wrote of that I onely said it seemed strange unto me my reason was because I never knew any either by writing or otherwise Protestant or Papist sound in maintaining mans election by grace but that in like sort he maintained the election of Angels to be of grace And whereas you professed otherwise onely as an opponent I conceived you did it but as my selfe or any other Schollar will doe to try the uttermost of anothers strength with whom we dispute But when the second time you wrote hereon you professed to doubt whether Arminius acknowledged any election at all of Angels that seemed to me as strange because I am perswaded that no Arminian or Lutheran denieth the election of Angels though like enough they are apt to fashion it according to their opinion of the election of men As for the construction of that place in Timothy touching the elect Angels I could not ascertain my selfe in what sense it might be conceived to proceed without acknowledging their election and I was loath to divine at random Now as you expresse your selfe herein more particularly so will I particularly make answer First I grant that a conditionall decree is no election But seeing it is impossible but God should foresee on whose part the condition would be performed and on whose part not herehence it followeth that God must accordingly Elect the one and Reprobate the other and so there must be acknowledged even an election of Angels after their manner Like as the Arminians beside that conditionall predestination of men you speake of doe acknowledge a precise election of some upon foresight of their obedience and reprobation of the other upon foresight of their disobedience Touching the exposition of that 1 Tim. 5. 21. I have consulted Hemingius a man as erroneous in the point of election as any Lutheran yet he interpreteth the place thus Hos Electos ad discrimen Reproborum vocat I grant it denotes the dignity of their persons but still in respect of choice as when we say a choice Book a choice Jewell as much as to say which a man would make choice of and preferre before many so the Elect Angels are so called in respect of choice which choice to my understanding can have no congruous reference but to the choice of God It is true we have nothing like such Scripture evidence touching the election and reprobation of Angels as of Men. But whereas in these points both Scripture evidence and light of Christian reason doe concurre so the light of Christian reason doth make it as evident on the part of Angels as on the part of man namely that nothing can possibly be the cause of Gods will or predestination quoad actum volentis or praedestinantis And Aquinas as you have heard professeth That never any man was so mad as to professe that any thing without God could be the cause of predestination quoad actum praedestinantis and herein you your selfe agree Now touching Austin I am glad you have lighted upon him I do â—bâ— not but he shall perswade you in this point though I could not And first I will accommodate an answer to your allegations Secondly I will endeavour to shew clearly his opinion in this point Your first allegation is Caeteri autem per ipsum liberum arbitrium in veritate steterunt but your selfe perceive it might be answered that this might be delivered inclusa gratia speciali And it may be proved that this phrase of speech doth not exclude speciall grace for in the same Chapter it is afterwards said of man thus In quo statu recto ac sine vitio si per ipsum liberum arbitrium manere voluisset Here you must not exclude speciall grace in this case For si manere voluisset undoubtedly this will of his had been wrought by speciall grace as Austin manifesteth in the chapter following For he distinguisheth of two graces or two adjutories the one was ut posset pernianere si vellet the other was ut vellet quod potuit his words are these est in nobis per hane Dei gratiam in bono recipiendo perseveranter tenendo non solum posse quod volumus veruns etiam velle quod possumus Quod non fuit in homine primo unum enim horum in illo fuit alterum non fuit Namque ut reciperet bonum gratiâ non egedat quia nondum perdider at ut autem in eo permaneret egebat adjutorio gratiae sine quo iâ emnino non posset acceperat posse si vellet sed non habuit velle quod posset nam si babuisset perseverasset But you bring a second place to prove that Angels could have stood by their free-will secluding speciall grace and that is this Credimus Dominum Deum sie ordinasse Angelorum hominum vitam ut in ea prius ostenderet quid posset eorum liberum arbitrium deinde quid posset suae gratiae beneficium justitiaeque judicium I grant the Angels had power to stand if they would and power to fall if they would and this power was manifested in the standing of the one and in the fall of the other But herehence it followeth not that therefore the act of standing was not of Gods grace But you will say the benefit of grace was afterwards manifested And I answer that grace was the grace of confirmation opposite to the Obduration of the evill Angels which grace of confirmation though it were manifested after the obedience of the good Angels consisting in assurance that they shall never fall yet herehence it followeth not that their standing was not by grace though that grace whereby they stood was different from that grace whereby they were confirmed for before their obedience so they stood as that withall they might fall but since their obedience they now so stand that they cannot fall Now for Austins opinion hereabouts it is plaine enough from other places De civ dei lib. 12. cap 9. aut minorem
of them proceed on this manner The first thus Praedestinatio est voluntas Dei de illustrandâ suâ gloriâ per misericordiā justitiā At illa voluntas locum non habet in nondum condito ceu condendo The third thus Praedestinatio est pars providentiae administrantis gubernātis humanū genus ergò posterior naturâ actu creationis vel proposito creandi Si posterior actu creationis vel propositio creandi hominē jam homo praedestinationis objectum non est consideratus ut nondū conditus His 4 th argument is this Predestinatio est praeparatio supernaturalium bonorū ergo praecedit communicatio naturaliū proptereà creatio in naturâ sive actu sive in decreto Dei His last reason is of the same nature thus Illustratio sapientiae Dei per creationē prior est illustratione sapientiae Dei quae est administratio praedestinationis 1 Cor. 1. 21. Ergo creatio prior est praedestinatione To all which reasons of his I have answered in my Vindic. Grat. Dei lib. 1. part 1. De Praedestin digress 5. in severall chapters Only the second argument of Arminius insisteth upon Gods ordination of mans fall And to be freed from the trouble of answering this argument is the only thing that I know we gain by leaving the first and second way and embarking our selves in the third But how freed surely only so farre as that the doctrine of election and reprobation supposing Adams fall doth not engage us to inquire into divine providence concerning Adams fall But neverthelesse it cannot be denied but that had not God permitted Adam to fall he had never fallen And we that take the first way acknowledge no other Providence divine concerning the ingresse of sinne as sinne into the world but in the way of permission Sinne as sinne admitting no cause efficient but deficient only And it is utterly impossible that God either in doing what he doth or in forbearing to doe what he doth not should in any culpable or justly blameable manner be deficient And if it be farther demanded whether upon Gods permission it followeth that sinne shall be committed by the creature We readily professe it doth This Vorstius acknowledgeth a favorite of the Arminians Nay doth not Arminius himself deliver it expresly where he saith That when God permitteth the willing of ought Necesse est ut nullo argumentorum genere persuadeatur ad nolendum This he delivers without all qualification of the necessity mentioned which we doe not And this also Navarettus a Papist professeth and though he be a Dominican yet I know no Jesuite that opposeth him in this And if any man inferre herehence that then God determining to permit sinne did determine that sinne should enter into the World We willingly grant that God did so ordaine namely that sinne should come to passe by his permission Non aliquid fit saith Austin nisi Omnipotens fieri velit vel sinendo ut fiat vel ipse faciendo And Bellarmine professeth that Bonum est mala fieri Deo permittente so that herein God doth not will evill but that which is good in the acknowledgement of Bellarmine and that in the heat of his opposition against our Divines in this particular And Arminius is expresse in saying Voluit Deus Achabum mensuram scelerum implere And what is this but Peccata peccatis cumulare And though the Jesuits and Arminians doe with all their force resist yet it evidently followes from the notion of efficacious grace embraced by the one and by the notion of an efficacious impediment of sinne dictated by Arminius himselfe For efficacious grace with the Jesuites consists in the congruity thereof and the congruity thereof consists in this that God foreseeth that upon the confession thereof sinne will be avoided Now what is the reason why God grants such a grace whereupon he seeth sin will not be avoided and denies such a grace upon the granting whereof he knowes full well that sinne would be avoided but because his pleasure is that sinne shall be committed by his permission and not be avoyded although he hath given them grace sufficient to avoid it as they say and it was most true of Adam in the state of innocency In like sort doth Arminius distinguish of Peceati impedimentum sufficiens efficax Efficacious hinderance of sinne is that whereby God seeth sinne will be avoided sufficient is only that whereby a man may avoid it if he will But withall he confesseth that God in the Promptuary of his wisdome hath not only such impediments as are sufficient to the avoiding of any sinne but such also as whereby any sinne would indeed be avoided were he pleased to grant them But yet as often as he thinks good to permit sinne he doth not grant such impediments And is not this a manifest evidence that it is Gods will that sinne shall come to passe to wit as often as it doth come to passe by his permission But suppose all our Divines that embrace the third way doe imagine the absurdities here spoken of to be justly chargeable upon the first way Yet as he thinks them in an errour while they conceive they can with ease avoid these absurdities by their third way let him be pleased to conceive they may as well be in an errour in thinking them justly chargeable upon the first way and consequently their opinion is nothing sufficient to justify that they are unremoveable by them that embrace the first way It is true there is no cause of breach either of Unity or Amity between our Divines upon this difference as I shewed in my digressions De Praedestinatione Digress 1. seeing neither of them derogate either from the prerogative of Gods grace or of his soveraignty over his creatures to give grace to whom he will and to deny it to whom he will and consequently to make whom he will vessels of mercy and whom he will vessells of wrath but equally they stand for the divine prerogative in each And as for the ordering of Gods decrees of creation permission of the fall of Adam giving grace of faith and repentance unto some and denying it to others and finally saving some and damning others whereupon only arise the different opinions as touching the object of predestination and reprobation it is meerly Apex Logicus a poynt of Logick And were it not a meer madnesse to make a breach of unity or charity in the Church of God meerely upon a poynt of Logick Thus have I justified the improbability and utter unlikelihood that ever any schisme will be made in the Church of God upon these nice and meer Logicall differences in my Vindic. Grat. Dei which this Author is acquainted with as appears by a passage that hereafter he representeth therehence and that farther into the Book then these my digressions are upon the point of predestination but is content to take no notice thereof least it might hinder the course
rather a fiction of the remnants of the Pelagians wherewithall to reproach the doctrine of S. Austin in the poynt of Predestination Thus have I examined this Authors pretence of the Novelty of our Tenent I come to the consideration of that which followes DISCOURSE The Second Motive IT S unwillingnesse to abide the Tryall I find that the Authors and Abettors of it have been very backward to bring it to the Standard not only when they have been called upon by their Adversaries to have been weighed but also when they have been intreated thereto by their chief Magistrates who might have commanded them A shrewd argument mee thinks that it is too light In the Disputation at Mompelgard Anno 1586 held between Beza and Jacobus Andreas with some Seconds on both sides Beza and his company having disputed with the Lutherans about the person of Christ the Lords Supper c. When they came to this Point did decline the sifting of it and gave this reason among others that it could not then possibly be disputed of sine gravi eorum offendiculo qui tanti mysterii capaces non sunt without the great scandall and hurt of the ignorant and unacquainted with these high mysteries The Contra-Remonstrants also in their Conference with their Adversaries at the Hague in the year 1611 could not be drawn to dispute with them about this point but delivered a Petition to the States of Holland and Westfrizland that they might not be urged to it resolving rather to break off the Conference then to meddle with it In the Synod likewise of Dort in the year 1618 and 1619. the Remonstrants were warned by the President of the Synod ut de Electione potius quà m de odiosâ Reprobations materiâ agerent that they should rather dispute of the point of Election then the odious point of Reprobation Can this Doctrine be a truth and yet blush at the light which makes all thing manifest especially considering these things 1. That Reprobation is a principall Head of Practicall divinity by the ill or well stating of which the glory of God and good of Religion is much promoted or hindered 2. That there is such a necessary connexion between the points of Election and Reprobation both being parts of predestination that the one cannot well be handled without the other 3. That Reprobation was the chief cause of all the uproares in the Church at that time 4. That it was accused with open mouth and challenged of falshood and therefore bound in justice to purge it selfe of the crimination 5. That it may easily be defended if as some say it be such an apparent truth for Nihil est ad defendendum puritate tutius nihil ad dicendum veritate facilius saith S. Hierom. The striving to lye close and hide it selfe though perhaps it be not so infallible yet it is a very probable argument of a bad cause Truth covets no corners but is willing to abide the tryall whether in men or in doctrines David knowing his heart to be without guile offers himselfe ready to the Lords tryall Search me o God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me And our Saviour tells us that Every one that doth evill hates the light and comes not to the light least his deeds should be reproved but he that doth truth comes to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God As S. Paul saith of an Heretick he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 selfe condemned and so may we say of Heresy and untruth it condemnes it selfe and by nothing more then by refusing the Touch-stone He is to be thought an empty Scholler who is loath to be opposed and his gold to be light and counterfeit that will not have it touched and weighed and these Opinions to be but errours which would so willingly walk in a mist and dwell in silence when it concernes the peace of the Church so much to have them examined TWISSE Consideration VVHo are these Authors of this Doctrine who here are said to have been backward to bring it to the standard Is Beza those Authors whereof was he the Author Was it the doctrine of predestination as proceeding of the meer pleasure of God and not upon foresight of mans faith and works Is it not apparent that this was the doctrine of Austin 1200 years agoe and that in opposition to the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians Or was it the doctrine of reprobation as not proceeding upon the foresight of sinne but of the meer pleasure of God Is this Author so ignorant as not to know what are the conclusions of Alvarez in the question Whether there be any cause of reprobation on mans part Lib. 10. de Auxil disc 110. pag. 866. 1. His first Conclusion is this Reprobation whereby God decreed not to give unto some everlasting life and to permit their sinne is not conditionate but absolute neither doth it presuppose in God foresight of the deserts of reprobates or of their perseverance in sinne unto the last period of their life 2. His next Conclusion is In the Angells that fell there is no cause of their reprobation on their part as touching the whole effect thereof but before any foresight of their future sinne God pro sua Voluntate of his meer will did reprobate some of them and suffered them to fall into sinne 3. The third Infants departing in Originall sinne alone there is no cause on their part of reprobation if they be considered in comparison with others which are not reprobated and the like is to be said proportionably of men of ripe years 4. The fourth Not only comparatively but absolutely there is no cause of reprobation Therefore neither sinne actuall nor originall nor both of them foreseen by God was indeed the meritorious and motive cause of the reprobation of any as touching all the effects thereof and the proofe hereof he prosecutes at large 5. Reprobation as touching the last effect thereof presupposeth in signo rationis the foresight of sinne originall or actuall for which a reprobate is damned Marke it well He does not say as the cause for which God decrees his damnation but as the cause for which a reprobate is damned And Aquinas whose followers the Dominicans are expresseth this doctrine in this manner and that more Scholastically and accurately then Alvarez Praescientia peccatorum potest esse aliqua ratio reprobationis ex parte paenae quae praeparatur reprobatis in quantum scilicet Deus proponit se puniturum malos propter peccata c. in Ad Rom. 9. Sect. 2. in fine that is Prescience of sinnes may be some reason of reprobation on the part of punishment to wit in as much as God purposeth to punish wicked men for their sinnes Where sinne is evidently made the cause of damnation and that by vertue of Gods purpose but by no means the cause of the
of the number One of the Souldiers was billeted in an old Widdowes house and another being a Goldsmith told him and another consort of theirs he had a devise to put mony in all their purses for he knew how to make a Rex-dolar of three-pence sylver and in that Widdowes house they would ply their businesse very securely To work they went and casting plates of Tinne to the quantity of one of those Dolars and stamping them full and faire this Gold-smith with the quantity of three pence silver sylvered them over very fairely and least they should seem too light hangs them up in the chimny in a bagge that the smoak might bring them to the sadder hew Thus having met with a mine of Sylver in their lodging one is imployed as a Merchant-man to goe to the Staple of Cloth and he laies out their coyne in cloth whereof afterwards they made good silver indeed at length one of them paying a debt of his to a Dutchman in Delfe in one of these Rex-dolars he found the Dutch to betray some suspicious gestures and interpretations upon the coyne That was a faire warning to an intelligent man of armes and hereupon they get them packing ing away with all speed and home they come and make themselves merry with the relation In like sort these Remonstrants shew a great deale of Tinne and trash in these argumentations and they have not so much as three pence silver to colour it therewithall to cheat the World if they will be cheated But they hope the colour of some dishonour by their adversaries doctrine redounding unto Christ will be taken for a peece at least of good silver I confesse I am somewhat the more merrily disposed at this time For being taken off from the midst of a sentence by the courteous invitation of a Gentleman to come unto him to his Inne He was pleased to entertaine me with such good discourse that it did not a little refresh my spirits His reaches were after new discoveries for the advancement of learning and endoctrinated me more in one halfe hower then seventeen years study in the University For whereas I never learned there more causes then foure he was pleased to acquaint me with nine which I took some pains to learn without book and they were these Matter Forme Workman Will Power Time Finding out Accident End And most courteously offered himselfe to enlarge on every one of them but having left off at a broken sentence I was desirous to return to my studies Theologicall and to let those Philosophicall progresses alone But I protested unto him seriously that he had informed me more in the number of causes in a short space then Oxford had done in many years he entreated I would consider of them and I promised I would and conferre of them too with all the Schollers I companied with which he took in very goo part and so I took my leave And finding my spirit not a little elevated with this recreation I resolved forbearing my usuall time of supper to follow these studies close that night which truly fell out very happily For one of those causes being found out otherwise called Invention as for Judgement I doe not remember that it was admitted into the number I made use of it very happily in finding out or discovery of the foppery of these Remonstranticall argumentations Now I proceed to the second Question as more seasonable to the present occasion And here first they begin with their former artifice making infidelity on the part of reprobation answerable to faith on the part of election which is most untrue as formerly I shewed Only the not curing of infidelity by the grace of faith is made by us subordinate to reprobation as the curing of naturall infidelity by the grace of faith is made by us subordinate to election But they goe on as in shaping our Tenent at pleasure so in basting it with their very liberall censures as absurd and execrable in such sort as the bare commemoration of it they take to be sufficient to represent the horrour of it and to confute it and this they commit to the judgement of all the faithfull of Christ And indeed their best strength lyeth in setting forth their Adversaries doctrine in such colours as the Devill is painted with And in this particular they conceive good hope no doubt that propitious Readers will conceive hereby that the infidelity of man is made by their Adversaries the work of God as well as Faith Whereas it is well known that there is so little need of working men to infidelity that all being borne in sinne and corrupted and estranged from the life of God through the fall of Adam infidelity is as naturall and hereditary to a man as any other corruption And it is as well known and undeniable that none can cure it but God by faith but this he cures in whom he will by giving Faith to whom he will and if he refuse to cure it in any that and that alone is enough to make him a vessell of wrath that so Gods glory may be manifested upon him in the way of justice vindicative But come we to their Arguments 1. The first is this If Infidelity followeth Reprobation unto destruction then God cannot in justice destroy Reprobates for their infidelity For there is no greater injustice then to destroy a man for that that followeth necessarily upon reprobation which is the work of God To this I answer 1. According to mine ordering the decrees divine Secondly according to the Contra-Remonstrants Tenent in ordering them 1. According to my ordering of the decrees divine In no moment of nature or reason is the decree of damnation precedent to the decree of permitting infidelity or leaving the infidelity of some men uncured to wit by denying them faith by denying the grace of regeneration But the decrees of creating all in Adam of permitting all to fall in Adam in bringing all men forth into the World in the state of Originall sinne of leaving this originall sinne uncured in them and last of all of damning them for their sinnes are decrees not subordinate but coördinate as decrees de Mediis tending joyntly to one supream end which is the manifestation of Gods glory upon them in the way of justice vindicative as also to shew the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy whom he hath prepared unto glory to wit by beholding in others that miserable condition which through Gods meer grace and goodnesse they have escaped 2. According to the Contra-Remonstrants Tenent I answer 1. Many of them doe not maintaine that infidelity is consequent to the decree of damnation but in the foresight of God precedent rather as appears by the Brittish Divines their Theses De Reprobatione and Alvarez professeth the same The denyall of grace and so the permitting of naturall infidelity to remain uncured they make consequent as it seems to a negative decree of denying glory And
themselves God took not that pleasure in them as to give them his custodient grace to keep them from withdrawing themselves which grace and that out of his good pleasure he afforded unto others But this grace comes in no account throughout with this Author like unto the Remonstrants who would have no other notice taken of any other counsell of God then that whereby he decreeth to save believers and damne unbelievers But if you call them to enquire of Gods decree to bestow the grace of Faith and repentance upon some and not on others as whether it proceeds absolutely or conditionally they usually lend a deafe eare to this whereby it is as cleare as the Sunne what estimation they make of the grace of regeneration of the grace of Faith and of repentance and after what manner they give God the glory of it By the way observe I pray how he makes the state of man in being a reprobate consequent to his withdrawing himselfe which undoubtedly is a Temporall act and accordingly the act of Reprobation whereby a man is denominated a reprobate to be meerely Temporall and consequently such an act must election be also viz. not eternall but Temporall Still he keepeth himselfe in his strength of confusion as most advantageous for him as in saying God forsakes no man till by actuall sinnes and continuance in them he forsaketh God But albeit God forsaketh no man as touching the inflicting of punishment untill man commits actuall sinne and continueth therein impenitently yet before this God did forsake him as touching the denyall of this grace custodient from sinne and the denyall of the grace of repentance to rise out of sinne which yet he grants to many as in shewing mercy to whom he will like as whom he will he hardneth and so accordingly cures in some that naturall infidely and hardnesse of heart wherein we are all borne and leaves it uncured in others Now consider we his argument following which is this If God reject no man from salvation in time or in act and deed till he reject God then surely he rejected no man in purpose and decree but such a one as he foresaw would reject and cast off God Now this argument not one of our Divines deny not only as it is applied to reprobation but neither doe we deny it applied unto election For we willingly professe that like as God bestowes salvation on none but such as he then findes believers penitent and given to good works in like sort wee all professe that God decrees to bestow salvation on none but such as he foreseeth will believe repent and become studious of good works Like enough many doe wilfully dissemble the true state of the Question between us others ignorantly mistake it The question is not whether God decrees to bestow salvation on such as he foreseeth will believe and reject those from salvation whom he foreseeeth will not believe but of the order of reason between these decrees of God and the foresight of obedience the one side and disobedience on the other that is whether like as faith repentance and good works in men of ripe years doe precede their salvation as disposing causes thereunto so the fore-sight of faith repentance and good works precede election as disposing causes or prerequisites thereunto In like manner on the other side whether as finall perseverance in sinne precedes damnation as the meritorious cause thereof So finall perseverance in sinne as foreseen by God precedes reprobation as the decree of Damnation as the meritorious cause thereof So that the argument here mentioned which is all his strength in this place rightly applyed must runne thus Faith repentance and good works actually existent precede salvation as the disposing causes thereunto therefore faith repentance and good works foreseen precede election as the disposing causes thereunto and what is this but as good as in expresse termes to professe that election is of faith repentance and good works though it be in direct contradiction unto Saint Paul professing in terminis to speak in this Divines language that the purpose of God according to election is not of works So on the other side Finall perseverance in sinne precedes damnation as the meritorious cause thereof therefore finall perseverance in sinne foreseen precedes the decree of damnation as the meritorious cause thereof And then what is to make reprobation to be of evill works if this be not Whereas Saint Paul look by what arguments he proves that election is not of good works viz. because before Jacob and Esau were borne or had done good or evill it was said of them the Elder shall serve the Younger by the same argument it is equally evident that Reprobation is not of evill works Yet we acknowledge an exact conformity between Gods decrees and the execution thereof because like as God damnes no man but for sinne so he decreed to damne no man but for sinne where sinne is in each place made the meritorious cause of damnation not of the decree of damnation And like as God bestowes salvation on no man of ripe years but by way of reward of faith repentance and good works so he decreed to bestow salvation on no man of ripe years but by way of reward of faith repentance and good works where faith repentance and good works are in each place made the disposing causes to salvation but not to election There was never any so madde saith Aquinas as to say that merits are the cause of predestination as touching the act of God predestinating and Why but because so is the cause of predestination to be enquired into as the cause of Gods will is enquired into but formerly he had shewed that there can be no cause of Gods will as touching the act of God willing Now let every one judge whether the act of reprobation be not as clearly the act of Gods will as the act of predestination and consequently whether it be not equally as mad a course in Aquinas his judgement to devise a cause of reprobation as to devise a cause of predestination on the part of Gods will And no marvail for the act of Gods will is eternall all the works of the creature are temporall Then the act of Gods will is God himselfe for there is no accident in God and therefore they may as well set themselves to devise a cause of God as a cause of Gods will His phrase of casting off is ambiguous if it signifieth the denyall of salvation it followeth disobedience if it signifieth the deniall of grace it precedes disobedience in what kind soever 3. Our velle and facere are both temporall in God it is otherwise for his deeds are temporall and may admit the works of men precedaneous thereunto but his resolutions are his decrees and they are all eternall and can admit no work of man precedaneous thereunto yet is God as just in the one as in the other For like as he damnes no man but for
be made after Gods image Gen. 1. 27. Nor when they are regenerated to be renewed after the same image Col. 3. 10. And to be made partakers of the Divine nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. That Picture cannot be the picture of such a man which doth not in its parts and lineaments clearly resemble him nor can we be truly the image of God in respect of our graces if in these graces there be not a resemblance of Gods Attributes 3. We may not safely imitate God as we are commanded Be you perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect Math. 5. 48. and be ye holy as I am holy Nor when we shew forth mercy justice and truth in our actions can we be properly said to imitate God if these be one thing in God and in men another These two things being thus premised viz. that Gods mercy justice and truth are three of his chief Attributes in the exercise of which he takes himselfe to be much glorified and that we are to measure these Attributes by the same vertues in ourselves I come to the proofe of my second reason against absolute reprobation which is that it opposeth some of Gods principall Attributes particularly his justice mercy and truth TWISSE Consideration I Cannot but wonder at the performances of the true Author of this Discourse in comparing that which goes before with that which comes after His poverty of argumentation out of Scripture and the exuberancy of his discourse following Before he was in some straits but now he seems to have gotten Sea roome enough yet this is my comfort I seem to perceive out of what chimney all this smoak proceeds and to be as well acquainted with the spirit that breatheth here as if I were at his elbow while he penned it Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae such like are Doctor Jacksons discourses and him I have known of old and his Ephestion also I professe willingly of Scholar acquaintance they were my greatest and dearest But seeing it hath pleased God to put such a difference between us I would have both them and the World know I doe as little regard them as feare them Arminius himselfe is never more plausible then in such like extravagant discourses as a positive Theologue But these inspirations were never derived from him they are flowers of another garden These have been shapen in a more Philosophicall brain whereof some having gotten the reputation give Oracles therehence first to forme interpretations of Scriptures in congruity to these Theorems as the true Author blusheth not to professe which when he hath perswaded the World of I see no cause to the contrary but he may adventure a degree farther and perswade the burning of the Bible so farre as it concerneth the Doctrine of Predestination and Reprobation Grace and Free-will and content themselves with these magisteriall precepts as most sufficient and soveraigne for the endoctrinations of the Christian World in these poynts But he might have spared his pains in proving this consequence that if our Doctrine of Reprobation be contradictory to Gods principall attributes it cannot be true I say he might have spared the proofe hereof for all that he brings in proofe of this is but darknesse in comparison of the domesticall light and selfe-evidence which this consequence carryeth with it His premises here and discourse thereof is like unto the Turkes parly before the encounter when he challenged any one of Scanderbegs army to a single combate For as that parley was meerely complementall and to no purpose save only as he might conceit to abate the fervor of his opposite who longed to be dealing with him so this introduction I find to be of no Scholasticall use in the world but meerely Politick to work some impression upon the readers affections where by it may come to passe that when he reads of Gods mercy and justice as here it is set forth he may be the more enclined to judge thereof according to the genius of human mercy and justice Yet I am content to give my selfe to be wrought upon by these pretty contemplations as farre as I shall be convicted of any truth and sobriety in them though I willingly professe I am very suspicious for I love to betray my infirmities that there is little or no truth and sobriety at all in them 1. Now because he hopes to hatch much advantage unto his cause out of these attributes and to that purpose he sitts very long upon them though his market may be never the better for all that He tells us these are Gods chief attributes and as it appeareth by that which followeth his practice is to disparage his power which I call the Lords Soveraignty in comparison to these Now it seems they are chiefe indeed in his opinion for the furthering of his cause but as for any absolute chiefty they have in God I am not as yet acquainted therewith what I may be by this Authors performances I know not yet in the next page save one he professeth expressely That all Gods excellencies are infinitely good and one is not greater then another wherein I doe much approve his judgement as savouring of more depth then this which yet I think not that he who pretends to be the Author of this discourse in respect of his minority should be likely to broach as for other respects of principality I shall be ready to take notice of them in due place But when he saith God is most glorified in the manifestation of mercy justice and truth it is a very odde phrase For it is one thing to be glorious another thing to be glorified dare he deny that God is as glorious in his power and soveraignty as in his mercy justice and truth As for the glorifying of him that depends upon the will of the creature It may be some are more thankfull unto God for blessing them with health and riches and honour and preferment then for bestowing his Gospell upon them but will it follow herehence that his goodnesse in giving riches c. is more glorious then his goodnesse is seen in giving us his Word and Gospell We read that when God laid the foundations of the earth the Starres of the morning praised God together and all the children of God rejoyced Job 38. 7. did these Angells glorify God for his mercy justice and truth in the creating of them We read sometimes of Gods power sometimes of his wisdome manifested in the Creation as Jer. 10. 11. and 51. 11. and Psal 136. 5. Jer. 10. 12. c. But no where have I read that I can remember he made the World by his mercy justice or truth and Revel 4. 11. I find the glory of power given unto God in the creation by the 24 Elders but neither there nor any where else that I know is the glory of his mercy justice and truth given unto God therein Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast created all
that he saith he proves by Iohn 16. 9. The spirit shall convince the World of sinne because they believe not in me Reprobates therefore are bound to believe But now they cannot be justly bound to believe if they be absolute and inevitable Reprobates for three causes 1. Because it is Gods will that they shall not believe and it appears to be so because it is his peremptory will that they shall have no power to believe for its a Maâ—ime in Logick that Qui vult aliquid in causâ vult effectum ex ista causa necessario profluentem No man will say that it is Gods serious will that such a man shall live when it is his will that he shall not have the concourse of his providence and the act of preservation now will any say that forget not themselves that God doth unfainedly will that those men shall believe whom he will not furnish with necessary power to believe Now if it be Gods will that absolute reprobates shall in no wise believe they cannot in justice be tied to believe For no man is bound to an act against Gods peremptory will 2. Because it is impossible that they should believe they want power to believe and must want it still God hath decreed they shall have none to their dving day without power to believe they can no more believe then a man can see without an eye and live without a Soule Nemo obligatur ad impossibilia To believe is absolutely impossible unto them and therefore in justice they can be tyed to believe no more then a man can be bound to fly like a Bird or to reach heaven with the top of his finger 3. Because they have no object of saith Credere â—ubet dâ— fidei nulium objectum 〈◊〉 This decree makes God to oblige men to believe and to give them no Christ to believe in and to punish them as transgressors of the covenant of grace when yet they have no more right unto it or part in it then the very Devills Can God justiy bind men to believe a lye To believe that Christ died for them when it is no such matter If a man should command his Servant to eate and punish him for not eating and in the mean time fully resolve that he shall have no meat to eate Would any reasonable man say that he were just in such a command such a punishment Change but the names the case is the same TWISSE Consideration IN this discourse on the poynt of Gods justice this Author seems to storme and shewes great confidence of bearing downe all before him but the more ridiculous will it prove in the issue when it shall appeare that all this wind beats down no corne He takes his rise from a particular opinion of Zanchy whose opinion is that all even Reprobates are bound to believe they are elected in Christ unto salvation though never they shall believe nor can believe But doth this Author himselfe concurre with Zanchy in this opinion If he did I presume it were upon some better ground then the authority of Zanchy and in all likelihood we should have heard of those grounds or doth himselfe believe that that passage Ioh. 16. 9. He shall convict the World of sinne because they believed not in me doth evince as much or import as much as that is whereunto Zanchy drives it If he doth not concurre with Zanchy in either of these why should he tye us to the particular authority of Zanchy Must we be bound to stand to every interpretation of our Divines or every particular opinion of theirs wherein perhaps they were singular Secondly suppose this opinion of Zanchy be a truth and suppose we concurre with him herein will it from this opinion follow that therefore even Reprobates have power to believe Who seeth not that it is a flat contradiction to the antecedent For the Doctrine of Zanchy as here it is related is this that even Reprobates though they cannot believe yet are they bound to believe Now will it herehence follow that therefore they have power to believe Whereas it is manifestly supposed in the antecedent that they cannot believe And to my understanding the distinction of Elect and Reprobate in this case is most unseasonable For to what end doe we Preach unto our hearers that all sorts of men are bound to believe but this to wit that every one that heareth us being privy to his condition may understand that he of what condition soever he be which is supposed to be better known to him then to the Preacher or at least as well is bound to believe But as for these different conditions of elect and reprobate no man can be privy to the one untill he doth believe nor to the other untill finall perseverance in unbeliefe And if I list I could alleadge the opinion of another Divine who is very peremptory in his way professing that the Ministers calling upon us to believe is no commandement at all but like a Kings gracious Proclamation unto certain malifactors who are all accused of High Treason giving them to understand that in case they will voluntarily confesse their sinne and accept of his gracious pardon offered them he will most graciously pardon them But if they will not but stand rather to their triall presuming to acquit themselves right well and prove themselves to be true Subjects let them stand to the adventure and issue of their tryall And that thus the covenant of grace is offered to be received by them only who feare to come and dare not come to the tryall of the Covenant of works But I will not content my selfe in putting off Zanchy in this manner although by the way I cannot but professe that were I of their opinion who teach that God gives unto all and every one when they come into the World a certain grace for the enlivening of their wills whereby they are enabled to will any spirituall good whereto they shall be excited I see no reason but that the way is open to everlasting life as well by the covenant of works as by the covenant of grace for let perfect obedience be the spirituall good whereto they are excited let them but will it as it is supposed they can and then God will be ready to concurre to the doing of it like as to the work in us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 credere and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 resipiscere modò velimus so also I should think to work in us perfect obedience modò velimus And in this case I pray consider what need were there of faith in Christ on their part more then on the part of the Holy Angells certainly there would be no need of repentance Thirdly therefore consider we the constant Doctrine of Divines not that Reprobates are bound to believe but that all that heare the Gospell are bound to believe but in what sense Piscator saith as I remember that the thing which all such are bound to believe is
understandings purged from prejudice and false principles 5. My fifth argument is this If sinne be the cause of Reprobation that is of the decree of damnation then either by necessity of nature or by the constitution of God not by necessity of nature as all that hitherto I have known confesse But I say neither can it be by the free constitution of God for mark what a notorious absurdity followeth hence and that unavoidably namely that God did ordaine that upon foresight of sinne he would ordaine them to damnation marke it well God did ordaine that he would ordaine or God did decree that he would decree In which words Gods eternall decree is made the object of Gods decree Whereas it is well known that the objects of Gods decrees are meerely things temporall and cannot be things eternall we truly say God did decree to create the World to preserve the World to redeeme us call us justify us sanctify and save us but it cannot be truly said that God did decree to decree or ordaine to ordaine for to decree is the act of Gods will and therefore it cannot be the object of the act of Gods will Yet these arguments I am not so enamoured with as to force the interpretations of Scripture to such a sense as is sutable hereunto presuming of the purity of my understanding as purged from prejudice and false principles I could willingly content my selfe with observation of the Apostles discourse in arguing to this effect Before the Children were borne or had done good or evill it was said the elder shall serve the younger therefore the purpose of God according to election stands not of works In like manner may I discourse Before the Children were borne or had done good or evill it was said the elder shall serve the younger therefore the purpose of God concerning Reprobation stands not of works And like as hence it is inferred that therefore election stands not of good works so therehence may I inferre that therefore reprobation stands not of evill works 6. If sinne foreseen be the cause meritorious of reprobation then faith and repentance and good workes are the disposing causes unto election For therefore evill works foreseen are made the meritorious cause of reprobation because evill works exsistent are the meritorious cause of damnation And if this be true then also because Faith and Repentance and good workes are the disposing causes unto salvation then by the same force of reason faith repentance and good workes foreseen must be the disposing cause unto election But faith repentance and good workes foreseen are not the disposing causes unto election as I prove thus 1. If they were then the purpose of God according to election should be of faith repentance and good works which is expressely denyed by the Apostle as touching the last part and may as evidently be proved to be denied by him in effect of the other parts also by the same force of argumentation which he useth as for example from this anticedent of the Apostles before the Children were borne or had done good or evill it no more evidently followeth that therefore the purpose of God according to election is not of workes than it followeth that the same purpose of God according to election is not of faith nor of repentance For before they were borne they were no more capable of faith or of repentance than of any other good works And undoubtedly faith and repentance are as good works as any other 2. If God doth absolutely work faith in some and not in others according to the meer pleasure of his will then it cannot be said that faith foreseen is the cause of any mans election For in this case faith is rather the means of salvation then salvation a means of faith and consequently the intention of salvation rather precedes the intention of faith than the intention of faith can be said to precede the intention of salvation And to this the Scripture accords Acts 1348. As many believed as were ordained to everlasting life making ordination to everlasting life the cause why men believed answerable hereunto is that Acts 2. last God added daily to the Church such as should be saved and that of Paul to Titus according to the faith of Gods elect So that according to Pauls phrase fides est electorum but according to the Arminians Doctrine the inverse hereof is a more proper and naturall predication as to say electio est fidelium But God doth absolutely work faith in some men according to the meer pleasure of his will denying the same grace to others which I prove 1. By Scripture Rom. 9. 18. God hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardneth compared with Rom. 11. 30. Yee in times past have not believed but now have obtained mercy where it appears by the Antithesis that to find mercy is to believe that is to obtain the grace of faith at the hands of God in Saint Pauls phrase 2. By cleare reason for if it be not the meer pleasure of Gods will that is the cause hereof then the cause hereof must be some good workes which he finds in some and not in others whence it manifestly followeth that God giveth grace according unto works which in the phrase of the ancients is according to merits and for 1200 years together this hath been reputed in the Church of God meere Pelagianisme 2. I further demand what that good worke is whereupon God workes it in one when he refuseth to worke it in another Here the answer I find given is this that God doth work in man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 velle credere modo velit Now of the absurdity hereof I appeale to the very light of nature and let all the books that ever were written on this argument be searched and let it be enquired whether ever any did expresse themselves in the manner of so palpable and grosse absurdity as wherein the act of willing is made the condition of it selfe whence it followeth evidently that it must be both before it selfe and after it selfe for the condition must allwaies exsist before the thing conditionated Yet they are driven upon these rocks of absurdities in spight of their teeth so shamefull is the issue of their discourses who in hatred of Gods truth revealed in Gods word and in a proud conceit of their own performances in the way of argumentation dare prescribe rules to all others how to carry themselves in the interpretation of Scriptures as namely to be so warie as that they doe not deliver any thing repugnant to understandings purged from prejudice and false principles as if the word of God supposed them that are admitted to the studying thereof to have their understandings already purged from prejudice and false principles not that it is given by God for this very end namely to purge our understandings for what is the illumination or opening of the eyes of the mind other than the purging of
case we produce the same act of willing and doing that which is good is this to worke in us both the will and the deed Consider I pray is it not true that God is as ready to concurre with us to any sinfull act in case we will concurre with him and doth he not concurre with man to the produceing of any sinfull act in case man at that time doth produce it And will any sober man say that this is also for God to worke in him both the will and the deed of every sinfull act And why might we not say so if God workes it only by concourse Lastly to worke in us both the will and the deed provided that man will concurre to the working hereof not otherwise is this to worke it according to his good pleasure and not rather according to mans good pleasure And how I pray or in what sence doth he say that God by his providence will not suffer this doctrine to have any stroke in our lives For if he suffers it not then he hinders it let it therefore be made appeare how he hinders it To concurre with us if we will concurre with him in the producing of any act of Godlinesse is this to hinder our carnall security If so then to concurre with us to the producing of any sinfull act is to hinder our Godlinesse Surely to give power whereby men are enabled to doe any spirituall good if they will is not to hinder carnall security for such a power is given to all by universall grace yet this doth nothing hinder the carnall security of many thousands Or doth he hinder it by exciting us to the contrary Yet if this doctrine as we conceive be apt to drowne us in carnall security how can he be sayd to hinder us from it For either the doctrine must yeeld to such excitations exhortations from carnall security or such exhortations must yeeld to the doctrine especially considering what Austin sayth that if there be any difference betweene docere and suadere or exhortari yet even this doctrinae generalitate comprehenditur And for incogitancy which is a second device pretended as the cause why this doctrine doth not expose us to carnality is it not incredible these poynts being so much ventilated by them as none more The Church of God having been exercised with none more as I think these hundred yeares that men should not think of or consider of those dangerous consequences in manners as these doe forge in their own braines And as for the last imputing our Godlinesse to some good practicall conclusions may I not justly say that if ever any man wrote with the spirit of giddinesse this Author deserves to have a chiefe place amongst them For compare his answer to the second objection with this There he saith such dissolute conclusions as these following doe arise out of this doctrine of ours If I be chosen I must of necessity believe and be saved If I be cast off I must as necessarily not believe and be damned what need I therefore take thought either way about meanes or end Now will it not as well follow what need I therefore take thought of holinesse of obedience For even these are as good practicall conclusions Believe and thou shalt be saved Repent and thou shalt be saved and whosoever bebelieveth not shall be damned As these Be ye holy as I am holy Without holinesse no man shall see God If ye consent and obey ye shall eate the good things of the Land And by the way observe I pray with what judgement he calls them practicall conclusions whereas all save two of them are exhortations rather then conclusions And those two to wit Without holinesse no man shall see God and Godlinesse hath the promises both of this life c. I should take them to be principles rather then conclusions Whether simple men doe apply their braines to ponder and consider this doctrine or no I know not but certainly the learned and Godly maintainers of it have had cause enough to ponder it and consider it throughly and have given evidence enough of their thorough consideration of it yet have they fetcht no such sequells out of it If simple men doe and our adversaries be of the number of them and content themselves with such simplicity yet is it not enough for us that the Apostle doth not the holy Apostle S. Paul but expressely enforceth the contrary there from namely that because of God worketh in us the will and the deed according to his good pleasure therefore it becomes us to worke out our Salvation with feare and trembling Now which of us doe most exactly concurre with the Apostle in mainning that God doth worke in us both the will and the deed according to his good pleasure I am very well content that all the World both wise and simple both Learned and unlearned may judge 2. As touching the second First let us consider how the objection is shaped Secondly as it lies with what judgement and sobriety it is impugned 1. It is true men are absolutely elected or absolutely rejected but we content not our selves with generalities wherein as Aristotle hath observed doe lurke many equivocations Neither doe we delight in confounding things that differ Election and rejection or reprobation and in generall the will of God may be considered either Quoad actum voluntis as touching the act of God willing or as touching the things willed Of this distinction this Author takes no notice It is fit for some and advantagious to fish in troubled waters Now as touching the act of God willing both Aquinas hath proved that there can be no cause thereof and withall professeth that never was any so mad as to say That merites can be the cause of predestination quoad actum praedestinantis as touching the act of God predestinating And Bradwardine hath curiously disputed this way that no will of God is conditionall to will quoad actum volentis And Piscator against Vorstius hath proved the same after his way and by variety of demonstration this way may be convinced as in part I have shewed in this discourse both on the part of election and on the part of reprobation And both D r Jackson in his booke of Providence professeth that the distinction of Voluntas antecedens and consequens or antecedent and consequent will in God is to be understood quoad res volitas as touching the things willed as much as to say non quoad actum volentis And Gerardus Vossius drawing the distinction of will antecedent and will consequent unto the distinction of will absolute and will conditionall applyes it only quoad res volitas and so interpriteth Fathers discourse thereof And of a conditionall will gives this instance God will have men to be Saved in case they believe where faith is clearely made the condition of Salvation a temporall thing the condition of a temporall thing not the condition of Gods will to
doth obtrude upon us that Manoahs Wife had no faith but only a probability of this that is his glosse yet this acceptation of a burnt offering at their hands was manifested by no lesse then a miracle and the difference between Abels offering and Caines offering is laid downe to be this that The Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering but unto Cain and to his offering he had no regard Gen. 4. 4 5. And Davids prayer for acceptation and finding favour at the hands of God is set downe in this manner amongst other particulars Let him remember all thine offerings and turne thy burnt offerings into ashes Psal 20. 3. Yet why should he conceive that Manoah and his Wife were not in temptation and that a very sore one strēgthened with the expres word of God namely that No man can see God live which in these days was generally received amongst thē applyed by thē in this particular For Manoah said unto his Wife we shall surely dye because we have seen God could a probability to the contrary put by such a temptation as this How was the great Prophet Esay exercised with this when he cryed out Woe is me for I am undone because I am a man of polluted lipps and dwell in the midst of a people of polluted lipps for mine eyes have seen the King and Lord of Hosts What temptation hath he that thinkes himselfe a reprobate like unto this excepting still the guilte of that sinne which is unto death What ground of Scripture can they represent to prove that they are reprobates as those Ancients had ground for this that they must dye who had seen God It is one thing to be in temptation it is an other thing to yeeld to the temptation and to be overcome with it and that upon no ground which yet this Author confounds as a course very propitious for his turne and suitable with the part that he acteth As for Jacob the cause was this he that now enjoyed as it were the death of Joseph for many yeares his sonnes pretending they knew not what became of him yet brought his Coat imbrued with bloud unto their old Father who there upon conceived some evill beast had devoured him and who could expect that at the first hearing he should believe now the report of the same sonnes to the contrary especially considering how those brethren of Ioseph were astonished when Joseph himselfe told them saying I am Joseph doth my father yet live for the text saith his brethren could not answer him for they were astonished at his presence And though Iacob at the first believed not the report they made to be true yet neither is it said or likely that he believed it to be false But the Text saith his heart failed him denoting a condition betweene hope and feare as the Geneva noteth in the Margent As for Thomas his incredulity which he ascribeth unto a temptation he may as well ascribe the infidelity of Turkes Jewes unto a temptation The person tempted here represented doth not say I hope as Thomas did Except I see in his hands the print of the nailes and put my finger into the print of the nayles and put my hand into his side I will not believe it And what power doe Arminians attribute unto temptation doe they ascribe more unto it then to the operation of God which with them extends no farther then this as touching grace then to excite them to believe which yet they may resist if they will And may they not also resist the Divells temptations if they will Especially considering that in perswading them that they are Reprobates the Divell proceeds upon no ground which is not common to every one of Gods elect when he saith They will not believe any thing that is said for their comfort till it be made so apparent that they have nothing to say to the contrary It seemes this Author hath had some extraordinary experience of the condition of persons tempted I had thought the condition of persons not tempted only but giving way to the temptation had been for the most part unreasonable untill it pleaseth God to bring them to their right wits and like as feares property is to betray the succours that reason offereth so is the Devills practice to take them off from attending that to they cannot answer and holding them to their uncomfortable conclusions in despight of the weaknesse of their own premises and strength of contrary principles Excepting the case of finning against the Holy Ghost which was the case of Francis Sptra and accordingly his conclusions were most true as his premises strong and his comforters had little or nothing to say to the contrary And in such a case the only course to quench the fiery darts of desperation is to enquire diligently about the matter of fact whether he hath committed any such sinne as he layeth to his charge and thereupon to discourse of the nature of that sinne which is commonly called a sinne unto death and not only so but a sinne against the Holy Ghost which our Saviour pronounceth to be unpardonable and the Apostle signifieth as much when he saith that in such a case there is no more sacrifice for sinne but a fearfull expectation of fire And it may be this Authors discourse runneth with reference to such examples as this of Spira but fashioned at pleasure to serve his turne as formerly he did set down the story out of Coelius Secundus Calvin as he said but without any quotation of the place where But to enter upon a comparison between their doctrine and ours and that upon supposition of this rule delivered by him I say first that by our doctrine we can make it so evidently appeare that the tempted hath no ground at all to conceive himselfe to be a reprobate whatsoever his condition be except guiltinesse of the sinne against the Holy Ghost I say we can make it so evident that neither he nor any Arminian can say any reasonable thing to the contrary not denying but that they may say enough to the contrary in an unreasonable manner And my reason is because whatsoever his condition be it is no other then is incident to one of Gods elect Secondly I say as touching the Arminian doctrine two things The first is this There is no condition of man so holy in this life as whereby any man can have any assurance by Arminian doctrine that he is an elect of God and consequently no reprobate much lesse can they give any assurance to any man in the time of temptation as this Author speakes of it that he is no reprobate The Second is this Arminians can give assurance to no man that he is no reprobate for as much as all their grounds of comfort are common to the reprobate as well as to the elect wherehence it manifestly followeth that their doctrine can afford no better comfort then a reprobate
him to be of the same mind with Raynold the Fox who having lost his owne tayle in a Ginne afterwards he endevours very composedly to perswade his fellowes to cut of their tayles also And to that purpose suffered his wit to exuberate in representing and amplifying the incommodious condition of such a member Railing speeches I know no reason why any man should feare from his adversary for such Hierome hath taught me doe defile the Railer only not him that is railed on And if any man be pleased to spit in my face that way though I am naturally very melancholly yet I am perswaded he shall find little melancholly predominant in my answering him As for unnecessarie divisions for the cause which he doth seriously and wisely admonish his Adversary to beware of I willingly professe I love to have Sea roome and not to be confined unto straights by any sullen rules of my Adversarie and truly I perscribe to none but as I find him so I frame my selfe to grapple with him as congruously as I can If God be on my side why should I be afraid of any colours Let the Divell and all his Angels of Darknesse lye in camp against me I shall not budge But here is danger mentioned which I professe I did not project and that is the dashing of my selfe upon the rocks of my Adversaries displeasure And his interpretation of my courses to my displeasure For if I doe not conforme to his sullen rules of Stoicall moralitie he shall ever interpret it I marke well the Phrase he comes not willingly on to make harsh interpratations but he shall doe it as much as to say the uprightnesse of his judgment and the justice of his disposition will urge him hereunto namely to interpret it As a strong signe of a weake cause or at least an Argument of an obstinate minde But soft and faire who made my Adversary my Judge by whose interpretations I am to stand or fall How Imperiously doth he carry himselfe in this as if he were some Bugbeare or dreadfull Adversary doe I say or Magistrate rather see the poverty of my wit and of my Spirit too the one was never so inventious of any such trick nor the other so audacious or immodest if I may be so bold soe to speak as to serve my selfe therewith to scarre my Adversary desparing by faire waies to overcome him and make him yeild or else his obstinacy knowne to the world for who seeth not that I have as much authoritie to threaten him with the sharpnesse of my interpretations of him as he to threaten me not with the like austerenesse of his I am willingly content the world may judge between us both of the cause debated and of our carriage therein throughout and who hath the truth on his side and shews most learning and honesty in the maintayning of that he undertakes I willingly confesse the five points controverted are tender points and the knowledge of the truth herein meerly concerning a mans salvation But this Author deales only upon the halfe of one of them and that most needlesse also And the resolution of the Doctrine of Election depends upon the resolution of the doctrine of Election depends upon the resolution of an other point namely whether Grace be conferred freely or according to mens workes That it is conferred freely and not according to workes hereupon it is that Austin builds the absolutenesse of predestination and election wherence it followeth evidently that as many as doe maintaine the Decree of predestination to be conditionall must also in Austin's judgment maintaine that Grace is given according unto workes which was of old condemned in the Synod of Palaestine and all along in divers Synods and Provinciall Councells against the Pelagians Now if Predestination be absolute and not conditionall it followes that Reprobation also is absolute and not conditionall which consequence I presume the Author of these additions will not deny But as there is a great deale of craft in dawbing so these craftie Crowders are apt to worke upon generalities and in distinctions Reprobation we know is as well from Grace as from glory and God's reprobation from glory is joyned with a purpose to inflict damnation Now as touching Reprobation from grace we readily professe that God hath both ordained to deny grace unto some of his meere pleasure like as he hath ordained to bestow that upon others of his meere pleasure and also of his meere pleasure hath made such a decree And these Authors dare not mainifestly oppose us in this argument lest the sower leaven of their Pelagian Tenet manifest it selfe to the whole world namely in maintaining that grace is conferred according to workes But as touching reprobation from Glory and God's purpose to inflict Damnation These Juglers so carry the matter as if they would make the world believe our Doctrine is that God decreed to deny men Glory and to inflict Damnation not for their sinnes but meerely because it is his pleasure so to doe a most unshamefast crimination For albeit that God hath made no law according whereunto he proceeds in giving grace unto some and denying it unto others but herein proceeds meerely according unto his pleasure and not according to men's workes it being manifest Pelagianisme to affirme the contrary yet we openly willingly profes And all the Christian world knowes it to be true That God hath made a law whereunto according he proceeds in the distribution of rewards and Punishments namely these Whosoever believeth shall be saved whosoever believeth not shall be damned And according to this law God hath decreed from everlasting to proceed in pronouncing the sentence of Salvation and Damnation on mankind namely to bestow Salvation not of his meere pleasure without all respect of the workes of men but as a reward of their faith repentance and good workes and to inflict damnation not of his owne meere pleasure without any respect to the workes of men but as a due reward for their sinnes never broken of by repentance Only this decree thus to proceed in the execution of rewards and punishments we professe God hath made according to the meere pleasure of his will whereby it is apparent that these men play the part of notable Impostours when they abuse the world's credulitie in making them believe that we maintaine any such absurd decrees or executions of decrees which they obtrude upon us and to this purpose these are willing to take the benefit and advantage of Confusion for it is most profitable for some to fish in troubled waters and to walke in the darke But when the light of distinction comes this madd's them to see their impostures discovered and their sophistications made to appeare in their proper colours The eye of the Adulterer saith Iob waiteth for the twilight and saieth no eye shall see me and disguiseth his face They dig through houses in the darke which they marked for themselves in the day they know not
that they shall come to passe in such a manner as joyned with a possibility of not cōing to passe otherwise they should come to passe not contingently but necessarily But it is growne to be this Authours naturall genius miserably to overreach while he keeps himselfe to his own formes inshaping the opinion of his adversaries impatient to be beaten out of them and to have his veteres avias à pulmone repelli oldgrandmothers vain conceits to be pulled out of Lastly this Authour shapeth us to make damnation an end intended by God which we conceive to be a very shallow project we know nothing but Gods owne glory that can be this end And therefore even there where Solomon professeth that God made the wicked against the day of Evill herewithall acknowledgeth that God made all thinges forhimselfe At length we have gotten cleare aboard to come acquainted with this Authours full discourse and not by patches as hitherto we have done For here he promiseth to acquaint us with the reasons that have convinced him of the untruth of absolute Reprobation as it is carried the upper way and like a Martialist a man at armes he tells us they fight against it and thus the interpolator discourseth The first part of the first Argument against the supralapsarians sect 1. They are drawen ab incommodo from the greater evils and inconveniences which issue from it naturally which may be referred to two maine heads 1 The dishonour of God 2 The overthrow of religion and government It dishououreth God For it chargeth him deeply with two things no wayes agreeable to his nature 1 Mens Eternall torments in Hell 2 Their sinnes on Earth First It chargeth him with Mens eternall torments in Hell and maketh him to be the prime principall 2nd invincible cause of the damnation of Millions of miserable soules The prime cause because it reporteth him to have appointed them to distruction of his owne voluntary disposition antecedent to all deserts in them and the Principall and invincible cause because it maketh the Damnation of Reprobates to be necessary and unavoydable thorough Gods absolute and uncontroulable decree and soe necessary that they can no more escape it then poore Astyanax could avoyd the breaking of his necke when the Graecians tumbled him downe from the Tower of Troy Now this is an neavy charge contrary to scripture Gods nature and sound Reason 1 To Scripture which makes man the Principall nay the only cause in opposition to God of his owne ruine Thy destruction is of thy selfe ô Israell but in me is thine help As I live saith the Lord I will not the death of the wicked c. Turne yee turne yee why will yee dye He doth not afflict willingly nor greive the Children of men To which speech for likeneile sake I will joyne one of Prospers Gods predestination is to many the cause of standing to none of falling 2 It is contrary to Gods nature who sets forth himselfe to be a God mercifull gracious long suffering abundant in goodnesse c. And he is acknowledged to be soe by King David Thou Lord art good and mercifull and of great Kindnesse to all them that call upon thee And by the Prophets Joell Jonah and Michah He is gracious and mercifull slow to anger and of great Kindnesse And who saith Micah is a God like unto thee that taketh away iniquity c. He retaineth not his wrath for ever because mercy pleaseth him 3 'T is contrary also to sound reason which cannot but argue such a Decree of extreame cruelty and consequently remove it from the father of mercyes We cannot in reason thinke that any man in the world can so farre put off humanity and nature as to resolve with himselfe to marry and beget Children that after they be borne and have lived a while with him he may hang them up by the tongues teare thir flesh with scourges pull it from their bones with burning pincers or put them to any cruell tortures that by thus torturing them he may shew what his Authority and power is over them Much lesse can we believe without great violence to reason that the God of mercy can so farre forget himselfe as out of his absolute pleasure to ordaine such infinite multitudes of his Children made after his owne image to everlasting fire and create them one after another that after the end of a short life here he might torment them without end hereafter to shew his power and soveraingty over them If to destroy the righteous with the wicked temporally be such a peece of injustice that Abraham removeth it from God with an Absit wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked that be farre from thee O Lord. shall not the judge of all the world doe right How deepely may we thinke would that good man have detested one single thought that God resolveth upon the destruction of many innocent soules eternally in hell fire Here this Authour carrieth himselfe like another Ptolomeus Ceraunus or as if he had some cheife place in the lightning legion not by his prayers but by his discourse he seemes to thunder and to lighten all along When the Lord appeared to Elias he was neither in the mighty wind nor in the earthquake nor in the fire but in the still and soft voyce I hope to prove all this to be but Ignis fatuus Mountebancks use to make great ostentation and crackes but commonly they end in meere impostures and it is no hing strange when men opposing the grace of God loose their owne witts and please themselves in the confusion of their owne senses For when men are in love with their owne errours they hate the light yea the very light of nature in the distinct notice of it would be an offence unto them Can this Authour be ignorant of that which every meane Sophister knowes that there be foure kinds of causes Materiall Formall Efficient Finall that he should expatiate thus in speaking of a cause without all distinction Is it strange that God should be a prime cause and principall in execution of vengeance Doth he not professe saying vengeance is mine and I will repay Is he not called the God to whom vengeance belongeth And are not his magistrates his Ministers to execute vengeance temporall here in this world And can any sober man dout whether God be invincible whom the Apostle pronounceth to be irresistable Againe an efficient cause admits farther distinction for it is either Physicall or Morall Physicall is that which really workes or executes any thing as every tradesman hath his worke which his hands doe make so God hath his worke which he executes and his worke is judgment as well as mercy I am the Lord which shew mercy and judgment and righteousnesse for in these things I delight saith the Lord and he would have us when we doe glory glory in this that we doe understand and know him to
be such a God A Morall efficient is twofold being only of a moveing nature to move others to doe somewhat as namely either by perswading or by meriting or deserving He that perswades moves an other to doe some what he that meriteth thereby moves another either to reward him or punish him Now to walke in the light of this distinction and not to please our selves by walking in darknesse though God be the prime principall and invincible cause of man's damnation in the kind of a cause efficient physicall which should not seeme strange to an ordinary Christian who knowes full well that vengeance is God's peculiar worke as the Iudge of all the world and that he delights in the execution thereof yet this hinders not but that man may be the cause of his own damnation in the way of a meritorious cause justly deserving it Omnis poena Deum habet Authorem All punishment hath God for the Authour of it This is a principle acknowledged both by the Arminians and Vasquez the Jesuite but never is punishment inflicted on any by the hands of God save on those who formerly have deserved it Consider we farther as touching the severall kinds of causes formerly mentioned if the question be which is the principall Aristotle answereth that this is not confined to any one kind of them somtimes the materiall cause somtimes the formall cause somtimes the efficient somtimes the finall cause is the demonstrative cause the cause propter quam the cause by vertue where of the effect hath its existence but this peculiar and speciall cause is described thus It is that whereby satisfactory answer is made to the question demanding why such a thing is Now in execution of punishment or condigne vengeance this satisfactory answer is made by representing the meritorious cause never by representing the efficient cause as for example if it be demanded why such a malefactor is executed upon the gallowes no sober man will answer because the Sheriffe cōmanded it to be so or because the Judge would have it so but because he robd upon the high way or committed some criminall fact or other which is capitall by the lawes of our land and to be punished with hanging upon the gallowes In like sort if question be made why devills or wicked men are damned is it our doctrine to referre the cause hereof to the mere pleasure of God Doe not all confesse that God inflicts damnation upon thē merely for their sinnes and transgressions wherein they have continued unto death without repentance Yet we acknowledge that God could have taken them off from their sinnes while they lived if he would by giving them repentance as he hath dealt with us and that merely of his free grace For we willingly confes that our sinnes are our owne but our faith is not our repentance is not When I say our owne I meane in respect that they are of our selves otherwise we acknowledge both faith and repentance to be our owne accipiendo in asmuch as we receive them but they are God's gifts and so they are his dando in asmuch as he gives them as Remigius speaketh Now what is become of this Authours pompous discourse Is it not the like the cracking of thornes in the fire making a great noise but the light of distinction like fire sets an end unto it and makes it appeare in its owne likenesse and proves nothing but a squib For albeit God in his decree makes the damnation of reprobates to be necessary and unavoidable yet seeing he makes it not to fall on any but for their sinnes what colour of dishonour unto God in ordaining that Iudas shall necessarily and unavoidably be damned for betraying the Sonne of God and afterwards most desperatly murthering himselfe If hereupon he could no more avoid his damnation then Astionax could the breaking of his neck when the Grecians tumbled him downe from the tower of Troy will any man that is not bereaved of common sense make strange of this It is true God did appoint both Iudas and all other wicked persons that never break off their sinnes by repentance unto destructiō of his own voluntary disposition For God workes all things according to the counsaile of his will and if it pleased him he could annihilate them upon the fresh foot of any sin or after they have suffered the vengeance of hell fire as many yeares in hell as they lived here in sinne yea and the devills in hell as Origen was of opinion and the Jewes at this day are of the same by Sir Edwin Sandes his relation whether this Author be of the same or not I know not And lastly we willingly confesse that the decree of God was antecedent to the deserts of men for reprobation is as antient as election and election was made before the foundation of the world if we believe Saint Paul rather then any other who either by word or deed doth manifest himselfe to be of a contrary opinion Still damnation is inflicted by God only for sinne and in degree answerable unto their sinnes and only because of their sinnes as a meritorious cause thereof though God makes use of it to his owne ends and the manifestation of his owne glory as Solomon professeth namely that God made all things for himselfe even the wicked against the day of evill And Saint Paul tells that as the Lord suffereth with long patience the vessells of wrath prepared to destruction that he might shew his wrath and make his power known So likewise another reason hereof he specifies to be this That he might declare the riches of his glory upon the vessells of mercy which he hath prepared unto glory For when we shall behold the unspeakable misery brought upon others by reason of their sinnes how rich will God's glory appeare unto us when we consider that had it not been for his free grace delivering us from sinne we had been swallowed up of the same sorrowes And thus Alvarez writeth disput III. The glory of God's mercy in his elect and in like manner the manifestation of divine justice on Reprobates is truely and properly the finall cause why God did permit sinnes both in Reprobates and Angells And he proves it out of this passage of Saint Paul So Aquin 1 p. pag. 23. art 5. This is the reason saith he why God hath chosen some and Reprobated others that representation might be made of Gods goodnesse towards the Elect in the way of mercy pardoning them and on the Reprobates in the way of justice punishing them And Alphonsus Mendoza a Scotist concurres with them in this and we see they make Saint Pauls doctrine their foundation And indeed albeit at the day of judgment there will be found a vast difference between the Elect and Reprobates the one having departed this life in the state of faith repentance the other in infidelitie and impenitency in such sort as God will bestow on his elect
eternall life by way of reward and inflict eternall death on the other by way of punishment yet in conferring the grace of regeneration of faith and repentance upon the one and denying the same graces unto the other the Lord carrieth himselfe not according to mens workes but merely according to the pleasure of his owne will shewing mercy on whom he will and hardning whom he will in which respect he is said to make men in what condition he will as Rom 9. 20. Shall the thing formed say to it that formed it why hast thou made me thus Though indeed he makes but one sort of them after a new fashion leaving the other in the state of naturall corruption wherein he findeth them And likewise is compared by the same Apostle to a Potter who out of the same lump makes one vessell unto honour and an other unto dishonour But to returne I have I trust sufficiently shewed that in all this which he hath delivered when things are rightly understood and duely considered ther 's nothing found alien from the holy nature of God no more then it is repugnant to his holy nature to decree and execute vengeance condigne vengeance even the vengeance of damnation on men for their sinnes in such sort that it shall unavoidably overtake all those that breake not off their sinnes by repentance before their death Nothing more agreeable to Scripture nor to the nature of God revealed unto us in holy Scripture then this and consequently nothing more agreeable to Christian reason But as for naturall reason God forbid we should make that the rule of our faith as concerning the resurrection of the dead and the powers of the world to come the rewards of heaven and the torments of hell where the worme never dieth and the fire never goeth out And may it not seeme very strange that a Christian and a Divine and one magnified by the Arminian party for great abilities should undertake to prove this doctrine to be contrary to Scripture to the nature of God and to sound reason Well let us proceed to observe how well he performes what he undertakes And here he saith 1. That the Scripture makes man the principall nay the only cause in opposition to God of his owne ruine We answer the Scripture makes man the only cause of his owne ruine in the meritorious cause thus man's destruction is of himselfe But this nothing hinders God from being the cause why vengeance destruction and damnation are executed upon man for he is the God to whom vengeance belongeth he delights as well in shewing judgment as in shewing mercy Indeed did we maintaine that God damnes the Reprobate whether man or Angells of his mere pleasure this Argument of his were seasonable We know full well that God of his free grace shewes mercy but judgment only upon provocation and herein he proceeds slowly too for he is slow to wrath and easie to be intreated Yet God's afflicting is not alwaies for sinne neither doth it alwaies proceed in the way of punishment when we suffer for Christ we have cause to rejoyce that he counts us worthy to suffer for his name neither were the afflictions of Iob brought upon him for his sinnes but for the tryall of his faith and to make him an example of patience to all succeeding generations and as for that of Ezech I will not the death of the wicked It is the usuall course of men of this Authours spirit thus to render the wordes whereas our last English translation renders them thus I have noe pleasure in the death of the wicked Now as a man may will that wherein he takes noe pleasure as a sick-man takes a bitter potion sometimes for the recovery of his health so God may will that wherein he takes noe delight And whether it be meant of first or second death it cannot be denied but God wills it for he workes all things according to the councell of his owne will Then againe if we consider the infliction of death as an execution of judgment God not only willeth this but delights therein also as it is expressed That of Prosper is nothing to the present purpose we treating here of the cause of damnation not of sinning we say God is the God to whom vengeance belongeth not to whom sinne belongeth Besides sinne as sinne hath noe efficient cause at all but defficient as Austine hath delivered many hundered yeares agoe It is true it is in Gods power to preserve any man from any sinne it is in his power to take any man off from any sinfull course by repentance if he will but he is bound to none he hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth and in all this he is not culpable In the next place he tels us It is contrary to God's nature but what To damne men for their sinnes neverbroken offby repentance for all our divines maintaine that God is Authour of damnation to none but such and to such God is not mercyfull nor gratious nor suffers them any longer nor shewes any goodnesse towards them while they lived he did yea much long suffering and patience inviting them thereby to repentance yea and by his word also inviting many but after they dye in sinne therewithall an end is sett to the dispensation of Gods gracious proceedings with them Much lesse doe we deny him to be good and mercifull and of great kindnesse to all that call upon him For Gods mercy doth not exercise it selfe by necessity of nature but by freedome of will yet he heareth the cry of Ravens and not a Sparrow falleth to the ground without the providence of our heavenly father and the very Lyons roaring after thir prey doe seeke their meat at the hands of God These mercyes are temporall but as for spirituall mercyes for the working and cherishing of Sanctification these are not extended unto all but to some only even to whom he will And accordingly the elect of God are called vessels of mercy Yet to the execution of damnation on any he proceeds not till after death and stayes no longer so slow to wrath he is towards the worst and no more slow to the best of them Who is a God like unto thee saith Micah that taketh away iniquity here this Authour out of wisdome maketh a stoppe leaving out that which followeth and passing by the transgressions of the remnant of his heretage That restriction belike he did not so well brooke but having leapt over that he is content to take in that which followeth he retaineth not his wrath for ever because mercy pleaseth him to witt towards the remnant of his heritage of his people But I hope nought of this can hinder God from being the Authour of damnation to all that dye in sinne without repentance without any prejudice to his holinesse though he retaineth wrath for ever against them We come to his reason which he calls soūd saying that it
willed by him but only on some things Divina volunt as non omnibus sed quibusdam necessitatem imponit And in the body of that question thus he writes The distinction of things necessary and contingent proceeds from the distinction of God's will For when a cause is effectuall and powerfull to worke the effect followeth the cause not only so farre as to be brought to passe but also as touching the manner of its coming to passe Therefore seing the will of God is most effectuall it not only followeth that those things come to passe which God will have come to passe but that they come to passe after the same manner also after which he will have them come to passe Now God will have some things come to passe necessarily and some things contingently that there may be an order in things for the perfection of the world And therefore for the producing of some effects he hath fitted causes necessary which cannot faile by which effects are brought forth necessarily And for the producing of other effects he hath fitted causes contingent such as may faile in working from which effects are brought to passe contingently So that upon suspicion that God doth will a thing that thing shall certainly and infallibly come to passe but how Not allwaies necessarily or contingently And that certaine and infallible eveniency of things is called also necessity in the Schooles but not necessity simply but only upon suspicion which may well consist with absolute contingency But to make the point yet more cleare Let us distinctly consider the things decreed For they that have an evill cause delight in confusion and feare nothing more then the light of distinction Now the things decreed by Reprobation are either deniall of Grace which is joyned with the permission of sinne Or damnation for sinne according to that on Aquinas Reprobation includes the will of permitting sinne inflicting damnation for sinne Now both the permission of sinne and damnation of God's part are his free acts and therefore come to passe freely But upon supposition that God will deny a man Grace it is impossible that such a man should have grace Secondly secluding grace there is noe actuall transgression for which a man is damned but may be avoided man having power for that naturally though naturally he have noe power to performe every good act The reason is because amongst good acts some are supernaturall as the acts of the three Theologicall vertues Faith Hope and Charity But noe sinfull act is supernaturall all such are naturall Now it is confest on all hands that notwithstanding man's corruption by reason of originall sinne yet he hath still power and free will to performe any naturall act and accordingly he hath free power to abstaine from it So that Iudas had free will to abstaine from betraying his Master After he had betrayed him he had free power to abstaine from destroying himselfe so that as these sinnes of his for which he was damned were avoidable by him in like manner his damnation for these sinnes was avoidable And allbeit God had determined that Iudas by Divine permission should betray his Master and destroy himselfe according to to that of Austin Iudas electus est ad prodendum sanguinem Domini Iudas was ordained to betray his master And that of the Apostles jointly Of a truth against thy holy Son Iesus both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and people of Israell were gathered to doe what thy hand and thy counsell had before determined to be done Acts 4. 28. Yet herehence it followes only that it was necessary to wit upon this supposition namely of the Divine ordinance that these things should come to passe namely both Iudas his betraying of Christ and Herods mocking of him and Pilates condemning him and the peoples crying out away with him together with their preferring of Barrabas a murtherer before him and the Souldiers crucifying him But how came it to passe Not necessarily but contingently that is in this Authours phrase evitably and avoidably inas much as it was joyned with an absolute possibility to come to passe otherwise Nor with a possibility only but with a free power in the agents to have forborne all these contumelious carriages of theirs towards the son of God For both Iudas had free will to abstaine from betraying him and Herod with his Herodians could have abstained from their contumelious handling of him and Pilate from condemning him and the Preists and people from conspiring against him and the Souldiers from crucifying him only they had no power to abstaine from all or any of these vile actions in an holy manner as no man else hath power to abstaine from any evill in a gracious manner without grace Yea without the Grace of regeneration which alone plants in us both faith in God and a love of God to the very contempt of our selves and no performance of any good or abstinence from any evill is acceptable with God unto eternall life unlesse it proceed from this faith and this love That which is here produced out of Marlorate is a strange speech and such as I never read or heard from any before and such as whereof I can give no tolerable construction And is it fit that every extravagant passage that is found in any Writer of ours should be brought forth to charge our doctrine with It were a fitter speech for a Papist who maintaining the absolutenesse of Reprobation doth withall maintaine an apostacy from grace which we do not If Marlorate had any such opiniō he sings therein to himself to his own Muses What Divine of ours maintains that God hath decreed to damne any man otherwaies then by way of punishment for sin continued in unto death without repentance Had he spoken of Good works morall only it is true any hypocrite is capable of them and none taste deeper of Damnation then hypocrites But as for the worke of true faith true repentance it is the generall profession of our Divines that as faith and the spirit of repentance once given never faile so they shall infallibly bring a man unto everlasting life and free him from condemnation But any thing serves this Authors turn to vent his stomack And I am perswaded there is not one more of all our Divines that he can shew to concurre with Marlorat in this And if there were is it fit their improvident inconsiderate expressions should be cast in their teeth that avouch them not but rather conceive them to be void of all sobriety Brentius apud Marloratum in illud Ioh. 15. 2. Omnem palmitem in me non ferentem fructum tollet c. Caeterum haec sententia occurrit curiositati carnis quae solet argutè magis quà m reverenter de praedestinatione disserere pro suo ingenio colligere nullum à Domino ad vitam aeternam electum posse damnari etiamsi pessimè vivat Nullum item à Domino
pleasure proceeds in the denying of faith and repentance whereby alone sinne is cured and so of mere pleasure suffers some finally to persevere in sinne yet in inflicting damnation he doth not carry himselfe of mere pleasure without all respect to men's workes but herein he proceeds according to a law which is this whosoever believeth not and repenteth not shall be damned And like as God damnes noe man but for his finall perseverance in sinne So from everlasting he did decree to damne noe man but for his finall perseverance in sinne So that by vertue of the Divine decree of reprobation sinne and finall perseverance therein is constituted the cause of damnation but by noe meanes is it constituted the cause of the decree of reprobation neither doth the foresight of sinne precede it For first like as upon this doctrine that Grace is not given according unto workes the absolutenesse of predestination is grounded in the judgment of Austine as by necessary consequence issuing there from In like sort upon this that grace is not denied according unto men's workes as necessarily followeth the absolutenesse of Reprobation Secondly looke by what reason the Apostle proves that Election is not of good workes namely because before the children were borne or had done any good it was said the Elder shall serve the Yonger by the same reason it evidently followeth that reprobation is not of evill workes because before they were borne or had done good or evill it was said the Elder shall serve the Younger Esau's reprobation being as emphatically signified under his subjection to Iacob his younger as Iacob's election was designed by his dominion over Esau his Elder brother 3. If sinne be the cause of the decree of Reprobation then either of ' its own nature or by constitution divine Not by necessity of nature for undoubtedly God could annihilate men for sinne had it pleased him If by constitution Divine mark what absurdity followeth namely this that God did ordaine that upon foresight of sinne he would ordaine men unto damnation 4. If foresight of sinne precedes the decree of damning them for sin then the decree to permit sin much more precedes the decree to damne them for it as without which there can be noe foresight of sin and consequently permission of sin is first in intention and then damnation and therefore it should be last in execution that is men should first be damned and afterwards permitted to sin to wit in an other world 5. And lastly Reprobation is the will of God but there can be noe cause of God's will as Aquinas hath proved much lesse can a temporall thing be the cause of God's will which is eternall Upon this ground it is that Aquinas professeth Never any man was so mad as to say that any thing might be the cause of predestination as touching the act of God predestinating So may I say it were a mad thing to maintaine that any thing can be the cause of Reprobation as touching the act of God reprobating For the case is altogether alike the will of God being alike uncapable of a cause in both whereas this Authour saith that God by our opinion doth draw men on by his unconquerable power from sin to sin 't is mere bumbast All men being borne in sin must needs persevere in sin unlesse God gives grace to regenerate them For whether they doe that which is morally good they doe it not in a gracious manner or whether they abstaine from evill they doe it not in a gracious manner He that is of God heareth God's wordes ye therefore heare them not saith our Saviour because ye are not of God Arminius acknowledgeth and Corvinus after him that all men by reason of Adam's sin are cast upon a necessitie of sinning He askes what difference is there in the course which God taketh for the conversion of the Elect and obduration of Reprobates and I have already shewed a vast difference and here in breife I shew a difference He hath mercy on the one in the regenerating them curing the corruption he finds in them he shewes not the like grace to others but leaves them unto themselves as touching the evill acts committed by the one he concurreth as a cause efficient to the act which for the substance of it is naturally good For ens bonum convertuntur every thing that is an entity so farre is good but he hath no efficiency as touching the evill as which indeed can admit no efficiencie as Austin hath delivered of old Man himselfe is only a deficient cause of sin as sin and that in a culpable manner which kind of deficiency is not incident to God But to every good act he concurres two manner of waies that in the nature of a positive efficient cause in both namely to the substance of the act by influence generall and to the goodnesse of it by influence speciall and supernaturall It is true the Fathers made sin the object of prescience not of predestination the reason was because they took predestination to be only of such things which God did effect in time Now sin is none of those things that come to passe by God's effection but only by God's permission And that such was the notion of predestination with the Fathers I prove first out of Austin In sua quae falli mutarique non potest praescientiâ opera sua futura disponere illud omnino nec aliud quidquam est praedestinare In his foreknowledge which can neither be deceived nor changed to dispose his own workes that is to predestinate and nothing else And sin not being the worke of God no marvaile if it come not under predestination Secondly out of the Synod of Valens Praedestinatione autem Deum ea tantum statuisse dicimus quae ipse vel gratuita misericordiâ vel justo judicio facturus erat We say that God by predestination ordained only such things as himselfe would work either of his free mercy or in just judgment Againe it is as true that they made even sin it selfe the Object of God's will witnesse that of Austin Non aliquid fit nisi Omnipotens fieri velit vel sinendo ut fiat vel ipse faciendo Not any thing comes to passe but God Allmighty willing it either by permitting it or working it So the eleaventh article of the Church of Ireland So Arminius Deus voluit Achabum mensuram scelerum implere God would have Ahab to fulfill the measure of his sins So scripture often mentioned And Austin gives the reason of it malum fieri bonū est it is good that evill should be Bellarmine confesseth as much namely that Mala fieri Deo permittente bonum est It is good that evills should come to passe by God's permission And shall not God have liberty to will that which is good When he saith of the Ancients that They refuted this foule assertion of an absolute irresistable and necessitating decree
as he could easily shew but that he feares to be overlong It is nothing but froth It is not the first time I have had experience of such like Pyrgopolinices eloquence of his Bradwardin hath demonstrated that the will of God is absolute throughout speaking of his decree and none conditionall and his demonstration is this If there be any will of God conditionall then the condition whereupon it proceds must be willed by God or no to say it is not is to acknowledge some things to exist in the world in the producing whereof God hath noe hand which is generally disclaimed And Durand who affirmes some such thing is opposed generally and indeed his arguments are very sleight But if God doth will that condition then either he wills it absolutely or conditionally If absolutely then the cause is gained For then that which was first willed was willed also absolutely not conditionally As for example if God wills a man's salvation upon condition of faith if withall God's will be and that absolutely to give him faith it followeth that God wills that man's salvation and that absolutely If it be answered that the condition is willed not absolutely but upon another condition of that other condition I enquire whether God willed it or noe If noe then something is produced in the world in the production whereof God hath no hand which is very inconvenient If you grant that he willed that also I farther demand whether he willed it absolutely or conditionally If absolutely then all that depended thereupon were absolutely willed and so the cause is obtained If you say this condition was willed also conditionally so a way is made to a progression in infinitum which is a thing unsufferable by the consent of all And as many as are put to give instance will forthwith manifest the nakednes of their cause This demonstration of Bradwardine I sometimes represented to this very Authour in our private walking and communication and he professed it was a very ingenious argument As for the other terme Irresistable this manifests this Authour's meaning that some will of God speaking of his decree is of a resistable nature Whereas St. Paul to the contrary plainly gives us to understand that God's will is irresistable the Psalmist saith that the counsell of the Lord shall stand And my counsell shall stand and I will doe whatsoever I will And therefore his decrees are resembled to mountaines of brasse As for the lost terme necessitating For the Gentleman paies us in words for want of better coine not considering that words are but winde he would cheat his Reader by this presuming he would be so simple as to believe that God by this decree of his takes away the liberty of the creature but it doth not nor any contingency as the eleaventh article of Ireland doth particulate and Bradwardine who peculiarly useth this phrase understands hereby noe other necessitie then upon supposition which Alvarez shewes by generall concurrence of School-Divines that it may well stand with absolute contingency and liberty it being noe other necessity then that which is called secundum quid in some respect And such a necessitie Arminius maketh consequent to permission Bradwardine is express that God necessitates the will to produce a free act And he nothing differs from Aquinas his doctrine where he maintaines that God's will imposeth noe necessitie upon the creatures will because he ordaines both necessary things come to passe necessarily and contingent things contingently that is with a possibility to the contrary likewise free actions freely that is with a free active power in the Agent to doe otherwise But come we to the consideration of the passages produced out of the Ancients For I presume they are the choicest For though he feared to be overlong and therefore could not exhibit all yet therefore it behooved him to represent the best And I believe he could produce more of this nature For I have been an eye witnes of it under his hand now foure yeares agoe And though he produce them not I hope to doe it for him ere we part to shew how little I feare his concealements and somewhat of the Predestinarians also being glad of such an opportunity to discover the wildnesse and precipitation of his judgment touching that which is called the predestinarian heresy here touched by him The first is a passage taken out of the Church of Lyons denying that God hath layed a necessitie of sinning on any man Another out of Remigius both represented yea many more of this nature by that most reverend and most learned Arch-Bishop of Armagh Doctor Usher in his history of Goteschalk 138. and 173. To these I answer First these Ancients are about 850 yeares after Christ yet marvailous orthodoxe considering those times in the point of predestination And let no man think that they deny a necessity of sinning laid upon all by originall corruption the consequent of Adam's prevarication If they were of any other opinion should it become us to follow them in this Doctor Potter acknowledgeth it as the doctrine of the Church of England that libertas à peccato liberty from sinne is not incident to a naturall man it is true he desires to quash it by saying there is yet in man Libertas à necessitate à liberty from necessitie but from what necessity From the necessity of sinning If so why should he then deny a liberty from sin yet he never taketh any paines to cleare this from contradiction but blindfoldly followes Bernard without caring much to understand him And he looks to be pardoned because Vossius did so before him M. Fulke in his answer to the Rhemish Testament usually distinguisheth between libertas à peccato libertas à coactione liberty from sinne and liberty from constraint and denying all liberty from sinne to a naturall man yet grants unto him a liberty from coaction I have taken some paines to shew Doctor Potter's superficiary carriage in this and to cleare Bernard which it may be I will adde to this by the reason of the homogeneous nature of it In the meane time liberty from sinne is utterly denied to a naturall man and that by the doctrine of our Church And noe marvaile seeing Arminius himselfe and Corvinus those great patrons of natures power doe acknowledg this as before I mentioned only they say God is ready to remove this necessitie of sinning from all and every one 2. But the meaning of Remigius and the Church of Lyons is the same with that of Prosper formerly mentioned in his answer to the objection of Vincentius where he confesseth Hominem non redemptum Diabolo esse captivum a man not redeemed is captivated by Satan and that creatura peccatrix poenalem dominationem Diaboli merito patitur cui relicto vero domino sponte se vendidit The creature sinning deservedly suffers the dominion of Satan by way of punishment as to whom he sould him selfe voluntarily Haec
men devise God and man to move to the producing of the same act as two men in lifting a timber logge most indecently And to free this concurrence from chance they say sometimes that God workes this or that act in us modo velimus that is upon condition that we will But when they consider that God workes the act of willing as well as ought else are demanded to answer upon what condition he workes this what condition will they devise of this will he say modo velimus provided that we will As much as to say God will produce the act of willing provided that it be produced already by us Others say that God foreseeing that the will of man at such a time will produce such an act of willing in case God be pleased to concurre to the producing of it hereupon he resolves to concurre to the producing of it whereby the finall resolution is rather into the will of God then into the will of the creature I say the finall resolution of every sinfull act committed by the creature Secondly here is devised a thing future without all ground For whereas the act of willing as for example in Iudas the act of willing to betray his Master is it in ' its own nature merely possible not future how then did it passe into the condition of a thing future and that from everlasting For from everlasting God knew it as a thing future this could not be done without a cause And what cause could there be of an eternall effect but an eternall cause which is God alone And in God nothing can be devised to be the cause thereof but his will or decree Therefore to avoid this they must be driven to conclude that all future things became future by necessitie of nature if not of their own nature yet at least by the necessitie of God's nature he producing them all not freely but by necessitie of nature This is that Atheisticall necessitie whereupon our Adversaries are cast while they oppose such a necessitie as depends upon God's decree ordaining all things to come to passe agreably to their natures necessary things necessarily contingent things contingently and accordingly ordaining necessary causes working necessarily for the producing of the one and contingent causes working contingently for the producing of the other as Aquinas discourseth 1. pag q. 19 in the Article whose title is this Utrum divina voluntas necessitatem rebus imponat whether the will of God imposeth a necessitie on things that come to passe in the world The reason this Authour brings is a mere Socysme saying the same over and over againe As when he saith For when two causes concurre to the producing of an effect the one principall overruling cause the other but an instrumentall wholly at the devotion of the principall then is the effect in all reason to be imputed to the principall which by the force of ' its influxe and impression produceth it rather then to the subordinate and instrumentall which is but a mere servant in the production of it To which I answer that which he calls overruling I have often shewed how absurdly it is imputed unto us For how can that be called overruling which workes not the will contrary to ' its nature but moves it only agreably to the nature thereof As for the cause principall what Scholar of any braines ever denyed God to be the cause principall in any action to the producing whereof he concurres For is he not the first cause and the first Agent Are not all other second causes and second Agents But this Authour hopes his Reader will understand this in reference only to the sinne not to the naturall act under it whereas God as touching the sinfullnesse of it is no Agent at all much lesse a prime Agent no cause at all much lesse a prime cause Then secondly let God never so effectually work any creature to the producing of an act connaturall thereunto yet if he works the creature therunto agreably to its nature that is if it be an necessary Agent moues it to worke necessarily if it be a contingent agent moves it to worke contingently if it be a free agent moves it to worke freely then by Arminius his confesion our cause is gained For God shall be found free from blame and the creature void of excuse Now this is clearly our doctrine and in effect the doctrine of all them who say that God determines the will as the Dominicans or that God necessitates the will as Bradwardine For they all acknowledge hereby that God moves the creature to worke freely in such sort that in the very act of working they might doe otherwise if they would They confesse this providence of God is a great mystery and not sufficiently comprehensible by humane reason Cajetan professeth thus much as before alleadged and Alvarez maintaines it in a set disputation And supposing God's concourse as necessarily required to every act of the creature they are able to prove by evident demonstration that no other concourse can be admitted then this whereby God moves every creature and that effectually to every act thereof but agreably to ' its nature and condition And this is farther demonstrated by God's fore knowledge of things future Another Arminian with whom I have had to deale in this argument being pressed with this reason drawen from God's foreknowledge and urged to shew how things possible became future that from everlasting for from everlasting they were known to God as future had no way to helpe selfe but by flying to the actuall existence of all things in eternity And I have good ground for strong presumption that this Authour with whom now I deale had his hand in that Pye which was above foure yeares agoe See the desperate issue of these mens discourses who are drawen to take hold of such a Tenet to helpe themselves withall which their best freinds the Jesuites the Authours of Scientia media doe utterly disclaime And on the other side the Dominicans who embrace the actuall existence of all things in eternity are utterly repugnant to the doctrine of Scientia media So that when the Jesuites are reconciled to the Dominicans in the point of actuall existence of all things in eternity And the Dominicans to the Jesuites in the point of Scientia media then these men with whom I deale are like to prevaile which I doubt will hardly be before Elias comes Thirdly consider if when one cause is principall overruling the other the effect must be imputed rather to the principall then to the other It followes evidently that when the causes doe equally concurre without any such overruling of one the other then the effect is equally imputable unto each consequently the sin For such is this Authour's language in this Argument is equally imputable to both to God as well as man And he is to be accounted the Author of it as well as man I appeale to every man's
as sinne is no worke of God but the permission of it is his worke and his meanes not to this end that he may punish it but he doth both permit it and punish it for the manifestation of his glory in the way of justice like as he doth also permit sinne in others not to pardon it but he both permits sinne and pardons it to manifest his glory in the way of mercy 3. I come to the consideration of the speciall indignities wherewith God is loaded by this our doctrine as this Authour pretendeth 1. And indeed is God's wisedome and providence so strong as that he is able to find meanes to glorifie his justice without the permitting of sinne For God hath no other hand in sinne as sinne but of permission to the substance of the act he cooperates as a cause efficient as all confesse For of what justice doe we treat in this argument Is it of justice remunerative or justice vindicative Was it ever heard that permission of sinne was required to make way for God's justice remunerative Or is it possible that way can be made for the manifestation of Gods justice vindicative in Scripture called God's wrath unlesse sinne be permitted to enter For though he hates it yet this Authour confesseth that God permits it as without whose permission it could not enter into the world Sect 6. In the last place this Authour helps himselfe with a phrase of God's appointing men to commit it which he obtrudes upon us thinking to make the ballance on his part the heavier not considering that words are but wind We say the horrible outrages committed upon our Saviour God foredetermined to be done And told David that he would give his wives unto his neighbour who should lye with them before the Sun And that it was his will that the Kings should give their Kingdome to the Beast this we deliver according to God's word whereas all this our opposit's discourse is quite besides the word of God as if he would have us take his absurd conceits in steed of oracles And doth he not know that Austin sometimes sayd that Iudas electus est ad prodendum sanguinem Domini Iudas was chosen to betray his Master Or will he answer that he was the first that said so 2. To the second I have already answered and that at large in my answer to M. Hoord in the preface and second Section There I have shewed how that it was merely devislish policy in Tiberius to move him to take this course to make way for a grand child of his own to bring him to the imperiall throne This moved him to seeke the death of Germanicus his two Sons whom Augustus made him to adopt as successours in the empire lest the putting of them to death without cause might provoke the people to mutiny against him therfore by cunning contrivances he caused them to be provoked to revile him that so he might have some cause to justifie his destroying of them which yet he did not by any publique execution he was loath to come to that for feare of raising some tumult thereby Fame necavit he famished them Now how hath Satan possessed the heart of this unhappy Divine thus to blaspheme the holy one of Israell by comparing his waies to these abominable courses of Tiberius not fearing lest his tongue rot in his head while he is uttering of them Cannot God take the life of any man from him be he never so innocent and that what way he will even by punishment if it please him For is it not of God's mere mercy that he promiseth Not to famish the soule of the rightous As for provoking courses is it not apparent by these our opposites confession that to all the provoking courses in the world God doth concurre and that as an efficient cause of every action And accordingly he did concurre with these provoking courses used by Tiberius And did not God professe that he would provoke the Israelites by a foolish people and by a foolish nation he would anger them How did Shimei provoke David by railing upon him And how did David interpret it The Lord saith he hath bid him to curse David Not that he gave any such command in proper speech but by his secret providence brought this to passe using to this purpose the vitious disposition which he found in Shimei but caused it not And observe what Austin speakes in the like case of his mother Monica exercised with the opprobrious speeches of her servant Quid egisti Deus meus unde curasti unde sanasti Nonne protulists durum acutum ex alterâ animâ convitium tanquam medicinale ferrum ex occultis provisionibus tuis uno ictu putredinem illam praecidisti My God what diddest thou how diddest thou cure her how recover her Diddest thou not bring forth an harsh and sharp reproch out of an others heart as a medicinall instrument in thy secret providence and with one stroke pared away all that rottenesse Thus Adonibezek when his thumbes and great toes were cut off by his enemies he acknowledged that God had done to him as he had done to others And Solomon testifies that every man's judgment commeth of the Lord. If every man's judgment then surely unjust judgments and not just only And although they are unjust as they proceed frō man yet are they just as they proceed from God Like as the parricide of Adramelech Sharezer committed upon their Father Senacherib the Lord takes unto himselfe when he saith I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land Yet what was David the worse for Shimei's cursing neither would he thereby be urged to requite evill for evill upon his subjects the more inexcusable were the Sons of Germanicus for reviling their Prince Tiberius though never so much provoked thereunto Neither was this fact of Tiberius a fruit of Hypocrisy which is the counterfeiting of holines justice was pretended indeed not holines that through feare For the wicked man is continually as one travelling with child A sound of feare is in his eares The cunning contrivances that Tiberius used are specified by this Authour but he doth not specifie the cunning contrivances that God useth by our opinion as he obtrudes upon us Belike he was to seek of thē yet we expresse God's providence herein by no other termes then the word of God it selfe doth suggest unto us Namely of blinding the mind of giving over to strong illusions of hardning the heart of giving over unto their hearts lusts unto vile affections unto a Reprobate mind To all which is required no other thing then the not curing of that naturall corruption and habituall vitious disposition which is found in the wicked whether in the way of luxury or in the way of uncharitablenesse and malice or in the way of ambition pride And secondly the administration of congruous occasions unto this their corrupt disposition which Arminius
way which I expresse in the very words of Mr. Doctor Abbats Bishop of Sarisbury ere he died and I conceived that indeed this motive prevailed with most and therefore I thought good so much the more throughly to discusse that But doe I say they tooke this course to free God from the imputation of sinne Nothing lesse my words are these in the Digression cap. 2. Quod plurimos movet illud est nimirum quod in sententia illâ de massâ nondum conditâ omnia sint ut aiunt intricata perplexa infinitis difficultatibus involuta in hac verò de massâ corruptà predestinationi hominum praestruendâ contra clara sint omnia cum Scripturarum autoritate judicioque antiquitatis planissimè consentientia where I mention two reasons that moved them to take this way 1. This in that opinion concerning the Masse of mankind not yet created all passages are intricate perplext and intangled with infinite difficulties but in the opinion concerning the Masse corrupt all things are cleare 2. This that in this other opinion all things are most plainly found to agree both with the authority of Scriptures and with the judgment of antiquity Now after I had endeavoured to discover the insufficiency of this plea in the second and third chapter of that fourth Digression in the matter of predestination In the fourth chapter I propose mine own judgment concerning the true benefit of this way in making the corrupt masse of mankind the object of election and reprobation not the judgment of others as this Authour carrieth the matter but mine own judgment For thus I beginne Ad extremum vis liberè pronuntiem quid unicè proficiatur ex hac nostrá praedestinationis Objecti sententiae temperatione Dicà m igitur quid sentiam Hinc nimirum efficitur ut à lapsu primorum parentum decreto praedestinationis subjiciendo subordinando liberemur huic unicè provisum esse ab istius quasi mediae temperatioris opinionis assertioribus mihi plusquam probabile aut verisimile videtur ne scililicet alias peccatum fieri statueretur decernente Deo tanquam medium ad fines à Deo in praedestinatione sibi praestitutos accommodatum unde etiam quà m author peccati constituendus sit nullâ solidâ ratione explicari posse videtur In the last place will you give me leave freely to professe what we profic by thus tempering our opinion touching the object of predestination I will therefore deliver what I thinke So that herein I purpose mine own opinion only not the opinion of others Herehence thus we gaine that we are freed from subjecting and subordinating man's fall unto God's decree of predestination It seemes to me more then probable or likely that the maintainers of this middle and temperate openion doe provide only against this inconvenience that is their way doth indeed provide against this and against no other inconvenience in my opinion to wit least otherwise the sinne of Adam should be said to come to passe God willing it as a meanes conducing to those ends which God intended in predestination from whence it followes as it seemes that it cannot be explicated by any solid reason that God is not made the Authour of sinne All which is delivered by me as my opinion conceiving that others thinke so too namely not that God is hereby made the Authour and principall cause of sinne but that the contrary cannot be explicated by any solid reason Now Cajetan confesseth as much namely that in these mysteries all the distinctions that are used doe not quietare intellectum satisfie the understanding and therefore he doth captivate his owne into the obedience of faith And Alvarez justifies him in this professing herein that he speakes doctissimè piissimè most learned and holyly And in a peculiar disputation he maintaines that the mistery of Gods providence and predestination standing with the liberty of our wills is incomprehensible by us in this world Lastly consider this is delivered only of the first sinne of our first parents which this authour perverts most shamefully when he avoucheth that I should acknowledge our Divines many of them to embrace this way to avoyd the imputation of making God the principall cause not of Adams sinne alone but of sinne in the greatest number of men And to confesse a truth if sinne be made the meanes for the procuring of the ends which God intends in predestination undoubtedly God himselfe should be the authour of sinne For whosoever intends any end he and none but he must be authour in working the meanes which tend to this end Therefore I said only that in this case It seemes that the sinne of Adam was intended by God as the meanes Whereas in truth and upon due consideration it appeares that not the creatures sinne but Gods permission of the creatures sinne is the meanes whereby God brings to passe his glorious ends Yet not the permission of sinne alone but joyned together with the pardoning of it and saving his elect in despight of it is the compleat meanes together with the procuring of Christs merits for the manifestation of Gods glory in the way of mercy And in like manner not the permitting of sinne alone but joyned with the punishment of it is the compleat meanes for the manifestation of Gods glory in the way of justice vindicative which in Scripture phrase is called the declaration of his wrath And whereas I said that hereby it seemed that it could not by any sound reason be manifested that God was not the Authour of sinne by the first way this Authour avoucheth of the defenders of the lower way which seemes most temperate that from their conclusions it followeth evidently that of all the sinnes of Reprobates which are the greatest number by many degrees God is the true and principall Authour Observe this he sayth followeth evidently from their conclusions and forthwith he tells us that he thinks so or to his thinking it doth so And why is he not the Authour of all the sinnes of the elect also whereas originall sinne continues in them also they carry about them a body of death and have cause to complaine of a law in their numbers that rebelleth against the law of their mind and leadeth them captive to the law of sinne Only there is a principle of spirituall life in them that renewes their repentance dayly as their sinnes are renewed but they looke not to be freed from sinne as long as they live in this world But let us examine how well he makes good that which he affirmes of the sinnes of the Reprobate that God is made the Authour of them by our doctrine of Reprobation I find that Cornelius a Lapide a Iesuite shapes Calvines doctrine of election and Reprobation this lower way and imputes unto him that from Reprobation according to his doctrine in Reprobis manat certus necessarius lapsus in peccata quaelibet A certaine and necessary falling into
by the opposition of it to obduration which is such as whereupon followeth disobedience as appeares by the objection following hereupon Thou wilt say then why doth yet cōplaine For who hath resisted his will Now God complaineth of nothing but disobedience Againe to give faith is to shew mercy For to have faith is to obtaine mercy Heretofore ye have not believed but now have obtained mercy through their unbeliefe Where to believe to obtaine mercy are made equipollent of the same signification And in reason if God did deny faith because of some unpreparednesse in the creature then God did expect that the creature should first prepare himselfe and make himselfe fit for faith that so God might bestow it upon him so grace should be conferr'd according to workes which is contradictious to expresse testimony of holy scripture testifying that God hath saved us called us with an holy calling not according to our workes but according to his owne purpose and grace all along hath beene condened in the Church of God for Pelagianisme Thus we have beene entertained with a discourse containing nothing but the opinion of our Divines which none of us deny Yet in the proposing hereof he hath wasted a whole leafe and more Now he comes to his argument drawen from these two layd together 1. That God did bring men into a necessity of sinning 2. That he hath left the reprobates under this necessity Hence he concludes that God is the Author of the reprobates sins But this we utterly deny Therefore this he undertakes to prove by two reasons 1. Because the cause of the cause is the cause of its effect if there be a necessary subordination betweene the causes and the effect But God is the cheife or sole cause by their doctrine of that which is the necessary and immediate cause of the sinnes of Reprobates namely their impotency and want of supernaturall grace For answer whereunto I say first begining with the minor 1. That the want of supernaturall grace is not the immediate cause of the sinnes of Reprobates nor the cheife cause much lesse the sole cause And I prove it evidently Let instance be given in any sinne committed by a Reprobate let it be the sinne of murther or of fornication or of theft or of lying For if it were then every reprobate should be guilty of murther of fornication of lying of stealing For positâ causâ principali immediatâ ponitur effectus Where a principall and immediate cause doth exist there the effect must needs exist But it is apparent that albeit every reprobate doth want supernaturall grace yet every reprobate is not guilty of murther of fornication lying and stealing Secondly If the want of supernaturall grace were the immediate and principall cause of all the sinnes of reprobates then not only every Reprobate should be guilty of committing all the sinnes formerly mentioned but at all times every one of these sinnes should be committed by them Because at all times they want supernaturall grace And the truth is every one of these sinnes may be abstained from without supernaturall grace and for carnall respects Only without supernaturall grace they cannot be abstained from in a gracious manner as namely out of faith in God and love to God He that hath neither faith nor love cannot abstaine from these vile courses out of faith and love In like sort heathen men in their generations have beene exceeding vertuous according to the worlds account of vertue in moderating their passions and ordering their conversation aright one towards another and all this hath beene performed by them without supernaturall grace Thirdly The immediate cause of all their sinnes rather of the two is their naturall corruption whereby they are habitually turned away from God and converted unto the creature in an inordinate manner Like as the immediate cause actionis laesae of a naturall function of the body imperfect is the disease or infirmity that hath seised upon some part of the body And the Physitian who is able to cure it and will not is the cause why it continueth uncured But no wise man will say he is the cause why this or that member in a sicke mans body doth not performe its operation as it should In like manner as touching the vicious actions of the soule the want of supernaturall grace is the cause why those vicious actions continue uncured because God alone by his grace can cure them but no sober man that is well in his wits should say that is the cause of vicious actions but acknowledge rather the corruption thereof to be the cause of these vicious actions And indeed all morall philosophy referres the cause of every vicious action unto the vicious habit depraving the will and inclining it to vicious courses Fourthly Yet farther to represent the wildnesse of this Authours discourse The vicious habit it selfe is not the sole cause no nor the principall and immediate cause of a vicious action in particular For if it were then that particular vicious action should alwayes be committed by it So that an impure person should alwayes commit fornication a Lyar should alwayes lye a Theife should alwayes steale a Murtheret should alwayes commit murther For it is a rule generally received that the immediate and principall cause being existent the effect must needs exist also And indeed albeit habits whether good or evill do worke after the manner of nature inclining and swaying the will to the accomplishment of them Yet the will of man being a free and not necessary Agent proceeds not to worke but according unto judgement and occasions and opportunityes from without And albeit a purser that maintaine himselfe by robbery hath a faire opportunity offered him to advantage himselfe to take a purse yet if upon consideration he finds himselfe too weake to goe through with it or that he cannot do it safely he will forbeare For albeit a vicious habit doth naturally and necessarily incline him to a naughty end yet in the choice of the meanes conducing to this end he is free How much more plainely doth it appeare that the want of supernaturall grace is farre off from being either the sole cause or the immediate or the principall cause of any sinne committed by a Reprobate Rather of the two the intestine corruption of the Reprobate is the cause of his sinnes and the want of grace is the cause why this corruption is not cured Now albeit a Physitian may sinne in not curing a sicke person when it lyes in his power to cure him For we are in charity bound to do to others as we would have others do unto us yet God is bound to none I will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion 2. Observe how sluttishly he carryeth himselfe in the next reason taken from removens prohibens His rule proceeds both of withdrawing and withholding a thing which being
of them that are called but few are chosen Yet might that Synod well admonish Maccovius to take heed of such words as might give offence to tender yeares and be carefull to expresse the same truth in as inoffensive way as we can And accordingly having a digression in this very Argument in my Vindiciae Gratiae I proposed it in this manner Whether the holy one of Israell without any injurie to his Holy Majestie may be said to will sinne after a certaine manner and I maintaine the affirmative after this manner Deus vult ut peccatum fiat ipso permittente God will have sinne to come to passe by his permission and Bellarmine confesseth that Malum esse Deo permittente bonum est It is good that evill should be by God's permission which was also the saying of Austine long before And that non aliquid fit nisi Omnipotens fieri velit vel sinendo ut fiat vel ipse faciendo Not any thing comes to passe except God Omnipotent will have it come to passe either by suffering it or himselfe working it And the eleventh Article of the Church of Ireland framed in the dayes of King J'ames runnes thus God from all eternitie did by his unchangable Counsell ordaine what soever in time should come to passe yet so as there by no violence is offered to the to the wills of the reasonable Creatures and neither the libertie nor the contingency of second causes is taken away but established rather And Arminius himselfe professeth that Deus voluit Achabum mensuram scelerums uorum implere God would have Achab to fill up the measure of his sinnes and what is it to fill up the measure of his sinnes but to adde sinne unto sinne And this he delivereth without all qualification By these instances it appeareth That they of the first side can easily beare one with another in this difference And to say the truth there is no reason why they should quarrell about circumstances seeing they agree in the substance for which they both contend 1 That the moving cause of Reprobation is the alone will of God and not the sinne of man originall or actuall 2. That the finall impenitencie and Damnation of Reprobates are necessary and unavoidable by God's absolute Decree The difference which this Authour takes into Consideration is about the object of Predestination and the difference in opinion thereabouts is usually to be observed threefold though this Authour is pleased to take notice of a secondfold difference for some conceive the object of Predestination to be man-kind as yet not created others conceive the object thereof to be man-kind created but not yet corrupted A third sort maintaine the object thereof to be man-kind both created and corrupted Now D. Iunius hath endeavoured to reconcile the three opinions making place for each consideration in the object of predestination And Piscator after him adventured on the like reconciliation and hath performed it with more perspicuitie and with better successe in my judgment then Iunius And that according to three different acts concurring unto Predestination The first is saith he God's purpose to create man-kind in Adam unto different ends now this Act doth clearely require the object thereof to be man-kind not yet Created The second Act he conceives to be God's Decree to permit all men to fall in Adam Now this Act he conceives as clearly to suppose the object thereof to be man-kind created but not corrupted The third last Act he conceives to be God's decree to choose some to shew compassion on them in raising them out of sinne by saith and repentance and of Reprobating others leaving them as be findes them and permitting them to finish their dayes in sinne to the end he might manifest the glorie of his grace in saving the one the glorie of his Justice in damning others Now this third Act he supposeth manifestly to require the object thereof to be man-kind both created and corrupted Now the Authours of these severall opinions have no reason to go together by the eares about these three opinions but with Brotherly love to entertaine one another First because the difference herein is not so much in Divinitie as in Logick and Philosophie difference in opinion about order in intentions being meerly Logicall and to be composed according to the right stating of the end intended and of the meanes conducing to the end it being generally confessed that the intention of the end is before the intention of meanes conducing thereunto And that look what is first in intention the same must be last in execution Secondly the Authours of these severall opinions about the object of Predestination doe all agree in two principall points 1. That all men before God's eternall predestination and reprobation are considered as equall in themselves whether as uncreated or as created but not corrupted or lastly whether created or corrupted 2 That God's grace only makes the difference choosing some to worke thē to faith repentance perseverance therein while he rejecteth others leaving thē as he findes them permitting them to finish their dayes in sinne whereby is upheld and maintained 1. First the prerogative of God's grace as only effectuall to the working of men unto that which is good 2. And secondly the prerogative of God's Soveraigntie in shewing mercy on whome he will to bring them to Faith and true repentance and hardning others that is not bestowing of grace and repentance upon them And seeing they all agree in these momentous points of Divinitie they have no cause to take it offensively at the hands of one another that they differ in a point of Logick Now I have adventured on this argument to find out to my selfe and give unto others some better satisfaction then formerly hath been exhibited and that by distinguishing Two decrees only on each part to witt the decree of the end and the decree of the meanes As for example 1. On the part of Predestination and Election I conceive the end to be the manifestation of God's glorious grace in the way of mercie mixt with Justice on a certaine number of men And the Decree of the meanes is to create them and permit them all to fall in Adam and to bring them forth into the world in their severall generations clothed with originall sinne and to send Christ into the world to dye for them and for Christ's sake first to bestow the grace of faith and repentance upon them and finally to save them 2. On the part of Reprobation I conceive the end to be the manifestation of God's glory in the way of Justice vindicative And the decree of meanes to be partly common and partly proper the common meanes are to create them and permit them all to fall in Adam and bring them forth into the world clothed with originall sin the speciall meanes are to leave them as he finds them and permit them to finish their daies in sinne and so not
shewing the like grace to them which he shewed to others 1. So that the moving cause of Reprobation is the alone will of God and not the sinne of man originall and actuall like as on the other side the moving cause of election is only the will of God or not faith or any good workes whereupon this Authour is loath to manifest his opinion This doctrine is not only approved by Doctour Whitaker Doctour of the Chaire in the Universitie of Cambridge and that in his Cygnea Cantio a little before his death but justified and confirmed by varietie of Testimonies both of Schoolemen as Lumbard Aquinas Bannes Petrus de Alliaco Gregorius Arminensis of our owne Church and the Divines thereof as taught by Bucer at Cambridge by Peter Martyr at Oxon professed by the Bishops and others promoted by Queen Elizabeth and farther in the yeare of our Lord 1592 there was a famous recantation made in the Universitie of Cambridge by one Barret in the 37. of Elizabeth whereunto he was urged by the heads of houses of that Universitie The Recantation runnes thus Preaching in Latine not long since in the Universitie Church Right worshipfull many things slipt from me both falsly and rashsly spoken whereby I understand the mindes of many have been grieved to the end therefore I may satifie the Church the truth which I have publiquely hurt I doe make this publique confession both Repenting and Revoking my Errour First I said that no man in this transiâ—â—ie world is so strongly underpropt at least by the certainty of Faith that is unlesse as I afterwards expounded it by Revelation that he ought to be assured of his owne Salvation But now I protest before God and acknowledge in my conscience that they which are justified by faith have peace towards God that is have reconciliation with God and doe stand in that grace by faith therefore that they ought to be certaine and assured of their owne Salvation even by the certainty of Faith it selfe 2. Secondly I affirmed that the faith of Peter could not faile but that other mens faith may for as I then said Our Lord prayed not for the faith of every particular man but now being of a better and more sound Iudgment according to that which Christ teacheth in plaine words Ioh. 17. 20. I pray not for these alone that is the Apostles but for them also which shall believe in mee through their word I acknowledge that Christ prayed for the faith of every particular believer and that by the vertue of that prayer of Christ every true believer is so stayd up that his faith cannot faile 3. Thirdly touching perseverance to to the end I said that that certainty concerning the time to come is proud for as much as it is in his owne nature contingent of what kind the perseverance of every man is neither did I affirme it to be proud only but to be most wicked but now I freely protest that the true and justifiing faith whereby the faithfull are most neare united unto Christ is so firme as also for the time to come so certaine that it can never be rooted up out of the mindes of the faithfull by any temptation of the flesh the world or divell himselfe so that he that once hath this faith shall ever have it for by the benefit of that justifying faith Christ dwelleth in us and we in Christ therefore it cannot but be both increased Christ growing in us dayly as also persevere unto the end because God doth give constancy 4. Fourthly I affirmed that there was no distinction in faith but in the Persons believing in which I confesse I did erre Now I freely acknowledge the Temporarie faith which as Bernard witnesseth is therefore fained because it is temporary it is distinguished and differeth from the saving faith whereby sinners apprehending Christ are justified before God for ever not in measure and degrees but in the very thing it selfe Moreover I adde that Saint Iames doth make mention of a dead faith and Paul of a faith that worketh by love 5 Fifthly I added that forgivenesse of sinnes is an Article of faith but not particular neither belonging to this man or that man that is as I expounded it that no true faithfull man either can or ought certainely believe that his sinnes are forgiven But now I am of an other mind and doe freely confesse that every true faithfull man is bound by this Article of faith to believe the forgivenes of sinnes and certainely to believe that his owne particular sinnes are freely forgiven him neither doth it follow hereupon that that Petition of the Lord's prayer to wit forgive us our trespasses is needlesse for in that Petition we aske not only the gift but also the increase of Faith 6 Sixtly these words escaped me in my Sermon viz As for those that are not saved I doe most strongly believe and doe freely protest that I am so perswaded against Calvin Peter Martyr and the rest that sinne is the true and proper cause of Reprobation But now being better instructed I say that the Reprobation of the wicked is from everlasting and that saying of Saint Austine to Simplician to be mòst true viz If sinne were the cause of Reprobation then no man should be elected because God doth know all men to be defiled with it And that I may speak freely I am of the same mind and doe believe concerning the Doctrine of Election and Reprobation as the Church of England believeth and teacheth in the booke of the Articles of faith in the Article of Praedestination Last of all I uttered these words rashly against Calvin a man that hath very well deserved of the Church of God to wit that he durst presume to lift up himselfe above the high and Almighty God by which words I doe confesse that I have done great injurie to that most learned and right good man and I most humbly beseech you all to pardon this my rashnes as also in that I have uttered many bitter words against Peter Martyr Beza Zanchy Iunius and the rest of the same religion being the lights and ornaments of our Church calling them by the odious names of Calvinâ—sts and other slanderous termes branding them with a most grevious marke of reproach whom because our Church doth worthily reverence it was not meet that I should take away their good name from them Doctor Fulke in like manner maintaines that reprobation is not of workes but of God's free will Rom 9 Num 2. His words are these God's election Reprobation is most free of his owne will not upon the foresight of the merits of either of them for he hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth vers 18. Yet here is to be distinguished for the explication of the truth That God's decree of Reprobation may be considered either as touching the Act of God reprobating and willing or as touching the things hereby willed or Decreed As