Whereas to my poore conceyt if a founteyne of life be presupposed to things past it must be presupposed allso to things to come And there is no curiosity in this the inference rather is most vulgar For seing future things are behind things past quod est prius priori must needs be prius posteriori yet that which is before a former thinge must needs be before a latter thinge Hence you proceede whether by following on or falling of lett the Reader judge to censure that common saying Tempus edax rerum as relishing more of poeticall witt then of Metaphysicall truth For which kind of censure delivered by you I find no just reason For what can no truth satisfie you but that which is Metaphysicall And why you should make such an opposition I know not as if what I ever relished not of Metaphysicall truth were no truth but rather of Poeticall witt and whatsoever relished of poeticall witt did not relish of truth You maye as well censure Aristotles Physicks and Ethicks and Politiques and Rhetoricks for surely they doe not relish of Metaphysicall truths no nor Euclides Mathematicks no nor of Poeticall witt neyther belike they are liable to a double censure Yet what think you cannot Poeticall witt have course in conjunction with truth as well as in separation from it Nec fingunt omnia Cretes No nor Poets neyther And as for this saying Tempus edax rerum I never knew any sober man or other except against the truth of it before But if you will put a construction upon it at your pleasure to shew your witt in refuting it you shall therein play the part of a Poet rather then the Philosopher for some of them have taken a course to shape stories according to the use they had to make of them and not to followe the direct truth and this hath bene sayd to be the difference betweene Sophocles and Euripides And herein they were like to Mathematicians of whom it is sayd Mathematici abstrahunt nec mentiuntur And abstracting a line from the matter of it they may adde to it or take from it what they list So you construe this saying Tempus edax rerum as if it were delivered in proper speech and not by a figure whereas the meaning is Synecdochicall that in course of time things doe consume and wast not that time it selfe doth wast them For time being the duration of things how can the duration of a thing consume it selfe Yet is your reason whereby you oppose this common saying very loose as when you say If time did devoure things what could possibly nourish them or continue them from their beginning to theyr end And that in two respects for neyther the saying signifies that time should devoure thē before the time appoynted for the consumption of them And though time did consume them yet some thing els might contnue them For theyr owne natures wherein God hath made them are for a time apt to resist that which laboureth to corrupt them And other meanes also there are for the preservation of thē As man by using meanes for his preservation may hold out longer then he which useth none neither did the Authors or approvers of that saying Tempus edax rerum ever conceit that any thing should desire the destruction of it selfe as you are pleased to rove in impugning it And look in what sense time doth not destroy but things are destroyed in time in the same sense things temporall have not the continuation of their being from time but from somewhat els in time For when things are preserved by the witt and industry of man from putrefaction they doe not receave this preservation of theyrs from time but from the wit and industry of man And ergo as time doth not wast so neither doth time preserve from wasting It is a paradox if not a manifest untruth rather to say that the motions of things themsselfes and theyr endeavours to enjoy or enterteyne time approching is that which doth wast and consume them For albeit in man sometimes you find such causes of consumption yet in all other creatures inferior unto man as beasts of all sorts how can you make it good that they out of a desire and endeavour to enterteyne time doe wast themselfes who know not so much as what time is How much lesse will you be able to make it good in vegetables of all sorts as plants and trees and in all sorts of mixt bodies Nay how will you make it good in man Some die by course of nature and that eyther through age or sicknes when a man of 100. yeares old dieth what motion or endeavour is there in him to enterteyne that wasted him and how will you prove that had not this motion or endeavour of his bene as all endeavours are voluntary and free he might have lived longer When God sent apestilence among the Israelites that in the space of 3. dayes swept awaye 70. thousand was it a motion of theirs or an endeavour to enterteyne time that consumed them Nay when any disease proves mortall how can it appeare that when one man died of an Ague another of the Dropsie another of the squinancy another of the plurisie another of the consumption that all of them died of a certeyn disease called theyr motions and endeavours to enjoy and enterteyne time approching A disease that I think was never knowne to Hipocrates or Galin or any Physician before or since I should think the desease of Pastime should wast us more then the desease of enjoying Time Others come to theyr ends by violent deathes some in warre some by course of justice others by private malice In all these I find my selfe in the bryers and cannot possiblie conceive how mens owne motions and endeavours to enjoy time should wast or consume them or in case a man makes a waye with himselfe by hanging drowning or poysoning Not altogeather so wild is that conceyt of yours which followeth in saying we naturally seeke to catch time Yet wild enough for it is untrue that men catch Time they catch opportunity which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and not a litle differing from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Now opportunity is only an advantage of doing something conveniently offered to us in the course of Time As it is good to make hay while the sun shineth ergo I will roundly sett my selfe to the making of Hay while this opportunity is offered wherein I catch not time but opportunity for the Time were the same in case it rayned but the opportunity for making of Hay were not the same because the wether in that case were not the same And Hay-making requires fayr wether Who they are who acknowledge no difference between Time and Motion I know not I should think no man so blockish as to confound them seing motion it selfe may be of more or lesse continuance in respect of Time as well as any thing els And in the same Time somethings
that he had cursed them already And equally and indifferently as God is made the Author of blessing to the obedient so is he made the Author of a curse to the disobedient and therefore calls heaven and earth to witnesse that hee hath set before them life and death blessing and cursing So that death and cursing is indifferently attributed to God as the Author of them like as life and blessing and both are in due proportion to the behaviour of man as it is found either in the way of obedience or in the way of disobedience And in this respect perhaps you may say that man is the cause of cursing not God To this I answer 1. By the same reason man is the cause of blessing suitable to this cursing and not God 2. If in this respect cursing be to be derived from sin it is onely in the way of a meritorious cause so doth not fruit proceed from trees but onely in the way of an efficient cause God and none but God can be the Author as of happinesse so of misery as of eternall life so also of everlasting death And as none is truly blessed but whom God blesseth so none is truly accursed but whom God curseth Yet no man I thinke that hath his wits in his head will say that this cursing proceedeth from Gods love but rather from his hatred Gods love towards the creature is essentiall his love to the creature is not so no more then to be a creator is of Gods essence And love is no more of Gods essence as a Creator then hatred is of Gods essence as a revenger And the blessing and cursing attributed unto God in the Scriptures before alledged belong to God onely as a Iudge to execute the one by way of reward and the other by way of punishment Albeit there is another course of Gods blessing and of his cursing though you love not to distinguish but to consound rather as all that maintaine bad causes love darknesse rather then light I come to the second point wherein you insist In that he is the Author of being he is the Author of goodnesse to all things that are And this is very true for God saw all that he had made and lo it was very good And as it is very true so it is nothing at all to the purpose For when we enquire whether Gods love be extended towards all and every one wee presuppose their beings in their severall times and generations And secondly we speake of a love proper to mankinde which consisteth not in giving them their being for God hath given being unto Angels even unto Devils as well as unto men and as to men so to all inferiour creatures be they never so noysome and offensive unto man And it is a strange course of yours to magnifie the love of God to man in giving him being which is found in the basest creature that breathes or breathes not I have heard a story of a great Prince when one of the prime subjects of the land being taken in a foule act of insurrection and yeelding upon condition to bee brought to speake with that Prince presuming of ancient favour whereof hee had tasted in great measure and which upon his presence might haply revive he found nothing answerable but imperious taâ—ts rather and dismission in this manner Know therefore that we hate thee as we hate a toad Yet you magnifie the love of God to mankinde in as comfortable manner when you say that hoe hath given us being which wee well know God hath given to lyons rigers and beasts of prey yea to snakes and adders to frogges and toads and fiery serpents Herehence you proceed to the third point and do inferre That because he hath made us therefore hee loveth us for He hateth nothing that he hath made as saith the wise man and to give the greater credit to the authority alledged by you you use an introduction of strange state for you say The wiseman saith this of him that is wisest of all of him that can neither deceive nor be deceived that He hateth nothing that he hath made But to what purpose tends all this pompe Is the sentence any whit of greater authority because it is spoken of him that is wisest of all and can neither deceive nor be deceived May not fooles speake of him that can neither deceive nor be deceived as well as wise men and have their sayings any whit the greater credit and reputation for this If the author of that sentence had beene such a one as neither could deceive nor be dedeceived then indeed the sentence had beene of greatest authority and infinitely beyond the authority of Philo the Iew. Or did you presume that your Reader inconsiderately might swallow such a gull take the author of it for such a one as could neither deceive nor be deceived If you did this were very foule play and no better then a trick of conicatching Yet we except not against the sentence but pray you rather to take notice of an answer to this very objection of yours taken from the same ground above two hundred yeares ago You shall finde it in Aquinas his summes where his first objection is this Videtur quod Deus nullum hominem reprobet Nullus enim reprobat quem diligit sed Deus omnem hominem diligit secundum illud Sap. 11. Diligis omnia quae sunt nihil odisti eorum quae secisti Ergo Deus nullum hominem reprobat It seemes that God reprobates no man For no man reprobates him whom hee loveth But God loves every man according to that Wis. 11. Thou lovest all things that are and hatest nothing that thou hast made Therefore God reprobateth no man And the answer hee makes unto this objection followeth in this manner Adprimum dicendum quod Deus omnes homines diliget etiam omnes creaturas in quantum omnibus vult aliquod bonum non tamen quodcunque bonum vult omnibus In quantum igitur quibusdam non vult hoc bonum quod est vita aeterna dicitur eos habere odio velreprobare To the first is to be answered that God loves all men yea and all creatures for as much as he willeth some good to them all but yet he willeth not every good to all There-fore in as much as unto some he willeth not this good which is life everlasting he is said to hate them or to reprobate them And you might have beene pleased to take notice not onely of that wise man though as wise as Philo who speakes herein of him that can neither deceive nor be deceived but of that wise God who is wiser then men and Angels and can neither deceive nor be deceived and affirmeth openly that He hath loved Iacob and hated Esau as also of the Apostle Saint Paul who by the infallible direction of Gods Spirit applies this to the disposition of God towards them before they were borne
not made Christians so as to cease any longer to be men Yet you couple them together under one yoke though very unequall heyfers you should have said rather of meere men we are made Christians All that are redeemed are unfainedly loved but if all mankinde signifie no more then all men and all men no more then all sorts of men what are you the nearer to that you reach after And you know I suppose that this was Austins interpretation of that universality and hee gives reasons for it though you magisterially will have your owne way in spite of the pie without answering his reasons Againe consider whether to pay a price which is sufficient for the redemption of all and every one be not in a faire sense to redeem all every one And what one of our Church will maintaine that any one obtaines actuall redemption by Christ without faith especially considering that redemption by the bloud of Christ and forgivenesse of sins are all one I would you would speake plainely and tell us what is meant by redemption which you say every one hath in Christ denying that every one hath sanctification So that whereas the Apostle joynes these two together where hee saith Christ is of God made unto us wisedome righteousnesse sanctification and redemption you divide them telling us that Christ is made redemption to all and every one but not sanctification And truely I had thought that Christ had deserved the one as well as the other for all those for whom he died And it is very strange that God should be said to love them whom he never meanes to sanctifie But I pray answer me Doth he unfainedly love the Devils I thinke you will say he doth not what reason have you then to say that hee loveth all men though you will easily perswade your selfe that the most part of them are reprobates and whom hee never will bring unto wholesome and spirituall repentance whereby a man is reconciled unto God in Christ as Austine writes lib. 5. cont Iulian Pelag. cap 4. and whether you meane to contradict Austine in this also I know not as yet yet one word more with you before wee part How long doth God continue to love them till the measure of their sinne is at full t is your owne oracle in the former Section And then belike hee beginnes and continues to hate them But I pray consider how can this change this alteration stand with the nature of God that his love his will to save them should bee changed into hatred into a purpose to damme them considering that Gods will is his essence And the Lord professeth of himselfe saying I the Lord am not changed and yee sonnes of Iacob are not consumed Mal. 3. 6. All that are baptized in your opinion are not sanctified yet some others much agreeing with you in other opinions maintaine that all that are baptized are regenerate and they alledge a better testimony out of the book of Common prayer then any you have brought to serve your turne namely the profession that is made by the Minister thus Now this childe is regenerate and grafted into the body of Christs congregation Yet that hath beene answered by a Bishop of our Church and that out of the doctrine of Austine Yet I grant baptisme is the seale of redemption and of forgivenesse of sinnes also but to whom to none but such as believe for God hath not ordained that the benefit of Christs bloud shall redound to the redemption and forgivenesse of the sinnes of any man unlesse hee believeth For God hath set him forth to be a propitiation for our sinnes through faith in his bloud But your inferences you conceive to bee as cleere as christall so that the consideration of them makes you doubt whether such amongst us as teach the contrary to these have at any time subscribed to the booke of Common prayer And no question is to be made of your subscription which deny all them to bee sanctified that are baptized though in plaine termes the booke of Common prayer professeth of every baptized childe that hee is regenerate And now you have plaide your part so well in working our authorized devotions as you call them and Catechisme to serve your turn you promise to performe as much touching the book of Homilies but wee must expect your performance therein untill you come to the article concerning Christ in the meane time you will give us space to breathe and take notice of your concludent proofe as you call it thus God wills the salvation of all that are saved and all that are not saved therefore hee wills the salvation of all and every one Now the second part of the Antecedent which alone is called in question is proved out of that of Ezech As I live I will not the death of him that dieth I had thought you had done with this but if it bee your course to tautologize in repeating former arguments I may take liberty to repeat without tautologie my former answer First therefore I say the words as they lye in proper speech are contradictions to your tenent in two respects First because in another discourse of yours you maintaine that hee whose death God wills not is the penitent but here you professe that God willeth not the death of them that are not saved when they die which as as much as to say that God willeth not the death of impenitent sinners Secondly there is a time you confesse in the former Section when God hates sinners to wit when the measure of their sinne is full and if then he hates them he may then as well be said to will their death and damnation as he was said to will their salvation while he loved them In the second place the words as they lye in proper speech are contradictions to manifest reason for seeing God is he that inflicts death and damnation upon them hee must needes will their death and damnation because whatsoever God doth hee doth it according to the counsell of his owne will Eph. 1. 11. Secondly if God doth not will the death which he inflicts then neither doth he will the punishment that he inflicteth nor the chastisement that he inflicteth and so indeed it is said Lam. 3. That he doth not punish willingly nor afflict the children of men which cannot bee understood in proper speech for then it would follow that God doth afflict and chastise the children of men against his will Therefore I say this must be understood by a figure of speech to wit by a metaphor and God said not to will or this or that which hee doth because in the doing of it hee is similis nolenti as first when hee doth it not according to the Latine phrase animi causa for his pleasures sake but being provoked and yet not hastily neither though provoked but after long forbearance and giving time of repentance upon the despising of this goodnesse of God as
for him to repent I know no such state nor any rule that God hath given to himselfe to confine his grace Nay to the contrary we reade that neither continuance in sinne nor greatnesse of sinne doth preclude the grace of God but that Gods grace as it can so it doth many times prevaile over both But you love not to speake distinctly but to carie your selfe in the clouds of generalities They that maintaine a weake cause had need play least in sight wee say plainly that God well knowes no man can repent except he gives the grace of repentance the Scriptures in divers places expresly testifying that repentance is the gift of God though you love not to heare of that eare nor are well pleased as it seemes with the musique that riseth upon the touching of that string On the other side God knowes that every man at any time can repent if God will be pleased to give him the grace of repentance yea and that he shall repent also the habituall grace serves for the one and the actuall and effectuall motion of Gods Spirit is requisite to the other I come to the second parallell of Iesuiticall equivocation or rather the deification of it as you are pleased out of glorious spleene to calumniate your opposites The protestation is on Gods part I will not the nonrepentance of him that dieth the reservation with purpose to make this part of my will knowne unto him But where I pray doe you finde any such protestation on Gods part Ezekiel hath none such In him it is said I will not the death of him that dieth But no where doth he say I will not the non repentance of him that dieth This is a tricke of your owne device as if you followed the counsell of Lysander and where the Lyons skinne will not reach you are content to patch it up with some piece of a Fox skinne Wee professe in plaine termes that as God hath mercy on whom he will so he hardneth whom he will and as he will give the grace of repentance unto some so he will not give the grace of repentance unto others Notwithstanding that he bid all in the ministery of his word I meane all those that heare it To repent and beleeve the Gospel So he did bid the Iewes and that with great earnestnesse to keepe the covenant Deut. 30. 19. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death blessing and cursing therefore chuse life that both thou and thy seed may live By loving the Lord thy God by obeying his voice and cleaving unto him for hee is thy life and the length of thy daies that thou maiest dwell in the land which the Lord did sweare unto thy fathers ' Yet I hope you will not say this could be done without grace though of the nature of grace what you thinke and of the universall extention thereof I should be very glad to understand and that therein you would speake your minde plainly As for the reservation here it is most ridiculous neither is any equivocation of Iesuites I trow answerable hereunto for by reservations a sense is raised contradictious to the sense of the protestation but by this reservation no contradiction ariseth to the former as it lieth but onely it denyeth a certaine purpose to be joyned with it but be it that Iesuits allow such artifice what Divine of ours doth Did we say that God wills not the non repentance of any we would say hee willeth it not in as much as hee forbiddeth it And Gods prohibitions and commandements are usually though improperly called the will of God And here voluntas signi hath proper place enough Like as God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his sonne yet his determination was that Isaac should not be sacrificed Some may have said that God willeth not the death of him that dyeth in case he repent But was ever any heard to affirme that God wills not the non repentance of him that dieth to wit with purpose to make it knowne unto him What madnesse possessed you to ascribe so incredible a thing to your opposites so contrary to the rule of fiction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Callimachus hath set it downe Your addition here likewise which drawes a long taile after it hath no conformity to the patterne And as for the substance of it as touching Gods resolution never to grant some repentance or the meanes of it if thereby you meane the Gospel we acknowledge it to be truth for the arme of the Lord is not revealed unto all neither doth he give repentance or faith to all but hath mercy on some onely even on whom hee will and hardenneth othersome even whom he will that is denieth them repentance and consequently they cannot repent which interpretation of obduration your selfe make in the seventh section following and consequently they cannot live this I doubt not but you will acknowledge with us And therefore the vanity of your discourse is not at an end you proceed to talke of Gods oath in giving assurance that he will not the death of them that are damned built meerly upon a translation which you follow different from the most authorized translation of our Church and that contrary to evident reason for seeing God doth inflict death and damnation upon the impenitent so hee must needs will it for hee doth all things according to the counsell of his owne will Ephesians 1. 11. And yet according to your reading of it a good construction may be given without all reservations as plainly enough deduced out of the word of God it selfe And what God hath manifested unto us in his word I hope is not to bee accounted a reservation but a revelation rather I am not of your minde to thinke that the keeping of an oath is a branch of perfection or to keepe a mans word either which yet is a better point of morality then to keepe an oath Such justice is to bee found amongst heathen men yet workes of mercy go beyond workes of justice yet no great perfection neither but to be mercifull to our enemies When they are hungry to feed them when they are thirsty to give them drinke this is the perfection that our Saviour calleth us unto and sets before our eyes the goodnes of our heavenly Father in suffering his raine to fall and his sunne to shine on the bad as well as on the good And here withall how well your calumniation hath sped imputing to us the deification of Iesuiticall equivocations let the indifferent Reader judge 6 Here you proceede learnedly to distinguish betweene somethings determined by oath and somethings else and in the accomodation of your distinction you tell us that Voluntas signi and beneplaciti can have no place in things determined by divine oath but well it may in other things What is the other member of your distinction opposite to things determined by
that God should by his secret or reserved will recall any part of his will declared by oath We are so farre from thinking that God recalls any part of his will declared by oath that wee doe not believe that hee doth or can recall any patt of his will that hee hath declared by his bare word And wee thinke it equally impossible for God to lye and to perjure himselfe for he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither when hee kept Abraham from sacrificing his sonne Isaac doe wee say that he recalled any part of his will which he had formerly declared by his word although he commanded Abraham to sacrifice his sonne for Gods will of commandement signifieth onely what God will have to be our duety to doe not what hee hath determined to be done though you confound these usually and that as wilfully and unlearnedly as Arminius himselfe because it serves your turne and advantageth your cause to confound them But looke you to it how you free your selfe from maintaining that God doth recall something which hee hath properly willed and determined to be done For that God willeth the death of no man that dieth you make to bee the word of God confirmed by oath and you understand it of Gods will properly so called and yet you maintaine that God willeth the death of him that dieth though not as man and as the sonne of Adam yet in some other manner which either is flat contradiction or else God doth recall and change his will The last part of your devout asseveration is Farre be it from us to thinke that God should proclaime an universall pardon to all the sonnes of Adam under the seale of his oath and yet exempt many from all possibilitie of receiving any benefit by it Here you seeme to shew your teeth but I had rather understand your meaning for to proclaime pardon to all is ambiguous for it may bee done absolutely as kings on earth grant pardons and usually our kings grant pardons at the end and conclusion of parliaments I doe not thinke this is your meaning for then all should be pardoned for to proclaime pardon is to signifie his Majesties pleasure that hee doth pardon them But if conditionally it is true God proclaimes that whosoever believeth shall be saved this is a knowne truth no man takes exception against it And how doe we exempt any from all possibility of receiving it You will say that this we doe in exempting many from all possibility of performing the condition to wit of believing I answer that your owne opinion is to be charged with this ours is not for you maintain that Pharaoh after the seventh wonder was exempt from all possibility of repentance and the like you avouch of all reprobates and such as have filled up the measure of their sinne which according to your opinion may be many yeares before their death and in the seventh Section following you expresse it thus Having their soules betrothed unto wickednesse such undoubtedly was Ahab that sold himselfe to worke wickednesse and many such like And in this case you professe in your owne phrase that the doore of repentance is shut upon them But wee like not this opinion of yours wee know no measure of sinne nor continuance of sinne that doth prescribe unto the grace of God and forbids the banes of matrimony betwixt him and his Church but that in a due time the power of Gods grace shall breake through all obstacles even through the furious idolatry of Manasses in giving his children unto Devills and that sealed with bloud wherewith hee filled Ierusalem from corner to corner yea and through his sorcery and witchcraft also and through the rage of Saul persecuting Gods saints and making havocke of the Church of God And for as much as wee maintaine it to be possible for every one to believe and repent through Gods grace it is manifest that we exempt no man from all possibility of believing and repenting to wit in consideration of the power of God But in consideration of the power of man wee exempt not many onely but all and every one from possibility of beleeving and repenting by power of nature And dare you avouch the contrary It is apparant that whatsoever you thinke you dare not openly professe thus much And therefore are content to hide your head and lurke under generalities So that the case is cleare that you doe us wrong in saying wee exempt many from all possibility of repenting I say it is a notorious slander for we exempt men from possibility of repenting onely by power of nature and so we exempt not onely many but all and every one from possibility of repenting But perhaps you may say that withall wee maintaine that God doth not purpose to give the grace of faith and repentance unto all but to deny it unto many yea unto most and upon this supposition we exempt them from all possibility of repenting But I pray consider to exempt some from possibility of repenting upon supposition is this to exempt from all possibility without supposition For you have delivered this without all supposition And then the issue is to enquire whether God hath decreed to give the grace of faith and repentance unto all or rather to deny it to many yea to most And dare you affirme that God hath decreed to give the grace of faith and repentance unto all It is apparant you dare not openly professe this and therefore carie your selfe in the clouds without any cleare and distinct proposing of your meaning In S. Pauls daies there was a remnant amongst Israel which are called Gods election Rom. 11. and these had obtained this grace of faith and repentance as there the Apostle signifieth but the rost were hardned And if God hath purposed to give grace unto all you may as well say God hath elected all But the Holy Ghost witnesseth that many are called and but few are chosen Many I say are called not all neither nor the most part as all experience and the histories of the world doe manifest and therefore though God proclaimes in his word pardon of sinne to all that beleeve yet he doth not proclaimethis unto all By the way I observe that whereas you say that God doth proclaime an universall pardon to all the sonnes of Adam under the seale of his oath this of Gods oath which you adde doth draw us to conceive that the meaning of those words As I live I will not the death of him that dies containes this sense in your construction that God will pardon the sinnes of all and since these words as you understand them doe not runne conditionally but absolutely herehence it followeth that according to your opinion God hath sworne absolutely to pardon the sinnes of all men the absurdity whereof I leave to everie mans sober consideration 7. Hitherto you have told us in what matters the distinction of voluntas signi and voluntas beneplaciti cannot
Iohn and Christ damneth the contemners of God and such as willingly continue in sinne and will not repent Those the Scripture excludeth from the generall promise of grace It may seeme that The contemners of God and such as willingly continue in sinne and will not repent in master Hoopers phrase are the same in your judgement with those whom you account to have filled up the measure of iniquity But what ground have you for that Master Hooper saith not that all such whom he accounts contemners of God and such as willingly continue and sinne and will not repent have hereupon filled up the measure of their iniquitie or that hereupon all possibility of amendment is taken from them these are your assertions they are not master Hoopers Again all contemners of God and such as willingly continue in sinne and will not repent master Hooper saith the Scripture excludes from the generall promise of grace and this he utters without any distinction as well he may to wit for the present and so long as they continue in this their contempt and hardnesse of hart For as much as the promise of grace both for the pardon of sinne and salvation of our soules belongs to none but such as breake off their sinfull courses by faith and repentance But you distinguish betweene such contemners of God and presumptuous sinners and tell us that some of them have arived to the full measure of their iniquity and that there is no possibility of their amendment such as Pharaoh was after the seventh plague others though contemners of God c. yet in this their course of contempt have not filled up the measure of their iniquity such as Pharaoh was before the seventh plague who undoubtedly was a contemner of God before that time and one that willingly continued in sinne and would not repent and of all such you professe that God doth unfainedly love them Now there are no tracks or footsteps of such strange assertions as either of these to be found in Bishop Hooper Of all contemners of God he professeth according unto Scripture that they are excluded from all promise of grace to wit for the present he doth not say God unfainedly loves any of them but as for the time to come he doth not affirme that all possibility of amendment is taken from them Had hee thought so then he should acknowledge them to bee in a desperate condition But hee is so farre from this that hee accounts Desperation to bee a principall let and impediment unto godlinesse chap. 18. fol. 90. The first let saith hee or impediment is desperation when as men thinke they cannot be saved but are excluded from all mercy and a little after Of the contrary nature to presumption is desperation it taketh from God his mercy For when they offend and continue in sinne they thinke there is no mercy left for them and that as in the next sentence he sheweth specially because of custome and long continuance in sinne Then he proceeds saying This discourse and progresse in that knowledge of sinne beareth him in hand that it is impossible to returne unto God This is as much as in your phrase to affirme that all possibility of amendment is taken from him But doth Mr. Hooper justifie this Nothing lesse for this is a maine let or impediment to repentance which he desires to remove out of the way of sinners and to that hee proceeds in this manner Moses saith he like a good Physitian teacheth a remedie against this dangerous disease and sheweth the way unto God declareth that God is full of mercy and ready to forgive and beginneth his oration in this manner unto such as bee afflicted and oppressed with sinne When there commeth upon thee all those things when God hath afflicted thee for thy sinnes and thou returnest unto him with all thy heart he shall deliver thee from captivity and receive thee to his mercy againe Of the which text learne this doctrine that God will alwaies forgive how many and how horrible soever the sinnes bee and learne to feare presumption and to beware of desperation So that hoe acknowledgeth no just cause of desperation no not in respect of custome and long continuance in sinne The next sentence in Mr. Hooper transcribed by you in this eighth Section of yours conteines no more then that which wee all acknowledge Thou seest saith he by the places before rehearsed that though wee cannot believe in God as undoubtedly as is required by reason of this our naturall sicknesse and disease yet for Christ sake in the judgement of God wee are accounted as faithfull believers for whose sake this naturall disease and sicknesse is pardoned by what name soever Saint Paul calleth the naturall infirmity and originall sinne in man This is something concerning the nature of originall sinne in the opinion of Mr. Hooper nothing at all touching a certaine state of sinne wherein all possibility of amendment is taken from a man to which purpose Mr. Hooper is alledged by you in this place Yet because I doe not know what reaches you have in this also I answer that Mr. Hooper speakes of originall sinne as it is found in the regenerate and as it is in them hee calls it onely A naturall sicknesse and disease And indeed when wee are once regenerate wee are no longer dead in sinne no longer estranged from the life of God But herehence it followeth not that Mr. Hooper was of opinion that originall sinne was even in the unregenerate to bee accounted onely A naturall sicknesse and disease and not rather a death in sinne especially considering that the holy Apostle acknowledgeth A law in his members rebelling against the law of his minde and leading him captive to the law of sinne and calleth it A body of death crying out against it and saying Who shall deliver me from this body of death Rom. 7. 1. The last clause as I take it makes more for your present purpose as when hee saith And this imperfection and naturall sicknesse taken of Adam excludeth not the person from the promise of God in Christ except wee transgresse the limits and bounds of originall sinne by our owne folly and malice and either of a contempt or hate of Gods word wee fall into sinne and transforme ourselves into the image of the devill Then wee exclude by this meanes ourselves from the promises and merits of Christ who onely received our infirmities and originall disease and not the contempt of him and his law This passage I confesse is somewhat strange and of my knowledge hath troubled some concâ—iving it as an assertion of yours and not so much as dreaming that it was delivered by Mr. Hooper I answer therefore First of all that this serves not your turne for the present that in two respects First you distinguish the contempt of Godsword and of his law according to different degrees eithersuch as was in Pharaoh before the seventh plague or such as was in
Pharaoh after the seventh plague And notwithstanding the former contempt of Gods word and his law you professe that God unfainedly loves all such in whom such a contempt is found because for sooth as yet they have not filled up the full measure of their contempt And as for such in whom is found a farther degree of contempt then this all possibility of amendment is taken from them Now Mr. Hooper doth not make any such distinction much lesse doth hee cast himselfe upon any such uncoth assertions as you deliver hereupon as before I have shewed Secondly your doctrine of filling up the measure of iniquity proceeds of men in state of nature but Mr. Hooper delivers that before rehearsed of men in the state of grace And in my judgement his meaning is no more then this that imperfections of faith and holinesse may and doe still consist with the â—ate of grace in this life but contempt or hate of Gods word and transformation of our selves into the image of the Devill cannot stand with the state of grace not denying but that all contempt and hatred of Gods word and the fruits of the image of the Devill in us in case they are broken off and an end is set unto them by repentance are borne by Christ upon the Crosse and satisfaction made for them by the death of Christ as well as for originall sinne nor affirming that any man once brought unto the state of grace doth at any time breake forth so farre as to contemne or hate Gods word or to transforme himselfe into the image of the Devill But his meaning in my judgement is onely this that Christ hath made satisfaction for the imperfections of our faith and holinesse although wee continue therein untill death but hee hath not made satisfaction for the contempt and hatred of his word and for our transformation of our selves into the image of the Divell as hâ— calleth it in case men doe continue therein unto death Imperfections may and shall continue and still bee pardoned but contempt must not This hath seemed to others as well as to my selfe an harsh sentence and I have taken some paines to cleare it but how little it serves your turne to that purpose whereto you alledge it is easily discovered SECT III. That Gods will and pleasure is never frustrated albeit his unspeakable love take no effect in many to whom it is unfainedly tendered CHAP. XVI In what sense God may be said to have done all that he could for his vineyard and for such as perish I Have now waded thorow fifteene Chapters of these your Contemplations and should by this in reason be pretie well acquainted with the manner of your discourse But I finde my selfe as much pusâ—ed in searching after the coherence of the parts of the first Section here as hitherto I have beene in any part of the Treatise But it may be I doe but labour to gather that which you never strewed and then no marvell if I labour in vaine As in other parts so in this it may be your purpose was to write Quodlibets well such as they are I purpose to consider them as I finde them To summe up the particulars in the first place you discover unto us the causes of conceiving difficulties and of ignorance in assoiling them and that is because we extend this Maxime Both parts of contradictories cannot bee true not so farre as we should and the reason thereof is you say because we extend our power to the utmost yea farther then justice or goodnesse can accompany it To this you adde 〈◊〉 our nature is humourous and inconstant and therefore nothing can imply any constant contradiction to our nature and that looke what is constant and still the same that will at one time or other contradict our humour And humours you say enraged with contradiction arme power against whatsoever contradicts them By the way you tell us that the use of power in creatures sensitive is to satiate their appetite of sense in man to accomplish his will and desire of good And that being corrupt his power becomes an under-commander unto his unruly appetites as in voluptuous men and that in men esteemed good motions of equity are so weake that men yeeld their consents to such proposals as were they firme they would offensively contradict them And the reason why they yeeld is lest upstart appetites which custome countenanceth should bee enlarged by reluctance But love you say is not alike set on divers objects but divides itselfe unequally when it comes to opposition betweene sense reason our selves and friends or common equity And the inconveniences whereto the world and flesh exposeth us are reducible to two heads the blinding of the judgement and consequently the abusing of power and authority Then againe you returne to our unconstant humour and upon the backe of that tell us that though none doth good yet we may doe lesse evill then others And lastly that they who love equity are hardly drawn to dispense with injustice and at last having sate long you hatch an excellent Maxime that where judgement is infallible and love to justice invincible there â—s not possible to transgresse in judgement All which when I compare together and with your theame proposed How God may be said to have done all that he could for his vineyard it cals to my remembrance a certaine mad fellowes discourse when I was a Scholler at Winchester that would talke of master Killigree and Abbey lands fat venison and such like uncoherences a long time together But let us examine them apart Both parts of contradiction cannot be true and it is as true that both parts of contradiction cannot be false But whereto this tends and how pertinent to your purpose in this place I cannot devise Onely you tell us that the not extending of this Maxime so farre as we should is the cause why wee conceive difficulties in your wilde discourse premised as also of our ignorance in assoiling them A strange conceit and whereof I see no colour of reason neither do you take any paines to explicate it by accommodation or instance but let flie at randome as if you would imploy your readers in seeking after sense and reason where there is none to be found And if this were true your selfe should have assoiled the difficulties conceived in the points proposed by extending this Maxime to the utmost to serve your turne and shewed how by not extending it so farre as is meet difficulties are conceived and no meanes found to assoile them but your selfe have taken no such course And who was ever knowne not to extend this Maxime to the uttermost where can you finde any limitation or confining of it what doe you meane to abuse your readers patience with such incredible fictions Againe herehence it followeth that whosoever doe extend this maxime so farre as naturally it would reach they shall not be apt to conceive difficulties in the points proposed nor be
still I perceive your meaning reacheth further then you dare as yet to professe for your meaning is to prove that All that heare the Gospell and doe not believe it seeing they shall bee guilty of greater sinne and incurre greater condemnation at the day of judgement therefore they could believe it if they would This is the point that sticks in your teeth and which you dare not openly and plainely professe as indeed it is manifest Pelagianisme and which the Arminians dare not at this day openly avouch but rather professe that no man can believe or repent without grace Whereas yet like as your selfe maintaine that no man in state of nature can doe otherwise of himselfe then sinne yet is he justly condemned for sinning none compelling him in like sort no man of himselfe can believe the Gospell yet hee may be as justly condemned for not believing For as for that naturall impotency unto that which is good which is in all derived unto us from our father Adam that is of it selfe sufficient to condemne us and therefore most unsufficient to excuse us And that impotencie being in all alike the condemnation therefore shall be unto all alike but the increase of it by actuall transgressions which are freely committed is not in all alike for neither doth inclination naturall or tentations spirituall or occasions temporall hinder a mans libertie in doing or refusing to doe any act so likewise neither can it hinder the aggravation of his sinne But neither can this naturall impotency bee cured in any part but by the grace of God habituall neither any good act according to this grace habituall he performed without another grace both prevenient and subsequent actuall If your minde serves you to deale plainly in opposing ought of this you shall not want them that will bee ready to enter with you into the lists and scholastically to encounter you Yet I confesse the providence of God especially in ordering and governing the wills of men is a misterious thing and the operation and cooperation of his will with the operation and cooperation of the will of man But I am a long time inured unto this and now I feare no bugbeares least of all from your selfe with whom I have beene of old acquainted in our private and familiar discourse on these and such like arguments and to tell you plainely my opinion I doubt you have written so much that you have had time to read but litle And truly as for my selfe as I have written little so also I have not read much But in these points I have spent not a little time in searching after truth and examining arguments As for the place of the Apostle Act. 17. 30. it seemes your meaning is it pleads for universall grace now after Christs death yet your selfe immediately before profested that onely they that heare it and doe not believe are guilty of greater sinnes implying manifestly that since Christs death all doe not heare it Yet if you have any other meaning and will deale roundly in propounding it I will be ready to consider this or any other place that you shall bee able to produce to what purpose soever if orthodox in my judgement to subscribe unto it if otherwise to doe my best to confute it 3 In the next place you are so farre from maintaining universall grace that you undertake to give causes why all men in the world have not heard of this love of God in Christ. But these causes to be assigned by you are put off till hereafter and that not of certainty neither you onely say They may bee assigned T is your usuall course to feed your Readers with expectation as it were with empty spoones If you doe not gull them in putting them off to expectation t is somewhat the better The reason you give why many might have heard of Christ which yet have not heard of him and might have beene partakers of his death I thinke you meane of the benefit of his death which yet have not beene partakers of it is starke naught For that evill courses of men cannot hinder them from the participation of Christs death appeareth by the calling of the Gentiles and casting off of the Iewes For were the deeds of Babylon thinke you better then they of Sion Wee Jewes by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles saith the Apostle Gal. 2. 15. The Apostle in divers places puts no difference betweene them that are called and them that are not as touching their manners before grace 1 Cor. 6. 11. Eph. 2. 23. Tit. 3. 23. God sindes us weltring in our bloud when he saith unto us Live Ezech. 16. and Saul was taken off from his bloudy courses to be made a member of Christ. And your doctrine to the contrary tends shamefully to the obscuring and disparaging of Gods grace and to the advancing of the power of nature and liberty of will the trick of the Pelagians of old of whom Austine professed thus Inimici gratiae Dei latent in commendatione naturae The enemies of Gods grace welter themselves under the commendation of nature And Austine professeth it to be impiety and madnesse to deny that God can convert any mans will when hee will and where hee will And you blush not to professe in another discourse of yours that humility is the disposition which prepares us for grace I doubt you will finde little comfort in such humility and that at the day of judgement such humility will be found abominable pride What you meane by pledges I know not you love to walk in cloudes and in the darke if you mean the fruits of Gods temporall blessings how will you prove that these were evidences of that love which God man fested in the death of his Sonne And if it were so then this evidence should be manifested to all of ripe yeares for all are partakers of Gods temporall providence even they that have filled up the measure of their iniquity Yet then you usually professe God withdrawes his love from them but how can that bee if hee afford them the unquestionable earnests thereof as before you called these pledges whereas in the close you say that many are not acquainted with this manifestation of Gods love and that out of meere mercy it may well passe for one of your paradoxes I never doubted but that it was a mercy to know Christ and the love of God to the world in him but that it was a mercy to want Christ I never read nor heard till now Neither is it necessary that men though reprobates should be enraged to evill by the Gospell for God can make even reprobates to profit by it ad exteriorem vitae emendationem quà mitius puniantur To the outward emendation of their lives to the end their punishment may be the milder And we finde by experience that all were not enraged against it CHAP. XVIII Want of consideration or ignorance of Gods unfained love to such as perish a