an other place he asserts that Souls departed live not the life of Spirits and adds that it is contrary to Scripture to assert otherwise And further If souls lived thus it could not be said that the dead ARE NOT because they ARE as is their chief part If you would know the ground of this opinion it is this The Soul they say can't live without the Body and therefore when this dies the other doth so too The foresaid Author expresses it thus As the body without the spirit is a carkase so the spirit without the body can exert no actions i. e. is as it were a carkase is dead and in an other place he is as peremptory Slichtingius labours to prove that humane souls live not on this side of the last and general Resurrection which appears from their not having a Sense of any thing between the time after their departure hence and the Resurrection The dead are not sensible saith he and accordingly Separate Souls having no sense and perception are concluded to have no life Again in an other place in his Commentary he saith the Souls of the just are not sensible of Happiness till after the Resurrection Volkelius would seem at first to be a Trimmer for he tells us the Soul neither dies nor lives it is neither mortal nor immortal But when he comes to explain himself he lets us see that he is no dissenter from his brethren but concludes with them that the Souls of the departed are insensible of any thing before their re-union with the bodies Nay as you shall hear afterwards he improves this Insensibility into an Extinction I will mention Crellius in the last place though he is a Racovian of the first Rate he gives it us as his perswasion that the souls of the dead have no perception no knowledg of any thing And in an other place he determines that the departed Saints enjoy not the Happiness of Heaven before the End of the World And afterwards he undertakes the Proof of this and produces Eight Arguments for this purpose but he generally founds it on this Hypothesis that there is no Perception without the Body and therefore till there be a Reunion of soul and body the deceased can have no feeling of Celestial Joys they remain destitute of all sâ—…se Thus they all agree that Humane Spirits after death have no Life or Activeness for one is synonymous with the other no capacity of exerting themselves But what can be more contrary to those discoveries which are made to us in the Sacred and Inspired Writings Our Blessed Saviour saith God is not the God of the dead but of the living Mat. 22. 32. which words are spoken of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who are long since departed this life wherefore it is undeniably evident that these Patriarchs live But they do not live as to their bodies therefore it must be meant of their Souls The same Infallible Instructer ascertains us that he who hears his word and believes in him who sent him is passed from death to life John 5. 24. Which words though they may be interpreted concerning a state of spiritual death and spiritual life in this world yet they have a fuller meaning and comprehend in them the passing of believers at their death into a better life than they had before viz. that which is Everlasting of which he speaks in the very same verse And such are said to be passed as if it were already done which is usual in the Scripture-stile because of the Certainty of the thing hereafter But the Socinian Theology runs counter to this they say believers pass from life to death to a state that is wholly uncapable of sense life or action Those words of our Saviour this day shalt thou be with me in paradise Luke 23. 43. prove that the Soul enjoys it self immediately after death and is in a state of Bliss and Happiness The Apostle had a desire to depart and to be with Christ Phil. 1. 23. and assigns this as a reason which is far better that is far better than to abide in the flesh to continue in this world which he speaks of both before and after these words But according to Socinus's followers it is far worse for after the Soul's departure from the body it hath no understanding no perception at all of Christ or any thing appertaining to him Again these men confront not only Scripture but reason they shew themselves as bad Philosophers as Divines for if they had a right apprehension of the Nature of Humane Souls they would not talk after this rate Their notion destroys the very Soul of man for it deprives it of its Essential and Inseparable Quality which is Thinking And besides they grosly imagine that the Body helps the Soul in its operations yea that this cannot subsist without the assistance of that whereas according to the best notions we can form of the body as it is now corrupted it is a hindrance to the operation of the Soul And as for the Soul it is so far from being worsted by its Separation that it is in a much better condition as to its actings than it was Death is but snuffing of this Candle so 't is call'd Prov. 20. 27. it makes it shine the brighter When the Soul leaves the Body it becomes more brisk and active than ever being freed from that fleshly clog and luggage which depressed it This is True Philosophizing but the other is the very dregs of Epicurism It degrades the Rational Part of Man especially that of Good Men for all Separate Souls according to them go to the same place the wicked and the godly are alike as to that there is no difference between them till the Resurrection and Last Judgment Which is a great deal worse than the doctrine of the Church of Rome which assigns different Limbus's to the good and bad And then they are all equal as to this that they are Senseless and uncapable of knowing or acting or any ways exerting themselves Though the Soul exists yet it is as if it were not it hath nothing of its True Nature which is in a manner thrusting the Rational Spirit out of its being Who doth not see that the belief of the Insensibility and Inactivity of the Soul makes way for the belief of its Non-subsistence after the death of the body And so all Religion is dampt and the hopes of a Future State are quite laid in the dust The Socinian Writers verge upon this thus from the pen of one of the Authors before mention'd we have such words as these concerning the Soul Properly speaking it neither dies nor lives but only causes Life as long as it is joyn'd to the Body wherefore properly speaking it can't be said to be Immortal for Immortality belongs only to those beings which themselves actually live And speaking another time concerning the Souls that are separated from their bodies he
it is Reasonable that we should imitate God in whatever he commands us He resting from the works of the Creation on the seventh day thereupon instituted a Cessation of all worldly labour and business among all mankind on that day and so dedicated it to his honour and worship Gen. 2. 2 3. whereby the observance of it becomes on that account and in that respect Moral It is not strictly Moral but because the devoting some Certain and Peculiar Time to God's Service is Moral therefore so far the observing of a Seventh Day is Moral And as for that particular seventh day or that one day in Seven which we now keep it was separated and hallowed by the Apostles who had Authority from Christ to do it and so it became an Evangelical Institution and consequently is more than Moral Wherefore the Socinians who with the Quakers and some other High-flown Sects hold that there is no obligation to keep the first day of the week more than any other despise the Gospel Institution prophane the Time which was particularly destined to the Service of God and more especially of the Eternal Son of God our Blessed Saviour and Redeemer who by his Miraculous Resurrection consecrated this day and set it apart for holy and religious duties He therefore that accounts it not a Holy Day and keeps it not as such plainly manifests a spirit of Impiety and Prophaneness It is not to be question'd that the Evangelical Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper appertain to Religious Worship Therefore in the next place we are to examine how piously the Racovians express themselves with regard to these Divine Institutions It hath been and is the general belief of the Orthodox Professors of Christianity that the Sacraments ordained of Christ as Our Church well expresses it are not only badges or tokens of Christian mens profession but that they are certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace and God's good will toward us by which he doth work invisibly in us and doth not only quicken but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him And particularly as to Baptism they agree with our Church that it is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christian Men are discerned from others but whereby as by an Instrument they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church The promises of the forgiveness of Sin and of our adoption to be sons of God by the Holy Ghost are visibly sign'd and seal'd faith is confirmed and grace increased by vertue of Prayer unto God And indeed this hath been the constant perswasion of all Understanding and Religious Men this hath been their firm and grounded belief concerning the Sacraments that these Ordinances were appointed for Great and Excellent Purposes viz. that they should be when rightly and effectually administred Chanels of Grace and of the Holy Spirit Pledges of God's good will in the Gospel and Signs of the Remission of our sins and more particularly that the Sacrament of the Eucharist should be a help to our Faith and all our other Graces and a solemn Seal and Assurance of the Divine Favour to us as well as a Memorial of the Death of our Saviour But the Gentlemen whom we are now giving an account of are of another mind for they with one consent declare that there is no collation of any Grace no Confirmation of our Faith no bestowing of any Spiritual Blessing in the use of the Sacraments And generally they hold with Volkelius that there is no other end of instituting the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper but Thankfulness The Racovian Catechism teaches that this Sacrament is of no use to ratifie and seal the Benefits purchas'd for us by our Saviour yea that it is not useful to put us in mind of his Death notwithstanding his own words Do this in remembrance of me An other Writer peremptorily determines that there is no other use of the Lord's Supper but to stir up our Thankfulness for Christ's Death It is falsly said saith he that it is a Seal of Grace and Divine Favour a Confirmation of the Promises and of our faith in them It is erroneously said that it was instituted to be a Memorial of Christ's Death though he had in express terms said a little before There is no other end of this Sacrament than that the remembrance of Christ together with giving of thanks and setting forth his cruel death should perpetually remain in the Church Whereby it appears he had forgot what he had said but he was not forgetful to disparage this Sacrament But can we be so uncharitable as to think that the Unitarians of our times are guilty of this Verily it is no breach of Charity to think so of them since they have expresly declar'd as much First they tell us * they like not the word Sacraments because it is no Scripture-word for which profound reason some of them have profess'd that they dislike the word Trinity then they declare that neither of the Sacraments work ought in us and particularly as for the effects and consequences ascrib'd to the right partaking of the Lord's Supper they can find them no where but in the Books and Sermons of the Superstitious admirers or idolaters of External things i. e. the Books and Sermons of all Protestants And here it will not be amiss to take notice how both the Sacraments are most Abusively treated by these English Socinians which will further evince that they have a right to the Character which I have given them Their language is as follows p. 24. Let a man in black sprinkle you with some of the Church's Water or give you a bit of Bread or a sup of Wine over which he hath pronounced the Wonder-working words prescribed in Mother Church's Ritual though by nature you are as bad as the Devil you shall presently be inclin'd to as much good as will save you from Hell and qualifie you for Heaven And this no less certainly if you are one of the Elect for else the Churches Incantation produces only a momentary effect and a false appearance of good no less certainly I say than by tying the Norman Knot you may gain the love of the person you desire or by other Devices recorded in the learned books of Magick you may cause Hatred raise Winds and do a thousand other Feats which have no more natural and real agreement with those Causes that are said to produce them than Faith and Obedience have with a bit of Bread or with a sprinkling of water It can't be said he speaks this of the way of administring Baptism and the Eucharist in the Church of Rome for in this place he is designedly speaking of the Protestants and especially of the Church of England in her Prayers and Offices of the Service-book and in her Articles and Homilies so that it is plain he means the celebration of both Sacraments according to
necessarily bound to observe them nor did he lose the name of a Worshipper of God who observ'd them not This is the mean and low esteem they have of the Sacred Writings of the Old Testament it was according to them indifferent whether what they enjoyn'd was observ'd or not and particularly Sobriety and Moderation were no Set Vertues under the Law This is the doctrine of an other of them Obscene words saith he revelling luxury excess in eating and drinking mere tolerated and permitted to the Israelites And he further adds that the Patriarchs of old the Jews and all the people under the Old Testament sinn'd not in living licentiously in indulging of all manner of Riot Gluttony Drunkenness Wantonness Turpitude all but downright Adultery and Fornication The Law did not forbid these for Christ he saith was the first that by his law forbad them Therefore they might indulge themselves in all beastly pleasures of the body and impure desires and lusts and all immoderation in eating and drinking and the greatest provocatives of the most filthy lusts These are his very words and it would scarcely be thought that they could fall from the pen of a Writer who professedly treats of the True Religion But when we consider that it is the Socinian Religion whatever he calls it which he means our wonder may cease And yet it will rise again when we remember what shew of Piety and Exactness in Religion these men make and would have us believe that they are a perfecter sort of Christians than others Yet they are not ashamed to give this account of the Religion of the Holy Patriarchs and Saints till the coming of Christ. How high an affront is this to the Divine Majesty that he should allow and approve of these Impurities and Immoralities for this they must necessarily hold because they declare that these were no Sins nor were they disliked by God otherwise he would have forbid the practice of them If I have any understanding in Theology these are vile notions and vented to corrupt the minds and manners of men Though the very law of Nature and Reason forbids these gross Enormities yet they have the face to assert that they were not Sins under the Law Under Gentilism they were Vices as appears from their being inveighed against by the Pagan Moralists but not under the Old Testament Mens Natural Consciences condemn these flagitious practices but God doth not This is the Divinity of the Socinians and who can expect any Moral Truths from them when they discourse after this manner when they vouch the most Immoral actions to have been lawful all the time till our Saviour's coming when those very things which were judged to be Vices by the Pagans their very natural Reason dictating so much to them are said to be Lawful practices among God's own people Certainly these mens Notions which are so corrupted as to Natural Religion must needs be very Unsound as to that which is Reveal'd If their Ethicks be so depraved what can we think of their Christianity We can think nothing less than this that the former Charge is to be renewed here and that with very great and apparent reason To their perswasions referring to Practice I will here annex what they say concerning the Civil Power and the executing of it It is true Sliâ—…htingius is of opinion that Magistracy is lawful and he speaks of it with some respect and deference as you may see in his Questions concerning Magistracy But others express themselves in a different strain and stile representing the Civil Powers as unlawful under the Gospel No Christian can with a good conscience be a Magistrate saith Wolzogen It is not to be tolerated in the kingdom of Christ that one should rule ovâ—… others and exercise power and dominion This he pursues with great warmth And in an other place he tells us that the Magistrate's Office is Useless which he backs with divers Arguments and accordingly explodes that Punishing and Rewarding which are generally annex'd to the Magistratick Office And again he asserts and defends that Christ in those words Mat. 20. 26. It shall not be so among you c. condemns all Earthly Dominion and Superiority and he labours to prove from this place that all Civil Power is utterly forbid under the Gospel Others indeed are not so rigid and fierce they do not hold Magistracy to be altogether unlawful and unchristian but yet that which is really a great part of it is voted to be so by them for it belongs not to the Higher Powers they say to punish any Offenders with death Socinus asserts this without any limitation It is not lawful in the times of the Gospel for a Magistrate to shed any man's blood and bereave him of life saith an Other The Magistrate ought not to use any Capital or Deadly Punishment saith a third And a fourth designedly undertakes to prove that according to Christ's laws no Malefactors no not Murderers are to be punish'd with loss of Life Would you know the Reason of it One of the foremention'd Authors assigns it in these words It is now a time of grace the most perfect love towards our neighbour is commanded He that doth not see that it manifestly follows hence that it is not lawful to take away the life of Criminals that man is blinded by his own flesh or by the spirit of Antichrist and 〈◊〉 long accustoming himself to do evil But if we consult what this Author saith a little before we shall find that he was blind himself for he saith It is not lawful for a Christian Magistrate to shed blood and to deprive any of life but by some other ways which are more severe to restrain and punish them Observe it he would prescribe a more severe penalty yet he rejects the other way because it is so severe and harsh and because the Gospel-dispensation is loving and gentle If these be not Contradictions tell me what are But I will briefly shew that both Socinus and these his followers herein oppose themselves to the Authority of the Holy Scriptures and the Appointment of the Universal Lawgiver of the world which is no mean Instance of their Irreligious inclination That Ancient Law Gen 9. 6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed is not abrogated and therefore is still in force The Magistrate hath here a Commission to put to death persons for Murder Here is a Divine Warrant for this Bloody Execution And our Saviour's words have been applied this way by very Judicious Interpreters They that take the sword shall perish with the sword Mat. 26. 52. i. e. they that use the sword unlawfully they that unjustly shed humane blood are worthy of Death and this generally is their portion St. Paul's words to the Roman Governor Acts 25. 11. shew plainly that it is lawful for Magistrates to put to death those whose Crimes deserve it If I be an
and if he doth so he is an Atheist This is a Text that is not question'd by the Socinians though the next clause in the verse hath been doubted of by them and some others These are Words of the Beloved Disciple who lay in his Master's Bosom and had extraordinary communications of the Spirit and was favour'd in a peculiar manner with Divine Discoveries and Revelations This is he that may be called the Great Eagle and that name was given him by the Ancient Christians and much more deservedly than Maimonides was called so by the Modern Jews because he soared so high and was so quick-sighted in the Mysteries of the Gospel and had so piercing and sagacious judgment Therefore on all these accounts I urge this Text upon Socinus's followers wishing them to be sensible of the force of it The denyal of the Son i. e. the denying of his Divinity which consists in his being the Eternal Son of God is a denyal of the Father also They that deny the Deity of the Second and Third Persons in whom the Divinity as truly subsists as in the First deny the Deity of the First Person Whence it irrefragably follows that a Socinian is an Atheist He is so if this Syllogism will prove him to be one He that denies the existence of the True God is an Atheist the Socinian doth the former therefore he is the latter The Major is the definition of an Atheist and therefore can't be question'd The Minor therefore must be proved which is easily done thus He that denies Christ to be the True God i. e. of the same substance with the Father denies the existence of the True God but a Socinian denies Christ to be the true God i. e of the same substance with the Father Ergò The Second Proposition will not be denied by these Gentlemen therefore I am to clear the Major and that is soon done thus If the denying of the Divinity of the Son be the denying of the Divinity of the Father then he that denies Christ to be the True God c. denies the existence of the True God but the denying of the Divinity of the Son is the denying of the Divinity of the Father Ergò The first Proposition will be yielded I conceive therefore I am to take care of the second and that is soon done from the forecited Text which is the very substance of it Whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father The Socinians do the former therefore they are guilty of the latter There is such a Connection between these two the Father and the Son they being Co-essential and Co-eternal that if you deny the Divinity of the one you deny that of the other Therefore they are Atheists that deny the Divinity of our Saviour therefore in the interpretation and accounts of the Apostle St. John Socinians are such for they deny the Divinity of Christ and in denying of that deny the Divinity of the Father And this was the Sense of the Primitive Christians and Pious Professors of that Holy Religion for we find that Baptism is called the renouncing of Atheism and the acknowledgment of the Deity because in the Form of Baptism the Trinity is professed and owned or the Deity as it contains in it Three Distinct Persons Those therefore who deny these are chargable with Atheism more especially according to the tenour of St. John's Words and the acception of the Gospel those are to be taxed with it who deny the Divinity of our Saviour Perhaps it may be expected here that I should maintain the contrary Truth and formally prove and defend the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity but because there have been so many Treatises lately published on this subject and because I design a Just Discourse upon it my self among others which I intend to offer to the world upon the Articles of the Creed I will dismiss this Point at present after I have made this one request to the Reader that he would vouchsafe in the most serious manner to consult the Writings of the New Testament and studiously to compare those places together which refer to this Sublime Matter and then he will clearly discover the Truth and Reality of it Nay he will be convinced of this from what our Saviour himself saith concerning it for though for certain good reasons he was not forward to declare his Divine Nature and Dignity yet he often uttered such words as implied that he was the Eternal Son of God as when he said Before Abraham was I am John 8. 58. I and my Father are one John 10. 30. which the Jews well understood when they laid this to his charge Thou makest thy self God v. 32 33. He that hath seen me hath seen the Father because we are but One. John 14. 9. I am in the Father and the Father in me v. 10. And to the very last he owned this Mat. 26. 63 64. Mark 14. 62. whereas the Socinians as resolutely persevere in the denial of it And denying him to be God they consequently disown his Satisfaction which is another Black Crime chargable upon them and that very justly They allow Christ to be a Saviour but on this account only because he shews us the way to Salvation and will afterwards bestow it upon us As to his death they acknowledg that it was to confirm the New Covenant by shedding of his blood he ratified it as before under the Law the Old Covenant was made by effusion of blood But that there was any thing Meritorious and properly Expiatory in his Death they stiffly deny for it is the peremptory decision of Socinus himself that Christ did not merit by any thing that he did and Volkelius expresly saith the same Nay the former of these to explain himself undertakes to shew that Christ had nothing in him that was singular and that he neither did or suffered any thing that was so And elsewhere he hath these very words Whatsoever Christ suffered can have in it no greater vertue than if any mere man whosoever had suffered the same This is the opinion they have of the Passion and Death of our Blessed Lord. And to propagate this they endeavour by all means to vilifie his Priesthood They manifestly confound his Sacerdotal and Regal Office And they would perswade us that his Priestly Office did not commence here on Earth but was first exerted in heaven And such like Inventions they have to evade the Satisfaction of Christ which they resolve never to admit of Accordingly Socinus hath no less than fifteen Chapters against it in one book and the three first Parts of an other Treatise are wholly spent on the same subject and are indeed but a Repetition of what he said before And he again insists upon this in his Disputation with Francken His Friends unanimously assert the same doctrine and professedly declare that Christ did not by his death satisfie the Divine
being a Sacrifice and thereby making an Atonement unto God for us upon earth which destroys that Senseless Fiction of theirs that he was not a Priest till he came to Heaven This is undeniable that where the Oblation of the Sacrifice is there is the Priest now it was here upon Earth that he was a Sacrifice he offer'd his own blood upon the Cross and therefore he was a Priest upon Earth Therefore it is said When he had by himself purged our sins viz. here by his blood he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1. 3. He first offer'd himself a Propitiatory Sacrifice for us and then appear'd in glory and triumph in heaven Other Texts speak of Christ's ransoming us Mat. 20. 28. 1 Tim. 2. 6. and of redeeming us Rom. 3. 24. 1 Cor. 1. 30. And this Redemption was by his Blood Eph. 1. 17. 1 Pet. 1. 18. call'd the Blood of God Acts 20. 28. This was the Price that was paid for us and so it was a Proper Redemption This Price was paid to God's Justice to free us from the Penalty which was due by the Law to rescue us from eternal wrath and misery This is the doctrine which the Holy Scripture teacheth us and this is the faith of all who rightly understand those Writings viz. that Christ suffer'd and died to satisfie the Divine Justice in our stead and thereby to expiate for our sins and to redeem us from death and hell and to purchase life and salvation for us The Socinians deny this and thereby subvert the whole Gospel turn Christianity upside down ruine the very foundations of our Religion and pluck it up by the roots According to the doctrine of these Men we are yet in our sins for there is no True Expiation for them we are in a State of Misery we are overwhelm'd with our own Guilt we are hopeless helpless creatures and our condition is deplorate for there is no Satisfaction made to God for our transgressions Nay they are not content barely to renounce the contrary doctrine but they explode it with great derision and reproach First as to Christ's Merits we are told by Smalcius that it was taught by Socinus and Ostorodus that the opinion of those is false absurd and pernicious who have invented and feigned that there is any such thing as Merit in Christ. And Smalcius himself is bold to call it the Fictitious Merit of Christ and in another place that Dream of Merit Then as to the Satisfaction it self he is not afraid to stile it a Fiction that hath its rise from the brains of curious men And in his Catechism he hath these reproachful words Though now it is vulgarly thought by Christians that Christ by his death merited Salvation for us and fully satisfied for our sins yet it is a deceitful opinion erroneous and very pernicious Yea this doctrine of Christ's Satisfaction is termed Absurd and Impious by Socinus I appeal now to the Reader whether I need prove that those who use such language deserve the last of these Epithets themselves But are the English and Modern Gentlemen of the same opinion Yes as you may see in Mr. Bidle's Scripture Catechism as he calls it but very unjustly Chap. 12. where he shamefully corrupts the sense of Scripture to render his Opinion plausible If you consult one of their Later Writers you will find him in a deriding manner thus representing the doctrine of the Trinitarians viz. that God the Son being incarnate in our nature fulfill'd for us all obedience by his active righteousness and by his passive one he more than exhausted all that Punishment that is or can be due to Sin Whatever he did was for us and what he suffer'd was in our stead and one drop of his blood was sufficient to ransom a thousand worlds from the demerit of their Sins And then they labour to shew that the belief of such doctrine is of very ill consequence it 〈◊〉 the cause of the decay of Piety and it is thaâ—… which bolsters men up in their wicked courses Afterwards in way of derision they thus express the doctrine of Christ's Satisfaction Because they i. e. the Trinitarians pretend that God was incarnate and suffer'd in our stead they are forced to this conclusion that God hatâ—… freely pardon'd and yet was infinitely overpaid for all our transgressions and sins that of his mere Grace the abundance and riches of his grace forsooth he will pardon and save the penitenâ—… because he hath received for them 〈◊〉 you 'll believe it a price of Redemption c. These Tenents they scoff at aâ—… branches growing upon the Trinitarian Stock these they brand as scandalous absurd and heretical doctrines p. 11. 12 14. Iâ—… an other place they declare that the Oblation which Christ made of himself was not made to the Justice of God or by way of a full reparation to it but as all other Sacrifices of beasts formerly were an oblation or application to the mercy of God and as 't is added by way of humble suit In the same place they represent Christ's Satisfaction as a Monster and scoffingly call it the Trinitarians Fetch-back though presently after they seem to retract this Jargon In a pretended Letter to the Clergy of both Universities these New Racovians again ridicule this doctrine and so they do in some others of their late Pamphlets which makes their Character very wretched and dismal and to be abhorr'd by all Good Men and sincere Lovers of Christianity for it is too manifest that they tread under foot the Son of God and count the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing and do despite unto the Spirit of grace Thus you see how the doctrine of Socinianism as it respects God in general and more particularly the Persons of the Godhead and in a more especial manner the Second Person or Lord Christ Jesus and his Undertakings you see I say how extremely vitiated it is and fitted to the conceptions and notions of Prophane and Atheistical Spirits CHAP. IV. They maintain that the First Man was not created in a State of Uprightness notwithstanding the Writings of the Old and New Testament expresly assert the contrary Original Sin though attested in the same Holy Writings is pronounced a Fable by them Their groundless notion concerning the Spirit and Divine Assistance With the Pelagians they hold that Man 's Natural Strength is sufficient in order to faith and obedience What are vain and lying words according to Slichtingius Their strange conceptions concerning the Future State It is their opinion that the Souls of the deceased are void of all Perception and Sense that they Live not yea that they Exist not Which notions are proved to be contrary to Scripture and Reason The Immortality of humane Souls is shock'd by these Men. Which shews their Irreligious and Atheistical Propension Some of them disbelieve the Resurrection of the Wicked
nothing is rais'd but what fell or was laid down for Rising answers to these but that Matter which is supposed to be substituted in the room of our bodies did not fall was not laid down therefore it cannot Rise and consequently there is no Rising again at all This Argument is thus represented by a Great Man The Identity of the body rais'd from death is so necessary that the very name of the Resurrection doth include or suppose it so that when I say there shall be a Resurrection of the dead I must intend thus much that the bodies of Men which lived and are dead shall revive and rise again For at the death of man nothing falleth but his Body the spirit goeth upward and no other body falleth but his own and therefore the body and no other but that body must rise again to make a Resurrection So that it follows hence that those who disbelieve the Resurrection of the same body in effect deny the Article of the Resurrection of the body for the same body must rise or none at all This is evident from 2 Cor. 5. 10. We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body The same individual body that died must revive that the same bodies wherein sin was committed may be punished for sinning And who can resist the force of those plain words Rev. 20. 13. which are spoken of the general Resurrection at the last day The sea shall give up the dead that are in it and death and the grave deliver up the dead which are in them What means this giving and delivering up the dead in those places unless the very same bodies that fell are to rise For bodies might be made and shaped out of matter in any other Places if the dead were not to appear at the day of Judgment in their own bodies in the very bodies they laid down in the grave or in the sea or any other Place It is true they shall not be the same as to their condition and quality for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal immortality but their identity shall be preserv'd in respect of their nature and substance these being the same that they were at their fall This doctrine saith that Excellent Writer before named is most agreeable to the language of the Scriptures to the Principles of Religion to the constant Profession of the Church And being so it is no wonder that it is disrelish'd by the Persons I am speaking of who are wont to disregard the Sacred Writings to subvert the Principles of Christianity and to slight the suffrage of the Universal Church In all which they manifest an Irreligious temper and more especially in disbelieving and opposing this Explication of the Article of the Creed they have shew'd an Atheistical Spirit which always disgusts that Truth which flows from the Scriptures and is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit in them for herein they let us see that they are backward to give credit to the Supreme Truth God himself And besides there is a farther Tang of Impiety in this Opinion of theirs because it bereaves God of the Glory of his Infinite Power in reuniting the same bodies to the same souls at the last day it eclipses the honour of his Mercy in rewarding believers in the same flesh wherein they serv'd and worship'd him in this life it obscures his Justice in punishing sinners in those very fleshly Vehicles which they had here on earth and wherein they did so much mischief in the world And lastly it being such a Diminishment of the doctrine of the Resurrection it is to be fear'd it will have too great an influence on the lives and conversations of men They being dissetled as to the full belief of this they will waver in their Faith of the Future State they will be regardless of that Mighty Concern and they will be backward to fit themselves for it Thus the Racovian doctrine is an impediment to Religion and a nourisher of Vice and Ungodliness CHAP. V. Their false apprehensions concerning the Last Judgment are detected They are not consentaneous to the design of that Great Transaction They are contrary to that Description which is given of it in Scripture They are a gratification to Atheists It is their belief and profession that the Ungodly after the Resurrection shall not suffer Torment but shall be Annihilated This is disproved from Luk. 10. 14. Mat. 18. 8. Mark 9. 44. 2 Cor. 5. 10. An Objection answered The Perniciousness of this doctrine and its tendendency to Atheism on several accounts Iâ—… is no wonder that Socinianism for the sake of this doctrine is plausible Nevertheless the doctrine is irrational and groundless and exploded by some of the Wisest Pagans THIS will be further discover'd in their notion concerning the Last Judgment which say they consists not in any Trial or Judging of the World in any calling them to Account but only in assigning them their different lots and conditions To be judg'd saith Slichtingius is to be rewarded or punish'd Volkelius makes no distinction between the Judging and Punishing of the wicked The Judg knows who are to be saved and who to be damn'd and therefore need not use any Formal Citation or lay open mens lives But those who talk thus should remember that human actions are to be exposed at that day not because God hath not a perfect knowledg of them but because it is his Pleasure that Men should be acquainted with them that the Good Actions of the righteous may be applauded and that the Evil ones of the unrighteous may be condemned in the face of the whole World That this is the will of God we learn from the Sacred Writ and where can it be learnt but there Therefore for these men to Argue and reason the matter notwithstanding the express will and appointment of God is a sign of a very perverse and irreligious frame of mind Is not the Transaction of the Last day represented to us as a Formal Judiciary Process Doth not the Scripture speak of the Judg Acts 10. 42. 2 Tim. 4. 8. Heb. 12. 23. Jam. 5. 9. of the Judgment-seat Rom. 14. 10. 2 Cor. 5. 10. or the Throne or Tribunal for Judgment Rev. 20. 11 and yet will there be no Judging Is it not said with particular respect to that day that God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts 1 Cor. 4. 5. Is it not said he will bring every work into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil Eccl. 12. 14. And do we question then whether there will be this Judicial Action which we properly call Judging or Trying Iâ—… there shall be this Manifestation of the Hearts and Actions of Men can we imagine that rewarding and punishing at that day are the very same with Judging Further
Offender saith the Apostle or have committed any thing worthy of death I refuse not to die Both Capital Judicatures and Punishments are authorized by the same Apostle Rom. 13. 4. where speaking of the Magistrate he saith He beareth not the sword in vain i. e. he beareth it so as strike with it to do execution with it when there is occasion So ridiculous is that Exposition of the place which One of the Socinian Writers gives viz. It is said He bears the sword but yet he must not use it It is evident from this Text as well as from those before mention'd that God himself hath put this Weapon into the Magistrate's hand and why then should any presume to disarm him I acknowledge a Christian Ruler ought to be very Cautious and Tender in the point of mens Lives and perhaps it would be better to be sparing of them in some cases where generally according to the Laws as they are now in force there is a forfeiture of Life It was very rare heretofore among our Ancestors to inflict death for some of those Crimes which now are made Capital The Executioner had not so much work when Banishment and Confiscations were more in use But it is certain that there are such flagitious enormities such heinous and detestable villanies as require no less a recompence than Death it self Especially in the case of Blood-shedding a Retaliation is due for blood calls for blood This fatal Retribution is founded not only on the foremention'd Positive Law given to the Patriarchs and never since repeal'd and also on the Allowance of the New Testament as you have heard but on the Common Law of Equity and justice Wherefore the Magistrate hath authority when publick Justice and Necessity require it to take away mens lives Which our Church thought fit to make one of her Articles The Laws of the Realm may punish Christian Men with death for heinous and grievous offences Nay the Publick Ministers of Justice are so far from offending in doing this that they are extraordinarily guilty if they omit it especially if they suffer Murderers to go thus unpunish'd for blood-shed is the way by Gods appointment for the avenging of willful homicide and murder I mention these things that we may see how injurious the Unitarians are both to the Ecclesiastical and Civil Ministers They not only null the function and Jurisdiction of the former as I shew'd you but they rob the latter of a great and considerable part of their Office They will not allow them a power to punish Offenders especially Capitally With the Donatists of old and some Anabaptists afterwards they agree to defend this Proposition that no man ought to be put to death let his Crime be never so black and bloody they hold that the Effusion of humane blood is in all cases unlawful They had this immediately from the Italian Innovator who knew it would serve his followers to very considerable purposes For it was convenient to begin first with the Magistrate lâ—…st he should have begun with them They take away his Punitive Power and then they know he can't hurt them They are against all Capital Inflictions lest they should tast of them themselves The design of these Opposers of Magistracy is that they may have a Licence to vent what Doctrines they please that they may even expel out of the world some of the Fundamental Truths which have been embraced in all ages of the Church It is to be fear'd that the design at the bottom is that all Magistrates should throw away their Swords divest themselves of their power to Punish that hereby there may be a Liberty to do what they please and then at last it is likely they will usurp the Sword and take upon them that Office which they denied to the Magistate Though they despoil the Praetor of his Axe as well as Rods yet they will make use of them themselves Here I might let you see likewise that it is their opinion that it is not lawful for a Christian Man to go to war Thus their Great Casuist determines and in other places he saith We may not repel force with force by taking up Arms though we are justly assaulted And he is back'd by Smalcius who peremptorily asserts the same But I believe the Reader would think it loss of time to insist here and to shew the unreasonableness of this Opinion and therefore I dismiss it CHAP. IX The Socinians agree with the Papists in the doctrine of Evangelical Counsels and several other Tenents The Author 's designed Brevity The Socinian Creed summ'd up and faithfully represented in its several Articles An Objection Answered Another Objection more particularly and distinctly answer'd THUS I have gone through the Several Particulars and Members which make up the Body of Socinianism and I have now only this further to adjoyn that both as to some of the Instances before mention'd and as to one or two which I have not yet taken notice of they apparently symbolize with the Papists They joyn hands with them in asserting Evangelical Counsels as we may satisfie our selves from what their Great Doctor and Dictator saith on Mat. 5. 43 44. It is true in his Explication of v. 17. of that Chapter he rejects the Popish Distinction of Precepts and Counsels as it is there on that occasion applied But behold his shifting In this place he makes out his Opinion by using that Distinction only he disguises it under the term of Monitions instead of Counsels He holds that of Solomon Prov. 25. 21. If thine enemy be hungry give him bread to eat c. to be of this sort it is an Advice which we may follow or not as we please it is not a Command no man is enjoyn'd to do this But after this rate any of the Plain Commands in Holy Scripture may be evaded for we may alledg this which Socinus here starts that though the words are propounded in the way of a Precept yet they have not the force of one but only are Admonitions or Counsels which a man may observe if he thinks fit else not And so in other Particulars I have hinted their Correspondence with Rome as in their vilifying of the Scriptures and holding them to be Corrupted likewise in their notion of Divine Worship which they say is not proper and peculiar to God the Papists excuse the Worship which is paid by them to Angels and Saints by alledging that this Honour may be communicated to others besides the Deity and so doth Socinus stiffly maintain that this Divine Honour is not appropriated to him that is by nature God Both parties agree in the doctrines of Merit and Perfection Both accord in this likewise that the Magistrate must not meddle with the Church that he hath no Authority to punish Offenders in point of Religion Moreover they agree in the distinction of Venial and Mortal Sins See Crellius Eth. l. c. 5. and Volkelius
l. 4. c. 23. Smalcius peremptorily asserts that those are Venial Sins which do not merit eternal death and that there are such sins But the rest only say God hath not constituted Eternal Punishment as the just recompence of all Sins Volkelius's express words are Venial Sins are those for which God hath not appointed the penalty of eternal death so that of themselves they deprive no man of eternal life But this contradicts the Apostle who speaks without any reserve and limitation The wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. And you may be satisfied that even Eternal Death is included in that general term for death in this former clause of the verse is directly oppos'd to eternal life in the latter one That they symbolize in the doctrine of Praying for the dead may be gather'd from what a Great Man among them saith It is no wonder that those who believe no middle state of the dead pray not for them But those that believe this do well in praying for them He adds There is a much more certain succour and aid in the prayers of the living for the dead than in the prayers of the dead for the living They affect the way of the Church of Rome in the manner of excusing their worshiping the Son of God although they hold him not to be God but a Creature for as the Romanists palliate their Idolatrous Worship in praying to Saints and Angels c. by saying that this Adoration is paid ultimately to God himself so not only the Old but the New Socinians use the same language telling us that the worshiping of the Son is not terminated in him as its utmost scope but passes by and through him to the Father Lastly I might add that the Author of the Considerations on the Explications of the doctrine of the Trinity speaks favourably of Transubstantiation All these things evidence that there is no such great gulf fixed between the Papists and Socinians but that they can hold commerce with one another and in time if there be occasion come closer together I charge not these latter with any formed intentions of promoting the Roman Cause but they may be Factors for Rome though perhaps they know it not However I desire it may be consider'd how Inconsistent these men are when they make a shew sometimes of being great Enemies to the Roman Religion and yet at other times abet and befriend it Would not a Thinking Man be induced to believe that they are at the bottom Favourers of the Pontifician Interest Lastly I appeal to any considerate man whether this be not more probable than what the Socinians charge the Trinitarians with viz. that they are the Causes and Occasions of those Errors and Heresies which compose the gross body of Popery Thus I have offer'd a Brief Scheme of the Anti-Trinitarian and Socinian Doctrines These things might have been further enlarged upon but I was willing to bring all into a narrow compass for the sake of the Meanest Readers such as have not time and leisure to peruse Great Volumes or are not able to purchase them I hear that there is a Reverend and Worthy Person of my Name of the University of Oxford who hath undertaken to give a Larger Account of matters referring to this subject but for my own part I purposely design'd Brevity for the reasons aforesaid and because I have other work of Greater Importance upon my hands for though the handling of the foregoing Points be of great use otherwise I should not have employ'd my self about them yet I give Practical Theology the precedence to them That the Reader may have a Summary View together of all the preceding doctrines of the Socinians I will be yet briefer and couch the whole in a Narrower Draught which you may call if you please the Creed of a Socinian It may be drawn up in this Form and Manner I believe concerning the Scripture that there are Errors Mistakes and Contradictions in some places of it that the Authority of some of its books is questionable yea that the Whole Bible hath been tamper'd with and may be suspected to be Corrupted I believe concerning God that he is not a Spirit properly speaking i. e. Immaterial and Incorporeal but that he is such another sort of Body as Air or Ether is that he is not Immense and Infinite and every where Present but is confined to certain places that he hath no Knowledg of such future events as depend on the free will of man and that it is impossible that these things should be foreknown by him that there is a Succession in God's Eternal Duration as well as there is in Time which is the measure of that Duration which belongs to Finite beings I believe further concerning God that there is no distinction of Persons or Subsistencies in him and that the Son and Holy Ghost are not God the former of these being only a Man and the latter no other than the Power or Operation of God that there was nothing of Merit in what Christ did or suffer'd that therefore he could not make Satisfaction for the sins of the world and the contrary Assertion is deceitful erroneous and pernicious I believe concerning the First Man that he was not created in a state of Uprightness that the Image of God in which he was made consisted not in Righteousness and Holiness and consequently that he did not lose these by his Fall for he could not lose what he had not that Adam's Posterity have receiv'd no hurt have had no stain or blemish derived to them by his Apostacy and the contrary Opinion is a fable a dream a fiction of Antichrist that Mankind having receiv'd no damage by the fall of our First Parents have still an ability by nature to desire and imbrace all Spiritual Good and to avoid all that is Sinful and Vitious that therefore there is no need of the help of the Holy Spirit and that men may believe and repent and perform all religious acts without his operation and influence yea indeed the Spirit is but an Operation it self that men are counted righteous before God not for the Merit of Christ Jesus for he had no Merit but for their own good works I believe concerning the Future State that the Souls of the deceas'd have no knowledg no perception of any thing they are not sensible of any rewards or pains neither are they capable of feeling them so that in a manner they may be said not to Exist for their life activity and sensibleness are vanish'd and their very Nature is absorpt I believe that we shall not rise with the Same Bodies which we have now at the last day but that another Matter or Substance shall be substituted in their place I believe that men shall not at the day of Judgment be required to give an Account of their actions the most Flagitious Sinners shall not be Examined concerning any thing of their past life
they shall not be Tried or Judged Only they shall be Punished and their Punishment is this To utterly eease and perish for ever the Unquenchable Fire is nothing but Annihilation I believe as to Christianity it self that every thing in it is to be submitted to the dictates of Humane Reason and what cannot be explain'd and made out by this is no part of the Christian Religion and consequently that there are no doctrines appertaining to it which are Mysterious and Superiour to our Reason I believe as to Divine Worship that it may be given to another besides God that a Creature may if God thinks fit be the object of Adoration and consequently Christ who is but a Creature may be worship'd with Divine Worship even the same that is paid to God the Father I believe that Prayer as eminent an act of Worship as it is was not required in the Old Testament for God's people had no need of Praying then they were able to do all that was commanded them in their Religion without the Divine Assistance and therefore the Invoking of God became not a Duty till Christ's time I believe the Lord's day commonly so call'd is a Ceremonious Observance and abolish'd by the Gospel which takes away all Choice of Days I believe that there is no Spiritual Blessing convey'd or conferr'd in the use of the Sacraments and particularly that Baptism is an useless Rite which the Christian Church under the Gospel hath nothing to do with but more especially the Baptizing of Children is insignificant vain and childish and hath neither Precept nor Example to commend it to us I believe there is no Distinct Function or Office of Ministers in the Christian Church and that the Lord's Supper it self may be administred by any private Christian or Brother As to Moral Points I believe that Officious Lies are lawful that the Motions of Concupiscence are not Vitious that idle or obscene words gluttony drunkenness riot luxury and all impure desires and lusts were not forbidden till Christ's time and consequently were no Sins I believe concerning Magistrates that they have no power of Life and Death it is not lawful for them now under the Gospel to inflict Capital Punishments on any Offenders or Malefactors no not Murderers and Cut-throats Concerning some other Articles I believe as the Church believes I mean the Church of Rome for we symbolize with them in several points of doctrine Lastly after all I believe that though the foresaid Articles are necessary to make a man a Socinian yet the belief of only One is enough to make a Man a Christian and that One Article is that Jesus is the Messias in which it is not included whether he be God or Man whether he satisfied the Divine Justice for our sins and by vertue of his Death purchas'd Life for us But when I say I believe Jesus is the Messiah I mean only this that such a Man of Nazareth was Anointed Ordain'd and Sent of God to be a Saviour and that this is He who was foretold and promis'd to be sent by God This is all I believe and there is no Necessity of believing any thing more This is the Socinian Creed and I have faithfully drawn it up out of their own Admired and Applauded Writers I know it will be said here that some besides professed Socinians hold some of these things To which I answer I made it not my present business to observe what Others say but to represent what that body of men who are known by the name of Socinians profess and own Again it is not one of these Opinions alone excepting that concerning the Blessed Trinity which can give the denomination of Socinian it is the Complication of them that must do it Therefore Iinsist not on any one Single Opinion of lesser importance Those that bear upon them the General and Complex Characters which I have layd down in the preceding Discourse are the Persons that I design'd In short I write not and never will by God's assistance to humour and gratifie any Party of Men but to assert and vindicate the Truth which is pleasing to all Good Men. And therefore if any sort of persons shall censure my freedom I shall have recourse to my own Innocence and Integrity that is my hearty designs and indeavours to advance that Cause which I verily believe hath Truth on its side because it hath the Scriptures on its side If they shall say and what will they not say that the English Socinians give not their suffrage to all these Particulars which I have produced and named and therefore my Charge against the Foreigners doth not reach them I desire these following things may be considered and then this Evasion will be found to be very weak and useless and nothing to their purpose and it will appear that this Scheme of Socinianism belongs to them as well as to the rest First we are not sure that some of those who go under the name of English Socinians are not Foreigners Is not Crellius's Stock somewhere harbour'd among them Have there not been seen strange Outlandish Books at the Press of late May we not suspect some Transylvanians and Polanders employ'd in the work lately Are we not sure that there are some Irish as well as English ingaged in the service Why then are we nice in distinguishing when they are not differenc'd as to their work and design Secondly as for our very English and Native Socinians they borrow'd their Opinions from those Foreigners they fetch'd them from those Writers and they maintain them by the same Arguments that they did They use the very same Texts and urge them after the same manner they follow them step by step vouch their Reasonings applaud their Discoursings only they dress up their notions in an English garb and give them a more Modish Turn than they had before That 's all the difference between those Authors and these of late in England Thirdly though some of the Moderns are so politick as to be silent about some of the Points that I have mention'd yet we have no reason to gather thence that they are not inclin'd to imbrace them It is a remarkable hint of a very Observing Person There is reason to suspect saith he that the Socinians have some other odd Tenents which they think fit rather to conceal than to deny For we must consider this that they would first gain their Main Point the overthrow of the Trinity and all the Maxims that relate to that This is the Leading Card with them and therefore they chiefly insist on this intending we may suppose to urge the rest afterwards For it would be too much to undertake at one time to defend all the other doctrines And besides it would be too odious to reject so many receiv'd Propositions at once Therefore they go not this way to work lest they should be universally cried down It is their cunning to proceed gradually and to undermine Christianity