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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A57655 Leviathan drawn out with a hook, or, Animadversions upon Mr. Hobbs his Leviathan by Alex. Rosse. Ross, Alexander, 1591-1654. 1653 (1653) Wing R1960; ESTC R1490 70,857 139

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our Saviour did acknowledge by paying tribute and counselling to give to Caesar that which were Caesars He cap. 42 will not have excommunication to be a punishment but onely a denouncing of punishment that Christ shall inflict at the day of Judgement But I say that excommunication is not a bare denouncing but a real suffering of punishment and of such a punishment as is most grievous to wit a ● paration from Gods people and the benefits which they enjoy for if the Abstenti in the Prin●itive Church held it a great punishment to be debarred from the Sacrament for a whíle how much more grievous is it to be cut off from the mystical body of Christ and to be excluded from the Communion of the Saints and of all the priviledges which they do now and shall hereafter enjoy He denieth cap. 42. that there is any spiritual Common-wealth among men in this world This he gronnds upon two reasons 1. because it is the same thing with the Kingdom of Christ which is not of this world Secondly There are no men on earth whose bodies are spiritual These reasons are very weak For first because a spiritual Common-wealth and Christs Kingdom are the same it will follow that there is a spiritual Common-wealth amongst men which is the Kingdom of grace here where Christ raigneth in the hearts of his faithful people which though it be not of this world yet it is in this world as I have shewed already And of this Kingdom our Saviour speaks when he saith The Kingdom of God is within you Luke 17. 21 Which consisteth in righteousness peace and joy in the holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. Secondly To say that Christ hath not here a spiritual Common-wealth because mens bodies are not spiritual is ridiculous for Christs subjects here are spiritual though their bodies be corporeal because they are animated regulated directed by the spirit They are regenerated by the spirit John 3. They walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Rom. 8. The spirit helpeth their in●irmities and teacheth them to pray Rom. 8. The holy spirit dwelleth in them 2 Tim. 1. 14. God hath given them of his spirit 1 John 4. 13. They are sealed with the spirit of promise Ephes. 1. 13. They have the fruits of the spirit which are love joy peace long-suffering c. Gal. 5. 22. Therefore Christs subjects though they are here cloathed with flesh yet are called spiritual Gal 6. 1. Yo● which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness These are distinguished fro● carnal or natural men 1 Cor 3. 1. I could not speak to you brethren as to spiritual men but as to carnal So 1 Cor. 2. 14 15. The natural man perceiveth not the things of the spirit of God but he that is spiritual discerneth all things So their seed is spiritual 1. Cor. 9. 11. Their meat and drink is spiritual 1 Cor. 10. 3 4. Their songs are spiritual Eph. 5. 19. Their house is spiritual a Pet. 2. 5. And their sacrifice is spiritual 1 Pet. 2. 5. Can we say then that Christs Kingdom or Common-wealth as he calls it is not spiritual He cap. 42 ● will not have the members of a Common-weath to depend one of another but to cohere together They depend onely saith he on the Soveraign which is the soul on the Common-wealth But there is a dependence as well as a coherence in a dead body there is a coherence of members but no dependence in a living body there are both though the body depend on the soul it will not therefore follow that the members do not depend one of another for the hands and feet depend on the stomack to be ●ed by it and it depends on them to be defended provided and carried by them the like may be said of the other members So in a Common-wealth● the Soveraign depends on the people for assistance maintenance and defence they depend on him for counsel government and peace The members of the Common-wealth depend on the Clothyer for cloaths on the Husbandman for food on the Physition for health on the Divine for instruction on the Lawyer for counsel c. And these depend on each other Heresie saith he cap. 42. is nothing else but a private opinion obstinately maintained contrary to the opinion which the publick person bath commanded to be taught Hence an opinion publickly appointed to be taught cannot be heresie nor the Princes that authorise them hereticks It seems then by this definition that Ariani●m was onely an heresie whil●t it was maintained by Arius a private person but when it was anthorised publickly by the Arian Princes it was no more an heresie and so now not Arius but Athanasius that opposed it must be called an heretick by Mr. Hobbs contrary to the judgment of all learned men and the Church of God hitherto The great Turk and the Mahumetans who profess at this day the same damnable doctrine of Arius are not hereticks but the Christians within his dominions who are of another opinion these are your hereticks Mr. Hobbs by this your definition you may call Christ and his Apostles hereticks for they held doctrines contary to the traditions and opinions of the Scribes and Pharisees who as you say sat in Moyses chair It is not the person private or publick that makes an heretick but it is the doctrine repugnant to Gods word and the articles of our faith maintained obstinately for sini●trous ends as lucre honor c. that makes heresie a private man may maintain an opinion in Philosophy contrary to the opinion of the Prince and yet no heretick in this because he holds nothing against our Christian faith his opinion may be erroneous but not heretical In his three and forty chapter he tels us That the faith of Christians ever since Christs time hath had for foundation the reputation of Pastors and Authority of Christian Soveraigns This is to build our faith upon a sandy foundation which with every blast will be overt●rned the authority and reputation of men are but arms of flesh and broken reeds to rely upon these may be motives to induceus to give our assent as the testimony of that woman John 4. induced many of the Samaritans of that City to beleeve on Christ But the foundation of their faith was Christ himself who bestowed that gift upon them as he doeth upon us And how can mans reputation or authority be the foundation of that which exceeds all humane reason and capacity but such is faith Besides faith it self is the ground of our justification and salvation for we are both justified and saved by faith but if man be the ground of our faith he must also be the ground of our j●stification and saluation and so Christ died rose in vain But the Apostle sheweth us the true foundation of our faith in these words For other foundation can●no man lay them that is laid which is Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 3. 11.
whilst they were alive teach the contrary when they are dead Again wise men have urged obedience to their laws upon the doctrine of separated spirits so did Moses by shewing his laws came from God who is a separated essence so did Lyc●rgus Solon Numa Mohomet and others But saith he Upon this ground faith wisdom and other vertues are sometimes poured into a man and blown into him from heaven as if the vertuous and their vertues could be asunder That ●aith wisdom other graces are sometimes poured into or upon men is no paradox in divinity seeing Gods word which cannot lie assureth us thereof I will pour my spirit upon all flesh Joel 2. I will pour upon the house of David the spirit of grace and supplication Zech. 12. God poured his gifts upon the Gentiles Acts 10. And so the Scripture useth the word blowing or breathing or inspiring which is all● one thing all Scripture is by divine inspiration 2 Tim 3. 16. Men spoke in old time as they were inspired or blown into by the holy Ghost 2. Pet. 1. 21. And I pray what dangerous or absurd doctrine is it to say bec●use mens souls are 〈◊〉 tal and immat●rial God inspireth from heaven● his gifts into them but indeed the souls immortality is not the ground why God inspireth his graces for then he would inspire the most wicked souls that are with his graces for they are also immortal the ground then of this inspiration is his own good pleasure being a free dispenser of his gifts neither needs he fear that we by this doctrine will make the vertuous and their vertues to be asunder for the vertues of vertuous men are not theirs till they be bestowed Again he saith Who will endeavour to obey the laws if he expects obedience to be poured into him I reply who will expect obedience to be poured into him if he endeavour to obey the law Again obedience is an act of the will now acts are not infused but habits Besides I answer him with Thomas every good man yeelds obedience to Magistrates because he is bound thereto by the law of nature where we see inferiour movers obey the motion of the superiour and likewise by the law of God which teacheth him to be subject to principalities and powers and to obey magistrates Tit. 3. 1. To submit himself to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be the King as supreme or unto Governors as unto them that are sent by Him 1 Pet. 2. 13. A good man hath faith and he knows that faith in Christ includes obedience for Christ himself taught obedience both By precept and practise he is also a just man and justice requires that he should give to every man his due but obedience is due to superiours obedience then needs no inspiration but such reasons now if any will maintain erroneous opinions as he alledgeth upon the doctrine of the souls immortality who can help it Men may build stuble and hay upon the best foundation which is Christ Jesus as the Apostle sheweth Shall we deny the souls immortality because of some errors grounded thereon then by the same reason deny the Scripture deny Christ himself He laughs cap. 45. at the words circumscriptive and definitive used in the schooles which he saith are insignificant words for the circumscription of a thing is nothing else but the defining of its place Here he sheweth his ignorance in the school termes for though circumscribing be the defining of a thing yet the defining or confining is not the circumscribing thereof Angels are in a place or rather space definitive because they are so confined to one ubi that they cannot at the same instant be in another yet without any circumscription of parts to the parts of the superficies in the ambient body or place for in a spirit there are no parts therefore no circumscription though there is a confining or definition to the ubi when we say that all the soul is in every part of the body he asks Whether God is served with such absurdities He should first prove this to be an absurdity and then inform us whether this tenet of the souls indivisibility be any part of Gods worship but indeed it is no more absurd to say that the soul is all in every part of the body then to say that the Sun or moon is all in every mans eye for one pa●t of the Sun is not in my eye and another part in your eye but all the Sun is in my eye and all the Sun is in millions of eyes at the same instant of time He would have us tell him How an incorporeal substance is capable of torment and pain in hell fire The ●●●stion is not how but whether or not the soul be cap●ble of pain if you doubt of this put your finger in the fire and tell me if your soul be not capable of pain or grief which is a torment I shewed before out of Austin that God hath a way to torment souls in fire though unknown to us neither can we tell how the soul goeth hence without the body into heaven onely we can tell him that when our bodies return to dust our souls return to God that gave them Eccles. 12. As for the School-men at which he carps I deny not but there are in some mens opinions many needless questions and subtilties so there are likewise among them many excellent passages and useful distinctions in this life there is no perfection where gold is there is dross and the best corn is not without chaff he is a fool that will re●use to drink wine because there be lees in the barrel He saith cap. 46. That what is written in the Metaphysicks is for the most part repugnant to natural reason He should have given us some in●●ances that we might have answered him but to speak of things in general is to say nothing yet that the Reader may perceive both the use of Metaphysicks and how consonant that knowledge is to natural reason I will set down here a few Metaphysical maximes 1. One entity hath but one specifical essence 2. The essence receiveth not augmentation nor diminution 3. As every thing desireth to preserve its entity so it doth its unity 4. Unity is before multitude 5. Truth is consonant to truth 6. Every entity is good 7. Beauty excites affection 8. Evil is not appetible 9. Every thing compounded is dissoluble 10. whatsoever is compounded hath parts and principles 11. In an universe is contained all particulars 12. The whole is greater then the parts 13. The first entity is simply infinite 14. The abstract is before the concret 15. The measure is before the thing measured 16. The subject is the matter of its accident 17. The cause is before the effect 18. Nothing can be its own cause 19. As the essence so the knowledge of the effect depends from the cause 20. The proximate cause being put the effect follows 21.