from him than you can his nature I mean that Justice which betokens his severity and indignation against sinners and moves and enclines him to punish them tho the punishment it self may in some sense be said to be arbitrary and subject to the freedom of Gods will as are also the Emanations of his goodness and the effects of his power but yet all this doth not hinder but that power and goodness may be essential Attributes of God and are acknowledged so to be by the Socinians themselves and the like we affirm of Justice to the terrible effects of which the sins of men render them necessarily obnoxious all guilt which is the inevitable consequence of sin being in its own nature an obligation to punishment But Socinus will furnish you with new notions concerning God in this matter and quite different from what either Jews or Christians have conceived of him For he will tell you that Justice and Mercy in God not only as to their external effects as they are discovered in rewards and punishments but likewise in themselves are not attributes essentially belonging to God but are things purely arbitrary and indifferent and particularly that justice as it bespeaks an hatred of sin and indignation against the workers of iniquity is not a permanent property or as he loves to speak a quality residing in God which belongs to him per se but ex accidente that is it is a matter purely contingent and the effect only of his free and mutable will Now this as it is laid down by the Socinians I take to be not only a false but a dangerous position forasmuch as it furnishes us with such a notion of God as is dishonorable to him and will naturally lead us to a contempt of him But before I come to prove this forasmuch as I take it to be a matter of great importance in it self and especially is so in our disputes with the Socinians who have introduced this notion of God without Justice in order to destroy the true reason of Christs death and sufferings which was to give satisfaction to the Justice of God for the sins of mankind I must crave leave to lay down certain positions which tho I might take for granted and call postulata as being commonly known and received Truths yet I shall as I go along endeavour to prove them so The first thing therefore which I shall lay down is that if there be a Providence it must be chiefly and principally employed in the care and government of human affairs for there can be no imaginable reason assigned nay it would be contrary to all reason to suppose that God should take care of Beasts and Inanimate Creatures and neglect one of the noblest parts of the Creation I mean man for whose sake chiefly next to his own Glory he created the visible world and to whom as to his Vicegerent he hath given the Dominion over the works of his hand having put all things under his feet 2 dly There can be no providence nor care of human affairs without giving men Laws for the government of their actions for as his providence towards other creatures is seen in giving them certain laws of motion and rest suitable to their respective natures and in guiding and governing them so as may most tend to his own glory and the wellfare and beauty of the universe so his government and care of men consists in giving them certain Laws as Rules of their actions and manners it being much more requisite upon many accounts that they should act by a certain direction forasmuch as the confusion and mischief that must be the consequence of their disorderly living must be far greater and more repugnant to the nature and righteousness of God than if other creatures should swerve from the Laws of their creation which yet they inviolably observe except when God thinks fit to interpose for the ends of his own Glory and the good of men 3 dly That Laws are so a Rule of Moral actions as to put us under an obligation of yielding obedience to them and in this they differ from good counsel and advice which tho it tend to our advantage and the promoting of our truest and best interest yet it puts us under no necessary obligation of complying with it every man being left to his liberty to take or refuse it at his pleasure 4 thly That the violation of a Law naturally and necessarily upon that very score makes a man lyable to punishment which is but the same thing tho in other words with the foregoing proposition for therefore are we obliged to yield obedience to Laws because if we refuse to do so we are thereby obnoxious to punishment This is that which in the civil Law is called Jus seu obligatio delicti quo quis ob maleficium ad poenam tenetur The prescribing of a Law is the act of a Superior whereby he obliges his Subject to regulate his actions according to that prescription which if he refuses to do he may be called to an account as one that deserves to be punished for his disobedience This is one of the prime dictates of nature as well as the Language of Scripture that he who doth wrong not only as that signifies injury but any evil in general should receive for that evil that he hath done Col. 3. 25. Lastly That there is a necessary relation between punishment and justice whose office among other things is to distribute rewards and punishments I do not say that Justice is alwaies obliged to exact the punishment which the Delinquent is alwaies and necessarily obliged to suffer I mean is necessarily obnoxious to but wherever there is punishment if just it must flow from that Habit or Attribute which we call Justice and that not only as it bespeaks Righteousness and Equity but likewise as it signifies that severity and indignation which every Lawgiver is supposed to conceive against him that transgresseth his Laws who thereby violates his Authority and offends against the publick good It hath bin doubted indeed whether in human punishments the Civil Magistrate may aime at the vindicating of his own Authority consider'd abstractedly from the publick good And here that famous passage of Seneca is often cited upon this occasion and which he translated out of Plato de Leg. no wise man punishes a fault because it hath bin committed but lest the like should be committed again for what is past cannot be recalled but wise and good men in punishment aime at preventing mischief for the future But tho this may be true with respect to men yet it is not so with regard to Almighty God to whom as Grotius in the formentioned Book and Chapter Sect. 4. hath very truly and judiciously observed those sayings of Plato and Seneca would be very ill applyed forasmuch as God in punishing the sins of men may very righteously and oftentimes doth aime at nothing but the
no difference in this case many devices may be in mans heart but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand Prov. 19. 21. however men may alter and the dealings and dispensations of Gods providence in several acts of mercy and justice upon that score may be different towards them yet this is without alteration or change in his purposes towards them who remains still the same yesterday and to day and for ever The Socinians utter many bold and dangerous expressions in opposition to this plain truth which is the unavoydable consequence of their denyal of Gods Omniscience Forasmuch as there are many events which depend upon the actions of men which arising from the freedom of their Will are therefore purely contingent and consequently out of the reach of Gods knowledge this must according to them unavoidably cause God to alter his counsels to take new measures to change his affections towards men and alter his purposes concerning them that is he who is a Reprobate to day may be an Elect person to morrow and he who at present is elect may afterwards be reprobated and those may finally perish quos Deus saluti destinavit whom God once designed for eternal happiness Socin de Off. hominis Christiani cap. 11. Now this one would think should be an Argument of inconstancy and consequently not fit to be ascribed to God Crellius will tell you there is no such matter this is only an instance of his freedom it shews you only that there is a variety in the acts of Gods will but no inconstancy For a man is then said to be constant to his purpose who persists in it till some good reason obliges him to alter it and therefore what you would call wavering he will say is the result of wisdome God accommodating his decrees to the nature of things and the actions of men so that in short God is subject to change but not without good reason he may alter his purposes as wise men usually do according to the different circumstances of things and as the exigence of his affairs shall require But with the leave of this bold man another would be apt to think that tho men may without the imputation of levity alter their counsels yet this arises from the imperfection of their natures and particularly of their knowledge of future events which tho it be no fault yet it must be acknowledged a weakness tho such an one as they are no more accountable for than they are because they cannot restore sight to a man born blind or raise the dead But it cannot be ascribed to God without a derogation to his infinite knowledge and unerring judgement and is therefore an argument of weakness notwithstanding all that Crellius urges very weakly to the contrary Ibid. Therefore that we may return where we first began to the Decrees of God concerning the future and final state of men this is certain that they with relation to their several and respective objects are fixed and unmoveable for be they antecedent or subsequent to his foresight of mens faith or infidelity it matters not in this case the Scriptures however assure us and right reason would confirm the same that they are immutable more stable then the Foundations of the Earth or the Poles of the World which may and shall be shaken and stagger out of their places like drunken men but the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand For let holyness and perseverance be the cause or the effect of Gods election yet all sober persons agree in this that whoever lives an holy life and perseveres in it is undoubtedly chosen by God to eternal life and whosoever lives and dies in his sins and impenitence is certainly designed and shall be doomed to everlasting punishment here the foundation of the Lord standeth sure the Lord knoweth them that are his and them that are not so But Socinus who denies the certainty of Gods knowledge of many future events viz. those which are contingent such as are the actions of men as depending upon the uncertain because free motions of their will must in pursuance of this principle deny the certainty of Gods Election because he cannot foresee who will obey his commands and continue to do so against all the temptations which they will meet with in the world to the contrary and consequently he must say what another would account Impiety to think that God Almighty for want of knowing the determination of mens choice must likewise be ignorant of the final event of their actions and therefore he who at present is the object of his Love and designed by him for the joyes of Heaven may in the conclusion for ought he knows merit his displeasure and be tumbled down to hell Now that men may make such uncertain conjectures concerning their final state and thereupon meet with a fatal and terrible disappointment may be a certain tho a sad truth and therefore no great wonder But to think that it should thus happen to the Allwise Creator of men is to have too mean and dishonourable conceptions of him and such the Socinians have doubting not to aver that God finds reason to alter not only his dispensations towards men according to their behaviour but his own intentions of kindness and displeasure choosing what at first he refused and refusing afterwards what once he thought worthy of his Approbation and choice Socin prael Th. cap. 7. A fifth attribute in God and which indeed cannot be separated from him without overthrowing all Religion is his Justice and that not only as it signifies his holiness and righteousness but as it betokens his anger indignation his severity and displeasure against Sin and Sinners And this the Scripture speaks very often of Psal 5. the Psalmist describes God as one not only that hath no pleasure in wickedness ver 4. which arises from the holiness and righteousness of his nature but as one likewise that hates all the workers of iniquity ver 5. and particularly who abhors the deceitful and will destroy the Lying man The wicked and him that loveth violence his Soul abhors Psal 11. 5. Hence he stiles himself a jealous God jealous of his authority and honour and will revenge the contempt of it he is slow to anger but yet will not acquit the wicked forasmuch as he is jealous and furious who will take vengeance on his adversaries and reserves wrath for his enemies Nahum 2 3. and when God proclaims his name the name by which he desires to be known it is the God merciful and gracious c. but yet one that will by no means clear the guilty Exod. 34. 6. Numb 14. 18. he is Deus ultionum the God to whom vengeance belongeth Ps 94. 1. the God of recompences Jer. 51. 56. and in short a consuming fire Heb. 12. 29. All which expressions seem plainly to denote that Justice in God is a necessary and an essential attribute and which you can no more separate
obligation and that both his veracity and faithfulness engage him to make them good But it is as evident on the other hand that here he supposes the contrary and that his Argument proceeds upon that supposition But by this time I hope the Reader will not be much surprised to find Socinians contradicting themselves and he need not be concerned at it for I can assure him whether he will or no they will take the liberty of so doing And hereby we find the observation which we a little before made concerning them confirmed viz. that in their disputations and writings they care not what they say having no regard to the honour of God or Religion being only concerned for their own reputation and to defend and maintain their own loose and unwarrantable Opinions 2 ly But let us admit that God by his promises puts himself under an obligation to men so that he cannot go from his word but is obliged to make it good yet he may be at greater liberty as to his threatnings Indeed these as the Gospel represents them to us are very terrible whether we consider the punishments threatned either as to their Intensive pain or as to the extent of their duration for we are told that the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment that the worm that gnaws their Conscience shall not dye and the fire that torments them shall never be extinguished This is indeed enough to make the sinner look pale and to fright him either out of his wits or out of his wicked course of living But for all this he need not despair of Mercy for tho God hath threatned severely yet no man living can absolutely tell us if we believe Socinus whether he is resolved to execute his threatnings For as at first God might either not have punished the Sinner at all or not with eternal death so now tho he hath declared by his solemn Edict that he will do so yet for all that he may if he pleases not inflict the punishment Deus potuisset idque jure homines licet peccantes morti aeternae non mancipare sic postquam eos morti aeternae edicto suo mancipavit ex illius imperio eximere potest Socin de Christo Serv. Lib. 1. p. 124. Eximere potest saith Socinus he may exempt the Sinner notwithstanding his Decree of punishing him and why may not he hope that he will the bare threatnings according to Socinus do not oblige God to execute them and the consideration of Gods Mercy and Justice to which the Torments of Hell as he may imagine can scarce be reconciled may upon that score afford him some ground to hope that he doth not design to do so We know sinners are apt to allow themselves as too great liberty in sinning so to flatter themselves with too great hopes of Impunity and if they meet with any such compassionate Casuists as Socinus who will afford them any encouragement they are presently apt to run away with it and never look back to see that vengeance which pursues and will at length certainly overtake them But how comes this man to know any thing of God besides what he hath revealed of himself in his word must we have recourse to that exploded distinction of the Calvinists and for which they have bin so much railed at by their adversaries concerning the revealed and the secret will of God For tho the question in the case may seem to be about the power of God yet really and in truth it is about his will forasmuch as God cannot do what he hath solemnly declared he will not do and that for this plain and irrefragable reason because God cannot deny himself And now have we not reason to put the question and enquire whither went the Spirit of God from the Inspired writers to rest upon the head of this Impostor who makes his exceptions to what they have declared as the peremtory and unalterable decree of God Nay who boldly ventures to affirm that which Balaam could not be hired to utter tho tempted to it by the wages of unrighteousness but makes that pious acknowledgement Numb 23. God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that he should repent hath he said and shall he not do it hath he spoken and shall he not make it good Now if it be Impossible for God to lie then it is not possible for him to alter the sentence concerning the final state of men which is delivered in Scripture in such terms as plainly evince it to be his peremptory and irrevocable decree The happiness of the Righteous and the punishments of the wicked as to the extent of their duration being expressed in the same words and in the same sentence and if it be possible to know any thing of the Absolute and Immutable pleasure of God the wit of man could not contrive any plainer words then what the wisdom of God hath already made use of to declare his final and unalterable intentions concerning the everlasting punishment of the wicked Besides it deserves to be considered that this Declaration is not only delivered in the manner of a threatning but likewise by way of prediction in the fulfilling of which the veracity of God may seem to be more particularly concerned than in the execution of a bare Threatning delivered in a Sermon or Exhortation or the like Now in those glorious visions which were communicated to St. John which he stiles the word of God the Testimony and Revelation of Jesus Christ concerning the things which were and which should be hereafter Rev. 1. v. 1 2 19. which are styled the true sayings of God chap. 19. v. 9. the words that are faithful and true ch 21. v. 5. I say in these visions are contained as the state and events of the Church till the final dissolution of all things so likewise the condition and fate of the Righteous and Wicked after the judgment of the last day Ch. 20. 21. he tells us that he saw the dead both small and great stand before God and they were all judged according to their works and whoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of fire ver 15. called ver 10. the lake of fire and brimstone where the Devil and the Beast and the false Prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever And what is said in general of the wicked we are assured shall betide the fearful and unbelievers and the abominable and murderers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars who shall have their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone Rev. 21. 8. this is that Furnace of fire which our blessed Saviour so often mentioneth Mat. 13. 42. 50. that everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his Angels Mat. 25. 41. That fire which again and again he assures us Mark 9. shall not be quenched no less then five times within the compass of six verses 43 44