For deciding or defining wherof weigh thes three conclusions 1. That a Beleever being in present state and use of holy means tending to salvation and out of tentation in the peace of a good Conscience through Faith in Christ may by the testimony of the Holy Ghost hav a comfortable assurance of Salvation which begets trusty fervent lov and thankfulnes to God specialy when he is neer the end of his race or point of death So S. Paul by inspiration saith I am now ready to be offred up I hav sought a good 2 Tim 4. 6 7 8. fight finished my cours and kept the Faith Henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of righteousnes This place Lutherans press against Papists who wil hav al by doubting and none certain of his present condition no not at best But he that hath right knowledg of God tru Faith stedfast Hope lifely Lov and awful Filial fear with an holy trade of Life he may rejoyce in God with comfortable confidenre and affiance of perseverance to the end 2. That for time to com specialy when we hav probably a long race to run and divers dangers of wild wonton Youth to pass we cannot hav infallible certitud of future or final persevering but must confide in Gods Grace 1 Cor. 10. 13. and Goodnes that he wil assist if we apply al our indevors to De Civ c. 11. 12 continu in it Hereof S. Austin speaks We cal them blessed whom we see liv wel with hope of future immortality and without such crimes as make shipwrack of Conscience who though they may rely on the reward of Pe severance yet are not sure of persevering For who knows certainly he shal continu in doing righteousnes to the end except he be assured by som revelation from him who is not pleased in his just secret judgment to inform al touching this point though he deceivs none S. Ambros thus David saith not I offer the sacrifice De bono moâ—â— c. 3. of Prais but wil offer shewing or signifying that to be a perfect sacrifice when every one freed from the fetters of this Body shal stand before the Lord and offer himself a Sacrifice For before death can be no perfect Prais nor can any be truly extold in this life when his latter times are so incertain S. Bernard Serm. 1 in Seâ— tuag also Who can say I am one of the Elect predestinat to Life or in the number of Sons sith we hav yet no certainty but we may be comforted with hopeful affiance and not tormented with despair or doubting for som signs or marks are given that such may be sure they are Elect which hav them for this caus 't is necessary to be stil in awful fear and humbled under Gods hand sith we know in part what we are at present but not what we shal be which is impossible to know therfore Let him that stands take heed lest he fal for presumption is so perilous as desperation 3. That certitud of salvation cannot be infallible in this life as S. Austin attests What De Cor. Gr. 13. Beleever so long as he livs in this fleshly Tabernacle can presum to be predestinat 't is needful to be conceled in this life wher puffing up is to be shunned sith so great an Apostle was buffeted by Satan lest he should be puf'd up Many such things are spoken for the usefulnes of this secret lest any shal presume for even he that runs wel may fear sith 't is hid whither he shal go Much more he vents to the same effect For Gods Promises in Christ are certain but made with conditions so that we may miss of the end if we fail in the means to fulfil our Covenants sith no Man shal be crowned til he fight it out and the battel ended triumph not before the victory Gods Decrees are known soly to himself but secret to us who must rely on the Promisses by performing the Covenants If we may be fully assured of tru Faith that it cannot fail but we shal infallibly persever to the end through al frailties and tentations then Gods Counsil is not secret to som nor his Decree unknown which is high presumption to arrogat or affirm sith we must stil work it out with fear and trembling This is a Cavaliers Creed or confidence in the point of final perseverance and salvations infallible certainty who holds the middle betwixt two extrems of despair and presumption but had rather be a meek humble Publican then a proud presuming Pharisee Lord be merciful to me a sinner and grant me Grace to continu in thy fear til the end 17. The last Judgment is the execution of al Divine Decrees 17 Last Judgment concerning Men For Predestination of the ends is a foreknowledg and approbation of the last Judgment to Life or Death which execution shews the Decree as a building being erected and finished declares the Architects plot or devise for this Judgment exhibits the consecution of thos ends So if we grant as we must that God proponed an end viz. the glory of his Mercy or Bounty in giving som life eternal and glory of his Power and Justice in inflicting eternal death on others he hath attained his end in the last Judgment So if we admit Note as we must that God prescribed means for Men to aspire or attain to eternal life or for lack therof to incur everlasting death thos ends are executed also in the same Judgment Rom. 6. 23 Howbeit if we grant as we doo that Life is given both as a 2 Tim. 4. 8. Rom 9 21. 22. Bounteous Gift and reward of Righteousnes as also that eternal Death is imposed both as the wages or punishment of sin and a demonstration of Gods soveraign dominion yet with Justice and Equity No ordinary understanding can conceiv how a Decree of thes things could be made from eternity without Prescience siâ—h Life is a reward and Death a punishment which no Justice can prepare without foreknowledg of good or evil deserved This is cald simple or natural Intelligence as Life is a Gift of Gods free goodnes and Death a Declaration of his dominion being both an attainment of his own glory Hence 't is cleer that Prescience which is Gods first highest simple Understanding is to be put in the definition of Predestination which too many separat or dis-join Let Prosper decide this point If we consider al Men together Epâ—gâ— 28. wherof som may be saved in Mercy others damned in Truth al the Lords wais are distinguâ—shed by the end but if we look only on the Saints thes wais are not discerned for Truth is not distinguished from Mercy nor contrarily sith the Saints beatitud is both from reward of Grace and retribution of Justice So he makes eternal Death a retribution of Justice which cannot eternaly be decreed without Prescience of sin which Calvinists ground on Gods pure pleasure as Lord over his Creatures without respect to foreknowledg But for Election to Life being
deep dark mystery for the first 1 Pet. 1. 1 2 holds forth Gods power or dominion The next his Mercy and Justice The third his Truth and special Grace The last his Wisdom and Prescience Yet al with S. Paul acknowledg his Judgments inscrutable and waies past finding out the depth Rom. 11. 32. wherof none can fathom 5. Arminius startle not he is no Bugbear but a lat learned 5 Opin Protestant Professor at Leyden after Junius taught That God by his infinit intellect knew al things as possible to be if he would giv them being and among al conceived this visible World with al Mankinds race from first to last every one in order government and event yet only as possible if he pleased That som things might be necessary som voluntary som Causes som Effects som as ends som as means som his own acts som of free Creatures som good som evil som as rewards som as punishments That he knew how to order and vary al or any part or person so as other effects or ends might be produced then thes now extant if he otherwise willed But deemed it good for manifestation of his Power Wisdom Justice Mercy to put this Worlds frame and order of Mankind then only as possible in execution or being That he foreknew if he should doo it som particular persons would by this order of means be brought to eternal life and others by neglect or disorder go to perdition through their own fault if Justice be doon upon them That foreknowing al he determined of his absolut Wil and Pleasure to say Fâ—at and execut al which he intended in du time and in so doing predestinated som to life som to death eternaly In reference wherto S. Luke stileth the Elect such as are ordained to eternal life and S. Jude cals Reprobats Acts 13. 48. thos that were of old ordained to condemnation Under Jude vers 4. this order is comprised the Creation of Man righteous permission of his fal correction of his fault means of redemption by Christ caling and converting of a sinner his Faith Repentance Perseverance Blessings Chastisments Trials and what els is found in order of any Mans salvation or aversions and aberrations from that order wherby Men com to perdition Hence Predestination is defined to be a Preparation of Gods Definition benefits wherby al are delivered which are freed Or as Fulgentius fuller the preparation of Gods Works which in his eternal Providence he foreknew he would doo either mercifully or justly Here two things are to be observed in the Decree of Predestination 1. An act of Gods understanding in respect of things not in being caled Prescience which in order of Nature preceds al Decrees as prespecified 2. An act of his Wil which is proper to Predestination for God works according to the Council of his Wil as S. Paul speaks Thes two acts Eph. 1. 11. 1 Pet. 1. 1 2. Rom. 8. 28. being coeternal hav priority of order only not of time and Prescience put as the first link by S. Peter and Paul This Tenet of simple Prescience previous to Predestination advanceth al Gods Attributs more then the four former 1. His Wisdom and Knowledg in foreseing not only his own Works but thos of free Creatures and al circumstances of each how to govern them for his glory in permission of sin and obedience or resistance of Grace that he may judg the World righteously 2. His power in creating and governing al things bringing light out of darknes life out of death happines out of misery 3. His goodnes in making al good and overcoming evil with good 4. His universal Grace and Mercy in preparing a waâ— of Redemption for al Men who were becom slavs to sin and Satan and ordaining means to apply or accomodat the same 5. His truth in extending his promises to al that shal keep the Covenants or Conditions for he is truth who speaks no other then as he ordains nor intends otherwise then as he speaks 6. His Justice in punishing al that use not the rectitud of their Nature or benefit of Redemption offred 7. His special Grace or singular lov in confirming them as he did the good Angels whom he foresaw would use his Grace if it were given in embracing the means which should bring them to Glory shewing less Grace to thos whom he foresaw would fail by their own incredulity ingratitud or obstinacy whom he could hav cured by bettering his benefits but decreed to make Vessels of wrath by their own deserts 8. His dominion and soveraign Lordship in that being suprem Ruler he orders al after his free pleasure chusing or refusing whom he wil becaus they wilfully forsake him as Irenaeus saith the Father excels in Wisdom becaus he savs whom he ought and judges such as are worthy of judgment to be counted cruelty considering his foregoing preventing goodnes 9. It excluds Stoical Fate which the three first Opinions making Mans salvation or damnation necessary by an antecedent absolut Decree cannot possibly decline wheras this by placing it in order after Prescience makes both infallible to his knowledg which as simple science is no caus but free and contingent to Man who must work out his salvation by coworking with divine Grace or incur damnation by refusing his Mercy extended to al. 10. It makes Gods Election absolut immutable and irrevocable wherby he chuseth Man and not contrarily but the fourth opinion is liable to thes imputations 11. It diverts despair on the one side which too many fal into supposing themselfs decreed to damnation and prevents presumption on the other which som confiding too far on infallable certitud of salvation and final perseverance hav becom their own Butchers to accelerat their glory as may be shewed by sundry instances in both kinds 12. It ministers much matter of comfort to the Godly which walk in the wais leading to life confirming their saving Faith in Christ and lov toward God Lastly It magnifies the deepnes of Gods Judgments and inscrutablenes of his Counsils for who can conject why he loved Jacob and hated Esau or decreed to elect Peter and reject Judas or savs one and suffers another to perish who could dispose them to contrary ends al which proceds from his Prescience sith none is rejected but upon prevision of refusing life offered and ther is sufficient Grace in the means of conversion to Remedy the weaknes or perversnes of depraved Nature Nor is any decreed to salvation but upon foreseen readines to accept life offered and Gods general promises hav conditions which Men by his Grace must observ on their part if they wil partak the benefit For God decreeing to make Man a free Creature in al his Corollary actions and foreseing his fal wherby he forfeted that liberty of Wil for himself and Posterity in al spiritual supernatural Graces permitted Men to use or abuse it in al other matters of this life Natural Moral Civil
entring at dore as tru Shepherds of the Flock or owners of the Family betwen conterfet Cranks and approved Ambassadors of Christ For the Gospel Ministry is a dreadful imployment to discharge it duly which requires peculiar Workmen fit for so high a Function nor is it less weighty now then of old When Ministers must contend with blunt rusticity bold barbarity Schismatical curiosity fantastical novity Heretical subtlety disguised Hypocrisy superstitious vanity Factions fury politic prophanenes and al sorts of spiritual wickednes Nothing old can pleas though never so tru nor new com amiss though never so fals a new Church way new fangled Ministry new ordered Sacraments new sensed Scriptures and what not Every one sings In nova fert animus With such proud silly scornful Sophisters who need Teachers yet dare to teach must Ministers incounter who cast off al Church Order and Government so 't is most requisit to keep such unruly Buls of Basan under Rashnes is no part of Fortitud nor confidence a character of courage nor Confusion any ingredient of Charity nor Faction a support of Faith nor disorderly walking fit fuel of holy flames Psal 122. 3. in Christians hearts For the Church is compared to a City at unity in it self and to an Army with Banners which holy allusions Cant 6. 3. argu that ther is to be exact government in al affairs but the enemies of reformed Ministry who affect subtleties more then solidities becom Ministers Rivals from whom they had thos pretended Gifts and like Balaams Beast presume to teach their Masters trampling their feeders under feet but such Sectists or Seducers make Ministers most necessary to oppose their fury repel their folly and reform novity which els like wild Bores would destroy the Lords Vineyard if thes faithful Watchmen did not prevent them Thus much in general of the whol Ministry now more neerly concerning Episcopacy which is assaulted at first entry Ob. If it be granted to be of divine Apostolic Institution at first yet it hath since declined into Antichristian Apostacy under Popish Primacy being linealy derived from it Ergo both Bishops and Ministers like links of one chain or branches of the same Tree are to be lopped off Sol. Indeed Bishops hav constantly and continualy ordeined Ministers ful 1600 yeers but Popes of Rome usurped Antichristian Supremacy in the West as they would over the whol world if they could catch it about 1050 yeers yet al sacred Ordinances used or abused by them must not be abandoned as Antichristian for then we may seek new Scriptures Creed and Sacraments with another Gospel and Messias so wel as Bishops and Ministers sith al thes hav been defiled by their depraved doctrins and superstitions Nor was the Church Catholic against which Hel-gates shal never prevail to blot out Christs name wholy ruined by Antichristian superstructures that the main fabric must be puld down and made Nehustan instead of repairing or restoring it to pristin purity For so Christ reduced divine worship to his own Hous when avarice had made it a Den of Theefs Nor did the Jews Priesthood ceas for the Priests enormities Nor the dialectic teaching part fal from Moses Chair though the Scribes and Pharisees fat therin teaching Mens traditions Nor doo the Sacraments or Evangelic Ordinances fail by any Papal alterations or additions Hence al Godly Reformers specialy in England were content to cast out al corrupt doctrins vain customs impure mixtures and superstitious vanities which Papal novity had built on the foundations of Christian Religion laid by the antient Architects al over the World reserving the Scripture Canon with al sound Doctrin holy Disciplin Sacramental seals and other duties of Praier fasting c. according to the cleer sens of Gods Word and practis of primitiv Churches yet were they not so silly or giddy to reject al which the Popish party received or retained but only refined gold from dross the pure from vile which they had from Christian Predecessors Martyrs and Confessors in that once famous Roman Church by du succession though since much degenerated No Christian in his right wits whos Conscience is guided by science and zele tempred with Charity wil or should reced from them farther then he finds them to deviat from the rule of Faith held forth by Apostolic Precepts and primitiv Precedents But in matters of extern prudential order every Church hath like liberty to use or refuse such Ceremonies as ech thinks fit In som points we may convers with them as simply Men in som imitat them as Secular or Ecclesiastic Rulers in many join with them so far forth as they hold the truths of Religion and Fundamentals of Faith But their misexpositions of Scripture with al Antichristian additionals we utterly detest disclaim and disavow For instances We celebrat the Lords supper with the same Lords Supper Elements but renounce that sens of Christs words on which they rais the new doctrin of Transubstantiation sith 't is contrary to Gods providence both in Natural and Spiritual things which change not the substance but only the relation or use from Natural to Mystical contrary to Scripture phrase in like expressions wher things related by religious Institutions are mutualy denomined without essential changes contrary to common Reason and four of fiv Senses testimony which are the proper Judges of sensible objects contrary to Christs way Sâ—ght Smel Taft Touch. or end of strengthning a Receivers Faith which is not doon by what is harder to be beleeved then the whol Gospel mystery beside for nothing is less credible then that Christ sitting at Table gav his own very visible Body to be eaten by his Disciples and al Communicants after when as he stil sits as Man at his Fathers right hand in Heaven Thes with like fancies ful of absurdities and consequential Idolatry of Bread-worship and sacrilegious detaining the Cup from Laics contrary to Christs express Drink ye al of this words and primitiv Churches practis for many ages we flatly abjure or abandon yet receiv it with the same pious veneration of purest Antiquity but doo not determin the maner of that mysterious Union endevoring for the Graces which may make us worthy partakers when we receiv that dreadful yet most desirable seal of our Faith not by eating his flesh grosly with our mouths but by receiving him spiritualy into our Souls Yet by the same Faith we realy partake his merit death body and blood to eternal life before we receiv him by the said Sacrament yea though we should never hav oportunity so to doo which yet we may not neglect sith 't is the same object received by the same Instrument to the same end but in different degree and way yet the same Saviour of the World For Baptism we retain the words and form but discard the Baptism superfluous superstitious dresses Salt Oil Spittle Insufflation which deform that duty though not destroy it nor doo rebaptise thos baptised by them Semblably
holy Land but Jerusalem the City of general worship more holy the Temple holier and Sanctum Sanctorum holiest of al places A Sacrament is a separation of som visible thing from common use consecrated to Gods service for a sign of our admission Sacrament into his Kingdom or a commemoration of the same Circumcision was the sign of admission in the old Testament Baptism in the new but the commemoration in the one was eating the Pascal Lamb once annaly to mind them of the night when they were delivered from Egypts temporal bondage and celebrating the Lords Supper in the other wherby we are remembred of our deliverance from sin and Satan by our Saviours crucifixon The Sacraments of admission Circumcision and Baptism are used but once to every one becaus we are admitted no oftner but thos of commemoration Passover and the Lords Supper often reiterated becaus we must be often minded of our deliverance and allegiance Ther be other Consecrations which in ample acception may be stiled Sacraments as the word implies a sacred institution for Religious uses as Ordination Matrimony and many mo but as it imports an Oath Promiss or Covenant of Allegiance to God thos precited are soly so named A Common-wealth cannot possibly consist wher any sav the Soveraign hath power to giv greater rewards then life or inflict Chap 38. grievouser punishments then death but sith eternal life excels temporal and endless torments exced death of nature 't is worthy to be wel weighed of al that wil obey Authority to avoid the calamities of confusion and civil war what is meant in Scripture by eternal life and endless torment as also for what offenses and against whom committed Men are to be eternaly tortured and for what actions to enjoy everlasting life Adam had enjoied it in the terren Eden Paradise for ever had he not broken Gods commandment to eat the forbidden fruit who had the Tree of Life allowed to eat but so soon Eternal Life Gen. 3. 22. as he tasted the one God thrust him out of the Garden lest he should take of the other and liv for ever So if he had not sinned he should liv on Earth perpetualy but mortality seized on him and al his posterity for this first sin Sith then he forfeted eternal life by sin he who is to cancel that forfeture must recover it by righteousnes which Christ Jesus did by satisfying for the sins of al that beleev in him and so recovered life eternal lost by Adam to al beleevers So saith St. 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. Paul sith by Man cam death by Man cam also the Resurrection of the dead for as in Adam al dy so in Christ shal al be made alife Touching the place wher Men shal enjoy eternal life the precited Texts seem to set it on Earth for if al forfeted it in earthly Paradise by Adam they shal enjoy it on Earth by Christ els the comparison were not consonant nor complet So saith David God commanded the blessing on Zion Ps 133 3. even life for evermore So St. John to him that overcometh Rev. 2. 7. I wil giv to eat of the Tree of Life in the midst of Gods Paradise Rev. 21. 2. 10. This was the Tree of eternal life on earth Again I saw the holy City new Jerusalem coming down from God as a Bride adorned for his Husband As if he should say new Jerusalem Gods Paradise or rather the Church Christs Spous shal descend from Neaven at Christs next coming to Gods people and Acts 3. 11. not they ascend to it So the two Angels in whit clothing said to the Apostles looking at Christ ascending This Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven shal so com as you see him go up into Heaven As if they had said Glossa corrumpit textum he shal com down to govern them under his Father eternaly on Earth he coms to Judg not to Rule and not take them into Heaven This conforms to the restauration of Gods Kingdom began under Moses which was the Israelits Politic Mat. 12 30. government on Earth Christ saith In the Resurrection Men neither marry nor giv in mariage but are as the Angels in Heaven This describes eternal life like that which Adam lost at point of mariage For sith Adam and Eve if they had not sinned had lived on Earth eternaly yet could not continualy propogat Progenies becaus if immortals should immortaly procreat as Men doo now the Earth in short space could not afford Foot-room to stand on much less food to sustain them How then can a new created Earth except extended to Quaeâ—e iâ—finit immensity contain al Mankind which are unimaginable multituds born and to be born since the Creation Thes with sundry such quirks surpass the reach of reason to resolv The comparison betwen life eternal lost by Adam and recuperated by Christs victory over death holds thus that as he lost it by sin yet lived long after so a faithful Beleever recovers it by Christ though he dy 〈◊〉 natural death for a long time even til the general Resurrection for as death is counted from Adams condemnation not execution so is life reckoned from the absolution not from the Resurrection of thos elected in Christ Jesus Such are his specious speculalations favouring of singularity That Men after the Resurrection shal liv eternaly in Heaven Ascention into Heaven caled by St. Paul the third Heaven is not evident in Scripture by the Kingdom of Heaven is meant Gods Kingdom who dwels in Heaven which was Israels People whom he ruled by Judges Prophets and high Priests as Lieftenents til they rebelled and required a mortal King like other Nations So when our Saviour by his Ministers shal perswade the Jews to return and accomplish the fulnes of Gentils ther shal be a new Kingdom of Heaven becaus God whos Throne is Heaven shal be King yet it folows not that Man shal ascend to his seat of happines or higher then his Footstool No Man John 3. 13. hath ascended into Heaven but he that cam down from it even the Son of Man that cam down from Heaven Wher note that thos are St. Johns words not Christs as al the rest were who was not then in Heaven So David saith Thou wilt not leav Ps 16. 10. my Soul in Hel nor suffer thy Holy one to see corruption which St. Peter provs to be spoken of Christs Resurrection not of Acts 2 31 34. himself becaus David is not ascended into Heaven If any answer 't is tru they shal not ascend in bodies til the Resurrection but their Souls enter Heaven so soon as they dy As Christ confirms Who provs the Resurrection by Moses words Luk 20. 37 38. at the bush when he cals the Lord the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who is a God of the living not of the dead This cannot be construed of the Souls immortality sith Christ ther
treats only of the Bodies resurrection or immortality of Men who shal liv again He means thos Patriarchs were immortal becaus God in meer grace confers eternal life on the faithful who tho dead liv stil to God being writ in the Book of life with thos that are absolved of their sins to reviv at resurrection but not by any property consequent to Mans essence or Soul For to make it a living entity independent after separation on the Body and in it self immortal or that any Man is immortal except Enoch or Elias hath no cleer warrant Job 14. 10 12. in the word Job complains of Mans mortality by nature Man dies and wasts away yea givs up the Ghost and wher is he Down he lieth and riseth not til the Heavens be no more Which 2 Pet 3 7. 13. St. Peter shews shal be at the universal Resurrection when the Heavens and Earth shal be dissolved by fire but new expected according to promiss wherin dwels righteousnes So wher Job saith Man riseth not til the Heavens be no more 't is as if he said immortal life for Life and Soul in Scripture sens is the same begins not in Man til the Resurrection or day of Judgment and the caus of it is Gods promiss as St. Peter tels not Mans specifical Nature or Essence Now sith Gods Kingdom is a civil Common-wealth wher he-self is Soveraign by virtu first of the old and now since of the new Covenant it evidently appeers that when Christ shal com again in Majesty and Glory to reign existently and eternaly his Kingdom shal be on Earth as God was in Israel So Gods Enimies and their torments after Judgment shal be on Earth for the place wher al remain til the Resurrection is usualy stiled in Scripture under ground in Latin Infernus or Inferi Greecly Hades wher Men cannot see or dy implying the Grav so wel as any other deep place but the damneds place after Resurrection is not designed in al holy writ by any note of situation but only by their company wher such wicked Men were whom God in miraculous maner had cut off Touching Hel 't is no real place in any part of the created Hel what World but a Metaphorical word signified by wicked Men ther being 1. 'T is caled Infernus Tartarus or bottomless Pit from Corah Dathan and Abiram swalowed alife into the Earth 2. 'T is said to be under water becaus the Giants mighty Men in Noahs dais caled Greecly Heroes were drowned in the Deluge 3. Becaus Sodom and Gomorrha consumed by Fire and Brimstone becam a bituminous Lake 't is caled a Lake burning with fire and brimstone which is the secund death So Hel fire is expressed by Sodoms fire indefinitly Rev 21. 8. taken for destruction as 't is said Death and Hel were Rev. 20. 14. cast into the Lake of fire or destroied for after the last day Men shal dy no more nor go into Hades 4. 'T is termed from Egypts triduan deep darknes utter or extern darknes viz. without the habitation of Gods elect which is ful of Light 5. Neer Jerusalem is the Vally of Hinnon in part wherof caled Tophet the Jews most Idolatrously sacrificed their Children to Moloch wher they cast out their Carrion and to clens the Air made continual fires whence Hel is caled Gehenna or Vally of Hinnon and from thos incessant Fires cam the name or notion of everlasting unquenchable Fire Now none is so sensless to expound any of thes literaly as if the damned after rising from death shal be for ever under Earth or Water both which are but one Globe like a Pins point compared to the Heavens in a bottomless Pit or that they shal be eternaly punishd in Gehenna the Vally of Hinnon or shal liv in utter darknes not one to see another or be scorched for ever with Fire and Brimstone Ergo the meaning is Metaphorical and must be disquired by the nature of the Torments and Tormenters The Tormenters are termed Satan or Enimy Diabolus or Tormenters Accuser and Abaddon or Destroier which significant titles set not forth any individual Persons like proper Names but only an office or faculty and are very Appellativs which should not be left untranslated as they are becaus therby they seem to be proper names of Demons and Men sooner seduced to beleev the Doctrin of Devils then Pagan Religion contrary to Christs So becaus the Enimy in Gods Kingdom of the Jews is meant by Enimy Accuser and Destroier if Gods Kingdom after the Resurrection shal be on Earth the Enimy and his Kingdom must be ther also as it was when the Israelits deposed God and chose Saul sith Gods Kingdom was in Palestin and the Nations round about Enimies whence it appeers that Satan signifies any Enimy of the Church Metaphoricaly it may but is not Satan properly or literaly Quaere Rev. 12. 〈◊〉 a foul Fiend Enimy to Mankind as the great red Dragon that old Serpent was who deceived Eve and since the whol World Are al the Dialogs between betwen God and Satan about Job conterfet Chimaeras When the seventy rejoiced that the 〈◊〉 10. 17. 18 20. Devils were subject to them Christ said I saw Satan as lightning fal from Heaven but rejoyce not that the Spirits are Mat 12. 24. 〈◊〉 Cor. 5. 5. subject to you Here Christ cals Devils Spirits and names Satan as one yea Beelzebub is named Prince of Devils Excommunication 1 Tim. 1. 20. is caled a delivery to Satan is this meant only a Jailor or temporal Enimy Hel torments are somtime caled weeping and gnashing Torments of teeth somtime the worm of Conscience of time fire wher Dan. 12. 2. the worm dieth not which is never quenched but by Daniel shame and contempt Al which Metaphoricaly denote great grief or discontent of Mind from sight of others felicity which they lost by their own disobedience and incredulity but becaus others felicity is known only by comparing it with their own misery it results that they shal suffer such bodily pains and calamities as Men that liv under cruel Governors having God the King of Saints their eternal Enimy Yea beside al torments of Body and Mind they shal likwise endure a secund Death For tho the general Resurrection be evident yet it 1 Cor. 15. 42 no eternal life promised to Reprobats St. Paul to the question with what Bodies Men shal rise saith 'T is sown in corruption and raised in incorruption sown in dishonor raised in glory sown in weaknes raised in power but Glory and Power cannot comply to wicked Mens Bodies nor the name of secund Death apply to such as can never dy but once Howbeit tho a calamitous everlasting Life may Metophoricaly be termed eternal Death yet can it in no property of speech be stiled a secund Death Everlasting fire prepared for the Damned is an estate wherin Secund Death none can liv after the Resurrection
without torture of Body and Mind in which sens it shal endure for ever unquenchable and the torments endlesss Yet it folows not that he so cast in shal so endure or resist it as to be eternaly burnt and tortured but never dy or be destroied Yea tho many places prov everlasting fire and torments into which Men may be cast successivly one after another for ever yet none assert that any individual Person shal perennaly abide or endure therin but he shal hav an everlasting secund Death For when Death and the Grav Hel hav delivered up the Rev. 20. 13 14. dead in them and every Man judged according to his works Death and Hel shal be cast into the Lake of Fire this is the secund Death Hence 't is cleer that every Reprobat condemned at general Judgment must suffer a secund Death after which he shal dy no more But what is meant by Mind so oft iterated if not Mans Quaere Soul The jois of eternal Life are comprised in Scripture under Eternal Life the name of Salvation or being saved which signifies to be secured either respectivly against special evils or absolutly from al as want sicknes death Now becaus Man was made immortal or immarcescible and fel from it by sin it results that to be saved from sin is to be freed from al evil and afflictions acquired by the same Ergo Remission of sin and Salvation from death and misery is al one As when Christ Mat. 9. 2 5. cured a Paralytic Man saying Friend be of good cheer or comfort thy sins be forgiven the Scribes said within themselfs he blasphems but he asked whether 't is easier to say thy sins be forgiven or arise and walk Yet he used that form of speech to shew he had power to remit sins which implies that 't is al one to the saving of the sick to say thy sins are forgiven or rise and walk For sith death and misery are punishments of sin the discharge of it releaâ—eth the other two being absolut Salvation such as the elect shal enjoy after the Judgment day by Christ Jesus favor who for that caus is caled our Saviour Touching particular Salvations from enimies or miseries 't is needless to treat but becaus the general Salvation must be in the Kingdom of Heaven ther is great debate or difficulty about the place Becaus Kingdom is an Estate ordained by Men for security Kingdom of Heaven against enimies and want it seems this Salvation which sets forth our Kings glorious reign by conquest not a safety by escape shal be on Earth For wher we expect Salvation we must look for Triumph Victory and Battle in order which cannot be supposed in Heaven and wher els we must serch the Scriptures Isaiah largely describes it To be at Jerusalem Isai 33. 20. c. a quiet habitation a Tabernacle not to be taken down The Saviour is Our Lord Judg Lawgiver King The condition of the saved is The People that dwel therin shal be forgiven their iniquities By this 't is cleer that it shal be in Jerusalem wher God shal reign at Christs next coming and fil up the Salvation of Gentils which shal be received into his Kingdom for ever Isai 66 20 21. Isaiah more expresly declares it That the Gentils who had any Jews in bondage shal bring them from al Nations on Horses Charets and Litters to Jerusalem the place of Gods John 4. 22. worship As our Saviour told the Woman of Samaria that Salvation is of the Jews or begins at them As if he should say ye worship God but know not by whom he wil sav you we know it shal be by one of Juda and not a Samaritan This Rom. 1. 16 17. St. Paul explains The Gâ—spâ—l is Gods power of Salvation to every one that beleeveth to the Jew first and also to the Greec Joel 2. 30 32. So Joel describing the Judgment day saith God wil shew wonders in Heaven and Earth Blood Fire and Pillars of smoke wherto he ads In Mount Zion and Jerusalem shal be Salvation Obad. v. 17. c. So saith Obadiah On Mount Zion shal be deliverance and holines Jacobs hous shal possess their possessions which he particularly points out by The Mount of Esau Land of Philistins fields of Ephraim Samaria Gilead and Cities of the South concluding thus The Kingdom shal be the Lords On the other side no plain pregnant place provs the Saints Ascention into Heaven sav that 't is caled the Kingdom of Heaven which was becaus he governed the Israelits by commands sent to Moses from and after sent his Son as he wil again thence or els that his Throne is Heaven and Earth his Footstool but that his Subjects or Servants shal sit so high as his Throne or abov his Footstool sutes not with the glorious Majesty of so great a King Al thes Kickshews of arguing from similituds which he Answer derides in others are soon satisfied that his subjects shal not sit on his suprem Throne as Coequals or Coordinats but only dwel as Princes Servants doo in their Palaces in his holy John 14. 2. Hous of Heaven This saith Christ hath many mansions being infinity it self wheras not a tithing paâ—â— of Mankind can possibly find place to stand on a new Earth or finit world Three Worlds are specified in Scripture 1. The old before Noahs flood wherof St. Peter speaks 2. The present of 2 Pet. 2. 5. which Christ saith My Kingdom is not of this World 3. That to com of it St. Peter saith We according to his promiss look for new Heavens and Earth which is that World wherin Christ coming in the Clouds with great glory shal send his Angels to gather the Elect from the four Winds or utmost parts of the Earth to reign over them under his Father everlastingly Thus he But wher is the World to com taken for a Real material Quaere World as the other two be 'T is not Cosmos or Mundus venturus but Seculum vita vel Aevum futurum the Time Life or Age to com Nor is ther any warrant in al Gods word for thos last words that Christ shal reign over the Saints â—iz on Earth under his Father everlastingly but that they shal reign with him 1000. yeers as Chiliasts contest Touching Understanding he saith 't is only imagination Understanding raised in Man or any Animal that can imagin by words or signs which is common to Man and Beasts As a Dog by use understands his Masters cal or check with sundry strange tricks by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 calture so doo divers other kinds yea som 〈◊〉 to speak but understanding peculiar to Man is not only to know one anothers wil but his thoughts or conceptions by the consequents of things Names into affirmations â—eâ—ations and other forms of speech of which he wil treat elswher For Witchcraft he holds it to be no real power yet are
but the chief charms are reserved for the Children to be Baptised as appeers in their Ceremonies The like are used in Mariage Visitation of the Sick extrem Unction consecrations of Churches and Church-yards to expel Phantasms Faieries and imaginary Spirits al which belong to the Kingdom of Darknes being effects of our natural ignorance Another error is from misinterpreting the words eternal Life everlasting Death and secund Death of which three in order Adam had an estate to liv for ever not by nature in himself Eternal Life or any part of his but by eating the Tree of Life which he had leav to doo so long as he obeied God but was thrust out of Paradise so soon as he sinned lest he should feed theron and liv for ever Now Christs death is a discharge of sin and restitution of Life eternal to al the faithful who beleev in him and to them only Yet the general doctrin of Divines is that every Man hath eternal life by nature of his immortal Soul so that the flaming Sword at entrance of Paradise may hinder him from tasting the Tree of Life but not from immortality which God bereaved Nor shal he need Christs sacrifice for recovery of the same sith not only the faithful or righteous but the wicked and Heathen shal enjoy eternal Life without Death much less a secund everlasting death To salv or shadow this they say by secund everlasting Death is meant a secund everlasting Life but Torments which is a figure never used sav in this very case Is not secund Death an eternal being both of Body and Quaere Soul in Hel-fire under Satan This tenet of the Souls immortality is founded on som obscure places of the new Testament which yet in a different sens of his own mint are cleer enough and unnecessary to Christian Faith For suppose when a Man dies nothing remains but his Carcas cannot God who made clay a living Creature by his word rais it again by another word Yes but not to the same life which vanished to nothing wheras the Soul being immortal persists identical Soul in Scripture stil signifies either Life or a Living Creature and Body jointly with Soul a Body alife As God saith Let the Waters produce Reptile animae viventis the creeping thing with a living Soul we translat that hath life Again God created Whales omnem animam viventem in English every living Creature but of Man God made him of dust and breathed in his face the spiracle or breath of life factus est Homo in animam viventem and Gen. 8. 21. Man was made a living Creature So God said when Noah cam out of the Arc I wil no more smite omnem animam viventem Deut 12. 23. every living Creature Eat not the Blood for 't is the Soul or Life But if Soul signified a substance immortal existing after separation from the Body it may be said of any other Animal so wel as Man Is it said of any other that God having made the Body of Quaere Earth breathed into his face spiraculum Vitae the Spirit of Life Which al interpreters expound of creating and infusing the Soul together He goes on the Souls or Lifes of the Faithful which being accidents that annihilated when the Bodies died must be new made are by Gods special Grace not of their own Nature to remain in their raised Bodies for ever after Judgment Wher 't is said in the new Testament that any shal be cast Body and Soul as if they were distinct Quaere parts into Hel-fire it imports Body and Life how can Life be cast being a bare accident That they shal be cast alife into Rev. 19 v. 20. Gehenna So 't is said The Beast and fals Prophet were both cast alife into a Lake of fire burning with Brimstone This dark doctrin of the Souls subsistence after separation opens a sluce to let in the superstitious superstructures of Purgatory and Indulgences Ghosts or Goblins and Exorcisms invocating of Saints yea Heaven and Hel too with som others For Men before Christs coming being taught from the Greecs Demonology that Mens Souls were distinct substances which after separation must subsist somwher by their own Nature the Doctors of the Church long doubted wher they resided til the general Resurrection supposing they lay under the Altars but finding that Martyrs Souls of them slain for Gods word if they hav Souls why not others Quae c. Lay under the Altar the Church of Rome for their profit Rev. 6 9. erected Purgatory Surely they doo al for profit to maintain their pomp pride power and prodigality Beza to prov Gods Kingdom began at Christs Resurrection Mat. 16. 28. and continues stil urgeth his words Verily I say to you som of them which stand here shal not tast of death til they hav seen Mat. 16. 28. Marc 9. 1. Luk. 9. 37. Gods Kingdom com with power Ergo either Gods Kingdom cam shortly after and is now in this World or els som then standing by Christ are yet alife Sol. This is a darke difficil place which provs nothing necessarily but if Gods Kingdom began at Christs Resurrection why doo we stil pray thy Kingdom com Therfore 't is not meant therof Yea after his Resurrection the Apostles asked Wilt thou now restore the Kingdom of Israel He answered 'T is not for you to know the time or season which the Father hath put in his own power but ye shal receiv power by the holy Ghosts coming on you and shal be my Witnesses in Jerusalem in al Judea and utmost part of the Earth So he told them his Kingdom was not com nor shal they foreknow when 't is to com Christ said to Peter of John If I wil that he tarry Joâ—n â—1 v. 22. til I com what is that to thee Which bred a beleef that he should not dy yet the truth of it was neither confirmed nor confuted by thos words but left as a dark saying and so must this Howbeit sith Christs transfiguration is the next Act handled by al three Evangelists haply he cals that Gods Kingdom which som ther should see being a representation or vision of his glory and Majesty as he shal com in his Kingdom which cannot be proved to begin til the day of Judgment Wher is it proved that any terren Kingdom shal commence Quaeâ—e then Then shal the Faithful rise with glorious spiritual Bodies inlifened and becom Christs Subjects in his Kingdom wher they shal not eat drink marry as they did in their natural Bodies but liv happily in their individual Persons for ever The elect then alife shal be suddenly changed and their Bodies made spiritualy immortal but Reprobats shal rise to receiv punishment yet not eternaly in their individual Persons nor can any place prov it As after the Resurrection the Elect shal be restored to Adams estate before he fel so Reprobats shal be in the
Dominions to whom the chief Government of all estates whether Ecclesiastic or Civil in al Causes doth appertain nor ought to be subject unto any forren Jurisdiction Whereas we attribute chief Government to the Kings Majestie wherby we understand the minds of som slanderous folks to be offended we giv not to our Prince the ministring of Gods word or Sacraments which thing the Injunctions also somtime set forth by our late Queen Elizabeth doe plainly testify But that only Prerogativ which was ever given to al Godly Princes in holy Scripture by God himself which is That they shal rule al Estates and Degrees committed to their charge whether Ecclesiastic or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword al stuâ—born and evil doers The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Laws of the Land may punish Christian men with death for hainous grievous offences It is lawful for Christians at commandment of the Magistrat to wear Weapons and serv in Wars Article 38. The Goods of Christians are not common touching the right title and possession of the same as Anabaptists falsly boast yet every man ought of such things as he hath liberaly to give Alms to the Poor according to his ability Article 39. As we confess vain and rash swearing to be forbid in Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and James his Apostle so we judg that Christian Religion doth not prohibit but a man may swear when a Magistrat requires it in a caus of Faith and Charity so that it be done as the Prophets teach according to Justice Judgment and Truth for the composing of strife Articuli Lambethae cusi The Articles of Lambeth An Appendix of nine Articles touching Praedestination agitated by John Archbishop of Canterbury and others An. 1595. at Dr. Whitakers instance against three Propositions of Dr. Baro a Frenchman Lady Margarets Professor at Cambridg Article 1. GOd from eternity predestinated som men to life and reprobated the rest to death or damnation Article 2. The moving or efficient caus of Predestination to life is not any foresight of Faith Perseverance good Works or any thing in the persons praedestinated but only in the Wil of Gods good pleasure Article 3. Of the Predestinat ther is a prefined certain number which can neither be increased nor diminished Article 4. They that are not predestinat to salvation shal necessarily be condemned for their sins Article 5. Tru livly justifying Faith and sanctifying Spirit of God is not extinguished doth not fall off nor vanish in the Elect either finaly or totally Article 6. A man truly beleeving or indued with justifying Faith is certain by or with ful perswasion of Faith of his sins forgivenes and everlasting salvation by Christ Article 7. Saving Grace is not given nor communicated nor granted to al men whereby they may be saved if they will Article 8. No man can come to Christ unles it be given to him and unless the Father draw him nor are al men drawn of the Father that they come to the Son Article 9. It is not in the free choice and power of every man to be saved These Assertious or Positions like many mo are obtruded in general obscure ambiguous terms subject to divers interpretations Animadversio apposita A usefull Animadversion THe first Proposition is tru de facto but treats not of the order and manner why God elected som and reprobated the rest which is the debate The second designs the moving efficient caus of election but mentions not the object whether it be man simply or man a sinner or man repentant or man persisting obstinat and obdurat which is al the question for Gods foresight is no efficient caus of his Predestination but his Wil. The third of a set number not to be increased or diminished is a very verity in regard of Gods infallible foreknowledge and immutable Wil. The fourth is a bifront Janus most ambiguous for if it suppose non-praedestination to necessitat condemnation for sin it puts non causam pro causa but if it make non-praedestination a meer negativ in God and supposes sin unrepented the caus God may in true Justice condemn the sinner that neglects the remedy for every one perisheth by his own default as Preachers inculcat dayly The fifth is generally granted That the elect doo not fal away finaly or totaly but who they are no mortal man knows and al men may fal The sixth in a tru sens is tru That Beleevers being reconciled to God by repentance may be certain of their present condition by a ful perswasion of Faith yet must not presume of infallible perseverance sith many Saints through frailty have faln dangerously The seventh is tru in part That effectual saving Grace is not given to al that they may be saved if they wil but sufficient is offered to al and that seriously or intentionaly if they wil use and not refuse reject or resist the means working out their salvation with fear and trembling The eighth is to be rightly expounded that no man can com to the Son unless the Father draw him and al men are not drawn by him but 't is becaus he foresees that they be obdurat and wil not com when caled for his prescience is the condition not the caus of proceeding The last is indubitat that 't is not in every mans nay in no mans free choice and power to be saved without Grace but by help thereof and use of the means prescribed in the Gospel any man may be saved if he wil cooperat with Gods Grace and not wilfully reject the same Dr. John Rainolds at Hampton-Court Conference beside many mo both before and since petioned that thes 9 Lambethian Articles might be annexed to the other 39 by public authority but could never obtain it becaus their meaning or construction was very dubious or dissonant to the tru sens of our Churches seventeenth Article which handles the point of Predestination more plainly and perfectly then thes 'T is said that Dr. Whitgift Archbishop granted this discussion to gratify Dr. Whitakers importunity and pacify that present Cantabrigian fury but left it in such doubtful terms that no prejudice might occur to the said Article of Predestination predefined THESIS I. Animae Humanae productio Production of Mans Soul 1 A solen Question Whether every Mans Soul since Adams be created or procreated THE Case is cleer for creating Adams Gen 2. 3. Soul God breathed into his nostrils the Spirit of life whereof S. Austins Axiom respect stil had to this first Souls production is infallibly tru 't is created in infusing and infused in creating Of Eve 't is said God in a deep Gen. 2. 21. 23. sleep took one of Adams ribs closing up flesh in its stead and the Rib he made a Woman The learned say it was no dead bone but animat the material part being extended to a shapeful human body and the spiritual at the same instant diffused over
then every efflux shift and abortiv is a Man But what maner of Man wil such a shapeless sensless substance be at the general Resurrection when every one shal resum his identic numerical Body Ergo the generation of Souls is subject to sundry absurdities in Nature and common Reason Answ Such as hold Infusion at time of conception as Traductists inferences violently inforce are liable to the same difficulties so are they that set it at quickning for if it miscarries the day after which a few hours distance makes no difference what maner of Man wil that be cannot God perfect the one so wel as the other doo not al bodies turn to dust doo not Divines say al shal rise in such stature as at Christs age Why not then the first coagulation so wel as an inform infirm Embryon cannot omnipotence extend a Body into any dimensions so wel as amend al imperfections Thes are arcan mysteries known only to him that knows al and can doo al in al But Insusiasts are equaly engaged to answer it sith the power to prepare a Body for the Souls union is defeated or destroyed and by consequence so many Souls lost which by divine preordination should be created and infused but it crosseth not Traduction and men must be wise to sobriety not searching into Gods secrets Arg. 'T is improbable that impure material seed should be the conduit to convey a power of producing so pure a substance or divine Spirit Ergo c. Answ No more then that the Body a meer putrid mass should be the seat or subject of the Soul it self which is a divine immortal immaterial essence Arg. Spirits doo not multiply or beget one another nor can Angels propagat or generat becaus Spirits but Mans Soul is a Spirit so scripturaly stiled Ergo c. Answ Simple Spirits cannot propagat and Angels are individuals subsisting alone but human Souls organized and united to Bodies wherin they exist being so ordained to preserv the race of Mankind Som distinguish that Compounds generat and principal parts only propagat but this is a vain evasion no veritable satisfaction for propagation properly pertains to Kinds generation to Individuals and both to Compounds nor are the terms convertible in the abstract for every generation is not propagation but in the concret or subject what ever is generated is propagat and reciprocaly To apply it neither Soul nor Body is truly said to beget or be begot but the whol Man who begets and is begot completly but the parts incompletly Arg. Marsilius Ficinus prescribes three sorts of production 1. The making of Mans Soul from nothing into being caled Creation 2. The mutation of a lifeless Body into an Animal by the Soul hight Formation 3. The change of an Embryo into the whol Compound clyped Generation The object or Terminus of Creation is immortality of Formation a Soul not considered simply but as in a Body of Generation an Animal consisting of both Now saith he in every Generation is a decision of somthing from the Begetter which a Soul hath not becaus it admits no division nor decision Ergo it cannot generat Answ The Traductists exclud the fiâ—st branch except with reference to Adams Soul soly yet grant immortality to be the Terminus in production of al. The other two they apply to Compounds only wherein the Soul sends no material seed or substance by decision as the Body doth but only a procreativ virtu with the spirit of seed to produce the like spiritual substance the maner wherof is inscrutable as is also original sin for Man is Natures miracle and Epitomâ— of al Creatures yet differs from al having an immortal spirit in a corruptible casknet and his generation wonderful Arg. Beasts Souls dy becaus bred of seed or with it Ergo if Mens Souls be ingendred in the same sort by or with the conveience of seed they must likewise perish Answ This is non causa pro causa for Beasts souls dy not soly becaus bred of seed but specialy becaus formed at first intirely of the common corruptible Chaos But God made mans Body of dust wherto it must return but infused or inspâ—red a Soul which is immortal or eviternal like Angels partaking the same divine origin Arg. If the Soul proceds from both Parents Souls then either two grow into one or their Souls are extracted and they remain Soulless or part of their Souls passeth and so are divisible But al thes are gross enormites and neither possible Ergo Traduction is no way tolerable Answ Al thes inferences are impertinent for both Parents concur to beget the Body too yet two grow not together nor are they impaired but God ordained in cours of Nature that both Sexes shal cooperat in generation so from their Bodies flows a material seed with a corporific virtu to beget a Body and from their Souls proceds an animific power with the seeds spirit to produce a Soul both which conjoining is cald Prolific in regard of the Compound yet neither are the Parents Souls nor any part of them no more then their Bodies extracted or exhausted but only an energy issuing from them to generat a new Arg. The Soul exerciseth her essential operations to Wil and Understand without help of bodily organs as appears being separat Ergo it needs no Parents seed to its production for as every thing works so is its essence and contrarily as Aristotle avers who concluds mans Soul not to depend of the body L 2. de gen Anim. c. 3. becaus it works within it Answ The Soul while it is in the Body useth its organs in hir chief operations of Wil and Intellect though when separat she needs them not nor is Parents seed the efficient of producing to depend theroâ— but only the instrum ut to carry virtu of producing a new Soul with the seed which impeacheth not the exerciâ—e of hir chief operations without organs in the Body nor is ther any sap or solidity 〈◊〉 this Argument against Traduction any way however wrested Arg. The Soul dies not with the Body Ergo 't is not generated with it For ther is the same reason of generation and corruption sith the Souls presence is the caus of life as the Suns is of light and absence of death as his is of darknes so if the Bodies procreation caus the Souls production its death must be hir perdition Answ This is pithier then a former viz. whatever is generated shal be corrupted But the Bodies generation doth not caus the Souls production sith 't is generated with it not by it and though it giv the Body life as the essential Form yet dies not with it as not proceding from it but from the Parents Souls Arg. Aristotle asserts That the Mind or Intellect alone coms from without and is of divine origin Ergo not generated by Parents as Bodies be Answ 'T is thought thos words Sola mens foris adveâ—it were foisted into the Text without any coherence
be guilty of sin if his Soul com immediatly from God sav only by propagation Or how can Adam be our Father if the whol Man descends not from him One cannot be a proper Father of the whol unless he beget both parts for to supply meer matter which is elementar makes not a Father sith the Form only denominats which if he doth not generat he can no more be a Father then to Fleas and Lice which are bred of his Body Nay if Fatherhood consists chiefly in giving the Form God is rather the tru Father from whom the principal part proceds then Parents which beget the baser The Soul is Mans essential part without which he is no Man How then can he procreat a Creature like himself if he produce not the Soul specialy sith al agree that he propagats such an accident as sin which inheres in the Soul as its sole subject Can he propagat an unnatural accident Sin which cannot be without the Soul and not a natural essence the Soul without which can be no Sin The faculty of propagation pertains to the Soul so wel as Body yea hath its chif seat in the Soul soly for the Body is as a Pen in the Writers hand but the Soul principal Scribe or Secretary sith then such as the caus is such is the effect the Soul must produce a Soul and whol Man a whol Man not an inform lump which without a Soul is neither Man nor Beast but the Soul stil accompanies the Seed at first conception and gradualy builds the Body fitly framing al the organs from the first rudiments to ful perfection Nor can such effects be doon Exerâ— 6. 55. 5. but by a Soul as subtle Scaliger provs He allegeth many mo Arguments against Infusion and answers al advers Reasons but becaus they are already produced on both parts 't is nausity to serv forth twise sod Coleworts but having refuted Infusiasts and rejected Traductists he vents his own novel Invention His Grounds are thes 1. God created three sorts of spiritual A new opinion Natures 1. Angels so sublime as they cannot join with Bodies 2. Beasts Souls so material as they cannot be separat from Bodies 3. Mens Souls in a mean which can both liv without Bodies after death like Angels and unite with Bodies in this life like Beasts Souls So he ordained That Angels shal neither increas nor decreas Sensitiv Souls both increas and decreas But Rational increas or multiply not decreas or perish Hence he infers that Angels are crated immediatly by God only Beasts Souls procreated mediatly one from another But Mens Souls partly produced by Gods immediat power and partly by mediat propagation or such a production as coms neerest to creation 2. Mans Soul is indued with power to use bodily organs in attaining knowledg of al sensible things yea our knowledg of God ariseth ordinarily from Sens ordered by Reason which is a mean between Beasts sens and Angels Intelligence Therfore God united the Soul with a Body which it naturaly desires being incomplet without it nor knows ought ordinarily but by it As then al ordinary faculties and works are doon mediatly by corporal Natures so is their origin or Of-spring or els could not hav such sympathy with a Body Yet as the Nature and Works therof are som way extraordinary without abov al Elementar Natures so God proportioaly hath a supernatural extraordinary work in producing it different from al others 3. Elementar Natures cannot be produced without a more excellent external efficient then themselfs viz. the Sun and celical bodies by their light motion and influence for so al sublunars depend on them for being beside the matter wherof they are particularly compounded and peculiar Forms but the Soul having a Spiritual kind of composition nobler then the rest from Parents by seed requires a spiritual extern efficient beside it self which must needs be God the Father of Spirits sith Stars being bodies cannot produce Mans Soul to which they are far inferior 4. Human conception often fails and is not so frequent as in other Creatures which argues it is not of Nature alone but by Gods more special power and providence then in other generations If then he acts more in Mans conception why shal not the Soul be produced then without a duple task of creating and infusing at quickning When Rachel rashly cried Giv me Children els â— dy Jacob wisely answered Am â— in Gods stead so 't is said of Ruth The Lord gav hir conception who only opens and shuts the Womb but 't is no wher said he creats Souls For he sets a constant cours with his conserving blessing concurring that like shal produce their like 5. As God eternaly decreed of Man both who shal com into the World how many and when so he works in his conception more then in al others which must needs be as immediat efficient of his Soul wherby he blesseth or blasteth conception ordering it by a special providence according to his decree contrarily sundry inconveniences arise from creation that som Children are fully formed which dying before the Soul is infused cannot com to Judgment that God may be glorified and so his work shal be frustrated 6. 'T is evident in promiscuous copulations of Men or Women with Beasts that Gods efficient power is joined with the Souls propagation sith such bestial births are not indued with Reason nor shal com to Judgment though their sensitiv Entelechy is sharper and subtler then other Animals as Apes and Baboons are supposed to spring primitivly from such unnatural mixtions or conjunctions Nor is the Soul immediatly created by God sans natural means sith Children begot in Incest or Adultery hav it which God shal seem to approv or further when he might hinder it being not bound to infuse Souls This Reason may be retorted sith he is not bound to assist at such coitions being a most free Agent and not a Natural so he cannot be an external efficient as the Sun is in other generations 7. Sith Nature by divine Ordinance produceth daily out of dead Elementar matter admirable powers of Seing Hearing Phantasy Memory belonging to brute Beasts the maner wherof our Reason cannot conceiv how much more can the God of Nature produce out of Mans more excellent Nature others like to it though we cannot comprehend the manner how Nor is corporal Seed which is of far purer temper and subtler Spirits then in other Animals an unfit Instrument to propagat a Rational Soul specialy sith the Spirits in Seed are of sublime Nature which hav neer affinity with the Soul 8. God hath set a natural order That a whol Man shal beget the whol both Body and Soul yet not one the other nor Soul a Soul alone or Body a Body but the Soul a Soul immediatly by the Body and Body a Body by the Soul but both jointly a whol Man for they are Individualy united and their operations concur so Man propagats like other
simple Prescience of Mans future fal if he were created before he decreed to creat but why they should not extend it to al Mens free acts so wel as to that one of the first Mans no reason can be rendred God foreknew if Christ were sent to the Jews they would despise him if Peter should be tempted he would deny him even before he decreed to send Christ or to creat Peter But if it be asked Quest how far this knowledg extended before he decreâ—d ought concerning Men Whether to the Creation of Mankinds mass in Adam or to the fal of al in him or to Christs mission or to Mens faith beginning and persevering to the end Surely 't is Answ most sutable to Gods infinit Wisdom Justice and Mercy to extend it unto al and over al universa singula even to the Worlds end which agrees best with al his Attributs This is al they intend who refer Christ and faith in him to pure Prescience before the act of Electing or Predestinating not staying at the knowledg of Mans foreseen fal not that they make Beleevers faith any Caus of Gods Predestination but only an object of his simple Prescience concurring with his good pleasure and Wil to make som Vessels of honor and som of dishonor Howbeit People are taught to admire or adore som Men as Oracles and abhor others as Scorpions whos Tenets they know not 2. Touching Gods Wil which Predestinats or decrees 2 Gods Wil. what of thos infinit things presented by his understanding shal com into being for unles both Wil and Power conjoin their being known is not enough to be For Gods Wil being in it self one and simple not duple secret and reveled may be considered diversly as conversant about divers things 1. Som as to be doon by himself or his own power as the World to be created of nothing his Son to be sent made of a Woman c. which never faâ—l becaus he works alone 2. Som which he wils to be doon by his Creatures either Natural Agents as Flowers to grow by Sun or Voluntary as righteous Works to be wrought by sinful Men but with his concurrence or cooperation this often fails by the Creatures failing which he wils to work it yet permits and not hinders the failing as he could doo 3. Som which he wils and doth of himself or with others as al the good we hav in Nature or Grace part wherof he doth as leading or antecedent of his free goodnes caled the Wil of his Mercy part as folowing led or urged upon occasion of evil in the Creature as to forsake punish or destroy which is the Wil of his Justice Thes may wel cohere as a Merchants chief wil is in a storm to sav al his goods yet by a secund wil casts som into Sea So God wils al Men to be saved as his Creatures but permits som to perish as impenitent sinners The first act of Gods Wil in chusing things to be and refusing the rest of infinit variety which might hav bin if he would concurs with his simple Intelligence ther being an act of his Wil even in knowing as David saith God hath doon whatever pleased him but the secund wherby he decreed al things which concern Creation Election Reprobation c. presupposeth pure prescience as previous in order of Nature according to our apprehension 3. Of Providence concerning Gods Decree or Wil in al 3 Providence and Predestination things sav about Man and Predestination wherby he decrees touching Man the principal part of his Providence as Fortune concerns Man and Chance al things els which last is an act of his Wil from eternity decreeing the ends of al Men and means which he foreknew would bring them to thos ends of Life or Death So by Predestinating som to thos means which he foreknew by their own obstinacy not by any insufficience of the means sith others by the same attain it wil not bring them to Life becoms a negativ Reprobation by their own default or disobedience or by their fault who hav charge over their Souls but that God hinders it not or givs not effectual Grace which he knew would sav them if given proceds soly from his just Wil and free pleasure Nor can this be rightly nicknamed Post-destination as som aspers it sith it folows his simple science and knowledg is not of things absolutly to be but conditionaly if it pleas him to say they shal be 4. Anent Election and Reprobation wherin God useth 4 Election and Reprobation both Knowledg and Wil as the Scriptures somtime stile the Elect from one of those whom he foreknew somtime from the other thos whom he predestinated according to purpos or Wil Rom. 11. 2. Rom. 8. 28. hence they may be described either way viz. Election is a foreknowledg of Gods benefits wherby a man wil be saved if they be given him Or election is Gods purpos and Wil to giv Man thos benefits by which he knows he wil be saved if given him So Reprobation is a foreknowledg of Gods benefits under which a Man through his own ingratitud wil perish if no other be given or wil be given Or 't is Gods Decree to giv a Man no other benefits then thos under which he foreknows he wil by his own wilful ingratitud perish if no other be given Here Prescience looks precisely on Mans ingrat neglect of saving benefits and Gods wil denies to giv any new or more then thos which are ineffectual by their abuse or neglect So God hath mercy on whom he wil and hardens whom he pleaseth giving to one Grace of repentance and leaving the other in his corruption by withholding thos Graces which he knows would sav him if granted Not as if he gav not sufficient to life for he received the Graces given in vain and God would confer no more for to harden is not â—o subtract al Grace sufficient to salvation but to bar or withold that high hidden Grace of his Power and Wil which he knows would convert and sav if given but that it would be refused Thus Man first hardens his Psal 95. 8. Exod. 8. 15. own heart as Pharaoh did by refusing Grace offered and God secundarily in not adding or increasing stronger Graces which would mollify if given But if they were extended to al none could perish for 't is his pleasure to exercise Justice on wilful despisers of his sufficient Grace by making them Vessels of wrath and mercy on thos whom he foresaw would obey his Cal. Let profound Hooker put a period to this point That L. 5. part 5. which moveth God to work is goodnes which orders it Wisdom which perfects it Power al things produced in their times were eternaly in him as a work unbegan in the Artificer which he after frameth therfore whatever we behold in this World was inwrapped in the bowels of divine Mercy writ in the Book of eternal Wisdom and held in
fal Let the Touchstone try the truth 'T is impossible Heb. 6. 4 5 6. saith S. Paul for thos who once being illightned tasted of the heavenly Gift and partaked the Holy Ghost and tasted Gods good Word and powers of the World to com if they shal fal away to renew them unto repentance He speaks not of non Entities nor of Novices but such as were illightned and tasted the heavenly gift Gods good Word and powers of the World to come and partaked the Holy Ghost which metaphors of Sens tasting seing c. imply in Scripture no slight superficial sens of spiritual things So S. Peter If after they hav escaped the 2 Pet. 2 20 21 22. Worlds pollutions through knowledg of the Lord Jesus they be again intangled and overcom the laâ—ter end with them is wors then the beginning For it had bin better not to hav known the way of righteousnes then having known to turn from the holy Commandments delivered to them But it hapned to them according to the tru Proverb the Dog returned to his vomit and the washed Sow to hir walowing in the mire To escape the Worlds pollutions through knowledg of our Lord Jesus is no smal fruit of the Spirit but a ful cleer certain fruition whence it is so hard or impossible for such as fal from so great a measure of Grace to be renewed by Repentance but from De Cor. Gr. c. 6. lesser lapses ordinary S. Austin saith 'T is much to be marveled why God givs not perseverance to som of his Children whom he regenerated in Christ and gav Faith Hope Lov when he forgivs so great wickednesses to others and confers the grace of Sons on them he wonders why God did not snatch such away as lived Godly from the evil to com lest their il inclinations should caus a change So he holds if thos Men had dyed while they lived justly and piously they had been saved Ergo their Faith was more then initiated and they more then outside Christians As God first cals Man before he folows so Man first fals from God before he forsakes who is stil ready to receiv al into Grace upon tru repentance So saith our sixteenth Article After we hav received the Holy Ghost we may depart from Grace and fal into sin and by Gods Grace rise again and amend our lifes Therfore they are to be condemned which say they can no more sin so long as they liv here or deny to tru Penitents place of forgivnes Touching the terms of faling totaly and finaly it is certain only to Gods Prescience but unknown to us for the Faithful may fal and God alone knows whether they wil repent or rise again but we must stil work with fear and trembling If they cannot fal why doth Christ bid us pray Lead us not into tentation but deliver us from evil or why doth our Liturgy say Suffer us not at last hour for any pains of death to fal from thee For the Elect thos of Dort grant that a Regenerat faling into grievous sins is not actualy reconciled til he repent but in state of damnation and unapt to enter into Gods Kingdom but they ad 1. Though the Regenerats so sinning be guilty yet they shal be in Gods purpos absolved Tru So they were before they beleeved 2. That God deals not with them in rigour No more doth he with many Reprobats falen from Faith whom he would bring to repentance by long suffering 3. That they hav not lost Jus ad Regnum but usum Juris as a Lepet loseth the use of his hous not right But similituds are no sound Arguments Hath an Elect committing murder jus ad Regnum then S. Paul speaks fals I tel you they that doo such 1 Cor. 6. 9. things shal not inherit Gods Kingdom but al that hav right James 2 10. shal inherit 4. That their universal Justification is not made void by sinning surely their absolution from former sins is not frustrated but this new sin which makes them Sons of wrath and guilty of the whol Law needs Absolution and Justification from it But universal Justification is no remission of sins past present and to com For what need then Repentance 5. That their state of Adoption remains immovable Tru In Gods purpos not in act but that they may fal 6. That som seeds remain by which Life may spring again It may for sooner then in an habituated Sinner Yet this alters not the Case if he be guilty of death no more then a Noblemans crime who hath many friends to beg his life S. John saith Whoever is born of God 1 John 3 9. commits not sin for his seed remains and he cannot sin becaus born of God Hence Calvinists infer if Gods seed remain in a Regenerat and he cannot sin deadly then can be no intercision of his Justification Certes his scope is not to prov that thos born of God cannot fal from righteousnes to sin or that a Member of Christ cannot becom the member of an Harlot by Adultery and he that hath bin the member of an Harlot becom the Member of Christ by Repentance But he means that to be born of God and commit deadly sin cannot consist nor can any be a Member of Christ and an Harlot at once being Asystats S. Jerom writing against Jovinian who abused this Text as Men doo now interprets thus S. John saith He that is born of God commits not sin becaus ye should not sin not that ye cannot but so long as ye commit not sin ye are Gods Children yea such as persist his Sons cannot sin For ther is first a faling from God before we fal into sin sith thos two cannot cohere Tertullian tels how som say They hav God sure enough in Heart and Mind yet shew no sign in their actions and so commit sin thinking their fear and Faith safe as if they committed Adultery yet deemed their chastity not impaired or poisoned their Parents thinking to doo God good service Thus while they continu in sin notwithstanding their fear they shal be cast into Hel notwithstanding their Faith Bishop Ridley saith S. John means He cannot sin so long as Gods seed abides in him but Faith Hope and Charity cannot stand with evil living nor without good Works David while he stood guilty of a duple crime could not be in state of Regeneration nor Peter til he repented his denial Yet som say it was salvo amore fide becaus as we are born but once so we are new born no oftner This metaphor holds not for S. Paul saith Litle Children of whom I travel in birth again til Christ be formed in you meaning so oft as we fal into hainous sins we must stil be renewed by Repentance but Men wil expound Scripture as they list As to the certainty of Perseverance Election Salvation this concerns not God whos knowledg is infallible and purpos immutable but us while we liv here
Thes Texts tend al to the Registry of Gods simple Prescience and Providence which tho they be no causes of any effects yet are certain in the events and cannot be frultrat but make nothing for absolut Decree of a prefixd period to our dais Dr. Charlton debats this point acutly and accuratly part wherof shal be decurted God the giver of life sole moderator but not Author of death for al natural motion proceds from one first mover God whence S. Paul saith In him we live mov Acts 17. 28. and hav our being The term Life is taken either for the period of every Mans dais caused by a sensible decay or dissolution of al ligaments which chain the Soul to the Body or by an extinction of his vital flame upon consumption of the Radical fuel when no preternatural causes interven to anticipat the dissipation of that elementar temper on which Lifes subsistence necessarily depends or els for the end of every Mans Life in general by what means or whensoever be it by diseases or violent accidents without respect to the gradual decay and consequent cessation of natural temperament in old age From the first acception arise 2. Questions 1. Whether this term of Life circumscribed by a natural deflux of the Body which is a kind of mature facil faling away of Natures ligaments like ripe Apples be definitly fixd by divine Ordinance to leav every in dividual in his own moderation without prescribing or procuring that this decay of temperature should hav more or less duration then what may naturaly occur from the more or less durability therof 2. If Life be thus fixd by Gods decree not to prolong it beyond the point of its natural durability whether he can without altering his own established cours of Nature being moved by Mens praiers or pitty as he added 15 yeers to Ezekiahs dais correct thos depravities procured by excess sicknes or other extraneous means and so hinder the dissolution therof That is whether if God hath predetermined that none shal exced the term to which the durability of his individual temper or strength of constitution may probably extend his special Providence doth not permit that the temperament may be vitiated impaired or ruined by putrefactiv destructiv preternatural causes obvenient and so not hold out to that point of time which otherwise by its primigeneous nativ condition it might hav reached unto For the secund acception of Life in general by what means of dissolution soever sicknes surfeit shipwrack suffocation famin war wounds or other-wais this question occurs whether the immature pâ—â—eâ—natural period therof be so precisely prefixd that no Human prudence or providence can prevent or prolong it nor fortuitous accidents accelerat or prevert it In brief whether the Catastrophe of ech Mans life be prefined in the Book of Fate or Divine Decree Life is said to be fixd in a duple sens 1. In respect of som absolut Decree antegredient to Gods Presâ—ience of al secund instrumental causes so that Man cannot possibly prorogue it beyond or fal short of that fatal term 2. In respect of som conditionat Hypothetic Decree whos alteration or accomplishment is superseded by the electiv liberty of mans Wil either as guided by supernatural light of divine Grace to pursu the real tru good or seduced by delusion of its own sensual judgment to wander in the devious tracts of error and so chus seeming fals Good Now it skils not whether this conditionat Decree be grounded on certain prenotion of al concomitant circumstances and corollary relations concerning Mans election of adhering to good and evil Objects and his consequent virtuous or vicious cours of life Or whether it be made without any such infallible prenotion or volition yet with a positiv deliberat sentence certainly to be executed in du time when the right use or abuse of Freewil shal be fulfilled Hence arise 3. Opinions 1. Som hold the term of every 1 Opinion very Mans life with al causes and clauses conducing to be flatly fatal or immovable by Gods irresistible Wil and Decree according to the vulgar saying his time is com this is a Stoical devise used as a spur to excite magnanimous spirits against dangers of death that every Mans destiny is writ with invisible indeleble characters in his forhead which al Mahometans maintain doctrinaly and many Christians ignorantly But 't is in it self impious if not blasphemous to confine Confut. Gods chief attribut of infinit Omnipotence within the definit lists laws or limits of secund causes and it derogats from the liberty of Mans wil leaving nothing in his power to elect or eschew nor to act or shun For if Fatal necessity be defended al our actions shal be but so many accomplishments of ineluctable Destiny and results of Counsil the decrees of Fate so al human pruâ—ence is palpable folly 〈◊〉 study of Wisdom painful vanity and al Laws meer tyranny siâ—h thâ—y injoyn only what must hâ—vâ—in doon otherwise or restrain what would els be checked by coercing fatality Thus shal al praâ—ers be fruitless vows hopelâ—ss exhortations to good needless dâ—hortations from evil frivolous and acts of piety or devotion superfluous with a â—â—yriod of other incongruâ—ties appendent if absolut fatality be admitted which is inconsistent to the rules o. Reason and Râ—ligion 2. Others assert a fixed fatality of every Mans life 2 Opin a posteriori not to be extended beyond the natural condition of each particular constitution but not a priori sith it may be contracted or abbreviated as 't is commonly but simply said one may shorten tho not exced his time appointed by divine Dâ—cree Certes God made no such absolut decrees for the length Confut. of any Mans life but leavs every Man free to be his own Carver in al temporal mundan affairs 3. Divers defend that Mans life may be lengthned or 3 Opin shortned more or less of what it usually is in most Men by the right use or abuse of means according to Gods prenotion or Hypothetic determination leaving the means to every mans Freewil This is perpendicularly proved by many plain places and Confirmat pregnant instances extant in holy Writ but none that hav any color for a fixed fatal period Salomon saith The Prov. 10. 27. fear of the Lord prolongeth dais but the wickeds yeers shal be shortned For God promiseth long life to them that honor their Parents and generaly to al such as shal keep his Commandements Yea he said to Salomon If thou wilt 1 Kings 3. 14. walk in my wais as thy Faâ—her David did I wil lengthen thy dâ—is And David definitly saith Bloody and deceitful Men shal Ps 55. 23. Ps 102. 24. Ps 6. 4 5. Ps 30 Ps 8â— not liv out half their dais Again Take me not away in the midst of my dais The like he praied in sicknes That God would not cut off the thâ—ed of his Isâ— and givs thanks for preserving him from death
Ezekiah hearing imminent death denounced praied with tears and had his life prolonged 15. yeers Jonah from God threatned destruction to Ninive within 40 dais yet upon repentance they were preserved Contrarily sundry exemples are current of such as hav bin cut off for their sins so was the whol stock of mankind except 8. Persons in the universal Deluge so al the Israelits except Josua and Caleb were buried in the Desart so Corah Dathan and Abiram with their families were swallowed quick of the Earth beside many mo To Jobs place prâ—cited he answers that it means not the term of particular Mens lifes but in general of mankind that his time comparatly is very short being cycled within a smal circle of moneths and dais In which sens it runs parallel with that of Moses The dais of our yeers are 70 and Ps 90. 10. if by reason of strength Men com to 80 yet is their life but labor and sorow for 't is soon cut off and we fly away So David Ps 39. 5. saith Lo thou hast made my dais as an handbreadth and my age is nothing before thee verily every Man at his best state is altogether vanity Nor doth Job shew by what maner of ordinance or decree God made that definition of dais and moneths but most probably refers to his infallible prescience of every Mans future demeanor upon the Hypothesis of his good or il use of Freewil Ob. 'T is objected That it matters not whether Gods prescience preced his preordination of any future event and so founded upon prevision or els be subsequent to Preordination which is the basis of prevision for it folows both wais that the term of life is intransibly fixd sith divine Prescience can no more be defeated then decree Sol. Indeed Prescience whether it preced or succed Decree is ever certain precise or infallible in event by necessity of consequence not of consequent that is from the Hypothesis or conditionality tho not from the efficacy or causality For if God infallibly foâ—eknows as he doth that the period of Mans life shal be by such means or maner then it wil assuredly be so yet his prenotion hath no influence on our actions as the Schools say For divine Prescience Prescienâ—e is duple 1. Antecedent to Preordination whos Object is a future thing without any previous Decree hereby God eternaly foresaw al things to com both necessary by the impuls of natural causes and future contiâ—gâ—nts depending on Freewil sans relation to any after Decrees Hereof Rabbi Isaac Bar Sesac saith God from eternity disposed al mundan affairs and foresaw al effects which should ensu in time even the action of Freewil whether to be doon or not Hownbeit Man doth not any thing in time becaus God foreknew it but contrarily becaus Man wil doo this or that in time therfore God eternaly foreknew it would so com to pass 2. Subsequent to Gods Decrees which hath for its Object a thing to com and presupposeth it so fully as the former together with the maner or Order of its futurition as fixd and stable being so constituted by an antecedent preordination This last is also duple 1. Conditionat That if a Man being born of a sound durable constitution shal observ good courses tending to health and use fit remedies against maladies God foresees he shal liv long but if he take contrary courses God foreknows he shal be subject to diseases and dy untimely 2. Absolut wherby God certainly knows that such a Man wil chus a prudent cours of life and fit means to prevent or cure diseases wherby he shal liv long in health or that another wil liv intemperatly or neglect means and shorten his dais Both which suppose a certainty of divine Prescience touching the precise period of every mans life as also the order or maner of its futurition and al concurring causes Among which the most energetical is the right use or abuse of hâ—s own Freewil in whos power it was to prolong or abbreviat that term forward or backward so far is Gods prenotion or prevision from excluding a temperat diet and phisical remedies that it necessarily includs it els God foreknows he wil be accessary to shorten his own dais like a Fâ—lo de se For if Man hath no Freewil to use or refuse sitting means Gods Prescience is uncertain sith it determins nothing but presupposeth al nor doth he by any Decree subsequent to Prescience preordain that this or that Man shal recover of such or such a sicknes unles he shal use the means ordained by divine providence but if he wilfully or negligently rejects it he hastens his own Catastrophe The result of al is that God foresees al things and the maner of means how they wil com to pass yet doth neither caus nor compel any necessity of the event Next for the absolut Decree of Predestination their main arguments shal be mustered up together Ob. S. Paul saith The children being not yet born nor having Rom. 9. 11 12 c. doon good or evil that Gods purpos according to election might stand not of works but of him that caleth it is writen Jacob have I loved but hateâ— Esau For he saith to Moses I wil have mercy on whom I wil So ' tâ—s not of him that willeth or runneth but of God that sheweâ—h mercy For he hath mercy on whom he wil and hardens whom he wil as he did Pharaoh to shew his power in him Thou wilt â—ay â—hâ—n why doth he yet find fault for who can resist his Wil nay but O Man who art thou that repliest against God Shal the thing formed say to the Former why madest thou me so Hath not the Potter power over his Clay of the same lump to make one Vessel of honor and another to dishonor What if God to shâ—w his wratk and make his power known endured with long suffering the Vessels of wrath prepared for destruction and to manifest the riches of his glory on the Vessels of mercy which he had prepared to glory Isaiah crieth though Israel be as the Sea sand a remnent only shal be saved Ergo al depends on Gods absolut antecedent Decree of pure pleasure Sol. The Lutherans refer al to simple Prescience whereto they stick like limpets nor is any warrant in holy Writ for absolut irrespectiv Decree or to exclud Prescience from Gods proceedings but this place of S. Paul is one of which S. Peter speaks that Many misunderstand to their condemnation God loved Jacob and hated Esau before they did good or evil but not before he knew what both would doo for Men are prius dâ—mnati quam nati sed non quam noti God knew Adam the root and al particular branches of Mankind what their affections actions and ends wil be so wel for matters of this life as that to com if he should Decree to creat them and passed permissiv Decrees accordingly He knew Moses and David would be Men after his own
Know preceds but to Wil coms orderly Gods Decrees folow his Wil continualy Novit ab aeternâ— Deus omnia tempore danda Aâ—iâ—tâ— Postea dâ—crevit quae fabricare velit God knew eternaly al in time to be And Decreed after what he would frame free Ordine Naturae Omnisciens prius omnia vidit Alâ—aâ— Quà m quid decrevis mente creare Deus Al-knowing God did al in Nature see Yer he in Mind did to creat Decree An lapsu praeviso Elohim praedestinet Adae Aut mâ—ro ex libito lis gravis orta fuit Sâ—â—â—â— Whether God predestind knowing Adams Fal Or of meer Pleasure great strif did befal Simpliei in intuitu certo omnia praesciit antâ— Sive Quam statuit Mundum fabrificare Deus In simple intellect God al foreknew Yer he would make the World what would insu Antea quâ—m Decreta feâ—at Deus omnia praescit 〈◊〉 Progreditur constans ordine namque suo God foreknows al before he doth decree For he proceds in 's order constantly Quos Deus aeternum praescit praedestinat hosque Aut. Eligit aut reprobat pro bonitatâ— sua God foreknows and foredooms eternaly And elects or rejects for 's clemency Vulâ— salvare aliquos reliquos damnare Jehovah 〈◊〉 Sed cur sic voluit non bene causa patet God som wil sav and th' rest damn to Hel But why he wil the caus appeers not wel THESIS III. Verum Ecclesiae Regimen The Churches tru Polity T Is a known verity That Paternity was the prime Hâ—story val Polity among the Protopatriarchs both in sacred and secular matters as Adam is said to be ordained a Priest by God becaus Cain and Abel only brought their offerings til they were ordained to that office by their Father and so in succession one from another Which form continued in the Postpatriachs til their Progeny becam a Nation under Moses and Aaron who promulged Laws by divine dictat both for Civil and Spiritual causes For the Israelits had distinct Courts of different persons one for Church matters â—aled an Ecclesiastic Consistory another for Common-wealth causes termed a Temproal Judicatory Moses speaks of both in general He that wil not hearken to Deut. 17. 1â— 2 Chr. 19. 5. or obey the Priest or Judg shal dy but Jehosophat put a more precise difference who appointed through al Cities secular Judges wherof Zebadiah was chief and at Jerusalem a Spiritual Court of Levits Priests and Elders over whom Amariah high Priest presided so Jeremy was condemned by Jer. 26 8 16. the Priests Consistory but acquited by the Princes Judicatory Yea tho by Antiochus tyranny and the Jews slavery under sundry Nations no evident distinction appeers in the new Testament yet som prints of both remain specialy wher the chief Priests and Elders are cited as two divers Courts the Mat 21 23. Mat. 26. 3. secular caled a Council the spiritual stiled a Synagog For the Ecclesiastic was to discern things holy and unholy clean from unclean and to determin Appeals in difficil debats being as a representativ Church Hence Christ said Dic Ecclesiae Mat. 1â— 17. becaus excommunication pertained to them In civil Courts of seventy Judges being the suprem Sanedrim two sat chief viz. the Nasi as Lord chief Justice and Abbethdin as Father of the Senat so in the Consistory the high Priest and his Sagan or secund like a Bishop and his Suffragan as suprem but the high Priest was not necessarily chosen Nasi unles for eminent worth and extraordinary Wisdom For they had two civil Courts 1. The grand Sanedrim or suprem Senat 2. The lesser or inferior which in after ages had subordinat branches whence Christ said Who ever is angry with Mat. 5. 12. his Brother causlesly shal be culpable of Judgment meaning the lesser Court who cals him Racha in scorn shal be liable to a Council or chief Consistory but he that cals him fool malitiously shal be guilty of Hel-fire The Sanedrim excelled the rest 1. In number of Judges being seventy besides the Exod. 24. 〈◊〉 Nasi or Prince as God at first institution said to Moses Gather to me seventy Elders Rulers of the People and let them stand at the Tabernacle with thee implying seventy besides him but the lesser consisted of twenty three at Jerusalem and three only in smal Cities 2. In place for the seventy sat within the Temple-court in the paved Chamber or Pavment John 19. 1â— wher Pilat gav Judgment 3. In power for the Sanedrim received Appeals from al but from them was none 4. In causes to be tried For the seventy Judged al matters of life and death yea a whol Tribe the high Priest and fals Prophets but the twenty three lighter crimes and thos of three only pecuniary mulcts whippings and pety punishments Many make doubt whether in Christs dais they had power of life and death sith they said Wee cannot doâ—m any to death John 1â— 31. Late Jews say al capital censure was inhibited forty yeers before the Temples destruction which is about Christs Baptism but Josephus saith Herod suppressed the Sanedrim before L. 14 Antiq. c. 17. yet thos words to Pilat prov not as if they had no such power for he bids them take and judg him according to their Law Yea they pressed or pleaded we hav a Law and by it he ought John 19. 7. to dy but the holines of the time being the Passovers vigil and preparation of the Sabbath made it unlawful to meddle with matters of blood Indeed the Romans bereaved al power to judg civil capital crimes but suffred them to try transgressions against Moses Law as Blasphemies or the like and such they cried that Christ committed in caling himself the Son of God but with Barabas and the two Theefs they had nothing to doo For Gallio when Paul was brought before him said If it were a matter of wrong or wickednes O ye Jews reason Acts 18. 14. would I should hear or bear with you but being a question of words or names in your Law look ye to it Distingue res seu causas Concordabunt Scripturae Among them who were Gods chosen People and sole Church were three orders of Ministers in the temple over whom the high Priest being Aarons first born was chief 1. Priests Aarons younger Progeny 2. Levits Levies posterity 3. Nephenims who hewed wood and drew water being Gibeonits doomed to that drudgery by Josua for their craft or cunning At 〈◊〉 9 〈◊〉 Consecration the high Priest was annointed with Chrism 〈◊〉 8. 〈◊〉 â—0 powred on his head which ran down his beard and borders of his robe but the Priests only sprinkled with this oil and blood of the Sacrifice At ministration in the Sanctuary the high Priest wore eight sorts of raiments which the Rabbins cal golden Vestments but the Priests only four They differed also in office For the high Preist entred the Holy
21. 5. Jer. 7. 11. Mat. 21. 13. Psal 8. 2. Mat. 21. 16. Isai 5. 8. Mat. 21. 33. Ps 118. 22. Mat. 21. 42. Ps 110. 1. Mat. 22. 44. Isai 8. 14. Mat. 21. 44. Zech. 13. 7. Mat. 26. 31. Isai 53. 11. Mat. 26. 54. Psal 41. 9. Mat. 26. 23. Lamen 4. 20. Mat. 26. 56. Isai 50. 6. Mat. 26. 67. Zech. 11. 13. Mat. 27 9. Psal 22. 18. Mat. 27. 35. Psal 22. 2. Mat. 27. 46. Psal 69. 22. Mat. 27. 48. Nothing was doon by Christ which the Prophets foretold not nothing foretold by them which he fulfilled not for he saith al things writen of me hav an end couching al in that one Word on the Cross Consummatum est 't is finished Al Prophecies spoken of him are accomplished al Lawish Ceremonies which prefigured him abolished his own sufferings performed and Mans salvation perfected For al particulars of his Passion are precisely pointed out he must be apprehended so saith Jeremy The Lords Annointed was taken in their nets How To be sold For What Thirty Silver peeces What to doo To buy a Field So saith Zechary They gav thirty Silver peeces the price of him that was valued and gav them for the Potters Field By whom sold By that Child of perdition to fulfil the Scripture Who was he One that eats bread with me So saith David What shal his Disciples doo Run away as Zechary saith I wil smite the Shepherd and the Sheep shal be scattered What shal be doon to him he must be scourged and spit on So saith â—aiah I hid not my face from shame and spitting What more He shal be led to death So saith Daniel The Messiah shal be slain What death He must be life up as Moses did the Serpent Whither To the Cross So saith Moses Hanging on a Tree How lift up Nailed to it So saith David They hav pierced my Hands and Feet With what company Even Theefs So saith Isaia with the wicked was he numbred Wher Without the Gates So saith the Prophecy What shal becom of his Garments They divided them and on my Vesture or Coat cast lots saith David How must he dy Voluntarily Not a bone shal be broken Why It was prefigured in the Paschal Lamb and performed in him the tru Passover as a Sacrifice for sin How then He must be thrust in the side with a Spear so saith Zechary They shal see him whom they thrust through What shal he say Eli Eâ—â— Lama Luke 23 34. sabactani My God my God why hast thou forsaken me as David speaks how shal he resign his Soul Into thy hands I commend my spirit so saith the Psalmist What uttered he of his Enemies Father forgiv them So saith Isai He praied for Psal 22. 1. transgressors Lastly that al predictions might be verified he said I thirst not for any necessity of Nature but to fulfil divine John 19. 28 30 Decree in Scripture Then he cried consummatum est If any Jew or Infidel seing this admirable harmony or concent of al circumstances shal demand like Johns Disciples Art thou Acts 1. 11. he or shal we look for another The two Angels appeering at his Ascention answer with an Interrogation Ye men of Gallile why stand ye gazing or gaping into Heaven for another Messiah this same Jesus now taken up shal so com as ye saw him go into Heaven In him only are al Phrophecies fulfilled and by him al that was predicted to be doon finished No other Spirit could foresee or foresay such things should be doon nor any power possibly doo them so foreshewed sav only Jesus Christ the Son of God and Saviour of the World 2. Touching legal Observations Christ is the end of the Law both Moral which he kept perfectly by himself and satisfied plenarily for us and Ceremonial which was referred to him observed of him and abolished by him For al Lawish Ceremonies Circumcision Passover Tabernacle Temple Laver Altar Shewbread Tables Candlestics Vails Holy of Holies Arc Propiciatory Pot of Manna Aarons Rod high Priest his Order Linage Habits Inaugurations Washings Annointings Sprinklings Offerings Sacrifices and other Rites look'd at Christ which had their virtu from him relation to him and end in him They al died when the Temples vail rent the Obligation of the Ritual Law being cancelled and the way into Heavenly Jerusalem opened for the shews yeelded to the substance when he said Al is finished 3. His sufferings from the Cratch to the Cross are infinit and inexpressible his whol life being a perpetual passion he humbled yea emptied himself to becom Man suffering more herein then al Men can for if Man should be turned into a Beast as Pythagoras dreamed into dust into nothing 't is no such disparagement as God to be made Man What Man if Monarch of the World to tread on Kings necks trampling al Crowns and Scepters under feet it had bin som port or pomp but he cam in form of a Servant and becam the contempt of Men yea a worm and no Man the shame of Men and scorn of the multitud He was born in a Stable cradled in a Cratch or Manger caried a Child into Egypt to avoid Herods butchery basely bred in his Foster-Fathers Cotage lived poorly and obscurely endured al extremities of hunger thirst cold and other calamities during minority but coming to Virility and shewing the power of his Deity he was transported and tempted by Satan derided of his Kindred traduced by the Jews persecuted by the Elders and Pharisees restless harborless comfortless sold by his own servant apprehended arraigned condemned crucified But wher not in a corner but at Jerusalem the Ey and Heart of the World wher he wrought a world of Wonders Wherabout in Calvary among stinking sculs and execrable Malefactors When At the Passover wher Proselits resorted from al parts to receiv the type and reject the archetype who instead of eating the Paschal Lamb slu and sacrificed the tru Passover With whom Betwixt two Theefs He that thought it no robbery to be equal with God is made equal to Robbers What suffred he A cursed lingring tormenting ignominious death even on the Cross being made a curs for us a curs wors then the shame but both wors then the pain and scorn worst of al. His Cross-Companions had no irrision inscription or insultation over them but death only he death with disdain disgrace and derision the Jews Souldiers and Theefs twitted or triumphed over him Al his senses were windows to let in sorows his Eys beheld the tears of his blessed Mother and Friends with manifold despits of his Foes his Ears heard the blasphemous railings and revilings of the Multitud His Nostrils smelt the noisom sent of dead Mens bones His Touch felt the nails His Tast bitter Gal Was ever sorow like his sorow That Head which Angels adored is harowed with thorns That face fairer then the Children of Men is smeared with filthy spittle and furrowed with tears Thos Eys brighter
5. 14. Wood to devour them Eliah brought tru fire from Heaven on Ahazia's Captains as Moses and Aaron did on Corah 2 Chr. 10. â—2 and his complices but the witnesses fire is symbolical or spiritual as Egypt and the wildernes is after so taken They had power to shut Heaven that it rain not both being mysticaly meant one for the power of the Keis to shut it against thes new Idolaters the other for the dew of Gods Word that it shal not descend or destil on them For they debar them from hope of eternal life promised only to tru Worshipers til they shal return to serv one God by one Mediator Christ Jesus according to their Covenant in Baptism and put an end to the mourning witnesses Prophecy As Elias restored not rain to Israel til Baals Prophets were destroied When they be about to finish their testimony the Beast ascending Vers 7. from the bottomless pit shal make war against them and kil them This is their destiny at end of their Prophecy sutable to our Saviours passion for having ended his preaching in three yeers and half as the witnesses did their testimony he is slain by this Roman Beasts Deputy under the sixth Head who on the third day after in a great Earthquake rose from the dead and fourty dais after being received in a Cloud ascended into Heaven Al which he resembles to the witnesses slaughter that as they bear the likenes of thos three famous couples in their function so they should conform to their Lord Christ that faithful witnes in suffering When they were about to finish their testimony having brought part of the holy City or Province to renounce Idolatry and cleans the Temple within themselfs they began to put off sackcloth yet were not wholy freed from fear for the Roman septicep Beast chasing at their so far prevailing shal make war and kil them The first part touching their mourning hath bin performed since beginning of Reformation til this present But the last of war is to com Brightman thinks it already accomplished in the Smalcaldian war by Charlâ— the fift Others apply it to the lat German war and it were wel if such doleful disasters were past but it cannot be sith the tragic times of the Gentils trampling on Christian Religion fourty two months cannot be fulfilled so long as the Beast reigns nor the dais of the witnesses wailing which contemporize with them whos killing next foregoes Romes ruin as the Crier of the Phials to the fifth of which this ruin belongs apertly declares For this destruction is the last which shal be more grievous then any yet and a sign that the 〈◊〉 â—1 â—0 witnesses VVoes shal instantly end with Romes ruin as Jerusalems siege by Cestius Gallus before the sackage by Titus was foretold by Christ to be a Forerunner of their utter desolation so is this of Babylons fal Slaughter signifies Death whether taken properly or metaphoricaly and analogicaly For 't is a civil death when any being setled in a Politic or Ecclesiastic State ceaseth to be as he was and he is said to kil him that bereavs it in which sens divers are killed daily So in sacred stile to liv is to be and to dy not to be as we dy to sin and Satan when we ceas to be their Slavs and liv to Christ when we becom his 〈◊〉 Sevants To apply it Such as is the witnesses resurrection after three dais and half such is the slaughter but that is analogical sith no proper can be til Christ com to Judgment Ergo the other So this death may be a dejection from the Place or Office which they enjoied in the Reformed Church or not leading a Prophetic life to preach or exercise their spiritual Function as yerst which often haps in distracted times This Note last war of the Beast is not like the former waged with the Rev. 13 7. Saints who had it given to overcom them for why should it be said peculiar to this last time if familiar before But the former was against Saints in general this with the Prophets viz. Bishops and chief Ministers in special as is evident by event For that was with success wher the Beast prevailed over every Tribe Toung and Nation this with his sodain fatal fal or ruin Their dead Bodies shal by in the street of the great City spiritualy 〈◊〉 stiled Sâ—dom and Egypt wher our Lord was crucified This City is Rome caled great being Queen of the World and stil Quean with whom the Kings of the Earth commit Fornication and the Inhabiters made drunk with the wine of hir abomination as 't is said the Woman which thou sawest is that Rev. 17. 2. 〈◊〉 great City and this Epithet is often given hir as great Babylon the great Whore c. But he that deems Jerusalem meant had need of Ellebor to purg his brain for no Jerusalem was then extant nor the old ever caled great til that title is ascribed to new Jerusalem Rome is spiritualy stiled Sodom for Luxury Rev. 21. 10. and Egypt for Cruelty wherby the holy Ghost intimats that wherever Sodoms plagues or Egypts punishments are specified they are mysticaly meant as here So that great City is certainly Rome but what street means is not so cleer for it cannot be taken literaly sith our Lord was slain in no street of Rome or Jerusalem but without the Gate in Golgatha Street also is taken in the singular number as if it were only one yet in a City are many The witnesses Carcases lay in the street wher they were slain which the People Kinreds and Nations triumphantly beheld not suffering them to be buried but Men seldom make war within the City wals but in open fields or Provinces of a State Whence it may be inferred that the street wher our Lord also was crucified intends som Province pertaining to Romes dition or dominion as Jerusalem then did which sens the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wil wel beaâ— Many interpret it of Christs suffering by Romes power which may be probable but not so fitly or fully as of the place which is more persuasible being their Province The People Kinreds Toungs and Nations shal see their Vers 9. dead bodies three dais and half but not permit them to be put in gravs 'T is a doubt whether this be cruelty doon in despite and disgrace by Enimies to deny them burial or courtesy of Friends and Favorers to provide for their rising again nor can it be decided but by fulfilling the Prophecy For in the first sens it must be a type or token of ignominy intended by the Beasts folowers against them In the last 't is a rescu of Reformists wherto the text-phrase rather inclines for in the insuing vers 't is said of the Enimies they that dwel on Earth shal make merry and send gifts one to another but here People Kinreds Toungs and Nations which denots divers dispositions The time
rule in this World or Heav'n for ever Nec patet An Terris regnabit mille per annos Cum Superis Sanctis Martyribusque suis Whether he shal reign on Earth one thousand yeers With Angels Saints and Maryts 't not appeers 5. As to the Worlds final dissolution whether it shal be by a refined renovation of the Old a created substitution of a New or a predecreed abolition into Nothing I stand stif for the last against al Opposers or Oppugners 6. Anent Christmas and other holy harmless Pests forecited I suppose them to be both lawful and needful among prophane people who should be compeld to Church in season and out of season as the Spaniards at first drov uncatechised Indians like herds of Cattle to Baptism for the service of God yet al too little among stupid carnal Gospelers for al which assertions with others on the by I have rendred strong sufficient Reasons from other mens works in the particular Theses Treatises or Theorems but the three middle of Prophecies concerning the Messiah to com Christs two Genealogies and Revelation reveled are no Polemical points nor wil require farther explication or exposition therfore take this dry Distich for a final Farewel Quid volo scire voles sic stat sententia nostra Qua data hoc addo tibi Lector Amice Vale. Wilt know what I hold So sounds my judgments knel Which giv'n I bid thee Reader Friend Farewel Protestatio Verissima Protestation A most tru Protestation Tu Domine Omnipotens mea qui praecordia nosti Spargere velle nihil me nisi vera vides Thou Lord Almighty who my heart doost know Knowst that I nought but truth abroad would sow AN END Additio de Anima Humana An Addition of Mans Soul WHile my Pen was busy to transcribe the Prolog previous Theorems I met with Mr. Hobbs learned Leviathan of a Common-wealth and among divers Paradoxal points or positions as who cannot devise new dogmats and colorably defend his devises Found four flatly opposit to so many of my Theological Theses or Tenets which I thought fit by way of vindication to enumerat but not by way of refutation to recriminat being far too weak to incounter so strong a Champion as a Dwarf to a Giant 1. That Mans Soul is no special Entity Essence or Existence distinct from the Body which after separation by death shal subsist in Heaven or Hel til the general Resurrection of al Flesh and particular reunion of every individual Soul with its own identic Body but only the Breath Life Energy or Accidental quality therof as is in other animats or animals so denomined of Anima not Vita yet the Body shal rise at last day the self same living Man it was in this World This novity crosseth cleerly my first Thesis concerning the 1 Thesis Souls origin or production wherin I maintain with the current stream of al Orthodox writers that 't is an essential part of Man so wel as the Body but after death or dissolution of one from the other a distinct individual immaterial tho no simple Spirit and immortal substance which shal immediatly by Gods particular Judgment partake of Heavenly jois or Hellish torments and in fine reunite with its own Body at general Resurrection The whol controversy is largly debated already needing no vain repetition but the Souls Verity Unity and Immortality shal be farther proved by a few select places of sacred Scripture promiscuously collected and congested together for the present occasion God breathed into Gen. 2. 3. Adam the Spirit of Life or infused a living Soul as 't is generaly interpreted Which cannot be simple life sith Zechary expounding it saith The Lord spred the Heavens laid the Zeâ—h 12. 2. Earths foundations and formed Mans Spirit within him which provs intrinsic infusion Semblably saith Salomon Dust shal 〈◊〉 12. 〈◊〉 return to Earth as it was and the Spirit to God who gav it which cannot imply life or Breath sith that only ceaseth or vanisheth but returns not to God who first infused into Adam a substantial Spirit whence al others are successivly derived David speaking of Christ saith My flesh shal rest in hope 〈◊〉 16. 9 〈◊〉 for thou wilt not leav my Soul in Hel nor suffer thy holy one to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 26 27. see corruption This is meant of our Saviours condition after his Passion as deep Divines define that his flesh in the Grav shal rest in hope but his Soul descend into Hel to conquer the strong Man Satan in his own Kingdom not to be left ther nor the whol compound see any corruption being to rise speedily The blessed Virgin saith My Soul doth magnify Luk. 1. 46 47. the Lord and my Spirit rejoice in God my Saviour which two pathetical terms Soul Spirit she would not use of life or breath a blast bubble bawble nor can Christ be caled hir Saviour in that respect sith hir life did not depend on him Christ saith Ther was a rich Man clothed in purple that fared Luk 16. 19 20. sumptâ—ously every day and a begger named Lazarus who lay at his gate ful of sores Lazarus dying was caried by Angels into Abrahams bosom but the rich Man tormented in Hel flame This he whiffles off slightly that 't is a Parabol yet many learned Men take it for a tru story becaus the begger is named nor would Christ so pointly pourtray Abrahams bosom the rich Mans dialog with him and Hel-torments no not in Parabols to teach People old wifes fables if al were fals figments or that Mens Souls did not liv after dissolution from the body which was his main scope to instruct or to what end els did he propone it Yea elswhere he bids Men not to fear them which kil the Body and cannot kil the Soul but to fear Mat. 10. 28. him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hel. How can this be eluded Here are two distinct parts directly specified Body and Soul nor can the last be life for he that kils the Body is able and actualy doth take away that too at once together with it nor would he ad fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body if he meant life only Christ said to the penitent Theef on the Cross Today instantly Luk. 23 43. 〈◊〉 and immortaly shalt thou be with me in Paradise which must needs intend both their Souls sith their Bodies were to be buried that night Indeed many able interpreters expound to day eternaly yet al apply it to their Souls which shal liv with God for ever and ever St. James bids his Countrimen with Jam. 1. 〈◊〉 meeknes to receiv the word which is able to sav their Souls not their lifes for Gods word cannot sav them Many mo places may be alleged beside Reasons and testimonies of Authors if any refutation were intended but sith he saith the contrary to his Assertion that Soul and Life
same condition that Adam and his Posterity were since his fal sav that God graciously promised a Redeemer to such as should repent and beleev but not to thos that dy in their sins impenitent as Reprobats doo so they may liv as they did before with gross corruptible Bodies as al Men now hav and haply beget Children continualy which no 1 Cor. 15. Scripture gainsais St. Paul treats only of the Resurrection Luk. 20 34. c. to life eternal not a word of that to pnuishment nor Christ who saith the Children of this World which liv in the estate Adam left them shal marry and generat successivly by an immortality of Kind not of Persons who are not worthy to be counted among thos that shal rise and obtain the World to com that is life to com not a terren World which alone are Heirs of eternal life equal to Angels and Children of God So a secund eternal death remains to Reprobats when after the Resurrection shal com a time of torment or punishment which by succession of sinners shal last so long as the kind of Man by propagation shal endure that is eternaly but not so every single Person nor shal the Tormenters be Fâ—ends or evil Angels Touching the Souls natural immortality that 't is a spiritual substance subsisting by it self after separation he answers som objections Ob. Salomon saith Dust shal return to Dust as it was and Eccles 12. 7. the Spirit to God that gav it Ergo God created the Soul distinct Spirit Sol. He shews how Mans Body made of dust must return to dust but God only knows what becoms of his Spirit Chap. 3. 20. Breath or Life He hath a sentence of semblable sens Al Man and Beast go to one place al are of dust and turn to dust Who knows except the Omniscient that Mans Spirit goes Ibid. v. 19. upward and a Beasts downward Sith 't is said That which befals the Sons of Men betides Beasts as one dies so doth the other yea they hav al one breath before spirit so that a Man hath no preeminence abov a Beast for al is vanity He praiseth Châ—p 4 2 3. the dead beyond the living and ads Better is he which hath not yet bin nor seen the evil work doon under the Sun then both the dead and living which cannot hold current if Mans Soul be immortal that no Soul were better then it only for a little oppression in this life Lastly he saith The living know they shal dy but the Dead know nothing naturaly before the Body shal rise nor hav any more a reward for their memory is forgot Al which places prostern the Souls immortality and by Spirit is meant Breath or Life as often foresaid Ob. Christ saith Abraham Isaac and Jacob are living Ergo their Souls separat subsist stil for their bodies lay buried many ages before Sol. This purports Gods promiss and certitud of their Resurrection not any actual life as God said to Adam on the day he should eat the forbidden fruit he shal certainly dy so from that day he was a dead Man by Sentence but not by actual execution til 930. yeers after Ob. The wicked shal rise to Judgment and go into everlasting fire torment or punishment wher the worm of Conscience never dieth which is caled a secund everlasting Death and general everlasting Life in torments far wors then Death as appeers in the new Testament Ergo c. Sol. Al this is tru yet it no wher appeers that the Damned shal liv in torments everlastingly for God the Father of Mercies and fountain of Goodnes who doth al what he wil and holds al Mens hearts at his disposing working them to wil and doo without whos free gift no Man hath any inclination to good or repentance of evil wil not punish Mens transgressions committed by inevitable ignorance natural frailty or wilful obstinacy sans end of time or with extremity of torture more then Men can conceiv or imagin Then he proceds to answer Bellarmins places or proofs in both Testaments touching Purgatory which he that lists may read p. 346. c. The next Caus of spiritual Darknes is heathen Demonology 2 Caus or doctrin of Devils as St. Paul cals it which their Poets as principal Priests diffused divulged or dissipated over the World witnes Hesiods goodly Genealogy of Gods For they caled al Spirits good and bad Demons but the Jews gav the name Demon only to evil Spirits stiling the good which Prophets or others inspired had the Spirit of God So they caled Lunatics Maniacs Lycanthrops Epileptics Hysterics or the like direct Demoniacs possest with evil Spirits They said unclean Persons had an unclean spirit dumb Men a dumb Devil aspersing John Baptist and our Saviour himself to hav Devils but Devils specified in Scripture are meer Diseases If any ask why Christ did not cross comptrole or teach Quest the contrary but confirms it by bidding Dâ—vils go out of Men which is improper to speak unto any Diseas that cannot hear He answers that Christs command to any Diseas is no more Answ improper then to rebuke the Fever Wind or Sea which obeied him yet can hear no more then the rest Nor are such speeches improper becaus they import or impart the power of Gods word to command such contumacious Diseases under the appellation of Devils as they were then generaly deemed to depart out of Mâ—ns Bodies So Devils Spectres or evil Spirits which they dreamed of are meer Phantasms or Inhabitants of their own Brains nor are any Ghosts of the Dead or ever were extant in the Air Heaven Hel or any real place as som surmise Al this must be taken upon his bare Phythagorean Ipse dixit Was that legion of Devils who besought Christ to enter 〈◊〉 into the Gergesens Swine and caried a whol Herd headlong into Sea only a Diseas Can Metaphors discurs or doo such mischeef When Christ cast out a dumb Spirit the traducing Pharisees denied not the dispossessing or matter of fact but said he did it by Beelzebub Prince of Devils can Christians then deny it Christ saith St. Matthew was led by or of the Spirit into Maâ— 4. 1. Maâ—â— 1. 12. Luk 4. 1. the Wildernes which Spirti drov him into the Desart saith St. Marc but Luke that he being ful of the holy Ghost which descended on him as a Dov newly before at Baptism was led of the Spirit into the Wildernes al which imply the holy Ghost nor can this be a possession of one substance by another sith Christ and the holy Ghost are one self same substance 'T is said after the Devil took him up into the holy City and set him on a Pinnacle but anon after caried him on a very high Mountain to shew him al the Worlds Kingdoms but certes the Devil did not transport him by force nor is any Mountain so high to shew him one Hemisphere of the World The meaning then must be
or thin For Mans Soul they say 't is created by pouring in and poured in by creating what 's that For the caus of Sens they make an ubiquity of Species or shews of objects which appeering to the Ey make sight to the Ear hearing to the Palat tast to the Nostril smelling and to the rest of the Body feeling For the caus of willing to doo any act they make the faculty or wil it self doo somtime one thing somtime another making the Power caus of the act as if on should assign Mens ability to doo any things the very â—aus of good or evil acts Yet oftimes they put their own ignorance to be caus of natural events or effects but disguised in other words as when they make Fortune a caus of contingents wherof they know no caus or when they ascribe effects to occult qualities not known to them nor as they sâ—rmise to any els or to Sympathy Antiphaty Antiperistasis specifical properties which neither signify the agent producing nor operation produced being only Clokes to cover ignorance Their Moral and Politic Philosophy hath the like or greater Politics absonances for if any doo injury or injustice contrary to Law they say God is prime Caus of the Action but not of the injustice or deviation this is vain Philosophy as to say that one makes a right and crooked line but another the incongruity or inconformity This distinction was devised to defend the doctrin of Free wil not subject to Gods wil. Why not to vindicat God from being Author of sin notwithstanding Quaere his absolut irrespectiv Decree to Reprobat men who must needs sin Aristotle defines Good and Evil by mens appetit which may seem tru sith every one is ruled by his own list or lore but in a Common-wealth the measure is fals wher not mens privat appetits but public Law of the State is sole Rule yet their doctrin soly practised wher every one doth what seems good in his own eys To make lawful mariage unchast or impure as they doo who deny it to the Clergy under color of continual chast continence to attend at the Altar and administer the holy Eucharist is vain Philosophy wherby they make mariage a moral vice and themselfs by abstaining spiritual like the Angels in Heaven From Aristotles Civil Polity they cal al Common-wealths sav the popular such as then Athens was Tyranny and al Kings Tyrans so they termed thirty Legislators set up by the Lacedemonians who subdued Athens thirty Tyrans and Democraty liberty yet Tyran truly taken signifies simply a Monarch but when that Government grew odious in all Greece it was branded with the Popular hatred of Tyranny and when Kings were expeld from Rome they did the like So when the same men are displeased with Democraty or Aristocraty they nickname the first Anarchy the last Oligarchy or Tyranny of a few Hence riseth another error of Aristotle that Laws not men should govern as if men wil be ruled by words or paper and not by men which hav power by the Sword to punish or put them to death giving life to the Laws this is a pestilent pernitious error wherby they seduce men so oft as they like not their Governors to rais war against them which the Clergy cherisheth Another error in Civil Philosophy which they never learned of Pagans is to extend the Law the Rule only of actions to mens very thoughts and Consciences by examination or inquisition of what they hold tho they conform in Words and Actions Herby they are forced to answer the truth of their thoughts or an untruth for fear of punishment Another error not drawn from Heathens is that a privat Man without the CoÌ„mon-wealths authority may interpret the Law by his own Spirit but are not Scriptures wher they are a Law made a Law by the CoÌ„monwealths authority and consequently a part of the Civil Law So they which impropriat Preaching to one certain Order of Men wher the State leavs it free commit the like error for if the State forbids me not to Preach none els can If I be among Judians or Infidels shal I being not in Orders think it sin to Preach Christ Jesus or expound Scriptures In such cases of necessity say they wher is no Ministry it may be doon without mission as wherever a dispensation is du for necessity ther needs none when no Law forbids it Ergo to deny thes functions to whom the civil Soveraign denies them not is to take away lawful liberty The Schoolmens writings are mostly insignificant terms or trains of strange barbarous words otherwise used then in common Latin language which would pose Cicero Varro or any Grammarian of antient Rome For let any try whether he can translat them into any modern Toung which if he cannot how can that be intelligible in Latin which is not so in other languages Howbeit this insignificance of speech is no fals Philosophy but both a quality to hide the truth and make Men think they hav it being skild in School-notions and so desist from farther serch of it in others He saith elswher what kind of felicity God ordains for them that devoutly serv him one shal no sooner know then enjoy being Quaere jois now so incomprehensible as the School-mens words beatific Vision unintelligible but doth not that signify to enjoy the perpetual presence of the divine Trinity as Men delight in ech others company face to face Which if Christ must reign on a new finit Earth with his Saints for ever none ever shal doo For beatific Vision is to see the blessed Trinity face 4 Caus to face in his eternal mansion The last caus of spiritual Darknes is to mix uncertain Traditions and untru Histories like the golden legion of fals fictious miracles in Saints lifes of Ghosts Goblins and Apparitions alleged by Romish Doctors to varnish their Doctrins of Hel Purgatory Exoâ—cisms and such like Which tho som pious Fathers Pope Gregory 1. St. Bernard c. broched yet they were Men and might take it on trust from others as Beda also did but if any speak it of their own knowledg 't is no confirmation of such vanity but a detection of their fraud fallacy or frailty The suppression of tru Philosophy by Men that hav no authority nor sufficient study may be joind with the introduction of falsâ— for our late Navigators and al learned Men acknowledg Antipodes as it appeers daily more that yeers and dais are determined by the Earths motions yet such as only supposed it heretofore were punishd by Ecclesiastic power What reason had they Is it becaus 't is contrary to tru Religion That cannot be if the opinions be truâ— let the truth be first disquired by competent Judges or refuted by such as pretend to know the contrary Is it becaus they disturb Government or Religion established Let the Teachers be silenced or punished by civil Rulers who can chastise disobedience in thos that teach