be thus long or thus short SO the Metaph. tell us Quae Deus praescit non possunt non evenire sic habent necessitatem fiendi Idque propter infallibilitatem praescientiae divinae Res enim sic dicuntur necessariae non nisi per connexionem ad aliud hoc est praescientiam divinam Loquendo autem de rebus in se spectatis quae praesciuntur remota connexione ad praescientiam divinam non omnes res sunt necessariae quae necessit as est consequentis Sunt enim multa in mundo casualia fortuita libera quae omnia in se spectata non necessaria sed contingentia sunt Fiunt proculdubio cuncta ait Boet. quae futur a Deus praenoscit sed eorum quaedam proficiscuntur de libero quae quamvis eveniant tamen propriam naturam non amittunt sed priusquam fierent etiam non evenire potuissent AND says the other Causae naturales morales suos habent effectus in vita hominis conservanda Deus igitur illas in constituendo termino vitae ut omniscius respexit ita tamen ut eas uhi velit inhibere possit Natural and moral Causes as wholsom food air water continency temperance c. have their effects and operations in preserving mans Life and God in terminating and setting Boundaries to mans Life as he is Omniscient and foresees all things hath an eye and respect to these yet so that he can put a Stop to those natural and moral Causes can inhibit them as in his infinite wisdom he sees fit As for Example God sees that such a man living and doing thus and thus will according to the ordinary course of nature certainly live thus long suppose fifty sixty seventy years yet God may cause that this man that might live thus long shall dye much sooner as at twenty or thirty So God in his mercy may shorten the days of many righteous men take them away from the evil to come or in his justice cut off the wicked that according to the strength of nature and the set bounds thereof might have liv'd much longer Yea Job himself is against a fatal Period and therefore we cannot imagine if he intended it in the 14 Chap. he would have contradicted both himself and it in the 21 Chap. 19 20 21. ver God layeth up his iniquity for his children he rewardeth him and he shall know it His eyes shall see his destruction and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty For what pleasure hath he in his house after him when the number of his months are cut off in the midst W. C. being now forc'd from his strong Hold which he thought invincible 't will be his wisest way to address himself to the Alchoran where he may find more kindness and need not fear a second repulse NEITHER may mens lives be shorten'd only but also extended whereof we have a pregnant example in the 2 Kings 20. beg For God plainly signified to Hezekiah that he should dye of that very distemper he then labour'd under for he was come to the set Bounds beyond which he could not pass except Omnipotency be pleased to remove them farther So ver 1. Hezekiah was sick unto death and the Prophet Isaiah came and said to him Thus saith the Lord Set thy house in order for thou shalt dye and not live Yet the immutable Creator that decrees mutability as the learned Dr. Jackson words it and whose promises and menaces are not absolute but conditional hearing his Prayers and seeing his tears remov'd the Boundary recover'd him with a lump of figs to demonstrate the use and necessity of means and added to his Life fifteen years And therefore W. C's Gloss is very prodigious and Enthusiastick pag. 8. The fifteen years added to Hezekiah 's Life were added to Hezekiah 's date not to Gods Hezekiah looked upon himself as a dead man that he should dye of that very sickness and good reason seeing God told him so and so in all likelihood did his best Physiciaâ—s for he was sick of the Plague but both he and they were deceiv'd for God in his unchangeable purpose had appointed fifteen years more to Hezekiah 's Life STRANGE indeed For we find in the Chapter no such learned Cheats and Pick-pockets as all Physitians are supposing a fatal Period nor the least shadow of such an interpretation for God himself said by the mouth of his Prophet I have heard thy Prayer and I will add unto thy days fifteen years and I will deliver thee and this City c. And as a sign that God himself would effect this and did not prevaricate a Miracle is wrought he brought the shadow the Sun ten degrees backward by which it had gon down in the dial of Ahaz But were the former Paraphrase true God himself made and the Prophet told a Lie and was deceiv'd as well as Hezekiah and his Physicians and the words should not run The Lord will or did really add to Hezekiah's days fifteen years but Hezekiah the Prophet the Physicians with all the Nobles and Courtiers not well understanding this infinitely Soul-concerning Point viz. a Fatal Period were so simple and credulous as to believe that God had miraculously extended Hezekiah's Life and who can think otherwise that reads and believes this sacred History Whereas God had absolutely decreed from eternity or in his unchangeable purpose appointed there is not the least difference in the Phrases that Hezekiah should live fifteen years longer which being not expir'd 't was impossible for the Plague or for God himself to put an end to his days A feeble and impotent God that can neither extend nor shorten the Lives of his Creatures 'T is wonderful to see that one petty Distinction in Mans date but not in Gods should be of such mighty force as to enervate so many plain Texts of Scripture as have been and may be produc'd for the prolonging and shortning of mans Life and to make them speak quite contrary even to become like a Nose of Wax to turn either to this side or that to prove truth to be falshood and falshood truth Should I be troubled with such an airy and Atheistical Whimsie as to affirm with some of the ancient Peripateticks and Ethnicks That the World is eternal tho Aristotle himself doubted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And against it is objected Gen. 1. 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth Ergo Mundus non fuit ab aeterno I shall most humbly crave W. C's leave borrow his almighty distinction and answer very magisterially as he did to the Lords adding to Hezekiah's days fifteen years 'T is true in mans date viz. in the date and account of Moses Aaron and their Bigots the World had a beginning but in Gods date 't was eternal for God in his unchangeable purpose had appointed it from Eternity Such stuff as this will pass for superfine Doctrine for powerful Preaching and sublime Raptures with
those that have their Instructers of the Geneva stamp in as great admiration because of advantage Jude 16. as the simple Papists have their Monks and Confessors or even as his Holiness the Pope himself THE learned and judicious Beverovicius before he could think that his Profession could find any considerable entertainment among men thought it fit to be stated by the knowing men of his Age viz. Whether there were a fatal end of every man's life beyond which it were not in the power and compass of art sobriety or good managery to extend it and as little in the power of any Disease or Intemperance or even the Famine Plague or Sword to shorten it Should the same Question be again started no considering men I presume would hold the affirmative For we daily see the sad effects and results of intemperance and inordinate living we have often seen felt or heard of the impartial and mighty power of the Sword and Pestilence how Myriads have been cut off that according to the strength and ordinary course of nature and Gods common Providence might have liv'd much longer And therefore we are not so stupid and zealously Lunatick as not to fear the frequent Afterclaps Feavers Dropsies Surfeits of high and constant debaucheries or the Fury of insulting Enemies and infectious Diseases Our most mortifyed and stoutest Combatants for fatal and necessary events will suffer their actions to contradict their Faith tho Protestatio contra factum non valet and be thought timorous and ignorant Creatures even quake and fly to save their Lives from any imminent danger which supposing their firm belief and confidence of a fatal Period is a piece of notorious Folly For if neither intemperance the Sword or Plague can shorten our days one minute I would fain know in respect of our Health and Safety why we should dread them or avert from either why Bacchus and Venus daily carouzing and obscene Embraces are respected yea are known and profest Foes to Longaevity why we may not rest as securely in a Pest-house as on a bed of Roses as safe before a Cannons mouth as in our Closets And so our Saviours Advice who minds the welfare of our Bodies as well as of our Souls must needs be vain and ridiculous Mat. 10. 23. When they persecute you in this City flee into another For no Asylum or City of Refuge granting a fatal Period can save us or extend our days the least point of time And so this precept or prudent Counsel of Christ to his Disciples viz. To flee from Persecution is as thwarting to W. C.'s Doctrine as he tells us pag. 18. that of Martha's to him was If thou hadst been here my Brother had not dyed Sir 't is my hearty request that you would not be passionate and question the Holy Jesus as you seem to do poor silly St. Martha for her confiding in our Saviours power and love to her Brother That if he had been there Lazarus had not dyed saying Is not this advice a thwarting of my Doctrine Can fleeing from Persecution free us from Death or extend our days one minute seeing all the particular circumstance relating to it viz. the time manner and place are unchangeably appointed by Gods insuperable Power This Counsel 't is confest of the Theanthropos is a thwarting to your fatal and dogmatical Assertions and so is Davids address to the Lord Psal 102. 24. O my God take me not away in the midst of my days Here is thwart upon thwart to try your Job-like Patience and pregnant Wit in forging some new Distinctions and riming Evasions seeing the Old ones are detected and already cashier'd BUT farther Were this Stoical Opinion fit indeed for sanguinary Designs to animate Turks and ambitious Rebels most clear and demonstrative the Physicians then may burn their Books Galen and Hypocrates and the Apothecaries and Surgeons may pull down their Shops and hang themselves if they are asham'd to beg for want of bread or else the Magistrates may do it for them as being the vilest cheats in Nature but howe-ever let me advise them that for pity sake that they would no longer vex and torment their simple Patients with Causticks and Scarifyings nor saw off Legs and Arms tho gangreen'd the very moment manner and place of their Death are fixt and unalterable no Art imaginable no fervent Prayers no gracious Providence can do them the least good If the Eternal Decree is that this Patient shall dye of this gangrene 't is frustraneous yea cruelty to cut off the mortifyed member but if the Decree is that he shall live longer and dye of some other Distemper let the Part be never so much putrifyed he shall certainly tho you apply not the least remedy live out all the days determined or as W. C. most profoundly words it all the days of his special and personal limit What a ridicuculous and silly thing 't is supposing a fatal Period for pregnant Females so highly to concern themselves for fear of abortion to be so sollicitous and inquisitive after a knowing Mid-wife when old gooddy Tittle-tattle can perform the Office as well and when being deliver'd to undergo such cruel thirsts and to take such care and pains about the New born Infant If the Decree is that both the Mother and the Child shall live a good Midwife or a bad or none at all quarts and pottles of strong liquor or clear Possets Fish or Flesh they cannot dye but if the Decree is that one or both shall Dye all the charges and care imaginable will be ineffectual And therefore 't is no small madness to cast away our Mony and to be concern'd as some soft-natur'd Gossips are about this Nicety or that for Praedest ad finem praedest quoque ad media if God has ordained Life he has likewise unavoidably or in his unchangeable purpose ordain'd and appointed the means or else he will preserve it without them but if Death is in the Pot there is no avoiding of the Broth. This W. C. if he understands his own Principles which is much to be doubted and all the Irrespective Reprobatarians hold and endeavour to justifie which takes away the liberty of mans will and makes him inferior to Brutes that by natural instinct choose what may conduce to the preservation both of themselves and their species and avoid whatsoever is noxious and injurious to them whereas poor man is as senseless and incapacitated to do himself either good or hurt as a Stock or a Stone For if the Decree is Life it shall be life do what we will if Death do what we can Death How absurd and contrary to reason experience and to Gods frequent and serious Protestations and Invitations this is the meanest capacity may easily judge SHOULD a man in a sudden and violent Distemper a Surfeit Pleurisy Apoplexy c. despise and deride the known and usual Remedies as many of this Perswasion have done tho the most knowing of them will
not trust and depend upon this fatal Faith but in their Sickness are as willing to send for a judicious Physitian as any and tell his mourning Friends and Relations that he will not so much suspect God as to try the skill of man or be so imprudent as to fee a Fool or a Cheat for the time manner and place of his Death are unchangeably appointed by Gods insuperable Power And therefore why do you talk of the use of Means when the strongest Poyson cannot shorten my days nor the richest Cordials or God himself extend them one moment beyond my special and personal limit beyond the time appointed as my Portion in the land of the living And this I know to be true for the Seraphical Preacher that taught and confirmed me in this secret and hidden point for Gods revealed word is against it is as infallible in the Pulpit as the Pope is in Cathedra and when there can explicate all obscure doubts and hard Queries as easily as crack a nut with a hammer I shall for brevity sake dilate only upon one tho I have been credibly inform'd of many others viz. How many Millions that were at Church one Lords day yet were in Hell the next And that Hell is Spatium infinitum in loco finito infernally wise truly The next Sabbath day after he had inform'd us of the certainty of a fatal Period from the same infallible Chair in O. C. Church for the satisfaction of a zealous and scrupulous Brother he inform'd us likewise of what substance our immortal Souls were made viz. That the Souls of men are made of the very same Substance that the Angels are Had our Angelical Praedicator asserted That the Souls of men are made of the same Substance that the Man in the Moon is his credulous and all-ear'd Creatures might have believ'd him tho others might have thought him either Lunatick or troubled with a Vertigo or else a little crackt in the Pericranion And indeed the truth of the one is no more apparent than that of the other for the best Metaphysicians affirm That the Angels and Souls of men are of a divers species and so doubtless of a divers substance Nam essentia animae ex naturà suà est incompleta partialis implicat naturalem propensionem ad materiam At verò tale quid essentiae Angelicae non convenit quae est totalis completa Id ergo indicium manifestum est diversitatis specificae And therefore I shall not make this an Article of my Creed viz. That the Souls of men are made of the very same Substance that the Angels are before I am ascertain'd by this grand Philosopher who forgetting his Humility talks as if he had commenced Doctor with the Angels in Heaven viz. That there is not the least difference between Spiritual and immaterial Substances tho there is between gross and corporeal But to digress no farther Should there I say be such a mad Zealot for a fixt and inevitable Period that would try the truth of it by a plain hazard of his Life felo de se or the violation of the sixth Commandment Thou shalt not kill especially thy self by refusing lawful and necessary means ordain'd by God himself will be none of his smallest Crimes at the great and general Audit SHOULD we see one in an extasie in a furious rage or discontent drink Poyson Stab Hang or cast himself from a Precipice would we peremptorily conclude like W. C. that this was the very moment this the very kind and place of Death where this desperate and wretched Miscreant should be hurried off the Stage of this World by a fatal and absolute Decree The Lord forbid that we should harbor such cruel thoughts of him that made and form'd us that hath proclaim'd himself and we dare believe him to be merciful that he is no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and willeth not the death of a Sinner but rather that he should turn and live And can we then be so prophane and sottish as to aver even in Print that this mad Creature and Legions besides that came to fearful and deplorable ends by Melancholy Despair the Temptations of Satan by Venery Debauchery c. were inevitably decreed by God or in his immutable purpose determined and appointed to become their own Executioners BUT W. C. to make his sordid matter as clear as the Sun in its Meridian ininforms us pag. 16. That there are Two he might say as truly ten hundred thousand sorts of Divine appointments What should be What shall be What should be He hath shewed thee O man what is right and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love Mercy and to walk Humbly with thy God God hath appointed that men should be sober temperate true honest just and square in their dealings God hath appointed that men should read hear pray repent believe be convicted and live holily These appointments of the Divine Majesty are daily disappointed and violated by wicked and ungodly men HERE and in several other places which would be too tedious to transcribe our Oracle contradicts himself for he would have all Gods Decrees and Appointments to be peremptory and absolute impossible to be disappointed So but three lines before the Misterious Distinction he tells us Human appointments come to nothing when God is against them but Divine appointments shall stand that is cannot be disappointed And tho he stiles What should be a Divine appointment as well as What shall be yet presently forgetting himself he rightly informs us tho directly contrary to his former Positions That those Divine appointments of What should be are daily disappointed and violated by wicked and ungodly men And by this most ridiculous Distinction he makes God to decree contradictions that altho God in his unchangeable purpose hath appointed that All men should be Holy do Justly and by consequence be saved yet the generality as the event proves should or shall utrum horum mavis be unholy yea necessarily damn'd Which directs me to speak something concerning the Future State of the Soul THE great Potentate of the Universe 't is true may permit The Future State of the Soul but not decree to permit as we were once told by W. C's learned Champion or in his immutable purpose absolutely determine and appoint either this Sin or that Evil for then the Punisher of Sin must needs be the Author of it and poor man must suffer for that which 't was impossible for him to avoid and the Almighty we know is not oblig'd by a Miracle always to hinder men from misery and perdition For he has made us rational Creatutes and gives us strength and grace if we will but use and improve it to follow that which is good and laudable and to eschew the contrary to live well and contented tho under the heaviest pressures in this World and after death by the merrits of the holy Jesus who hath triumph't over