is due neither to King nor Council For neither may a Council be believ'd for it self but for the testimony of Scripture on which it relies because true Faith of things Divine cannot be had but by Divine authority This sense of the King the King himself shall I say or Molinaeus best of all explains in his book against Cardinal Perron saying The Emperors never ascribed to themselves absolute judgment and infallible concerning Doctrin but that they took knowledge of the Decisions of Councils and not of Discipline alone he there both confesses and proves adding that the Emperors examin'd whether nothing was decreed in the Assembly of Bishops repugnant to former Councils and that unless this be lawful for a King the King will be nothing else but Lictor Ecclesiasticorum Hence it appears sufficiently that the Kings judgment is bound to the word of God but may be instructed and led by the Bishops yet not so but that he ought to make use of his own judgment And reason exacts as much For no action is good but which proceeds from the judgment of the doer and the King as King his office is to cherish true Doctrine by his laws and to suppress the contrary He ought therefore to have judgment also of the Doctrine Nor is here any more attributed to a King than to a private man For private men for themselves by the Word of God judge of Articles of Faith but the effects differ in as much as a King can do more than a private person as also the judgment of a Father of a family who is chief in a great house is more largly extended than his who is the poor inhabitant of a Cottage To that censure where they are called flatterers who moved this question in Holland 't were easy to return one as sharp that they are justly suspected of affecting a new papacy who so much decline the judgment of the Magistrate What follows that it might more easily be suffered that the Magistrates should judge of controversies in Religion if our Country were sure to have such Magistrates as it hath now I cannot fully approve knowing Theses ought not to be changed as the Times change nor is any thing because expedient the more or less true Herein also he is mistaken when he opposeth a few Magistrates to a great assembly of Pastors For with us the Government is not in the hand of fewer persons then they who are wont to meet in Synods who if they be not as skilful in Theological points as the Pastors are though he that thinks so knows not what many of our Pastors be but grant this Surely they are for the keeping of peace and tranquillity much better affected than they that are the Preachers of peace For so much as skill conduceth unto judgment no less doth study of parties hinder it We do not speak this that Judgments of Synods should be omitted No verily for they are of very great use But for a King to be so tyed up with them that against his own conscience he ought to follow the Synodical decrees I cannot consent to this And these matters are under dispute among us but in Germany and other places the Princes do openly exercise this Right not one of the Pastors contradicting I must now make an end for if I would cast into paper whatsoever comes into my mind about this Argument I should be not sparing of my own time and prodigal of yours This only I protest to you in conclusion that concerning predestination of Grace Free will and other questions of this kind I had rather hear the Judgments of other men than declare my own but of Magistrates I have here said nothing whereof I am not very certain 1515. The decease of Grotius Doctor Quistorpius in his letter dated at Rostoch Anno 1645. The next day after his entrance into this City Aug. 18. He sent for me about nine at night I came and found him drawing nigh to death I saluted him and said Oh that I had been so happy as to have conferred with you safely arrived Thus it hath pleased God said he I exhort him to prepare himself for a blessed departure to confess himself a sinner to be sorry for his sins and with the Publican beg for mercy I saith he am that Publican Then proceeding I refer him to Christ without whom is no salvation He adds In Christ alone is all my hope reposed I rehearsed aloud the usual Form of Prayer Heer Jesu c. He with closed hands and an humble voice said after me At the end I asked whether he understood me He replied I understand you well I go on minding him of such Scriptures as are wont to be suggested at the hour of death and ask if he understands me He answers I hear your voice but hardly understand what you say Having said this he was silent and a little after expried at the point of twelve Let him rest in peace The End Ad Bonis I. 1. Epist 46 de gra and lib. arbis c. 2. De fide ad Pet. Ad obj Vinc. resp 12. Ad Oan Gal. 7. I. Sent. sup cit c. 7. De fide 5.3
ordered and disposed unto life eternal and affected with a serious desire thereof believed and that other Job 8.47 He that is of God by this pious inclination heareth the words of Christ with assâ—nt of faith This surely is plain beyond denial to read the holy Scriptures to weigh them diligently to meditate of their meaning to frequent Godly Sermons to compose himself to prayers is in the power of a man haply now at the point of new Birth and not yet fully born again I assent also unto Molinaeus none of the Reformed as I suppose gainsaying That the Elect resist not the call unto the end no nor can resist it in the conjoyned sense but all the doubt is about the sense divided and the reason is because God as Molinaeus himself confesseth so bows the will as not to take away the liberty of the will The Question is whether to the Conversion of man any previous action of God be necessarily required I say previous for of the concomitant there 's another reason besides the concession of sufficient strength For say some either something more is required and then what was granted is denied the strength is not sufficient or the strength is really sufficient and then it follows that nothing more is requir'd But sufficient strength being granted the will remains free i. indeterminate to do or not to do This for the elect or such as are actually converted but for others who are not actually converted the cause why Grace is inefficacious many think it hard to attribute unto God since in no wise it seemeth Grace which is inefficacious by Intention of the Giver Nor doth it seem possible that any one should be punisht more heavily for not doing that which was impossible to be done namely for not making that grace efficacious which was in itself at least in relation to the subject inefficacious Nor does it seem to these men enough to avoid the making God the Author of unbelief which Molinaeus conceives may be avoided by casting the cause upon mans nature but withal care must be had of this also lest the signos of Gods will be made to disagree with his will and so injury be done to the Divine simplicity and sincerity For how shall they be said called seriously who are called with this mind that they may not come yea so that they cannot come Here now do those Scriptures offer themfelves to hand I desire not the death of a sinner but that he be converted and live What could I have done for my Vineyard which I have not done How often would I have gathered you and you would not and such like which do both on Gods part prove some will at least of converting and on mans part not converted argue a fault not simply natural and so necessary as 't is necessary for a stone not to live saith Molinaeus but evitable by those helps which were granted or were ready to be granted For to those also who being called to the Wedding would not come all things yet are signified to be in readiness And verily unless it be so it seems a man may be punisht for his sin that hinders him from believing but cannot be punisht more heavily for this that supposing sin and this inovitabl hindring be believed not That saying which Molinaeus dislikes It is in man to follow Gods calling or not to follow though it may have a dangerous sense is not yet without great Authors and therefore may receive a benign interpretation They which are halped to believe saith Prosper have it in their power to come Austin Neither ought they to ascribe unto themselves who are come because they came being called nor they that would not come to lay the fault upan another but on themselves alone because being called it was in their free power to come Again we have the beginning of our Salvation by Gods compassion 't is in our power to acquiesce in the saving inspiration Wherefore the same Father explains the calling according to purpose by that manner of calling as is fit for one to be called that he may follow not so as being called he cannot chuse but follow And although the same Austin very often describes vocation by swasion yet I think all Pious men will grant to Molinaeus God doth not work by mere suasions not only upon the mind but upon the Will by inspiring salutary aftections and not by changing the property of the will concreated with it To that Question touched by Molinaeus Why unto some the Gospel is not preached or being preached their Heart is not opened to believe I see the antient Fathers have answer'd two ways in a double respect For if it be absolutely enquir'd Why unto some people of Bithynia and Asia the Gospel was not preached at this or that time The answer is because of their voluntary sins sins of that fort for which God threatens he will send a Famine of the Word Likewise if in be enquir'd why God hardens some to whom the Gospel is preached the Answer is because they had harden'd themselves before For as Austin speaks Then began they to deserve punishment when being call'd they neglected to come But if the Question be propos'd comparatively Why to these the Gospel is preach'd rather than to those Why this mans heart is touched with more Virtue than the others Here it cannot be answer'd so as to give a general Reason in either case from man For t is certain greater Benefits do often fall to them who are the more undeserving persons Recourse must be had in this affair to the Divine Liberty Next as to the certainty of Salvation I do exceedingly approve that which is set down by Molinaeus 1. That there are some degrees of true Faith which are overthrown 2. That some Elect ones doubt of their Salvation 3. That there is a certain peculiar degree of Faith which never fails 4. That full Assurance is to be earnestly beg'd of God For hence I collect 1. That the Faith which fails and which doth not fail differ not so much in essence as degree which also was the Opinion of Iunius 2. That Christ obtain'd for us perseverance and it was promis'd by God on this condition that we ask and beg it with our earnest prayers and therefore not at all absolutely But not to be deceived with ambiguity of words we must note all the Antients so affirm that Faith which may be overthrown to be true Faith as not to deny to it the effect also of Justification For they openly pronounce Many are damned for latter sins to whom the former were remitted Nor do they less consent to this justifying Grace cannot at the same time consist with sins against Conscience as Murther Adultery and such like Wherefore being some elect after the gift of Faith received fall into fins of this sort as by too many Examples it is evident it follows and is clearly pronounced by the Holy Fathers that there may be
some time after Faith received wherein a Person elect may not be in the state of Justification These things if need were might be prov'd by many authorities and by the confessions of Protestants See Confess August Art 11. Angl 16. Sax 10. The antient Authors seem to me to acknowledge three ways of certainty concerning Salvation The first whereof is extraordinary by Revelation this Austin saith happens to some what man can know he shall persevere to the end in the work and way of Righteousness except he be assured by some Revelation from him who by his just and secret judgment in this matter doth not instruct all but deceiveth none The ordinary ways are two the one taken from the time the oâ—her from the degree of Faith Certainty of his salvation a faithful man may have from the time who is at the point of death and hath now no hope of life For being a Believer knows he doth believe and withal knows a Believer is justified before God both which by the testimony of Holy Scripture and oâ— pious Antiquity we defend against the Papists and this time of life is at an end the Believer knows he dyeth in the state of Grace and so is certain of his Salvation In respect whereof Prosper having said predestination is uncertain to us addeth whilst we are among the perils of this present life The other ordinary manner of Assurance is from the degree of Faith For the Antients do constantly deliver that perfect Charity according to the perfection of this life for the most perfect saith Austin is not attained here never fails Notable is that of Jerom Charity which Peter before is dental bad was an herb and springs up young in every one before it is strengthened and before its perfection is lost and recovered This is that root which though the Sun saith Austin shine hot upon it cannot wither And to the same purpose he asketh which of the multitude of Believers can presume himself is in the number of the predestinate for naming the multitude he seemeth to except some few excellent ones Besides these three ways of certainty there are other degrees inferior For as Bernard himself also doth acknowledge with all Antiquity God hath not left his Elect without a testimony of consolation in this life This testimony the more and greater are the exercises of Piety is so much the more certain which the holy Scripture demonstrates plainly when we are commanded to make our calling and election firm and s ure by Faith Virtue Knowledge Continence Patience Piety Love and Charity whence that saying of Austin agreeing with the Antients Fear is so much abated as Charity is encreased I proceed now to that part of the Writing where Molinaeus separates himself from those who against all Antiquity affirm Men are created to this end that they may perish and putting Reprobation before the fall put upon themselves a necessity of attributing to God the efficacious procurement of all sins even of the first sin also because he that absolutely sets the end ought withal to set the means without which there is no coming unto the end Here the most learned man walking heedfully does with a little fear declare his judgment saying he digesteth not such kind of speaking to wit because they are persons of great Autority that so speak But truly the danger is not in the form of vvords but in the Doctrine it self For that Opinion directly runs into the Anathema of the Arausican Council boldly pronounced by Augustin and Prosper And here it is to be admired whereas all they that deduce sins from a fatal necessity were by the antient Church cast unto the Manichees the worst and most hated Hereticks but the Semipelagians were suffered very long in their Communion why at this day on the contrary such as make God partly unjust partly unmerciful partly the Author of all wickedness live freely without censure But if any man do concieve more meanly of Grace though not near to Pelagianism all do every where rise against him with equal animosity Is the fault so much less to load the Benefactor with contumelies than to deny the benefit Rightly indeed and agreeably both to the Gallic and Belgic Confession doth Molinaeus pronounce Reprobation is not but in the corrupt mass But this corrupt Mass some consider in original sin alone catching that which is spoken of Esau and Jacob albeit that very speech is such as goeth afore of Isaac and Ismael which the apostle himself else where declares to be Allegorical Gal. 4. It was I confess Austin's opinion which displeases most of the Reformed That some children dying in their Infancy are damned for original sin But Austin could not think this of Esau because in his opinion original sin was taken away by circumcision Others consider the corrupt Mass in actual sins to whom Molinaeus seems to consent when he saith some men are designd to punishments for sins which willingly and by by God unprovok'd they have admitted Lastly some there are that consider this corrupt Mass not in any sort of sins but in the contempt of Vocation for whom that sentence of Austin concerning the same Esau seems to stand He did not will he did not run but if he had willed and runned he had attained by the help of God who would give him to run and to will by calling unless by contempt of the call he would become a reprobate Out of this sentence therefore might be added to the words of Molinaeus by God unprovok'd yea and seriously invited to repentance Hither have I been carried unaware for when I began to write I purposed to dispatch in brief by the relection of that Paper wherein the sentiments of Molinaeus are contain'd Of which I was not willing to deliver my own Judgment nor would I have you think so But as it is a pleasure to me to compare the antient Writers with the modern so I esteem'd it worth my pains most noble Sir to advertise you of that which if I am not much deceiv'd by my not indiligent reading I have learned the Judgment of the Fathers touching these controversies You may so judicious you are collate the commentations of the antient and more recent Authors one with other and so far as your business will permit consider which of their different Interpretations is more consonant to the sacred Context to Reason by God illuminate and to the edification of Gods Church In the Writing of Molinaeus after the explication of his sentence follows a Collection of certain Articles wherein he thinks the parties will easily agree Of some things in them I have already made my Remarks as may appear by what I have said before having anticipated them lest the matter should be severed What remains shall now be added Free will by the fall of our first Parents is rightly said to be lost in respect of pious actions as it hath no strength to actions of that kind not so as to
signifie the native liberty is not in the will without which it cannot be a will and by which it cannot will and nill supposing all prerequisits i. strength to will being granted Therefore Austin saith Who among us affirms that by the sin of the first man free will perished from all mankind And to exclude here all together pious actions other sayings will not permit If no grace of God how doe he save the world if no free will how does he judge the world And The Divine precepts would be profitable to no man had he no free choice of will Also The Catholick Faith denies not free will neither to good life nor bad nor attributes to it any power without grace Elsewhere He that denies free will is not a Catholick but he is a Catholick who saies that without God it can neither begin nor finish any good work By which saying 't is not signified that by nature we have to will well which is Pelagian but by nature we have this thing to will which being inform'd by grace we will well For grace is the Principle from which the will or free choice is the principle in which conversion is made That of Austin No will of man resisteth God being willing to save is so to be explained that another sentence of his lately cited be not contradicted where he saith It is imputed to many that they contemn God willing to heal There is then a certain Will conditionate which Prosper calls inviting there is also an absolute Will which follows a certain at least conditionate prescience That of Molinaeus whom God hath predestinated to the end i. Salvation he hath predestinated to the means seemeth plainly to define that before he determines any thing concerning Faith he determines absolutely to save this man Which definition segregates from us all the Fathers before Austin Whether it agrees with Austin himself is disputed unless perchance the word predestination be so generally taken as to comprehend also that which is not absolute but which the means supposed passeth into absolute Concerning the word sufficient grace and necessary and free we have already spoken That none of them can perish whom God hath predestinated to the Kingdom none by any means be saved whom he hath not predestinated unto life is fully true in the conjoyned sense what way soever predestination so it be absolute is taken but in the divided sence 't will be true if this were true that reprobation is without prescience of a free act which Molinaeus seemeth to deny Surely Prosper was not afraid to say Because they are foreknown the predestinate will not fall And They should be predestinate if they would return and persevere in holiness Again Because he foreknew they would fall by their own will for this he did not separate them from the Sons of perdition by any predestination Again Therefore were they not predestinate because they were foreknown that they after would be such by voluntary prevarication I will add this on the by the Book De fide ad Petrum out of which is cited that newly mentioned sentence is by the learned thought not to be the work of Austin and that upon weighty arguments That which is said God hath elected the predestinate to believe is well said since every benefit unto which not all attain is justly signified in Scripture by the word election Neither yet does it follow hence that the same men can no way be said to be elected i. to be justified because they believe if the word because denote not the cause deserving but in any manner anteceding In the same manner he sheweth mercy to us that we may be faithful nor yet must we deny there is some mercy following faith and therefore shewed to the faithful as such God by giving faith makes men hear the Gospel worthily but yet we must not therefore deny God out of his immense goodness whereby he converts many long contumacious will not purposely exclude from that benefit the less contumacious and such as diligently read and hear his word Neither seems it fit to be denied that such as do attentively hear the Preachers of Gods word are less unworthy of the gift of faith than such as stop their ears like the hearers of St. Steven Thus in the Gospel the Apostles coming into any City or Village are bid to enquire who in that place is worthy to whom they are opposed as unworthy who will not receive the Apostles nor give audience to the word Mat. 10. And in the Acts the Jews are said then at last to have judged themselves unworthy of eternal life i. by a greater and more special unworthiness after they were filled with wrath and contradicted the word and that with blasphemy Act. 13. But if any man speaking not figuratively or comparatively say there is in the unregenerate any ability to do that whereby he may be worth to attain to faith that his opinion is dangerous none I think will deny Now whereas Molinaeus saith the Causes why he hath elected these not elected those are with God and not anxiously to be enquir'd by us first he seems to intimate that the only and universal cause of this discrimination is not the divine pleasure For this cause were open enough to exclude other causes whatsoever And when he saith they are not anxiously to be enquir'd he seems to grant they may be enquir'd at least in some manner which seems not far from that opinion of Austin which many think was retracted by him where he saith the cause why this person rather than that is reprobated proceedeth from our own merits Because the grosser Papists refer the word merit to the nature of the work and to commutative justice we do upon very good grounds not dare to use this word The Fathers took to merit for that which is to obtain by doing somewhat and merit for a pious work unto which is a due reward by liberal and gratious promise So the word being molified we shall less wonder now if among the Fathers more antient than Austin we find man is predestinate for merits For they speake of an absolute decree of giving glory by way of reward whence Ambrose whose merits he hath foreknown their rewards he hath predestinated To conclude this part Really I am of Molinaeus's judgment that in these controversies such an Article may be contrived to which the French English Belgians Helvetians embracing the more pure Religion will subscribe and the Article may best be taken out of the Arausican Council and out of Prosper Sentences ad capitula Gallorum And I think this ought to be the scope That in good the honor of grace may be kept inviolate in evil man may accuse himself and not draw God at all into the Society of his crime Moreover That man may be taught neither to distrust the Divine assistance nor seek security in any other way but in the study of piety Withal I would wish
not If forbidden by Divine law as I conceive it is if the King be supposed not yet repenting the King will not be subject to the Ecclesiastick laws which Molinaeus saith but to the Divine which none denies The like is in a judge of petty causes commanded by the King to give sentence against equity This Judge will not do so if he be wife Is the King therefore subject to the Judge No verily but the Judge is so subject to the King that he must acknowledge above the earthly King the Empire of his heavenly King who forbiddeth injury to be done to any But if you suppose here some law not Divine but positive proceeding from humane will to this law whosoever shall affirm a King to be subject so as to be unable in any case to relax the legal bond he denies him to be a King The Canons of many Synods forbid Episcopal seats to be erected into Metropolitan they forbid new Bishops or Metropolitans to be constituted or a Bishop to do sacred offices in another Diocese they forbid Bishops to undertake civil imployments Nevertheless by command of the Emperors all this was done very often The Greek Interpreters give the reason because the Emperor is not subject neither to the Laws nor Canons Next Molinaeus enquires whether the Kings Counsellors must be Doctors of Divinity or it be also necessary for the King to be a learned Divine Verily my opinion is that the knowledge of things Divine is requisit in a King and in his chief Counsellors not that he may be a King They Counsellors but to the end they may rightly perform the work of their places But I say nor such knowledge as to distinguish every truth from falshood for the greatest Professor of Theology cannot promise himself this but to put a difference between things necessary to be believed or done and things not necessary between Heretical and not Heretical And in the same manner I conceive both the knowledge of the laws and the art of Governing are desired in a King But saith Molinaeus 't is fit the less learned be taught by the more learned This argument if it prove the less learned must submit to the judgment of the more learned then in Synods also the Pastors ought to yield to the Doctors for Molinaeus names them as men of the greatest learning And yet 't is certain that Pastors have not less if not more right than Doctors Our men are wont to use the testimony of Panormitan that a private person's Judgment confirmed with better autority of Scripture is to be prefer'd before the judgment of a Patriarch To come to the matter It is indeed the part of the more learned to teach the less learned but not to have command over them Therefore a Country Judge as the laws tell us is not obliged by the Response of Lawyers nor is a sick man bound to the prescript of his Physitian but so far as no reason of his own strongly perswades him to the contrary Another question follows whether a Magistrate may adjoyn himself to the lesser number of Pastors Strange that this should be asked by a Pastor reformed seeing all Magistrates who have in our age reform'd the Church rightly believ'd the lesser number of Pastors against the greater But in the Nicene Synod Constantine yielded to the more and did not addict himself to the fewer Yea he yielded to the plain and manifest truth which the greater number at that time by Gods blessing followed This doth not always happen for the greater part oft overcomes the better But if sentences are to be numbred not weighed the Arimin Council of cccc Bishops will be of more value than the Nicene of cxviii And what should the Emperor have done when as Jerom testifies the whole World groaned and wonderd it was turned Arian was paucity then to be despised multitude to be followed No man in his right mind will say so The two Kings are blamed for not believing one Michaia rather than four hundred false Prophets Well then the different parties are to be heard but the Prince ought to lend his autority to that cause not which hath most suffrages but whose equity the vigor of truth well try'd hath commended to him That Rule Every man must be believ'd in his own Art hath some probability but not perpetual certainty And there is a difference of Arts-men that often times it is expedient to trust a few rather than many So true is the common saying The worst are most Theology indeed is not the proper Art of a King but the Art most convenient for him is that which learned Writers call regal leading architechtonical whereof the most noble part is that which I have named the knowledge of things Divine not descending to all subtilties of the School nor yet staying within the mean endowments of a private man but comprehending all the chiefest points and of such a measure that if any thing be wanting it may be supplied by the Ministery of others And I have said before the like measure of other Arts is desir'd in a King though I doubt not if there be any science to which a King should addict his peculiar study it is Theology They greatly erre who do either represent or make it so obscure and difficult as to deter Princes from that study which the Divine law so much commends unto them But if in that respect the highest power in causes Ecclesiatical is to be denied the King neither will the right of making laws many being better Lawyers belong unto him I fear also that the same reason will exclude many Pastors from all right of suffrage I do not well understand what Molinaeus saith of the King of England For he affirmeth him to be the supreme Judge in all Causes as well Ecclesiastick as civil yet not to be the judge of controversies nor to own that Title How Controversies can be exempt from the universal appellation of Causes I see not when Judgment is not usually given but of things controverted But he seemeth to distinguish between matters of Faith and other Church-affairs But to judge what is an Idol what is Idolatry does it not pertain to Faith Queen Elizabeth and her brother King Edward preferred the Reformation above Papism not by an ignorant zeal I suppose but with good judgment Now the contention between the Papists and the Reformed is concerning Articles of Faith The King whose words are alledged as removing from himself the judgment about Articles of Faith did he not hear at Hampton Court the Bishops on the one side the Puritans on the other as Arbiter as Judge When the Conference was not only of Church Government but of predestination and assurance of salvation Did he not pronounce what seemed to him right What is it then that he putteth from himself That authority which the Pope claimeth who makes himself a Judge infallible to be believ'd on his own word without the Scriptures This Right certainly