no man ought to proceed further in the interpretation of Scripture than the Soveraign limits So that a Soverâ—ign ought to be either a more exact Divine than ever I heard of in the World to interpret all places of Scripture that a question is demanded of or else of a most exact and quick Iudgment to limit others how far they shall go And suppose a Soveraign prove a fool or like an ill Steersman always turning the boat round uncertain in his resolves who must interpret the matter thenâ— But I shall pass this over without more saying as one of the chances of Mr. Hobbes his fancy Mr. Hobbes p. 263. saith That the end of Our Saviour's câ—ming into the World was to restore unto God the Kingdom cut off from him by the rebellion of the Israelites in the election of Saul So far he hath renounced all Salvation by Christ. But to do him right he saith afterwards That our Saviour had an other imploy and that was to Preach that he was the Messiah and in case the Nation of the Iews should refuse him then to call to his obedience the Gentiles So now he seems only by the accident of the Iews refusal to exclude them from Salvation and by the same accident only to make the Gentiles capable of mercy Now is any thing more plain in the World than that he came into the World to satisfie God's justice for the sins of the World and with intent to bring in the Gentiles as well as the Iews and to make them one sheepfold under himself the great Shepherd And that appears from the first promise of him viz. That the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpents Head that is should take away that misery from the Seed of the Woman which the subtlety of the Serpent had brought upon it and I suppose Mr. Hobbes will not say amidst his new found unreasonable Doctrines That the Gentiles as well as the Iews were not the off-spring of Eve And he was the blood of the everlasting covenant and the great Shepherd of the Sheep spoken of Heb. 13. 20. And Iohn 1.29 he is called the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the World and this was before he was rejected by the Iews And all the Prophesies of our Saviour in the Old Testament express our Saviour's bringing in the Gentiles and the intent of God to do so as Isaiah 49. 22. I will lift up my Hand to the Gentiles and set up my Standard to the People and this was before our Saviour's coming into the World Texts for this I shall cite no more it being a thing so plain against Mr. Hobbes and one would wonder ever such conceits without ground or reason should come into any Man's Head Mr. Hobbes after a great deal of stir about the Trinity and the Unity of that Trinity which is hard to make any thing of or rather impossible by reason his opinion was concealed comes p. 268. to tell us his opinion in these words following viz. To conclude saith he the Doctrine of the Trinity as far as can be gathered directly from the Scripture is in substance this That the God who is always one and the same was the person represented by Moses the person represented by his Son incarnate and the person represented by the Apostles As represented by the Apostles the Holy Spirit by which they spake is God as by Moses the Father is God as represented by his Son that was God and Man the Son is God These are his very words So observe he absolutely denies in this the personal existence of the two last Persons in the Trinity And 't is in short to say as others have said before me that there is but one Person under different conceptions And the inference is direct and natural for saith Mr. Hobbes God was in three respects represented which excludes the real existence of three Divine Persons in the Godhead and only supposeth three Persons that represented this one God not that there are three Persons in the Godhead or that are God for no one is said to represent that is the Person represented Now to illustrate this the King of England is represented by the Lord Deputy of Ireland by the Viceroy of Scotland and by his Governor of the Island of Iersey But still 't is the energy of the one Person of the King that actuates them all and there are not three Persons of the King nor any of those three Persons are the King no more are there three Persons in the Godhead if we will believe Mr. Hobbes who makes the three Persons in the Trinity but three Names to express one only Person of God So 't is all one as if he had said the Son is not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of the Godhead was come into Man or at best had taken the Virgins Son into it or that he had said the Person of the Holy Ghost was not God as a distinct Person from the Father but that the only one Person of God inspired the Apostles So then clearly here is a denial of the two second Persons in the Trinity for if there be only one Person there is not three in the Trinity But Mr. Hobbes in this hath the confidence to say That this his fancy is all that can be gathered from Scripture concerning the Trinity And that he may meet with his match I will say the contrary and I doubt not but my authorities for my opinion will prove better than his It is said in 1 Ioh. 5. 7. There are three bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one So this is clear that the Godhead is three Persons not as 't is represented at three different times upon Earth but as it is three distinct Persons in Heaven So this makes an end of Mr. Hobbes his conceit that there are only said to be three Persons in the Godhead to be made out by Scripture in respect of the three representations upon Earth for they are in this Text said to be three in Heaven and all three are said to be in action that is to bear record which shews they are several and distinct Persons And the 3 d of Titus 4 5 6. v. clearly shews the Trinity of the Persons really existent which Texts are viz. After the love of God our Saviour toward Man appeared By his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost Which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour Here is God the Father that saves his people by regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and 't is through Iesus Christ our Saviour So what can be plainer besides the Scriptures that speak of the descent and mission of the Holy Ghost that the Godhead hath three Persons in it in another manner than as it was represented by Moses for here is God the Father
fully set forth a part that through mercy he saved us and God the Holy Ghost in another manner set forth than represented by the Apostles for this is spoken of the renewing of the Holy Ghost in all believers and Iesus Christ the meritorious cause of our Salvation which he could not have been but as he was both God and Man and Mr. Hobbes calls him so in this Chapter So that Christ as Christ Mr. Hobbes makes meer Man as he stiles him and would make him Chap. 38. though otherwise calls him in this Chapter for he makes himâ— only the representer of God as Moses was and the Holy Ghost Mr. Hobbes saith in effect is nothing for he saith that that denomination was attributed to God as he was represented by the Apostles So that the Holy Ghost was only an Attribute of God But besides all this Mr. Hobbes spoke before upon his reliance upon the Church of England as to matters of Faith and that the Civil Soveraign is to appoint what is to be taught for Doctrine And the Church of England and our Soveraigns have establish'd Athanasius his Creed to be read and as necessary to Salvation to be believed and that Creed as well as the begining of the Litany is expresly against Mr. Hobbes for it saith That there is one Person of the Father another of the Son and another of the Holy Ghost which Creed and Litany speak them in themselves three distinct Persons and as such are prayed to without interesting Moses or the Apostles in the matter and agree to my interpretation of Scripture So for once I hope without boasting I may say I have got the better of Mr. Hobbes Indeed this opinion of his is like the rest of the abominable and damnable whimsies of his own brain and ought to be ranked in the front of them And to give Mr. Hobbes a little over weight I will refer it to any rational Man whether Mark 1. 10. Ioh. 1. 32. do not absolutely shew the distinction of the two second Persons in the Trinity where 't is said That the Spirit of God descended from Heaven like a Dove and abode upon Christ. Now taking Christ to be God as Mr. Hobbes frequently calls him in this Chapter what was the Spirit that abode upon him but a distinct Person in the Godhead and Heb. 3. 7. conjoined to Psal. 95. 7. to which it relates may fully conclude Mr. Hobbes For the former Text saith That the Holy Ghost said To day if ye will hear his voice which last words are the words of the latter Text in the 95. Psalm So 't is apparent that in David's time which I hope Mr. Hobbes will allow to be before the Apostles time there was an Holy Ghost So I will leave Mr. Hobbes in hopes he will live long enough to recant this opinion Mr. Hobbes saith p. 282. That the four first of the ten Commandments were particular to the Israelites but the six latter obliged all mankind being but the Law of Nature I shall agree with Mr. Hobbes as to the six latter that they are but what Nature dictated before But as to the four first I would know a reason why they were not obligatory by the Law of Nature at least secondarily that is to say obligatory by Nature upon all Men that know there was one and only one living and true God as all Men may see there is by the things that he hath made which knowledge makes it as natural as to the three first Commands for us to be bound by those Laws as 't is for a Man naturally to be bound not to injure his neighbour As for Example Is it not as natural for the Creature to worship his Creator and not to set up false gods to deprive him of his honour and not to use his Name irreverently as 't is for a Man not to desire or take that which is an other Mans 'T is more natural if we will believe what Mr. Hobbes said before viz. That by Nature all Men were in an estate of Civil War and might catch what they could and in that state all force and fraud were cardinal Virtues but certainly never was any state or condition so where it was a cardinal Virtue to worship any god but the true one or to be irreverent to his Name But Mr. Hobbes his conceit is good in this place for one thing and that is that after he hath been blaspheming God and taking from him his Attributes and giving Men a toleration as to external acts or confession to acknowledge any thing for God that here he gives a reason for all that he said as to us Gentiles for we may do or say what we will noâ— being Iews in respect of God Almighty for that there is no Law if we will believe Mr. Hobbes to oblige us Gentiles to the contrary The four first Commands not being by the Law of Nature obligatory to any Man and being particular to the Israelites as made at mount Sinai Now the Nature of a particular Law is only to oblige that particular people for whom 't was particularly made and those were the Israelites in this case if Mr. Hobbes be an authentick Author And as to the fourth Command I think though the day be changed yet that in substance is as obligatory as the other three are by the Law of Nature for 't is as natural to set a time a part for the worship of God as 't is to worship him and since God hath limited the Iews a whole day why should not we take that as our pattern For 't is as natural to take God for our pattern in this as in other things Be ye holy as I am holy And we have not only his Command to the Iews for a pattern but his own Example of resting the seventh day and sanctifying it upon the knowledge of which why should it not be natural for Men to keep holy one day in seven For the Law of Nature is twofold either primary without any prerequisite as 't is natural for a thing that hath life to move Or secondary when something is requisite to give liberty to Nature to work as for Example Men love their Children naturally but they must know first that they are their Children before they love them as such For if a Father had never seen his Child from his birth till ten years of age and then should accidentally meet him he would love him no better then any other but after he was acquainted by undoubted circumstances that it was his Child then naturally would result an emanation of affection So after we know that there is only one God and that he hath appointed one day in seven for his service though to another people which day he sanctified and rested upon Gen. 2. 3. why is it not natural for us to serve him all mankind having an inbred awe towards something above them and that on one day in seven according to his example
observed of Mahomet's doctrine for Religion that the Turk teacheth within his Dominions or that a Papist should teach if uppermost So now Mr. Hobbes hath done like a Scholar as he may well think to find a place in the Bible to prevent Preaching against the Alcoran or Mass Yet to do Mr. Hobbes Right after his so many assertions that that only is to be acknowledged as Canonical Scripture which the Civil Soveraign saith is so and that in 1651. he attended the determination of the Sword to decide all Doctrines he saith That he can acknowledge nothing to be Canonical Scripture but that which the Church of England hath commanded to be acknowledged for such and I think there is nothing so near an Orthodox opinion in all his Book but I suppose he meant that he would acknowledge it to be so only until the Sword had at that time determin'd it After Mr. Hobbes had laid down positive general Rules for enervating the Scriptures in saying That the Authority of them depended upon the determination of the Soveraign now in his 33. Chap. he comes to the particulars of the several Books of the Scriptures and hopes there I suppose to compleat the work For he saith That the several Books especially of the Old Testament were not written by those that are commonly supposed to be the Penmen of them but by others a long time after their deaths which if true may raise a scruple to the truth of them only he saith That he supposeth Moses wrote the greatest part of Deuteronomy else that the Old Testament was penned generally by Esdras for which he cites the Apocrypha Esdras the 14 th Chapter and when he hath done so takes it for granted that Esdras penned them after the captivity To answer particularly Mr. Hobbes in this would require a very large Discourse enough to tire out both Me and my Reader besides I think it not worth my while to answer general assertions in matters of fact which are contrary to the general admissions of the most Learned Men with long Discourses but rather content my self with saying that they are not to be credited but rejected Yet to that which Mr. Hobbes is particular in I shall answer particularly He saith The Pentateuch was penned long after Moses death and for this he cites the 12. of Genesis v. 6. which saith That when Abraham passed through the Land to the plain of Moreh the Canaanite was then in the Land Which shews clearly saith Mr. Hobbes that this Book was written after Moses time because the Canaanite was not displaced till after Moses death But if Mr. Hobbes had well considered and look'd into the 7 th verse he would have found that God promised Abraham the Land in which at that time Abraham built an Altar unto the Lord which was as it were a taking possession of the Land and by God's gift he had a better right to it as to futurity than the Canaanite had whereupon Abraham by Faith look'd upon the future time and saw the Canaanite displaced and knew that by force of God's promise the Canaanites antient right to them and their posterity was changed So that the Canaanites as to the succession might be rather said to have had the Land than that they had it and so is the 48. Gen. 21. to be understood Or may not the Text be rationally intended that Moses said this to declare that the Canaanite was then in the Land and not any other people How unreasonable then it is for Mr. Hobbes to change a general supposition at the best but upon a doubtful Text of Scripture and an Apocryphal story I shall refer to any Man that hath his reason and if reason be on my side Mr. Hobbes ought to be so too because he said before that Reason is the Word of God The rest of Mr. Hobbes his Texts to prove this are nothing to the purpose and so I pass them over As to the Pen-men of the Books of the New Testament he determins nothing but saith That they were made Canonical by the Church and that the writers of them were indowed with God's spirit in that they conspire to the setting forth the rights of the Kingdom of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Let me then ask Mr. Hobbes why they need to be made Canonical and to be approved or rejected by the Soveraign or his reciprocal Word the Sword Mr. Hobbes said p. 38. That the Scriptures by the spirit of God in Man mean a mans spirit inclined to godliness the falsness of which I have upon that page spoken to Now p. 207. he comes to treat of Spirits in general what they aâ—e and saith if I rightly understand him which I think is difficult in so perplex'd a discourse as he makes all over this his 34. Chapter That they are bodies for he saith that substance and body are the same thing And p. 17 53 214. saith That all substances must be bodies and that the words incorporeal substance joined together are unintelligible nonsence and imply a contradiction And so runs on further in his old vein of making positive affirmations contrary to the general received opinion of all Christian Men without giving any reason at all for his so â—aying But to reason the matter a little why are the words incorporeal substance contradictories Why may there not be a substance that hath no Body as well as a substance that hath one For substance is nothing but that which doth substare such and such qualifications as are proper and do belong to the being or nature of the thing in which those qualifications are and without which those qualifications could not be for want of something to support them As we may say that Iron which is a corporeal substance is hard so we may say that a thing of a more subtle existence or substance is intelligent rational or wise For that it may be equally capable to support these as the Iron doth hardness colour or any other qualification Now then to say that body and substance are the same thing is only a positive saying and if the words had been never thought on before might as well signifie variously as the same Then certainly 't is a strange piece of confidence to obtrude such a position upon the World without any possibility of reason which is contrary to the sentiments of all Learned persons that ever I heard of But if Mr. Hobbes ask me what a Spirit is if it be not a Body I must say that I can no more tell the likeness of it than Mr. Hobbes supposing he had never seen by some external obstruction any thing nor spoken with them that had could have told what a like thing an Horse or a grey Hound is things incapable and things obstructed giving the same account of their proceedings But 't is apparent that there is such a thing as a Spirit for our Saviour saith Luke 24. 39. Handle me and see for a Spirit hath
God's Spirit upon the assumption but sufferr'd it rather to attend the blessed Spirit for the plenitude of them and this is agreeable to all the Interpreters of those Texts that ever I saw except Mr. Hobbes his Leviathan And Mr. Hobbes saith further That in these last mentioned Texts the word Spirit either signifies a real substance which he said before must be a Body or else metaphorically signifies some extraordinary ability This I mention to shew that taking Mr. Hobbes together he calls God the Holy Ghost a Body though hereafter p. 268. he denies him any real existence at all Mr. Hobbes in this Chapter cites many Texts to prove that Angels have Bodies and dimensions as those that went to Lot into Sodom and other like This I shall not dispute with Mr. Hobbes though 't is more probable and agreeable to the opinion of the generality of the World that they assumed Bodies upon those particular occasions by the direction of God Almighty But then with another argument he thinks to make it sure that Angels have Bodies because Hell-fire is prepared for the Devil and his Angels and fire saith he can only work upon a Body I suppose Mr. Hobbes means our fire can only work upon a Body and then mark the strong consequence Ergo God cannot make any other sort of fire that can work upon something not Body Mr. Hobbes might as well have said that if we never had had any fire God could not have made such a thing as fire Nay Mr. Hobbes in this place confesseth That the evil Angels shall not be consumed in this fire and this shews 't is a fire not like ours and so Mr. Hobbes hath answered himself in which faculty he is the happiest Man that I ever knew But to come closer to Mr. Hobbes he I think would be troubled to make out that our fire cannot work upon a thing that is immaterial for it follows not that because it burns wood it will burn nothing that is not in the same manner substantial But after all what is this taking it as Mr. Hobbes would have it that Angels have Bodies and dimensions to prove that the words incorporeal substance imply a contradiction That is in plain English there is no substance but hath a body that is to say the great God of Heaven and Earth though Mr. Hobbes speaks plain only concerning Angels hath a Body and consequently as Mr. Hobbes saith hath dimensions and consequently is finite and not infinite So Mr. Hobbes may in time deny all the Attributes of God for before he hath denied his Knowledge and now his Infinity by direct consequence But whether Mr. Hobbes never thought of this sequel as I have so much charity for him knowing his weakness in other places to believe he never did or whether the Atheism was so gross that Mr. Hobbes durst not speak out plain I shall leave to the Reader to determin Mr. Hobbes now comes to tell what the meaning of the words Kingdom of God signifie in Holy Scripture as he calls it properly which he defines to be p. 217. God's dominion over a people by special contract As the people of Israel were subjects by the special covenant made by God with Abraham as in Gen. 17. whereby Abraham and his Seed were obliged to obey God's positive Law as by an oath of Allegiance for to the Moral Law they were obliged before This I suppose Mr. Hobbes intends for a foundation of God's distinct Kingdom as will appear by and by never distinguish'd from his general Dominion before that ever I heard of neither is there any cause to distinguish it now as he doth by necessary supposition or else all he saith signifies nothing But methinks this is too slender a foundation for such a work and the supposition that is that Abraham and his Seed were not obliged to obey God's positive Law before that special covenant is false For without doubt God's Dominion over the Earth as he is stiled Lord of all the Earth frequently in Scripture puts a duty not only upon all the Seed of Abraham but all the Seed of Adam to obey his positive Law as well as the Moral Law in case that positive Law be appropriated to them either in general or to any of them in particular as the Ceremonial Law was appropriated to the Iews and there needs no special contract to oblige any sort of Men to obey whatever God commands for he is Lord and Creator of all the Earth and the disposer and orderer of all things in it and hath a right to do so which Mr. Hobbes acknowledgeth p. 187. and saith 'T is naturally upon the account of his Power that God reigneth and punisheth the breach of his Laws and this Mr. Hobbes saith without any limitation So before I give a further answer in this Mr. Hobbes must be reconciled to himself But Mr. Hobbes goes on in this his fabrick and after several Texts cited that the Iews were God's peculiar people boldly concludes p. 218. That by the Kingdom of God is properly meant a Commonwealth instituted by consent of those that are to be subject thereto for their Civil Government which properly was a Kingdom wherein God was King and the High Priest his Viceroy And for this thanks to his grace he vouchsafeth a reason which he never did that I remember before for any of his crotchets which is That the Iews in Scripture are called an Holy Nation Now holy saith Mr. Hobbes signifieth that which is God's by special not general right Put this into a Syllogism and let us see how natural the consequence will be By an holy Nation in Scripture is meant a peculiar Nation to God But the Iews are an holy Nation Ergo by the Kingdom of God is properly meant a Commonwealth If Mr. Hobbes had made this Syllogism any one would swear that Mr. Hobbes although he railed against Aristotle had never read him or else not understood him And 't is not less absurd out of a Syllogism than 't is in for what hath an holy Nation which are God's people because they serve him in the way of Piety which respects mainly their future state to do with a Common-wealth and God's being Monarch upon Earth which he hath left in the Creation to the government of Men But Mr. Hobbes p. 218. cites divers Texts of Scripture to confirm his Position of which Texts I shall only answer two which seem to bear most in his advantage and the first is 1 Sam. 12. 12. where 't is said upon the Israelites desiring a King that God was their King Hence Mr. Hobbes collects That God was their King and governed the Civil State of the Commonwealth and that the high Priest was his Viceroy I shall agree with Mr. Hobbes that God so far governed the State of the Commonwealth as to appoint who should govern it but 't is most apparent that he no otherwise govern'd it than by appointing who should govern as
publick which he calls God's Lievtenant say contrary to his belief This will make Mr. Hobbes safe either in Turky though he be a Christian or at Rome though he be a Protestant Yet Mr. Hobbes ought to remember that in holy Scripture belief in the Heart and confession with the Mouth go together But this conceit of Mr. Hobbes puts me in mind of a story of Bernier's a French Man who when he travail'd into the Mogol's Country happening to be Physician to Danech-Men-Kan chief Minister of State was sent by him to see a Mahometan Miracle and discovering the cheat of it which the Priests of that Temple observing was forced to cry Wonder Wonder as the custom there is in token of assent and immediately to take Horse for fear of being knock'd on the Head because of his discovery Now that which Bernier did do out of present fear Mr. Hobbes here gives an express toleration â—or and lays it down as universally lawful Of this I shall say no more only refer my reader to my Lord of Clarendon upon this place who hath exposed him sufficiently After Mr. Hobbes hath been labouring to make Religion nothing the authority of the Scriptures doubtful and indeavouring to deprive God of the honour of his greatest if any excel attributes Now in his 38. Chapter he comes to deprive Man of his hopes of a great part of his eternal felicity and saith p. 239. concerning the place wherein Men shall enjoy eternal life which Christ hath obtained for them That several Texts he there cites seem to make it on Earth which afterwards he concludes upon p. 241. with the mortality of the Soul till the Resurrection I must confess that I wonder that any Man in his wits should raise such an opinion from Texts that look noâ—hing like it which I will refer to any sober Man So I shall not trouble my self with any of them save the 3 d of Iohn 13. which saith That no Man hath ascended up into Heaven but the Son of Man which came down from Heaven Whereupon Mr. Hobbes saith That by the way he observes that these are not the words of our Saviour though the words before are but of St. Iohn himself for Christ was not then in Heaven And now the implication from this as I suppose is that if none but Christ shall ascend which is meant by hath ascended in this place Christ being then on Earth then the place of eternal Life for Men shall be on Earth This looks pretily but hath nothing of an objection in it against Man's going into Heaven for eternal Happinessâ— when the Text is compared with what went before in the Chapter For there was a discourse between our Saviour and Nicodemus about his being born again and Nicodemus asked how these things should be Our Saviour replies vers 12. If you believe not when I tell you Earthly things how will you believe when I tell you of Heavenly things And then comes the 13 th verse which saith No Man hath ascended c. which are plainly the words of our Saviour being they refer to the precedent discourse and are no more than if our Saviour had said No man can tell these Heavenly things which I speak of and 't is like were mysteries belonging to the Kingdom of God not to be revealed save my self who came down from Heaven when I took the humane Nature upon me And 't is not improbable that he spake this to give Nicodemus to understand that he was God as well as Man And as to Mr. Hobbes his other Texts to prove That the future state of the blessed shall be upon Earth I think them only set down for number or sound sake and so I shall pass them over And as to the Text in Iob to prove the mortality of the Soul till the Resurrection 't is this That Man lieth down and riseth not till the Heavens be no more Which receives a short answer viz. that 't is meant only of the Body of Man But now to confute Mr. Hobbes I shall only lay down some few Texts of Scripture First as to the place of happiness eternal to prove that it is in Heaven and that our Bodies may ascend thither as 't is plain the Bodies of Enoch and Elias have already done and why not ours as well as theirs And 1 Thes. 4. 17. saith That we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them that is the dead in Christ as the verse precedent expresseth it in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we be ever with the Lord. How shall we be with the Lord upon Earth No 't is plain in the Heavens which is signified by the clouds and this further shews the possibility of our Bodies ascending for the Text saith expresly joyned with the precedent verse That we shall be caught up in the clouds I shall cite but one Text more and so leave Mr. Hobbes and his new opinion to stare one upon another It is 2 Corin. 5.1 where the Apostle saith For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens This is so full in all the parts of it aginst Mr. Hobbes that I think it impossible for any evasion to be made out of it in behalf of Mr. Hobbes his opinion But Mr. Hobbes though he be unkind to the Saints is very kind to the wicked and this I think ought to be ranked in the front of his Domestic Politics for he saith p. 242. That Earth is the place for the damned And p. 243. saith That fire in Scripture which is mentioned as a punishment in several Texts is to be taken metaphorically and may be exprest in proper terms which he saith p. 244. is no more but vexation of mind to see others happy and that the condemned person shall not be ever in it but dye never to live again And now Mr. Hobbes living or dying may think he hath made himself a safe bargain What can more incourage wicked Men to go on in their sins than this Or not to value whether they assent or no to Mr. Hobbe's his damnable Doctrines both of belief and practice But the rational or argumentative part of this I shall pass over because my Lord of Clarendon hath said so much upon this matter and only cite some few Texts of Scripture to satisfie any Man that the place of future torment is not upon Earth and that the Soul of Man is immortal whether it be the Soul of a wicked person or a righteous as well before as after the resurrection The first is Matth. 5. 30. which saith 'T is better that one of thy members perish than that thy whole body should be cast into Hell and the wicked shall be turn'd into Hell and all the Nations that forget God which as the Learned Mr. Hobbes saith is as much as should be cast