Selected quad for the lemma: sin_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
sin_n	adam_n	impute_v	posterity_n	3,200	5	9.6977	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96833	The examination of Tilenus before the triers; in order to his intended settlement in the office of a publick preacher in the Common-wealth of Utopia. Whereunto are annexed the tenents of the remonstrants touching those five articles voted, stated and imposed, but not disputed, at the synod of Dort. Together with a short essay (by way of annotations) upon the fundamental theses of Mr. Thomas Parker.	Womock, Laurence, 1612-1685.	1657 (1657)	Wing W3343; Thomason E1625_1; ESTC R204120	128,806	312

ordaining finally to condemn them Tilenus Infidelis If for the sin of another man and that pardoned to him that did wilfully commit it but imputed to his posteritie who never were in a capacitie to tast the pleasure of it or consent unto it or protest against it your pretended God deals thus cruelly with them depriving them for ever of his grace which should inable them to repent and sealing them up by an irrevocable decree under an irresistible necessitie continually to sin and then to perish everlastingly for so sinning where is that infinite justice accompanied with that superabundant mercy and graciousness you affirmed to be in him I have heard that the God whom Christians do adore is so infinitely merciful that he will have all men to be saved and none to perish and not able to swear by a greater swears by himself that he will not the death of the sinner but that he may repent and live That he protesteth the sufficiencie of his own applications and be waileth their wilful obstinacie and expostulateth most earnestly What could have been done more that I have not done O that there were such a heart in you Why will ye die Indeed there is so much grace and sweetness in these expressions they would bring a poor wretch presently upon his knees to such a God Dr. Dubins These are all the very expressions of that God whom we serve into whose gracious arms and bosome we so earnestly desire to bring you Tilenus Infidelis If you could teach me how to reconcile these expressions to the doctrin of your Synod I should say something but I conclude that impossible Mr. Simulans I shall willingly undertake that work as hard as you make it and a great deal more too to gain your soul out of the state of infidelitie There is a threefold distinction used amongst our Divines that will untie the knot presently 1. Mr. Calvin in Ezck. 18. 23. hath very learnedly observed that God hath two wills one outward and revealed whereby he doth most sweetly invite sinners to his grace and most gratiously calls them to repentance seeming as though he were earnestly desirous of their salvation the other will is inward and secret which is irresistible and takes effect infallibly and by this he brings through wayes unavoidable to an estate and course of sin here and then to eternal damnation and punishment hereafter Now to applie this you must understand those places of scripture forementioned of Gods outward and revealed will which is uneffectual not of his inward and secret will which is unresistible Tilenus Infidelis A very useful distinction and tending much to the honour of your God as you have applied it I see you have not your name for nought Mr. Simulans but for my part I think Homer was much more honest then you and your God when he sayes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Who speaks contrarie to what he means ought to be held as a common enemie and hated as the very gates of Hell But perhaps your second distinction may be more satisfactory I pray let us have that Mr. Simulans We must make use of distinctions to clear our doctrins from contradiction and if that doth not like you we have another which cannot be denied When 't is said that God would have all men to be saved the word All is to be understood non de singulis generum but de generibus singulorum not for all of every kinde but for some few only of every sort and nation Tilenus Infidelis Methinks Sir if this be the meaning of the words the Scripture might have said with far more reason that God will have all men to be damned since of every Nation and condition the number of the damned do far exceed the number of the saved according to your doctrin and reason requires that the denomination should be made according to the major part But perhaps your third distinction will help this out Mr. Simulans The will of God is either approbans tantum or else approbans et efficiens simul God we say will have all men to be converted and saved Approbativè non effectivè he approves of it and likes it well in himself that all men be converted and saved but he wills it not effectively that is he hath decreed the contrary not to give them means necessarie to the attainment of it Tilenus Infidelis This distinction I conceive no less unreasonable and absurd than the former That your God should appoint by a secret absolute and irrevocable decree that those things which he doth naturally hate and abhor should be most practised and those which he naturally loves and likes should be omitted this is so inconsistent with that infinite wisdome and goodness which you proclaim to be in him that I cannot finde my self in any measure inclin'd to acknowledge him the Governour of the world I suspect rather that you have a design to make me become a proselyte to the Manichoeans who profess two principles a wicked one as well as a good one and having acknowledged my perswasion of a good God who loveth righteousness and hateth iniquitie you tempt me to believe a wicked God also which is the Author of all evil and in perpetual hostilitie against the former It were so great an impeachment of his sinceritie that no civil person would indure to have his words so interpreted as you interpret those of your Gospel the unavoidable consequence whereof is that your God is the true Author of all the sins and wickedness of this world both past present and to come Mr. Fatalitie We say Deus est causacur peccatum existat sed non cur sit God is the cause of the existence but not of the essence if I may so speak of sin as he that drives a lame horse is the cause of his halting but not of his lameness Tilenus Infidelis This distinction will hardly help the lame dog over the stile For he that drives a horse unavoidable into that motion which necessarily causeth his first halting is certainly the cause of his lamenes and so did your God drive Adam according to your own doctrin into the first sin which made him and his posteritie halt ever since Mr. Fatalitie You must distinguish the materialitie of sin from the formalitie of it or the Act from the deformitie God we say is cause of the act or the materialitie but not of the formalitie the defect or obliquitie of it Tilenus Infidelis I replie 1. That there are sins of omissien which happen according to your doctrin by reason the offender is deprived of necessary and sufficient grace to perform the duty and these sins are not capable of that distinction and if the desicient cause in things necessary be the efficient you know to whom such sins are to be imputed 2. There are sins of commission not capable of that distinction neither as in blasphemie murder adulterie wherein the act is not to

but commanded as to be done by us Deut. 10. 16. Ier. 4. 4. A new heart and spirit promised Ezek. 36 26. but commanded Ezez 18. 31. * see Eph. 4. 23 I will be your God promised Ierem. 32. 38. but commanded Exod. 20. 3. and if ye forsake him he will cast you off for ever 1 Chron. 28. 9. One heart and one way promised Ier. 32. 39. yet commanded Ephes 4. 3 4. 1 Cor. 1. 10. So Ier. 32. 40. 't is promised I will put my fear in their hearts Yet Prov. 1. 29. because they did not chuse the fear of the Lord and 1 Pet. 2. 17. So 't is promised I will write my lawes in their inward parts and they shall be all taught of God Jer. 31. 33. Isa 54. 13. Yet in other places it is commanded Be swift to hear take heed how you hear as new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word 1 Pet. 2. 1 2. See Prov. 7. 1 3. and Rom. 10 8. with the 17. vers So 't is promised Isa 1. 25. I will purge yet 2 Tim. 2. 21. He that purgeth himself So 't is promised Ier. 33. 8. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity yet Iam. 4. 8. Isa 1. 16 18. 't is commanded wash ye make ye clean And 't is evident that God many times fulfilleth his promise and performeth his part when m●n altogether neglecteth his part and duty Ezek. 24. 13. I have purged thee and thou wast not purged See Mat. 11. 21. Luke 7. 30. Dr. Dubius Enough of this you promised us a third reason why God doth not as you pretend work mans Conversion and his faith by a power of grace irresistible I pray let us hear that also Tilenus Sir you shall have it in a few words and it is this because he will not save as I speak of the Adult who have the use of their faculties but in a way of duty Gen. 4. 7. If thou do well shalt thou not be accepted Rom. 2. 6 7. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortalitie to them and to them only will he render eternal life and therefore He is said to be the Author of Eternal salvation only to them that obey him Heb. 5. 9. Now observe that which is not wrought but by the omnipotent impulse and irresistible motion and operation of God that cannot be the duty of a poor frail Creature or thus what is a work of Almightiness in God cannot be a work of obedience in us if it were it would conclude us to be omnipotent besides the act could not be an act of duty Christ could do nothing that was duty for us till he had submitted himself to the condition of our nature Phil. 2. 7. because God supposed to be the doer of it is not under obedience but repentance and amendment of life c. are required as a duty of us and as part of our obedience Ier. 7. 3 5. Amend your wayes and make you a new heart and a new spirit Ezek. 18. 31. Mr. Knowlittle By this doctrin you seem to make a man his own Saviour Tilenus If I should not only seem to do so but do so in good earnest so it be in a way of subordination to Christ I see no harm in it St. Paul saith work out your salvation Yea St. Peter exhorting to repentance saith expresly save your selves Acts 2. 40. To our safety our own sedulity is required according to that trite saying He that made thee without thy self will never save thee without thy self Dr. Absolute Me thinks this doth hardly sound like that doctrin which the Apostle labours so earnestly to establish to shut the creature for ever out of all ground and occasion of boasting Rom. 3. 27. Tilenus For a man to boast himself in his riches is vanitie in his wickedness is impietie in his works performed in obedience to Moses law or out of the strength of nature as if they could justifie and save him is arrogancie But to glory in the Lord and rejoyce in his salvation is not only allowed a Rom. 2. 7. but also injoyned b 1 Cor. 1. 31. Phil. 4. 4. and practised 2 Cor. 1. 12. our rejoycing or glorying is this the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sinceritie not by fleshlie wisdome but by the grace of God we have had our Conversation in the world See Rom. 15. 17. and Gal. 6. 4. Let every man prove his own works performed in the faith of Christ and through the power of his grace and then shall he have rejoycing glorying boasting in himself 'T is the same word in these two places with that in the Text objected Rom. 3. 27. Dr. Damman Are these your tenents Consonant to the Articles of the Synod of Dort What opinion have you of t●at and the doctrin held forth by the Divines in that Assembly Tilenus I have had as great a reverence for that Synod as any man living the principles therein delivered being instill'd into me from my youth but I thank God studying the best method for the cure of souls and the opportunitie of reading better books hath altered my judgement quite Dr. Damman Do you think you have changed so much for the better that you have reason to give God thanks for it Tilenus Yes truly and I perswade my self you would be of that minde too if you would patiently attend to my objections against their doctrin and weigh them without prejudice or partialitie But before I propound those objections it will be requisite that we take a brief view of that doctrin which I shall therefore concisely yet truly and clearly summe up in these five Articles following They hold 1. That God by an absolute decree hath elected to salvation a very little number of men without any regard to their faith or obedience whatsoever and secluded from saving grace all the rest of mankinde and appointed them by the same decree to eternal damnation without any regard to their infidelitie or impenitencie 2. That Christ Iesus hath not suffered death for any other but for those elect o●ly having neither had any intent nor commandement of his father to make satisfaction for the sins of the whole world 3. That by Adams fall his posteritie lost their freewil being put to an unavoidable necessitie to do or not to do whatever they do or do not whether it be good or evil being thereunto predestinate by the Eternal and effectual secret decree of God 4. That God to save his Elect from the corru●t Mass doth beget faith in them by a power equal to that whereby he created the world and raised up the dead insomuch that such unto whom he gives that grace cannot re●ect it and the rest being reprobate cannot accept of it though it be offered unto both by the same preaching and ministery 5. That such as have once received that grace by faith can never fall from it finally

nor totally notwithstanding the most enormous sins they can commit Dr. Damman I confess you have done the Divines of that Synod no wrong in setting down their tenents but what objections have you against the doctrin Tilenus I shall insist only upon this and 't is so comprehensive I need mention no more it doth not only evacuate the force and vertue but quite frustrateth the use of the ministerie of the word and all other holy ordinances instituted by our Saviour Christ and commanded to be continued for the edification and benefit of his Church to the worlds end Dr. Dubius How can you make that appear Tilenus For the ministery of the word it is imployed either about the wicked or the godly the wicked are of two sorts either Infidels despising or Carnal persons professing the holy Gospel the Godly they are of two sorts or two tempers likewise or we may consider them under a two-fold estate either as remiss and tepid or else as disconsolate and tempted so that the ministery of the word is designed to a four-fold end in respect of man 1. The Conviction and Conversion of an Infidel 2. The Correction and amendment of the Carnal 3. The quickning and provocation of the tepid and slothful 4. The comfort and consolation of the afflicted and tempted But the former doctrin of the Synod of Dort is so far from being serviceable to any of these four ends that it is directly repugnant to them all and therefore not consonant to that holy Scripture given by inspiration of God which is profitable for all those ends as the Apostle saith 2 Tim. 3. 15 16. for doctrin for reproofe for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God who is a helper of the peoples joy 2 Cor. 1. 24. may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto every good work That this may the more evidently appear I desire you with whom that doctrin is in so high esteem to make a practical attempt of it herein I desire you to be true to your own principles and not to shuffle as usually in your popular sermons wherein the Synodical and Calvinian principle in your Doctrin is alwayes confuted by an Arminian exhortation in your Application in the mean while I am content to personate successively those four sorts of men and for method sake I pray address your discourse first for the Conversion of Tilenus Infidelis Dr. Absolute Most gladly will we undertake this task that we may convince you of the errours in which we see you are immersed provided you do not studie to be obstinate nor alledge any other reasons to justifie your recusancie and averseness to the Christian faith then what you clearly deduce from the doctrin of the Synod and the Divines thereof To begin the work then we will take it for granted that you acknowledge a Deitie and demand of you what Attributes this Deitie i● according to your apprehension invested and cloathed with Tilenus Infidelis The School of nature hath determined that question by so many irrefragable arguments that I am convinced long since that there is a soveraign Power called God and when I consider such beams and characters of wisdome and knowledge in the soul of man such impressions of truth and justice upon his conscience with so great a varietie of goodness in all Creatures I must conclude that God the maker of all these is an Eternal being infinitly wise good and just I believe further that this most wise God in communicating so much goodness unto man intended hereby to oblige him to pay according to his abilitie such homage and service as is due to his soveraign excellencie and bounty and in performance hereof we may be confident to finde protection and reward Mr. Simulans The God whom we profess and worship and he alone is such a God as you have described but more merciful and gracious infinitly then you have been acquainted with to whose service therefore ●e do most earnestly invite you Tilenus Infidelis I thank you for your pretended kindness but if you can produce no fairer glass to represent the nature of your God then the doctrin of that Synod I must tell you I shall have no temptation or inducement at all to believe in him for that doctrin is so far from exalting the attributes of wisdome goodness and justice in him that it doth in a high measure impeach them all Mr. Fatqlitie You will never be able to make that good Tilenus Infidelis I beseech you hear me patiently For his wisdome first I conceive that is extreamly eclipsed in that he hath made choice of no better means to advance his own honour but hath stoopt to such mean unworthy designs to compass that end as all but tyrants bankrupts would be ashamed of Dr. Dubius How so Tilenus Infidelis Your doctrin if it does not belie the majesty you profess to worship supposeth him to have made a peremptory decree whereby his subjects are necessitated to trade with Hell and Satan for sin and damnation to the end he may take advantage out of that commerce to raise an inconsiderable impost to augment the revenues of his own glory Mr. Preterition We have his own word for it M●t. 20. 15. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own Tilenus Infidelis 1. Your Scripture must not conclude me while I personate the Infidel but 2. We are not now arguing what God may do by his absolute power and right of dominion but what is agreeable to his infinite wisdome And 3. your text speaks of a free disbursement of his favours but our discourse proceeds upon the account of appointing men to sin and punishment Now I hope you will not call sin Gods own though your doctrin concludes him fairly to be the Author of it and for punishment he is pleased to call that opus alienum not his own but a strange work But if your God for his mere pleasure only and to make demonstration of his absolute power hath appointed to eternal torments the greatest part of his noblest Creatures without any respect to sin as some of your Synod do maintain not regarding his own image in them what is this but to play the tyrant and where then is that infinite goodness which you profess to be in your and I expect to be in that God whom I fear and honour A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast Prov. 12. 10. yet his mercy is to be but a copy transcribed from that original in God Luke 6. 36 but if your God be of that temper the righteous man may very well be a precedent of mercy unto him Mr. Preterition Indeed some of the Synod do maintain that rigid way but the Synod it self determined otherwise viz. that Almighty God looking upon mankinde as fall'n in the loyns of Adam pass'd over the greatest part of them leaving them in that lapsed estate not affording them sufficient grace for their recovery