the flesh and make God to decree sin efficatiously with an energetical working wil blaming thos that refer ought to Gods prescience only Permission properly is an act of Gods consequent judiciary Wil by which he punisheth Men for abusing their freedom in committing sins day by day which they might hav declined and 't is caled his long-suffering proceding to punish with a slow unwilling pace See Ps 81. 11 12. Ezek. 18 39. Rom. 1. 21 24. Rev. 22. 11. but Permission by them intended is an act of Gods antecedent Wil exercised on innocent men lying under no guilt whom he eternaly preordains to sin and punishment So tru Permission about whomever exercised is only not to hinder them from faling which are able to stand and supposeth a possibility in the party permitted to sin or not but in their sens 't is a withdrawing or with-holding of Grace needful to shun sin and so infolds an absolut necessity of sinning as the fal of Dagons hous folowed Sampsons plucking down the Pillars which supported it So Maccovius saith Permission is a subtraction of divine assistance necessary to prevent sin so Dr. Whitaker Permission is a privation of that aid which bâ—ing present would hav prevented sin So Pareus That help which God witheld from Adam made that he could not so use his indowments as to persever which he saith is the doctrin generaly defended by their side So their Permission of sin being a subtraction of necessary Grace is equivalent to an actual effectual procuring and woking of it for a deficient caus in things necessary is truly efficient so this devise is a very figleaf to cover the ugly nakednes of their Opinion Others consider two things in every evil act 1. The matter 2 Devise or Entity wherof God is Author 2. The form or Obliquity which proceds from Satan as in a lame Hors This distinction halts wors then the Hors nor holds in al Answer sins sith in many the very acts are sinful as Adams eating the forbidden fruit and Sauls sparing Agag which in others had not bin sin NOE wil it serv their turn for they make Gods Decree caus of al thos means which lead to damnation therfore of sinful actions as sinful and not as bare Entities sith they deserv death not as simple actions but as transgressions of the Law As to their sly Simile that Master or Owner who shal first resolv to kil his Hors and after lames him that he may hav color to doo it is cruel to his Beast and Author both of his halting and death so if God first decree to cast Men into Hel and then bring them into a state of sin that he may effect his purpose justly he must needs be Author of sin so wel as the actions to which it cleavs sith he intends destruction Thes are horrid aspersions Som coin a third evasion that the Wil is determined to an 3 Devise object two wais 1. By compulsion against its inclination so God forceth no Man 2. By complying with its natural appetit or liking So God may lead a Man to what he would yet not be Author of sin but only necessitats it When Men sin 't is tru they cannot chuse and as tru they wil not but sin so 't is not Gods Decree but their own wicked Wil which is caus of their sin and death The Fathers and School-men make Compulsion and Necessity Answer al one denying that God necessitats any to sin for then he is Author of it so wel as if he compeld Men sith therby it must inevitably be committed which els might be declined Nay what necessitats the Wil to sin is more the caus then the Wil it self becaus it overruleth and bears most sway bereaving al tâ—â— liberty to dispos it s own acts which should be free Lord of it self For the Necessitater is Commander Comptroler and Compeller but the Wil a servil instrument determined by divine Decree from which al such acts rather proced then from Mens wicked Wils When two Causes concur to produce an Effect one principal overruling the other instrumental at the principals devotion the Effect is ascribed to the influx or impression of the former and not to the later which is only a subservient Servant See Mat. 10. 20. 1 Cor. 15. 10. Gal. 2. 20. wher the work is wholy imputed to the principal Agent Adams Wil in innocence was whit paper or a clean-Table equaly inclined to good or evil So if God decreed his Fal as Supralapsarians say that necessity was a coaction but al others by depraved Nature are disposed to evil yet determined by divine decree both Elect and Reprobats Wils Though then Mans Wil works with Gods Decree in sinning yet siâ—h it doth it by the commanding power of his irresistible Decree the sin cannot so rightly be attributed to Mans Wil the inferior as to Gods Decree the superior Caus Yea that which makes a Man sin by necessity with and not against his Wil is caus of his sin in worâ— sort then he which constrains him against his wil as he that by powerful perswasion draws one to kâ—l himself is more gâ—osly the caus of his self-homiciâ— then he who inforceth him to it becaus it makes him consent to his own death So if Gods Decree makes Men sin and willingly too which is both to act and wil evil he hath a deeper stroke in the sin Another shift is suggested that sin is considered as sin and 4 Devise so God doth not destinat Men to it Or as a means to manifest his Justice and so he doth decree to punish it yet is not the Author of sin This is a silly slide for a good end cannot justify an il actions Answer Both end matter and maner too must be good els the act is evil If a Man shal steal to giv Alms as Robin Hooa did or commit whordom to beget Children for the Church as the Harlot did which was mother to three famous School-Doctors or the like be his end never so good he sinneth hainously sith 't is a violation of Gods Majesty and directly opposit to divine Good as S. Paul saith We must not doo evil that good may insu If then God willeth evil for ends never so Rom. 3. 8. good yet sith he decrees it with a powerful necessitating Wil he is Author of it For sin simply is a means of punishment If then he wils it as a means of punishment he wils it as simply sin by an absolut Decree Absit omen This Position loads him with three indignities 1. Want of Wisdom which must needs be weak if he can find no way to glorify his Justice but by bringing in sin which his Soul hates that he may manifest it in punishing 2. Want of sincerity or plain dealing as Tiberius purposing to destroy Drusus and Nero sons to Germanicus provoked them to revile him that so he might justly put them to death So if God appointing Men to eternal
Mankind so by propagation al Mankind proceds out of one and as that sin overspreads the whol Man so both parts being infected must needs be propagated Again as this sin is seated specialy in the Soul so 't is chiefly propagated according to Natures cours Hence three points rest to be proved 1. That original sin passeth only by propagation as Scriptures universaly testify By one man death passed upon al becaus al sinned in him and 't is imputed to his Posterity becaus al were in him as the Root or Stock and al descend out of him so his sin becoms ours both by imputation and propagation but by the first becaus of the last For 't is not anothers sin imputed which is not ours but that made ours by propagation actualy which before was only potentialy This is cleer by the Antithesis between the first and secund Adam as in one al dy so in Christ shal al be made aliv The one being Root of Mankind in whom al are by Nature the other Head of the Elect in whom they are al by Grace Such then are deceived as deem Adams sin only imputed like Christs righteousnes sith this last is the Creators voluntary Institution and work of meer Mercy but the first a necessary operation of the Creature and work of Justice So the Antithesis holds tru thus As in Christ we fulfilled the Law suffered death and attained salvation being members of his Body by Grace So in Adam we eat the forbiden fruit becam Satans bondslaves and were in state of damnation being al members of his Body by Nature So Christ derivs his righteousnes to his Children by spiritual regeneration as Adam did his sin to al Men by natural generation Ergo as Christs righteousnes is not imputed but by means of regeneration wherby we becom members of his Body So Adams sin cannot be imputed but by generation wherby we descend from him as his members If Adams sin be simply imputed becaus we are Men as he was who received or lost for himself and al Mankind then must it be imputed to Christ as Man so wel as to us which is not so for our sinning in him and being sinfully propagated from him makes us liable which Christ was not becaus sanctified in the womb by the holy Ghost at first conception but al els derived from him and his sin to us through one anothers loins 2. Original sin cannot be propagated unles the whol Man and both Parts be which necessarily flows from the premisses for except the whol Man descends from him the whol cannot be infected sith neither Soul nor Body alone is the subject of sin but the Person Or if the whol be not the subject 't is not properly sinful The Law likewise is given to the whol and the Person punished or rewarded 3. The whol Man cannot be propagated unles the Soul be sith the whol consists of its parts To say the Soul coms from Adam quoad existentiam unionem non quoad essentiam is sly Sophistry not real or rational for then Man contributs but the worst part not the whol nor half Nor is it tru that Adam is caus of the union but rather God if he creats the Soul Nor if the Soul be infused can any tel how long time after conception during which space the Woman works alone But if the whol Man be said properly to proced from Adam becaus the body doth much more may it be verified to com from God becaus the Soul doth so the union rather to be ascribed to God as the noblest suprem Agent then to Man the baser and inferior If then the whol Man and both parts be not propagated it results that we were in Adam wherin we are not viz. the Person that we sinned in him without that without which he could not sin viz. the Soul That the whol Man was in Adam yet never cam from him That we lost in him which we never had of him viz. original righteousnes That he shal stil be ful of Souls which he never had That the whol person proceds from him yet not that which makes the whol 4. Christs Soul was not created but his whol Humanity taken from the Virgin for his birth life death are curiosly and circumstantialy recorded by the Evangelists but no Soul creation which they would not omit being so pregnant a proof that he was without sin if it was created pure Nor is any Souls creation since Adams specified in Scripture Christ is caled the seed of the Woman and Davids seed according to the flesh which imports the whol Humanity as opposed to his Deity but if his Soul was created the imputation of Adams sin to al Men must be likewise lâ—able to him as Man Ad hereto That the Soul and Body as 't is in al others were conceived at once for the divine Nature being immediatly united to the Soul and by it to the Body the Soul must be produced in the moment of conception with the Body or els the Deity was first united to a brute Body which is brutish to imagin The truth is his Soul being united with the Body into one Nature at first conception becam one Person with the eternal Word by a miraculous working of the holy Ghost who purified the Womb that the Birth becam exempt from sin So his whol Humanity Soul and Body was deduced from Adam and separated from the Virgin by the holy Ghost But a Soul cannot be produced by Natures ordinary cours no more then a Body without concurrence of both Sexes Souls yet being performed by supernatural power 't is a tru Soul and so is the Body both which joined in one Person make a perfect Man as Eve was a very Woman though taken out of Man and Christ tru Man taken only out of Woman For in Mans quadruple production â—â— a duple concordance Adam made immediatly by God without Man or Woman Eve mediatly out of Man without Woman Christ immediatly out of Woman without Man but al els mediatly by both 'T is said the holy Ghost sanctified part of the Virgins substance assumed by the Godhead to make Christs Person which terms are tru if wel understood For by part of hir substance is meant the whol Nature or both parts not Body only whereof his Humanity was framed By sanctifying is not meant clensing that portion from sin but consecrating it to that holy purpos indowing it with gifts fit for so divine union yet was it free from sin or rather never sinful by reason of this union For al substances were created exceeding good and depend immediatly on God Nor is sin essential to Mans Nature but accidental cleaving to the person by Adams fal and not properly in the substance of Human Nature Nor are evil actions or affections stiled simply sinful but the Man sith sin consists not in any pravity of matter but in the corrupt Wil or intent of the dooer Nor is ther any Law to punish parts or substances
not most part lying in laps predecreed to Reprobation Som slily expound the word World for a World of Elect or Beleevers only which is no wher so taken but either for al Men or al living in som certain place or at som certain time sans distinction of good or bad Or if it be any wher restrained 't is applied to wicked Men wedded to this World Yet if it be somwher limited to the Elect 't is not so here for then the words would bear a sensless sens God so loved the Elect that whoever beleevs in his Son should not perish which imports two sorts of Elect som that beleev and shal be saved others which beleev not and shal perish but Beleevers and Uunbeleevers saved and damned includ al Mankind which S. John cals elswher the whol World as an exposition of the former S. Paul 1 John 2. 2. 1 Tim. 2. â— saith God wil hav al Men to be saved and com to the knowledg of the truth Ergo his wil is that al shal hav the means of knowledg and be saved but none shut up under unbeleef Som by Al understand al sorts of Men but not al particulars in ech sort which is a silly shift Indeed 't is somtimes so taken but not here as the context shews for in the first vers a duty is injoined to make praiers and supplications for al Men and then a motiv annexed God wil hav al to be saved The duty extends to every particular we must in charity pray for al even Tyrans Persecutors prophane Persons Ergo the motiv intends al individuals or els reacheth not home to inforce the duty Others answer That God intends al to be saved by his reveled Wil but millions damned by his secret O beware of ascribing two several Wils to God who is no dissembler sith one must needs be good the other bad For if his Word be his reveled Wil and repugnant to his secret Mind or meaning it must be untru or simulatory and consequently a ly S. Peter saith The 2 Pet. 3. 9. Lord would hav none perish but al com to repentance Som fully it That he means only the Elect or Beleevers but the context flatly contradicts it For the next preceding words speak of patience or long-sufferance toward Men which must be Reprobats rather who dy in their sins as the same Apostle tels That Christ in spirit preached to the spirits which in Noahs dais 1 Pet 3. 19 20 were disobediens and now in prison or Hel for it Yea Reprobats are the most proper objects of his patience as S. Paul saith He useth much patience and long-suffering to them that Rom. 2 4. go on in sin that he might lead them to repentance Again he suffers Rom 9 22. with long patience Vessels of wrath prepared not decreed to destruction See Isai 5. 2. Isai 65. 2. So S. Peters words intend Reprobats so wel as others or rather them then others that God wil hav none to perish by his power or pleasure except by their own fault or folly This is confirmed by som conditional passages If thou seek him he wil be found but if then forsake him he wil cast thee off So God said to Cain If thou doâ— wel shalt thou not be accepted but if thou doo il sin lies at dore S. Paul saith The just shal liv by faith but if any draw back Hebâ— 1â— 38. my soul shal 〈◊〉 no pleasure in him By which conditions 't is clear that God forsakes no Man simply considered in the fal til he first forsakes him The result is That he rejects none by previous Decree sav such as he foresaw would cast him off by continuance in sin and contempt of Grace For Gods acts in time are regulated by his Decrees before time as 't is said He works al according to Eph. â— â—â— the Counsil of his Wil. For ther is an exact conformity betwen the Rule and thing squared by it therfore whatever God doth in the World he purposed before the World and by actual casting Men off when they grow rebellious or impenitent we may be sure he decreed to doo it for foreseen rebellion and impenitence Som obscure Texts may seem to favour the Opinion of free pleasure as Men mis-interpret them which by presupposing prevision are rightly reconciled But S. Austins rule is we must not contradict plain places becaus we cannot comprehend obscure And Tertullian teacheth that a few places are to be understood after the current sens of most part and not contrary to it as in this case for the most part it seems to be 2. It crosseth som chief Attributs of God Mercy Justice 2 Reason Truth Holines which are his perfections wherby he exerciseth his acts among Men conform to them For they are the same in God with thos virtues in Men but infinitly differing in degree sith what is just tru holy or merciful in Men is superlativly so in God Els cannot Man be properly made after his Image nor renewed in Regeneration after the same or made Col. 3. 10. partaker of divine Nature but 't is commanded Be ye perfect Mat. 5. 48. as your havenly Father is perfect and holy as I am holy Nor is soveraign power or dominion an Attribut moraly good in it self sith it may be shewed in cruel unjust acts so wel as contrary But our good God is Justice in the Abstract and wil not exercise it tyrannously contrary to his other Attributs 1. Now absolut Reprobation repugns his Holines making him the chief caus of sin in most Men sith he brings them into a state of sin which they cannot decline For al are guilty of Adams transgression and Natures corruption yet not by natural generation so much as by divine Ordination as Calvin â— 3. Inst â— 23. â— 7â— faith Al Men are held under guilt of eternal death in the person of one Man which cannot be ascribed to any natural caus but must com from Gods wonderful Counsil who would hav it so Doctor Twiss saith the same The guilt of Original sin is derived only by imputation the stain only by propagation and both meerly by Gods free constitution So saith S. Bernard Adams sin is anothers becaus we knew not Serm. 1 Dom. â— past 8. Epiâ—â— of it yet ours too becaus by Gods just though secret Judgment reputed ours This agrees with reason for if we incur guilt of the first sin and Natures corruption only as being in Adams loins when he sinned then are we guilty of al his other sins being virtualy or potentialy in his loins after the fal so wel as before But Scripture intitles only the first sin which entred the World and invaded al Mankind Yea Children should be guilty of al their Progenitors specialy the next Parents sins as being in their loins when they sinned more immediatly then in Adams yet Children partake not their Parents guilt nor punishments unles they hate
the day thou eatest thou shalt dy the death infolded an implicit Covenant for al his Posterity to be liable therto as Traitors Children are tainted Hereof Saint Paul saith As by one Rom. 5. 12. man sin entred into the World and death by sin so death went over al men sith al hav sinned viz. in him and by him for when the Parents eat sour grapes the Childrens teeth were set on edg and the whol race of man liable to duple death damnati S. Bernard antequam nati forlorn before born 3. The Soul sinned in consenting and lusting the Body in tasting and eating so both are guilty 4. Neither Soul nor Body apart is the adequat subject of sin but both united or the whol man the Body subjectum a quo of derivation the Soul in quo of inhesion the whol de quo of predication to whom al accidents of both parts are denominatly ascribed 5. It cannot properly be stiled sin til the Souls infusion becaus the Embryo is inanimat and imperfect but the rational Soul must first animat yet it can be stiled sin For whatever is not capable of Gods Image as seed is not is not liable to its privation becaus the habit and privation belong to the same subject 6. The Principium a quo is derived by seed from Parents begetting a depraved disposition in Man wherto a polluted womb ads more fuel which by the Souls union breaks forth into a flame and sets the whol hous on fire both parts together corrupting and being corrupted by a kind of emanation So before 't is infused we are said to contract sin from Parents as Infants draw diseases Stone Gowt Lepry c. that is the impression or inclination only 7. This sin is no simple privation as blindness which deprivs sight for ever but potential only including a positiv propension therto 8. Ther be three degrees of purity 1. Absolut of God 2. Subordinat according to the creatures capacity of Angels and Man in innocence 3. Comparat when being created pure they decline from it So our Souls being formed subordinatly pure soon degenerat by natural concupiscence being in respect of Adam and Angels less pure becaus procliv to sin 9. The maner of imparting it from Adam to al Posterity is rather to be beleeved saith Doctor Whitaker then inquired and better inquired then explored but easier explored then expressed For its nature is most arcane and the conveiance much more obscure 10. Parents Souls work to frame the whol compound Man not by giving being to the new Soul but by preparing a place to unite it with the Body So they may be said to concur in its production cuasaly by disposing the Body to receiv it not formaly by procreating it as Peter Lombard and his School Sectators define Thes are their curious Cautions and best bulworks of defens yet al too little To the Question Why God sends a pure Soul into a polluted prison They say becaus she hath a natural necessary pronenes therto being ordained to unite with a Human Body and both guilty of Adams sin For 't is not created a simple Spirit to subsist by it self but in the Body with relation to it which being derived from Adam draws the guilt of his sin by that preparation and union without carnal traduction so she becoms guilty both privativly and positivly yet God no Author Actor nor Abettor therin This sin then folows creation by accident for at Adams Souls infusion was mens sana in corpore sano but in every union since is sin So we must distinguish between Gods making and Adams marring for he creats every Soul in substance sound but concupiscence which S. John sais is not of the Father 1 Joh. 2. 16. creeps in instantly by Gods desertion sith every Soul even before 't is infused is virtualy guilty of Adams fal as he was Father and Fountain of al Mankind both in morals and naturals becaus God covenanted either explicitly as Cumel contests or implicitly as Sotus saith that he should stand or fal for himself and al his Of-spring by his proper power of unrestrained Free-wil The Schoolmen dissent diversly whether original sin be positiv privativ or mix'd If positiv whether Re or Ratione whether God doth necessitat the act or entity and Man the defect or obliquity whether he pacted explicitly with Adam or implicitly only but such subtle nicities shal be left to the Schools Zanchy the best Patron of Soul-creation ads mo Propositions 〈◊〉 2. de Hom. â—reat c. 5. 1. That God decreed al things eternaly to be executed in time and creats no mo nor fewer Souls then predecreed and as they becom stained by union 2. That his Decrees are just and immutable nor is it unjust to unite pure Souls with sin-tainted Bodies 3. Though he made al Decrees at once in respect of himself yet must they be effected or executed successivly in respect of the things as his decree to permit sin and deriv it by one to al Mankind subservs to the decree of Election and Reprobation 4. When Adam received integrity he had it as the root of al whence his righteousnes is stiled original and we were created in him just after Gods Image 5. His disobedience and fal was semblably ours becaus the Precept Thou shalt not eat belongs to al in him the Stock-father 6. His transgression being the Head is justly imputed to us as Members and the coruption of Nature or proclivity to evil inflicted as the penalty thereof This Saint Paul plainly proclaims in the Antithesis betwixt Adam and Christ whos Rom. 5. 15. righteousnes wherby we are justified hath two parts 1. The Grace or gift which with remission of sins by his obedience is imputed ours 2. Regeneration or Renovation of Nature as the effect So original sin is Adams disobedience imputed to us together with its guilt and corruption of Nature not only a sin but a punishment on al which sinned by his fal 7. When the Soul is said to be stained by union with the Body 't is not meant properly by any Physical impression but so soon as both are united a man is formed to whom the guilt of Adams sin is instantly imputed and by it a propension to al evil inevitably folows becaus the Command and Commination was given to al Mankind in Aâ—am Thus he is driven to decline sins inhesion inferring that the Soul is not infected by the Body as Wine by a muâ—y Cask but by union of both a Man is born Adams son to whom his disobedience is only imputed but the corruption or contagion imposed as a puâ—â—shment by divine decree and not by any action of the Body This is a kind of Gallimaufry how sound let Divines define but certainly original sin is inherent in the principles of Nature like Gehezais lepry in al Adams Progeny and not imputativ only Hinc lolium infoelix â—vae hinc oriuntur aâ—verbae Hence baleful tares doo sprout From hence
to antecedents or consequents for no man by meer reason can conceiv the mystery of Soul-creating nor doo they infer infusion for that is doon within the Body Haply he might learn of his Master Plato that al Souls were created at once and descend daily into Bodies designed for them but he taught the Souls immortality more confidently being Natures principal Secretary by many evidences of common reason which if any Traductist or other Sectist shal doubt or deny he is wors then an Ethnic or Atheist sith both Natures light and Scriptures lore so evidently demonstrat it to every ey nor doth Traduction oppose it Arg. Scaliger holds the Soul to be created apart and infused after du organization becaus if it be introduced at the instant of conception that first coagulation must be a Man which is most absurd Ergo 't is not infused til the time of quickning much less ingendred by way of Traduction Answ His opinion is no Oracle and the reason resolved afore That 't is no more absonous to cal the fiâ—st coagulation a Man imperfect or incomplet then a weak waterish Embryo at instant of quickning Or that a Beasts soul being begot by seed should denominat the first rudiments of conception a Beast being brought gradualy to more maturity til time of parturition but the quickning is or may be retarded by many human contingents Arg. Thâ— Sâ—hool-men say That Eves Soul was created els Adam would hav added she is Soul of my Soul so wâ—l as bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh being a nâ—erer relation then those carnal ones as Divines define Ergo as their two first Souls were created so consequently are al others from generation to generation Answ So say they but other learned Clercs gainsay Scaurus ait Varus negat utri creditis yet the consequent halts sith their two productions differ from al els becaus neither had two Parents and al els except Christ begot by carnal coition but specialy becaus created within the first six dais wherafter God rested from al creatific works To the Antecedent and reason therof 't is answered That she was formed intirely of an animaâ— Rib and the Soul therin becam hirs by divine operature as the Text seems to speak for 't is said of Adam God made Man meâ—â—ing the material part of dust not made dust a Man as if both parts cam from dust But of Eve the Rib made he a Woman intirely both Body and Soul not the Woman of a Rib as importing the material part only Al parts were built of that bone why not then the Soul too by diffusion so wel as the integrals by extension but sith Scripture is silent let it pass in suspens Repl. If Eves Soul cam of a Rib and had no divine origin then either women hav no Souls as som Dotards dream or thos material which wil sâ—ars relish their palats Answ Not so nor so for that Rib had a Soul which God by diffusing made hirs as he did her Bâ—dy by distending the material part so both savour of their several principles one of spirituality immarcescibility the other of materiality and mortality but both apt or able to beget alike substance indowed with the same qualities Arg Christs Soul was not traducted from Adam for then it should be tainted with his sin which is blasphemy to assert Eâ—go not ours sith he is like us in al things except only sin Answ He was the Womans seed and Son of Adam according to his whol humanity and his Soul produced in the same sort as ours whâ—â—her by creation or generation is the main Question being lik◠〈◊〉 things 〈◊〉 sin For ours if creâ—ted are infused no less 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his and his by union with a polluted Body no freer from sin then ours so this Stork bites both before and behind alike for if he took from his Mother inanimat flâ—sh only his Soul must therby be stained though created pure as others are defiled but one salv shal heal both sores for albeit she was conceived in sin and Luk. 1. 47. needed a Saviour as she her self confesseth which Dominicans grant and Franciscans deny yet was sanctified from al stain and purified from guilt by the wonderful working of the Holy Ghost being made a clean Vessel to receiv and conceiv that holy thing caled the Son of God even the immaculat Lamb without spot slain before the beginning of the World who could contract no pollution from hir that had none being perfectly purified though he should assume both Body and Soul from hir Repl. Zanchy saith Som Traductists forced by this Argument confess That Christs Soul wâ—s created but al els traducted but the production is like Ergo al created Answ Haply he dreams so but ther is no necessity of any such confession or concession for the Argument is already plenarily satisfied Certes Christ had his whol human Nature from his Mother by the Holy Ghosts miraculous operature in the same maner by creation or generation as others hav from Parents Arg. Three Sects or Septs of Heretics held Traduction 1. Luciferians by Souls transfusion 2. Marsilians who denied al Creation 3. Tertullianists and Apollinarians who assert that Souls generat Souls as Bodies doo Bodies Ergo Traduction is an Heretical Tenet condemned by the Church Answ They were condemned Heretics but Traduction no condemned Heresy nor a matter de fide and inserted for aggravation as crossing the common received opinion to fil up a number which was usual yet the two first erred circumstantialy in that point But al Hereticks held som verities and the best Orthodoxists som falsities sith al Mortals are obnoxius to manifold errors Thes are the Infusiastists chief Arguments with the Traductists Answers sincerely exhibited Next follow the Traductists Objections or offensiv weapons and Infusiastists defensiv Solutions taken from their best Armories Ob. God bid Man bring forth fruit and fil the earth but this Geâ— 1. 28. Precept concerns the whol compound conflated of Soul and Body Ergo both parts proceed from Parents Sol. Man is said in som sort to beget the whol becaus by producing and preparing the material part he is Author of the union wherin consists the whol Humanity which sufficeth to univocal generation though the principal part be not product by him How satisfactory this is shal be left to Arbitrement Ob. God ceased from al creatific works the seventh day 〈◊〉 2. 2. wherof the infusing of mans Soul was one Ergo he doth not creat multituds of Souls every moment Sol. He ceased from creating Compounds and Species or Kinds but not from forms or Essential parts such as Souls be Repl. If he creat al individual Souls ther being numberless births every instant in the vast univers then he concurs as a particular Agent or third Parent but he is only universal Father of al Creatures Ergo no particular third Parent in Mans production Sol. God is Omnipotence and Infinity in the Abstract who can creat
millions of Souls so wel as Worlds in a moment by his word Fiat yet is no particular Agent or Parent so the Sequel is denied sith his Word and eternal Decree doth al in al without any particular concurrence Repl. The Souls supposed creation necessarily concurs to Mans generation But God is sole Agent therin using no subordinat Ergo a particular third Parent for if Parents be particular Agents who only prepare the matter for union why not God so too who creats the Caus without which no union can be Sol. Parents are particular Agents according to Natures ordinary cours but God metaphysical and extraordinary yet no particular third Parent Ob. If God concurs in every generation whether lawful or lustful to creat a Soul then he assists al Adulterous Incestuous Spurious coitions and conceptions which is horrid to imagin or impose for a Pagan Poet tels us Non vacat obscoenis rebus adesse Jovi Ergo c. Jehov is not at leisure To wait on ech mans plesure Sol. He concurs to the Entity or Naturality not to the Obliquity or Morality of evil acts which is no way horrid to hold for he givs the earth virtu to multiply al Grain whether stoln or ones own yet is not Author or accessary to the stealing so he decrees â—o infuse new created Souls into human prepared Bodies however begot in Adultery Inâ—est or Fornication yet is no Author Actor or Assistant in the sin Ob. Jacobs of-spring are by Synecdoche taking the principal part for the whol person stiled seventy Souls which cam out of his loins But why are Souls specialy named unless they so wel as the Bodies and persons transcend from Parents Sol. 'T is said to be becaus the preparation of matter for the Souls reception â—nd union proceeds from them Be it so yet this resolvs not why their Progeny are caled so many Souls unless thos issu from their loins Ob. God created Man in his own Image and Adam begot Seth in his own likenes but this Image and likenes consists soly in the Soul or in the Humanity not in the Body Ergo Adam begot that part wherin Gods Image chiefly consists if not soly resides Sol. This is soon resolved God created Man in his Image of righteousnes and tru holines as S. Paul expounds it but Adam begot Seth in his natural similitud both of body and whol humanity not of Soul only Repl. S. Paul indeed speaks of spiritual Regeneration by casting off the old Man and putting on the new in righteousnes and tru holines But wher doth he cal it Gods Image wherin Adam was created However even that spiritual Image consists soly in the Soul and Adam begot Seth in his natural likenes Ergo the subject of both resemblances is spâ—cialy if not soly the Soul as by comparing the words Gen. 5. 1. 3. plainly appears Sol. Seths likenes to Adam consistâ— in his whol Nature which he dispositivly begot totum Hominem non totum Hominis by preparing the matter for the Souls introduction and consequently the whol Humanity by union of both parts though he had no interest in production of the Soul Repl. Adam begot Seth in a triple sim litud beside that of sin viz. of Soul Body Person which personal likenes of Châ—â—dren to Parents is also triple 1. Specifical as Men which mostly folow the Mother becaus she suppeditats most matter both blood and seed in generation and for another reason glanced at by Aristole that the Male ingenders in another the Female by another in it self for if a Ram couples with a shee-Goat they produce a Kid of soft hair but if a Buck Goat with an Ew a Lamb of hard wool as Athaeneus avers 2. Sexual as Male or Female which proceds from permixtion of both Parents seed according to predominance for both hav a hot vigorous masculin sperm and a cold weak Feminin at several times as Hippocrates tels So if both bring Masculin they beget brav Spirited Boies if the Womans be weak and Mans strong yet prepondering they get a Son though less lifely If the Womans be masculin and Mans feminin yet prevailing they also procreat Males but weak and womanish the like in Females If both Parents seed prov feminin they engender dul Wenches If the Mans masculin and Womans feminin but exceding they breed bold Girls of middle temper If the Fathers feminin and Mothers masculin but predomining they produce lusty lifely Virago's So the diversity and dominion of Parents seed makes the difference of Sex 3. Individual which is seen in peculiar properties of vigour favour feature stature complexions and conditions arising usualy from the formativ faculty and casualy from Parents phantasy for the seed flows soly from the Testicles of both yet al parts impart a plastic power by subtle spirits to the Sperm which according to either Parents prevalence producâ—th a similitud in particular parts Hence som resemble Father som Mother som both in several members more then others yea many are like their ancestors whos fashioning virtâ— lurks in seed sometimes four descents as Aristotle attests like a Loadstone which draws four or fiâ— needles appending So Nicaeus a Poet of Constantinople born of white Parents was Maurish as his Grandsire and Helides by an Ethiop had a fair Daughter like her Father so Children conform to Parent both in Body and Mind Ergo the Soul is Traduced Sol. This multiloqâ—y may be answered briefly That the maners of the Mind and personal conditions of Children semblant to Parents folow the temper of Body as Phisick and Philosophy teach which argues not any traduction of the Soul but a several disposition of bodily Organs Repl. One once aâ—swered al Bellarmins works with two words Thou liest but ther be sundry Virtues and Vices of the Wil which no way rely on the Bodies temper proper and peculiar to som Stock or Race as whol Families by lineal descent or natural disposition are addict to generous qualities and various sports wherto Mantuan apâ—ly alluds Qui viret in foliis venit e radicibus humor Sic Patrum in Natos abeunt cum semine morcs The leass fresh juice doth from the root proceed So Parents maners pass to Sons by Seed Ergo the Soul is the seat or subject of such Virtues and Vices transcends from Progenitors to their Progeny by Traducal propagation Sol. Such hereditary properties folow the bodily temperatur of som principal Organs Brain Heart Liver Spleen Gal more or less as Aristotle saith Mores Animi seqâ—untur temperamentum corporis but not from the various inclination of the Soul Repl. Maners of the Mind may be somwhat inclined by bodily temper but Childrens complexions oft-times by matches differ more from their proper Progenitors then strangers â—et symbolize in the Souls secret sympathies with them Ergo thosinnat resemblances proced from it rather then from bodily temperature which is only accidental Sol. In Mans frame or fabric are sundry secret sympathies of principal parts on whos temper
Humanity becaus when the Body is prepared God hath decreed to infuse a Rational Soul This is soon said gratis but by what warrant or wher doth it appear that God so decreed Repl. Flesh animat is Mans whol Nature not inanimat Ergo the Flesh which he assumed had a Rational Soul at first conception Sol. Som say that Flesh was potentialy animat to be indowed with a Soul in du time Others which hold Soul-creation at conception grant it was actualy animat But as she is caled Mother of God in regard of the Hypostatic union though he had only his Humanity from hir So Parents may be said to beget the whol Man in relation to the union which God hath decreed in du time though they beget only the bodily part apt and apparated to entertain the Soul which sufficeth for denomination Repl. The reason reacheâ—h not right sith Men are Parents to Children becaus the whol Nature is derived from them as Christs Humanity was from the Virgin but she is stiled Deiparent not in respect of his Deity which depends not on hir but for the said hypostatic union of both Natures in one Person having his humanity intirely from hir Ergo the Godhead shal be better tied to his whol Manhood by Traduction of both parts then barely to cloth him with inanimat Flesh Beside she is caled Mother of God for the hypostatic union actualy in being but Parents are said to beget a whol Man in regard of the union to com Sol. He had his whol Humanity from hir in maner foreshewed For when the Body is accomplished and accommoded the Soul shal be necessarily instilled or infused in du time which is al that can be answered in this point of the whol Humanity derived from Parents Ob. The Womans seed shal break the Serpents head but Christ fulfilled this promiss and prophecy chiefly in Soul which descended into Hel to lead Captivity captiv and bind the strong Man in his own Kingdom as his body triumphed over Death in his dominion the Grave by his tridual Resurrection for how is he the Womans seed unless he had his whol Humanity from hir Or how can the Body break the Serpents head Or how could this victory be atchieved if his Soul had not descended Ergo he assumed his Soul also from the Woman by the Holy Ghosts cooperation Sol. Divers Divines deny Christs descent into Hel in Soul but that may rest in debat sith it concerns not the production sav only to shew that by it he brok the Serpents head Touching the promiss and prophecy it was performed principaly by his Soul or rather person and that derived potentialy or preparativly from the Woman in manner foretold but primitivly and actualy from God the Creator or Infuser Ob. To bind up sundry bunches of sour Grapes in one bundle If the Soul be created pure how can it be defiled in an instant by inanimat flesh not capable of sin Or why doth God cast his own workmanship into a stinking Prison purposly to be polluted Or how can a spiritual substance be stained by a material mass specialy sith sin inheres soly in the Soul which is primarily guilty by willing or consenting and the Body only in obeying the one activly as efficient the other passivly as Instrument Upon this ground of the Soul created pure and in capacity to be polluted by lifeless flesh Pelagius built his branded Teneâ— That Children are born free from original sin And S. Austin seeking to crush this Cockatrice in the Eg like such as bow or bend a stick back to bring it right broched another error That al dying unbaptized are infallibly damned or deprived of Beatific vision being liable to the lack or loss of Heavenly happines though not to the pain of Hellish torments whence be is stiled durus Infantum Pater Lastly our Protoparents personal sin becam like sap derived from the root participatly ours not by imputation as Zanchy contests but by tru inhesion infecting the whol Nature which hereditary corruption or conâ—agion is contracted linealy from Parents loins Ergo the Soul as seat source and subject is ex Traduce Sol. This Gordian knot many hav essaied few extricated or cut it asunder like Alexander who shadow it with a vele of windy words but no real resolution Som say the seed is stained ex traduce which like levan sours the whol lump and the Soul supervening receivs stain from it as new Must put into a musty cask which the best Divines disclaim For ther can be no proper physical action of material upon immaterial and the Soul shal be polluted passivly only which sufficeth not to make it guilty unless it be a voluntary Agent yea the similitud halts for ther the Vessel taints the Wine here the Soul was first soiled and principal efficient ther both be material here the chiefest spiritual nor can inanimat flesh be capable of sin before it hath a Soul Zanchy and others hold That as Christs righteousnes so Adams guiltines is ours imputativly only but Natures corruption insuing a just punishment by divine Decree Out alas this sin is a lepry cleaving clos to the flesh and consequently corrupting our whol Nature or els could not beget and bring forth such a serpentin spawn of actual sins Peter Moulin professeth plainly that the Soul is not vitiated by the Body for to incarcerat an innocent Creature his own operature in a plaguy Bridewel purposly to be infected repugns Gods Justice and Goodness but sin being a spiritual vice of the Wil first seizeth the Soul before the Body becoms accessary as Adam first sinned in Wil and Consent yer he stretched his hand to touch or cast so sin passeth from the Soul to the Body not contrarily For the maner of spreading He saith God creats the Soul spotless but destitut of supernatural light which Man lost by his fal hence flows or folows perversnes of Wil purblindnes of Mind and proclivnes to al evil even from inordinat self lov not guided by metaphysical illumination and the temper of Body doth much incens or increas this contagion according to every complexion yet are not humors the causes but incentivs to sin nor doo impress or imprint on the Soul but only incline it therto Quot homines tot sensus so many men so many minds but al driven to sundry shifts how sin can be propagated without traduction of the Soul which being granted wil soon satisfy al scruples Repl. This last devise being newest takes best but is scars soundest for sin is an effect of natural corruption which is more then a defect of supernatural illumination and a positiv depravation of Wil far beyond deprivation of Grace Man indeed lost metaphysical light by his fal yet if our Souls be created spotless they must at first infusion be sinless so al the doubts rest intire how they can so suddenly contract this hereditary pollution diffused over our whol Nature unless the Soul bring that stain with it for
we are for lorn before born being conceived in sin or at least infected in the Womb Ergo Traduction which salvs al scruples and is subject to none is the safer Tenet nor can God otherwise be cleered from being Author of sin for if he creats it pure why did he decree to pollut it presently sith he coula hinder it Al which inormities with the like are voided by Tradaction Sol. Let it serv or suffice for answer That Gods Wil was so to dispose it and who can comptrol it But to shun an inconvenience and run into an evident exploded error is a remedy wors then the Malady To answer the last branch first God decreed to make Man a freewild Creature ad utrumlibet yet imposed a command to try his obedience and foreknew he would prevaricat but determined to permit or not prohibit it which was his Wil so to doo If any ask why he willed not to hinder it sith Qui malum non prohibet cum possit praecipit either by forbearing the Command or by inabling man to keep it or by refraining to creat more Souls for Hel as if he delighted to torture his Creatures S. Paul checks such curious Inquisitors with an Interrogation O man Who art thou that pleadest Rom. 9. 20. with God Who hath known the Lords mind or bin his Counsiler O the depth of the riches of his Wisdom and knowledg how Rom. 11. 33 34. insearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out but stil just in al his waies and holy in al his works as David sings Touching the rest 'T is tru that sin is a spiritual vice of the Soul or Wil not of Body sav passivly or organicaly only which stains the Soul at instant of infusion by subtraction of spiritual light wherof being destitut it precipitats into al evil for the Sun is not Author of darknes but light yet by withdrawing his rais induceth darknes So God is no Author of Sin but Grace yet by with-holding his Spirit sin instantly folows in a depraved Soul so saith S. Austin God hardned Pharaohs heart not by impressing of obstinacy but suppressing of Grace howbeit the maner how the Soul is so soon infected and the Body by it is inscrutable and known only to the Father of Lights which is a free confession in this Case But to say it was his Wil to creat every Soul pure to be presently polluted is more then can be warranted by his reveled Wil in the Word For it presupposeth a Postulatum to be granted that Mans Soul is created pure and instantly contracts sin though the manner utterly unknown For upshot the Traductists can better shift the scruple of Immortality then Infusiasts salv or solv that of original sin yet may they not claim the Laurel of Victory sith Verity lies in obscurity Arduares haec est sic sub Judice lis fit This thing is hard and high So in suspence let it ly Thus the Infusiastists Arguments and Replies are 25. so are the Traductists Objections and Replications equal in number with the Answers of ech part to the other but which are the most ponderous or prevalent let the learned Readers judg indifferently and impartialy between both The sum of the Traductists Tenets is That God ceased from Summary of both sides al Creatific Works both Specifical and Individual Compounds and principal Parts being al his Workmanship the seventh day That he gav Man a benediction to multiply like other Animals which beget their own Souls but theirs mortal becaus first formed of the corruptible Chaos and his immortal as being breathed or infused immediatly by God that his Soul by that blessing had a priviledg or dower to produce a like immortal essence though not existing by it self but in a mortal Body That an Animific virtu is conveied with the Spirits of Parents seed to beget or build up a Soul as light diffuseth light That this Soul is the seat of sin being a spiritual vice of the Wil as the Body is the subject of material accidents but Man the denominativ or predicativ subject of both their qualities That this sin is propagated from our first Parents by explicit or implicit Covenant to al their Posterity with the Soul which is produced successivly from Parents Souls with the same stain of sin The Orthodox opinion is fixed on the foundations That as God primarily inspired Adams Soul and afterward Eves so he jugialy creats every Individual That the new-made Soul instantly at infusion whether at conception or quickning acquires the guilt of our Protoparents sin but the maner how inscrutable and inexplicable That this generical sin folows Soul-creating by accident becaus God gav Adam Free-wil to stand or fal for himself and al his Of-spring having predecreed to creat a number of Souls to be infused into Bodies in du times That though God be the Souls sole Archiplast yet Parents properly beget totum Hominem non totum Hominis in regard of preparing the matter or mansion by the Formativ Faculty whence the union necessarily insues by divine decree That Man begets Man becaus he supplies one part intire and concurs to the union though not essence or existence of the other That Mans Soul is not generated as Beasts which perish with them but hav a sublimer origin from the Father of Spirits and shal liv for ever Lastly That this Soul though created pure is at the instant of union guilty of original sin not by imputation but inherent corruption S. Austin Bishop of Hippo durst not presum to decide the debate both parts being so probable But Doctor Goodman In a Treaâ—â—â— of Mans fal lat Bishop of Glocester assums to attone them by a motly moderation that the Soul is both created and generated for God concurs in mans production being to becom his Son by adoption yet every one is not so and Man cooperats by the ordinary way of propagation so in respect of God 't is Creation which implies a beginning different from Natures cours but in respect of Man a usual generation so 't is created ex Traduce in respect of God and procreated ex Traduce by Man thus he This mixt mungrel action obveled in a mist of words is a mystery beyond common capacity and the terms contradictory tho shadowed w th the word Respect For how can one thing be both created and procreated Or how can Creation be ex Traduce the phrase plainly imports that the Soul proceds ex Traduce from Parents though in respect of Gods concurrence as universal Agent it may be caled extraducal creation So let it pass for a rare peece of new coined Logico-Philosophico-Theology But the two forecited Opinions rely on real principles though very dubitable and disputable Six Questions are previously agitated 1. What Seed is 2. What a Soul is 3. Whether it be material 4. How it attains knowledg 5. How many are in Man 6. Whether it be created or generated which last is barely debated
or discussed not boldly decided or determined Spiritus an jugiter genitus sit five creatus Quim Deus infudit lis violenta manet Whether Mans Soul which God breath'd and created Be stil infus'd or bred 't is much debated In dubio lis est an Mens ex Traduce nata Aliter Sit cujusque Hominis sive creata magis 'T is doubt whether ech Mans Soul be generated From Parents Souls or rather by God created Particula in nobis divinae Spiritus aurae Alias Quaeriter an genitus sive creatus inest The Soul 's in us a Part by God inspired Whether begot or creat 't is inquired Nescit Homo an sua mens generetur sive creetur Secus Se tamen ostentat noscere cuncta miser Poor Man knows not if's Soul be bred or moulded Yet boasts that he hath al things els unfolded Appendix Additionalis An additional Appendix THe ensuing Theory is taken mostly from Mr. Henry Woolnots Treatis intituled The tru original of Mans Soul which is brifly extracted God hath a duple voice one speaking in Scriptures which is his written word of Grace another in the Preamble Creatures which is his wrought Word of Nature For as Natural Works are his ordinary power and miraculous extraordinary so Nature is his ordinary Voice and divine Oracles extraordinary What God spake in his Word he hath wrought in the World whos Words and Works agree for secret things belong to him but reveled to us and our Children Wher he hath no toung to speak we may not hav an ear to hear nor heart to inquire but as Creatures we must submit to our Creator and as Christians beleev wher reason cannot reach Now to the Question The Rational Soul whether produced immediatly from Thesis God or mediatly by Man is of immortal Nature yet stained with our first Parents first sin by propagation but how can we know how 't is made before it be in being sith we cannot conceiv what it is being made For though we know 't is a spiritual substance realy subsisting in a Body yet what maner of metaphysical matter 't is made of none knows No marvel then if we be ignorant of the origin which is harder to explore For 't is spiritual and such are difficiler to discern or disquire then corporals subject to sens specialy sith ours is an incomplet Spirit or part of a Creature Man being composed of a mortal Body and immortal Soul the one indued with senses to receiv al corporeal Images the other furnished with a faculty of Reason which from thos Images draws discurses and consequents wherby it gets knowledg of causes and effects wherof Sens is incapable Hence it happens that when we discurs of spiritual Natures which transcend Sens we are put out of our usual way and wander as half lost in incertainty without any exact knowledg to content the Mind Whatever excellences be in inferior Natures are much more perfectly in superiors as thos of other Animals more eminent in Man chiefly in his Soul thos of his Soul more conspicuous in Angels and al perfections of al most trascendent in God So the knowledg of inferior Natures is comprehended in superior but not contrarily Nor can any sav God who hath no superior know it self purely or properly but only by reflexion as the Ey which sees al things cannot behold it self sav in a Glass Nor can we know our own Soul but as 't is shewed in a myrrhour of the Works and as by it we know other things so by them we hav a glimps of it To omit several Opinions of Pagan Philosophers and Christian Opinions Heretics The orthodox jointly agree that Mans Soul is either immediatly created by God or mediatly generated by Man both which are bipartit In point of Creation Hilary with others hold it to be formed without the Body and then infused But the general Tenet is that 't is created and infused in the Body which runs most current So for propagation Som suppose it a corporeal substance and begot in bodily maner which is generaly exploded Others hold it spiritual so produced like light from light which was the mind of most Western Doctors but S. Austin and Eucherius stood in suspens between both inclining chiefly to Creation The case is very dubious and difficil For how can Spiritual substances beget one another If it be daily created of nothing how can it stand with Gods rest from farther creating or his setled cours of al things to multiply their Kinds 't is a silly shâ—ft to say That he rests from creating new Kinds and Compounds but not from Individuals or principal Parts for the words imply no such limitation nor any place els in Scripture so 't is spoken gratis without warrant and a bare begging of the Question or meer fiction for they grant it tru in al things els except only this their own exception which they obtrud without reason when Moses makes it general of al Gods Works A greater obstacle occurs how it can stand with original sins propagation This made the Pelagians and Anabaptists who hold Soul-creation to deny ther is any such sin sav by imitation yea divers Divines seeing the absurdities arising therhence assert Traduction This makes the cheif Patrons of Creation stagger who decline it as a curious Question sith they cannot giv sufficient satisfaction exhorting to Faith beyond Reason and forbid farther disquisition for if the Soul flow immediatly from God how is it defiled being created sinless the Body cannot doo it being drawn into sin by it Nor can this contagion com from the union sith that is Gods Work who wil not put a Soul in it self simply good and his own workmanship into an unclean Vessel purposly to make it guilty of death and damnation for anothers fault shal not the judg of the World doo right 't is a poor position that 't is created in infusing and infused in creating which is al one as to say 't is made in marring and marred in making Nor is it safe to say God so willed or decreed sith it cannot be proved and being unjust is justly disproved It stands not with his Justice that Adams sin should be imputed to us or reputed ours sav as 't is our own by sinning potentialy in him as the root nor is it ours by imputation sav only in respect to propagation but inhesion for if we were simply sinless as a new created Soul is his sin cannot justly hurt us God may punish al for Adams sin yet not soly for it sith he saith The Son shal not bear the Fathers iniquity Ezek. 18. 2â— but becaus by his sin they becam sinful or rather sinned in him they are justly punished for their own sin so propagation is the sole source of original corruption Now if we receiv the worst part only from Adam which is not the subject of sin sith not the parts but whol Person sinned How can a Man
Animals but by Gods immediat power in maner aforsaid 9. The Soul being not produced simply by Natures power nor made of meer corporal matter transcends the common condition of al corporeal Creatures and is in it self immortal having God the extern efficient to produce it 10. The Soul being propagated from Parents is polluted with Natures stain contracted from Adams sin which is derived from Parents to Children with the whol Man as the adequat subject of it yet God in no fault sith our Souls are not corrupted by him but from our Parents and our selfs If any cannot conceiv how one Soul produceth another which is the hardest knot let him consider how it can be united to a Body and organized with it which wil allay the difficulty For if Angels hav aereal bodies as many Antients deem or at least are not pure Spirits compared to God muâ—h more may Mens Souls hav such a spiritual composure as meerly resembles Matter and form in Bodies which may wel accord with the maner of propagation prespecified and no way repugn the Souls divine essence If this way oppugn Reason yet 't is safer then that which repugns Religion By this Card our Author sailing betwixt Scilla and Charybdis Conclusion discovered Pachinus a middle Promontory in Sicil as Columbus did Cuba viz. that as the Sun is external efficient in the general generation of al Sublunars beside their internal particular principles so is God in the special production of every Mans Soul beside the peculiar Parents Souls working virtualy in the seed as his pretended premisses prov Which he farther confirms thus 1. Ther is no diametral Conformation difference between Soul and Body but they may be naturaly coupled together For though the Soul be not visible yet hath it a spiritual substance not simply pure but the lowest degree of Spirits prone to unite with corporeal natures and so may be propagated with them as united to them 2. Every Nature the more excellent 't is hath a neerer union with the first Being on which it depends and is more immediatly moved by it whence it folows that the Soul being more excellent and neerer to God then any corporal Creature in which he works more immediatly then others after they are made so he doth in the first production of it 3. Nothing is generated but hath som extern efficient Caus which in Coporeals is the Celical bodies whence 't is said the Sun and Man be get a Man as the Sun and Lion a Lion But the Soul being a Spirit and made at first by God can hav no other extern efficient sav the same immediat power So it may more truly be said God and Man generat the Soul God as efficient and Parents as his procreant instruments to produce what how and when he pleaseth according to his eternal Decree Nor is it absurd that Man hath two extern efficients but rather an honor that God and Nature concur to his generation 4. Mortality proceds not from natural generation but divine malediction for had not Man sinned his Body should be eviternal so wel as Soul Ergo if it were compounded and generated in a corporal way which is not so yet it folows not to make it mortal 5. Whatever hath being immediatly from God cannot be annihilated but by his immediat power which is the tru caus of immortality Hence the Body being produced soly by Natures power doth dy or perish yet the Soul produced by immediat act of the Deity can never dy but by the same power which gav it life Thus it appears that though the Soul be produced as aforesaid yet is it immortal sith 't is neither made of corporal matter nor generated in meer natural maner Nor is God faulty though we be sinful sith being wholy in Adam and actualy one with him our whol Nature is so defiled and Gods pure ordinance in producing Souls depraved that a total corruption passeth in the very conception and we stained with original sin at our very first being To cleer the Case he frames som objections against this middle way 1. Ob. If the Soul be resolved into a first principle of Adams Soul whence al are derived as Mixtils are into Elements it must needs be mortal as al such are Ergo 't is not so derived or els 't is mortal Sol. The comparison is unlike for Mixtils are compact of Elements into which they resolv but Mens Souls not compounded of Adams no nor Bodies nor one of another but of the same nature and so simple as his Nor doth it folow if the Soul be compounded like Elements it must inevitably be mortal for death and corruption coms not from composition or propagation but meerly from malediction for sin the wages wherof is death 2. Ob. If God cooperats with Man in producing Souls he no less rests from his works then in jugial creating them of nothing for the thing is the same and terms little differing Ergo this novity of a middle way to make God the external efficient is very vanity and of no validity Sol. Here is no creation of nothing but production of a thing from former principles Nor doth it repugn Gods creatifie rest to concur in other works of providence government and the Souls spiritual acts nor in assisting its production as an extern efficient which tends only to preserv Mankind specialy sith it hath no mediat maner in ordinary cours of nature sav only Gods immediat concurrence in extraordinary maner 3. Ob. If Man cannot generat his like without Gods special extraordinary help he is in this behalf inferior to Beasts as Traductists urge against Creation Ergo c. Sol. Not so for Beasts beget also by the Heavens help as exterior efficients If then Mans Soul for excellence hath a far sublimer supercelical efficient And he acts so much in generation of his like as other Creatures doo in theirs 't is rather a dignity abov al then any disparagement at al. So this exception holds against jugial creation wherin Man no whit concurs which may seem a derogation but not against natural propagation 4. Ob. If God be immediat extern efficient of our sin-polluted Souls by natural propagation he is Author or accessary to sin rather then by creation Ergo c. Sol. Nothing less for he is only external efficient of the Soul not of sin which coms from corrupt Parents who supply the internal matter of the whol Man wherin sin consists sith generation is not of Parts but Persons it being his just ordinance in nature That as the Tree is so shal the fruit be Sith then he made Man perfectly good at first to beget Children perfect like himself who prevaricated and polluted al his Progeny or Posterity God performs his part stil to confer his efficient power in the perpetual production of Mankind And as he first infused his Soul so he stil concurs in producing it though not in the same sort yet sin is meerly accidental in respect of
him who is neither Author nor accessary but 't is propagated in generation by the first Mans fal or fault through the loins of perpetual posterity one from another It rests to present som gleanings gathered from the said Corollary Treatis which tends to this Theory 1. Creation is a metaphysical production of a Thing out of Nothing immediatly by God so the first Chaos caled Heaven and Earth was made of meer nothing and the rest mediatly out of it but Adams Body of Earth mediatly and his Soul immediatly of nothing by a middle way of Production 2. Propagation is a Natural act or faculty wherby a living Creature begets his like for continuance of the Kind this is the proper perfection of every Animal Vegetant Sentient Intelligent being the most excellent faculty ingrafted in Nature by Gods special charge and blessing of Increas and multiply which is duple 1. Equivocal when Plants or Animals are bred of putrefaction as Weeds Magots Eeles c. 2. Univocal when ech Animat brings its like as Wheat Wheat Whale a Whale Eagle an Eagle Lion a Lion Man a Man This is doon by the seed of generation which contains the whol Nature to continu the Species for ever wheras Individuals are al mortal or momentany So Mans seed Natures quintessence containing the whol Kind is lodged in a place fit for propagation of another conspecifical which generation being Mans perfection he cannot be said propagat either part but the whol or a third consisting both of Form and Matter Hence our propagation from Adam is a deduction of the whol Man according to Natures cours in turning our potential being into act which derivs his Nature to us but if the Soul be fetch'd from Heaven and Body from Earth how shal both ends be brought together or what shal this mix'd action be caled Simple Creation it cannot be nor pure propagation but a Mungrel like a Mule For Creation and Propagation differ divesly 1. One is Gods work by himself of meer nothing wrought by his sole Word and Wil the other Natures of som preexistent matter according to ech Creatures kind by Gods ordinance setled in Nature 2. That is doon in an instant by an infinit essence which requires no time this by previous preparations or gradual perfections which take time tho the very conception is acted in a moment 3. One is performed without any motion or mutation but in the other the same matter is changed or varied into several forms 4. In the first things are not made of one substance with the Creator but in the last both hav the same substance 5. In Creation privation preceds the habit power act and darknes light but in Propagation contrary habit foregoes privation as sight blindnes act power and light darknes The Reasons that Mans Soul cannot be propagated by cours of Creation are thes 1. It impugns Gods Justice to put a 1. Reason pure innocent essence into a condition to be instantly damned for anothers sin which it must be if an Embryo dies before born and baptised To this 't is said the new Soul is guilty by union which is a greater aspersion on divine Justice but no salvo for if it be in no fault why shal it be guilty and punished for Adams fal If it be replied That God so eternaly Decreed this farther aggravats nor doth it appear that he so Decreed which to aver without warrant is most hainous for if he Decreed as Supralapsarians harshly hold that al should sin and suffer death in Adam 't is requisit to be by just means which if it may be doon by Traduction rather then Creation yea by that way and not this then is that to be counted Gods Decree Can Justice it self deal unjustly surely in equity is no iniquity God promiseth and proclameth that a faultless Child shal not suffer Ezek. 18. 20. for his Fathers guilt why then shal a good Soul be so deeply punished for anothers sin to whom it is scars kin sith Adam that sinned was no simple Soul but a Man 2. If the Soul be immediatly created pure it cannot be polluted by a Body which of it self is not the subject of sin nor can defile a spiritual substance being the first mover of al acts in the Body and it should rather sanctify that then be stained by it So it may better be defended that we hav original righteousnes becaus the Soul coms from God then original sin becaus the Body coms from Adam If it should be granted that the Soul is polluted by yeelding to bodily lusts yet this is actual sin not original corruption Nor can it com from a pure created Soul To this 't is said That at the instant of Creation God bereavs al supernatural gifts for Adams laps which though it put not evil into the Soul yet original sin necessarily flows or folows This seems uncouth that God shal at once doo and undoo or make and mar so soon as 't is made or giv goodness and take it away instantly Nay if it be created in infusing 't is void of supernatural gifts and so cannot be deprived of what it never had But if it be created without thos gifts which to us are supernatural he creats it evil as al Men are without such nor can a Soul be good without them If then God makes it so that it must needs be evil he makes it evil sith he makes it that it cannot be good Yet if al the premisses be conceded 't is never the neer to salv original sin sith this is not to sin in Adam but to becom sinful for him So it results that the Soul if created good cannot possibly contract Adams sin nor can al Mens wits or wiles cleerly shew how a Soul created pure can be polluted and al shifts hitherto devised are silly Cobweb Lawns pervious to every ey The last refuge that it coms neither by Soul nor Body but by union of both sith by it we becom Sons of Adam and so his sin made ours is Mr. Calvins curious conceipt but scars satisfactory For it is a spiritual Lepry which hereditarily infects the whol Man with al parts and powers If then the Soul at first union be pure and Body polluted the Child shal be half holy and half sinful Or if both be clean at first how can union make both or either unclean for when two good are conjoined both becom better Hence som say Adams sin is only imputed not inherent and so we only reputed corrupt Indeed Christs righteousnes is realy ours by imputation and a voluntary institution as a Covenant of Grace differs from ordinary Justice in cours of Nature sith 't is free to shew mercy without caus but not to punish without du desert Nor can this sin be justly imputed to al unles the whol Man be propagated for 't is a real infection of the whol Nature both Body and Soul 3. As by Gods Ordinance original sin passeth from one to al
before he decreed to creat or permit him to fal or to send his Son for a ransom if he should fal upon which he contrived the whol work of Mans Redemption This pure prescience being previous to Predestination in order of Nature according to our weak apprehension yet al coeternal to God did not look to the mass of Mankind as to be created incorrupt nor as lapsed in Adam Nor to Christ beleeved or not beleeved on but beyond al to the first middle and final estate of ech particular person and universal of al Men. 2. Of Vision which is of things to be doon in time with al acts and events therof which depend on his free Wil and Pleasure Aquinas speaks of both God knows al things which neither are were or ever shal be by his simple understanding but the rest that hav bin are or shal be after what sort soever by the science of Vision This distinction Zanchy Junius and other learned Reformists approv to be authentic in the very terms 4. Gods power or Omnipotence who can doo what he wil which agrees to his Nature is duple 1. Absolut wherby he can do al that he wil and more then he wils 2. Actual by which he doth what ever he wil and hinders what he wil not hav doon in Heaven and Earth with al things therin whos Majesty ruleth and reigneth over al Creatures visible or invisible nor could ever any resist his power or defeat his providence 5. Gods Wil which comprehends his Lov Mercy Goodnes Truth Justice Wrath Patience Holines c. first willeth himself as chief Soveraign good and in himself al other good things freely which are out of himself Hereby he decrees for Decree is no Attribut but an Act of his Wil joined with power and prescience what of thos infinit things presented by his understanding shal com into being For Knowledg is his Counsilor but Wil King and both himself who works al according Eph. 1. 11. to the Counsil of his Wil as S. Paul saith By it he orders al things causing or allowing what shal be in what maner Rom. 9. 18 19. and to what end Hence S. Paul ascribes al to it as suprem universal caus into which al inferior are resolved as the prime spring This is absolut and independent for til God passed his Decrees al things were known but as possible if he would giv being or not Ther be other distinctions of divine Wil according to several objects as that of Sign and good pleasure used in Schools but to giv God a duple different Wil in himself secret and reveled as if he willed openly in his word to sav al yet decrees to reprobat most part in his hidden Counsils is most abhorrent For he is a God of Truth no Lier Dissembler or Mocker using simplicity and sincerity in al his sayings which are yea and Amen Nor wil he make general promises in his Gospel to al Beleevers yet bar them by a clos clandestine decree of his secret Wil that they shal not beleev but it hath divers objects or one placed in divers times as 't is his reveled Wil ther shal be a day of Judgment yet he concels the time So the Gospel of Salvation was his secret Counsil before the World began but since opened to the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles c. which can no more be caled his hidden Wil. Indeed 't is said Secret things belong to God but the reveled to us Deut. 29. 29. and our Children which provs a diversity of objects but no duplicity of Wils warning us only to attend what is reveled in his Word as his general promises prescribed and not pry into his privy purposes to inquire who are elect or who reprobats lest like Thales in gazing at the Stars we fal into the Pit for this is a perilous precipice of carnal presumption 6. The Gospel is a manifestation of Mans Redemption by Jesus Christ which God first reveled in Paradise that the Womans seed shal break the Serpents head Next to Abram at Haran that in his seed al families and Nations shal be blessed Then to Moses in Egypt and the Wildernes when God instituted the Passover and several Sacrifices as Types or Figures of the holy Lamb slain before the World for the Worlds sins Afterward to the Prophets And lastly to the Evangelists who wrot our Saviours whol life death after his Incarnation or appeerance in the flesh which is the mystery of our Redemption 7. Gospel Grace is Gods free Mercy offered to al lapsed Mankind whoever wil beleev in his Son repent their sins and persever to the end shal be saved Which promiss must be preached and published to al sorts sans respect of Persons as he is no respecter nor delights in the death of a sinner For Man hath som liberty of Free-wil stil left if revived or quickned by Grace to obey or resist receiv or reject the motions of Gods Spirit 8. Gods Decree is duple 1. Primary Proceeding from his Omnipotence wherby he eternaly willed to creat the World in du time and to giv Man made after his Image absolut Free-wil Decretum 1 Absolutum 2 Conditionâ—tum without restraint any way 2. Secundary Depending on his Omniscience wherby foreseing Adams fal as he did the evil Angels Rebellion he in meer Mercy ordained a remedy to send his only begotten Son to be a Sacrifice for al but with condition of beleef in him and tru repentance for sin both which are equaly eternal flowing from the Fountain of the Deity who willeth what he wil and doth what he willeth Hence proceds Predestination which is his secundary conditionat Decree depending on Prescience wherby he freely elects som to lif being al liable to death in Adam and rejects or passes by the rest to perish in their disobedience 9. Sin is of two sorts 1. Original so caled by S. Austin contracted from our first Parents 2. Actual committed by al particular persons The remedy of one is Baptism into Christs faith either by personal confession as in those of tipe age or by their Sureties sponsion as in Infants The other is cured or clensed by repentance through the merits of Christs death whos blood by tru faith in him purgeth from al sin 10. God eternaly Decreed to creat al things in time indued with several Natures and to make Man a free Intelligent Creature like Angels who gav one only prohibitiv precept upon pain of death which foreseing in his pure prescience he would violat or prevaricat both to his own and Posterities perdition if justice be executed as it must necessarily be by a just God He by his knowledg of Vision decreed secundarily in meer Mercy to send his Son to salv al that shal believ in him and use such means of faith repentance and obedience as are prescribed in the Gospel 11. God commands no more of Man then he givs power or ability to perform as Adam had by Nature and al
others by Grace if then he requires since Mans fal faith repentance obedience and perseverance to work out our salvation by his Grace certes he givs ability to beleev repent obey and persever by cooperating with it but doth not cross-bar it by any contrary decree which were meer mockery far from Mercy for if one ly on the ground bound hand foot 't is mockery to bid him rise or run away but mercy to loose or let him go The Case is quadratly semblable and aptly applicable Our good God is no mocker but al Mercy nor respecter of persons but receivs al that cal on him 12. God delights not in the death of a sinner but would hav al to be saved he hath spoken it who wil not beleev him so wel as beleev in him But if he hath absolutly and peremptorily decreed from which is no appeal nor repeal that Man shal sin and consequently dy he delights in his death and wil hav but a few saved Hath he made him according to his own Image purposly to make him the wrechedest of al Creatures Surely his Wil and Decree is to reward every Man according to his works Thes twelv stones thus laid like Josuas twelv stones paralel to Jos 4. 20. Israels twelv Tribes set up in Gilgal for a memorial of Jordans retroversion for a fair foundation the fabric wil be the better finished but becaus Mr. Plaifer wel versed in this point hath handled it at large in his Appâ—liâ— Evangelium the chief contents shal be sincerly abstracted or abbreviated and applied to common capacities sans ambiguity He reckons fiv dissident Opinions touching the order of 1 Opinon Predestination 1. Calvin Beza Piscator Whitaker Perkins c. hold that God eternaly Decreed to creat a set number of Men wherof he elected som to everlasting life and reprobated the rest to eternal death of his free wil pleasure only to shew his Grace Goodnes or Mercy on the one and his Justice Power or Dominion on the other To which end he Decreed sin should enter on al that he might justly punish most part for sin and to send his Son for redemption of the Elect in Mercy by free Grace This peremptory position is generaly condemned by Papists Refutation Lutherans Arminians and divers Reformed Divines as perilous and erroneus becaus it makes God the prime Author of sin rejecting Men before they were evil by an antecedent absolut Decree without respect to Adams future fal but elects som before they are considered as sinners sans respect to the ones faith or the others failing as if prescience had no place in Praedestination 2. The Synod of Dort Peter Moulin and many English 2 Opin Theologists defend That God eternaly decreed to make Man holy and good giving him perfect Free-wil but foreseing he would by Satans tentation fal into sin if he hindred it not decreed to permit it and out of this lost lapsed lump chos a certain number to salvation suffering the rest to perish in sin whom he passeth by of free pleasure but punisheth for just demerits Yet decreed to send his Son to redeem or sav the elect and his Spirit to cal or sanctify them that they may be glorified The first sort are stiled Supralapsarians having no respect to Adams fal decreed to send his Son so they grant prescience in order to preced Decree This opinion freeth Gods justice on Infants dying unbaptised which the first doth not who hav no other desert of death but original sin This Tenet is scarce veritable or warrantable which Refut to defend divine justice supposeth mankind corrupted before any Decree of election passed which seems needless becaus ther be good and bad Angels without any corruption or fal and Christ was not in the lapsed lump yet as man elected to life It also supposeth Original sin to be caus of Reprobation which is remitted to many Reprobats condemned for actual sins as Doctor Whitaker avers it likewise teacheth that Christ is sent to sav the elect only as dying for them alone who are to be caled by the Word and Spirit but Reprobats being outwardly caled who are barred from obeying are more deeply condemned for refusing it yet hav no power to embrace it which is harsh doctrin 3. Doctor Overald a late learned Bisshop coined a new 3 Opin Tenet That God decreed to creat man good but foreseeing his fal appointed his Son to dy for al and to cal men by his Word offering Salvation to al with common suffiâ—ient Grace to work Faith by the ordinary means if they be not wanting to themselves but knowing our infirmity that none would beleev by the common Grace decreed to ad a more special effectual to whom he pleased being chosen according to his purpos wherby they shal not only be able but actualy and necessarily beleev being drawn by the Father irresistibly This is plausible but scars solid for that common Grace Refut which savs none is not Gospel Grace offered to al nor deservs that name nor indeed is any such sith it never produced the effect Nor can a special superabundant Grace be it sith 't is rejected by none to whom 't is offered but tru Gospel Grace is received by som and refused or resisted by others Thes three Opinions infer a kind of despair into mens minds becaus none shal be saved by that special Grace given to a few according to Gods secret purpos which whether he intends to giv or not the general promises cannot assure to any Soul 4. The Lutherans with som Papists maintain that God decreed 4 Opin to make Man a free Creature but permit him to stand or fal and to send his Son upon foresight of his fal for redemption of al by a general conditionat Decree of Faith Repentance Perseverance with a special absolut of electing such as he knew would beleev and persever under the means but to pass by and damn the rest whom he foresaw incredulous and impenitent making Prescience or Prevision the occasion on which his Decrees proced This is faulty in som points 1. Becaus ther is no such general Refut conditionat Predestination 2. Becaus the special Decree of Election makes Men chus God first rather then God them which is preposterous 3. Becaus the Decree of Justification and Condemnation is confounded with election and Reprobation which S. Paul distinguisheth 4. Becaus it allows no more Rom. 8 19. Grace given to the Elect then Reprobats nor greater caus of gratitud Yet this opinion rightly extends the objects of Prescience not only to Adams fal but to Christ Incarnat and beleeved on in the World to the last end of al that shal persever in Faith or unbeleef This sutes with Scripture which builds Predestination on Foreknowledg simply and properly taken at large promising salvation to al beleevers which shal persever to the end Thes four opinions ech of which hath som peeces of truth giv great light to this
Creatures without respect to foreknowledg But for Election to Life being his free Gift they more confidently ascribe to his meeâ— Wil without Prescience which they hav more color for if the Saints glory were only a Gift of Grace and not also a retribution of Justice But God makes it a retribution of Justice upon foresight of their laboring to attain the end and a gift of free Grace too knowing what wil bring them to happines if he grant them thos benefits wherby he shal also attain his end even the glory of his free Lov in giving eternal life to whom he wil which is the tru harmony This Judgment being ex praeteritis Predestination must be ex praevisis for the judg ordained by God is the Lord John 5. 22. Jesus that al may honor the Son as they doo the Father John 3. 19. becaus as the Father created so the Son redeemed Mankind even the universality The grand crime for which the World shal be judged is that Men loved darknes more then light and John 12. 48. Christs Word shal judg him at last day whoever rejected or contemned Marc. 16. 16. Christ Since the Gospel is preached the rule of judging is He that beleeveth and is baptised shal be saved he that 2 Thes 1. 7 8. beleeveth not damned Which S. Paul more fully explicats When the Lord Jesus shal be reveled from Heaven to recompence 2 Cor. 5. 10. thos that hav suffred for his truth and in flaming fire take vengeance on them that know not God nor obey his Gospel The severity of this Judgment to render vengeance the specification Rom. 2. 16. of persons we must al appear before his seat the assignation of causes to be judged the very secrets of Mens hearts with the maner of judgment when such as hav sinned without the Law shal perish without the Lâ—w having a Law written in their hearts but thos that hav sinned in the Law shal be judged by the Law semblably such as hav not obeied the Gospel shal be judged by it Al this argues that original sin which is one just caus of death shal be alleged against al who hav no other caus of condemnation but this as Infants which dy having not this sin purged by the Laver of Regeneration either in act or vow of the Church but to lay it unto them that liv to ripe yeers of knowing God obeying the Gospel or haply had forgivnes of sins sealed by Baptism this seemd strange to Doctor Whitaker that any shal be Reprobated for sin remitted so 't is strange that any should be condemned for such sins as he was not Reprobated for sith the sentence of Reprobation is the hardest and heaviest that can be which draws with it the sentence of Condemnation Surely such sins as the wicked shal be judged of at last are the same they were Reprobated for at first being Jude v. 4. eternaly foreseen specialy their final impenitence and inobedience els what needs this exact differencing of Causes or how are the guilty more burdned to hear their several crimes if al be rejected in the common Case of Mankind lapsed and unable to rise having no Saviour to dy for them nor Spirit to cal them nor help to heal them but are excluded or debarred by Gods absolut irrespectiv Decree God wil overcom in Judgment yet not by pleading his Soveraign power or Prerogativ and silencing Men with his dominion els was Abram too bold to expostulat Shal not the Worlds Judg doo right but by Justice and Equity rewarding every one according to his works els he would not put himself on trial Judg I pray between me my Vineyard what more could I doo then I hav doon God wil Isai 5. 3. convince the ungodly putting them to silence and shame by their own stubborn ingratitud against his abundant Goodnes Patience and long suffering not by his own plenipotence or Prerogativ Sadolet to an Objection We being born of corrupt original are by Nature made to perdition that thos whom God passeth by and caleth not might hav no just caus of complaint answers thus I conceiv that Christ Jesus sitting in Judgment for his Father on them whom he hath conâ—emned wil not so pass or pronunce Sentence sith ye proceded from Adams corrupt loins and contracted your Parents guilt doo I condemn you to endless torments but wil say Go ye cursed into everlasting fire for ye saw me hungry and fed me not c. which are not the common sins of al Mankind but particular faults of ech several person which shal be alledged and wherby they shal be judged lest in that sharp torture and grief they presume to ask Mercy of God who denied it to their poor Brethren begging it Mr. Plaifer handles al thes deep points at large wel worth a serious survey which are here succinctly summed up and conduce much to the main subject If any mislike his Tenets as many of different Judgments wil let them seek satisfaction of him who can best resolv al scruples But if I hav misprised any material circumstances through insciousnes not wilfulnes let me bear the blame who undertake to be his faithful eccho Now for fuller application and farther addition take what folows in a more confused maner To found Predestination on Prescience of simple Intelligence best consorts with al conditions consequents and circumstances therof wherby al divine Attributs are best accorded and advanced the sole scruple rests which Opinion best agrees with the Holy Ghosts tru meaning For al Sects arrogat to sens the Scriptures best if they may be Judges or Interpreters to preach the Gospel purest if faith be given to their bare words and to administer the Sacraments sincerest if their new cuts daily varied may pass for current coin as three main marks of their Church caled the little Flock when al others censure or condemn them for fals Teachers as every one doth ech other and al tort or distort Gods Word to serv turns Howbeit for trial of truth the chief Texts shal be brought to test or touchstone for Prescience these places are pregnant S. James saith Known unto Acts 15. 18. God are al his works from everlasting S. Peter To the Elect 1 Pet 1. 2. Rom. 8. 29 30. according to the foreknowledg of God the Father S. Paul Whom he foreknew he predâ—stinated whom he predestinated he caled whom he caled he justified whom he justified he glorified Again Blessed be God who hath blessed us in al heavenly things Eph. 1. 3 4. through Christ as he hath chosen us in him before the Worlds foundation Ergo we are eternally Elect by Faith in Christ foreseen which preceds Predestination To conceiv rightly the maner and order of this high mystery according to Gods Mind reveled in his Word we must consider somthing of his Nature who predestinats and therin revere his infinit â—intellect just Wil matchless Mercy and soveraign Dominion with
but Inst l. 2. c. 4 § 3 are forced by his bridle to doo as he wil hav them That God not only hardens Men by leaving it to themselfs but by appointing their Counsils ordering their deliberations stirring up their Wils and confirming their purposes by the Minister of his wrath Satan to destroy them That he prepared Sâ—hon King of Ammorits by hardning his heart becaus he intended his ruin Inst l 14 c. 18. §. 1 2. That the distinction of a permissiv decree is a fiction of the flesh and they play the fools that use it as a subterfuge to shift off this seeming absurdity His contemporar Collegue Mr. Beza and al his rigid Sectators stiled Supralapsarians agree in al Points Visne Deum ex placito Reprobos addicere paenae Durus hic est Sermo quis â—olerare potest Wilt make God punish Reprobats of 's pleasure This is an hard speech who can it endure Ob. He objects That to permit Mans Fal and to Wil or In Gen. c. 3. Decree it is al one in effect becaus what he could hinder if he would must com to pass by his Wil in not hindring it sith he had power to prevent it Ergo he willed it This al his Disciples vouch as irrefragable verity Sol. By their leavs this folows not for though the Proverb be tru in Men Qui non vetat cum possit jubet yet in this case it holds not with God but crosseth his chief desigâ— or Decree to make Man a free Creature ad utrumlibet to stand or fal which could not be if he had limited the liberty of his Wil and not permitted him to chuse either way So they say to foresee what wil com to pass and to decree it is al one which is untru The Decree of Reprobation both in the privativ act of preterition and positiv of punishment depends on Gods simple Prescience which anteverts al Decrees concerning the Worlds Creation or disposal of Man both for matters of this life and a better who had absolut Free-wil in al his actions being not barred or blocked up by any absolut antecedent Decree of pure pleasure as thos rigid Rhadamants pretend The Supralapsarians present Man to God in the Decree of Reprobation abov or beyond Adams fal as if without any respect of foreseen sin original or actual in the Creature he decreed to glorify his Soveraignty in the eternal rejection and damnation of most Mankind as the end by their wilful disobedience and final impenitence as the means The Sublapsarians to shun som inconveniences incident to that assertion fal a litle lower and exhibit Man as guilty of original sin for which God freely decreed the greatest number of Men to eternal pardition only to shew his Power and Justice The difference is smal not sufficient to caus a breach betwixt them as they confess nor is any reason to jar about circumstances when they accord in substance For both conspire that Gods moving caus of Reprobation is Gods Wil and not Mans wickednes So their final impenitence is utterly inavoidable by Gods absolut antecedent irrespectiv Decree which both sides hold This prefractory position is oppugned by many Reasons 1 Reason 1. Becaus 't is a novity which hath no footing in antiquity for the upper way was never taught by any no not the stoutest asserters against Pelagians nor the lower til S. Austins time but al concurred that Men might possibly be saved which in event were damned and to hav repented who died impenitent sith no Decree of God lais any necessity of perishing on Adam or his Posterity Hence Prosper S. Austins Scholar saith that almost al Antients consent how God decreed al Mens ends according to his foresight of their actions Minutius Faelix presents Pagans upbraiding Christians that they held al events inevitable framing an unjust God who punished their indeclinable destinies and not Mens voluntary iniquities for as others ascribe it to Fate so you to God He answers That Christians Fate is Gods Decree grounded on his Prescience which determins retributions according to Mens foreseen actions S. Jerem a stif Anti-Pelagian saith the same that al depends on Gods Foreknowledg for whom he knows wil be righteous he lovs before he coms out of the womb and hates the contrary For his lov and hatred riseth from foresight of future things els he loveth al things and hates nothing what he hath made yea he saith God chuseth whom he seeth to be good The result is That God makes no Decree to damn or sav but what is built on foreknowledg of Mens actions S. Austin and Prosper held chief Patrons of absolut Decree the Postlapsarians way let fal words to this effect viz. That Apostats ly not under a necessity of perishing becaus they were not predestinat but were not predestinat becaus God foresaw they would prevaricat that becaus God foreknew they would perish by their own Free-wil therfore he did not predestinatly sever them from the Sons of perdition That God withdraws not from any Man ability to yeeld obedience becaus he is not predestinat but did not predestinat upon prescience of his faling from obedience So Fulgentius saith Thos whom God foresaw would dy in sin he decreed should liv in endless punishment The Council of Arles against Pelagians denounceth thes Held A. C 490 Anathema's Cursed be he that shal say a Man which perisheth might not hav bin saved Or that a Vessel of dishonor may not rise to honor The Valentine Synod saith The Wicked perish not becaus they could not but becaus they would not be good and by their own fault remain in the mass of perdition Again That Gods power predestinats any to evil so as he cannot be good we doo not only not beleev so great an evil but with al detestation denounce such accursed So did the Arausican Council Thes are only Human testimonies which are no rules of Faith yet gray Antiquity and grav Assemblies must be more approved then green Novity or corner Conventicles specialy sith Calvin and Beza acknowledg that the common Opinion of conditional respectiv Decree had many great A. betters in al Ages who aspers Origen as the Author 2. It shuns the test or touchstone of trial which is a shrewd 2 Reason suspition of falsity for in the Disput at Momplegart between Beza and Jacobus Andreas with their Associats having argued the points about Christs Body the Lords Supper Beza flatly refused to touch Reprobation lest the Ignorant should take scandal being unacquainted with such high mysteries At closing up of which Colloquy Frederic Earl of Wirtenberg earnestly exhorted his Lutherans to declare the Calvinians for Brethren by giving hands one to another but they denied it saying Thâ—y would pray God to open their Eys and doo them any offiâ—e of charity but not giv them the right hand of Fraternity being found guilâ—y of gross enormous errors naming this as chief At Hague Conference the Contra-Remonstrants would not
is drawn by his own concupiscence 1. John 2. 16. S. John tels us That the lust of the flesh lust of the ey and pride of life is not of the Father but of the World This Tenet makes God wors then the Devil whos tentation may be resisted but Gods powerful effectual Decree cannot be frustrated Prosper saith If this were charged on the Devil he may in som sort cleer himself sith he can compel none to sin what madnes then is it to aspers that on God which cannot justly be imputed to Satan Tertullian saith He cannot be accompted Author of sin who is Avenger and Condemner of it nor can he be a just holy God saith S. Basil nor Judg of the World if he decree sin sith 't is al one to say God is Author of sin and to aver he is not God The defenders disclaim this Tenet in direct terms being so harsh to Christian ears but deliver it in truth by necessary consequence For they avouch the Decree of Reprobation to be absolut and inevitable nor can Reprobats be saved tho they doo al the works of Saints sith God created them to this very purpos that they should sin els he could not attain his principal ends to manifest his mercy in saving the elect and execut his justice in damning Reprobats who are eternaly decreed to sin even to death Thus say Piscator Marlorat Zanchy and many mo This is by cleer consequents to make God the Author of sin which is ordinarily imputed to thos who hav not such interest or influence in production of it as this assertion ascribes to God The Devil is caled the Father of lies and semblably of al sins 1. John 3. 8. 10. els as sinners are stiled his Sons and sin a work of the Devil which the Son of God cam to loos Yet the Devil only egs or excites Men by outward suggestions and inward tentations to sin which is al he can doo but if God necessitats by his absolut Decree and after determinats by his powerful secret working in Mens Souls and disposing or overruling their Wils that they cannot but sin and perish he doth infinitly more then barely suggest intice or perswade which is horrid to imagin So wicked Men are reputed Authors of their sins becaus they plot purpos chuse and commit them as immediat Agents but if God overrules their projects and purposes by an uncomptrolable decree that they must needs doo as they doo and dy tho they would fain doo otherwise and be saved he is chiefly the Author and they only secund Actors or subordinat Instruments under him Haply they hav free power in it self but no free use to doo as they list sith God determins their actions by his Omnipotent Wil. Evil Counsilors and Allurers to sin are also esteemed causers and punished with others which commit crimes by their instigation as Jâ—zabel was guilty of Nabaths murder for counsiling and contriving it but they say God doth even inforce it by an Almighty Decree which cannot be resisted therfore he is much more the chief author and actor then meer abetter or accessary If a King shal procure a Subjects ruin by plotting his offens as Henry 7. is said to seek Edward Earl of Warwicks destruction by contriving his escape out of London Tower al men wil charge him as Author of his crime and death much more God if he design the sin and damnation of Reprobats So saith Moulin who wil not abhor a King that to hang a man by Law plots to make him a Thief or Murderer that he may seem to doo it justly For he shal not only make an innocent wretched but wicked too and destroy him for that offens wherof he is Author So dissembling Tiberius decreeing Sejanus Daughter to death caused the Hangman first to deflower hir because their Laws forbad Virgins to be strangled yet was he chief Author both of hir rape and ruin If then God Decrees to damn millions upon millions and shal caus or permit the Devil first to defile them that he may justly destroy them is not he the chief caus of their sins so wel as sufferings Al Men grant God to be sole Author of Mens conversion and salvation yet doth he no more in procuring it then thes Men ascribe to him in reprobation and damnation For he absolutly and antecedently from eternity decreed to sav the elect and by irresistible means to work faith repentance and final perseverance for their salvation and accomplishment of his Decree semblably he peremptorily decreed as they say to damn Reprobats leading them on by an insuperable power and immutable providence from sin to sin til they hav made up a ful measure and in fine inflicts vengence for acting what he appointed What difference then in thes courses or why shal not God be reputed Author of the ones sins so wel as of the others salvation The Fathers held it a parallel case an therfore made sin an object only of Prescience bending their Arguments against this perilous position of an absolut antecedent irrespectiv irresistible inforcing Decree of Reprobation Dr. Vsher relating the Church â—â—st of Gotâ—â—sâ— p 138. of Lyons answer to Seotus against Gotteschalc hath thes words whoever saith ther is a constraint or necessity of sinning laid on any Man he grosly and grievously blasphems God making him to be the Author of sin nor can al the quaintest wits in the world avoid it Howbeit to shew fair play and scan this point at ful al their Defenses Devises Shadows Similituds Evasions and Elusions shal be amply agitated and aptly answered 'T is said ther is a duple Decree 1. Operativ by which God 1 Devise positivly works his purpos and this would infer him to be the Author of sin 2. Permissiv by which he only Decrees to let it com to pass and this doth not make him Author of sin which is al that they maintain If it be al 't is wel let that be tried Answer Indeed God permits al sin els could be none if he would effectualy hinder it as he left Adam in the hand of his own Alâ—s 14 16. counsil to stand or fal So he suffred the Nations to walk in their own wais And stil suffers al Men to slide into sundry sins not becaus he stands in need of sin to set forth his glory but becaus he is suprem moderator of al knowing how to bring good out of evil and specialy becaus he made Man as Tertullian tels a free creature undetermined either way in his actions til he determins himself and may not be hindered from sinning by Omnipotence becaus he ordained otherwise Nor doth a permissiv Decree caus sin being meerly extrinsecal to the sinner which hath no influence on it If they intend nothing els in good earnest then a bare permission 't is granted but their main conclusion fals to ground and the debat at an end Heâ—ce their chief Coryphees reject this distinction as a fiction of
perdition decrees they shal sin that so they may be damned he dissembles like that Tyran and destrois them under colour of Justice for such sins as he draws them into appointing it as a means of their ruin 3. Want of Mercy as if he delighted in blood who rather then he wil not destroy Mens Souls decrees them to liv and dy in sin that he may destroy them Justin Martyr saith of Pagan Princes They feared Apol. l. 2 lest al should be just that they might hav none to punish which is the property of Hang-men rather then good Princes far be such foul enormities from the God of Truth and Father of Mercies Thus we see Causa patrocinio non bona pejor erit 7. It overthrows Religion and good Government 1. Becaus 7 Reason it makes sin no sin in deed but only in Opinion The Proverb is Necessity hath no Law and Creatures or actions swaied by it are free from Laws Lions are not forbid to prey Birds to fly or Fishes to swim nor any thing to doo its kind sith 't is Natural or Necessary they can doo no otherwise But Laws are given to Rational Animals which hav liberty of Wil yet not to such as hav no use of Reason nor to Men that can use it sav in thos actions that are voluntary For none is forbid to hunger thirst sleep weep laugh c. becaus thos actions and affections are necessary being trangressions of no Law and 1 John 3. 4. consequently no sins as S. John concluds Justin Martyr saith if it be destiny as the Fathers cal absolut Necessity that Men are good or bad they be neither good nor bad So Virtu and Vice wil seem nothing but in opinion only which is great Injustice and Impiety For to what purpos was the Son of God made Man and a Sacrifice for sin Why was Ministry ordained or Heaven and Hel appointed Faith the Word Sacraments and al Religious Rites are meer Fables if sin be nothing 2. Becaus it bereavs al conscience of sin for if it pleas or profit Men why shal they fear the perpetration which they cannot shun or why weep and mourn having sinned if they be necessitated sith sin is an effect of that irresistible Decree or nothing tears may be so wel spared as spent 3. Becaus it cancels the guilt of sin sith no fatal offences can justly be punished either temporaly or eternaly but Deut. 22. 25 26. Necessity must bear the blame God gav a Law If a Maid be forced to incontinence she shal not dy being rather a sufferer then sinner Tertullian saith The reward of good or evil cannot justly be given to such as are so by necessity and not freely So Nemo sit fato nocens S. Jerom Wher necessity swais ther is no place for retribution So S. Austin We place Mens nativities under no constellations that the Wil may be freed from al hand of Necessity So Epiphanius If Stars impose a necessity of sinning they may with more Justice be punished then Men shal it then be said that Gods Decree doth the same Prosper saith Gods Judgments cannot be just if Men sin by his Wil or determination So Fulgentius 'T is great Injustice if God punish one whom he doth not find but makes an Offender Epiphanius refuting the Pharees who held the Souls immortality and resurrection of the Body together with fatal necessity saith 'tis meer madnes to grant a Rusurrection and day of Gods righteous Judgment yet to say ther is any fatality or necessity in Mens actions for how can they cohere which implies that God necessitats none to sin or damnation Nor can his Judgments be just if Men be held by the Adamantin chains of necessity under the power of sinning teach or preach in words what any can to the contrary For by that position al our actions are Gods Ordinances and imaginations branches of his eternal Decree yea al events in Kingdoms and Stats necessary issues of divine Destiny which wil makes al pillars of Piety and Principles of Policy totter or tumble to ground the best Laws cannot restrain one sin the greatest rewards promot one Virtu the powerfullest Sermons convert one sinner the humblest devotions divert one Judgment nor the strongest endeavors effect any more then what wil be doon without them Gods Decree doth al in al. Prosper saith Whoever holds that Men are urged to sin or damnation by Gods Predestination as by inevitable necessity he is no Catholic Thes Men preach clean contrary in shew and dehort from sin with terrible threats of vengeance sed eui bono if Men by Decree be necessitated to doo it and hav no possible power to decline it Lazarus at Christs cal cam forth but being bound could not walk til he was loosed and let go Nor can Men repent or com to Christ so long as they ly fastned with the fetters of necessity under a fatal Decree deprived from al power of Free-wil til they shal be set at liberty by Gods cooperating Grace The Arausican Council saith That any are predestinat to sin by divine power we not only not beleev but with greatest detestation denounce Anathema to such if any be as will beleev so great an evil which shal shut up this point The Sublapsarians or Disciples of Dort Synod who like Lapwings hide their heads thinking the whol Body safe suppose Sublapsarians censured themselvs more flight-free from scandal then Antelapsarians hold That God looking on the lost lump of forsorn Mankind in Adams foreseen Fal decreed of free pleasure to send his Son in time to say som Elect Vessels by Ordinances prescribed in the Gospel but to leav the rest in the suds of their sins to perish everlastingly This Tenet shal be more pointly touched or taken in task which is faulty in many manifest respects 1. It repugns sundry pregnant places of holy Writ As I 1 Reason liv saith the Lord I hav no pleasure in a sinners death but that Ezek 33. 11. the wicked turn from his way and liv Ergo he doth not decree of free pleasure they should perish He delights not in the death of wicked Men much less of Innocents liable only to Original sin to seal up so may millions of millions under it vincible damnation meerly to shew his soveraign dominion Saint Rom. 11. 2. Paul saith God hath shut up al under unbeleef that he might hav mercy on al Here are two Al 's of equal extent al Unbeleevers and al Objects of Mercy implying that Gods wil is to hav mercy on al Unbeleevers if they wil turn from infidelity If then every Man is under Mercy God hath no antecedent John 3 16 7 18. Wil to exclud som from al possibility of obtaining it God so loved the World as he gav his only begotten Son that whoever beleevs in him should not perish Ergo he loved al lying in the lump of sin sending his Son to be a Saviour but hated
God like them and imitat their Exod. 20 5. sins God swears that the Proverb The Fathers hav eaten Ezek 18 2 c. sour Grapes and Childrens teeth are set on edg shal be used no more the Soul that sins shal dy But if a Man be just and doo right he shal surely liv The Son shal not bear his Fathers iniquity nor Father his Sons but the Soul only that Sins shal dy Wretched would be our case on whom the ends of al the World are com if children should be guilty of al their Progenitors sins or liable to their plagues and punishments who can bear it Yet 't is asserted that God decrees to leav Reprobats in this impotent irrecoverable condition affording no ability to rise from sin by Grace which Decree he executs in time of his Free-wil and Pleasure leaving them under a necessity of sinning by the act of absolut Reprobation both Negativ which is a flat denial of Grace and Positiv which is a preordination of them to endless torments Som grant common Graces to Reprobats but not sufficient to sav them So saith Lubbert God reveles not the way of salvation to Reprobats nor givs Faith and Regeneration but leavs them in sin and perdition Nor doth afford them any sufficient means of salvation with an intention of saving them Thes two Positions that God necessitats Reprobats to sin and leavs them in the snds make him chief Author of al their sins for a Caus of the Caus is Caus of the thing produced Causa Cauâ—â— â—â—â— Causa Causati whether Negativ or Positiv acts Ergo if God be chief Caus of their impenitence by want or withdrawing supernatural Grace he is tru caus of their sin according to the saying He that forbids or hinders not what is in his power bids and furthers it as they say God doth effectually wil it 'T is a poor pretext that God by withdrawing his Grace is only accidental not a direct proper caus of their sins For an accidental is when the effect is beside the Agents intention or expectation as if one in digging his ground finds gold But when an effect is expected intended or contrived the caus cannot be caled accidental as a Pilot witholding his care or skil from a Ship when he knows it wil perish by such neglect is caus of casting it away So if God detains Grace necessary not as ignorant what wil insu but precisely determins Reprobats ruin by their impenitence he becoms a tru direct caus of their sins which no wiles of wit sav among their partial poor blind Disciples can possibly decline 2. It opposeth Gods Mercy which is his Nature in the Abstract See Exod. 34 6. Mat. 7. 11. Mat. 23. 37. 2 Cor. 1. 3. Eph. 2. 4. 1 Pet. 1. 2. 1 John 4. 16. But such matchless Mercy cannot stand with a peremptory Decree of absolut Reprobation which if God doth of free pleasure he is rather a Father of Cruelties then Mercies and a Destroier then Saviour What Parent wil destin their Children to eternal death and torments for one only offens and that not committed by them but by others and imputed to them Is Gods Mercy abundant if limited to a few Elect scarsone of a hundred shal be inevitably saved Ponder thes points duly 1. That Adams sin is personaly none sav his but a sin of Nature not committed or consented to by any of his posterity which is derived by traduction but made the sin of Nature by Gods arbitrary imputation not ordinary generation 2. That God as 't is generaly beleeved pardoned Adam who freely committed it Can it then stand with his Mercy to punish others for the same sin not perpetrated by them 3. That his only Son was sent into the John 1. 29 World and suffred death for the sins of the World which might suffice to satisfy his wronged Justice for al Mankind and open a way of salvation to every Man without respect of persons But to damn a world of Reprobats by free Decree only to shew his dominion no way savours of Mercy for he is far crueler to them then any Creature els or to the very Devils who are damned for their own personal pride and rebellion but Reprobats by an absolut Decree for anothers crime The one know their doom and expect it but the other are deluded with hope and made beleev the matter is in their own hand so that if they perish 't is not for want of Mercy in God but oâ— wil in themselfs Yet by their doctrin al depends on the peremptory punctilio of Gods arbitrary absolut Decree So Devils are in better case becaus they are not injoined to beleev in Christ nor to repent fast and pray as Reprobats are Nor punished the more for not beleeving as Men are In al which regards their condition is far more ruful then cursed Fiends who are made the tormentors over them Concerning other Creatures the very basest hav a being though despicable which is better then no being Yet who would not wish if he might chuse to be resolved into nothing then in such doleful direful condition yea that they had been Toads or Serpents then Men Or what Parents wil procreat if they be perswaded they shal beget Children Fire-brands for Hel and Slavs to Satan yet not for their faults nor hav they power to help it Let Prosper shape the period He which saith God wil not hav al to be saved but a few predestinat persons only he speaks harshly of Gods high inscrutable Grace Som say Gods Mercy by this absolut Decree is sufficiently shewed to the Elect and Justice to Reprobats but the one is clothed with partial respect of persons and the other clouded with extrem rigour or severity as shal appeer 3. It is incompatible with divine Justice See Ps 145. 17. Prov. 16. 11. Isai 5. 3. Ezek. 18. 25. but the absolut decreâ— of Reprobation cannot consist with it sith it makes God punish the righteous with rebellious and innocent Men with bad Angels For Antelapsarians say expresly That God decreed Mans Fal or Fate considered without sin and therfore innocent Postlapsarians vouch the same by consequent That he lais a necessity on every Man to be born under original sin decreeing to Reprobat most part for that sin so they make God to doo 〈◊〉 3 Inst c. 23. § 7. 23. by two acts which their brethren impute to one Calvin contests That God may with equal Justice decree Men to damnation the first way so wel as the last for al are made guilty of Adams sin by Gods Decree only why then not he by the same Thes kind Patrons of divine Justice wil seem to stumble at a straw and leap over a block why els wil they not grant that of one Man which they doo of al hence we may see what to judg of this opinion That God cannot justly ordain Men to destruction sans consideration of sin for which is greater to impute another
sin to one and punish him for it with eternal death or to ordain Men to perdition simply without looking at sin but they say he may doo the one without wrong to Justice Ergo the other So saith Doctor Twiss If God may decree Men to Hel for Adams sin derived to them by his sole constitution he may so justly doo it without any such ordination Indeed 't is al one to decree a Mans misery as to involv him in a sin which shal make him miserable but neither is just nor agreeable to the Judg of the World Is it justice to require Faith in Christ of thos to whom he hath by flat decree denied it Yet so they fain God to doo For Zanchy saith Every Man sans exception even Reprobats is bound to beleev that he is chosen in Christ to salvation or els he sins grievously as Christ saith The Spirit shal convince the World of sin becaus they beleeved not in me This they generaly hold yet absolut Reprobats John 16 9 cannot justly be bound to beleev becaus barred by divine Decree and hav no power to doo it shal any be tied to impossibilities If al be immutable more Medorum their endevor is vain and al preaching vain For 't is not Gods serious Wil they shal beleev whom he doth not furnish with necessary power but rather the contrary that they shal not beleev The Devils hav no part in Christ or the new Covenant and therfore not bound to beleev in the one nor punishable for transgressing the other no more can God justly require Faith of Reprobats or destroy them for not beleeving if they hav no more part in Christ or the Covenant then Devils which wil make the doctrin that Christ died for al Men a flatâ—ly What can be more injust then to punish Men for omitting to doo which his own Decree makes impossible for them to perform Som answer that Gods Decree is just tho it seem hard to 1 Defens Mans erring understanding This is fals and the contradictory tru that nothing is truly Answer just which human understanding purged from prejudication hath in al places and persons judged unjust becaus God by Natures light and general notions of good and evil of just and unjust imprinted in Mens hearts sufficient ability to judg in such cases If a Man bids his Son or Servant to eat and punish him for not eating yet resolvs he shal hav no meat may we not say he is unjust both in the precept and punishment Semblably 't is in God sith Virtues in Men are but the Image of his perfections being in substance the same tho infinitly differing in degrees God cals Men to be judges of his wais and Ezek. 18. 25. works judg ye hous of Israel are not my wais equal and yours unequal The high mysteries of Christs Incarnation birth by a Virgin resurrection of the Body and such like which are proper objects of Faith God never offers to Mens trial but rather derides those which presume to judg them by Reason becaus they be supernatural and Man no competent judg by natural understanding but he makes him judg in the equity of his Decrees and Wais who is able to discern what is just in divine acts Others say the Scriptures define thes Decrees to be 2 Defens Gods Wil which is the rule of righteousnes Ergo they must needs be just This Rule is much abused by the Patrons of absolut Reprobation Answer for Gods Wil is no rule of justice to himself as if things were just becaus he wils or works them but his justice is rather a rule of his Wil and Works who decrees and executs becaus they agree to that justice which dwels in the divine Nature So S. Jerom saith God commands nothing sav what is honest but doth not make things honest which are abominable implying that he doth not wil a thing and so make it good but willeth it becaus 't is antecedently good So Zanchy makes Gods justice antecedent to his wil and therfore the rule of it rather then regulated by it nor can God wil ought which is not just in it self So Gods Wil is no rule of justice to himself but to us who must square al our thoughts words and works by it as suprem rule of them Nor are thes absolut decrees of salvation and damnation any parts of his reveled Wil in Scripture which to assert is to beg the question This is al their ground to gain credit as al sects use to doo but a fals foundation unles they may sens it as they list For absolut Reprobation repugns right reason and begets absurdities which no Truths doth sith sundry truths are reveled in holy Writ abov reason but none contrary to it Faith and Reason Scripture and Nature are Gods excellent gifts which never diametraly differ tho ther is a disproportion betwen them if then absolut Reprobation be unjust it cannot be justified by Scripture Therfore to say Gods Wil is the rule of Justice and this a part of his reveled Wil both which propositions are untru is but a sly evasion and colorable collusion They say farther That God is not bound to restore Men power 3. Defens to beleev having lost it by their own fault as a Master is not tied to renew his Servants stock having misimploied it 'T is tru God is bound to none being a most free dispenser Answer of his own favors wher what and to whom he wil sith none is afore hand with him Who hath given to him first and it shal not be recompenced again Yet is he conditionaly bound both by decreing being liable to his own Ordinance or els should be mutable by promising which is a kind of debt â—ith 't is just to perform and by giving Men a Law to keep which without supernatural Grace they cannot When God commanded his Creatures to increas and multiply he gav them a generativ faculty when Christ bad the lame Man rise and walk he added ability to his lims so when the suprem Law-giver imposeth a Law he givs the people power to keep it els he becoms a hard Master as the evil Servant stiled his reaping wher he sowed not being the tru proper caus of transgressing it When God gav Adam a spiritual Law to obey he conferred such strength answerable to doo it as S. Austin saith he had a power or possibility not to fal tho not such as he could not fal To apply al If God entred into a new Covenant with Men which he needed not and required obedience of al promising eternal life to thos that observ it and everlasting death to such as disobey then no doubt he is bound to restore ability of beleeving unto al nor can justly punish the disobedient without it no more then a Magistrat having put out an Offenders eys can require him to read and put him to death for not reading so 't is injustice in God to punish such for not beleeving
as he makes unable to beleev 4. It oppugns Gods truth and sincerity who is a God of truth without any fraud or falshood See Deut. 32. 4. 1 Sam. 15. 9. John 14. 6. Rom. 3. 4. God lovs thos that are tru of heart and hates Hypocrits with his heart but absolut Reprobation makes him a Lier and Dissembler sith he openly injoins such to repent and beleev whom he secretly intends shal not so doo S. Peter saith Repent and be baptized every one and ye shal receiv the gift of the holy Ghost for to you and Acts 2. 38 39. your Children is the promiss made He makes the Precept and Promiss of equal extent both universal for the one is a motiv of obedience to the other Every one even Reprobats is perswaded he is under the gracious offer of eternal life or els would not strive so much to leav som bosom sins or doo hard duties but by this Tenet most of thos to whom God offers Grace and Glory shal attain neither as Piscator pronounceth Zanchy saith Every one caled ought to think he is elected els he accuseth God of lying So saith Bucer A Man must beleev he is predestinat or els makes God to mock when he caleth Thus they seem sollicitous that others shal not make God a mocker yet they doo it most of al. For if a Creditor resolvs to let his Debtor rot in prison yet shal profer promiss yea and swear to remit al the debt upon certain conditions which he bars him to fulfil would we not reput him a rank deluder or dissembler 'T is easy to apply it Al divine comminations are as Caveats to avoid the evil threatned but if Mens perdition be peremptorily predecreed it cannot possibly be prevented which is plain delusion yea his passionat wishes that al wil repent and be saved are colorable collusions See Deut. 5. 29. Ps 81. 11. Isai 48. 18. So are his mournful expostulations See Isai 5. 3. Jer. 2. 31 32. Ezek. 33. 11. Yea his melting commiserations wil al seem but as Absolons feast Joabs congee Judas kiss or the Crocodiles and Hyaenas tears for in al he saith one thing and means another Nay the whol ministry is meer mockery without tru meaning For God seems thus to speak by his Ministers O Reprobats once dearly loved in your Father Adam now implacably hated by mine own irrevocable decree and sealed up under invincible sin to damnation repent and beleev in my Son if you wil be saved I would not hav you dy nor any to perish but al com to repentance If your sins be red as Scarlet I wil make them whit as Wool I hav cried and caled that you might be converted I hav long waited and knock'd at the dore of your Hearts for entrance O that you had a Heart to fear me and keep my Commandments that it might go wel with you for ever Can God speak thus if he decrees they shal not beleev or repent or be saved without deep dissimulation Or why doth he delude them to use the means in vain 'T is said God willeth or wisheth their salvation seriously A Defens yet not absolutly but on condition if they repent and beleev Ergo tho they perish God is sincere This shift fals too short God wil hav al saved conditionaly if they beleev and repent as S. Austin saith He would hav al Answer saved if they selfs wil for if he would absolutly who can hinder his irresistible Wil 'T is tru that a conditional promiss may be serious so wel as an absolut but then the condition must be possible in his power to whom 't is made and the performance according to the promisers Wil or liking els it cannot be candid or current For to offer a courtesy under impossible condition is frivolous or fucatious as if one should offer mony to a blind Man on condition he wil tel what coin 't is which is al one as to deny an alms nay in som sort wors sith 't is a denial with delusion and derision or a meer mockery The case is the same in the pretended decree of Reprobation 3. 'T is contrary to the use and end of Gods good gifts 3. Reason both of Nature as Creation Preservation Health Strength Wisdom and of Grace which are means either to purchas salvation as Christs coming to be a sacrifice on the Cross or Acts 14 16 17. to apply it as the Ministry of the Word and Sacraments Gods long suffering the inlightning of Mens understandings with many mo for God bestows the gifts of Nature to incourage Acts 17. 26. 27. and inable Men to serv him and sav their own Souls as S. Paul shews Prosper saith Every Creature is made or ordained specialy that Mankind might by sight of them and tast of so many blessings be drawn to lov and serv God So he confers the gifts of Grace to the same end For Christ cam into the John 3. 17. John 12. 47. World not to be a rock of Offens at which most Men should stumble or fal but to shed his blood for the salvation of al even thos who for their wilful infidelity and impenitence are not saved Christ saith the Son of Man cam to seek and sav what Luke 19 10. was lost Ergo to sav every particular S. Peter saith God having Acts 3. 26. raised up his Son Jesus sent him to bless you and turn every one from his iniquity Ergo the end of his coming was to sav al and every Man so wel thos that reject as thos that receiv him Yea the Ministry of the Word is appointed for the same use as an Instrument to convey the Spirit of regeneration unto al that liv under it See Isai 59. 21. 2 Cor. 3. 6. 2 Cor. 5. 19 20. Titus 2. 11. 1 Pet. 1. 23. Prosper saith Al such as say that al to whom the Gospel is preached even thos that obey it not are not caled to Grace they utter untruth which he provs by Isai 5. 2. Mat. 23 37. John 5. 34 40. Touching the end of Sacraments see Marc 1. 4. Acts 2. 38. Rom. 6. 3. Gal. 3. 27. Eph. 5. 26. Titus 3. 5. To the same end is Gods patience and long suffering exercised among Men to work out their repentance and salvation See Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Wher both Apostles declare that God forbears Sinners even such as despise the riches of his Goodnes purposly that they may repent and be saved becaus he would hav none perish Gods other gifts knowledg faith fortitud repentance temperance humility chastity are bestowed on Men that they may attain life eternal for Reprobats are indued with many of them See Mat. 13. 20. Heb. 6. 4. Heb. 10. 26 29. 2 Pet. 2. 20. Al which Graces are not given to abuse them or to doo others good and not themselfs but that they may obtain salvation Som Scriptures seem to oppose this as wher 't is said God reveled
himself to the Gentils Rom. 1. 20. by the Creatures that they might be without excuse So Simon saith of Christ that he is appointed for the faling and Luke 2. 〈◊〉 rising again of many in Isarel S. Paul saith I preach Christ 1 Cor. 1. 23. 2 Cor. 2. 16. to the Jews a stumbling block Again To them that perish we are the savour of death to death Thes places in general point out the end which is oft effected by them not what is primarily or principaly intended in them sith they may occasionaly produce such effects in som Men by their voluntary rebellion contrary to the Doners intention Phisitions minister medicins for the Patients good which somtime by misguidance turn to his hurt so Gods blessings intended for Mens eternal welfare tend to their perdition by il imploying them So the event doth not vary the intent sith no sinful event is properly under Gods decree but under his prescience or permission at most Now by this Tenet of absolut Reprobation al gifts both of Nature and Grace hav another end for either God intends them not to such tho they enjoy them being mix'd with the elect to whom only they are directed or if he doth 't is only to puff them up abov the common rank of Men to make their L. 3. Inst c 24. §. 13. ruin greater So saith Calvin God sends his Word to Reprobats that they may be made more deaf sets up a light to make them blinder and affords a remedy that they may not be healed Beza saith Let it not seem absurd that God offers Grace to som Reprobats not to this end that they should be saved but that they may be less excusable and more punishable Maccovius saith God knocks at Reprobats hearts who neither can nor wil open not that he may enter but partly to upbraid their impotence and partly to increas their damnation nor can any other conclusion rise or result from this doctrin for how can God intend the gifts of Grace for their salvation whom he hath irrevocably decreed to damnation Hence it infers that God meerly deludes miserable Men whom he cals to salvation in his Sons name by preaching the Word yet intends their perdition and that Ministers are fals Witnesses who preach salvation to many conditionaly whos damnation is decreed absolutly If a state closly contriv that no Dutch shal be Denisens yet publicly proclaim to giv them high privileges on condition to becom free doo they not conterfet or cosen the poor people to make them su or seek in vain Semblably may not Reprobats rightly plead Lord wilt thou punish us for not beleeving in thy Son being caled by preaching to beleev when thou hast decreed to leav us in Adams sin without al power to beleev How canst thou justly charge us with sin or increas our torment for not beleeving in him whom thou resolved st from eternity we should never beleev in Certes that Ministry givs Men a fair excuse which is given only to leav them without excuse as the Patrons of absolut Decree proclaim For the Sacraments signify nothing seal up nothing and confer nothing to such as are not saved but are meer blanks or empty Ordinances yet not by their fault but by Gods irresistible Wil nor are al other gifts tho never so glorious of any avail to promot their salvation in Gods absolut intention nor given out of lov but meer hatred that they may use them il and prepare to themselfs a greater damnation For he that receivs most of him shal most be required so they be but as snares to intrap Mens Souls like baits on barbed hooks to beguil Fishes sith they are lifted up therby that with the load of their goodly indowments they may sink the deeper into Hel. So they hav no caus to lov the Doner but hate him rather sith such favors are like a griping Usurers bounty or Jaels courtesy to Sisera 4. 'T is prejudicial to Piety and Promoter of prophanes 4 Reason cutting off the very sinews of Religion for it takes away al hope to attain happines by godlines and fear to sustain any hurt by wickednes sith al is ordered by absolut Decree Hope is the sole spur to stir Men on to virtu and fear the chief bar to withdraw them from vice For our Saviour in hope of Heb. 12 2. Mat. 10 32. the joy set before him endured al shame of the Cross who by it hardned his Disciples to suffer for his sake By this the godly in al ages hav bin excited to wel dooing See Acts 24 15. Phil. 3. 26 Colos 1 9 Titus 2. 12 13. Heb. 11. per totum Al noble Heroic acts hav sprung from the hope of eternal glory He that eareth and thresheth must doo it in hope saith S. Paul 1. Cor. 9. 10. For hope saith Aquinas conduceth to action as appeers in Souldiers Mariners and al Professions The hope of Heaven then is chief incentiv to piety and fear of Hel a main bar to impiety yea fear promots a good action accidentaly becaus Men fearing the evil of mischief or misery annexed to the evil of sin think they are never safe til they attain a contrary state by doing wel Now by an absolut Decree Hope and Fear are bereaved for hope is properly versed about some good to be attained by industry not which must be of necessity and the object of fear is an evil that may be avoided but by this Decree Heaven and Hel are no possible objects but necessary for the elect shal infallibly enjoy the one and Reprobats impossibly escape the other sith Men hav no power to alter their eternal state being prefined by eternal Decree Al Gods decrees are immutable irreversible and irresistible so that al Mens indevors are in vain to alter or avoid them See Isai 46. 11. Ps 115. 3. Rom. 9. 19. 'T is absolutly decreed the Devils shal be damned so it were folly in them by praier or tears to alter it Mans Soul is simply decreed to be immortal and 't is vain for any to attemp the abolition 'T is ordained that The Sun shal rule the day and Moon the night what power then can divert their cours so if no power be left in Man to attain eternal life or avoid death but he must needs take what is destined or designed he strivs in vain either way For if the Decree be absolut the Minister preacheth and People hear in vain Not one Soul can be saved by either of their means which is decreed to Hel nor one damned designed to Heaven 'T is frivolous and fruitless folly to be studious or sollicitous in what cannot be altered amended or avoided as Christ said to his Disciples why take ye thought about such Luk. 12. 25 26. things 'T is a misery to toil about impossibles as Sisyphus is said to rol up a stone to the top of an high hil in Hel which instantly fals down again If this
holy Land but Jerusalem the City of general worship more holy the Temple holier and Sanctum Sanctorum holiest of al places A Sacrament is a separation of som visible thing from common use consecrated to Gods service for a sign of our admission Sacrament into his Kingdom or a commemoration of the same Circumcision was the sign of admission in the old Testament Baptism in the new but the commemoration in the one was eating the Pascal Lamb once annaly to mind them of the night when they were delivered from Egypts temporal bondage and celebrating the Lords Supper in the other wherby we are remembred of our deliverance from sin and Satan by our Saviours crucifixon The Sacraments of admission Circumcision and Baptism are used but once to every one becaus we are admitted no oftner but thos of commemoration Passover and the Lords Supper often reiterated becaus we must be often minded of our deliverance and allegiance Ther be other Consecrations which in ample acception may be stiled Sacraments as the word implies a sacred institution for Religious uses as Ordination Matrimony and many mo but as it imports an Oath Promiss or Covenant of Allegiance to God thos precited are soly so named A Common-wealth cannot possibly consist wher any sav the Soveraign hath power to giv greater rewards then life or inflict Chap 38. grievouser punishments then death but sith eternal life excels temporal and endless torments exced death of nature 't is worthy to be wel weighed of al that wil obey Authority to avoid the calamities of confusion and civil war what is meant in Scripture by eternal life and endless torment as also for what offenses and against whom committed Men are to be eternaly tortured and for what actions to enjoy everlasting life Adam had enjoied it in the terren Eden Paradise for ever had he not broken Gods commandment to eat the forbidden fruit who had the Tree of Life allowed to eat but so soon Eternal Life Gen. 3. 22. as he tasted the one God thrust him out of the Garden lest he should take of the other and liv for ever So if he had not sinned he should liv on Earth perpetualy but mortality seized on him and al his posterity for this first sin Sith then he forfeted eternal life by sin he who is to cancel that forfeture must recover it by righteousnes which Christ Jesus did by satisfying for the sins of al that beleev in him and so recovered life eternal lost by Adam to al beleevers So saith St. 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. Paul sith by Man cam death by Man cam also the Resurrection of the dead for as in Adam al dy so in Christ shal al be made alife Touching the place wher Men shal enjoy eternal life the precited Texts seem to set it on Earth for if al forfeted it in earthly Paradise by Adam they shal enjoy it on Earth by Christ els the comparison were not consonant nor complet So saith David God commanded the blessing on Zion Ps 133 3. even life for evermore So St. John to him that overcometh Rev. 2. 7. I wil giv to eat of the Tree of Life in the midst of Gods Paradise Rev. 21. 2. 10. This was the Tree of eternal life on earth Again I saw the holy City new Jerusalem coming down from God as a Bride adorned for his Husband As if he should say new Jerusalem Gods Paradise or rather the Church Christs Spous shal descend from Neaven at Christs next coming to Gods people and Acts 3. 11. not they ascend to it So the two Angels in whit clothing said to the Apostles looking at Christ ascending This Jesus who is taken up from you into Heaven shal so com as you see him go up into Heaven As if they had said Glossa corrumpit textum he shal com down to govern them under his Father eternaly on Earth he coms to Judg not to Rule and not take them into Heaven This conforms to the restauration of Gods Kingdom began under Moses which was the Israelits Politic Mat. 12 30. government on Earth Christ saith In the Resurrection Men neither marry nor giv in mariage but are as the Angels in Heaven This describes eternal life like that which Adam lost at point of mariage For sith Adam and Eve if they had not sinned had lived on Earth eternaly yet could not continualy propogat Progenies becaus if immortals should immortaly procreat as Men doo now the Earth in short space could not afford Foot-room to stand on much less food to sustain them How then can a new created Earth except extended to Quaeâ—e iâ—finit immensity contain al Mankind which are unimaginable multituds born and to be born since the Creation Thes with sundry such quirks surpass the reach of reason to resolv The comparison betwen life eternal lost by Adam and recuperated by Christs victory over death holds thus that as he lost it by sin yet lived long after so a faithful Beleever recovers it by Christ though he dy 〈◊〉 natural death for a long time even til the general Resurrection for as death is counted from Adams condemnation not execution so is life reckoned from the absolution not from the Resurrection of thos elected in Christ Jesus Such are his specious speculalations favouring of singularity That Men after the Resurrection shal liv eternaly in Heaven Ascention into Heaven caled by St. Paul the third Heaven is not evident in Scripture by the Kingdom of Heaven is meant Gods Kingdom who dwels in Heaven which was Israels People whom he ruled by Judges Prophets and high Priests as Lieftenents til they rebelled and required a mortal King like other Nations So when our Saviour by his Ministers shal perswade the Jews to return and accomplish the fulnes of Gentils ther shal be a new Kingdom of Heaven becaus God whos Throne is Heaven shal be King yet it folows not that Man shal ascend to his seat of happines or higher then his Footstool No Man John 3. 13. hath ascended into Heaven but he that cam down from it even the Son of Man that cam down from Heaven Wher note that thos are St. Johns words not Christs as al the rest were who was not then in Heaven So David saith Thou wilt not leav Ps 16. 10. my Soul in Hel nor suffer thy Holy one to see corruption which St. Peter provs to be spoken of Christs Resurrection not of Acts 2 31 34. himself becaus David is not ascended into Heaven If any answer 't is tru they shal not ascend in bodies til the Resurrection but their Souls enter Heaven so soon as they dy As Christ confirms Who provs the Resurrection by Moses words Luk 20. 37 38. at the bush when he cals the Lord the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob who is a God of the living not of the dead This cannot be construed of the Souls immortality sith Christ ther
same condition that Adam and his Posterity were since his fal sav that God graciously promised a Redeemer to such as should repent and beleev but not to thos that dy in their sins impenitent as Reprobats doo so they may liv as they did before with gross corruptible Bodies as al Men now hav and haply beget Children continualy which no 1 Cor. 15. Scripture gainsais St. Paul treats only of the Resurrection Luk. 20 34. c. to life eternal not a word of that to pnuishment nor Christ who saith the Children of this World which liv in the estate Adam left them shal marry and generat successivly by an immortality of Kind not of Persons who are not worthy to be counted among thos that shal rise and obtain the World to com that is life to com not a terren World which alone are Heirs of eternal life equal to Angels and Children of God So a secund eternal death remains to Reprobats when after the Resurrection shal com a time of torment or punishment which by succession of sinners shal last so long as the kind of Man by propagation shal endure that is eternaly but not so every single Person nor shal the Tormenters be Fâ—ends or evil Angels Touching the Souls natural immortality that 't is a spiritual substance subsisting by it self after separation he answers som objections Ob. Salomon saith Dust shal return to Dust as it was and Eccles 12. 7. the Spirit to God that gav it Ergo God created the Soul distinct Spirit Sol. He shews how Mans Body made of dust must return to dust but God only knows what becoms of his Spirit Chap. 3. 20. Breath or Life He hath a sentence of semblable sens Al Man and Beast go to one place al are of dust and turn to dust Who knows except the Omniscient that Mans Spirit goes Ibid. v. 19. upward and a Beasts downward Sith 't is said That which befals the Sons of Men betides Beasts as one dies so doth the other yea they hav al one breath before spirit so that a Man hath no preeminence abov a Beast for al is vanity He praiseth Châ—p 4 2 3. the dead beyond the living and ads Better is he which hath not yet bin nor seen the evil work doon under the Sun then both the dead and living which cannot hold current if Mans Soul be immortal that no Soul were better then it only for a little oppression in this life Lastly he saith The living know they shal dy but the Dead know nothing naturaly before the Body shal rise nor hav any more a reward for their memory is forgot Al which places prostern the Souls immortality and by Spirit is meant Breath or Life as often foresaid Ob. Christ saith Abraham Isaac and Jacob are living Ergo their Souls separat subsist stil for their bodies lay buried many ages before Sol. This purports Gods promiss and certitud of their Resurrection not any actual life as God said to Adam on the day he should eat the forbidden fruit he shal certainly dy so from that day he was a dead Man by Sentence but not by actual execution til 930. yeers after Ob. The wicked shal rise to Judgment and go into everlasting fire torment or punishment wher the worm of Conscience never dieth which is caled a secund everlasting Death and general everlasting Life in torments far wors then Death as appeers in the new Testament Ergo c. Sol. Al this is tru yet it no wher appeers that the Damned shal liv in torments everlastingly for God the Father of Mercies and fountain of Goodnes who doth al what he wil and holds al Mens hearts at his disposing working them to wil and doo without whos free gift no Man hath any inclination to good or repentance of evil wil not punish Mens transgressions committed by inevitable ignorance natural frailty or wilful obstinacy sans end of time or with extremity of torture more then Men can conceiv or imagin Then he proceds to answer Bellarmins places or proofs in both Testaments touching Purgatory which he that lists may read p. 346. c. The next Caus of spiritual Darknes is heathen Demonology 2 Caus or doctrin of Devils as St. Paul cals it which their Poets as principal Priests diffused divulged or dissipated over the World witnes Hesiods goodly Genealogy of Gods For they caled al Spirits good and bad Demons but the Jews gav the name Demon only to evil Spirits stiling the good which Prophets or others inspired had the Spirit of God So they caled Lunatics Maniacs Lycanthrops Epileptics Hysterics or the like direct Demoniacs possest with evil Spirits They said unclean Persons had an unclean spirit dumb Men a dumb Devil aspersing John Baptist and our Saviour himself to hav Devils but Devils specified in Scripture are meer Diseases If any ask why Christ did not cross comptrole or teach Quest the contrary but confirms it by bidding Dâ—vils go out of Men which is improper to speak unto any Diseas that cannot hear He answers that Christs command to any Diseas is no more Answ improper then to rebuke the Fever Wind or Sea which obeied him yet can hear no more then the rest Nor are such speeches improper becaus they import or impart the power of Gods word to command such contumacious Diseases under the appellation of Devils as they were then generaly deemed to depart out of Mâ—ns Bodies So Devils Spectres or evil Spirits which they dreamed of are meer Phantasms or Inhabitants of their own Brains nor are any Ghosts of the Dead or ever were extant in the Air Heaven Hel or any real place as som surmise Al this must be taken upon his bare Phythagorean Ipse dixit Was that legion of Devils who besought Christ to enter 〈◊〉 into the Gergesens Swine and caried a whol Herd headlong into Sea only a Diseas Can Metaphors discurs or doo such mischeef When Christ cast out a dumb Spirit the traducing Pharisees denied not the dispossessing or matter of fact but said he did it by Beelzebub Prince of Devils can Christians then deny it Christ saith St. Matthew was led by or of the Spirit into Maâ— 4. 1. Maâ—â— 1. 12. Luk 4. 1. the Wildernes which Spirti drov him into the Desart saith St. Marc but Luke that he being ful of the holy Ghost which descended on him as a Dov newly before at Baptism was led of the Spirit into the Wildernes al which imply the holy Ghost nor can this be a possession of one substance by another sith Christ and the holy Ghost are one self same substance 'T is said after the Devil took him up into the holy City and set him on a Pinnacle but anon after caried him on a very high Mountain to shew him al the Worlds Kingdoms but certes the Devil did not transport him by force nor is any Mountain so high to shew him one Hemisphere of the World The meaning then must be
but the chief charms are reserved for the Children to be Baptised as appeers in their Ceremonies The like are used in Mariage Visitation of the Sick extrem Unction consecrations of Churches and Church-yards to expel Phantasms Faieries and imaginary Spirits al which belong to the Kingdom of Darknes being effects of our natural ignorance Another error is from misinterpreting the words eternal Life everlasting Death and secund Death of which three in order Adam had an estate to liv for ever not by nature in himself Eternal Life or any part of his but by eating the Tree of Life which he had leav to doo so long as he obeied God but was thrust out of Paradise so soon as he sinned lest he should feed theron and liv for ever Now Christs death is a discharge of sin and restitution of Life eternal to al the faithful who beleev in him and to them only Yet the general doctrin of Divines is that every Man hath eternal life by nature of his immortal Soul so that the flaming Sword at entrance of Paradise may hinder him from tasting the Tree of Life but not from immortality which God bereaved Nor shal he need Christs sacrifice for recovery of the same sith not only the faithful or righteous but the wicked and Heathen shal enjoy eternal Life without Death much less a secund everlasting death To salv or shadow this they say by secund everlasting Death is meant a secund everlasting Life but Torments which is a figure never used sav in this very case Is not secund Death an eternal being both of Body and Quaere Soul in Hel-fire under Satan This tenet of the Souls immortality is founded on som obscure places of the new Testament which yet in a different sens of his own mint are cleer enough and unnecessary to Christian Faith For suppose when a Man dies nothing remains but his Carcas cannot God who made clay a living Creature by his word rais it again by another word Yes but not to the same life which vanished to nothing wheras the Soul being immortal persists identical Soul in Scripture stil signifies either Life or a Living Creature and Body jointly with Soul a Body alife As God saith Let the Waters produce Reptile animae viventis the creeping thing with a living Soul we translat that hath life Again God created Whales omnem animam viventem in English every living Creature but of Man God made him of dust and breathed in his face the spiracle or breath of life factus est Homo in animam viventem and Gen. 8. 21. Man was made a living Creature So God said when Noah cam out of the Arc I wil no more smite omnem animam viventem Deut 12. 23. every living Creature Eat not the Blood for 't is the Soul or Life But if Soul signified a substance immortal existing after separation from the Body it may be said of any other Animal so wel as Man Is it said of any other that God having made the Body of Quaere Earth breathed into his face spiraculum Vitae the Spirit of Life Which al interpreters expound of creating and infusing the Soul together He goes on the Souls or Lifes of the Faithful which being accidents that annihilated when the Bodies died must be new made are by Gods special Grace not of their own Nature to remain in their raised Bodies for ever after Judgment Wher 't is said in the new Testament that any shal be cast Body and Soul as if they were distinct Quaere parts into Hel-fire it imports Body and Life how can Life be cast being a bare accident That they shal be cast alife into Rev. 19 v. 20. Gehenna So 't is said The Beast and fals Prophet were both cast alife into a Lake of fire burning with Brimstone This dark doctrin of the Souls subsistence after separation opens a sluce to let in the superstitious superstructures of Purgatory and Indulgences Ghosts or Goblins and Exorcisms invocating of Saints yea Heaven and Hel too with som others For Men before Christs coming being taught from the Greecs Demonology that Mens Souls were distinct substances which after separation must subsist somwher by their own Nature the Doctors of the Church long doubted wher they resided til the general Resurrection supposing they lay under the Altars but finding that Martyrs Souls of them slain for Gods word if they hav Souls why not others Quae c. Lay under the Altar the Church of Rome for their profit Rev. 6 9. erected Purgatory Surely they doo al for profit to maintain their pomp pride power and prodigality Beza to prov Gods Kingdom began at Christs Resurrection Mat. 16. 28. and continues stil urgeth his words Verily I say to you som of them which stand here shal not tast of death til they hav seen Mat. 16. 28. Marc 9. 1. Luk. 9. 37. Gods Kingdom com with power Ergo either Gods Kingdom cam shortly after and is now in this World or els som then standing by Christ are yet alife Sol. This is a darke difficil place which provs nothing necessarily but if Gods Kingdom began at Christs Resurrection why doo we stil pray thy Kingdom com Therfore 't is not meant therof Yea after his Resurrection the Apostles asked Wilt thou now restore the Kingdom of Israel He answered 'T is not for you to know the time or season which the Father hath put in his own power but ye shal receiv power by the holy Ghosts coming on you and shal be my Witnesses in Jerusalem in al Judea and utmost part of the Earth So he told them his Kingdom was not com nor shal they foreknow when 't is to com Christ said to Peter of John If I wil that he tarry Joâ—n â—1 v. 22. til I com what is that to thee Which bred a beleef that he should not dy yet the truth of it was neither confirmed nor confuted by thos words but left as a dark saying and so must this Howbeit sith Christs transfiguration is the next Act handled by al three Evangelists haply he cals that Gods Kingdom which som ther should see being a representation or vision of his glory and Majesty as he shal com in his Kingdom which cannot be proved to begin til the day of Judgment Wher is it proved that any terren Kingdom shal commence Quaeâ—e then Then shal the Faithful rise with glorious spiritual Bodies inlifened and becom Christs Subjects in his Kingdom wher they shal not eat drink marry as they did in their natural Bodies but liv happily in their individual Persons for ever The elect then alife shal be suddenly changed and their Bodies made spiritualy immortal but Reprobats shal rise to receiv punishment yet not eternaly in their individual Persons nor can any place prov it As after the Resurrection the Elect shal be restored to Adams estate before he fel so Reprobats shal be in the