due to vs for the sinne of Adam vnlesse we be freed by Christ The Arminians doe not much differ from this opinion who doe not care who they imitate so they inuent something that may make for the safeguard of their errour Pag. 388. in Tilenum Arnoldus after Arminius doth teach that Originall sinne hath no respect of vice or sinne properly so called for nothing is sinne or vice vnlesse it be committed by the free-will In the same place hee denieth that Originall sin deserues punishment but saith that it is a punishment And he doth confesse Pag. 389. 390. that Arminius doth deny that Originall sinne is sinne properly so called Arminius himselfe Resp ad 9. Quaest P. 174. hath these words It is peruersely said that Originall sinne doth make a man guilty of death XIII The reasoning then of Saint Paule the Apostle doth fall to the ground Rom. 5.13.14 where speaking of sinne which hath flowed from Adam into his posterity when he had said That sinne was in the world vntill the Law hee afterward proues it by the death of the infants who were dead before the daies of Moses Death saith he raigned from Adam to Moses euen ouer them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression that is ouer infants which had not sinned actually Hee thereby proueth that sinne was in those infants because death is the fruit and punishment of sinne Seeing therefore the death of infants is a punishment of Originall sinne if this Originall sinne were not truely sinne but onely the punishment of sinne then this death of infants would be the punishment of a punishment and not the punishment of sinne but to say that God doth punish punishments and not sinnes is vncomely for any especially for those who professe themselues to be maintainers of Gods iustice XIV And if the Originall blot of infants is not sinne but onely the punishment of sinne they are baptised in vaine For baptisme is not profitable to wash away punishments but to wash away sinnes In vain are they washed that are without the filth of sin Why is it necessary men should be borne againe but because they are dead in sinne Whence is that peruersenes by which naturally men are prone to euill but from vice and what is this vice but sinne XV. But you say it is not sinne vnlesse it be voluntary I confesse it if you speake of actuall sinnes but if you speake of the naturall staine and blot it is not necessary that this naturall blot be procured by euery one 's owne will it is enough if it be contrary to the Law For this is the best difinition of sinne that Saint Iohn layeth downe that sinne is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the breach of the Law And it cannot be doubted but that that is contrary to the law which doth stirre vp a man to rebell against the law For although Originall sinne hath not yet stirred vp the infant to sinne in act yet is it apt and prone to stirre him vp No otherwise then the Snake which hath not yet infected any one with her poysoning biting hath yet an engrafted poyson in her and a naturall readinesse to hurt Originall sinne also may be said to be voluntary because by it we sinne voluntarily and also because we sinned in Adam and therefore in him wee were desirous of this corruption Finally wee must rather beleeue Saint Paul that teacheth vs that sinne is in infants then these men who strike themselues with their owne stings and entangle themselues XVI For seeing that the Arminians teach that by the death of Christ all mankinde is reconciled to God and that remission of sinnes is obtained for all men I demand for what sinnes are infants punished and doe fall into torments of body and doe suffer the assaults of Diuels Is it for the sinne of Adam that the Arminians affirme is forgiuen them Is it for any actuall sinne they haue committed none It remaines therefore that they are punished for Originall sinne Vide Aransic Concil secund Chap. 2. vnlesse we will brand God with the marke of iniustice as he that torments the innocents and they that are guilty of no sinne CHAP. IX How the sinne of Adam may belong to his posteritie and how many waies it may passe to his of spring And first of the imputation and whether the sinnes of the Grandfather and great-Grandfathers are imputed to their posterity I. THe sinne of Adam doth passe to his posterity by two meanes by imputation propagation II. The punishments which all men suffer in the name of Adam doe argue that the sinne of Adam is imputed to vs This the Apostle teacheth Rom. 5.12 Death passed on all men by one man in whom all men sinned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or because all men sinned in him For the sinne of Adam was not onely personall neither did hee sinne as a singular person but as carrying all mankinde in the stocke and originall no otherwise then Christ satisfying for vs on the crosse hath not suffred as a priuate person but as sustaining and representing the whole Church in the head Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5.15 speaketh thus If one dyed for all all likewise were dead And Rom. 6. doth affirme that we are dead and crucified with Christ If therefore we dyed in Christ dying and were crucified with him it is no doubt but that it may likewise be said that we sinned in Adam For if the satisfaction and righteousnesse of the second Adam be imputed to vs why shall not the sinne of the first Adam be imputed to vs seeing that therefore the righteousnesse of Christ is imputed to vs that the sinne of Adam might not be imputed to vs III. Reason it selfe doth consent to this for if Adam had receiued good things not for himself alone but for his posterity it is no maruell if being spoiled of these good things he lost them for himselfe and his posterity If any one be capitally punished for treason and brought to extreame pouerty his children also with him doe loose their Nobility Nor is any thing more equall then that the sonne should pay his fathers debts and that as they are heires of their estates so they might be heires of their debts IV. But in this similitude there is one and that a notable difference that is when the debter hath wasted the inheritance and there is more in debt then in goods the sonne may renounce the inheritance and leaue his fathers goods But here this yeelding vp cannot be made because to the guilt by the sinne of Adam there commeth also the naturall deprauation and contagion like as he that is borne of parents infected which leprosie which contagion cannot be put off when they please V. Although these things are grounded vpon the word of God and the very rule of iustice yet they seeme to be charged and followed with great discommodities First that in Ezekiell Chap. 18. v. 20. doth offer it selfe The
so much to dispute as to liue and that they accustome themselues to fight with their owne vices and not with other mens opinions For it is a most hard and a very profitable combate which euery godly man maketh with himselfe On the contrary side when strife is sowne by strife and not the truth but the victory is sought first charity and then truth is lost among the contenders And especially diligence is to be vsed lest peace and riches bring forgetfulnesse of the Crosse of Christ and lest the people vnmindfull of the benefits of God should at length draw vpon them his iudgements There are not wanting examples of people to whom when religion had brought forth riches and prosperity a while after the same riches and prosperity choaked religion and with a shamefull parricide killed their Mother So much the more care therefore is to be had that the eares of your people may alwayes ring with those instructions whereby the memory of the calamities driuen from them may be refreshed and their mindes might tremble with a godly feare when they foro-see a farre off the dangers to come and Satan lying in waite for them To which thing it is no light instigation that by these late tumults you haue tryed that the peace of the common-wealth doth consist in the integrity of Religion neither can the purity of true Religion which is maintained by you be violated but that also the pillars on which your common-wealth standeth and by which the authority of your supreame Magistracy is sustained will be shaken For these two are so knit together by a mutuall bond that the one cannot be ouerthrowne but the other also must fall downe Your authority was strooke at through the side of Religion and in the foundations of the Church the foundations of the common-wealth were vndermined Your power therefore will be sound and safe when obedience due to princes shall be thought to be a part of piety and when the Pastors of the Church shall traine vp by the word of God the people to performe obedience to you And on the other side the Church shall flourish when Princes shall be her nourcing fathers and shall thinke themselues to be set by God at the sterne of the Common-wealth that God might raigne by them and that Religion might grow vp and might carefully be manured vnder the shadow of their ciuill power This you doe most Illustrious Lords diligently and happily It cannot be said how much your people are indebted to you and they will still owe you more Surely all good men in the Christian world doe greet your so prosperous successe and doe admire at your wisedome and doe striue in prayers with God that he would preserue you long to the Church and common-wealth whom hee hath vsed to preserue the Church and common-wealth and that he would so gouerne you by his spirit and defend you by his carefull prouidence that all your endeauours may obtaine their wished ends and that yee may haue a common-wealth happily gouerned a State set in safety domesticall concord aboundant riches valiant armies frequent victories a people obaying your command and who may doubt whether they should call you Lords or Fathers One that doth highly honour your most illustrious Lordships PETER MOVLIN COurteous Reader be entreated to take notice of these faults because they are materiall The rest may be amended by the prudent Reader Page 4. line 2. reade people out of the Pulpit seeing p. 13. l. 18 r. offend God not compelling But. p. 37. l. 1. r. by well aduised men l 2. r. by vnaduised men p. 41. l. 1. r. order We deny not that c. l. 3. r. as mans will p. 54. l. 5. r. thou doest not play p. 69 l. 30.31 r. euery where receiued l 32. r. organicall body p. 72. l. 7 to put sinne into the will p 83. l. 10.11 reprobated and some are preferred others being neglected p. 93. l. 22. r. the greatest punishment p 95. l. 27. r. He could not p. 144. l. 14. r. who will p. 155. l. 5. r. We are predestinated to faith p. 169 l. 25. r. sence In his p. 171. l. 15. r. in order admit p. 209. Let this be the title of the 26. Chapter Of Reprobation p. 218. l. 7. r. from good p 223 l 18. r. a token hereof that p. 246. l. 14. r. of the sonne is p. 284 l. 7. r. inordinate affections p. 311. l. 27 r. remainds if vniuersall sufficient grace be added p. 348. l. 14. r. this action of the spit it he carryeth p. 422. l 7. should not change p. 462 l. 3. r. that by those words p. 476. l. 27. but may finally The Table of the Chapters contained in this Booke HOw soberly we are to deale in this argument chap. 1. That we are not therefore to abstaine from the doctrine of Prouidence and Predestination although some abuse it to curiositie and impietie And whereto it is profitable chap. 2. What the prouidence of God is How farre it extends That God is not the author of sinne What permission is and what blinding and hardning is chap. 3 Of the will of God chap. 4. Of the Antecedent and Consequent will of God chap. 5. Of the sinne of Adam chap. 6. That all mankinde is infected with Originall sinne chap. 7. What Originall sinne is and whether it be truely and properly sinne chap. 8. How the sinne of Adam may belong to his posterity and how many wayes it may passe to his of-spring And first of the imputation of it and whether the sinnes of the Grand-father and great-Grand-fathers are imputed to their posteritie chap. 9. Of the propagation of the sinne of Adam to his posteritie Where also of the traduction both of the soule and of sin it selfe chap. 10. Whether the power of beleeuing the Gospell is lost by the sinne of Adam chap. 11. That God doth saue those whom of his meere grace he chose out of mankinde corrupted and obnoxious to the curse What Predestination is the parts of it That Arminius did not vnderstand what the decree of Predestination is and that he hath vtterly taken away Election chap. 12. Of the Obiect of Predestination that is whether God electing or reprobating considereth a man as fallen or not fallen chap. 13. That the Apostle Saint Paul in the ninth to the Romanes by the word Masse vnderstood the corrupted Masse chap. 14. That Arminius doth willingly darken the words of the Apostle which are cleare and expresse chap. 15. The opinions of the parties vpon the doctrine of Predestination chap. 16. That the Arminians make fore-seene-faith the cause of the election of particular persons chap. 17. The decree of generall Election is searched into by which Arminius will haue all men to be elected vnder the condition of faith chap. 18. The election of particular persons in respect of faith fore-seene is confuted by the authoritie of the Scripture It is proued that men are not elected for faith but to
it must needes be that God put in man that inclination to sinne which seeing it is an euill thing God should be made the author of that which is euill and to haue inclined man to sinne which cannot be spoken without hainous wickednesse III. It was the least finne which Adam sinned in gluttony but that was farre the greatest that he had rather beleeue the Serpent then God and that being spurred on by ambition he would be like God in the knowledge of good and euill And that while hee obeyed the Serpent hee gaue credit to reproaches cast vpon God Finally because he preferred so small a thing before the commandement of God therefore the lesser the eating of the Apple was the greater was his sinne IV. This ruine beganne at the vnderstanding ouer which Sathan had spread the cloud of false opinion and had cast the imagination of a false good To whose perswasion when man shewed himselfe ready then peruersenesse of the will and inclination of the appetites to sinne followed this darkening of the minde V. This fall happened God indeede not compelling it but yet permitting it There was not wanting power to his omnipotency by which hee was able to hinder this fall neither did enuy turne away his goodnesse God therefore permitted it because he would permit it and because it was good that he should permit it He that is the chiefest good would not haue permitted euill vnlesse it had beene good that euill should haue entred into the world by that permission he made a way for the manifestation of his glory and opened a way to man himselfe to a state farre more excellent For without sinne the mercy of God whereby he pardoneth and his iustice whereby he punisheth had neither of them been made knowne nor had hee made knowne his infinite loue to the church by the sending of Christ into the world to abolish our sinnes and to carry vs to a celestiall glory Neither doe I say these things as if I thought that God doth stand in neede of our wickednesse to the manifestation of his glory but I say that God created man that hee might come to greater perfection then that was in which hee was created And hee could not come to that perfection without the knowledge of Gods iustice and mercy which doth shine forth out of this fall and out of the remedy which he had prepared for this fall To which purpose the words of Saint Austen in his booke de Correp grati Cap. 10. are very proper He that created all things very good and fore-knew that euill things would rise out of those good things knew that it did more pertaine to his omnipotent goodnesse to make good things euen out of euill things then not to suffer euill things to be The like hee saith Encherid Chap. 96. VI. The Arminians bring no other cause of this permission then this Because God would not force mans voluntary liberty nor compell his will neither did he thinke it conuenient to vse his omnipotency in a thing which belongs to mans free will But they doe too negligently touch so great a matter neither doe they sufficiently weigh the moment of things and the circumstances of the fall of Adam For God without the diminishing of mans liberty could haue restrained Sathan and hindred him that hee should not tempt man He could haue forewarned man that he should not beleeue the Serpent He was able not to haue propounded the tree to man by the eating whereof he knew man would sinne Hee could haue giuen man more strength and more light and more vnderstanding He could haue giuen extraordinary strength in the very instant of temptation And yet by these force had not beene offered to mans will nor his liberty violated The Angels are examples hereof whom he doth confirme in good without any constraint By these it is manifest that the fall of man happened God not compelling but yet dispenfing and by his prouidence turning that euent which hee fore-knew from eternity to an end which hee had determined with himselfe from eternity VII Neither is it to be said that God withdrew his grace from man for this were to compell him as the house doth necessarily fall when the pillars are taken away nor that God tooke from him the liberty of his will for so he had brought a necessity of sining but he would not hinder that man should not be tempted by Sathan nor would he helpe him with extraordinary succour And whereas man sinned freely yet that fell out which God from eternity fore-knew would bee and the creatures themselues before the creation of man did testifie that it would come to passe For before Adam had sinned God had put into the Plants healthfull powers to keepe away diseases already had he cloathed the sheepe with fleeces and had formed cattell for the vse of man which are reliefes of humaine infirmity and had beene in vaine created if man had stood in his integrity VIII Now whether the digestion and egestion of meate to be refreshed with sleepe after labour to enioy the marriage bed to grow in stature to haue flesh that may be wounded and burnt to all which man before his fall was obnoxious whether I say these are such things as may perpetually agree to a creature perfectly blessed or whether they doe not secretly testifie what should be the condition of man to come I leaue it to be iudged of by wise men IX And yet it is no doubt but that Adam without any extraordinary helpe had strength to resist Sathan For it is not credible that God gaue a Law to man when he was made at first to the performing of which he did not giue power yet in respect of the fore-knowledge of God the fall of man was certaine For the act of the will may be certaine and defined before God the liberty of mans will being vntouched and intire So it is no doubt but the tortours had power and ability of breaking the bones of Christ when yet in respect of the fore-knowledge and prouidence of God it was impossible that they should be broken The will of man may by a certaine and voluntary motion determine it selfe to some one thing and yet doe that which either the knowledge of God hath certainely fore-knowne or his prouidence hath certainely fore-ordained X. These things are firmely to be held least the fault of man be transferred vpon God For howsoeuer God doth draw good out of the fall of Adam yet he neuer doth doe euill that good may come of it Neither must we think that God would force man to sinne although his glory should manifest y appeare thereby Gods glory must not be further I with the damage of his iustice but after a maâ—ueâ—ous and vnvtterable manner God doth so dispose and gouerne the euents of things that vnauoâ—dably those things happen which he doth condemne and disalow and the diuine prouidence doth keepe a course betweene iniustice and negligence
They therefore doe inuert the nature of things who say that God decreed that Adam should sinne because hee had determined to send Christ who should cure Adams sinne when rather God decreed to send Christ because Adam was to sinne Man did not sinne that Christ should abolish sinne but Christ came that he might abolish sinne Here is nothing said that ought to trouble tender eares or which should make God partaker of sinne which yet if any one doth either not conceiue or not digest it is better to accuse his owne dulnesse then accuse the iustice of God and to abstaine from lawfull things then attempt vnlawfull things CHAP. VII That all mankinde is infected with Originall sinne I. SInne is either Originall or Actuall I vse the accustomed words for clearenesse of speech for if one would deale strictly he shou d abstaine from these tearmes seeing it is certaine that Originall sin is in act and therefore is actuall But vse hath obtained that that sinne should be called actuall which is committed in action or in deede and that originall which we haue from the birth that hereditary blot which is sent into vs from our Parents II. Of Originall sinne Saint Paul doth treat in the fifth and seauenth Chapter to the Romanes In the fifth Chapter how it hath passage into all mankinde in the seauenth Chapter how it doth remaine in him in whose minde the law of God is perfectly written III. That no man is free from this blot the Scripture doth cry and experience doth witnesse Whatsoeuer is borne of the flesh is flesh saith Christ Iohn 3. And there he doth plainely teach that all men are defiled with Originall sinne when he saith that it is necessary to be borne againe and to be formed anew We are by nature the children of wrath Eph. 2.3 Who can bring forth a cleane thing out of an vncleaâ—e there is not one Iob 14. Dauid acknowledgeth himselfe infected with this contagion Psal 51. Behold saith he I was formed in iniquity and in sinne my mother conceiued me He doth not acâ—use his father nor expostulate with his mother but although hee was adorned with fingular prerogatiue and replenished with benefits yet hee doth confesse himselfe to be defi ed with that vniuersall contagion he fetcheth the cause of his sinne from that originall and in this common lot he doth lament his owne Circumcision signiâ—ied this for by that externall symbole â—e Church was warned that there was something â—n man 〈◊〉 soone as he was borne that ought to be cut off and â—â—â—râ— ted The end of Baptisme is the same watch 〈◊〉 the Sacrament of our cleansing in the bloud of Christ by which our naturall filthinesse is washed away IV. Not onely the progenie of Ethnicks and Infidels or euill Christians is borne in this Originall sinne but also the off-spring of the godly and faithfull No otherwise then he that was Circumcised begat one that was vncircumcised and as a graine of Wheate well cleansed and receiued in the lap of the earth afterward growing doth bring forth Wheate with chaffe Then was Adam iustified then did hee by his faith cleaue to the promise of his seede that should bruise the serpents head when he begot Cain the heire of his naturall wickednesse and not of his faith or repentance Piety is not hereditary to be deriued to ones heires neither doth holinâ—sse come into vs by nature but by grace not generation but regeneration doth make men holy and good After the same manner that Aristotle lib 2. Phisic doth teach That artificiall formes as the forme of a statue or image are not begotten but onely naturall formes Therefore in the children of the best man as soone as they beginne to speake you may see a crafty and lying disposition and prone to reuenge stubbornenesse against those that admonish them prickes of glory and sporting vanity also that great honour wherewith they prosecute their puppets and babyes are no obscure seedes of their inclinablenesse to Idolatry For as puppets are the Idols of infants so Idols are the puppets of those that are growne in age And therefore when any man hath children of euill manners he ought to acknowledge his image in them when he hath good children he ought to admire the worke of God in them For these are they of whom Saint Iohn saith Chap. 1. who are not borne of bloud nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God V. The second Canon of the Mileuitan counsell is expresly to this thing It pleaseth vs that whosoeuer doth deny little ones that are new borne to be Baptised or doth say that indeede they are Baptised for the remission of their sinnes but yet they drew no originall sinne from Adam which is to be taken away by the lauar of regeneration whence it followeth that the forme of Baptisme in them is to be vnderstood not to be true but false be an Anathema VI. Christ alone was free from this blot he deriued not Originall sinne from his Mother Saint Paul indeede Rom. 5.10 saith that all men sinned in Adam neither is it any doubt but that Christ was in Adam as being one of his posterity but that sentence of the Apostle doth not concerne Christ because the person of Christ was not in Adam but onely his humaine nature neither is he from Adam as from the agent principle and from the seminating power but thence he tooke that matter which by the ouer-shadowing of the holy Ghost was freed from the common contagion VII Now if you should aske me whether Originall sinne is done away by Baptisme or whether that blot doth yet remaine in those that are regenerated by the holy Ghost it is readily answered out of the Scripture and experience which is so certaine here that there is no place left for doubting Dauid was circumcised and plentifully instructed with the gifts of the holy Ghost and yet he doth confesse that he was not free from this staine but was polluted in an equall contagion with others And Saint Paul Rom. 7. speaking vnder his owne person of euery man in whose minde the law of God is faithfully imprinted doth acknowledge that sinne doth dwell in him which he â—aileth the law of sinne because it doth stirre him vp to sinne We see infants dye as soone as they are baptised and death the Apostle being witnesse Rom. 6. is the wages of sinne I demand for what sinne doe those Baptised infants dye is it for actuall sinne but they haue committed none therefore it is for Originall sinne Whence it appeareth that Originall sinne doth remaine after Baptisme wherein sinne is remitted as touching the guilt although it remaine in the act as Saint Austen teacheth at large in his first Booke against Iulian concerning Marriage and concupiscence Cap. 25. and 26. The concupiscence of the flesh saith he is forgiuen in Baptisme not that it should not be at all but that it should not be imputed for sinne VIII
But seeing the regenerate doe afterward sinne whence are these sinnes but from their inward corruption For that being taken away the effects also which doe flow onely from this cause would be taken away IX And what shall we say to this that the best men beget their children tainted with this blot and therefore standing in neede of Baptisme Now if the parents begetting children were without originall sinne how could they send this blemish to their issue and giue that to their children which themselues haue not X. Therefore say you marriage is euill seeing by it children of wrath are begotten and sinne is propagated which ought rather to be pulled vp by the roote and to be choaked in the very seede I answere that marriage is more ancient then sinne and instituted by God himselfe the sinne that came vpon it doth not hinder but that marriage is naturally a good thing No otherwise then meate and drinke are things that are good and to be desired although thereby the life of wicked men is sustained Besides marriage doth bring forth sonnes to God and doth serue to fill vp the number of the Elect. I let passe that the faithfull couple doe ioyne their prayers doe stirre vp one another to good workes doe cure one anothers incontinency and in slippery places doe stretch forth the hand one to another Neither are there wanting examples of wicked men to whom by Gods benefit there haue happened good and godly children euen as God doth send seasonable raine on those seeds which were stollen and sowed by a theefe CHAP. VIII What Originall sinne is and whether it be truely and properly sinne I. ORiginall sinne is the deprauation of mans nature contracted and drawne from the very generation it selfe and deriued from Adam into all mankinde consisting of the priuation or want of originall righteousnesse and the pronenesse to euill II. These two things to wit the priuation or want of originall righteousnesse and the inclinablenesse to euill are in originall sinne For as sicknesse is not onely a priuation of health but also an euill affection of the body from the distemper of the humours so this hereditary blot is not onely the want of righteousnesse but also the inclinablenesse to vnrighteousnesse III. The last of these proceedes from the former For the soule which by originall sinne hath ceased to be good is necessarily euill and the soule being instructed by the will which cannot be idle holines and righteousnesse being lost must needes turne to the contrary part IV. This corruption brings blindnesse to the minde peruersenesse to the will perturbation to the appetites the losse of supernaturall gifts and the corruption of those that are naturall V. And although in Adam the minde was first stained with errour before the will was infected with peruersenesse yet is the corruption of the will farre worse and that blot more foule because wee are not made good or euill by the vnderstanding but by the wiâ—l for whatsoeuer euill is committed it is the sinne of the will the committing of wickednesse is a greater sinne then the ignorance of the truth VI. The guilt or obliging to punishment cannot be any part of the definition of Originall sinne Lombard lib. 2. dist 30. Thâ—mas t. 2 Quest â—2 art 3. seeing it is the effect of it VII Lombard and Thomas and the other schoolemen who say that originall sinne is concupiscence doe not attaine sufficiently to the nature of concupiscence For Originall sinne doth infect all the faculties of the reasonable soule and concupiscence is the disease of the will and appetite also concupiscence is contrary to one commandement of the Law and Originall sinne is contrary to the whole Law Neither by it doe men sinne more against the second table of the law then against the first What that concupiscence is forbidden by a proper law But I know not whether Originall sin may be said to be forbidden by the law for God doth not command that wee should be generated or begotten pure without sin for so God should speak to man before he were born Surely man is not bound to obey the law before he be man and seeing the law doth not speak but to them that heare are partakers of reason to think that the law commands a man that is growne to age to be born without sin is a ridiculous thing well nigh a dreame For so the law should command him to be born that is already born him to be begotten that is already grown a man The law doth not command but presuppose Originall righteousnes doth speake to man being considered in the state wherein he was before the fall requiring that old debt and naturall obedience Whence it is manifest that Originall sin is condemned by the law but not forbidden VIII Of this sinne although the Scripture speaketh so expressely and sense it selfe and experience doth abundantly testifie it yet there haue not beene wanting some who did deny this sinne and would not acknowledge mankinde from his first stock and originall to be infected with sinne Cyrillus Ierosolomytanus or whosoeuer else is the author of those Catechismes which goe vnder his name in his fourth part of his Catechisme hath these words Thou dost not sinne by generation thou dost play the adulterer by fortune And a little after Wee come without sinne but now we sinne by our owne election IX In Saint Austins age Pelagius Celestius did deny Originall sinne and did contend that sinne did passe from fathers to their issue onely by example and imitation They did deny that sinne was remitted to infants by Baptisme because they had none and did affirme that by it onely the kingdome of heauen was opened to them whose heresie is long agoe hissed out and strongly confuted by Saint Austin X. Saint Hierome or whosoeuer else is the author of those briefe comentaries vpon the Epistle of Saint Paule which are put in among Saint Hieromes works doth fauour Pelagius For those words of the Apostle Rom. 5. in whom all haue sinned he restraines to example and doth take them as spoken of the imitation of the sinne of Adam XI Saint Chrisostome in many places doth seeme to creepe into this error In his Homily vpon new Conuerts he denyeth Baptisme to be profitable only to the remission of sinnes For saith he wee Baptise infants although they are not polluted with sinne that holinesse and righteousnesse adoption and the inheritance c may be added to them And in his tenth Homisie vpon the Epistle to the Romanes expounding that of Saint Paule Rom. 5. By the disobedience of one many were made sinners by sinners hee would haue vs vnderstand those that are guilty of punishment and mortall and not those that are defiled by the blot of sinne XII Lombard lib 2. distinct 30. litera E. saith there were some that said Originall sinne was no vice in vs but onely the guilt of punishment euen of that eternall punishment which is
soule that sinneth shall die The sonne shall not beare the iniquity of the father Whereunto the law of God Deut. 24. is consonant and agreeable which law doth forbid children to be punished for the sinnes of their parents Why then doe we die for anothers sinne Why is the sinne of Adam imputed to vs Or is it credible that he that forgiues vs our sinnes will impute to any one anothers sins What that the punishment is greater then the sinne For when we sinned in Adam onely in potentia in power and possibility yet we are punished in actu in act And that seemeth most cruell that Adam which sinned in act is saued and for the same sinne many are damned who sinned in Adam onely in power and possibility I answere the place in Ezechiel must be taken thus the innocent sonne shall not beare the punishment of his fathers sinne So when God saith in the law that he will visit the iniquity of fathers vpon the children he speaketh of children which walke in their fathers steps and are partakers of the same fault But the sonnes of Adam cannot be said to be innocent as they which not onely sinned in Adam as in the stocke and roote of mankinde but also themselues are borne stained with the same deprauation and prone to the same sinne Secondly I say that that place in Ezechiel makes nothing to the present matter for hee speaketh of the sinnes of the fathers whose sinnes are personall and who in sinning doe not sustaine the persons of their children For Arminius is deceiued in setting downe the cause why those Infidels are reprobated who haue not refused the Gospell viz. Because saith he they refused the grace of the Gospell in their parents In Perkins p. 92. grandfathers great-grandfathers and their fathers by which act they deserued that they should be forsaken by God For I would haue them shew me a solid and sound reason why Infants haue not sinned against the grace of the Gospell in their Parents to whom the grace of the Gospell was offred and by whom it was refused seeing in Adam all his posterity sinned against the Law and by it deserued punishment and forsaking For the reason of the couenant of God is perpetuall that children are comprehended in their Parents VI. Let therefore the Schoole and followers of Arminius learne the cause of this difference and why the sinne of Adam should be imputed to his posteritie but the sinnes of other fathers should not be imputed to their children These therefore I say to be the causes of this difference 1. Because by the sinne of Adam we lost originall purity but wee haue not lost it by the sinnes of our Grand-fathers or great-Grandfathers 2. Because Adam receiued gifts which as he had for himselfe so hee should haue conueyed them to his posterity which seeing hee lost it iustly comes to passe that his posterity should be depriued of those gifts But my Grand-father or great-Grandfather receiued no supernatural gifts from God which by an hereditary right they should deriue to their posterity 3. Then also the sinnes of my Grand-father and great-Grandfather were personall sinnes neither did they in their sinning sustaine the persons of their posterity which cannot be said of Adam Vide Tho. 1.2 quest 81. Art 2. Surely I think that it cannot be said that Ezechias or Iosias who were the posterity of Dauid did in Dauid murther Vrias 4. I will say somewhat more Adam while hee liued committed many sinnes yet I thinke that onely that first sinne of Adam was imputed to his posterity because onely by this sinne he violated that couenant which was made with him as with the author of mankinde 5. And if any one at this day is depriued of the light of the Gospell because some of his ancestors a thousand yeeres since refused the Gospell as Arminius thinks there is no cause why on the other side one may not be called effectually to saluation because some one of his ancestors beleeued the Gospell For why shall the infidelity of the great-Grandfather be imputed to the great-grandsonne and his faith be not imputed But that the faith of one is imputed to another Arminius himselfe is not of opinion when he saith out of Habacuk 2. The iust shall liue by his owne faith and not by anothers Nor because Adam beleeued the promise of his seede that should breake the serpents head is this his faith therefore imputed to any of his posterity Arnoldus doth seeme to consent to this but I cannot be brought to thinke that the other sectaries doe beleeue the same 6. To beleeue that any one is reprobated because hee resused the Gospell in his greatgrandfathers or their Fathers is plainely conrâ—ary to the opinion of Saint Paul 2 Cor. 5.10 where he saith that euery one shall receiue the things done in his body whether it be good or euill therefore not according to those things which he hath done in anothers body 7. I let passe he absurdities into which Arminius by this meanes would plunge himselfe For it may come to passe that ones Grandfather by the fathers side hath beleeued the Gospell his Grand-father by his mothers side hath refused the Gospell It may come to passe that ones Grandfathers or greatgrandfathers so vpward part haue beleeued and part haue not beleeued I demand of which of them in the purpose of God shall respect be had Shall the faith of the one or the infidelitie of the other be imputed to their posteritie Then also as often as the Gospell is offred to any Nation or Citie there is nothing so likely as that some of those people were borne of Ancestors that were Infidels and that some of them were borne of faithfull Ancestors yet is the Gospell offred to all without any difference Also it will come to passe that some one proceeding of faithfull Ancestors may refuse the Gospell and on the otherside one proceeding of Insideâ—s may be conuerted 8. And if one may be an Infidell by anothers infidelity and may be said to haue refused the Gospell in his Ancestors because some one of his progenitors refused the Gospell a thousand yeares before there will scarce be any of the godly that after this manner hath not refused the Gospell 9. But what will they say to this That it is found by experience that the worst and most wicked progeny of very wicked Ancestors haue beene conuerted to the faith and as the Apostle saith Rom. 5.20 Where sinne abounded there grace abounded What were the ancient Romanes but theeues depopulating and wasting the world and a scourge in the hand of God What was Corinth but the stewes of all Graecia and the Mart or faire of most foule lusts yet neuerthelesse in those cities God by the preaching of the Gospell raised vp most flourishing Churches and there were very many in those dregges which did belong to the election of God 10. But if at any time the posterity is punished for
the sinnes of their Ancestors Arminius ought not to extend it to so many ages seeing the law doth not extend the visitation of the iniquity of the fathers vpon the children beyond the third and fourth generation And that because a man can scarce liue so long as to see his issue beyond the third or fourth generation For therefore are children punished their fathers beholding it that griefe might thereby increase to their parents and that the fathers might be punished by the misâ—ries of the children which is a cause to me of suspecting that this visitation of the sinne of the fathers vpon the children ought to be vnderstood of temporall and not of eternall punishments VII But to that which was said that the punishment was greater then the sinne because they which in Adam sinned onely in power are for his sinne punished in act it is easie to answere For wee so sinned in Adam in power that also the sinne was in vs in act neither doe we onely beare the punishment of anothers sinne but also of our owne nor is it any maruaile if God hath pardoned Adam and doth not pardon many of his posterity for Adam beleeued and repented but these refuse the grace of God offred and persist in impenitency CHAP. X. Of the propagation of the sinne of Adam to his posteritie where also of the traduction of the soule and of sinne it selfe WE haue already said that the sinne of Adam is conueyed to his posterity two manner of wayes by Imputation and Propagation Of imputation it hath been spoken now we are to speake of Propagation I. That the sinne of Adam hath infected all mankinde with an hereditary deprauation and that this contagion hath farre spred it selfe hath beene abundantly proued by those places by which we haue declared that euery man was conceiued and borne in sinne As by one man sinne entred into the World and death by sinne so death went ouer all in whom all men sinned Rom. 5. II. And if any one would exactly view the manner and circumstances of Adams sinne he shall finde that in euery man the character and no obscure image of that first sinne is deepely impressed for there is engrafted in euery man curiosity desire of knowing those thin gs which pertaine nothing to him and also a distrustfull haesitation and doubting of the word of God And as Adam laid the fault vpon his wife and his wife vpon the Serpent so is it naturall to euery man to couer his fault with anothers fault Also flight and trembling at the meeting of God lying dissembling and a sense of vndecent nakednesse are in all men by nature and are deriued into posterity from that fountaine and to these things we are not taught but made not instructed but infected To these things we doe not onely not need a master but contrary to the teaching of masters and to discipline all stayes and barres being broken wee returne to them nature being conqueror III. As therefore the egges of the Aspe are iustly broken and serpents new bred are iustly killed although they haue yet poysoned none so infants are rightly obnoxious and subiect to punishments For although they haue not yet sinned in act yet there is in them that contagious pestilence and that naturall pronenesse to sinne IV. But hence ariseth a question hard to be dissolued to wit by what meanes sinne is traduced from parents to their posterity and how mens soules may draw this deprauation For seeing all things that God doth are good it is not credible nor likely that God put Originall sinne into mens soules For how should he punish those soules which hee himselfe had corrupted And if he created the soule pure and iust but being included in the body it is defiled with the contagion other discommodities no whit lesse doe arise For to include a pure and innocent soule in a stinking prison and to thrust it as it were into a bridewell that it might bee corrupted there doth not seeme to agree with the iustice and goodnesse of God V. Hereto is added also that sin is the deprauation of the soule not of the body for sin is a spirituall thing a vice of the will the body therefore cannot giue that to the soule which it hath not And seeing the body doth not sinne but when the soule doth vse the body as an organ to sinne Rom. 6.13 it is manifest that sinne doth passe from the soule into the body and not from the body into the soule to which thing the very sinne of Adam is a cleere testimony to vs For Adam first sinned in will before hee stretched forth his hand to the forbidden Apple Caluin saw this who in the first chapter of the second booke of his Institutions hath these words This contagion hath not its cause in the substance of the flesh or of the soule but because it was so appointed by God that what gifts hee had bestowed vpon the first man he should haue them and also loose them both for himselfe and his VI. Here is a way that is obscure and slippery in which we must goe with wary steppes I doe not propound to my selfe to satisfie them that are braine-sicke and wickedly acute I will onely set downe those things which seeme to mee to be agreeable to the word of God and to reason whereunto that the way may be made plaine some things are to be spoken of the originall of the soule and of the traduction of it VII Origen following Plato was of opinion that all soules were at first created together with the Angels and afterwards put into bodies This hee disputes lib. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 7. Tertullian will haue the soule to be conueyed with the seede and the soule of the sonne to be from the soule of the father which is not to be marueiled at in him who doth contend that the soule is the body lib de anima Chap. 5. Saint Ierome in his Epistle to Marcellina and Anapsychia doth witnesse that the greater part of the west were of the same opinion Saint Austin hath writ foure bookes of the originall of the soule in which he leaueth this question vndecided neither dares hee rashly determine any thing And his second booke of retractations Chap. 56. doth witnes that hee continued in that doubt to his death Yet in his 157. Epistle hee doth debate with Tertullian and doth more incline to the contrary opinion VIII But we determin that the reasonable soule is infused into the * i e. The childe conceiued and not yet borne embryon but not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to come from without as Aristotle would haue it lib. 2. de generat animal Cap. 3. But we thinke that it is formed by God in the fruit and in the rudiment of mans body being led thereto by the authority of the Scripture whereunto reason and the nature of the soule it selfe doth agree IX Moses Numb 27.16 saith thus to God Let the Lord the
his posterity which he had receiued for himselfe and his posterity Not to giue supernatural light to the minde is not to put into the will although peruersenesle of will doth afterwards follow the blindenesse of the minde For the will being destitute of this light and of the knowledge of supernaturall good things cannot moue it selfe to things vnknowne but onely to things that are present and knowne such as are the pleasures of the body riches c. Which although they be naturally good yet they turne the will from the study and desire of supernaturall things Then also selfe-loue which is naturally good and necessary doth beginne to be morally euill because it doth inuade that place which is due to the loue of God Hence is that pronenesse to euill which is in that inordinate selfe loue which supernaturall illumination doth not direct which light God not giuing to the soule doth not therefore put sinne into it No otherwise then if one doth take away from the Traueller the light of the Sunne by putting darkenesse betweene be doth not force the Traueller to stragle nor doth turne him from the right way but onely he doth take away that without which the right way cannot be knowne XVIII The temper of the body doth increase this contagion For it is found by experience that sanguine men are bloudy and libidinous cholericke men are rash and angry melancholicke men are suspicious and stedfast in their purposes deepely hiding their malice blacke and yealow choller are as sparkes and tinder put to the appetite by which it catcheth flames and burnes And according to the temper of the body one laughes vnder the scourge another weepes with a blow The humours of the body therefore are not causes but prouocations of sinne neither doe they compell the will but allure it nor doe they impresse sinne on the soule but doe put forward the sinfull soule and there being may waies open to sinne they doe incline the soule hither rather then thither CHAP. XI Whether the power of beleeuing the Gospell is lost by the sinne of Adam I. IT is demanded whether by the sinne of Adam we haue lost the power of beleeuing the Gospell Arminius that maruailous artificer of deuising doth deny it For that he might proue that God is bound to giue to euery man power of beleeuing in Christ and obtaining faith he doth contend that Adam before his fall had not power of beleeuing in Christ nor was it needfull for him therefore we could not loose in Adam that which Adam himselfe had not He saith also that faith was not commanded by the law and therefore Adam was not bound to faith because onely the law was giuen to him he addeth also that no man can beleeue but he that is a sinner And if Adam did not receiue power wherby if he fell he might rise again he did not receiue power of beleeuing the Gospell by which we rise out of this fall II. Seeing these things tend thither that Arminius might make a way for himselfe to that impious and vngodly opinion whereby he affirmes that God is bound to giue to all men power of beleeuing and that God is prepared to giue faith to all men if they themselues will This question is of no small moment nor to be perfunctoriously and lightly handled III. We therefore contend against Arminius that mankinde by the sinne of Adam together with their originall purity and righteousnesse lost also the power of beleeuing in Christ For by the fall of Adam we lost the power of louing God and of obeying him Now saith doth include the loue of God and it is a certaine kinde of obedience IV. Adam indeede before his fall was not bound to beleeue in Christ because he was not declared to him neither then was there neede but he was bound to beleeue euery word of God whatsoeuer should afterward be this bond passed to his posteritie but it had not passed if Adam had not beene tyed to the like bond So the israelites in the time of Dauid were not bound to beleeue Ieremy foretelling the instant captiuity into Babylon because Ieremy then was not neither was it needfull for them to know this and yet the Iewes in contemning the prophesie of Ieremy violated that law by which the same people was held and bound in the time of Dauid Hee were a foole who would say that hee that hath lost his sight hath not lost the power of seeing that house which was built foure yeares after or that hee that is blinde by his owne fault hath not lost the faculty of seeing the collyria or plaisters which the Physitian bringeth him some moneths after Surely Adam before his fall had power of beleeuing in Christ after the same manner that he had then power of succouring and helping the sicke and miserable although before the fall there was no misery nor could there be Adam was in the remote power to beleeue the Gospell as a sound man is in the remote power to vse the remedies of a disease that will or may come But that he did not beleeue in Christ it was not because it did exceede the power giuen him by God but because it was not needefull Finally seeing Adam by his incredulity lost the power of beleeuing the word of God it must needes be that hee lost also the power of beleeuing that word by which God was to bring a remedy to this euill V. In vaine doth Arminius thinke that it is vnaptly spoken if it be said that Adam had power of beleeuing when hee had no neede which power was taken from him when hee began to haue neede of it For neither was the power of beleeuing wanting to Adam nor was it taken from him but hee willingly lost it when he lost the power of obaying God And God of his meere grace doth restore the same to whom he will not because we will but because he worketh in vs that we will VI. But that is ridiculous which Arnoldus cap. 14. doth say that Adam before his fall did not receiue power by which he might rise if he should fall For that power whereby men rise after the fall is not giuen before the fall seeing the power is lost by the fall but after the fall is repaired There is no doubt but that Adam before his fall had strength whereby he might rise againe if hee had not lost it by his fall Arnoldus therefore thus speakes as if I should say that hee to whom God hath giuen sound and cleare eyes hath not receiued power by which he might see with those eyes after he is made blinde VII Finally as many as are the posterity of Adam are bound to fulfill the law this is a naturall debt and the law commands vs to loue God and to obey him and therefore to beleeue him speaking Whensoeuer then Christ is preached the doctrine of the Gospell cannot be refused but with the contempt of the Gospell the law also is
but whom he hath fore-seene will perseuere in the faith vntill death Whence it comes that God electeth none vnlesse he be considered as dead or else in the very point betweene life and death which if it be true Arminius doth say amisse when he saith that beleeuers are elected for he should say that they are elected who cease to beleeue XXIV Adde to this that new and prodigious opinion of the Arminians whereby they thinke that reprobates may be saued and those which are elect may be damned not as they are the reprobate or the elect but as they are indued with power to beleeue and to come to saluation But if he which is a reprobate by the decree of God may be saued and hee which is elected may be damned it is plaine that Predestination is not the decree of God but a thing onely in title and a floting will or meere and bare fore-knowledge the certainty whereof doth depend vpon the foreseeing of an vncertaine thing to wit mans free-will Who I pray would endure a man speaking thus I am indeede a reprobate but I can effect that I should be saued or I am elected but it is in my power to effect that I should be reprobated XXV If therefore the certainty of election should be made to depend vpon mans will it might come to passe that no man should beleeue in Christ and so Christ had died in vaine XXVI See Sect. 16. But by that series and order of the foure decrees whereby Christ is appointed to death before God had determined who should be saued Christ is made the head of the Church without any certaine members which is meere dotage For Christ is fained to be giuen to be the head of the Church without the certaine will of God what should afterward be his body Yea by the doctrine of the Arminians it may come to passe that Christ should be a head without a body and the Church should be none at all for they thinke that there is none of the elect which may not be damned XXVII This also is not to be omitted that the Arminians to the end they might maintain that concatenation or linking together of the foure decrees doe affirme that Christ died not for the faithfull but for all men indistinctly not more for Peter then for Iudas and that Christ in his death had not determined whom he would saue by his death yea that when Christ dyed election had no place because election is a thing after the death of Christ XXVIII The example of Caiaphas and of Iudas is here of speciall weight For by the doctrine of Arminius God electeth all men vnder this condition that they beleeue in the death of Christ I demand therefore whether God chose Caiaphas and Iudas to saluation vnder this condition that they should beleeue in the death of Christ This surely cannot be said because God had decreed to vse the wickednesse of Caiaphas and Iudas to deliuer Christ to death How could they be elected to saluation vnder the cond tion of beleeuing in the death of Christ who were appointed to that very thing that by their increduâ—ity and wickednesse Christ might be deliuered to death But we onely touch these things coursarily and by the way they are to be expounded more exactly in their place CHAP. XIII Of the obiect of Predestination that is whether God predestinating considereth a man as fallen or as not fallen ALthough God hath elected to saluation these men rather then others for no other cause then that it so seemed good to him nor is the cause of this difference to be sought in man yet what is the obiect of Predestination that is whether God electing or reprobating men hath considered them as fallen and sinners or as not fallen but as men in the Masse not corrupted it may be doubted The Pastors of the Valacrian Churches strong maintainers of the truth in their most exact Epistle the coppy whereof they haue sent to vs doe professe that they thinke that God considered those men which hee did elect and which hee did passe by as fallen in Adam and dead in sinnes All the anciens thinke so to none of whom as farre as I know it euer came in their minde to say that God reprobated men without the beholding of sinne I see that of the same opinion is Caluin Zanchy Melanchton Bucer Musculus Pareus famous lights in this age of the Church out of whose writings I haue added some gathered sentences at the end of this worke least they should stay the hastening reader and should breake off the thread of the disputation begunne against the Arminians The confession of the churches of France doth keepe it selfe within these limits in the twelth Article where out of the ninth Chapter to the Romanes and other places of Scripture Election and Reprobation is proued to be out of the corrupt masse The reuerend Synod of Dordt then which for many ages there hath beene none more famous nor more holy harh allowed this opinion I doe not see what can be opposed to so great authority A holy assembly gathered together out of diuerse parts of the Christian world hath prudently seene and discerned that this opinion is not onely more modest and more safe but also that it is most fit to put back the obiections of these innouators which doe impudently triumph in this matter Thus are their frames dissolued and their sinnewes are cut from them for Reprobation without the beholding of sinne being taken away which they assaile with all their forces they beate the ayre neither haue they any thing that they should strike at the causes by which our confession and also the reuerend Synod is led that they thought it fit for them to rest in the Predestination wherein man is considered as fallen I suppose be these I. First that Phrase of Scripture which calleth the Elect the vessels of mercy offers it selfe Now there is no place for mercy vnlesse towards the miserable He cannot be elected to the saluation to be obtained by Christ vnlesse he be considered as one that hath neede of a redeemer And seeing that the appointment to an end doth include the meanes by which that end is come by and the meanes to saluation is the remission of sinnes nor is there remission of sinnes without sinne it is plaine that they are appointed to saluation who are considered as sinners II. Neither could God with the preseruation of his iustice punish those men whom he considered without sin for God doth not punish the guiltles Damnation is an act of the iustice of God which iustice cannot stand or agree with it self if innocent man for no fault be appointed to that desertion and forsaking which eternall destruction must necessarily follow or if God had determined to destroy men before he did determine to create them III. Then as God doth not condemne vnlesse it be for sin so it is certaine that hee is not willing to condemn vnlesse it
them to iust and deserued punishments for their sinnes IV. The definition of Thomas doth not please me who saith that the decree of Reprobation is the will of permitting one to fall into sinne and of laying vpon him the punishment of damnation for his sinne For the permission whereby God doth permit doth not belong to predestination but to his prouidence although it serue to predestination V. It is the opinion of the Arminian sect that Reprobates may be saued For saith Arminius that decree is not of the power but of the act of sauing Very ill spoken For where the act of God is determined by his decree in vaine is the power by which this act may be resisted This opinion doth draw with it other opinions no better then it selfe for errors are tyed together among themselues like serpents egges For if a Reprobate may be saued he that is not written in the booke of life may effect that hee be now written in and so the number of the elect will not be certaine nor the decree of Reprobation be irreuocable and peremptory as they speake vnlesse after finall perseuerance in incredulity Also hence it will follow that a reprobate may if he will obtaine faith and conuert himselfe whence it would come to passe that faith should not be of the meere grace of God which wee shall see hereafter to be the opinion of Arminius VI. God is after the same manner the cause of Reprobation as the iudge is the cause of the punishment of them that are guilty and sinne is the meritorious cause Seeing therefore the consideration of sinne doth moue the iudge and the iudge doth condemne to punishment it appeareth that sinne is the remote cause of damnation and not onely a condition necessarily fore-required and that the iudge is the next and neerest cause VII Furthermore although sinne be the cause of appointing to punishment yet it is not the cause of the difference betweene the Elect and Reprobate For examples sake Two men are guilty of the sâ—me crime and it pleaseth the king to condemne one and to absolue and free the other his sinne indeede that is condemned is the cause of his punishment but it is not the cause why the king is otherwise affected to the other then to him seeing the fault on both sides is alike The cause of the difference is that something thing steppeth betweene which doth turne the punishment from one of them which in the worke of predestination is nothing else but the very good pleasure of God by which of his meere good pleasure he gaue certaine men to Christ leauing the rest in their inbred corruption and in the curse due vnto them For which difference it is great wickednesse for vs to striue with God seeing hee is not subiect nor bound to any creature and punisheth no man vniustly giuing to one the grace that is not due and imposing on the other the punishment that is due VIII Here it is demanded what is that sinne for which God doth reprobate to wit whether men are Reprobated onely for the sinne which is deriued from Adam and for that blot which is common to Reprobates with the elect or whether they are also reprobated for the actuall sinnes which they are to commit in the whole course of their life The answere is at hand For although naturall corruption be cause sufficient for Reprobation yet it is no doubt but that God hath decreed to condemne for the same cause for which hee doth condemne and hee doth condemne the Reprobates for the sinnes which they haue committed in act For in hell they doe not onely beare the punishment of originall sinne but also of actuall sinnes Therefore also God hath appointed them to damnation for the same sinnes Now to Reprobate and to appoint to punishment are all one God doth so execute any thing in time according as he from eternity decreed to execute it Now he doth punish in time for actuall sinnes therefore also hee decreed from eternity to punish for them Thence it is that the punishments of the men of Capernaum was to be greater then the punishment of the Sodomites and the punishment of him that knew the will of his master greater then the punishment of him that knew it not because there is a great difference betweene the actuall sinnes for which they are punished Nothing hindreth that God considering a man lying in his naturall corruption and deprauation should not also consider him as poluted with those sinnes which he was to commit by that naturall deprauation IX Arminius doth not thinke that any man is Reprobated for originall sinne for he contends that Christ hath obtained the remission of it for all mankinde But he will haue man to be reprobated onely for the fore-seeing of actuall sinnes that is for the breach of the law and the contempt of grace In which thing he doth seeme not to be constant to himselfe For seeing all actuall sinnes doe flow from originall sinne it cannot be that the cause and fountaine of actuall sinnes should be remitted by God and yet the sinnes that flow from thence should not be remitted As if God should forgiue a man intemperance but should punish him for adultery for actions doe flow from habits and naturall inclinations as the second acts doe flow from the first X. Without doubt incredulity and the reiection of the Gospell are among the sinnes for which any one is reprobated For by this reiection we sinne against the Law by which God will iudge vs For the law commandeth that God be loued with all our heart and that he be obeyed in all things and without exception and therefore also that he be beleeued when he speaketh and that hee be obeyed when hee commandeth vs to beleeue whatsoeuer it shall be which he shall eyther command or shall say XI That hee should be Reprobated for reiecting the Gospell and despising the grace of Christ to whom the Gospel was neuer preached is against all reason For whom the Gospell doth not saue it leaueth vnder the law to be iudged by it which law doth then binde a man to beleeue in Christ when Christ is preached to him Nor is it the Schoole master to Christ but to them who haue meanes to come to the knowledge of Christ After the same manner as the law did not binde them to belecue the prophecy of Ieremy who neuer heard of the name of Ieremie nor could it be knowne to them XII And although reprobation cannot be said to be the cause of sinne because sinne goeth before reprobation yet it cannot be denied but that reprobation is the cause of the denying of grace and of the preaching of the Gospell and of the spirit of adoption which is peculiar to the elect For seeing this denying is a punishment it must needes be that it is inflicted by the will of a iust iudge These are the words of Arminius Page 58. against Perkins Effectuall grace is denyea by
knowledge of the truth And Verse 6. Christ gaue himfelfe a ransome for all Also that to Titus Chap. 2. The grace of God that bringeth saluation vnto all men hath appeared But that here by all are vnderstood any and men of whatsoeuer state and condition the very context and coherence of the place doth proue In that place to Timothy the Apostle would haue Kings to be prayed for in that place to Titus hee commandeth seruants to be faithfull and not to purlome Of this exhortation this is the cause and reason because the promise of saluation did belong to Kings although at that time they were strangers from Christ and to seruants although they were of an abiect and base state neither is any condition of men excluded from saluation Saint Austin doth thus take this place of the first to Timothy Enchirid. ad Laurent Cap. 103. And Thomas in his commentary vpon this Epistle And this thing is confirmed by the very words of the Apostle for he saith God would haue all men be saued and come to the knowledge of the truth Now it is manifest by experience that God doth not giue yea nor doth not offer to all and particular men the knowledge of the truth V. It is frequent in the Scripture to take the word all for the word any as Luke 12.42 Ye tithe Mint and Rue omneolus and all manner of hearbs And Mat. 9.35 Christ healed omnem morbum euery disease for euery kinde of disease You haue the like example Colos 1.28 In this sense Heb. 2. Christ is said to haue dyed for all VI. Furthermore there is no doubt but that the Apostle commandeth vs to pray not onely for Kings in generall but also for all seuerall Kings For we to whom the secrets of Election are vnknowne ought to hope well of euery one But he that commandeth vs to pray for Nero doth not therefore determine that God will saue Nero but onely forbiddeth vs to despaire of him VII The sense therefore of these words God would haue all men to be saued is this God doth inuite men of all sorts to saluation and doth exclude no condition of men from saluation For if God should absolutely will or should seriously desire all and particular men to be saued there would not be wanting meanes to him whereby he might effect what hee would and be made partaker of his desire his iustice yet remaining intire and mans liberty being not touched nor infringed VIII That place maketh no more to the purpose which they bring out of Rom. 14.15 Destroy not him with thy meate for whom Christ dyed For to destroy there is not to condemne but to scandalize and to offend the conscience of any by which deede as much as is in vs we would lead him to destruction For to destroy any one absolutely is not in our power So with the Apostle 2 Cor. 10.8 to destroy is the same thing as to offend with scandall and to slacken him that is doing the workes of piety IX In the second Epistle of Peter Chap 2. Vers 1. Christ is said to haue redeemed the false Prophets who denyed him but there it is not spoken of redemption from eternall death but of the freedome from ignorance and errour and the darkenesse of that age by the light of the Gospell which those false Prophets did corrupt by the mingling of false doctrine For to take redemption for any kinde of freedome is vsuall in the Scripture insomuch that resurrection is called the redemption of our bodies Rom. 8.22 Ephes 4.30 X. In the same Epistle Chap. 3. ver 9. Peter saith God is not willing that any should perish to wit because he is not the cause of the perishing of any one and because he admitteth all who are conuerted neither doth he reiect any one But he is not bound to restore to all those powers which were lost by mans fault nor to giue faith to all seeing man by his owne fault brought vpon himselfe the inability of beleeuing as wee haue proued at large in the eleauenth Chapter XI Ezechiel 18.23 God saith these words I am not delighted with the death of a sinner but that he should be conuerted and liue These words say nothing else then that God will not the death of that sinner who is conuerted But if he be not conuerted Arminius himselfe will not deny but that God doth will his death as the Iudge doth will the punishment of him that is gui ty God is not delighted with the death of a sinner as hee is a man but yet no man can deny but that God loueth the execution of his iustice XII Indeede in the 1 Tim. 4.10 God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the sauiour of all men But the Apostle there speaketh of the preseruation in this present life and of the prouidence of God which is extended to the preseruation of all men which care Dauid Psal 36. doth extend euen to the beasts for there God is called the preseruer of men and beasts The precedent words of the Apostle doth declare this We hope in the liuing God for he speaketh of God as he doth giue life to things created by him Alike place you haue Act. 17.25 XIII Arminius pag. 220. against Perkins doth bring the promise made to Adam concerning the seede of the Woman which saith hee doth belong to all particular men I answere that by this promise it is onely promised that Sathan shall be ouercome by the seede of the Woman but that it belongeth to all and particular men it is no where said The doctrine of the Gospell preached to Adam doth not so pertaine to all his posteritie as the precepts of the naturall law because the obedience of the law is a naturall debt but the doctrine of the Gospell is a supernaturall remedy Thence it is that the sinne of Adam against the law of God is imputed to all his posteritie but his faith by which he beleeued the Gospell is not imputed to his posteritie Nor if Adam by his incredulitie had refused the promise of the seede of the woman had therefore his posteritie fell from the hope of saluation Nay what that this promise of the seede of the Woman to breake the Serpents head is manifestly restrained to the faithfull alone For Sathan doth bruise the heele of the children of God alone seeing he killeth the rest with a deadly wound XIV The Arminians being driuen from the holy Scripture flie to their reasons and as they vse the Scripture without reason so they vrge reasons without Scripture They charge vpon vs this syllogisme as it were with a great dart when yet it is but a slender twig Whatsoeuer all men are bound to beleeue is true But all men are bound to beleeue that Christ dyed for them Therefore that is true The minor part of this Syllogisme is false and doth beare many exceptions For they to whom Christ hath not beene preached and who haue heard nothing of
it is not therefore ouerthrowne Our nature is necessarily determined and directed to the desiring of felicity and yet it is not therefore destroyed The will of the Israelites whose hearts God touched that they should cleaue vnto Saul 1 Sam. 10.26 The will of Esau yeelding with a suddaine change to the embracing of his brother Gen. 33. The will of the Thiefe crucified with Christ and of Paul in the very point of conuersion were determined limited to one thing and yet force was not therefore offered to their free-will or their nature destroyed The vehemency of him that is thirstie mouing him to the drinke that is offered is determined and limited to that one thing and yet he doth not therefore cease to be a man nor is his nature therefore ouerthrowne God hath some secret and vnperceiueable meanes by which he can bow mans will the liberty thereof being vntouched An addition to the thirteenth Chapter containing some places that are taken out of the confession of the Churches of France and out of the chiefest Doctors of this age concerning the obiect of Predestination THe twefth Article of the confession of the Church of France is this We beleeue that God out of that corruption and generall curse into which all men were plunged doth free those whom in his eternall and immutable counsell he elected of his meere goodnesse and mercy in our Lord Iesus Christ without the consideration of workes leauing the rest in the same corruption and damnation to shew forth in these his iustice and in them the riches of his mercy For none of them are better then others before God hath separated them c. Iohn Caluin in his Comentary vpon the ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romanes speaking of Iacob and Esau in the wombe hath these words God in the defiled nature of man such as was in man could consider nothing whereby be might be induced to doe good to it when therefore he saith that both of them had done neither good nor euill that also is to be added which he doth presuppose to wit that they were both the sonnes of Adam by nature sinners indued not with a mite of righteousnesse Esau was iustly reiected because he was naturally the childe of wrath yet least any scruple should remaine as if his condition had beene the worse for the beholding of any sinne or vice it was expedient that his sinnes should be no lesse excluded then his vertues It is true indeede that the neare cause of reprobation is because we are all cursed in Adam The same Caluin in his Booke of the eternall predestination of God in the beginning of the Epistle which is set before the booke The free Election of God saith he is whereby he adopted to himselfe out of mankinde lost and condemned those whom it seemed good to him Pag. 955. He doth allow the opinion of Saint Austin speaking thus They that are not to perseuere are not seperated by the Predestination and fore-knowledge of God from that masse of perdition and destruction and therefore are not called according to his purpose Pag. 691. I would know if Esay and Iacob should haue beene left to their common nature what good workes God should haue found in Iacob more then in Esau Surely they both by the hardnesse of their stony heart would haue alike refused saluation offered In the same place When Paul tooke that for granted which is incredible to these good Diuines that all men are equally vnworthy that alike corruption of nature is in all men hee thence safely determined that God doth by his free purpose elect whomsoeuer he electeth In the same place that of Austin is most true That those that are redeemed are seperated from those that perish onely by grace whom the common Masse deriued from the same originall had ioyned together to destruction Pag. 965. He doth witnesse that God prepared the vessels of mercy for his glory if this be speciall to the elect it is manifest that the rest are sitted to destruction because being left to their nature they are certainely deuoted to destruction Pag. 970. The Readers are to be admonished that both these are equally condemned by Pighius viz. That God from the beginning when yet the state of man was intire decreed what afterwards should come to passe and that now hee chose out of the perished Masse whom he would He mocketh Austin and all that are like him that is all the godly who doe thinke that God after he fore-knew the vniuersall ruine of mankinde in the person of Adam appointed some to life and some to destruction The same man in his Institutions Lib. 3. Chap. 22. Sect. 1. When Paul teacheth that we were elected in Christ before the creation of the world certainly he doth take away all respect of our owne worth for it is as much as if he should say Because our heauenly father found nothing worthy of Election in the whole seede of Adam he turned his eyes vpon Christ that as it were out of his body he might choose members whom he would after take into the fellowship of life Therefore let this reason preuaile with the faithfull that therefore God adopted vs in Christ to his heauenly inheritance because in our selues we were not capable of this excellency And Section 7. If any one aske from whence God elected he in another place answereth out of the world which he excludeth from his prayers when he doth commend his Disciples to his Father And Chap. 23. Sect. 3. If any one should set vpon vs with these words Why God from the beginning predestinated some men to death who when they were not could not deserue the iudgement of death Instead of an answer we may againe aske them What they thinke God is indebted to man if he will esteeme him according to his owne nature As we are all defiled with sinne we cannot but be odious to God and that not in a tyrannicall cruelty but in the most equall respect of iustice And if all they whom God doth predestinate to death are by a naturall condition obnoxious and subiect to the iudgement of death of what iniustice I pray you of his towards them can they complaine Let all the sonnes of Adam come let them contend and dispute with their Creatour because by his eternall prouidence they were appointed to perpetuall calamity before their generation What could they speake against this defence when as God shall on the contrary side call them to the knowledge of themselues If all are taken out of the corrupted Masse it is no meruaile if they lye vnder damnation Hieronymius Zanchius Miscellan Lib 3. In his Treatise of the Saints at the end of the first Chapter hath these words Generall Predestination that is the predestination of all men is the eternall most wise and immutable decree of God by which he determined with himselfe from eternity first to create all men iust and wise according to his image and likenesse and