to demonstrate to you that it hath no ground in the Scripture For forasmuch as Christ as you say is God only upon the Account of his being begotten of God or being the Son of God we have nothing to do but to consult the same Scripture to see upon what grounds the Title of Son of God bestowed upon Christ is founded therein And if among those Reasons alledged by it that of an eternal Generation is not to be found it will necessarily follow that such a Generation is the Invention of your Teachers Let us pass by if you will that famous Place wherein the Angel grounds the Title of Son of God upon the miraculous Conception of our Saviour in the Womb of a Virgin by the Power of the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost says he to the Virgin shall come upon thee and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee therefore that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God Again let us omit that remarkable Passage wherein Christ derives his Title of Son of God from his Unction and Heavenly Commission Say ye that I blaspheme whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the World because I said I am the Son of God It seems to me impossible to find two Causes or two Reasons of Christ's being the Son of God more clear and express than these two because he was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Womb of a Virgin and because the Father hath sanctified him and sent him into the World However I will not insist upon them to stay the longer upon those in which the Word to beget is expresly set down I know but three Texts belonging to this Subject The first is in Acts 13.33 where it is said that God hath begotten his Son by raising him from the dead God says the Apostle hath fulfilled the Promise unto us in that he hath raised up Jesus again as it is also written in the second Psalm Thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee The second Heb. 5.5 where it is expresly set down that God hath begotten his Son by making him his High-Priest Christ says the Apostle glorified not himself to be made an High-Priest but he that said unto him Thou art my Son to Day have I begotten thee The third is in the same Epistle chap. 1.5 where the same Apostle tells us that God hath begotten his Son by exalting him above the Angels For unto which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee In all these Texts there is no other Generation mentioned but what is grounded upon the high Glory which God hath conferred upon his Messias by raising him from the dead and making him Lord and Christ And this Generation is so far from being eternal that it is expresly said it was performed to day viz. the Day of his Resurrection and Ascension Your Teachers have been often challenged to produce one single Text of Scripture wherein the eternal Generation is expresly contained and is the true Ground of Christ's being called the Son of God If there is any you will do me a Kindness to let me know it Till this be done I ought to acknowledg no other Generation but what the Scripture teaches in those clear and express Texts which I have cited Hereupon I will acquaint you with an Observation for which I am beholden to a learned Man viz. That there is a vast Difference between the manner of the Father's speaking of Christ's Divinity and that of the Apostles The first setch'd his Original from I know not what Generation which was made in the Beginning of the World it is almost the only Generation spoken of by them and their Platonick Stile always runs that way On the contrary the last shew the Source of it in his miraculous Birth especially in his Resurrection and Exaltation Hence it is that though Christ never called himself God whilst he had but a Glimpse of his future Glory yet the Apostles made no Scruple to honour him with that glorious Title when they saw him crowned with his highest Glory Honour Now that Difference in treating of the same Doctrine which is to be seen between the sacred Writers and your Teachers is a material one and ought to convince you that they had not both the same Principles as your Church pretends This general Observation concerning the Fathers is sufficient to make me refuse their Testimony and look upon them as no good Interpreters of the Scripture and unfaithful Guardians of Tradition I come now to the Incarnation or the Union of two Natures You must confess dear Cousin that if we can from any Place learn the Distinction of two Natures in Christ it is undoubtedly from Rom. 1.3 where he is called the Son of David according to the Flesh and the Son of God according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead Here is the Son of David and the Son of God the Flesh and the Spirit or the Word Yet this Text is so far from proving two Natures in Christ such as you understand that it is the strongest Argument that can be brought against you to confute that foolish and absurd Distinction and the clearest Commentary we have to explain the other Passages which speak of Christ as a Man and a God To be convinced of the Truth of this Assertion you need only compare together the 23d 28th and 29th Verses of the 4th to the Galatians The Apostle says that Ismael was born according to the Flesh or that he was the Son of Abraham according to the Flesh that is according to the ordinary Course of Nature but that Isaac was born according to the Spirit or by a miraculous Birth that is he was not so much the Son of Abraham as the Son and Heir of the Divine Promise This is granted by all Now according to St. Paul's Stile it is plain that Christ is the Son of David according to the Flesh that is according to his natural Birth because he was born of a Woman and Son of God according to the Spirit viz. according to his supernatural Birth because he was born of a Virgin by the Operation of the Holy Spirit and because he was raised from the dead according to the Spirit of Holiness as the Apostle speaks In which Sense he is not so much the Son and Heir of David as the Son and Heir of God or the Son of that great Promise which God had made to the Patriarchs According to the Spirit can therefore signify only by the Divine Power by his miraculous Birth and Resurrection Which plainly shews that the Distinction of two Natures in the Sense you take them is a mere Fancy because the eternal Generation is not at all mentioned by the Apostle in his Opposition between the Son of David and the Son of God the Flesh and the Spirit the Humanity and the Divinity of Christ and
Contradictions are Orthodox if one doth but keep in his Mind the blessed Distinction of two Natures which directs the Intention and hinders a Man from telling a Lie By such Tricks as these you pretend to Orthodoxy and boast of a Principle that promotes Holiness and Piety and as you say hath a great Influence upon all the Parts of Religion But dear Cousin don't you know that the learned Dr. Hammond who made a large practical Catechism could find no Place in his Book for the great Spring of the Trinity No question but he look'd upon it as a thing altogether useless and uncapable of moving the Heart of Man Make no doubt of it it is a dry and empty Opinion a Bone without Marrow or Meat which can afford a Christian Soul no sort of good Nourishment in order to Piety I confess there is a Trinity that hath Influence upon the Life of all true Christians viz. that in which you and I have been baptized the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost But I must confess at the same time that it is very different from yours if understood according to Scripture We have the Doctrine of the Father revealed by his Son his Interpreter and Messias and confirmed by the Gifts and Miracles of the Holy Spirit This Doctrine hath so necessary an Influence upon the Practice of Christians that without a right Knowledg of that Revelation we could neither obey God's Commands nor hope for his Rewards And I confess that with respect to this primitive and capital Truth any Man to whom that great Object is proposed shall be no less accountable for the Faults of his Understanding than the Vices of his Will There is a plain Reason for it viz. that this Object doth not consist in Philosophical Speculations which the Simple cannot attain to and the Ignorance whereof must needs be excusable but in plain and sensible Facts for the believing of which nothing else is required but the same Honesty and Sincerity necessary to practise the Precepts For Example We believe a Father Creator of all things a Son born dead raised c. and a Holy Ghost setting the Seal of his Miracles to that Revelation Here is a Faith grounded upon undeniable Facts which doth not require from us a seraphick Understanding but some Honesty to receive the Testimony of those who relate them with as much Evidence as is necessary to satisfy an honest and reasonable Mind The Want of Faith or Understanding in this Respect is the Want of Probity and Uprightness and therefore the Fault is inexcusable But if instead of so simple and sensible a Faith you introduce your Athanasian Faith of three Eternal Almighty and Incomprehensible Ones you make Unbelief of all things the most pardonable nay and the most reasonable too because such a Faith is above the Reach of our Senses Reason and Revelation So that we must read in the Gospel I thank thee O Father Lord of Heaven and Earth because thou hast hid these things from Babes and hast revealed them unto the Wise and Prudent I can assure you that not only many eminent Bishops and great Councils have rejected the Belief of such a Mystery as you confess it but that no good Christian knew it except perhaps in his Catechism or a Book of Controversy How many Monuments of Antiquity have we lost of which we could boast with great Reason Who can tell but most Fathers had been on our side if the Malice of their Enemies the Superstition of Monks and the Flames of the Emperors had not destroyed their Books As for those that remain nothing but this can be concluded from them viz. that the Party that prevailed History tells us by what means took Possession of Tradition and Orthodoxy However we have still in the Apostles Creed the Primitive Truths which unite all Christians the saving Truths wherewith God's Providence fed the Faith of Christians during the Quarrels of their Teachers and the only Truths for whose sake true Martyrs have shed their Blood I shall add that the same Providence hath preserved in all Sects and Ages a Body of Christian Morality which makes the great and whole Design of the Gospel Let us conclude here and seriously think dear Cousin that you and I shall be judged by Christ in the last Day only according to this Rule independently on those Opinions which now a-days make the Subject of our Disputes I rest Yours c. FINIS
most infallible Mark of an Orthodox Man he that is endowed with it though he may err cannot be an Heretick If I was as bold as you dear Cousin I would apply to you a fine Passage of our worthy Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in his Sermon upon Luke 10.42 wherein he blames the Rashness of those who like you dare censure Error and Heresy in others whilst they themselves do not think of curing those Lusts Vices and Passions which so visibly reign in them But I shall only cite that general Reflection of his concerning those pretended Orthodox Deluded People says he that do not consider that the greatest Heresy in the World is a wicked Life because it is so directly and so fundamentally opposite to the whole Design of the Christian Faith and Religion and that God will sooner forgive a Man an hundred Defects of his Vnderstanding than one Fault of his Will And to shew you in one Word that when you attribute Immodesty Wantonness and Pride to Hereticks you act against the Spirit of your Church the Testimony of one of your Teachers only will suffice since he speaks for the whole Clergy I mean the Author of the Vindication of the conformed Clergy from the unjust Aspersions of Heresy That Heresy was no less than Pelagianism and Socinianism See how he vindicates your Teachers The Reason says he why they are accused of Heresy is their Moderation in Points of Controversy They do not confute their Opponent with a rude and infignificant Noise nor think they shall ever convince him by hard Words and ill Names which are the only Arguments that some Men are able to manage but they consider and are willing to make Allowances for the common Infirmities of humane Understandings and the strong Prejudices of Education and therefore they treat all Men gently and are not rudely clamorous in their Discourses but hope the best and think as charitably as they can of those that are of a different Perswasion See the Moderation of your Church imitate so charitable and Christian a Judgment and cease to damn like Jews and Heathens proud and conceited Men those good Men who work out their Salvation with Fear and Trembling lest with what Judgment ye judg ye may be judged The same Author will tell you that the Term of Heretick is a Name that is given now-a-days liberally and at a good rate and that It is nothing but the Passion of the Opponents that hath made that Name so very common as it is for it is grown no more now than an ordinary Term of Reproach for every angry Man that would fain be dealing with controversial Divinity that it serves for one of the principal Topicks for the great Professors of artificial Scolding c. Read but p. 70. As to that great Conceit and Confidence of their own Knowledg of which you think Hereticks are so full that they resolve never to allow that to be the Sense of the Revelation however plain and evident the Words are which is not agreeable to their Reason but will put another Sense upon them though never so sorced and violent As to this I will tell you First that they have borrowed that Method from the very Principle of the Reformation When dear Cousin those Words of Christ are objected to you This is my Body My Flesh is Meat indeed My Blood is Drink indeed Whoso eateth my Flesh and drinketh my Blood c. When I say those Places of the Scripture are objected to you who follow the Spirit of the Reformation Are you not resolved never to allow that to be the Sense of the Revelation however plain and evident these Words are which is not agreeable to your Senses and Reason and will you not put another Sense upon them though never so forced and violent as in effect you do when you say that by the Body of Christ is meant the Figure of his Body by eating his Flesh to believe in him c But I have already touched that Article in my Letter and therefore I shall insist no longer upon it Secondly Who puts upon the Scripture a more unnatural Sense than you do in this Controversy Who hath a greater Pride of Understanding and is more conceited of his Reasonings Hereticks so called make Religion to consist in the Profession of a simple Faith which they express in the very Terms of Scripture holding fast the Form of sound Words so afraid they are to indulge their Reason too much and to wrest the Language and Intention of the Holy Ghost But you on the contrary who rely altogether upon humane Expressions taken out of the Pagan Philosophy metaphysical Arguments and Abstractions or remote Consequences you I say must needs violate the sacred Reverence due to God's Word put a forced Sense upon the Words of the Holy Ghost and shew at the same time a proud Confidence by making the Scripture speak any thing that agrees with your Notions There is not one Word or Proposition in that Scripture but will signify quite contrary things according to your Distinctions and Consequences You distinguish between the Son of Man and the Son of God yet you confound those two Terms when you think fit and make the Son of Man to be the Son of God and the Son of God to be the Son of Man If we say that it was the Son of Man that came down from Heaven you reply that the Son of Man signifies there the Son of God If we object that the Son of God knew not the Day of Judgment you answer that by the Son of God in that Place is meant the Son of Man If one asks you What 's the Name of the first Person of the Trinity you answer the Father and insist earnestly upon that Distinction of Persons to avoid the Force of this Objection viz. That if Christ were the most high God he would be the Father of himself But if we object that the Father only knows the Day of Judgment and that he only is the true God and Creator of all things then the Word Father signifies no more what it signified before I mean the first Person of the Trinity but the whole Trinity and the very Son whom he hath begotten so great is your Skill in doing and undoing the Work of the Holy Ghost by contradicting Hereticks in Season and out of Season Let this suffice as to what concerns Words The same may be said of the Propositions of the Scripture either affirmative or negative By the enchanting Virtue of your Distinctions the Affirmative becomes Negative and the Negative Affirmative when there is any need of it and two contradictory Propositions are equally true and divine if at any time it can serve your turn It may be said that Christ hath wrought Miracles and hath wrought no Miracles that he knew not the Day of Judgment and knew it that he was born and not born In a word one may overthrow the whole Gospel and Creed all those