the Prophets had usually the Garbe and deportment of Mad and Frantick Persons Saul being amongst them stript himself stark Naked and lay without his Clothes for an whole Night and a Day together It is the Character which one gave of the young Prophet who was sent by Elisha to Anoint Jehu 2 Kings 9. 11. Wherefore came this mad Fellow to thee and whoever shall read the Stories of Elijah and Elisha and his Servant Gehazi will without much difficulty be induced to believe that the Spirit of Prophecy was usually attended with a sort of Madness insomuch that it was the usual Opinion both in the Jewish and the Heathen Nations that there was somewhat Sacred and Divine in Frantick Persons as it is still among the Turks to this day which was therefore so far from being a disadvantage to the Message of a Prophet that it rather gave new Authority and Recommendation to it But since these extraordinary effusions of the Holy Spirit are now wholly ceased together with the reason of them there being no new Revelation to be expected and there being sufficient reason especially in these parts of the World to render every man inexcusable who does not believe this What folly is it to talk of irresistible Grace when the influences of the Spirit are so Gentle that they cannot be distinguished from the motions of a Man 's own Mind When we can give a reasonable Account of what we do and are not sensible of any Violence from without by which our natural Propensities are forcibly over-ruled though that there may be sometimes and in some particular Cases such an unaccountable and perhaps irresistible bent of our Minds which cannot well be attributed to any other Cause then to the spirit of God is a thing which I will not deny but since the Apostles themselves were not always in the Spirit and under the influences of such an irresistible Grace what Madness is it to affirm it of these Times when there is not the same occasion for it or do not Mens Consciences give the Lie to their Tongues when they talk of an irresistible Spirit in those very actions in which they seem to themselves and others to be the most perfectly free and unrestrained Thus much is sufficient if not too much in answer to the first Advantage which may be taken from the consideration of that Lucta or Contention which there is betwixt the two principles of the Flesh and the Spirit The second possible advantage which may be made is this that the Spiritual principle there mentioned may be pretended to be no part of the humane Nature but that it is only a supernatural influence of Divine Grace from above Rom. 8. 9. But ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you and vers 13 14. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God But to this it may be answered First That there are plainly in every Man if we will believe the express affirmation of St. Paul himself two distinct principles of Action which he calls the Flesh and Spirit and the latter of them sometimes the inward Man which is a sign that it is a part of our Selves c. 7. v. 22. For I delight in the Law of God after the inward Man and sometimes the Mind v. 23. But I see another Law in my Members Warring against the Law of my Mind Secondly This Spiritual principle in us is that which is properly the Image of God and the resemblance of his Nature betwixt which and the Divine Spirit there is a marvellous Harmony and Agreement For as the Carnal Mind is at Enmity with God Rom. 8. 7. So betwixt the spiritual Mind and him there is a wonderful Concord and Friendship he Cooperates and concurs with it in all its virtuous Endeavours and Undertakings And the Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit as it is v. 16. That we are the Children of God From whence it comes to pass that the that the same Effects are attributed to the Spirit of God and to our Spirit as their Cause because there is a Concurrence of both these for their Production and because the utmost perfection of Holiness is scarce attainable in a single Instance while we carry these fleshly Tabernacles about us and much less in the whole course and tenour of our Lives without the assistance of the Divine Spirit These are the two advantages which may be taken from the consideration of that strife or contention betwixt the two principles which is described by St. Paul which what Service they are like to do to the Predestinarian Cause we have already seen but it is now further to be considered that the very supposition of a Mind or inward Man or immaterial principle of Action for all these are one is at the same time an assertion of humane Freedom and a shaking off those Clogs and Fetters which the Calvinistical Fatality would put upon us For when things come to be examined to the Bottom it will be found that an immaterial Nature and a free Agent are the same Extension is the common attribute of all Substance whatsoever it being impossible to have any conception of any thing which is not somewhere or to have any notion of Place The School distinction betwixt Locus and Ubi being a very idle unintelligible Distinction which is not extended by real Parts and such as are at least by Cogitation separable from one another It being therefore so clear that no Man can possibly conceive otherwise but that all Substance is extended it follows in the next place either that there is but one sort of Substance or that there are several sorts of Extension If the first be granted the consequence of this will be First That matter must be self-moved for that there is such a Substance as Matter will not come into dispute And Secondly That all Matter hath a power of moving it self because what ever is of the essence of Matter must belong in common to all Matter whatsoever And Thirdly That all Matter may be moved with an equal celerity and degree of Motion because the Essences of things are indivisible and therefore if Motion be of the Essence of Matter considered barely as such and be not owing to some other principle from without it must belong equally to all Matter whatsoever And therefore in the Fourth place the reason why all Matter is not equally moved must be that it is indued with a power of exerting or suspending its Activity either pro arbitrio for no reason at all or by the measures of Prudence for the good of the World But if it be absurd ridiculous and contrary to experience to attribute so much Understanding Will or Power to every Stick and Clod to every seemingly
the real Merits of a Cause whether I have not very fairly and clearly expounded those places of St. Paul which I have produced upon this head together with all others of a like meaning and signification which it is not necessary accurately to insert so as that no advantage can be reaped from them to the Calvinistical Doctrine The Second Account which I shall give of the origine and progress of this Opinion and of its Continuance among us to this Day shall be taken from those Texts in the Epistles of St. Paul where he describes the Lucta or Contention which is to be found more or less in every man for it is not equal in all between the two principles of the Flesh and Spirit or between the natural tendencies and desires of the humane Soul as it moves from its self by an inward spring or principle of self activity abstracted from all Intanglement or Encumbrance from the Body which are all regulated by the sober and steady deliberations of right reason without any Prejudice Humour Interest or Passion and between those desires which are owing to the union of the intellectual or spiritual principle with matter from whence it comes to pass that our nobler part is perpetually sollicited and frequently overborn by the importunity of sensual Pleasures by yielding too frequently or too grosly to which it follows unavoidably that the natural strength and activity of the mind will be by degrees impaired as Elastical Bodies by moysture lose their Spring or as the Bodies of men or other Animals by want of exercise and too much ease are used to grow Scorbutick resty and unactive but on the contrary by constant breathing activity and motion they acquire new strength and arrive to an Athletical firmitude and vigour as it is also with the Mind which is not more impaired by a tame and cowardly submission to Animal and fleshly desires than it is improved and strengthned by a stout and resolute resistance of them In this continual combat between concupiscence and reason consists that spiritual Warfare which we are obliged to maintain with the World the Flesh and the Devil in the conquest of which Enemies or in our utmost endeavour towards it as being an effect of the natural strength and activity of the Soul shaking off the Cloggs and Encumbrances of the sensual or lower Life which is wholly governed by gross and corporeal Impressions from without the nature of Virtue consists a on the otherside Vice is nothing else but an unnecessary yielding to so mean impulses or it is that decay or infirmity of mind which is the consequence of such a yielding This Combat is excellently described by St. Paul in the Seventh Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans from the 14th verse to the end of that Chapter in these words We know that the Law is Spiritual but I am carnal sold under Sin For that which I do I allow not For what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I. If then I do that which I would not I consent unto the Law that it is good Now then it is no more I that do it but Sin that dwelleth in me For I know that in me that is in my Flesh dwelleth no good thing For to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not For the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but Sin that dwelleth in me I find then a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man But I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in my Members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this Death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord So then with my mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the flesh the Law of Sin Much such a Description as this we have likewise by the same Apostle in his Epistle to the Galathians c. 5. v. 17. The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Where he also acquaints us what are the distinct works of the Flesh and the Spirit the First consisting mainly in the gratification of sensual Appetites and desires or in an ambitious pursuit after the Pomp and Vanities of this world or in that turbulent and uneven constitution of mind in those either private or publick Mischiefs which are the usual consequences of Lust and Passion as the latter are chiefly discernible by such a calmness and serenity of Mind and Will as does perpetually accompany the Soul of man when it is moved from it self from an inward spring and principle of its own and when its streams are not troubled or turned back with violence upon their Fountain by the tempestuous winds of Passion such a calmness and serenity as makes a man most easie to himself most acceptable to others and most fit to enjoy an intimate Friendship and Communion with God Now the works of the Flesh saith he v. 18 19 20 21 22 23. are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness Revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God but the fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance against such there is no Law And from this distinction of the Flesh and the Spirit men are denominated according to the respective Predominancy of either sometimes Carnal or Natural and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spiritual men So in the next Chapter v. 1. Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are Spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of meekness considering thy self lest tho◠also be tempted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye which are Spiritual that is ye who have mortified the Flesh with its affections and Lusts ye who have given your selves up to the guidance and conduct of the inward-man whose Souls are as far as may be retired within themselves freed from the Dominion of Prejudice and Temptation and making no further account of any thing without than it is necessary to the support of Life or serviceable to the noble ends of Happiness and Virtue ye who measure all things by a steady and impartial reason according to their true estimate and value and not as they are falsly and unskilfully represented by the specious flatteries of a deluded fancy and so those things or truths of which
be thought to have been borrowed from the Platonick School is that St. Paul in his use of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or mind which was the second Person in the Trinity of Plato takes it every where in the same sense which those Philosophers are used to do for a pure and unprejudic'd reason or understanding furnish'd with multiplicity of Ideas of whose objective perfection and of the motives which may induce it either to pursue or avoid those Objects which they represent it considers with a sound and impartial Judgment So Rom. 7. 23. I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and again v. 25. So then with my mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the Flesh the Law of Sin where the same word is still observed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 However that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the language of the New-Testament that which is carnal and sensual is to be understood will appear no less plainly from several other places than from that which hath been already produced So James 3. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This Wisdome descendeth not from above but is Earthly Sensual Devilish And in the Epistle of St. Jude v. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These be they who separate themselves sensual having not the Spirit and as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the same so also are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the two first being taken for the sensual and concupiscible as the two latter for the more intellectuall abstracted and speculative life in man for though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in propriety of Speech do not signifie an immaterial substance but only a more subtile and tenuious matter yet that this is the signification of it in many places of Scripture cannot be questioned especially in that of the Acts c. 23. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the Sadducees say there is no Resurrection neither Angel nor Spirit where by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spirit it is plain an immaterial Nature must be understood for that there was such a thing as a Cogitant or thinking Substance in general they could not question without contradicting themselves the very doubt of it being a proof of its Existence neither could they any more dispute the Existence of a subtile or Aetherial matter of which common sense and every Moments experience would undeniably convince them And this was the reason why they would not grant the liberty of the humane Will because Matter and necessity are exactly the same as I shall shew more largely by and by wherefore looking upon the Soul of man as the Stoicks and Epicureans likewise did to be nothing else but a Collection of subtile Matter disposed conveniently for the exercise of Cogitation and Perception they could not think it capable of Freedom which implyes some principle distinct from matter and for the same reason they deny'd the Resurrection and the immortality of the Soul because as life according to the Sadducean principles was nothing but a Collection of subtile Matter disposed and modifi'd after a certain manner so Death was nothing else but the Dissolution or Dissipation of that collective Substance and therefore the Soul after Death must of necessity cease to be Lastly From this Notion of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spirit we may frame to our selves a clearer Explication of that famous Place of St. Paul to the Corinthians than has hitherto been thought of where speaking concerning the Resurrection he says thus 1 Cor. 15. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is sown a natural Body it is raised a Spiritual Body there is a natural Body and there is a Spiritual Body Where though it be true that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Spiritual Body may be understood such a Body as is of a more fine and subtle Contexture than that we now carry about us if we regard only the Propriety of the Greek Language without respect to the peculiar Idiome of the New-Testament and though it be likewise true that the Glorified Bodies of the Saints will actually consist of a more tenuious and Aetherial Substance because the Scripture tells us that in that State there will be neither Marrying nor giving in Marriage that is no sensual gratifications nor any sensual Desires which cannot well be if we carry these Bodies of Flesh about us which administer perpetual Food to so many disorderly Passions and in which St. Paul expressly tells us there dwells no good thing yet this does not depend upon the signification of the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but upon the Nature of things themselves wherefore he that would rightly understand the true meaning of this Place must consider the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spiritual Body as it stands in opposition to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Natural Body and it being manifest from what hath been said already that by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must be understood such a Body as is fittest for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Animal life to exercise its Functions and operations in nothing is more clear than that by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spiritual Body such an one in General must be understood as is best fitted for the operations of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the pure immaterial and immortal Nature in us Having thus given an Account of that Contention which we find within our selves between the two principles of the Flesh and Spirit as that Contention is described by St. Paul let us now see what advantage may be made from it to the Calvinistical Doctrine and those advantages are chiefly two First That he seems to speak in such a manner of the Spiritual principle as if it were perpetually overborn and kept under by the Carnal so as it could not possibly bring any thing to Effect of it self nor were in the least wise able to resist the perpetual Impulses of the Animal or Bruitish Nature I am carnal sold under Sin saith he Rom. 7. v. 14 15. For that which I do I allow not For what I would that do I not But what I hate that do I. Again v. 17 18. Now then it is no more I that do it but Sin that dwelleth in me For I know that in me that is in my Flesh dwelleth no good Thing For to will is present with me but how to perform that which is Good I find not and more to the same purpose to v. 23 where he has these words But I see another Law in my Members Warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in my Members Which difficulty is Capable of a fourfold Solution First That even in profane Authors there are Expressions to be found which may seem at first sight to infer a natural Impossibility of doing Well by which notwithstanding no more than
liberty of the Will but speaking of that famous Difficulty concerning the inconsistence of the Divine Prescience with it he says that we are not to deny the truth of a Proposition or Notion which we feel and of which we are intimately conscious to our selves for the sake of a Being whose Modes of operation and ways of scientifical Intuition by reason of his infirnity we cannot comprehend And I do appeal to any Man in the World let him be who he will and of what perswasion soever if Posidonius in a raging fit of the Gout or Stone should yet out of an affected piece of Stoicism pretend that all that while he feels no manner of Pain but that he is perfectly at ease and should not have suspected himself to be at all discomposed were it not for the Visits of his Friends and the formality of a Nurse and a Physician by his Bed-side that he is listning all this while with unspeakable Delight to the Tunefull and Melodious Musick of the Spheres when yet his Groans and wry Faces do sufficiently confess that he feels no such Harmony within would not every one say that he does not believe himself and that he has no reason to expect that any one else should believe him And shall we not with equal reason say the same of him who will needs argue and dispute himself into a necessary Agent notwithstanding he feels himself inwardly to be Free Or how is it possible for us ever to look on any Proposition as True when the universal Seemings and Appearances of Mankind and those not of things without us but such as if they be any thing at all are a part of our very Nature and are always most intimately present with and in us shall yet notwithstanding be looked upon as no better than Dreams and Delusions of a sickly Mind This is the first Answer to the first Advantage that may be taken from the consideration of that Lucta or Contention which there is between the two Principles of the Flesh and Spirit as that Contention is described by St. Paul But Secondly The second Answer may be that if this place of St. Paul or any other be to be understood of an absolute and uncontrollable Necessity overruling all actions and thwarting perpetually all our good Desires so as without the help of an irresistible Grace they can never produce their effect this will destroy not only the Necessity but the nature of Obedience for Obedience and Compulsion are inconsistent together to Obey is one thing and to be compelled is another not only of a quite different but of a quite contrary Nature Thirdly Since it is supposed at least from this very place of St. Paul that there are such good Desires implanted in us by Nature which yet for all that are everlastingly overborn without being able to attain that end to which they are directed what is this but to represent God as the most cruel and arbitrary Being that can possibly be conceived who does not only plague and torment us in the other World for no reason but his own arbitrary Will and Pleasure but to compleat the Torment of those whom he has predestined to Eternal Flames and to signalize his utmost Vengeance and Displeasure against them He begins the Tragedy in this Life and creates in them a longing after Happiness and Virtue only to make them the more exquisitely Miserable by an everlasting Frustration Fourthly and Lastly St. Paul himself in the beginning of the next Chapter hath these words For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from the law of Sin and Death For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh that the Righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit In which words it is plain beyond all possible colour of Exception that we are capable by Nature of paying some sort of Obedience to the Laws of God and right reason for whatever is weak is acknowledged to have a comparative though imperfect Strength and whatever wants to be fulfilled or compleated is at the same time acknowledged to have something of its own And so St. Paul tells us elsewhere not that we cannot possibly do any good work or think so much as a good thought of our selves by our own natural ability and power but that we have all Sinned and come short of the glory of God that is that our Obedience though it is not nothing and though it may be syncere yet it is imperfect and stands in need upon account of its defects of some other Expiation than what we are able to make so that after all it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth though we may do both but of God that sheweth Mercy It is so far from being true that by reason of the Original corruption of our natures we are carried forth with such an irresistible violence to all manner of Evil that it needs a perpetual Miracle to hinder the most profligate wretches from being worse than they are which yet Mr. Calvin does expresly assert and I have shewn that by his principles he is bound to do it that on the contrary it is acknowledged by St. Paul himself that there are very strong desires and tendencies to Goodness very powerful inclinations and breathings after Virtue implanted in us by nature and it is manifest by experience that all manner of Wickedness even in those who are arrived at the utmost perfection of degeneracy and Lewdness is at first accompanied with a sensible regret and pain that every man in the cool and unprejudiced retirement of his thoughts condemnes it and finds always in it an harsh and grating Incongruity to the natural grain and byass of his mind Nemo repente fuit turpissimus it requires a great deal of exercise and practice for a man to arrive at such a desperate pitch of Madness and Folly as to sin without any reluctancy or pain without some inward blushing and secret shame without a silent Confession of his Guilt and an earnest though fruitless and impracticable Desire that his lost Innocence might be retrived Every man is naturally desirous of a good name and a good name in the common judgment of all Mankind not excepting those themselves who have most grosly forfeited their Title to it is only to be purchased by worthy Inclinations and virtuous Deeds and for what those Deeds and those Inclinations are we have the same unanimous and universal consent All men admire and envy the Virtues of those who are better than themselves they excuse their own Follies by comparing them with those of other men and they uphold their drooping Spirits which would otherwise be oppressed by the too heavy weight of guilt and shame either by such Intemperance as removes from
Divine Grace by considering only in a Philosophical way the power of God and his ability to produce those effects which exceed any humane Efficiency or Skill and by attending to the nature of that Doctrine which Christ is said to have Taught which conduced so much to the Benefit and advantage of Mankind compared with that human or traditionary Testimony which has been handed down to us through so many Centuries of years by Men of unquestionable Credit and Virtue who neither had nor could propound any design of temporal advantage to themselves but on the contrary met with Trouble and Persecution and expcted to meet with no other for their Pains I say upon these Grounds any reasonable Man may of himself believe that there was such a Person as Jesus Christ Born of a pure Virgin who lived a most Holy and Exemplary Life wrought very many and very great Miracles and Wonders among Men who was the Promulger and Preacher of a most wise useful and Glorious Gospel to the World who Died upon the Cross to Seal and ratifie that Covenant which he had made between God and Men and who after his Crucifixion arose again from the Dead and ascended in a Glorious and Triumphant manner into Heaven having obtained a compleat Victory over Death and Sin where he still continues performing the Office of an everlasting Mediator and making a perpetual Intercession for us all This may be believed barely upon the Credit of that Historical Testimony which is given to it but if by Faith we mean a practical and saving Belief of these Truths which by being set home upon our hearts and being always present upon our Minds shall have a lasting and a powerful influence upon our Lives this as I conceive cannot be had or hoped for without the special influence of the Grace of God for the same Reasons upon which I have already asserted an habitual Goodness not to be obtained without the assistance and influence of the same Spirit And therefore when Peter made that Confession Matth. 16. 16. Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Jesus answered v. 17. Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona For Flesh and Blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father which is in Heaven Not that it was Impossible to come to the Knowledge of this in any degree without asupernatural Revelation For several of the Jews did from the greatness of his Miracles and the Wisdom of his Doctrine suspect and partly believe him to be the Prophet that was to come by which they meant either the Messias or his Forerunner and the Centurion who cannot be thought to have received his Information by any such Miraculous way when he saw our Saviour giving up the Ghost and considered the dreadful Agony of Nature at the instant of his Passion said of a truth this was the Son of God But such a Belief as Peter had of this Truth that is a practical and deeply rooted Sense of the Truth of what he said whereby his heart was changed and his affections subdued and his whole Man captivated into the Obedience of Christ and his Gospel this cannot be revealed by Flesh and Blood which is apt to suggest thoughts and invite to practices of a quite contrary Nature but it is owing to the Grace of God and to the supernatural Illuminations and Influences of the Divine Spirit working upon those who have experienced the new Birth and are become Regenerate and Born again into newness of Life by the adoption of Grace Thus have I endeavoured to explain the operations of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts of Men and especially of the Faithful so as neither to make them useless with Pelagius nor irresistable with Calvin nor unintelligible with some of our Modern Writers who are cry'd up by their Adherents for nothing more then that they understand not what they say or Write nor the other what they Read or hear and who do on both hands exactly fulfil that witty and Judicious Character which Lucretius gives of Heraclitus and his admirers Clarus ob obscuram linguam magis inter Inanes Quam de grates inter Graias qui vera requirunt Omnia enim stolidi magis admirantur amantque Inveris quae subverbis latitantia cernunt Veraque constituunt quae bellè tangere possunt Aures lepido quae sunt fucata sonore But now that I may not seem in what I have Written upon this weighty Question to depart from the Sentiments of the Church of England to whose Authority I shall always pay as I am in Duty obliged a most profound respect I will here Transcribe those Articles of Hers in which this point is Concerned which are these three which follow ARTICLE X. Of Freewill The Condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot Turn and prepare himself by his own natural Strength and good works to Faith and calling upon God Wherefore we have no Power to do good Works pleasant and acceptable to God without the Grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will In which Article it is plainly imply'd both that we have some natural strength and that we are capable of performing some good Works though that strength be so imperfect that we cannot by the sole Power and Virtue of it prepare and turn our selves to Faith and calling upon God neither are those Works pleasant and acceptable to God in themselves by reason of that mixture of imperfection with which they are attended and because they are interwoven with many bad ones of both which Causes of their non-acceptation I have already spoken without the assistances of Grace by which the Crudities of the carnal and concupiscible Life in us are attenuated and exalted which would otherwise ascend in gross and malignant Fumes darkning the understanding and depraving the will so as neither the one could discern its Duty with that Clearness nor the other execute it with that entire Resignation of it self to the conduct and governance of Reason and with that inward Fervo◠Chearfulness and Sincerity which is necessary to make our performances acceptable and well-pleasing in the sight of God and which is that which this Article calls a good will to which as well in its Being as continuance and preservation the Grace of God is of necessity required Neither would our good works though assisted and improved by these supernatural auxiliaries from above be acceptable and pleasant in his sight that is so as to be subservient to the great ends of Happiness and Salvation because in themselves they are no more than what by the Laws of Reason and self-Preservation we are obliged to do and because they are allay'd and tempered by so many Misdemeanours whose Guilt all our after-amendment can never wash away if it were not for the Blood of Christ which God has accepted as an Attonement and Propitiation for our Sins and for the
promotion of Godliness distinguishes so exactly betwixt his own advices and the dictates of the Spirit and otherwhiles he is in doubt whether what he says be from himself or from the Spirit of God the influences of that Spirit not being so potent and sensible at one time as another To conclude when Jesus was driven of the Spirit into the Wilderness when Philip was carried through the Air to Azotus when Paul went bound in Spirit to Jerusalem and when he assayed to go into Macedonia but the Spirit suffered him not all these were influences of an irresistible Grace or Power proper to those times and of which there are no instances to be found in these Nay so violent were the Paroxysms of the Spirit at some times upon them that they were perfectly distracted and besides themselves scarce knowing what they did or said and by the extream eagerness and zeal with which they delivered what they had to say they seemed so to others oftener than they were So the Apostles on the day of Pentecost seemed to some to be full of new Wine Acts 2. 13. And though we shall allow it to be true as the Text tells us that they only mocked when they said this and it is likely some of them did not believe it themselves yet this had been but a cold sort of mockery had there been no manner of resemblance betwixt Men acted by the Spirit and Men that were full of new Wine For this reason it is that St. Paul to the Ephesians opposeth these two being drunk with Wine and being filled with the Spirit as having some kind of proportion and Analogy to each other c. 5. v. 18. Be not drunk with Wine wherein is Excess but be filled with the Spirit Upon which place Grotius has these words though I am not beholden to him for the Observation opponit res in aliquo similes illi vino implentur vos Spiritu And Peter standing up in defence of himself and of his fellow Apostles on the day of Pentecost lift up his Voice and said unto the Mockers v. 14 15 16 17 18. Ye Men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem be this known unto you and harken to my words For these are not Drunk as ye suppose seeing it is but the Third hour of the day but this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel and it shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will power out of my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophecy and your young Men shall see Visions and your old Men shall dream Dreams and on my Servants and on my Handmaidens I will power out in those days of my Spirit and they shall Prophecy in which place it is manifest though he wipe off that slanderous and disgraceful aspersion of their being Drunk with Wine yet he plainly acknowledges a resemblance as to outward appearance between those in that Condition and those who were acted with the Spirit of Prophecy and that this was the reason why the one was by some willfully and perhaps by others ignorantly mistaken for the other And what else I beseech you is or can be the meaning of that place of St. Paul to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 5. 13. For whether we be beside our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your Cause then this that whether we be in the Spirit or out of it we lay out our whole time and strength for your Edification In the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in its most proper notion signifie to be in a Swoon or Trance and it is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet being opposed as it is in this place to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a calm and composed temper of Spirit it must here denote that turbulent and unquiet disposition of Mind which is proper to Men in fits of Madness or Distraction Though sometimes itis true that the influences of the Spirit were so powerfull upon them that they fell into a perfect Transe having lost all Motion or sense of any thing about them In such a transport as this St. John saw his Apocalyptick Visions and the Prophets beheld insensible Representations the lively portraitures of things to come and St. Paul whether in the Body or out of the Body he could not tell was wrapt into the third Heaven and saw those Glories which it was neither lawfull nor possible to utter To the same purpose it is what Festus said with a loud Voice to Paul Acts 26. 24. Paul thou art beside thy self much Learning doth make the Mad. To which though St. Paul do there make answer v. 25. I am not Mad most noble Festus but speak forth the words of Truth and Soberness Yet there is no question but what with that heat of Temper which was natural to St. Paul and what with the concern he was in for the just Vindication of himself and his Religion And Lastly What with the influences of that Spirit by which in the defence of both these he was acted he did seem by his Mine and Voice and his unusual earnestness in the delivery of himself to be somewhat Distracted and besides himself which was so far from doing any prejudice to the Gospel that in the first place it freed those that heard it from any suspition of design and in the Second it appeared so plain that the Men were hearty and in earnest in what they said and that there was an unusual Spirit going along with them that though some looked upon it as no better than Madness yet with others it had a strange perswasiveness and was no doubt one of the main causes of those great Numbers which were used at once to be Converted to the Faith by the Ministry of the Gospel in those days upon whom though there usually fell a plentifull effusion of the Holy Ghost yet this was not till after they were in some measure converted by the Preaching of the Apostles So we find here in this very place of the Acts though Festus was not willing to allow that this earnestness of St. Paul was any thing better then Madness yet Agrippa notwithstanding his Jewish prejudices which were every whit as inveterate as the Heathen could say almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian And this no question is the meaning of that phrase of Preaching with Power and with Authority in opposition to the cold way of delivery of the Scribes and Pharisees that is Preaching with such a Mine and assurance such a Vigor strength and earnestness of Voice gesture and pression as had with some a strange perswasiveness though there were others who looked upon our Saviour to be Distracted or at least would have had it thought so as well as his Apostles To conclude under the old Testament there wanted not many instances of a like Nature all
punishment which is due to it may be or may possibly be fancied to be obtained the three first of which viz. past innocence present repentance and future obedience are shewn to be naturally insufficient in order to this end from p. 241 to 244 The fourth possible expedient is that of a gratuitous remission on Gods part and the fifth a proxenetical or vicarious expiation in our stead p. 244 245 Three reasons especially why the later of these was pitcht upon as the most proper method of Justifying Offenders from p. 245 to 247. to which a fourth possible consideration is subjoynâ—d p. 247 But though this vicarious expiration by the death of his Son was the greatest Testimony that God could possibly give us of his love to mankind yet this will but serve to aggrevate our disobedience if we shall neglect so great Salvation p. 248 249 A more particular application of the premises to the nature of Justification wherein is shewn that though Repentance and obedience be required as conditions on our part yet this hinders not but that our Justification is meerly and solely the effect of Grace and that we be justifyed by faith only by which the merits and satisfaction of Christ are applyed to every true believer with some fresh remarks of the inconsistence of the Calvinistical doctrine to the general strain and tenour of the Gospel from p. 249 to 257 The conclusion of this whole matter concerning justification with an appeal to the Reader whether the account that hath been given be not such as ought to satisfy every unprejudic'd and impartial person from p. 257 to 259 The second account of the rise and progress of Calvinistical Doctrines taken from those places of St. Paul wherein he describes the lucta or contention between the two Principles of the flesh and spirit with a description of those two Principles what they are and wherein the nature and notion of Virtue and Vice do consist from p. 259 to 261. The Description of these two Principles together with an enumeration of the genuine productions and effects of both in the words of St. Paul from p. 261 to 264 From the respective predominancy of these two principles either the one or the other in every man so he is denominated in Scripture either natural or spiritual in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from p. 264 to 266 This notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to be borrowed from the school of Plato p. 266 A comparison betwixt the several Hypostases or personalities of the Platonick Triad with so many distinct resemblances of them in the humane nature from p. 226 to 268 Two reasons why the notion of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or natural in the N. T. seems to be borrowed from the Platonick School from p. 268 to 272 However it is certain that in the Language of the N. T. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are the same in opposition to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which the purely cogitant intellectual and abstracted nature is denoted from p. 272 to 276 The natural body and the spiritual body what they signify in that place of St. Paul 1. Cor. 15. v. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 275 276 Two possible advantages to be made of that contention which there is betwixt the two Principles of the flesh and spirit as that contention is described by Saint Paul p. 276 277. First advantage that St. Paul seems to speak in such a manner of the spiritual principle as if it were perpetually overcome by the carnal and were utterly unable to bring any thing to effect of it self as appears by the places there subjoyned Rom. 7. v. 14 15 17 18 23. p. 277. This difficulty capable of a fourfold solution First that even in prophane Authors there are expressions to be met with that speak every whit as fully or rather more of the necessity of humane nature by which notwithstanding not a natural necessity but only a moral is to be understood and that moral necessity is to be understood not of any one action but of the whole series and course of a man's life taken together with instances of such expressions out of Euripides Lactantius and Seneca from p. 278 to 280 That the Stoicks and Epicureans notwithstanding their Principles supposed nothing but matter in the world yet by the evidence of sence and experience which gives perpetual attestation to it in the inwardconsciousness and feeling of every man they were forced to admit the liberty of the will as the Stoicks sometimes do and the Epicureans pretended to explain it by material causes and at other times being convinced that such causes were altogether insufficient for the explaining such Phaenomena they had recourse to an immaterial nature both in God and mens all which is largely proved out of Seneca and Manilius from p. 282 to 297 The true notion of the word Aeternus that it signifyes nothing but the Aetherial matter proved out of several passages of Seneca Pacatus Mamertinus and from the antient Glossaries from p. 214 to 290 How the word Aeternus comes to denote an infinite duration p. 287 That Decartez who was as very a Materialist as the Stoicks or Epicureans did acknowledge the liberty of theâ— will p. 297 298 An Appeal to the Reader concerning the infinite folly and madness of obstinately denying the liberty of the humane will notwithstanding we do perpetually feel it p. 298 299 Second answer to the first advantage taken from the consideration of the contention between the two principles as that contention is described by St. Paul viz. that if the words of St. Paul produced p. 277. be to be understood of an absolute Fatalty this does not only destroy the necessity but the nature of obedience p. 300 Third answer that by these means God is represented as the most cruel being that can possibly be conceiv'd and that he begins the Tragedy of Damnation in this life that he may perfect it in the other p. 300 301. Fourthly and Lastly it is manifest from the words of St. Paul himself that we have some degree of strength and ability of our own though it be not sufficient to produce a perfect and entire obedience and though it be morally impossible for it to bear us harmless through all the parts of our lives p. 301 302 It is so far from being true what the Calvinistical Doctors are used to maintain that in the nature of man considered abstractedly from the assistances of Divine Grace there is nothing to be found but an irresistible propensity to all manner of evil that on the contrary St. Paul himself supposes that there are very strong desires and tendencies to goodness implanted in us by nature and it is manifest by experience that the first beginnings of Sin are accompanyed with a sensible regret and pain and that it requires a considerable time and
practice upon himself for a man to extinguish the natural tenderness of his mind and will so far as to be compleatly wicked without remorse or shame from p. 303 to 305 Besides the natural congruitiâ—s which are planted in our minds betwixt virtuous actions and a reflecting Nature all the instances of Virtue and Religion whether they relate to our selves to our Neigbour or to God are founded upon such plain and such undoubted principles of reason that it is rather a Miracle that Men are so bad as they are then that they are no worse which Mr. Calvin makes to be the effect of a perpetual Miracle by ascribing it wholâ—y to an irresistible Grace overpowreing the ungovernable impurities of our Nature largely represented from p. 305 to 320 But for all this the Author does not pretend that the Grace of God is useless or that it is not of absolute necessity in order to the right conduct and governance of humane Life and for the more full understanding of the case and the avoiding the two equally dangerous extreams of Calvin and Pelagius he layes down in Seven particulars what his opinion is concerning the operations of the Holy Spirit upon the minds of Men. p. 320 First there is no instance of our duty which may not in some sort and degree be performed by our selves p. 320 Secondly there is a common Grace or Spirit diffused over all the World which exerts it self according to the several capacities and fitnesses of things and persons from 320 to 322 Thirdly there is a more peculiar Grace and influence of the Holy Spirit Watching over the Church then over the rest of Mankind p. 320 321 Fourthly even the particular instances of our duty in their uttermost perfection are owing to a concurrence of the Spirit of God from p. 323 to 332 But yet this hinders not but that the whole action in such cases may in some sense be ascribed to our selves as is largely represented upon several accounts p. 325 326 327 329 330 331 That after all it must be confessed that our justification is wholly owing not to our selves but to the Grace of God and the Righteousness of Christ applied to us by Faith and Repentance and this whether we consider our actions singly by themselves or whether we reflect upon the whole course of our lives p. 331 332 â—or what hath been said of single Actions in the fourth particular that without the Grace of God they will want their utmost perfection integrity and consummation the same is much more true in the fifth place of the whole course of our lives that this can much less be managed as it ought to be without the conduct and assistance of the Spirit of God from p. 332 to 336 Sixthly though God afford to all sufficient Grace and to the Church more than to the rest of the World yet he dispenses it sometimes in a more plentiful proportion as a proprietor may do by Arbitrary measures for no reason at all but what is foundâ—d in his own will and pleasure p. 336 337 Seventhly and lastly a Historical or notional Faith in Christ is obtainable by the use of ordinary meanâ— reading and study and an impaâ—tial inquiry into the truth of things 〈◊〉 a practical influential and saving Faith cannot be obtained without the Grace of God as is farther exemplisyed in the different case of Peter from that of the Centurion and the generality of the Jewish Nation from p. 377 to 341 The Tenth Twelfth and Thirteenth Articles of the Church of England explained and proved that they are no such friends to Calvinistical Doctrines as the Calvinists would make the world believe from 343 to 351 But if the Articles of the Church should happen to interfere as they do not with the Scriptures we are excused by the Twentieth of those Articles themselves from acquiescing in their Authorities neither hath the Church any power if we believe that Article to expound any place of Scripture after such a manner as to make it repugnant to another both of which things happen in the Calvinistical Doctrines that they are repugnant to some Scriptures and they expound some Scriptures after such a manner as to make them perfectly inconsistent with others from p. 251 to 253 The main inconvenience of the Doctrine of Reprobation is that if it were admitted to be the constant sense and tenor of the Scriptures themselves yet this instead of doing any Service to that Doctrine would but destroy the authority of the Scriptures themselves as well as the veracity of God and the nature of all Morality and Religion from p. 353 to 359 The Articles of our Church acknowledge that even General Councils may err much more would it have been pâ—ssible for a rational Synod to do so though our Church had asserted as it does not the Doctrine of Reprobation To which is added a recapitulation of what hath been said upon occasion of the Articles of the Church of England p. 355 356 But yet the Author does not after all deny but there may be such a thing as an irresistible Grace nay he proves it both from the reason of the thing and from very many instances to be met with up and down both in the old Testament and the new though those instances were peculiar to those miraculons Ages in which they happened and have nothing to do with our times wherein those miraculous effusions of the Holy Spirit are unquestionably ceased from p. 356 to 368 The second advantage to be made from the consideration of the Lucta or contention betwixt the Flesh and Spirit is that the spiritual principle mentioned by S. Paul may be pretended to be no part of the humane nature but only a supernatural influence of Divine Grace p. 368 To which the answer is twofold fiâ—st more directly that St. Paul does manifesâ—â—y assert two opposite Principles in the nature of man considered by it self and secondly more remotely and consequentially but no less pertinently and truly then the other that there is such an harmony and agreement betwixt the Divine Spirit and the spiritual or immaterial and abstracted principle in man that the same effâ—cts are attributed to both because they are both of them causes of a like nature and because they do both usually concurr to the production of the same effect p. 369 370 To all which it is to be added that the very notion of a mind or inward Man or immaterial Principle of Action includes in it an assertion of Freedom likewise an immaterial and a free agent being termes convertible and to all intents and purposes exactly the same and so are a necessary and a material agent from 370 to 374 This notion confirmed from the testimony of Plutarch shewing that it was the opinion of all the Ancient Philosophers and from the Doctrine of the Sadduces and Pharisees from a citation of Lactantius and a precept of Pythagoras in the Golden Verses and lastly from a further survey