Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
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A40444
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A vindication of the Unitarians, against a late reverend author on the Trinity
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Freke, William, 1662-1744.
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1687
(1687)
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Wing F2166; ESTC R15264
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34,768
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28
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whole course of Scripture against you that have not so much as one Arrian Author to assist me I have already inform'd you what turn'd me to be an Arrian and now I shall add that when I had once resolv'd nothing should be dearer to me than Truth and bethought me the Corruption even of Primitive Tradition and saw a necessity of sticking wholly to the Scripture the Sun was not clearer to me than the Doctrine which you call Heretical and Arrianism And give me leave to tell you tho' you have Popularity and the Temporal Sword on your side yet blaspheme it more if you dare if there be such a thing as blasphemy against the Holy Ghost as we have Christ's word there is to your peril be it Sir I tell you 't is to blaspheme the known Evidences of his Truth and if these be such I dare venture my Truths with the Sword of the Spirit against all your carnal Weapons Remember Sir there is a Sin unto Death we may not so much as pray for 1 John 5. 16. and all our pretences and good Works will be of none effect while we blaspheme the most great and sincere Truths of God beware Sir of this great and fiery Tryal I mean perversly to blaspheme God's Truths especially when so considerable as this this is that that will make the Tree good and the Fruit good and the Tree evil or its Fruit evil indeed can you expect to be call'd or receiv'd as a Son when you openly and malitiously proclaim'd your self a Rebel to the only and great means of Government of the Holy Ghost TRADITION HAving now done with the two first Heads of my Discourse the proof of the Trinity by Reason and Scripture I proceed to the last viz. Tradition wherein would Men but be content to believe as they pray I should be satisfied for that they do almost wholly to the Father and therein may I say they give all their pretences to Tradition the greatest Lye even the Cause is capable of bearing but alas the World is made too giddy by this Mystery to bear such or any other Reasoning I know Sir you are very confident that she is of your side as you say page 31. but your Proofs and Suggestions for it are as few and inconsiderable as even I can wish for pag. 40. Thus you would fain wheedle us that Men were Arrians and not Arrians And what Sir was it out of Charity that they forbore to call the Trinitarians Hereticks If it was 't was a sign they were the better Christians for it not that their Cause was the worse So you asperse the Great Council of Arminium of 550 Bishops of so seeming or wou'd-be an Imputation pag. 43 that I am asham'd to see 't What Sir do you think they would have called the greatest Council that ever was if they had design'd a tricking Or are you resolv'd to trust more to the Council of Nice because not so many Methinks Sir you should think it enough at least that your Tradition was disputable then that you had such Numbers against you and not repose in forging Rome for blemishing Councils You tell us Mr. Bull has answer'd this matter throughly page 24. But I tell you Sir I have perus'd him and he has not and were it worth my while I would shew it you too besides Sir would you expect a fair and strict Combat after so many Years while Rome has held the stakes What wont you make us no allowances in your Thoughts Not that we beg it neither But is it generous first to fetter a Man and then challenge him What shall I say Is this the way to defend your Catholick Faith That Faith which you say requires both Forehead and Forgery to deny it page 44 when you should say to maintain it REFLECTION Give me leave to advise you a little Sir if you are resolv'd to follow Tradition Be not partial in it Why should you act by halves you would be a good Papist were you sincere and follow'd it throughout Or if as a Protestant you hate this course why do you not pursue it more home and to the root Tradition was only of use till the Scriptures were deliver'd and indeed 't is well if 't was contain'd pure till then as we may most justly censure by St. John's Advice to the Churches in the Revelations But to continue Tradition further what is it but like the Jews to make the Law of God of none effect by our Traditions You must excuse me therefore if I think Tradition to be too much a Nose of Wax to be alledg'd against Scripture especially such express apparent and self-evident Texts as Heb. 1. and John 16 I shall therefore leave you to jangle out your quoted Inconsistencies page 107 108 113 114 119 120 121. And tell you withal such Variances are no Miracle in a Traditionary Mystery In short Sir if ever you design for Truth you must learn a new bravery to be able to dare to be singular think you that Men that geld suppress and sorge Books are in the right or they that persecute all that oppose them Surely I hope you think better that these are the Engines of weaker Error and yet this is even the present Case and who dares even at this day and in sull Protestancy to write or speak freely He is sure of being suppressed at best Damnatory Sentence But before I leave this Subject there is another part of your Discourse that deserves to be consider'd and that is your Damnatory Sentence wherein I wish I could spare you but your love for your Mystery has so inspir'd you with such a furious and unchristian Zeal that 't would be an Offence to the World should I leave it unanswer'd under so great a Name Thus P. 22 you say this Faith is necessary to Salvation and p. 23. That no Jew Turk or Pagan can be sav'd without it And that whether he has us'd reasonable diligence or not Or whether it has been perplext with never so great Controversies The same you add page 271 only you add this merciful Apology That Men may understand it if they will. And further that I may give your Argument the greatest force you add page 25. That to say Men can be sav'd by good Works alone without Faith is Popery And page 26. That if Salvation were so common Christianity were but a better Sect of Philosophy and there would be too great a scope for Infidelity page 23. ANSWER Alas Sir I pity you had you regarded Natural Religion more and your Mystery less you would not have abounded with such an Envy and Monopoly of Salvation What must we have no Faith but be sav'd by Works because we have not just this Mystery And what is it nothing to Christianity that we have several degrees of Glory as an Encouragement set in our prospect and search above the Heathen Or what Sir is your Eye evil because God is good Would you have God
grow to the most considerable degrees of Glory as the Scriptures assures us surely there can be no impossibility nor difficulty that God should be able to reduce the most glorious of his Beings back again and make them as from the first Seed of a Soul arrive to their Ancient Glory But to this you say pag. 244 That there is no greater Nonsence in the World than a Made God and a Creature God Sir the Proposition is bold but you have not stoop'd to a proof of it however I hope to shew you 't is neither Nonsence nor Absurd I must confess a Creature God to be imagin'd the Supream were absurd but when I say a Creature-God I only mean a Spirit of an ubiquitary Presence and multitudinary Power or one that by a perfect Self-consciousness can reason with infinite Beings at once If then Sir you will not deny it to be in the Power of God to create such a Spirit which I hope Sir you will not for I should be sorry to see my Words draw you to blaspheme the Power which you can know no Limits of but Vice Error and Weakness if you 'll grant me I say that God can make such a Power I will add he has for surely to make such more glorious Beings is much more for his Honour than all little single and weak Individuals as You and I are But you say pag. 159 160. What shall a meer Man be exalted above Angels Yes surely if he were first above them and laid aside his Being only for a time and in obedience to his God And what say you Can any thing under infinite Wisdom Rule the World Yes Sir God's most glorious Son that is wiser than all Men and Angels besides and that is in the Bosome of the Father and so has his assistance may rationally do it And pray Sir where are the Absurdities and Contradictions of these things Methinks Sir in this you should have been asham'd of your Reasoning You can allow God's begetting a Son co-equal Rational pag. 221. but 't is with an horrour that you detest an Angel-God But pray Sir if the Notion of God's begetting a Son be not carnal tell me why he has not more Sons than One You dare not blaspheme him sure to say he is not more fruitful or are you so niggardly to think he can multiply his Glorious Issue too fast But to return to my Subject Hence it was if you would know That the Son says he could do nothing of himself pag. 169. and hence it was That whilst Incarnate he had need of the help of the Holy Ghost but the Reasons that you have given in these things are so shuffling pag. 187 270 that I blush to read them Platonicism objected So that all the Objections I know against this Hypothesis is but that 't is the Platonick Philosophy made Christian and as to that I shall only say this Is Truth the worse because Plato hapned to Idea it or is Christianity to be dis-esteem'd because a Philosopher chanc'd to be in some of her Roads But least any one should think that the Doctrine of Plato should have the least influence in wresting the Scriptures to this Hypothesis I do hereby in the presence of God declare what it was that first mov'd my Judgment and turn'd me to be an Arrian and if it did me it should move us in Charity to think it did others An Acquaintance of mine speaking by chance of the Trinity told me Some thought it a breach of the first Commandment and to convince me 't was not reveal'd in the New Testament shew'd me that most notable Chapter of the First of the Hebrews Now he little thought what he had done when he did this for tho' my Zeal boyl'd against his Blasphemy as I thought it for a time yet when I reflected again with myself I thought at least his Discourse had rais'd such Scruples in my Mind that the very Considerableness of the first Commandment would necessitate me to enquire of Now this was not only all the Discourse I had with him but I remember to this day that I could never understand by his Discourse whether he were Arrian or Socinian nor indeed what either Hypothesis was tho' lately I must confess I have perceiv'd him rather enclin'd to the Socinians But thus it was that shortly after going for London where my Doubt continuing upon me I resolv'd to give myself satisfaction I saught for Books but found none indeed I did not know what to enquire for whereupon resolving to know that by myself which I could not by others without either knowing of Arrianism Socinianism or Platonism I took this following course I took the New Testament where I conceiv'd this Truth was to be found reveal'd if any where and reading it with attention I collected every Text relating to Father Son and Holy Ghost into an Imperial Sheet of Paper for neither liking giddy Tradition nor the tricks of wresting single Texts I thought that this could be the only way to find the Truth by if any Now God is my witness that when I I did thus I could not but fall into Arrianism not that I then knew what Name my Opinion had but some time after meeting with Books I saw the difference of Arrianism and Socinianism and found that I was not singular in my Sentiments but that the World had thought the same before me Nor was this all but before I knew that my Hypothesis had been known to the World thinking that I was singular in the Truth I resolv'd in Charity to Mankind to publish my discovery till some Friends hearing of it advis'd me to consider first that I might be as much blinded by my own Pride of Sâ—earch as the World was by their Corruption and Traditions Upon this resolving to be resign'd to Truth and fearing lest my presumption might ruine me I not only took all my Papers and burnt them but resolv'd to read all Books for the Trinity and converse all Persons and if possible satisfie myself to believe and acquiesce in so great a Mystery But alas Sir after all this care you see I am forc'd to differ from you so that tho' I could willingly lay by my Sentiments the better to examine Truth for a-while yet when on sâ—earch I could still do no otherwise than think my Old Opinion the best I durst not leave Truth for ever and I hope the necessity of my Case will at last induce you to a Charity for me Of Spirits Gods c. But that I may return from this digression and the better evidence to you that these God-Angels are no Novelties in Scripture let me add hereto an Idea of the Nature of Spirits as I have taken it even from the Scriptures themselves and thus there are Gods 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. 2 Cor. 4. 4. Potentates Principalities Rulers and Dominions Col. 1. 16. Eph. 6. 12 1. 20 21. and Angels c. God signifies a Spirit of Universal Poâ—â—…er