gift of God Not of works lest any man should boast And again Tit. 3.5 Not by works of righteousnesse which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy Ghost The Advesaries answer That these and such like Texts are spoken of works before regeneration To which I reply that in Tit. 3.5 the Apostle expresly nominates works of righteousnesse and denies them to be any causes of salvation but there be no works of righteousnesse before regeneration for then an evill tree should bring forth good fruit which our Saviour denies Matth. 7.18 And therefore even good works after regeneration are in Scripture denied to be any causes of salvation Hereof I shall have occasion to speak more largely hereafter and therefore will not insist any longer in the illustration of it Before I proceed to the next Controversie I will display the weak argumentation of Mr. Henry Haggar for defence of election from fore-seen sanctification by his straining Scripture from its proper sense and in not comparing it with other Scripture where the genuine and proper sense is clearly explained He toils himself to prove the said point because it 's said in 2 Thes 2.13 that men are chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and therefore thence collects that they are not chosen before they are sanctified by the Spirit which is a very inconsequent collection for it doth not follow that because men are choto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit that therefore sanctification of the Spirit is the cause of their election or that therefore it precedes their election but that therefore sanctification is a necessary antecedent way and means through which they must be brought to salvation whereto they are elected as the way to any place is not the cause of a man his coming thither but only a necessary requisite to be observed of him And thus this Text fitly agrees with other Texts of Scripture as that before mentioned Ephes 1.4 where it 's said That we are chosen that we should be holy which Text he hath waved and never mentioned at all but as Satan alledged the words of the Psalmist leaving out a part as knowing it would disclose his wresting and perverting the true sense of the other Text which he alledged And so he neglects the premised rule of expounding Scripture by Scripture which is of necessity to be observed to find out the true sense and meaning of any Text that is ambiguous or may be variously expounded He alledgeth also the 1 Pet. 1.2 where it 's said That men are elected according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit Whence he collects that God knows men first before he doth elect them To this I answer First That God's prescience or foreknowledge of men and his election of them are in him together and one and the same act for all his attributes are himself and whatsoever is said to be in him is himself as it hath ever been acknowledged by all learned Divines But in humane apprehension of them his decrees precede his prescience for he doth not decree things to come because he foresees them but foresees them because he hath decreed them as is colligible from S. Paul's speech before named Ephes 4.11 where he affirms that God worketh all things according to the Counsell of his own will whence it 's manifest that his own will is the first cause of all his works and not his prescience though his prescience do concur with his will Secondly I answer That the foreknowledge of God there mentioned is a foreknowledged with approbation for the original word which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 properly signifies fore knowledgement as all men of learning know which implies a concurence of his election and approbation with his foreknowledge of men and not any precedence of his knowledge before his approbation and election of them And this affords an answer also to that place which is brought by some of the adversaries for defence of election from foreseen faith and holinesse in Rom. 8.29 where it 's said that whom God did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son where the Greek verb which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies properly fore-acknowledged which intimates an election either with it or before the foreknowledge and besides the words following lead to this sense in that the Apostle expresseth that the predestination which he mentioneth as a sequell of God's foreknowledge is a predestination to be conformed to the image of his Son that is to be holy as Christ is holy A predestination to holinesse cannot be a predestination for holinesse as was shewed before He alledgeth but one Text of Scripture more about this point which is in the fourth Page of his discourse and which he abuseth very sufficiently as he doth the two former and that is Ephes 1.11 and 12. verses where the Apostle speaketh of himself and others that they were predestinated that they should be to the praise of God's glory who first trusted in Christ Whence he ridiculously collecteth that they did first trust in Christ before they were predestinated Whereas the priority or precedency of their faith there mentioned by the Apostle hath no relation at all to their predestination in Grammatical construction but to the faith of the Ephesians that were Greeks or Gentiles and called to the faith of Christ after Paul and the other Apostles that were Jews as appears evidently by the next verse where the Apostle adds In whom also ye trusted after that ye heard the word of truth As if he should have said In whom we trusted first and then ye afterwards which agrees also with other Scripture as Rom. 1.16 where the Apostle saith that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek The second Controversie Of the Vniversality of Christ's Redemption TO decide and determine this controversie I must first state the question aright between us and the adversaries To speak nothing of the word All which sometimes is put for all sorts of men and sometimes for all particular men of all sorts Seeing we acknowledge that Christ died not only for all sorts of men but for all of all sorts that do repent and believe The controversie depends upon these three Quaeries 1. Whether Christ died for unbelievers at all or not 2. Whether he died for them in as full and ample sense as for believers 3. In what sense he died for them and in what sense he died not for them To the first quaery or question I answer affirmatively for my part that Christ died for unbelievers in some sense To the second I answer negatively scil that he died not for unbelievers in as full and ample sense as for believers which I prove from Scripture three ways First Because it 's said sometime in
and blind whether is greater the gold or the Temple that sanctifieth the gold But the word sanctifies the Church so saith our Saviour Sanctifie them with thy truth thy word is (b) Joh. 17.17 truth And again Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto (c) Joh. 15.3 you And saith S. Faul Christ gave himself for his Church that he might sanctifie and cleanse it by the washing of water through the (d) Ephes 5.20 word The word therefore communicating sanctity and so therewith authority unto the Church must needs precede and excel it in both If any ask against whom I take up this weapon seeing the Church of Rome seems to disclaim and disavow this Tenet For the Rhemists in their Annotations on Gal. 2.2 affirm the disputation of this question to be superfluous and the comparison to be altogether unfit to be made I answer in the words of the Apostle So fight I not as one that beateth the (e) 1 Cor. 9.26 air I do not with the foolish Affricans called Psylli as Gellius reports take up Arms against the wind For besides divers others hereafter mentioned the said Doctors who would seem to decline this opinion and this unseemly comparison do in the very same place depresse the Scriptures and make them inferiour to the Church in four respects 1. In respect of Antiquity in that the Church was before them 2. In excellence of nature in that the Church is the Spouse of Christ the Temple of God and the proper subject of God and his graces for which Church the Scriptures were and not the Church for the Scriptures 3. In power of judging the Church having judicial power to determine of doubtful questions touching the sense of the Scriptures and other controversies of Religion of which judicial power the Scriptures are not capable 4. In evidence the definitions of the Church being more clear and evident then those of the Scriptures Now if by the Church they understood the whole Catholique Church and so included all the Patriarks Prophets and Apostles by whom the Scriptures were penned the contestation between us and them would not be so irreconcileable But their drift is to entitle the present Church Militant which is but one small part of the whole Catholique Church to those glorious prerogatives which belong not unto it And that it 's this Church which they so strive to advance above the Scriptures it 's more then manifest outof the writings of many of their Authors of special note amongst them as namely out of Pighius Melchior Canus and Stapleton All which in their writings quoted in the margent (a) Pig de Hierar eccle lib. 2. cap. 2. Can. loc com theolog lib. 2. cap. 8. Stapl. Doctr. princip lib. 9. cap. 12. here attribute authority to the present Church Militant above the Scriptures And Cardinall Bellarmine writes after their Copy affirming That the strength of all ancient Councels and of all opinions in doctrine doth depend upon the authority of the present (b) Bellar de effectu Sacram lib. 2. cap. 25. in fine Church Whereas therefore the fore-named Doctors of Rhemes did one while affirm all comparison between the preheminence and authority of the Church and Scriptures to be unfit to be made and anotherwhile spin out a tedious comparison between them about the very same particular they bewrayed both their personal weaknesse and the weaknesse of the cause which they intended to strengthen by stating and discussing that question which with their tongues or pens they had before disallowed to be disputed of Hitherto of the Theological conclusions inferred from this principle That Scripture is demonstratively divine Now it follows to speak of some duties for practice that may be raised and urged upon all sorts of persons from it and namely both upon Magistrates Ministers and People First This challengeth from all Christian Kings and Princes who are God's Vice-roys upon Earth all honourable respect patronage and possble protection of this holy word of God against all religions and opinions in Religion which are repugnant unto it and against all persons that either in word or deed doctrine or life slight or dishonour it For they sustaining the person of God here on earth for which they are dignified with the title of gods themselves in this (a) Psal 82.6 word do owe this reciprocal respect to him whose Vicegerents and Ministers they are to see as much as in them lies all due observance honour and obedience to be exhibited to this his sacred Word Thus did the good King Josiah for when the Book of the Law which was known to be God's Book was found in the house of the Lord and shewed unto him he presently summoned all the Elders of Judah and Jerusalem to appear before him and then himself rehearsed in their ears all the words of God's Book and made a Covenant both for himself and all the people that they should keep the Commandements and accomplish the Covenant written in it and suppressed all religions which did impunge it and removed all occasions and instruments of Idolatry and whatsoever else was adverse to the contents of (b) 2 Kin. 23. it Yea further it 's said that he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Beniamin to stand to (c) 2 Chro. 34.32 it And thus have all good and godly Princes ever done both under the Law and the Gospel And it 's great reason they should for the Scepter of Christ's Kingdom which is this word of his is a Scepter of (a) Psal 45.6 righteousnesse And a rod of (b) Psal 110.2 strength And when Kings Scepters uphold it then it defends them like the roof of a building either of wood or stone and the walls or pillars thereof which afford a reciprocal and mutual aid and benefit each to other the pillars or walls support and uphold the roof and the roof doth protect consolidate and corroborate them Thus the Scepter was never taken away from the Kings of Israel and Judah so long as they swayed it for the defence of God's word but while they were observant of it God was propitious to them Nor doth this duty lie solely upon the highest powers but upon all secondary and subordinate Magistrates both Counsellors of State Nobles Judges and Justices whom god hath advanced to such high places of honour and put into their hands the sword of justice for this very end primarily that they might weild it according to his word and for it according to the directions and rules that he hath inscribed in it and for the support of the honour and authority of it by punishing and suppressing all impious scorners prophaners and transgressors thereof And verily when they do thus execute justice by the word of God and for it and without connivence or partiality then are they the very nerves and sinews of the body of the Commonwealth and bring both strength and glory unto it When
patience humility and comfort that their blood in this manner shed in the Gospels cause seals unto us their successors the infallible certainty of the Divinity of it It 's not denied but that Hereticks have dared to die for defence of their erroneous opinions but never did any of them suffer with those apparent characters and impressions of God's divine Spirit upon them that were now before mentioned nor in that infinite number that the Martyrs of the Gospel have done for they so shined throughout the world in their afflictions saith Eusebius (a) Euseb Histo Eccles lib. 8. cap. 12. in fine that the beholders wondred at their patience and noble courage and that not without cause for they expressed and shewed forth unto the world special and manifest signs of the divine and unspeakable power of our Saviour working by them I might here illustrate and amplifie this point by innumerous instances of Martyrs both out of all the forenamed Historians and out of Mr. Fox his book of our own late English Martyrs in the days of Queen Mary who by the vertue and splendency of their divine graces in suffering namely innocence alacrity courage patience and humility so blanked and amated their persecutors that they converted many of them to the Christians faith yea so far forth they prevailed with some of them that they induced them to suffer Martyrdom with them as Eusebius testifies (b) Euseb Hist Eccl. lib. 2. cap. 9. lib. 8. cap. 9. But I will spare this labour as hoping it may be an allurement unto the Reader to peruse some of the now named Authors for further satisfaction in this point I come now to the last external Argument Argu ∣ ment 4 which is the miraculous preservation of Scripture against the iniquity and enmity of all times which have been so malevolent and violent against it that it could never have been preserved hitherto but by the hand of Heaven for all the impetuous power and policy of man and the precipitant stream and strength yea and fury of the whole world hath invaded it to extinguish and suppresse it sundry times Antiochus a cruell Tyrant and successor of great Alexander getting domination over the Jews cut in pieces and burnt all the books of the Law which he could find and followed his intended mischief so malevolently and violently that all those with whom any such books were found were put to a most cruel death (a) Machab 1.59 Joseph Autiq. lib. 12. cap. 7. Dioclesian also Emperor of Rome a savage and belluine persecutor of the Christians sought by all means possible to obliterate and abolish the holy Scriptures and for that end caused his Edicts to be published everywhere throughout his Dominions in which it was commanded That all the Christian Churches should be demolished and made even with the ground yea and the very foundations thereof to be digged up and that the holy Scriptures should be all burned and so be utterly extinguished (a) Euseb Hist Eccl. lib. 8. cap. 2. 3. Which mischief hath been intended and attempted also by many other nefarious and wicked instruments of Satan often times yet hath it ever been preserved whole and entire and continued in the Church unto this day yea even in the original Tongues wherein it was first written which is verily a miracle And therefore we may fitly apply unto this miraculous preservation of it that acclamation of the people Great is the truth and prevaileth (b) 1 Esdras 4.41 And the words of the Psalmist This is the Lords doing and it is marvellous in our eyes (c) Psat 118.23 I have done with the Arguments from without the Scripture which may move any mans mind very prevalently to entertain a belief of the Divinity of this book and yet they have shewed him but as it were the out side of it Let me now lead the Reader a little higher and nearer to it as namely to open it and look within it and then he shall see as the Jew saith very truly God's own hand God's own characters yea God's own sign and seal and subscription upon the paper For as corporal light reveals to the bodily eye both other things and it self too so doth Scripture as a true spiritual and heavenly light both reveal the way to Heaven and make ostension also of it self to be a light of Heaven Particularly there be to be discerned in it these eight sparks or beams of divine authority First Argu ∣ ment 5 There is such an incomparable sublimity and majesty of style herein expressed as doth so highly advance and exalt it above all humane writings and makes it so transcendently glorious above them all that as was said of Christ That never man spake like him (a) Joh. 7.46 Nor with that authority (b) Luk. 4.32 So may be said of this Book of Christ never book spake like it that is in such a superlative and high strain of authority there is such an august majestical and venerable state in the words and such steps and prints of divine excellency displayed in it as neither man nor Angel could or durst expresse and such as never was nor will be found in any other writing for it breathes divinely in every part and page Let any man parallel this Book among humane Authors for heavenly majesty in the sayings and sentences thereof and I will sample him the Sun amongst lucid bodies for radiant lustre in the light and shine thereof for the Sun is not more gloriously lightsome above all other Stars then this Scripture is divinely majestical and glorious above all other writings To which purpose St. Augustine speaks thus (a) August de Civitat Dei lib. 11. cap. 1. Scriptura summae dispositione providentiae super omnes omnium gentium literas omnia sibi genera ingeniorum humanorum divinis excellens authoritate subjecit The Scripture saith he being by the disposition of the highest providence above all the literature of all Nations excelling in divine authority hath stooped all kinds of humane wits unto it self And as in many other Texts so in Deut. 32.39 40 41 42. verses there be such sublime and majesticall expressions as neither man nor Angel durst utter For there we have these sayings uttered from the mouth of God I even I am he and there is no god with me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver cut of my hand For I lift up my hand to Heaven and say I live for ever c. Thus no man nor Angel ever did speak or dare speak There have been indeed some men in former Ages so advanced and exalted in their own thoughts and transported with vain glory having been mounted to the highest stair of honour and authority here upon Earth that they have ambitiously affected to be called gods and to be reputed to descend from more then humane race and parentage yet never durst
with this word speaks it to be his own ordinance for else God would give no such blessing to it Fourthly and lastly It ministers comfort above the power of nature to a depressed and distressed conscience in the greatest extremities and pressures of afflictions that are incident to this present life yea and in the very hour of death against the fear both of death and hell and condemnation when all humane comforts shake hands with us and forsake us And therefore extending it self beyond the power of nature also in this particular it 's apparently divine That it doth minister comfort to wounded and distressed consciences needs no proof it 's confessed of all without contradiction as having been proved by examples without number in all Ages And that nothing else can either heal or comfort a wounded and perplexed conscience is as true too Mirth and passime with such like avooations and the society of friends may allay the smart of this wound for a time but cannot possibly heal it It 's this balm of Gilead this rod and this staffe of God which comforted (a) Psal 23.4 David and but for which he had perished in his (b) Psal 119.92 affliction which alone and nothing else comforteth all that make a right use of it in their deepest misery And this is one and a principal end for which this word was written namely that it might minister comfort to us in this present life by breeding in us a stedfast hope of a better Iâ—fâ— to come This S. Paul teacheth where he saith that Whasoever things were written aforetime were written for our instruction that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have (c) Rom. 15.4 hope And now that I have led up the Reader to this highest stair of this gradation whence he may contemplate the glorious beams of divine lustre bespread throughout the whole region of Scripture I shall beseech him to stay here his thoughts and to demur and pause a while upon this last reason or Argument drawn from the power of Scripture to prove the divinity of it for it 's a very valid and powerful argument indeed a most evident eviction of the point in hand making it conspicuous to the eye of reason it self for here he may see God himself bearing witnesse of this Scripture to be his by four visible seals which he affixeth unto it which are these four supernatural effects now mentioned Having therefore so many broad seals of Heaven appensed unto it it must needs hold forth from it self the highest and surest ground of credibility that it is of God and not of man I confesse this hath sealed to my own conscience both that the Scripture is God's true word and that the Church of England is God's true Church I mean one member and branch of it for in it I see and so may all that are in it if their eyes be not holden with prejudice these wonderful and divine effects now mentioned wrought ordinarily by the ministry of this Word in deed and in truth and that without number which could not possibly be so if either the Word or the Church were not God's For if the Church were his and not the Word the Church should receive a blessing from him but not by the Word And if the Word were his and not the Church the Word should be glorified but the Church should not be blessed or bettered by it If all such as now separate themselves from this Church as if it were none of God's whether Papists or Anabaptists would mindfully consider this and lay aside their prejudice I cannot see what should withhold them from a speedy and joyful return to it again And now I am in good hope the promises being well considered that the Readers who before took the Scriptures for God's word upon the credit of the Churches testimony will now looking more inquisitively into them themselves then heretofore say to the Church as the Samaritans said to the woman that told them of Christ Now we believe not because of thy saying for we have seen it our selves (a) Joh. 4.42 and know that this is indeed God's own Word Yet I would not here be mistaken as if I meant that every one that looks into Scripture might presently espy this at the first sight for I confesse that the sight and certain knowledge thereof which is to be attained by this introspection into it is not obvious to every eye that looks upon it but my meaning is that this truth is evident in Scripture in it self and to the humble intelligent and inquisitive Reader whose mind is also prepared by the knowledge of the grounds principles of the Christian faith and in some measure inlightened from above Neither do I here slight or undervalue the Churches testimony for I acknowledge it to be very important and useful for this purpose as being a prime inducer and as it were a paedagogue to usher in and conduct us to the principal teacher of this truth which next after the spirit of God himself is the heavenly light of Scripture it self but it 's neither last nor best nor highest nor surest ground and proof thereof And therefore I desire the Reader to take notice that though I have not alledged the Churches testimony by it self as a particular argument to prove this truth because the drift of this Treatise is to shew the Scripture it self best to do it yet is it involved and lapped up amongst the external and lesse principal proofs namely in the second and third arguments And whereas Papists glory much in that saying of S. Augustines which is oft set down in his works Ego verò non crederem Evangelio nisi me Catholicae Ecclesiae commoveret authoritas That is I would not believe the Gospel but that the authority of the Catholique Church moved me As if this saying of his favoured their Tenet in this controversie between us and them It appears clearly to the contrary from another saying that he hath in his Tractate upon the Gospell of S. John where he speaks thus upon those words before mentioned of the Samaritans to the woman Now we believe not because of thy saying for we have seen it our selves Primò saith he per faeminam posteà per praejentiam sic agitur hodiè cum eis qui foris sunt nondùm sunt (a) Aug. in Joh. 4. Tract 15. Christiani That is first by the woman then by his presence so fareth it now with them that are without and are not yet Christians And the words following in the same place shew plainly his meaning to be this That as the Samaritans believed in some measure that Jesus was the Christ by the report of the woman but afterwards more undoubtedly when they came to enjoy his presence to have the sight of him and conference with him So the unbelievers which are out of the Church are first induced to believe in some measure that Scripture is God's
word by the Churches enunciation and report but afterwards they believe much more firmly and undoubtedly when they come to enjoy the sight and knowledge of the Scriptures themselves So that the most that can be gathered from that speech of S. Augustines is but this That the testimony and tradition of the Church is usually the first inducement to men to give credit to the truth and so consequently to the divinity of the Gospel which is not denied But then this credulity is afterwards corroborated and more fully setled and confirmed by more evident certain and infallible groundsout of Scripture it self discovered especially by the help of divine grace from the spirit of God which of all other saith Amen to this truth and sets the surest seal thereof upon the soul and conscience as our Saviour gives us to understand when he saith If any man will do God's will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of (a) Joh. 7.17 God That is he shall know best and most assuredly as having information and attestation thereof from the Spirit of God Yet always God's spirit tells the conscience this out of Scripture for as it suggested and dictated the Scripture at the first so it whispers in the ear of the soul the same note still and hath no discrepant voice or suggestion from it but whatsoever it testifieth it suggests the same not by any secret instinct and spiritual insusurration different from the written word according to the vertiginous fancy and dotage of the Enthusiasts the family of Love as they are phrased and some other of the Anabaptistical sect but by a still voice out of and according to the Scripture Whence is that saying of St. Chrysostome Frustra jactat se Spiritum sanctum habere qui non loquitur ex (b) Chrysost de Popu Antioche Homil 50. Evangelio In vain doth he boast to have the holy Ghost that speaketh not out of the Gospel And therefore we read that when our Saviour enlightened his Apostles understandings it was That they might understand the (a) Luke 24.45 Scriptures And that when he promised to send the Comforter unto them to teach them all things he addeth Whatsoever I have said unto (b) John 14.26 you which intimates that he should teach them no new doctrine So that we are not to believe an Angel from Heaven if he preach any other Gospel then that which the Apostles have (c) Gal. 1.8 preached which we have written in the New Testament And so it was said always of old To the Law and to the Testimony If they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in (d) Isa 8.20 them Thus then I conclude That the conscience may be verily resolved and a rational man compelled to acknowledge and believe with an acquired historical faith that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are divine by convincing arguments and evidences apparent even to reason and that from Scripture it self especially Nor am I single in this opinion for I find in S. Augustine the like conclusion who speaking of the Penmen of Scripture delivers this sentence Verè illos magnos divinos fuisse legem illam Dei jussu voluntate promulgatam esse credo id quamvis perpauca illorum librorum sciam facilè persuadere possum si mihi adhibeatur aequus non pertinax (a) Aug. de Vtilita tecredendi cap. 5. animus Verily saith he I believe that they the penmen of Scripture were great and divine men and that that Law was promulgated by the commandent and will of God and this though I knew but a few of those books I am able easily to perswade if I meet but with an equal-minded man that is not pertinacious But to believe this with a divine faith without which it 's never soundly and perfectly embraced must be a work of God's Spirit only from whom alone all such faith proceedeth And so I end the first part of this Treatise The second part of this Treatise which is an application of the Doctrine proved to certaine special uses HAving now laid a sure foundation of this truth that Scripture is God's own word which cannot be shaken it behoves me to superstruct upon it lest that aspersion be cast upon me which the improvident builder is blemished withal in the Gospel This man began to build but was not able to make an (a) Luke 14.30 end This doctrine then is useful both for theory and practice both for information and for exhortation First For information of the understanding two inferences or conclusions are deducible from it First That no man may presume to dispense with this word because it 's God's for being his none but he hath authority and power to exempt any man from obligation to it or any part of it This is a conclusion undeniable and therefore speaks the practice of some late Popes of Rome to be very culpable and inexcusable who have presumed to grant dispensations for marriages within the degrees forbidden in this word of God and to exempt subjects from obedience to their lawful Soveraign strictly commanded in this word This hath been practised by the Papal power of late years here in this Nation And it 's the more inexcusable in that they undertake to justifie it This I find in Cardinal Bellarmine's works who to prove the Popes Supremacy draws an argument from his power to grant dispensations and then doth instance in a dispensation which Pope Gregory granted to the English about marriages within the degrees (a) Bellar de Romano Pontif. lib. 2. cap. 19. forbidden And I can here produce a credible Author who affirms that divers of the Church of Rome have not blushed to defend openly and that under their hands that the Pope hath power to dispence Contra ius divinum contra Apostolum contra Novum Testamentum against the law of God against an Apostle and against the New (b) Favor Antiquit cap. 6. paulo post medium Testament But I am perswaded that now since the reformation hath detected many of their grosse hallucinations the wise and learned among them do distaft and disclaim all such blaspemous and unsavoury assertions A second consequent or conclusion that I deduce from this truth That Scripture is God's own word is this That therefore it 's of superior and greater authority then the present Church militant And this I prove from hence by two reasons First Because the present Church Militant is holy and divine but only in part and after a sort and in this regard is subject unto error whereas the Scripture is simply and totally divine for All Scripture is given by inspiration of God saith (a) 2 Tim. 3.16 S. Paul and therefore must needs be most authentical A second reason is this That which sanctifieth is greater then that which is sanctified by it so our Saviour himself argued against the Scribes and Pharisees Ye fools
Ptolomy King of Egypt enquired once of the Roman Embassadors that came to his Court about the estate and government of the great and famous City of Rome he received this answer from them That at Rome the gods were honoured Magistrates reverenced the good rewarded and the bad punished This they spake to magnifie the glory and flourishing estate of their City And indeed when the Chariot of a Christian Common-wealth is moved upon these four wheels and they also turn upon the axle-tree of holy writ we may fitly apply unto it that laudatory congratulation wherewith the Psalmist salutes the Church Ride prosperously because of truth and meeknesse and righteousnesse and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things thine arrows shall be sharp in the heart of the Kings (a) Psal 45.4 enemies For this verily comes to passe when superiour Powers make God's written word the rule and levell of their Government and the honour and observance of it the aim and end of the same Whereas on the contrary when such higher Powers slight God's word so far forth as to omit to execute justice by the right rules of it and in room thereof dare substitute their own private thoughts and affections as the ballance by which to measure it forth then are they the very bane and blame and shame of a Common-wealth and like a canker in a tree which both disgraceth the beauty of it and also corrodeth to the utter mortification and destruction of the whole body of it except it be pared away I have read that ever in the first and best Councels as in the Councels of Chalcedon Nice and Ephesus the holy Orthodox Fathers and Bishops were wont to have the Bible placed on a desk or such like convenient supporter in the midst of the room before them that by the sight thereof they might be put in mind to conclude and determine nothing against the honour and contents thereof It were to be wished that all in place of Magistracy and Judicature would be pleased so far forth to follow the example of these grave and reverend Fathers as to have this Book of God if not in their hands or before their eyes yet at least in their mindes and memories at all times when they are imployed about the administration of justice and judgement that it might be a remembrance unto them to do nothing against the contents of it as they desire to escape the curses that are denounced in it against such as violate the sacred laws and rules of it Secondly As Princes and Rulers should protect so Ministers should preach this word because it 's God's yea Be instant in season and out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and (a) 2 Tim. 4.2 doctrine For If the Lord God have spoken who can but (b) Amos 3.8 prophesie When the chief Priests and Rulers of the Jews forbad Peter and John to teach any more the Gospel of Christ they answered We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and (c) Acts 4.20 heard The reason is premised in the precedent verse namely because they were so commanded of God For Apostles and Ministers their successors are Embassadors for (d) 2 Cor. 5.20 Christ And therefore may not unfaithfully conceal their embassy but A necessity is laid upon them and woe is unto them if they preach not the (e) 1 Cor. 9.16 Gospell And they are disposers of the mysteries of God and it is required of the disposers saith S. Paul that a man be found (f) 1 Cor. 4.1 2. faithful And great necessity there is of the faithful dispensation of this Word by the Ministers thereof as in regard of their duty to God who sends them so in respect of the good of men to whom they are sent For it is the food and physick of their souls by which the spiritual life of grace is first inspired and ever after conserved in them Hence is that speech of Moses to the Israelites Set your hearts unto all the words which I testifie among you this day which ye shall command your children to observe to do all the words of this law For it is not a vain thing for you because it is your (a) Deut. 32.46 47. life So that there is the same necessity of it to the conservation of the life spiritual as there is of food and physick to the maintenance of the life natural For though the words of men be but wind and so can feed neither the body nor the soul yet God's words are both spirit and (b) Joh. 6.63 life and so have an occult and hidden power in them above all other words enabling them to feed not the soul only but even the body also and that to life eternal and therefore are compared both to (c) 1 Pet. 2.2 milk and strong (d) Heb. 5.12 13 14. meat fit food both for young and old Whence also is that sentence of the wise man The lips of the righteous feed (e) Prov. 10.21 many that is with God's word And that saying in the Prophet Jeremiah I will give you Pastors according to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and (f) Jer. 3.15 understanding And for this cause both our Saviour charged Peter very strictly to feed his (g) John 21.15 16 17. sheep meaning with God's word and S. Paul to the Elders of the Church of Ephesus Take heed saith he unto your selves and to all the flock over the which the holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own (a) Acts 20.28 bloud And S. Peter also those Elders to whom he writ Feed the flock of God which is among (b) 1 Pet. 5.2 you And again though the words of men cannot heal yet God's word can and doth so saith the Psalmist He sendeth forth his word and healeth (c) Psal 107.20 them Yea The word of the Lord healeth all things saith the wise (d) Wisd 16.12 man Which the Centurion believing said therefore to Christ But speak the word only and my servant shall be (e) Matth. 8.8 whole I aim not here to prescribe one manner and measure of preaching to all for some are endued with more ample and excellent gifts for the performance of this work then others and therefore have a greater task enjoyned them then others For unto whom much is given of him shall be much (f) Luke 12.48 required But this I urge with the Apostle Peter Let every man as he hath received the gift minister the same one to another as good disposers of the manifold grace of (g) 1 Pet. 4.10 God For Cursed is he that doth the work of the Lord (h) Jer. 48.10 negligently And the unprofitable servant who hides his Lord's talent shall be cast into utter darknesse where shall be weeping and gnashing of (i) Mat. 25.30 teeth I confesse there be some such now
to his Apostles into all the world and preach the Gospel to every (c) Mark 16.15 creature If indeed the Church knew who would pervert the Scriptures she might with better reason withhold them from such but this she knoweth not and therefore is tyed to hold them forth indifferently unto all Secondly As all should learn so all should believe this word yea all this word because it 's God's for therefore every tittle of it must be (d) John 17.17 truth and hence is it oft called The word of truth both in the Old Testament and in the (e) Psal 119.43 Prov. 22.21 Eph. 1.13 Col. 1.5 New So that Till Heaven and Earth perish one jot or one tittle shall in no wise passe from the law till all be (f) Mat. 5.18 fulfilled The sons of men indeed are lyers so saith the Psalmist Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lye to be laid in the ballance they are altogether lighter then (a) Psal 62.9 vanity So that there is neither any sure hold of their words nor any certain truth in them that we may securely rely upon But in God's word we may trust as altogether infallible for it is impossible that he should lye or (b) Heb. 6.18 deceive I will here omit the dilatation and enlargement of this point which I might enter into by the quotation of those many Texts of Scripture which yield very copious testimony to it and will only endeavour to fasten this exhortation upon all with these two reasons First we see by experience of the time past that all things are fulfilled and still come to passe dayly according to this word and agreeably to the voice and tenour of it which therefore urgeth upon us a belief of the whole contents of it concerning things yet to come for if the event hath proved it to speak truth in all things that it hath foretold should come to passe then even common reason binds us to believe it to utter the truth in all things also that it foretels are yet to come As we see experience of mans mortality by the extinction of former generations makes all undoubtedly believe the truth thereof for all succeeding ages Now that Scripture predictions have at all times come to passe in their seasons I could produce numerous attestations both out of the Old Testament and the New but because the most of them are well known of all I will rehearse but only two of special note one of Joshua and another of King Solomon Joshua in his time speaks thus to the children of Israel Behold this day I am going the way of all the Earth and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you all are come to passe unto you and not one thing hath failed (a) Josh 23.14 thereof This Joshua spake purposely to fasten upon them a stable belief of the fulfilling of such Scripture predictions as then were to come as appears from his words following in the next verse where he adds these words Therefore it shall come to passe that as all good things are come upon you which the Lord your God promised you so shall the Lord bring upon you all evill things untill be have destroyed you from off this good Land which the Lord your God hath given you The like attestation here of gave Solomon in his time afterwards Blessed be the Lord said he that hath given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he promised there hath not failed one word of all his good promise which he promised by the hand of Moses his (b) 1 Kin. 8.56 servant Another reason that should urge all men to believe this Word is this because he that believes it not makes God a lyar so much as in him lieth in that hereby he denieth in his heart the truth of that which God hath spoken So saith S. John He that believeth not God hath made him a lyar because he believeth not the record that God gave of his (a) 1 John 5.10 Son And this is a grievous sin by God's own testimony The house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me saith the Lord They have belyed the Lord and said it is not (b) Jer. â— 11 12. he Let men therefore take heed how they remain incredulous of this Word or any part of it seeing it 's a sin so dishonourable and offensive to Almighty God How weakly then do those men project for themselves who believe so much of this word as they like so much as is pleasing and plausible to their carnal desires and fleshly wisedom namely all the gracious promises of mercy and forgivenesse of sin but as for the conditions of these promises which are upon condition of repentance and faith in Christ and new obedience and the judgements threatned against impenitent sinners wherein the Scripture is very copious which arride not their fleshly palats these they reject and put out of their belief But I beseech all such to consider that hereby they do by consequence condemn themselves for their apprehension and belief of the promises of mercy are a silent confession of their credence that Scripture is God's word and this confession is a clandestine self condemnation for their incredulity of all the other parts thereof for the Scripture being God's Word must necessarily speak truth in one part as well as another Thirdly Seeing we are sure that Scripture is Gods word it 's wisedom for all persons to joyn themselves to that Society of Christian professors which most honours it and holds best correspondence and agreement with it Now because the main controversie is between the Romane and the reformed Christian professors I will as compendiouslly as I can and as truly as I have read in approved Authors of both sides open and declare which of these ascribes most honour and reverence to the Bible of God and best accordeth and conspireth with it And first For the honour done unto it of both The reformed Churches acknowledge it a most perfect and absolute rule of life both for faith and manners to which nothing may be added and from which nothing may be detracted according to the sentence of the holy Ghost in divers places of the same Book Ye shall not add to the word which I command you neither shall ye diminish ought from (a) Deut. 4.2 it And again Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a (b) Prov. 30.6 lyar And again I testifie to every man that heareth the words of the prophesie of this book if any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophesie God shall
take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy City and from the things which are written in this (a) Rev. 22.18 19. book Again secondly They acknowledge it the supreme judge under the holy Ghost himself to decide and determine all doubts and questions in Religion and give it preheminence above all other sayings writings books or traditions And lastly affirm it to be absolutely necessary in the Church ever since the first writing of it by God himself as being that foundation whereon the Church is built as the Apostle teacheth the (b) Ephes 2.20 Ephesians And in these respects ascribe many glorious and magnificent yet decent and deserved titles to it which they learn and gather out of it some whereof I will mention They call it The Oracle of God the Breath of the holy Ghost the Scepter of Christ's Kingdom the Touch-stone of truth the Lanthorn of Israel the Mystery of Godlinesse and the Lamb's Book with many other such like Now by all this it appears that they give that due and condigne honour veneration and observance to the sacred Scripture which becomes the true and sincere professors and defenders of it See now on the other side what honour the Romanists exhibite to it and in what estimation they have it Sometime they celebrate it with due veneration and call it The true word of God and a most certain and safe rule of faith so Bellarmine speaks of it and affirms it to be the mind of the Catholique Church and the Councel of (a) Bell. de verbo Dei lib. 1. cap. 1. 2. Trent Sometime again they undervalue and depress it and detract from its sublimity and excellence very indignly and namely in these four particulars First They teach that the proper and principal end of Scripture was not to be the rule of faith but to be a useful monitor or remembrancer to conserve and nourish the doctrine received by preaching This is out of Bellarmine word for (b) Bell. de verbo Dei lib. 4. cap. 12. word And Pighius delivers this contumelius speech of Scripture to the same purpose Apostoli quaedam scripserunt non ut scripta illa praeessent fidei religionis nostrae sed potius ut subessent The Apostles saith he have written certain things not that their writings should be over our faith and Religion but rather that they should be under (c) Pigh Hierarch lib. 1. cap. 2. them This is strange new divinity for of old the Scripture was held to be the rule and Religion the thing ruled by it both in the old (d) Isa 8.20 Testament and in the (e) Mat. 22.29 2 Pet. 1.19 New and in the primitive times next after the Apostles as were easie to demonstrate both out of the Fathers and Church-Histories And therefore to make Religion the rule and Scripture to be ruled by it as the Romanists now of late times would have it as appears by the forementioned sayings and many other such like published by divers of them is an uncouth contumely and an indigne disparagement to it and an egregious derogation from the super-excellency and majesty of it and hath indeed been the unhappy means of the suffocation of a great part of God's truth in that Church Secondly They affirm that the whole Christian doctrine which is necessary to be known either for faith or manners is not contained in the Scriptures and that therefore there is required an unwritten word also beside the written word that is to say Divine and Apostolical traditions to be added to the written word to make it a perfect (a) Bellar de verbo Dei lib. 4. cap. 3. 4. rule And so they condemn the sacred Scripture of imperfection and insufficiency This assertion is repugnant to several assertions in Scripture for S. John saith That so much is written in Scripture as is sufficient to work faith in us and to bring us to everlasting life through the name of (b) John 20.31 Christ and then surely there needs no more for everlasting life is the highest degree of perfection that any creature can attain unto And S. Paul saith That the Scriptures are able to make a man wise unto (c) 2 Tim. 3.15 salvation and to make him perfect throughly furnished unto all good (a) 2 Tim. 3.17 works Whence it follows that seeing they make men perfect they must needs be perfect themselves for no imperfect thing can perfect another And our blessed Saviour himself hath denounced a dreadful judgement against any that shall go about to add unto it as if it were not perfect I testifie saith he to every man that heareth the words of the prophesie of this Book If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this (b) Rev. 22.18 Book as before was rehearsed Thirdly They equalize Traditions with the holy Scripture and dignifie them with the same authority and reverence so teacheth the Councel of (c) Concil Trid. decr 1. session 4. Trent And Melchior Canus saith That Traditions have greater force to refel Hereticks then the (d) Canus loc commun Theo. lib. 9. cap. 3. Scriptures And Eckius saith simply That they are of greater efficacy without any limitation to that particular (e) Eck. de fide justif cap. 13. effect And yet we find in Scripture that all humane traditions are to be examined and tryed by it as was declared before and are all to be disallowed and rejected which hold not correspondence with the same as is evident from our Saviour's reproof of the Scribes and Pharisees for presuming to dispense in some case with this written commandment Honour thy father and mother for thereupon saith our Saviour unto them Ye have made the commandment of God of none effect by your (a) Mat. 15.6 tradition and again he saith In vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of (b) Mat. 15.9 men In both which sentences our Saviour gives the written word preheminence and authority above all traditions Fourthly and lastly Bellarmine denies the Scriptures to have been simply necessary or (c) Bell. de verbo Dei lib. 4. cap. 4. sufficient This if he had spoken in relation only to the time before the Law was written by God himself we should not have contested with him but by his further dispute about it he declares his meaning to extend to the written word since that time which he manifesteth by a saying that he uttereth afterwards which I have truly transcribed to a letter without either addition amputation or alteration of the least sylable thereof Sanè saith he credere historias Testamenti veteris vel evangelia Marci Lucae esse canonica scripta inno ullas esse divinas Scripturas non est omninò necessarium ad (d) Bell. de Eccles militant lib. 3. cap. 14. salutem Surely to believe the hystories of
the Old Testament or the gospels of Mark and Luke to be canonical Scriptures yea that there be any divine Scriptures is not altogether necessary unto salvation How dissonant this is from the voice of Christ and his Apostle in the Gospel is to be discerned in many Texts whereof I will recite but three First our Saviour commands to search the Scriptures because in them or by them men think to have eternal (a) John 5.39 life This he spake in approbation of mens esteem of the Scriptures as the means to bring them to everlrsting life And S. John saith These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his (b) John 20.31 name And S. Paul saith I am not ashamed of the Gospell of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that (c) Rom. 1.16 believeth From those Texts I reason thus against the former affirmations of Bellarmine The means ordained and designed by God to any end are altogether necessary in respect of us to the attaining of that end But the Scriptures are the means ordained and designed by God of faith and salvation as the former Texts declare and therefore are altogether necessary in respect of us unto faith and salvation and so consequently necessary so to be believed of us which refels the foresaid affirmations of Bellarmine and declares them to be very contumelious to the blessed Bible of God Now in and for all these forenamed respects divers great and esteemed Champions and propugners of the Romane faith have not refrained to blemish the Bible with sundy inglorious and ignominious titles Eckius calls it a black Gospel and an incky (a) Eck. Enchir. cap. 4. Divinity Pighius calls it a nose of (b) Pigh Hier. lib. 3. cap. 3. wax others a Lesbian or leaden rule an abbreviated word the weak and false castle of holy (c) Brislow Motive 48. Scripture with other such like indecent epithetes Theâ—e the modern writers amongst them seek to varnish over as knowing it must needs blemish the purity of their profession and verity of their Religion thus to vilifie God's most holy Word but the colour and complexion which they daub them withal is so thin and transparent that it cannot hide the indecency and unseemlinesse of them from a weak sight Now if the truth of Christian Religion may be judged by the honourable respect yielded by the professors thereof to the rule of Christian Religion which is the Scripture as the Romanists confesse after a sort as hath been already declared then doth it appear by what hath been said and proved that the Reformed Protestant Religion is the truest Religion as which ascribes most honour thereunto For as when two women claimed the motherhood of one child wise Solomon quickly sifted out the truth which was the true mother of it by the tender love and affection which the one shewed unto it more then the (a) 1 Kin. 3.27 other So in like manner may any wise man find forth by the same rule which is the true daughter of holy Scripture whether the Romane or Reformed Religion seeing both of them claim it as their mother namely by the tender respect and due observance wherewith it is followed by the one more then the other In the next place as the Reformed Religion is owned by the Scripture as the genuine daughter thereof by the due reverence and honour which it exhibiteth unto it so also and more especially because it holdeth forth such doctrine as is most consonant and agreeable thereunto For to omit the disquisition of particular controversies between the said several professors which would require vast volumes to lay open the Reformed Churches refuse not to be tryed by the splendent light of the written word in any point of Religion whatsoever And this our blessed Saviour makes a signal demonstration of the professors of the truth for saith he He that doth truth cometh to the light that his deeds might be made manifest that they are wrought in (b) John 3.21 God And that by light here our Saviour means the Scripture many other Texts make it unquestionable where this epithete is given unto it David saith of it Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my (a) Psal 119.105 path Solomon saith The commandment is a lamp and the law is (b) Prov. 6.23 light S. Peter saith We have a more sure word of prophesie whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark (c) 2 Pet. 1.19 place Now on the other side the Romanists decline the decision and determination of many points of Religion that are controverted between us and them by Scripture and flie to Tradition And some of their writers in plain terms confesse that some of their Tenets are such as cannot be defended by Scripture So saith (d) Canis Catechis cap. 5. de praecept Eccles Canisius and of this sort he reckons up these the worship of Images set Fasts Lent the Masse and Prayers and Offerings for the dead with others more which yet he doth not nominate But some other of them and by name Petrus a Soto a famous Author of their party in his book against Brentius reheaseth sundry other as the invocation of Saints the primacy of the Bishop of of Rome the seven Sacraments communion under one kind indulgencies and Purgatory the beginning author and original of which he confesseth cannot be found in the sacred Scripture as witnesseth the learned Doctor (a) Whittak de Script perfect cap. 5. Whittaker Now though they alledge Scripture for some of these lest they should seem too much to slight it yet their chief ground for them is Tradition Whereas therefore they decline the tryal of some points of Religion which they hold by the written word which yet they confesse to be a most safe rule of faith as before hath been declared it proclaims to the world that they are not such fast friends to it as they preâ—end nor hold such correspondence with it as all true and right Churches ever have done and so consequently that they are neither the only true Church of God as they vainly and most untruly boast nor yet such a Church wherewith it 's safe to have communion And as it 's not safe to joyn hands with these so neither with the newly upstart Sectaries the Anabaptists for I will undertake to demonstrate if my genuis fail me not that both these sorts of Christian professors are express contradictors of Scripture affirmations in divers particulars And I le begin first with the Papists as the elder house First Our Saviour saith When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you say We are unprofitable servants we have done that which was our duty to (b) Luke 17.10 do They say that a man may supererogate and do more then
is the guilt of Adam's sin whereof S. Paul speaks Rom. 5.19 where he saith By one man's disobedience many were made sinners Secondly There is the defect and want of original righteousnesse whereof he speaks Rom. 3.23 All have sinned and come short of the glory of God i.e. of God's image which was in man's first creation stamped upon him And for this exposition I have warrant from 1 Cor. 11.7 in that the Apostle there joyned these together as synonimas image and glory when he saith That man is the image and glory of God Thirdly There is the succession of a vitious habit and corrupt disposition in man's nature in place of his primitive righteousnesse whereof we read Gen. 6.5 where God himself witnesseth That the whole imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evill continually And Psal 14.2 â— verse David saith That the Lord looked down from Heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God They are all gone aside they are altogether become filthy And here I desire the Reader to consider how these three parts of this our native sin do produce and bring forth one another the first namely the guilt of Adam's sin being the sole cause of the other two as these Texts beside many other declare Rom. 3.23 All have sinned that is in Adam and come short of the glory of God i.e. come short of that glorious image of God by reason of that sin of Adam's whereof all are guilty And Rom. 5.19 By one man's disobedience many wert made sinners By which one man Adam is understood as all acknowledge And so these two Texts make it clear that childrens want of Original or Primitive righteousnesse and the inquination and depravation of their natures do both flow from their guilt of Adam's sin and are the sad consequents of it The third point opened The evident proofs of Scripture for it BEsides the Texts already named it 's plentifully taught elsewhere Gen. 5. the 1 3. verses compared In the first verse it 's said that Adam was created in the likeness of God And in the 3. verse it 's said that He begat a child in his own likeness after his image which imports that he begat not a child in the likenesse of God which consisted in holinesse but in the likenesse of himself who then was stained with sin Gen. 8.21 The imagination of man's heart is evill from his youth Which Text is rendered by Junius and Tremellius The imagination or frame of man's heart is evill from his childhood Now children are free from actual sins and therefore the evill of their hearts must need be Original because all evill of sin is comprehended under one of these two sorts Job 14.4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one Which is spoken in reference to man's birth as it 's there most apparent in the first verse Job 15.14 What is man that he should be clean or he that is born of a woman that he should be righteous And again chap. 25.4 How then can man be justified with God or how can he be clean that is born of a woman The interrogations in both these Texts imply an impossibility that any woman should bring forth a child free from the pollution and tincture of sin in the ordinary way of conception and parturition Psal 51.5 Behold saith David I was shapen in iniquity If David then all others but our Saviour only whose conception was not after the ordinary manner but by the miraculous and incomprehensible operation of the holy Ghost The Anabaptists to avoid the repugnancy between their Tenet and this Text have devised this shift They say that David spake this of his mother's sin in his conception and not of his own fin But this is so weak a subterfuge and evasion and so dissonant from the scope and purpose of the Psalm that I should think that any judicious man that seeks the truth should blush to own it for this is one of David's penitential Psalms wherein he makes humble confession of his own sins to God and not of his mother's and makes earnest request and supplication for the expiation of them as all the precedent verses declare And again though the latter words in the verse might be wrested to be spoken of his mother's sin as well as his own because mention is made of her yet the first words which are these Behold I was shapen in iniquity must of necessity be understood of himself and can have no reference to his mother without violence to the Text and wilful wresting of it Psal 58.3 It 's said That the wicked are estranged from the womb And the like place is in Isa 48.8 where the Lord calls the house of Jacob A transgressor from the womb which is as much to say as a sinner by birth Ezek. 16.4 5 6. verses Jersalem's nativity is affirmed by God to be polluted and he saith That he saw her polluted in her own bloud which Text though it should be granted to be allegoricall as some Interpreters would have it yet inevitably concludes mans birth to be unclean Joh. 3.6 That which is borne of the flesh is flesh saith our Saviour that is is sinfull For when the flesh is opposed to the Spirit as it is here in this Text it usually denoteth and is put to signifie the pravity or sinfullness of nature as Gal. 5.17 The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to another Roman 5.12 By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death pasled upon all men for that all have sinned If all have sinned then have infants sinned as well as others for we do not find them any where excepted Now infants have no actuall sin while they are infants and therefore that sin which they are said to have must needs be originall all sin whatsoever being comprehended under one of these two kinds as was said before The fourth Point opened namely Arguments drawn from Scripture to prove original sin by necessary consequence Argument 1. IF children be not conceived and born in sin then is there no need of their regeneration or second birth to their salvation before they have made themselves sinners by actual transgression for nothing hinders from salvation but sin But children have need of a regeneration or second birth to their salvation before they have committed any actual sin as is clear from our Saviour's words twice affirmed with vehement asseveration John 3.3 5. verses Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God And this is spoken without any exception of Infants either there or in any other place of Scripture and is also proved by our Saviour in the verse next following to concern Infants as well as men of years because whatsoever is born of the flesh that is of fleshly
Government of the World by Angels preached before the Astrologers in 4. Dr. Joh. Whincop God 's Call to Weeping and Mourning A Sermon preached at a Fast before the Parliament in 4. Mr. George Walker A Sermon preached at a Fast before the Parliament in 4. Richard Meggot The Rib Restored or the Honour of Marriage A Sermon preached in Dionis Back-Church occasioned by a Wedding the fifth of June 1655. newly published Mr. Valentine A Sermon preached at a Fast before the Parliament in 4. Mr. William Good Jacob Raised A Sermon preached at a Fast before the Lords in Parliament in 4. Mr. Thomas Goodwin The great Interest of States and Kingdomes A Sermon preached before the Parliament in 4. Mr. Samuel Kem The King of Kings His privy marks for the Kingdomes choice of new Members A Sermon preached upon the choice of Burgesses for the City of Bristol in 4. Mr. Ben. Hubbard Sermo Secularis Or a Sermon to bring to remembrance the dealings of Jehovah with this Kingdome of England in 4. Mr. J. P. A Sermon preached upon Matth. 22.21 wherein is set forth the King 's Due in part and the Peoples Duty in 4. Mr. Ambr. Stavely Iudex Expurgatorius Or a short Examination of the doctrine of Purgatory A Sermon lately published in 4. Mr. Peter Sterry The Clouds in which Christ comes A Sermon preached before the Parliament in 4. The teaching of Christ in the Soul A Sermon preached before the Parliament in 4. Mr. Robert Wilde The arraignment of a sinner at the Bar of Divine Justice A Sermon preached in St. Maryes in Oxon at an Assize there the 5th of March 1655. newly published in 4. Mr. Giles Firmin Stablishing against shaking or a discovery of the Prince of darknesse Scarcely transformed into an Angel of light powerfully now working in the deluded people called Quakers in 4. Mr. Stephen Marshall The Power of the Civil Magistrate in matters of Religion vindicated A Sermon preached before the first Parliament on a Monthly Fast day newly published Mr. Simeon Ash Good courage discovered and encouraged A Sermon preached before the Commanders of the Military forces of the City of London in 4. In Octavo large Mr. Robert Young A Soveraign Antidote against all Grief with the Victory of Patience in 8. Mr. Ben. Needler Expository Notes with Practical Observations upon Genesis lately published in 8. Octavo small Mr. George Hopkins Salvation from sin by Jesus Christ or the Doctrine of Sanctification which is the greater part of our Salvation founded upon Christ who is both the Meritorious and Efficient cause of sanctifying Grace purchasing it for working and perfecting it in his people c. newly published in 8. Mr. John Thrap Theologia Theologiae the true Treasure or a Treasury of holy Truths touching God's Word and God the Word in 8. Bp. Davenant An Exhortation to Brotherly Communion betwixt the Protestant Churches in 8. Bp. Cooper The Triumph of a Christian in three excellent Treatises 1. Jacob's wrestling with God c. in 8. The Bee-Hive of the Romish Church A work of all good Catholicks to be read and most necessary to be understood in 8. Mr. John Simpson The Perfection of Justification against the Pharisees the Purity of Sanctification against the Stainers of it the Unquestionablenesse of Glorification against the Sadduces in 8. Mr. Hall The Loathsomnesse of long hair A Treatise wherein the question is stated many arguments agaimst it produced with an Appendix against Painting Spots Naked Brests c. lately published in 8. Vindiciae Literarum The Schools Guarded or the excellency usefulnesse of Arts Sciences Languages History all sorts of Human Learning in subordination to Divinity with an Appendix in Answer to Mr. Webster lately published in 8. Mr. John Warren of Hatfield in Essex Principles of Christian Practice Illustrated with Questions and Scripture-answers lately published in 8. Mr. Daniel Evans A Baptismal Catechisme shewing unto what persons whether of riper years or as yet Infants the Sacrament of Baptism ought to be administred according to the Scriptures lately published in 8. Twelves large Mr. Thomas Gery The Fort Royal of Christianity Defended Or a demonstration of the Divinity of the sacred Scriptures with a discussion of the great controversies in Religion about universal redemption free-will original sin c. in 12. newly published The Practice of Christianity or the Epitome of Mr. Rogers seven Treatises in 12. Mr. Yhomas Jackson The true Evangelical Temper wherein Divinity and Ecclesiastical History are interwoven and mixt c. in three Sermons in 12. Twelves small Mr. Mullard Celestial Soliloquies composed of several divine Meditations and Prayers drawn from the holy Scripture in 12. Francis Thin Esq The perfect Embassador treating of the Antiquity Priveledges and Behaviour of men belonging to that Function in 12. FINIS
We read in the Book of Exodus that when God commanded the Israelites to contribute to the building of the Tabernacle Moses was directed to take their offerings that gave them willingly with their (b) Exod. 25.2 hearts This made David give this charge to his son Solomon And thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing (c) 1 Chro. 28.9 mind And himself to promise God to sacrifice freely unto (d) Psal 54.6 him And to professe his delight in his (e) Psal 119.143 commandements This is oft required also elsewhere in the word of God If ye be willing and obedient saith the Lord ye shall eat the good of the (a) Isa 1.19 Land And God loves a cheerful giver saith the (b) 2 Cor. 9.9 Apostle Fourthly and lastly Obedience must be constant continued unto the end without giving over or it 's frustrate and lost so saith our Saviour No man having put his hand to the Plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of (c) Luke 9.62 God For the righteous bring forth fruit in old (d) Psal 92.14 age Hence are thâ—se and many such like sentences of Scripture Blessed are they that keep judgement and do righteousnesse at all (e) Psal 106.3 times And He that shall endure to the end the same shall be (f) Mat. 24.13 saved And We are delivered out of the hands of our enemies that we might serve God without fear in holiness and righteousnesse before him all the days of our (g) Luke 1.74 75. life I will close up all with that exhortation of S. Paul to the Corinthians Therefore my beloved brethren be we stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord and so our labour shall not be in vain in the (h) 1 Cor. 15.58 Lord. So be it FINIS A DISCUSSION AND DECISSION OF SOME GREAT CONTROVERSIES IN RELIGION BEING An Antidote against some Erroneous Pamphlets Published of late to the suppression of God's Truth The Contents whereof followeth in the next Page By THO. GERY B.D. and Rector of Barwell in Leicestershire Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false Prophets are gone out into the world 1 John 4.1 LONDON Printed for N. Webb and W. Grantham 1657. The Contents 1. Controversie About God's election of men to eternall life and salvation whether or no it be grounded upon the fore-sight of their faith and obedience 2. Controversie About the universality of Christ's Redemption 3. Controversie About the power of Man's free-will 4. Controversie About the Merit of good works 5. Controversie About Original sin 6. Controversie About Tithes A Preface to the Reader HAving a Pamplet accidentally put into my hands twisted of inconsequences incongruities and misapplications and depravations of holy Scripture entituled The order of causes Of God's foreknowledge election and predestination and of mans salvation or damnation I thought I might do a charitable work to detect the impostures of it Especially considering that it had gotten some entertainment with some persons within mine own charge and cure For albeit there be little hope of prevailing with these false teachers in these times especially which have so long connived at their erroneous and seditious courses to renounce their errors though never so fairly and fully confuted as who have resolved to hold the conclusion whether the premises be true or false which every Novice in Logick knows to be an absurdity to be hissed at yet may this detection of their falcies in some measure prevent the further diffusion and spreading of their pernicious errors which is the fole end wherefore these plain ensuing lines were hastily compiled and penned And in this regard the courteous Reader is intreated to vouchsafe a candid and benevolent construction of them as which upon more mature deliberation might either have been kept private or appearing in publique might happily have been clad in a more sightly dresse which is the humble request of A Friend and Servant to all that follow the truth in love THOMAS GERY IT hath ever been the artifice and deceitfull dealing of Hereticks to pick out some such Texts of Scripture wherewith to cloak their errors as by their false interpretation of them in not comparing them with other Texts of Scripture treating of the same subject might afford some colour and countenance unto them Thus the old Serpent the first deviser of this fallacy dealt with our blessed Saviour when he tempted him in the Wildernesse he alledged a piece of Scripture out of Psalm 91.11 where it 's said He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee and skips over the next words in all thy ways and so goeth to the 12. verse as knowing that the words which he left out would quite alter the Text from that purpose for which he alledged the same And thus deal the Heretical Sectaries and Separatists that are of late started up They alledge some sayings of Scripture which considered by themselves without any reference had to other Texts of Scripture which afford light to the right meaning of them seem at the first superficial view of them to speak something for them about some of their erroneous Tenets whereas compared with other sayings of Scripture where the same point is more fully and plainly expressed they make nothing at all for proof of that for which they are alledged as shall be discovered in some particulars in this ensuing Treatise Amongst a Fardle of their palpable and prodigious Errors some whereof are utterly unworthy the refutation being manifest contradictions of holy Scripture As their denial of Faith to be the gift of God which I have heard to proceed out of the mouth of divers of no small esteem amongst them with incredible impudence I have here undertaken the confutation of these six of which some are Popish which I find in the fornamed book and in another which I shall hereafter mention 1. They affirm That God's election of men to salvation is from his fore-sight of their Faith and Obedience Or as some of them phrase it from his fore-sight of their Sanctification and Good Works 2. That Christ's Redemption is universall extending it self to all men in the World indiscriminatim indifferently 3. That men have Free-will to repent and believe and so may be saved if they will 4. That Good Works or Obedience are meritorious causes of salvation 5. That children are not born in sin 6. That the payment of Tithes to the Ministers of the Gospel is not agreeable to Scripture Now that these are false Tenents not justifiable from Scripture but repugnant unto it I shall I hope make manifest to all that are not byassed with prejudice And because I am not to enter the Lists and contest with pertinacious Adversaries who sometime will neither hear right Reason nor yield to Scripture but as they themselves shall expound
it It will be expedient for me to premise certain Theological conclusions or principles which all Orthodox Divines unanimously and univocally have acknowledged to be undoubted Truths as Praecognita and Canons to have recourse unto for the decision and determination of any Controversie as need shall require which if they deny to assent unto they are not to be disputed with as the proverb speaks Contra negantem principia non est disputandum There 's no disputation to be held with him that will deny the principles of Art The Principles I think fit to premise are these four 1. That the Canonical Scripture is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is authentical and creditable of it self 2. That there is no contradictions in the Canonical Scripture 3. That the same makes and so by consequence alloweth to be made distinction between things that sometime in Scripture have the same denomination This appears by many instances in Scripture whereof I will name these three Fear Faith and Sorrow First About Fear the Scripture mentioneth a fear which is gracious and godly which the learned have termed Filial and a Fear which is gracelesse which the learned have termed Servile of this we have an example in 2 Kings 17.33 34. where it 's said of the Babylonians in the former verse that they feared God and then in the latter verse that they feared him not Whence it 's evident that a distinction must be made of the fear of God whereof some is a Gracious Fear and some a Gracelesse otherwise there would be a contradiction between the two verses which Scripture admits not Secondly About Faith The Scripture doth distinguish it into these two sorts namely a Faith that hath Works and a Faith that is without works which it also calleth a dead faith James 2.17 Faith if it have no Works is dead being alone Thirdly About Sorrow The Scripture speaks of a godly sorrow for sin and a worldly sorrow in 2 Cor. 7.10 Godly sorrow worketh Repentance to salvation but the sorrow of the World worketh death Hereby it 's clear that a distinction is sometimes to be made betwixt things that have the same denomination The fourth Principle which I shall premise is this That seeming contradictions in Scripture are so to be expounded by help of other Texts either speaking of the same point or otherwise that they may symphonize and accord together Which help the Scripture affords in one place or other If our Adversaries will yield to be tryed about the forementioned Controversies by these old Canons which have been universally received for undoubted truths by all Christian Churches in primitive times when the waters ran clearest from under the Threshold of the Sanctuary I shall adventure to bear the disgrace if I do not convince them of error about each Controversie that I have before named The first Controversie handled About Election THeir first Error that I shall undertake to confute is their assertion That God's election of men unto salvation is grounded upon his foresight of their Faith and Obedience or sanctification and Good Works That is that he electeth such and such men to life and salvation because he foreseeth that they will believe and walk in obedience to his Commandements This Assertion I shall prove to be an error by these four Arguments The first Argument If men shall therefore believe because they are elected and ordained to eternal life then they are not elected and ordained to eternal life because they will believe This consequence cannot be denied by any intelligent man But men shall therefore believe because they are elected and ordained to eternal life and therefore are not elected and ordained to it because they will believe The Assumption I prove out of Acts 13.48 where it 's said That as many as were ordained to eternall life believed Here Faith is made the fruit and effect of election to eternal life and therefore cannot be the cause of it for nothing can be the cause and effect too of one and the same thing My second Argument is this If men be elected or chosen that they may be holy then their election must needs be the ground and cause of their holinesse and sanctification But men are elected that they may be holy so saith the Scripture Ephes 1.4 He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the World that we should be holy and without blame before him in love Therefore Election is the ground and cause of holinesse or sanctification and not holinesse the ground and cause of election The third Argument If the good pleasure of God's will be the ground and first cause of mens election and predestination to salvation then God's fore-sight of their Sanctification and Good Works cannot be the first cause and ground thereof This consequence is undeniable But the good pleasure of God's will is the first cause and ground of mens election and predestination to salvation Therefore God's fore-sight of their sanctification and Good Works cannot be the first cause and ground thereof The A sumption I prove from these two Texts of Scripture passing by many other to the same purpose Rom. 9.11 S. Paul there affirms That the purpose of God according to Election stands not of Works but of him that calleth Where works are denied and Gods will affirmed to be the cause of election And Ephes 1.5 and again verse 11. the good pleasure of God's will is made the ground and cause of mens election to salvation The words in the fift verse are these Having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself according to the good pleasure of his will And the words in the 11. verse are these In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the councel of his own will If the Adversaries answer that Election may be according to the good pleasure of God's will and yet the good pleasure of his will may not be the cause of Election To this I reply That the Apostle makes it plain in the 11. verse that he speaks of the good pleasure of God's will as the cause of Election by the addition of these last words in the verse Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will For if he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will then Election is necessarily one of those things which he worketh after the councel of his own will and therefore the counsell of his own will must needs be the cause thereof The fourth Argument is this If Good Works be no causes of salvation then neither of election unto salvation this is plain because Election is the cause of Salvation But Good Works are no causes of salvation and therefore no causes of Election The minor Proposition or Assumption is proved by Ephes 2.8 9 verses where the Apostle saith By grace ye are saved through faith and that not of your selves it is the