History of the six days work of the Creation of Angels therefore there be no such creatures in the world If Mr. R. denies the proposition he must forget the first of Genesis or shew us some place of it that mentions the making of Angels Mr. R's first consideration proves as well that there is no Angel which he cannot do If he deny the consequence he must disparage the Learning of no less man than himself for his is just of the same complexion There is no mention of a Hell in the six days works therefore there is no Hell so that if this consideration will prove there is no Hell it will also prove there is no Angel and consequently no Devil neither for Devils are confessed to be no other than wicked Angels or Spirits and if so the Damner's imprecation the Devil take me will be only Nonsense and not profaneness or wickedness Nor Heaven of Glory 2. May he not at the same charges prove as well that there is no place of glory for the Righteous as that there is no place of torment for the Wicked for 't is a question whether the Heaven of Glory be mentioned in the first of Genesis or not It is said indeed there God created the Heaven but the Hebrew is rendred by Fagius Vid. Synops Crit. in Gen. 1. Coelum hoc i. e. This Heaven that is the visible Heaven and other good Divines are not afraid to say that Moses in that Chapter meant only to reckon up the visible works of God in the former part of it and yet I shall not doubt whether there be another Heaven above that because I am not certain that any such is intended in that place but do believe it because of the Testimony of other Scriptures and so will I believe there is a Hell because it is mentioned in other places though it be not in the first of Genesis His second Consideration is no less vain than the former as thus R. Solomon was the Wisest of men p. 114. and yet in his writings he mentions no Hell nor any everlasting Punishment c. which he would have done if he had known of them B. What doth he think of Proverbs 15.24 The way of life is above to the wise that he may depart from Hell beneath Doth not Solomon speak of Hell in that place or can he perswade us that it means no more than the grave when experience shews that the best and wisest do not scape that no more than the worst yet that Hell there mentioned is manifestly supposed to be such as the wise walking in the way of wisdom may certainly escape 2. Christ was wiser than Solomon himself Matth. 25.46 and he hath told us of everlasting punishment whether the other hath or not 3. Solomon speaks not at least not plainly of the Deity of the Holy Ghost of the union of the Divine and Humane Nature in the person of Christ or of the imputation of his Righteousness to believers yet Christians have believed those points and I hope the Socinians shall never baffle us out of our Faith therein In a word though Solomon were the wisest man yet God never intended that all Truth should be comprised in the small Books that he hath written In his Third Consideration p. 115. he tells us out of the Hebrew Doctors writings of the seven thousand years in the world to come in which all Souls shall be blessed If such a piece of Jewish learning be pleasing to such a Rabbi as Mr. R. yet that 's little reason why I or other Christians should be in love with it and I think it more worthy to be slighted than to be answered And that which he concludes with The Jews were great searchers of Scripture and if everlasting punishment were to be found therein they would have seen it This I say is as little to be regarded for no wise Man ever thought that the Jews ever saw or acknowledged all Scripture-truths they had as many errors and weaknesses as other Men. p. 116. R. The Saints recorded in Scripture did not believe there was any punishment for any to endure that shall never end for in their penitential confessions they do not confess such punishment to have been deserved by them Dan. 9 To us belongs confusion of face This is his fourth Consideration p. 117 118. And in the following Lines we have the second part of it to the same Tune in these words We do not find that ever they gave thanks for such a deliverance or so much as prayed for it which yet could not but appear the greatest deliverance if they had known of it B. The substance of this Reasoning is thus The Saints did not confess any Everlasting Punishment to be deserved by them c. I answer Yes they did implicitly confess so much for in the Text he mentions in 9. Daniel To us belongs confusion of face it is not limited to temporal confusion and therefore may fitly be extended to Eternal confusion Psal 44.23 Psal 44.23 They pray thus O cast us not off for ever which was an acknowledgment that God justly might have cast them off for ever for their sin And in Psal 79.5 Lord wilt thou be angry for ever Is not that an acknowledgment that he might pour out his anger upon them i. e. punish them for ever for their sins And if it were as he would have it the Argument would prove but little for the Saints in Scripture did not expresly confess that they deserved to be given over to the Devil's Tyranny to be possessed and terrified and tormented by him and yet Christians will not doubt but their sins deserve so much To the 2d part And the other may be answered as easily for though I should grant that the Saints in Scripture did not expresly give thanks for their deliverance from endless punishment yet that is far from proving that there is no such thing for they did not give thanks in that manner for Heaven it self and their appointment to it yet we are very sure that there is a Heaven and that they are appointed to it 2. I do not remember that ever they said we give thee thanks O Lord for giving us thy Holy Spirit to instruct us and yet the Text tells that it was so in those very words Nehem. 9.20 Thou gavest also thine Holy Spirit to instruct them And yet they could not but know that it was a very great benefit to allude to my Author's expression Nor did they pray expresly and in Terminis to be delivered from evil spirits and their malice and violence Yet I verily believe they want not will nor power to do us violence every Hour in the Day if our God did not over-rule and restrain them Consid 5. R. Christ when on Earth did weep for the Jews p. 119. because of that desslation that was to come upon them would he not much more
the Word of God or knowest but little reason why thou should'st believe so then I would advise thee to read those that may confute thy unbelief or confirm thy faith in that particular as Bishop Ward 's Sermon against Anti-scripturists Dr. Stillingfleet's Orig. Sacr. and the truly Honourable Sir Charles Woolsley his Grounds and Reasons of Scripture-Belief Dr. Allestry his Sermon of the Authority of the Scriptures Mr. Baxt. Rest part 2. cap. 4. with these in the Margin But if thou dost believe it to be so I trust thou wilt believe the Doctrine I plead for For the Scripture testifies of it in words as plain as can be desired viz. in Matth. 25. last verse and many other places To begin with that Matth. 25. last verse These the ungodly that shall be set on Christ's left hand Matth. 25.46 in the former verses shall go away into Everlasting Punishment What can ever be spoken more plain or more plainly to our purpose than this is They shall go away into Everlasting Punishment 1. Vrged therefore they shall be punished everlastingly For if one were to tell us such or such are to be imprisoned perpetually How could he express it more clearly than by saying That they must go into perpetual Imprisonment And these words are the words of Him who was and is the Son of the Father and most perfectly acquainted with his Counsels Purposes Truths and Ways and had no need to fright the wicked World with such a sad Doctrine if it were not a Truth This is that Marpesian Rock which Mr. Richardson was not able to fasten his Teeth in yet nevertheless 2 Vindicated from Mr. R.'s Exceptions He hath snapt at it Five Times together p. 18 c. where he hath several glosses upon the word everlasting which as by Him applyed are worthy to be had in everlasting detestation 1. He tells us That the Fire of Tophet is so called His first Exception because it did burn Day and Night But here our Lord speaks not of the Fire of Tophet Removed but of the Everlasting Punishment of the Wicked And let Him shew us where any punishment is call'd Everlasting Punishment because it lasted for some days and nights Job his Pains were doubtless Day and Night yea for a considerable time too yet 't is not said he suffered Everlasting Pains The Psalmist said God's hand was heavy upon him Day and Night Psal 32.4 yet it is no where said that he was under Everlasting Affliction The word Ever and Everlasting His second Exception p. 19. are used to note a Limited Time as in Exodus 40.15 We read of an Everlasting Priesthood yet that Priesthood did not last for ever in the largest sense but only till the Son of God was come in the Flesh This is the substance of that which he saith in the greatest part of the 19. Page of his Book Removed And it is easily removed out of the way Let us put it into a form of Arguing and it will be exactly thus The word Everlasting in some places is used to signifie but a limited time therefore it must signifie just the same when 't is spoken of the Punishment of the wicked in Matth. 25. last verse Now were not this a pitiful way of reasoning and most apparently inconsequent See a parallel case in the word save To save sometimes signifies only to be a means of Salvation and an Instrument in God's hand of bringing Men into the way of Salvation as when Ministers are said to save them that hear them 1 Tim. 4.16 Shall we therefore say that Christ is but an Instrumental means of Salvation God forbid for He is the Author of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 Phil. 3.20 And The Saviour by way of Emphasis Answer 2d 2. Though in some places of the Old Testament the word Everlasting doth signifie a limited Time yet Mr. R. doth not shew us any place in the New Testament where it is so taken much less can he shew any Texts therein that call a Temporal Punishment an Everlasting Punishment or any thing like it Answer 3d. 3. Those things which were called Everlasting and yet lasted but for a time were such as were not capable of an absolute and proper Everlastingness The Priesthood in Exodus 40. was not capable of perpetuity being Typical of the Priesthood of Christ that great High-Priest Heb. 4.14 as the Apostle calls him who was appointed to put an end to all former priesthood and Sacrifice by offering up Himself once for All. But the Wicked shall be capable of Everlasting Punishment properly so called for their very Bodies shall be raised Incorruptible 1 Cor. 15.52 In 1 Cor. 15. The Trumpet shall sound and the Dead i. e. All the Dead shall be raised incorruptible Answ The 4th 4. It must needs be meant of an endless Punishment for I find it is the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used in Matth. 25.46 that is used by St. Paul 2 Cor. 4.18 where he speaks of things Eternal in contradistinction to Things Temporal in 2 Cor. The things that are seen are temporal but the things that are not seen are eternal * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yea it is the same word in the Original which is used by our Lord to express the Eternity of the Saints Happiness Matth. 25.46 These shall go away into Everlasting Punishment and the Righteous into Life Eternal So that if the Punishment of the wicked that continue such be not an endless Punishment we may be at a great doubt whether the Happiness of the Saints shall be endless happiness or not since the same word as was said is used of both of them And now having Answered his first and chiefest Exceptions against this Proof we shall not fear to Examine those which follow and thirdly thus R. Fire may be said to be Everlasting His third Exception p. 19. when it doth not go out till the Combustible Matter is consumed and then he adds The Fire that destroyed Sodom is called Eternal Fire because it went not out till the City was consumed Jud. 7. Answered This is his third gloss upon the word Everlasting in the latter part of the 19. Page And first A Fire may be called Everlasting by his Logick when it goeth not out till the Combustible Matter is consumed It seems then if Mr. Richardson should be pleased to roast his Cat His absurdity shewed in another case to make a Breakfast for those worse than Antichristian Priests that fright the World so needlesly by their Doctrine of Everlasting Punishments for the Wicked he might then bespeak them thus Behold Sirs and see for here is an Everlasting Fire And if the poor ignorant Men should ask him how that can be true since the Fire will be out in a little time He could answer them That it may be called Everlasting because it will last till the Faggots are consumed but if
Adam or his posterity but from their sinfulness and that they should not have dyed but upon the supposal of sin And I think he hath done no good office to suggest such a thing as this concerning Mr. Bolton to make the world believe that such an able and faithful Teacher of Divine Truth would play any the least part of the Socinians damned Game In the two following pages he is very vain p. 132. and p. 133. and deserves not my Ink to he spent upon him and if I should lay open all his weaknesses 't is possible I might be thought to deal over hardly by him those therefore that little concern the point in hand or are answered already I need not concern my self with I pass therefore to the next p. 134. where the substance of his many words is thus in brief That if death be the punishment of sin then Christ by freeing his people from the punishment of their sins must free them from dying which he doth not I answer Christ by freeing them from the punishment of sin hath also freed them from death so far forth as 't is a punishment viz. from an accursed death The Faithful therefore though they suffer death yet they suffer it not as a punishment properly so called nor in a way of vengeance but in a way of mercy and therefore blessed are they that dye in the Lord. That pale horse though it sometimes affrights them Philip. 1.23 yet it is sent on a good errand viz. to bring their Souls into the blessed presence of their Lord and Saviour which the Apostle assures us in the same Text is far better than to live with their friends in this sinful world p. 135 136. In the 135 and 136. pages there is nothing that I think it worth while to trouble my self with some things being beside his purpose and others in a great measure against it And that which is for it how do the wicked perish for ever if they must live for ever is no new dish but only the old coleworts new sodden and how much it is worth is discoverable from that which was said but a little before to what he had offered about eternal life in pag. 130. p. 137. R. Men build much in this point upon the second death but what that death is they cannot agree B. I think he is much mistaken in this and do not doubt but Orthodox Divines are very well agreed in their Judgments about it and describe it with little variation one from another But the main mischief is that their Judgment of it agrees not to his and if his be infallible theirs must needs be erroneous R. Mr. Perkins saith the Second death is a total separation from God and if so it is not a punishment without end and seeing God is every where if they be any where how can they be absent from God B. But as Mr. Perkins was as wise a man as himself so his speech herein is not so absurd as he imagines it to be yea I doubt not but it is sound and good and now I shall consider briefly what he saith unto it 1. if so then it is not a punishment without end what warrant he hath to make such an Inference from it I for my part cannot understand for what if that Separation be everlasting as we believe it to be then it will be vanity to say so yea a contradiction too So that this Collection of his is utterly groundless unless he understand this Separation to be by Annihilation and if he do so I have shewed the absurdity of it sufficiently already in disproving the Doctrine of the Annihilation of the wicked 2. R. If they be any where how can they be absent from God seeing God is every where But certainly he must be a very silly man that can think Mr. Perkins was such a fool as to suppose that they could be absent from the Lord in a proper sense or out of his presence I dare say that was very far from his mind and he needed no more to be taught the doctrine of God's Omnipresence than wicked men need to be comforted by his Book against the fears of Damnation yet because he hath mentioned the word Absent from God I may lawfully put him in mind of that Text of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.6 in 2 Cor. while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord he did not think he and the rest of the Faithful were where God is not while they lived in this world and yet he expresses it after that manner because here they were as it were absent from the comfortable presence of God in comparison of that comfort which their Souls should have in his Glorious Presence after they had left their bodies So in this case we mean by the Second Death the total and perpetual Separation of the wicked and impenitent from the comfortable Presence and the glorious Presence of God Luke 13.28 as when they shall be shut out of his glorious Kingdom and depart from Christ to dwell with the Devil and his Angels And though this be not a death properly so called yet it may fitly be called by that name because of the terror of it Death being naturally the most terrible thing as Heaven is fitly called Paradise for the pleasure and purity of it Luke 23 4â—2 though it be not that place which was mentioned in the 2. of Genesis And if a state of worldly troubles may be called a Death in 2. Cor. 1.10 compared with the 8. verse how much more may a state of endless punishment be called by that name See Rev. 21.8 And thus having vindicated Mr. Perkins from Mr. R's cavils I shall pass over the idle discourses of the 139 and 140 pages and speak a few words of that which seems more worthy of my censure in 141 page thus p. 141. R. We read in Rom. 2.31 of very great sinners proud spightful Inventors of evil things and such like yet the word saith not Ro. 6.21 that they are worthy of more than death and if death be the end of these things then there is not any thing to come after death B. This is a rare piece of Learning indeed and such as the common sort of Preachers never had the confidence to teach their hearers either from the Pulpit or the Press But that it may not be thought better of than it deserves let us examine it briefly the main strength of his Speech lies in this That God hath not said that those wicked ones mentioned in that place were worthy of any more than death true indeed they were worthy of no more punishment than death for that death there spoken of is nothing less than eternal Damnation And thus the unpardonable sin 1 Joh. 5.16 called by St. John a sin unto death that is such a sin as necessarily and infallibly brings eternal damnation upon the sinner
think the fruit of the Son of Righteousness to be more narrow and confined than the Sun in the Firmament p. 179. whose excellency it is that its bright Beams and Rays are dispersed into every corner of the Vniverse B. How sweetly might this Gentleman sleep in the night time that had his head so full of pleasant Dreams in the day time And as for these words of his they are no more worth than the former for whatsoever of Rhetorick may be supposed to be in them we are sure there is little of Logick or sound Reason in them Mr. H. B. in his Book of Melancholy tells us a merry story as some may count it concerning the expectations of some of the Jews which he hath as I take it out of the Learned Author of Synagog Jud. * Buxdorsius Thus it is That when the Arch-Angel shall sound his Trumpet he shall gather all the Jews into the Holy Land and make them a great Banquet wherein shall be all the Birds and Beasts and Fishes that ever lived in the Earth Air and Ocean and a cup of Wine that came from Paradise c. Reader I will not I cannot request thee to give heed to any such Jewish Fables or to believe any of their lyes to be true for I do not desire to believe them my self And yet I profess unto thee I may be as likely to believe all this as to believe that assertion which Mr. Richardson's last words include and imply viz. That the Glory of Heaven is as common as the light of the Sun or that Christ will make All happy that the Sun shines upon yea so long as I believe the 7th chapter of Matth. or the 25. chapter it is utterly impossible that I should believe it Thus of his Twenty Infallible Proofs I have examined and disproved Eleven already and if when we are in the middle we are half way over then doubtless I am more than half way to the end of Mr. R. his pleasant Garden and what precious Flowers are remaining in it the following pages will shew thee and the next Proof is near as good as any of the rest and it is thus in brief Proof 12 p. 180. R. It doth no way agree to the Spirit of a Saint for Saints are ever merciful as the Psalmist saith doubtless they are so merciful as that they would not desire that any man should be in such intolerable Torment one hour to an end much less for ever Therefore it doth not agree to the mind of God to punish any everlastingly The more the Lord manifests himself in any the more merciful they are yea to their enemies also B. It is a strange way of Arguing which the man here useth and supposeth the Soveraign Lord of all and the Righteous Judge of the whole Earth to be obliged to follow the same rules which he hath given to his creatures And how little excellency is to be found in such Imaginations may appear in these particulars following 1. That the Saints do not desire that any should fall short of Heaven but would rather desire to further all men in the way to it yet I dare say God will not bring all men thither 2. Saints do not desire that any man should be mocked or abused imprisoned or tormented in the world for maintaining the Truth and opposing the Abominations of the Romish Religion yet it would be madness to say God would not let his people suffer so upon that account because it agrees not to the mind of a Saint for Experience shews he hath often been pleased to exercise his people with such tryals witness the Book of Martyrs and the Histories of the former Persecutions c. 3. A man of much Sanctity would not desire there should be so much wickedness in the world as there is no nor would not suffer it to be if he could help it I my self would turn all men to the love of God and Holiness if it were in my power That little goodness that is in my heart alas too little and indeed so little that I am sometimes afraid it is none at all in sincerity yet that doth so dispose me that I would turn all if wishing or Preaching would do it and would not suffer any man to love a pair of Cards more than a Sermon or a Barrel of Beer or a Bag of Money more than Christ and Grace and Heaven nor would I suffer men and women to play the Hypocrite for God's sake and stay at home like Atheists on the Lord's Day under pretence of spending their time in Christian Duties in private whose base Hypocrisie the Lord will laugh at for he knoweth that his Day is coming I say I my self would not suffer these things if I could help it Yet God we see doth suffer them and yet his goodness is greater than man's 4. I verily believe a Saint that is eminently such for knowledge and Grace would not have suffered Mr. R. to have spent his time so sadly as to write This Book I am engaged with yet God hath suffered him to Write and to Publish it too or else it could never have been And that which he saith of the mercifulness of the Saints to their worst Enemies is as far from being unanswerable and because He hath not urged this Argument to the best advantage I will do it for him as thus A good man would not punish his enemies eternally therefore God will not so punish his for he is more merciful than Man I Answer If God may not do otherwise than a good man would do what sad conclusions might we make from it for at this rate we might conclude that God the Father would not leave his beloved Son Christ Jesus to the malice of his wicked enemies to be mocked and spit upon to be Crucified and slain by them for a good man would not deal so by his beloved Son yet so it was as sure as the Gospel is true see Matth. 27. Luke 23. and other places 2. There is no Reason why any man should punish his enemy everlastingly for his enemy doth not deserve it as he is his enemy that is his enmity against him as it is against him doth not make him worthy of such punishment But offences against God as they are against God do deserve such punishment and make the offenders worthy of it as before 3. Men are but men and therefore Vengeance is not their prerogative as it is Gods To him it belongeth Ps 94.1 Neither are they Governors of the World by natural rightful Soveraignty and therefore a mans fault as against them doth not respect any such Law by which the world must be governed But enough of this Proof 13 R. Such torment agrees not to the mind of Christ p. 181 for he was full of Love c. praying for his Enemies Luke 23.34 and would not bring fire from Heaven upon them when the Disciples would have had him do so